Speak the truth of God’s Word into your life. Believe Him. Trust Him,
learn of Him and know He is with you where ever you go. Make Him the
focus of your life and grow in relationship with Him.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”—Phil. 4:13
Believe it. Speak it to yourself in faith.
When you are facing something that is causing you to fear, or doubt.
Turn to God. Trust Him and speak the truth into your life. Tell yourself
out loud.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
He is with you. He is working in you and through you if you know Him.
If you are trying to accomplish something; know that he is with you. Trust the Word.
Are you concerned with having your needs met? Trust God. Stand on the Word. Speak this verse to yourself and believe it.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’—Phil. 4:19
What does it say? Does it say “Some”? No it says “All”. God will take care of you. Say it. and trust Him.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”— Rom. 10:17
Speak the Word of God out loud to yourself and others. Believe it.
Say
“My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Say it out loud and trust it. It is a fact.
Speaking the Word out loud builds faith.
Is something making you think you lost your salvation? Turn to God
and ask Him to save you through Jesus Christ and speak these words over
your fear.
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.:—John 6:37
If you know Jesus, He will not cast you out. You might stumble. You
might drift away, but He is with you still. Just turn to Him and ask.
“I am in Christ, and He will not cast me out.” Say it and believe it.
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”—John 6:39
If we know Him, we will be with Him on that day.
Are you confused? Are demons whispering into your mind trying to get you to think God is out to get you?
Trust God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”—Rom. 8:28
Say it out loud.
“All things work together for my good. I love God and He has called me to Him and His purpose for my life. He is with me.”
Believe it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Your faith expands when you hear God’s truth and you trust Him.
It’s sort of like stirring yourself up, except that it is spirit. His
words are spirit and truth. They impact your soul and spirit and the
things beyond the veil. They build up faith, and when you see Him move,
your faith grows as well.
Are you facing something you cannot overcome, like addiction or some task?
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”—Rom. 8:37
Say it.
“I am a conqueror in Jesus name. I will overcome through Him.”
Speak it and believe it.
Do not let the devil, beat you down with fear and doubt. Stand on
God’s Word. Believe His promises and speak them into your life and the
life of others.
The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.
But, Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
“I have an abundant life in Jesus name. He has saved me and is blessing me.”
If the enemy can get you to stop trusting God, then you have no where to turn. You can believe the Word.
Even if God is causing you problems or allowing it. It is for your
good, and you can trust Him. Pray the Word. Speak the promises.
Stand on it.
(Do you have prayer requests or praises? Tell me in the comments or message me.)
We avoid deception when we are taught by the Holy Spirit
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears"--2 Timothy 4:3
The
scriptures teach that in the last days we shall heap to ourselves
teachers having itching ears, because we ignore sound doctrine and
follow our fleshly desires.
This is referring to the believer and unbeliever alike.
We
are perishing for lack of knowledge. We know it deep in our hearts. We
know it in our souls and spirits. Something is wrong and we seek to know
what it is. We seek anything to fill that gaping hole that can only be filled by God. (Hosea 4:6)
At the same time, we are
surrounded by people who want to be important. They think they are the
smartest one in the room and they often make sense or are so
charismatic, that they seem wise or command respect.
So
we gather around these people having itching ears and desiring to hear
from God through them, or anyone who can give us a spark of insight.
These people are shiny. They transform themselves into angels of light.
They teach works, and their end will be according to their works. They
are from Satan. (2 Cor. 11:12-15)
But, the scriptures teach that God Himself, has gifted teachers and given them to us. ( 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph.4:11.)
A
teacher from God is not the same as a teacher from man; or Satan. God
uses the base things to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:15-31)
But
we are so eager to fill a spot or chase after some preacher or teacher
who might not be from God.That we miss the real teachers from the Lord.
We want the pretty thing, not the rough thing. We want polished, not the
beat up clunker.
I'm not talking about learning a trade from a tradesmen. Although, we should seek to be led by God into that as well.
I'm talking about spiritual things.
So, how do we avoid the false teaching?
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit teaches us and leads us into all truth. (John 16:13)
John said that we have no need for any to teach us but the anointing will do it.(1 John 2:27)
James said, if we desire wisdom we can ask of God and He will give it.(James 1:5)
So,
how does this work? Well, first we turn to God and confess Jesus as our
Lord and believe in Him. We must be saved, have the Holy Spirit and
willing to believe what He teaches and what the Word says. (Romans
10:9-10, Romans 4:3, Gal. 3:6, James 2:23, Luke 11: 11-13, John
14:16-17)
Then, we ask the Lord to teach us and guide us. (Prov. 3:5-8)
He will open up the scriptures to you. He will open up your mind, heart and life to learn from Him.
You will see things around you and in your life that will grow you and change you and teach you.
God will lead you to the church and the teachers and preachers He wants you to have. Listen to His Spirit as He guides you.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.
But,
this takes time.
After being saved, Paul went
into the desert of Arabia to hear from God. Then after 3 years he talked
with Peter, to make sure what he heard was correct. Then, he continued
to learn from the Spirit for 14 years as he served. Even then, he still
made sure of what he was teaching. He already had head knowledge from
his
years as a pharisee. But, he needed heart knowledge, he needed Spirit
knowledge, he needed brokenness. This takes time. (Gal.1:1-24-Gal
2:1-10)
God calls his teachers and
preachers as He sees fit. It is a burden. A calling. It's not something
you get from a few classes. It's not something you get because you are
important in the community and able to attract listeners.
Jesus said "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."---(John 10:25-30)
With
so many voices around us, is it any wonder that we can't hear from God
anymore? Have you heard His voice? Would you know it? Jesus says you
will if you are with Him. Believe it.
How do we hear from Him? We listen to the still small voice not the earthquake or raging fire full of fear. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Jesus said "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (John 3:12)
Do
you believe the hard things in His Word? Do you believe the crazy
things in the Bible? Do you believe in six days of creation and one day
of rest? Can you believe in talking serpents and global floods? If you
can't believe that, then how can you believe that He rose from the
dead? (Romans 10:9-10)
How can you believe He is
coming again? How can you believe He answers prayer or will never
forsake you? How can you believe there is an enemy, and how can you
believe there are false teachers? Maybe even the one who preaches to you
about works every Sunday.
He
has given us teachers. But are we listening to HIS teachers?
Like the leaders of Israel
ignored and killed the true prophets. Do religious leaders keep the
people in darkness today as well? Do we heap to ourselves teachers today thinking we are so smart, or so spiritual?
If we trust the Holy Spirit and let Him teach us we will avoid the deceptions of these last days. We will know the truth. This is how the elect avoids deception, in these days of lies. (Matt. 24:24)
By letting the Holy Spirit teach us we grow in relationship with God and we avoid heaping teachers based upon our fleshly desires. Whether we mean to or not we have a tendency to want to hear from teachers who are agreeing with what we already know or believe.
This verse is not speaking of "desires" in the sense of lusts. No preacher is telling you to commit adultery or steal or kill, or be a drunkard. No one would follow this guy. But, the teacher is teaching based upon the desires of the fleshly mind, instead of the things of the spirit. Teaching a salvation by works, instead of grace. Teaching the religion of the Anti-Christ to come. A religion that twists and ignores the Word. Teachers serving Satan instead of God. A religion of deception and control, in order to lead the people into the Apostate Church to come.
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Start listening to Him right now. We avoid false teachers by listening to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us into all truth and open the Word for us. He will renew our mind. He will change us.
There really is only one thing moving behind the scenes.
What is going on in the world? Why are things like this?
Are you a conspiracy theorist or have you seen things that goes on in
history or in the news that doesn’t make sense? Things that seem to be
connected, but there’s really no rational way they could be.
Have you noticed that we always seem to head in the same direction,
like some unseen hand guides the events of the world and history.
Something you can’t prove but you can plainly see?
Have you considered the spiritual element?
Have you considered that humans have a spiritual enemy that seeks to rule over us and to dethrone God?
All those connections you cannot seem to make or that make you feel
crazy, are easily made when you consider that Satan, Fallen Angels,
Unclean Spirits, Demons, and the spirit of antichrist is working behind the scenes. It’s not just humans doing all the work themselves.
You wanna know who “They” are?
This is them.
“They” are spiritual forces of darkness in high places who direct humans to move us in a certain direction. (Eph. 6:12)
Do you see the pantheons of gods in history? Zeus, Odin, Osiris, Hades, Set?
In every part of the world?
This is them. The Fallen Angels. The Nephilim. The gods.
They have worked since the beginning of the world to bring it under
their complete control, and for Satan to be worshiped as the most high
god. (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19)
They have done the same thing, over and over again throughout history.
They corrupted Adam and Eve telling them that they would be as gods, getting them to doubt God’s Word and Goodness. (Gen. 3)
This allowed them to be able to take dominion of the Earth from Adam.
They now rule behind the scenes, and have for a long time.
Why does this matter?
Because history is one big story of these guys trying to take over and be worshiped.
It is believed the Fallen Angels came to Earth at the time of Jared in the Bible. (Gen. Chapter 5.)
They corrupted humanity, and abused all of nature. (Gen. 6)
They were with human women and giants were born to them. These were the Nephilim.
Mythology also speaks of “gods” like Zeus taking human women, and demi-gods were born.
The ancient gods were the fallen angels, and their offspring. Like
all stories it changes over time. Little details change here and there
but the core is the same. These “gods” were known all over the world.
When Alexander the Great of Greece invaded Egypt it is said he was amazed that they worshiped the same gods.
The stories of the gods are the same to some extent all over the world.
Could it have been the fallen angels?
How did ancient people come up with the same beliefs all over the world?
Ok, so the fallen angels came to earth and connected with the line of Cain.
St. Augustine says that the fallen ones in the Bible are referring to
the line of Cain corrupting the line of Seth. He rejects the idea of
fallen angels.
St. Augustine’s view became the common teaching. Helping to hide the
truth. But, one must ask. How does two human groups procreating with
each other bring out giants? And the Bible teaches there were giants.
Goliath was a giant.
I believe it was both. Fallen angels came, giants (demi-gods) were born, and the line of Cain corrupted the line of Seth.
The world was ruined.
So the Flood came and washed it all away.
Now, when you look at this story and read the Biblical texts. What
you will find is that the same corruption is going on in the world
today, as we race towards destruction.
By the time the Flood came the humans and giants under the direction
of the fallen ones, created a world wide trade system. They built huge
structures. Globally. It is claimed that they did lots of evil things.
Human sacrifice, Cannibalism, Slavery, mixing of animals and humans, if
you can imagine an evil thing, it was happening. It’s believed there was
science and sorcery of the most vilest types. Were there really ancient
aliens? Or were they Nephilim, and humans directed by fallen angels?
Could aliens be fallen angels or demons from another dimension of
existence, instead of another planet?
After the Flood only eight humans survived.
Do you think God believed that a flood would destroy angels and demons? Nope.
Do you think God believed a flood would destroy sin? Nope.
Sin is a corrupting plague.
But He washed the Earth clean, and waited to see if the corruption
came back. If it does then it must be burned. And that is where the
earth is headed. To be burned with fire.(Lev. 13:47-59)
So, what we see after the Flood, is that the whole world is united.
They are led to build a tower. This tower was supposed to unite and
protect humans from another catastrophe like the Flood.
It is believed that Nimrod was the king that led in the building of
the tower. He is a picture of the Anti-Christ to come. He was led to
build the tower by the fallen angels and demonic forces it is believed.
This tower is a picture of the New World Order being built today. It is
also a picture of the technology that is working to unite the world.
(Gen. 10 8-9, Gen. 11)
God came down and confused the languages and the people scattered over the Earth.
This is why there are different names for the gods, and for the first
king and his family. This is why the mythologies are the same, but
different globally.
Satan and the fallen angels were thwarted again. This is the second
time they tried to build a global empire to worship Satan and oppose
God.
Do you see the pattern?
From this point in history the “gods” directed humans and led them to create massive empires. To control and unite humans again.
God does not want humans united, unless and until we are finally united under Christ.
History is full of kings who claimed to be descendants from gods, who went forth to conquer and united the world under them.
Do you think that’s a coincidence?
Perhaps they really are descended from the Nephilim?
When you look at history, the Bible, prophecy, mythology, and
conspiracy with this mindset, you really see some interesting things.
Who is really behind the scenes and why?
When we look at the book of Daniel we see an image of a human, which
described global kingdoms throughout history. It shows Babylon, Persia,
Greek, Roman, and a future (or present) kingdom. But, the entire idol is
one idol. Which means that all these kingdoms are not really separate.
They are all united and they are led by Satan, the fallen angels and
demonic forces. (Daniel Chapter 2)
This is a very simple picture of the ancient world. Controlled by
empires and the “gods’. Which brings us to the time of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was killed by the Roman empire and by the religious leaders.
Both of whom were controlled by Satan, the fallen angels and demonic
forces. Paul plainly states that the “princes of this world”
crucified Jesus. He is not talking about the pharisees or Rome. he is
referring to demonic princes, described in Daniel. He is talking about
Satan and the fallen angels who are principalities and powers in high
places. (1 Cor. 2:8, Daniel Chapter 10, Eph. 6:20)
We read in John Chapter 13, that when Jesus gave Judas the sop of
bread. Satan entered into him and he went to betray Christ. This plainly
shows that demonic forces killed Jesus. They used Judas to betray, They
used the religious leaders to condemn, and they used the Roman Empire
to execute him.
But, when Jesus was crucified and rose again He broke the power of
the Fallen Angels. We see the power of the “gods” being destroyed
globally in history throughout the world.
Coincidence?
What we see from this point is the same thing as before,
Empires growing around the world led by Kings, Priests and Presidents.
We see great atrocities committed globally. We see the creation of
global economies and corporations. We see international bankers and
secret societies coming into being.
We see problems created, then solved by the same people who created
them. We see money controlling the world, while billions are kept in
poverty and bondage.
We see the world uniting constantly under new empires of commerce and ideology.
The world always heading in the same direction. More control. More connectedness.
All of it directed by those who rule behind the scenes. Those who have ruled from before the Flood.
So, when you discuss conspiracy theories, whether it’s the Catholic
Church, or The Royals, or the Rothchilds, or the Illuminati, or the
Knights Templar, or the Tri-lateral Commision, or the Bilderbergers, or
Bohemian Grove, or the Federal Reserve, or any of it.
For the past week meteorologists have been warning about a coming
winter storm. It’s freezing rain and snow will cause problems, they say.
And folks believe them. They stock up on bread and milk. They buy icy
melt. They break out the snow gear and the shovels. They check on
family. They stay home to keep roads clear and safe. They close
businesses to keep people safe.
Because they believe what they are told.
The Word of God tells us that there will come a time in the future when the world will face great trouble.
The Word tells us that we will face trouble in our own lives.
The Word tells us that we will face death someday.
A storm is coming.
Are we going to believe it? Are you prepared?
When an ice storm is coming, we listen to the experts. We listen to
the people who have seen it before, and we rest in the experiences we
have had in the past. This helps us to prepare for the coming storm.
Likewise, we can turn to God to save us and see us through the future
storms of life and death. He can save us for eternity. We can trust
Him. We can trust His Word.
When we believe the warnings of the ice storm we respond.
When we believe the Word of God we can respond also.
Belief leads to response. Faith leads to action.
Jesus told the paraplegic man to take up his bed and walk. (John 5)
But, what if the man had not done it. Would he have been healed?
He was healed because He believed and responded to the Word given him.
We are told “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”—
Rom. 10:9-10
When we read this verse do we believe it? Or do we doubt?
Do we say “Yeah but there has to be more to it than that. How can a
person just say some magic words and get saved? Don’t they have to love
God and obey Gods law?”
We make up all kinds of excuses because we cannot believe the simplicity of salvation and the love of God.
Satan is more than happy to give us excuses to get us to doubt God’s
goodness and Word. It’s the same thing He did to Eve in the Garden.
(Gen.3)
Our belief leads to a response. The response is to turn to God
(repent) and confess Jesus is the Lord and He is our Lord, and believe
that He rose from the dead. Which is believing the Word we have been
given.
Do you believe it? Do you believe He died for you, and rose from the dead? Do you believe He is God?
Yeah but… “Faith without works is dead.” Some will say. — (James 2)
Belief or faith requires a response, and the response is confessing
Jesus as our Lord. Confessing is a work. Baptism is a work. Communion is
a work.
What did the thief on the cross do?
He confessed Jesus as Lord, then he told the other thief about Jesus.
That’s it. And Jesus said “Today you will be with me in Paradise”–Luke 23
Likewise, when we confess Jesus as Lord, and tell others about Him, we will be with Him in Paradise, when we die or He returns.
That’s it. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”—Matt.
10:32
We confess because we believe. Belief leads to a response.
God’s grace and our belief and confession is how we are saved. That
salvation leads to a relationship with God as we see Him moving in our
life. Our faith and belief grows in Him.
We trust that He forgives us. We trust that He is with us and will
never leave us. We trust that He loves and cares for us and will take
care of us, and we see Him moving and doing it. This leads to praise and
thanksgiving which helps grow the relationship, faith and trust.
That is belief. That is faith. Our response is to confess Him as
Lord, love others and build the kingdom. We are saved and healed so we
lead others to be saved and healed in Jesus name.
But, there’s a storm coming.
Storms in our lives and in the world.
Trouble comes, and we can turn to Him and He will move. Stand on the
promises of God in His Word. Trust Him. And when you see Him move it
will build your faith and relationship.
But, the coming storm will be of darkness without hope. Some say believers will escape,
but that has not been proven. God will be with us through the storm.
Just like He was with the disciples on the boat, and with Israel through
the plagues.—(Luke 8, Exodus)
He will be with us as this world gets worse and worse. As terrible things fall upon the Earth preparing for Christ’s return.
Do you believe it? Are you preparing for the times of trouble and His
return? Are you getting people saved, and preparing your own self?
The scriptures are clear that when He returns there will be church
people who thought they were saved but were not. People who prayed a
prayer, or people who sat in church every week. But, never believed.
They never really confessed Him as Lord. They never fully trusted Him to
save them but instead trusted their own works. They never had a
relationship with Him.
The storm is coming.
But, many do not believe.
These false brethren will fall away when the trouble comes. They will say “Where is the promise of His coming.”. They will wonder why He has delayed His return. —(2 Peter 3:4, Luke 12:45-46)
Then, they will form the apostate church and help the Anti-Christ
persecute the saints. They will beat the men servants and maid servants.
They will go back to living for the world. They will be like Judas the
betrayer. —(Luke 12:45-46, Rev. 6, Matt. 24, )
And when He returns they will be foolish virgins without oil. (Matt. 25)
They will have taken the gifts and talents and salvation the Lord
gave them, and buried it in the sand instead of responding in belief and
serving the Lord. (Matt. 25)
They will stand before Him saying “when did we see you naked?”
Because they never believed and turned and let the Holy Spirit lead them
to serve others and love people and help them. (Matt. 25)
They will not be clothed in the wedding garment because they never knew the King. (Matt. 22)
They never had a relationship with Him or confessed Him as Lord.
They just went to church every week, judged others, and tried to obey rules.
And He said “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
The storm is coming. Do you really know Him.
Can you trust Him when they are killing your church? Can you trust
Him when they threaten to fire you from your job if you won’t take the Mark of the Beast?
Can you trust Him, when people who call themselves Christians lie to
you, attack you, betray you and destroy your life, or lead you to death?
Can you trust Him when you face homelessness and starvation? or will
you turn back like Lot’s wife, desiring the comforts of the world?.
(Gen. 19)
The storm is coming, the Word says.
Turn to Him,
and ask Him to save you. Confess Jesus as your Lord. Believe He rose
from the dead. Believe the Word, given to you. Tell others about Jesus,
building the kingdom.
The Holy Spirit will come and teach you and lead you into all truth. (1 John 2:27)
And you will know Him and have a relationship with Him.
And when the storm comes you will be safe in the Ark, that is His salvation and care.
When the waters rise and beat upon you, you will stand firm because
you’ve built your house on the Rock of Jesus Christ, who is the living
Word. Not on the sand of your own works and power. (Matt.7)
There’s a verse in Isaiah that people like to quote.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.”—Isa. 40:31
Tough times come into our lives.
It doesn’t matter what kind of tough times, because it all does the
same thing to us. It brings us to a place where we are faced with
trusting God or not.
When you look at the temptations of Christ, you will find that they all end in the same basic question.
Do you trust God?
Do you trust God to provide?
Do you trust God to protect?
Do you trust God to answer?
Do you trust God to guide?
I am in the same boat. Destroyed and abandoned by people I called
friends. People who claimed to be friends. People who call themselves
believers in Christ, but do not love the brethren, like He commands.
I’m waiting upon the Lord.
What does that mean?
Well, it means to continue doing the things you know for a fact He
called you to do. It means doing what is right and abiding in Him;
keeping the relationship with Him.
He called Abram to follow Him out into the wilderness and Abram went. “Come unto a land that I will show you.”
And Abram followed as God led. It was a daily walk. But, God led him to a place where Abram was fulfilling his purpose.
Abram listen to God’s leading, as frustrating as it is to not know
the whole plan. But, the following and the waiting and the learning the
voice of the Lord was the real plan. That was the relationship.
And Abram, became Abraham, the father of nations. A powerful prophet in the land where God led him.
As sheep we follow the shepherd. We know his voice because God
teaches it to us. We see Him moving and we remember what He tells us. We
trust in the things He has shown us and confirmed in His Word.
He leads us by the still waters. His rod and staff comfort us. Not
because of where we are, but because of Who is with us. Nothing can harm
us for real. He is there.
Our faith grows in the relationship. It grows when we hear God’s Word
and we put our faith in it and stand on it despite all odds. His
promises are true and no matter what happens He is with us. He will
never leave us nor forsake us. We can stand on the Rock of Christ, the
Rock of His Word.
Turn to Him and He comes running. Seek and you shall find. Ask and it
shall be given to you. Knock and it will be opened. We have not,
because we ask not. We are his children, we can come boldly to the
throne and seek Him in our despair.
While we wait on the Lord to show us the next step, we stand on
faith. We stand on His Word, and the things He has shown us in our
lives, which is our testimony. The testimony of the great things He has
done for us.
We can trust Him. He is coming fast.
Like the Israelite’s in the desert waiting on the pillar of smoke and fire to move. He will move.
Faith comes by hearing the Word. Speak it to yourself.
“Whatsoever I ask in His name He will do.”
Believe it.
Trust it.
Drive the doubt out of your mind with it.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Say it.
Believe it.
Stand on it.
Let the promises fill you with faith and drive the demons of doubt and fear and infirmity away.
“By His stripes I am healed”
Believe it.
“Take up your mat and walk”
Believe it.
Get up and get busy.
Do what you can do.
Grab that promise and run with it.
Dance before the Lord and trust that He has your back.
He is coming. He promises.
You will run and not be weary.
Believe it.
Our relationship with Him forever is being built.
We know Him, through the relationship He is building. We know Him as
we walk with Him through the desert. We know Him as we wait upon Him and
continue in well doing till he comes.
And He is coming.
You will hear His voice and see Him move to help you.
Christmas is a time for cheer. A time when we slow down and remember the things that matter most.
It’s a time when we celebrate the birth of a King. The birth of a savior. Jesus Christ our Lord.
As has been pointed out many times, December is not the actual date of His birth. It was probably sometime in September.
But, there is a symbolic reason for the choice of December 25th
When you consider the darkness in this world, and the shadows of evil in our hearts.
When you consider that we are in bondage to our wicked ways and the demonic forces of Satan, the usurper.
When you consider the blackness of the souls that are ruling this world and the misery they impose on us.
We can see the darkness.
The cold savage darkness full of torment.
Just before Jesus was born, King Herod commanded that all babies
under two years old be slain, in order to stop the birth of the true
King. (Matt. 2:16)
Herod wanted to protect his blood line’s power.
But, the demons who really rule behind the scenes wanted to keep the world in bondage to them.
To keep the world in darkness.
And what is more dark, than rulers killing children?
It was the darkest of days.
But, a light came into the world.
On that day Joy and Love came to save us from death and raise us up to be with Him.
The light came to shatter the deep and break the power of the forces of spiritual darkness in high places.
The true King was born.
And we celebrate it in a symbol.
A symbol of the light, and a symbol of salvation.
On December 21 we have the darkest day of the year.
We have the day the light goes out.
The day the light dies and goes into the grave of death.
Then, three days later the light is born.
A picture of our savior in the belly of the earth 3 days.
Dec. 22, Dec. 23, Dec. 24
December 25th the light is born. The King is come. He is born to be
with us. He was born to die for us and rise from the grave, to set us
free. And He will return soon to destroy the darkness, forever.
The
spirit of antichrist has been working in the world since before the
Flood of Noah, even till today.( 1 John 2:18, 22, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 John7 KJV)
It has one job. To create the Anti-Christ system in preparation for the appearance of Satan's messiah, the Anti-Christ in these last days
When
you see in the Bible the world being taken over by evil before the Flood of Noah. That was the
spirit of antichrist. When you see Nimrod building the Tower of Babel
and uniting the world against God. That was the spirit of antichrist.
When
you look at history and see all the world conquerors. That's the spirit
of antichrist. When you see the idol of Daniel, showing the kingdoms of
history. That is the spirit of antichrist.
When you see the 20th
century and the struggles between capitalism and communism and fascism
for global control, and control of the mind. That is the spirit of
antichrist.
As you see the uniting of the world through torment and destruction, and fear. That is the spirit of antichrist.
The
word antichrist, does not mean against Christ. It means "instead of"
Christ. It's job is to unite the world under the Anti-Christ, and get
them to worship, another god. That god being Satan who desires to be the
most high.
The spirit of antichrist does not care about our
politics. It uses all sides to push its agenda. It works through
individuals, groups, religions and governments to gain more control and
build the infrastructure for the Beast system.
There are humans
who rule this world, and have submitted to the antichrist spirit and
other demonic forces. These humans from top to bottom are deceived
slaves.
Even good Christian people can and are used by this spirit to help push the agenda.
The
Holy Spirit and God's Word, helps us to fight these things if we are
Saved and Spirit led. Remember, Satan can quote scripture and use it to
oppress people. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all Truth. It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that quickens, the Sword of the Spirit.
We
are called to fight the good fight of faith against the enemy in all
its forms. But, we know we have already won, and the final victory must
be Christ's.
When they say Christ has come, do not be deceived, you will know when your Lord comes.
When they say you are an extremist. Rejoice for so persecuted they the prophets before you.
When they threaten you, and strip everything from you, and beat on the door to come in, fear not for He is with you.
Remember, all these things must happen but the end is not yet.....for He is coming...quickly.
-----
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“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”—Heb. 11:1
Translation: Faith is made up of hope for things we do not see and have never seen, but have evidence for.
If we rightly divide this verse we first need to understand what “Hope” is.
Hope is not a “Gee I sure hope so.”
No, it’s “more like “My only hope”. It’s like a life preserver or
like a harness that a steel worker wears when he is on a high rise and
needs a safety line to prevent falling.
We hope for things we have never seen, but have been given evidence of.
We have never seen God. We have never seen heaven or hell.
But, things have happened in our lives that have given us evidence of the reality of these things.
We have seen God move in our lives and answer prayer. We have seen
people get healed of disease. We have seen blessings come to us and to
others. We have seen the beauty of nature and the signs it holds. We
have felt God in our spirit, comforting us.
This evidence is our lifeline to God. God provides this evidence so
that our lifeline will be stronger and cause us to reach out to Him more
and trust Him more. God Himself is our lifeline and He provides faith
for it.
He gives us faith at birth, and He builds our faith to believe in
Jesus Christ and put our faith and trust in Him. Then, He continues
throughout our life to build our faith. If we know Him.
Hebrews chapter 11 is called the faith chapter of the Bible. This is where we can get a definition of what faith is.
The very first thing it mentions is having faith in God’s creation.
Belief that God created all things out of nothing, simply by speaking it
into existence.
We believe in creation because God told us in His Word that this is
what happened. So, by faith we believe His Word. Our belief in His Word
makes us righteous. Abraham believed God and it was counted to Him for
righteousness. When we are told of Jesus Christ, we have the chance to
believe or not. If we believe, then we are believing the Word of God,
and we put our faith in Jesus Christ and we are declared righteous.
Jesus is the living Word of God. (Romans 4:3 Rom. 3:22)
God washes us and places us in Christ. This is what happened to all
the Old Testament saints. They believed God and God declared them
righteous and placed them in Christ. Just like us.
Remember God is not bound by time or place. God is not filled with
doubt. He knows for a fact that His plans will succeed. So, when an Old
Testament saint died, having never known Jesus, God places them in
Christ because they believed God’s Word.
So, if that saint was alive to today, and heard a sermon on Jesus.
This saint would have accepted Him. I know this might not be liked by
some believers, but every person who has ever been saved has been saved
by grace, through faith. Not by works. They did the works because they
believed the Word God gave them.
Grace comes from God and we see evidence, then choose to put our faith in Him at His Word.
Obedience or works are nothing without faith.
They are just rule keeping or going through the motions.
There are some things we cannot do without faith first. Like
Confessing Jesus is the Lord, or believing He came in the flesh. (1 Cor.
12:3, 1 John 4:1-3 )
Like Abel sacrificing the first of his flock, as a picture of the
future sacrifice of Christ. That’s what ALL sacrifices are. (Heb 11)
He did this because He received a Word from God, or believed the Word of God given to Him from Adam.
He then became a picture of Jesus, when he was killed by His brother
because of envy. Like Christ was killed by His brethren for envy. (Gen.
chapter 4, Matt. 27:18)
And they were sent to wander the earth.
We see that Enoch walked with God. He had a relationship with him,
just like we are called to have a relationship. But, it started by first
seeing evidence of God from God, or it came from a Word given from God
by someone else. Perhaps from Seth, or from Adam himself. (Gen. 5:22-24)
Remember Adam often walked with God in the cool of the day.
Do you see that our faith leads us to know God and walk with Him. it
leads us to seek Him and turn to Him and let Him direct our paths.
It’s a relationship not rule keeping. No one is saved by keeping the
law. We are saved by knowing Him. By confessing Jesus is the Lord and
having a relationship with Him by faith. (Rom. 3:20-31)
Noah built an Ark. Because He believed the Word given to Him and he
acted upon it. Who in their right mind would build an ark in the front
yard?
Our faith might lead us to do crazy things. It might lead us to look
strange or be persecuted. But, it might also lead to the saving of our
family, friends and world.
We see that Abraham believed the Word God gave Him, and he was made
righteous. He went unto a land that was not his own and trusted God. He
trusted God even though Abraham never saw the promise fulfilled.
There are things we are trusting God for. And we might never see it
fulfilled, until we stand with him on that day in glory. When we cross
into Paradise to be with Him, and we see the new heaven and new Earth to
come.
We seek a city, a country, a future place with God called Home. For this place is not our home.
Sara believed that God would give her a child in her old age. Even
through her doubt, God provided. Despite her laughter the promise came
and she was written in this book. Because God’s promises are not based
upon our faith, and obedience. But, on His might, grace, and goodness.
He does it. Not us. (Gen. 18)
Our faith often leads us to reject things in this life, knowing God has a better plan.
Like Moses who chose to reject the high living of Pharaoh and suffer
with His own people. Because He knew that he would be the Deliverer and
knew that Christ would deliver us all. (the book of Exodus, Acts Chapter
7, Hebrews 11:26)
All of the Old Testament saints teach us that God gives us a Word, and by faith we believe that Word and follow Him.
Jesus is that Word. And when we turn to Him by Faith, He saves us and
directs our paths through His Holy Spirit and the relationship we have
with Him.
Even through persecutions and a tough life we keep turning to Him and calling out to Him in faith trusting His Word.
And even if we do not see the promises fulfilled in this life, we know that there is a better day.
So, since we are surrounded by the great saints of old and the lives
they lived we can turn to Jesus and trust Him through faith like they
did. Setting down our burdens and letting Him wash away our sin. So, we
can be free to live the life with him that he called us to live. (Heb.
12:1)
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He wrote it, and will bring it to pass in our lives. Not by our works but His.
And it was a joy to Him to endure the suffering and shame of the
cross for us. Then sit down at the right hand of God in power. (Heb.
12:2)
Through faith we are saved and our faith grows as God builds it
through our relationship. And every bad thing we face, and every good
thing we receive, all works together to build our faith as we turn to
Him and trust Him.
And His promises will come.
They come today. They come in the future. And they come forever.
Trust Him.
-----
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“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Jesus tells us a story about a young man who left home and went to make a name for himself. (Luke 15:11-32)
It could be a kid going to college with his parents credit card.
Or a kid chasing a dream with his fathers support and blessing.
We know this guy. We have seen him or her in our families or neighbors. We have seen them in ourselves.
We are free. We don’t have to answer to anyone.
We are trying to make it. We are chasing a dream or forced to take care of ourselves.
But we get pulled off the path.
Like the man in Jesus’ story.
He started riotous living. He started making friends in low places.
He was meeting all the best guys or best girls. He was getting drunk and
using drugs of all kinds. He was down at the club, or local bar. He
woke up next to all kinds of people.
And all the dreams died.
We’ve been there, or seen people there. We can smell the smells,
taste the tastes and hear the sound of the music thumping. We’ve done
the beer runs, and smoked the things that make us wanna go get some
more.
They are living for the party. Living for friends. Maybe living the
dream. But, it’s not the real dream. It’s not real hopes and dreams.
Jesus says that trouble comes. A famine in the land.
And trouble always comes. The party always ends.
It could be an accident that causes it. Maybe a divorce or break up. The loss of income and friends. Illness.
But, the party ends.
This causes us to get desperate. These times of trouble can lead us
to draw more into the party life, trying to hold on. Drinking and
drugging more to try to numb the fear and pain. Chasing things that is
not good for us. Trusting people we should not trust. Waking up in
places we do not want to wake up in. As our friends abandon us.
And we break. We have no choice. We are ruined.
Jesus said, the man went and got the worst job possible. The lowest of the low, just to keep himself from starving.
But, even that wasn’t working. He wanted to eat the pigs food.
We might end up homeless, digging in the dumpsters. We might even
consider a life of crime. Stealing, selling drugs, stripping and
prostitution to survive.
We hit rock bottom. We are as low as we think we can go.
Do not be deceived. There are always worst things that can happen. Rock bottom has a basement.
Jesus said, that the man woke up. He was willing to be a slave in His fathers house.
How desperate are you? Are you desperate enough to turn to God and
say “I can’t do it! I don’t know what to do! But, I need you! Do
whatever you want but please save me and help me.”
Are you so desperate to be free from your troubles and addictions and
life, that you just give it all to God, and even if He kills you or
throws you in prison or cripples you, it’s ok.
How desperate are you?
Jesus said the man went to see his father. He was desperate. He had ruined his life and was not worthy for anything good.
But, the father saw his child a long way off, and ran to him. And hugged him and held him.
That’s God.
He sees our broken and desperate heart, long before we even get to
Him. And He comes running. He comes running to save us and help us.
He wraps His arms around us and makes us His child. He brings us a robe and a ring and we are with the father forever.
And our life changes. We see things happening. Good or bad, but it’s
ok because the Father is with us. He shakes it out and gives us hope. He
grows our faith as we draw closer to Him. And we see him move. And more
faith grows.
The dreams come back to life and we see them growing in Him. We see
good things coming into our life, and it comes even more abundantly.
God himself is working in our life and everything is fine.
He blesses us where we are because we are His. We are His child and we turn to Him and know Him.
And He always comes running when we turn to Him. He always moves to
help us, even when we can’t see it. He is working and it will work out.
He is with us.
I often run into Christians who speak of the devil as though he is
powerless and weak. That he is a defeated foe and not a real enemy.
It’s almost like they haven’t actually read the Bible.
Yes, Christ defeated Satan on the cross.
Yes, God is in complete control.
But, no where in the scriptures have I found instructions for us to ignore the enemy. or act like he has no power.
As a matter of fact the Apostle Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
A lion will roar, and it will cause the herd to flee. This gives the
lion a chance to devour the young, weak and infirm. We have the power
through faith to resist. But, it is an obvious affliction on those who
are attacked.
It’s not something to be ignored, or belittled.
We are told in the book of Jude to not be foolish in how we speak of
Satan, the fallen angels and spiritual forces. They have power and
authority. (Jude)
Paul says That we are not to be ignorant of the enemy. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
So, we need to know what we are facing. Not to treat the enemy as if
he is nothing or ignore him, but to face the enemy properly.
We are called to resist. But, how can you resist if you do not know anything about the enemy? (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7)
So, let’s do a quick overview of the enemy.
It is believed that Satan fell through pride because he wants to be God. (Isa. 14:12-15)
At some point after his fall, he used a Serpent to deceive Eve, and get Adam to fall. (Gen.3)
Adam had dominion of the Earth. But, when he fell Satan took that
dominion. That is how he became the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4)
There’s a lot more to this story, but it could lead to an entire book.
So, Satan has authority in this world.
Paul plainly states it. All the Apostles state it.
When a person is born into the world they are born in a right
standing with God. They are subject to death, but not hell. Until they
commit the first sin, knowing it’s a sin. Then, they are subject to
hell, just like all humans.
It is also at this time that the person becomes a slave to Satan.
They are his children. They are his slaves to various degrees.
(Ephesians 2:2)
Here’s where some Christians will jump up and say “Yeah but he is defeated! God is in control!”
Yes, Jesus defeated the enemy on the cross. And there will be a future victory as well. (Gen. 3, Luke 10:18, Revelation)
This means that when Jesus died and rose, He defeated Satan. He set
the prisoners free. ALL the prisoners or slaves under Satan’s control
are free. But, only a few will hear the call and turn to Jesus to obtain
it.
Saints are free from the control of Satan. We are saved and cannot
lose it. But, as the Bible warns we can open doors and let the enemy
back into our lives again. We can fall under that power. Take addictions
as an example. (Matt. 12:43-45)
We can also still be impacted by Satan working through other people or nature.
All of this is plainly taught by the scriptures.
But, there will still be those who say “Yeah but God is in control!”
He certainly is.
Nothing can happen to us that God has not allowed.
We see this both in the book of Job, and when Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31-33)
Why? Why does God allow the devil access to us?
It seems that Satan has some kind of legal authority to ask, and
expect an answer. We can speculate on why this is. But, we do not fully
understand how things work in the spirit realms.
What we can say is that we have faith and power in Jesus Christ to
resist the enemy. We have access to the King in prayer. We have God’s
Word and promises we can stand on. We also have a relationship with God.
We know Him. We know His character, and the Holy spirit dwells in us.
So, we know that God is always good. He seeks good always. He loves
us and wants us with Him. So, no matter what happens, He is on our side,
and we can use it to grow closer to God, and grow in faith. We can turn
evil around for good.
But, how can you do that if you do not recognize evil? If you ignore
the fact that we have an enemy, how can you stand against him or turn
his attacks around for good? (Rom. 12:21, 2 Cor. 10:1-6)
If you feel that everything comes from God, then how can you call anything “Evil”?
Does God do evil?
Of course not, but He does allow things to happen. It’s our job to
have faith in Him and turn to Him. Then turn the evil for good. We use
it to save people or help people.
The scriptures tell us that the enemy possesses power. So, let’s do a
list of what this power is. And I am in know way stating that this is
everything. But, starting from the beginning of the Bible and going
through we see that the enemy has the power to…
Deceive people who are walking with God and know Him, if they are not
careful. If they doubt God’s Word, and Goodness. He can use our loved
ones to get us to turn from God. He can use nature as a cover for his
activities. We see this in Adam and Eve.
We can see in the book of Job, that Satan and his angels go about the
Earth. We see that He has the power to cause a tornado to kill people.
He can get humans to rob and kill others. He has the power to cause
disease. He has the power to get our loved ones to turn against us. He
also has the power to kill. (God would not let Him kill Job.)
The book of Job shows us that no matter what happens God is with us and we are to stay with Him. Trusting Him and His Goodness.
But, we see here that Satan is the prince of the power of the air.
He apparently has power to control the weather. Which explains why we
see ancient people all over the world making human sacrifices of babies
to gods, so they can have good weather for crops, and fertility. We see
the destruction weather and climate can cause.
He uses humans to kill, steal and destroy, obviously. How does this
control occur? It’s possible that it starts with a whisper into the mind
of a leader who then gets men to follow him. A leader whom Satan worked
to put into a position of power.
We see that he gave Job a disease. We do not know what disease. It doesn’t matter.
All of this, the destructive weather, violence of men and disease,
came upon Job and led Him into despair. So, Satan can also cause
despair. (Except for God. Job continued to trust God and lean toward
Him, and that’s what saved him.)
Job also shows that Satan can get our loved ones to betray us, or at least add to our torment.
I tell you this so we can recognize what is going on around us and
pray properly or respond correctly. We respond with spiritual warfare.
We respond with love and prayer and praise and trust in God, and His
promises. We overcome evil with good. We take the bad that happens to us
and turn it around to serve God and help and save people.
So, let’s fast forward to the New Testament.
Immediately after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. (Matt. 4:1-11)
This is a lesson for us. Have you ever considered that the moment you
got saved and was baptized Satan was allowed to tempt you, and sift you
as wheat?
I’m not saying he is. I’m not saying it happens to everyone, all the time.
But, the question must be asked. If you’ve never been tempted by the
enemy, or faced spiritual warfare, then whose child are you?
The temptations Jesus faced are temptations we all face, except for Christ, they were far more extreme.
We learn that we can overcome these things by faith in God and His goodness, as well as using His Word.
So, we see that the enemy has the power to tempt us, and try to get
us to fall. But, we can resist and if we fail we can turn to God and
confess it to Him. (1 John 1:8-10)
We also see that Satan has power over the nations of the Earth. This is confirmed in the book of Daniel. (Dan. 10)
Paul also speaks of how the enemy has power in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that there are unclean
spirits and demons that work in peoples lives. and we are called to wage
war against them.
We also see that his greatest earthly rival was the religious leaders.
Jesus plainly said they were the children of the devil. (John 8:44-47)
So, we can say that Satan used religious leaders to kill Jesus and
persecute the Church. He got these religious leaders, to use the
governmental powers, to kill people, and impose laws upon them to
destroy their freedom.
The Bible also says that there are false brethren, false teachers, and false prophets. (2 Cor. 11:26, 2 Pet. 2:1)
All of whom are probably listening to Satan.
Since he is the god of this world, and has power over the disobedient
children. and he has power over nations, governments and religious
leaders.
Then, we can say that the empires seeking to conquer the world, are
doing it by his authority. That when they oppress people and persecute
saints, it is by Satan’s authority, throughout history and even today.
Ok?
We see from Jesus’s ministry that the enemy can cause a friend to
betray us and deny us. Even in the face of death. Even to betray us to
people who will kill us.
Friends and family.
The Bible teaches that saints will be betrayed unto death by those closest to us. (Luke 21:16)
History teaches it.
We see saints dying the most horrific deaths for Christ, caused by the devil.
The enemy will attack and tempt our family in order to get them into
terrible situations simply to hurt us. But, we turn this for good and
tell them about Christ.
All of the apostles and saints around the world have faced
persecution. And there is more to come. That is the reality, even though
we might not face it in our current time.
So, as you can see the enemy has power. We are not called to belittle
it, but to stand against it. We are not called to fear it, but to turn
it around for good.
It is a tactic of the enemy to get believers to not wage war, by making us think he has no power.
Now, understand that through Christ we have power and authority over
the enemy. Through faith we can stand on His Word. We are overcomers
through Him who is in us.
But, if you think there is no enemy you won’t exercise that power.
People crack jokes and say “The devil made me do it.”
Well, maybe he did. Maybe instead of joking about it, we need to wage war and make sure of what is going on.
Maybe there is a devil behind every bush. Maybe it’s a roaring lion.
God is with us, but we are called to wage war. If we are saved we are free from Satan but we are still in a war.
God is with us. He protects us. Nothing can touch us unless it is allowed, and we can overcome it.
This life is just a moment. Every terrible thing only lasts for a second compared to eternity.
And when we die we go to be with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)
There’s no need for fear. There is no need to be focused on the enemy.
But, we are called to wage war.
We are called to turn to God and focus on Him, and we shall overcome.
