Thursday, January 11, 2024

Discernment Allows us to Respond Righteously

It is common for rebellious people to accuse believers of what the rebellious are doing and the righteous are not. A favored tactic of the devil that works with those who are weak and without discernment is to make them believe they are the ones who are wrong when it is the rebellious ones who defy God.
When we have discernment we can see the tactics of the devil while knowing just how to handle it.
The first thing we do is never return evil for evil.
The second thing we do is to ignore an insult.
The third thing we do is remove ourselves from them.
The devil wants more than anything to cause us to respond in the same angry way he does. We become the victor when we do not become like the one who pokes and prods at us.
1 Peter 3:8-10 "8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.…"
Proverbs 20:22
"Do not say, "I will avenge this evil!" Wait on the LORD, and He will save you."
Proverbs 28:10
"He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good."
Luke 6:28
"bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
Romans 8:28
"And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."
It is only pride that motivates us to have the final say or exact revenge, ditching the pride allows us to have control over our emotions and faith in God to protect us.

Everyone Against Everyone Else in these End Times

Matthew 24:6-8 "…6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.…"
"Nation against nation" is not organized governments against one another, in this passage, it is rendered in the original language as "ethnos against ethnos", in other words, people groups against people groups and we see this growing in our country today.
We can see the movement from the 1950s to integrate the people groups with sayings like; "the melting pot" referring to America where all cultures and people groups are welcome to come and live and work in peace.
Now we have the years of the 2000s in which the powers that be are advocating diversity to divide people groups against one another. The powers that be are the legislatures, the courts, the school teachers, and those who have in roads to influencing the masses.
The devil's plot is to cause fighting and division among everyone they can all the time by influencing the mind of people to be angry with one another.
Children despise their parents as the teachers in the government schools undermine the dedication of the children to the parents to gain the confidence of the children to themselves. This now makes the government teachers the indoctrinators of the children in place of the teaching and training of children by parents. Many children have listened to the person they spend the most time with and that is their teacher. No matter how much the parents attempt to teach and train their children, if it does not agree with the teachers then the children will side with the teachers. I have seen far too much of this to be convinced otherwise.
Governments are dictating policy by ignoring the will of the people and the law of the land to promote their wicked humanistic agenda. It's all about control over the people. If they can get the children at a young age and keep them in their schools for 12 years and beyond, they can indoctrinate them to be agents of humanism for the rest of their lives.
Rational and reasonable discussion is not allowed, people are being intimidated and trained to follow whatever the culture is doing and the culture is dominated by those controlled by the devil.
Free thinking is disallowed by everyone who has been brainwashed to groupthink. The few who dare to think more deeply about the consequences are rejected and villainized. And, Christians are mocked and demeaned for their Godly mindset based on Scripture.
Do not think it will get better, it will only get worse. However, we as born-again believers know this is what God said would happen. Our marching orders are to encourage believers in right thinking with Scripture and to bring the gospel to the lost who have no hope.
Psalm 33:20-22
"20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You."
Hallelujah, we are going home soon!

God is My Protector

Hebrews 2:12-13 "12 He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.” 13 And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”
2 Samuel 22:3
"The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence."
Psalm 16:1
"Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust."
Psalm 18:2
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

If a Tree Falls in the Forest

"If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a noise when it falls?"
These kinds of thoughts are designed to confuse those hearing them.
Of course, a tree makes the sound of falling even if no one is there to hear it.
We are living in a world that thinks something does not happen unless we can see or hear it. Or unless we "choose" to see and hear it.
I recall many years ago as a child seeing the three monkeys on television, one covered its eyes, one covered its ears and one covered its mouth, as if to communicate; "if I choose not to see, hear or speak something, that makes it not real."
We live in a culture that chooses to only see the positive in every choice a person makes merely because they make it. There is no right or wrong, there is only "what we want."
Isaiah 30:9-11 "…9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions. 11 Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”
We are living in a world full of arrogance and self-will, and do not think this is only among the unsaved, it is also in the churches everywhere as a matter of course.
There may be some truth in every gathering but it is so diminished in its application that barely resembles the truth of God's word.
When a culture is trained to refuse to see the downside of things they will ultimately cause more problems than they would have had if they had followed God's standards.
If someone is about to step into the street while a truck is roaring toward them it makes good sense for someone who is standing by to pull them back to save their life. However, what if that person turned to the one attempting to save their life and shouted at them that they had the right to walk in the street anytime they wanted, we would know instantly this person was irrational, and not in their right mind. A normal rational person would profusely thank the one who saved their life.
Our culture is progressing in many things that defy God's principles and standards. It makes no sense for someone born one gender to try to become the other gender. All the problems with the choice to do such a thing are legion. I say it this way because "legion" refers to devils who influence those with irrational unreasonable, fallacious (misleading information), and illogical thinking.
When we think rationally we will evaluate things based on truth and not feelings.
For example: changing one's gender requires monstrous surgery, lifetime hormonal drugs, and the possibility of the one with the gender ogmentation to change their mind as they grow older but without the ability to return to their real selves.
When we see the consequences of disobedience to God's Word we can understand why the culture is imploding because of the choices to defy God's Word. Families are being destroyed by divorce and remarriage, and babies are being murdered in the womb by their own mothers leaving many mothers with regrets, not to mention the blessing of a child to a family is completely removed, leaving many people devaluing children.
Parents have become more lenient in their training because they do not care about their children. They are more interested in looking like a happy family than actually being decent human beings who care for one another. God has taught us that training children to be good citizens in our culture must include discipline and constant teaching.
Illegal drugs are being legalized to please those who are destroying their own bodies and minds while obliterating their families.
The incidence of suicide among the youth is rising quickly as they see no hope in their existence. Since God is not on their minds they have no one to turn to who cares about them.
God is mocked in nearly every venue now as it has become fashionable to make a god of one's own choosing for the sake of good feelings.
When "feelings" are the objective in all interactions there result is chaos and intense foolishness that destroys lives.
Proverbs 29:9-10 " 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"
Men of God create real, rational, and reasonable solutions that help which are based on God's Word. Fools follow feelings and personal aggrandizement full of angst and destructive non-solutions.
It is true in our world today that "the insane are running the asylum." In the schools and government, we see continual ridiculous non-solutions being proposed based on nothing other than feelings.
Proverbs 17:12
"It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly."
Ecclesiastes 10:13
"The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness."
The good news is that God has a solution for our eternity. We will not see our world change in these end times only growing worse, but we as born-again believers have hope as Christ in us reminds us daily of our inheritance with Him where we will experience non-stop love, kindness, goodness, empathy, and all the fruit of the Spirit in everyone. This will only happen in heaven and on the new earth when Christ rules. And, best of all we will be with Christ face to face, the One Who loved us so much He died for us. I cannot think of anything more exciting than this!!!!
For now, it is our job to tell others who have not been saved from hell, that they too can have what the born-again believer has if they will place their trust in Jesus Christ. They must confess their sinfulness and ask Christ to change them into a new creation, then they will have this amazing inheritance too.
This life is full of hardship for everyone, but in Christ, we have joy through it all as He goes through with us. Everything that happens to us has a purpose and strengthens us.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 "…8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
The devil makes those he dominates weak and helpless, Christ gives life and strength beyond our own abilities.

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

His PASSION for PROPHECY | Guest: David Reagan

Choosing Your Battles? What Does that Mean?

I used to hear people say "we need to choose our battles to be able to fight less" in terms of raising children. This is modern thinking, we are to train our children on everything. Leaving some things alone because they seem less important is like ignoring a small leak until it becomes a big flood.
We are to teach the principles of God continually as the children are growing up.
Deuteronomy 6:7-9
"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
In a war if we ignore any battles we will lose the entire war. We see how true this has become in the lack of respect children have for their parents due to the inconsistency in their growing-up years.
Its sort of the "broken-window" policy we have heard about, if there is an abandoned house in the neighborhood and one person is allowed to throw a rock breaking a window without any consequences others will do the same since there are no consequences. The same principle holds for raising children.
The more lenient a parent is with a child the less likely that child will have honor and respect for any authority or regard for any rules.
Our culture as a whole has trained the children to disregard anyone or any rule they dislike. Now we have raging insanity ruling every aspect of our lives and the culture pressuring those who enjoy freedom with boundaries being mocked and rejected for their wisdom.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
Isaiah 30:10
"They say to the seers, "Stop seeing visions!" and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions."
2 Timothy 1:13
"Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."
Times are hard now for many people but know this, they will get worse, the runaway train will not stop it will increase in speed and eventually fall off the cliff. It is almost to the cliff now.

Demonic Activity is Increasing

Have you wondered if the demonic activity has been increasing in these modern times? I began to wonder about it when I learned many years ago through Bible study that demons are active on the earth all down through history.

It is amazing how many people will believe in aliens from outer space but will not believe in demons that God told us were roaming the earth.

1 Timothy 4:1 "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,"

This is a time of demonic influence on everyone. Even believers can be deceived if they are not well-read in the Words of God in the Bible. And, obviously anyone who is not born-again falls prey to the demonic forces because they have no protection from God at all.

1 Corinthians 2:14 "
But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

The book of Revelation tells us about the "stinging locusts" who will torment people for five months. They were said to have come from the abyss, hell is another name for it.

These scorpions will be allowed to torment people but not kill for this period of time. The people will want to die but will not be able to because these are spiritual demonic attacks that will not touch the believers who became born-again after the rapture. The attacks are entirely spiritual affecting the mind just as powerfully as if it were a physical attack.

Since they are spiritual entities everything happening to the victims is in their own minds.

I recall the "abduction" accounts of people who claim to be abducted by aliens. They were clearly attacked by something but it was not physical it was an attack on their spirit by devils in their own minds. They never left their beds, notice it was always at night.

I also recall the reports many years ago of the "bad trips" some people experienced while on LSD. These people were so tormented by the biting spiders that were crawling all over them that they screamed out in pain and flailed about in panic trying to get the spiders off of them. There were no biting spiders and yet they could see them, feel them and even feel the bites in great pain.

There were no spiders, bites or pain except in the mind of those who were experiencing the attacks of demonic forces through the use of LSD.

I am convinced by the description of the stinging locusts that they were tormenting people in their minds not in their bodies.

Revelation 9 "The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads, they wore things that looked like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. Their chests looked like iron breastplates. The sound their wings made was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle. The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions. The power they had to hurt people for five months was in their tails. The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language, his name is Apollyon."

There is no doubt that these were spirit beings revealed only to those who were being tormented by them. The believers are protected from these beings by God. In my opinion, they may not even be able to see them since they are evil spirits, perhaps only those who are not born again will be attacked by them. Also, believers are not allowed to see demons generally, we are protected from the fierceness of their appearance.

We know that the devil is moving around from place to place and his minions the demons have been strategically placed all over the world to influence the minds of people who have no defense against him. This is why we see the increase in irrational thinking and antagonism in families and communities. We are living in "ragingly insane"
times in which all good sense is being attacked while insanity is being embraced.

God has given us an escape from this horrid time of intense chaos, murder and mayhem. The way to escape it is to become born-again and be taken out in the rapture or to die in Christ when He takes us home.

The way of salvation is very simple, confess your sinfulness, ask Christ to change you into a new creation. If you want to be changed by Him and become a completely different person He will change you, clean you up and protect your soul until the day He takes you.
Life and the devil will throw at you many hardships and the loss of friends and family is inevitable when we trust in Christ, but the joy is immense, and our inheritance is assured. All we endure here are lessons for eternity and have a purpose to make us stronger. Do not fear these lessons and hateful people who want you to remain lost like them. They have no power over a born-again believer fully trusting Christ and heaven awaits.

The fruit of the Spirit is waiting for all those who trust in Christ.

Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

The picture is an artist's rendition of what the locusts could look like based on the Biblical description. Only those who reject Christ will see them.