Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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Recognizing Satan


          I once attended a Baptist revival in Claxton, Georgia.  The preacher talked a lot about hell, and the devil.  In those days, preachers like that were known as “Hellfire and Brimstone” preachers.  He let us know that "although we may think that the Devil is red, has horns and a tail; that is not the way he presents himself to us.  He is smooth, handsome, well dressed, talks well and smells nice.  What we have to remember is that HE IS OUT TO GET YOU".  He roams the earth looking to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  He is the father of lies and the truth is not in him (John 8:44).  He has revolted against God and would like to get you to do the same.  At this point in history, he realizes that he doesn't have much time left and is redoubling his efforts. 

 

          "Somewhere around a hundred thousand Christians are killed every year: that doesn't include those whose houses are robbed, property is confiscated, whose women are raped and whose very lives are absolutely indescribable when it comes to torture and heartache and burden and all the rest.  In spite of that, the Christian faith keeps growing.  It's stronger in some places than it is in others.   The big question is, how strong is your Christian faith?" (Charles Stanley) 

 

          If we don’t recognize Satan, he can affect our lives without our knowledge.  If an idea comes into your mind that makes you want to do something you know you shouldn’t or to dwell on that which is wrong, you know that it is Satan trying to lure you into his domain.  Give no compromise to Satan and no place to the Devil (Ephesians 4:27-32).  Ask the Lord, immediately, for His help with the evil thoughts. "Be cleansed from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

 

          "We must remember that Satan is only an angel turned bad.  He is not an equivalent to God.  God has no equal.” (Randy Alcorn)   Satan does not sit on a throne in Hell; he wanders about the earth seeking whom he may destroy.  He is the accuser of the saints before God (the original tattle tale).  See the book of Job to verify the way he talks about you to God.

 

          The expelling of demons is biblical.  Jesus did it, the Apostles did it, and we are told by Jesus we would do it. (Mark 16:17-18)  It is a prerequisite however, that we are Christians.  Seven Jewish guys, who tried without knowing Jesus, got their butts kicked.  Some unbelievers went around trying to drive out evil spirits by invoking the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.  They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were trying to do this.  One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding." (Acts 19:13-15)   Want to get your butt kicked?  Give exorcism a try without the true power of Jesus.  The full armor of God protects us from Satan’s forces, but The Sword of the Spirit and the Shield of Faith are to be used to defeat him. 

 

          We should never underestimate the power and knowledge of the satanic forces.  A full third of the angels decided to follow Satan; instead of God.  These fallen angels have been around since before Adam and Eve.  Over the millennia they have gained knowledge we can't hope to attain in our lifetimes.  Only through standing with the Lord can we hope to even up or level the field of battle. 

 

          "If I were the devil . . .
I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;
I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings;
I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around;
I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;
I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership;
I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;
I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent machines to make it convenient;
I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals are valued more than human beings;
I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;
I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;
I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda;
I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation.
I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation;
I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art;
I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;
I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct;
I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, and the Bible is for the naive;
I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;
I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are."
(Paul Harvey  radio broadcast 1964)


          What are the other gods America is turning to?  The god of materialism, the god of sexual perversions and the offering up of our children through abortion are just examples to which our nation has turned. It has been fashionable, until recently, to claim to be Christian whether you were born again or not.  There is no such thing as being born a Christian. To be a Christian you must be "born again" (Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3).  Politicians would use their "Christianity" when running for office.  Now Christians are looked on as intolerant and bigoted (just like Jesus said we would be).

 

          How is Satan working in the word today?  First of all, in the Old Testament, there were prophets that spoke for God and there were false prophets that were not speaking for God, but rather just making a living under the guise of being a prophet.  There were also the prophets of Baal.   Today we see teachers and writers whose works can be verified by the Bible, and others who are involved in the "falling away" of the end time "apostate" church.  We also see Bible translators who are altering the meaning of the scriptures.  We see, in these translations, the elimination of terms like "God the Father" and "God the Son" to make the Bible more acceptable to the Muslims, the Hindus and others.  I guess they think the Holy Spirit didn't really mean what He inspired the biblical writers to say.  Satan inspired false religions, like Islam, to directly contradict the Lord God Jehovah.  Allah and Jehovah are definitely not one and the same person.  The Isa in the Koran and the Jesus of the Bible are not the same either.  Isa, if he were a real person, would have to be classified as a false prophet.  Jesus, on the other hand, is the true Son of God, the Word of God and the creator of the world - not the Isa who is supposed to come back, say he lied, and either convert everyone to Islam or kill the ones who won't convert.  Satan's prime weapon remains the same one he used in the Garden of Eden: telling us "Surely God didn't say that, did He?"

 
          As we can see, each of us has a decision to make: whether to be a child of the one true and living God, or not.  I'll give you a for instance: if you have been offended by this article, most likely you are not.  The Bible says that if you will truly seek Him, He will show Himself to you.  He gave you free will, so the choice is truly up to you.  " The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)  There are those who say there are many paths to Heaven, however, Jesus said that He is the only way.  Jesus is the only one who died, and rose again from the dead, to pay for the consequences of our sins
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Friday, October 18, 2013

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What is the Extreme Right?


          I hear all the time about the extreme right and the extreme left.  The KKK and the Skin Heads are touted by the left as being the extreme right.  The KKK and the Skin Heads tout the policy beliefs of the Nazi's.  The Nazi's were the National Socialist Party and therefore are leftists. 

 

          I am having a great deal of difficulty in determining what the extreme right is in today's world view.  When I was a child, most Americans believed in the Bible and the American Constitution.  Today, the people who hold those same views are considered to be far right.  Today evil is looked on as good, and good is looked on as evil.  In the 50's, I never heard anyone say that abortion on demand and homosexual marriage were good ideas.  There would have been an uproar if someone would have suggested that taxpayers should pay for fornication supplies; much less pay for abortion for the purpose of birth control.  According to Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, Abortion and homosexual marriage are abominations to Christians.  The real racism - Among white women, there were 138 abortions for every 1,000 births.  Among black women, the number rises to a dizzying 501abortions. Hispanic women account for 25% of all US abortions, though Hispanics make up just 16% of the population. (http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/the-racial-statistics-of-abortion-cannot-be-ignored)  Over 55 million children been aborted, in the United States, since 1973.

 

          Atheism used to be looked on as a joke, because the people who believed in nothing were putting down the people who had an established belief system.  Today these same atheists, who were tolerated by our country,  are saying they should not have to be exposed, in any way, to other peoples beliefs.  Those who were tolerated by our system want to control that system to eliminate the toleration of those who tolerated them.   Humanism, witchcraft and Islam are espoused in our schools while the Christian and Jewish religious views are excluded.  "If there were no God, you couldn't be an atheist." (Gary Stearman)  Atheists must believe in God or they wouldn't have anything to be against.  Today, approximately 10% of our people claim to be atheists, agnostics or just don't know if there is a God.  Most LGBT people fall into the aforementioned categories.  Others, such as fornicators, thieves, blasphemers, liars, and false witnesses also don't recognize the authority of the God of the Bible.  Many are seduced into false religions and spiritualism.  Many believe that their morals should be a matter of their own choice.

 

          There can be no doubt that the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation, under Judeo/Christian principals (proof available on request).  Our children are taught revisionist history instead of the true history of out country.  Only by apathy has our nation been allowed to slip into the degradation experienced today.  Our founders, when they expressed the term ‘freedom of religion’, meant freedom of the different sects of Christianity and of Judaism, but not Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, secular humanism or any other religion, agnosticism or atheism.  Thus we see what the First Amendment really means.  In fact, the Bible was the foundational book of our nation.  Throughout the years, mostly from the 1920’s on, it has been diminished to the point that President Obama had the audacity to proclaim that we are not a Christian nation.  It is estimated that at least 30% of evangelical Christians failed in their duty to vote in the last presidential election.  I don't know the statistics for the Catholics and other main line denominations. 

 

        The race card is used against those who oppose the president's policies.  Many on the left use slur and accusation when they can't prevail in their arguments (yes I know some on the right do the same thing, and both are wrong to do so).  Dr. Martin Luther King said that we should be judged by the content of our character, rather than the color of our skin.  Since this is the criteria by which we should judge people, we need to look at the character of President Obama.  He has been a disappointment to most Americans by the way he has failed not only to fulfill the promises of his campaign and by turning into the most Socialist president in the history of our nation.  As his pastor said – Barack Obama would say anything to get elected. For two years, he had an overwhelming majority of his party controlling congress, and was therefore capable of passing any legislation that he wanted; so why does he say that the Republicans are responsible for his failure to accomplish what he promised? He blames George Bush for everything, and yet has adopted many of his policies. These are just a few examples of why the content of his character, not his skin color, has made his administration a failure. Since the Republican party has always been in the forefront of equal rights; how dare the Democrat party folks try to use the race card. The Dixiecrats had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the equal rights movement.  Where Senators Cruz and Lee make their mistake is to believe  that all republicans are Americans. There are Americans in both parties and among independents. What the Americans need to do is coordinate the real Americans regardless of political affiliation.  Real Americans will fight for the American people, regardless of their own self interests.  You know, the way the founding fathers did. 

 

          Is God guiding president Obama?  I think the answer is obviously yes.  It is beyond doubt that his chickens are coming home to roost.  God is using the uncovering of each of the scandals, for which his administration is responsible; to teach him he is going in the wrong direction.  You can’t offend God’s people without consequences and America being a Christian nation, qualifies as God’s people. How much it is going to take to turn Obama around, to do what is right for America, is anyone’s guess. I do know that in the history of God’s relationship with man; the consequences will mount in intensity until the president finally bends to God's will.  The reason President Obama can say that the scandals are phony is that he feels he is above accountability.  We have been gullible enough to elect him twice, which simply proved to him that he is infallible.  We are only the little people, and we can’t understand the reasoning of someone who is so much more intellectual than we are. He believes that he has to save us from ourselves.  This is intellectual elitism.  See if these quotes from our founders, in the sixteen hundreds, don’t apply to our country today.  “Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother.”(Cotton Mather)    “….to turn blessings into idols is the way to have them clapped under a blast.  If the Lord loves His people, He will deliver the weapons out of their hands, that they are obstinately resolved to fight Him with…..Better  is it that Israel be saved and prosperity lost, than that prosperity be saved and Israel lost.”(John Danforth)   Does President Obama know that if he rules within the will of God we are supposed to obey him, but if he does not, we are not?  (2 Samuel 23:3) “He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.”  There are those who say that I blame everything on Obama.  I prefer to look at it a different way.  I give Obama credit for all the things he has done. 

 

          It has been stated that I am a good republican.  I wish peoples' ingrained views wouldn't get in the way of determining how they see things. I am a registered republican because I wanted to have a voice in at least one of the only two viable parties, so I chose the lesser of the two evils.  You may have noticed that I do not stick to the republican line.  I like to think I use my brain and the "I can do al things through Christ, who strengthens me" abilities He has given me.  I vote and express my views based on the true history of our beloved nation.  If a democrat espoused my views, he would get my vote.  I am not against all liberals, but I am against those who call themselves liberals and are in reality radicals.  The problem is that the democrats and liberals have been taken over by the far extreme views such as being anti-Constitution and anti-Christian. I believe in toleration as long as those being tolerated don't try to over through those who are tolerating them.  Our nation, without dispute (based on the founding documentation), was founded as a Christian republic, which is the reason it has prospered more than any nation in history.

 

           In Jesus time on earth, He objected to the Pharisees and Sadducees abusing the people.  In our time, I am sure He objects to the Republicans (Pharisees) and Democrats (Sadducees) abusing the people.  What we need most is repentance for the evils we have done and a good dose of God's Mercy and Grace.   "Mercy is God withholding from you that which you deserve; Grace is God giving to you what you don’t disserve."  (David Jeremiah)  "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

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Loss of Liberty

Loss of Liberty
         
          The loss of liberty for an individual and a nation stems from the same root cause – forgetting God.  It is only in Christ that we have liberty to walk in freedom from captivity to sin.  Sin always produces destruction and death.  Choosing to live in rebellion against God and His law is certain spiritual death to the individual and certain destruction to the nation. 
          On the surface, being obedient to God’s law might appear to place us in chains of servitude.  That is definitely what Satan would have us believe. He is constantly trying to lure us into disobedience to God by offering us the ‘freedom’ to obtain all the ‘desires of our hearts’ by simply departing from God’s ways.  He tries to makes us believe that he offers us all the pleasure and fun that we could ever want, but never exposes the truth that giving in to his deception will only open the pit of hell, forever spiraling us downward until we are held in enslavement to the very thing that appeared to be so enticing, yet is true torture and enslavement.  For a vivid example, we need to look no further than the death and destruction caused by alcohol and drugs.  It is only through adherence to the word of God that we are set free from the deception of Satan, his lies, and the torture of sin.  As our loving Father, God gives us His ‘rules’ to follow to keep us from having to suffer the harm that He knows is out there waiting to destroy and devour us. 
          The Word tells us that “I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.”(Psalm 119: 45) The Psalmist presents our options in a clear manner: choose to follow the laws of God to walk in freedom from enslavement to sin, or forget God and go your own way. God’s path is straight and narrow providing boundaries that keep you from veering off into dangerous cliffs, quicksand, and destructive landslides.  By seeking God’s precepts, we are given God’s protection against the fiery darts of the enemy, and provided the opportunity to become all that He has planned and designed us to be, both as an individual and as a nation.  Yes, He has given us free will.  However, that free will was given that we might choose to submit our will to His will.  Yet, there are many that choose to follow the broad path of their own will in rebellion against God.  That broad path has no protective boundaries and leads into a maze of turns, drop-off cliffs, and many diversions and detours which only distract and block us from ever becoming the person we were meant to be.  Think of all the twists and turns in a labyrinth or maze, these only lead to confusion, causing us to loose our way.  In the end, what seemed to be enticing and a neat thing to explore and become a part of, turns out to be a horrible journey further away from God into a dark and dangerous wilderness.  This is a life that is constantly characterized by an unending introspective journey, always looking inward instead of upward to God.   Fulfillment, contentment, or peace can never be found, for when one’s goal is to feed the desires of ‘self,’ we find that ‘self’ has a ferocious appetite that can never be satisfied, for it always wants more.  It’s a life without vision, always held in captivity of seeking and longing for the next thing that just might fill the void in one’s life.  “If I only had more money, fame, pleasure, things, power, etc., then I would be happy and content.” The appetite of ‘self’ can never be satisfied and always craves more and more. What you really needed or wanted was never found. This is readily seen in the lives of many a movie star who has attained all the fame and fortune that the world has to offer only to realize the emptiness of it all, often leading one to desperation, depression, lack of all hope, and even to suicide.  It’s may not be the things themselves that have been harmful, but rather the love of them, above God, that has caused the destruction. 
          The same destructive results that are suffered by the individual that is determined to forget God, is just as prevalent in the nation that decides to remove God and all of His ways from the foundations of the public arena.  “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Corinthians 3: 17)  The very Spirit of the Lord that prepared the way for America to be a nation of freedom and liberty is being removed, for it is now perceived to be something that should be shunned, as if the fear of the Lord was the very source of bigotry and hatred.  Oh yes, as a nation, we are confirming the truth of the scriptures, whether we are aware of it or not.  It’s not religion that America is seeking to be free of.  Diversity of religion is alive and well, being multiplied into more and more forms of every kind of ism that can be imagined and created by mankind.  No one finds fault with someone touting the path of any of the latest gurus, false prophets, and false religions.  The only faith that is being marginalized, demonized, and blatantly subject to persecution and even eradication is the Judeo/Christian faith.  Satan doesn’t care if we believe in many gods.  The militant atheist cries out with boundless rage against any exclusive belief in the exceptionality of one God, specifically anyone believing in the name of Jesus Christ.   Yes, mankind is busy as a bee joining the ranks of Satan and all of his demons in the effort to rid the world of the One True Living God. 
          If God says something is wrong and we should have nothing to do with it, America, as a nation, is busily proclaiming that very thing which God has called evil, to be good. There you have it – the prophecy of the word of God is being fulfilled right before our eyes even here in our beloved nation that once stood as a beacon of light to the entire world.  Our nation is embroiled in a battle for its very life, just as we as individuals are also.  This battle appears to be Republicans vs. Democrats, nation against nation, one race against another, men against women, Pro-Choice against Pro Life, etc.  However, in reality it is a great spiritual battle that is not against flesh and blood, but rather between Satan and all of his powers and principalities of the darkness of this world and Almighty God together with His Army of the Hosts of Heaven.  The Church, the body of believers, is presently acting as if it is either sound asleep or just sick with decay and apathy.  The Word tells us that a house divided can not stand.  Right now, Satan is doing a pretty good job of keeping us divided against one another so that we can not be the strong and effective body that God has meant us to be on earth.  We stand by quietly while all the walls against the enemy are crumbling and falling down around us, opening the flood gates for every form of ungodliness of the enemy to walk right in and decimate our very foundations.
          We are not one united body, for we have fallen into parsing the word of God, watering down its truth, not standing strong in the faith, or ignoring God and His ways altogether.  Every time Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus responded: “It is written!” and spoke forth in the power and truth of the word of God.  How have we responded when confronted with the lies of the world as they have been presented in opposition to the truth of the Word?  As Christians, have we stood strong in the faith of the truth of the Word? In stead, have we caved in to conform to the world?  Unfortunately, we have been opening the door wide, enabling society to replace God’s truth with that which seems to be true and right in the eyes of mankind?  Sure sounds like that old liar himself back in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve by saying – “Hath God REALLY Said….?” (My paraphrasing.)  He loves to twist God’s word and place just enough truth in his lies in order to deceive any and all who will listen to his voice.  He knows the word of God well is a pro at distorting it in order to cause doubt and unbelief to raise its ugly head. 
          When it comes to blame for the deteriorating condition of us as individuals and as a nation, there is plenty of that to spread around.  However, I submit that the greater amount of that blame lies squarely on the shoulders of each Bible believing, born again Christian.  When it comes to deciding what is good and evil and standing up for it as proclaimed in the Word, do we stand firm, not veering to the right or left?  The answer has to be a resounding and definite NO!  All of this Pro Choice vs. Pro Life, Equality of marriage, legal immigration vs. illegal immigration, gay vs. straight, and so on down the line, could not be in question if we would only stand firm and stop conforming to the way of the world.  Instead of making a statement of what is right or wrong based upon my own opinions, I choose to follow Jesus’ example by joining with Him in the declaration of the Word as He did.
 
Is it not written?
II Tim. 3: 1-5
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
 
I Corinthians 6: 9 – 11
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were (emphasis mine) some of you: but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
 
          If we choose to remove any part of the scripture and say it does not apply to today, what else will we change or edit out thereby negating all of the truth of God’s Word?  As we water-down the truth of the Word, we undermine it and make it of little or no effect in our lives.  By doing so, we diminish ourselves as the salt of the earth and reduce the light that was meant to shine in order to expose the evil darkness of the world.  Unfortunately, as apostasy comes flooding into the body of Christ, we have often joined our voices in unity with unbelievers, becoming more like the world, instead of  being an instrument used of the Lord to draw others into the family of God.
          All have sinned and have come short of the mark.  However, for the believer, there should be a great difference in how we act after committing sin. If it does not result in acknowledging our sin and, out of true sorrow, turning to God in repentance and asking the Lord’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace, can we say that we are truly a follower of Christ?  God did not save us in order that we might be free to sin that much more. We are saved that we might do good works, are we not?  Can those, who willfully and rebelliously continually practice to do that which God’s word has so clearly stated to be sinful, choose to ignore God’s truth, change it to suit them selves without any degree of repentance, still proclaim to be a child of God and follower of Christ?  In truthfulness, if we are His, shouldn’t our response be to ask Him to show if there be any wicked way in us, shed His light upon it that in grief for how we have sinned against Him, we might turn from our wicked ways to be restored once again to a right relationship with Him?  Where do we stand?  Do we help or harm ourselves and others by accepting and condoning that which we know to be sin?  God loves the sinner; we are all sinners.  God does not love sin.  He will forgive us if we repent and ask for His forgiveness.  However, can there ever be forgiveness if we don’t first acknowledge the sin in our lives, repent, and ask for His forgiveness?  Either we are with the Lord or against Him.  There is no neutral in-between ground with Him.           
          While Rome burns, or rather in our case, while America burns, the people of our nation are pointing their fingers at each other, or group, either to lift up one faction or another as being the placebo to cure all the ills, or the poison that is causing all the ills.  While the futile blame game is being played, the judgment and destruction of our country for turning our back on God is raging like a fire out of control.  Meanwhile, the fiddle is continuing to be played as if everything is just fine, okay, couldn’t be better.  Yep, just as the tower of Babble was raised in defiance to God, so too, America is rebuilding her own tower of defiance against the will of God in our nation.  Refusing to repent, our nation is raising its fist to God declaring that we no longer need Him or His ‘bigoted’ ways.  No longer do we find pride in declaring that we are ‘One nation, indivisible under God, with liberty and justice for all.”  In stead we are working hard to trade in this old girl, the love of our youth, for a younger and much more enticing model. As we sink into the godless and lawless society of our own making, the new pledge of allegiance can be heard ringing out over all the nation: “We pledge allegiance to the flag of our One New World Order, Indivisible, under the Brotherhood of Mankind, with social justice and freedom at last from the nuisance of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  To Mankind be the glory, great things we have done!” 
          Ah yes, we can be so proud for we are quickly emancipating ourselves from the evils of this God, who has the self righteous audacity to proclaim that He alone is the One True God and author and finisher of our faith.  We are joining ranks with Satan as he raises his hand to deflect our view away from God and the price that was paid by Jesus the Christ upon the old rugged cross for our salvation.  Praise be to us, we alone art worthy of all praise and glory!  Never happen you say?  We have opened the gate to the labyrinth, strolling along its many twists and turns, and opening our minds and hearts to the notion that there are many paths to God. In so doing, we have all but lost our faith in the reality that Jesus has declared: “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”  We have veered from loving the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength.  Like a married man who has chosen to defile the marriage bed by bringing in many mistresses, we have thought nothing of opening the door of our heart to every evil thing.  A bigamist, one who illegally marries two or more women, has reduced the status of his first wife to being only one of many, and removes her status of being cherished as exceptional and his only true love.  We have invited many other gods into our lives declaring the one True God to have no excusive exceptionality but rather equal in importance to a myriad of other foreign gods, or maybe replacing Him altogether.  No wonder God says that we have become as the harlot who has gone whoring after other strange gods.  What part of “Thou shalt have No Other gods before me” do we not understand?  No one can serve God, be obedient unto only Him, and serve other gods also.  Either we will serve God, or we will serve Satan.  No one can serve two masters, 
          So why do Christians deserve most of the blame for the loss of liberty for the individual and for our once glorious nation?  As judgment and loss came upon Israel for turning her back on God, so too will that same consequence be suffered by America. Does not the word of God once again sum it all up so clearly without any double talk at all?
 
IS IT NOT WRITTEN?
 
Psalm 119: 53, 92
“Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.”
“Unless thy law had been my delights, I should have perished in mine affliction.”
 
II Chronicles 7: 14, 21, 22
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
“…Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?  And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all evil upon them.”
 
          Awaken Christians, time is growing short, but it’s not too late for us to turn our hearts back to the Lord.  God is long suffering and His arm is still outstretched to us.  Without Him, we have lost more than liberty.  We will have lost everything.  His Word is established FOREVER! 
 
Revised  March 21, 2014
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Saturday, October 12, 2013

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What's In The Future?


          This writing deviates from my usual methods of providing proof and documentation for what I write.  This paper rather contains mostly opinion and conjecture on my part.  The foundation of this paper is based on study, with a tinge of revelation.

 

          As we have witnessed, over the last hundred years, there has been a serious falling away from the religious foundations of our beloved nation.  Slowly, but surely, during this period of time the moral and religious outlook of our people, and less and less  respect for our founding documents, has placed us in the position of allowing the forces of the anti American and anti Christian coalitions to limit and restrict the rights and freedoms of the pro American and pro Christian citizens. 

 

          Our nation is, at present, suffering from the Lord removing the protections He has for so long blessed us with.  By reading the Bible as a history book we can see that this is a pattern, throughout the generations, repeated over and over again.  When the people turn to the Lord, they prosper.  When the people turn from the Lord, the prosperity is withdrawn.

 

          The following is the timeline I see as happening in the not too distant future:

1. America will continue to decline in prosperity and biblical viewpoint.

2. Anti Semitism will increase in America as well as around the world.

3. The Arab/Islamic nations surrounding Israel will attack Israel and be soundly defeated.  Israel will recover much, if not all, of the original land granted to Abraham and his descendents for a thousand generations.

4. The lack of financial prosperity in America and around the world, coupled with growing anti Semitism and a resurgence of interest in the God of  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will encourage the Jews, in the U.S. and other countries, to realize the future advantages of returning to their spiritual home country of Israel.

5. Israel will become a world financial and military superpower.

6. A final spiritual renewal will occur in the U.S. and around the world inspired by the spiritual awakening of the Jews and the expansion of the Jewish state by the obviously God led defeat of the Moslem/Arab nations surrounding Israel.  This Arab defeat will reestablish the biblical lands that the Lord promised to Abraham and his Hebrew descendants for a thousand generations. 

7. The spiritual renewal, probably led by the U.S., will be the last revival before the rapture of the church and the subsequent rise of the one world order and the appearance of the antichrist.

 

          A prime example of what spiritual awakening brings is the following: which was written by my wife for the intercessory prayer warriors in our church.

 

Thy Word is Truth:  Dear Heavenly Father,

          Stir within the hearts of your people a hungering and thirsting for your word. Create within each of us the desire to be led of the Holy Spirit by the power of your word.  Guard our hearts against the deception of the increasingly godless and lawless teachings of this secular and politically correct world view.  Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Give unto us a heart of flesh that is tilled and prepared to receive the truth of your word that we might be rooted and grounded on a solid foundation of the full counsel of your word that is forever established.

          Father, help each of us to remember what the men said after Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection; reflecting upon how they felt as He walked and talked with them, they declared: ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us?’  As then, that same experience of feeling His nearness and the flame of His word burning within us is still available today.  Encourage each one of us this day to dine upon the delicacies of Psalm 119, the longest chapter in your precious word that expounds upon all the benefits of being nourished by your word to renew our minds and create within us daily a right spirit that we too might move and grow in the likeness of the mind of Christ.

          Burn within us the reality of what Jesus said in that He listened to and did only that which His Father in heaven told Him to do.  Lord, may we each be compelled to study Thy Word that we too might be schooled, disciplined and led by the voice of the Lord given to each one of us in His word.  Restore within each of us the realization that His Word is “sweeter than honey”, will “make the simple wise,” “provide a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.” Though our bodies may deteriorate, grow weak and even ill, His word can give life to our spirit to leap over mountains and fly to the highest heights, to rejoice in the joy of the Lord and dance and sing to the glory of God.  O Father, how can we resist such an invitation to bask in your presence through the nearness of your Holy Spirit and the inspiration of your precious word?  Let us join in unity in the promise: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in Thy Word.”  “Quicken me, O Lord, according unto Thy Word.”

          Father, let us not be satisfied to dine on just a morsel, or appetizer, but dive into your word, to be immersed and ‘be being filled’ this day by your Holy Spirit that we might be vessels to be used to walk in the boldness of the Lord and resist all the fiery darts of the enemy.  Let us be equipped fully by the sword of the spirit which is the word of the Living God.  Lift each one of us out of the pit of apathy, doubt, and unbelief.  Let us live this day in the truth that ‘nothing is impossible with the Lord.’  God inhabits the praises of His people. Feed upon His Word, the bread of Life.  Let us each one determine to rejoice in the Lord our God, Praise Him, and give Him thanks – NO MATTER WHAT! With your help Lord, let us each choose to praise you and give you ALL the glory as long as we breathe and have our being.  To God be the Glory, great things He has done! Amen  
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