God

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Fear not the rear!

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Deut 25:17-18

One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to attack you when you are tired and worn out. You are vulnerable. You aren’t watching. You aren’t vigilant.

Take heart and have hope when he attacks you from the rear.

The God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isa 52:12

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Isa 58:8

God is always vigilant for you. He knows when you are weak and will watch over you. He knows when you are down and out – full of despair.

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isa 41:10

Praise God! When you’re not looking out for yourself – HE IS!

Abba, I trust You completely with my life today! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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Predicting Prophecy

Giving prophecy is not as difficult as predicting prophecy, which seems somewhat ironic – to predict what is predicted.

To give it properly you would just speak what God has given you to speak, just as the prophets of old did, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so on.

What each gave can be a more difficult thing.

For instance in Rev 17:9 it says,

Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

I know Rome sits on seven mountains (hills) but it is not the only city to do so.
Here are a few on that list.

  • Kampala, Uganda
  • Albany, NY
  • Athens, Tx
  • Athens, Greece
  • Tehran, Iran
  • Amman, Jordan
  • Mecca, Saudi Arabia
  • Barcelona and Madrid, Spain
  • Moscow, Russia
  • Lisbon, Portugal
  • And Jerusalem, Israel

Now does Rome seem likely? In my opinion so do Athens, Mecca, Moscow, Tehran, and Jerusalem.

Only time will tell how prophecy is fulfilled.

Keep the words of Jesus in your mind at all times,

“Look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28

Abba, Your word will be fulfilled as You see fit. I await that fulfillment but until then I will be diligent to share the Gospel of Jesus. YES&AMEN

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Protect yourself!

Last time I wrote about false prophets and deceivers.

Those that propagate a false gospel are very popular. The preaching of erroneous gospel is very feel good – very pleasing to the ears.

There is no mention of a penalty of sin since there is no mention of sin.
No hell, just heaven.
Anything goes. You are told there are many ways to heaven but you must just be faith and diligent on the path you choose.

The congregation can be very large and the pastor is well off financially. He seems to exploit the wealth and poverty of his followers by promising things he can’t deliver.
His sermons may include secular and humanistic ideas. Even thoughts from non-Christian sources like Muslims, Hindu’s, and Buddhist.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 2 Tim 4:3

The best defense against false prophets and deceivers is to know the truth. Reading God’s word reveals the reality of what God desires for you to know about sin and salvation.

This is the reason the Bible says,

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph 6:11

And,

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:13

The armor of God is designed to protect your heart and mind against the falsities of Satan.

Abba, I receive Your word into my heart and soul to protect me from the lies I will hear today. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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You can’t escape the Word!

I remember one Sunday, not too long ago, I was preaching. Actually I was reading a lot of scripture and I had someone get up and walk out the door.

It happens. It happened to Jesus.

There was a time when some guys wanted to judge, convict, and execute someone that broke the Law of Moses.

Jesus said that if any of them were without sin they should go ahead and do it.

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. John 8:9

The spoken word of God is powerful.

The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12

The word of God convicts and there are those that cannot stand or sit in its presence.
The reading of the word conflicts with their life and so they must get up and leave.

I fear the day will come for the unrepentant when they shall hear the word and not be able to get away from it.

The Bible says the day is coming when the books will be opened and the dead will be judged by what is written in those books. (Rev 20:12)

I believe the books that are opened are the 66 books of the Bible. Each word is read and there is no escape.
The Law is read along with the penalties for disobedience and there is no escape.
The Prophets are read and tell of the coming Messiah and the re is no escape.
The Gospels are read and there is no place to run.
The letters of Paul are read and there is no place to hide.
When it’s over each person is convicted by their own conscience and by God Himself.

I pray that no one ever walks out again on God’s word. It is the word to change lives if they will listen and heed it.

Abba, I know there was a time I, too, did not listen to Your word. I ignored it. I mocked it. I ridiculed it. But now I live for Your word. It is the very air that I breathe. It is life to me. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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Which Way Are You Going?

I worked our radio station booth at the Texas State Forest Festival last night and left late. I took one of the volunteers that helped home, since it was pretty much on my way.
He lives around a massive construction area on the north side of Lufkin.

Now I’m familiar with the construction to a certain point. I drive through it twice a day but I don’t deviate from the main route of the loop around Lufkin. To take him home I had to go on the other side of that area into unfamiliar territory.

After dropping him off I exited the same way I had traveled to his home. I was met with a “One Way” sign in the wrong direction. I only knew one thing to do. Turn around and find a different way.

A back road to the loop met with a new road that I had never seen or been on before, also a one way. But it was the right way and I made my way onto a more comfortable and familiar road and then I was homeward bound.

There are many paths and ways to travel in life. The Bible speaks about some wrong ways like the way of Cain (Jude 11) or the way of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15) just to name two.

Traveling those directions would be a wrong way and you should not enter. If you are traveling that direction you need to turn around and find the right way – the only way.

Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Jesus is the right way home – and eternal home in the presence of God the Father.

Stop where you are today and ask yourself, “Am I going the right way?” If Jesus isn’t in the equation then the answer is no!

Repent (turn around) and ask forgiveness from Jesus for your life. Now you’re heading the right way!

Abba, help me to be one that would point the Right Way to others. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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Little Children

I am surrounded by children. I have my 12 year old granddaughter, 9 year old grandson, and 10 month old grandson living with me.

Each of them have something in common – they depend on me.

Each of them are in a daily learning process. Haylee and Braeden may go to school every day and learn the three R’s; but the youngest is learning the basics of how to crawl, stand, and the meaning of the word “No!”

I’ve watched how Braeden will do just about anything he is told to do, while Haylee wants to resist it and Dawson is learning the meaning of the word “No!”

All of them are dependent on me for transportation. I provide the means, the way, the gas, the insurance, and I usually determine the route.

I buy the food for the house. I pay for the roof over their head and all the utilities to run the home.

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:3

I feel that God wants you to be totally dependent on Him for everything – like little children.

He wants you to learn from the Bible, obey Him, and depend on Him to lead you where you need to go. He will give you what you need.

Abba, You are my Father. I depend on You for assurance and safety. Please tell me what I need to do today! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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When bad news arrives!

It’s bad news!

The report from the doctor isn’t good.
The car breaks down.
You’re being laid off.
A house fire, flooding, or a tornado destroys all.

The list can go on and on with bad, disturbing news.

How do you react?
Anger?
Throw a fit?
Perhaps you blame someone else or try to get even!

The bad news for Hezekiah was an army surrounding his city and boasting of the destruction they would bring. The Assyrians had surrounded many other cities and had all but destroyed them and taken the people as slaves.

Now they were at Jerusalem’s gate boasting of doing the same.

What did Hezekiah do?

And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 19:1

Hezekiah humbly sought God.
God powerfully delivered him and the city.

When life becomes more than you can handle, seek God!
It’s okay to go to the doctor or to appeal to family and friends for help – but look to God first and seek His healing, help, and protection for you and your family.

Abba, keep me calm today in the midst of trouble. May my eyes be kept on You for all things! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah – 2

A study of the shemittah will reveal that it contains three releases.

First the release of debt.

Deut 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.

Second is the release or rest of the land.

Lev 25:2-4 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

And third is a release of your faith and dependence on God.

Lev 25:20-22 ‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.

Can the U. S. possibly fall under the curse of God because we have not held to this principle?

More likely, I believe the U. S. falls under the judgment of God because we have not upheld the principles of Christ and the truth’s of which this nation was founded on.

To me, the spiritual implication of a shemittah is in forgiveness. There is no real forgiveness outside of Christ. Even those that call themselves Christian’s often struggle with truly forgiving someone.

I constantly hear things like “I’ll forgive but I’m not going to forget!”
That is not a release! That is clinging and holding onto the trespass.

Jesus said in the model prayer,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Matt 6:12

As for the U. S., our problem is not a government problem. It is a people problem. If Christians would have risen up in 1963 with fasting and prayer and stood their ground – then prayer may have remained in schools. It has been downhill ever since with one thing after another, including the government sanctioned right to kill the innocent unborn.

A release of forgiveness is not bound by law but is given by the heart that has been changed by the release and forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus.

Abba, I pray that I can shemitah anyone in debt to me, especially those that need my forgiveness. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah – 1

I did not know the word shemittah until I heard it from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn two years ago.

I do not know all there is about the Bible but I consider myself a good listener, quick study, and a disciplined learner.

What the Rabbi had to say in light of my Bible study made since, especially when he had the physical evidence of the collapse of the U. S. economy coinciding with the release (shemittah).

This period of rest and release is written into the Law of Moses as a agricultural rest for the land and a financial rest for the people.

Lev 25:2-4 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

Deut 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.

Though there were some financial crises in 1973, 1980, and 1987, the ones fresh in our memory took place in 2001 and 2008, all of which are 7 year periods.

And another shemittah year begins later this month.

For the sake of brevity in each devotion, I will continue with this next time.

Abba, I want to know Your word to the fullness and exercise it in my life. I want to release those in debt to me and be forgiven my debt, as my Lord Jesus prayed. It is in His name I pray, YES&AMEN

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Grasshoppers!

For the 2nd night this verse has been given to us:

Num 13:33 we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

This is from two different speakers that attend two different churches.

The verse is from the men that did not believe they could take the Promised Land that God had led them to.

When I think of a grasshopper my mind sees this small, virtually harmless insect; harmless because they don’t bite or sting humans. Imagine if they did!

However the Israelites missed the important characteristic of grasshoppers – in swarms they can take over the land.

Indeed it seems at times that Christians are like grasshoppers in this secular world. Therefore we don’t act. We sit. We get ran over by the world!

But Israel wasn’t grasshoppers and neither are we!

We are the people of a Holy God that has commanded us to go and take the land; to go and spread the Gospel, making disciples, and baptizing in the name of Jesus!

We need to be as grasshoppers and swarm the land in the name of Jesus!

Abba, I want to move forward into the land and face those giants today in the name of Jesus!! YES&AMEN