Prudence, Discretion, and Strength

A few days ago I wrote about Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding & Technology.  (You can read that post here.  http://randomobservationsofacommonchristian.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-difference.html )

Well after reading Proverbs Chapter 8, I'd like to add to that list.

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Proverbs 8:12(NKJV)

12    “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,      And find out knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 8:14(NKJV)

14    Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;     I am understanding, I have strength.

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Prudence (from the root prudent), discretion, and strength.  What do those words mean exactly?  Let's look.

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pru·dent

adjective

1.  wise or judicious in practical affairs; sagacious; discreet or circumspect; sober.

2. careful in providing for the future; provident: a prudent decision.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prudent>

dis·cre·tion

noun

1. the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment; freedom of judgment or choice: It is entirely within my discretion whether I will go or stay.

2. the quality of being discreet, especially with reference to one's own actions or speech; prudence or decorum: Throwing all discretion to the winds, he blurted out the truth.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discretion>

strength

noun

1. the quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; vigor.

2. mental power, force, or vigor.

3. moral power, firmness, or courage.

4. power by reason of influence, authority, resources, numbers, etc.

5. number, as of personnel or ships in a force or body: a regiment with a strength of 3000.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/strength>

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I think we already agree that it is good to have wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in our lives.  How about prudence, discretion, and strength?  Do you think your lives would be better off if you had those attributes as well?  If the answer is yes then what are you waiting for?  God has already told us how important they are and that He will provide them to us if we do what?  If we diligently seek!

How do we do that?  Well I would start with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  If you haven't asked Christ to be the Lord of your life yet, what are you waiting for?  Next is get into the scriptures and get plugged into a good church.

But it really goes way beyond that in my opinion.  God gives us this instruction not just for our spiritual lives but for all areas of our lives.  Make a list of all of the areas of your life that are important to you or that you would like to improve.  Now make sure that every week you devote a little time to improving your knowledge in each of those areas. 

Want a better relationship with your spouse or family?  Then spend a little time each week gaining knowledge on how to improve relationships.  Want a better job situation?  Then spend a certain amount of time each week gaining wisdom that will improve your employability situation.  I don't mean do it if you get around to it.  I mean put it in your schedule.  Why?

Because God said to "diligently seek"!

Another Side of God

As I've been spending more time in the Word I've been seeing different sides of God that I haven't seen before.  It's not that they weren't there all along for me to see, it's that I wasn't ready to see them.  For me that is one of the coolest things about the Bible.  No matter how many times you have read it you still pick up new things each time through.

One of the things that has been interesting to me is I have been seeing a lot of verses that challenge one of my commonly held beliefs which is that while God allows bad things to happen He doesn't actively move against us with bad things to teach us a lesson.

Now as I look at the list of scriptures that I have accumulated that challenge this belief I am struck by the fact that all but one come from either Jeremiah or Lamentations which were both written by Jeremiah.  The other reference I have comes from Revelation.  So one thing I have to consider is that this is just  a rhetorical device used by Jeremiah and not to give it more emphasis than necessary.  But maybe not.

I'm not going to list all of the references.  I'll list just a few so you get a feel for what I mean. 

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Jeremiah 22:6-7(NKJV)

For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah:      “You are Gilead to Me,     The head of Lebanon;     Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,     Cities which are not inhabited.

    I will prepare destroyers against you,     Everyone with his weapons;     They shall cut down your choice cedars      And cast them into the fire.

Revelation 9:15(NKJV)

15So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 

God prepared angels to kill a third of mankind?

Lamentations 1:12(NKJV)

12    “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?      Behold and see     If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,     Which has been brought on me,     Which the Lord has inflicted     In the day of His fierce anger.

Lamentations 2:2-6(NKJV)

2    The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied      All the dwelling places of Jacob.     He has thrown down in His wrath     The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;     He has brought them down to the ground;     He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

3    He has cut off in fierce anger      Every horn of Israel;     He has drawn back His right hand     From before the enemy.     He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire     Devouring all around.

4    Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;      With His right hand, like an adversary,     He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye;     On the tent of the daughter of Zion,     He has poured out His fury like fire.

5    The Lord was like an enemy.      He has swallowed up Israel,     He has swallowed up all her palaces;     He has destroyed her strongholds,     And has increased mourning and lamentation     In the daughter of Judah.

6    He has done violence to His tabernacle,      As if it were a garden;     He has destroyed His place of assembly;     The Lord has caused     The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.     In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.

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The thing that these verses have in common is that they all show God taking an active role, not just allowing it to happen.  He prepared a destroyer.  He prepared angels to kill.  He inflicted.  He went against Judah "like an enemy".  

Now I'm not bothered by this.  I'm not suggesting that God is wrong or unfair in any way for doing this.  In all of these cases the people brought it on themselves.  The reason I am pointing it out is that it caused me to just view God a little differently.  As I've mentioned before, my favorite or dominant view of God is as God the father. 

What's comforting about that view is that we know are fathers are pretty forgiving.  We may mess up and our father might get a bit ticked off from time to time but when push comes to shove, you can pretty much always work it out.  Dad's not going to kill you or wipe out your whole family or anything like that.

Apparently with God there is a limit to the God the father paradigm.  There is a point where you can push God to far and he goes from God the father to God the punisher.  And from what I read, when that happens you don't want to be around!

So how do you avoid pushing God to far?  Well the prophet Jeremiah provided some direction.  Let's see what he says.

Jeremiah 25:6(NKJV)

Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’ 

Seems simple enough!

God's Lists

 I love it when God makes it easy for us.  Not necessarily easy in living the Christian life but easy from the standpoint that He gives us lists of things not to do and to watch out for.  Here is a list that I found in Proverbs today.

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Proverbs 6:16-19(NKJV)

16    These six things the Lord hates,      Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

17    A proud look,     A lying tongue,     Hands that shed innocent blood,

18    A heart that devises wicked plans,     Feet that are swift in running to evil,

19    A false witness who speaks lies,     And one who sows discord among brethren.

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So first off look at the first line.  These aren't just things that God dislikes, these are things that He actually hates!  He finds these things abominable.  Let's take a look at a couple of definitions. 

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hate

verb (used with object)

1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.

2.  to be unwilling; dislike: I hate to do it.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hate>

a·bom·i·na·ble

adjective

1. repugnantly hateful; detestable; loathsome: an abominable crime.

   2.    very unpleasant; disagreeable: The weather was abominable last week.

   3.    very bad, poor, or inferior: They have abominable taste in clothes.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abominable>

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As you can see, both words describe extreme feelings of dislike.  So if we want to please God, wouldn’t it make sense to avoid doing things that He especially hates?  Now let's take a look at the list.

A lying tongue-yep that makes sense.  Hands that shed innocent blood-makes sense to me.  A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, one who sows discord-check, check, and double check.  I can see why God would hate all of those things.  But what was the first one?  A proud look!

Huh?  How can that be?  How can a proud look be as bad as all of those other things? 

I think it comes down to what Pastor Jeff was talking about this weekend.  Pride goeth before the fall.  The biggest weakness we have as humans is pride because it leads us to almost all other sins.

This is what I love about the Bible.  As we passionately seek God's word little meanings like this are revealed.  So if you want to draw closer to God, passionately seek His wisdom and I think you'll be amazed at the blessings you receive. 

Bits and Pieces

Just have a couple of  random things today.

I mentioned the other day about the simple technique of using a simple search in Yahoo.  I did a search on Jeremiah the Prophet because I have been reading Jeremiah.  I found out that Jeremiah is the author not only of Jeremiah, he is also the author of 1 Kings, 2nd Kings, and the Book of Lamentations.  I didn't know that.  Kind of cool.  I can't wait to reread the other three books now.

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I love digging into the Bible each day and learning, always looking for the deeper meaning and understanding that is buried in there.  Now I'm a big believer that God has a great sense of humor.  My basis for that belief is that we are told we are made in God's image.  Humor is a big part of the human experience and I believe it comes directly from the image of God.

Therefore I often wonder if God stuck some stuff in the Bible just to screw  with us and see if we are paying attention.  (Please don't take offense at this view because I don't mean it in a disrespectful way.  I don't know about you but I want my God to have a sense of humor.)  Let me give you a couple of examples. 

Here is the one from this mornings reading that prompted this thought:

Jeremiah 52:28-30(NKJV)

28These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 

29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; 

30in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.

The way this is worded is weird.  He specifically refers to Jews in the first count of who was taken away.  Then in the second count he just refers to persons.  The third count refers to Jews again and then the final count refers to persons.

What I find so weird about this is that he then moves on.  Why was it important to point out the makeup of the group?  What conclusions should I draw from that?  What meaning?  I have no idea because I'm not given any real clues.  Weird!

Here is another one.

Judges 12:13-15(NKJV)

13After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 

14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 

15Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.

What???  Again I'm just left scratching my head.  The line is just so out of context that I don't know what to make of it.

The conclusion that I draw from this is that we need to learn to discern what is important from what isn't.  I can just picture God up there snickering a little as He watches us struggle to understand some of the stuff. 

Maybe I am weird (there are some that would say there is no maybe about it) but I actually find that vision comforting!

What's the difference?

Let's look at an interesting little piece of Scripture.

Proverbs 4:7(NKJV)

7    Wisdom is the principal thing;     Therefore get wisdom.     And in all your getting, get understanding.

You may remember yesterday I wrote about Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding.  I don't know about you but I kind of just lump all three of those things in together as being pretty much the same thing.  So imagine my surprise when today I read that wisdom is the principal, or most important thing.  What the heck is the difference?  Let's take a look.

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wis·dom

noun

1.

the quality or state of being wise;  knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.

2.

scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.

3.

wise  sayings or teachings; precepts.

4.

a wise  act or saying.

knowl·edge

noun

1.

acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition: knowledge of many things.

2.

familiarity or conversance, as with a particular subject or branch of learning: A knowledge of accounting was necessary for the job.

3.

acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight, experience, or report: a knowledge of human nature.

4.

the fact or state of knowing;  the perception of fact or truth; clear and certain mental apprehension.

5.

awareness, as of a fact or circumstance: He had knowledge of her good fortune.

un·der·stand·ing

noun

1.

mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.

2.

intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.

3.

superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.

4.

knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.

5.

a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.

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Isn't it interesting that the Bible identifies wisdom as the superior choice and as I look at the definitions I can see why.  To me the definitions seem to indicate that wisdom is the combining of our knowledge and understanding to help us reach deeper meanings.

So next time you read something that peaks your interest, dig a little deeper.  Don't be satisfied with just building your knowledge base.  Dig deeper for wisdom!

Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, and Technology

I read the third chapter of proverbs today.  So far, the common theme running through the first three chapters has been the value of wisdom and knowledge. 

Here is a small section from today's reading.  Take a look at the benefits of gaining wisdom and understanding.

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Proverbs 3:13-18(NKJV)

13    Happy is the man who finds wisdom,      And the man who gains understanding;

14    For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,     And her gain than fine gold.

15    She is more precious than rubies,     And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

16    Length of days is in her right hand,     In her left hand riches and honor.

17    Her ways are ways of pleasantness,     And all her paths are peace.

18    She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,     And happy are all who retain her.

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Would you like any of those things in your life?  Happiness, profits, gain, long life, riches and honor, pleasantness, peace, and a second dose of happiness?  Doesn't sound like a bad thing does it? 

Some might think it does.  After all it is talking about  riches and honor, profits, gains, things more precious than rubies.  Aren't those all just signs of greed and therefore evil? 

Before you answer that question I would suggest that you answer this question.  Does God give evil rewards?  All of the things mentioned above are God's promises to those that seek and find wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  So unless you think God gives evil gifts then the answer has to be that those things in and of themselves are not evil.

So how are we to understand the subtle differences often found in the Bible.  Well obviously by seeking wisdom, knowledge, and understanding!  Which brings me to the subject of today:  Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding and Technology.

We have incredible tools at our disposal today.  We have obvious tools like our Bibles and prayer.  We have Bible software and things like that but today I'd like to just call you attention to the simple search engine, Yahoo, Google, whoever you choose to use.

I just recently discovered the power of the simple search engine for Bible study which is pretty embarrassing because among my talents, I am a computer professional.   I've got great Bible software that can do all sorts of sophisticated searches and things but it is a bit complicated.  I was looking for ways to get answers to questions that have always just puzzled me a bit.  That is when I took a shot at just doing a simple web search on a question or two.

The results have been amazing.  It is adding a depth to my study and understanding that I never had before.  Let me just give you a couple of examples.

I have often been puzzled between the references back and forth between Israel and Judah.  I was just never really clear on the distinction and how it came about.  Been puzzled by it for years.  Not a driving curiosity mind you but just a puzzlement, one of those things I would look into sometime.  Well with an internet search that "looking into it" couldn't be easier.

Here is a summary of the answer I found on two different sources.

Judah was the small, southern Hebrew kingdom centred on the city of Jerusalem. Israel was the much larger and more prosperous, northern Hebrew kingdom with Samaria as its capital.

Throughout much of their history, both kingdoms were frequently overrun and were often required to pay tribute to be allowed to continue to exist as dependencies of their more powerful neighbours. Samaria was finally conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE, after which the nation of Israel ceased to exist. Judah was less important economically and strategically, but Jerusalem was finally overrun by the Babylonians in 586BCE, and the population taken captive. The Judahites were allowed to return after the Persian conquest of Babylon.

1. The Israelites had a single kingdom during the reigns of Solomon and David, but the region was divided into Judah and Israel after the death of Solomon.

2. The southern region came to be called Judah which consisted of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. The northern region was called Israel which comprised the remaining ten tribes.

3. Israel was a larger region than Judah. It was also more prosperous than the southern region of Judah.

4. Jerusalem, which was once the capital of Judah, is now the capital of Israel.

5. Samaria was the capital of the earlier kingdom of Israel.

Pretty cool isn't it?  Now I understand the difference.  I have been reading Jeremiah for my Old Testament reading.  I did a search on Jeremiah today and learned more of who he was, his upbringing, his family background, when he was alive (500-600 years before Christ).  All of this info gives me a greater insight into his writings.  Pretty cool.

Let me just offer one warning as you try this new tool.  You have to be able to discern the good from the bad.  Don't believe it unless you read the same explanation on more than one site.  There is a lot of garbage out there as well as a lot of anti-Semitic stuff when you search on Biblical topics so be forewarned, recognize it for what it is, ignore it, and move on.

So the next time you are studying God's word and you think to yourself, I wonder what He means by that, try typing the question into Yahoo and see what you learn.  Remember, God rewards us for seeking His knowledge and I have no doubt that using this tools will result in big dividends in your understanding of God! 

Incredible Faith

Matthew 1:18-21(NKJV)

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 

19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 

20But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 

21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Has God ever spoken to you that clearly?  Do you expect Him to?  Would you have the faith to do something outrageous if God told you to?  (Not crazy like killing somebody but crazy like changing careers, moving somehwere you never expected to be,  doing things in life that you never truly could have envisioned yourself doing, etc.)  The Bible is full of stories of people that did have that kind of faith.

Think about it.  Noah-God tells him to build an ark.  (If you've never head Bill Cosby's Noah bit please click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0KHt8xrQkk .  It's about  7 minutes and really funny!) God tells Abraham to sacrifice his kid.  God tells David (the teenager) to take on the giant Goliath., etc., etc, etc.

That kind of faith is impressive but how do you get that kind of faith?

My belief has always been that faith is like a muscle.  The more you use it the bigger it grows.  Learning to live by faith can start out with small steps.  You start trusting God in the little things.  Learn His promises and stand on them by being in the Word.  Each time you see God fulfill one of His promises to you that you stood on in faith, the more confidence you have in believing God for bigger and better things.  See, the more you use it the more it grows.

Give it a try.  Exercise your faith and see how exciting life can be!

The Wisdom in Proverbs

I have finished the New Testament and I am in Jeremiah in the Old Testament.  Because the OT is longer than the NT, I obviously get through the NT more often.  My reading routine is one chapter of each, each day. 

In an effort to vary the routine I'm going to add a chapter from Proverbs each day.    It is my favorite book in the Bible.  It is just chocked full of great nuggets.  I have always wished there was a random generator of my favorite Proverbs verses so this time through I am going to be separating them into categories like Wisdom, Success, etc.  Should be fun!

Here is one from today that I want to look at.  There are a couple of things here that I find interesting.  I am going to highlight them and then comment them after you have had a chance to read the verses.

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Proverbs 1:20-33(NKJV)

20    Wisdom calls aloud outside;      She raises her voice in the open squares.

21    She cries out in the £chief concourses,     At the openings of the gates in the city     She speaks her words:

22    “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?     For scorners delight in their scorning,     And fools hate knowledge.

23    Turn at my rebuke;     Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;     I will make my words known to you.

24    Because I have called and you refused,     I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

25    Because you disdained all my counsel,     And would have none of my rebuke,

26    I also will laugh at your calamity;     I will mock when your terror comes,

27    When your terror comes like a storm,     And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,     When distress and anguish come upon you.

28    “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;      They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

29    Because they hated knowledge     And did not choose the fear of the Lord,

30    They would have none of my counsel     And despised my every rebuke.

31    Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,     And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

32    For the turning away of the simple will slay them,     And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33    But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,      And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

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Wow.  So much in such a short space.   This section speaks of the importance of Wisdom.  I have always tried to emulate Salomon by asking God for wisdom, figuring that with wisdom, everything else will take care of itself.  Let's take a look.

Verse 20-21  Tells us that wisdom is there for the taking.  It's not hidden.  All we have to do is be open to learning.

Verse 22  Fools hate knowledge.  We all know people that look down on learning and make fun of others who try to improve themselves.  God says they are fools.

Verse 23  A promise from God.  If we listen to Him, He says He will pour out His Spirit on us.  He will help us understand His wisdom and knowledge.  Now that's a pretty cool promise.

Verse 24-26  Check this out.  One of the things that has always bugged me about the War on Poverty is the whole entitlement mentality that it has fostered.  This feeling that the world is unfair and everyone deserves charity no matter what destructive decisions the individual has made that have directly caused or contributed to their own poverty. 

Well here is what God has said about people that refuse to listen to Him.  Bear in mind here He is talking about people that He (God) has reached out to and tried to help and they have flat out rejected Him.  God says He will laugh at their predicament.  Not only that but He (God) will actually make fun (mock) of them. 

How bad would it suck to have God actually laughing at your distress?  Not only that but God says that if and when these people finally cry out to Him, He is going to ignore them.  Why?

Verse 29-31   What I notice here is He isn't speaking about people that maybe have a casual indifference to learning.  He's talking about people that "hate" and "despise" God's knowledge and leading.  So again it is this active rejection of God that earns His wrath.  In verse 31 God seems to be saying, "Hey they deserve what they get.  They're reaping what they sowed just like it says in the Bible". 

It's not like God is being mean or arbitrary here.  These again are people that had plenty of warning and flat our rejected God with malice.

But there is a happy ending for some.  Those that value and seek God's wisdom will be OK.

Verse 33  But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,      And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

 

So to recap.  God is more than willing to bless us with His wisdom if we simply seek it.  It's not an iffy thing.  He has promised it to us.  If we are dumb enough to outright reject Him, things are probably going to suck for us and God won't be coming to our rescue.  Seems pretty simple to me!

What will it take?

OK.  I've just finished reading Revelation again.  Here is the question that is uppermost in my mind.  What will it take to get people to believe in Jesus?  I can understand to a certain extent how people can not believe right now.  I think they are wrong but I can understand.

What do I mean by that?  People are busy living their lives, earning a living, raising their families, etc.   You don't see anything like what is prophesied in Revelation going on right now so from many people's perspective there isn't any sense of urgency.  For many people it just doesn't seem like a real issue right now.   It's far enough in the future that it doesn't seem to be a real concern. 

It's kind of like the difference between when I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and when I went bungy jumping.  When you jump out of an airplane you are so high up in the air that it is a bit surreal.  The possibility of going splat just doesn't seem all that real.   However when I went bungy jumping I could see the cement very clearly and the possibility of going splat was much more real to me. 

I think that illustrates part of the problem of getting people to believe today.  That whole salvation thing is too far in the future.  People are more concerned with what will make their lives better today.

But what about after the tribulation?  Take a look at a couple of verses. 

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Revelation 21:1(NKJV)

1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 

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To start with we are going to have a new Heaven and a new Earth. 

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Revelation 21:2(NKJV)

2Then I, £John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Revelation 21:27(NKJV)

27But there shall by no means enter it anything £that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

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A new Jerusalem to go with it and only those whose names appear in the Book of Life may enter it. 

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Revelation 22:14-15(NKJV)

14Blessed are those who £do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 

15£But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

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And even after all of that there are still those who don't believe.  Go read Revelation 16.  Things will happen that have never happened before like all of the living things in the sea die. 

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Revelation 16:3(NKJV)

3Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.

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Think about that.  Not only do people see that happen, but they can see that it was prophesied before hand to happen, and even then there will be people that won't believe.  Wow!  How blind do you have to be?  Scripture clearly tells us that God wants all people to come to Him so it's not a matter of God excluding anyone.  It is the rejection of God in the face of overwhelming evidence that I don't understand.

But what about now?

The more I study, the more I become convinced that it is our personal, sincere, heartfelt testimonies about what and how Jesus makes our daily lives better, that can make a big difference.  By sharing with people how following Jesus on a daily basis has made our lives better, we help people see the immediate benefit vs that nebulus one of salvation down the road.  Even though those of us that are saved understand that the nebulus benefit down the road is truly the more important of the two, we have to keep in mind that we have to answer this question from their perspective, not ours.

Maybe a place to start is to spend some time reflecting on just how Jesus does make your daily life better.  It's hard to tell someone else about it until we can clearly articulate it to ourselves.  Give it a try!