PREPARING FOR THE NEW YEAR

Words of Encouragement, Dec 26 2022, Ep 580

SCRIPTURES:

BUILD UP--BUILD UP! ~ Isaiah 57:14-15
"And it will be said: Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of My people. For this is what the High and Exalted One says—He who lives forever, whose Name is Holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite"
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The End of 2022
By Hal Lindsey

By the end of 2022, eight billion people lived on the earth. They were besieged by a series of plagues, droughts, false prophets, war, the threat of greater war, hatred, rage, theft, and violence. The eight billion were fragmented in a variety of ways — according to their nations, level of income, race, gender, various understandings of gender and human sexuality, along with religion or the lack thereof.

Change became overwhelming to most of the eight billion. For those over 40, it was almost unfathomable that by the end of 2022, not even half the students at Cambridge University identified as heterosexual.
In 2022, deception ruled the day. Trust in government, educational institutions, and the news media had been largely obliterated. Trust in health officials and doctors had become severely damaged. In such an environment, many found it increasingly difficult to maintain friendships.
Even families had begun to crumble. When deception rules, relationships die, and loneliness begins to blanket lives.
By the end of 2022, people were offended by almost everything. A public library in Massachusetts refused to put up a Christmas tree. It purportedly made some people “uncomfortable.” The library celebrated Hanukkah, Kwanza, and pride month, yet the powers-that-be deemed Christmas offensive.

After a public outcry, they changed their position and put up the traditional tree. But it raises a huge question. Why would a Christmas tree be considered offensive? Such trees are ubiquitous during the month of December. So, what is the offense? The word Christmas begins with Christ, and an increasing number of people are offended by any reference to Him.

A member of the town’s human rights commission wrote on Facebook, “You – who claim to believe in Christ and Christmas… are the least gracious, most hateful, most disgusting trash in the world…. Is this what you think your magic sky daddy wants?”
She said a lot more than that, most of which I don’t care to quote. I’m sure her profanity-riddled rant against God and Christians came partly because of terrible things people were saying about the town and library. There are also reports of library employees being bullied. That should not happen, and it is certainly not Christian. Later, the woman resigned from the human rights commission. But she represents another ominous trend as we near the end of 2022. That trend is rage against Jesus and His people.

For most Americans, it feels like we left Bedford Falls somewhere along the line, and we entered Pottersville. It feels unreal. Many dismiss it as society simply going through another phase. But these phases are leading to darker and darker places.

Christians can look forward to 2023 with renewed hope, but not because the world is getting better. It is not. More than ever before, it should be obvious that our hope is not in the mechanisms and programs of this world. It is in Christ alone.