Lord Willing

James 4:13-17, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

I cherish this passage of inspired Scripture. The Holy Bible teaches that it is a sin to boast of future plans without regarding the Lord. The Bible says that we don't know what may happen each day. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Today could be the last day of our life.

The phrase "God willing and the creek don't rise" is an American slang expression that implies strong intentions that may be thwarted by unforeseen events, particularly referencing the unpredictable nature of creeks rising due to heavy rain. Its earliest documented use dates back to 1851, and while some suggest it may refer to the Creek Indians, most researchers agree it relates to actual water bodies and the challenges of travel in rural areas.

I personally don't use the adage aout the creek rising, but I continually preface all future plans, whether it be something that I plan to do in an hour or in five years, with “Lord willing” or “God willing.” I hear 99% of people boasting of their future plans, retirement, travel plans, family plans, et cetera, without saying “Lord willing.” They clearly take their life for granted, and God, assuming that they will be alive down the road.

Unexpected Deaths in The U.S. Are Rising at an Alarming Rate 

by PATRICK Heuveline

The Conversation | June 14, 2023

People in the U.S. are dying at higher rates than in other similar high-income countries, and that difference is only growing. That's the key finding of a new study that I published in the journal PLOS ONE.

In 2021, more than 892,000 of the 3,456,000 deaths the U.S. experienced, or about 1 in 4, were "excess deaths."

In 2019, that number was 483,000 deaths, or nearly 1 in 6. That represents an 84.9 percent increase in excess deaths in the U.S. between 2019 and 2021. SOURCE

We never know what tomorrow may bring. Lord willing we will be here to find out. I am ready to go home to be with the Lord in His good time. Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

I encourage you dear reader, if you are a Christian, to get into the biblical habit of prefacing all future plans with the phrases, “Lord willing” and “God willing.” It is proper and pleasing to God. I have oftentimes used this statement in the presence of unsaved sinners, and they just look at me, but I am not ashamed to be a Christian.

I have a dear neighbour friend who is 86 years old, born in 1940. She invited me to her house one day to help her find her missing phone. So, I called her on my mobile phone to make her phone ring, and she found her missing cell phone. While visiting her home, I saw a dozen oxygen bottles for her COPD condition, which disease makes it hard for her to breathe. My heart breaks for her because she is an avowed atheist and is hostile against the Gospel. She had cancer and needed to surgically have a kidney removed last year. Her cancer is gone for the time being. I offered her a hard copy of Michael P. Bowen's excellent book, “I Never Knew You,” but she adamantly refused it. What saith the Scripture? 2nd Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Her time is running out quickly. All I can do is continue praying for God to work in her soul. One day at a time.

For the unsaved person, God's wrath is abiding upon them every moment of every day of their life according to John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” God's wrath is upon the Christ-rejecter, because they have knowingly rejected God's only remedy for their sin. Every sinner who wilfully rejects Christ has fallen from grace. They have missed the only bus that is going to Heaven, the grace line.

Lord willing, by His grace I plan to keep writing thousands of ministry articles for decades to come, but none of us know what each passing day may bring. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” I enjoy reading the biographies of famous people. The famous Robin Hood (1938) actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959) died at only age 50 from lung cancer.

So also did Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) die from esophagus cancer at only age 57. At his death Bogart weighed only 80 pounds. He was 5' 8" tall. And John Cazale (1935-1978) died of lung cancer at age 42. So young! They were all chain smokers which ruined their health. I hate tobacco! And then there are people like Dana Reeve (1961-2006) and Donna Summer (1948-2012), two notable examples of individuals who died from lung cancer despite never having smoked. Approximately 15% of patients with lung cancer never had a cigarettes habit.

Rapper Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) was murdered at only age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Sin City Las Vegas. The Bible warns in Hebrews 9:27 that we all have an appointment with death, which time only God knows. River Phoenix died at age 23 from drug-induced heart failure, and Brandon Lee died at age 28 due to an accidental shooting on set.

Other notable actors include Stuart Sutcliffe, who died at age 21 from a brain aneurysm (it is purported that The Beatles' John Lennon caused his death after kicking him in the head); and Heath Ledger, who passed away at age 28 while abusing prescription drugs. Police found Ledger dead in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment butt naked on the floor. Take a good look at ledger's body bag. When will people ever learn not to abuse drugs?

Olsen and Ledger were living for the Devil...

A report in People said, "Mary-Kate and Heath were casually dating for three months before Heath's death. They were hooking up, but neither was particularly interested in making it exclusive." SOURCE

“Casual dating”? “Hooking up”? You mean fornicating! As a sinner I do not have the right to condemn anybody, but we are all supposed to “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24b). Sex outside of a legally binding marriage is sinful. Ledger had also starred in the sickening 2005 homosexual film “Brokeback Mountain” about a sexual relationship between two cowboys. Sick! What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 14:9, “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.” It is not a “phobia” to call a sin a sin.

It doesn't surprise me that Health Ledger died in such a shameful manner, when he was living a decadent reckless deathstyle of glorifying sodomy, fornicating and abusing substances. The coroner listed Ledger's cause of death as “accidental overdose.” Wait... What? The guy had bragged to his sister the previous day that he was going to have fun abusing prescription drugs and she warned him not to, but he didn't take her wise advice. That was no accident.

Dear reader, life is unpredictably predictable. No one has ever escaped death. James 4:15, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Do you obey this Scripture teaching friend?

Many years ago, I was shopping in a Payless grocery store one day when I lived on Guam, and I heard a commercial on the store's radio system advertising one's future retirement. The advertiser spoke so confidently about the day you're going to retire. I couldn't help but think about what the Bible warns in James 4:15 about saying “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” We are living in a Godless culture in America today! I full agree with singer Ed Sheeran that 'America is a scary place right now.'