God desires process of being broken

“You go back to Psalms 3 and that psalmist could have just as easily been talking about Job of old: ‘People look at me and they see what’s going on in my life and say, [There’s no help from God for him; he’s so far gone even God can’t help him!]’

“Paul says, ‘You know, those voices of condemnation and accusing are going to come because you’re conscious of who you are in you, and when you focus on who you are in you, you know what happens? ‘O wretched man that I am.’

“You see, it’s an inner struggle,” explains Richard Jordan. “There’s a spiritual battle that goes on but for faith. The victory is an inner victory, seeing the invisible reality. Hebrews 11 says Moses won the victory over Pharaoh by ‘seeing Him who is invisible.’ It was by faith, looking at the truth of God.

“Paul says, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’

“When you have your ‘I’ moments, they’re really not ‘I’ moments. They’re moments where you need to be learning ‘I can’t do this!’ And when you see, ‘I can’t do it!’ that’s what Galatians 2 told you.

“You only learn two things in all of your Christian life: ‘It’s not I, it’s Christ.’ And when you get into the, ‘The deliverance isn’t here; I can’t do it,’ you say, ‘Whoa, I need to look at Christ! Because HE can; because HE did!' ”

*****

Paul writes in II Corinthians 4:6-7: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

“In antiquity the earthen vessel was nothing but a cheap expendable clay pot," explains Alex Kurz. "Why is it that God has deliberately determined to do something by placing Himself within the clay pot? Why does God seek to do it with clay?

“The earthen vessel expresses something about the character of who we all are as humans. It communicates our frail, fragile state. We’re vulnerable, we’re susceptible. We have hairline fractures all of us. We have little chips and cracks and fissures and scratches and flaws.

“Sometimes, though, we convince ourselves that to be a good Christian we need to polish the vessel up a little bit, right? We sometimes think we need to present ourselves as precious vessels of shiny, vigorous strength; vessels that are self-controlled with this quiet, rugged, individualistic character. 

“God says no. God deliberately wants us to go through a process of brokenness. He wants us all to face the emotional battering. The Apostle Paul describes the psychological trauma; the emotional pressures and stresses. Paul recognized, ‘I am a failure!’ over and over again. God says that’s okay. God says, ‘That’s my design!’

*****

“God knows we’re made of dust and we’re filled with flaws and blemishes and we do make mistakes and we’re going to fail Him over and over, but that doesn’t result in defeat. What we discover is that is exactly the way God has designed to do what He’s trying to do!

“It is now IN the weakness, IN the brokenness, IN the place and point where we abandon who we think we are and we can stop . . . what a joy it is not to have to worry about trying to live a phantom Christianity where I’ve got to make myself strong and viable and present myself to God as somebody who’s always in control. NO!! God says, ‘I don’t want you to be in control!’ 

“Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:27, [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty 

“Do you ever feel foolish? Do you ever feel like you made a mistake and you wish you could get a do-over; a mulligan? You lament, ‘Man, I wish I could go back and change things.’ Listen, God has chosen the foolish things. That’s you.

 “Is it a good thing or bad thing to be foolish? It’s consistent with what God’s doing. Always remember that. When you fail that is not indicative that you’re operating against the will of God.

“God factored it into the equation, the formula, the need for you to be a failure. Now, shouldn’t that maybe help take some of the pressure off? You see, religion is like a vice grip. It says, ‘You’ve got to get right, get clean, get better, improve, make yourself worthy, present yourself.’ In Christ, though, it’s just, ‘Let it go; be who you are.’

*****

“When Paul says in I Corinthians 2, ‘And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling,’ is he saying he’s an inferior Christian because he was weak? Is he saying, ‘Oh, wow, I don’t have the courage; I don’t have the boldness.’

“He says, ‘Listen, I am terrified sometimes. I’m terrified by the situations taking place.’ Is that a good thing or a bad thing? God has you right where He wants you. Remember, God’s going to confound the things that are mighty by using the brokenness.

“You’re beat up, battered, bruised, don’t have all the answers and God says, ‘I’ve got you right where I want you.’

“Paul says in I Corinthians 4:10, ‘We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.'

“Over and over again he talks this way, especially when he writes to the Corinthians, because the Corinthians were victimized by the ‘selfie culture’; by the ‘me’ mentality: ‘Look at me, self-absorbed.’

“II Corinthians 11:29 says, ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?’ Paul was honest with himself: ‘I’m not the poster child of immense vigor and personal strength. I don’t always have this spiritual fortitude. Sometimes I fail and I fail again and I fail miserably. I am weak and I am offended and I am frustrated, and sometimes I want to throw my hands in the air and pull my hair out.’

“That’s a good thing, though. It’s okay. You’re an earthen vessel, aren’t you? Who do you think you are? Who do you think I am? The sooner I adopt and claim my status as a weak earthen vessel then God has me right where He wants me.

 *****

 “Of course, Paul really sums it up best in chapter 12. It’s fascinating if you study the Corinthians, to them weakness was abhorrent—‘You don’t want to present yourself as a fool; you want to have respectability! You don’t want to portray yourself as not being in control; you want to have the bull by the horns!’ Paul says, ‘That’s not who I am because I want Christ to be magnified.’

“In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul writes, [9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

“God’s process is you’ve got to die to yourself that the life of Christ might be made manifest. We want to take shortcuts, right, because our DNA won’t allow us to be weak, foolish and offended? God says that’s part of the formula!

 “The power of Christ is perfected, not when you’re in control, but when you're at the point of the most desperate need. We’re left with nothing but who? Christ. Paul said, ‘I want to win Him. I want to have fellowship with His sufferings. I want to be made conformable unto His death. I want to win Christ.’ Wow!

“In the next verse he says, [10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

“Listen, only a lunatic can talk like that! Who here enjoys infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions and distresses?! Paul doesn’t say, ‘I enjoy it,’ by the way.

*****

“We have to have a renewed way of thinking about life. Life is not an enemy. Adverse circumstances are not an enemy. We have to renew the way we interpret what's happening in life, and when life beats us to a pulp, whether it’s physically, psychologically, emotionally, economically, we can go through the whole gamut. 

“Why does Paul say, ‘For when I am weak then am I strong’? That’s the difference between ‘having the eyes of our understanding enlightened’ and living with the eyes of the flesh. You see the difference there?

"That’s how God is going to confound the mighty, because it goes against all that we instinctively believe about what we’re supposed to be doing. God says, ‘Stop doing; start being.’

“Religion tries to convince, ‘You’ve got to do it; you’ve got to do to get.’ God says, ‘It’s already done; you already have.’ Wow, we can rest, but we can have a different way of pursuing.

*****

 "When II Corinthians 4:6 says God ‘hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, but we have this treasure . . .’ the treasure is the ministry; the Good News of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

“The treasure is this knowledge of the glory of God; the plan and the design and the purpose of God Almighty. It’s the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

“God entrusts all of that to a bunch of vulnerable, susceptible clay pots who are going to feel the hurt and the pain and the trauma and are going to fail. God says, ‘That’s a good thing.’ Why? ‘That the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.’

“The message is, ‘Get out of the way.’ That’s what Paul is saying to the Corinthians and quite frankly, that’s the key to having meaning and fulfillment in life—the sooner we get out of the way.

“The excelling power of God is when He deliberately equips us in the realm of the inner man to do something while we’re an earthen vessel, so that He is free to do something IN and THROUGH us.

*****

“II Corinthians 1 says, [3] Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

[4] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
[5] For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

“That’s the excelling power of Almighty God! Our Father who personally desires to carry us through the circumstances. It’s when He can function as a ‘Father of mercies,’ as 'the God of all comfort,' that He is happy, because He literally desires us to go through this process of being broken. We’re not alone.

 “II Corinthians 1: 6 says, ‘And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.’

“That’s what Paul means when he says ‘faint not.’ Don’t surrender, don’t quit, don’t abandon ship. Don’t wave the white flag of surrender. The excelling power of God is the ability to endure, because God’s design is, ‘I want you busted, I want you broken, I want you to be that earthen vessel.’ Why? ‘Because I’m trying to do something here!’

*****

“Verse 9 says, ‘But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.’ Having a ‘sentence of death in ourselves,’ means we abandon the ‘selfie life;’ the ‘me’ approach.

“Death leads to complete trust and reliance on what God is teaching us. You see why it’s necessary to be a busted and broken container? Because our 'Father of mercies,' what He wants us to do is render 'self' dead so now we’re left with Him.

“Verse 10-13: [10] Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

[11] Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
[12] For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
[13] For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;

“The sooner we abandon 'self'--our own independence and self-sufficient reliance--the sooner we now do what verse 13 says. We operate with the spirit of faith. ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’

“It may look one way, but God says, ‘Here’s the eternal reality.’ Faith, by the way, is ‘according as it is written.’ Jesus Christ is the capital ‘W’ word of God. We have the small ‘w’ word of God; the life of Christ is nothing short of believing by faith obedience what God has written and said about what He’s doing.”

(new article tomorrow)

Smok on th watr, a fir in th sky

Th '' on my computr compltly quit working. Hav bn filling in for popl at work so no chanc to gt to computr rpair shop. Will do so on Monday. In th matim:

"Fire and water must have made you their daughter," is a line from a famous tune from 1970 named Fire and Water. If you think about it, references to fire and water in American songs are quite common. Of course, Satan's minions, we know from the Bible, are huge fans of both.

When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming, Zechariah 10:11 tells us, [11] And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

Similarly, Habakkuk 3 says, [9] Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

[10] The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
[13] Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

“The ‘head out of the house of the wicked’ is the Antichrist,” explains Richard Jordan. “He’s the head of the satanic policy of evil and the judgment on the rivers . . .

“The cloaking effect in the rivers, where they’re trying to hide, and the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, have places where there are openings that go down into the heart of the earth into hell—places where some of Satan’s emissaries hide in these waters.

“When Christ comes back and judges these things, He’s not just pitching a hissy fit and being capricious; there’s a connection between the satanic program and that stuff.

“In Zechariah 10:11, Jesus Christ is literally assaulting the demonic forces of the Adversary and there’s that army and that fight.

“In Joel 2 we talked about that at great length. He’s come to put all of that away; He’s literally going to take the armies and artillery of the strongman and bind him and put an end to the conflict. The Second Coming of Christ settles the battle that started in Genesis 1.

*****

“When the Israelites go into captivity in that fifth course of judgment it’s called the Assyrian captivity. It starts off with Babylon, but in Isaiah 14 the king of Babylon is called the king of Assyria. Isaiah 52:4: [4] For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

“When the Israelites were down in Egypt, who was oppressing them? The Assyrian. There wasn’t even a kingdom of Assyria then but the Bible identifies a guy as the Assyrian. You remember in Exodus 1 where it says a pharaoh rose up that knew not Joseph? It’s this same guy. What it’s talking about is that satanic program behind the kings of the earth.

“Ezekiel 31: 2-3 says, [2] Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
[3] Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

“Wait a minute, who is this guy? Pharoah king of Egypt is also the Assyrian. What you’re seeing there is that behind . . .

“You remember Ezekiel 28’s ‘prince of Tyrus’ turns out to be Satan? These kings of the earth are literally just his minions. He’s the power behind the throne. Revelation 13 talks about the Antichrist and it’s Satan that gives him his power and his authority and his seat of government.” 

Balm that can heal and relieve

What's nw with m is my left foot is in terrible pain and I'm on constant dit of Aleve. I twistd it walking in neighborhood and inadvertntly steepping on acorn, then made it wors by coming down from a step ladder at work with foot half off th step. Anothr thing is the "ee" ky on my computer is either not spitting out an "e" or giving me multiple "e's". Hopefully a can of air will fix th problm. Either that or I must go to computr rpair shop sincee thr's no one I know with the time to look at it. I will post a nw articl as soon as "e" is back, but in th mantim:

"More secure is no one ever, than the loved ones of the Savior. Not yon star on high abiding, nor the bird in home-nest hiding"--1873 Swedish hymn "More Secure Is No One Ever" by Lina Sandell.

Known as "the Fanny Crosby of Sweden," Lina Sandell (1832-1902), is recognized as "Sweden's most celebrated author of Gospel hymns." Through a life marked with tragedy, including witnessing her father drown and having her only child be stillborn, Sandell wrote 650-plus hymns, the most popular being "Day by Day": 

1. Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
   With a special mercy for each hour;
   All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
   He Whose Name is Counselor and Pow’r.
   The protection of His child and treasure
   Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
   “As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
   This the pledge to me He made.
2. Help me then in every tribulation
   So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
   That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
   Offered me within Thy holy Word.
   Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
   E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
   One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
   Till I reach the promised land.
3. According to the book 101 Hymn Stories, "The waves of revival that swept the Scandinavian countries during the latter half of the 19th century were greatly influenced by the wealth of fine hymns which flowed from the pen of Sandell. Although she had written hymns prior to (her) tragic experiences, more songs began to flow out of her broken heart which reflect a simple, child-like trust in Christ and a deep sense of His abiding presence in her life."

An entry to Wikipedia reports, "The daughter of a Lutheran minister, Sandell grew up in the rectory at Fröderyd parish in the Diocese of Växjö in Småland, Sweden. Lina greatly loved and admired her father. Since she was a frail youngster, she generally preferred to be with him in his study rather than with comrades outdoors . . .  At an early age Lina had been stricken with a partial paralysis that confined her to bed much of the time. Though the physicians considered her chance for a complete recovery hopeless, her parents always believed that God would in time make her well again. One Sunday morning, while her parents were in church, Lina began reading the Bible and praying earnestly. When her parents returned, they were amazed to find her dressed and walking freely . . . Lina began to write verses expressing her gratitude and love for God and published her first book of spiritual poetry when she was 16."

"Like many Christians, Lina learned that when pain and tragedy strike, God may use that experience to deepen our faith," says Christianity.com. "At 26, Lina experienced a tragedy which profoundly affected the course of her life. She was with her father, a Lutheran pastor, crossing a Swedish lake. Suddenly the ship lurched, and before her eyes, her father was thrown overboard and drowned. Lina had written hymns before, but now she poured out her broken heart in an endless stream of beautiful songs. Her hymns mightily influenced the revival that swept across Scandanavia after l850.

"The words of Lina's hymns were all the more popular because of the simple, beautiful melodies written for them, especially those of Oscar Ahnfelt who played his guitar and sang her hymns throughout Scandanavia. Lina once said that Ahnfelt sang her songs 'into the hearts of the people.' "

Jenny Lind, the world-famous concert vocalist affectionately known as the "Swedish Nightingale," visited factories and sang Lina's beautiful hymns.

"Though she was internationally famous for her formal concertizing, it is said that Jenny Lind would sit with the common workmen at their crude benches and sing these simply hymns about the Savior she loved," says 101 Hymn Stories. 

In 1867, Sandell married Oscar Berg, a wholesale merchant and future member of the Swedish Parliament. The two lived in Stockholm when their only child was stillborn. Sandell became ill with typhoid fever in 1892 and died ten years later. Her husband died the same year due to complications caused by diabetes.

*****

Alec Taylor writes in the Evangelical Times, "It was through the Rosenius movement that Lina Sandell became known to her countrymen as a great hymn writer. Rosenius was born on 3 February 1816, the son of a parish pastor in Norrland, Sweden. His godly parents desired that he too enter the Christian ministry.

"He studied for a short time at Upsala University but he became disgusted with the low moral and spiritual standards found among the students. For a time his own faith was severely shaken. During these spiritual struggles, he came into contact with George Scott, a Methodist evangelist in Stockholm.

"In 1842, Scott and Rosenius began the publication of Pietisten, a monthly magazine that was destined to play a crucial part in the spiritual revival in Sweden. Scott was obliged to leave Sweden in the same year because of violent opposition to his movement. Rosenius became his successor, not only as editor of Pietisten, but as an outstanding leader among those who longed for spiritual refreshing.

"Rosenius centred his activity in the Swedish capital, preaching, writing and producing hymns. He travelled throughout Sweden, accompanied by Ahnfelt. Both of them preached and Ahnfelt sang his hymns as well as those of Lina Sandell. They encountered much persecution in their evangelical efforts but the movement rapidly spread. Numerous lay preachers (known as ‘läsare’) sprang up everywhere, holding private meetings in homes and in so-called ‘mission houses’ that were built near parish churches.

"King Karl XV, ruler of the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, was petitioned to forbid Ahnfelt’s preaching and singing. The king refused until he had had an opportunity to hear the man known as ‘the spiritual troubadour’. Ahnfelt was commanded to appear at the royal palace. Being much concerned as to what he should sing to the king, he besought Lina Sandell to write a hymn for the occasion. She was equal to the task and within a few days the song was ready. Ahnfelt went to the palace with his guitar and the hymn in his pocket. He sang: 'Who is it that knocketh upon your heart’s door

   In peaceful eve?
Who is it that brings to the wounded and sore
   The balm that can heal and relieve?
Your heart is still restless, it findeth no peace
   In earth’s pleasures;
Your soul is still yearning, it seeketh release
   To rise to the heavenly treasures.'

"The king listened with tears in his eyes. When Ahnfelt had finished, he gripped Ahnfelt by the hand and exclaimed: ‘You may sing as much as you like in both of my kingdoms!’ "

Next to "Day By Day," Lina's most popular hymn was "Children of the Heav'nly Father": 

1. Children of the heav’nly Father
   Safely in His bosom gather;
   Nestling bird nor star in heaven
   Such a refuge e’er was given.
2. God His own doth tend and nourish;
   In His holy courts they flourish;
   From all evil things He spares them;
   In His mighty arms He bears them.
3. Neither life nor death shall ever
   From the Lord His children sever;
   Unto them His grace He showeth,
   And their sorrows all He knoweth.
4. Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:
   Your Protector never slumbers;
   At the will of your Defender
   Every foeman must surrender.
5. Though He giveth or He taketh,
   God His children ne’er forsaketh;
   His the loving purpose solely
   To preserve them pure and holy.
6. Another hymn of Sandell's is "I With Thee Would Begin":
7. I with Thee would begin, O my Savior so dear,
   On the way that I still must pursue;
   I with Thee would begin every day granted here,
   As my earnest resolve I renew
   To be and remain Thine forever.
   I with Thee would begin and go forth in Thy Name,
   Which alone doth salvation bestow;
   Fold me close to Thy breast where found joy all who came,
   There is refuge for me, too, I know,
   Though all in this world is confusion.
   Let Thy Word all divine be my lamp in whose light
   I may constantly keep to Thy way;
   And each day wouldst Thou cleanse me anew, make me white
   In the blood shed for me on that day
   The cross Thou didst suffer, Lord Jesus.
   I with Thee would begin—yea, and hear one more prayer,
   I would close with Thee, too, my brief day,
   And when daylight has failed, let me sleep in Thy care,
   Until waking Thy child Thou dost say,
   “Come, live with Me ever in Heaven.” 

Fascinating how it's 2,000 years

In Luke 19, Jesus Christ says, [43] For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

[44] And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

“That’s saying, ‘You didn’t recognize Messiah the prince was here; you’re going to kill Him and destruction is coming.’ That’s the destruction that Daniel 9:26 is talking about, in which it says ‘and the end thereof.’

[26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
[27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“In Daniel 9 he skips all the way from the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple to 'the last days'. That interval is going to extend that whole period of time," explains Richard Jordan.

“We know now that in that interval, not only is there this time of persecution and destruction of Israel, but we also know God has interrupted prophecy and interposed the dispensation of grace.

“When Christ interrupted prophecy and introduced the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest, that’s a different program and that’s the dispensation of grace in which we live today. It’s lasted almost 2,000 years. Daniel would have never thought about that.

“Think about it like this. Genesis 1-11, when God just dealt with the nations, was about 2,000 years. From Genesis 12, the calling out of Abraham, to Luke 19 is about 2,000 years. Now He’s had the dispensation of grace for about 2,000 years. It’s fascinating that that keeps coming up that way.

“After the dispensation of grace comes the 70^th Week of Daniel. The stage-setting for that will take place where we are before we leave.

“The point is the world’s not going to get any better; it’s headed for the wreck. It’s headed for the Titanic, the Lusitania. The wreckage is going to be this last week in Daniel 9:27.

“What Daniel does is he lays out a template, a timeline on which you then can go through the Book of Daniel, through the Book of Revelation, through the Prophets, and lay onto that timeline all these different events.

“The covenant’s going to be for seven years but it’s going to be divided into two parts. It’s going to have a specific beginning and then in the midst . . . I point out to you, he doesn’t say the middle; he says the midst.

“The reason for that is terminology means things. The midst of something isn’t exactly the middle. There’s 3 ½ years on each side; it’s divided into two parts. But what we’ll see is there’s a period of time in the midst of that week where a whole bunch of things are going to take place and are going to change.

“The man of sin’s going to be revealed as the son of perdition. But it doesn’t take place like that. It takes about a 30-day period of time. You’re looking for the time period, not on a particular day, and the second part is going to be worse than the first part, because it’s in the second part that he’s revealed as 'the son of perdition'.

“He’s not simply going to be ‘the man of sin,’ but now he’s going to be the son of Satan and there’s going to be a tremendous persecution. That’s when ‘the mark of the beast’ takes place. That’s when all the heavy stuff happens. And then it’s going to have an end when Jesus Christ comes and just destroys it.”

(new article tomorrow)

Space X's Crew Dragon and 3 World War

(unexpectedly have to work more hours. new article tomorrow--in the meantime...)

In an NYT bestseller book about Luciferic initiation, Communion, author Whitley Striber writes, "One of the biggest advantages we have as New Agers is, once the occult, metaphysical New Age terminology is removed, we have concepts and techniques that are very acceptable to the general public. So we can change the names and in so doing, we open the New Age door to millions who normally would not be receptive."

Michael Horton's The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers are Really Teaching: "They are unaware that they are repeating the errors of the past. Because they do not understand Greek philosophy or Oriental mysticism, or 19th century theosophy [Luciferianism], they do not know how seriously they have been affected by such thinking."

*****

New Agers like to see the letter X as "the mark of the beast." From the book, The Mark of the Beast: Is It 666, or is It X?: "The Mark of The Beast is Chi (X), The Name of The Beast is 'Perfect Creature of The Earth' (interpreted as being 'Perfect One'), and The Number of The Beast is 6 (possibly written as VI)."

"The SpaceX Crew Dragon is about to be taken out for the ultimate test drive to the International Space Station," boasts NASA.

In a chapter called "They Worship the Dragon," Gail Riplinger's book New Age Bible Versions explains, "(All the new bible versions) have removed the name Lucifer, thereby eliminating the only reference to him in the entire bible. The word Lucifer then falls to the realm of the poets and writers of mythology and ceases to be an identifiable character of biblical origin. He is thereby divorced from the truth concerning himself. In John 8:44 Jesus said, 'the devil . . . is a liar, and the father of it.' He can now have whatever characteristics he desires."

In his book Dark Secrets of the New Age, Fundamentalist Christian Texe Marrs writes, "Why then is the world still confused about the Luciferic roots of the New Age. In part this comes about as a result of the New Ager's absurd contention that though Lucifer is lord, he is not Satan. Satan is said to be a figment of the Christian imagination. Lucifer is not Satan. Lucifer is a good angel."

Prominent Freemason Albert Pike (1809-1891) instructed Masons, "Yes, Lucifer is God . . . The doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer . . . you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees: The Masonic religion should be . . . maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine."

******

In a so-called "celebration" of Juneteenth in 2020, "protesters" pulled down and burned the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in D.C.’s Judiciary Square.

Pike, one of the top, top names in Scottish Rite Freemasonry and considered their Plato/Socrates, is the only Confederate Civil War general honored with a statue in our nation's Capital by the side that won. 

Immediately after Pike's toppling, President Trump personally called Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to request that the statue be restored. When asked about this call by news outlets, the White House declined comment.

According to the Washington Post: "One conspiracy-minded website claims that Pike is a favorite of the 'occultic groups in control of the puppet government in Washington, D.C.' "

An article in the Post from October, 2016, begins: "His name is Albert Pike and, oh, does he have a backstory. The words engraved on the memorial describe the multitalented Pike (1809-1891) thusly: AUTHOR, POET, SCHOLAR, SOLDIER, JURIST, ORATOR, PHILANTHROPIST and PHILOSOPHER. Hmm, did we leave anything out? Why, yes: Racist. 

"It’s a sentiment that would have confused Pike, who — among his other achievements — rewrote the lyrics to 'Dixie' so they were more likely to inspire Confederate soldiers. It was said of Pike, 'He found Freemasonry in a log cabin and left it in a Temple.' His body is interred in the House of the Temple, headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, at 16th and S streets NW, where there is a museum in his honor and the contents of his library are kept.

"Even if Pike wasn’t involved with the Ku Klux Klan, he did believe that the races should not mix. He was against integrating Masonic lodges.

"It’s hard to judge the claims made about Pike’s prowess in the field of letters. His doorstop of a magnum opus, Morals and Dogma (which his statue carries), is pretty much unreadable by modern audiences. His poetry has not aged well. He is revered in the Masonic movement, but unless you’re a Mason it’s hard to understand exactly why."

*****

In 1871, Pike wrote his famous "Three World War Letter." It reads:

The First World War must be brought about in order to permit the Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Czars in Russia and of making that country a fortress of atheistic Communism. The divergences caused by the “agentur” (agents) of the Illuminati between the British and Germanic Empires will be used to foment this war. At the end of the war, Communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other governments and in order to weaken the religions.

The Second World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences between the Fascists and the political Zionists. This war must be brought about so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political Zionism be strong enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine. During the Second World War, International Communism must become strong enough in order to balance Christendom, which would be then restrained and held in check until the time when we would need it for the final social cataclysm."

The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam and political Zionism mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…

We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil.

Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view.

This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time.

Who's pulling the strings?

According to Wikipedia, California Gov. Gavin Newsom "attended Santa Clara University on a partial baseball scholarship, where he graduated in 1989 with a B.S. in political science. Newsom was a left-handed pitcher for Santa Clara, but he threw his arm out after two years and hasn't thrown a baseball since. He later reflected on his education fondly, crediting the Jesuit approach of Santa Clara that he said has helped him become an independent thinker who questions orthodoxy. Newsom's aunt was married to Ron Pelosi, the brother-in-law of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.^[10]

*****

"Who's pulling the strings behind our government?" asks one YouTuber with his own channel. "The entity that's been in the nation's federal headquarters longer than the Feds and that is the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit-founded Georgetown University is older than Washington, D.C. 

"They're using this ancient knowledge to control people; things like Kabbalah and Hermeticism. The concept of Hermeticism says, 'Are you going to be the one controlling, or are you going to be the one being controlled?' 

"The Society of Jesus is truly an Orwellian concept. Everyone understands that Jesus was supposed to be a positive spiritual force and that's what Orwellianism is--getting behind something people agree to. It sounds good, but then it's anything but, and it's more along the lines of the exact opposite.

"The Society of Jesus is an entity within the Catholic Church that considers themselves a military and intelligence order for the benefit of Rome. They were created to destroy the Protestant Reformation."

*****

"A symbol of the merging of the binary (not just male-female, but all forms of duality) is Eliphas Levi’s BAPHOMET," according to an expert on the subject. "Ritual immolation; a sacrifice-by-fire — of individuality and the binary to an anti-human entity that idealizes a dystopian form of 'oneness': one world government, one world currency, destruction of the man-machine binary under the technological phenomenon of SINGULARITY.

"Nothing epitomizes this immolation-of-the-binary/one-world ritual more than New York City’s ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER that exists at the expense of the immolated binary Twin Towers.

"The term 'binary' applies to separate polar opposites. The key word there is separate. The term non-binary is the amalgamation of opposites. That's where they're brought together.

"It doesn't have to be gender; just any opposites. One of the most ominous of non-binary is the human machine unification. The esoteric and metaphorical non-binary is the harmony between the feminine vibration of empathy, care and love and the masculine vibration of will, ambition and action.

"The upward-pointed triangle is a alchemical symbol for the masculine and downward-pointed triangle is the alchemical symbol for feminine. A spirit is considered masculine. Flesh is considered feminine. 

"Matter is the Latin word for mother. So matter and flesh is human. But AI computer programs and machines are neither male nor female. So rituals are performed to celebrate this abominable, anti-spirit, anti-human, anti-earth non-binary, which is the human machine.

"It is exemplified by the technological phenomenon of singularity. That term just says it all. No symbol expresses this dystopian agenda more than NYC's One World Trade Center, with its design containing the male triangle and the female triangle.

"It was formerly the binary Twin Towers. There's no other monument like One World Trade Center to the New World Order. Transgenderism and gender-neutrality among celebrities is an example of the ritual as well. The high-profile personality appears to be coerced into that position." 

(new article tomorrow)

Obadiah specially crafted to tell of Edom's doom

Ezekiel 38 is the great prophecy preacher passage about the Second Advent and the Antichrist and the time of Armageddon.

“People love to take this passage, and this is where they get Russia invading Palestine and all that stuff, and Europe being a part of it, and most of that comes from the fact they think the Antichrist is going to be a part of the revived Roman Empire, which, again, has nothing to do with the Book of Daniel; it has to do with a lot of bad study all through the past,” says Richard Jordan.

“The chapter begins, [1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

“Ezekiel’s going to give you a prophecy against the Antichrist and those associate with him, but look who’s with him in verse 5: [5] Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

“Verse 6: [6] Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

“None of those are Arab nations. Persia is Iran, Afghanistan. Ethiopia, Libya—that’s Africa. Gomer is Europe. There’s not an Arab nation in Ezekiel 38. Well, why would there not be any Arab nations, because they’re the ones right around Israel, fighting against Israel at the Second Advent? That’s a head-scratcher. The reason is they’ve been destroyed prior to that. That’s what Psalm 83 is about.

“Psalm 83 is talking about the destruction of those Arab nations that have come against them. The way the Edomites and those in cahoots with them are brought together in order to be destroyed . . . you know that verse in Zechariah that says, ‘I’m going to gather them together that I might pour my wrath out on them’? ‘God uses the wrath of men to praise Him.'

“There’s something really fascinating here. Psalm 83: [2] For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
[3] They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
[4] They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
[5] For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
[6] The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

“These Arabs have gotten together and consulted together and developed a confederacy. He says in verse 5, ‘They’re confederate against thee.’ They’ve gathered together in an organized way and they’ve got a crafty counsel to accomplish it.

“When you see that, that takes you to the one-chapter Book of Obadiah. There are only five books in the Bible that have one chapter. Anything God thought was so important to say that He would make a one-chapter book out of it, you better listen to it. It’s also a book written, not to Israel, but to a Gentile. It’s about Edom.

“Obadiah is a very special, powerful book in the Bible, specially crafted to talk about Edom. Edom is going to be the special object of God’s hatred. One book dedicated to the doom of Edom.

[1] The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
[2] Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
[3] The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
[4] Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

“People don’t love the Edomites. Verse 3 says, ‘The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.’ So what is it that’s going to cause the Edomites to be deceived? The pride. You go back and read about Ishmael and Esau. What’s going on? Pride, self-interest. Why would they despise the Abrahamic Covenant and fight against it? Pride.

Verse 6: [6] How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
[7] All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
[8] Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

“Here’s the confederacy of the tabernacle of Edom. In that list over in Psalm 83 they’re first. They’re the leading group at the forefront of the Arab confederacy. ‘All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border.’ The border of what? Malachi says the border of Israel.

“The whole issue in the jealousy over the Abrahamic Covenant boils down to the land. 'The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.' He took the title deed to that piece of ground and gave it to Abraham and his descendants.

“ ‘The men which were at peace with thee have deceived thee.’ Notice who it is that deceived them? It’s the dudes in league with them. People who were at peace with them. ‘They that eat thy bread.'

“You go to Jeremiah 49 where this Book of Obadiah is almost repeated there and it talks about, ‘Aren’t there any wise men in Edom? Ain’t there anybody got sense enough to believe what I said? Don’t you understand what the Abrahamic Covenant informed you about?’

“Their pride deceived them and what happens is this confederacy uses them as a front and deceives them into thinking they can trust their god and get the land.

"In fact, if you read Jeremiah 49 where a lot of Obadiah is repeated—that’s why I say, if He pulls that information out and puts it into one book, it's so you won’t overlook it—it talks about the terrorism associated with these guys trying to get what they want to get.

Verses 8-9: [8] Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
[9] And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

“He goes on to describe how they opposed and fought against Israel and he said because of all that, verse 15: [15] For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

“There’s that reciprocity. What you did to Israel is going to be done to you. Israel is God’s client-nation in the earth. You bless them and you’ll be blessed; you curse them you’ll be cursed and Edom’s going to get the curse they wished upon Israel.

"They’re going to be wiped out because of that and they’re going to be deceived into it by these other nations using them. The Palestinian conflict comes to a resolve in this stuff. When it does, it doesn’t just resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; it resolves the religious forces that carry that conflict.

“Zephaniah 2, the first 9 verses or so, he talks about Israel and how they’re going to take the spoil out of all those people round about them; they’re going to clean their plow. They’re going to take their wealth, their land. Israel is going to expand her borders. They’re not just going to have a West Bank.

Verses 10-11: [10] This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
[11] The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

“When that takes place, and that Israeli Defense Force goes out and does to them what they thought to do to Israel, wiping out that Arab onslaught, The Lord’s going to do it so that He starves out all the gods of the earth. 'They claim to be able to do something; you demonstrate they can’t.'

“When Israel comes and take the spoils of the Arab nations, Jehovah is going to expose the false gods for who they really are; they’re nothing. A bunch of nothings.

"He’s going to starve them into insignificance. That’s going to leave a lasting impression on the Middle East and it’s going to destroy the confidence of the whole world in the religion of the Middle East.

“Notice the reaction of the world when that happens in Ezekiel 35:12-13. [12] And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
[13] Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

“That ought to scare you. You realize God’s heard everything you ever said?

Verses 14-15: [14] Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
[15] As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

“That’s why Psalm 83 says, ‘Do all this so they can know you’re Jehovah; you’re the Most High.’ That’s the conflict with the satanic policy of evil—who’s going to be the Most High.”

(new article tomorrow)

Ancient hatred

This is a continuation from Saturday's post. The internet is very spotty tonight so I'm not able to keep working on this piece, editing it and so forth, but will have a new post tomorrow:

That attitude of anger, hatred, envy, despise, it’s passed right down through. The Edomites, the Ishmaelites, that ancient hatred passes right down through to the last days.

Zechariah 12: [1] The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
[2] Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
[3] And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

The nation Israel is surrounded by this ancient hatred (we’re talking now about the last days) that goes back to Genesis, this envy of God’s purpose and plan through the Abrahamic Covenant to make him a great nation—to give them His blessing and make them the head of all nations above all people.

Nobody wants to be subject to somebody else; your old sin nature doesn’t want that. One of the reasons, in Ephesians 5, people get so mad at the Apostle Paul is about marriage.

There’s such a conflict right now in evangelicalism about marriage and complementarianism and egalitarianism—all these stupid words people develop out of there theological hang-ups—is because Paul says, ‘Wives be subject to your husbands,’ and the paragraph right before that says everybody is to be subject to one another.

One of the marks of being filled with the spirit is to be willing to be subject to another—to esteem other better than yourself. That’s the mind of Christ but your flesh doesn’t want to be subordinate.

Psalm 83: [4] They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
[5] For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
[6] The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

All of those countries are the countries that immediately surround Israel; they’re all Arab countries, by the way, and they all have this familial hatred of the nation Israel. All those countries also are Islamic, so if you want to understand what’s going to happen with Arab-Israeli conflict, this passage is going to help you.

It’s interesting to note that most of the prophecy preachers, when they talk about the destruction of Edom, they fail to notice that there are two different destructions of Edom.

Isaiah 63: [1] Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
[2] Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
[3] I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
[4] For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
[5] And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
[6] And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Here’s someone up in Israel watching the Lord Jesus Christ come from down south up through Edom at His Second Advent. Verse 3 is the actual advent of Christ as He’s come out of heaven on a white horse and He does that alone.

Ezekiel 25: [12] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
[13] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
[14] And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.
[15] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
[16] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
[17] And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Here’s the reciprocity: ‘You treated Israel this way; I’m going to treat you this way.’ God’s going to pour out His fury on Edom personally all by Himself at the Advent, but He’s also going to do it by the hand of His people Israel. Now, that’s two different things. There’s two different times when He’s going to destroy the Edomites.

Isaiah 63 is talking about that time when He uses His people to do it. How do you know that? You see the ‘as, as, like, like’? He said, ‘Do to them what you did back in the Book of Judges.’ I keep telling you, the books of Numbers, Judges, Joshua—they’re not just ancient history written for Sunday School class information. They are pre-written pictures, rehearsals, of the judgment for the last day. In fact, Judges 5 calls it a rehearsal.