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In his letter to the church, Jude gives a dire warning. He writes, "To them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called...it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares...ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1-4).

The book of Exodus contains one of the strangest passages in all of scripture. As Israel camped at Mount Sinai, they were suddenly engulfed by thick darkness and an incredible, blazing fire. Out of the midst of these awesome elements, God spoke: "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice" (Deuteronomy 5:22).

Rest assured, if you are trying to walk righteously before the Lord, you are being tested! If fact, the deeper your walk with Christ, the more intense your testing will be. Scripture makes this clear:

"The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.... Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help.... And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed" (Daniel 11:32-35)

Let me share with you what I believe God has shown me about His judgments on America — judgments that have already begun. Recently, while deep in prayer, these words rang over and over in my spirit: "The beggars are a sign! The beggars are a sign!"

You can believe the Kingdom-dominion people if you choose, who preach that Christians will subdue and purify this ungodly world system and bring back King Jesus to a conquered earth. As for me, I believe the apostle Peter who stood in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost and boldly proclaimed that Joel's prophetic last days had come.

No beating around the bush and no soft-pedaling. Let me give it to you straight. The sin that makes God cry is being committed daily - not by pagan workers of iniquity, but by multitudes of Christians! It is the sin of doubting God's love for His children.

In one way or another, we are all hurting. Everybody is in the same boat. Even the laughing, happy–go–lucky crowd is hurting. They try to hide their hurt by drinking and joking — but it won't go away.

Who hurts? The parents of a prodigal son or daughter. Millions of parents have been deeply wounded by a child who has rejected their counsel. Those loving parents grieve over the deception and delinquency of a child who was once tender and good.

"These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God" (Revelation 14:4-5).

My wife and I were having dinner with a family friend not long ago, a woman we've known for some time. Suddenly, in the middle of our meal, our friend began to voice the kinds of thoughts I've been hearing from Christians all across the country.

She said to us:

Accepting Our High Calling to Share the Joy of the Lord

There are two elements of Jesus’ life that are meant to be part of our lives too. That is, we’re called to be holy and anointed. Some Christians might be intimidated when they hear this. “Sure, I live a moral life, and I do my best to be godly—but holy? And anointed? How could that happen with all my failures?”

Yet here it is, straight from Peter’s pen: “It is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:16, ESV).

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Christ shared these words with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. It was meant to give them comfort and reassurance in what would be the darkest hour of their faith. Since that time Christians down through the ages have drawn comfort from Jesus’ words here, to sustain them through their most difficult trials.