Actions and beliefs

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Joe has mortgaged his home. Within a few days, he hopes to have a check in hand. Joe has a modest house and a few thousand in savings. When everything settles, he will have roughly $100,000.

Joe is going to take every penny he can muster and invest it.

As the story goes, in the early 1800s, an explorer was roaming around the jungles of Africa. He discovered an area that had vast amounts of gold. He went back to England to obtain the men and equipment to harvest the gold, but the ship sank during a tremendous storm, and all was lost.

Joe has read that this explorer’s descendants have discovered copies of the man’s maps in a chest, in the attic. The family has purchased the land marked on the map. They are now seeking investors for the mining operation. They offer shares at $1 each and speculate that the shares’ value will skyrocket to $100 after the discovery of gold.

Joe firmly believes his life savings, totaling $100,000, will be worth $10 million within the next few months.

Joe, wanting his family to share in the wealth, takes the story to his brother Tom. Tom does not believe a word of it. Tom will not invest a penny and does everything he can to convince Joe not to do something so foolish. Joe, on the other hand, is so convinced he risks everything he has ever worked for to obtain the riches that await him.

The preceding story is fictional, but here is the point I am trying to make — there is truth, and there is perceived truth, and people base their actions on what they believe to be true.

It could be that neither Joe nor Tom are 100-percent correct. The actual truth could lie someplace in the middle. Joe’s gold mine may not be worth $100 a share next year, but it could be worth $2 a share.

This week in our nation, we have seen people do as people do and act upon what they believe as truth. Estimates of the crowd’s size range from 100,000to 200,000 and a tiny percentage decided to get violent. However, even after the tragic events at the nation’s capital, tens of millions of people believe shenanigans occurred during the election, and America cannot trust the reported results.

Whether you believe the Democrats stole the election or if you believe everything was on the up and up, the fact remains you will act according to what you see as truth.

No matter how much Tom called Joe an idiot or explain that Joe was about to lose everything he has ever worked for, Joe refuses to change his mind. Joe acts upon his beliefs. Regardless of the evidence of awaiting riches, Tom is not convinced to risk any of his life savings.

We are a nation of Joes and Toms; every individual will act on the truth they perceive.

Google Play no longer has Parler available for download; Apple has done the same. Several social media outlets have banned President Trump. Every American soldier understands the phrase, “I may disagree with what you say, but I’ll die for your right to say it.” Just like everyone else, Google, Twitter, and the American soldier act according to their beliefs.

What happens next? The natural progression is that each side continues to act as they believe. More rallies, on one side, more suppression from the other side. More division within the nation. Remember Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ’s words: “And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).

If the natural progression leads to the house’s crumbling, then something supernatural needs to happen to stop the collapse. First and foremost, we need a revival within Christians — 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Christians also need to expect persecution and stop being surprised by it. Proper anticipation of the enemy’s moves is always a key to victory. John 15:20 says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, ‘The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.’”

The way we accept persecution is to understand it is a blessing. Matthew 5:10-12 says, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

God is working toward the rapture, the tribulation period, the rise of the Antichrist, and the physical return of Jesus Christ. The contractions of the woman in travail have just increased in intensity. Look for the timing between contractions to shorten (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

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By Timothy Johnson

Preacher’s Point

Preacher Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in northern Parke County, Indiana. Webpage: www.preacherspoint.wordpress.com; email: [email protected]; address: 410 S. Jefferson St. Rockville IN 47872; all Bible references KJV. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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