Good evening and Happy Sabbath!  Last week's memory verse was Luke 11:1 (NKJV), "Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."" Alas! Look below for clues to this week's memory verse.

A kid with troubles

When I was a teenager, I had a friend who had some issues.  Jake (not his real name) was perpetually angry.  He was easily set off by the smallest things - losing a board game or being gently teased by classmates.  He would make bold and brash comments to his teachers and parents that often touched of big arguments.  Jake was the kind of kid, that trouble just seemed to find...

As it happened, one day, I was given a writing assignment in English class to talk about something that made me uncomfortable.  Nothing bothered me too much in life, and I was struggling to come up with a topic.  Finally, Jake's troubles came to mind, and I was saved from my dilemma of what to write about!  I don't recall what kind of grade I got on the paper, but I do recall my teacher offering me some encouragement in dealing with my friend, and his troubles, after I had turned my paper in.

Sound familiar

While we don't want to be the kind of person that trouble just seems to find, the reality is, we've all got a bit of Jake in us.  Here in the United States for example, we're pretty 'fat and sassy' as they say, living a rather comfortable life.  When things don't go just as we please, and we don't have a great day, we seem to get bent out of shape pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, it seems that things are getting worse for our world and not better.  There is trouble brewing, particularly for Great Britain and the United States, the modern descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. Trouble, of which there has never been any like before.

How will we be saved

While our tendency as Americans is to fight back against trouble, the day is coming, when our troubles will be so great, that we won't be able to fight our way out of it.  And while no country has been so great as the United States in man's history, none's fall will be so great, either.  So what do we - modern day descendants of Israel - do about this impending trouble?  Quite simply - nothing.  Nothing physical that is...

Spiritually speaking, we must be working to draw closer to God, and be more like his son, Jesus Christ, in every aspect.  No weapons of mass destruction, no political alliances, nothing will save us from the great day of woe that is coming.  Our hope is in the Lord, and for His mercy, so that when the day of trouble comes, we will be saved out of it!