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Where's Your Priorities?
by Paul Taylor Where's Your Priorities? Jeremiah 6:15-19 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. The prophet Jeremiah preached to the Jews and those living in Jerusalem of the coming destruction God was going to bring upon their nation because of their utter arrogance and disregard for God's laws as given to Moses and the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai. The people all said they would do as God commanded but as soon as the words were uttered they began their backsliding America today can be considered to be the same as the people of Jeremiah's era, as they sought earthly pleasures, self- gratification, and political correctness in following the commandments and traditions of men rather than the commandments of God. Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Isa 29:13 Mark 7:7 The people laughed, mocked, attacked, jailed and tried to kill Jeremiah to shut him up, but Jeremiah had a mission from God to warn the people of the coming judgement upon the Jews and Jerusalem. The destruction of the temple and Jerusalem with the carrying away of the brightest young people by the Babylonians into exile, but just as today no one listened. Noah preached for 120 years to the people of the coming judgment; the people also mocked, ridiculed and refused to listen until the rains came, and everyone wanted on the ark, but alas, too late, God had shut the door to probation and all those outside were forever lost. The persecutions which I, and many others have said would come on the Christians, has now arrived and it is going to heat up to a fever pitch very rapidly as the homosexual agenda gets even more brazen with each victory over Christian morals and God begins bringing judgment upon this nation and it's blatant disregard and blasphemous laws, which go against the very fabric of human morals and decency, as well as abominable to God and His laws. If you have been riding the fence, or warming the pew, and not fully committed to Jesus, then I beg you, stop what you're doing right now, get on your knees and humbly submit your life to Jesus before the door of probation closes. I believe with all my heart that we are going to first see a complete financial collapse of our economy, followed swiftly by a major catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude, that will destroy this nation, bringing us into a third world status. All the signs are pointing to an imminent financial collapse before this year is out. This year (2015) is a Shemitah year, which is the 7th year of a seven year period, and what makes this shemitah a special year, is because it is the 49th year of the fifty year jubilee. All debts are to be cancelled on the Shemitah year according to Deut.15:1. The 9/11 attack occurred on the Shemitah year, the stock market crashed in 2008 in a shemitah year and this September 13th is the end of another shemitah year. Europen economies are falling the Greek economy, the Chinese and the Japanese are in disarray and the U S is so deep in debt, it is impossible to repay it. Everything is starting to unravel and all I can say is be prepared. Another interesting point to this jubilee cycle is that it is the 40th Jubilee cycle since the birth of Christ. 40 is a significant number mentioned 146 times throughout the Bible, and indicates a period of testing, trial or probation. The Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, a generation is 40 years, God gave Nineva 40 days to repent, and it rained 40 days and nights during the flood of Noah. Something to think about. Matthew 16:2,3 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? God has had enough of our shenanigans and disobedience to His word. Sixty years ago we were a thriving, family oriented, Christian nation with compassion for our fellow citizens as well as others in the world; the word offensive was rarely used until prayer was banned from the schools, and we began a downhill slide from there, and since then we have garnered the momentum of a runaway train as we near the bottom of the grade with nothing to absorb the horrendous impact which is coming. This abomination of same sex marriage I believe is the straw that will break the camel's back, and we are now seeing the results of these feel good, prosperity sermons by these high paid motivational speakers, (so called Pastors), who have misled and deceived the people of these 1200+ Christian denominations, claiming to have the truth. These same denominations refuse to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ for fear of offending some person, some organization, or some political agenda which could, maybe hurt the offering plate, and gosh, we so badly need that new gym. We have become so politically correct, with such a fear of offending someone because of their sinful life, that we have, and continue, to offend the one we profess to stand for, and this is God himself; He has had enough. Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Mt 15:8,9 Mark 7:6,7 With all the above being said, I now ask you, "where are your priorities today?" We need to see more Christians such as the Kliens in Oregon, who, in the face of losing their business and other assets, being slapped with a $135,000 fine and an order to refrain from speaking of their Christianity, have refused to back down and have elected to follow the Apostle Peter of Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men, This is the Kliens reply to that order: "We will NOT give up this fight, and we will NOT be silenced. We stand for God's truth, God's word and freedom for ALL Americans. We are here to obey God not man, and we will not conform to this world. If we were to lose everything it would be totally worth it for our Lord who gave his one and only son, Jesus, for us! God will win this fight!" Oregonian (Portland, OR) July 6, 2015 And don't forget Mrs. Kim Davis, the Kentucky, County Clerk, who is presently in jail indefinitely for refusing to go against Gods truth and His moral code. These are only a beginning and it will progressively and rapidly intensify against anyone standing up for Biblical truths. The test is now beginning and we will see who the true and faithful Christians are when it comes for God or man. Where will you stand? Read the following story and when you finish reading, I feel sure you will have decided where your priorities are. I reworked the below story from which the original is from an unknown author, and presented the scenario to our Sabbath School. Matthew 10:37-38 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. THE KING There was once a fairly wealthy King who reigned over a modest Kingdom. Now this King was well liked by most all of his subjects and neighboring kingdoms. Now this King also had four wives. He loved the 4th wife the most, adorning her with rich robes, finest jewelry, and treating her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best. What-ever the desires, the King spared no expense in accommodating it. He also loved his 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. Constantly boasting and bragging of the finery and the beauty which she bestowed. This was his life's achievement. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. She was always there, good or bad, never letting him down. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times with sound advice. Now the King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner, and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love his first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her! One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and the many wonderful and pleasant years he had lived, and he bagan to wonder, "I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone." Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. I have given you all that you desired or asked for, without hesitation, and Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company? "No way!", replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart. This was a devastating blow to his ego. The King wept bitterly for hours. I will ask my 3rd wife, I know she will go with me. The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. I Have been very proud of you, bragging and boasting to all my friends about you and Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!", replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!" His heart sank and turned cold. This was really a cold stab in the heart, and the King didn't know if he could handle this let down from another love of his life. After a short period of mourning he decided to ask the 2nd wife. He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. You have always gave me strength in my weakest hour with wise advice and encouragement and now that I am dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" The 2nd wife replied, "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time" "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." Her answer came like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated. He wept even more bitterly than he had ever wept before. He would now have to make this trip alone; All the delicacies and love he had shown to his 4th wife was of little matter to her. The pride of having a wife like the 3rd , and the boasting about her to all of his friends and family, was to her of little consequence as she had also refused to accompany him, instead remarrying and enjoying life without him. The confidence he had in his 2nd wife was of little importance now, even though she had always offered encouragement in his roughest times. The King now had to face this journey alone and as he sobbed in his misery, he heard a small weak voice call out: "I'll leave with you and follow you no matter where you go." The King looked up, and there to his amazement was the feeble and malnourished first wife whom he had so willingly neglected. Greatly grieved, and saddened at the sight now before him, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!" I ignored you even though you were the most important part of my, all the other wives didn't matter, and now I realize that I was too blind to see and understand the important role you played in my life, and now you of all my wives have agreed to accompany me, I am saddened for the neglect and abuse I inflicted on you, please forgive me. That is not a real life story but it is true, in that we all have four wives in our lives. YOU DIDN'T REALIZE THAT, DID YOU? The Kings 4th wife had all of her wants fulfilled at any cost to the King Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish on it, with fine clothes, jewelry, cosmetic surgeries in making it look good, it will leave us when we die. Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. Our cars, houses, paintings, collections, and guess what? When we die, it will marry another as it goes to others, who will enjoy getting rid of it as it doesn't mean the same to them Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, through good times or bad times, no matter how much they love us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go. So cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part which will follow us to the grave to be resurrected at the return of Jesus and if we have fine tuned it to the frequency of the redeeming blood of Jesus, then it will accompany us through eternity. If not then it, along with you will be cast into the lake fire with the Devil, the false Prophet and the Beast at the final judgement. Don't think too long as to where you have placed your priorities, you only have a very short time before Michael stands up, (Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.), and probation is closed forever. Revelation 22:11,12 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. It's time to make a decision and put your priorities in order. Today is the day of salvation Jeremiah 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. Copyright 2015 Worldwide by Paul Taylor All scriptures are from the King James Version unless noted [email protected] Paul Taylor a Christian writer attempting to get the truth out to the masses before it is too late Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |