GOD never tells us to ask Him for things He doesn’t want us to have…
We need to understand that the Old Testament Believers were looking forward to the cross; and we, as New Testament Believers, are looking back at that same cross.
It’s because of the Cross of Calvary and the precious Blood that Christ (our Messiah) shed there, on our behalf, and also because of the New Covenant — which is better than the Old Covenant — that the Bible tells us that we can now BOLDLY come into God’s presence, with our petitions, just as we see that Jabez did.
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
This is GOD’s will for EVERY Believer:
Ephesians 1:15-23 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
I thank God for you, and pray for you 15-19 Since, then, I heard of this faith of yours in the Lord Jesus and the practical way in which you are expressing it towards fellow-Christians, I thank God continually for you and I never give up praying for you; and this is my prayer.
That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realise how great is the hope to which he is calling you—the magnificence and splendour of the inheritance promised to Christians—and how tremendous is the POWER available to us who believe in God.
20-21 That power is the same divine power which was demonstrated in Christ when he raised him from the dead and gave him the place of supreme honour in Heaven—a place that is infinitely superior to any conceivable command, authority, power or control, and which carries with it a name far beyond any name that could ever be used in this world or the world to come.
22-23 God has placed everything under the power of Christ and has set him up as head of everything for the Church. for the Church is his body, and in that body lives fully the one who fills the whole wide universe.
1 John 5:14-15 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.
15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
The word, in both Hebrew and Greek, for PRAYER means to supplicate; and the American Heritage Dictionary defines supplicate as to make “earnest petition,” which means to make a legal demand (petition) requesting a right or benefit in a court of law.
We as Christians, whatever trials and tribulations may be confronting us in the Earth, regardless of any accusations made, by the “Accuser of the Brethren” – who is Satan, we have to learn to make our appeal (our petition) in the Courtroom of Heaven, where Jesus is our Advocate and the Judge is our Abba Father.
So that whatever accusations are brought against us, by the “Accuser of the Brethren,” in GOD’s courtroom, all we need to do is request that the scrolls be opened and when that is done, we have no need to defend ourselves; all we need do is ask that whatever accusations are made that they be placed under the Blood of the Cross, and that one act frees GOD the Father to move on our behalf.
You see the cross of Calvary, and the shed Blood of Jesus there, has taken ALL the leverage that Satan had against us, on account of our sin, away from him. ———
Sept 15 God At Eventide by Two Listeners
BOLD IN PRAYER
My child, there is no arrogance in your assertion when you say,
“I will not let Thee go unless Thou bless me.” — Gen 32:26b
Have not I ever told you to claim big things. In so doing you obey Me.
You do right to wrestle boldly in prayer. There are times for demanding, for claiming.
Now is the time to claim. You are in no doubt about My Will. Claim its manifestations on earth.
Now unto Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. — Jude 1:24-25 ———
Woe to you, California, the golden state is tarnished!
Your shoreline is polluted; your land is scorched and dry. Crops are languishing in the field. The fresh springs of water have dried up and your wells are depleted.
Where is the life-giving flow of My Spirit? Where is the fountain, the water of My Word that gushes forth with a mighty cleansing stream?
Where is the hunger for My holy presence? Where is the desire by My people to hear the uncompromising Word of God that pricks the heart and convicts the conscience?
I tell you, it has become outdated in many places, cast aside like an old garment. My Word has been diluted and polluted like the water in your land.
You have muddied the waters with your feet; you attempt to work up a flow through your own fleshly efforts, by utilizing the foot pumps of Egypt.
You have erred, calling sensationalism a visitation of My Spirit; you have embraced strange practices for worship in spirit and in truth.
Woe to you, California. You have turned your back on Me, like an unfaithful spouse. You have become wanton and careless, and now your beauty is being stripped from you.
I blessed you with mighty moves of My Spirit, which in times past, have brought forth ministries that would touch the nations.
Mighty revivals emerged and ministries were born through the tears and the travail of unknown, humble men of God who wept between the porch and the altar.
Appointed ministries were planted within you like noble vines upon the fresh soil. But now, you have become like a degenerate vine. You grow upon an unplowed field; you are untamed, undisciplined, given over to weeds and hardened clay.
I had expected an abundant harvest to be produced from your fields, for your gifts were flourishing and My power was present for a time. But now you see that Heaven has withheld its rain; your fruit is inferior and the land has been burnt with fire. Your apostasy has caused it to be so.
Instead of the golden reflection of My divine nature, I see the tarnished ways of the world among the congregations of My people.
The culture of entertainment has permeated your assemblies; the sins of the prodigals are ignored; the vices of the wicked are not addressed.
Instead of the call to repentance and holiness from your pulpits, there is a call to inclusive membership in your clubs.
Instead of the call to cross-carrying obedience, there is an appeal for tolerance, as not to offend the multitudes.
Your soothsayers prophesy falsely; you seek them out, and not Me. I see a strange fire burning upon the altars of your mega-ministries; I smell defiled bread, and not the fresh manna of heaven.
The tables in your land are full of meat being sacrificed to idols. You have accepted the customs of the pagans; you have embraced the forbidden practices of the foreigners who live among you.
Some of the strangers who enter your land and have mingled among your population, devise their plans.
I tell you, some will rise up to bite you like a serpent. You have rejected Me and My Commandments repeatedly; you have shed innocent blood continually; you have celebrated perversion completely, and have made it your law.
For these things, the land shall mourn.
Yet in the midst of this, I offer redemption, an opportunity for the mixed multitude to turn to Me, for I weep over them, and I long to gather them unto Myself.
In spite of their hardened hearts, I plead with humanity. For within your borders, I have a Remnant, a people who have not bowed to the god of this age.
And they are Mine, My Beloved, in whom I have placed My Spirit and My heart.
They are hidden from the eyes of the world; they seek no glory for themselves, nor do they aspire to build their own kingdom that others may take notice.
Mine are those who wait upon Me, who seek Me continually. They have set their faces like a flint to do My will, and not their own.
They weep over the abominations in the land and intercede for the lost. Their good works are as incense that arises before Me, and so do I intervene in their behalf.
Their pleas for mercy upon this wayward generation have been heard. And so it is to My beloved Remnant, that I disclose what I am about to do.
I call to you, to stand upon your watch and cry out now for My mercy as My righteous judgment begins.
For I say, California, your calamity is near to come. Invasion is at your gates and borders; destruction is at hand. Woe to you, California, the iniquity is full in many of your cities, and judgment must come, for I am a God of justice and the wicked shall not go unpunished.
I say to My people: prepare! I call to My Beloved: “cry out”, pray for the people of California as well as the nation.
You have been the salt that has preserved it and kept it from total ruin and spoilage. In My mercy, I give a window of time that many may turn to Me, for I am not willing that even one should perish.
I watch for the prodigals to return to Me; I wait for the rebellious to cry out to Me. Did I not say that the Harvest is the end of the Age?
And is this not upon you now? Be ready, My reapers, for My visitation comes, and My glory shall be revealed.
I will pass through the land, and I will shake all that can be shaken. And when I do, I shall receive a Harvest unto Myself, an inheritance of sons and daughters. I will gather them together and bring them into My barn.
it all starts with our correctly discerning God’s Word!
by Skip Barland
There is a great deception a foot through the media today in America, that has actually been going on for years.
The powers that be that pull the strings of both our mainstream media and this Washington D.C. Corporation, called UNITED STATES, INC has successfully, over the years, pitted the Right against the Left, in order to keep our house divided, and to draw attention away from themselves.
The objective is to keep the American people preoccupied and arguing among themselves, solely over their political differences, so as to keep the attention off of what the “Puppet Masters” are doing behind the scenes, to weaken our country in the hope that we will eventually willingly submit to their “New World Order.”
As I’ve said before this same strategy comes right out of the same playbook that was used in Leninist and Stalinist Russia, and continues today under the Communist Party; it was used in pre-Nazi Germany, that gave rise to Hitler; and also in Red China.
It’s the old “Good Cop, Bad Cop” scenario, that operates much the same as our Two-Party political system does, where both sides appear to be against each other (on the surface that is), where both sides are pitted against the center, in order to achieve a common goal and objective.
It’s all about deceit and the massive programming of the general population, through the media and our public education, when in actuality both sides are working for and are taking their orders form the same people.
What people you ask?
Well at the top of the list are a small group of families, headed up by the Rothschild’s International Banking Cartel that today control most all of the world banking systems.
They have also over the years have set up and have supported a host of Secret Societies, all of which are dedicated to one end, and that is the establishment of a “New World Order.”
Among the more well known of these Secret Societies are the following:
the Knights Templar
the Knights of Malta
the Knights of Columbus
the Jesuits
the Masons
the Ancient and Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis
the Illuminati
the Nazi Party
the Communist Party
the Executive Members of the Council on Foreign Relations
The Group
the Brotherhood of the Dragon
the Rosicrucians
the Royal Institute of International Affairs
the Trilateral Commission
the Bilderberg Group
the Open Friendly Secret Society (the Vatican)
the Russell Trust
the Skull & Bones
the Scroll & Key
Former Congressman John R. Rarick warned:
The CFR is dedicated to the establishment of a one-world government and it is financed by a number of the largest tax-exempt foundations in the world. This organization wields, because of their connections, they are able to wield immense power and influence over our lives in the areas of finance, business, labor, military, education and mass communication media; and they should be familiar to every American concerned with good government and with preserving and defending the U.S. Constitution and our free-enterprise system.
Yet, the nation’s right to know machinery – the news media – usually so aggressive in exposures designed to inform the public, they are conspicuously silent when it comes to doing any reports on the CFR, its membership, and its activities.
Why is that:
The CFR is the establishment. Not only does it have influence and power in key decision-making positions at the highest levels of government to apply pressure from above, but it also finances and uses individuals and groups to bring pressure from below, to justify the high-level decisions for converting the United States from a sovereign constitutional republic into a servile member of a one-world dictatorship.
Isn’t interesting to note that the one man who owns the the so called Conservative New Network is himself a member of the CFR and as such he is also committed to the establishment of a “New World Order!”
Walid Shoebat is a Palestinian American Christian, himself a former terrorist, who converted from Islam to become a born-again Christian.
He lectures today on the dangers of Islamic radicalism and is a strong supporter of the state of Israel.
Born to a Jordanian Muslim father and a American mother, Shoebat lived during the early part of his life in the village of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem.
A self-proclaimed apostate Muslim, Walid Shoebat says he converted to Christianity in 1993 and began spreading the word about the “dangers of Islam”.
He has been interviewed as a terrorism expert on several television programs, including a handful of appearances on CNN and its sister network, HLN, in 2006 and 2007.
Shoebat is also a frequent speaker at Biblical prophecy conferences comparing End Times eschatology in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic sacred texts.
IMMA Founder Abdullah Omar Naseef tied to Rupert Murdoch?
by Shoebat Foundation on JANUARY 15, 2013 in BLOG, GENERAL
Regular readers to this site probably remember the name Abdullah Omar Naseef. He is the founder of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA), the organization at which Huma Abedin served as an assistant editor for approximately twelve years.
During the controversy that involved Abedin and letters sent by Michele Bachmann to various Inspectors General that expressed concerns about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration – Fox News noticeably went out of its way to avoid the story, except when coverage of it was helpful to the deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton.
One very big reason for that might just be found in an article by Diana West.
While it’s common knowledge that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the second largest shareholder of News Corp., Fox’s parent company, perhaps not as widely known is Murdoch’s ownership stake in a media company owned by Alwaleed.
West reports:
The channel is Al Risala, which translates into “the (Islamic) message.” It was launched in 2006 by Saudi prince Talal bin Alwaleed, the nephew of the King of Saudi Arabia and a Murdoch business associate who also owns a 7 percent stake in Murdoch’s News Corp., the parent company of Fox News and other U.S. media outlets.
Murdoch co-owns Al Risala through his acquisition of an 18.97 percent stake in Rotana, Al Risala’s Arabic media parent group, which is owned by Alwaleed.
West links to another find as well. None other than Abdullah Omar Naseef is one of six members who serve on the Advisory Committee of Al Risala:
The Members of the Supreme Advisory Committee of AlResalah channel include:
1. Sheikh Abdullah bin Sulaiman Al Manai, Member of Senior Ulema Commission in Saudi Arabia
2. Dr. Abdullah Naseef, President of World Muslim Congress
3. Dr. Hamed Al Refaie, Secretary General of the Muslim World Congress and President of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue
4. Dr. Abdullah Al Meslih, Commission of Scientific Signs of Qur’an and Sunnah
5. Sheikh Ali Al Nashwan Religious Advisor to HRH Prince Alwaleed
6. Dr. Abdulaziz Al Askar, Former Head of Media Department at Al Imam bin Muhamed University
When John McCain defended Abedin and smeared Bachmann, Fox News covered it. When John Boehner did the same, Fox News covered it. When former Bachman Campaign Chief Ed Rollins ripped Bachmann and defended Abedin, Fox News covered it. When it came to an opposing view, Fox News ignored it. In one case, host Megyn Kelly insisted that David Horowitz be shut down when he brought it up as a guest on her show.
Any argument put forth that Horowitz was shut down because he went off topic is short-circuited because of the network’s bald-face avoidance of the story absent pro-Abedin reports.
As Abedin fades from public view (at least for the time being) because of Clinton’s decision to step down as Secretary of State, her relevance may subside as well but what is absolutely relevant is the role of Naseef. As the founder of the IMMA, his plans are extremely clear; they include a very real propaganda campaign designed to transform non-Muslim lands into Muslim lands until all lands have Muslim majorities. That’s what the Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA) was specifically founded to do.
Walid proved it:
An individual whose name has come up in the controversial story involving the sale of Al Gore’s Current TV to Al Jazeera is Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who has his own program on Al Jazeera and lives in the country where that network is based – Qatar.
This reality rightfully warrants criticism of Gore’s judgment but how about criticism of Murdoch’s judgment?
“Why do Islamic fundamentalists really want to kill us, what drives them and how to fight back.”
Consider that Naseef, the man who sits on the Supreme Advisory Committee of Al Risala – a company Murdoch has a substantial stake in – has a history with Al Qaradawi. In 2004 – 2005, both Qaradawi and Naseef sat on the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS). Huma Abedin’s brother Hassan was a fellow at the time.
The sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera will mean that the Jihadist network will attempt to further its agenda actively in the United States. Alwaleed’s ownership stake in News Corp. has already been demonstrated to mean that Fox News will actively avoid exposing Jihadist agendas. Murdoch’s stake in Al Risala appears to mean he benefits when Jihadist agendas are furthered in both Muslim Majority lands…
There are only two nations in history that have established their government based on a covenant they made with God. The first was the nation of Israel and the last was the Republic for the united states of America. Where was that covenant established, you ask?
The first covenant with God was established on the Mayflower by the pilgrims who came to settle in this new land, and they made that covenant in a document that is called the Mayflower Compact, which was signed on November 11, 1620.
The Mayflower Compact stands as the first hallowed document of the American constitutional tradition:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
The next document was signed by our Founding Fathers on July 4,1776, and it is called the Declaration of Independence, which document marked our nation’s birth.
The Revolutionary War was fought by our Founding Fathers not only as a rebellion against the tyranny of the mighty British Empire, but also it was a repudiation by our Founding Fathers of the “old world order,” and the monarchial tyranny that was so prevalent in Europe!
This sacred and historic document stands as our birth certificate, describing the manner and/or character that the citizens of this brave “New Nation” are to have and are to strive for via the guiding authority of our Constitution and the Holy Bible.
It is also a sacred Covenant and/or Contract with the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who created these citizens equally, in order that this new government would ensure them those certain inalienable rights, including “life liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
When the Covenant is not kept according to the dictates of the Bible — the Hebrew Holy Scriptures — then GOD acts accordingly towards us, just as He did with the Nation of Israel.
By our Founding Fathers invoking GOD as our Justifier, they implicated HIM in a war for freedom. Therefore, it is imperative that “We the People,” as the beneficiaries of this covenant, keep and fulfill this most sacred Covenant/Contract with the Majesty On High, who is our Sovereign God and Creator!
Outside Independence Hall when
the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended,
Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,
“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,
“A republic, if you can keep it.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Well on that score we have not done too well!
Our nation is in trouble today because, as happened with the nation of Israel, we have reneged on our original Covenant with God, and we have violated His standards to the point that this D.C. Corporation is today attempting to remove all acknowledgement of Him from our nation’s history; from our classrooms; and from the public squares.
This Corporate entity, called the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INC, that replaced our Constitutional Republic back in 1871 (through the Act of 1871) are today attempting to replace our long established Judaic/Christian faith in God with a godless ecumenical New Age style faith movement (which is not new at all, it come right out of the pages of Mystery Babylon) which they are calling the “New World Order.”
They are doing this in preparation for what I believe will eventually be what the Bible describes as very totalitarian and oppressive “One World Government” together with a one world monetary system that will usher in the kingdom of the Antichrist, spoken of in Revelation 13.
In times like this, God in His long-suffering love and grace which He bears for His lost children, just as He did with the Nation of Israel, extends to us a hand of grace and reconciliation (now mind you, this has been made possible only through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ and His propitious sacrifice on Calvary’s cross), in the hope that His wayward children would (as outlined in 2 Chronicles 7:14) heed His call; humble themselves and pray; turn from their wicked ways and seek His face; in order that God would hear their prayers and heal our land.
Amos 3:1-7
Sounding the Alarm
3 Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account—and I mean all of you, everyone connected with the family that he delivered out of Egypt. Listen!
2 “Out of all the families on earth, I picked you.
Therefore, because of your special calling, I’m holding you responsible for all your sins.”
3-7 Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place?
Does a lion roar in the forest if there’s no carcass to devour?
Does a young lion growl with pleasure if he hasn’t caught his supper?
Does a bird fall to the ground if it hasn’t been hit with a stone?
Does a trap spring shut if nothing trips it?
When the alarm goes off in the city, aren’t people alarmed?
And when disaster strikes the city, doesn’t God stand behind it?
The fact is, God, the Master, does nothing without first telling his prophets the whole story.
A Time of Great Sorrow
By Glynda Linkous
Jan 16, 2013 04:46 pm
My people are in a state of waiting. You wait and watch for you know My judgments are coming and will be upon you. Some of you have prepared as I have led you and others have not. You will fare well as long as you have prepared your hearts.
A time of great sorrow approaches, My people. A time when none of you will be sure where to turn or what to do. You must keep your mind and your eyes fixed on Me as it approaches and encompasses you, for this is what is truly necessary.
My people will grieve as never before in this time, for the things that will be done to you and the things you will see. Remember the joy of your salvation and it will succor you in these times, for truly there will be little around you that will bring you joy.
I instruct you in these things now that you may tell your brothers and sisters, and that you may remember them in the times coming, and survive them.
Endure until the end, My precious children, for I long to share eternity and all the glory of heaven with you!
1 Peter 4:7: But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Isaiah 26:3: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Matthew 4:7-8: For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Psalm 35:9: And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
Matthew 24:13: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
and the Bible assures us that he will help us when we call upon Him!
by Skip Barland
Dick Mills, an evangelist and prophet, servant of the Lord:Dick went home to the Lord in April of 2012. Dick’s ministry was characterized by the unique gifts God has blessed him with. As he ministered, the power of the Holy Spirit moved through him to teach, edify, and uplift. His ministry was to the congregation as well as the individual, as the Lord spoke through him with personal Words of Wisdom, encouragement, and prophecy. His services informed, enlightened, and motivated people to a higher level of commitment to God. His mission lives on through the dedication of the Dick Mills Ministries staff and his legacy of personal ministry through his son, David, and his grandsons, Judah and Blake. The following are the personal testimonies of Pat Robertson and Jack Hayford:
“Dick has one of the most unique ministries of any man of God I know in the world. He has been used of God to bring deep spiritual blessings at crucial times in my own life, and I am sure this is true of tens of thousands of others around the country.” – Pat Robertson, President and CEO, CBN
“For my part, Dick Mills’ character, ministry in the Word of God and prophetic gift continue to define the ministry of a prophet to the Body of Christ.” – Jack Hayford
God’s Word is Living and Powerful By Dick Mills
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26 NKJ).
This verse was visibly demonstrated to me in an intensive care unit. Leitha, a friend of the family, was rushed to the hospital suffering from a severe heart attack. Hovering between life and death, she was being monitored closely by the hospital staff.
The machine attached to her showed a dot and a wavy line, a dot and a way line. It was explained to me that this was an indication that the heart beat was normal and that Leitha was resting comfortably.
Due to the serious nature of Leitha’s condition, the nurse in attendance limited my wife and me to a visit of five minutes or less. She also expressed a great concern that any “excitement” could cause Leitha irreparable damage.
For four minutes my wife and I carried on the normal social amenities with Leitha. How are you? Are you eating? Are you resting well? All the time we were talking, I kept watching the monitor. There it was, steady as a clock: dot, wavy line; dot, wavy line.
With one minute to go, I quoted Psalm 73:26. Immediately the lines on the monitor jumped. They began to go up and down, even disappearing off the top and bottom of the screen. Quickly the nurse hurried us out of the room thinking that Leitha was going to die from the sudden burst of excitement.
A few days later, however, Leitha was released from the hospital completely healed. Those lines running up and down and off both top and bottom of the monitor were visible proof that God’s Word is living and powerful, able to penetrate joints and marrow. We saw it with our own eyes!
Source: The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Daily Devotional by Dick Mills
Amos 3:7
7 Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
I can tell you that this man was used of the Lord in my life to give me both Words of Knowledge and Wisdom on several different occasions.
Shortly after I was born-again I happened to be in a Christian Businessmen’s dinner meeting, where Dick Mills was the speaker.
What happened was I happened to be seated in the back, in a room that was filled with about 300 people, and I just had a thought in my mind, which I didn’t vocalize, that it would be really cool if I could get a message from the Lord today.
No sooner than Dick Mills came up to the podium he pointed right back in my direction and said the man in the back with the curly hair who said he’d like to get a word from the Lord, would you come up here please?
I might also add that this happened shortly after I had received my first Word of Knowledge from another minster (who had never seen me before and didn’t know me from Adam) that told me about an event that had occurred approximately five years before.
When I was nineteen I was involved in a near fatal auto accident.
I was out on a Friday night with three of my friends. We had spent the evening bowling and were on our way home.
My one friend, who was driving, had just gotten a brand new SS Chevelle 390 Super Sport as a gift from his parents.
We had stopped to drop off my other friend’s girlfriend at her house, and for some reason, after they had gotten out of the car, my friend with the car (Bobby), decided to start horsing around and was punching the engine to lay some rubber on the street.
All I can remember was my trying to put my seatbelt on, but was unable to because it was stuck.
I later learned told that he said he had mistakenly hit the accelerator, instead of the brake, and the car had run into a tree; and I guess at that point I went head first into either the dash or windshield.
The next thing I remember is I woke up in a hospital ICU room about a week and half later, from a coma.
This experience made an indelible impression on me, in that for some reason, when I awaken from the coma God was VERY real to me.
I thought I was a Christian because I had been raised in the church, was baptized as an infant, and was confirmed at age 13; at which time I stopped attending church. I guess it was because I figured I had fulfilled all the requirements.
I had no idea what it meant to be a Christian; that it was much more than merely fulfilling some religious denominational requirements or rituals.
Anyway five years later I was now living in California, and it was here that I became a born-again Christian.
I used to listen to this preacher every morning in my early drive to work and decided this one Sunday to attend his church.
While setting out in the congregation in the middle of the service this pastor, who again I repeat didn’t know me at all and had never seen me before, he called me to come up to the front and then proceeded to give me my first Word of Knowledge.
He talked about my accident and told me that the Lord had sent an angel and had snatched me out of the hands of Satan. He also told me other things too, personal things, that he had no way of knowing.
Like I said this was my first experience with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it was God’s way of letting me know that everything I read in the Bible is true.
We serve an all powerful supernatural God and yet much of the church today, as the Bible said would happen (in 2 Timothy 3:5), where it says (talking about the condition of the church) that though they have a form of godliness, they have denied its power!
I have learned that this Christian walk is far more than our following some religious dictates or dogma of a any one church denomination, and mind you none of that is necessarily bad and it can be very helpful if it is practiced according to Scripture.
My point is this, if you are facing difficulty in your life today, trials and tribulations is what the Bible calls it (and really who today isn’t) then you need to know the God of the Supernatural, who the Bible says is ever mindful of every detail of your life.
It even says (in Psalm 139 that he has scheduled each and every day of our life, before we were born, and recorded each day in a book:
Psalm 139:16
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
The Bible also tells us:
Matthew 10:29-31
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
29-31 “Two sparrows sell for a farthing, don’t they? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Never be afraid, then—you are far more valuable than sparrows.
John 16:33
New King James Version (NKJV)
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will[a] have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
So whatever you are facing individually, or whatever we are facing, collectively, as a nation, in both instances Jesus is the answer!
Colossians 1:16
New King James Version (NKJV)
16 For by Him (Jesus) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
And just before He left earth He told His disciples:
Matthew 28:18-20
New King James Version (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
So what does all of this mean?
It means that if you are a Christian, God has set spiritual forces to work on your behalf, to train you and to prepare you for eternity; and His promise (as found in Philippians 1:6) for all of us is that He will continue that work until its completion.
God never gives up on you and so don’t you give up on yourself!
And the instructions for these Watchmen are to watch and pray!
Isaiah 62:6
6 Jerusalem, I have put guards on the walls to watch.
They must not be silent day or night.
You people who remind the Lord of your needs in prayer
should never be quiet.
Prayer is the means by when we connect with heaven, not to give God our orders and tell Him what we want, however there is a seeming paradox here because we are also instructed in the Bible to pray and supplicate in our times of need, meaning that God does expect us to petition Him in our hour of need, but still that is not the primary purpose of prayer.
No, prayer is about our getting on God’s wave length, and our learning to resonate with Him as Jesus did.
We ALL have been programmed and have been taught how to think according to this fallen world… it’s in our culture, our education, and our upbringing from the time we were children!
As a Christian we are NOT to walk according to the world!
Jesus told His disciples at one point, “As the Father has called me, I am calling you.”
The Bible calls Jesus our elder brother; it also calls Him the “Last Adam” too, which means Jesus in every way is our example and our model of what God had initially purposed to accomplish through Adam, prior to the fall; and so Jesus (through His life and ministry in the earth) exemplifies for us what God’s will and intention is for each of us, and that is for us to follow and to serve the Father, by faith, through the power and by the direction of the Holy Spirit… just as Jesus did.
Understand this, if you are a Christian then your life is no longer your own!
The fact is, if you are Born-again you have now been enlisted into God’s service and you have also been reconciled back into God’s family, through the propitious work which Jesus did for each of us on Calvary’s cross; and so your relationship with God is now just as it was with Adam and Eve before the fall.
It is God who has done this and has made it possible for us to come home!
He did it at great expense and though this gift of salvation comes to us free of charge, it did not come cheap!
Jesus gave His All, and our response is that we give our all!
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Mark 8:34-36
Take Up the Cross and Follow Him
34 When He (Jesus) had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
The Bible clearly says that, as Christians, we are to be available and prepared for God’s service at ALL times, in season and out – 24/7! (2 Timothy 4:2)
However so often as Believers we can get discouraged, if we keep our focus on the storms of our life and not on God’s Word; and when we do so, we are shifting our focus off of the only power and hope that we have, that will see us through the storm.
In these instances we are making the exact same mistake that Peter made, when Jesus called to him, for him to walk out to Him on the water.
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home. 23 After he had sent them away, he went by himself up into the hills to pray. It was late, and Jesus was there alone. 24 By this time, the boat was already far away from land. It was being hit by waves, because the wind was blowing against it.
25 Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water. 26 When his followers saw him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus quickly spoke to them, “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 Peter said, “Lord, if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus said, “Come.”
And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. 30 But when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter. Jesus said, “Your faith is small. Why did you doubt?”
32 After they got into the boat, the wind became calm. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “Truly you are the Son of God!”
You will note in the above verses of scripture that Jesus first sent His disciples into the storm, and as we study the Bible we find that this sort of thing happens many times, as there are many examples that can be found in the Bible of God sending His covenant children into problems and storms of one kind or another.
How about when Abraham was called by God to go to a land that he know not?
God did not give Abraham any information at all about where this Promised Land was, or how long it would take for them to get there.
Was this not a test of Abraham’s faith?
Here Abraham was being asked to uproot his family, leave his home, his family, and his security behind, and journey to a place that he knew nothing about, and then when He finally got there, to this Promised Land, he found himself in the middle of a famine.
How do you like them apples…isn’t this life of faith fun? J
Understand this, God has a reason and purpose for everything He does in the life of EVERY believer; and to learn what that reason is we have to look to His Word, the Holy Bible.
In the same way that our military will put young recruits through wartime simulations and tests, even under live fire, in order to teach them how to react under pressure, likewise God does the same thing and for the same reason.
Deuteronomy 8:2-5
2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
In reference to the above wilderness experience, in the scripture below we are encouraged and told that these things were written for our benefit, as examples for us to follow; and even though at times we may feel as though we are being pushed pass our breaking point, God’s promise to us is that He will not allow us to be tempted (or tested) beyond our ability to withstand the pressure, but along with that He will give us an avenue of escape.
1 Corinthians 10:1-14
Warnings From Israel’s History
10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
We are also told in the Bible (see Ephesians 6:12) that we are not fighting (or wrestling) against flesh and blood, but rather we are fighting against wicked principalities and powers; against supernatural beings of darkness that fill this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
And the Bible goes on to tell us that this battle CANNOT be won through carnal means:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
We need to understand that the Christian life is to be a supernatural life; and as the Bible clearly tells us that we are facing a very formidable and supernatural enemy of Darkness, if we are to be successful in our battle against him, then we had better learn how to use those spiritual weapons that God has provided us!
Faith by its very definition is the substance of things hoped for that is evident by things NOT seen or felt in the natural.
Consequently, it is in that very space between when you first begin to pray and believe for your miracle, and when the miracle or answer to prayer manifests that faith resides.
As the Apostle Paul points out, in the Bible, “HOPE” is what you have need of before you have the manifestation or answer to your prayer, and once you have it in hand and have received what you having been praying for, hope is no longer needed. .
If we are going to be successful at this walk of faith, then we have to pay attention to the rules of engagement, as they are taught in the Bible.
The Bible says God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not ours either; for as high as heaven is above the earth, so are God’s ways and His thoughts above ours.
Get a clue folks, God is not the one who needs to change, we are!
We must never think that just because life may be hard for us, under our current circumstances, that even though we may be faced with many challenges, that God is not hfere with us; and that He will not be faithful to His Word, to perform it in our life and in our circumstances!
We have a sure record that tells us otherwise; that He will be faithful, in the same way He has always been faithful to every Saint we read about in His Word!
These examples that we read in the Bible are intended for our edification and guidance in our time of need; so instead of giving up and/or wavering under the pressure, we need to learn to stand and to trust God!
Below is an excellent message on the subject of prayer, which I ran across the other day, and so I thought to pass it along to you.
“Legend has it that after a morning praying in the monastery of Piedra, a novice asked an abbot, ‘Do they (our prayers) make God closer to us?’
‘I will answer you with another question,’ said the Abbot. ‘All those prayers you pray will they make the sun rise tomorrow?’
‘Of course not! The sun rises because it obeys a universal law!’
‘So that is the answer to your question. God is near to us, regardless of the prayers we say.’
The novice rebelled, ‘You want to say that our prayers are useless?’
‘No. If you don’t get up early, you will never be able to see the sun rise. If you don’t pray, even though God is always near, you will never be able to notice His presence.’
Pray and watch, this should be the motto of the Warrior of Light. If you just watch, you’ll start seeing ghosts where none exist. If you merely pray, you will not have time to execute the works that the world sorely needs.” ~ Paulo Coelho
The word “hitherto” seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past.
Twenty years or seventy, and yet, “hitherto the Lord has helped!”
Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honour, in dishonour, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation, “hitherto has the Lord helped us!”
We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant (lush green) temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves; even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs (branches) of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys.
Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received “hitherto.”
But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark and writes “hitherto,” he is not yet at the end, there is still a distance to be traversed.
More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death.
Is it over now?
NO! There is more yet-awakening in Jesus’ likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. O be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise my “Ebenezer.”
(Reference: 1 Samuel 7:12 — “Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—’the stone of help’—for he said, ‘Up to this point the Lord has helped us!'” — The Ebenezer Stone (see right) represented a fresh beginning, a reversal of course for God’s people. It also said something important about God: his mercies are everlasting; his covenant is forever.)
He who hath helped thee hitherto Will help thee all thy journey through.
When read in heaven’s light how glorious and marvelous a prospect will thy “hitherto” unfold to thy grateful eye!
by Charles Spurgeon
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One must never come to the Lord thinking that this spiritual life, which we are now supposed to live by faith, as born-again covenant children of God, is a quid pro quo relationship; that somehow since we have committed ourselves to God, that He now owes us!
Anyone who would give that impression to a new believer, that by becoming a Christian life is going to be easier, is really doing them a disservice and is setting them up to fail.
The truth is, life in general, as we ALL are living it now in this fallen world, is a challenge for everyone; and even more so after you have become a Christian, because you now have a target on your back, placed there by Satan (the Devil).
You can be sure that Satan is going to do everything that he can to challenge your decision to follow and serve Christ, because your success as a Christian means a definite loss of ground for him in his kingdom.
As it turns out, from God’s point of view anyway as we can learn from reading our Operations Manual (the Bible), this life that we are living, as Christians, is a training ground for eternity; and it is in this life that we are to learn how to apply God’s promises, His spiritual tools, and His power to overcome life’s difficulties.
Check it out and come join the adventure with us!
Listen to what King David had to say about this…
Your problems come not to defeat you,
but to make you strong!
The only thing we have to do in order to win this race is don’t quit!!!
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
And on that first Christmas day God’s gift to the world was born:
Luke 2:8-20
A vision comes to shepherds on the hill-side
8-12 There were some shepherds living in the same part of the country, keeping guard throughout the night over their flocks in the open fields. Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by their side, the splendour of the Lord blazed around them, and they were terror-stricken. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen, I bring you glorious news of great joy which is for all the people. This very day, in David’s town, a Saviour has been born for you. He is Christ, the Lord. Let this prove it to you: you will find a baby, wrapped up and lying in a manger.”
13-14 And in a flash there appeared with the angel a vast host of the armies of Heaven, praising God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest Heaven! Peace upon earth among men of goodwill!”
15 When the angels left them and went back into Heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Now let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
16-20 So they came as fast as they could and they found Mary and Joseph—and the baby lying in the manger. And when they had seen this sight, they told everybody what had been said to them about the little child. And those who heard them were amazed at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured all these things and turned them over in her mind. The shepherds went back to work, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, which had happened just as they had been told.
It is a fact of life that BAD THINGS do happen to good people, even to Christians!
So how does a Christian react in the midst of negative circumstances, especially when according to all visible sight/sense evidence that we can see and that can be felt all around us, there is no reason in the natural to hope?
If you are like me, I find that my first reaction when confronted with negative and hurtful circumstances, most times anyway, is just exactly the same as the world’s reaction, of those who still are living outside the Christian faith paradigm.
The truth is this sort of behavior, for me anyway and I dare say for most of you, is quite natural! It’s not something that we had to learn.
None of us had to learn how to react that way, in our flesh, but rather it comes quite naturally for ALL of us and it is common to all mankind to react in this way, and it has been that way from the first day we were born into this world.
It’s becoming increasing obvious, and it was especially and painfully made true from the events of this past Friday, that this world in which we all are living today, is becoming more and more dangerous.
Whereas we’ve seen this sort of thing many times happening in other countries across the world, almost nightly in the evening news, we are now seeing it happen more and more right here at home, in our own neighborhoods and communities.
Where, except from hell, does this sort of behavior come from, as happened this past Friday in Danbury Connecticut, where literally the unthinkable has happened, when someone (who is little more than a child himself, at twenty years of age) went into an elementary school and murdered 20 kindergartners and eight adults?.
Where in the world does this sort of behavior come from and how does something like this happen here in America?
It seems at times like this many people are asking the question how does a loving God allow something like this to happen?
Well that same question was asked of Ann Graham Lotz (Billy Graham’s daughter) after 9/11; and I believe the same answer applies here:
Regarding the Events of 9/11:
On September 13, 2001, in an interview with Anne Graham Lotz, by Jane Clayson on CBS’ Early Show, the following question was asked: “Where Is God?”
Jane Clayson: We’ve turned to your father, the reverend Billy Graham, so often in times of national crisis. What are his thoughts about what happened on Tuesday?
Anne Graham Lotz: I turned to him also. In fact, I called him last night, after you all called to arrange for this interview. He’s reacting like a lot of Christians around the country, we’re all praying.
I think about those people you just showed. I wasn’t sure I’d be in control when you came on because it just provoked such emotion to see these people carrying pictures of their loved ones and knowing they don’t know if they’re alive or dead.
And at a time like that, I know the families and the friends of the victims can hardly even pray for themselves. They don’t know what to say or how to pray. I want to say to them – families and friends of the victims, that there are thousands of people in this country who are carrying you in prayer right now. We’re praying for you with hearts filled with compassion and grief and just interceding on your behalf, asking the God of all peace and the God of all comfort to come down in a special way into your life and meet your needs at this time. My father and mother are also praying like that.
Jane Clayson: The pain is incomprehensible for so many of these people. At a time like this it is so easy to lose faith. How do you keep faith, Mrs. Lotz at a time like this?
Anne Graham Lotz: I think it is almost easier to have faith because we have nothing else in some ways. I’ve watched as this nation has turned to prayer. We’ve seen prayer vigils. And in our city, we have prayer vigils. And so I think it is a time to turn to God…. Our nation has been hit and devastated by this day of terror and now I believe it is our choice as a nation as to whether we’re going to implode and just disintegrate emotionally and spiritually or whether we’ll make the choice to be stronger. I think right now, we have the opportunity to come through this spiritually stronger than we’ve been in the past because we turn to God.
Jane Clayson: I’ve heard people say, those who are religious and those who are not, if God is good, how could He allow this to happen?
What do you say to that?
Anne Graham Lotz: I say God is also angry when he sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our businesses, we want you out of our marketplace.
And so God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life, and has slowly been removing his hand of blessing and protection from us.
We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we’re sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it.
Jane Clayson: So many people have called this an act of war. Has he (your father) expressed anything about what a proper response for an attack like this should be?
Anne Graham Lotz: No. I’ve tried to be very careful. I don’t ever answer for my father. But I believe in the next few days you’re going to be seeing him and hearing from him and perhaps he will express some of those things.
Jane Clayson: As a spiritual adviser, how would you define the feelings right now?
Anne Graham Lotz: I was watching television the first day and interviewed a construction worker who had been an eyewitness through all of this in a building next to the World Trade Center. He said, I’ve seen planes hit this building, people falling out of the sky. He said, my heart is in my throat. I feel like I would say the same thing. You almost don’t have thoughts to articulate. Your heart is in your throat. You can hardly stand it. You’re numb.
For myself, I fall back on my faith in God and the foundation, speaking of those buildings, as an illustration of America, our foundation is our faith in God and the structure we build on that foundation is what enables us to endure something like this.
…I believe God also knows what it is like to lose a loved one, He gave his only son on a cross. He knows what it is like to see a loved one die a horrific death.
He’s also emotionally involved in our pain; he has the answers for us; and he can bring comfort beyond any human understanding.
Jane Clayson: There’s such a feeling of helplessness among so many. They don’t know what to do beyond giving blood, beyond writing a check to help those in need. What would be your recommendation as a spiritual adviser?
Anne Graham Lotz: I thought Governor Keating said it right when you asked him. He said pray. I believe we need to pray. As Christians, we need to pray for people who can’t pray for themselves right now. I believe we need to call out to God and ask him to forgive our sins and heal our land. God is greater than sometimes we think of him and he can solve this, give us answers, give us wisdom, and lead us through this in a way that makes us stronger as a nation; but we have to turn to him.
Jane Clayson: This event has changed us forever. I know you believe that. Going forward, as a nation, what do you say about that?
Anne Graham Lotz: Well, I pray that God will use this event to change us forever in a positive way. And that will strengthen our faith in him.
I thought of all those people who have died in this tragedy. It doesn’t matter right now what political affiliation they had or what denomination they belong to or what religion or what the color of their skin was or their stock portfolio.
What matters is their relationship with God. I would like to see Americans begin to focus on some of the primary things and some of the things that are more important than just, you know, entertainment and pleasure and making more money.
Personally I think God is giving America an opportunity to repent and turn back to Him.
Let’s be very clear on this one point, that God has nothing whatsoever to do with any of these horrid events, not a one of them; but what has changed is that because of our own disobedience and hard headed rebellion against His ways and His laws, as we read in the Bible, God has been forced, because of our own actions and our own disobedience, to remove His hand of protection and blessing from our nation.
In fact He has done this at our insistence, or at least at the insistence of our elected politicians, under this de facto Corporate system in Washington DC, who have virtually legislated God out of most every area of our society and government… and so my question is, what did we (who are Christians) expect would happen?
All I can say is, if ever there was any evidence that there is truly a resident evil that exists in this world, whom the Bible describes and names as the Devil, and which also the Bible teaches that he is the mortal enemy of all humanity, then certainly last Friday’s senseless massacre should have removed any and all doubts of his existence. .
The fact is this sort of violence is today on the increase, here in our country. The truth is, it has been that way in the world for quite a long time, and it is only recently that this evil is making its presence known here in America.
This has been going on for quite some time, and even today things are getting progressively worse, as America has virtually taken God out of most every area of our society and our government.
We no longer teach our children about Him in our public schools, as our Founding Fathers once mandated.
Oh how far we have strayed from where we once began, where the first official act of Congress was to print Bibles for our public schools, for that very purpose.
Instead, what we are teaching our kids today, in our public schools, is that God is totally and absolutely irrelevant to anything that is of any importance in their life; and it is in that vacuum that Satan has come in and has taken over!
This has happened not only in our schools, but also in our society and in our government in general… and truly what we are seeing today is the result of our nation having turned away from God!.
As even this president has said, when on national television Obama said before the whole world that we are no longer a Christian nation!
I ask you, was he, Obama, speaking for the nation when he said that?
I can tell you this, he certainly wasn’t speaking for me; but I do fear that what he said has been proven to be all too true, as virtually (at least it appears on the surface) that the Christians in our nation have all but abdicated any position of authority or responsibility when it comes to our government’s leadership.
The obvious result of our lack of involvement has been that our country has been in a continual state of decline now for quite a number of years, to where we are seeing more and more evidence of that decline in thing like what took place this last weekend.
As unthinkable and as horrible as this mass murder was, in the lost of 28 innocent lives, 20 of which were young children, let us consider for a moment how God must feel about the over 50 million unborn babies, whose lives have been snuffed out over these last forty or fifty years, where this de facto U.S. Corporation not only endorses the murdering of unborn children, but it is paying for it; and still today it continues, at a rate of over a million babies per year, who are being exterminated through abortion?
Not only that, as if that were not bad enough, this de facto U.S. Corporation is even today exporting this practice to other countries as well.
As a nation, are we not accountable for these actions?
According to God’s Word we are.
Something is horribly and seriously wrong here, folks; but then again none of this has happened overnight.
No, rather we have gotten here through a process that has been developing and getting progressively worse over time.
The question is, what do we do and how do we change this trend?
Well to answer that question, certainly we cannot look to the same unbelieving and pagan world that caused it, and more specifically, here in America, we CANNOT look to this unbelieving de facto D.C. Corporation, in Washington DC, for our answers… when it was actually our blindly following their lead, to begin with, that has gotten us into this mess!
Our country has been a prime example of what happens whenever the spiritually blind are being lead by the blind, where if we aren’t careful and we don’t change our ways and repent, just as the Bible says will happen, we ALL will fall into the ditch!
No, the answer to what ails America today will not be found in anything material, and it most certainly is not going to be found in a changed economy either, as obviously many believe to be the case; but rather the answer to what ails our nation starts with the spiritual; and it is because of that fact that it has to be the Christians in our country who act to correct it, and not the unbelievers.
The first thing that has to happen is that WE, who are Christians, have to pray and ask for God’s forgiveness for making such a mess of things; for being so apathetic; when after having abdicated our responsibilities to maintain a righteous and God fearing Government, in the form of a Constitutional Republic, as it was left us by our Founding Fathers, we have instead, over time (over the last 140 years), we have allowed unbelievers to come in and take over.
Again, my questions to the Christians, who are reading this, is what else did we expect would happen?
It is that very behavior, that we are seeing here, that is evident in our rebellious attitude, which is common to ALL of us as a part of the human race, that is the nature of what the Bible calls sin; and as the Bible teaches, it is that very sin nature, which all of us have, which flows through our blood, and which we all have inherited from our father Adam, that has caused our estrangement and separation from God… and it is for that very reason that Jesus came, because we ALL need a Savior! .
The first step on this road home, towards our reconciliation with God, is REPENTENCE, which starts with each one of us, as Christians, through faith and obedience to God’s Word (the Holy Bible), and through our study and meditation in His Word, we allow the Holy Spirit to rewrite the code of this world’s programming, that has been so ingrained in us from our youth, and we instead repent, which means literally that we change the way we think.
This is what God has promised us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, that if My people, who call themselves by My name (Christian) would humble themselves and pray; turn from their wicked ways and seek my face; then I will hear their prayers and I will heal their land.
Please pray for America; pray for a spiritual awakening among God’s people, in our churches across our land, the likes of which happened at our nations birth; and pray also for a revival to sweep across our land as well, to reach all the unbelievers.
We desperately need to see a move of God in our nation, or we won’t make it… we need a miracle!
Yes we do need a miracle, but I have it on good authority, having read God’s Word and believing His promises, that miracles are God’s specialty; and that as Jesus said “ALL things are possible if we believe,” meaning if we are in faith… which means we are both obeying and believing! Selah
A focus on the true history behind the Jewish Festivals and Holidays…
From a biblical perspective the Jewish holy days were established by God
ALWAYS to call His people back to FAITH in Him!!!
Written by: Skip Barland
December 12, 2012
As a Christian myself, meaning as one who has accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as the prophesied ha’Mashiach (the Messiah) of Israel; and as one who has learned to follow the teachings of both the Tanakh (the Old Testament) and also that of the New Testament as a bases for my faith, I have to say that I relate much more to the Jewish Feast Days and Holidays that I find in the Tanakh (all of which were also honored and kept by Jesus and His disciples); and really what I have found is that the reason for these Holy-days was always to remind God’s people of their history and the importance of them maintaining and returning to FAITH in God.
The keeping of these holy-days are also the means by which this history and these truths were to be passed on to future generations.
However, just as it has happened overtime with the traditional Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter (and increasingly more so today than in the past), where the world and religious pagan traditions have taken over and have (in many cases) totally replaced the true biblical meanings of these holy-days, I find the same has happened over time with many of the Jewish holidays as well, where the true meaning and history behind these holy-days have been lost and in some instances have been totally replaced by some fictional story, exactly as has happened overtime with the Christian holy-days, with the creation of the stories about Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.
Even though that is the way things have evolved today in the secular community and even in some religious communities, I for one do not choose to buck the tide; but rather I see this as an opportunity to bring the focus back to the original intent and meaning of these very sacred and important Holy-days, as they are mentioned and taught in both the Tanakh and the New Testament.
As a Christian I have to say also that I so appreciate and enjoy studying this history and these truths from the Bible, regarding the true meaning behind these Jewish holy-days and also the Christian holy-days, because I find at the center of each there is a total focus on the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and on the promised coming Messiah!
Truly in order to appreciate these truths in Scripture, regarding this sacred history and regarding prophecies of the coming Messiah, you have to look at the Bible with a teachable mind and heart; and approach it with a focus on learning, allowing the Scriptures to teach you; and so many times that requires our having to strip away any preconceived religious notions and ideas that may not be accurate, or proven to be true in history or in Scripture.
Jesus put it this way, when speaking to the religious leaders of His day, and certainly this is even more true in our day::
Mark 7:1-8
Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions
7 The Pharisees and some experts in Moses’ Teachings who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw that some of his disciples were unclean[a] because they ate without washing their hands.
3 (The Pharisees, like all other Jewish people, don’t eat unless they have properly washed their hands. They follow the traditions of their ancestors. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they don’t eat unless they have washed first. They have been taught to follow many other rules. For example, they must also wash their cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.[b])
5 The Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the traditions taught by our ancestors? They are unclean because they don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
6 Jesus told them:
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture:
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship of me is pointless,
because their teachings are rules made by humans.’
8 “You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.”
There is so much in the Tanakh that proves beyond any shadow of doubt that these Holy Scriptures are truly the inspired Holy and inerrant Word of God.
The Bible in fact records not only an accurate account of history, but also and more specifically its accuracy has also been proven to be true in other areas as well, especially in the area of prophecy.
Truly you will find, if you read it, that it is the ONLY book ever written that accurately gives the future as history; and as you read it and study it with a mind to learn from it, and apply its truths and the wisdom that’s taught in it to your life, then it changes your life!
Here’s one prophecy in particular that I would like to direct your attention to regarding the coming Messiah, that is given in Daniel chapter 9, that shows beyond any doubt that there can be ONLY one Man who stands on the stage of history who meets ALL of the prophesied requirements of Messiah, and that Man is Jesus Christ!
“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.”
Amos 3:7
Check it out:
Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy: A detailed look at Daniel 9:24-27
Below is a detailed look at Daniel 9:24-27. Much of our commentary below is based on Josh McDowell’s book, “The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict”, pages 197-201:
PART ONE:
A chronological summary of Daniel 9:24-26
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (messiah) would be “cut off” (an idiom for “rejected” or “killed”).
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
I came up with this summary after reading various renderings of this verse in various translations of the Christian Bible and of the Jewish Tanakh. (The Tanakh is the Jewish Bible; it contains the writings of what we Christians refer to as the Old Testament). I believe that this chronology fits most of the renderings that I have seen, whether they are translations by Christians or by Judaists. My summary is in no way original – many Christians, such as Josh McDowell, have come up with the same chronology long before I did.
PART TWO:
A summary of how Daniel 9:24-26 was fulfilled
All of these events later happened, in the same order in which they are described in Daniel 9:24-26:
1. After the Medo-Persians had conquered the Babylonian empire about 2540 years ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land of Israel. About 2446 years ago (about 445 BC), Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, in about 33 AD, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah who had been promised by Old Testament prophets. But, many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and He was crucified by the Romans.
4. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The Temple has not been rebuilt since then).
PART THREE:
How Daniel 9:24-26 was “Fulfilled to the day” according to scholars such as Josh McDowell
First, McDowell, and other scholars, separate the prophecy into three parts:
1. The “7 sevens” in Daniel 9:25.
2. The “62 sevens” in Daniel 9:25.
3. And the 70th “seven” in Daniel 9:27.
Then, they combine the first two periods for a total of 69 “sevens.” They combined the first two periods because it is at after the completion of those two periods that the anointed one appears, and that’s what we are trying to calculate – when the anointed one was supposed to appear.
Next, they interpret the “sevens” as “seven years” or periods of seven years, rather than a period of seven days or seven weeks or seven months. Part of the reason that this is interpreted as “years” is because of the reference to “years” in Daniel 9:2. (Daniel 9:2 refers to the “seventy years” prophecy that Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 25).
PART FOUR:
The mathematics of calculating Daniel 9:24-26 and the issue of the 360-day “prophetic” calendar
At this point, we’re adding the 7 “sevens” and the 62 “sevens” for a total of 69 “sevens”. And we are interpreting the 69 “sevens” to mean 69 periods of seven years, for a total of 483 years. So, we are saying that there would be a period of 483 years from the time that a decree is given to rebuild Jerusalem to the time that a Messiah is to appear.
Some Christian scholars say that the period of 483 years should not be thought of in terms of our modern solar calendar which is based on a 365.25 days to a year. Instead, we are to use a “prophetic” calendar which has 360 days to a year. Many ancient calendars, including the Jewish calendar, were based on a lunar year of 12 months, with each month lasting 30 days each. Many ancient peoples, including the ancient Jews, did realize that there actually were more than 360 days to a year and so they would tack on an extra five days at some point during the year.
Another reason some scholars say that we should apply a 360-day calendar to Daniel’s prophecy is because of various Bible references that allude to a fixed 30-day month view of time. For example, in Genesis 7:24, it says that the flood lasted 150 days. And, in Genesis 7:11, it says the flood began in the 17th day of the second month. And in Genesis 8:4, it says that the flood subsided on the 17th day of the seventh month, when the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. So, these passages present us a 5-month period of time that is described as being 150 days in length. And that of course is five 30-day months.
There are other Bible passages that indicate that time is being measured in fixed 30-day month periods. Revelation 12:6 mentions a 1,260 day period which, in my view, clearly relates to the three-and-a-half-year period mentioned in Revelation 12:13-14 and in Daniel 9:27. For three-and-a-half years to equal 1,260 days, one would have to measure years in 360-day increments. That of course doesn’t mean that the earth’s orbit of the sun is going to speed up or change, it just simply means that the prophetic year is a measure of time in which a “year” has 360 days, nothing more, nothing less. It’s no different than weighing a bag of groceries using the metric system of kilograms and then using the old English system of pounds and ounces. It is not that one system causes the groceries to weigh more or less, but rather the two systems describe the weight in different units. So too does the prophetic year in comparison to our solar calendar – it uses a different system to measure time.
So, we take the 483 years that we had calculated earlier and we multiply the 483 by 360. In other words, we are viewing the 483 year period described in Daniel 9:25 as “prophetic years” of 360 days each. And, 483 times 360 equals 173,880. And that gives us a total of 173,880 days.
Now, we want to apply these 173,880 days to our calendar, which has 365.25 days to a year. Why? So that we can use our calendar in trying to figure out the year that this part of Daniel’s prophecy was to begin its fulfillment and when this part of Daniel’s prophecy was to be completed. So, we divide the 173,880 days into years of 365.25 days. And, that equals 476 (solar) years. Now, we need to figure out when this 476 year period was supposed to begin.
PART FIVE:
When was Daniel’s “69 weeks of years” supposed to begin?
At this point we are trying to figure out when the 476-year period begins. The prophecy in Daniel 9:24-26 begins with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Many people have proposed different years for different decrees. And I won’t pretend to have the “only correct answer,” because I don’t know if I have that or not. In any event, here are four decrees that are often discussed in relation to Daniel 9:24-26:
1. The decree from Cyrus in 539 BC. (see Ezra 1:1-4)
2. The decree from Darius in 519 BC. (see Ezra 5:3-7)
3. The decree from Artaxerxes to Ezra in 457 BC. (see Ezra 7:11-16)
4. The decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 BC. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8)
As cited in McDowell’s book, a Christian scholar named J.D. Wilson contends that only the decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah applies to this prophecy. As cited in McDowell’s book, Wilson explains:
“The words of the decree are not given, but its subject matter can easily be determined. Nehemiah hears of the desolate condition of Jerusalem. He is deeply grieved. The King asks the reason. Nehemiah replies, ‘the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.’ The King bids him make request. He does so promptly, asking for an order from the King that ‘I be sent to the city that I may build it.’ And, as we read, he was sent, and he rebuilt Jerusalem.“
And so, that is J.D. Wilson’s reason for using the Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. The next issue is finding a date for that decree. McDowell, page 199 of his “The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” reads:
“The decree was given in 444 B.C., based on the following:
1. ‘In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ (Nehemiah 2:1).
2. Artaxerxes’ accession was in 465 B.C.
3. There is no day-of-month specified, so according to the Jewish custom the date is understood as the first day of the month, which would be Nisan 1, 444 BC.
4. March 5, 444 B.C. is our corresponding calendar date.“
Many scholars use the March 5 date, but not all use the 444 BC year. Some use 445 BC as the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. I myself haven’t done enough research to decide which year is most likely to be the correct year. Regardless of whether you accept the date as being March 5, 444 BC or March 5, 445 BC, we now have a starting point for Daniel’s prophecy.
PART SIX:
When was Daniel’s “69 weeks of years” supposed to end?
We are now at the point where we can try to pinpoint when the Messiah was supposed to make his appearance. If we agree on the points that have been made earlier, then we simply calculate 476 years into the future, using 444 BC as the starting point. To do that, if I am not mistaken, we count 443 BC as the first of the 476 years. Why – because the first began in 444 BC and it ended in 443 BC. So we start counting from 443 BC. So, we have 443 years on the BC side of measuring time and that leaves us with 33 years on the AD side to account for the full 476 years. Using this formula, we arrive at 33 AD the year in time in which the Messiah was to appear.
And that would correspond to the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The reason the donkey is important is that in Zechariah 9:9, the prophet Zechariah speaks of a King riding a donkey and presenting himself as the King to Jerusalem.
Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In the book, “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,” Edersheim wrote: “The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, `if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation’ (Ber 56 b).”
So then, what better way for a Messiah to announce himself in Jerusalem than to enter the great city on the back of a humble donkey?
There are theories that pinpoint the exact date of the exact year that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The dates that I have seen in my review of other people’s research is April 6, either April 6, 32 AD, or April 6, 33 AD. (And, again, the difference in the year depends on whether the 20th year of Artaxerxes was in 444 BC or 445 BC). And, some scholars have claimed that there are exactly 173,880 days from March 5, 444 BC to April 6, 33 AD (and, 173,880 days from March 5, 445 BC to April 6, 32 AD).
PART SEVEN:
What ancient Rabbis thought of Daniel 9:24-26
I found a Web site that pulls together various ancient writings from Rabbis, commenting on Daniel, chapter 9. That Web site’s address is: http://www.inerrancy.org/dan.htm
According to that Web site, at least a handful of ancient Rabbis agree that it is correct to view Daniel 9 as providing a timeline for the arrival of a Messiah. Below are a few examples that I copied verbatim from that Web site:
“1a. Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon): “Daniel has elucidated to us the knowledge of the end times. However, since they are secret, the wise [rabbis] have barred the calculation of the days of Messiah‘s coming so that the untutored populace will not be led astray when they see that the End Times have already come but there is no sign of the Messiah” (Igeret Teiman, Chapter 3 p.24.)“
“1b. Rabbi Moses Abraham Levi: “I have examined and searched all the Holy Scriptures and have not found the time for the coming of Messiah clearly fixed, except in the words of Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, which are written in the 9th chapter of the prophecy of Daniel (The Messiah of the Targums, Talmuds and Rabbinical Writers, 1971) p.141-142 (These two quotes were taken from The Creator Beyond Time and Space by Mark Eastman, M.D. and Chuck Missler (The Word for Today, 1996)).“
Assuming that these citations are accurate renderings of what the Rabbis had said, it seems clear that these Rabbis believed that Daniel 9:24-26 referred to a Messiah, a very important Messiah, and that the Bible passage provided the information needed to calculate the Messiah’s arrival. As for the first example, Maimonides of course was a Judaist, not a Christian, and so from his point of view, the prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. And that would account for his comments about calculating the Messiah’s arrival.
PART EIGHT:
My conclusions about Daniel’s “69 weeks of years”
Perhaps we can’t all agree, at this time, on every specific detail involved in calculating a starting point for Daniel’s prophecy about the 69 weeks of years. But, eventually, we might have additional information from archaeologists and historians to help pinpoint that starting point. But at this present time, it seems to me that there is widespread agreement among Christian scholars on the following issues:
1. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the concept of the “prophetic calendar” which measures time in terms of 360-day years.
2. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the view that the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah is, or at least could be, the starting point of Daniel’s prophecy.
3. That there is strong evidence from historians and archaeologists to pinpoint “twentieth year of Artaxerxes” as being either 444 BC or 445 BC.
4. That the events described in Daniel’s prophecy do line up as follows:
• That there would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
• Then an anointed one (messiah) would make his appearance and then be “cut off.”
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
The next document was signed by our Founding Fathers on July 4,1776, and it is called the Declaration of Independence, which document marked our nation’s birth.
3 Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account—and I mean 
y people are in a state of waiting. You wait and watch for you know My judgments are coming and will be upon you. Some of you have prepared as I have led you and others have not. You will fare well as long as you have prepared your hearts.
SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES 