PRODIGAL SUN

                                          

SEPTEMBER 2024

 

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

 

On January 31, 2000 Alaskan Airlines Flight 261 crashed in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles killing all 88 persons aboard. The crash was caused by improper maintenance on a single threaded rod that controlled the rear flaps raising and lowering the planes altitude.

 

The final eighty seconds of their lives was one of horror as they were tossed to and fro and upside down in the plummeting plane. The plane disintegrated upon impact, and the people crossed into eternity. All plans for the future were forever canceled in that moment, now awaiting the final judgment of God.

 

A rather morbid way to start this month’s edition until you apply a spiritual lesson found within. The cause of all their deaths was a lack of maintenance. We all can find the same issue in the lives of those in church and outside. We, for the most part, are not maintaining our vessels very well and are watching a world spiraling out of man’s control because we have skipped prescribed maintenance with our Creator through Jesus Christ.

 

Maintenance on the plane was changed to save money, the end result was death. The same can be true for us who do not spend time in God’s Word and prayer. When was the last time you (I) sang a song to the Lord? Look at the relationship David had with the Lord – he sang and danced before Him. We may want to be like one or some of the Bible characters but we do little or nothing to mimic them. Can we say, as Paul did, “Follow me as I follow Christ?” The blessed Holy Spirit is awaiting our surrender so He can guide us on the path Jesus would walk if in our place.

 

There has never been a more appropriate time to cast off anything that slows or stops our daily relationship with Jesus. Work is good, until it controls you. Friends are good until they draw you into the world and away from the Lord. Family is good until the loyalty you show them exceeds that shown the Lord. If more of your day is spent/wasted with the internet or television than with the Lord you are setting yourself up to fail.

 

Our nation has crossed a line from which it cannot turn back. With your willingness and the Holy Spirit’s power, individual lives can be changed from the lost column to found. If your eyes are on the economy or the next political ‘power’ you are looking in the wrong direction and will soon be disappointed. Maybe ‘shocked’ is a better description.

 

We are directed to pray for our leaders and all of those in authority. I hear far more complaining or cursing of our leaders than prayers for. Even the prayers in church for them often seem less than a sincere desire for their good than for ‘our’ wants to be fulfilled by their actions.

 

The scriptures speak of the love of many growing cold which directly correlates to a lack of communication with our heavenly Father. Daily communication with the One who sent His Son to die for our sins will help keep the fire of love kindled in our lives. True love cannot be contained by our human bodies but with the increase comes a demand for release. That release is most effective when directed towards the undesirables in our lives and culture. Jesus told His disciples to love their enemies, those that spitefully used them. The true Church today is being given the greatest opportunity in my lifetime to live these directives out. Are we willing to be mocked, ridiculed, and persecuted in this once Christian nation so that others may enter the Kingdom of God? Will we stand strong if our faith and obedience costs us everything?

 

It is entirely possible that God will use our next president to destroy even more of America, to break our pride, and to humble us. At the present time there is no more capable person to fill that slot than Kamala Harris. If so, are you willing to pray for her salvation, and that of her cabinet? Are you willing to speak blessings when you lose even more of your freedom and possessions? Will we rise up and be all God has equipped His children to be? Or will we stay mired in our worldly mindsets, bitter and angry, as the rest of society? To be in the Kingdom of Light, we must walk as children of Light, There will be found no mixture in God’s Kingdom. “The Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

 

In Timothy 3:1-9 we read the following, (1) “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: (2) For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (3) unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, (4) traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (5) having a form of godliness but denying it’s power. And from such people turn away! Had it not been for ‘the form of godliness but denying it’s power’ it would be quite easy to just assign this to the lost. I believe this is not the lost world, but in fact those within the church that have played the game but never entered the battle, never even opened the door as Christ knocked. They may have been enticed by some emotional experience, possibly even been baptised, without knowing the true meaning of such an identification, then joined a church, put your name on the rolls, and sat dormant until now.

 

Last night before we ate supper I specifically asked the Lord to send us rain, then forgot about it until now. The skies just opened up and I was reminded of our prayer. With that also came the thought that it had been God’s desire to send the rain, but no one had specifically asked for it in this time of need. It brings the remembrance of His Word, “You have not because you ask not” to mind. God often times just supplies our need out of His love for mankind, yet at others He wants us to be active participants in whatever He is desiring to do, then waits for us to respond in some manner. For me this experience was a reminder that I had been losing my sensitivity to that very truth.

 

In like manner this should be a lesson to all of us to the realization that He desires to pour out an abundant rain upon His people, to bring those willing into a fullness of His Spirit pushing back the enemies darkness and seeing the captives of all people set free.

 

We are all people of one blood, one need, and that is being truly washed in the Blood of the Lamb. One head bowed, and all eyes closed with hands quickly slipped up and put back down does not suffice. If you can’t stand for Jesus in this country at this moment the likely hood of ever doing so seems remote.

 

kenhayesfleming9@gmail.com                                                             Kenneth H. Fleming

www.wbcis.com                                                                                     502 Market Street

(814) 687-3707                                                                                      Fallentimber, Pa. 16639