Tag: faith

60 Years Ago, Ronald Reagan Said…

Before you read my post, I would like to direct your attention to a speech delivered at the 1964 Republican Convention that took place 60 years ago.

Please go to reaganlibrary.gov and read Reagan’s speech, A Time for Choosing Speech, October 27, 1964.

[Go to Menu, Archives, Speeches-Major Speeches, 1964-1989. Enter Search Terms- A Time for Choosing Speech, then scroll down and read the speech.]

Why do I ask you to do this?

Because, 60 years later, ask yourself, what has our nation become since he shared this speech?

UPON WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED?

As I survey the political climate and breathe the atmosphere of our nation’s beating heart, I visualize clouds of darkness and despair.

Those are not very encouraging words when addressing an audience of readers.

But, if you are aware of the tension that is gripping our nation, then you know that these words are true.

Many see darkness and gloom, others see light and hope.

It is a matter of perspective.

What is your perspective?

What do you see?

Jesus said, in Matthew 6: 22-23, NKJV, “The lamp of the body is the eye, If, therefore, your eye is good (clear or healthy), your whole body is full of light. But if your eye is bad (evil or unhealthy), your whole body will be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (inserts, marginal notes) (emphasis mine)

Is the ‘eye’ of our nation, ‘good’ or ‘evil’ ?

Subsequent to these words Jesus said the following:

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 NKJV)

Q: What master are we serving as a nation?

Upon what is it focused?

Upon what am I focused?

Upon what are you focused?

The notes in my NKJV Spirit Filled Study Bible, make the following observations regarding Matthew 6:22-24.

“The person with the good (“healthy”) eye is one whose intent is to serve God and not mammon (the money-god, used here to indicate the whole system of materialism). The person with the bad eye is selfish, covetous, and miserly. The one’s life is full of light, meaning, and purpose; the other’s life is plunged into darkness, deprived of meaning.” (pg. 1300)

Is it ok to substitute the word ‘nation’ for the word ‘person’ in Jesus’ teaching?

I suggest that it is.

I suggest that our pursuit of ‘mammon’ (the ‘money-god’) is an idol that we, individually, and as a nation have treasured and that that pursuit has taken our focus (eye) off the One True God, and plummeted us into the darkness that we are groping with as a nation. (inserts, emphasis mine)

As we have walked about in our blindness, other philosophies, espousing their opposing ‘isms’, have ‘seen’ our condition and taken advantage of us the past 60 years.

I recommend that you read Deuteronomy 8:1-20.

Notice the progression of Israel taking their ‘eyes’ off the source of their wealth, their God; and transferring its source to their own prideful accomplishments that lifts up their hearts forgetting God.

What does God say will happen to them?

Deuteronomy 8:30-31, NKJV, “Then it shall be if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other God’s, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.” (emphasis mine)

What is the progression? forget, follow, serve, worship

What does this progression lead to? idol worship

The Apostle John, in I John 5:21 (NKJV) concludes his letter saying, “Little children (believers), keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (insert, emphasis mine)

Our nation is beset with idolatry.

Does this mean that we, as a nation, have not been generous to other nations throughout our history?

Absolutely not !

We have been very generous throughout the life of this nation.

But, in spite of our generosity, we find ourselves using our resources in ways not for the sole of bringing help and assistance to others; but, for the purpose of selfish gain and supporting causes that are not in the best interest for us as a nation.

Our resources are being used to build up and support causes that are destructive to our founding principles, our Constitutional Republic, destroying the foundation of our government, enhancing the personal priorities of individuals, and enabling a political agenda that undermines us as a nation.

In short, the people of this nation, have been blinded by the darkness of the ‘god of mammon’; and we have fallen asleep as the darkness of evil influenced our lifestyle.

We have pridefully turned away from following the Lord and pursued our own personal idols both as individuals and as a nation.

We need to be awakened.

Please read I Timothy 6:6-21.

I want to draw your attention especially to I Timothy 6:10, NKJV.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

I believe these words tell us exactly where we are as a nation.

This is a root cause for the darkness in our nation

The pursuit of the ‘god of mammon’ is not just a non-christian pursuit.

Believers in Christ can also forget, follow, serve, and worship the ‘god of mammon’.

This is the teaching of Deuteronomy 8.

This pursuit of following the ‘god of mammon’ has affected the church.

Let me remind you again of the words, I quoted earlier found in Matthew 6:24, that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5-7)

In context, the Lord is teaching His listeners about the lifestyle for those who choose to follow Him; and explaining to them what to expect as His disciple.

He is very poignant when He says, “you cannot serve God and mammon”.

So , is it correct to assume that ‘all’ of our issues are the result focusing on money and ignoring God?

Some agree with that conclusion and some do not agree with that conclusion; but when you have carefully read Deuteronomy 8, I believe, that you will be hard pressed not to see the parallel between what is said about the nation of Israel and the history of the United States in its relationship to the ‘god of mammon’.

The truth is ‘any idol‘ ‘will change your ‘clear’ eye to an ‘evil’ eye.

What are the first and second commandments ? See Exodus 20: 1-6

Are these commandments relative today in the life of a follower of Christ?

Absolutely.

They are the moral and ethical standards for the followers of Christ to understand and apply to their life ‘in Christ’.

Those standards were taught in principle by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and outlined throughout the teaching of the New Testament.

Remember, I am NOT saying that America is the nation of Israel.

I am pointing out what I understand to be a parallelism between the nation of Israel and our nation.

As of February 2024, our national debt was $34.4 trillion.

What is the outcome of such indebtedness?

Time will tell.

So ponder this: a) is the lifestyle of the local church governed by its relationship to mammon? b) is the lifestyle of a nation governed by its relationship to mammon?

Re-read what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-24.

Remember Jesus is outlining His Kingdom beatitudes for His followers to ‘see’ as they follow Him.

Again, you “cannot serve God and mammon”.

Application.

For some time now, I have been sharing about the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that is coming to this nation and to the nations of the world.

These two words, the Lord spoke to me, pointing out the state of affairs coming to our nation and to the nations of the world.

It is obvious that what was brought to my attention is true, has begun, and is escalating.

Like you, I have read and heard people in the media use both of these words.

They speak of things that are ‘unprecedented’ and also of the ‘unrest’ that is happening in our nation.

We, as a nation, are experiencing the fruit of the ‘evil’ seeds that have been sown in the lifestyle of the ‘soils’ of our nation and our individual lives.

We are harvesting the crops of our failures.

We are harvesting the crops of the evil seeds that have been implanted in the ‘soil’ of America throughout its history ,especially since 1900, and more extensively since the 1960’s.

(Please read, if you have not, Ronald Reagan’s speech from the 1964 Republican Convention.)

I do not need to rehearse for you the daily headlines; nor do I need to list the stories of ‘unrest’ that are daily posted on the media apps that we see and read.

What is tragic is the constant watering and fertilizing of those seeds that are producing the crops of ‘unrest’!

This watering and fertilizing takes place daily throughout the media, especially the cable news networks.

I am not picking sides.

I am commenting on the ‘watering and fertilizing with words’ that takes place 24/7.

The cable news networks functions like a farmer taking care of his crops.

What needs to happen is a change of ‘seeds’ that are being planted in the soil of America. We need good seeds to be planted. Those seeds need a healthy ‘watering with words’ that will cause those ‘good’ seeds to grow in our nation.

Unfortunately, we as a nation, have set aside God’s Word, which is the ‘good’ seed that needs to be sown in the soil of our hearts, individually and as a nation.

If we have chosen to forget, follow, serve and worship the One True God, then we are reaping what we have sown.

I want to use the words of a parable that Jesus shared to show you a principle for living as a nation.

In context, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 13:24-28 NKJV, Jesus told this parable.

This parable follows the parable of the sower.

The parable is entitled, The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. (New Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. “But when the grain sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir did you not so good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ‘Let them both grow until the harvest, and at that time I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ “

Using the commentary in my Study Bible about this parable, it says:

“The central message of this parable is that the consummated Kingdom of God will be different from the present kingdom (reign) in that the consummated kingdom will be in a perfected environment of only the sons of the kingdom. Currently, sons of the kingdom and sons of the Evil One live together in human society,”

In light of this parable, it is clear that the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that we, as believers and a nation, are experiencing today in ‘human society’ should not be a surprise.

A former Pastor of mine, Dr. Robert Evans said, “The world is going to do what the world is going to do.”

The scripture tells us plainly that we will ‘reap what we sow’. (Galatians 5-6)

What is the Spirit of God saying to the Church, the Ekklesia, at this time?

This parable gives us an example of what has taken place in our nation’s history.

I am NOT saying that America is the Kingdom of God.

We as a nation were founded and established with the ‘good’ seed of Judeo-Christian principles. Since our founding, enemies of this nation have sown ‘evil’ seeds to undermine this nation; to destroy its Christian heritage;and to undo its Constitutional foundation.

Our nation blossomed in its founding; it grew ‘good’ crops that were healthy because of the ‘good’ seeds that were sown.

Unfortunately,seeds of ‘evil’ influence have also been sown in the soil of America and produced crops that appeared to be ‘good’ crops, but are ‘look alikes’.*

*[Note: Look up the difference between darnel and wheat]

These ‘look alikes’ sound correct, look correct, and behaved like ‘good’ crops; but down deep in their hearts their moral and ethical fruits are not like the crops of the original Judeo-Christian seeds sown.

Why?

Their hearts are ‘evil’.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes this statement in Matthew 7:15-20 about false prophets.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.”

My emphasis is focusing on the fruits of the seeds that have been sown.

The witnesses of the ‘look alikes’ to this nation and to other nations are deceptive.

They are a false testimony. They are liars and deceivers.

Who is the father of lies, and a deceiver?

Satan

Like the ‘man who sowed good seed’ in his field, while he and his workers slept, believing everything was ‘good’; his enemies came in during the night (darkness) and sowed their own ‘evil’ seeds of influence among the ‘good’ seeds.

Using this parable as an analogy, what is the result?

We as a nation, have ‘slept’ in our goodness and prosperity.

Our ‘pride of greatness’, as we have called it, has ‘blinded’ us from what has quietly been sown in our midst.

Those ‘evil’ seeds have grown into healthy crops and overtaken us to the point where our ‘good’ seeds have been choked out and our ‘good’ crops can hardly grow and have any ‘good’ positive influence in our nation.

Like the servants of the farmer who awoke and saw what had happened, we as a nation are awakening up to what has happened in our nation.

The ‘evil’ seeds of influence have overtaken much of our society and are flourishing abundantly and manifesting their fruits of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Our society is being subjected to the philosophical crops of the evil- isms that have matured.

This ‘unrest’ is the result of the ‘evil’ seeds sown by our enemy in the soil of our nation just like into the soil of the farmer in Jesus’ parable.

The ‘evil’ seeds have produced the fruits of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, one of the first questions, I would ask myself is whether or not I see this ‘unprecedented unrest’ or am I walking in blindness?

This ‘unrest’ is not new.

This ‘unrest’ is the fruit of Satan that he orchestrated in the Garden of Eden.

He deceived Eve; then Adam followed in willful disobedience to God’s instruction to him. (Romans 5)

This is the result of the original sin.

The source is not Adam. Adam is ‘flesh and blood’, a human being “created in the image and likeness of God”.

Satan is the source; but Adam’s response is the source of the ‘evil seed’.

We, the descendants of Adam, are responsible for our lifestyles , actions, behaviors, conducts, and words?

Selah.

Thank you Father, for the Incarnation of Christ, Who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God.

B.U.T. (Believers Understand This), “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (humanity) but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV) (emphasis mine, insert mine)

Bluntly stated, the source of the ‘evil’ seed is the devil and his demons who deceive mankind to sow ‘evil’ seed because the heart of mankind is ‘evil’ because of Adam’s disobedience.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV, “For though we walk in the flesh (a human body), we do not war according to the flesh (using human strength, weaponry). For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh-marginal note) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (whose strongholds? Satan’s), casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (like the evil philosophical influences), bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (inserts mine)

We are witnessing and wrestling against the fruits of what is exalting itself against the knowledge of God as we watch and listen to the daily activities of the ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Paul exhorts us to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. But note, he says that we must bring our thought process into obedience before we are can do battle with the ‘thoughts of the enemy’.

Did he really say that? Yes, go back and read it carefully.

The commentary in my Study Bible makes this true. It says, “Paul is ready to punish the rebels who continue to refuse to repent. First he must be assured of the obedience of the congregation as a whole.”

Paul is correcting the Church at Corinth, not unbelievers.

Is God saying the same thing to His Church today?

Yes!

The Church must repent, confess its sins, take its focus off the world, the nation and its politics, put God at its center, and then God will deal with the issues that our nation is wrestling with.

[Note: What does 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 instruct God’s people to do?]

(Verse 13 sounds like ‘unrest’; verse 14 is God’s instruction for the solution to that ‘unrest’.)

(vs 13) “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people.” (NKJV)

(vs 14) “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (NKJV)]

In context, Paul is encouraging the Church in Corinth to withstand the ‘evil’ influences they were facing by setting aside the false doctrines and the ‘evil’ influences, through obedience to Christ.

As a believer, are you ‘so’ focused on the politics of our day that you have been overtly influenced by the evil rhetoric that is rampant in our nation?

Is ‘politics’ an idol in your life? Are you consumed by it? Is it the ‘focus’ of your life?

I believe that before ‘Making America Great Again’, we first come to grips with this: We need to ‘Magnify Almighty God Again’; then the Lord will rid us of the sources of ‘evil’ that ravish this nation and restore to this nation the ‘good’ influence comes from being rightly related to Him, as we, as a nation experienced in our beginning..

There are many in this nation that are in agreement with this outcome.

I encourage you to turn away from the ‘political rhetoric’ that comes from both sides of the aisle.

I am not telling you to bury you head in the sand and ignore our election process.

I am beseeching you not to be governed by the political rhetoric.

If you understand what I just said, then know that the political rhetoric and the ‘unrest’ will get worse as we approach our national election on November 5th.

Don’t let the election rhetoric govern your mind. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

Let the peace of God govern your mind. (Isaiah 26:2-8, Philippians 4:4-7)

“Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].” (Colossians 3:25 Amplified Bible)

Rest in the Lord….Jesus is our REST.

Remember, Christ is our ARK. He is our place of refuge during the tumultuous storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

He is always our Refuge.

We have no need to fear.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (safe-thinking, make right decisions, qualities of self-control and self-discipline) ( notes from Study Bible)2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Will those who have done unjustly be judged?

Yes

Is that our responsibility?

No

Why?

Romans 12:17-19 NKJV, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

How do we live between now and November 5th?

1. We rest and wait on the Lord.

2.We watch, be alert, be ready, and we pray. (Matthew 24-25)

3. We take refuge in Christ.

I encourage you to read Psalms 34,35,36,37.

David understood ‘unrest’ and he understood that God was His refuge.

In my Study Bible, Isaiah 9 is entitled, “The Government of the Promised Son“.

Isaiah 9:2, the prophet writes, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (emphasis mine)

We as a nation are living a land of great darkness; but the Light of Christ is coming to dispel the darkness that has overtaken this nation.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him, and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (I John 1:5-7 NKJV)

The Apostle John wrote in I John 2:17-19 NKJV, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children (believers), it is the last hour, and you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come , by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (inserts mine)

The ‘unprecedented unrest’ will reveal who are the wheat and who are the darnel.

Let us return to the Lord, focus on Him, seek His face, walk in His Light, and dispel the darkness that surrounds us in this darkened world.

This is the call to the Ekklesia, NOW, in our nation’s history.

The Ekklesia is to fast and pray for our nation.

This election is not about political parties; it is not about presidential personalities; it’s about the ‘soul’ of our nation.

We, the people, are the ‘souls’ of this nation.

If our heart is right before God, then our eye will be clear to see what needs to be done when it’s time to vote.

If our heart is not right before God, then our eye will be evil and we will not know what is right when it comes time to vote.

Good or Evil, Light or Darkness, those are the options.

The future of our nation is dependent upon our hearts response to God so that we walk in the Light.

If we continue to ignore God (i.e. forget,follow, serve, worship other gods), then we will walk in darkness, as a blind man, and not know the way in which we should go.

Listen to the words of Joshua 24:19-25 NKJV.

“But Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive you transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign God’s, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No but, we will serve the LORD!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” “Now therefore”, he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, The LORD our God we will serve and His voice we will obey!” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.”

I encourage you to simply embrace these thoughts about the passage.

Jesus is our Joshua.

Jesus has made a covenant for us with God, His Father.

As believers in Christ, our sins and transgressions have been forgiven.

Let us faithfully declare that we will follow our Lord Jesus Christ, serve Him, obey His voice, and ‘put away’ any thing that takes our focus off of Him.

Be blessed in the Lord, a brother in Christ, deo

Author Unknown

This morning I was trying to find a teaching that I had written many years ago. As I was rummaging through my papers, I found this. It’s message is apropos for this time of year as we reflect on the Passion Week, Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Beneath the blood -stained lintel I with my family stand; A messenger of evil is passing through the land. There is no other refuge from the destroyer’s face; Beneath the blood-stained lintel shall be our hiding place.

The Lamb of God has suffered, our sins and griefs He bore; By faith the blood is sprinkled above our dwelling’s door. The foe who seeks to enter doth fear that sacred sign; Tonight the blood-stained lintel shall shelter me and mine.

My Saviour, for my dear ones I claim thy promise true. The Lamb is for “for the household”–the children’s Saviour too. On earth the little children once felt Thy touch divine; Beneath the blood-stained lintel They blessing give to mine.

O Thou who gave them, guard them–those wayward little feet, The wilderness before them, the ills of life to meet. My mother love is helpless, I trust them to Thy care! Beneath the blood-stained lintel, oh, keep me ever there!

The faith I rest upon Thee Thou wilt not disappoint; With wisdom, Lord, to train them, my shrinking heart anoint. Without my children, Father, I cannot see Thy face; I plead the blood-stained lintel, Thy covenant of grace.

Oh, wonderful Redeemer, who suffered for our sake, When o’re the guilty nations the judgment storm shall break, With joy from that safe shelter may be then meet Thine eye, Beneath the blood -stained lintel, my children, Lord, and I.

Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ, Your Son, the Passover Lamb, that takes away the sin of the world.

Thank you Father that , “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”(Hebrews 9:22)

Thank you Father that, You, “made the One (Jesus) who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, TLV)

As you reflect upon the work of Christ, His Passion Week, His death, burial, and resurrection, remember that it was God, the Father, who sent His Son into the world to be a sacrifice for sin on the Cross, so that His creation of mankind might be saved.

Consider the following: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not put his trust in the name of the one and only Ben-Elohim (Son of God).” (John 3:16-18 TLV) (inserts mine)

This is the grace, mercy, and love of God demonstrated and poured out to all of mankind. God, the Father, sent His only Son, so that He might have a larger family of sons and daughters for eternity. God was willing to personally take on the issue of separation that sin created between Himself and His creation when Adam sinned. That is the message of the Gospel.

God loves you and desires that you become a child of His, by accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Saviour.

Ask Christ, to be your Saviour; ask Christ to forgive you of your sin; thank Christ for His forgiveness and eternal life.

God’s Word says, “… For Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai (the Lord) shall be saved. (Romans 10:13, TLV, insert mine)

May the Lord richly bless you this Resurrection season, your brother in Christ, deo

C.O.V.I.D.

It is without question that COVID is a deadly disease. Deadly diseases have affected mankind throughout its history. Deadly diseases have ravaged nations. One could study, list, and share the details of the plagues that have destroyed human beings, their cultures, and their economies.

Mankind, through its ingenuity, hard work, and by God’s grace, has been able to overcome and subdue many illnesses, sicknesses, plagues, and deadly diseases. But, unfortunately, they continue to raise their destructive and deadly effects rendering humanity helpless to its illness unless a cure is found.

I would like to refer you to the following blog site. davidjeremiah.blog. There I found the following teaching entitled ‘What are the 3 Tribulation Plagues?’ The article begins, “Do you want to see a miracle? Are you sure? During the Tribulation, three terrifying miracles–plagues–will warn the world of God’s impending judgment.” I will leave the reading/watching of his teaching to you.

Dr. Jeremiah says the three kinds of plagues during the tribulation are: 1)The plague of death; 2)The plague of drought; 3)The plague of disease.

He, then lists the three reasons for the tribulation plagues. 1)Protection; 2)Preservation; 3)Purpose.

Why do I reference this article? I am not espousing a certain end time eschatology; but I want to draw our attention to the fact that deadly diseases and plagues exist, which I assume is an obvious fact, to all ,if not most of humanity, and that they are also a Divine instrument in the hands of God.

Throughout scripture, God has used plagues to get humanity’s attention, His people’s attention, and has used plagues as instruments of judgment upon nations.

I have been writing about a coming ‘unprecedented unrest’ upon our nation and the nations of the world. I have said that I do not believe that this ‘unrest’ is the tribulation spoken about in Revelation.

However, we are aware that there is a Great Tribulation coming to this world in the timing and purpose of God; and, associated with that Tribulation, is a person, who, is also coming, the anti-christ.

All of this is a precursor to the return of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Himself.

Come Lord Jesus.

But, there is one disease that mankind cannot find a cure for.

It is a deadly disease that plagues all mankind.

It is the disease of sin that is found in the heart of mankind.

Sin is the source of death. Genesis 2:15-3:24, the fall of man, his original sin, and its consequences.

Romans 3:23 (TLV) says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 (TLV) says, “For sin’s payment is death, but God’s gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

John 3:16 (TLV) says “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish may have eternal life.”

Man has attempted many different ways to find a cure for the internal sin that plagues his/her heart; but every attempt by mankind is futile ans impossible to reverse the effects of this universal disease that culminates in an eternal separation from the Living God.

Enter C.O.V.I.D.

What?

Let me explain in an acronym.

Christ’s Obedience Victoriously Incapacitated Death

There is a cure for the disease of sin.

It is the Blood of Christ; it is Christ crucified on the Cross; it is His death, burial and resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:1-8, (TLV), the Apostle Paul writes, “Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the Good News, which I proclaimed to you. You also received it, and you took your stand on it, and by it you are being saved if you hold firm to the word I proclaimed to you–unless you believed without proper consideration. For I also passed on to you first of all what I also received–that Messiah died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Kefa (Peter), then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time–most of them are still alive, though some have died. Then He appeared to Jacob (James, His brother), and last of all, as to one untimely born, He also appeared to me.” (inserts mine)

This is the message of the Gospel of Christ.

Have you taken your stand for this message on the solid Rock, who is Christ Jesus our Lord?

I would like to recommend that you read Romans 5:1-21.

This passage explains the source of death, Adam’s disobedience; and the source of the gift of eternal life, Messiah’s (Jesus) obedience. (insert mine)

Ephesians 2:8-9 (TLV) says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this gift is not from yourselves–it is the gift of God. It is not bases on deeds, so that no one may boast.”

Mankind cannot do what needs to be done to become rightly related to their Creator. God, Himself, has provided the means of salvation from sin and its penalty. God, Himself, sent His Son, to be born of a woman; to be clothed in human flesh; and to die on the cross as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus, Who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Without His sacrificial death, there would be no forgiveness of sin. His Blood cleanses us from all sin. His death, burial, and resurrection validates His victory of sin, death, and the Devil. Because Christ lives, we too, shall live. This is our glorious hope.

Therefore…

In the midst of the coming ‘unprecedented unrest’, our safety and security is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is our Solid Rock. He is our ARK in the time of the storm. [see livingwordsofencouragement.com for previous posts]

I do not believe that I am trying to hype the current social and political climate of our nation. If you read the headline news; or if you watch and/or follow the media on line; you will certainly understand that our nation is experiencing tension, worry, anxiety, and stress. We are seeing an uprising in lawlessness. We are witnessing the exposure of political cover ups that have many feeling uneasy about the direction of the nation. We are witnessing the mismanagement of our judicial system that seeks to malign our presidential election process. As I write that post (I remind us) that on March 4, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states could not make the decision to remove a man’s name from their state ballot because they believed that person was in violation of insurrection according to the 14th Amendment. We live in a Constitutional Republic. The Constitution was upheld. This is a victory in which we should be thankful and rejoice; but one in which, we, the Church, should not gloat. Why? Because gloating is not LOVE. Gloating is based on self. It is a fruit of the flesh, not a fruit of the Spirit.

As we progress through the next several months, watching the election cycle unfold, it will become increasingly hostile and irrational verbally; I encourage you to stay focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That does not mean that you do not keep an ‘eye’ on what is happening politically; but it does mean that you do not become ‘consumed’ with/by the political process and ‘stress out’.

I exhort you to pray diligently. Ask the Lord how and for whom you vote. When you vote, you should have a clear conscience. Ask the Lord for His wisdom.

Remember, His ways are not our ways; nor are His thoughts our thoughts.

James 1:5-8 (TLV) instructs us, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting–for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord–he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

We thank you Father for wisdom during this time of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

We thank you Father for Your wisdom to navigate the political storm and the societal storm that has come and is coming to our nation.

We thank you Father that You are working a mighty work of grace and mercy in our nation and the nations of the world.

Thank you Father for exposing corruption in our nation and bringing deliverance to our nation.

Thank you Father for revival, reformation, and recovery in this nation.

We bless You, Father; and we thank You for Your great work of grace.

a brother in Christ, deo

THE RAIN/REIGN OF GOD

“It’s beginning to rain, hear the voice of our Father, Saying “who-so-ever will come drink of my water; I promise to pour out my Spirit on your sons and your daughters.” If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.”

That is a chorus from IT’S BEGINNING TO RAIN, Words and music by Gloria Gaither, C. Aaron Wilburn & William Gaither.

As I have been sharing in my lastest posts, the storm clouds are gathering and there will be ‘unprecedented unrest’. I am referencing that ‘unrest’ in the context of Jesus’ words found in Matthew 24, 25 (NKJV).

Storm clouds bring rain, some times, torrential downpours, such as the world experienced in the days of Noah. Jesus referenced those days in Matthew 24, telling us, that “as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Based upon what He had earlier explained in Matthew 24, those days will not be pleasant.

As we enter a new year, many individuals are looking forward with anticipation to fulfill personal goals and even lofty expectations. That excitement is not wrong; however, as I have been sharing , there is an ‘unprecedented unrest’ thundering in the storm clouds that have and are forming throughout the world. That unrest is ‘shaking’ nations. It is even shaking our nation, and I suggest that that shaking will increase. What kind of ‘flood’ will deluge on our nation will be seen and experienced in 2024 and possibly beyond.

The good news is that while this ‘unrest’ is shaking our nation, God, the Father, has a parallel outpouring that is, and will continue to grow, and take place on the nations of the world, and on our nation.

That parallel outpouring is an outpouring of His RAIN. What is that rain? It is found in the words of the chorus above. He is pouring out the rain of His Spirit on His sons and His daughters. This is an outpouring of His Presence, His Power, and the Preaching of the Gospel. This activity is accomplished by His Spirit poured out upon His Church, His followers of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and His sons and His daughters. Matthew 24:13,14 NKJV, ”But he who endures(holds one’s ground in conflict) to the end shall be saved, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (insert mine)

It is time, not to get caught up in the ‘what ifs?’ of the ‘end-time’; it is time to focus on the gospel being preached to the nations.

Yes, the dark, foreboding, clouds have and are continuing to gather. There are two types of rain being poured out upon the world. The rain of ‘unprecedented unrest’ and the rain of the Holy Spirit.

The first rain is described by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-8; the results of this ‘unrest’ are outlined in Matthew 24:9-12. All of these are “precursors to the end times”. (notes in Spirit Filled Life Bible).

As previously mentioned in Matthew 24:13-14, Jesus alludes to another rain. Let me offer this thought: The rain of the Holy Spirit is a manifestation of the ‘reign’ of God.

God, the Father, sovereignly rules over all rain being poured out on the world.

Jesus is emphasizing His reign as the King of His Kingdom. 

We, as believers, are ‘in Christ’. Jesus is our ARK. The ARK is A Righteous Kingdom. The Kingdom, Adonai’s Righteous Kingdom, is ruled by Christ Jesus who is our King. In the Kingdom, we are governed by the Holy Spirit, God’s rain, who directs us to fulfill His reign in our lives.

We are in the A.R.K. In the ARK, we are safe and secure in the midst of the storm. (We are not immune to suffering) The ARK is our place of refuge. It is our dwelling place in the Presence of the Most High God.

Matthew 24;8, referring to the previous seven verses, outlining the tumultuous times; Jesus says, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8, Spirit Filled Life Bible study notes: Beginning of sorrows refers to “labor pains”, which were expected to precede the end, making the transition from this age to the Age to Come. The severe labor pains, followed by delivery and fulfillment, are also a pledge to the end and the joy at the time of “delivery”.) 

We are being told what it will be like now, what to expect, what we are to do, and what the end result will be when Christ returns. 

In the previously written posts, we, have understood that this current ‘unprecedented unrest’ is NOT the great tribulation. These storm clouds are bringing God’s Sovereign intervention into the affairs of mankind. There are issues that must be judged; but simultaneously, there will be an outpouring of His grace and mercy seeking to redeem His fallen humanity before the return of Christ. That is the work of the cross.

In Matthew 24: 15-28, Jesus shares the details surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D..

In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus redirects His dialogue to the time of His return; then in Matthew 24:32-35, He tells a parable to His listeners focusing them on a natural event that prepares them for His next statement, a parable about the fig tree.

In Matthew 24:36-41, He reflects upon the days of Noah (see posts entitled: The Storm Clouds Are Gathering; The Entrance To The Ark Is Shut; go to livingwordsofencouragemnt.com) explaining what the climate of the culture and the society will be like prior to His return. I think that it is safe to say that we are living in that same climate and that is growing increasingly hostile and becoming more corrupt.

In the previous posts that I recommended that you read, it was emphasized that we needed to be be grounded in our relationship to the Lord, knowing that to be ‘in Christ’ is to be in the ARK. Saying it again, the ARK is a Person; and that Person is Jesus Christ. In Him, we will ride out and weather the storms that impact our nation and the nations of the world.

It’s 2024, It’s beginning to ‘rain’ as He continues His ‘reign’.

I want to encourage you to re-read Matthew 24: 1- 41.

Now, turn your attention to Matthew 24:42-44.

This is where I will begin in the next post.

Blessings, reminder, “It’s beginning to rain, hear the Voice of the Father, if you are thirsty and dry, lift your hands to the sky”… because the rain of the Holy Spirit is coming afresh to fall upon you. You are His sons and His daughters in Christ.

deo

A MOMENT OF DIGRESSION

Part 8

For the past several weeks, I have heard teaching messages from three different pastors at the local church I attend.

The content of their teaching has confirmed the words that I have been sharing in the current post series.

I am grateful for the Holy Spirit’s confirmation of His direction through the Word being shared by other ministers in the Body of Christ.

On November 12, 2023, Jeremy Pray shared from Romans 8:18-30 outlining how the Lord uses suffering in our lives today. He encouraged us by emphasizing that “God is for us!” Life can be hard; but God works it out for our good.

He listed seven statements of hope from the text of Romans 8:18-30.

He closed his teaching emphasizing that as a believer we have no cause to worry as long as everything is ok between the Father and the Son-we have no issues to fear.

Therefore, in the context of the blog series, we have ‘no issues to fear’ as believers in Christ during the time of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

The following week, on November 19, 2023, Matt Rehrer’s, sermon was a continuation of the text found in Romans 8. He shared verses 31-39.

His teaching was entitled: Anchorings, and Moorings of the Soul.

He began with showing a picture of a vessel in a severe storm that was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, entitled ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’.

When I saw the picture on the screen, I immediately thought of the impending ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Pastor Rehrer shared our moorings in Christ.

  1. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can wrestle me from God? Is my sin too much for God? The answers are unequivocal: No one, No one, and NO!
  2. “In Christ, I am not just, justified, but I am declared righteous.”
  3. Not only did Christ die, and was resurrected, but He, also, ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of His Father. The act of being seated speaks to us of the permanency of His atoning work. His work is finished. His work is completed. He said, hanging on the cross before He died, “It is finished”. Jesus eternally secured our salvation.
  4. In heaven, He is our High Priest and He ever lives making intercession for the saints. Hebrews 7:25, NKJV, says, “Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Therefore, as we go through the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’, our High Priest is making intercession for us before the throne of grace. We have that mooring.

Because of our moorings in Christ, we can walk in security. We can ‘ride out the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ as we stay focused on Christ.

We are secure in Christ, Who is our Ark. We are safe and secure just as Noah and his family were safe and secure inside the ark being tossed about in the ‘unprecedented storm’ that God unleashed to flood the earth.

After sharing about our moorings, Pastor Rehrer shared from the same passage our anchors in Christ.

Does God have a purpose allowing us to encounter storms in our life? Is there a purpose for suffering?

I ask, Does God have a work He is doing in the earth using a storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ at this time in our nation and the nations of the world?

As I have previously shared, I see a two-fold purpose. The two-fold purpose is judgment and grace. God’s judgment upon those who need to be judged; and God’s grace available for those who turn to the Lord to receive the message of the Gospel. It’s a picture of Calvary. The Cross judged sin and becomes the instrument of new life in Christ.

As Pastor Rehrer emphasized, ‘in Christ’, we have an anchor of security in the present and security in the coming age. In Christ, we have safety. I do not need to live in fear and doubt. ‘In Christ’, no circumstance will separate me from God’s love. He is the anchor of my soul. ‘In Christ’, my suffering, my trial, my tribulation, my personal turmoil is not pointless.

Let me turn our attention to Hebrews 5: 5 b, 7-9, NKJV. It is written of Christ, “You are My Son, Today, I have begotten You…Who(Christ), in the days of His flesh(in a human body); when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him(His Father) Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son; yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect (Gr. teleios, mature, a word that means the goal, purpose or end for which something exists or is performed.) He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (inserts mine)

Q: If God’s Son, Jesus, learned obedience here on earth through suffering, robed in human flesh, how do you think, we, who are here on earth, robed in human flesh ,are going to learn obedience and grow into maturity?

A: Through suffering: suffering is the paramount means that God will use to bring His children to maturity in Christ. It comes by the way of the Cross throughout our life. It is the ‘inwrought’ discipline that takes us through the process of sanctification.

Consider Paul’s words found in Colossians 1:24-29, NKJV.

Q: What is the goal of Paul’s ministry as he understood it from the Lord?

A: “I now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages, and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known (ginosko) what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect (teleios, mature) in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (insert,emphasis mine)

What did Paul understand regarding the impact of his ministry ? Preach Christ, and water that preaching so that believers could mature ‘in Christ’, NOW!

I realize that this ‘diversion’ has been extensive; but I believe that it is necessary because it verifies that God is doing a work in the earth. He is stirring the ‘unrest’; He is moving the puzzle parts of the nations; and He is pouring out His Spirit saving the lost in a darkened world.

In the midst of this ‘unrest’, our security, safety, and refuge is in our ARK, Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Recalling Psalm 64:10, NKJV, “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust (find their refuge) in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” (insert mine)

We now give our attention to the Senior Pastor at NCC.

On December 10, 2023, Pastor Kent Dresdow, shared from Matthew 20:17-34.

At the conclusion of His teaching, he addressed the congregation forcefully, yet compassionately as a shepherd feeding and tending his sheep.

In Matthew 20: 29-34, it records an interaction between two-blind men, calling out to Jesus, and a large crowd that was following Jesus. The two-blind men called out to Jesus saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” The crowd accompanying Jesus, “warned them that they should be quiet; but they (the two-blind men) cried out all the more saying, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, Son of David! (insert mine)

Jesus stood still and called to the blind-men, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” There response was direct, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

Pastor Kent confronted the congregation lovingly inferring that we, in the days in which we are living, can be like these blind-men, not seeing what is happening around us and to us. He said that we need to cry out to the Lord that we may see.

How so, you ask? We are blind to the darkness and death all around us.

Strong words, but words we need to embrace in the hour in which we are living, because the ‘days are evil’.

We are not spiritually aware (seeing) what is happening daily in our homes, our families, our community, our work place, our state, our nation. He exhorted us and encouraged us to be like the blind beggars who cried out, “Have mercy upon us, O lord, Son of David!” For what are we crying out? to receive sight!

He warned us that just as the crowd told the beggars to stop it; the world, will tell us to stop it; you won’t find any help from God, from religion, from Christ. Are we going to listen to the world; or are we going to turn to the Lord?

Pastor Kent, told us that we can be as ‘blind-men’ in this age. We need to cry out to the Lord. We need to humble ourselves, ask the Lord to heal us, so that we may ‘see’.

Why? So that we will have eyes to see the world as it is; to see the Lord working in our lives; but most importantly to see the world as the Lord, Himself, sees the world.

In summary, these three sermons have been sharing the same subject matter that the Holy Spirit has been emphasizing in the current series of posts.

Jesus said, Matthew 24:37-39 NKJV, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know (ginosko) until the flood came, and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (insert mine)

Jesus’s words imply blindness to what was happening in their midst. Noah obediently built an ark for the safety of himself and his family, and all the animals, creatures, and fowl God directed to come into the ark. But the people who witness the construction of the ark were blind to what was taking place.

The ark was God’s appointed place of safety for the coming ‘unprecedented unrest’ that He was going to unleash upon the world, in the form of a flood.

As I shared, in the previous post, the storm cloud have gathered; there is ‘unprecedented unrest’ in our world. It is growing throughout our nation, and the nations of the world. Do you ‘see’ it?

God has provided a place of safety for His people during this season of ‘unrest’. We are in a time of preparation to ready ourselves for the ‘unrest’. We need to pray and ask the Lord to ‘see’ what is going on, and how to be prepared for what is coming.

The truth is that all who are ‘in Christ’ are always in have a place of refuge. Do you as a believer understand that? Is that knowledge just a fact or a living reality?

We are citizens of His Kingdom. We live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Knowing (edoi) that and Knowing (ginosko) that are two different things. (inserts mine) [see the post: Knowing is not Knowing: Edoi is not Ginosko]

We are safe and secure ‘in Christ’.

We will be going through a ‘suffering’ (an unprecedented unrest) that will shake the nation in which we are living and that same ‘unrest’ will be used by the Lord to grow us in our ‘teleios’ (made perfect) which manifests itself in maturity as a son or daughter of God.

end of Part 8

tbc

a brother in Christ, deo

The Other Side of The Cross – Part Two

We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven – the Lord wants us to begin knowing Himself and the Father NOW

To relate fifty years of walking with the Lord would necessitate the writing of a book.  Simply put, my wife and I have been and still are in, what is called, the school of the Spirit.  The school of the Spirit is what comes after the cross. 

Continue reading “The Other Side of The Cross – Part Two”

The Other Side of The Cross – Part 1

There is a walk of faith. There are works the Lord want to do through us. There is a process of discipleship that conforms us to the image of Christ. All of this and much more are on the other side of the cross.

At the outset of this BLOG, I shared that I once told my wife that if this is all there is to Christianity, then I wanted out.  Both of us were disappointed.  I am sure we did not know why, but we knew that what we were hearing and experiencing was ringing hollow.  We were Ignorant and disappointed, not really understanding what we were seeking, but the Lord was working in our lives. 

Continue reading “The Other Side of The Cross – Part 1”