To Survive At All Costs?
What is the desire for human preservation in this life? Many thousands are preparing for some kind of collapse of our way of life, or apocalypse (we seem to have lost the meaning of the Greek word apo-kalupsis, an uncovering/unveiling/
Our country, along with others in the world, is in economic decline, mostly because of moral decline. We are removing God from our government when it was He who gave us our Republic and laws.
Is there a point to these preparations, and to what extent should we in the church go?
Matt. 6:25-34 … a very broad statement! The fruits of our labors teach us responsibility, and we are told to work in the day … but we are told to trust God to bless our work … but we must SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God.
Luke 20:24-25 … Give God what is HIS—your worship.
Isaiah 2:17-22 … yet do many have a worldly fear? Do we have idols that we bow down to? We can make an idol of anything. But in the end, we will cast our idols to the unclean creatures … those idols will be worthless when God comes. (see also Rev. 6:12-17 msl)
The tv shows portray “survivalists” or “preppers” making shelters and stocking them with food, water, and other supplies for an extended stay … but they never mention the Lord. It’s not wrong to set things aside, but we MUST trust in God FIRST.
Many are stocking up on guns and ammunition for a political “Armageddon” … but for what reasons? (mostly to fend off other people who try to take their supplies)
Matthew 26:52 … are they planning to live by the sword? (but see also, Alma 20:51 … inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies) Jesus said that He needed only to pray to the Father, and He would have more than 12 legions of angels to aid Him.
When God comes in, the works of man will not prosper.
There is quite a market for food that can be stored for extended periods of time … 10-25 years.
Ether 1:22-27 … the Jaredites were told to prepare, because of GOD’S purpose
1 Nephi 5:174-178 … Lehi’s party prepared much fruit, meat, honey, and other provisions … again, because of God’s purpose.
Genesis 41:1-42 (28-35) … Joseph interprets the Pharoah’s dream, and advises him to store up provisions for the coming 7-year famine.
God may call us to lay up in store; but don’t be so frugal that we don’t give God what is due … remember to give God what is HIS.
God has given us His version of survivalists … they lived by the sword and perished by the sword.
Elijah, Noah, Jared, Lehi, John the baptizer, Daniel … they were about man’s preservation thru God’s will and direction. He directed Elijah to the brook Cherith, and then to the widow’s house, for his preservation.
1 John 3:17 and 4:20 … our direction, to LOVE our brothers and sisters, by helping meet their needs. If someone threatens our family, God looks differently at that (Alma 20:51) … but we would rather help our brother and feed him rather than fight
James 4:1-6 Wars and fightings … come from our love of the world. We can’t have it both ways!
Genesis 47:13-26 … In Egypt, the Pharoah wound up owning everything (the people were compelled to give their extra food production to the government, then had to buy it back, and finally had to sell all their land to the gov’t msl)
Being as debt-free as possible is a good thing.
Many are preparing for a temporal, earthly crisis but fail to prepare for the greatest crisis of all
Alma 16:228-238 … that awful crisis, when we stand face-to-face with Christ at His judgement bar
Luke 23:39-43 … the thief on the cross … we MUST NOT build a doctrine on this passage!
John 15:11 (after the passage on bearing fruit) … these things I have spoken that your joy might be full … we’re being robbed of our joy by worldly fear (1 John 4:18 … there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear) … the fear of the Lord replaces worldly fear (and is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 9:10)
Malachi 3:10-12 … Give God what is His (2 Corinthians 9:7, a cheerful giver msl)
Luke 12:15-21 … no thought of giving to others in need, but to build bigger barns and keep all that increase to himself … covetousness.
We had better be able to not only enjoy the things we have, but to walk away from them and not look back … are we high-maintenance? Are we so used to the blessed life we live here in America that we will not be able to leave it when called to do so?
Yet our Lord has taught and blessed the world with the Farmer … who has tilled the earth to feed his family and mankind. If the farmer knows God, he looks to Him for wisdom
2 Chronicles 7:14 … I will heal the land
God’s recipe for survival—faith, love, prayer, devotion, obedience, faithfulness
We can learn useful, meaningful ways to sustain ourselves … using our weapons as tools to find game, not harm our neighbors … maybe to preserve liberty … using our energy and inspired talents and ingenuity to learn domestic skills, work at useful labor, and prepare for natural storms … yet trust in the Lord for all.
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