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By Pastor Gary Boyd

We are living in very perilous times. That is all the more reason we must "pay much careful attention so that we do not drift away." (Heb. 2:1) We should all be anchored in our belief system lest we become shipwrecked in our faith. Drifting occurs very slowly though the end result is as deadly as openly turning away from God in outright apostasy. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." The devil seeks to lull you to sleep.

Spiritual Danger is Real
Spiritual danger is just as real as physical danger. The real danger today is to give up hope, to go with the flow, like so many lemmings rushing into the sea, to become numb to society, to drift away, and die inside. It is much more dangerous to ignore God's mercy, or to make a pretense of knowing God's grace, then it is to blatantly break his commandments. The immediate need then is to remember, to hear, and to awaken the soul to face the truth of reality. We must focus the heart, concentrate our will, and consciously set the Lord always before us. (Psalms 16:8)

Follow the Spirit
Each day we must awaken from our emptiness to reaffirm the central truth: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your might." (Deut. 6:4-5). As the Apostle Paul once said, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." (Eph. 5:14)

Shema
The great commandment is to shema, Listen-listen to the voice of God's love for you; listen to the message of God's good will for you; listen to the call of the Holy Spirit. To truly listen you must quiet yourself, you must make space in your heart, and you must make a conscious effort to attend God's presence by setting the Lord before you.

Be Vigilant
We must then be vigilant to secure our high calling to our Messiah: "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is as sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (Hosea 6:3). The day is drawing near, and now, more than ever, we must remain steadfast in our belief. May God help you pursue him with all your heart because he has promised "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13). Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, body, and soul and you will find him even as you put your hope in him.

What Does the Future Hold
With the soon coming eclipse on August 21st that portends perhaps judgement on our gentile nation and the coming planet convergence on the Feast of Trumpets, Sept. 23rd, it appears spiritually we are about to change and the days of grace will be coming to an end. If the rapture of the body of Christ happens then in September than the great tribulation will happen immediately after. Seven years later our Lord and savior comes to defeat the enemies of God. Jesus will then set up his kingdom.

Fellow warriors in Christ I believe that is how close we are to becoming forever changed. Look up for our savior will soon be approaching to snatch us away into forevermore. Come soon sweet Lord.