Why worship Jehovah...?
... because His purpose means a rescue for us
... because His purpose means a rescue for us
“I Have Made Your Name Known”
...in order that the love with which God loved Jesus Christ might be in us
John 17:26 (paraphrased)
John 17:26 (paraphrased)
The Bible is more than a history, and its words richer than they seem.
When Jesus Christ said the words above, he did not simply mean he had declared the Name of God, which was largely repressed among the people – but God’s purpose.
Likewise, this ministry which has borne God’s Own Name in its title – worshipJehovah.org – has published God’s purpose: His Divine Rescue of everyone. As with Jeremiah, the signs become more and more apparent – the climate crisis, and our failure to cope with it. There is not a single soul who will be excluded from God’s rescue, and when it happens [Revelation 5:13] everyone alive will give thanks to that Name – to God and to His Messiah. Everyone will know and make known God’s Name and purpose.
Jesus famously said to Thomas:
We have the opportunity now to be happy, to have that “faith like Abraham” in advance of the day when God intervenes, to show in our confidence – in our yearning – that we have already seen and heard God in advance, the faith which is not just perception or personal pride, but a healing to us in dire straits, a healing which the Thomases will not have ( may they be few!)...
...we have all read of the Hebrews in Egypt who had faith in God’s protection at the first Passover, and faith in His deliverance on the shore of the Red Sea – we have all read – but now we can have that same precious faith, and in the future we can be remembered with the same admiration as those faithful Hebrews are remembered today. Have we not seen enough signs in the climate, enough proof in history of God keeping His promises? Really… is not faith easy! to have.
When Jesus Christ said the words above, he did not simply mean he had declared the Name of God, which was largely repressed among the people – but God’s purpose.
Christ came as the Law in human form, to instantly forgive contrite souls without the need for a burnt sacrifice.
Similarly Jeremiah had been given God’s Name – not literally as his own, but in the ministry of preaching to God’s purpose - that although their temple and way of life was about to fall, there would be a rich return and a joining to the nations.
Likewise, this ministry which has borne God’s Own Name in its title – worshipJehovah.org – has published God’s purpose: His Divine Rescue of everyone. As with Jeremiah, the signs become more and more apparent – the climate crisis, and our failure to cope with it. There is not a single soul who will be excluded from God’s rescue, and when it happens [Revelation 5:13] everyone alive will give thanks to that Name – to God and to His Messiah. Everyone will know and make known God’s Name and purpose.
Jesus famously said to Thomas:
“You believe because you have seen me, but happy are those who will not see [me], and yet believe!”
John 20:29
John 20:29
We have the opportunity now to be happy, to have that “faith like Abraham” in advance of the day when God intervenes, to show in our confidence – in our yearning – that we have already seen and heard God in advance, the faith which is not just perception or personal pride, but a healing to us in dire straits, a healing which the Thomases will not have ( may they be few!)...
...we have all read of the Hebrews in Egypt who had faith in God’s protection at the first Passover, and faith in His deliverance on the shore of the Red Sea – we have all read – but now we can have that same precious faith, and in the future we can be remembered with the same admiration as those faithful Hebrews are remembered today. Have we not seen enough signs in the climate, enough proof in history of God keeping His promises? Really… is not faith easy! to have.
From a Halo to a Serpent
The prophet Ezekiel spoke of when the devil had been a trusted overseer of Eden:
Isn’t that the way with people also?! If only it could be clearly seen…
Yet in recent years, that has been seen in the climate crisis. The northern jet stream – once a smooth halo – has been transformed into the shape of a writhing many-headed snake.
This unimaginable change to a fundamental earth feature is both a symptom- and a new facilitator of the climate crisis.
Only discovered in the late 1940s, the jet stream is a powerful strong wind system, whose power gave it form and stability. It was relied upon for air travel as a means for saving fuel on long journies, and acted as a shepherd to weather systems to keep them in check...
...But in recent years, climate change has distorted that reliable wind into an unimaginable form – no longer a continuous band, but splitting, turning back on itself in places, even crossing over the equator .
Our Lord said:
Who can look at this unprecedented change in the atmosphere and still claim Man to be in control! We should be afraid, we should be terrified… but then, we should think of God’s promise to intervene. It is the only thing we can rely upon, and as frightening as the prospects for our future seem to be, there is a way forward which will navigate us safely through the coming years...
“You were in Eden, the garden of God - the anointed cherub in oversight, and I set you [that way]. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created... until unrighteousness was discovered in you.”
Ezekiel 28:13-15
Ezekiel 28:13-15
Isn’t that the way with people also?! If only it could be clearly seen…
Yet in recent years, that has been seen in the climate crisis. The northern jet stream – once a smooth halo – has been transformed into the shape of a writhing many-headed snake.
This unimaginable change to a fundamental earth feature is both a symptom- and a new facilitator of the climate crisis.
Only discovered in the late 1940s, the jet stream is a powerful strong wind system, whose power gave it form and stability. It was relied upon for air travel as a means for saving fuel on long journies, and acted as a shepherd to weather systems to keep them in check...
...But in recent years, climate change has distorted that reliable wind into an unimaginable form – no longer a continuous band, but splitting, turning back on itself in places, even crossing over the equator .
It cannot be stressed enough how significant and dangerous it is for such an earth force to have suffered permanent distortion due to our pollution of the atmosphere
This almost chaotic new form has been responsible for freezing much of Europe, and even Turkey and Greece and Italy, for many weeks.
Our Lord said:
“YOU know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but YOU cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
Matthew 16:3
Matthew 16:3
Who can look at this unprecedented change in the atmosphere and still claim Man to be in control! We should be afraid, we should be terrified… but then, we should think of God’s promise to intervene. It is the only thing we can rely upon, and as frightening as the prospects for our future seem to be, there is a way forward which will navigate us safely through the coming years...
Living in these Final Days
See the crisis, see how governments cannot cope with it. Was there ever before a time when the whole world saw its climate fail, and its governances prove to be powerless? Our days of self-reliance are rapidly drawing to a close.
So how should we live as the inevitable falls upon us?
Breathe, be calm, call to God.
The prophet Micah spoke of that very heated concern in a world leader who asked how to act, but all God is asking is for us to be open-hearted before the Almighty [Micah 6:6-8].
But a calm approach in these last days will heal our fears, remove the fear that this is the end as we learn that God had long ago foreseen what would happen. We need not be afraid that our children and grand-children will have no future – we will simply know, just like the centurion whose servant Jesus healed [Matthew 8:5-13], that God’s word is good. We will simply know, just like the Hebrews at the first Passover, that our children will be safe - because God made it safe in those days according to His promise. So simply, so very simply, we will have that same faith as those who are the subject of Bible stories for thousands of years – and our faith now will be recounted with the same wonder and same admiration by the future generations.
It is a time of great anxiety – we are beyond the "tipping point" – but this is where we become alive. This is when cold reality draws the scales from our eyes and we discard our hubristic notion that we own the planet and owe our lives to no-one. This is when we realise that despite all our achievements, we are children - in distress - and we call to our Father. And if you do, quite possibly you – even though an atheist – will come alive spiritually, ever so gently, and realise the true reality: that God is there, and in a short time we will never again need to rely on ourselves.
Just as the Bible speaks of “last days” of the traditionalist era, so we are in the last days of the era of our independence
So how should we live as the inevitable falls upon us?
Normality
God has made it simple. There is no church to join, no beliefs to adopt, no charismatic leader to follow – just let your heart open and think on God’s intervention. Whatever beliefs you have – right or wrong – are supplementary; don’t worry or be preoccupied with your or anyone else’s belief, just let your heart open.
Breathe, be calm, call to God.
Although worshipJehovah.org alone has born the news of God’s
Divine Rescue for everyone, it is merely a postman bearing a message to world leaders - which becomes theirs - and is not some leader to be followed. God wants our hearts to reach out to Him personally.
If you already believe in a Creator, build the link with Him yourself before He builds it so visibly with the whole world. Acknowledge what you already know: that a God would
never abandon His creation in the face of world-wide destruction – He has promised to intervene, He will step in when we call.
Kings and Lords
The Kings and Lords – the world leaders – will all call together, all unitedly. They will debate on the Name to use – or none – and in their desperate desire for a rescue they will endeavour to be absolutely correct. Such earnestness – even if not necessary – shows the opening of the heart; they will think of a choosing a spokesman or a common wording for their call, they will strive – though they too do not need to adopt beliefs or church or follow anyone. The one whom we should follow will arrive after their call.
The prophet Micah spoke of that very heated concern in a world leader who asked how to act, but all God is asking is for us to be open-hearted before the Almighty [Micah 6:6-8].
Know What to Expect
Neither that calm, mild-hearted thinking of God nor our earnest strivings will halt the nemesis climate crisis, nor make our governors able to abate it: what is happening is happening, we have caused it,
The human - and Hollywood! - notion that we will be triumphant when we decide to act is an hubristic delusion, blinded to the severity of the problem which we have allowed to develop. We need help from the Creator.
it cannot be stopped.
But a calm approach in these last days will heal our fears, remove the fear that this is the end as we learn that God had long ago foreseen what would happen. We need not be afraid that our children and grand-children will have no future – we will simply know, just like the centurion whose servant Jesus healed [Matthew 8:5-13], that God’s word is good. We will simply know, just like the Hebrews at the first Passover, that our children will be safe - because God made it safe in those days according to His promise. So simply, so very simply, we will have that same faith as those who are the subject of Bible stories for thousands of years – and our faith now will be recounted with the same wonder and same admiration by the future generations.
It is a time of great anxiety – we are beyond the "tipping point" – but this is where we become alive. This is when cold reality draws the scales from our eyes and we discard our hubristic notion that we own the planet and owe our lives to no-one. This is when we realise that despite all our achievements, we are children - in distress - and we call to our Father. And if you do, quite possibly you – even though an atheist – will come alive spiritually, ever so gently, and realise the true reality: that God is there, and in a short time we will never again need to rely on ourselves.
