We can endure many trials in life as long as we have hope. Without hope, however, many people in seemingly hopeless situations give up and die before their time. Too many end up taking their life.

If anyone ever had a reason to feel hopeless it was Job. He lost his wealth, his health, and his children. His body, covered with boils, was racked with pain. His life had become a living nightmare. His friends said it was because of his sins and failures. He was so destitute his wife suggested he curse God and die.

Job had no idea that God was allowing Satan to test him. But through all his tests and attacks, Job never lost his faith in God. In the midst of his despair his soul cried out the profound words upon which Handel based his “Messiah.”

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” Job instinctively knew that he was more than a body in that he was a living soul and that, in the end, he would see God.

We too, can have this same confidence and hope knowing that no matter what happens to us, by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and trusting our life to God day by day, we too can have the hope and confidence that we too, like Job, will see God face to face and remain with him forever in heaven.

God’s Word promises, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son [Jesus Christ]. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”² There is no greater hope than this in all of life. Do make sure this hope is yours. For help, read the article in No. 3 below.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to know you in a personal way, so that I have the assurance that all my sins are forgiven, and that I have the hope of eternal life when, like Job, I will see you face to face. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Job 19:25-26 (NIV).

2. 1 John 5:11-13 (NIV).

3. “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

A Daily Encounter subscriber writes, “I just asked a friend why I was not able to reach her via her telephone. She told me that God had told her to separate herself from everyone—not to be in touch with anyone, even family, so she changed her home and cell phone numbers. Have you ever heard of anything like this? Or is she listening to the wrong spirit?”

Dear AB, “When people like this say that God has told them to do (or not to do) such and such, I always discredit it if it is contrary to what the Word of God teaches. What this person has said certainly appears to be contrary to God’s Word the Bible.”

Speaking personally, I never say that God has told me to do anything apart from what His Word has already said. If I sense that God may be leading me to do something, I always put it to the test to see if it is of God or of myself. People who have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) tendencies can easily believe that their own compulsive thinking is from God. I like to remind myself that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”²—never compulsions!

In one church where I was a deacon we had one deacon who claimed to have many “gifts of the Spirit.” In deacon meetings, when we had major issues to discuss, he would sometimes say, “The Lord has told me how it is to be.” On one of these occasions I said, “Because the Lord hasn’t told me how it should be, can we discuss the issue at hand.” On another occasion this same man came to my office and told me that God had told him that he was to work for me. I didn’t give him a job because he was not in any way qualified to do the work that we do!

Then there are those who want a special word from God to know what they are supposed to do when God’s Word has already made that very plain. For instance, I heard one lady say that she didn’t support evangelism because God didn’t tell her to do this. However, the fact is that Jesus has commissioned [told] EVERY Christian in his Word saying, “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”³ For many things we don’t need any special word from God because he has already given that to us.

Yes, it is certainly true that God does lead and call people to undertake certain tasks and responsibilities, but if it is from God, it is always in harmony with what his Word teaches and never contrary to it. If we feel God is “speaking” to us or leading us, we need to “test the spirit” to see if it is of God. For instance, years ago I felt very strongly that God was leading me to write and do literature work, something I had never ambitioned to do. So as a test I started to write and guess what? That test was in 1968. It worked. I’ve been writing ever since.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to discern the difference between ‘a word from you’ and a word from myself or from any other source. Always face me with the truth in every such situation. And when the word or directive is from you, please give me the courage to step out and put it to the test. Furthermore, help me to always obey what is clearly written in your Word, the Bible. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 4:1 (NKJV).

2. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NKJV).

3. Mark 16:15 (TLB) (NLT).

A friend, a former professor from the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia, was telling me how, back in the 1970s when Communism was the greatest threat to world peace, she heard a speaker who predicted that it wasn’t Communism we needed to fear for the future but Islam. Who would have ever believed that radical claim back then?

Some time ago Chuck Colson in his daily BreakPoint wrote, “In the mid-1990s Harvard professor Samuel Huntington predicted that the twenty-first century would see a great clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. Nobody paid much attention. After all, we had just defeated communism. There was peace in the world. All was well.

“Then came September 11, when we awoke to the fact that there are people out there who want to destroy us—not just defeat us, but annihilate us.”¹

For radical Muslims their only worldview is convert to Islam or die. The numerous suicide bombers ought to wake us up to this fact. They are all too willing to die for their cause.

Can we in the West negotiate with such radicals? The reality is that we can’t negotiate with terrorists any more than we could negotiate with Hitler or Stalin. Their goal was to conquer the world. It didn’t matter one iota how many people they killed to achieve their goal of world domination. To them, the end always justified the means. That, too, is the goal and philosophy of radical Muslims.

However, today’s struggle goes far beyond that of Nazism and Communism of the 20th Century. Today we are not so much in a war against terrorism as we are, as Chuck Colson put it, in a clash of civilizations. Terrorism is just a means to an end. For instance, “The history of Islamic hostility toward the West goes back centuries. Radical Muslims are still smarting over the defeat of their armies south of Paris in the year 732, not to mention the catastrophic defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the gates of Vienna on September 11, 1683. That’s right, September 11. Bin Laden chose his date for a reason. He was avenging the defeat of Muslim armies more than four hundred years earlier. September 11 has roots in an [ongoing long-term] irrational hatred of the West.”²

Today, September 11, is a graphic reminder that we are indeed in a clash of civilizations. The politicians and political pundits don’t have the answer. The United Nations doesn’t have the answer. The media doesn’t have the answer. Sadly much, though not all, of Western Christendom, which has become wishy-washy, doesn’t have the answer either. And as much as I appreciate the military powers of the West that we desperately need to protect us, they don’t have the answer either. True, we need to pray for our leaders and our military that God will direct and guide them, but we need more than these for our protection.

Why do I claim this? Because we need to realize that long before Bin Laden and radical Islam the world has been in a clash of “civilizations” from the beginning of time—the clash between the world of evil and the world of good—a clash that seems to be heating up.

So wherein is the answer? What can we do? How can we win against suicide bombers—those who “hide in darkness” and are willing to die for their cause?

First, we in the West need to wake up and smell the “gun powder” and face reality. The radical Muslims are coming. They’re growing. They are on the increase around the world. We’re in a life-and-death struggle against the forces of evil.

Second, we in the West who claim to be Christian need to get serious and be willing to live for, be genuinely committed to, and practice our faith. If we don’t, we may die because those who are willing to die for their faith are intent on killing us.

Third, because we are in a battle between good and evil, the bottom line is that we in the West desperately need a great spiritual awakening. And that needs to start with you and me.

And fourth, be sure to note who of late has wanted God removed from their political platform. The reality is that the farther we move away from God, the more we move ourselves away from God’s protection.

As God’s word reminds us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse [and military might] is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.”³

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, as King David prayed, ‘we wait in hope for the LORD; [you are] our help and our shield. In [you] our hearts rejoice, for we trust in [your] holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.’⁴ Please send a great spiritual awakening to our land and let your work begin in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Chuck Colson, BreakPoint, August 16, 2006.

2. Ibid.

3. Psalm 33:12, 16-17 (NIV).

4. Psalm 33:20-22 (NIV).

Undoubtedly, this is where the term, “the handwriting on the wall,” originated. It is used today as a warning that something significant is about to happen or come to an end. In a very real sense God’s handwriting “is on the wall” again today; that is, on “the wall of world history”—warning all mankind of the coming climax of world history—a climax that will be marked by two spectacular worldwide events the likes of which have never ever been seen before—one exciting; the other terrifying!

What Are the Two Events?

One, the exciting: This will be the return of Jesus Christ to earth to rapture (the catching up to heaven) of every Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as his/her Savior, and whose sins have been forgiven by God.

Two, the terrifying: The other dramatic event will be the entrance of the Antichrist onto the stage of world history to launch his worldwide reign of terror during the seven-year Great Tribulation period which will be a horrific time of hell on earth. The Antichrist will be a world-leader who will violently oppose anything and everything that has to do with God, with Jesus Christ, and with Christianity. While there is not always agreement as to which of these two events will happen first, the critical issue, however, is that we are ready for Christ’s return so we won’t be left behind when he comes.

God’s Handwriting Today

So what is God’s handwriting today telling us? It is all but flashing in neon lights that the world as we know it is about to end, perhaps more quickly than we think. As Jesus said, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption [the return of Jesus Christ] is drawing near.”²

The Bible refers to “these things” as signs to indicate the approaching nearness of these two major events we are discussing today. While it is true that some of these signs—especially those relating to wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and the like—have been happening since Jesus Christ was on earth 2,000 years ago, today, as another has said, “THEY ARE ALL STANDING UP AT ONCE!”

The final signs of the times have to do with the nation of Israel; the entrance, or preparation for the entrance of the Antichrist; the mark of the beast; the new Jewish temple in Jerusalem; an exponential knowledge explosion; and the worldwide gospel outreach—all of which are either happening right now or in the process of getting ready to happen.

For an explanation of each of these final signs in detail read this complete article online at: http://tinyurl.com/wall-handwriting … It is exciting to see how the predictions of God’s Word are happening right now in our day and age. In a vital way they are God’s warning to us, in the words of Jesus: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] is coming at an hour you do not expect.”³

Suggested prayer: Dear God, thank you for your Word that informs us of the signs that will precede your return and that will take place immediately prior to the end of this world age. Please help me to know and understand your Word, be aware of what is happening, and be prepared for your coming by accepting your Son, Jesus Christ, as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you for this blessed hope and assurance of your salvation and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

If you are not sure that you are ready for Christ’s return, please read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian,” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

1. See Daniel 5.

2. Luke 21:28 (NIV).

3. Matthew 24:44 (NKJV).

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