1152 - Understanding Disasters in the World#
1152 - Understanding Disasters in the World
(JP Text Group - Chen Chen Compilation)
Let us begin with a prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You. You gather us before Your word with love. Today, we want to understand our Lord Jesus, know Your grace through the words of the Bible, and gain strength to use Your truth in our lives. Bless everyone who comes to listen to Your words, so that we may find answers in front of Jesus Christ. You know our needs; please renew us and supply us through this word. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Genesis 3:14-15,
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
I want to share the "Bible story," from Genesis to the final Revelation, telling a general overview to help us understand the summary of the Bible. During this time, indeed, some catastrophic events are happening. Even among God's children, there are many such doubts.
"Since our God is omnipotent, all-powerful, and all-knowing, why does He not prevent these disasters?" Some who do not understand God's grace even say, "These calamities are sent by God." We know that "disasters," "diseases," and "death" are not given by God. But why are there still so many disasters in this world? So, through this time, I want to explain to my brothers and sisters what these disasters in the world are all about.
The source can be found in Genesis. It can be said that almost everything in human affairs can find its source in Genesis. In other words, many problems that seem to be one thing actually have a root that can be found in Genesis, where the answer lies. Because the meaning of "Genesis" is "origin."
To understand where "disasters" come from, we need to see what happened in Genesis: during the time of Adam and Eve, everything God gave them was good.
In the first two chapters of Genesis, we find that after God created the earth and everything in it, He looked at everything and said it was good. On the sixth day, God created man. The Bible specifically mentions that man is the only being created in the image and likeness of God. In other words, you and I today are created in the image and likeness of God. It does not mean that we look like God today, or that God looks somewhat like us; it refers to our spirit.
When we accept Jesus, the spirit within us is the same as the spirit God gave to Adam. All animals do not have this; for example, monkeys do not have the image of God. Although many apes look quite similar to humans, they do not possess the image and likeness of God. Only humans are created in the image and likeness of God. God gave man the power to manage all things in the world.
In Psalm 115:16: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth He has given to the children of men."
God gave the entire world as a "gift" to Adam and Eve. Brothers and sisters, when you were born, your parents also gave you many things, such as food, clothing, and other necessities.
Genesis 1:28 says, "God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
God gave the world to man. God said to Adam, "You shall be fruitful and multiply; manage the flying in the sky, the walking on the ground, and the swimming in the sea; all of it is yours. I have given you the authority to manage it; you can do what you want." Therefore, to this day, humanity has a desire to manage, such as managing people and animals.
Where does this come from? It actually comes from the very beginning when God created man and gave him such authority. Therefore, humanity originally had the authority to manage all things. However, when the devil appeared, he deceived Adam and Eve and stole the authority to manage the world.
The devil does not have complete authority. What he has is only what God originally gave to Adam and Eve. Do not think that the devil and God have equal authority; he is far from it. Many brothers and sisters, after believing in the Lord, do not understand this point. They say, "The devil is really too strong; I can never defeat him." Do not exaggerate the devil's authority. This authority was originally given by God to Adam, but now, because of Adam and Eve, it has fallen into the hands of the devil. However, he only possesses the authority to manage this world.
So, 2 Corinthians 4:4 also tells us, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers." (2 Corinthians 4:4) So you can see that the world God created was a place of peace and harmony, but since Adam and Eve gave this authority to the devil, strange things began to happen in this world. Why does the devil create these things? It is actually related to the scripture we just read.
The devil does not know all of God's plans, including our prayers in tongues; the devil does not understand these things because they are mysterious.
It seems that Adam and Eve failed, but when God was judging, He said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed." Then He said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman." In fact, here, God gave Adam and Eve a salvation. When the devil heard God's words, he understood that from then on, he and the woman would be enemies, and that his offspring would also be enemies with the woman's offspring.
Why "enemies"?
Why does the devil hate this "offspring of the woman" so much today? Because God specifically mentioned that "the offspring of the woman will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel." The devil knows that this authority does not originally belong to him; he has only deceived it. So the devil is very afraid of the appearance of this "offspring of the woman." He has always wanted to seize this authority, so he tries every means to destroy this "offspring of the woman."
The Bible has many words that indeed show us, but they are not for us. Many are spoken to the devil. For example, God says, "Because you have done this, you are cursed." Today, the devil is very afraid of the "offspring of the woman," but he does not know who it is. So he feels afraid. Whenever someone like the "offspring of the woman" appears, the devil tries to take action first, wanting to kill this person so that he cannot threaten him anymore.
God knows all our matters, but the devil does not. Unless you keep thinking in your heart, "I want to do this or that," when you think like this, the devil has the opportunity to attack you. Just like at the beginning, we can imagine why the serpent spoke to the woman and said that the fruit of this tree looked so good; perhaps Eve was right next to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Maybe her thoughts were overheard by the devil. He knew her doubts in her heart, so he tempted and misled her in that way. In the end, he deceived her.
Brothers and sisters, do you know why we often say not to speak negative words? Because when you think negative words, and you mutter these negative words, the devil will see your flaws, and he will guide you along, leading you further and further away, ultimately trapping you in the trap he has designed for you.
But if we encounter difficulties and problems, we declare the victory of Christ. This can overcome the problems. Do not declare negative words; do not dwell on negative things, and the devil will not find your flaws. Keep speaking God's words and the victorious words of Jesus Christ, and even if he wants to attack you, he will have no way.
The devil has always wanted to find this "offspring of the woman" and kill him. Adam and Eve had two children, Cain and Abel. In fact, he could not distinguish who was who. But that word remained in the devil's heart; he knew there was such an "offspring of the woman," so he wanted to find out who it was.
Until one day, during the sacrifice, God was pleased with Abel's offering, and the devil thought that perhaps Abel was the "offspring of the woman" that God spoke of. So we see what happened: the devil incited Cain to kill Abel. "The first murder in the world" occurred.
This does not mean that the devil had any enmity with Abel; he was actually trying to find "that person" to kill him, so that he could not take away his current authority. He found such a suspicious person and wanted to kill him, wanting to destroy everyone he thought might be the "offspring of the woman." Because the devil knows that "that person," once he grows up, will have authority that threatens him, and he can only "bruise his heel."
After Abel died, the devil found that this person was not it. Adam and Eve had many children, and later had Seth, etc. By the time we get to Genesis 6, the Bible tells us that the world was already filled with people. The devil was watching to see who was who.
The devil used a very special and cruel tactic: we see in Revelation that when the devil rebelled against God, a third of the angels in heaven followed him down.
Genesis 6:2 The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
In fact, in the original text, I checked that the "sons of God" mentioned here specifically refers to "angels." After these fallen angels came down and married the daughters of men, they wanted to confuse human bloodlines. They wanted to produce a group of strange "people" and a group of "giants," preventing the "offspring of the woman" from succeeding, causing the entire human gene pool to change. Their actions were extremely corrupt. The devil, in order to destroy the "offspring of the woman," caused the world to fall into a state of extreme chaos at that time. Perhaps after hundreds of years, that generation had completely corrupted.
Genesis 6:12 God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
This means that when a beautiful world is handed over to the devil, it will become like this; the whole world will become increasingly evil and corrupt. So at that time, God decided to destroy everything with a flood. When God looked at the whole earth, He found "the family of humanity," and that person was Noah. The Bible specifically mentions that Noah was a righteous man; he was perfect in his generations (Genesis 6:9 ... Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations ...).
In the world, there is actually no perfect person, no righteous person. But why does God say that Noah is a "righteous man" and "perfect"? It must be understood in the context of the social background at that time. At that time, because angels married the daughters of men, they produced some "giants," "mighty men of old," and some "strange" people; this is our speculation. But Noah and his family did not participate in these things.
At that time, his body was perfect and not tainted by the corruption of that world. The term "perfect" here in the Bible, in the original text, refers to "whole." In other words, at that time, Noah was a "whole person." Unlike others, who may have had strange people or events, the Bible also mentions these things. God decided to save the "offspring of humanity" left on the earth, so God said to Noah's family, "Make yourself an ark; after 120 years, I will destroy this world with a flood."
Brothers and sisters, God allowed the flood to destroy this world because, at that time, the world was already filled with strange "people." These "people" should not have appeared. In other words, angels should not have such a union with humans. Before the flood, humans could live for a very long time, six hundred years, seven hundred years, eight hundred years, nine hundred... Why could they live so long? Because there was a layer of water surrounding the earth, filtering out many harmful things coming from the sun, such as sunspots, ultraviolet rays, etc. Moreover, at that time, there were no seasons. The changing of the seasons appeared only after Noah's flood. At that time, the climate was very suitable.
Genesis 2:6 But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
So, at that time, people could live a long time because the climate was suitable for human habitation. But after the flood, the waters came down from above, and Noah's family floated on the water for a year. Finally, God caused the wind to blow the waters to the poles, freezing them; this is what we now call the North and South Poles. After the environment was destroyed, scientists predict that if the ice caps melt, the entire earth will be submerged, including the highest mountains, which will also be submerged by many feet. This perfectly aligns with the Bible.
So we see that after those "people" were destroyed, the number of humans naturally decreased, making it much simpler for the devil to find the "offspring of the woman" among Noah's family. God preserved Noah and his family, so it must not be Noah; it must be one of his three children. So the devil began to choose; he thought it was Ham, so he incited Ham when his father Noah got drunk and lay uncovered. Ham went and told his two brothers. Shem and Japheth covered their father's nakedness; the specific story can be read in the Bible.
From here, let us delve deeper to see whom God ultimately chose. It was from one of Noah's children named Shem, from whom the "Jewish race" was born. And Abraham, he was a descendant of Shem. So later, when God came to find Abraham, at that time, Abraham's father was still selling idols, which can be seen from some historical records. Abraham himself understood that these idols could not save him, so when God came to find him,
Genesis 12:1-2
The Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing."
And Abraham indeed wanted to leave, so he left. And God's promise to him was not because Abraham's behavior was better, but because of God's grace, God's complete grace, God's salvation, and God's choosing. God said to Abraham, "I will make a covenant with you," not because Abraham sought God, but because God found Abraham. Just like today, when you accept Jesus, it is actually God who found you.
At this time, the devil saw that God made a covenant with Abraham, so the person he was looking for might be Abraham. What happened later? Abraham still had no children. God specifically mentioned, "All the families of the earth shall be blessed through your offspring." The devil saw that it was almost him. So, there was strife in Abraham's household. Moreover, the devil wanted to defile his wife because his wife could not conceive. So, Sarah almost got defiled by other men twice in her life. The devil wanted to use other men to defile this offspring, preventing this offspring from being born from her.
The first time was when Sarah was 65 years old, and Abraham was 75 years old; Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, almost defiled her, wanting to make her his concubine. The second time was when she was 90 years old, and God clearly told Abraham, "At this time next year, you shall have a son."
Genesis 18:10
One of them said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.
The devil was anxious and used Abimelech, making Abimelech, a king, take a liking to a 90-year-old woman. Many people say that Sarah was too beautiful. From here, we can see that there was indeed the devil's work in the middle. It was because the devil wanted to defile this woman, preventing her from giving birth to this offspring in purity. However, he failed. Because God heard the prayer of one person, that person was Abraham. His wife was taken away by someone else.
That night, Abraham might have been praying, "Lord, please protect our wife." So, when Abraham prayed like this, God promised him His covenant and prevented this from happening. Brothers and sisters, you may think that the devil is very powerful today; indeed, he is somewhat stronger than humans, but when you pray, God will stretch out His hand to help you and save you from all difficulties. Hallelujah!
After that, Isaac, Jacob, etc., the devil saw that they were not the ones, until Jacob had 12 children. Among them, Jacob's favorite child was Joseph. The devil saw that this child resembled the one he was looking for; he was particularly favored by his father. Once again, family strife and conflict arose.
This disastrous event, time and again, the devil kept orchestrating, causing Joseph's brothers to sell him, using his brothers to attack him, making Joseph leave that place, preventing him from hearing God's words, weakening him, until he became a slave, wanting him to never rise again, even wanting him to never find a wife, thus preventing the "offspring of the woman" from coming forth, causing the "bruising of his head" to happen.
But once again, God granted His grace in the midst of this bad situation, allowing Joseph to become the prime minister of Egypt. We see that Joseph received grace, knowing that no matter what kind of attack he faced, God could turn the situation around.
As the world continued to develop, it came to Moses, who was very special. He truly wanted to save the Israelites. God had indeed promised before, saying to Abraham, "Your offspring will..." At that time, all the other Israelites were slaves, but only this one child was in Pharaoh's palace. During his time of exile, the devil might have thought it would be Moses.
Moses did many things for the Lord in his life, but he was still not the Messiah. Later, when it came to David, he was also not the one. But the devil thought he looked like it. After David was anointed by God, the Hebrew meaning of David's name is "the anointed one," which means "Messiah."
The devil thought it might be David. He saw that David, at a young age, had extraordinary power, defeating a descendant of the devil, Goliath. This man was very tall, and the Israelites were all afraid. But David was not afraid and killed him.
So from that time on, David's life changed; the devil used Saul, who was very proud. After every victory, Saul would set up a monument for himself. At this time, the devil used Saul to chase David. Poor David was running everywhere. Today, we see that it seems King Saul is chasing David, but in reality, the mastermind behind it is the devil.
Brothers and sisters, when you see a situation, for example, if your husband or wife at home has not believed yet, and they repeatedly insult and persecute you, it is actually not them; they are being used by the devil, merely tools in the devil's hands.
So the devil wanted to use Saul to kill David. One time, David played the harp for him, and Saul tried to stab David with a spear. Each time, God protected David. Moreover, after Saul died, David still did not escape the devil's attacks that caused him to fail, such as when David looked at another man's wife, Bathsheba, and counted the people.
But later, the devil found that David was also not the one. Later, when it came to King Solomon, Hezekiah, Zedekiah, and others, the devil found that these people were not the ones. So who was it?
We have omitted a lot in between; if we were to talk about it, there are many people in the "prophetic books" who were all targeted by the devil, but in the end, he found that none of these were the ones. Until the "New Testament" period.
Now there are many biblical scholars and theologians in the world who can recite the Bible, but they may not necessarily understand what is written in the Bible. Because today, to unlock the mysteries of the Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit. So if you want to understand the mysteries in the Bible, you need to let the Holy Spirit help you while reading. Otherwise, you still won't understand. The devil also knows the Bible; he can also quote the Bible, but he does not understand who the prophecies in the Bible refer to.
If he knew, could Jesus be born? Perhaps during the pregnancy, He would have died. But the devil actually does not know who the "offspring of the woman" in the Bible refers to. So we see that although the "Old Testament" also mentions that from Bethlehem, Ephrathah, a king will be born, he also knows it is from the tribe of Judah, but he just does not know who it refers to.
After Jesus was born, those foreign wise men, when they observed the heavenly signs and saw this great star, were guided by this star to seek King Herod, and they said, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" Do you see? Even these wise men were clearer than the devil.
At this time, when these wise men followed the star to seek this king, the devil acted. This time, he first used Herod, saying, "You go find the child, and when you find him, report back to me, so that I may also go and worship him." But once again, God poured out His grace in the middle; God warned these wise men in a dream at night not to return the same way, because that was a deception, and they should return home by another route, because they had already worshiped the true king. Thank the Lord!
At this time, another great disaster occurred, which was the massacre of infants. It had occurred during Moses' time, and now it appeared again. These are all catastrophic events:
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
This means that all the boys under two years old fell into such a disaster. Brothers and sisters, today we think that if a plane crashes and hundreds of people die, or a terrorist attack occurs and several people die, but have you ever thought that at that time, because the devil wanted to eliminate this "offspring of the woman," a king ordered that all the Jewish boys be killed, leaving only the girls. This is a huge disaster. May each of us be guided by the Holy Spirit, so as not to fall into the devil's traps. In fact, many times, the devil finds gaps in us to attack us.
Let us continue to look at this time; in fact, he has already determined that this "offspring of the woman" is Jesus. However, Jesus had already escaped. Until when? Until He was 30 years old, we see a definite event occur: when He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, and a voice came from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)
At this time, the devil finally understood that it was this person. Because after being baptized, Jesus was different; He had become the true anointed one. So at that time, God also sent Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In fact, at that time, Jesus told the devil, "I am the one you are looking for." But at this time, the devil wanted to find ways to kill Jesus. The devil thought that if he killed Jesus, he would completely succeed.
Because the devil did not want his authority to be taken away. Thus, the devil could create many disasters in the world. For example, diseases. Today we see H1N1, H7N9, and perhaps even more strange diseases will appear in the future.
These are all disasters, so you see that the number of global disasters is increasing; do not be surprised; these are not sent down by our God; it is the devil who knows his time is short, and he wants to retaliate madly. But today, he can only deceive those Christians who do not know. Therefore, some Christians believe that these disasters are sent by God. Today, the world thinks that disasters are sent down by "the heavens," but we must know for sure that these disasters and diseases are not given by our God. Our God wishes for us to live a blessed life, a victorious life.
The devil tried every means to kill Jesus, but because Jesus' authority was too great, the devil could not overcome Jesus. In fact, he thought he could incite the "Pharisees" and the "Romans" to unite and kill Jesus together.
We need to look at this matter from God's perspective; God sent His only beloved Son into this world to solve these disasters, calamities, diseases, and death. Therefore, Jesus willingly offered Himself on the cross. At that time, Jesus indeed had His hands and feet wounded, which perfectly fulfilled the scripture we read at the beginning from Genesis. The devil thought he had succeeded, but in fact, the devil completely failed. This is that the serpent bruised Jesus' heel, but Jesus bruised his head.
When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, He did not resist at all, willingly offering His life for us. After that, when Jesus rose from the dead, He completely declared the devil's failure. In the movie "The Passion of the Christ," there is a scene that describes this well, where the devil suddenly screams in agony, indicating his complete failure.
Brothers and sisters, today we must understand that these disasters in the world are not given by God; God does not wish for us to see these things. Because today, the devil is still in this world, until when will these disasters completely stop and disappear? It will be when the devil is completely put away. That time will be when our Lord Jesus Christ comes to make a complete end, and the devil's work will be completely finished. Thank God.
Someone may ask, everything you just talked about was before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when the devil tried every means to create disasters, calamities, and even raised some people to persecute the Israelites, etc. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the devil already knew he had failed, but why is he still doing such things today? In fact, we are luckier than the prophets in the "Old Testament" because we believe and have seen that Jesus Christ died and rose again; this event has already been recorded in the Bible. However, not everyone understands God's grace like this.
The reason we must talk about this today is to let those who hear this know that these disasters do not come from God; God does not wish to use disasters to "punish" them, causing them to die; God still hopes they can turn back. And the way God allows us to turn back is not by sending down disasters but by bestowing grace to bring us back.
Brothers and sisters, do you remember? Why did you want to believe in Jesus? It is not because someone told you that if you do not believe in Jesus, you will go to hell, and God will punish you, causing unrest in your family, disturbing you every night, making you unable to sleep, causing you pain, making you sick, and making your life worse until you believe in Jesus. No. The Jesus you believe in is the one who helped you when you needed help. When the devil inflicted diseases upon you, at that time, someone preached the gospel to you, and you said, "I am willing to accept this Lord." So at that time, God saved you with His love, allowing you to understand the love of Jesus on the cross and to accept such a Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we need to correctly understand God's heart and correctly understand these disasters. Moreover, as Christians, we must understand in our hearts that in the days to come, these disasters will increase. But we can overcome these things through Jesus Christ. When these things come, you can stand here in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
Brothers and sisters, when you know that God has such promises for you in the Bible, you can use the authority of Jesus Christ to protect you when these things come. Otherwise, you will think that these calamities are sent by God, and you will only have complaints and bitterness.
In Romans 8:19, For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope.
What does "the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God" refer to? Who is the creation waiting for? It is waiting for God's "sons," which means you (the believers). In other words, when you do not understand your authority and still feel that the devil is in control of this world today, you will not be able to defeat him. You must remember that when Jesus rose from the dead, He had already rightfully, openly, and justly reclaimed authority from the devil. This authority is in your hands today.
However, if you have already believed but still do not understand, then the creation is actually waiting for you, waiting for the "sons of God" to be revealed. The original meaning is: waiting for the "sons" to mature, hoping that these mature children will use this authority. How to understand this sentence? For example, if you have a very beautiful sports car at home, with very powerful functions, prepared for your child, but your child is still very small, then the car will just sit there waiting, waiting for this child to grow up so that he can use it. Brothers and sisters, this is the current state of all creation.
Including many Christians, are they not all hoping to succeed in business? Are they not all hoping that everything will go smoothly? In fact, all creation is waiting for you; money is also waiting for you to use it. But many times, when we do not understand all of this, we instead let these things become our disasters.
Many people do not know how to use money correctly, and in the end, they are bound by money, doing anything for money, and ultimately losing everything. Perhaps you have seen some reports where some people won the "jackpot" of several hundred million, but after two or three years, they were heavily in debt and ended up as beggars on the street. The reason is that they did not have the ability to use it, and when they let these finances be subjected to futility, they could not use them, and they would be harmed in return.
Brothers and sisters, if you do not know your authority and do not understand that we can control all things, God cannot give these things to you. So you see, "the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope."
If you do not grow up, you will not be able to control all of this. Do you see Jesus? How did Jesus act in the face of these disasters? One day, there was a great storm; the disciples were desperately trying to bail water out of the boat, but they could not keep up, and the boat was about to sink. Facing such a great storm, you can also understand it as a disaster. Then Jesus stood up and said with His authority, "Peace! Be still!" And everything obeyed. Thank the Lord.
When you understand that all these disasters do not come from God, and you also have authority to control all of this, you will not be afraid; you can bravely extend your "staff." Just like Moses, facing such a great disaster, with the enemy behind and the Red Sea in front, there was nowhere to escape. You can understand this as a huge problem, a disaster. But God said to Moses, "Stretch out your staff."
Today, you can also "stretch out your staff" in front of your problems, in front of these disasters; you can also "stretch out your staff," and God will hear your prayers. Because all creation is also listening to your prayers. Just like when Moses stretched out his staff, the Red Sea had to obey and part. Hallelujah!
Do not let these creations be subjected to futility anymore; they do not wish to be. Because the creation longs to be freed from the bondage of corruption. If we do not use them, they will remain under such corruption and futility. And they particularly hope to enjoy the glory of God's children. They especially hope to enter into the authority of the words of God's children. Brothers and sisters, this is what we need to understand.
Disasters do not come from God. But you have the ability to manage all of this; you can change all of this through Jesus Christ. There are too many churches and too many people who do not understand all of this. They still have a servant's heart, so they are afraid. When they face such things, they do not know what to do. Because they do not have the heart of a son. We are children of God, and when we pray together, we can change this situation. We can change this matter. Thank the Lord, Hallelujah!
Many people still do not dare to call God their Father today; they do not dare to call Him "Abba, Father." But all creation is longing for them to call God "Abba, Father." Because if they do not use the children of God, they will be used by the devil. They will become natural disasters, catastrophic events, and corrupt things. So brothers and sisters, (in truth) do not be like children; grow up gradually in the word of God. Only then can you understand how great the authority God has given you is.
Jesus has given you the authority to manage the world; you can use your authority to prevent those around you from being subjected to this corruption. You can help others know the beauty of Christ, allowing them to still have hope in the last days. Even when seeing these disasters, we are not afraid; we know that the day of the Lord is near.
Do you remember Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
And Jesus has also given this authority to you. God says very clearly, "All authority in heaven and on earth." It is all authority. If we do not use them, the devil will use them to create disasters. So we need to understand this authority, understand God's love, and understand where these disasters come from; it is because we have not been using them, so the devil has been deceiving. Only when more Christians understand this, awaken, and turn to use all things will these things no longer destroy these people; these creations will no longer harm humanity but will instead serve humanity.
Brothers and sisters, today you are blessed because you understand all of this. You are one of God's children. What I want to tell you is that because you believe in Jesus, you understand the authority God has given you; you can manage your surrounding environment, and those around you will be blessed because of you.
I want to share a simple testimony. Last year, I went to a local church in a rural area to preach, just when they were planting wheat, but it had not rained for a long time. They were waiting, and many rivers had dried up. As the rainy season was passing, it should have rained, but it did not, and everyone was very worried, thinking that the harvest for next year was completely hopeless. At that time, I told them, "Let us pray together; do not worry. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, do not be afraid. I want to tell you that it will rain heavily within this week, and all the drought will be improved." They said, "Amen."
The day after I returned, it rained continuously that week. When I went back the following week, some of them who had previously not believed had spent a lot of money to bring water to irrigate the fields, which showed us God's authority over us.
You must understand, today these disasters are not scary; what is scary is that when we encounter these things, we do not know what to do: you must correctly use the management authority that God has given you. Because all of this has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ; there is no need to strive hard; you just need to use the authority of Jesus Christ, correctly understand how these things happen, and when you understand the reasons behind them, you will find the right methods. Thank the Lord, so Jesus has given us this authority to use it correctly. Hallelujah!
Let us pray together.
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You. We know that because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins, willingly dying and rising from the dead, You have reclaimed all that Adam originally lost.
Jesus has already won. We are the righteous ones You have given, and we can reign in life through Jesus Christ.
We are Your children, and we wish to share this gospel with the world, allowing them to have hope in the last days. When encountering disasters, it is not despair but seeing Your salvation and mercy.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for loving us so much. Through this time, renew our minds and thoughts once again, so that we may have hope at all times. We look to the power of Christ in our lives. We expect good things to happen to us! In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!