Daily Devotional for Thursday July 8, 2010

Are All the Hurricanes, Massive Storms, and Other Acts of Nature God's Judgment on this Nation

(2 Chronicles 7:14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 3:3-4; Matthew 24:3-14)

Are all of the tornadoes, forest fires, hurricanes, massive storms, and other acts of nature God's judgment on this nation? As the debate over global warning drones on, as we see more and more deadly and destructive acts of nature, it causes many people to question if we are starting to see God's judgment on this nation. Is God starting to unleash His wrath on a nation who has turned its back on Him and His Truth.

The answer right away is NO! What we are witnessing is nothing more than fallen nature doing what it has done since man sinned in the Garden and will do until God ends this world as we know it. I've warned you in the past that with every destructive act of nature you will get emails, read and hear in the media, people claiming these acts of fallen nature are "God's judgment."

Every time we have a natural disaster, I have received emails from different people and groups claiming this was God exercising His judgment on our nation. I also get emails about "prophecies" that had been given weeks before in regarding a pending act of nature. A prophecy that fallen nature will do what it has done since man sinned in the Garden of Eden is like prophesying the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.

Let me once again put into proper perspective the natural disasters we see occur are simply fallen nature at work. To play the game of going back and trying to tie every act of fallen nature to sin in the area that was affected is a foolish game. If that was the case, cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas should have been raised to the ground a long time ago. Actually, you can make a case for gross wickedness in almost every city and town that would warrant God's judgment and the death and destruction we see after each one of these events.

You see my friend, what is really happening is man KNOWS that he is living in rebellion to God and His Word and man KNOWS that God's judgment is coming. Let me say that again because I don't want you to miss this critical point. Man KNOWS that he is living in rebellion to God and His Word and man KNOWS that God's judgment is coming! That is why man is trying so hard to explain a simple act of fallen nature as God's judgment for our sin. Man knows that God's judgment is not only due, but coming!

Listen, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to read the words of Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy Chapter 3, the words of Peter in 2 Peter Chapter 3, or the words of our Lord in Matthew Chapter 24 as they describe the signs of the "last days." No man knows the hour the Lord will return but the Bible is clear He may come back at any moment in the "twinkling of an eye." We are in the last days, Christ is coming back at any second, and because of our gross sin, wickedness, and rebellion to God and His Word we are DUE His judgment.

I laugh when some in the news media describe one of these natural disasters we witness are of "Biblical proportions." Please know that when God does bring His judgment on this nation, whatever method He may use, you won't have to wonder or speculate if this was God's judgment or not. It will be death and destruction on an unprecedented scale and of a magnitude EVERYONE will know without a doubt THIS WAS GOD'S JUDGMENT!

When it is God's judgment, you see unprecedented death and destruction in 20, 30, or 50 major cities involving 20 to 30 complete states and 80 to 100 million people! You will be looking at trillions of dollars of property destroyed, the complete infrastructure of transportation, electric, communications, water and sewage obliterated, hundreds of thousands of people dead, and the entire economy of the nation crippled and brought to a screeching halt.

My friend, there won't be any response by all the governments of the world nor all the resources on this planet that will be adequate. Life as we know it today will cease to exist. Just like in the isolated tragedies we watch on the news after each one of these natural disasters, people's lives will be reduced to simply trying to survive from one day to the next. Just living will be the biggest challenge each day for tens of millions of people.

I love you and care about you so much! I assure you that I am not trying to scare you today, only be honest with you. If God spared not His judgment on His very people for their sins, why do we think He will spare us His judgment for our sins? We not only deserve but are due, no OVERDUE, the judgment of God for our gross wickedness. Unless this nation repents, turns back to the God of the Bible and follows Him, it is not a matter of if, only when God's judgment will be unleashed on this nation.

*When it happens, there won't be anyone speculating if or if not this was the hand of God!!!

Let me encourage you today. I tell you often that the only thing you will take from this life into eternity is your relationship with Jesus Christ.. You can lose your home and all your possessions, you can lose you business, you can lose your job, you can lose those you love so much, but the one thing that can never be taken from you is your relationship with Christ. That is the ONE THING that you can't lose or have taken from you. That is why I stress so much each day how critical and important that relationship is to each one of us.

One of the shining moments throughout the aftermath of these natural disasters is the response of the church. GOD'S PEOPLE ALWAYS STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND ANSWER THE CALL IN TIMES OF CRISIS! It is no longer about being Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or Pentecostal. It has been the Body of Christ reaching out to hurting people and bringing Christ to them in a real and tangible way. The church should be proud of the role they play in bringing hope and comfort to those who suffer such loss and devastation during these disasters.

Let me share this insight with you. When God does judge this nation and unleash His wrath upon it, it will be those who know Christ as their Savior who will rise up and be the lone beacon of light in the darkness. Gone will be the beautiful multi-million dollar churches, those who become the voice for God no longer will be living in mansions, flying around in private jets, and acting like Hollywood celebrities, all of the ways we have found to divide ourselves will no longer exist as the body of Christ truly becomes one, and the basic Truth of the Gospel will be the sole hope left for the people who will be looking for answers. It will be one of the greatest harvest of souls in human history as millions cling to the only answer they have left, JESUS CHRIST!

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will take time to pray for this nation God has blessed us with. Sadly we have taken for granted and squandered our blessings. God is not going to sit back and watch us continue to slaughter over 4,000 innocent babies every day. God is not going to sit back and watch His Holy Institution of Marriage be redefined. God is not going to sit back and watch His plan for the family perverted. God is not going to sit back and watch the gross sexual perversion that exists today. God is not going to bless us for being involved in giving away the land He personally gave to Israel. At some point, God's patience will run out and He will unleash His wrath on this once great nation that used to honor and follow Him.

Pray with me today that as a nation we get on our knees, repent, ask God to forgive us for our sins and that we will turn our hearts and lives back to Him. If we don't then it is only a mater of time before we really do see the wrath of God poured out on this land and the life we know today will no longer exist. God is giving us one last chance. Will we take it?

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller