"You've got to sell yourself! Be confident! Believe in your abilities! You are worth it!" ... All the things our culture tells us to think about ourselves. The Lord is so different. If we are to be righteous before God, we must think realistically about ourselves. We must come before Him broken and emptied of ourselves. Only in Jesus Christ will we be made fit for Heaven.

Gospel ministry is laborious work. We see the ethic at which the Apostle Paul went at it. He was tenacious and dedicated to helping people see the truth concerning Jesus Christ. We must do no less. Sometimes we will see great fruit from it. Oftentimes there will be a backlash to it! Persevere in the work of making Jesus Christ known.

Pornography..."Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death." - Proverbs 7:25-27

While the Christian will not escape tribulation in these last days, we are given peace of mind knowing that the Lord has promised that tribulation will not go on forever, but will be cut short. This tribulation will serve both to sanctify the Lord's people and to divide them from the wicked. The Christian's mission remains the same in times of peace or hardship; serve the Lord in faithfulness until He brings you home.

The Christian Church will not escape tribulation, rather the Antichrist will arise in the end time, and, "There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time;" (12:1). We needn't despair, for the Lord will help His people, those who are found "Written in the book". He will rescue them. He will come and rescue them unto life, but the Antichrist and the wicked He will judge. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

History will not continue to go on forever, but has an end date, a date that none knows. However, we are told here In this second installment of Daniels final vision what we will see before the end of time. The Antichrist will come on the scene, and the Lord's people will suffer terribly. The Antichrist will be an arrogant man and a man of conflict and oppression. Know this, and keep your eyes on our Savior, Jesus Christ!

A new year awaits us and new beginnings! Often we make our plans and ask God to bless them. We do this because we want Him to make OUR dreams come true. The successful life is not the one we plan and ask God to bless, but it is the life that is lived in an intimate knowledge of and complete reliance upon the LORD!

A woman burned alive, a car hitting and killing innocent people in a Christmas market, a CEO murdered on the streets of NYC, and people celebrate?!? What an evil and sad world. The Son of God came into our World to deliver us from evil and the judgment upon our sin. Christ Jesus is your only hope!

The best messages do not tell us what we want to hear, but what is necessary to hear. The message to Daniel was not a pleasant word of prosperity, but a sobering message of hardship which was to come upon the people of God. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Know that hardship is coming, and trust in the Lord!

There are many in the Lord's church who wrongly believe that righteousness and holiness are the result of what one does rather than to Whom one belongs! The Apostle Paul fiercely defended the Gospel of grace against those who were teaching this heresy in order that the church would not place its confidence in the work of their hands.