The first apostles understood clearly that the Jewish age was about to end. Peter saw the spirit of Joel’s prophecy in the outpouring that took place on the Day of Pentecost (which was but a sample of a final outpouring that is yet to come).
Paul advised Christians to avoid relationships that might preoccupy them, or over-involvement in emotional extremes. He also warned them to not get caught up in the world system of that time.
Do you have an understanding of the times? Are you aware of the spirit of the present age? Do you have an understanding as to what God is doing in your nation?
People tell me at times that they’ve never used a computer. It can be difficult to keep up with fast-developing technology, but we need to do so as much as we can because the cashless society has all but arrived, cables have been replaced by wireless HiFi, and security cameras have relegated personal privacy to the past.
There has never been a time when personal guidance by the Holy Spirit and the spontaneous use of spiritual gifts were as necessary to the individual as they are now. With privacy at a premium, it is so good to pray and sing spontaneously! The thoughts of the heart remain securely between those who believe and their Father God in heaven. The secrets of their hearts are stored in the only cloud that is secure — totally secure — a heavenly one in a private, holy dimension that no form of satanic virus can access.
I have some understanding of the times in which we are living, mostly from prayers, dreams and personal prophecies; much from trends leading to future events and God willing, my part in some of them. I have no need to buy books on personal survival because I’ve long been a student of the lifestyle and writings of one of history’s greatest survivors: Paul the Apostle.
Paul understood the times and learned how to live through them as the tide of them rose and fell around him. His high security imprisonment in a prison in Rome enabled him to focus on things that mattered most.
For the sake of your own security and that of your loved ones, I urge you to open your New Testament to the book of Acts, follow Paul’s missionary journeys.
After that (or alongside that) study the letters he wrote to the churches he established during those journeys. Give special attention to his letters to Paul’s spiritual sons Titus and Timothy.
For example, Paul’s second letter to Timothy has aspects not unlike those a retiring senior military officer might record for the benefit of a young officer of great promise whom he had personally recruited.
Do your best and God will do the rest.