Friday, January 15, 2010

#55 Spiritual Emergency

Revelation 12:12 "...the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."

In our country we are very blessed to have the 911 Emergency System in place. In most every town and city you can simply dial 911 from either a land or cell phone line and you will be connected to the nearest 911 operator who is standing by to assist with your emergency. Those emergencies can range from medical needs, calls to report a crime, reporting suspicious activity, or house fires. Of course there may be other reasons why you may choose to call 911, but whatever the reason hopefully we will only use that system when there is a true emergency. Frivolous calls are often made to 911 and that spends precious time and energy that should be devoted to true emergencies.

Whatever the reason we may have need to call 911, we call them because we want someone to respond immediately or as soon as humanly possible. There have even been cases where emergency responders have come under scrutiny for slow response times. Why? Because when there is a true emergency we want help and we want it right away. These are life and death situations that require immediate action and time is always of the essence.

No one would argue that a house fire is an emergency. The same holds true for someone having a heart attack, or when there is a terrible car accident. But what about spiritual emergencies? Who is standing by to respond to them? What is a spiritual emergency? The fact is that we are living in a world that is soon to end. Yes, soon is relative to when Christ is coming back, but the last time I read my Bible it said no man knows the day or the hour of Christ's coming (Mark 13:32). That means on one level that world events could take a course very quickly that sets the stage for Christ to come back in the very near future. Since many walk through life oblivious to this fact we officially have a spiritual emergency on our hands.

If we knew that Christ was coming back on a certain day this year how would that change our soul winning efforts? Would we care much less about what people think of us and share the gospel in spite of being ridiculed? Would we move out of our comfort zones and tell people about a soon-coming Savior or would we say, "I am not called to do that." Who is called to report a house fire? The first person that discovers it, right? I recognize and agree that not everyone is called to be a pastor or evangelist or teacher, but are we not all called to share our personal testimony in some form or fashion that those around us might want to serve the Jesus that we love (2 Corinthians 3:3; Matthew 28:19, 20)?

Friends, I am of the belief that we have a state of spiritual emergency on our hands in this world today. Our world is becoming more and more secular and even satanic with each passing day. T.V. shows are filled with immorality that is normalized with each aired episode . Our culture is one that is filled with every evil known to mankind. In the midst of this downward spiral we have a message of hope. We have a message that can ransom people from lives of sin and heartache. Are we going to be willing to share it, or are will we stand by while the "house burns" to the ground? We must be willing to reach out to a world dying in sin. I can assure you that Satan knows he has but a short time. That is why we see our world in the shape that it is in. He is making every effort to cause men and women everywhere to be lost for eternity.

My plea to each of you today is to dial heaven's help line by falling to your knees and asking God what He would have you to do to reach souls that are perishing. If you are not sure how you can be involved in soul winning in your church, then ask your pastor. If you are already involved but have not really been making any effort to reach souls then pray for courage to do the right thing. If you have family and friends that do not know Christ--and all of us do--but you have never made an effort to broach the topic of salvation with them, now is the time to do so.

We must all realize that the need to reach perishing souls is the most urgent need the world has. Sure we have to reach people's physical needs many times before they will hear our message, but let us not be timid when it comes to sharing this wonderful message of hope that the Lord has given us. Let us have confidence in the fact that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. Let us walk forward in faith and make every effort to become first responders in this state of spiritual emergency.

Dear Father God,
We thank You for Jesus who died to save us from the penalty of our sins. Please give us the courage to take the message of salvation to this world in turmoil. Please show us how we can reach those within our circle of influence. May Your Spirit go before us to prepare the hearts of all we can reach for Christ. This we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

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