July 2008 - Signs of the Times

07/01/2008

We are living in perilous times and with perilous people. The word perilous means harsh, savage, or difficult. The Bible is very clear about both the times and the people. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times WILL come."

By Dr. Judy Baus We are living in perilous times and with perilous people. The word perilous means harsh, savage, or difficult. The Bible is very clear about both the times and the people. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times WILL come." All we have to do is look around and see that these times are upon us. People everywhere are experiencing difficult times with the rising of gas and grocery prices (and the scarcity of food in many countries), a drop in the housing market, difficulty with employment, etc. The difficulty with employment goes both with the employer and the employee. The employers are telling me they have trouble finding people who want to work with commitment and integrity, and the employees are telling me they are having a hard time finding a job that will pay enough to live on with the prices of everything rising. Timothy goes on to say that perilous people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God! This is quite a list and all we have to do is open our eyes and see these people around us. Timothy says these perilous people will be always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. What is truth? Truth is something you can stake your life on. We have two different truths that confront us. The first being temporal truth which is changeable. This can be understood by knowing you have no money to pay a bill that is due but when you get your paycheck you will have the money to pay the bill so that truth changed. The second truth is eternal truth which is given by God and through His word. I can stake my life on that truth which never changes. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). This is a statement of fact and doesn’t change just because someone does not believe it! Heaven and earth are real and a fact that does not change whether or not I believe it! How do we as Christians survive in these perilous times with these perilous people? Only one way and that is the way of faith! Faith is a foundational truth of Christianity. We can’t even believe in God without Him giving us faith to do so. So what is Faith? The past few weeks, I have been teaching at House of Prayer in Wheatland concerning these same issues and how to apply biblical truths. Faith is a Greek word that means confidence or a firm conviction. We have to ask ourselves in these difficult times, "What do I have a firm conviction in?" We all must decide intellectually to believe in something or someone. It is an act of our will. It doesn't matter what is happening around us or what the people around us are doing because God provides the facts, but we must exercise our free will and believe. We need faith or belief for everything important in our lives—salvation of our families, healing of our marriage, health, money to pay for the things we need, God’s direction—for everything. The key to these perilous times and perilous people is to keep our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith—His name is JESUS!