Are You Ready to Be Promoted?

     I decided it would be interesting [and I hoped beneficial] to take a look back at the very first blog post I wrote on December 5, 2011. I wanted to see if there was an inkling that I would grow and mature in my faith, and if I recognized that God had a plan in place when He prompted me to begin the blog.
      I wrote then, as I do now, to encourage people to walk in power and not fear; to strengthen their faith in times of dread and panic. At that time, I was focused on the confusion and calamity I saw occurring in my beloved home country, the United States. Now, nearly 9 years later, many of those issues have not only escalated, but the whole world seems to be on a fast track to destruction.
     At the time, I wrote, "[My husband and I] felt heavenly promptings to re-evaluate everything in our lives....to prepare for economic hard times and radical changes in our society. And it scared me! But instead of giving in to the suffocating fear, I made a choice to face it. I would not give up that easily in all I believed in!" I went on to share the new knowledge I was gathering: learning what derivatives were; knowing all about the Federal Reserve and Central European Banks; learning how to bake bread from wheat I ground myself; starting to dehydrate food, and knowing how to properly handle a firearm." As you can see, I was pretty much focused on what I could see happening in the world, and was proud of my identification as an American.
     But, there it was -- one little sentence that would make the difference in the path I would take... "I now read my Bible every day, not just on Sundays." That might seem an innocuous statement, but without taking that step, my life and my purpose would be very different today. You see, even though my line of sight was expanding to see the world from a Biblical perspective, I had no real knowledge of what God's ultimate purpose in all this chaos could be. I was rock solid in knowing that Jesus Christ was my Savior, but where was I to go from there? I certainly knew my church's doctrine, but as I began to read the Bible for myself, that line of sight went from being a straight line to what I was hearing from the pulpit to an ever-expanding vision of what God wanted me to know. And it often conflicted with what I had been taught.
     I began seeing national and world events from a Biblical worldview, and I began to come into the fullness of my being: body, soul and spirit. Through my study, the Lord activated my spirit to receive greater revelation of who He was and why He came to earth. And with that, came the knowledge of who I was created to be! And it wasn't in some safe, respectable, and sizable position in the world.

     
     It was in 2014 that I wrote a blog based on a conversation that my husband, Mark, and I had about how hard it is for most people to face their fears. We agreed that the times in which we were living were causing everyone to be confronted by their fears, whether they wanted to or not.  [If anything, those fears are even more pronounced today]. And then he gave me this picture that is even more relevant today: "Everyone is being moved on a chess board to where God wants them. He is moving us out of our comfortable, safe systems to where we're an outlier, and we don't have any support system BUT God."
     In 2014, I wrote, "In case you aren't familiar with the term outlier, it means "a person (or thing) situated away, or detached from, the main body or system."  And it is a term that we Americans do not easily embrace.  We are comfortable being a part of the system, where we can hide our insecurities and worries in the midst of the group dynamics.  That is especially true of American Christians."
     My how things have changed since then! We have been isolated from that system of group dynamics, and now are forced to face our fears alone. And it's not just fears surrounding American economics, but we now have a pandemic controlling our lives, along with hints at coming famine and war. The veil is being pulled back to reveal all the machinations of the Enemy to destroy mankind -- from the duplicity in our own government to man-made viruses unleashed to infect the world population.
     But, I'm not writing this post to bring discouragement or more fear. Instead, I want to further enlighten you regarding Mark's chess analogy. I was astounded when I researched the rules and objectives of the game of Chess. There are two parts of the Chess-playing process: 1) setting and achieving long-term positioning advantages during the game, and 2) tactics, which concentrate on immediate maneuvers.  Another way to look at it is Chess strategy is concerned with evaluation of Chess positions and with setting up goals and long-term plans for the future play. That is exactly what God is doing in His "Plan for the Ages."
      His goal in sending Christ, who is represented by the King piece, was to re-establish Heaven's dominion over the earth; first through Jesus as the Son of God, and then to see that authority transferred to us, His children (represented as the Pawns on the chess board). God ultimately evaluates and moves the other pieces on the board in accordance with achieving that goal. His goal has never changed since He made man in His image ... we were to safeguard earth as a colony of the Kingdom of Heaven; to reflect the nature and culture of our true Homeland.
     And, yes, we are the Pawns in this analogous game of chess, the weakest and least mobile of all the pieces on the board.  Throughout the game, it is the Pawns that are most easily captured and removed from the game.  But I found it extremely insightful to find, written within the "Strategy and Tactics" portion of the official Chess instructions, this tidbit of wisdom:  At the end of the game, when most of the pieces are gone, Kings typically take a more active part in the struggle, and Pawn promotion is often decisive in determining the outcome.
     What is "Pawn Promotion"?  In short, it is the advancement or elevation of a Pawn to a prominent position that has an effect on the endgame.  And it usually happens at the point in the Chess match when there are very few pieces left on the board. Now, I don't know how many pieces God has left on the board of this Cosmic Chess Match with the devil, but I guarantee you that He wants to promote you to play a part in the final victory -- that you don't have to be captured by the Enemy's subterfuge or removed from the game. In fact, I believe we are seeing King Jesus taking a more active part in our struggles, and I also believe that you were created to play a decisive role in this endgame between Good and Evil.
     Which brings me to where we find ourselves today. God is moving us where He wants us, as true ambassadors of His Kingdom on earth. And I absolutely believe that He is moving us into positions of spiritual power to effect the results in this spiritual battle for the world. And as we find ourselves removed from our comfortable systems, we may feel as though we are the lone "Pawn" on the board.  Jesus promised us that following Him would be risky and costly; often a lonely journey. But remember that God has placed you there and He is taking a more active part in your life. He is "promoting" you to become a part of His system. 
      Is it scary to find yourself being moved into a new position? You bet it is!  But you have two choices. You can either retreat into the cocoon of your safe system (whether it be your national identity, your church, your family, or the recesses of your mind) and fail to take advantage of the opportunity; OR you can accept your "promotion" and take it one step at a time and let God lead you towards new heights that will glorify Him.
     That's where my journey has taken me .... from someone who [in 2011] was intent on maintaining my security in the world system while I began a pursuit of more of God; to someone [in 2020] who has found so much more in God's Kingdom system, which is restful, secure and trustworthy. I have been moved out of the world system, and I was promoted from a Pawn to a Daughter of the King!
     So, my goal in writing this blog has not changed since its inception -- I am still all about emboldening you to overcome your fears in the world, whatever they may be. But, I can now offer you more than hope and encouragement -- I can assure you that you have a purpose for advancing God's endgame of defeating Satan's kingdom of darkness and re-establishing His Kingdom on earth. And what an honor it is to be examined and found worthy of advancing the game!

Psalm 143:10     I just want to obey all you ask of me. So teach me, Lord, for You are my God. Your gracious Spirit is all I need, so lead me on good paths that are pleasing to You, my one and only God!

Will You Want To Go Along "For The Ride"?

     I had the occasion to hear an interview between Joe Rogan, the unorthodox podcast host, and Elon Musk, the equally unconventional scientific and technology entrepreneur; perhaps most famous for his futuristic car, the Tesla.
     But on this particular day, Musk was willing to talk about an advanced and menacing technology that had my spirit screaming warnings. But, this wasn't the first time I had been alarmed by Elon Musk. Back in 2015, I wrote a blog post in which I mentioned that "Musk and his tech giant buddies have pledged $1 billion to save humanity from destruction by artificial intelligence." At the time, Musk seemed to feel it important enough to sound the alarm and hoped "to keep big companies like Google or Facebook — both of which have huge artificial intelligence operations — from getting too much power from "super-intelligence systems"."

     Apparently, he got over that fear in the next couple of years, because just last year he announced a start-up company called Neuralink, that is ready to "begin outfitting human brains with faster input and output by next year". Well, that time is nearly here! Neuralink is working on technology that’s based around “threads,” which it says can be implanted in human brains with much less potential impact to the surrounding brain tissue versus what’s currently used for today’s brain-computer interfaces. “Most people don’t realize it, but we can solve that with a chip,” he said at the time.
     Well, just this week, on Rogan's podcast, Musk announced that his company would be ready to implant a neural link in less than a year, with "low potential for rejection". And he said there's nothing to worry about ... such primitive devices exist now, such as devices that offer deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease, for example. He said it looks like this: you take out a chunk of skull, insert the electrode threads into the brain. "You wouldn't know anyone had it, and it can interface with any part of the brain that has anything wrong with it". My first thought was, "Who decides what is wrong with a brain, and what qualifies as wrong?" Will my beliefs in religious freedom, the right to life, or that there is a God one day be considered wrong and need deep brain stimulation to change my way of thinking?
     If you think I'm over-reaching, please think again. In 2013, Ray Kurzweil, former director of engineering at Google [and scary futurist], was quoted as saying this: "We can now see inside a living brain and see individual inter-neural connections being formed and firing in real time. We can see your brain create your thoughts and thoughts create your brain. A lot of this research reveals how the mechanism of the neocortex works, which is where we do our thinking. This provides biologically inspired methods that we can emulate in our computers. We’re already doing that. The deep learning technique that I developed uses multilayered neural nets that are inspired by how the brain works. Using these biologically inspired models, plus all of the research that’s been done over the decades in artificial intelligence, combined with exponentially expanding hardware, we will achieve human levels within two decades... We're going to become increasingly non-biological to the point where the non-biological part dominates and the biological part is not important any more. In fact the non-biological part [the machine part] will be so powerful it can completely model and understand the biological part. So even if that biological part went away it wouldn't make any difference."
     Are you sufficiently alarmed now? And if that's not enough, Elon Musk told Joe Rogan just this week, "Full AI symbiosis is possible". In case you don't know the definition of symbiosis, it is this: interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both. Rogan's response? "Once we've experienced being a god, who is going to want to go back to being stupid [read that as "human"]?" Musk seemed to be in agreement, stating, "AI's getting better -- it's a benign scenario now [read as "not harmful". We're already a cyborg to some degree. We interact with our phones and electronic devices, put the data rate is too slow. Right now, we download information at about 100 bits/second (approximately 12.5 bytes). Computers can go 1 million times faster. If you can improve the data rate, you can improve symbiosis between man and machine". (And obviously, that is the goal of his invention).
     As if that wasn't enough to send my spirit into orbit, he went on to say, "There will be a better version of the way we interface with reality; we can aspire to be less wrong. Hopefully, we'll gain more than we lose. We can achieve mind viral immunity, a concept that infects people's minds and eliminates wrong-headed ideas". By this time, I'm yelling at the screen, But who decides what's wrong thinking?
     But it was this statement by which he showed his intention with his company Neuralink: "Super sentient [able to perceive and feel], Artificial Intelligence is inevitable. It is a requirement for survival for us to be symbiotic [with computers]". He then claimed that we are already in a state of symbiosis -- we have a connection with our computers, but that connection is weak. Computers have terabytes of information we use. Why wouldn't we want to connect with them? "If you can't beat them, join them" was his mantra.
     What I wrote in my previous posts is just as true today ... These intelligent scientists and inventors deny the plausibility of our spirit and connection to a living God.  So while vehemently denying the existence of God, they are, in effect, trying to play God. Just like Nimrod and the folks at the Tower of Babel, our modern-day technological geniuses want to become famous by displacing the need for God.  Motivated by pride and arrogance, they have made a name for themselves.  But perhaps they should revisit that section of the Bible and learn of the destruction that was the result of such conceit.  God will not allow His Sovereignty to be usurped; and not only did they not achieve the greatness they sought, but they suffered His Divine Judgment.
      It's not hard to see that the Age of Computers is a tool in the hands of the one who would separate us from our Creator.  But only if we let him! In the midst of all the other craziness going on in the world, it is essential that mankind understand that the Enemy's goal is to usurp man's natural state and produce a machine that we were never meant to be.  We would no longer be made in the image of God, but in the likeness of a machine-driven computer. It is incumbent upon each one of us to decide how far down that road we are willing to go. And we will all have to answer Elon Musk's question ... "Do you want to go along for The Ride"?

Isaiah 47:10    You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray. You said to yourself, ‘I exist, and there is no one else.’
    

     
     
     

Who Will Be The Remnant?

    

     WARNING: I'm going to take you on a wild ride today; and my words will most likely be difficult for you to accept. But I ask that you read to the end of the post, and it is my hope that you will ultimately be encouraged.
     Popular among our Christian vernacular these days is the word remnant; a concept that there will be a bold group of Christians who will rise up and be obedient to God's call on their lives, defending His Kingdom on earth and carrying out His will in the midst of great opposition and persecution. The remnant will persevere and endure until Christ returns! In effect, we see the remnant in purely Christian terms.
     As a result of much study in the Old Testament, I have been able to see that God's plan to carry out His redemption for mankind has always been fulfilled through a remnant. So, it makes sense that the final fulfillment of that plan would be carried out by a remnant, too. Following me, so far? But where is the Biblical evidence that the final remnant of the Ages will be Christians?
     Let me build my case for asking that question ... The first mention of a remnant in the Bible occurs in Genesis 45 when Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, has prospered in Egypt to become the "father of the house of Pharaoh, and ruler over all of Egypt". His brothers [not recognizing him] appear before him to buy food for their starving families and Joseph reveals himself to them, telling them, "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors." Here, we get the idea that a remnant is a group of people destined to survive calamity and catastrophes. And the people of Israel were to be a surviving remnant throughout history. They repeatedly suffered major trials and tribulation that brought them to the brink of extinction, but remained the people whom YHWH, in His mercy, spared to be His chosen people.
     Many of the prophets of the Old Testament prayed for the remnant of Israel to survive their circumstances. Isaiah prayed for the remnant which would be left after the Assyrian invasions. Jeremiah prayed about the plight of the remnant of Jews who fled to Egypt after Jerusalem's capture by Nebuchadnezzar. Micah prophesied about a remnant of the Jewish people who would return after the Exile in Babylon. Zephaniah identified the remnant with the poor and humble of Israel. Zechariah prophesied that a remnant would be present at the time of the coming of the Messiah's kingdom; a remnant that would be put into His fire, refined, and tested. "They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God’” (Zechariah 13:9).
     So, why am I taking the time to point out the history of the Jewish remnant? First of all, I want you to see what Jesus says in Matthew 15. If you will recall, a pagan Canaanite woman approaches Him about healing her daughter of oppression by a demon. But what is Jesus's response? “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Did you get that? How many of us, in our Christian faith, have believed that Jesus initially came for all men? Yes, ultimately, Salvation and the Kingdom are offered to all men, but only because the Jews rejected Him, and He later appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and instructed him to take it to all men! But can you accept that God still has plans to use a remnant of the Jews?
     So, if you're thinking, "Well, the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, so how can they still be a remnant used by God? Paul addresses this in Romans 11. We must remember that the Early Church existed of both Jewish and pagan converts to "The Way" [faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who brought Salvation and the Kingdom to earth]. This faith was not yet identified as "Christianity". So as Paul travels to these small home churches, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom [which requires Salvation to enter into it], he identifies himself as a Jew when he lays out God's plan for all mankind.

     Speaking to his fellow Jews in Romans 11, he says, "I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means!...  Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 'Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.' But what is God's reply to him? 'I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.... What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.' So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.  Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!"

      Then Paul switches audiences. In Romans 11:13, he says, "Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them." 

     And in case this all sounds too mysterious, guess what? Paul actually addresses "the mystery of Israel's salvation [or restoration as it is called in the Aramaic translation). Continuing to speak to the Gentiles in 11:25-29,  he says, " Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.... As regards the gospel [of the Kingdom and Salvation], they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." I want you to understand that when God declared in Genesis 45 that there would be a remnant of Israel on the earth for "many survivors", He is declaring that there would always be a remnant of Israel as His chosen people. They would survive being taken into captivity by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Nazis. 

     And will Israel truly be restored to their original position and purpose? Will they be the ones to reveal the Most High God to the world as God intended? As Paul reveals, "God is more than ready to graft back in the natural branches [Israel] when they turn from clinging to their unbelief to embracing faith... they are still greatly loved by God because their ancestors were divinely chosen to be His. And when God chooses someone and graciously imparts gifts to him, they are never rescinded."  And the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled! "Coming from Zion will be the Savior, and He will turn Jacob away from evil. For this is My covenant promise with them when I forgive their sins.” God will make sure He has a remnant of Israel to lead the world to knowledge of Him!

     That is made clear in Revelation 7, when Jesus returns to establish the New Heaven and New Earth: "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel". 

     I tell you all this because I want to be sure that we Christians understand that we have not replaced nor surpassed the remnant of Israel as God's chosen mouthpiece to lead a lost world to Him. Yes, we are grafted in, and until the fullness of that remnant comes to fruition, we have been assigned to carry on the Gospel to the world. Can it be said that there is only a remnant of us that see God's plan, or a remnant of us that are carrying the true message of the Gospel of the Kingdom? Of course! In that sense, a Christian remnant exists and is very important to God's plan. 

     But I would love to see us recognize that there is a growing remnant of Israel that exists now, and through them God is growing closer to execution of His ultimate plan. There is a growing number of Messianic Jews in Israel and around the world that have been unblinded and see Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. However, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism has rejected them and they are outcasts. Yet this remnant of Jewish believers is the HOPE of Israel and the Jewish race, and God's grace is empowering this modern remnant to fulfill their destiny. Their numbers are growing and the remnant of Christians who see and understand this are standing together with our Jewish brothers. In the midst of the Enemy's latest plans to discourage and dishearten us, we ought to be celebrating that YHWH is once again preserving a divinely chosen remnant of Israel unto Himself. This foretells that the arrival of the Lord and Savior of all mankind. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 27:6    In those to come, Jacob shall take root and Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.

 

Prayer: A Key To The Kingdom

    
    This Thursday, May 7th is the National Day of Prayer. Our nation began the tradition in 1775, when the Second Continental Congress called for a day of fasting and prayer at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It certainly was a time of great calamity, disorder, economic turmoil, and fear of the future; much like what we have experienced throughout our history. That war was followed by the Civil War, two World Wars, decades of war in the Middle East, and now a war against a viral epidemic. As in all major crises, the people of this nation have turned to prayer, imploring God to assist us in our times of trouble.
     Prayer is a natural reaction to our human condition. I would venture that even people who do not claim a relationship with the Most High God, have found themselves at one time or another, asking a Higher Power [than themselves] for help in a daunting situation. That solemn request for help is called prayer, by any other name.
      There is no better example of the effect of national prayer than in the Book of Exodus when we read how “the Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of their slavery their cry for help rose up to God…and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Exodus 2:25 says, "God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them." That began thousands of years of a relationship between YHWH and the nation of Israel that would result with the offer of Salvation to the world, and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.
     The Bible is full of stories of the power of prayer in manifesting God's will on earth. The prayer of King Hezekiah saved the nation of Israel from destruction by the Assyrians. Moses prays for the deliverance of the Israelites from God's wrath when His plan is to smite them all for worshiping the Golden calf. Zechariah, the priest, prays for a son, and his wife, Elizabeth, bears John the Baptist. The Virgin Mary prays a prayer of thanksgiving, joy, and praise for the honor of giving birth to the Son of God. And Jesus Christ gives us the gift of one of the most powerful prayers for all mankind, the Lord's Prayer.

Prayer is one of the keys that unlocks our power and authority

 -- power that Jesus intended for us to release on the earth

 to see the Father's will done, "as it is in Heaven".

 

     But Prayer is more than just asking God for help in times of trouble, or to ward off His wrath, or even to praise Him for blessings. There is power in Prayer to see the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose in establishing His Kingdom on earth, and to see honor and glory brought to His Name. In that sense, Prayer is an important "key to the Kingdom".
     When Jesus declares that He will build His Ekklesia [as a governing body of Believers to execute Heaven's government on earth] and the gates of Hades [hell's governing power] would not prevail against it, He backs that up by saying, "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind [prohibit] on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit] on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
     Read that again! The authority of Heaven stands behind us! The keys to the Kingdom are principles given to all who are born again into the Kingdom as citizens; principles to rule and reign until the return of our King. These keys unlock our power and authority, and provide access to the Kingdom of Heaven. And that access is initiated through Scripture. So, if prayer is one of the keys to gaining access to that power to bind and loose, and to rule and reign, then some of the most powerful prayers we can pray should include Scripture! (See below to join my in scriptural prayer).
     There is no doubt that our nation is in desperate need of prayer by her citizens. Even in the midst of a great spiritual and secular awakening among all Americans, we are assailed on all sides by an insidious virus; growing unemployment; a precarious economy; global threats of war; and secret and vindictive machinations by enemies foreign and domestic upon our government and way of life. 
     We need to approach this coming National Day of Prayer with united hearts and in solemn and humble repentance for our personal and national iniquity; asking our Lord and Savior to intervene on behalf of all others who are seeking His Kingdom in obedience and faith. He has given us righteous Prayer, one of the keys to the Kingdom, and in the powerful words of theologian Charles Spurgeon, "The Lord continues to back up the teaching and acts of His servants, and as long as we abide rightly in Him, we have His sanction to make them valid. The words of His servants, spoken in His Name, shall be confirmed by the Lord, and shall not be, either as to promise or threatening, a mere piece of rhetoric." Let us walk in the power of His Word expressed in prayer! Hallelujah, that we possess one of the most powerful keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!

     Will you join me in this prayer for our National Day of Prayer [taken from the Psalms]? Father in Heaven, we come before Your throne asking for compassion and mercy upon each one of us and upon our nation. Forgive the full extent of our rebellious ways. We know our sins, transgressions and iniquities have led us to this bondage. We repent of not believing Your promises and for straying from Your righteous path. Like spoiled children, we have sought our own desires, and refused to trust in Your wisdom, thinking ourselves above Your counsel and guidance. We have not acknowledged Your miracles and powers that have brought us all this far. We have refused to love You with all our hearts, and we have tested Your patience. We are overcome by our sins against You.
     So, Father, we humbly submit and surrender ourselves to You, asking for Your forgiveness and grace. We ask that You cleanse our spirits and turn our hearts back to You. You are our righteous God who helps us like a Father. Here us in our time of distress as we bless Your Holy Name! Arise, Lord! Deliver us, our God! Strike all our enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. You sit enthroned over this world and we ask that you site enthroned over this nation once again, Lord! Be enthroned as our King forever! Lord, give strength to endure what is coming against us, Your people,  and bless us with Your peace and Your enduring Love! We thank you that You have given us this mighty Key to Your Kingdom, and we loose all of Heaven's blessings upon this nation and we return her to You! Amen!

If you desire to know more about the Keys to the Kingdom, please order my newly released book, "Through A Kingdom Lens: Rediscovering What The Church Lost".
    


    
    

A Page From Satan's Playbook

     I feel like it's déja vu all over again. Yet, I shouldn't be surprised because Satan just uses the same old playbook over and over, because it works! Let me explain ... I am blessed to have friendships with people of all generations. And lately, the thirty-somethings are beginning to awaken to what's going on behind the curtain with this virus pandemic. They are sending me links to papers by the Global Business Network, subsidized by the Rockefeller Foundation, and with chapter titles like this: LOCK STEP: A World of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback. 
     As Americans are beginning to protest government control of their lives it's hard to ignore the reality that this plague has affected millions. We are now being warned of food shortages, and the drums of war are being hinted at. Let me see.... in just the last few months we have experienced a global plague. Famine is becoming a very real threat [and not just to third-world countries] -- meat is being rationed in our country, even as I write, and dairy cows have been slaughtered, along with millions of pigs and chickens. And wars and rumors of war are whispered among "those in the know". Where have I  heard that before? Oh, yeah, they are the beginnings of birth pangs that Jesus talks about in Matthew 24. These world events pretty much resemble the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation 6, too -- the red horse symbolizing war and bloodshed; the black horse is famine; and the pale horse is pestilence and death.

     But, I'm not writing to say that we should get ready for the Tribulation, or that the End of the World is here. To be honest, I'm not interested in predicting when that time will come -- no one knows except our Father, not even Jesus, Himself. So, I'm more focused on being alert to what the Enemy's agenda and playbook are, so that I can endure to the end [whenever it is] and be an overcomer. And that means I want to help others be able to see what is happening in the world from a non-political standpoint. We must be able to see in the spirit, and see what is going on behind the dirty veil that the devil is so good at presenting to the general population.
     At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that it feels like déja vu. I say that because beginning in 2014, I was writing about the undermining of our nation's Constitution, our republic, and our basic civil rights; that we were seriously eroding the truth that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." I remember having to memorize this paragraph from the Declaration of Independence in my elementary Social Studies classes, but now I see that "new Government" as being the Kingdom of God, with the faithful acting as the Ekklesia [governing body of Believers acting as representatives of the Heavenly government of the Father]. But there is a spiritual force that doesn't want to see that happen.
     Back in 2014, I made mention of a political activist and theorist named Saul Alinsky. He wrote a book in 1971 titled Rules for Radicals in which he subscribed to 12 rules about how to successfully run a movement for change. That little book has greatly influenced our social and political climate for the last 50 years. And I find it most notable for the dedication of the book, in which Alinsky writes, "Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical ... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer".
     There you have it .... the allusion of the kingdom of darkness versus the Kingdom of God. And the rules which Alinsky promoted certainly mimic Satan's agenda and methodology. To begin with, there is rule #3, which states "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of your Enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty". The way in which the so-called "experts" have disseminated [dis]information about this virus has resulted in the loss of freedoms that we have taken for granted. This falls right in line with Satan as the Father of Lies whose modus operandi is Deception and false accusations. 
    Another rule of the social and political radicals, as well as the first radical, Lucifer, is "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself". That's certainly true of the Covid-19 scare. The original estimation of deaths in America was 2.2 million or more. As of this date, the number is just shy of 64,000. Please understand that I am not making light of that number. Any death is significant, but you can see how this strategy parallels Satan's strategy of getting us to worry about things that haven't even happened yet, or that are far less devastating than he has given us to imagine. Satan's goal is to demoralize Christians into a state of passivity, resulting in his kingdom continuing to dominate the earth. 
     Rule #12 of Rules for Radicals is "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it". That's pretty much what Satan did to Job, isn't it? He cut off Job's support network, and isolated him from sympathy. He attempted to get Job to turn against the very One who believed in him and had blessed him, and would be there to restore him. 
     These are just a few of Alinsky's rules for instituting social change, and it's not hard to see them at work in our current situation, and see them as similar to Satan's tactics. But let's not forget another diabolical tactic known as the Hegelian Dialect. In short, here's how it works .... Step number one looks like this: Our Enemy knows that, instinctively, people won't go for restricted freedoms, so they cause a problem [that didn't naturally occur] which is step number two, which causes panic and conflict. Then they come up with step number three: a solution to solve the manufactured problem, which turns out to be their original goal [i.e., restricted freedoms]. The people will embrace it because they just want the panic and conflict to go away. 
     For example, we can see this scenario in the world ... a man-made virus being unleashed on the world, causing death, panic, destroyed economies, and loss of jobs. With the threat of an on-going pandemic, the masses will clamor for a solution and agree to mandatory vaccines. In the Spirit, we see that Satan desires men to doubt God in the midst of this pandemic; sending spirits of fear and abandonment to invade our isolation, and causing us to seek solutions in our own power instead of pressing into the power of God in us to help us endure. He wants us to trust ourselves, or human leaders, more than we trust our Father and Savior. It's all about perpetuating Satan's kingdom of darkness and stopping the advance of God's Kingdom on the earth.
     But, we must cling to the truth that we exist in Christ, who is a safe realm that we can step into and be protected during this storm. And we need to walk in our identity in the Kingdom. Our authentic citizenship is in Heaven, seated next to Christ, the King of all Creation -- we are temporary [and secondarily] citizens of this world. We must not get distracted from anything that Satan aligns with in order to divert us from our purpose in this life. We have a destiny that surpasses whatever we may experience during our short lifetime in this realm called earth. 
     We were made for eternity, but we have a job to do while we're here in our temporary home. So, Satan and his minions can develop all the rules and radical ideas they can imagine. But they will never defeat God's sovereign plan for His people or this planet. He will rule and reign as King, and Satan's radicals will pay the price for their rebellion unless they choose to be redeemed. So, don't get discouraged! It may seem like dark days are ahead of us, and we wonder when this nightmare will end. But this is our opportunity to persevere for the Kingdom of God; spreading the Good News that the Light of Heaven has brought a promise of our deliverance into the realm of the Kingdom of God. Let us be about our Father's business until our Lord returns!

Isaiah 9:2      The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has Light shone.

 

"Be Still And Know That I Am God" Is More Significant Than Ever

    

     "Be Still".... these are the first words of Psalm 46, verse 10, and represent a new lifestyle and behavior for most of the peoples and nations of the world. This pandemic that has come upon the earth has forced us to slow down and withdraw into a state of solitude. In America, we've never had to be still before; we had the freedom to fill our lives with all kinds of activities and distractions. But this stillness has been mandated by the powers of this world, and leaves mankind with a choice.... what will I fill this solitude with?
     The Psalmist gives us a most excellent option .... we have the opportunity to take our time to get to know God. No more excuses for not spending the time or effort to seek Him in His Word. Instead of looking for ways to fill your quarantined hours with empty pursuits and diversions, why not dust off that Bible that has been tucked away in a drawer, or actually open the one you have prominently displayed on a table as evidence of your Christian faith?
     And the psalm gives us lots of reasons to make getting to know God our number one priority, and in light of the state of the world, why this might be a good time to pursue Him. To begin with, He is a safe and powerful place to find shelter and protection in times of trouble. And I think the fact that over 3 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in 210+ countries, resulting in over 216,000 deaths qualifies as a time of great sorrow and trouble [if you can believe the statistics put out by the World Health Organization].
     In addition, the Psalmist writes, when you know who God is, and who you are in Him, there is no need to fear, "even if every structure of support were to crumble away" (The Passion Translation). I'd say the loss of jobs, the uncertainty in the stock market, oil prices crashing, and the predicted shortage of food supplies qualify for that scenario. But when you know God, all that plus verse two and three's threats of "earthquakes and the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves" [predicted for the 2020 hurricane season] cannot erode our faith in Him.
     We are promised the constantly flowing river of Living Water from the Throne Room of God, which provides sustenance for our souls and spirits during this drought of worldly provision. When we truly know Him, we know He is our Life Force! That river of Living Water flows right from the heavenly city of the God Most High into His holy dwelling places, which is us -- we are His temple on earth!
     I have often remarked to my husband that if devastation came upon this country [in whatever form] and it resulted in our way of life being radical changed to a solitary and survival existence, I would relish the absence of the world system and embrace the chance to begin seeing the works of God all around me. I am prepared that He can bring both ruin and revival, but I truly believe we won't have to strive to see Him in the midst of all that competes for our attention now. He will be easy to behold for anyone who wants to see Him. He will be exalted throughout the world for those who will receive Him.
      Our world situation is the "beginning of the birth pangs" that Jesus says foretell the wars and famines; from the shaken earth; the deception from false prophets; and the lawlessness that will increase. But He tells us that if we can endure and keep our hope through it all [until the end] then we can experience Eternal Life [and deliverance from Death].
     Yet, sadly, I see people who are using this time of stillness and solitude to seek answers through astrology and Tarot cards; through humanistic thinking and rationality; and through their soul, rather than their spirit. It break's my heart to see dear friends and loved ones looking at this world situation through the devil's dirty veil. They have never had a better time in their life to take their eyes off the world and look to the heavens. How can they not consider that there is a Power greater than their own limited mind? They stubbornly cling to the words of men, rather than giving The Word a chance to open up realms of understanding that no man can offer. They simply refuse to surrender what they view as their human superiority to a higher Authority or Power, not realizing that His authority and power [and yes, even the Mind of Christ] can be theirs. And it dwarfs any that they can realize on their own through an astrological chart, a tarot card reading, channeling an occult spirit, or years of psychotherapy and medications. There's a reason the most valuable card in the Tarot deck is called The Fool.
     So, I truly hope that mankind will come out from under the delusion of their own significance and knowledge, and take advantage of this time to actually be still and make an attempt to get to know their Creator. It is important that we listen for His voice -- not looking to the politicians or talking heads for the way forward; and especially discerning the false messages of the false prophets. It is the perfect time for all mankind to be still and experience the presence of God. Be still and know that He is with us in this time of crisis!

Psalm 73:28     But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.

Through A Kingdom Lens: Rediscovering What The Church Lost

     I am proud to announce that my new book, Through A Kingdom Lens: Rediscovering What The Church Lost has finally been published, and is now available on Amazon. I want you to know that it is uncomfortable for me to promote this book for my own benefit. It has always been my purpose to write it to encourage those people (both Believers and non-Believers, alike) who have struggled with knowing their purpose in life.
     So, why does someone like me, just an ordinary follower of Christ, decide to write a book about the Kingdom of God? I will tell you that I am no Bible scholar. I have no religious titles attached to my name and hold no theological degrees. The simple explanation is that I was made to write for the Lord. It delights Him when I use the gift He has given me. In 2008 I received a prompting from the Holy Spirit to write this blog for Him. And now He has given me a new assignment. And with this commandment, comes my intense desire for the Body of Christ to understand the Kingdom of God from His perspective. In fact, it is essential and necessary that we see it, understand it, preach it, enter it, expand it, and establish it!
     I will admit that it has been a long personal journey for me to grasp the significance of the Kingdom in my life. I have spent many hours in deep study of God’s Word. I have engaged in exhaustive dialogues with other Kingdom-seekers, as we try to come to terms with the revelation that “the Church” has failed to equip the saints in this matter. But most of all, I have listened to the Holy Spirit’s counsel and guidance as He continues to teach me the truth of what Scripture says about the Kingdom of God.
     This book represents all that I have learned to date. I do not think the information I bring you is infallible; nor do I think it is complete. I am still on the path of revelation and knowledge about the Kingdom of God. But the impetus for this book does come from a place of deep yearning to share what I have learned because I believe it is of critical importance to the Body of Christ.
    I wrote it with the intention of encouraging all those who have wondered about the "deeper" things of their existence and their relationship with Jesus, just as I have throughout my life. It has not been a question of my faith, but rather a desire to feed that hunger inside of me for "more" than what I received from my Church's doctrine. From the moment I realized I had unanswered questions, I wasn't going to be satisfied until I received the answer from God.
     My questions began with this very important one ... What is the difference between the Gospel of Salvation and the Gospel of the Kingdom? What is the Kingdom of God, and what does it have to do with me? What do being "Born Again" and "Renewing my mind" really mean? How am I supposed to interpret Salvation, Grace, Repentance, Inheritance, and Justice in relation to the Kingdom? How do Religion and Spiritual Warfare intersect with the Kingdom? And, here is the real struggle I had ... why aren't these questions being addressed by the Shepherds of the Church, who are supposed to
"equip and train us to come together in unity of the faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ", so that we might mature into the fullness of Christ. The problem was, I was discerning that there was knowledge of Jesus that I was missing... and I was hungry for it; I could not hope to come to the full measure of being like Christ until I received and understand all of Him!
     And, please know, that this is not an attempt to bash "The Church". It is simply a realization that, as I began to dive into Scripture for answers, that our Church and denominational doctrines didn't always accurately represent what the Word said -- or at the least, that our doctrines were based on a single verse, rather than on the context of an entire chapter or Book!
     Mind you, I have had faithful and Godly men and women in the Church who have instructed me to the best of their abilities. But I was surprised to discover that some of these teachings didn't match up with the Spirit of the Word. I don't blame them, and came to the understanding that these teachings were the result of distorted interpretations that have come down to the Church through the centuries. But now God was uncovering His Truth as He lit up the Scriptures like I'd never seen them before!
     Next, He sent people to give me a prophetic word about how He wanted me to share what He was revealing. In the middle of a small prayer group, a Pastor stopped and looked at me, and said, "You are going to write a book for God". It was that simple, yet profound. Nearly a year later, I was commenting to a very dear friend and mentor that every time I wrote about Kingdom on this blog, or walked it out, the devil make it clear he wasn't pleased. Her response? "Then I guess you better write a book!" So, I could no longer ignore God's promptings, and now you see the fruit of my labor.
     So, I hope you will read this little book with the goal of beginning your own journey into studying the Kingdom of God. Do not accept my opinions as the final word on the subject. You will find that I am forthcoming about the authors and teachers who helped me to unravel and clarify my theology. But I always took their teachings back to Scripture and let the Holy Spirit fine-tune my thinking. If nothing else, I hope that your consideration of my analysis will prompt you to do the same and begin your own study and research.
     I promise you, it will be worth your while. Because I now know, in my heart and my spirit, why we pray, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. And I want to share what I have learned from the Father with you. I pray that you will be as blessed by this book as much as I was in the process of writing it. Enjoy!

Here is the link to the book on Amazon: www.amzn.com/1734916133

Proverbs 2:3-5     Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Look Behind The Curtain: How Covid-19 and Abortion Are Connected

     While the majority of us are experiencing a slow-down in every area of our lives, Satan is working overtime to advance his agenda while we are distracted with Covid-19. And I want to show you how he is using this virus to interject himself into the pharmaceutical and abortion industries, and how it all intersects.
     I was greatly surprised to find that the celebrated medical journal, Lancet, featured a paper declaring that a “sexual and reproductive health and justice policy agenda must be at the heart of the COVID-19 response.” In an article on the website LifeSite, the paper is also quoted as stating, "Global responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are converging with pervasive, existing sexual and reproductive health and justice inequities to disproportionately impact the health, well-being, and economic stability of women, girls, and vulnerable populations".
    My spirit became stirred up at the language in just these two sentences ... "health and justice policy agenda" and "pervasive, existing sexual and reproductive health and justice inequities" and "vulnerable populations". They don't exactly sound like they fit with my Biblical worldview. In fact the word pervasive refers to an unwelcome influence or physical effect -- you can interpret that to mean a live birth -- and justice inequities points to any governmental policy that bans abortion. But I didn't want to judge based on any false preconceptions I might have, so I decided to look into the medical and educational backgrounds of some of the nine women credited with the paper.
     The first was Kelli Stidham Hall, an Associate Professor in the Departments of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Epidemiology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University. Her long bio expresses her interests in the social, behavioral, reproductive, and physical health models of young women, which falls under a term I was not familiar with, "medical demography". But buried deep within her extensive and impressive credentials, the first clue to the purpose of this paper became clear -- She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
     OK, let's move on to the next contributor to the paper, Goleen Samari. Here, we find a few more clues. Ms. Samari is also a public health demographer, whose research focuses on social inequities and health. Her bio says she largely focuses on "sexual and reproductive health and rights" and "her work also aims to bridge the gap between research and policy." Are you starting to pick up on the code words for abortion ... social inequities and health; reproductive health and rights; research and policy?
     Now, I want to make sure I'm not being unfair to these brilliant young women and researchers, so I looked at the next two contributors, Samantha Garbers and Sara Casey. Ms. Garbers's bio says she works with the "Latina and Black communities, and individuals with limited health literacy" and she "directed the development and testing of a low-literacy, computer-based contraceptive decision-making tool". She also is credited with "evaluating innovative interventions to improve public health for diverse populations including sexual and gender minority youth and adults, adolescent males and women seeking reproductive health care". Now, all that is impressive but rather vague and the repeated use of the word "intervention" in the remainder of her bio again made my spirit sit up and take notice. So I asked the question, "What does the word intervention mean in the medical field"? The answer: "The act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the intent of modifying the outcome. In medicine, an intervention is usually undertaken to help treat or cure a condition." And just what do you think is the condition she might want to "cure and modify"? Pregnancy! 
     That leaves Ms. Casey. She doesn't even hide her agenda. Her bio reads, "Sara Casey, DrPH, is Assistant Professor and Director of the Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative. In this role, she collaborates with program partners to identify and respond to challenges to improve contraceptive and abortion-related services in countries whose health systems have been weakened by war or natural disaster." I think it's safe to say that the remaining five women are going to share the same agenda. 
     At the heart of this paper is a  policy agenda that condemns the Trump administration’s ban on foreign aid to abortion groups, and also calls for expanding “telemedicine” abortions (dispensing abortion pills after communicating with a doctor via webcam), and eliminating “legal and policy restrictions to sexual and reproductive health service provision.” In other words, this paper, and therefore this medical journal, have gone beyond the scope of medicine and are promoting a social policy agenda [under the guise of reproductive health] for young people, disadvantaged youth, minorities, and war-torn countries and advocating abortion as a policy objective.
     And in May, 2019, the Lancet chose to abandon its veneer of scientific objectivity in favor of endorsing legal abortion in strikingly partisan terms, declaring abortion a “settled, inviolable right that is central to achieving not only reproductive health goals but women's freedom over their own bodies”; and degrading pro-life legislation as “regressive, religious, and repressive law-making” that’s somehow inconsistent with being “advocates for women.”  Their intentions, along with the research of these young women, are clear. But to take advantage of this Covid-19 pandemic to push this unBiblical social agenda is appalling to me. In essence, they lament that medical treatment for Covid-19 patients is limiting access to abortion, and they demand that the termination of a fetus should have as much priority as saving the live of a victim of the virus. How do they sleep at night?
     As if this pandemic is not being co-opted enough, another article on LifeSite, reported that "Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, a prolife organization whose mission is to end the use of aborted fetal material in vaccines and medicines" discovered that Moderna, the company that has been recently touted in news headlines for its development of the mRNA-1273 vaccine to fight the virus, uses aborted fetal cell lines.
     In short, Moderna is promoting its development of the Spike (S) protein in its bid for a patent and to be among the first to develop an anti-Covid vaccine. Of course, there's big money to be made there, right? Wikipedia reports that in April 2020, the Moderna share price rose on news of imminent phase 2 human trials for its potential COVID-19 vaccine. That means that French businessman and CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel's, stake of about 9% makes his net worth now over $1 billion. And all that money will be made at the expense of aborted babies.
     Obviously referencing the Lancet paper, Ms. Vinnedge countered the accusation that the ban on the use of aborted fetal tissue was blocking important research and treatments for Covid-19 virus. “That accusation is laughable at best and nothing more than a political maneuver,” stated Vinnedge. “In fact, we have morally produced treatments for patients who are already infected, notably Hydroxychloroquine or Plaquenil. And there are more promising treatments on the way to prevent infection entirely... It is deplorable that anyone would want to exploit the remains of aborted babies for financial profit especially when so many people will refuse to use those products because of their deeply held religious, moral and pro-life convictions” she added. “We applaud the efforts of companies [such as Sanofi Pasteur] who are providing morally acceptable options!”
     So, there you have it! Satan never wastes a good opportunity! And neither do those who can't see the heart of God for His creation. I know there will be those who shout for women's rights over their own bodies, but those fetuses are part of their bodies, created by God. And how do they rationalize that the created have any right to question or destroy what the Creator has made? It continues to sadden me that so many are confused over this issue of the rights of the unborn. And many are women who have children of their own that I know they love dearly. Can they not see that the social policy of abortion denies that their precious child was once the fetal cells that they now declare as disposable and expendable? Would they be willing to give up one of their children for the development of a vaccine? Because, in essence, that is what they are approving of by supporting this agenda.
     Lord, the prophets are declaring that we will come out of this with a revival; a refreshed and renewed spirit will sweep the world. I pray that the Ecclesia rises up and governs from the perspective of Heaven's Kingdom and defeats this abhorrent practice once and for all. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done!

Luke 17:2    It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
     
    
 
    

The Knowledge and Reality of Good and Evil

    I enjoyed some very interesting conversations this weekend with a couple of very close friends; one churched, and one unchurched. And I say "interesting" because they both began from a similar starting point, but ended at a very different conclusion, owing to their relationship with Jesus.
     I am finding that people are beginning to take notice of what is going on in the world, and I don't mean the day-to-day visible changes that we are all seeing around us due to Covid-19. However, the virus has caused some to look beyond the surface of events, organizations and people, and dare to peek behind the curtain.
     Such was the case with my unchurched friend. He has no relationship with Jesus, but categorizes himself as "a good person". I will agree that he does have a good heart, is kind, and I have rarely seen him angry or mean to anyone. And he only wants to see the good in others. Therefore, to entertain the thought that scientists would create a vaccine that might be harmful to children, or that modern "designer" pharmaceuticals are becoming increasingly toxic to the human body (just listen to the long list of side effects for some of the prescription drug ads on TV) is some kind of "conspiracy theory". And certainly, Bill Gates only seeks to do good with his charitable organizations; Warren Buffet is just a humble guy from Omaha who wants to help "the little guy" invest his hard-earned money; and there is no such thing as a global agenda or manufactured crises to submit mankind to the totalitarian rule of a Beast System. "Things just happen" and he has such a hard time seeing or believing that people could be that evil. And he definitely cannot conceive of hell.
     Then there is my churched friend who is very intelligent and not so naive. She knows her Bible well; knows that evil exists, and is beginning to come to the realization that her desire to see all evil eventually come to the knowledge of the Saving Power of Jesus Christ might not be possible. That comes from our discussions on the very real existence of a cabal of evil men who willingly serve Satan's agenda. Call them the New World Order, or whatever name suits your fancy, but she can no longer ignore that they exist. Still, it is so hard to think that men would willingly choose evil over good. All you have to do is think of Hitler to see that truth.
    She is not alone. For most Christians, it is difficult to venture outside the comfort zone of the Western Church to see just how evil that agenda of Satan's is, or to come to the realization that men would willingly cooperate with it. But for the sake of the next generation(s), it is important that people take the blinders off. We must begin studying and renewing our minds and preparing our hearts. Yes, we know that Jesus paid the price for all men, but eventually we should come to the gut and heart-wrenching questions my friend came to .... Is there hope for such evil men? Can they be Saved or is it too late? And I need you to understand that I am not talking about the Grace and Mercy that Jesus offers all men, even sinners. And I am a person who believes that He is a God of second chances, even when we are face-to-face with Him at the moment of death.
     But here is where I believe the Body of Christ needs to get to in their understanding: We who know who we are in Christ cannot imagine separating ourselves so far from the One who is Love. But for those who want to follow Satan's agenda (whether they be called New World Order or by any other name), their truth is as old as the Bible itself. They believe the same lie that Adam and Eve believed ... "you shall not die" and "you shall be as gods".
     Is there hope for them? I know that Jesus doesn't want to lose a single person to the Enemy, and if they would confess, repent, and ask God for forgiveness (and sincerely mean it), I believe they could be redeemed. But sadly, they refuse to acknowledge God, so He has given them over to a depraved mind. They will be judged according to their works, as we all will (Romans 1:28-2:11). And the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, that they have a seared conscience, which means they will not have the ability to feel remorse, so they will not be able to renew their mind. Just as when you sear your flesh, it is dead, with no feeling, and cannot be restored. They will go to hell.
     And that is another concept that may be too difficult for Christians to contemplate -- that our loving Father would deliberately consign men to hell. But Jesus, Himself, says there will be a final judgment, and He will say to those He has separated on His left, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell is a reality!
     So, I believe that such evil exists in men's hearts; men who are so sold out to Satan, with hearts and minds so depraved that they will be unable to even consider God. These are the men talked about in Revelation 16; the men upon whom the Bowls of God's Wrath will be poured upon; men who "refused to repent of their deeds and continued to blaspheme and curse God...". That is incredibly sad to me, especially when I consider the immensity of evil that must be in their hearts.
     Unlike my unchurched friend, I know there are men in this world who match that description. Would I hope that they would use their free will to choose God over evil? Of course! And believe me, it would be easier to refuse to acknowledge they exist, or to turn a blind eye, but I know that I need to be aware of them because I am an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, and they represent the kingdom of darkness. I need to know what, where, and how I am to battle in the Spirit.
      And, believe me, I can identify with my churched friend. For a long time, it was really unfamiliar and scary ground to contemplate the depth of evil on the earth. It was much more pleasant and agreeable to focus on Jesus and His nature of  Love, Mercy and Grace towards all men. But one day, the Father is going to give Jesus the go-ahead to render the Righteous Judgment of Heaven upon such evil. And once I faced the knowledge of that Day of Wrath, Evil no longer had the power to shut me down. I knew who I was, what my role was to be, and I felt I was qualified to get in the game. Actually, I needed to get in the game! And I was realistic about it .... could I, a single person, stop Satan and his New World Order or their agenda? Not in the physical. But I know I am powerful in my spirit, and He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.
     And this precious friend explained her own state of mind so well ... she sees the dots being connected; what was once fuzzy, is now "starkly clear"; and there's no more gray area. And I think the Body of Christ (at least in the Western Church) has been operating in that "gray area" for quite awhile. It's that place where we view the world with our rose-colored religious glasses on; the ones that project an optimistic outlook because we are Saved and going to Heaven. But there's a whole lot of Bible between the Resurrection and Revelation, and its clear that we will not escape persecution and tribulation. Don't you want to be prepared? The Prophet Hosea's that "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6) has never been more appropriate.
     I think it goes without saying that unless my unchurched friend begins to seek a relationship with Jesus, he will continue to be fooled into seeing the world only as he wants to see it. Perhaps he can live out his life never having to face evil and never choosing to pursue Jesus, but he will end up standing in judgment before the Lord one day and when he looks upon the face of the One who has loved him "before the foundations of the world", I expect he will wish he had pursued Him earlier. I pray that he comes to that knowledge and decision soon.
     On the other hand, my faithful friend has come to the knowledge that we are in the midst of two kingdoms at war on the earth, and that she cannot rest in her contentedness or the gratification for her salvation. Knowledge is power and ignorance puts us in a position of weakness. Acknowledging the level of evil in the world does not mean we live in fear or doubt. It means the Lord can use us in greater measure as the times grow darker because we will be able to endure in faithfulness, having the knowledge of the Father's heart, and receiving the full counsel of God and His Word. We will be able to speak encouragement to others just coming out of the gray, fuzzy, disconnected parts of their faith. May we all walk bravely with the Lord as He continues to grow us up into His image, at one with Him and the Father, and seeing as They see.

Proverbs 24:5-6    A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might,  for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
    

Lord, Let Them Remain Steadfast!

   

     Over the last weeks and months that Covid-19 has engulfed the world, there has been an outcry among the peoples of the nations as they turn to God for comfort. Some of these people are practicing Believers who have never wavered from their faith; some are returning to a faith that they abandoned; and still others are new converts seeking a relationship they have rejected in the past. Whatever the reasons, I am hopeful that the intentions of these hearts are founded in a true desire and hunger for the Lord.
     I am hopeful when I see headlines on Christian websites that say, Popular Pastor Sees Thousands Come To Christ Amid Coronavirus Chaos, and another like this one, 'The BIG Reset': God Is Using The Current Crisis as a Catalyst for Global Great Awakening. And I want to believe quotes such as this: "We are coming together in a unity of heart and mind and people are praying and looking to God for answers. We are lovingly caught in the captivity of the Lord and the Enemy is losing big time!"
     It is a fact that since this virus made its appearance on the world stage we have witnessed our lives slowing down, embracing a simpler lifestyle that is absent of all the distractions of the world, and yes, it's been a fantastic opportunity to hear the voice of the Lord and to have the time to seek Him. Heaven knows that we probably would not have seen these changes in our personal lives without being forced into it by the pandemic. So, I am grateful for the news that people are turning to God, and I pray that the numbers increase exponentially as the Spirit of the Lord infuses hearts.
     But most of all, I pray that this "revival" is lasting. If you sense a certain amount of doubt in the tone of my words, I want to make it clear that I believe the transformation in people's lives is real. I believe that they are truly seeking a renewal of their relationship with God, whether they knew Him before or not. And the unity and prayers are genuine and authentic. And, God help me, I want to believe the hope being expressed that this is the worldwide revival we've been praying for; that it is a hope that will actually be realized.
     I want to believe it! But my spirit keeps cautioning me, "Don't sell the Enemy short" and "Haven't we seen this throughout history so many times before?" How many times did the Israelites turn to God in the midst of their crises, hear His voice and experience His deliverance, and then return to their rebellious ways? After being saved from the ten plagues and the Angel of Death in Egypt, and receiving the Ten Commandments, it only took months for the Israelites to turn back to worshiping the golden calf. Of course, they rationalized it to themselves as representing "your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 32:4).
     In addition, the Old Testament is full of the history of the kings of Judah and Israel and how they led their peoples through cycles of revival and rebellion. The New Testament Churches of Christianity all began in the spirit of undaunting faith and commitment to the Lord, but we see [just in the lifespan of the Apostle John] how they struggled to stay focused on "their first love". When John received "the revelation of Jesus Christ", the Lord referred to these churches as the Loveless Church (Ephesus), the Persecuted Church (Smyrna), the Compromising Church (Pergamus), the Corrupt Church (Thyratira), the Dead Church (Sardis), and the Lukewarm Church (Laodicea). Only the Church at Philadelphia was called Faithful. But none of these Churches exist today, and in most of these cities there are no churches or Christians at all.
     In our own lifetime, we saw the resurgence of faith in the Lord after September, 2001. But look how short a time that lasted and the overwhelming increase of "worldliness" and moral corruption that was eagerly received in the scant 19 years since. Again, I earnestly pray that the hope of revival we see today in the midst of this pandemic will be lasting and real! But as the hope for a return to normalcy and the opening of our economy looms before us, I have to wonder how quick will people return to their old ways? How long will this newfound spirit of revival last?
     Adding to my concerns, I am hearing increased talk that we could be coming close to Jesus's return. While I agree that Biblical signs like plagues and increasing earthquakes bring that scenario to mind, I sense that what we are feeling are "the birth pangs" Jesus mentions in Matthew 24:8. In other words, we know that this age in which Satan's kingdom of darkness rules will be replaced with a new age in which we will see the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God on earth. And Jesus tells us in just a few short verses later that the end of this age will occur when the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in all the world (Matthew 24:14). The Western Church has just begun to rediscover the truth of this Gospel, and we've a long way to go to see it spread to all the nations. And, as I don't need to remind you, "no man knows the hour or the day". However, we are to discern the season and I clearly discern the "birth pangs". So, I just want to end with a fervent prayer that this spirit of revival and renewal will grow, even as we contemplate a return to "life before Covid-19". Please pray with me:

Father God,

I know that revival and repentance are at the heart of the Lord for His people. And I rejoice in the voices raised to You in this hour of our national and global crisis. The peoples of the world are hungry and thirsty for Your Word and Your Spirit! I see them being revived by Your Living Water and the Bread of Life that is our Lord, Jesus Christ. I see the power of the Holy Spirit sweeping our land, igniting a fire in the faithful and I pray that You will fan this fire into a conflagration that destroys all the works and schemes of the Enemy! 

And, Father, I pray that you will break down any barriers that would impede or interfere with Your efforts to call Your chosen in this time. Let Your hand be upon each man, woman, and child of Your right hand; upon all people whom You have made strong for Your purpose of advancing Your Kingdom on the earth. Let us not turn back from You. Accelerate our ability to carry out our Kingdom assignments, and order our steps according to Your plan.  

Father, let it be said of this generation that we cleansed our hands of the sins, transgressions, and iniquities of our past; purified our hearts to be worthy of You; and that in Your Mercy, You awakened our spirits to walk in Holy Fear of Your Name. Let us be Your instrument by which all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. 

Father, I pray that we will not abandon our hearts for this revival! When we falter, renew our strength, so that we shall run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. It is my prayer that this refreshing spirit of revival will not wane, but grow ever stronger until the whole world calls upon  Your Holy and Mighty Name! This is my humble but solemn prayer. Amen! 

Psalm 86:9-10   All the nations You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God.