For Fair Use Discussion and Educational Purposes

Originally posted on RITA Rapture in the Air

http://pub48.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=4086901292&frmid=13&msgid=1055676&cmd=show

Reposted on
PreWrath & Pre Tribulation Rapture of the Church Forum

http://pub39.bravenet.com/forum/static/post.php?usernum=3330765498&frmid=8549&msgid=0&cp=1


Escaping the Fowler's Snare

http://cindybythesea.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/escaping-the-fowlers-snare/



“As fish are caught in a cruel net or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly on them”. Ecclesiastes 9:12

How many of you saw the controversy this week over the new MTV program “Skins“? Formatted after the hugely popular British series of the same name, Skins is a reality program which push the boundaries (as if there were any left) for American audiences in its depiction of underage teens, sex and drugs. Couple that story with the one this week of the teacher who allowed in his or her classroom sex acts between second graders and it isn’t hard to see that our society has reached a new low in what can only be labeled as pedophilia. And while, there has been an outcry against the teacher (as there should be) a whopping 3.3 million viewers tuned in to Skins during its last episode – 1.8 million of which were under 18! And due to the enormous amount of publicity the show received this past week, ratings are expected to go even higher!

I was reading Psalm 78 this morning and was struck by the words from verse 18 -

“they willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved”.

I found this very interesting as it seemed to tie in with some of the things I had been thinking about recently. Without a doubt, we live in a culture with an insatiable appetite for sex – young sex. As magazine after magazine at the Supermarket check-out would testify, we idolize the young and beautiful and can’t seem to get enough of their sex, drug filled lives. Hungrily, we devour each tidbit of information fed to us by the media filling us up with the food we crave.

In Psalm 78, the Israelites after being delivered from Egypt began to murmur against God. Instead of an attitude of gratefulness and humility, they developed a spirit of rebellion and began to forget all that God had done for them; failing in God’s explicit instruction for teaching their children the precepts of God.

“I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter hidden things – things from old – what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, we will tell the next generation, the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach to their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children not yet born and they in turn would tell their children, then they would put their trust in God …”

As I recount these verses, I have to ask myself – have we done this? Have we been faithful in teaching the next generation about God; about Jesus? And, by virtue of the incredible decay of our culture over the past few years; the sad answer to that question would be a resounding no. Instead of craving the things of God in order that we might pass them on to our children, we have craved and demanded the satisfaction of our own appetites and our own flesh.

I believe the world-wide attention garnered by the recent death of fish and birds across the globe were given as a warning – a warning to an increasingly wicked and rebellious world of a snare which has been set for them and in which they unwittingly will be caught. But, I also see this warning as not just a warning for them, but, also for us.

Psalm 91 - escaping the fowlers snare.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Surely, he will save you from the fowlers snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge, his faithfulness will be your shield and your rampart”.

In these final days up to and until the rapture, it is comforting to have these words from Psalm 91. And while God is faithful to keep his promise, we would do well to take before the Lord, the things we do and the things we crave – and repent and make changes where necessary. It would be foolish to think that God’s protection is a given for God constantly calls us to a life of holiness and if that has not been our pursuit before now, it should be soon.

As adults we are all stewards of God’s most precious commodity; his children. In our laziness and pursuit of self-interest, millions upon millions of children both born and unborn have been lost. The unborn to the abortion mills and the born to lives of dysfunction and abuse through the failure of those who should have been there to protect their security and their innocence. Shame on a generation whose appetite for the things of the flesh has allowed for the devouring of its own precious young. No wonder the God Molech laughs.

May God help us to see things for what they really are and repent while there is still time.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love thee” Psalm 122:6 Waiting and watching with YOU for the soon return of Jesus! Cindy