Boldly shining the light of Truth in expectation of His imminent return

Russell Stendal shares recent updates and Advent reflections from a year of outreach. “We are celebrating many ongoing victories amidst battles that will undoubtedly continue. With your help, Bibles for Venezuela has been an enormous success this year. I am happy to report that we have moved the last 300 boxes of the beautiful study Bibles. This year over 100,000 Bibles and New Testaments have been distributed, which was our goal.

 

Thankfully, the radio ministry has also been tremendously prospered by the Lord this year, with millions of potential listeners in many countries. This has taken place under great adversity as Venezuela has still not hit bottom. There has been a lot of continuing persecution in sectors of Colombia and elsewhere.

The World Predicament 

The overall situation in the world around us is not getting better (for either economic or religious freedom), and the crisis is highly likely to get worse. Some of our friends and acquaintances have been having panic attacks and report that they have been unable to sleep well ever since the pandemic. They are worried about Covid, the vaccine, job loss, business loss, and the future. They are concerned about whether their church will be able to resume meetings. 

 

Here is a thought: If you cannot sleep well, it might be that God is calling you to spend more time in prayer and intercession. God´s people face severe opposition worldwide, and the devil is pulling out all the stops. He knows he is running out of time.

 

Furthermore, in our prayer times, we need to evaluate our priorities: are we attempting to get God to please us, or is the desire of our heart to please God no matter what? Are we at the center, or are we aware of the needs of others? What if we unwittingly do things that we think are OK, but God doesn’t like?

 

Are we genuinely hearing His still small voice, or are we getting all our advice and counsel from others? Even godly counsel from others is not the same as hearing the voice of God on our own. Unless we are directly linked to him in a continuing relationship, sufficient grace may not be available for us to do his will in the power of the Holy Spirit.  

 

Stand Firm in These Last Days

 

The advent of Jesus Christ was the most significant event in world history. He is the eternal source of our hope, faith, and love for those committed to him. Every faithful Christian since the beginning has eagerly looked forward to his second coming, which is imminent. 

 

In the meantime, God commands us to love one another and to stand firm on the battlefield of life in the virtue and power of the Holy Spirit until He returns. Therefore, the greater the chaos and darkness around us, the greater the opportunity for us to boldly shine the light of the truth and victory of Jesus Christ into all the desperate, needy souls who are fast entering panic mode.

 

Repentance is a huge game-changer. If we repent, God can and will change our future, which is valid on individual and national levels. Let us all look to Him as the New Year unfolds.”