GROWING COLD

You can tell that the world is getting colder by the day. This is not referring to climate change or the winter period that we have experienced here in Southern Africa but to the persistent spiritual coldness that is engulfing our Earth. Our Lord Jesus said it perfectly when He mentioned the state of man at the end of times. Man's heart would be so overshadowed by sin that he would grow cold, and what coldness has it turned out to be! "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12). Hearing the daily news can be a traumatic experience for anyone watching the headlines. The atrocities one hears can leave us shocked and numb. No one can deny that there is an increase and rise in murders, immorality, hatred, natural disasters, etc. All these things are making our world darker and colder. Too often people complain that nobody has time for anyone else anymore. Long gone are the days when people would actually reach out and help others! Today it is every man for himself and it is getting worse as the days pass by. Even the Church of God has grown cold. People walk through the doors of the sanctuary looking for hope, but all too often they become disappointed. The Church that should be the light of the world is so dim that it takes good eyesight to actually see her! The Church even embraces every "new thing" but the Word of God. The world has stepped in and dictated to the Church and she has simply said "amen" when she should be saying, "Thus sayeth the Lord." The prophetic Word of God will not return void to Him. The Word goes out to the ends of the Earth and shows people how cold this world is, how cold their hearts are, and how this coldness is turning them away from the Source of all life, warmth and light - Jesus Christ! What makes a heart cold? Sin! Iniquity, which is sin, has a full grip on the hearts of humanity, on those whose minds are blinded and whose hearts are infected. Sin comes in, takes over and totally consumes and destroys! But God, knowing that the wages of sin is death, has sent a solution. God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to come and pay the price that will turn man's cold, dead heart into a warm heart in which the Spirit of the living God dwells. Unless man turns to the only One Who knows how to remove the grip of sin - Jesus Christ - they will continue to find themselves bound to iniquity and to its consequences which eventually leads to death. In these last days that we find ourselves living in, we are going to see more coldness and darkness before the coming of Jesus Christ. We need to warn as many people as possible to search their hearts, and to cry out for the warmth of Christ to melt their icy hearts. They must turn to the One who can resurrect them from frozen death back to life. And whilst you are going about it, take a look at your own heart. Is your heart cold? Have you lost your "First Love" - Jesus? Have you lost your hunger for the Word? Have you become indif-ferent to the prophetic Word of God? Remember, the less time you spend with the Lord the more your heart will grow cold. Eventually you will have moved away from Him completely! If you have answered "yes" to any of these questions about your heart's condition, the good news is: You can repent! Turn to the Lord and ask Him for forgiveness. Ask Him to change your cold heart into a warm and beating fire! Spend more time with the Lord. The days ahead will be difficult but in Christ Jesus we will experience victory. He is all we need! Elizabeth Amorim, Revelation Heart Ministries www.revelationheart.co.za