The devastating fires in the Los Angeles area have so many of us praying for the safety of the residents, fire and emergency workers as well as for an end to the spreading flames. At the time of writing this post I don’t know the cause, perhaps no one really does, but I have heard the blame pointing to poor leadership affecting water resources and poor administration.
Regardless, can we find any good in this loss? Has God forsaken the city? Could this be God’s judgment on an area central to Hollywood? What truth can we find in the flames?
Where are you, God?
I saw a Reel (short video on Facebook) by celebrity Frank Stallone sharing his heartbreak over this situation and before he ended his video he included this…“Please God, come down and give us a message, save us.” And, wow. How could many of us not reply to that?
I write this post in response to Frank’s request to God.
I looked for a way to add a comment to his video but it seems his privacy settings only allow Friends to comment, not viewers in general, so I shared his Reel on my personal Facebook wall with some of the following that I share below, right here in this post.
You see,
God HAS come down, already.
God HAS given us a message, it’s in His Word.
God WANTS to save us, and has already provided the way.
Now, obviously Frank is talking about the material world that is being snuffed out around them and the people being affected by these fires.
But, God has told us how to deal with this life and I’m not going into exhaustive detail about what God’s message is or may be surrounding this whole tragedy. I’m just trying to point out the obvious and most urgent messages we can learn through this tragedy that God wants us ALL to know. I know this because it’s coming from His Word in the Bible.
The Message in the Fire.
What can we learn or be reminded of through the fires?
Scripture says we are not to put our hearts on the treasures of this world but rather on heavenly, eternal treasures which amount to: the Word of God and the souls of mankind.
Those are the only two things that will last after this temporal life is over. And this temporal life is going to end one day.
Scripture tells us that God uses nature to reveal Himself. Current events, tragic events point us to His Word, the Truth…and draw us to Him for our good and His glory.
God reminds us, if we are listening that…
- We are not to lay up treasures on earth but to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
- That if we seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness He will take care of what we need to live in this life. (Matthew 6:33).
- That an eternal hell does exist for those who reject God’s plan of redemption found only through His Son Jesus Christ. (Luke 16:23 ” And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…”)
- That Jesus Christ died and rose again to pay for our sins and it’s your choice and mine to believe it or not, to receive this redemption and forgiveness of sins or not…
Ephesians 2:1,4 says “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; …But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loves us…” .
John 3:16 says… For God so loved the world… (Stop there and insert your name in place of -the world)…that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever (insert your name) believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
5. That God is not just love, He is holy and we will all stand before Him one day to give account of our life here on earth. There will be no escape from judgment.
6. The whole earth is going to go through a renovation by fire one day. (2 Peter 3:7).
You can be saved now.
Your eternal soul is worth more than all the possessions in the world. You can know where you are going to spend eternity. Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Also, realize, you and I can’t do anything to work our way to heaven or earn salvation. Jesus Christ did it all and God tells us to trust Him on that.
Romans 10:9-10, 13 tells us how to approach God for salvation and that ANYONE can do it. He invites us all to be saved and doesn’t want any of us to perish in hell as 2 Peter 3:9 tells us…”The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
That repentance involves turning from walking in our lost sinful direction as our own gods to believing the truth that we are sinners (as Romans 3:10, 23 says), in need of salvation by God through Jesus Christ. Believing that Jesus Christ, as 100% God and man, died as your sin substitute, was buried and rose again three days later.
Jesus had to shed His perfect blood after living a perfect sinless life in order to redeem us from our sins. He was the only one who could, because He is God’s Son, making Him equal to God. He is 100% God and100% man.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Also read the gospel shared in I Corinthians 15:1-4 if you wish.
Just talk to God (we call that prayer) in your own words communicating to Him that you realize you are a sinner and you believe the gospel that I shared above about Jesus shedding His blood for you and that you are trusting in Him to forgive and save you.
While there is no escape from judgment I do pray and have been praying that everyone escapes the fires of Los Angeles and that the flames would be extinguished.
