This is not the first time I have dreamed of the last days. I believe they are coming (because I believe the Bible), and perhaps we are raising the last generation of Christians. How will we prepare them for the days to come? We must teach them to love Christ above all, to cling to Him when it has become dangerous to their person to do so. We much teach them to walk closely with the Lord. He will be their Guide and their Comfort in times of difficulty and distress. If we would have them stand and not fall, we must pray for them as the Lord Jesus prayed for us. We must train their minds and bodies to endure temptation and hold tenaciously to that which is right. we must teach them to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. The day may come when the Gospel must be given out in secrecy where you are. (But given out, it shall be!) Will they be wise enough to find ways to accomplish the great commission when evil forces make it (almost) impossible?

Fellow missionaries, think not that you shall always be free to serve where you are. Think not that you have much time to accomplish His will for the people you serve. The world's climate continues to change, and being a carrier of the Gospel will not always be so easy or so popular. Watchman! what of the night? What is the state of your people? Are you preparing them for the judgment to come? Or will their blood be upon your hands?

Are your lamps trimmed and ready? The Bridegroom cometh! He does not come at a time that we think He will. We must watch and be ready at any time.

Fear not the persecution of the Church. History has borne out that the suffering of the saints is the seed of the Gospel, and the true Church will live on. Despise the facade of "religion" that only serves to temporarily soothe the conscience and lull people to sleep. But cling to Christ! Be faithful to the end. Read and memorize the Word, and learn Who will be victorious in the end.

Have you ever struggled with a particular sin, a bad habit, and found yourself unable to make a change? I think most everyone has, and it is no wonder...

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)

The fact is that we cannot make permanent changes for the better, of our own power.

"...There is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalm 53:5)

The root of the problem is a natural tendency to do wrong. Every son of Adam and daughter of Eve has it...

"Behold I was shapen in iniquity..." (Psalm 51:5)
"All we like sheep have gone astray." (Isaiah 53:6)

The GOOD NEWS is that God is not willing to leave us defeated in our sins! All the way back in the Garden of Eden He promised to send Messiah (Genesis 3:15), the Redeemer who would proclaim liberty to the captives of sin, and heal us, and restore our broken relationship to God!

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Jesus Christ is Messiah, sent by God. He became the Lamb of God, sacrificed on our behalf so that we might go free (like Abraham's son Isaac!). He received the punishment that we deserve for our sin.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

God promised to send a Redeemer, and his promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ! But we must approach God on his terms, and not on our own terms.

"Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12

Jesus Christ is the only way to approach God the Father; the blood He shed is what can cleanse us of our sins and set us free from that bondage. Only Jesus can bridge the huge gap that sin puts between you and God.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Jesus demonstrated his power over sin by his impeccable life (Luke 23:4); his power over selfishness by his self-sacrificial death (John 10:15); his power over death by his resurrection! (John 10:17-18)

Through Jesus Christ you can become a new creature! Can a leopard change his spots? Can a sinner be made clean?

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

Pray to God in Heaven, confessing your sins to him. Claim the blood Jesus shed on your behalf, and he will wash you clean!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17)