THE HEART OF GOD OR THE GOD OF THE HEART

1 Samuel 13:14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

1 Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Jeremiah 16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me

Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them

Ezekiel 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

Some, like David, are a people "after God's own heart," seeking what His heart truly is toward them, and what His will is. Some, pretend to know Him, but seek a god that will follow their heart, and make them gods, to do their own will. Both can look like sincere Christians. But God knows the man/woman who is after His own heart. He seeks such.

Those who are after His own heart, when going through trials, will look to Him, seek His face, desire His will, even at the expense of their own comfort, wanting to come forth with a faith of pure gold. Those who seek a god after their heart, will become bitter in trials condemning God for allowing hardship or pain or suffering in their lives, saying, "God, why aren't you answering my prayers?" "Why are You letting this happen?" Now many of us ask those questions through our trials and have doubts and fears, but the difference is even in our seeming to be hurt by the God we love, we submit ourselves under His mighty hand, in faith that He will again lift us up in due time, and that all He allows/brings into our lives is for our eternal good and communion with Him.

1 Peter 5:6-10 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (7) casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (8) Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (9) Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (10) And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Those who seek a god after their own heart, will be bitter, because God did not prove to be making things happen their way, for their temporal happiness, comfort, health and prosperity. They don't seek His face or His heart.

Those who are after HIS heart, whatever the pain they must endure, or hardship, do not want to fail to please Him, because of their love for Him. They fear to fail to find His will because they have learned to love His will, even when it means giving up and surrendering their own, even as Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed, "Not my will, but Yours be done." If we have a heart after Him, our heart is truly after His will, not our own. We have learned our ultimate joy and life is wrapped up solely in His will for us and have learned to trust His love and His purpose, even when it means giving up what seems to be happiness and fulfillment in this world. Our ultimate happiness and fulfillment is only in being one with Him and abiding in His love.

The person who seeks a god after their own heart desires their happiness to be given now, regardless of God's will or the well-being of others in their lives. They are driven by their own selfish desires and want those around them and their god as well, to make that happen, and when they don't, they will seek elsewhere. Perhaps another religion or god, or another prophet or teacher, perhaps other people to fill the void they want filled, perhaps other circumstances. They will be ever seeking and never finding, because only when they give up their own will and embrace God's will they truly know Him. Only as they surrender to His will, will they be made able to see and learn of His heart for them and come to truly desire that. Because He loved us, we are enabled to be filled with that love as we surrender in faith to it, learning to know Him, and only then are we able to be fulfilled by it.

There are many professing Christians in the world, who have a vain hope, because their hope is in a false Jesus, and a false god. Their trust is in a false humanistic gospel that is no gospel at all. The truly good news is that though we are sinners separated from a holy perfect God, lost eternally, with no hope at all of saving ourselves, Jesus, Who is Immanuel, "God with us" came to us in the flesh and died, taking our sins upon Himself, becoming sin for us, taking all of sin's punishment, and now those who put their trust in Him, as He was, will be risen to new life unto God, and eternal life with Him, which we were created for initially. We were created to be totally fulfilled in His glory, His presence, His unspeakable love, forever without end. We were not ever to be our own gods, making our own way, fulfilled in ourselves. We will never find goodness or beauty or fulfillment in ourselves or be our own gods. And we will never find a true god that will give us that. We will only find the true meaning of what we were created for and to be in Christ, as we come to know Him and turn our hearts to Him and His will.

If you find your heart being pulled to the world, or distracted by life around you, you can come to Him, confessing such, and ask Him, "Lord make me a child after Your own heart." He will. Seek His face. Seek His Word, and know that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). He won't fail the one who seeks His very heart. The one who is not, will come to find all he seeks will backfire on him. It won't give him what he wants. He will end up disillusioned.

By sitting at the feet of Jesus, reading His Word, and letting it penetrate our very hearts, we find His Spirit molds our heart to be one with His, as we receive His Word by faith, and surrender our lives to it. But those who are not after HIS heart, are those who will shun His Word, or take only the parts that appeal to them, and combine it with the word of religious men that tickle their ears, and make them feel good without any conviction of sin. They won't listen to the Word of God that convicts them of their need to repent of sin and surrender to Him. They will also never find the life that comes from that. They'll go on thinking themselves to be Christians but following a false Jesus, that is only an idol and can do nothing for them. They receive a false Jesus but never turn in repentance (change of heart and mind) to the Jesus of the Bible Who alone can truly save them, give them His Spirit, and everlasting life.

Test yourself and see which you are...a man/woman after God's own heart, or a man/woman seeking a god after your own heart. Read His living Word. Let it take priority in your life. Submit to it as it reveals hidden things of the heart to you.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Job 13:15a Though he slay me, I will hope in him

His Word will expose and slay what needs to be in our hearts, but what comes out of that death is true life that will last forever and truly fulfill the void in our hearts we seek to fill. Don't hide from it, but let it have its work in you. Nothing we can find in this world is worth losing that or neglecting it.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (25) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (26) For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Be one who seeks God's very heart. You won't be disappointed. In the process of finding His heart, your own will be saved, filled, and blessed. May it be so, Lord, for all who read this! Amen.

If you want to know more about this salvation and are not sure you are going to Heaven, you can know. His Word assures us how we can know. Click here to read more.

THE STABILITY OF FAITH

Isaiah 7:9b "…If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all."

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge: If ye: etc. or, ye not believe, it is because ye are not stable, 2 Chronicles 20:20; Acts 27:11, Acts 27:25; Romans 11:20; Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 5:10

Colossians 2:5-7 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. (6) Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, (7) rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Why are many Christian's lives unstable, always faltering, never really maturing in the Lord or understanding what it means to walk in the Spirit? Genuine faith in the true God and His Son Jesus Christ is what brings stability and maturity to our walk with Him.

"FAITH--a firm persuasion or conviction," Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of the NT...

Faith is not passive. It is an action we must take when attacked by the enemy based on what we truly are persuaded of and have a conviction of through God's Word by His Spirit. We must stand firm in faith, regardless of the attack, the suffering, the circumstances, we must be established by faith, stand firm in faith, and walk in faith, not giving in to the attacks and letting them defeat us. If we don't we will not be established, we will not stand, but we will fall prey to all the wiles of the enemy. In the Christian life, only faith enables us to stand. We will not benefit from all God would have for us or want to do in us, through us, and for us without it. God has given us all we need for life and godliness in Christ, but they must be appropriated by faith. That faith has to be in the One Who is faithful. It is not a force of its own. It has to be persuasion and conviction of God's faithfulness revealed to us in His written Word. This alone brings stability to the Christian life and walk.

So many Christians who are suffering trials will say, "Why is God doing this to me?" Or, "Why is God letting this happen?" But they fail to see they need to exercise the shield of faith that God has provided for them and hold it up during every trial, so that we are not defeated by it. Anytime we fail to do that the enemy can have his way with us and that is not God's doing. It is our failing to appropriate from Him what He has provided to overcome. Many things are allowed by God in our lives to train us to stand and become established and firm in Him, confident in Him, and able to overcome. He promises that it is for our good when we love Him and are called according to His purpose. We have to lay claim to His promises through all. We have to trust His plan through all. If we doubt His plan, His love for us, His care of our lives, etc. then we won't enjoy them or experience them.

We must take heed that we combine faith with hearing God's promises and stand on them or we can receive nothing, just as Israel in the wilderness when they doubted God and were not able to enter the promised land because of it.

Hebrews 4:2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Their lack of faith caused disobedience. Faith should manifest in obedience. Hebrews 3:18-19 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? (19) So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Sometimes trials cause us to lose faith...or what we thought was faith, but really was not the genuine faith in the Lord in a right way. We need to see God rightly and ourselves rightly. What happens then, is that what we thought was faith is burned away. The rug is pulled out from under our feet so to speak. We are left reeling, weak, vulnerable, thinking we are shipwrecked, not understanding. We feel we have no faith left. It's then that the Lord reveals Himself to us and we find a stronger faith in Him alone, Who He is, what He alone has done and can do in us, and for us. We begin to trust His faithfulness. Our faith is purified, established, and what was really just "dross" falls away. His faith comes forth in us, enabling us to stand. ¬

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, (7) so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

True faith will be brought forth and purified through the testing of trials. Faith in the wrong thing will be seen for what it is and a wrong relationship with God will be exposed. Faith in ourselves will be shown to fail. Faith in our faith will prove useless and powerless. But when we are forced to seek God for Who He is, we learn of Him and true faith in Him grows in our hearts and keeps us. True faith sees ourselves helpless and unworthy before God, and bows down in surrender to Him, trusting He alone is able to give any power to that surrender, trusting Him to do so. He alone is the power of our salvation, the strength of it, and the strength of our surrender. We simply cast ourselves at Him, and give ourselves up to Him. Sometimes we have to be stripped of all that we depend on in order to see that. We fail to see our spiritual pride when all things are going well. We fail to see our self-righteousness when it seems to be working for us. But God is faithful to chastise and to cause us to see our flesh when we are otherwise completely blind to it. He is faithful to humble us. It's in the place of humility we are finally able to find grace and receive it. If we fight against His humbling in our lives and hold onto our pride, trying not to "lose face" then that's what we'll be stuck with and we'll never really know God and become established in true faith in Him. We'll have to keep on trying to stand in faith in ourselves, our works, our pride, our doings, our abilities. Some people never learn, and they continue trying to cover up and prove themselves and make up for their lack holding onto their pride rather than seeing what God would want to give them in Himself if they would only let go. God sees it for what it is, He isn't fooled. Neither is the devil. He sees through it clearly and works to keep you there. Most others around you see through it also. It's really only you who are fooled.

"Let go and let God," is a well-known cliché that we hear a lot. But what does it mean? Let go of your own way, your own righteousness, your own self-confidence, and let God be your trust, your strength, your salvation, your righteousness, and all you need. It is all in Him. He continually works in our lives to bring us to that. And just when we think we're there, He shows us more of ourselves and our lack of trusting Him. He seeks continually to make us firm and established in true faith in Him alone. We must recognize His doing so and not rebel but yield ourselves to Him, casting all our care upon Him, "humbling ourselves under His mighty hand" until He, at the right time, raises us up (1 Peter 5:6-10).

Father, help us to not fear or doubt when it seems our faith and our world is crumbling down around us and we lose hope. Help us to remember to exercise faith in Your sure Word - Your promises that will never fail. Help us to remember to stand in faith that You provide through Your Spirit in us and the Word You gave us no matter how much we may tremble in weakness. Teach us Your ways and help us not to fear when You humble us and show us ourselves. Enable us by grace to submit ourselves to You in the process that is because of Your perfect love for us, working all things together for our good. In Jesus name may it be so.

If you want to know more about this salvation and are not sure you are going to Heaven, you can know. His Word assures us how we can know. Click here to read more.

THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINE

This is an older devotional I wrote some years back, but its message seems to come to me now and then to remind me those little foxes are always there, trying to spoil the vines. We can conquer in the big things, the obvious things, and all the while not be aware many times that it's the little things that are really the greater issue in our lives. If we don't conquer the little foxes in our lives, they tend to spoil anything greater we can do for God or He in us.

“The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!” Song of Solomon 2:13 ”Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:15

From Watchman Nee’s commentary on Song of Solomon…

“Take us [Let us catch] the foxes” is very much a command. Big foxes go after the fruit of the vine, but little foxes break the tender vine branches. Though damage may be done by big foxes, you may still have a chance to bear some fruit, but with the damage done by little foxes the chance of fruitage is almost destroyed….” “What are the little foxes? Every small appearance of the old life – a habit, a retrospective look – such are the little foxes. They are not necessarily grave sins. We are told in Ecclesiastes 10:1: ‘Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.’ Little foxes hide themselves behind the vines. If unnoticed they can easily destroy the vine. Subjectively speaking, the first step of hindrance is in the matter of following the Lord. Little foxes do their damage and cause conditions of fruitlessness usually before the resurrection life in Christ is strongly established within. We must therefore beware of the little foxes.”

What are the little foxes in your life? Are you aware of them? Are you watching for them?

God is calling us to an intimate relationship with Himself. He is working in us the power of His Cross, and the power of His resurrection life. As we learn to abide in Him and His Word abides in us, much fruit is able to come forth in our lives, even in the winter of our lives, through much trial and suffering, we learn, as we abide in Him, that there is a fruitfulness that comes out of our suffering.

But many times there are the little foxes to contend with. We go on ignoring them day after day and finally we realize they have destroyed our fruit, and we cannot ignore the damage they have caused. Each of us has something of our sinful nature that we just haven’t dealt with, even while serving the Lord, and growing in our walk with Him. It is an irritation, a bad habit, something that we just get by with….but we never take it to the Lord and surrender it to His cross. It may be an attitude. It may be a habit. It may be a “small” besetting sin, that others don’t really see, but you know it is there.

These “little foxes” have a way of creeping up on you, just as the Lord is beginning a work in your inner being, and spoiling it, so that it bears no fruit.

Matthew Henry…

”The first risings of sinful thoughts and desires, the beginnings of trifling pursuits which waste the time, trifling visits, small departures from truth, whatever would admit some conformity to the world; all these, and many more, are little foxes which must be removed. This is a charge to believers to mortify their sinful appetites and passions, which are as little foxes, that destroy their graces and comforts, and crush good beginnings. Whatever we find a hinderance to us in that which is good, we must put away.”

But too often the little foxes get ignored. We don’t think they are big enough to deal with. We put them on the back burner, and say we will deal with them later.

Time wasters are little foxes. There are so many time wasters in our lives. Have you ever had a day where you were busy all day and accomplished nothing? There was no fruitfulness in your day. By the end of the day you were exhausted and yet you said to yourself, “What did I do? This was a wasted day.” I’ve had too many days like that until I have to realize that my time belongs to God, and there is enough time in each day, given by Him to do what He would have me to do with that day. I can’t let the little foxes spoil the fruitfulness He intends.

Worry is a little fox. We spend so much energy worrying about what may happen or not happen that it robs us of our strength and our joy in accomplishing what the Lord would have us to do. Our job is to obey Him – His job is to work out the details and the problems. Worry is fear that God won’t do His part, or that He is not really active in the things in our life that concern us. Worry is dread that our purposes and our will won’t see the thing that we hope for transpire, instead of accepting God’s purposes to be accomplished in the matter and accepting whatever His will is, that it is perfect and that He works all things together for our good.

Instead, we let the cares of this world choke us as in the parable of the sower… Matt. 13:22 ”He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”

Gossip is a little fox that spoils many vines that are bearing good fruit. Nothing will more quickly destroy a fruitful vine. It betrays confidence, spoils reputations, brings discord, and is the most difficult to repair. It destroys God’s vine and the fruit of others lives also, besides our own.

Prov. 11:13 ”A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.”
Pro 20:19 ”He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.”

Slothfulness is another little fox that must be dealt with. If not dealt with then the work God has given us, the fruitfulness He intends for us, and the growth in our spiritual life will never take place. Procrastination is a robber of God. The thing we are putting off doing usually never gets done.

There are many little foxes. Maybe you can think of more of them in your own life. The time to deal with the little foxes is now – not after they have spoiled your fruitfulness and your intimacy with God. God is calling you – “Come away my beloved!” Will you put off His call? He wishes to bring you into a life of abundant fruitfulness and intimacy with Him. The time to answer is now.

Abba, Father, we say, “yes!” to Your command to “catch” the little foxes, and Your call to intimacy in an abiding relationship with You, so that You may have the fruitfulness in our lives that You deserve. Help us to catch the little foxes. Reveal them to us, and help us to deal with them by Your Spirit. Shed Your light on the little foxes in our lives.

If you want to know more about this salvation and are not sure you are going to Heaven, you can know. His Word assures us how we can know. Click here to read more.

WHAT KIND OF ESCAPIST ARE YOU?

We are all escapists of some kind. We want to escape the cares of this world, problems, sorrows, suffering of any kind, unless you have something mentally wrong with you and enjoy pain! We are all motivated in every single thing we do by wanting to escape something. For example, we lose weight because we want to escape the judgment of others or the health risks that come with being overweight. We go to work because we want to escape poverty and suffering that goes with that. Many times Christians, who believe in the full redemption of Christ through His finished work, being consummated in the rapture (catching up to be with Him forever, John 14:3, 1 Thess. 4:13-17, 1 Cor. 15:49-54), of the church, are said to be just "escapists" and somehow want to avoid the sufferings of Christ. I decided to do a word study on the word "escape" to clarify what the Bible says we should, as believers, escape and what we will not escape, and who will escape what. I encourage you whenever you hear arguments of different belief systems or teachers to do that. Study all that the Word has to say about it. In fact, in this day, when the meanings of words are being so skewed and changed, it's a good idea to look up word definitions and think critically of many ways words are used. We are manipulated and persuaded by a word sometimes.

First of all there are "straw-man arguments" that people set up. They then tear down their own straw man and nobody catches on to what they are doing. Their argument makes sense to those who hear, so they don't check it out any further. After all, they used Scripture! So does the devil. I've learned, after listening to too many of those type of arguments to go to the Word to research it myself to see if these things be so. What's the real argument? What's the real issue? Are they accurately portraying that? Or are they setting up a false premise?

Many times the escapist argument is set up on a false premise. It is a straw-man argument. Christians throughout history have not escaped suffering. The true believer, though suffering is not what he wants, is willing to endure suffering for the Savior He loves, and counts it a privilege to be considered "worthy to suffer for His name." He is willing out of love and gratefulness to all that His Savior has done for him to suffer for Him, if need be, though does not go looking for it. Those who say "those escapists just don't want to suffer" have a false premise and misrepresent those who believe they will escape the tribulation period of 7 years of God's wrath on this earth. In fact, I used to say that myself, because I had not understanding of what the tribulation is, and what the sufferings of Christ are. The Bible tells us all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer. Yes, there are those Christians who think God should only bless them in this world and look for an escape to any suffering or trial, because they see God as some sort of good luck charm rather than having a true understanding of Who He is and what He calls us to. As living in a fallen world, we suffer many things just as the world does. Just being a Christian in an ungodly world will cause you to suffer, because the world hates Him and so hates those who truly believe in, trust, and follow Him and His true teachings. As the world grows more and more ungodly and takes on more of the nature of the flesh and the devil, they will all the more persecute Christians. Does the Bible say we will escape that? No. In fact in many places the Lord warns and assures us that if the world hated Him it will hate us, and that we will be persecuted. Paul tells us, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake," (Philippians 1:29). As Christians, then, we can expect the tribulation in this world that Christ suffered. This is our time, as believers, of tribulation, since Christ was crucified. If we are living truly for Christ, we won't escape that unless we hide ourselves away somewhere alone and never interact with the lost world. This world is the Christian's time of tribulation. It is not judgment, except from the world, and it is not a "finishing of our salvation" to make us "without spot or wrinkle" as though we had to go through an earthly purgatory to be ready for the Lord's coming. This negates the finished work of Christ, and adds to His redemption. If you are trusting in anything other than that work alone, you will find it comes up short when you stand before a holy God.

Non-believers should expect to suffer for their sin, and be judged for it ultimately. This they will not escape. The only escape from this judgment of His wrath against sin, is beforehand, when His grace and mercy is held out to them, drawing them to His free salvation, calling them to become one of His own dear children, simply by faith in His precious blood that was shed for them. If they refuse this, there is no more escape for them when the time of judgment comes.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:26)
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, (Hebrews 2:3)
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. (Hebrews 12:25)

Is the Christian to endure a time that the Lord calls "the day of the Lord" - which is a time of wrath prepared especially for this unbelieving world? Do we need some extra "purifying" that Christians throughout history have not had by going through thee time of tribulation "that is to come upon all the "whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth?" This time has been called "the time of Jacob's trouble" or "the day of judgment?" How did Christians somehow make it to heaven in the past without this extra "purgatory" to cleanse them? What does the Bible say about this time regarding Christians? I believe it clearly says we will be delivered from that hour of trial, tribulation, that is to come on this world in the rapture of the church before His wrath is poured out.

"and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." (1 Thessalonians 1:10)
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
"Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth." (Revelation 3:10)

Yes, Christians are "escapists" if they believe in the power of the redemption of Jesus Christ, that He has promised we who have "died with Him," will also be "raised with Him" and will escape His wrath. We will escape, ultimately this body of death and be finally redeemed just as He promised. We will escape finally our sorrow in this world, and enter into His joy, as He said we would. It is the blessed hope of the believer! We will finally be with our Lord and Savior forever! Those who love Him look for His coming and long for Him. In fact a crown is awaiting all that long for His coming as a bride longs for her groom. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)
"But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:34-37)

The way of escape is through faith in the only sacrifice for our sin, that was able to pay the true price of our redemption. Christ alone, is counted worthy, and only as we by faith become one with Him in His death and resurrection, as we put our faith in Him to be our salvation, can we escape. No works or suffering of our own will cut it. It is as filthy rags in His sight. Now is the day of salvation. Will you escape the wrath to come? If you have been born of His Spirit through simple faith in His saving power, He has promised you will.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)

Will you escape the sufferings of Christ in this world now by taking the side of the world, denying Him, and enjoying whatever your passions tell you that you have a right to? Will you identify with Christ, or with the world in their teachings and philosophies? Or will you escape your sin and its consequences and have eternal life in Christ? I guess one way or another you are an escapist. It's just what you will escape, and what you will gain that matters.

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26)
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?" (Luke 9:23-25)

If you want to know more about this salvation and are not sure you are going to Heaven, you can know. His Word assures us how we can know. Click here to read more.