What is The Curse?

 What is The Curse?

A Lesson on God's Curse.

In the Bible, in the book of Genesis the 3^rd chapter we see that God curses the Earth.

 

We need to clarify what this is and what it is not. Because there is a ton of truth that impacts our daily lives which stems from this event.

Let’s lay down some facts before we get to the curse, because you must understand some things in order to see what has happened.

First, God created everything good. Because God is love and God is good. This is a fact. We might not understand it, because we are fallen. We cannot understand God’s ways. But He is good and love. The definition of love in Gods eyes can be found throughout the Bible. I Corinthians chapter 13 is a good place to find it. Also, the fact that God left a beautiful heaven and came to terrible Earth Himself, to die an awful death to save people who hate Him. Is the paramount, vision of love.

You have to understand this in order to see what the scriptures are saying. Accepting that God is good and that He is love and that He loves us is very important. When Satan tempted Eve, he got her to doubt God’s goodness and love.

So, He created everything good. And because of love He gave us and the angels free will. In order to have free will you must have a choice. God could have created everything to love Him, but that’s not truth or real love. So, there must be free will. Forced love is not real love. There must be the option to choose something else.

The choice for humans was the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil placed in the garden with them. God warned them not to eat of it. They had everything they needed. That’s God. He takes care of His creation. There was nothing missing in the lives of Adam and Eve. They were also created good. In God’s good creation.

God warned them, “On the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” This shows that death existed, but was not in the world. There was no death at this time. Understand that nothing God creates can be destroyed. He is God. He is good. Death is not an end or destruction. It is a separation to a different place and a different form. Death is separation from God and from each other. (This is to stop the spread of Sin.) If we are made righteous by God, then we go to Paradise to be with Him. If not, then we are separated to the quarantine garbage dump of Hell or Hades. Then the Lake of Fire.

It needs to be said that time is different with God. And that time is not fully explained in the scriptures. God created everything in 6 days, then rested on the 7^th. That’s a fact. But we do not know how long things sat after creation.

We know that Satan fell because he desired to be as the most high God. How long did that take? How long till he made that decision? This fact proves that angels and other spiritual being have free will the same as humans. Because they fell. Love requires free will.

Next, we see Adam and Eve in the Garden. How long were they there before the fall? We know that Adam had time to name all the animals before Eve was even created. How long did that take? Then, after Eve was created, how much time did they spend together until the fall?

We also do not know what affect death had on the Earth. Nothing died until death entered. Then, things started to die slowly. People lived for hundreds of years.

Which brings us back to the fall.

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So, Satan in the form of a Serpent/Dragon/Dinosaur came to Eve and got her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The scriptures tell us exactly what happened. That is what happened.

We have heard all kinds of speculation on what happened and who was to blame and all of that. I’m not going to get into that.

What we can see is that Satan caused Eve to doubt God’s Goodness and Love. He got her to think that God was withholding something from her. That God was oppressing her in some way. He got her to doubt God’s Word. This is the foundation and the blue print for false teaching.

Eve responded by trying to be morally superior. She quoted God. “Do not eat of it” then added her own religion to it. “Or even touch it.”. we do not know if the addition was from her or if it’s what Adam told her, because she was not present when God gave the initial warning.

Anyway, we see false teaching and religion on display here.

So, she eats, and gives it to her husband to eat. Now we don’t know how this actually worked. We envision that they were together, when this happened, but Adam could have been somewhere else doing the job God called Him to do. We don’t know.

The Bible says that Eve was deceived by Satan but Adam was not deceived. This will be explained by God at the curse, despite all the accusations given by preachers over the years.

So, they both ate.

And their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked.

Now understand some things. Before they ate, they did not see a problem with the state they were in. They were happy. All their needs were met, they were in relationship with God and they did not see a problem.

But after eating they discovered they were naked, and were ashamed and covered their nakedness with leaves.

God created nakedness. There is nothing wrong with nakedness. The story is speaking of spiritual truth. It is a picture of our fallen state. We as humans see our problem. We see our failure, and we create rules and religions to cover it.

When they ate of the fruit they died spiritually and became separated from God in spirit. This is the state of all humanity. We are separated from God and the things of the Spirit realm beyond the veil. God removed them from the Garden. They and us no longer had access to Him or real spiritual things.

Remember, God said… “On The Day you eat of it you shall surely die.”  But Adam did not die that day. He died 900+ years later. This is why Peter says that God’s days are a thousand years. (2 Pet. 3:8)

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So, God comes to find his children who have fallen. He knows they have fallen but He wants them to confess. This is very important, because our confession to Him and our admission of our state is part of our salvation. We must be real with God, and let Him take care of us.

So, God covers them with coats of skins. The Bible does not say where these skins came from or what they are. But it is a picture of God covering us with Christ. Not our man-made religions.

So, all of this was said to set us up to look at the curse. I’m going to post the verses here, then put commentary within.

First, realize that this is what the curse says. Death and Sin is not part of the curse. Disease is not part of the curse. Poverty is not part of the curse. God did not do that to us. Those things are the results of living in a world ruined by Death, Satan, The Plague of Sin and the Fallen world. Not the curse. The curse is very specific, and was designed by God to save us and bring us back to Him. This is important to see.

¹⁴ And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Have you seen any dragons or dinosaurs lately? No. All you see are reptiles, that crawl mostly on their belly. Not massive proud beasts. Humans lived with dinosaurs in the garden and after, when we were run out of the Garden of God. Dinosaurs existed up to and a little after the Flood. This is the curse on the Serpent, or Hisser in Hebrew. The next part of the curse transitions from physical to spiritual to prophetic.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

We see the physical aspect. There is a feeling of dread between reptiles and many women. This also goes on for generations. We see this and it’s truth of what God’s Word says. But it transitions into the spiritual. Because the Serpent is Satan, and the Woman is the Church. Or the believers made righteous in Christ by God. We are at war with the forces of the fallen angels. This war continues with every person who gets saved. The last part is a prophecy about Christ. He will crush the head of the enemy. This happened at the cross and will happen when he returns and ends it all. Remember, God is speaking to the Serpent and Satan here. The message is to him.

Next God speaks to the Woman.

¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Now understand that we again transition from physical to spiritual. This is very important to catch. First, the physical is plainly speaking of a woman’s concern for the family and the things of the family. She is a nurturer and has a heart that strikes her differently. Remember she was created to be a help meet for Adam. (I realize that in this day and age we want to avoid saying “All Women” do this. But, yes, in this fallen world, things do get confused). Then, we see the pain in child birth and the suffering of motherhood and caring for children. The heart breakings that go with motherhood. The concern for the children. Then, we see that she will desire to help her husband, she is his help meet. But her sinful nature will cause her to desire to rule over him, and he instead will rule over her. It’s the battle of the sexes. Both men and women have corrupted natures that cause us to be prideful, angry and not listen to each other. Before the Fall it was not this way.

Ok, now we transition toward the spiritual, because why would God do this? He’s God. He is Good and Love. His nature doesn’t change. So, this is not punishment, as some like to believe. It serves a loving purpose.

This was designed by God to cause her to seek help. Help from who? Well, hopefully help from God. The woman’s desire to protect her children and family was designed to cause her to turn to God and be saved and pray for her children and to get them saved as well. And to try to minister to her husband. See? As it says in first Timothy chapter two; that she is saved through child rearing. (1 Timothy 2:15) We know that we are not saved by works (Eph 2) so, being saved through child bearing must imply that some aspect of raising and having children will draw the mother to God. In context this seems to be accurate.

Now we look at the spiritual, because the woman is the Church. We struggle in our battle between flesh and spirit and Satan. While we work to bring more people into salvation. We will try to create religion, to replace Christ. But He will still rule over us.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Again, we will have a transition from physical to spirit. First, God plainly states what Adam did wrong. He listened to his wife instead of listening to God. God warned him not to eat of the fruit. But he chose to listen to his wife instead. Adam was not deceived, he willfully ignored God. This is why our corrupted nature and the plague of sin comes through Adam. This is why Jesus was born of a virgin in a pure womb without the works of man. Jesus was without Sin. He did not even have our corrupted nature. He was tempted like us, but succeeded, because there was nothing in Him to draw Him into sin. (James 1: 13-14)

Notice that God does not curse Adam. He curses the Ground. It’s my belief that when the Flood came, it washed away the perfect world, that existed at this time and left us in a world where the ground does not produce like it once did. It’s very possible that the former world was so fertile that you could plant one seed and gain a harvest, and eat one fruit and it would sustain you for a week or more. And nobody got fat. We could eat whatever we wanted and not get fat.  Maybe?

But, because of the curse our world is now in competition with itself. Everything struggles for the meager resources available. Course, if we all lived within our means we would be fine. But, because we fear death and do not trust God or others, we struggle and strive to always have more than we need. This goes for all of creation. This a response to death and the fear of it.

Man will work and struggle to survive. He will fight to protect and provide for his family. While everything constantly decays and falls apart and must be repaired and replaced.

But, like the woman this curse was designed to get Adam to seek help. Help from who? To reach out to God for help. That is the reason for the Curse. It is designed to get us to turn to God and be saved by Him. We live in this world of death and evil, ruled by Satan, but if everything went well, we would never turn to God. We would just continue in our fallen state. But, the hardship of the curse causes us to wake up and realize we need help. Then God presents Himself as the help. He comes running when we call out to Him.

This is why the love of money and wealth causes problems with salvation. As Jesus said, “its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven” (Matt. 19:24) Why? Not because of wealth. We are not saved by works. But because wealth insulates us from the problems of life designed to cause us to need God. If you can throw money at all your problems, you have less need to throw yourself on God for help.

From the physical we transition to the spiritual.

We as believers shall eat the bread of the Word of God as we struggle in our battle with the enemy and our flesh. Till we die physically and until we finally kill off the fleshly man and bring forth the new spiritual man. The old life, must pass away as we grow into the new in Christ.

²⁰ And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

The woman is the Church. Christ declares that she is the mother of all those who are saved. We are saved by hearing the Word from other saved people, who follow the Spirit.

Notice in Genesis 2:20-23, right after she is created Adam names her Woman, because she came out of man. There was no need for salvation at this time. She was a living spirit. But, after the fall she is renamed and becomes; ‘Eve” the mother of all living. Because now there’s a need for salvation after the fall. She is a picture of the Bride of Christ, the second Adam; Jesus.

²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

We are hidden in Christ, and with Christ. We are washed in His blood and covered with His righteousness. This is the salvation of all those who are saved.

²² And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:

²³ Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Why?

First, remember that Adam was created from the dust of the Earth, then taken somewhere else to live and serve.

It’s my belief that the Garden was in the city of God. Adam saw God. He spoke with Him, he walked with Him in Paradise. He had a relationship with Him. But the Fall severed that relationship and made it to where Adam and Eve could no longer live in the Garden.

In their fallen state they had become more fleshly and of the world. Not Paradise. Their eyes were opened and they were no longer in a state of Goodness. They had fallen.

This fallen state would have been made permanent if we had eaten of the Tree of Life. If we had eaten of it then heaven and everything would be corrupted forever. God could not save us and bring us into His kingdom. We would be filled with evil and the plague of Sin and death forever.

The way of salvation is blocked. Unless we go through Christ. He is the Gate. Robbers and thieves try to come in another way. But the right way is through Christ.

So, that is the reason for the Curse, and what is going on in this world. Turn to Jesus and find life.

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 Bio:Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Global Unity

 Global Unity

A Word on Satan's Global Plan.

Global Unity is a goal of Satan. He needs everyone together so he can rule them, and they will worship him.

He mimics God's plans, because he wants to be as the most high God. (Isa. 14:12-15)

God wants to save people and unite them in Christ. Satan wants to get followers and unite them under his messiah the Anti-Christ.

We see before the Flood, Satan and the Fallen angels corrupted humanity. They twisted the bloodline of Cain. Then deceived the Sethites to fall as well, till only one man was found who followed God and resisted the corruption. (Gen. 6)  This is a picture of our current times. The world is twisted and enslaved by the enemy and even the Church is being pulled in, so the wheat can be revealed. All preparing for the fire to come. But, there are those who have been made righteous.

After The Flood, Satan again brought humans together at the Tower of Babel and God came down to separate the people groups, by language. Then, caused the continents to separate, to divide the people even further. (Gen. 11:1-9, Gen. 10:25)

Why would God divide the nations?

Because a divided people is harder to rule. So, Satan cannot rule a divided world. This division has slowed the efforts of Satan to unite the world, under his messiah. He rules and enslaves humans in the spirit, but not openly in the flesh yet. But, that day is coming. Things start in the spirit, then in the fullness of time come into the world.

Ever since the Tower of Babel, Satan has worked to unite the people of the world under himself, to prepare for his messiah to come. He has led world conquests. We see in Daniel, the image of some of the world conquerors. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the empire of these latter days.  Each seem separate. But, they are all one image. Ruled by the wicked one. (Daniel 2: 31-45)

Satan has used the religions, and false religions to conquer the world and unite them under his messiah.

In today's world, he is using democracy. Strong as iron but weak as clay. He twists minds to get them to vote as he wills. He is using technology and the internet, as today's Tower of Babel. Getting the world to believe and say the same things. 

All for his messiah, His Superman, to come and save the world from the destruction he has caused.

Which is the Anti-Christ, or the "instead of" Christ.

So when you see the effort to create unity and destroy divisions, know that the spirit of antichrist is working. Real unity only comes in Christ.

He seeks to destroy divisions in genders, races, countries, cultures, religions, history, heritage, and blood. he seeks to destroy God's creation and His image in everything.

He causes destruction so he can come and be the savior. He causes hatred and wars so he can claim to unite of the people. The Prince of Peace. 

 

God's division is not hatred, it's protection. It's to create more time for more people to come to know Him.

God sets us free and calls us to join Him in Christ. He does not force us. He does not steal, kill, destroy or cancel.

He just asks.

Read more posts on prophecy:

 
The Spirit of Anti-Christ

The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

The Great Falling Away

The Holy Spirit vs. The Anti-Christ Spirit

The Princes of This World

 

False Teachers 

 

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture 

 

The Lord's Delay

 

 

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 Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author.

The Beasts of the Field

 The Beasts of the Field

A Lesson on our Christian Struggle.

When we get saved, we might notice that there are things that change in us immediately. But, there are other things that do not. It's like God saves us and removes some things but leaves other things in our lives for us to struggle with. I mean if God wants us to be good, then why  not just take it all  away?

I really had a problem with this, so I prayed about it and the answer was revealed to me in Deuteronomy Chapter 7.

But, first let's do some clarifying. If you have spiritual questions, the first place you should turn is the Lord. James says God will give you wisdom if you ask. Jesus says in John, that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. (James 1:5, John 16:13, 1 John 2:27)

Second, Paul said that The things that happened in the Old Testament was done to teach us things today. ( 1 Cor. 10:11)

So, when you read Deuteronomy chapter 7 you will see that the chapter is about God giving instructions and encouraging Israel in their battle against the wicked people who were now occupying the promised land which God was bringing Israel into. He is telling them that He will help them to overcome these people. 

BUT....  

He then says this "And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee."

When I read this it struck me.

The entire Exodus story is a picture of our salvation. God brings us out of the World (Egypt) by His mighty power, not by ours.

He parts the Red Sea (sin) and brings us through to where He sets us down to teach us.

He brings us to the abundant life he promised.(The Promised Land) If we fail to trust Him, then He lets us wander in the wilderness till our faith builds and our old selves die out.

That's what happened with Israel, and that is what happens with us in our salvation experience and relationship with him.

See it?

So, imagine that the nations in the promised land are not people groups. Imagine them as sinful behaviors or demons in our life. Yes, They were literal people groups, but God did this to teach us a spiritual truth, as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians Chapter 10.

So, we enter into the abundant life He promised. An abundant life comes through salvation and a relationship with Him. When we are saved, God has washed us and removed us from the Kingdom of Sin, Satan and Death, and placed us in His kingdom. This is a spiritual act, which will become increasingly more real over time, and be fulfilled when we leave this life. Abundance is not what we think it is. But, our mind will change to see the abundance. Our abundance is in Him and His presence and provision. As He chooses. (John 10:10, Romans 12:1-2)

As we live and grow in Him, these demons (wild beasts) are driven out and we no longer do the things we once did. This is spiritual growth. God drives out the Sinful behaviors or Demonic entities from our lives.

See it?

He does this as we grow ready to receive it. When we get saved we are washed and cleaned. But there are still battles. As we grow we overcome through Him, and the battle grows us and prepares us for the next battle. All this is done by Him and through Him. Not our works. The Fruits of the Spirit are developed in us as we listen to His Spirit and follow Him.

If God just took it all away, then we would not be prepared to hold on to it.  More demons and sinful behaviors would come because we were not ready to stand against it. We could not occupy our life, the abundance would lead to our destruction. Like a poor person winning the Lottery and they are ruined in a year. They did not have what was needed to excel.

Like Jesus said, " When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (Matt. 12:43-45)

So what do we learn from this?

Well, we learn that God is in control He is fighting the battles and we just move in and occupy. Sometimes its tough waiting, but that is teaching us patience and trust. 

Sometimes we grow frustrated and think God is not there or He doesn't care about how we are suffering. But, that is not true. That is the enemy trying to get you to step out of God's will or take matters into your own hands. The Lord will tell you what to do. Trust Him. He is working. (I'm not telling you to stay in really bad situations. pray and seek Him, listen to the Spirit. He knows the truth.)

So, the point is that you are saved. You know you are saved, because you care about spiritual growth and the relationship with God. So, relax. God's got this. Do not think that the dirty little things you do are destroying your relationship with God. Just confess them, and watch Him work. Your confessing to Him, is bringing it up so it can be removed and you can grow. No matter how many times you fail. Keep confessing it.

He has left things in your life to help you grow and to keep you in relationship with Him. He is not worried about it. You should not be either. You are not ready to hold on yet.

Read Deuteronomy 7. Think of it in terms of your struggles. Be encouraged. God saved you cause He loves you. He did not go through all that pain and effort, just to let you die in the wilderness. Trust Him.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Read more from Chris Bunton:

Hearing From God... https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/2024/02/hearing-from-god.html

Created Good

 Created Good

A Word on Fallen Man and God's Creation

The Bible plainly states that God created everything Good. (Genesis Chapter 1)

This is a foundational statement that sets the rules for our universe. I'm not talking morals only. I'm talking everything. It's purpose is for Good.

The Bible speaks of Reaping and Sowing. It's a natural law that applies to everything. We reap what we sow. (Gal 6:7-9, Gen 8:22)

Now, remember. God created everything Good. So, in a good world with good people, the rule of reaping and sowing would bring more good things to the people, because good people sow good seed. That's a lot of good. God is good and He loves us. That was His original intent. There was no disease or poverty in the Garden.You wanna know what God's will is? Look at the Garden.

BUT!

We are fallen. Because of the fall of man, we have a corrupted nature. So, we no longer do good. As a matter of fact. We do evil continuously. We reap what we sow. (Genesis 6:5, Romans chapter 1)

God did not design His Good creation for evil people. This is why humans do not seem to fit into creation. We are corrupted. We were created to live in relationship with God and the creation. We were created to protect and keep it. But we are corrupted.

After the Fall, Death came into the world with all the things that go with it. The Plague of Sin, came and corrupted Man. 

Then, in order to help Mankind. God laid the Curse, to get humans to turn back to Him and be saved.

So, when we wonder what's going on in the world, we can come to some conclusions. Are we reaping what we sow, as individuals and nations?

Is it our corrupted nature and fear of death? Is it our twisted DNA, and the Sin that infects us?

Remember, we also have an enemy who stole dominion of this world from humans when we fell. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:3-4)

He literally has massive influence on human actions and the things that go on with our planet.

Everything he does seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. It seeks to enslave us and force us to worship him as God.

The temptations that cause us to sow evil when we fail, comes back to destroy us and enslave us.

The temptations that cause us to hurt people or the creation when we fail, comes back to more hurt and more laws. 

These temptations from the enemy when we fail, gets us to destroy ourselves and others. We plant seeds for harvests of evil to come. 

God seeks to save us. He wants to free us, and give us a good life. He desires to break the chains that bind us and drive out the strongman and strongholds of evil in our lives.

But we gotta turn to Him. He have to surrender ourselves to Him. We must confess that Jesus is the Lord, and ask Him to save us. (Romans 10:9-10)

He is our only Hope.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author

The God Who Answers

 The God Who Answers

A Word on God's Movement in our Life.

We live our lives in this world, where we seem to have no control. Where we look every where for answers.

We seek answers from gods, idols and wisemen. We seek answers from deep within ourselves. We seek solutions from sorcerors and alchemists. We seek to join pop culture and the knowledge of our world. But we continue to flounder in the dark.

In the Bible, there's a story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings Chapter 18)

Evil had taken over the land. The government was corrupt. The religion had become corrupt and wicked. There was drought and famine in the land and all the people were corrupted as well.

But God called Elijah to challenge the enemy. And Elijah went. He told the prophets of Baal.

"Let us pray over the alter of sacrifice and the God who sends fire is the real true God."

The prophets of Baal cried out to their god. They tried everything they could but nothing happened.

Then Elijah told them to pour water on the altar. Then more water. Then Elijah prayed, and fire fell from heaven consuming the sacrifice, altar and even the water.

The Lord, is the one true God, and he is the one who answers.

Our lives are broken and we've tried everything. And nothing has helped. Everything has failed.

God is calling you to turn to Him and ask Him. You've tried everything else.

It doesn't matter how evil, how corrupt, or how much water you have poured on it. God will come as a consuming fire and save you. Then, He will change your life, if you give yourself to Him. (Acts 2:21 KJV)

Just call on Him. He is waiting. He is seeking you. Just ask Him to save you and confess that Jesus is the Lord, and you want Him to be your Lord. (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)

Believe in Him. Learn of Him, and trust Him and His promises.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

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The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

 The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

A Word on what the future might hold.

I’m not going to argue scripture over the timing of the rapture. Because, the scriptures do not tell us when the rapture will occur, nor when Jesus will return. It’s not there. I have heard many views on the timing of the rapture. Pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, post trib. I have heard that there will be two raptures. I have heard scripture twisted and turned in every way possible to make their own view fit.
     

I have seen prophecy guru’s claim that the Soviet Union was part of the last day’s scenario and built whole story lines about it. They called anyone who didn’t agree with them a heretic, who didn’t know scripture or didn’t know the original language. Then, the Soviet Union fell.
      

I’ve seen these people swear up and down that the European Union is the 10 nation confederacy. If you don’t believe it then you don’t know the Word! They’d claim. But, then the European Union went past 10 nations. Then, Britain left the Union. So, what now?  Well, now the experts scramble to come up with explanations that fit their ideology.
       

I love prophecy, and I believe Jesus is coming soon. I believe we are in the last days, and there might be a pre-tribulation rapture at any moment…But…Hold on…There might not be.
       

Now before you burn me at the stake as a prophecy heretic, please realize that my desire is to follow Jesus Christ. I want the truth. I want to follow the Holy Spirit who leads me into all truth. I don’t want to join a camp or group of Christians who believe a certain way, and refuse to listen to anyone else.
       

I want to believe what the apostles believed. They believed that Jesus Christ was coming soon; in their lifetimes. They seemed to believe they would face tribulation, because they were already facing it. Like Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33)
       

I lean in the direction of pre-wrath. The Bible says that believers are not afforded to wrath. I think that this is referring to God’s final wrath. It doesn’t mean we won’t face tribulation. There are some guru’s who call the entire 7 year tribulation God’s wrath. I’m talking about the final destruction. Jesus said, “As in the days” of Lot and Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (Luke 17:37) In both instances the righteous or the believer, was left living beside the unbeliever until just before the flood came or the fire fell. Noah did not sit in the ark for 7 years having a feast. Lot did not sit in the mountains for seven years as things got worse, in Sodom. In both cases, the door was shut, and the person was removed or made safe, just before the final doom fell. The door being shut, I believe is the end of the Gospel; the end of grace. (Genesis chapters 5-9 and chapter 19)
       

We see in the Exodus story that God sent plague after plague upon Egypt. But, His people were protected from the plagues. There was a distinction made between the Egyptians and God’s People. In the Bible Egypt is often viewed as a picture of the world. God can protect His people through trouble. It will be said that this is referring to the Jews and the Jews will be here but Christians will be gone. My argument is that we as Christians are grafted in. The Bible says it. (Romans chapter 11) God can protect us through tribulation.
       

I think there is plenty of reason and evidence to suggest that believers will be here for large parts of the tribulation period. One reason is that we will be here to try and get more folks saved, up until the time the door is shut. Another possibility is that the church will be weeded out. Just like Lot’s wife, and the great falling away. Which I believe will be one event, but it will also be over time. Time will work on folks to pull them away, and there will be a final event that will bring about the great falling away and create the apostate church. Tribulation could be the reason folks start falling away, and God leaves us here for that to happen. It could be much like the cleansing of the temple. He drove out the money changers. (2 Thess. 2:3)
       

The church could be here, as the Anti-Christ makes war with them. The times are bad, plagues are falling and the saints are telling people about Jesus, but other folks, who have practiced churchianity, instead of Christianity start to fall away, because they never knew Him. The believers are protected, for the most part, but we stay on the earth to save the lost and wake up the backslider, and for God to weed out the unbeliever. Then, Christ returns and we go to meet Him in the air, as God pours out is wrath upon the Earth. Then we return with Him for judgment, and the marriage supper.
       

I’m not saying I’m right. But, I believe that American Christians need to start exercising their faith and start expecting to see tribulation. To me, it’s far wiser for Christians to be ready to endure through hardship, than to expect to be removed. God will remove us when He sees fit. In my experience God almost never does things the way we want Him to. We don’t want to suffer. But, I think we might have some.
       

Anyway, I want to encourage every believer to read God’s Word, and study prophecy. Look at the different views. We do not know the hour. But, we can prepare for whatever might come.

Draw closer to the Lord. When the time comes and if the Church is going through the Tribulation period. It will be very hard to try to build more faith in the Lord at that time. Things will be happening and you will need to make decisions that will lead you down some dark paths. You need to know the Lord is there. That comes through experience and relationship.

Do you really know Him?

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Our First Love

 Our First Love

A Word on Prophecy, The Love of Money and Brokenness

    
I see folks on Facebook talking about praying to God to heal the land, and to stop the evil in the land, and to drive away pestilence and all of that. I've heard it for years.  But, do they consider how God will do this? Are you really ready for it? Maybe the problem isn't the things YOU think are the problem. Maybe those things are the symptoms. Maybe our love of money is the problem? We are like fish swimming in the love of money. It is everything we breathe, even if we don't want to believe it.

Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)

When God brings a person to Himself, He often breaks the person. He has to get them to let go of everything and turn to God only. That is how it works in real life, that is how it works in God's Word. It works that way with individuals, and it works that way with nations. God does not see things the way we see them.

 So, are you willing to be broken? Are you willing to be poor? Are you willing to suffer, and trust God? What if God allows our economy to be destroyed? Would you help the poor? If he makes you one of them? When Christ returns He judges the nations. He says nothing about abortion, racism, homosexuality, pornography, drugs, or any of the other things preachers preach about. He says..."What you did unto the least of these you did unto me...."  (Matthew 25)  He judges based upon whether we loved. Whether we helped the poor, the sick, the naked, the prisoner.   THAT! is good stewardship. That! is what a good and faithful servant does. He acts as His master and let's the sun shine on the just and the unjust.

Yes, we are saved by Grace through faith, being born again and confessing Jesus as our Lord. But, people who are really saved hear His voice and love others. They do the things the Lord would do. That is Godliness.

Remember in God's Word, when God sent the people into Babylon, he does it because they were greedy and destroyed the land. They allowed no rest for the land or the people. Just money, money money. Greed. They did not trust God to take care of them while they let the land rest. They did not trust God. So, He put them in a situation where they had no choice but to trust Him. And the land rested. The debts were forgiven. All the wealth was taken away. (I'm not going to give you the verses. You need to learn God's Word, and learn how to use a concordance. There are great ones online. Read Jeremiah)

 Are we really ready for God to help us? Are we really ready to realize that maybe the abortion we cry about are caused by our love of money? Are we willing to see that our children are handing our land over to the enemy because of our love of money?  Are we willing to believe that our love of money, keeps us from being good stewards, and helping those around us?  Are we willing to see that every industry and institution is corrupted by the love of money? Even His houses of worship makes decisions because of  the love of money, instead of people?

The time is drawing short. Revelation speaks of the Black Horse, which is obviously an economic collapse with famine. (Rev. 6)

The Book of James has this to say about the same event.

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

³ Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

⁴ Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

⁵ Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

⁶ Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you."  ---James 5:1-6

Don't think that rapture will remove you. It's better to turn to God and let Him break you. That is real healing. It's coming.

So...

Don't be surprised when we are broken.
Don't be surprised when we need wheel barrows full of cash.
Don't be surprised when we run to Egypt to sell all we have for some corn meal.
Don't be surprised, when the cows of Bashan, walk around in filthy rags. (Look it up)
Don't be surprised when we are sold into Babylon
Don't be surprised when we must choose between Christ and a bite of food, or the Mark.

Do you really want God to heal us? Do you trust Him enough to let Him break us? Joy comes in the morning; when we remember our real first love.

Who is your first love? God or Mammon? Be honest? 

This is not condemnation, this a call to turn to God.

The love of money is very deceptive and hides well.

Who is your first love?

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the Author, A sunrise over Alexandria, Virginia