Edition 413: April 17^th 2018

Israel: Born in a day - twice!

Introduction:

Isaiah 66:8 “Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children.” Vs 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all you who love her...”

Before we even begin, I must go on record again and reject with total and utter contempt every teaching claiming that this verse above is for the church. It was popularised by the deceived Revelation 12 - sign teachers. That is all pure replacement theology and totally false, as was their entire premise.

Israel born in a day, attacked in a day – twice:

The official birthday of the modern state of Israel is 14^th May 1948. The next day, the 15^th is Palestinian Nakba Day. This word means, “Day of Catastrophe.” The day after Israel’s birth, she was attacked by six well-equipped Arab nations from every side, when she had only a very small rag-tag defence force. Israel won – with God’s help.

The miracle of Israel’s birth in a day will soon have a powerful likeness as she is born spiritually in a day. Not every last Jew will be born spiritually in a day, but there will be a huge amount that will:

Zechariah 3:9 “...I will remove the iniquity of that land (Israel) in one day.”

Something incredible will happen to cause this. I believe it will be the rapture of the church that will immediately cause the Jews to become angry and jealous at the same time as they, the chosen people are left behind. It will be the pre-cursor to the opening of the veil of blindness.

If not the rapture it will be something else that will happen on the first day of the tribulation.

The day of the rapture will be the day the tribulation begins. Remember that as Israel, the nation was born; she was attacked the next day, by hordes of Arab armies. Now as Israel sees her Lord in one day, she will be attacked by Satan, the antichrist and his armies of the world right away.

Israel born physically in a day has a precedent and parallel in being born spiritually in a day.

Passover is all about the children of Israel being released from Egyptian slavery - Egypt, being a type of the world-system. Passover saw great liberation and great death and destruction to the enemy.

Israel’s 70^th year anniversary is all about Israel’s release form the bondage of Egyptian and Babylonian captivity. Babylon is another type of the world-system.

Does this mean that huge wars and attacks are about to begin? I believe so!

Tomorrow, the 18^th April, sees a huge celebration and festive outpouring in Israel marking Israel’s 70^th birthday. The day is being tagged by Israel as “A nation born in a day.” (Isaiah 66:8)

All of this is part of the massive, glorious unfolding of God’s wonderful plans.

Here are some 70’s for you:

●70 is the number of completeness. It is the number of judgement relating to Israel.

●70 is also the number of release relating to Israel.

● “70 sevens are determined upon the Jewish people.” (Daniel 9:24) That is “70 sevens” of years until the judgement of the tribulation, which also sees the release of the Jews from blindness.

●Israel was originally made up of 70 (Genesis 46:27, Exodus 1:5 Ruth 4:11.)

●Israel fell into captivity in Babylon for 70 years –then released.

●The Jewish temple was destroyed in 70AD.

●70 Jewish disciples were sent out by Luke 10:1,17

God’s final purposes for Israel are about to take place!

Isaiah 49:6 “Is it too small a thing that you (Israel) should be My Servant...I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

The attack:

Israel will receive the “comfort” of bombs and the “love” of hell again before receiving the comfort and love of God.

Tumultuous times of temples, gore and glory are coming fast.

The attack on Israel is on the go already. It began with the Roman Emperor Constantine in 300AD, it went on and still is on the go from the Catholic church, who hates the idea that Israel is under the control and choice of God and not them.

It is on the go in and through the Palestinians and the religion of Islam.

It is on the go through much of the church in the form of replacement theology.

But the attack will be sharp and furious as soon as the tribulation begins – in fact just before.

Israel is not a land issue, it’s a Satan issue. The entire Israeli – Palestinian problem is a God-said / Satan-said, issue, just as in the Garden! God said to the children of Israel, “dispossess the land and settle in it.” This is for God’s ultimate grand purposes. (Ezekiel 34:11-13, Deuteronomy 1:8).

By the way, “Jerusalem” is mentioned 660 times in the Old Covenant and the synonym, “Zion” is mentioned 158 times. In the New Covenant, Jerusalem is spoken of 146 times and “Zion” 7 times. Total = 971 times. In every single case – no exceptions, God speaks of Jerusalem as His and for His people the Jews.

“Jerusalem” is not even mentioned once in the Quran – not once! Funny thing that the clever fools of CNN and others in the media don’t or won’t acknowledge that!

The name “Jerusalem,” means “City of peace.” The Prince of peace is coming, but on the wings of war, because of the world’s stubbornness and enslavement to Satan.

World peace can only come about in world righteousness. And world righteousness will only come about when Israel is in her rightful, God-ordained place. All of these things are about to explode into horrific world war. God will “put hooks into the jaws” of His enemies and draw them in!

Russia, how do you think you can get those God-hooks out of your jaw? (Ezekiel 38:4)

When will this all occur?

Ezekiel 39:22-29 “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward...after they have borne their shame...When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemy’s lands and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God...And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God.”

The verse above is very powerful indeed and very clear as to what it is speaking about. It is referring to the spiritual blindness of Israel being lifted, and there coming salvation in a day. –Not so? If you think otherwise – you’re an idiot!

So where is the timing in this verse?

Glad you asked! This is one of the closing verses of the great war of Gog and Magog – the Russian invasion of Ezekiel 38 & 39.

Most analysts (including myself) refer to this as WW111. Other verses describe it as extremely intense and furious, but short. The nations of Russia, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Israel are key players, together with some other nations.

We have a very strange verse in this discourse. It says that after the war, they will burn the weapons for “seven years” and mark them out in the fields, going back later to clean up. That seems to imply nuclear fallout or chemical contamination of some sort. (Ezekiel 39:9-12)

The “seven years” is important.

Ezekiel declares that the war will be in the latter years (Ezekiel 38:16). It will be after the great re-gathering of Israel to their land, which is now. (Ezekiel 38:8)

We know that the tribulation is seven-years long. There is no indication anywhere in the Bible that weapons of any sort will be burnt and destroyed for seven years in the Millennium!

That means that this war has to take place at or very close to the start of the tribulation period. I hope your mind is doing a double take now!

We know from the verse above that the timing of the salvation of the Jews en-masse is right from day one of the tribulation.

Do you see how close we are to doubly dramatic times!

Beloved brethren, we are on the very verge of eternity! Does that excite you? It does me – intensely! If it doesn’t, may I suggest you go and dip your head in a bath of ice-water to wake you up!

God has exercised His choice:

The biggest and most stupid fools on the planet are the world’s elite politicians and members of the press – the mass-media. They are the epitome, personification and description of true fools.

They think they can override God’s choice and chose their own deluded ways and then spread that to the masses.

For your benefit here are a few verses that it is wise to know well in these days:

2 Chronicles 6:6 “I (God) have chosen Jerusalem that My name may be there...”

Zechariah 3:2 “The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!

1 Chronicles 21:1 “Now Satan stood up against Israel...”

Isaiah 66:5 “Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: ‘Your brethren who hated you (replacement theology), who cast you out for My name’s sake...you shall be ashamed.’”

Isaiah 29:5 “The multitude of your (Israel) foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passes away; yes it shall be in an instant, suddenly.”

Isaiah 41:11-16 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you (Israel) shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish...Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge with sharp teeth...the whirlwind shall scatter them; you shall rejoice in the Lord and glory in the holy one of Israel.”

God’s plan for Abraham’s family:

This is a summary of the main points of God’s plan for Israel, the Arabs and the church. It is most important to understand all of this very clearly, because it is God’s plan and will work out exactly this way! World – sit up and take note!

The world rejects this plan and replaces it with its own Satan-inspired plan. But guess which plan will endure, and which will end in total destruction?

Israel, born of God through Abraham was to be a righteous nation, holy and pure. Israel was given covenants with God relating to their salvation and to the land. The brother of Israel – the people that became the Arabs (and Palestinians) rejected this plan of God and set themselves in enmity to it.

Various Arab tribes had settled in the land of Israel previously.

God commanded the children of Israel to settle in the land of Israel and dispossess it of the people who were there and totally destroy them and their evil religion, worship, practises and altars. (That would relate to modern Islam.)

If they did not complete this destruction of these heathen nations and their worship, as they settled in the Promised Land, God said that, these people to be dispossessed, would become irritants to Israel and thorns in their side, or should we say that they would become thorns in the apple of God’s eye. Not a good idea! (Numbers 33:50-55)

The children of Israel only partially destroyed these nations as they moved into the land. They disobeyed God.

The entire Arab / Israeli problem today is a manifestation of Israel’s failure to completely obey God.

God’s covenant promises to Israel remained in force and He eventually led Israel to become a nation in one day in 1948 and restored Jerusalem to Israel in 1967.

God declared in His word that He would bring Israel back to their land in their spiritual blindness and open their eyes when they were back. (Isaiah 42:16, Micah 7:8-9)

Numerous prophesies show the many hardships and sufferings the Jews would go though caused by the nations of the world on Israel’s journey to final victory.

The coming of our Lord birthed the church which is also an offshoot of father Abraham. God, through the new-birth, made the church pure and holy in spirit and separate from the world. The church was commissioned by God to take the good news of salvation to the nations and also the warnings of coming judgement.

The church was always to stand with Israel and make her jealous. The gospel was to go to the Jew first and then the Gentiles. (Romans 11:11, Romans 1:16)

Suddenly, in a twinkling of an eye, God is going to remove the church from the world by rapture to heaven while the seven year tribulation and wrath of God occurs on earth, devastating the world.

The Jews, en-mass will be saved, in the tribulation period, but technically not born-again as the church is. Righteousness will be imparted to them as it was with Abraham.

The Arabs, including the Palestinians, will be hostile to the Jews, and try to destroy them and take over Jerusalem and the land. If they succeeded, this would be a triumph for Islam, and the defeat of God’s plan, which He will not allow.

In the tribulation period, the Jews will destroy those that come against them. The Arab nations will be crushed by Israel. Throughout the tribulation, the Jews will be extremely successful in evangelism and taking the gospel to the Gentile nations. Many Arabs get saved in the tribulation period, but not the majority of them.

Ultimately, right at the end of the tribulation, the nations make their final assault against Israel and Jerusalem. With God’s supernatural help Israel destroys all her enemies that attack her. This brings about the climax of the ages and the Second Coming. The church returns with our Lord and a great reunion of Abraham’s children takes place.

The unsaved of the world remain blinded to all of this and especially to the fact that it is all predicted and prophesied in the Bible, even though this grand drama is occurring right before their eyes.

Satan’s scissors:

The world and the worldly church have a very good way of getting around all of this. The practitioners of anti-Semitism and replacement theology simply take a sharp pair of satanic scissors and cut all of the verses relating to God’s end-time plan for Israel out of the Bible.

They replace all of God’s promises for Israel with the church. They can’t see that their satanic scissors have gorged their own eyes out!

Now they present their poisoned, satanic hogwash to the world and their congregations! You can’t grow on spiritual poison!

If Bible prophecy reveals all of this up to where we are now, simple logic says that the rest will be fulfilled exactly, and literally, just as it has done in the past.

Do you see what a huge gamble, against immeasurable odds, everyone is taking who rejects or modifies God’s prophetic word?

At the end of this, the greatest drama of all time, all the saved children of Abraham will come together forever as one glorious family of God, while all the children of the devil, the unsaved of the world, unite in hell.

What incredible drama!

Finally

Right now we are on the eve of destruction. We are at the dawn of world war. We are at the threshold of the rapture and the beginning of the intense tribulation period. We are at the start of the greatest drama ever to unfold!

Of course our Lord is the God of perfect healing. Why then does He appear, well after the resurrection with scars in His hands? Why will He soon appear to His people the Jews, with wounds in His hands? (Zechariah 13:6)

It is so that there will no ambiguity or mistake in them seeing who their Messiah really is and what suffering He endured for them all!

I took this picture of sparring zebras at Etosha and the background picture and merged them.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

 

Edition 412: April 10^th 2018

The essence of foolishness:

Introduction:

You will be amazed to see just how foolish so many people are – even intellectuals! Foolishness is perhaps the greatest, growing problem worldwide today. This edition is designed to help you avoid the pitfalls, line up with God’s word and make you strong. There is God-given advice here, and rebuke as well. Take heed of both!

Today, as we race into the unfolding of the end-time drama, powerful satanic forces are at work and intensifying. This is the time to be well-prepared to stand against the forces of evil.

The days that lie just ahead are the final days of intense spiritual conflict. The days are evil, beloved brethren! (Ephesians 5:17)

There will be far fewer people saved at the end of the day, than most believe. The world today is full of fools of all persuasions and intellectual levels.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

What is a fool?

Isaiah 32:6 “The foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity to practise ungodliness, to utter error before the Lord...”

Proverbs 14:9 “Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favour.”

Fool: Strong’s H191 “Eviyl,” Meanings: One who despises the wisdom of God, one who mocks God, a wicked person. Biblical foolishness has much to do with spiritual blindness.

A fool then, has nothing to do with intellect. In fact most intellectuals are the biggest fools on earth. The biblical fool is one who is independent of God, mocks God, is spiritually blind, and full of sin. The fool doesn’t care about his eternal future.

There is another Bible word for “fool” which does relate to intellect, but that is not my concern here in this edition.

Let me mention however, the Bible shows that there is plenty of hope for the fool from an intellectual point of view, but little of no hope for the moral fool, who I am dealing with here.

Psalm 53:1 “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”

●By the way, the Bible says that we are not to call people fools. The context of that, relates to looking down on someone from a position of elevated, judgmental pride.

End-time fools:

The most notorious end-time fools are the five foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-4 who were unprepared for the coming of the Lord. They tried to borrow oil for their lamps from the five wise, but were refused, because when they had the opportunity to get ready, they squandered it. That really is the story of today.

By the way, most interpreters agree, as do I, that all 10 virgins represent the entire church. Note that the five foolish virgins were shut out and the door was closed. That means that they lost their salvation. It does not mean that they were not saved in the first place.

Revelation 3:16 speaks of the end-time lukewarm church being spat out by God. They mixed a bit of truth with error making it lukewarm and effectively neutralising it.

Some, in the end-time church of Thyatira are cast out by God into great tribulation. (Revelation 2:22) These people mixed truth with witchcraft and other evils making their position an abomination to God.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of God sending strong delusion on those who reject the truth specifically in these last days. That makes them prime fools!

Today, many in the Spirit-less churches, are falling away fast, including their leaders. They think they can follow our Lord without the active working of the fullness of the Spirit of God in their lives. This is particularly acute and in these end-times.

It is absolute foolishness to think that you can identify and deal with demonic spirits and forces with your intellect or own mind outside of the gifts of the Spirit.

The great majority of the verses in the Bible dealing with foolishness relate to God’s own people!

The foolishness of rejecting Bible prophecy:

Bible prophecy is the eyes and ears for the church. It shows you what is to come. How can you be in your right mind and ignore it! Yes, I know great damage has been done to the word of prophecy but the deceived Revelation 12-sign teachers and other false prophets, but they were all acting in and through the spirit of error.

God is the designer and architect of the ages and He has given us His word of prophecy for our edification and preparedness. No greater body of scripture is given to this vey subject! Only big fools would chose to ignore it. Most churches do!

Right now, and I mean now, we are on the verge of huge prophetic developments in the Middle East. We are on the verge of the great Ezekiel 38/39 war. (I will share some interesting things from the Bible on this, in next week’s edition.)

The great shaking is about to begin. If you know Bible prophecy, or at least its framework, you will be prepared to stand securely.

Do not wander off into all sorts of strange beliefs now. Do not receive from people who do not have a clear, well proven track record.

Jeremiah 14:10 “Thus the Lord says to this people: ‘They have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”

The foolishness of the mass-media:

Tragically, much of the church today has sold their souls to the TV set and have replaced faith in the Lord with faith in the media. It has shaped them and formed them, to their eternal detriment.

Jeremiah 8:8-9 “How can you say, ‘we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? ‘Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; so what wisdom do they have?’”

The verse above is one of those that so succinctly describes and defines the godless mass media of today. They are champions in leading billions astray, and will be ultimately responsible for sending them to hell! They are true fools from a biblical point of view.

Today, the mass media has attained a god-like status. The media swims in their never-ending discussion panels and opinions - all of the god of the world.

Proverbs 18:2 (Amp) “A self-confident fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his personal opinions and himself.”

Psalm 10:4-13 “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God, who is in none of his thoughts...His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and oppression; under his tongue is trouble and iniquity...He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless...He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see it....Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, ‘You will not require and account.’

The traditions and customs of man nullify the word of God and blind you. The spiritual forces of rebellion to God lead people into futile tradition-keeping. (Mark 7:13)

The foolishness of coming against Israel:

We are on the brink of huge wars and conflicts breaking out in the Middle East, with Israel being dragged in and becoming a key player as international hatred grows towards Israel.

Isn’t it interesting that the nations that recently became anti-Semitic have now been handed over by God to the devil. This is true for many European nations, Canada and others.

It’s good to remember that all anti-Semitism and replacement theology within the church is in effect, anti-God and a rejection of God’s plans.

Do you know that destruction and chaos of war is part of the judgment of God upon those who reject His ways, and specifically, who come against Israel.

2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

Dangerous end-time foolishness:

Tragically people can’t see it, but foolishness is a prison. It’s the world’s great invisible prison resulting in the terrible punishment of enslavement to the devices of the devil.

Psalm 107:17 “Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities were afflicted...they drew near to the gates of death...”

There is a unique form of foolishness in this world and it comes from God Himslef as an affliction. He inflicts people with it! That may not be part of your theology, but it is true. If you become a victim of it, you will not escape!

Romans 1:21-28 “They knew God, but didn’t glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools...God then gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonour their bodies, exchanging the truth of God for a lie and worshipped the creature rather than the creator. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. (Lesbianism) Likewise, the men burned in lust for one another...God gave them over to a debased mind...”

Notice in the verse above that these people became fools in their so-called wisdom! Notice also that people who support and practice homosexuality are “handed over” by God! In fact, in this discourse they are “handed over” three times.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

This verse above shows an unavoidable condition of the fool. He is blinded to the message of the cross, in which there is salvation – exclusively. But there is an amazing positive aspect to the verse as well. To those who are being saved, (salvation of the soul) it is our power!

Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.”

Proverbs 14:16 “The wise fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages in his self-confidence.”

Foolishness –the curse of God:

There are too many verses on this to list here, but suffice to say that rebellion to God in specific ways, mainly witchcraft in all its forms, produces the curse of foolishness on the participants. They become blinded fools. This normally becomes a generational curse as well!

Deuteronomy 28:20-29 “The Lord will send on you cursing confusion (foolishness) and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed...because of the wickedness of your doings...The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion (foolishness) of heart and you shall grope around at noonday as a blind man in the darkness and you shall not prosper in your ways.”

What is the passion of your life?

Most Christians today are shallow, spiritual slobs, beguiled by the world, blinded by its god, and on the road to hell - in Jesus name.

Your passion should be to know our Lord more and more and to know yourself in God’s light. The more you get to know our Lord, the more you want to make Him known. That’s the way to go.

The problem with the fool who has rejected God’s word is that he now has no point of reference, anchor point, and no absolutes in his life, besides those that he engineers to suit himself. He has no definition of sin in his world of variables. He has no measure of comparison in terms of right and wrong. He is on a fast moving slippery slide, spiralling downwards.

In the days of Noah they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage, building and planting. There is nothing wrong with those things. But they were also full of evil and sin.

It was their foolish disregard for God’s warnings and living in sin and evil that brought judgement on themselves. The end-time world is just the same!

Jeremiah 7:23-24 “Obey My voice and I will be your God and you shall be My people, and walk in the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey nor incline their ear, but walked in the counsels and the imagination of their evil heart, and went backwards and not forward.’”

Most people today have their hopes set in this world only. They are blinded by the temporary bright lights and luxuries of the day. But they do not know and see that where and when they fall in death – that’s it. Their eternal destiny is set!

Ecclesiastes 11:3 “Where the tree falls there it will lie...”

Romans 14:10-12 “...We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Messiah ...Each of us shall give account of Himself to God.”

Here is something to consider: There is coming a day just after death (or rapture) and just after our judgement, that all will be revealed about all of us. Everything will be made manifest. We will all see each other’s eternal glory, reward-state, or lack of it.

2 Corinthians 5:10 “We must all appear before the judgement seat of Messiah...” (Lit= we must all be made manifest.)

We will all be forever manifest to the universe and it will all be based on what we did with our lives here on earth. Yes all our sin will be gone, but the effects of sin – our eternal reward will be seen.

Romans 2:16 “...God will judge the secrets of men by Yeshua the Messiah, according to My gospel.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “...Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

The answer:

Matthew 6:20 (Amp) “Gather, heap up and store for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither rust nor moth and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Do you see how important it is not to waste your time on unnecessary pursuits of the things of the world? We are in the world and all need to partake of it to a degree, but our main priority must always be towards a focus on eternity.

Only in the Lord can you get one amazing miracle to work for you. You can redeem the time. That means that you can buy back the time that you have wasted and that the devil has stolen from you. In our Lord there is a second chance and more.

One of the titles for our Lord is: “The Lord our redeemer.”

Ephesians 5:16 “See to it that you walk circumspectly and not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Only true believers have the God given luxury and privilege of being blessed with the ability to repent and put things right, cancelling out our sins forever.

Our foolishness and sins will be removed as far as the east is from the west – forever. Do you know that if you head off going west you will always be going west, never east? In other words our sins are forever gone!

The answer to spiritual foolishness is not education. It is surrender to God in all areas of your life.

This is a collection of some of my Baobab tree paintings and photographs combined with a flower.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

 

Edition 411: April 3^rd 2018

End-Time Ailments of the Soul:

Introduction:

Job 3:25-26 “The thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes to me.”

That verse most certainly describes our present world situation. A massive increase in psychological ailments of the soul is taking place right now, and those within the church, who are not prepared and equipped, are not immune. The Bible prophesies it all.

This is one of my favourite subjects. I have written much on it, but this is new material. This edition should be seen together with the other editions on the subject, which you will find under the heading - “Counselling,” under the “Editions by Subject” button.

The intensifying, end-time ailments:

The Bible makes reference to almost all of the end-time ailments in some shape or form. They are intensifying now. Here are just a few of them:

Stress, depression, anxiety, fear of rejection, loneliness, uncontrolled anger, drug use, manias, paranoia, panic attacks, personality disorders, eating problems and more.

The characteristics of the end-time world are succinctly described in the verses below:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “In the last days perilous times (Lit= times of stress) will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people, turn away.”

Here’s the shocker: Almost all are biblically identified as sin. To name them anything else, is to miss-diagnose them, which means that sufferers will not be healed! This is why psychologists are failures. You can’t take pills to make sin go away! Blame-shifting does not make sin go away.

There is a remedy and answer for them all. It is not the psychologist! It’s all in God’s word.

As the world moves at great speed further and further away from God, distress of nations and individuals increases dramatically. That is simple cause and effect at work.

Suicide:

This is a huge, very fast growing problem worldwide today.

Suicide is generally a capitulation to the pressures of stress anxiety, despair, helplessness and more. All suicide surrenders to the enemy – death.

Suicide involves a turning away from God to a focus on self.

Proverbs 1:32-33 “The turning away (from God) of the simple will slay (Lit=kill) them...But whoever listens to Me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without evil.”

Self must go to the cross, where it dies - not at your own hand! Cross-death always results in resurrection to newness of life.

Suicide is often caused by and related to demonic curses at work. Suicide itself, almost always generates generational curses in the families of those left behind. These forces need to be dealt with, addressed and broken through spiritual warfare.

I don’t know what the numbers are, but I can tell you, according to numerous Bible verses, that huge amounts of psychological problems are caused by involvement in the occult, and all related activities. This always brings demonic activity.

I am now going to build a scenario based on some all-important verses. Don’t stop reading now!

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone defiles (Lit = destroys) this temple of God (the body), God will destroy him...”

This is the famous verse used to suggest that those who commit suicide, killing the body, will be spiritually destroyed by God. It is the verse that has created the suicide-stigma for ages.

There really is no other interpretation of the verse. So, that simply means, - don’t gamble with it! What if it means exactly what it is saying?

Now let’s have a look at an incredibly deep and far reaching verse:

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

This verse says that all our problems no matter how big, are temporary. They are in fact “light afflictions” while we look at what we can’t see – heaven and our future glory. There will be no problems in heaven. There will be no sin in eternity. All sin, problems, and the like, belong to this temporary realm.

If we endure through them, a miraculous thing happens. Instead of a heavy weight of stress and problems, we receive an eternal, heavy weight of glory as reward.

As said, all our problems are related to sin somewhere in the chain, and all sin is of this temporary world. Now have a look at this verse:

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish transgression (Lit=sin), to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity (sin), to bring in everlasting righteousness...”

So this is saying and confirming that all sin will be forever destroyed, and everlasting righteousness is coming. How wonderful is that?

So why swop a glorious eternity where there will be no sin or problems of any sort for a temporary realm of sin and problems?

Problems are temporary, even if they last all your life on earth that is still temporary. Why cause yourself eternal problems based on a temporary situation?

Do you see how unwise it is to focus on the temporary and miss out on the eternal?

You see, in this life we always have a chance to go back, repent, or change things. Suicide though, is final and complete. If you have made a huge mistake by committing suicide, you can’t go back and change things. It’s done!

The verses I’ve used here say: Suicide will get you destroyed (in hell). All problems which are sin-related are temporary. In eternity (not far off) all sin will be gone and everlasting righteousness will be here. Endurance through all problems and looking to eternity, will make your problems a “light affliction” and give you an eternal reward of glory!

Joy is found in and emits for your spirit. Happiness or unhappiness are temporary and originate in the physical and bodily areas.

1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away and the lusts of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever,”

Let’s deal with some more ailments:

●●●Is your soul at war with God?

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims (Lit = aliens and exiles) abstain from fleshly, worldly lusts which war against the soul,”

When we become too entangled in the ways of the world, there are consequences. According to the verse above, you are then in a war, which you can’t win. You need to die to the world!

●●●A spirit of depression and heaviness weighs people down. They end up almost blinded by the weight. The opposite is the eternal weight of glory that is coming to those who qualify!

Isaiah 61:3 “Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

Heaviness and depression are spirits and must be treated as such. Also, please note that praise is one of the answers. You rarely hear people under this spirit praising others or God. But it is required because it shifts the focus from self-orientation away to others, which always helps.

Sometimes, you need to make a sacrifice of praise, even if you don’t feel like it. Praise is also closely related to thankfulness. In fact the word “thanks” in many languages is the same word for grace. So when you praise and give thanks you are inviting grace upon your life.

●●●Rejection and fear of rejection is a great problem today. People want acceptance, and too many times look for it in the wrong places. When we turn our hopes and love to the Lord, in repentance and humility, he will give us enduring acceptance.

Isaiah 54:4-6 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed nor be disgraced...For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife that was refused (Lit=rejected.)”

●●●The way you dress has consequences:

Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.”

Do you believe that a man dressing like a woman is an abomination to God? Read that verse again! I tell you, that if you are a walking abomination to God, you will never be blessed of God, and you will end up being demonised. How about that...your clothing can get you demon possessed!

●●●Do you honour your parents?

Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”

Honouring your parents has consequences. It does not matter how good, right, or wrong they are, you still need to honour and respect them. That is not fashionable today. The verse above most certainly describes a curse.

●●●Discipline and control your thought life and your words:

Mark 7:21-23 “From within, out of the evil heart of men, proceed evil thoughts...all evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Matthew 12:36-37 “I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgement, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.”

Your thought life produces your words, which produce your beliefs and actions. You can control your thoughts. Learn to cast down evil imaginations.

●●●Fear is a crippling force in many people’s lives these days and it can affect them severely. In many cases it is a result of rebellion to God’s ways. There is a very specific type of fear which comes from God upon people who reject His ways.

Deuteronomy 28:65 -66 “The Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you and you shall fear day and night and have no assurance of life.”

Job 11:13-18 “If you would prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands to Him; if iniquity were in you and you put it far away, and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; then surely you could lift up your face without spot. Yes you could be steadfast, and not fear...and your life would be brighter than noonday though you were dark, you would be like the morning and be secure.”

●●●Coming against God’s people, Jews and Christians, has consequences causing them to run into all sorts of problems.

Genesis 27:28-29 “God will give you the dew of heaven and fatness of the earth...Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you.”

●●●Corrupted ways are the order of the day. Remember that these end-times are compared by God to the “days of Noah!”

Genesis 6:11 “The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence...indeed the earth was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” (Days of Noah)

●●●Exalting your own ways will lead you to disaster. When you do, almost always, religious idolatry comes in as well.

Jeremiah 18:12-17 Rejecting God’s warning they said: “This is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans and we will all do the imagination of our own heart...Because My people have forgotten Me and have burned incense to worthless idols, and have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in the pathways and not on the highway, to make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing...I will scatter them as with an east wind before their enemy; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.”

A Greek philosopher, Protagoras said: “Man is the measure of all things”. This is the essence of godless humanism.He also said that “there is no absolute truth”. This thinking has produced a downward devolution and value of humanity.

For ages and again today, the leader of the Catholic church says that they are the only authority that can interpret scripture. That is absolute idolatry based on the rejection of numerous verses. You need to fully and completely reject, with contempt every such claim and belief. It is from hell.

True, deep, peace of mind only comes when we fit into God’s plans for our lives. You can’t be at rest and in peace outside of God’s will and plan for you.

A great tragedy is to be filled with sin unknowingly, because you have rejected God’s definition of sin and now you have no restraint in you because you have rejected God’s word. Your life will be like a parched, dry desert.

Never ending curses at work:

Today, the subject of curses is very rarely taught in the churches. Most don’t even believe them. They are more real than you can imagine!

People under a curse always fall and fail. Things just never seem to go right for them. We all have things go wrong, but a curse is like a continuing dark cloud of failure.

Deuteronomy 28:45-47 “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God...And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder and on your descendants forever...therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you...”

Deuteronomy 28:20 “The Lord will send on you cursing confusion and rebuke in all you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed...because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.”

Deuteronomy 28:21 “The Lord will make the plague cling to you, until He has consumed you...”

Deuteronomy 28:28 “The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.”

There are many more, but here is a short simple, one sentence description of curses at work from the verses above:

●They bring destruction. ●They cause you to serve the enemy. ●They cause confusion. ●They cause failure in whatever you set your hand to do. ●They cling to you and you can’t shake them off. ●They create madness. ●They create spiritual blindness.

Some wonderful answers:

Isaiah 48:18 “Oh that you had heeded My commands! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

Repentance is little known, taught or experienced in today’s shallow, lukewarm church.

But true deep repentance of thought, word and action, is extremely liberating and refreshing. It’s like the atmosphere after a big storm – clean, crisp and refreshing. It clears the air between you and God setting you on a new course.

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 “Godly sorrow produces repentance not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. You sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what godly fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all these things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Proverbs 16:3 (Amp) “Commit and trust your works to the Lord and He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and so shall your plans be established and succeed.”

Psalm 23:3 “The Lord restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness, for His name sake.”

Wonderful, miraculous salvation:

One of the great powerful ways to know if you’re really saved is this: Through the new-birth we are made perfect holy and pure in spirit. It is man’s spirit that becomes the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Our soul and body remain unchanged at salvation.

But the Spirit of God now works in us through to the outside causing us to desire holiness in soul. Do you have an inner hatred for sin and an inner desire to be right with God? Does something inside of you touch your conscience and draw you to change? If so, you are saved.

We must know how salvation works. We must know how to “rightly divide” and apply the word in terms of soul and spirit.

The following is a contrast between the verses relating to our spirit (positional truth) and our soul and body (temporal truth).

●We are in the world but not of it. We are seated in heavenly places, but we are to die daily. ●We are more than conquerors, but we say: “O wretched man that I am”. ●Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world, but - in me dwells no good thing. ●I can do all things through Messiah, but we can of ourselves do nothing. ●We are complete in Him, but we must fall on this rock and be broken. ●We have abundant life, but if we find our lives, we will lose it.

Finally

You can chose: Exaltation, health, prosperity, victory, godly authority, or humiliation, repeated sickness, enduring poverty, failure, defeat, spiritual gullibility, mental breakdown, emotional instability.

When you cease to depend on God, His rulership of your life ceases. You become a slave to self.

A sign of the Spirit of God at work in an individual includes stability.

Faith is a fight. It takes courage and determination in the face of increasing pressures.

Hope gives our salvation optimism and changes the winters of stress and depression to spring and summer. People obeying God just seem to turn things to gold.

I created this image with gold leaf and superimposed the elephant eye and golden feathers.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

 

Edition 410: March 28^th 2018

Glorifying God

Introduction:

As we approach the end of this age, the church will be immediately and irreversibly snatched away to heaven by rapture, while the world will plunge into the worst tribulation ever known. At that time, the church will receive its eternal reward, and suffer loss of reward.

What do you think is the most important thing you can have done with your life, as we approach judgement and assessment of our lives by our Messiah? Very few people would answer correctly.

The answer is simply this: Did your life glorify God?

Consider this powerful verse below. Will this be your testimony on judgement day?

Psalm 92:12-15 “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree and a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright (glorious); He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

Defining glory:

Glory: Strong’s H3513 – “Kabowd” Meanings: Heavy weight, rich, honourable, abundance, riches, splendour, brightness, magnificence, exaltation, dignity, reverence, grandeur.

The meaning of the word “authority” in the Bible also contains the description of a weight. Do you see the wonderful parallel? Glory is weighty and full of godly authority!

I like very much the fact that glory is defined as a heavy weight. That means it is nothing trivial, light, inconsequential or fleeting. It is the real deal. It is beautiful and meaningful. In the natural world, I think we can compare in some ways, glory to gold.

Glory, is also described as purifying, unquenchable fire. Fire generates light from within. It burns away all sin and is a holy-maker.

Glory is directly linked to holiness. When you declare His glory, you declare His character and nature – pure and holy.

When we take these meanings and relate them to our Lord and Saviour we are on the right track.

Imputing glory to God is a most powerful thing. He is full of glory anyway, but when we recognise that and change our lives accordingly, we have touched glory.

One of the many benefits is that as we glorify God, we grow quickly is wisdom, which is part of our inheritance, but it’s conditional.

How to glorify God:

Nobody can glorify God while glorifying self! Satan has infiltrated the self-life, and the world system. So, the first thing we need to do is dethrone self, humble ourselves, stoop down and bow our entire lives before Him. This is the essence of worship.

Accepting all of God’s word and everything He says about us, and Himself is the next step.

A greatly neglected practise these days is to speak and confess God’s word out loud. Doing things that we believe, demonstratively, is very powerful. Confessing words about the glory of God and physically bowing down, is good, glorifying practise. The spirit world takes notice.

If you exalt yourself (pride) you will be humbled (humiliated) and if you humble yourself you will be exalted. Lucifer reached up to God and was brought down. Yeshua stooped down in death and was highly exalted. There is so much in that!

“Whoever desire to be great among you let him become your servant.” (Mark 10:43)

Glorifying God does not come automatically. It is your wilful choice. It is necessary. The more you do it, the greater the benefits for you.

Bear in mind that Judas had the best teacher in the world. He had our Lord as his guide, yet he went to hell. You see, his heart was wrong and he never truly surrendered.

A conscious, wilful rejection of the words and opinions of the lukewarm church relating to all these things is required. There’s a reason why they are lukewarm! Obviously, the same is required for the opinions of the world as reflected in its media and entertainment realms.

Glorifying Satan:

A life lived for self is essentially a life that glorifies Satan. You see, when you have self on the throne of your life, you have dethroned God. That is the epitome of pride, and all pride is headed is headed for destruction.

“He, Satan, is king over all the children of pride”. (Job 41:34)

Psalm 138:6 “Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud, He knows from afar.”

I once heard Derek Prince say of this verse: “The Lord knows the proud from afar – and that’s where He keeps them!”

A worldly orientated life is just as doomed. It will be filled with demonic influences and everything that ultimately opposes God.

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God will abide forever.”

All worldliness, pride, sin and foolishness comes from a heart not right with God.

Many times it comes as a result of a curse. It comes as result of failure to repent, which always leads to pride, which then blinds you further, ultimately leading to destruction.

Mark 7:21-22 “What comes out of a man defiles a man, for from within, out of the heart of men proceeds evil thoughts...pride and foolishness.”

Any person, minister in particular, seeking self promotion, self glorification, self exaltation, or the approval of man, in any way, is not of the Spirit of God and has self-love (pride) on the throne.

Isaiah 48:18-22 “Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would be a like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea...His name would not have been cut off, nor destroyed from before Me...’There is no peace’ says the Lord for the wicked.”

The verse above is very insightful. Now consider the opposite:

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you, not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be afraid.”

Self-centred people are normally troubled, dissatisfied and stress-filled. They have a short fuse and are generally a home for great error.

Self esteem, self worth, self importance are the rage catch-phrases of the day. There is nothing wrong with self esteem if it sees self glorifying God. The problem is that these efforts usually glorify self. Love of self is trait condemned with the love of pleasure and love of the world in the Bible, so why go there? (2 Timothy 3:4)

You can set your life to sing the praises of self or of God. Put God on a pedestal or yourself.

Isaiah 25:3 “The strong people will glorify You...”

As we glorify God, He lifts us up:

When we stoop down and bow our lives before God – glorifying Him, something amazing begins to happen. He lifts us up.

A life set to glorify God will set you free from fear, anxiety, fear, shame, guilt, rejection and many things that are not of God.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “Our light affliction which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary and the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Please note in the verse above that a weight of glory is coming as reward to believers who qualify. But note that it is eternal! Can you understand the gravity of that? How wonderful!

We must understand that this is no small issue. Even the Spirit of God glorifies God!

John 16:13-14 “When He the Spirit of truth has come He will guide you into all truth...He will tell you things to come...He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

Those who have wrestled with God and been broken and shattered by Him are generally the ones who almost automatically, really and truly glorify God in their lives. When self effort is out of the picture, it’s easy to go God’s way.

To really truly glorify God you have to first know and understand just who He is, and know something about His glory. As a new believer you can still glorify God in your words, by faith. He will accept that and move you forward.

If ever there is a time when this practise of glorifying God is needed it is right now. That is the way to ultimate exaltation while the world is deteriorating at great speed.

As you glorify God, you destroy the works of Satan in your life.

Glorifying God’s plans for Israel:

Obviously, glorifying God includes glorifying His ways and His plans. In this day we are on the verge of great conflict relating to Israel. She is about to be attacked from every side and in every way. The Bible says it will be so.

Much of the church, particularly, the dead and lukewarm churches will back the onslaught. The nations of the world will lead the great end-time attack.

It will become very unpopular and very risky – fatal for many, to stand with Israel as we approach the climax of the age. The question is this: Will you be a spineless chicken and go with the world?

If you do, you might have some temporary victories against God, but, O you fool of all fools –you will pay eternally for your support of Satan.

Getting ready for glory:

In Genesis 19:15-16 Lot was told by the angels to hurry up to get out of Sodom. He still lingered, so the angels grabbed him and his wife by the hands and led them out. A bit further on in Genesis 19:22, we see an incredible thing: Lot is again told to hurry up and escape to the mountains, “For I can do nothing until you escape there.”

Here God is saying that He cannot bring His promised judgement on Sodom, while righteous lot and his family were still there. In other words: “God reserves His wrath for His enemies. (Nahum 1:2)

This is a perfect type of the rapture!

But it also implies readiness. In this day we must hurry up to be ready for our Lord of glory.

Throughout the Bible we see many stories of people who were not ready. Everyone used excuses for their delay. (Matthew 24:45-51)

Wake must all wake up fast and be ready in heart. Great, deep repentance is needed. A focus on materialism causes sleepiness!

Ephesians 5:14-15 “Awake, you who sleep and arise from the dead and Messiah will give you light...Walk circumspectly, redeeming the time, not as fools but as wise.”

Romans 13:11 “Do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

Today most churches have lost the use and meaning of the word repentance. Where it is used, it is used as a manipulation to say a quick “sorry,” and to get things instead of to glorify God. A church with no emphasis on repentance is glorifying man.

Deep repentance is almost unknown today because the church has no idea of the true glory of God.

There are untold benefits now in glorifying and exalting our Lord, never mind in eternity.

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith, Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark...”

Genesis 7:1 “The Lord said to Noah, ‘come into the ark, you and your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”

Do you stand out in this generation, for the right reasons?

Shining lights or spiritual darkness:

The spiritual man praises God; the carnal man exalts himself and complains all the time, blaming others for his problems.

Service to God must come out of worship. Worship is evident in body positions. Bowing down, kneeling, raising arms in surrender, stretching out hands to our God, falling on your face, and the like are all evident in worship.

Prayerfulness and regular fasting are necessary requirements in our growth and in glorifying God.

You won’t see these things in most spirit-less dead churches. Their worship is a meaningless waste of time. It’s all dead, empty words of no consequence.

Most people have sold their soul to the world. We’ve all heard of various entertainers who have sold their soul to Satan. Well, if Satan is the God of this world, worldly Christians have sold their soul to Satan in just the same way, just not consciously. Whose name is on your forehead?

Many ministries have unknowingly sold their soul to Satan. Do you know that you can study God’s word and get nothing but dead letter and dead information out of it? (2 Corinthians 3:6) Studying God’s word with pride and ego in-tact is the way to ignorance and in many cases, deception.

You can study God’s word with self dethroned, and get oceans of wisdom from it.

At the end of the day, what a Bible teacher preaches is not that important. What he produces is. Pride never ever allows you into God’s glory. It keeps you short-sighted and spiritually blind.

Let’s consider this important verse below:

Philippians 2:15-18 “Become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine like lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Messiah that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.”

Is your church producing “shining lights” in this dark world, or is the labour of the teacher, all in vain?” How many are wasting their time making disciples of the world? I think most are!

Are you a shining light in this dark world?

Many ministers behind pulpits are silent on controversial but vital subjects like end-times because they are owned by spineless, shallow half-dead Christian boards of elders, or have to remain loyal to their dead sin-filled institution.

I saw something the other day that shocked me. Sweden, as a nation has surrendered almost totally to Islam. Their government has just introduced a new law called, “Crimes of opinion.” You can now be arrested for expressing opinions that may offend Muslims!

What was amazing to me was the fact that the churches of Sweden were all silent on this! Of course that is so because they are all spineless, totally dead institutions of hell. The churches of Sweden, and in fact most of Europe today, have no glory except the glory of the world and its god.

In the soon coming great shaking of all things, everyone will be left in one of two states. They will be full of stress, despair, anguish, despondency and misery, or they will be peaceful, content, fulfilled, joyful, encouraged, and trusting. The former will reflect the distorted, perverted glory of Satan, while the latter will reflect the glory of God.

It’s good to remember that mankind reflects the glory of his god or God.

How it all ends:

Ezekiel 43:2-4 “The glory of the God of Israel came from the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory...The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate that faces the east (Golden Gate)”

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him, who called us by glory and virtue.”

Revelation 21:23 “The city had no need for the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light.”

The verses above speak of the final manifestation of the glory of God. All unbelievers who will not honour God in their lives will finally have to admit to the glory of God – too late.

By the way, there are some verses describing the judgement of God as being part of His glory!

Finally

At this time there is a great falling away on the go in most of the traditional, denominational churches. There is a huge revival on the go in many nations, and particularly amongst the Spirit-filled churches.

But quietly and unceremoniously there is a body of believers growing stronger and stronger in the Lord all the time. These are they who glorify God in word and deed. Please be one of them.

Job 17:9 “The righteous will hold to his ways and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”

Psalm 64:10 “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and trust in Him. All the upright in heart shall glory.”

I took these pictures in the wilds of Southern Africa.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

 

Edition 409: March 20^th 2018

Amazing changes coming in Israel

Introduction:

The prophecies of the Bible reveal much of the future. Israel in particular is at the centre. There are some huge changes coming in Israel according to numerous prophecies. Most will occur in the seven-year tribulation period. The changes are glorious.

God’s purpose for Israel:

Regular readers should know this backwards by now, so here is just a brief summary:

God’s overall plan is to use the largely Gentile church to be His instrument of blessing, bringing salvation to the lost. To do this He has made us pure and holy. That’s right! In spirit we are perfect and holy through the new-birth. It is the soul area which is not yet perfected, upon which we work.

The Bible suddenly – in one day, reveals a great dramatic switch, in which God now uses the Jews to be His instrument of blessing and salvation to the world.

Why, what happened? How can this be? Where is the church, whose job is evangelism? There is only one logical answer and that is that the church is nowhere to be found. It was taken in rapture.

So, if the church, as an instrument of God is holy, what will be the state of Israel as God’s instrument? Yes you guessed it – holy and pure!

That’s surprising, because today, they are anything but holy.

Israel’s tragic choice:

Here we see their terrible choice which was caused by the rejection of the Messiah.

Hosea 8:1-3 “Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. Israel will cry to Me, “My God, we know You!” Israel has cast off good; the enemy will pursue him.”

Israel was commanded, long ago to drive out the nations that eventually became the Arabs, and Palestinians. (Listed in the verse below) God had previously made an everlasting covenant with her.

Exodus 34:11-14 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. You shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images, for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.”

Israel did not complete the job of cleansing the land as commanded by God, and now the Palestinians haunt and harass them. They are “irritants and thorns” to Israel.

Numbers 33:50-55 “Moses, speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their moulded images and demolish all their high places...but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those who you let remain, shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

The tragedy continues: Israel will accept a new covenant made between them, the Palestinians and the nations, under the auspices of the antichrist. It will break the existing covenant at least from their side. God will still keep His side, but it will open the door for much upheaval, wars and the like.

Here, in the verse below, we see the tragedy of Israel’s disobedience and the effects:

Ezekiel 15:6-7 “Like the wood of the vine, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire will devour them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them...”

The verse above applies partially to the Holocaust, but it is also prophetic for the last days. It will not last for long though. Israel will repent.

The coming holiness:

Something dramatic will happen that will cause Israel to repent fast. Many, not all Jews, will recognise their Lord, who is our Lord, in one day. They will subsequently change their attitudes in a flash. Technically speaking, they will not be born-again as the church is, but their repentance will still lead them to an outward form of holiness.

The Bible says that Abraham had righteousness “imputed to him.” (Romans 4:22) He was not born again in the same way that the church is. This is likely to be the same pattern for the Jews in the dispensation of the tribulation period.

It will have to be something huge to produce this almost national repentance.

There is only one event that will happen suddenly and quickly, in one day, in a “twinkling of an eye”, that will cause this reaction. It is the rapture of the church. Because the Jews are the people chosen by God (and they know it), the rapture will be devastating for them, being left behind.

They will be jealous and angry at the same time. (Deuteronomy 32:21, Romans 10:19)

In case you were wondering, the rapture will only be for the true church. It will not include unrepentant, professing Christians, - those who profess to be Christians without the fruits.

The big wars, in which Israel will soon be involved, may also be a catalyst.

The completion of the Isaiah 17 war in which Israel will be a key player, destroying Damascus, and is still to come, will occur in one day. Other dramatic world events may also cause, or add to the reason for this national repentance.

Now, consider this staggering verse below:

Zechariah 3:9 “...I will remove the iniquity of that land (Israel) in one day.”

Isaiah 66:7-8 “Before she (Israel) travailed (tribulation), she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard of such a thing? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Shall a nation be born in a day?” (Isaiah 26:17-18)

In the verse above we see a glorious prophecy of the birth of Israel as a nation, in one day, but it has a double reference to their spiritual birth as well, which will come in one day. (I reject with contempt the satanically inspired use of this verse to describe the church, by the dispensation-denying Revelation 12-sign teachers and others!)

At the same time, a supernatural removal of the veil of blindness upon the Jews will occur, as they repent en-masse.

Isaiah 59:20-21 “The redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression (repent) in Jacob (Israel), says the Lord.”

If you saw the Lord of glory in full majesty in front of you, you would be shattered, falling to the ground in surrender and repentance in the light of His holiness.

Zephaniah 3:12-13 “I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth...”

This coming holiness, revealed in these verses above, and there are dozens more, will be in sharp contrast to the world and its growing, intensifying sin, wickedness and evil.

Surprisingly, many people hate biblical holiness, and the reason is because they love sin.

Ezekiel 37:21-23 “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. They shall no longer be two nations nor shall they ever be divided again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor their detestable things...”

Israel now and then:

●Here is the present position of Israel:

Isaiah 29:13 “The Lord said, ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near to Me with their mouths and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear towards Me is taught by the commandment of men...”

Isaiah 29:9-10 “Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine...for the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes...”

●Here is the coming position of Israel:

Isaiah 29:18 “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out the obscurity of darkness...”

Romans 11:11“If their fall is riches for the world, and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?”

Thanks to the works of Satan in the Catholic church, and many others of replacement theology, the church has spurned the Jews. But, as regular readers know the soon coming rapture of the true church will be the single, one day event to turn things around.

Romans 11:2 “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew...”

Romans 11:23 “They also (Israel), if they do not continue in unbelief will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

Romans 11:25 “...Hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Come into the fullness of life.) And so all Israel will be saved.”

The words “come in” in the verse above could be referring to the rapture. It is Strong’s G1525.

Romans 11:15 “If their (Jews) being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead.”

Matthew 23:39 “I say to you (Israel) you shall see Me no more until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Paul tried to provoke the Jews to jealousy and did so only partially. (Romans 11:13) The job given to the church is to provoke the Jews to jealousy and they too have largely failed. But the church will soon provoke the Jews to jealousy in the form of the rapture.

Interestingly, the Catholic church who have stood against Israel since their foundation, believing that they are superior, will be left behind and cast into the tribulation. (Revelation 2:22) Most analysts believe that this church at Thyatira, refers to the orthodox churches, specifically the Catholics.

Zechariah 8:22-23 “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. In those days, ten men of every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

The Jews in the tribulation period will go though many nightmares. Many Jews will not repent at first but will come to the Lord at various times in the tribulation.

Zechariah 12:8-10 “In that day (tribulation) the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem...they shall be like David and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look upon Me whom they have pierced and mourn for Him...”

Powerful Jewish evangelists in tribulation:

Isaiah 66:19 “I will set a sign among them (Jews)...they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.”

The verse above says much more than what we might think! It is a “sign” that causes them to become a “light to the Gentiles”. What is the sign? It doesn’t say, but logic and probability says that it is the rapture of the church.

Isaiah 42:6 “I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.”

What a powerful and comforting verse this is above for Jews in the tribulation!

Zechariah 8:13 “It shall come to pass that just as you (Israel) were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear and let your hands be strong.”

Isaiah 60:2-3 “Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you (Jews), and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Exodus 19:5-6 “If you (Israel) will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...”

Ezekiel 20:41-42 “I will accept you (Jews) as a sweet smelling aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted My hand in an oath to your fathers.”

Psalm 125:3 “The sceptre of wickedness will not rest on the land allotted to the righteous.”

Do not resist God’s plans for Israel:

Jeremiah 12:14-17 “Against all My evil neighbours who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit. Behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. Then it shall be after I have plucked them out that I will return and have compassion on them...and bring them back to their land.”

Isaiah 62:2-4 “The Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all kings your glory. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name...You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord...You shall no longer be termed forsaken...You shall be called Hephzibath and your land Beulah, for the Lord delights in you.” (The name “Hephzibath” is an ancient Hebrew name meaning: “My delight is in her.”. The name “Beulah” means: “The land shall be married.”)

Isaiah 43:12 “I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses, says the Lord.”

Israel at war in the tribulation:

Deuteronomy 23:14 “The Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore, your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you and turn away from you.”

Numerous other prophecies speak of Israel at war in the tribulation. Israel will suffer many setbacks, but she will always be ultimately victorious and invincible. The verse above shows one of the reasons for her victory. It is because Israel at war will be holy!

Job 17:9 “The righteous will hold onto his ways, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”

Wake up:

Today, much of the church is asleep, especially relating to these issues. It’s largely the fault of dead meat behind pulpits. You must be careful what you feed on.

In the natural world there are two types of birds of prey. One is a scavenger, feeding on rotten dead meat. The other feeds on live meat. The scavengers are all pretty ugly looking birds, while the others like eagles are beautiful. My point is that you can decide what to feed on – life or death!

The vulture, a scavenger is a type of God’s judgement of shame upon the spiritually diseased. (Matthew 24:28, Revelation 18:2, Revelation 19:17-21)

Branches come from and carry the DNA of the root. You will pick up many traits of the spiritual root of your teacher. There is a transfer of spirits!

We are on the verge of extremely dramatic times, even in the months ahead. Wake up and be ready!

Finally

Isaiah 62:10-12 “Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones; lift up a banner for the peoples...And they shall call them (Jews) The Holy People, the redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City not Forsaken.”

The verse above is so powerful, especially in light of the present situation today! Israel will be a banner for the peoples, redeemed, sought out and not forsaken!

There are many verses in this edition. Please take careful note of them. For the studious, it’s always good to list them yourself and study them in your Bible, and do read the surrounding context as well.

It is also very good practice to write out important verses and pray over them, making them your own confession and proclamation. Saying them out loud is also good practice.

Many times (when I was younger), I used to lead groups of people up to the top of the nearby Drakensberg mountains, 11,000ft high, where we would pray and shout proclamations into the rare air. Some of those proclamations were the verses in this edition.

The major theme of this edition, (holiness) is just as applicable to the true church today.

I took the picture below from a chopper flying over Cleft Peak, looking towards the Cathedral range in the Drakensberg Mountains.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!