​Our nation is fast becoming a hard-hearted, unkind, unforgiving, hateful people.
 
Genuine love and concern for one another is in short supply in America. Of course, people of every stripe say they love one another. But the truth is love cannot flow from hard, unkind, unforgiving hearts. Having served as a pastor in Christian ministry for over forty years, I have encountered many people, non-Christian and Christian, who would do well to heed Paul’s advice in our word for the week.
 
In Ephesians 4:31 Paul writes “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander, be put away from you along with all malice.” Paul exhorts us to put this icky stuff away from our lives. How can you and I have healthy, meaningful, mutually satisfying, lasting relationships with others if our hearts are hardened with this emotional poison?
 
When God’s Word tells us what not to do, it always follows with what to do.
           
Sad to say, many hearts today are tough as nails. Hard as a rock. Ephesians 4:32 is the antidote to verse 31.
 
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other as God in Christ has forgiven you. “Ephesians 4:32
 
As a professing follower of Jesus Christ, it is my personal responsibility to put away the poison and put on kindness, tenderness and forgiveness…in the same way God has forgiven me in Christ. I love the phrase “tender hearted.” Just saying “tender hearted” softens my heart which is tempted to harden because of life around me.        
           
Truth is it is way too easy to develop a hard heart in our current culture.
 
When you consider the heart breaking, hard-heartedness of abortion, sexual crime, injustice, brutal violence, bullying, discrimination, prejudice, degrading, demeaning profanity, immorality, political correctness, slander-filled rhetoric, vicious verbal attacks, hate speech, oppression, terrorist attacks, and daily bombardment of breaking news that breaks the heart, your and my heart can harden in a hurry.
 
Who hasn’t shouted a few choice words toward the television when you hear of the hard-hearted mistreatment of our fellow Americans? I know my spiritual/emotional blood pressure rises quickly. I have been guilty of hardening my heart.
 
The devil, our real enemy, (Ephesians 6:10-20), is a divider who specializes in hardening hearts so people will hate each other instead of loving one another.
 
Hard hearts beat with Satan’s hatred. Soft hearts beat with God’s love.
 
Hebrews 3:12-13 warns us “Take care, brethren, least there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  
 
Sin is deceitful. Satan uses sin to harden our hearts toward God and people. Could it be that we sin against each other when our hearts, words and deeds lack kindness, tenderness and forgiveness? I am convinced that is true.
 
Tender, kind, forgiving hearts are vital to healthy relationships.
 
Two words of encouragement are on my heart for the body of Christ today.
 

1. The mission of the church of Jesus Christ is to evangelize the world (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8).

 
Our primary purpose is to witness for Jesus and win lost sinners to the Lord. How can we win spiritually lost, hurting people if our hearts are hard? A loving, kind, tender, forgiving heart is necessary for reaching and winning lost people to Christ.
 
·      A hardhearted person will be open to receiving Christ when a loving, caring, sensitive Christian shares God’s love with them from a soft heart.
 
      2. A tender heart in no way means Christians must tolerate sin.
 
Tender hearts uphold truth. Soft hearts do not trash or toss the truth. A compassionate heart, beating with the love of Jesus Christ, never compromises convictions. You and I can share our beliefs unashamedly, firmly, and wisely with a soft touch. (See I Peter 3:14-15).
 
Today the name of Jesus is openly taken in vain, mocked, ridiculed and blasphemed. Christians are marginalized, vilified and demonized. So, what is new? The world persecuted Jesus and will persecute His followers (John 15:20).
 
·      Persecution is not permission for having a hard heart.
 
 My fellow Christian, in these last, difficult days (see II Timothy 3:1-15), do not allow the world to harden your heart. Instead, let God’s Word and the Holy Spirit keep it tender and soft.
 
BE HONEST. If your heart is hardening, ask the Holy Spirit to soften it.
 
Why not be like Jesus whose name you claim? Be a kind, tenderhearted, forgiving person every day.
 
A Word For Your Week: Tenderize my heart

​Star Wars junkies, like me, recall this cryptic, critical battle order from command and control to young Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker as he fearlessly piloted his Star Fighter on his final attack run against the dreaded Death Star of the evil Empire.
 
Destruction of the Death Star required a direct hit on a specific target. Staying on target to deliver a fatal blast to the intimidating and seemingly invincible enemy military outpost was Luke’s sole objective. As Darth Vader (the man with the black hat!) breathed down his neck, and laser bombs exploded all around his lone fighter…….
 
Luke stayed on target, relied on “the force,” blasting the Death Star into a bazillion pieces!
 
Skywalker saved the day by staying on target.
 
Now that we know the galaxy is safe, we can turn our attention to even more important targets in life.
 
The Apostle Paul, nearing the end of his earthly ministry, while on trial, stood tall before King Agrippa, confidently declaring that he has stayed on target as a Christian and minister of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Observe what Paul says.
 
“Consequently, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.”  Acts 26:19-20
 
First, Paul was obedient to God’s vision for his life. Paul’s passion to pursue and fulfill the “heavenly vision” given to him commenced at his conversion (Acts 9). God’s target for Paul was to preach the Good News to Jews and Gentiles. Paul never strayed off target by being disobedient to his call. Not once no matter what he suffered. (see II Corinthians 11:22-33).
           
Paul was ever faithful and never faltered to share his faith in Jesus Christ. Through thick and thin he “kept declaring” God’s plan of salvation. Through his entire ministry, Paul obeyed God’s command and stayed on target.
 
Secondly, Pauls help to stay on target came from the Lord. For Paul, staying on target was standing for Christ. “The force” in Paul’s life was Jesus Christ. Paul, “having obtained help from the Lord” (verse 22) took a stand for Christ, kept standing, and would continue to stand. Paul stood for God because God stood with Paul.
 
Third, Paul’s ministry was proof of his staying on target. Missing or falling short of the target was not an option for Paul. Through faith, Paul trusted in Christ to help him stay on target. He meant with all his might to hit the bullseye of God’s will. Paul never strayed off target. He prayed and served and stayed on target to the end.
 
In the end, he received from Jesus the crown of righteousness as his eternal reward (II Timothy 4:7-8). Those who love Christ’s appearing will receive the same crown! I can hardly wait for that moment when I see Jesus and He sets the crown of righteousness on me!
 
 The Christian life is a lifelong mission of staying on target. Our God-given vision is our mission. Our mission is to stay on target to fulfill the vision.
 
Paul inspires me and fires me up to stay on target! He stayed on mission and completed the vision. The devil, like Darth Vader, will do all he can to distract, discourage and destroy God’ visionaries. Satan’s strategy of destruction is designed so that Christians might stray and stay off target.
 
Paul would have none of the enemy’s nonsense. The Apostle of grace knew where he stood in Christ. God’s Word boldly declares to believers “You are from God little children and have overcome them; for greater is He (Jesus Christ) who is in you than he (the devil) who is in the world.” (I John 4:4).
 
Life tends to drift from time to time.
 
Drifting off target leads to being overwhelmed and overcome by life. Staying on target keeps us overcoming in life and overwhelming the enemy! Paul was not a spiritual drifter, and neither should we be.
           
 The ultimate test and proof of Christian commitment is staying on target. Here are some thoughts on staying on target.
 

• Staying on target is God’s will for us.
• Staying on target keeps our faith focused.
• Staying on target through Christ makes us conquerors.
• Staying on target reaps God’s richest rewards.
• Stay on target when you cannot see the target.
• Stay on target when you are a target.
• Stay on target when others stray off target.
• Stay on target when you are tired of staying on target.
• Stay on target when other targets distract you.
• Stay on target when tempted to go off target.
• Stay on target knowing God is with you!

 
What “heavenly vision” has God given you? Are you being obedient to God’s vision for your life? Are you staying on target?
 
Staying on target keeps us from straying off target.
 
When it seems hardest to stay on target, stay on target! Look to the Lord, lean on the Holy Spirit for His help, and stay obedient to what God has called you to do.
 
My fellow Christian, stay on target. Whatever you do, keep the faith and stay on target for Jesus Christ.
 
“But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”                                                                        Hebrews 10:3
 
“But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”                                                                                                              Philippians 3:13-14
 
A Word For Your Week: Trust God and stay on target.
 

​Every single day is a gracious gift from God.
 
With undying hope in my heart and unwavering trust in my personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I begin each day with bold, optimistic faith in my faithful God.
 
“This is the day the Lord has made; we (you and me) will rejoice and be glad in it.
 Psalm 118:24
 
As I look forward expectantly to every day, the Lord has told me to stay awake spiritually and morally. More than ever before. Why? Because of the day you and I and our families are living in.
 
Our Word For This Week is found in Romans 13:11.
 
“And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” Romans 13:11
 
Note Paul says, “knowing the time;” it was the hour for Roman Christians to “awaken from sleep.” Why? Because salvation was nearer than ever before. Paul was writing to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. Roman culture rejected Jesus. Believers in Christ were suffering for the sake of His name and cause.
 
During intense, costly cultural oppression, Paul exhorted his fellow Christians to know the time and to wake up and stay spiritually awake.           
           
In II Timothy 3:1-15 Paul told Timothy that “in the last days, difficult (perilous, trying) times will come” (verse 1). Read these fifteen verses and see if they do not describe our nation and world. Difficult days. Perilous times are indeed here.
 
You, me, our families and the body of Christ in the United States and around the world are experiencing a monumental societal shift. A cataclysmic cultural change that is altering what Americans believe and how they behave themselves. America is changing----in the wrong direction.
 
A deadly, deceptive spirit stealthily slithers its way through our slumbering society. Self-absorbed, mean-spirited peddlers of personal agendas distort truth and bombard our culture with fabricated falsehoods.   
           
             
Slick-tongued liars, motivated by selfish-ambition, self-interest and power, sell naïve people a bill of goods that is not good for them. We are told to save trees and whales, while we kill babies. We are expected to tolerate and accept as normal, and even God-caused, perverse sexual conduct that culture laughs at, but God calls abomination.
 
We are railroaded to redistribute wealth while burying our children in mountains of greed-based debt. All that is innocent, sacred, holy and pure is being sacrificed on a carnal altar of comfort, convenience and preference of arrogant, unbelieving men who believe they know better than their Creator.
 
While average Americans snooze spiritually and morally, sinister forces stay wide awake, huddling behind closed doors late at night, deviously, and without moral conscience, plotting the demise of society as we have known it.
 
We are being taken for a dangerous ride, and many of our fellow citizens do not even know who is driving the bus to destruction. Why? Because they are spiritually and morally asleep. Sadly, many professing Christians have fallen asleep too.
 
Today is not the day to fall asleep spiritually or morally.
 
Does it matter if we fall asleep spiritually and morally? Indeed it does.
 
Read Mark 14:32-42. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prepared His soul for going to the Cross to become sin for us, the disciples were sleeping! Jesus rebuked Peter and the others for sleeping when He needed them to be awake. When it was time to go, Jesus was ready to face what was coming. The disciples were not. They fled and failed because they slept. May we not be like the disciples who pushed the snooze alarm, hoping to catch a few more z’s because they were weary of the battle.
 
While the disciples slept and you und I sleep, spiritual conflict rages on. This day and everyday we cannot afford to go to sleep while the devil is wide awake. Snoozing will not make Satan and his evil, demonic forces fade away. Sleeping on our part provides opportunity for the evil one to steal, kill and destroy.
           
My brother or sister in Christ: do you know the time and are you staying awake?  
     
You and I are God’s righteous remnant. As His witnesses, we are here, not to sleep and slumber our way through life, but to stay awake in Christ, walking firm and steadfast in our faith, sounding the alarm against all who deceive and distract precious people for whom Jesus died from coming to the knowledge of God’s only Son.
 
Staying Awake
 

• Know the truth. Read and meditate upon God’s Word. Reject men’s lies.
• Join a small group of prayer warriors. Boldly hold each up before the Lord.
• Do not blindly accept what you hear from worldly media. The media markets what they want you to hear. Do not buy what is being sold.
• Resist relentless pressure to be lulled to sleep by the spirit of compromise and complacency that brainwashes us to buy into tolerance and indifference.
• Do not roll over and think there is nothing you can do to stem the tide. You and God are an invincible force for righteousness in an unrighteous world. Believe it. Act upon it.
• Encourage fellow Christians everywhere you go. We have already won in Christ. The victory is ours. Act like the winner you are in Him and exhort other believers to do the same.
• Lift up the name of Jesus every chance you have. Do not be silent. With eyes wide open, look for opportunities to tell people about The Way, The Truth and The Life.

       
Stay awake my fellow Christian. Wide-eyed awake. Man your post. Remain on spiritual alert. Give no quarter to the enemy of our souls. Cover your family with the Word of God. Stand up courageously, in the name of Jesus Christ, to resist and resoundingly reject the anti-Christ, anti-Christian spirit stalking our society.
 
Personally resolve to rise up in Christ’s resurrection power. Boldly and joyfully enter each day with the love of God in your heart, the grace and goodness of Jesus in your words and conduct, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that empowers you to fulfill His will on earth.
 
Stay awake every day.
 
“For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”                                                                                                         Ephesians 5:14
 
“Awake to righteousness, and stop sinning…”                                     I Corinthians 15:34
 
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”
                                                                                                                         I Peter 5:8-9
 
A Word For Your Week: Stay spiritually wide awake while others sleep.

​As a Christian who loves and serves the Lord Jesus Christ I am blessed and very grateful that I have lived my life and raised my family in the United States of America.
But every day my heart is heavily burdened with concern for my country.
While multitudes of Americans are sleeping at our nation’s moral wheel, sinister, evil forces are working feverishly and overtime through naïve, misguided, morally lost people who are committed to toppling and destroying our Judea/Christian nation.  
‘Woke” is one of them.
My friends, America needs to wake up. But not the “Woke” way.
Contrary to its zealous adherent’s claims, “Woke” is not enlightened. The truth is “Woke” is dark. “Woke” is founded upon and operates in spiritual/moral darkness.
The souls of “Woke” subscriber’s dwell in ever-deepening, dark shadows of death. The prince of darkness, Satan, is the one who tricks vulnerable, gullible folks into believing and buying into the lie that “Woke” is the new truth. Truth that will liberate humankind into a glorious utopia that sets each of us free to be whatever we decide and choose to be.  
“Woke” is not some noble, life elevating wake-up call. Quite the contrary. “Woke” is dangerous. It is a deceived, deluded, immoral movement, espousing unholy, unsacred, unrighteous, perverse, indecent, degrading human conduct. “Woke” arrogantly, and at times violently, opposes what Almighty God declares in the Bible to be holy, sacred, righteous, good and decent.
“Woke” is not awake. It is asleep, blind to God’s holy Word in the Bible.  
WAKE UP READERS. “Woke” is not a silly joke to be laughed at. Our nation made that mistake when we made fun of homosexuals in the 1970’s, blind and naively oblivious to the crafty strategy of the devil to begin to chip away one deception after another at our nation’s moral core and code.
It deeply saddens, maddens and grieves my spirit that “Woke” is being force fed to innocent kindergarten children. Oh God, please spare our little ones from the perversion that is presented to their innocent minds and hearts as normal and acceptable. Who is going to save the children? You? Me? Christians? Who?
“Woke” folks are in for a soul-shocking surprise when the cosmic curtain is pulled back and realize they, like dumb sheep, have swallowed hook line and sinker an insidious lie that has negative eternal consequences. If they do not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before they die, they will awaken in hell, not “Woke”, but woe is me! What did I do to myself? Why did I believe a lie when Jesus showed me the truth and His love for me throughout my life?
I am not surprised about “Woke”.  The Bible reveals perilous times in the last days (II Timothy 3:1-15, Jude 17-25, I Peter 4:12-19). Immorality will abound. I expect the world to be “Woke”. But I am shocked and stunned that some so-called churches have welcomed ‘Woke” to their congregations. What would Jesus say about that today?  
Fellow Christians, can anything turn the “Woke” tide”. I believe with all my heart that America’s answer for revival, restoration, renewal and redemption is not to wake up to “woke”.
It is to WAKE UP TO RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would have this to say to “Woke”. Addressing Christians, the apostle of grace made it clear that righteousness is God’s will for His people.
“Awake to righteousness and stop sinning. Some have no knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.” I Corinthians 15:34 (KJV).
“Awake sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14.
And this do, knowing the time, that it is already to hour to awaken from sleep; for salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” Romans 13:11.
Three major thoughts in these verses.

1. Awake to righteousness. The Bible reveals that our Creator, Almighty God is righteous. Righteousness means being and doing what is right. Rightness, if I may put it that way, flows from God who is the author and enforcer of right and wrong. God’s people and the lost world need to wake up to what God declares is right. Wrong can never be right. What is right in the sight of God is what is right for you, me and everyone else.  

 

1. Awaken from sleep. Paul exhorted believers in Christ to wake up to what is right. Turn our moral clock off snooze mode. Christians are to live their daily life according to the guidelines of right and wrong in the Word of God. The Ten commandments would be a good place to start!

 

1. Stop sinning. You and I cannot walk in Christ’s righteousness if we willfully sin. Unrighteousness, falling short of God’s righteous plans for you and me, is sin. Sin lulls people into a spiritual coma. Satan hunts down folks who are morally asleep. The evil one subtly suggests to spiritual sleepers that right is wrong and wrong is right.

 
My friends, please listen to me. WAKE UP to the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.
 Sin is man’s deadly enemy. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23. Sin is always wrong, never right. Sin’s payday is eternal death. But God’s free gift to you and me is eternal life. Life in Christ.
My heart as I write is bursting with exhortation. You and I let’s ask God to search our heart. Ask the Lord to clean up whatever is sinful and unholy. Then commit ourselves to His righteousness in our daily life. Let’s choose to stand firm and walk by faith every day in joyful obedience to God’s commandments and guidelines for holy living.
People walking in the darkness of Satan’s damning shadow will never wake up if God’s people are asleep. I believe God has always and is now issuing a wake-up call to His righteous people to live right and reach out with Christ’s mercy and love to those who are living wrong.
You and I can make a difference. Next week I will write a few thoughts about staying awake.   
 America: Wake up “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” before it is too late.
“Righteous exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
A Word For Your Week: Awaken to righteousness America.