Category: Spiritual Rhema… Sparks from the Anvil!

Amazing videos and pictures…. as truly we can find the evidence of God so clearly and beautifully woven into his creation!!!

The entire English alphabet has been found in nature, in the wings of butterflies and moths!

THE BUTTERFLY ALPHABET

Packed away in a corner of the attic in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History was an old Havana cigar box full of exotic

butterflies and moths, one with a sparkling silvery letter “F” awaiting its future rendezvous with destiny.

That day came in the spring of 1960 when a young visitor Kjell (“shell”) Sandved, arrived at the Smithsonian to conduct research for an encyclopedia on animal behavior.

The director of the museum provided Kjell with an office, and introduced him to his neighbor, Barbara Bedette, who became his collaborator, best friend, and finally the love of his life.

THE DISCOVERY

One day, balancing high on a ladder surrounded by drawers and boxes full of butterflies and moths, Kjell found the old cigar box. And there was the sparkling letter “F” woven into the tapestry of the wing.

“We looked at this miniature design under the microscope,” Barbara recalled, “and marveled at the beauty of this letter. It reminded us of how ancient scribes lovingly embellished colorful letters in Bibles and illuminated manuscripts with human and animal forms.”

Not even a calligrapher could have improved on the beauty of nature’s own “F;” and so Barbara wondered, “If Nature can create one such perfect letter, there must be others flying around out there. Let’s go out and find more.”

The day they found the letter was the day their lives were changed. Optimists, they decided to travel worldwide to find all the letters from the wings of butterflies and moths.

CHALLENGES

There were problems — Barbara knew nothing about butterflies, and Kjell knew nothing about photography.

Born in Conneaut, Ohio, Barbara was a geology graduate student of Bowling Green State University and moved to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1954 where she specialized in evolution of seashells.

Her intellectual capacity and soft-spoken nature soon brought her numerous Peer Recognition and close cooperation with Smithsonian legendary scientists such as Harry S. Ladd, on his “Mohole Project” with ongoing research on how Pacific coral reefs are created, and with Wendell Woodring with species migration during separation of the North and South American continents.

Kjell was a Norwegian publisher of two comprehensive encyclopedias: “The World of Music,” translated into ten languages, and “The World of Art.

LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY

First Kjell had to teach himself basic photography. For two years he studied to solve problems in macro photography.

Examining thousands of museum specimens under the microscope, Barbara and Kjell soon realized that faded museum butterflies were unusable.

When touched by human hands of collectors, the fine powdery scale formations on butterfly wings are easily destroyed. They would have to be photographed in nature without killing them.

BUILDING EQUIPMENT

Kjell designed, jerry-rigged and glued together a portable “bellow” microscope with German Zeiss Luminar and Leitz Summicron microscope lenses that were adapted for extreme close-up photography with double strobe slave units.

After yearlong intensive research Barbara had pinned down countries where various families, genera and species of butterflies and micro Lepidoptera were likely to be found.

They were ready to travel to research stations and rainforests all over the world.

THE SEARCH

Traveling to botanical gardens, nature reserves and rainforests from the Amazon to New Guinea, they survived malaria-infested jungles, leeches and ants while photographing letters and numbers on the wings of exquisite butterflies and moths without killing any.

A surprising discovery was that the wing patterns of their night-flying cousins, tropical moths, yielded just as many attractive letters and numbers as did those of butterflies.

EASY AND DIFFICULT LETTERS TO FIND

Of all the design elements in nature, the symmetrical “O”- the circle, the zero, the eye — is the most common.

Large eyespots on the wings of butterflies scare or deter enemies. Rows of smaller eyespots along less vulnerable areas invite pecking away from the vulnerable body.

Symmetrical letters like “C,” “D,” “F,” “I” and “L,” are relatively easy to find.

However, asymmetrical letters, particularly “B,” “H,” “K,” “Q,” “T” and “X,” were more difficult.

Only one rare ampersand (&) was found.

SMITHSONIAN REVELATION

By 1975 Barbara and Kjell had found enough letters in the wings of butterflies so that the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Dillon Ripley decided to reveal their discovery as a poster in his new Smithsonian Magazine using five masterly crafted central words from the American poet Theodore Roethke’s “The Far Field”:

ALL FINITE THINGS REVEAL INFINITUDE

The mystery of our life’s wanderings from beginning to end, from the smallest to the largest, seconds in geological time.

To reproduce the line above required innumerable experiments over eons of time. For each letter has been etched into the wing of a moth or a butterfly through a never-ending series of trials and errors known as natural selection.

No one knew the letters could be found there in the wings until Barbara Bedette and Kjell Sandved of the Smithsonian’s perceived them. Imagine then what else there is to be seen in the wings of a butterfly or moth, or the water above a sunken tree, or in the memory of a single person.

DILLON RIPLEY, SECRETARY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

With a readership of over 5 million, the publicity of the Smithsonian poster and subsequent Butterfly Alphabets promoted a new U.S. phenomenon: butterfly gardening and rearing of butterflies in our school systems.

http://www.butterflyalphabet.com/story.html


BARBARA’S LEGACY

It was truly Barbara who put on the magic glasses that revealed nature’s hidden designs to become the architect and designer of both the Butterfly- and Nature alphabets, joining the two in the spirit of Smithson’s mandate to “Create an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” We can all take delight in finding letters and numbers, symbols and signs in nature. Take your child by the hand into a field of flowers on a summer’s day, but bring a magnifying glass. Look, and then look more closely. Miniature marvels are there for all to see.


The Lion and the Lamb shall lie down together!

African Lion Kisses, Hugs Woman Who Saved It

People Shocked To See Affection Between Pair

POSTED: Thursday, January 11, 2007

People in Cali, Colombia, are shocked to see the bond between a large African lion and a woman who saved it from abuse, involving long, affectionate kisses and hugs between the pair.

Ana Julia Torres, who runs the Villa Lorena animal shelter in Cali, fed and nursed Jupiter the African lion back to health years ago after it was found abused and emaciated in a traveling circus.

“It is amazing to see an animal like that be so sweet and affectionate,” said Torres. “This hug is the most sincere one that I have received in my life.”

Torres, 47, said her work rehabilitating animals began more than a decade ago when a friend gave her an owl that had been kept as a pet.

Later, when she asked her students to bring their pets to school, she realized many families illegally kept wild fauna from Colombia’s biologically diverse jungles in their homes.

The number of animals under her care grew, and now Jupiter is among 800 recovering creatures at Villa Lorena, where Torres looks after, among others, burned peacocks, limbless flamengos, blind monkeys and mutilated elephants.

Most of the animals are caged, though some, like iguanas, roam freely around the grounds of the shelter, which are enclosed by a 13-foot wall.

Torres said she relies on donations and her modest teacher’s salary to run the shelter.

“We dedicate our lives to the care of these animals without one single peso from the state,” Torres said.

Torres said many of the animals were rejected as infants by their parents in the wild or found abandoned on the streets of Cali.

Torres said because she opposes exhibiting animals in circuses, she decided to keep her shelter closed from the public.

Saved the BEST for last!!!



Laminin is a protein that is part of the extracellular matrix in humans and animals.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) lies outside of cells and provides support and attachment for cells inside organs (along with many other functions).
Laminin has “arms” that associate with other laminin molecules to form sheets and bind to cells.

Laminin and other ECM proteins essentially “glue” the cells (such as those lining the stomach and intestines) to a foundation of connective tissue.

This keeps the cells in place and allows them to function properly. The structure of laminin is very important for its function (as is true for all proteins).

God is an ever present help in our time of need!

God is an ever present help in our time of need!

The following message (see below) was forwarded to me today by a friend; and since I know certainly that I could stand for some good news myself, I thought perhaps you could too.

I am a literalist when it comes to the Bible, and whereas I don’t believe there is any power just in sending out or forwarding a message like this, in and of itself; but when you are supplicating and contending for something, anything that comes along that serves to encourage you and buildup your faith; and adds to your hope and expectation to receive that miracle you are praying for, is a good thing!

So when I read the scriptures and find there promises that I can lay hold of, I take them literally; but I have to train myself not to approach them from my mind, which is the seat of my intellect and reasoning; but I must rather discipline myself to do as Proverbs 3:5-6 says to do, which is: “Trust the Lord with ALL my heart and NOT lean on my own understanding; to then acknowledge him in ALL my ways, and then his promise is to direct my path!”

We must first learn to come to God in humility and in repentance (meaning to change the way we think), seeking Him by faith, with ALL of our heart; and then quite often God will begin to give us understanding.

If we put the cart before the horse and attempt to do it the other way, placing the mind out in front, and therefore leaning on our own understanding, then the mind will always hinder our faith, and hold us back everytime.

Faith is not at all passive, where it is sufficient to say I believe such and such; but the examples and precedent of Scriptures teaches us that FAITH requires our complete commitment of body, soul, and spirit!

If we try and approach the Bible first with our understanding then we have fatally handicapped ourselves before we even leave the gate.

The flesh together with our mind, which is the seat of our intellect and reasoning, mostly will just resists anything that comes from the spirit.

Faith on the other hand comes from the heart, not the physical organ, but our innermost being, out of which springs those rivers of Living Water, which our Lord spoke of.

It is here, in our innermost being, which we metaphorically call our heart, that we find the seat of our spirit man, and more importantly it is where the Holy Spirit resides, inside of every born-again Believer.

We must always follow Jesus’ example, as we read in Scripture, and do as He says; and it was Jesus who said that: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

So we can know from this scripture that as we feed our spirit man with God’s Word, that our Faith is built up, not by what we see or feel, or by our circumstances; but it is build up as we gain hope, by our meditating upon the Word; and that hope then gives way to faith, which is the substance of those things for which we are hoping, of things that cannot yet be seen or felt in the natural, with our natural senses.

In other words, belief is only a part of faith; you must also act upon what you believe, by first confessing with your mouth what you believe in your heart; and then by laying hold of that promise or promises that address your particular need or situation, that you found in God’s Word; and then having done that we then have to hang the total of our body and all of our circumstances upon those same promises; and do so in spite of whatever sight sense evidence that contradicts it!

This is certainly not easy to do, and it is IMPOSSIBLE if we try and accomplish it with our intellect, and our mind!

It takes practice; and practice will eventually make permanent!

Your mind must be trained and disciplined to obey your spirit man, as you follow God’s Word, and the leading and nudging of the Holy Spirit moment by moment..

So whatever you are facing today, know this, that God’s Word is the ONLY place to start in times of trouble; and it is in the Word that we gain our faith; for the Bible tells us that faith comes first by our hearing the Word of God; and even more than that, I believe anyway, that faith is about 95% expectation and confession, and 5% everything else; but this is true ONLY in a constructive or positive since when your faith is founded upon God’s Word!

It has been said that our spirit man and our flesh are like two mad dogs, who are constantly at each other’s throat; and the one that wins will be the one that you feed.

So consequently faith can also work in the negative too, depending on how we use it; and by that I means, if we mediate and dwell upon our negative circumstances, on the problem, or on the sickness or disease, then what happened to Peter as he was walking on water will also happen to us.

If you will note, it was Peter’s focus on Jesus (on the Living Word) that kept him in the realm of the miraculous and supernatural, as he walked on the water; but the moment he shifted his attention to those thirty, forty, or fifty foot waves and those roaring and tossing winds and seas, that seemed ready to swallow him up at anytime, he could do nothing at that point but sink; because he had shifted his focus off of Jesus (the solution), and had instead started meditating on the problem.

Again it is very important that we differentiate here between what it means to believe with our mind, and to believe in our heart!

Don’t think that just because you have doubts and fears in your mind that you are not in faith!

Those doubts and fears will come as fiery darts, from the enemy, to undermine our faith and to discourage us, if we let them; as the enemy will constantly remind us of the impossibility of our circumstances… but whose report will you believe? That is the deciding question.

It will be the report that we take action on, and begin to meditate upon to the point it sinks down deep to where we live, into our innermost being; and as we mediate upon those promises, that address our particular need or situation; and as we then learn to pray the Scripture as we read that David did, we will find it increases our expectations and our hope.

If then we will begin to confess with our mouth, what we believe in our heart, then what we confess is what we will have; even as Jesus said in Mark 11, “You shall have what you say!“

This happened the day after he had cursed the fig tree; and the Scriptures also record that His disciples heard him too, as He was talking to the tree:

This is faith in action and it is what faith is; and it is then and only then, when our outward confession matches what we believe in our heart, that we are operating in faith, and not before!

Let’s read the entire account for ourselves:

Mark 11:12-14; 20-24

The Fig Tree Withered

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree

20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

You haven’t even begun to operate in faith until you have both; the combination of what you believe in your heart, and also what you confess with your mouth operating together!!!

So this is what we have to do, we find a scripture that addresses our situation, our mountain (if you will), which is that obstacle which the enemy has placed in our path; and it matters not what it is, whether it is a relationship problem in your marriage, or with your children; or whether it is a financial need; or physical, it matters not because God’s Word is more than sufficient; and  if we will but look to the examples of Scripture, we will find there more than enough precedents and examples to undergird our faith; and then God’s Word, mixed with our faith and our confession, then becomes more than enough to trump and annihilate any obstacle that the enemy tries to put in our path.

A good place to begin, and for us to commit to memory, is in the following verse:

1 John 5:14-15

Confidence and Compassion in Prayer

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

What I Confess I Possess

  • I confess Jesus as my Lord. Rom. 10:9-10. I possess salvation.
  • I confess, “by His stripes I am healed” Is. 53:5; I possess healing.
  • I confess “the son has made me free” Jn. 8:36; I possess absolute freedom.
  • I confess “the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost” Rom. 5:5; I possess the ability to love everyone.
  • I confess, “the righteous are bold as a lion” Pr.28:1; I possess lion-hearted boldness in spiritual warfare.
  • I confess, “He will never leave me nor forsake me” Heb. 13:5-6; I possess the presence of God each step I take.
  • I confess, “I am the redeemed of the Lord” Ps. 107:2; I possess redemption benefits every day.
  • I confess “the anointing of the Holy One abideth in me” 1 Jn. 2: 27; I possess yoke destroying results by this anointing
    (Is. 10:27).
  • I confess, “in the name of Jesus I can cast out devils” Mk. 16:17; I possess dynamic deliverances as a devil master.
  • I confess, “I lay my hands on the sick and they shall recover” Mk. 16:18; I possess positive healings for the oppressed.
  • I confess, “I am a branch of the Living Vine” Jn. 15:5; I possess Vine-life wherever I go.
  • I confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ” 2 Cor. 5: 21; I possess the ability to stand freely in God’s holy presence, and in Satan’s presence as a victor!
  • I confess, “I am a temple of the living God” 2 Cor. 6:16; I possess God dwelling in me, and walking in me!
  • I confess, “my God shall supply all my need” Phil. 4: 19; I possess the supply of every need.

So don’t take this message below as some magical device, but use it as a point of faith and agreement, as I will be agreeing with you, that your miracle will happen soon.

We may also hope and pray that we all will be getting good news tomorrow; and that we receive this message tomorrow morning before 9:06 AM.

If that happens to you, will you please come back and post it in the comment section below, and give us a testimony?

Whatever happens however, just remember that, that Jesus is good all the time; and that Jesus is Lord!

Shalom,

Skip Barland


From: Norman
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 12:51 PM
To: Skip Barland
Subject: Fw: Read asap let me know tomorrow

Read asap let me know tomorrow

Thanks for being my friend.

You have received this angel because you at some point in life have been
an angel.

No one saw your wings, but they felt your love.

Let me know what happens to you  the morning after you open this e-mail.

This  is an unusual one.  It actually gives you a  time tomorrow.

Let’s see if it works.

GUARDIAN   ANGEL

Forward this message the same  day you received it.  It may sound  ridiculous, but it is right on time.

We believe that something is about to happen.

Angels exist, only sometimes they haven’t got wings and we call them friends; you are one of them.

Something wonderful is about to happen to you and your friends.

Tomorrow at 9:06 AM somebody will address you and tell you something you have been waiting to hear.

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he in his health, his well being, and even his outward circumstances

Listen to Dr. Caroline Leaf…

and learn how 95% of all of our physical health issues are a direct result of our incorrect thought life? Listen also as Dr Leaf explains how to get rid of toxic thoughts and how to get your prayers answered!

(Just click on the picture above to listen to the program)

Ever since 1981, Dr. Caroline Leaf has researched the human brain with particular emphasis on unlocking its vast, untapped potential.

She has been received all over the world by a variety of audiences, due to her unique ability to link the scientific principles of the brain to intellectual and emotional issues in simple and practical ways.

Through years of research, she developed the Geodesic Learning™ theory (brain-compatible learning), which is a scientifically and statistically proven approach to thinking, teaching, and learning.

She has also developed the unique Switch On Your Brain™ 5-Step Learning Process and the Metacognitive-Map™ as a learning tool, and she has presented her learning theory and Metacognitive-Map courses to more than 100,000 students worldwide.

She has published articles in academic journals and consumer magazines and has been widely interviewed in newspapers, on radio shows, and on television shows about her research and theories.

She frequently lectures to both Christian and secular audiences worldwide on diverse topics relating to optimal brain performance, including the following:

  • Thinking and learning
  • Controlling your thought life
  • Managing stress
  • Eradicating toxic thoughts
  • Overcoming mental, emotional, and spiritual strongholds
  • Understanding male and female brain differences
  • Applying wisdom
  • Identifying your unique gifts


Our Thoughts are things, and they have a direct effect on our emotional wellbeing, our inner peace, our mental health, and our outward circumstances!

The Bible tells us that:

“As a man thinks in his heart so is he!“
(Proverbs 23:7)

We are not talking here about any metaphysical nonsense either; but this is the power of faith, that is founded upon God’s Word.

Even science is today discovering that our thought life not only influences our inner character, but they are finding that the meaning of this verse of scripture, as it relates to our thought life, is so comprehensive as to also reach out into every condition and circumstance of our life as well.

A man is literally what he thinks, with his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

The above interview now shows us that even science today has proven that what the Bible has been saying is true.

I remember reading a book once that described an inner sea that exists in the center of every individual, and at the center of this sea there is an island on which we will find an alter.  And on this alter there is this wee small flame of the Holy Spirit, that was first ignited and came alive the moment we were born-again.

It is the mission of every believer to feed that flame and to grow it as we meditate upon God’s Word, and there quite our inner self, and to be still and to know God in our inner sanctuary; to quite our inner storms of and our raging seas, and to listen and have communion with God’s Holy Spirit, as we bow before His altar.

As the plant springs from the seed, and could not be without it, so every act of man springs from the hidden seeds of his thoughts, and they could not have appeared without them.

Was this not what Jesus was teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount?

This applies equally to those acts which are called “spontaneous” as compared to those which are deliberately executed.

Actions are the blossoms of thoughts; and both joy and suffering are their fruits; and so a man is free to gather either the sweet or the bitter fruit, as he chooses.

It is said that “If a man’s mind has evil thoughts, pain comes on him as the wheel comes behind the ox; but if he has pure thoughts, then joy follows him as surely as his own shadow.” Which one do we want?

The Bible also teaches us that man will grow and mature according to his willingness, his ability, and also his self-discipline, as he meditates upon God’s Word and seeks to be conformed into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Man is not at all a creation of chance; and we are finding that the hidden things of the spirit are very powerful indeed, especially when directed by the Holy Spirit, and when programmed by God’s Word.

It is said that a noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or chance; but that it is the natural result of a long-cherished association in our spirit man, and our mind, with God’s thoughts, as they are revealed to us through His Word and our continued infilling and communion with the Holy Spirit.

By that same token, a low and bestial character is the result of a continued separation and estrangement from both God’s Word and His Spirit; and this renewal process of the reprogramming of our mind cannot even begin in the life of an individual until they are Born-again, and are filled with the Holy Spirit.

As it happens, man’s life is either made or unmade by his thinking; and it is in the armory of our thought-life that we will either build ourselves up, or we will destroys ourselves.

It is also in our thought-life, when focused and fashioned upon God’s Word, that we are also able to build for ourselves, by God’s grace and direction, our heavenly mansions of joy, and strength, and of shalom peace.

By the right choices and true application of his thoughts, man may ascend to the divine perfection, through the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

By that same token, by the abuse and wrong application of his thoughts, he descends below the level of the beast.

Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, of which man is both the chooser and the master.

Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and likewise man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will quiet his inner man, and navigate out to that island of God’s inner Spirit, which dwells in the midst of that inner sea, that resides in the heart (the inner most being) of every soul who is Born-again.

It is here on that inner island, in the midst of our inner sea, that as we kneel before the alter of God’s Holy Fire (the flame of His presence), that if we will be patient and wait, will shall find our communion with God, as we learn to discern His still small voice. Selah

Be blessed and have a wonderful day!

Shalom,

Skip Barland


Have a Blessed and Happy Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)…

Understanding and observing
the Seven Festivals of the Lord our Messiah:

All Seven Festivals are connected with each other…
And they begin in March/April
The Passover – March/April – the Passover, day
before the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Held the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost (first fruits).

Feast of Unleavened Bread – March/April AKA Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits Celebrated for 7 days.

Feast of First Fruits and Pentecost AKA Latter First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest

The Fall Feasts

Feast of Trumpets – this year on September 27 – Rosh Hash Anah A day of blowing trumpets which were traditionally used to call people together (Numbers 10). In Matthew 24:31 we learn that Yahshuah will gather His elect from the four winds of the earth at His return.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (Lev 23:23-25)

Day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur) – October 6, – This feast the Day of Atonement corresponds to the establishment of Yahshua as our High Priest come to earth from the heavenly Holy of Holies where He has been for the past 2000 years. This day is to remind us of the great price Yahshua paid for our sins by His death on the cross.

Feast of Tabernacles
– October 11 – October 18 – Points to the Millennial Reign of Yahshua on earth following His return. It is a Feast of seven days spent learning what that Kingdom will be like. For the moment, the present earth and world is forgotten and one learns what the one coming will be like, what Yahweh’s standards of righteousness are and compliance to those standards.

The Last Great Day – A feast where Yahshua finishes His work and turns all authority and power on earth over to His Father. It is a picture of post-millennial earth and a time when Yahweh will bring His own throne to the planet in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).

It is said that the New Testament is infolded in the Old (in the Tanakh), and the Old Testament unfolds in the New; and when we begin to study the scriptures we find that the center of the entire Bible (form Genesis to the Book of Revelation) is Yeshua Ha’Mashiach (Jesus, the Christ — which translated means Saviour, the Messiah or Anointed One).

In fact we find that the entire Bible is a love letter from God, written to his beloved and estranged children.

It is also prophetic, and in fact it is the only book ever written that accurately (without error) gives the future as history; which is and of itself is a sure sign to the skeptical (if only one would would take the time to read it) that the Bible is in fact of extra terrestrial origin, and is not of this world!

There is only one person on the stage of history who accurately fulfills the over 300 prophecies that are given in the Bible regarding the coming Messiah; and Daniel’s prophecy, given in Daniel 9:25-27, is irrefutable proof that Yeshua (Jesus) is the only one who fulfils those prophecies.

And the reason is, Daniel’s prophecy gives us a mathematical prophecy, as to the exact day that the Messiah would be revealed, as you will see in the video below.

In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that after the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, there would be…

“A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes.

Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.”

“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One (Messiah) will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing; and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple.

The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.” Daniel 9:24-27

This clearly says that after the decree is made to rebuild Jerusalem, and before the temple is destroyed a second time, which happened in 70 AD, when the Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus (30 December 39 – 13 September 81) attacted and destroyed Jersualem, that the Messiah would be killed, or cut off.

It also gives the number of days form the time the degree is first given, until the very day when the Messiah would be revealed, and that number is 173,880 days.

Do the math and check it out for yourself:


The Bible also contains an accurate account of all that God has had to do throughout history in order to reconciled his lost children back unto Himself; and to fulfill the promise He gave regarding the Seed of the Woman, which was the first promise of the coming Messiah that was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, right after the fall.

Genesis 3:14-15

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.“

This whole issue of Salvation and Restoration back into God’s family, and the atonement for our sins is very important; and so God has left us a roadmap in the Bible so that when the Messiah would appear, His coming would not be missed, but that He would come exactly as it has been foretold through Biblical prophecy.

Also as covered above, God has instituted a total of Seven Festivals, or holy convocations, and Yeshua (Jesus) is also the center focus of each one of these as well.

We are now entering into the Feast of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles.

And so with that, I would like to wish you all a very Blessed and Happy Feast of Tabernacles!

Shalom,

Skip Barland


Rejoice — the celebration awaits us!

Zechariah 14:16-17 And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.

The God-ordained Feast of Tabernacles is a prophetic feast, and one which will be kept by all the people of the world in the coming age. In resurrected bodies, we will be celebrating this feast, year to year in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Yeshua (Jesus)!
Can you imagine it — celebrating with the King of Kings! If that’s not something to anticipate, I’m not sure what is!

Right now, there’s quite a bit of turmoil in the world, which is producing a level of uncertainty and anxiety that I’ve not witnessed as a believer. Yet despite all of these scary situations, we have something wonderful to look forward to — and if you’re like me, you can’t wait!

Don’t let the times we’re living in control your life; instead, use these turbulent times as an opportunity to display the goodness and grace of God in your life! As Yeshua (Jesus) said, when you see these things begin to take place — lift your heads high because your redemption draws near!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Negev Desert, Israel

JESUS… the answer for what the world needs today!!!

Jesus Saves!


Luke 2:8-14
The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The entire world is in turmoil today over the Islamic problem; we have problems with our economy; there are wars and rumors of war; there are earthquakes and all sorts of natural disasters; but in the midst of all these things, God says “Be still and know that I am God“… God is the answer for whatever you are facing today!!!

What the enemy intends for evil, God can turn to the good!  Let us pray for this is God’s Answer even for the Muslims…

Evangelists Say Muslims Coming to Christ at Historic Rate

Friday, 20 August 2010 07:42 AM EDT

By Sarah Stegall

Christians ministering quietly in the Middle East say Muslims are coming to Christ at an unprecedented pace despite intense persecution of those who leave Islam.

“Probably in the last 10 years, more Muslims have come to faith in Christ than in the last 15 centuries of Islam,” said Tom Doyle, Middle East-Central Asia director for e3 Partners, a Texas-based missions agency.

A former pastor, Doyle has been to the Middle East around 80 times and last week returned to the U.S. from a trip to Jerusalem, where he said both Muslims and Jews are turning to Christianity.

Earlier this month, more than 200 former Muslims were baptized during a training conference in Europe led by Iran-born evangelist Lazarus Yeghnazar. Brenda Ajamian, a former missionary to the Middle East who partners with Yeghnazar’s 222 Ministries International, said the event was unlike anything she’d seen during her years ministering in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

“That many Muslims who converted to Christ in one place boggled my mind because missionaries have worked in the Arab world and Muslim world generally for years and without much fruit,” Ajamian said. “God is at work among Muslims.”

Ajamian said she was told at the conference that drug addiction and depression run rampant in many nations, particularly in Iran, where the cleric-led government has attempted to squash pro-democracy movements. “People are so fed up with the kinds of lives they lead. … They’re turning to Christ even in spite of the very real possibility of persecution and death and imprisonment,” she said.

Desperation is also a big factor in bringing many Jews to Christ, Doyle said. “In the last 20 years more Jews [also] have become followers of Jesus than in the last 2,000 years of Christianity,” he said.

Radio, television and Internet-based Christian programming have been key in evangelizing Muslim nations. Yeghnazar claims more than 3,000 Iranians are converted each month through his Farsi-language television and Internet broadcasts.

And Doyle said Father Zakaria Botross, a born-again Coptic priest, reaches about 60 million people through his television programs broadcast across the Middle East. “The apostle Paul to the Muslims is no question Father Zakaria,” Doyle said.

But many Muslim-background believers have said they came to Christ after having dreams and visions of Jesus.

“I can’t tell you how many Muslims I’ve met who say: ‘I was content. I was a Muslim, and all of a sudden I get this dream about Jesus and He loved me and said come follow Me,” Doyle said.

Doyle notes that the supernatural is an important part of the Islamic faith. Through the course of his life, Mohammed claimed to have had visions and encounters, particularly of the angel Gabriel.

“God is going into their context,” said Doyle. But instead of finding guidance from Allah, Muslims are finding Jesus.

Haytham Abi Haydar, pastor of the Arabic Fellowship Alliance Church in Dearborn, Mich., a heavily Islamic Detroit suburb, said dreams and the supernatural are important to Muslims. “They’re so powerful and real. They do consider that as a channel to speak to God and see something important,” said Abi Haydar, who’s also heard of Jesus coming to Muslims in dreams.

Ajamian said churches of Muslim-background believers are growing “like wildfire” both in the Middle East and in Europe, which has seen a boom in immigration from Muslim nations.

“The Muslims that are saved … it’s like they can’t tell the story fast enough,” Ajamian said.

Doyle said though the harvest is ripe in Middle Eastern nations, the spiritual warfare also has ramped up. “People feel it. It just feels more intense,” he said.

The stress, he said, is particularly high right now during Ramadan, the time Muslims fast and pray in commemoration of the time they believe Mohammed divinely received the first verses of the Quran. He said people are getting sick and even having nightmares.

“When Ramadan comes, you really sense the war in the heavenlies,” he said.

Christians in many Muslim nations can be imprisoned or killed for converting from Islam. But Ajamian said the persecution is a sign that God is answering prayers for the Muslim world. “There’s a move of God,” she said. “…The devil doesn’t like it, but there is a huge move.”

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/29125-evangelists-say-muslims-coming-to-christ-at-historic-rate

Fighting the Good Fight of Faith!!!

Fighting the Good Fight of Faith!!!

Paul said for us to, “Fight the good fight of faith!“

As we quickly learn in life, this world is a battleground of unseen spiritual forces; and we, as spiritual beings ourselves (who are created in the image and likeness of God), it is impossible that we should hold ourselves neutral and stand apart from those forces that are in conflict. We must stand on one side or the other of the battle array.

Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me,” and since we must be in the conflict whether we will to be or not, it behooves us to be on the right side.

When we know that we are on the right side, then the thing of greatest importance to us is the method of our warfare. Since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of evil, it is not strange that our weapons should be “not carnal” weapons, which are effective against material foes; but we must train ourselves to use those spiritual weapons that are “mighty through God.” Selah

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

BATTLE SMART

Whenever opposition arises, God’s grace thrives in us.

Think about what happens to a tree when a great storm beats violently against it. The wind threatens to uproot the tree and carry it away. It breaks off branches and blows away its leaves. It loosens its roots and blows off its buds. And when the storm is over, things look hopeless.

Yet, look closer; the same storm that opened crevices in the earth around the trunk of the tree has helped the roots go deeper. The tree now has access to new, deeper sources of nutrition and water. And it has been purged of all its dead branches.

The buds may be gone, but others will grow back more fully. I tell you, that tree is now stronger, growing in unseen ways. And just wait till harvest—because it’s going to bear much fruit!

Maybe you’re in a storm right now. The wind is blowing hard, shaking you violently, and you think you’re going down.

Beloved, don’t panic! You’ve got to know that in the midst of the tempest, you are putting down deep spiritual roots. God is developing in you a deepening humility, a greater mourning and sorrow for sin, a heightened hunger for his righteousness.

God is making you a seasoned soldier of the cross—battle-scarred, but battle-smart and courageous.

You may get down on yourself at times—but the Lord never does. The fact is, he could have acted sovereignly at any time to pluck you out of your struggle. But he didn’t—because he saw it producing in you a greater thirst for him!

Romans 5:3 says, “Tribulation worketh patience.” The word worketh means “to accomplish.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:17 we read, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

The word worketh in this verse is the same as in Romans 5:3.

http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/9880

In the heat of battle it is normal that perspectives change, that while we are feeling the flames, and as our attention is being drawn to the obstacles and challenges at hand, we sometimes can get discouraged as though God maybe has forgotten us; but as we place our faith in God’s Word, He tells us there that in the life of every believer there are unseen forces at work, out of sight and below the surface, to cause every circumstance, every situation and problem that we face, to work together for our good; in order to strengthen us and to better prepare us for our future ministries, and all that God has prepared for us in order to fulfill our destiny, which lies up ahead.

King David faced many times like this, when circumstances just seemed so overwhelming. It was at times like this that he had to remind himself who was in control, and to whom his life now belonged.

When life’s problems were pressing in on him, this is when the Psalmist learned to encourage himself in the promises of God’s Word and then he would say: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 43:5

Before I close, I want to leave you with these encouraging words, because quite often the enemy will come and try and make us believe that the reason for our trials and the seeming distance (in our minds) between us and God, as though God is no longer hearing our prayers, is because of our unworthiness, and because we have sinned; but 1 John 1:9 tells us that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness!“

So consequently God has removed all leverage from Satan, in that the sin issue between us and God has been settled once and for all at Calvary’s cross; and it is not our righteousness that is at issue, that gives us access to God; but rather it is the righteousness of Jesus, that is now ascribed to us… for each one of us has been clothed in the Righteousness of Christ!!!

September 14, 2010. Those who have believed in Me and follow after Jesus have been given the gift of righteousness.  Their hearts have been washed clean.  They are the pure in heart.

I tell you their own earthly and worldly righteousness is as filthy rags.  But I am a transforming God who takes a speck of dust or a piece of clay and creates and fashions something beautiful.

You are the most precious of all My creation.  One day My glory entered your heart as you made the choice to die to yourself and receive My transforming life.

The result is that you received the fruit of My righteousness, which has now become your righteousness, bearing the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Peace abounds. Ras Robinson

Proverbs 14:34 (NASB) “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

September 14, 2010. Presently in your life there have been some good and bad things happening side by side, but hasn’t it been this way for quite a while?  I see you have chosen to concentrate on the good and not get caught in the downward spin of the bad.  You have chosen the high road and not the low road.  Watching you do this brings Me great pleasure.  I see you growing in maturity and of course this is the right way to live. It will keep you healthy… body, soul, and spirit, and also give encouragement to those around you.  It teaches them the godly way to process things good and bad. Bev Robinson

Philippians 2:5 (AMP) “Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.”

The Psalmist often would place the following word at the end of his psalms, “Selah.”

In Hebrew Selah, [celah], is from the primary Hebrew root word [calah] which literally means ‘to hang,’ and by implication to measure (weigh). This is readily understood because in Biblical history, money, food and other valuables were ‘weighed’ by hanging or suspending them on a type of balance (the equivalent of our measuring scale) to determine their value. So seeing that this Hebrew word [calah] means to ‘measure,’ as in weighing something in the balances, we better understand how the word Selah [celah], which is derived from it, is illustrating that we should measure or value what has been said; or in other words we are being admonished to take a moment of pause, and calmly think and reflect about what has just been said.

So with that, I will just close today’s lesson and say… Selah!

Have a blessed day.

Shalom,

Skip Barland


Check this out… an angel was caught on video tape!!!

Angels are ministering spirits that are sent

to serve those who will inherit salvation?

(Hebrews 1:14)


I first saw this video on Patricia King’s website. This is pretty exciting to actually catch an angel on video.

This footage was taken of Christians around a campfire in Puerto Rico, and you can actually see the angel dancing around the fire. Very cool.

I hope it blesses you as it did me.


It is not every day you see something like this. I’ve always known about angels; but to my knowledge, except for the possibility I’ve entertained one or two unawares, as it says happens in Hebrews 13, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen an angel before, and certainly not in person.

Anyway, I thought I’d pass this along because I actually think it is very cool.

Bless you,

Skip Barland


Becoming a friend of God. even as David was of whom the Bible says “He was a man after God’s own heart!!!

And Jesus said:“Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Let us learn from King David, who was a true friend of God…


“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” ~Act 13:22 (cf. 1Sa 13:13-14)

You must keep close to Me

Faithfulness is not merely obeying the expressed commands of My Written Word.

It is the intuitive knowing of My Wish by close and intimate contact, from which has grown true understanding of Me.

Even with this knowing, faithfulness can only be possible when you are fortified with the Strength that Communion with Me gives.

If you know My slightest wish and have absorbed from Me the Strength in which to carry it out, then Love leaps forward, responsive, rejoicing in the Lord. (www.TwoListeners.org)

LISTEN UP…

If we are to follow Jesus then we must learn to obey Him, and walk as He walked.

We must also put on the mind of Christ and learn to think and do as He does, as He demonstrated for us in the Bible; and the way we do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to rewrite the operation source code of our life, that has been corrupted by the world.

There are in fact two things that God desires of each of us, of all those who are His covenant children, who both love Him and are called according to His purpose…

1) God desires to have fellowship with us; and

2) He desires to maintain communion with us throughout each day, through each and every trial and circumstance that we face.

In fact, it is His desire that we maintain this intimacy and relationship with Him every single day, 24/7, for the rest of our life, and for all eternity.

It is for this very reason that God has created us, for even as the Bible says of every Believer, our lives are no longer our own; but we have been bought with a price.

The paradox is if we want to gain our life and experience it more abundantly, then we must not hang on to it, but we must lose it.

On the other hand, the Bible also tells us that if we lose our life for Christ sake, we shall find it; and that we shall experience it more abundantly for all eternity.

Here’s the lesson and the point for us all, that as we familiarize ourselves with God’s ways and God’s Laws, by meditating upon His Word day and night; it is only then that we shall experience God’s Kingdom and God’s joy.

Life in God’s Kingdom, we shall soon find, is much different from anything we have previously known or experienced, for in God’s Kingdom we shall quickly learn that it is only by giving that we gain; and it is only by our letting go and dying to our desires, our ambitions, and our limited understanding, that we experience True life, God’s life, and God’s joy more abundantly!

God intends that we should maintain this relationship with Him always, and that we should reflect His love and His nature, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in and through every area of our life; just as it has been modeled for us and was exemplified in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, while He was on the earth. Selah

Jesus said for everyone who is heavy laden and is weighed down with the stresses and strains of this life, that we should come to Him, and learn of Him; and that we should take His yoke upon us; for His yoke is easy and His load is light!

One lesson we will quickly learn, and that is when we are passing through our trials and afflictions, and we cry out for deliverance; God is not as interested in delivering us as He is monitoring our attitude while in the midst of the fire?

God intends for every Believer that we learn to be as a thermostat, that affects and changes the environment; and not merely a thermometer who only reflects it!

And so if you want to know how you are doing, and whether you are progressing and growing in the Spirit and in faith; you have but to examine yourself when you are tempted and when the flames of adversity are lapping at your door.

In such times how is it that you react?

Do you revert to your flesh and react according to the world, and the culture of this world that you have been conditioned in; or do you pause long enough and be still; in order that you may listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, who says to you “This is the way you should go; and this is the way you should react in this situation… in a way and in a manner that gives glory to God!”

Truly this is the destiny and mission of every covenant child of God, that we learn to maintain this intimacy and connection with God, through Jesus Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit (by faith), in every area of our life, as we learn to totally surrender every area of our life to Him.

Also, finally let us not forget this one all important point, again as the Bible says… that we are created for His pleasure that we are to seek always to please and to serve Him!!! Selah

Shalom,

Skip Barland

_

Our nation is in trouble… and we need a miracle!!!

Uncle Sam needs you…

A Call for ALL Christians to pray for our country and

invoke 2 Chronicles 7:14, for we need a Miracle folks!!!

God’s message to His covenant children today:Isaiah 59

Sin, Confession and Redemption
 1 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.

2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

3 Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin.
Your lips are full of lies, and your mouth spews corruption.

4 No one cares about being fair and honest.
The people’s lawsuits are based on lies.
They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin.

5 They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders’ webs.
Whoever falls into their webs will die, and there’s danger even in getting near them.

6 Their webs can’t be made into clothing, and nothing they do is productive.
All their activity is filled with sin, and violence is their trademark.

7 Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder.
They think only about sinning.
Misery and destruction always follow them.

8 They don’t know where to find peace or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads, and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.

9 So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.

10 We grope like the blind along a wall, feeling our way like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime, we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living, we are like the dead.

11 We growl like hungry bears; we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.

12 For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.

13 We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies.

14 Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed.

15 Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.

The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice.

16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him.

17 He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.

18 He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
His fury will fall on his foes.
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.

19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

Our nation is in serious trouble today; and we are at a crossroads of decision.

We have a rogue government in Washington DC, that no longer respects, nor honors God; and who also no longer follows our U.S. Constitution.

Our political leaders today are leading our nation headlong into what they perceive as a “New World Order;” and in their arrogance and ignorance they are spending us into financial ruin, and are leading us into bondage.

On the Islamic front, since this administration has now determined the real terrorist threat against our country today is no longer from Islam, but it is from American citizens, among those “Right-wing Christians and loyal American Veterans, and anyone who opposes abortion and who supports our U.S. Constitution, according to this administration these are the people who are today’s threat.

And so while our government has gone soft on the war on Terrorism, and this administration is trying to play footsie and make nice with our enemies, and all the while has left our southern most border with Mexico wide open, so that God knows what our enemies have brought into our country, and so while all of this has gone on… look now what has happened:


Folks, if there is any time in our history, as a nation, that we need a miracle, it is now!

There is one lesson that I think we all can learn from our Bible, that I think certainly applies to the United States today; and that is in God’s dealings with the children of Israel, we can plainly see how often He would use the enemies of Israel to bring about correction and repentance!

With that said, I think it is plain to see that the forces of evil, within our country, certainly have a head start on us, as they have been working literally for years (over 100 to be exact) to gain their foothold in our country.

There is just no way that we are going to be able to turn all of this around by any other means, except we have a miracle of God!

Satan certainly has the advantage in having had all this time to establish his roots, as we find that his agents are working all over today, within the media, and also within our government, including Congress, and the White House; among both men and women alike, who have yet to have an encounter with the Living God; but have nevertheless hardened their hearts against Him; even as Pharaoh did in Egypt, when confronted by Moses.

But then there is God… and my Bible says “Greater is He who is in us, and with us, than he who is in the world!!!”

Even Pharaoh soon learned that when it comes to God’s covenant children, he soon found out that his own abstinence and stubbornness became his own undoing!

Likewise, our country has long ago violated our covenant with God, a covenant that our forefathers made with Him, that has been the reason for all our many blessings, our prosperity, as a nation, and also our protection.

In our ignorance and in the hardness of our hearts, we have long ago removed those spiritual boundaries and landmarks that were once established by our founding fathers, and our nation today has all but turned its back upon God!

God however is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the lesson I believe that God would have America learn today, comes right out of the pages of the Bible, in the Book of Numbers, when Balaam the Prophet of God, was asked by King Balag to curse Israel; and the king offered Balaam bribes in order to try and get him to do so.

Balaam told the king that he could not curse what God had blessed; but also added, that in order to get Israel on the outs with God, and to get them to remove themselves out from under God’s hedge of protection and blessing, all Balag had to do was to get Israel to violate and disobey their covenant with God… and that is what the king eventually did.

This is also America’s situation today, and I think a few years ago Billy Graham’s daughter hit the nail on the head:

Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz in an interviewed on the Early Show, with Jane Clayson, right after 9/11, was asked:

“How could a loving God let something like this happen?” (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said:

“I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are; but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out; and so how can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

“In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, and her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school … the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. The school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don’t want any bad publicity, and we surely don’t want to be sued (there’s a big difference between disciplining, touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.). And we said OK.

Then someone said, let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won’t even have to tell their parents. And we said OK.

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they’re going to do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won’t have to tell their parents they got them at school.

And we said OK.”

So what is the answer, and what do we do?

Well I think it is obvious that the solution to America’s problems today, which are massive, starts on our knees in prayer; and truly whatever we do, it is going to take a miracle and an act of God to save our nation!

The road home and our reconciliation back into God’s protection and grace can only happen as we as individuals and as a nation repent, just as Nineveh once did.

Our nation desperately needs both a Revival and a Spiritual Awakening among the church; and only God can do both!

As our enemies, among the Islamic Jihad movement, are setting their traps; and as those within our government are running their Globalist agenda, and are working to undermine our Constitution, and to permanently disable our Republic, let us remember whose in charge!

The fact is, one word from God can turn all of this around!

So let us who are called by His name, continue to humble ourselves and pray; let us turn from our wicked ways; and begin to seek after God’s face; that God would hear our prayers from heaven, and would heal our land, in Jesus name. Amen.

Shalom,

Skip Barland


This is your invitation to have communion and sup with the Lord forever…

YOU ARE INVITED!

Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”‘

5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10

So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.


11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.


13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and[a] cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’


14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

David Wilkerson Today

FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010

COMING TO HIS TABLE

An old gospel song has profound meaning for me. It says, “Jesus has a table spread / Where the saints of God are fed / He invites his chosen people, come and dine.”

What an exciting prospect: The Lord has spread a table in the heavenlies for his followers!

Jesus told his disciples, “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Luke 22:29–30).

Hungering for him means that, by faith, we also are seated at this table.

When the apostle Paul instructs, “Let us keep the feast” (1 Corinthians 5:8), he means let us understand clearly that we have been assigned a seat in the heavenlies with Christ at his royal table.

Paul is saying, “Always show up. Never let it be said your seat is empty.”

The sad truth is that the church of Jesus Christ simply does not comprehend what it means to keep the feast.

We do not understand the majesty and honor accorded us by having been raised by Christ to sit with him in heavenly places.

We have become too busy to sit at his table. We mistakenly derive our spiritual joy from service instead of communion.

We do more and more for a Lord whom we know less and less.

We run ourselves ragged giving our bodies and minds to his work, but we seldom keep the feast.

The one thing our Lord seeks above all else from his servants, ministers and shepherds is communion at his table.

This table is a place for spiritual intimacy, and it is spread daily.

Keeping the feast means coming to him continually for food, strength, wisdom and fellowship.

Ever since the Cross, all spiritual giants have had one thing in common: They revered the table of the Lord. They became lost in the vastness of Christ. They all died lamenting that they still knew so little of him and his life.

Our vision of Christ today is too small, too limited.

A gospel of “vastness” is needed to overcome the complicated and growing problems of this wicked age.

You see, God does not merely solve problems in this world—he swallows them up in his vastness!

Someone with an increasing revelation of Christ’s vastness need fear no problem, no devil, no power on this earth.

He knows that Christ is bigger than it all. If we had this kind of revelation of how vast he is, how boundless, measureless, limitless and immense, we would never again be overwhelmed by life’s problems.

Paul is an example to us. He was committed to having such an ever-increasing revelation of Christ.

In fact, all he had of Christ came by revelation; it was taught to him at the Lord’s table and made truth to him by the Holy Spirit.

Remember, it was three years after his conversion before Paul went to spend time with the apostles in Jerusalem, and he stayed with them only fifteen days before continuing his missionary journeys.

He later said, “By revelation he made known unto me the mystery” (Ephesians 3:3).

The Holy Spirit knows the deep and hidden secrets of God, and Paul prayed constantly for the gift of grace to understand and preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

The Lord is looking for believers who are not satisfied with sifting through all the conflicting voices to find a true word. He wants us to hunger for a revelation of him that is all our own—a deep, personal intimacy.

http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/devotions/2010/coming-to-his-table

It would seem that this sad state of affairs is even more true today, than ever before; as people today are much too busy with their own lives, doing their own thing, to be concerned about the things of God.

Most today, it would seem anyway, though they talk about God often, and many are religious, and some even attend church once in a while, but few there be that really know and love God… for even Jesus says, “To love God is to obey Him!”

I believe it was Saint Augustine who once said, “To know Jesus is to love Him; and to love Him is to want to serve Him.”

I believe it was also Augustine who said, “Love God with ALL your heart, mind, and soul, and do as you please;” meaning anyone who truly understood the supreme sacrifice and awesome love, which God bears for ALL His beloved children, they would never intentionally hurt Him!

I remember this story that was once told me about this man who was homeless, and lived in the streets of this particular town.

The lord of the town took pity upon him, and went down and picked him up out of the gutter; and brought him to his mansion to live, as a member of his family.

He cleaned him up and made him his adopted son, and invited him to come sit at his table.

This man was so grateful for this obvious demonstration of love and kindness that was being demonstrated towards him, that even though he possibly didn’t understand all the rules of his new home, he was very careful not to track mud into it; and he bent over backwards always to please his master, out of his love and gratefulness for all his master’s kindnesses towards him.

Likewise, this is our situation, whether we realize it or not.

God has invited us to come sit at His Heavenly Banqueting Table with His Son, Jesus Christ; and God forbid that we should be too busy with our own affairs and our own lives that we ignore His gratious invitation, as so many did in the above parable.

The wedding garment, by the way, that the one man failed to have on, is the Righteousness of Christ, provided when we accept by faith His atonement on Calvary’s cross, for the forgiveness of our sins.

This man obviously was trying to get in by some other way, other than through Jesus Christ… perhaps he didn’t think he needed a Saviour!

As a side note, we have had two presidents whose views on the Bible and the Christian faith show a marked ignorance in both the Bible and the Christian faith. 

Obama has been recorded mocking the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount; and also has been recorded as saying Muslims and Athiest can go to heaven.

Former President Bush, who though he also claims to be a Christian, has said much the same thing as Obama; when he says that all faiths lead to and have a belief in the same God. The Bible clearly says otherwise.

The words of both of these men stand in stark contrast to the words of Jesus Christ, who said that “He was the ONLY Way, the Truth and the Life; and that no one can come unto the Father, except through Him!” (John 14:6)

Let us not take this offer for granted, and miss our only opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation back into God’s family!

Make no mistake, but that your only opportunity to avail yourself of this awesome gift and privilege is in this lifetime, between your entry into the world, at birth; and your departure, at death.

This means that for every individual, who has yet to commit their life to Jesus Christ, and be Born-again, their window of opportunity is getting narrower with the passage of each day; and there is no opportunity beyond this life for them to be reconciled to God!

Listen up people, do not take this for granted; and put off until tomorrow something you need to do right now; for tomorrow is not guaranteed to any one; and the truth is every breathe we take, and with every beat of our heart, it is all only by God’s grace.

So don’t be so self sufficient and prideful to think you don’t need God!

God created you, and He has provided you with your life and all that you have; but His purpose for doing so was always to have communion with each and every one of His Kids… including you, because He loves you!!!

This estrangement that happened as a result of SIN, which is our nature by the way, which is characterized by our independence and our tendency to want to do our own thing, and be the masters of our own destiny, all of which by the way we inherited from our father Adam… and let me be very clear here, because if a person is unrepentant (meaning they don’t change this way of thinking) and if they keep this independent attitude, it will bar them from God’s Kingdom forever. and they will find themselves in the same situation as the man in the parable (above) who didn’t have on his wedding garments!

Jesus Christ is both Lord and Saviour… do NOT leave home without Him!!!

Shalom,

Skip Barland