Love can be complicated. So can life. God commands us to love, to love Him and our neighbor. What God asks of us is summed up in one simple four letter word, love. Galatians 5:14. 1 Corinthians 13:13 – Faith, hope and love… the greatest of these is love. How hard can those two simple commands be? For us humans, it can be pretty hard sometimes. What is it that makes this one simple command so hard sometimes?
The answer is simple. We can only love one thing at a time. Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13 explain that we can’t have one foot in the world and one serving God.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” as Matthew 6:24 states.
We may be living in this world but we don’t have to be a part of it. We can still enjoy most things in this world, they have their right place in our hearts and our lives. And how we use those things determines where our hearts are.
When our heart is divided it makes choosing difficult. Choose to love one another, choose to love God over the things this world has to offer. It can be tempting to want some things of this world, but Jesus knows all about being tempted – Matthew 4:1-11, but God has overcome the world – John 16:25-30. When we choose love now we are choosing something that will last into eternity.
It’s crazy. Isn’t it? The way things are going? What once was good is now considered bad. What once was bad is now good. And the Bible teaches us through prophesy in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation about the end times. But yet, sometimes I gotta shake my head and say to myself, “Really?” Yah, really.
Often times, I am at a loss how to deal with things. It’s really confusing. And praying. Well, I really am not sure how to pray in these times. How does one pray for the days that are to come, if we are, and I believe we are embarking on the outskirts of the last days.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”
Hebrews 6:19(NIV)
2 Timothy 3: 1-5 (NIV) “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
The KJV uses the word perilous for terrible. The greek word for perilous, *chalepos – hard to do or bear, 5467xalepós (an adjective, derived from xaleptō, “to oppress, annoy,” J. Thayer) – properly, irksomely hard to bear (LS); fiercely difficult to cope with because so harsh (even injurious). Kinda what we are seeing and experiencing today, isn’t it?
Titus 2:11-12 (NIV) – “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Well, the Bible does teach us how we should live and be. Self-controlled, upright and live godly lives. But we need each other, we need encouragement from each other as Paul encouraged the people of Corinth and as he received letters of encouragement from the people whilst in prison.
The book of Titus goes on to say in verse 13, “… while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is Hope. Hope for the soul, Hebrews 6:19 – “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”
It’s hard not to be discouraged and just sad at the events that take place, the headlines, the social media posts, the injustice. And the Bible does tell us to not be discouraged. Joshua 1:19 reminds of that as well as Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There’s that word again, hope. We have HOPE! And that HOPE will be with us wherever we go! The future I believe is our home in Heaven and for the present day, God has plans for us today, to live self controlled and upright godly lives. If we just love the Lord our God and our neighbor, the rest falls into place.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.“
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
It sounds simple, huh? It is and it isn’t. Seek God and His Word for answers and comfort. And I encourage to seek counseling. There are many Christian counselors out there and meetings can be done remotely. If we try to do it in our own strength we won’t make it. There will be days we want to lash out, scream, shout, ggggrrrrrr! It’s not easy some days. We need encouragement in these terrible, perilous times. We don’t have to like it or agree with it. We need to resolve with ourselves to lead godly and upright lives. And we can only do that by walking with God and by encouraging each other.
The Kedge Anchor 
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