In the historic book of Joshua, Joshua reminds the children of Israel in his concluding discourse of just how far the LORD had brought them. At one time, the Father of their faith and ours, Abraham, served other gods. Having brought Abraham out of bondage, the Lord blessed him and gave him Isaac and then Jacob who eventually landed in Egypt. After many years the children of Israel were put in bondage in Egypt, however God rescued them and set them on a journey towards the Promised Land. Ultimately God gave them the land they did not work for, cities they did not build, vineyards and olive gardens they did not plant (Joshua 24:13).


As Joshua continued, he then presents God’s people with a word of caution and an ultimatum. First, the word of caution: “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt: and serve ye the Lord” (Joshua 24:14). Here is his ultimatum: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).


As an Apostle and minister of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I must make the same admonishment and ultimatum to God’s people worldwide. It is time for us to put away the “gods” of greed, corruption, selfishness, competition, jealousy, envy and lust.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God we are called to shine our light in a dark and cruel world. If our light is dim, we will not be able to effectively fulfill our mandate from heaven to reach the lost and dying. However, there is a remnant of believers in the earth who will fulfill the Father’s calling to “Arise and Shine!’ Are you a part of that remnant?
Listen man and woman of God the scriptures succinctly informs us, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17 NIV). As a citizen of the kingdom of God our mindset should be to do the will of the Father. It may bring upon us persecution or put a target on our back, but so be it! Our goal is to please the one who called us and saved us for His Holy work. We already know that the one who lives godly shall suffer persecution and through much tribulation do we enter the kingdom. Nothing and no one can stop us from fulfilling our God-given assignment. No one! We have been called and chosen by God before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before him in love. Glory to God!!


Make no mistake, the Lord will return to earth from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ! (1 Thessalonians 1:7, 8). 


Many do not like to hear and read this truth, but it must be said.