PRODIGAL SUN

 

OCTOBER 2024

 

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

 

The rains mentioned in last month’s Prodigal have continued, although sporadically, and not in the abundance our area needs. Such is the spiritual rain that we desperately need, but are not wholeheartedly pursuing. We are letting the cares of this world delay our pursuit of the one Who has all the answers, directions, and provisions for our lives.

 

An old hymn from 1913 bears out this truth;

 

There is a guide that never falters, and when He leads I cannot stray. For step by step He goes before me, and marks my path. He knows the way.

 

Oft times the path grows dim and dreary, the darkness hides the cheering ray, Still I will trust though worn and weary, my Savior leads. He knows the way.

 

He knows the evils that surround me, the turnings that would lead astray, No foes of night can confound me, for Jesus leads. He knows the way.

 

O heart weighed down with nameless anguish, O guilty soul torn with dismay, Thine every foe, His power will vanquish, Let Jesus lead. He knows the way.

 

He is the only one that can and will guide your every step. Our DNA never had ‘self-governing’ programmed into it, and it cannot be added now. Jeremiah 10:23 bears out this truth as it reads, “Oh Lord I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

Then in Hosea 5:11 we find consequences for this disobedience. This passage reads, “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept.”We are totally incapable within ourselves to direct our life’s steps. As God’s Word says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death.” Without God’s road being followed we will find ourselves at the mercy of the evil one who knows no mercy, only death and destruction. Eternal damnation is the reward of all who follow his deceptions.

 

A definition of human precept can be rule of moral conduct. So where does the ‘moral’ come from, and the only correct answer must be from the One who defines what morality is. Each one of us, in his or her own way, tries to redefine the parameters of morality set by God. Unless your definition comes direct from the Word of God your final conclusion will be perverted, and you will be judged accordingly.

 

America has a time of great affliction ahead of her, one in which she will not be able to escape. In the days ahead there will also be a time in which God will not hear your prayers, unless you are truly Christ’s. A false relationship with Christ reinforced by church membership, baby baptism, man made baptism without true identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus, good deeds, and any type of ‘divine favor’ that has a monetary value attached is totally corrupt, and unacceptable to God. You will hear from God what Simon the sorcerer heard from Philip, then Peter.

 

Simon (Act 8:9-21) was a believer in Christ, was baptized, but when seeing the power of the Holy Spirit given through the laying of the apostle’s hands also wanted the power and offered money for it. Peter’s response in verse 20 was,”Your money perish with you, because you thought the gift of God could be purchased with money.” Anything that is a God given gift cannot be purchased with money, but was purchased at the cross with the Blood of Christ. Those that use these tactics to extract finances from anyone are charlatans. No gift of God can have a price tag on it, or ever will.

 

There are many faithful followers of Christ, and others that are cold or lukewarm. We, at this present hour, have been given a period of grace to be re-ignited or ignited for Jesus. This fire needs to be for life, not a single service, not an emotional moment, not because some great need or disaster, but simply because of His dying for our sin so that we would not have to. He created us because He loves people and wants us with Him for all of eternity. Time without end in a land so beautiful that it cannot be described in any human dialect. We’ll have to see it to believe it!!

 

Here is another prize winning hymn;

 

Are you coming home, ye wanderers, Whom Jesus died to win,

All foot-sore, lame, and weary, Your garments stained with sin;

Will you seek the Blood of Jesus, To wash your garments white;

Will you trust His precious promise, Are you coming home tonight?

 

Are you coming home, you lost ones? Behold your Lord doth wait;

Come, then no longer linger, Come ere it be too late;

Will you come and let him save you? O trust His love and might;

Will you come while He is calling, Are you coming home tonight?

 

Are you coming home you guilty, Who bear the load of sin?

Outside you’ve long been standing, Come now and venture in;

Will you heed the Savior’s promise, And dare to trust Him quite?

“Come unto Me,” said Jesus, Are you coming home tonight?

 

Are you coming home tonight, Are you coming home tonight,

Are you coming home to Jesus, Out of darkness in to light?

To your loving, heavenly Father, Are you coming home tonight?

 

2 Corinthians 6:2…...”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.”We must decide NOW who to serve, before the day of the Gentiles comes to a close. All of the warning signs point to the closing of the Book of Life. Is it worth taking a chance for missing the eternal life offered in Christ for another day of doing it your way in a lost world?

 

 

 

kenhayesfleming9@gmail.com                                                               Kenneth H. Fleming

www.wbcis.com                                                                                       502 Market Street

(814) 687-3707                                                                                         Fallentimber, Pa. 16639