River of Life

And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which ore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelations 22:1-2

A couple of months ago, as I stood against a balcony on the beautiful Greek Island of Santorini, overlooking the magnificent  Aegean Sea below me and the beauty and tranquility of the area, I thought about the time that is yet  ahead of us when we will live in a time when we will not need to travel to a beautiful area, for we will be surrounded by everlasting  beauty.

It is amazing how we are assaulted daily with news of catastrophic weather as the earth travails, with groanings, shakings and snortings. Fierce weather from volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, super storms, snow, unreal arctic temperatures and drought has now become the norm. Rich or poor, no one is exempt from these natural disasters.

We are living in a time of extremes.  As nature become troublesome to us, we are also witness the troublesome breakdown of moral character.  I'm not surprised at the decay of integrity; not even in the Church, because we were warned in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, that men would be lovers of themselves who will have no self control, along with other selfish behaviors.

People are doing stupid, self-destructive things to themselves in emotionally unstable states. Mood swings, fits of anger and adult temper tantrums are all used to manipulate others to do what they want them to do, some call these control antics, witchcraft.  Whatever you call it; its ugly.  Time after time we read of drug overdoses, broken families due to adultery, broken vows,  alcoholism and every other unnatural problem.

Some seem to be on the road of self destruction and don't know how to get off that bad track.  Many older people watch their mistakes, but are fearful to say anything to these young people.  Some actually enable them to continue messing up their lives if the young person is famous or wealthy.  Let the older men and women teach the younger people how to be holy before God.  God forbid if the 50 something age group are still acting crazy.

I'm not speaking of the world, but the Church.  Young people tell jokes or do parodys in Church drama ministries taking God's name in vain or joking about holy things.  For entertainment purposes, the name of God is trashed, just to get a laugh, never thinking about the scriptures that warn us that we will give an account for every idle word we speak and not to take God's name in vain.

Many speak and preach about the goodness of God in their lives, confessing Him with their mouths and honoring Him with their lips, but their heart is far from Him.

Self-destructing people who profess Christianity and live like the devil deceive themselves thinking, "I got it like that with God."  Self deceived to the core....it is pitiful to live a life of deception, thinking that your position, which man may love and give great accolades to your name, is not and will not impress God.

Take a serious look at your life, not at what you want to see, but be real, who you really are.  Forget your Church position or title, who are you when you are alone before God?  Can you honestly say that God is pleased with your double-minded spiritual bi-polar behavior?   A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways. The Word of God is your mirror...your plumb line of holiness.  Remember, without holiness no man or woman will see God. So, the cure or deliverance of being out of control or lack of self control is the Word of God and becoming intimate with Him. 

You take the step toward Him and He will definitely move on you.  His word says to seek Him and you will find Him.  Stop being a man pleaser and become a God pleaser.  God desire to bless those who seek Him and He will show or reveal to you great and mighty things that you currently do not know and will never know through human reasoning.  God will stabilize your thinking and settle your emotions.

The time will come when we will eat the fruit the Tree of Life and dwell in the presence of our glorious Lord, but until that time, we can enjoy His presence and power now.  Taste and see that the Lord is good.
 
I speak God's peace over you as you go forth.