Friday, September 20, 2013, 4:57 a.m. – The Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Do Not Fear” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Ezekiel 12-14 (ESV) this morning for my quiet time with the Lord Jesus.
Peace and Security
In another article, the president of Iran evidently made some statements of his own with regard to the whole nuclear issue, stating that his country would “never seek a nuclear bomb.” The White House responded to this by stating that they remained “ready to engage with the Rouhani government on the basis of mutual respect to achieve a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issues.” And, the author of the article posed the question concerning Rouhani’s message: Is it “a sign of thawing relations or more diplomatic deception?” [2]
This is what I believe the Lord Jesus is saying in response to all this. I believe he is saying these are false prophets, i.e. they speak lies and/or else the news media speaks lies. They are promising peace, but peace is really not what they have planned. I don’t know about the Iranian leader, but I do believe the Lord Jesus is definitely showing me that our leaders are speaking lies to the people, and that the “thawing relationships” are truly taking place between them and their own people, i.e. they are turning their backs against their own nation and are aligning themselves with the enemy, i.e. they are committing adultery against their own people and are plotting ruin for them, not peace. They are not serving to protect us, and they have made no plans for peace and security for our nation.
Stumbling Block of Iniquity
Yet, it is not just our political leaders who are at fault here. The church is at fault because a large percentage of today’s church has watered down the gospel of Jesus Christ, and thus they have not turned people away from their sins, but in many cases have actually helped facilitate professing Christians to continue in willful and unrepentant sin. Idolatry has become a huge problem within today’s evangelical church, as is spiritual adultery. With the introduction of home computers and the internet, and now with tablets, IPads, and smart phones, children and adults alike across these United States have unfiltered and private internet access to a world of evil 24/7. To many, their smart phones, IPads and the like have become their Bible replacement, and are what are in front of their faces 24/7 instead of God/Jesus Christ, and the truths of his word. And, this has been the moral downfall of a large percentage of the church population, including a large percentage of clergy.
So, God is calling out to us as a nation, and he is calling out to his church here in America to turn from our sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery, and for us to turn our faces away from all our abominations, specifically the idolatrous use of the internet leading us to sinful practices, i.e. that of allowing our idols to be taken into our hearts, and covering our sinful practices with lies, deceptions and spiritual and religious hypocrisy. God is saying that we can pretend all we want, and we can continue in our lies and deceptions, but he is not fooled. When we willfully continue doing what God has said not to do, we show great contempt for God. God says he will judge us (See Rev. 2-3 for NT parallels).
Potential Results for Acting Faithlessly
Concerning these “magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds,” the Lord is definitely showing me these drones that our government uses against people of other nations and now against our own people; which are what are truly “looming” overhead [4]. They can shoot to kill with no arrest warrant at all. He is also showing me military might, nuclear weapons, guns (these mass shootings being of them), and “natural” (man-made) disasters (they can control weather). I believe we are responsible for these storms in Mexico [5], the uprisings in these various countries of the world, including inside Syria, these mass shootings in our own nation, etc., and I do believe God is going to bring these things down upon our own heads in judgment – it will come back to bite us, in other words.
I believe one of the judgments coming from God, in addition to shutting down our government [4], is a shutting down of the internet. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have been called out of the world. In Christ, we no longer belong to the world and its practices. Yet, so many Christians don’t get this, for they behave just like the world, and they are just as addicted to the pleasures this world has to offer as the world is, and have made them their idols which they put in front of their faces, and which have become their stumbling block. “I pray, Lord, that I will not be taken captive to the world, but that I will remain steadfast in my commitment to obey you in all things. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
I also believe we are going to see our land taken over by an enemy, and that we are going to experience economic hard times, great tribulation, famine, sword, pestilence, etc. because of our many sins, and because we have refused to listen to our God and to obey him and his statutes for our lives. Yet, we are not to fear what is coming. If we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and we depend upon him for all things, and we remove our idols from in front of our faces, and we return to our first love, he will give us all we need to make it through these days of hardship ahead. And, I believe revival of the church and the salvation of many lives will result from this judgment of God. Amen!
Do Not Fear / An Original Work / June 2, 2013
Based off John 14
Do not let your hearts fear.
Trust in God. Trust in Christ.
“In My house you will find
Many rooms I have
Prepared for you,
And I will come back
And take you to heav’n.”
“I will take you to be with Me;
You’ll be where I am.”
“I am the way and
The truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father,
Except he comes through Me,
So put your faith in Me,
And do all of what I command.”
“Whoever has My commands
And obeys them loves Me.”
“I did not leave you as orphans.
I sent you the Counselor;
The Holy Spirit to live in you.
He teaches you all things,
And He reminds you of Me.”
“My peace I give to you,
So do not fear, trust in Me.”
http://originalworks.info/do-not-fear/
News Resources: [1] http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920628000628
[2] http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/09/2013919145137928913.html
[3] http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Israel-pushes-world-not-to-be-deceived-by-Rouhani-as-he-takes-charm-offensive-to-US-airways-326582
[4] http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/19/20581426-shutdowns-and-debt-limits-making-sense-of-the-fiscal-deadlines-ahead?lite
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24170297
Peace and Security
I read several news stories which I will reference below. Evidently, the General Assembly of the United Nations is presently in session, with the general debate beginning in just four days from now and going through October 1st. And, supposedly the new president of Iran is there or is planning to attend. Purportedly a senior Iranian legislator made some comments with regard to the president’s visit, and this visit being “a good opportunity to foster peace and security in the world,” and that Iran’s presence will “prepare the ground for establishment of security and order across the globe” [1].
In another article, the president of Iran evidently made some statements of his own with regard to the whole nuclear issue, stating that his country would “never seek a nuclear bomb.” The White House responded to this by stating that they remained “ready to engage with the Rouhani government on the basis of mutual respect to achieve a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issues.” And, the author of the article posed the question concerning Rouhani’s message: Is it “a sign of thawing relations or more diplomatic deception?” [2]
This is what I believe the Lord Jesus is saying in response to all this. I believe he is saying these are false prophets, i.e. they speak lies and/or else the news media speaks lies. They are promising peace, but peace is really not what they have planned. I don’t know about the Iranian leader, but I do believe the Lord Jesus is definitely showing me that our leaders are speaking lies to the people, and that the “thawing relationships” are truly taking place between them and their own people, i.e. they are turning their backs against their own nation and are aligning themselves with the enemy, i.e. they are committing adultery against their own people and are plotting ruin for them, not peace. They are not serving to protect us, and they have made no plans for peace and security for our nation.
Stumbling Block of Iniquity
I believe the idols that are before our government leaders and their allies, which they have taken into their hearts, are a thirst for power, authoritarian and dictatorial control, world domination, suppression of the human race, and the elimination of all those who stand in opposition to them (in opposition to Satan’s rule), et al. Their words are deceptive. They can’t be trusted. They are occupiers; usurpers who do injustice to the people of this world. They practice “war-mongering policies,” and they send people to Syria “to slaughter innocent civilians.” They are wolves “in sheep’s clothing.” They are “long on smiles but short on substance,” and they are people of aggression and practitioners of injustice throughout the world. They mouth empty words of loyalty, devotion and commitment, but “actions are more important than words.” In other words, they don’t and they will not keep their promises. They are adulterers and murderers and extremely hypocritical as they pretend one thing but they do another, and they blame others for what they do. [3]
Yet, it is not just our political leaders who are at fault here. The church is at fault because a large percentage of today’s church has watered down the gospel of Jesus Christ, and thus they have not turned people away from their sins, but in many cases have actually helped facilitate professing Christians to continue in willful and unrepentant sin. Idolatry has become a huge problem within today’s evangelical church, as is spiritual adultery. With the introduction of home computers and the internet, and now with tablets, IPads, and smart phones, children and adults alike across these United States have unfiltered and private internet access to a world of evil 24/7. To many, their smart phones, IPads and the like have become their Bible replacement, and are what are in front of their faces 24/7 instead of God/Jesus Christ, and the truths of his word. And, this has been the moral downfall of a large percentage of the church population, including a large percentage of clergy.
So, God is calling out to us as a nation, and he is calling out to his church here in America to turn from our sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery, and for us to turn our faces away from all our abominations, specifically the idolatrous use of the internet leading us to sinful practices, i.e. that of allowing our idols to be taken into our hearts, and covering our sinful practices with lies, deceptions and spiritual and religious hypocrisy. God is saying that we can pretend all we want, and we can continue in our lies and deceptions, but he is not fooled. When we willfully continue doing what God has said not to do, we show great contempt for God. God says he will judge us (See Rev. 2-3 for NT parallels).
Potential Results for Acting Faithlessly
Concerning these “magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds,” the Lord is definitely showing me these drones that our government uses against people of other nations and now against our own people; which are what are truly “looming” overhead [4]. They can shoot to kill with no arrest warrant at all. He is also showing me military might, nuclear weapons, guns (these mass shootings being of them), and “natural” (man-made) disasters (they can control weather). I believe we are responsible for these storms in Mexico [5], the uprisings in these various countries of the world, including inside Syria, these mass shootings in our own nation, etc., and I do believe God is going to bring these things down upon our own heads in judgment – it will come back to bite us, in other words.
I believe one of the judgments coming from God, in addition to shutting down our government [4], is a shutting down of the internet. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have been called out of the world. In Christ, we no longer belong to the world and its practices. Yet, so many Christians don’t get this, for they behave just like the world, and they are just as addicted to the pleasures this world has to offer as the world is, and have made them their idols which they put in front of their faces, and which have become their stumbling block. “I pray, Lord, that I will not be taken captive to the world, but that I will remain steadfast in my commitment to obey you in all things. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
I also believe we are going to see our land taken over by an enemy, and that we are going to experience economic hard times, great tribulation, famine, sword, pestilence, etc. because of our many sins, and because we have refused to listen to our God and to obey him and his statutes for our lives. Yet, we are not to fear what is coming. If we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and we depend upon him for all things, and we remove our idols from in front of our faces, and we return to our first love, he will give us all we need to make it through these days of hardship ahead. And, I believe revival of the church and the salvation of many lives will result from this judgment of God. Amen!
Do Not Fear / An Original Work / June 2, 2013
Based off John 14
Do not let your hearts fear.
Trust in God. Trust in Christ.
“In My house you will find
Many rooms I have
Prepared for you,
And I will come back
And take you to heav’n.”
“I will take you to be with Me;
You’ll be where I am.”
“I am the way and
The truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father,
Except he comes through Me,
So put your faith in Me,
And do all of what I command.”
“Whoever has My commands
And obeys them loves Me.”
“I did not leave you as orphans.
I sent you the Counselor;
The Holy Spirit to live in you.
He teaches you all things,
And He reminds you of Me.”
“My peace I give to you,
So do not fear, trust in Me.”
http://originalworks.info/do-not-fear/
News Resources: [1] http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920628000628
[2] http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/09/2013919145137928913.html
[3] http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Israel-pushes-world-not-to-be-deceived-by-Rouhani-as-he-takes-charm-offensive-to-US-airways-326582
[4] http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/19/20581426-shutdowns-and-debt-limits-making-sense-of-the-fiscal-deadlines-ahead?lite
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24170297