06/10/2012 - Appalling news

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So it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 1: 4

On certain occasions there are some news that happen to make a servant of God shed tears. As we see how many people not committed with The Lord react to them we get to the point of thinking that they may even feel joy as they’re informed of, for instance, some tragedies just happened to some other people or some particular groups of people. Yet, being children of The Most High, we must never allow that to happen to us considering that the devil is the mastermind of any evil deed and we aren’t supposed to rejoice with any of his treachery.

The Lord sent Hanani to break a quite bad occurrence, though a true one. It’s always good to pay heed to what goes on with other people. Though Nehemiah was an ordinary cup-bearer God had appointed him to a fresh mission. And the same might happen both to you and to me and also to any children of The Lord. When we’re unaware about what the enemy’s up to The Most High speaks straight into our hearts.

The Almighty had given the warning in saying that His people would be sent into captivity and the prophets weren’t fooling around when the message was being conveyed. Today, God’s using us to turn people into repentance from their sins and into conversion, and to show them they ought to leave their evil deeds behind and look for holiness because the end is near. Yet, some of our brothers have been kidding with something so important and there are even those who consider the divine warning to be exaggerated.

According to the biblical report those who stayed in Jerusalem ended up finding themselves in great misery. That seemed to be quite a paradox: they were in the land which had been assured to them by The Lord, a land which gave milk and honey, where plenty of food was a reality, yet, they were facing that dreadful circumstance. This is what has been happening to many people who, though converted, live a complete wretched life. How to explain that? God can only be a Father to those who want to be His children.

On top of misery, those who go further away from The Most High will experience contempt. Sinners loathe the children of The Lord and when some of them go astray, apart from becoming a reason for mockery, they end up being despised in all ways. And the ungodly will promptly ask them the reason why they’re among them once they supposedly belong to the team of God. They know they’re in error and due to that fact they don’t want anybody around to remember them of such fact.

Walls serve as a protection but when we are disobedient to The Most High our defences are broken down by themselves. The presence of The Lord God among His people causes them to stand firm and safe. Our Father being away, our wall deteriorates and, with time, we’ll eventually notice cracks all over it and then it will no longer be able to keep us safe. In that case, only true repentance will be able to fill the gaps.

The city gates became altogether ineffective since they were burnt down; so there were no limits for the enemies at that point. Likewise, in many lives there are no impact-resistant doors and whenever the devil pleases he’ll indeed get into the lives of those who should be a protected garden.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares