May 28, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:8 - Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony of Our Lord

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God…” - 2 Timothy 1:8

As it was in Paul’s time, so it is in our time that we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus Chris, and many of us will suffer for it, with some suffering tremendously, even to the point of death, as it was with the apostle Paul. Here Paul was in prison, possibly in Rome, writing to Timothy, one whom Paul was mentoring in the faith, to encourage Timothy and remind him that he would be attacked for his faith but that he must endure until the end, for our reward is with Christ.

Let us consider what is “the testimony of our Lord” that Paul wrote about in today’s Scripture verse. In chapter 19 verses 7-10 of the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible of which its writer, the apostle John, said is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show the servants - things which must shortly [quickly or swiftly] take place” (Revelation 1:1), it states:

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” (Revelation 19:7-10)

The purpose of Bible prophecy is to point us to Jesus Christ, and there are prophecies of Him from the very beginning, in the book of Genesis, including in Genesis 3:15 when it was prophesied that the devil, also called Satan, would bruise Jesus’ heel but Jesus would bruise his head. This happened when Jesus was crucified on the cross, when a nail was driven though His heel, and Jesus gave up His life. The devil thought he had won, but Jesus didn’t stay dead; oh no, He rose again, resurrected, and is at the right hand of God today, until He will call up His church to Him in the rapture and will begin the 7-year tribulation period by taking the scroll from the right hand of God the Father and open the seven seals on the scroll. And, as prophesied in Revelation 20:10, Jesus will eventually defeat the devil and will cast him into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented forever. It is no surprise that the devil doesn’t want us to read the book of Revelation for two reasons: first, we will read of his ultimate demise and second, it is the only book of the Bible that comes with a blessing to those who read it and hear what it has to say and keeps or remembers the things written in it (Revelation 1:3).

The prophecies about Jesus are all throughout the Bible, showing us that we are all sinners in need of a Savior and that there is nothing “good” that we could ever do that could save us from our sins once and for all. Remember what Jesus said before He gave up His life on the cross? He said: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He did it once and for all so that by His precious, sinless blood, we can be saved from all our sins by believing He is the Christ, the One sent by God to offer salvation to all who would choose to believe, to trust, in Him for our salvation. We don’t need to follow the Mosaic Law that God gave the Jews in the Old Testament, we don’t need to sacrifice animals to atone for our sins; no, Jesus is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, once and for all, for all who choose to believe in Him as their Savior.

When we are saved by believing in Him as our Savior, we are sealed by His Holy Spirit:

“In Him [Jesus] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

What did Jesus testify of Himself when He was here on the earth the first time? Let us examine some Scriptures:

“Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, ‘You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.’” (John 7:28-29)

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

“I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8:18)

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up [crucify] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’” (John 8:28-29)

“I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“Jesus answered, ‘If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, “I do not know Him,” I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’” (John 8:54-56)

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My father will honor.” (John 12:25-26)

“Now this is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up [crucified] from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:31-32)

It all comes down to this:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up [crucified], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:14-19)

There is one way to salvation from all sins and it’s not by our good works, it is not by believing in any false religion this world has to offer, it is not by pretending that sin isn’t sin and that there is no heaven and hell, that there is no one true God; the one way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, and it is a narrow way. Every single one of us will go one way - either the broad way or the narrow way:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-14)

Notice in the Scripture above, Jesus said, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Just as Jesus suffered on this earth when He taught the truth of God to those who didn’t want the truth and was hated and suffered at the hands of sinful men and women, so too will we suffer for our belief in Him. The truth of God is not meant to puff us up with pride and make us feel good about our sins. Oh no, that is what Satan does, and the majority of the world loves him for it, whether they realize it or not. Sadly, this extends to most churches that take great precautions not to offend anyone. I am here to tell you that like it or not, our sin is extremely offensive to God and because of our sin, we are not allowed to enter into His eternal kingdom if we have any sin in us. The only way we can be cleansed of all of our sins is by believing in His Son Jesus Christ, who washes us clean from all sins. But, to a lost and dying world that loves sin more than it loves God, the Bible is offensive and it is intended to be. Jesus even told us:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father; a daughter against her mother; and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 10:34-36)

Jesus knew that the truth of God would divide people, and have we ever seen the world more divided than now? The spiritual war that is being waged for the human soul is rising to a level that I would venture to say has never been seen before. I think God is giving us these last moments in human history before the start of the tribulation period to rock us to our core to see that we are lost in our sins without Jesus and that He is our only hope so that we would turn to Him and be saved.

The writer of Hebrews describes the word of God - Jesus Christ - as the One who discerns our thoughts and the intents of our heart:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

The apostle John wrote of the Word:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We are born with sin in us, inherited from Adam and Eve. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death, meaning if we remain in our sin when we die, we will take that sin with us not only into death but also into our eternal life. I think it is becoming clearer now, even to the unbelieving world, that there is a spiritual war being waged across the world and that war is intensifying as we draw oh so close to the rapture of the church, the revealing of the final antichrist, and the time when he will reign upon the earth for a period of seven years in a time known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, also known as the tribulation period. Sadly, many people who once professed to be Christians are turning away from their faith, they are ashamed of the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ. They love their sin more than they love God.

As Christ suffered for preaching the truth of God, so shall we, but our temporary sufferings on this earth are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us, when we are Home with our beloved Savior. We do this not in our own power but in the power and might of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:10). The apostle Paul suffered so very much for our Lord, but he never was ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, and he never gave up hope. Brothers and sisters in Christ as we await our Savior’s upward call, let us remember and heed the words of the apostle Paul, our dear brother in Christ:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39) ✝️

May 24, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:7 - God Has Not Given Us a Spirit of Fear

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7

What is the thing or person that you fear the most? Is it a fear that something will happen to a family member or to you? Is it a fear of going to war? Is it a fear of not being able to pay your bills or not being able to feed your family? If you are a young person, do you fear not being liked and accepted by your friends? Whatever it is that you fear, fear will drive us to do things we normally will not do. Misplaced fear puts our lives in jeopardy, and not only our temporary lives here on earth but more importantly, our eternal lives after we exit this life and enter our permanent life. Consider your life over the past three years when COVID hit. What caused you to fear? Was it a virus? Was it fearing you could lose your job if you didn’t do certain things you were told you must to do in order to keep it? Looking back now, three years later, if you did something then that you wouldn’t do now, knowing all that you know, what caused you to act the way that you did at that time? If you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and believe in Him as your Savior and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, were you guided by Him or were you guided by your fear?

When we act on our feelings because we are fearful of something, we are more inclined to make bad decisions. I am definitely guilty of doing this. But when we are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we have something that those who are not saved do not have and that is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Helper” or the “Comforter” who “will teach you all things” (John 14:26) and who “will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak ;and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13). When we have the Holy Spirit within us, we have Him to help us to understand the Bible when we read it for ourselves. But we must read it to understand it; if it is just another book that sits on a bookshelf or on a coffee table, it doesn’t do us any good. It is critical now, more than ever in the times in which we are living, that we read the Bible for ourselves and let the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth because deception is at an all time high, not just in our country but all over the world.

I believe we truly are living in the very last days before the rapture of the church, when Jesus calls up to Himself in the clouds all who died as believers in Him as well as those who believers who are alive at that time (see 1 Thessalonians 4-15-18 and 1 Corinthians 15-50-54). After that, I believe the final antichrist will step on the world scene, confirm a covenant/treaty with Israel and other nations that will last seven years, and the 7-year tribulation period, also called the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” (Jeremiah 30:7) will begin. Based on what the Bible says, particularly in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation, there is soon coming a tyrannical government such has never been seen in the world, nor ever will be seen again. It will make the lockdowns in 2020 look like child’s play. If you were fearful then, what will you do when it happens again, only so much worse? Will you stray from your faith, perhaps thinking that God doesn’t exist? As I am writing this devotional on May 22, 2023, a headline popped up on my phone: “Only half of Americans now say they believe in God.” (See: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4012827-does-god-exist-only-half-of-americans-say-a-definite-yes/). At a time in history when it is absolutely critical not to be led by our feelings but to be led by the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, is it any wonder that the United States is in such turmoil? Skyrocketing lawlessness, no respect for human life, especially with the unborn, increasing rates of depression and suicidal thoughts, drug use on the rise and the legalization of drugs that for many years were deemed illegal, sexual immorality, confusion, and perversion, and it goes on and on. Is it any wonder that we in the USA are seeing all of these problems increase when at least half of us don’t even believe that God exists? Add to that, you have powerful men and women trying to be gods - false gods - themselves and/or trying to create their own “gods” through artificial intelligence, which is becoming an increasing threat to humanity’s existence at lightning speed. Can you see that everything is converging and that it is only by the power of God and His loving restraint that everything hasn’t been set on fire yet?

The book of Daniel describes this tyrannical government as the fourth beast in a dreadful vision Daniel had. Daniel’s vision of the three other beasts that describe the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek Empires have been fulfilled with stunning accuracy, so much so that there are people who refute that the book was written in the 6th century BC and say instead it was written in the 2nd century BC. For a response to these claims, see: https://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/documents/articles/34/34-contents.htm.

The fourth beast Daniel wrote about represents not only the Roman Empire that did in fact come into power, as Daniel envisioned, but also a future revived version of it. We have already seen a precursor of this revived version of it with the European Union.

In the book of Daniel, it tells us that Daniel’s vision was interpreted by someone we only know as “one of those who stood by.” (Daniel 7:16) Whomever it was described this fourth beast:

“The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” (Daniel 7:23-25)

Many believers in Christ who read and study Bible prophecy, myself included, believe the person who is described above as rising after the ten kings and subduing three of them is the final antichrist, who will persecute believers in Christ who are alive at that time - those who will become believers in Christ after the rapture occurs and will be martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Antichrist, also called “the beast” in the book of Revelation (Revelation 13:1), “the man of sin” and the “son of perdition” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and the “lawless one” shown in the Scripture below, will be empowered by Satan:

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

The Jewish nation of Israel will be willingly deceived by the antichrist. Israel will confirm the 7-year covenant with antichrist at the start of the tribulation period, believing he is their friend and ally. I believe that either prior to or not long after the covenant is confirmed, antichrist will inform Israel that it can build its long-hoped for third Jewish Temple, and it will likely be built in just several months’ time. Preparations for this third temple have been in the works since 1987 by the Jewish Temple Movement. 3-1/2 years into the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble, antichrist will commit the abomination of desolation as prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 9:27 and referenced by Jesus in Matthew 24:15. Antichrist will force the Jews to stop sacrificing in their third temple, and he will do something so disgusting that it is called an “abomination,” which is defined by dictionary.com as, “a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc.” It will be at that time, finally, that the Jews will recognize who antichrist really is and will flee for their lives. This will start the last 3-1/2 years of the tribulation period, referred to by Jesus as the “great tribulation”:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:21-22)

As I quoted the Scripture a couple of paragraphs above from 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, the Bible also tells us that those who were deceived by antichrist through the power of Satan will perish “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” And, read this:

“And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

They will reject the truth of God because they love their sin and want to remain in it, will willingly be deceived; consequently, God will send them strong delusion. This is the complete opposite of having a sound mind, as Paul wrote about in today’s Scripture verse. When one chooses to reject the truth of God to believe the lies of Satan, because God gave us free will and did not make us robots, He gives us what we want. Sadly, most people don’t want the truth; rather, they want lies that sound good and make them comfortable in their sin, such as all roads lead to heaven, or one is “good enough” to get into heaven, or God isn’t real and when you die, nothing happens. Satan will tell you anything you want to hear to keep you deceived and to keep you from turning to God and believing in His Son Jesus Christ to redeem you of all your sins, to wash you clean by His precious blood. Why? Because Satan hates God, and he hates humanity because we, unlike angels, are the only ones made in the image of God. Satan wants to bring you and billions of people with him to hell, for eternity. Satan wants to be God, but he never will be, and eventually he will know that God will not be mocked. The book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, tells us Satan’s future:

“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast [antichrist] and the false prophet [a religious leader working with antichrist during the 7-year tribulation period] are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

Sadly, this is where most people will end up because they chose to reject the truth of God and believed the lie of Satan.

For believers in Christ, we have God’s word, the Holy Bible, that tells us what is going to happen before it happens. It told us that Jesus - the Messiah - was going to come the first time to offer salvation from sins for all who choose to believe in Him, trusting in Him for their salvation, and He did come, exactly as the Bible prophesied, with such specificity it is beyond any human’s ability and absolutely is the divine word of God. The Bible also tells of a rapture of the church that is caught up to Jesus before the start of the tribulation period, and of His second coming, when He “treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15) and defeats all those who will have rejected God and embraced Satan. It also tells when Jesus will finally set up his kingdom, which will never pass away:

”I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

God has given us His word that by reading it, we will know what is to come. People who were born thousands of years ago had what we now call the Old Testament, the time when God’s people - Israel - were told about their coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. At the time of Jesus’ birth, people were alive and some were looking for Messiah, but just like today, most rejected Him. Today, we have God’s word that includes both the Old and New Testaments that contain hundreds of prophecies that are still to come to pass. As we come clearer to those prophecies being fulfilled, those things that didn’t make sense a hundred or even a few years ago are beginning to make sense. For example, would you have ever thought that the sovereign nations of the entire world would be willing to cede their authority to one person, a one-world leader? What just happened during COVID when the entire world was locked down because a few global leaders said we needed to? Would you have ever thought that technology would be in place that would accommodate a mark of the beast system that requires all people to have a mark on their right hand or their forehead in order to buy or sell? People are already being conditioned to accept this, such as with Amazon’s “Amazon One” payment system where you “use your palm to pay at a store…” (See: https://one.amazon.com). What kind of technology would be required to enforce a mark of the beast system to track all buying and selling of every single person on the planet? Once we move to a digital system of money that replaces all cash - literally removes it from every single country - and everything is digital, it means every single purchase can be tracked and it also means it can be restricted. I would go as far to say that within a year or less, every single nation will be on the Central Bank Digital Currency/equivalent and cash will be gone. Are we not already being prepared for this? On April 6, 2023, a bill in the USA was passed to the Senate to support “reliable, interoperable digital identity verification in the public and private sectors.” (See: https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/us-digital-identity-bill-passes-through-to-senate/). Is this moving us closer to or further away from a mark of the beast system?

The Bible tells us that those who take the mark of the beast must also worship the image of the beast. How is it possible to enforce this worship by every single person on the planet? The Bible says, “that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” (Revelation 13:15) Could it be that this image may be a hologram that is projected in the eyesight of every single person, such as with an augmented-reality (AR) headset (See: https://screenrant.com/iphone-discontinued-replaced-apple-ar-future-plan-claims/) and that AI-type technology will sense, perhaps by something that is injected into every person, when that person is not worshiping the image and will do something within that person to cause them to die? Is any of this that far-fetched? I venture to say that it is not. The capabilities of technology and AI are increasing at such a worrisome pace that even some technology leaders have called for a 6-month pause on AI advances (see: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/29/1166896809/tech-leaders-urge-a-pause-in-the-out-of-control-artificial-intelligence-race).

I think of all the things that have happened in the past 100 years that related to Bible prophecy being fulfilled was the reestablishment of the Jewish state of Israel. After all, how could there be a third temple in Israel that Jews would go to in order to worship and perform their sacrifices unless the Jews were back in their homeland of Israel? This was only made possible when the Jewish nation of Israel was reborn after WWII on May 14, 1948 and after it regained control of Jersualem in the Six Day War in 1967.

Everything the Bible prophesied about in the end times is being set up, and when the 7-year tribulation period begins, it will literally be hell on earth. If you are an unbeliever and were filled with fear three years ago when COVID hit, I warn you that you haven’t seen anything yet; COVID was just a beta test of the real thing that is yet to come. It was a test to see who would be filled with fear and submit to whatever we were told to do, even reporting neighbors and friends who would not comply with mask mandates. Now, even the New York Times reported that mask mandates made no difference (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html). How many families were divided and friendships ended over controversial injection requirements, where the injections were fast-tracked and did not undergo typical clinical trials of prior injections and were not pulled from shelves after many reports of adverse events from people who had received the injections, such as prior vaccines with poor outcomes had been pulled in the past? Why did the CDC change its definition of “vaccine”? (See: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article254111268.html).

It’s not important if you believe me or not. What I care about is your soul and where you are going when you die. That is why I take the time to write these devotionals, to warn people about what is coming, based on what the Bible prophecies, and to give them the good news of salvation from all sins through believing in Jesus Christ. I write them when I know that few people, if any, are reading them. My hope is that if they aren’t reading them now, perhaps they will stumble upon them one day and read them at that time.

I even ask you to do this if you don’t believe me: print this, save it for a year, and in one year, go back and read it and see what has changed in a year’s time. I pray first and foremost that by that time, you will have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save you from all your sins. But if not, then see if what I said matches up to what is happening at that time, and please know, I base everything on what I have written on my understanding of what the word of God says; I am not a prophet, rather, just a believer in Christ who doesn’t want anyone to have to go through the tribulation period or go to hell when they die. If it does match up, then ask yourself, how did she know this? Could it be that the Bible is in fact the word of God and that everything that is prophesied in it will happen exactly as God said it would?

For believers in Christ, we should not have a spirit of fear when it comes to the end times because His word is given to us that we may read it and know what is going to happen before it happens. When we do that, it prepares us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally and gives us confidence in Him and His promises. Let us read and remember some of His promises:

• “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” (Isaiah 41:13)

• “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.’” (Isaiah 35:4)

• “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

• “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:1-4)

• “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:18)

• “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

• “And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1 John 1:25-27)

• “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

• “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

• “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)

Let us remember whom Jesus told us we should fear:

“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Jesus Christ; Luke 12:4-5)

Why did Jesus say this? How many pastors in churches today refuse to quote this Scripture verse because they are worried it might offend people? Why did Jesus say it? Because He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. He loves you and wants you to turn to Him and believe in Him as the only one who can save your from all your sins and give you eternal life.

There comes a point when a person has rejected Jesus so many times that He gives people over to what they want, and at that point, they will no longer have a sound mind. The book of Romans chapter 1 says three times that God gives them over:

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:24-25)

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.” (Romans 1:26)

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting…” (Romans 1:28)

I believe these are the same people whom we read about in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 who will be deceived by the antichrist when he comes and God will send them strong delusion. I believe we are seeing a precursor to this already, in a world that seems like many people have gone mad, they have lost their minds.

In the end, it all comes down to one thing: are you with Jesus or are you against Him? We who are with Him place our fear in Him, for He has the power to cast into hell, but because we are saved by Him, we will not go there when we die but will be with Him for eternity. Because we are saved by believing in Him, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have a sound mind because we know Him - Jesus - by reading His word and praying to Him, and we will not be given over to a debased mind. May we not fear what is to come upon this unbelieving world but have confidence in Him, Jesus the Christ, our blessed Redeemer:

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:27-29) ✝️

May 19, 2023: 2 Peter 3:18 - Let Us Grow in Him and Give Him Glory

“…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:18

The apostle Peter wrote this second epistle knowing that he would soon die, as he wrote about in 2 Peter 1:14. What an example we have in Peter of someone who grew in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Let us remember the moment when Peter, who was then called Simon, and his brother Andrew were fishermen in their boats, first saw Jesus, who told them, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) Simon told Jesus they had been fishing all night and had not caught any fish but he would do as Jesus said. When Simon and Andrew did as Jesus said, they caught so many fish that their net began to break. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ (Luke 5:8) “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-20)

Peter was the first of the twelves apostles to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ:

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:13-20)

Peter was in the inner circle of Jesus’ apostles, along with James and John. They were present when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1). Along with Peter’s fellow apostles, they saw Jesus perform many miracles. They walked and talked with Jesus, they ate with Him, shared the Passover meal with Him three times, including when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before His death. Peter was in the boat with the other apostles during a severe storm when they saw Jesus walking on water toward them. Peter was the only one who took a leap of faith when encouraged by Jesus to come to Him, to walk on water, until fear filled him and he took his eyes off of Jesus and instead focused on the boisterous wind. As he began to sink, he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus did save him, asking Peter why he doubted. (Matthew 14:22-33) How many times have we doubted what Jesus can do in our lives? How many times have I doubted?

When Jesus told His apostles that He must “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day,” it was Peter who took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:21-23) Peter did not know the plan of God and that there was a purpose for the all the suffering that Jesus would go through and although Jesus would die, He would be resurrected and pay the price for redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him as the Christ.

Before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that each of them would be “made to stumble”:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

“I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”

“‘But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” (Matthew 26:31-35)

Before Jesus was arrested, He was in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, came with the chief priests and Pharisees and a detachment of troops seeking to arrest Jesus. Peter took his sword and then cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus then said to Peter:

“Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup with My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11)

How many times have we taken manners into our own hands so that we could fix a situation according to how we believed it should be fixed rather than letting Jesus be in control of it? I have tried many, many times to fix a situation, only to make it worse.

Though Peter said he would absolutely never deny Jesus, he did, and he denied Him three times, exactly as Jesus said he would. Why? Peter feared for his life, perhaps fearing they would do to him what they were going to do to Jesus. After the third time Peter denied knowing Jesus, cursing and swearing, immediately a rooster crowed and Peter was filled with deep remorse for what he had done:

“And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.’’ (Matthew 26:75)

How many of us have made huge mistakes in our lives, doing things we ought not to do, because we feared what people might do to us instead of fearing God? Peter had just made a huge mistake in his life, and he likely felt like he had lost everything.

As Jesus foretold, He was crucified on a cross and He died. As prophesied approximately 700 years before it happened, His body was placed in a tomb of a rich man:

Prophecy: “And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)

Fulfillment: “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” (Matthew 27:57-60)

Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers, and other women went to the tomb early on the third day to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. Mary saw that the large stone that had been placed in front of it had been taken away. She ran back to tell Simon Peter and John what had happened, saying, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:2) Peter and John ran to the tomb, with John arriving first. John wrote about what they saw:

“And he [John], stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linens cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.” (John 20:5-10)

Notice above it says, “Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” This Scripture is referring to the apostle John. Notice that when Peter went into the tomb, though he looked and saw the same thing John subsequently had seen, it does not say that Peter believed. Peter was seeing with his own eyes that the tomb was empty and the burial cloths that once wrapped the body of Jesus, were lying on the floor, with Jesus’ body nowhere in sight. How many of us have doubted what we have seen with our own eyes, like Peter did? Did Peter not remember the three times that Jesus had predicted His own death and resurrection?

1. “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Matthew 16:21)

2. “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” (Matthew 17:22-23)

3. “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” (Matthew 20:17-19)

As Jesus also prophesied, He did rise again on the third day. The Bible tells us that after Peter and John had left, Mary stayed outside the tomb and wept and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white who asked her why she was weeping. She told them it was because someone had taken Jesus’ body and she didn’t know where they had laid Him.

In the gospel of Mark, we have another account of Mary’s interaction with the angel at the tomb of Jesus, who told Mary and the women with her when they saw that the angel and that the tomb was empty:

“But he [the angel] said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples - and Peter - that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’” Mark 16:6-7)

The angel specifically told them to go tell Peter. This is not coincidence. Also notice that it does not say, “Tell His disciples, including Peter.”

After speaking with the angles, Mary turned around and saw Jesus but didn’t realize that it was Him. Jesus asked her why she was weeping and whom was she seeking. Thinking He was a gardener, she asked Him where He had laid Jesus’ body:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (John 20:16-18)

Through all of this, Jesus was teaching Peter a lesson: God has a plan, and His will, will be done. We may not like the plan, it may not be how we would do things, we may not even understand it, but we must trust in God not only with that plan but with everything in our lives.

After Jesus resurrected, His disciples were hiding from the Jews in a room for fear of them. Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples in the room and said:

“‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:19-23)

The apostles of Jesus were now commissioned by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, ready to go and preach the good news of salvation of sins through belief in Jesus Christ. But there was a matter of the heart in Peter that still had to be dealt with. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two other disciples were at the Sea of Tiberias. Simon Peter said he wanted to go fishing and the other disciples went with him. They spent the entire night fishing and yet had not caught a single fish. The next morning, Jesus saw them from the shore and called out to them. But the disciples did not know it was Jesus. He asked if they had caught any fish and they told Him no. He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” (John 21:6) And so it happened again, the net was so full of fish that they could not bring it into the boat. John immediately then recognized that it was Jesus, and he told Peter, “It is the Lord!” Peter then put on his coat and plunged into the sea. He dragged the net, that had 153 fish in it, to the land and was able to keep the heavy net from breaking. Jesus then invited His disciples to come and eat breakfast with Him. This time, they knew it was the Lord.

Now, it was time for a restoration of Peter. Just as he had denied Jesus three times, Jesus would ask Peter three times if Peter loved Him, and each time, Peter responded affirmatively. Jesus told Him respectively after Peter answered, “Feed My lambs,” then “Tend My sheep,” and finally,”Feed My sheep.” For each former denial of Jesus, Peter confirmed that he did indeed love Jesus. The Bible tells us of the third time, “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’” Jesus ended the conversation with how Jesus had first started it, when He had first seen Peter and his brother Andrew fishing that day, saying: “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

Peter did follow Jesus, and he spread the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Peter preached boldly on the day of Pentecost when over 3,000 souls were saved. He wrote the two epistles that we have read and studied over the past weeks. Peter did in fact grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, giving Him glory. May we remember the words Peter spoke, through the power of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost to the men of Judea and Israel:

“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:36-41)

We have now come to the end of the second epistle of Peter. May we remember Peter’s words from his first epistle:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Finally, I ask you: Does the inheritance Peter spoke of above apply to you? Do you have the living hope of Jesus Christ? Are you kept by the power of God through faith for salvation? If not, what are you waiting for? ✝️

May 17, 2023: 2 Peter 3:17 - Beware Lest You Also Fall

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…” - 2 Peter 3:17

God’s warnings to us are all throughout the Bible. He warns the wicked to turn from their ungodly ways and to turn to Him. He warns those who profess to be saved by Jesus Christ to be watchful and to be able to discern truth from lies, for deceivers will run rampant in the last days before Jesus’ return. He warns those who are saved in Him to remain steadfast and to know that any delay in His coming is only to provide more time for sinners to turn to Him. We are to be assured that He will come and should not give any second thought to the words of mockers and scoffers in the last days.

Our world today is on fire, with chaos and crises rising to a level never seen before on a worldwide scale. We are seeing human depravity increasing at a rapid pace and that aligns perfectly as Paul the apostle wrote about in Romans 1:18-32. We are seeing people who are lovers of themselves and not lovers of God as Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. We read about things happening in so-called churches that are blaspheming God, as their congregations clap and praise in their deceived approval. And yet, where are the pastors who are preaching and teaching about the end times and what the Bible tells us the world will look like in the days before Jesus’ second coming? Why are such a small number of pastors preaching and teaching about this, especially here in America? Sadly, I believe the answer is because most have sold out to the lies of the devil, Satan. The message of the Bible is truth, and most people don’t want to hear the truth. Rather, they want to hear that all roads lead to heaven. Per a November 23, 2021 article from Pew Research Center that conducted a poll of US adults (see: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/11/23/few-americans-blame-god-or-say-faith-has-been-shaken-amid-pandemic-other-tragedies/):

“Christians who believe that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven were asked whether they believe that this privilege is reserved only for members of other Christian religions, or that some non-Christian religions can also lead to eternal life in heaven. Among all Christians, a majority (58%) say that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven, and within this group, the prevailing view is that members of some non-Christian religions are able to attain eternal life in heaven (43% of all Christians express this view). Just 13% of U.S. Christians say that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven, but that only Christian religions qualify.”

If anyone has ever read the Bible for themselves, they will know that beyond a shadow of doubt, you must believe in Jesus as your Savior, meaning you put your trust in Him to be saved from all your sins, in order to be allowed entry into heaven, His kingdom. Jesus Himself told His disciples:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus’ statement above eliminates all other ways to heaven; there is no way to it except through Him. Further, Jesus said:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leaves to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-14)

“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.’” (John 10:7-10)

As Jesus said above, the thief - Satan - “does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Satan will tell lie upon lie in order to deceive people by appealing to their desire to cling to their sin and not to cling to Jesus. Satan makes us feel good about our sin, telling us we were born that way, and in a literal sense, he is correct because we are ALL born with sin but that does NOT mean we must stay in our sin. We ALL sin, and as our society becomes more and more depraved, it has approved of certain sins, putting them on full display, especially in the entertainment and media industries. Why? Because the great deceiver wants us to think it’s okay to sin and that we should hate the God who created us because He just wants to oppress us. Satan wraps us in everlasting chains of bondage to him, never to be broken. Only Jesus can break those chains of sin:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jesus Christ; John 8:34-36)

We are in a spiritual war for our souls. When a soldier goes to war, he is prepared for it, he trains for it, well in advance. He is taught certain things so that when he is on the battlefield, he doesn’t have to think about what he does; rather, he automatically does it. The same is true for a believer in Christ. We have given our souls to Jesus Christ because we have chosen to believe, to trust in Him, as the Redeemer of all our sins, for our salvation. Because we have trusted in Jesus, the enemy Satan wants to do everything he can to steal our soul, and he will do it in very tempting ways. One of the most deceptive ways he will do this is by planting false teachers and false apostles in churches that preach a twisted and distorted gospel, as Satan lures people back in to the snare of sin. I believe this has been happening with greater frequency in the last 20 years or so, particularly with the “seeker friendly” movement in which churches focused not on bringing the truth of God to people but to expand the size of their congregations, thereby increasing their revenue. They turned from preaching what people needed to hear to what people wanted to hear. The apostle Paul wrote about this:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

We are absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, at the times in which Paul wrote. As I sit here, writing this devotional, this headline popped up on my phone: “Alarming number of Americans are ditching their faith in Christ.” It is an article from endtimeheadlines.org that cites a Public Religion Research Institute poll whose results are posted on Axios.com. (See: https://endtimeheadlines.org/2023/05/alarming-number-of-americans-are-ditching-their-faith-in-christ/ and https://www.axios.com/2023/05/16/rising-number-americans-switch-religions).

“According to Axios, The jump in religion-switching comes as many Americans say they no longer believe in their initial religion’s teachings — or, in many cases, disagree with a religion’s stance against LGBTQ+ people. More Americans also are turning away from Christianity and are seeing themselves as unaffiliated with any religion or as religious “nones,” even as some conservative Republicans seek to inject more religion into schools and public life.”

More and more people who once professed to be Christians are turning away from their faith. The Bible warns us repeatedly to be grounded in God’s word, to be on guard against the lies of deceivers and to be able to recognize them as lies and not as of truth. However, if we do not read God’s word for ourselves, we will not be able to discern lies from truth and we are in danger of being led astray by false teachers and false pastors that have infiltrated the churches. Peter and Paul, two apostles of Jesus Christ, warned us of this, and so did the apostle John. Let us heed their warnings and plant ourselves firmly in the word of God, putting on His whole armor that we may be able stand against the wiles/schemes of the devil, and continue to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ:

”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 abides forever.

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

“And now little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. (1 John 2:15-29) ✝️

May 14, 2023: 2 Peter 3:16 - Some People Twist God's Word to their Own Destruction

“…as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” - 2 Peter 3:16

Before Jesus was crucified, He had told His apostles that when He was no longer with them, they would receive the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus also referred to as the “Helper,” who would teach them all things and help them to remember all that Jesus had taught them (John 14:26, 16:13-15). When a person has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins, the apostle Paul wrote that we are instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not speaking of water baptism; rather, it refers to the Holy Spirit that enters us the moment we are saved by putting our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greek, whether slaves or free - and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” ( 1 Corinthians 12:13)

Paul also wrote:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9)

When we have the Holy Spirit of God within us, He leads us into understanding of God’s word. As with anyone who is learning, we don’t start off at a collegiate level; rather, we start with the easy things. When we first began to read as a child, we started off learning our ABCs in the alphabet. Then we learned short words and we learned how to put them together into sentences, increasing in the difficulty of things which we read. The same is true in the Bible: we start with the simple things by reading the milk of God’s word and then we progress to the solid food, the meat of God’s word, which is more difficult to understand because it is based on knowledge that we acquired previously by studying the milk of God’s word. Peter wrote about this in his first epistle:

“…as newborn babes, desire pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:1-2)

Have you ever seen newborn babies when they are hungry? When they are near their mother, it is as if they can smell their mother’s milk and they have a rooting reflex and they are searching out their mother’s milk. This rooting reflex also happens when they need to be comforted. Like a newborn baby, Peter tells us we should seek God’s word as if our live depends on it because it does depend on it, just as a newborn baby’s life depends on milk. God’s word both feeds us spiritually and comforts us. We should have this deep desire in our heart to read His word because we want to know about Him and His plan of salvation for us.

The apostle Paul also wrote about this in 1 Corinthians, as did the author of Hebrews, of which some people believe Paul also wrote, and emphasized that we should not stay in the milk of the word but should grow in our reading of it so that we can progress to the solid food of the word, the more difficult things:

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able…” ( 1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:13-14)

If we do not progress in our reading of God’s word, which includes reading from both the New and Old Testaments, then we are at risk of misunderstanding the meaning of the more difficult Scriptures. Imagine a first grader trying to read a college-level book and not only trying to read it but understand the meaning of it; it doesn’t work. We must read from the prophetic books in the Old Testament, including Isaiah to read of the many prophecies of the first coming of Jesus Christ that were fulfilled and written about in the four gospels and throughout the New Testament. We must read the book of Daniel to understand the book of Revelation. If we only read one without the other, we are not getting the full understanding of God’s word. We must progress from the milk of the word to the solid food in order to deepen our understanding of who God is, His plan of redemption for us that came through His chosen people when Jesus Christ came to earth the first time, and what is coming next in His written plan of history that tells us what will happen before it happens. Only Almighty God could write this.

I have learned that there are things written in the Bible that we can only understand when it is God’s timing for us to understand. The prophet Daniel is a perfect example of this. Daniel was given by God the amazing ability to tell Babylonian kings the dreams that they had dreamt and also to interpret them. These dreams all related to actual historical events that at that time, had not happened but did happen. Daniel was also able to interpret a statement that had been written on a wall by a hand with no body and which foretold the fall of a wicked and final Babylonian king to the Medo-Persian empire. Daniel was also given visions of his own that greatly troubled him, one of which was a prophecy of the end time in Daniel 12. It prophesied of, “a time of trouble, such a never was since there was a nation, even to that time.” However, this time, no interpretation of the vision was given and instead, Daniel was told:

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4)

In the vision, Daniel heard two men speaking and Daniel wrote:

“Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’” (Daniel 12:8-9)

This demonstrates that there are some things written in the Bible that were prophesied hundreds and even thousands of years prior that we simply will not understand until we grow closer to the time when they will be fulfilled. The things prophesied in the book of Daniel parallel what is written in book of Revelation, which describes the last seven years of the end of the age before Jesus Christ returns at His second coming. Until we get closer to the time of the end, they will be veiled and we won’t understand them fully. I believe we are starting to see them unveiled and what previously did not make sense, is beginning to make sense. An example of this unveiling of prophecy is in the book of Ezekiel.

For thousands of years, God had scattered the Jews from their land Israel because of their sins against Him. The prophet Ezekiel wrote about this:

“Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name - when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.” (Ezekiel 36:18-21)

Between approximately 593 and 565 BC, the prophet Ezekiel wrote a prophecy that until May 14, 1948, not many people alive prior to that time believed they would ever see happen: the return of Israel to its land. But God had promised to do this, and not for their sake but for His holy name’s sake:

“Therefore say to the house of Israel , ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.”’” (Ezekiel 36:22-24)

This prophecy, also written about in the Scripture passage below, has been partially fulfilled as of May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel was reborn:

“Then say to them, ‘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, 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 into two kingdoms again.” (Ezekiel 37:21-22)

Notice in the Scripture above it says, “on the mountains of Israel.” I listen online to a pastor named Dr. Andy Woods at Sugar Bible Church. In 2022, he had a series of messages titled “Middle East Meltdown” in which he discussed the events prophesied in the book of Ezekiel in the war of Gog and Magog. I remember during several of these messages, he mentioned that it had occurred to him that the Bible mentions repeatedly the words, “mountains of Israel,” including in: Ezekiel 6:2-3; 17:23; 20:40; 34:14; 36:1, 4, 6, 8; 38:8, and 39:4, 17. Pastor Woods said that prior to the Six Day Way in 1967, Israel did not control any of the land of the mountains of Israel and it was only when it won this war through the power of Almighty God that Israel took back control of the mountains of Israel. Siggy Fried who was 23 at the time of the war and was attending college in New York, flew to Israel on June 3, 1967 and wrote about in a journal that he kept during the war. In his journal, he wrote how Israel had gained control of the mountains of Israel. (See: https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/six-day-war-diary/).

The prophecy in Ezekiel 37:21-22 above also says that Israel will no longer be a divided nation. Long ago, it was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Subsequently, Israel was taken captive to Assyria and Judah was taken captive to Babylon. Since 1948 and 1967, we have seen even in our generation Bible prophecy being fulfilled. However, there are still prophecies of Ezekiel that are yet to be fulfilled, most importantly of which is when they will will no longer defile themselves and will believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah:

“‘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.” (Ezekiel 39:29)

As we can see, sometimes it takes a long time for prophecy to be fulfilled, and as evidenced by the prophecies of Ezekiel, we have seen some prophecies being fulfilled in our generation and others that while not yet fulfilled will be, in God’s perfect timing. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy to me is what solidified my faith in Jesus Christ. However, I would not have known about the prophecies unless I had read God’s word for myself and was given the power to understand it through the Holy Spirit.

If someone who is not seeking God but read God’s word, they simply will not understand it because they are not seeking Him with their heart:

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)

As Peter told us in today’s Scripture verse, “as also in all his epistle’s, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures,” without the understanding given by the Holy Spirit, the Bible will not make sense to them, especially those things which are difficult to understand. Instead, they consider the Bible a bunch of made-up stories by men and think of God as a power-hungry thorn in their side who only wants to make them miserable by His never-ending set of rules. Some, sadly, have a completely twisted view of the Bible and look at Satan as the one who truly cares about them and doesn’t withhold knowledge from them and is the light bearer. This is deadly thinking and is a snare of Satan that has led many into the trap of captivity, from which they will never, ever escape.

When I was not saved yet through the grace of God by believing in His Son Jesus, I had this longing, this desire in my heart to know the truth. I did not know it at the time, but I was being convicted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was showing me that I was a sinner in need of a Savior and that the Savior is Jesus Christ. Jesus told His apostles that when He would go away [would be crucified, die, resurrect, and ascend to heaven], God would send His Holy Spirit to them:

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (Jesus Christ; John 16:8)

I was in my late 30s when I began searching for the truth. I had to know: is believing in Jesus Christ for my salvation of sins the only way to heaven? I had to know why it was different from all the religions in the world. So I sought God with my heart and with an open mind. What does the Bible tell us about seeking Him? The prophet Jeremiah wrote about this to the Jews who had lived in Judah and had been taken captive by Babylon. God, through Jeremiah, was telling them He had a future for them and that they should not listen to the false prophets who were telling them lies. He told them they would return to their land after a period of 70 years. Then God gave them loving words of encouragement that apply to us, whether we are Jew or Gentile, today:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

After four years of reading the Bible, I knew the absolute truth: every word in the Bible is true, and the only way to God the Father is by believing in His Son as Redeemer of all my sins. It is by His grace that I am saved.

I would strongly encourage anyone reading this that if they have not ever read the Bible in its entirety, to read it completely, beginning with Genesis and ending at Revelation. I also recommend not signing up for a 1-year Bible reading plan, as I personally think it moves too quickly and the reader is at risk of missing out on a lot of what is written simply because of trying to meet a timeline. Instead, I recommend that you go at your own pace, really taking the time to understand God’s word and to think about it, letting the Holy Spirit guide you and teach you. I suggest that if your Bible has a center column with notes in it, that you read some of them as well as they contain information such as explanatory notes, cross-references, and links between the New and Old Testaments.

As with any task set before us, reading God’s word takes work. We must decide in our hearts and our minds that this is something that we want to do so that we may grow in our understanding of Him, grow closer to Him, and become rooted deeply in our faith in Him. Though we may be persecuted for our faith, and if we are doing anything for Him, we will be, though we may even be imprisoned or even killed for our faith in Him, when He has written His word in our hearts, that is something that no one can ever take away from us.

When we have done this work for ourselves, taking the time to read the Bible, asking the Holy Spirit to provide us with knowledge, understanding, application, and wisdom of it, we will see this beautiful tapestry that God has woven for us, throughout His word, and how it all connects and how it all points to His plan of salvation for us: believing in His Son Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of our sins.

“For 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.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) ✝️

May 10, 2023: 2 Peter 3:15 - The Longsuffering of Our Lord is Salvation

“…and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation - as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you…” - 2 Peter 3:15

Moses, the man who had led God’s people, Israel, out of 400+ years of bondage in Egypt, went up to Mount Sinai a second time to receive the tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments of God, also called the two tablets of Testimony. The first time he had received them from God, when Moses came down from the mountain, he saw the people of Israel worshipping a golden calf they thought Moses wasn’t coming back from the mountain and they had turned away from God, quickly forgetting all that He had already done for them. They proclaimed it was the golden calf that they themselves had made that had brought them out of Egypt instead of giving Almighty God the glory. They returned to their sinful and idolatrous ways. Before Moses had come down the mountain, God had told Moses what the people were doing, and God wanted to destroy them and instead making a great nation through them, He would make it through Moses. However, Moses interceded for them, saying:

“LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?” Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” (Exodus 32:11-13)

God did relent from pouring out His wrath on the repentant Israelites. Moses came down from the mountain, and when he saw the people and heard them singing and dancing around their false god they had made, Moses’ anger arose and he cast the tablets to the ground, breaking them in pieces. Moses burned with fire the false god they had made, ground it into powder, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it. Moses had those who were with him and were on God’s side to come to him. All but 3,000 were on God’s side and came to Moses. Moses commanded that those who had sinned against God and turned away from Him be killed, and they were. Moses then approached God the next day and atoned for the sins of those who stood with God. God then told Moses that He would use Moses to lead the people out of Sinai and into the Promised Land and that His presence would go with him. Then God instructed Moses to go up by himself the next morning to receive a new set of the tablets of Testimony. Moses cut two tablets of stone and brought them with him up to Mount Sinai. God then spoke to Moses, revealing His character to Moses:

“Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation.’ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, ‘If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked [stubborn] people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.’” (Exodus 34:5-9)

Just as the Lord God was longsuffering to His people, the nation of Israel, so is He is longsuffering to us. He forgives all sin to those who repent - who turn to His Son Jesus Christ - believing in Him as their Savior. But for those who are guilty, and all of us are guilty of sin because are born with it, and do not turn to Jesus and choose to remain in their sin, some of whom may have continued in their rejection of Jesus’ free gift of salvation in multiple generations of their family, God will not clear their guilt; instead, they will die in it. Those 3,000 people who had experienced the goodness of God as He led them, through Moses, out of Egypt, freeing them from their chains of slavery, turned away from God and turned to idol worship, and given the chance to return to Him, they chose not to and received the due penalty for their sins: death. They chose darkness over light, just as people in the world today have chosen. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to offer each and every one of us the way out of our sins and that is by believing in Him as the only One who paid the price with His precious blood to redeem us of our sins. Sin Jesus’ first coming to earth, and when He died and resurrected and is alive today, all who turn to Him and believe in Him will be saved; we will no longer be found guilty of our sins but are pardoned of our iniquities. When He returns to earth a second time, it won’t be to offer salvation but to execute His righteous judgment on a sinful world that rejects salvation, chooses to remain in sin, and aligns with the darkness, with Satan. When Jesus comes again, for those not saved, it will be too late to turn to Him, and they, like the 3,000 in Sinai, will be found guilty and will die in their sin. All who have lived since Jesus came the first time and who rejected His free gift of salvation and died in their sin will never have peace in their eternity, only eternal torment.

So now, as we await the second coming of Jesus, there are many who mock and scoff at believers in Christ, saying He will not come again, but He will. God said it, and it will be done; you can count on it. Any delay is only because of His deep love for us and that He wants no one to perish but that all will turn to Jesus and be saved. As with the 3,000 in Moses’ day, you must make a choice: are you on the Lord’s side - with Jesus - are you against Him? The choice is yours alone to make.

May 9, 2023: 2 Peter 3:14 - May We be Without Spot and Blameless

“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless…” - 2 Peter 3:14

Before Jesus was crucified, died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, He had told His apostles several times that He would soon be leaving them but that God would send them another Helper, or Comforter:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him, nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (Jesus Christ; 14:15-18)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:26)

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jesus Christ; John 16:13)

When we decide in our heart to believe in Jesus as the Redeemer of our sins, the only One who can save us from all our sin, we are instantly filled with the Helper, who is also called the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul explained this:

“In Him [Jesus] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s word, the Bible, and to get to know Him better. Part of knowing Him is a desire to be more like Christ. When we look up to someone, we often try to be like them, and that is how we should live our lives when we are saved by Jesus. Notice than in the Scripture above from John 14:15-18, the first thing Jesus said was, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Notice He did not say go and do whatever we want because we are saved by Him. If we abide by that type of thinking, we may not have truly accepted Jesus as our Savior and at a minimum, we are putting ourselves at risk of being swayed by the Devil to turn against God. While it can take some time for a new believer in Christ to begin to let go of their own sinful ways, as it did in my own life, eventually, there should be a noticeable change in that person that reflects Jesus in their life. When we love Jesus, we don’t want to disappoint Him and we try harder so that we don’t. Yes, we will still make mistakes, yes, we will still sin while we are in our sinful bodies here are on earth, but we should have a longing to please Him and to let go of this world that offers us no hope for our eternity. Over the years, by reading His word and praying often to Him, as I went through many difficult times in my family life, I have learned that I can depend on Jesus, no matter what; He is always there for me and always will be. Knowing that, I don’t want to be that selfish and sinful person that I used to be, because when I was, I had no peace in my life, only turmoil. Yes, I’m still a work in progress, and will be until I’m finally Home with Him. I am a sinner who has been saved by His grace, and I know that there is nothing that I could ever do that could save me from my sins. As we go through our lives, may we let the Holy Spirit lead us in these perilous times when sin abounds and is exalted and anything that is of Christ is hated, and may we remember the words of the apostle Paul:

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) ✝️

May 8, 2023: 2 Peter 3:13 - Believers in Christ Look for New Heavens and a New Earth

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” - 2 Peter 3:13

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:1, 26-27)

When God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, He created them knowing that Adam and Eve would sin, doing the one thing He had forbidden Adam to do or else he would die - to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1:16-17) - knowing that the curse of sin would begin at the point they ate of that tree and that sin would be passed down to every single person ever born thereafter. Adam and Eve’s sin did not surprise God; no, He knew they would sin before they sinned, and He knows that we will sin before we ourselves commit sin. But God had a plan, a plan of redemption of sins through His Son Jesus Christ.

As part of His perfect plan, God would first show us Himself, His holy character, through the nation of Israel, whom He chose to set apart from all other nations, and to whom He gave the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law is “made up of the Ten Commandments, the ordinances, and the worship system, which included the priesthood, the tabernacle, the offerings, and the festivals (Exodus 20-40); Leviticus 1-7; 23).” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/Mosaic-Law.html). The Mosaic Law was to reveal that sin is inherent in each and every one of us, that while the Law is good and holy, no one could ever fully keep it, and to point the nation of Israel to the One - the only One - who can forgive and wash clean all sin by His precious blood, and He is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to earth the first time to offer salvation from all sin to the nation of Israel, most rejected Him as their prophesied Messiah and had Him crucified. However, that was not the end of the story; rather, it was just the beginning. Jesus did not stay dead, but rose from the dead three days later and after 40 days, He ascended to the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles of Jesus Christ to preach and teach the good news of salvation. The apostle Paul, a former Pharisee who previously went by the name of Saul, a Jewish religious leader who had previously persecuted those who followed Jesus, had been converted on the road to Damascus by Jesus and was chosen by Jesus to bring the good news of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19):

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.” (Jesus Christ; Acts 9:15)

Paul later wrote about this in the book of Ephesians:

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.” (Ephesians 3:1-7)

From the very beginning, God intended to send Jesus to save all peoples and not just the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this in the book of Isaiah, long before Jesus came to earth the first time:

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD…And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1-2, 10)

The “root of Jesse” refers to the lineage of King David, and Jesse was David’s father. Jesus is a descendant of King David and is of the tribe of Judah. The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy above in Romans 15:12. In the last book of the Bible and its last chapter, Revelation 22, Jesus Himself stated:

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16)

Though the majority of the nation of Israel has rejected their Messiah, when Jesus Christ returns to earth a second time after a 7-year period of horrific tribulation upon the earth, a remnant of Jews will be alive and all of that remnant will be saved, as Paul wrote about and quoted from Isaiah:

“And so all Israel will be saved [delivered], as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob [whom God renamed to “Israel”; see Genesis 35:10]; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” (Romans 11:26-27)

The prophet Zechariah also wrote about Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their prophesied Messiah, how they would be scattered from their land, that most would die in its rejection of Him, but a remnant would be saved:

“‘Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The LORD is my God.”’” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

God has had a plan since the very beginning, even in the book of Genesis where the first prophecy about Jesus was made when God said the words below to the serpent - Satan - who had deceived Eve into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His Heel.’” (Genesis 3:14-15)

I have put in bold above the text that prophecies of Jesus. Gotquestions.org explains this in a simple way: “The serpent and the "seed" of Eve will have conflict; the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent. Jesus is this seed, and He crushed Satan at the cross.” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html).

Just as a person who is born again and made new by believing in their heart that Jesus is their Savior and He is the only One who can save them from all their sins, Jesus will create a new heavens, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem where only we who have been made new in Him will live in our eternity. Isaiah prophesied of this:

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” (Isaiah 65:17-19)

When the apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his faith in Jesus Christ and was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write, John “…looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,” and was told “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1). After writing about the 7-year tribulation period upon the earth, Jesus’ second coming, His 1,000-year reign on earth, and the great white throne judgment during which all those not saved by Jesus will be found guilty and cast into the lake of fire, John wrote in chapter 21 of what he saw:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; three shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son.’” (Revelation 21:1-7)

For believers in Jesus Christ as our Savior, this is our hope! We have a hope that the non-believing world does not have, and that is His promise: God will one day judge sin and He will do it in His perfect timing, giving much time for people to realize their sin and turn to Jesus in belief as their Redeemer; for all who are saved by Jesus, we will see Him destroy by fire the current heavens and earth and will witness the creation of a new heaven, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem and will be allowed entry into His glorious kingdom.

For the unsaved, they have no such hope, for by their own choice they reject God and His promise of salvation:

“…having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:18-19)

Instead of believing the truth of God, they chose to believe the lies of Satan. Consequently, they will spend their eternity separated from God, as John wrote about in Revelation:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s [Jesus Christ’s] Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)

Do you have this hope? Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If not, I pray you turn to Jesus today, before it’s too late. ✝️

May 5, 2023: 2 Peter 3:12 - Looking for and Hastening the Coming of the Day of God

“…looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” - 2 Peter 3:12

This verse continues with what Peter wrote in the preceding verse, verse 11, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…”

My husband and I just returned from visiting Paris, France. I had never been to Europe before, and my husband had only been to Italy once for a work trip. I absolutely love architecture and photography, and I was snapping photos all throughout the places we visited, one of which was the Louvre Museum. I was amazed at its size; a mere photograph cannot genuinely portray the scale of it. The beauty of its architecture abounds, both inside and out, with the minutest of details that work together to present an unforgettable image to the eyes of the beholder. Securely held within its walls are works of art, masterpieces, that we rarely see being created in our modern world today. We saw paintings that were of such size that filled entire walls of large rooms, representing the history of our world as it was when the artist captured that moment in time so that even now hundreds of years later, we can see what he or she had seen. We walked through galleries of Roman, Greek, and other beautifully sculptured statues and sculptures. As we walked through the gallery containing French Crown Jewels, we beheld crowns and necklaces once worn by kings and queens. After eating lunch in an inside cafe, I stepped outside to a balcony that beheld a magnificent courtyard view, including the famous Louvre Pyramid, surrounded on three sides of the Louvre Museum. As you might be able to tell, I was in awe of what my eyes beheld, not able to take it all in, wanting to pause longer so that I could see every aspect of its artistry craftsmanship before moving onto the next room, where more beautiful creations awaited me. And yet, one thought, a persistent thought, kept occurring in my mind: as palatial as the Louvre Museum is, one day, it and everything on earth and the heavens will all be burned up, and that day will be in the coming Day of God.

For believers in Christ, we have the assurance of the word of God Himself that, while this earth and the heavens that He created are spectacular, mankind, because of its sin, has corrupted it, just as it was corrupted in the days of Noah, when God sent the worldwide flood to destroy all that was corrupted. For those who are not saved by believing in Jesus Christ as the only One who can save them from their sins and from what is coming, when they die, they will not be with God; rather, they will be in hell, a place of fire and torment. After Jesus returns to earth in His second coming, He will destroy with His mouth by a sharp sword - the word of God - all who are alive at that time and who are against Him and who choose to follow Satan instead. He will then reign as King of kings and Lord of lords on earth for 1,000 years, at the end of which time He will resurrect from the dead all who have died in their sin, who chose not to believe in Him as their Savior. Because they chose not to believe in Him, Jesus will judge them by their works, what they did on earth and will be found guilty because nothing we could ever do could save us from our sins, and will be cast into the lake of fire, forever. It will be their second death, a death that never ends.

For believers in Christ, He will make a new heaven and a new earth, and a New Jerusalem, its holy city. As beautiful as anything is that is created by mankind here on earth, it cannot compare to the beauty of God. Chapter 21 of the book of Revelation describes this new heaven, new earth, and the New Jerusalem. The best part of this new creation that God will make is that sin will abide no more. No longer will the earth be destroyed by men who seek to destroy it because of their love for money and power. No longer will there be death - there will be no more funerals of loved ones and friends - there will be no more sorrow, nor crying, for death will have been swallowed up - we will have our victory in Christ! The fulfillment of our promise of salvation will be complete, and we will live with our brothers and sisters in Christ, with Him, for eternity, no longer bound by time. We will see things that are beyond compare to anything we see here on earth, even all the beautiful sights I took in with my eyes at the stunning Louvre Museum.

Knowing all these things which are to come, then how should we live our lives as believers in Christ and what should we be looking for and hastening? The answer is clear: our lives here on earth are meant to show us what God has been pointing to throughout human history, in His word, the Holy Bible: salvation is found only in His Son Jesus Christ, and believing in Him as our Savior is our key to victory over death, when we will close the door on our lives here, and we open the door of our eternity, when we will behold with our eyes something so spectacular that we will drop to our knees and bow and confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11) ✝️

May 1, 2023: 2 Peter 3:11 - What Manner of Persons Ought You to Be

“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…” - 2 Peter 3:11

In the prior verse, Peter tells us that everything in the heavens and the earth will melt with fervent heat when the day of the Lord comes. In verse 11, he is exhorting us, believers in Christ, that if we know this fact, then we should live our lives in a way that we place our existence, our true lives, in our eternal home above all the comforts that we may have in our temporary home here on earth.

What will happen when governments and global organizations turn even more tyrannical than they are now? Since March 2020, when it was decided to lock down the entire world because of a virus, the freedoms of people have been decreasing at a pace like never before. What will happen when it will be illegal to own a Bible not only in some countries but worldwide? We are already being censored on social media if we cling to that which God calls good and speak against that which God calls sin. Just this year, a British woman named Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested twice for silently praying in her head - not praying out loud - outside of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England. While she was acquitted of the charges against her in her first arrest, we will see what happens this time. (See: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/mar/6/isabel-vaughan-spruce-again-arrested-thoughtcrime-/). The “thought police” are already here. This woman wasn’t violent, she wasn’t calling out the women who were walking into the abortion clinic as they went to get an abortion, she wasn’t admonishing those who perform abortions; she was simply praying in her head, perhaps praying that the women seeking an abortion would have a change of heart and would choose not to abort their babies but instead choose to give them life. As believers in Christ we will undergo more and more persecution such as this woman experienced, and we must choose if we will stand with God no matter the cost to our lives or cave to the powers that be.

The Old Testament prophet Daniel had to make a similar choice, and for him, it was a “no brainer”; he stood with God. He knew that his eternal security was worth more than anything that this world could offer him, even if it would cost him his life. Daniel was a Jewish young man, probably a teenager, when he and three of his friends were taken captive and exiled to Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar had seized Judah when Israel and Judah were a divided kingdom of the Jews. Daniel had become prominent under the king because of his ability, through the power of Almighty God, to be able to tell to the king the dream that the king had dreamt which had troubled him greatly and Daniel was also able to interpret the dream, something which no one in the king’s palace had been able to, despite their lives being threatened by the king.

Daniel’s prominence continued to a subsequent king, King Belshazzar, an ancestor of King Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps his grandson. King Belshazzar had held a huge feast for over 1,000 people and had ordered his palace men to retrieve the holy vessels of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem that had been seized under Nebuchadnezzar. The king, his lords, his wives, his concubines all desecrated the vessels as they drank wine from them, all the while praising their false gods. In the same hour as they drank, there was a man’s hand that appeared on the wall and its fingers began to write something. The king saw it and became very afraid, so much so that “his knees knocked against each other.” Neither the king nor anyone in the palace could read what had been written on the wall. The queen, remembering that Daniel had been able to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, told the king that Daniel should be called to give the interpretation. The king summoned Daniel, and Daniel did explain it. Daniel reminded the king that King Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled and had given praise and glory to the Most High God, Daniel’s God and not the Babylonian false gods, but that King Belshazzar had not humbled his heart though he had known that his grandfather did. Then Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall, which read: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” [“Upharsin is the plural of “Peres”] The interpretation was as follows:

“MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:26-28)

The Bible tells us that the Babylonian empire was overthrown that overnight, by the Medo-Persian Empire, ruled under King Darius. Daniel’s prominence continued under King Darius, who made Daniel one of only three governors to rule over 120 satraps, who were accountable to the governors. Daniel was excellent at his governorship, “because an excellent spirit was in him,” and the king even considered making him leader over the whole realm. Consequently, Daniel’s fellow governors and satraps were jealous of him and went on a mission to destroy him. They knew the only way they could do it was with something that was “concerning the law of his God.” Thus, they set a trap for Daniel. They encouraged the king to enact a royal statute and decree that, “whoever petitions any god or man for thirty day, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.” The king signed the decree, and the men who were jealous of Daniel watched to see what he would do. The Bible tells us what Daniel did:

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.” (Daniel 6:10-11)

The men reported Daniel to the king, who reluctantly ordered that Daniel be sent to the lions’ den. “But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, ‘Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.’” The king spoke truth. When the king came to the lions’ den early the next morning, he asked, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel answered him - he had survived! “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” Then King Darius gave a decree of truth:

“To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6:25-27)

Just as the kingdom of the unrepentant and prideful king, King Belshazzar, was removed from him, so will the kingdoms of today’s rulers be removed from them by the mighty hand of God. Belshazzar was a man who knew of the miracle that Daniel had performed through the power and might of Almighty God of not only interpreting King Belshazzar’s grandfather’s dream but also telling his grandfather the dream he himself had dreamt. Daniel had later gone on to interpret another dream that his grandfather had dreamt. Belshazzar knew that his grandfather had given Daniel and his friends much responsibility in the Babylonian kingdom, and that his grandfather held them in high esteem and had praised Almighty God (Daniel 4:34-36).

Before Daniel had told King Nebuchadnezzar’s, Belshazzar’s grandfather’s dream to him and then interpreted it, Daniel prayed before God, and the secret - the dream and the interpretation of it - were revealed to him. Daniel then praised God, saying:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells within Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might. And have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.” (Daniel 2:20-23)

Yet, knowing all of this, King Belshazzar chose to live a wicked and corrupt life, and in a drunken feast of 1,000 as he defiled the articles that had been seized from the God’s holy temple, Belshazzar “praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.” (Daniel 5:4). On that very night, Belshazzar was slain by the Medo-Persian Empire, and his kingdom fell and was taken by Darius the Mede. All it took was one night for all that Belshazzar had worked for all of his life to be taken from him. As Daniel had previously prayed, “He [God] removes kings and raises up kings.” God had removed King Belshazzar and raised up Darius the Mede. It was that way then, and it is that way now.

As in another praise and honor to God, King Nebuchadnezzar’s words stand true then and they stand true today. The king had become full of pride and he was humbled by God when his kingdom had been removed from him by God. The king heeded Daniel’s advice to him, “…break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” The king humbled himself, and his kingdom was restored to him by God:

“‘And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”

‘At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”' (Daniel 4:34-37)

How many presidents, prime ministers, and other government and non-government rulers and leaders in our world today are puffed up tremendously with pride, living arrogantly, thinking they have put themselves in the positions in which they are in, that they are the “elite” and deserve to live luxuriously, and instead of serving those whom they represent, those whom they represent are supposed to serve them? How many enact laws, executive orders, mandates, etc., that they themselves do not follow but demand their countrymen to obey them? Oh, the time is coming when these same leaders and their kingdoms will be removed, every single one of them, for Jesus’ kingdom is coming, sooner than most think.

We are living in extremely critical times. For the unsaved, I ask you this: are you putting your faith and trust in world rulers, world organizations, and world governments to save you, knowing that they all will be dissolved, or are you putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, whose kingdom will never be brought down and will last from generation to generation?

For believers in Christ, we should not be living our lives in ungodliness and sin. We should be striving to be like Daniel who prayed to God despite the king’s decree against it and like the woman who was arrested for simply praying a prayer in her head, despite what the government forbade her to do, for it is against God. We must be faithful to God and not go the way of the world, for as Jesus told us, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-14). Going the way of the world is the easy thing to do; it’s always difficult to go against the current, but it will be worth it in the end, when we are allowed entry into His eternal kingdom, “His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end.” (Darius the Mede; Daniel 6:26c) ✝️

April 29, 2023: 2 Peter 3:10 - A Thief in the Night

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” - 2 Peter 3:10

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake severely rocked Turkey and Syria, awakening its residents in the darkness at 4:15 am. This devastating earthquake, which as of the date of this devotional has a combined death toll of nearly 60,000 people, came as a thief in the night. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Turkey–Syria_earthquake#:~:text=The%20confirmed%20death%20toll%20stood,disaster%20in%20its%20modern%20history.) There are reports that a Dutch seismologist named Frank Hoogerbeets had issued a warning via Twitter on February 3, 2023. “Hoogerbeets issued a tweet that read: ‘Sooner or later there will be a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in this region (South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon).’” See: https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2023/03/01/2861209/seismologist-who-predicted-turkey-earthquake-issues-another-warning). While this warning specifically named countries that would be affected, no one knew exactly when it would happen.

There is something coming that will make the destruction that happened in Turkey and Syria pale in comparison. There is a book that gives warning after warning, but sadly, most are not reading it and are not heeding it. The book is the Holy Bible, written by men as they received the word of God to warn the world of the coming judgment and how it can be escaped by believing in His Son Jesus Christ as Redeemer of their sin. Those who are not reading, hearing, and heeding His word have no idea what is to come upon this planet; to them, it will come like a thief in the night.

The Bible has quite a number of Scriptures that speak on the day of the Lord that Peter wrote about in today’s Scripture verse, including:

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who dies for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

This Scripture is packed full of information for those who read it:

• There is a clear distinction between “you” and “them.” When Paul refers to “you,” he is speaking to his fellow believers in Christ. The “them” are the unbelievers, those who did not accept the free gift of salvation through believing in Jesus as their Savior.

• The Lord comes in the night. The night, or darkness, is often represented in the Bible as evil and in unbelief, such as when Jesus said:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed,. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:18-21)

• There is coming a time when people will proclaim “Peace and safety!” thinking that they are entering into a time of peace and when they feel safe. However, that is a false sense of peace and safety, and one which I believe the coming final antichrist will promote and pretend to desire when he confirms a covenant with Israel and other nations, as described in Daniel 9:27. Prior to confirmation of a covenant with Israel, the Bible tells us that Israel will be under threat even more so than it is today, especially in Jerusalem. While we don’t know the exact timing of this prophecy, we do know that something must happen that will cause the antichrist to sign the 7-year covenant with Israel and other nations.

  “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness [reeling] to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3)

  There are many Christians who believe that the world’s problems will all converge and the unsaved people will cry out for someone to fix everything. I believe we are very close to seeing this happen. Because they have not accepted Jesus as their Savior, they will be deceived, by their own choice, into believing this man is the savior of the world, the one man they believe can fix the world and bring it back to the “normal” they long for. This idea is not far-fetched; consider the following quote from Paul Henri Spaak, first president of the UN General Assembly, first president of the European Parliament, and a former secretary general of NATO:

  “We do not need another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he god or devil, we will receive him.”

  (See: https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/many-will-follow-the-antichrist)

  In the Bible, Daniel chapter 7 foretells of this world ruler and his coming one world government. Daniel had a vision of it:

  “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts [i.e., the former empires of Babylon, Medo-Persian, and Greece] that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” (Daniel 7:7-8)

  The fourth beast is the Roman Empire, and many believe the final antichrist, referred to as the one with “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words” will come from a revived Roman empire. Daniel’s vision is then interpreted in the Bible:
  “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High [God], shall persecute the saints of the Most High [many Christians believe these are the people who have turned to Jesus during the tribulation period, not believers in Christ who are raptured/caught up to Him before the start of the tribulation period], and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” (Daniel 7:23-25)

  Are we not already seeing many global organizations now, pushing to eliminate independent sovereignty of countries, hating nationalism and loving globalism? Examples of such organizations include the World Economic Forum (WEF), World Health Organization (WHO, United Nations, World Government Summit, and many others. In the past, the United Nations has previously divided the world into ten regional grouping in its “Local Agenda 21 - The UN Plan for Your Community.” It has already succeeded in implementing much of its plan and now is on to Agenda 2030, about which we have heard a lot recently. (For more information on the ten groupings, the UN’s plan, and how it relates to Bible prophecy, see: http://nuclearsuntan.blogspot.com/2011/11/un-divides-world-into-10-regional.html).

  There is also the push to move from a cash-based monetary system to the Central Bank Digital Currency (CDBC) system. CDBC will ultimately be centralized and controlled by the one world government. With that, it has all the power it needs for the coming final antichrist to control the world’s population by requiring all to take the mark of the beast (i.e., Satan) or the number of his name (i.e., 666) and worship his image in order to buy or sell. Possibly bringing us one step closer to the mark of the beast system, a US digital identity bill passed through to the Senate on April 6, 2023.

  The Bible tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 that God will put people under a strong delusion because of their rejection of His Son Jesus and the truth. Consequently, they will believe the lie of the antichrist:

  “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

  As Jesus said, “…and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Instead of listening to God, they believed the lie. Instead of getting peace and safety, they will enter into a 7-year time of tribulation upon the earth, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, in which it will be like a woman giving birth, where the pains start as mild and far between, but as that baby is ready to be delivered, the pains are extremely painful, with little or no time in between to catch any relief. In some ways, it seems like we are already in this time. Just think of everything that has happened already in the first four months of 2023. The second half of the tribulation, the last 3-1/2 years, a total of 1,260 days, will be the worst time in human history in a period known as the “Great Tribulation.” This is when the antichrist will break his covenant with Israel and will declare himself as God in the recently built Jewish third temple, committing the abomination of desolation. It is only then that the Jews’ eyes will finally be opened and they will realize that he is not their Messiah but antichrist and will be on Him as their prophesied Messiah.

  The Bible is clear, everyone who does not believe in Jesus as their Savior will not escape from this terrible time. The only thing a person can do during the 7-year tribulation period is to turn to Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Savior, and it likely will cost them their lives. The Bible tells us that those who do not take the mark of the beast or the number of his name (i.e., 666) and worship his image, will be killed. (Revelation 13:16-17) To delay in making a decision to follow Jesus is not only putting one’s life at risk but also damning one’s eternal destination.

• Now, we read about those who are not in darkness but in light, those who chose to follow Jesus instead of rejecting Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11, Paul writes encouraging words and also cautionary words to believers in Christ. We are not to sleep, being unaware of the things that are to come, as prophesied in the Bible, we are to be awake and we are to be on guard. We are to pay attention to what is happening in the world and see how it aligns with the prophecies in the Scripture, and we must do this with a clear mind, not one clouded by the effects of alcohol, which hinders one’s ability to think clearly. We are to put on the armor or God in order to fight continually, in God’s power and might, against the spiritual battle that is being waged against us, for Satan wants to steal our soul away from God. We must put on the breastplate of faith, which guards our heart, and the helmet, which guards our head, as we remember where our hope is: in our salvation that is received only through our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior; He is our salvation. The breastplate and the helmet of salvation guard our hearts and our minds so that we trust not in our feelings, as the world does, but with our minds, remembering the promise of Jesus Christ: “He who believes in Him [Jesus] is not condemned.'“

  Further, we are not appointed to God’s wrath. There is a difference between undergoing tribulations that we face each day and God’s wrath. God’s wrath is appointed for those who reject His Son. They are given every opportunity to turn to Him, even during the 7-year tribulation period. God will sends no one to hell; rather, people choose, in their unbelief, to go there when they die, rather they believe in it or not.

For those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, our future is one of light and hope, not of darkness and destruction. As the book of Daniel promises, the coming kingdom of God is one that will never be destroyed and only those who are saved by the blood of Jesus will be allowed entry into it.

“But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [antichrist’s] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High [all who have been saved by Jesus Christ]. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” (Daniel 7:26-27)

As Peter said in today’s Scripture passage, the earth and the heavens will be burned up, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” (Revelation 21:1)

This is where the kingdom of God will be, and only those saved by the precious blood of Jesus will be allowed to enter it. Which kingdom will you enter into in your eternity, Satan’s or God’s?

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Jesus Christ; Revelation 1:8) ✝️

April 26, 2023: 2 Peter 3:9 - God Wants All to Turn to Him

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9

Why has it taken so long for God to send Jesus to earth a second time and in righteousness, judge the ungodly? Because God wants all of us to realize our need for Jesus, the One He sent so that we could accept of the free gift that cleanses us of all our sins - Jesus’ precious blood He shed on the cross and His subsequent resurrection - for without partaking of His free gift, we receive our due reward for sin: to be separated from Jesus for eternity in a place called hell.

Why do many people think that God should not judge the wicked? Do we expect our society not to judge those who commit crimes, just to let them go so that they can keep on committing them, no matter the cost to the innocent? If sin was left unpunished, we would have a complete collapse of society. I believe we are definitely headed in that direction. In a world that is increasingly rejecting Jesus Christ and believing that there is no God, sin is not sin, and we won’t be punished for it in this life or the next, everything starts to crumble, and eventually, it will implode upon itself. When God’s standards are not upheld in society, we are left with movements such as “defund the police,” only certain lives matter, which does not include the precious life of an unborn baby in its mother’s womb, promoting assisted suicide and devaluing the lives of the sick and the elderly, pushing rampant sexual perversion, worshipping of the climate instead of God, thinking that we can be our own gods and attempting to create our own immortality, and it never stops; it grows more wicked by the day.

We are all wicked in our hearts, as the Bible tells us:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

The world tells us to follow our hearts, which is the complete opposite of what the Bible tells us, of what Jesus told His disciples:

“Follow Me.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 4:19)

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (Jesus Christ; John 10:27)

God will, at some point, determine that enough is enough, just as He did in the days of Noah and Lot. But this time, when He will send His Son Jesus Christ, it won’t be a rescue mission like it was the first that He came to earth; rather, it will be when the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to earth, clothed in a robe dipped in blood, with His armies in heaven with Him, all riding on white horses to “tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” and will destroy with the sword of His mouth all who chose to remain in their wickedness, loving their sin and not turning to Jesus (Revelation 19:11-21). He paid the debt for all their sins and all they had to do was to accept that free gift, but they chose not to, for whatever reason. When the day comes when God has had enough and sends Jesus to destroy the wicked, those who rejected His free gift, they will forever regret the horrific decision they made. God gave them time, even delaying His judgment, but they said “No thank you” to God. Will you say “No thank you” to God, or will you turn to Jesus and be saved from all your sins before time is up? May the unsaved heed Jesus’ words today, while they still have breath in their lungs:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:16-19) ✝️

April 25, 2023: 2 Peter 3:8: Beloved, Do Not Forget this One Thing

“But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.’ - 2 Peter 3:8

Eternity and time. Humans cannot fully understand eternity but we understand time. There is no concept of time in eternity, for it is without measure. When there is no beginning and there is no end, there is nothing that is measured in between; it just is and always has been. That is God’s reality. His reality is so much different than ours.

From the moment we are conceived in our mother’s womb, our time clock begins, seeming slow at first, but speeding up with great intensity as we near our own finish line. We measure everything in time: our parents count down the months until we are born, and once we are born, how long will it take until we can crawl, talk, and walk. As we grow and start school, we count the days before school is let out and we can enjoy the summer as a child, how many years until we can start dating, how many days or months until the wedding date comes, how many hours until we get off of work, how many years until we retire; everything in our lives is measured by our brief time here on this earth. We have such a brief stay here, and sadly, some have very short lifespans, that we try to do all that we can before we die. People tell us, “We only live once, make this your best life now.” However, that is a fallacy and a deception of Satan. Our lives here on earth are a temporary stay on our way to our true lives when we are in eternity. Where we will spend our eternity is completely our decision.

There are many today who are doubting the return of Jesus Christ because it has been almost two thousand years since He died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. There were many in the days of the apostles of Christ who looked for His return in their own time, and many have looked since then, and many in our generation today are early awaiting His return. But we have to remember that His return is on His time, God’s time, and not our own. He is not constrained by a finite number of days of living, as we are. Just because He has not returned does not mean He will not return; He will. The Bible promises it, and it will be done. If we just look at the span of time that was before the promises of His first coming and when He actually did come, it was a long time. We don’t know exactly when the book of Genesis was written and which timeframe it covers, but it was a very long time prior to the first coming of Christ. It was in the book of Genesis that the first prophecy of Jesus was made in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ And exactly as prophesied in the Bible, Jesus was born and Satan caused Him to be crucified, including having a nail driven through His heel. But that is not the end. As Jesus Himself told His disciples, He will come again, He will defeat Satan and all who follow him, and Jesus will take His rightful, righteous reign upon the earth for 1,000 years, followed by the destruction of the earth and the creation of a new heavens and a new earth, in which only those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior will live, without sorrow, death, and pain, for sin will be no more. But those who have not put their faith and trust in Jesus will spend their eternity where there is only sin, only sorrow, pain, deep anguish, tears, and eternal death from which they cannot escape.

Why should we trust in the promises of God that He made through His word, the Holy Bible? Because everything that He has promised either has already happened or will come true at some point, in His perfect timing, not in ours. All we need to do is to look at all of the prophecies that have already been fulfilled and we can know and be confident that His word is sure, His word is true, and what it says will happen, will happen, at just the right time. ✝️

April 24, 2023: 2 Peter 3:7 - God Preserves Heaven and Earth Till Judgment Day

“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition [destruction] of ungodly men.” - 2 Peter 3:7

Just as the people in Noah’s day had no say in the destruction of the entire world by the flood that God sent to destroy the ungodly, people will have no say at the time in which God will destroy not only the earth but also the heavens by fire. Everything that is in the entire universe is held in the hands of God. He made it all, and He controls everything; man controls nothing. It is only by the grace of God that He has not destroyed it by fire already. Wickedness in our world is rising, increasing at a pace so rapidly, so that it must be sending a putrid stench up to heaven to God. He is sending us warning after warning, but we are not listening. He sent us His word, which outlines His perfect plan for history and for the one way that we can be redeemed of all of our sins through believing in His Son Jesus Christ so that when God sends His wrath, we who are saved through Him will not be subject to it, just as Noah and Lot were provided a way out of it. However, the majority of people in the world, even many who say they are Christians, do not read God’s word and do not heed it, putting themselves in peril, which they do not believe and which will come upon them suddenly and without warning.

We are quickly coming to, and some would say we are already there, the time in history in which the technology and human depravity described in the books of Daniel and Revelation and other prophetic books in the Bible exist in the world at the end of the age. At that time, a tyrannical ruler will emerge to take control of the world and will be the leader of a one world government: the final antichrist. Satan will empower antichrist. The antichrist will make a 7-year covenant with Israel and other nations, perhaps some sort of peace treaty. Israel will be allowed to build its third temple, upon which they will resume sacrificing of animals for atonement of sin. The false prophet will reign over a one world religion, a false religion that will worship antichrist instead of Jesus Christ. A one world economic system will be in place that will control the buying and selling of every single person on the earth, requiring that every individual take on their right hand or their forehead the mark of the antichrist, also called “the beast,” or the number of his name - 666 - and must worship the image of the beast, perhaps a hologram. Anyone who does not take the mark or the number of his name and who does not worship him will be killed. Ten kings, who are likeminded, will submit to the antichrist and will support his one world government.

At some point, everything will be in place and the start of the 7-year tribulation period will begin. I believe, as do many other Christians, that prior to the start of it, Jesus will call up to Himself in the clouds those who put their faith and trust in Him for our salvation, both those who previously died as believers and those who are alive at the time, an event known as “the rapture.” From that point, time starts clicking for a period of 2,520 days. At the half-way mark at 1,260 days, antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, committing the “abomination of desolation” that Daniel first spoke of and Jesus reiterated in Matthew 24:15, and the time known as the “Great Tribulation” will begin. Jesus said of it, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22)

While the Bible does not specifically state when God will destroy the earth and the heavens by fire, many Bible scholars believe it will be after the 7-year tribulation, the return of Christ at His second coming when He defeats antichrist, the false prophet, and all who follow them, and at the end of Jesus’ subsequent 1,000-year reign on earth, known as the Millennial Kingdom. While we may not know the exact timing of it, we know one thing is certain: He will do it. He said it will be done, and it will be done. Just as the flood came and destroyed all that existed on the earth because of human depravity, so will it be burned by fire, along with the heavens. For those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we look forward to a new heavens and a new earth, as described in the book of Revelation, chapter 21. For the ungodly, they have nothing to look forward to; for them, their time on earth now is the only heaven they will know.

I pray that if you have not turned to Jesus, believing on Him as the One, the only One, who can save you from your sins, that you will turn to Him today. and be redeemed of all sin and shame. This world is just a temporary existence on our way to our true Home, when we are with Him in eternal glory, without sin, as it was meant to be before the fall of mankind in the Garden. We all have a choice to make, and it is the most important decision of your life, for your eternity’s destination depends on it. Choose Jesus today, before it’s too late. ✝️

April 23, 2023: 2 Peter 3:5-6 - They Willingly are Ignorant

“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished…” - 2 Peter 3:5-6

Jesus Himself spoke of the times of Noah, when God sent the flood to destroy everything on earth except for eight people because of its wickedness. The world at that time was going about its normal, wicked ways, ignoring God and doing as their lustful desires led them, not fearing any judgment of God upon them. There is coming a time when our wicked world will also see God’s judgment:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Jesus Christ; Luke 17:26-27)

What was the world like in the days of Noah? The Bible tells us that the “sons of God” had sexual intercourse with human women, and produced a race of giants called the “Nephilim,” also referred to as “fallen or mighty ones.” The Bible does not specifically state who were the “sons of God” but giants did exist both before and after the flood that God sent. (See Genesis 6:1-4 and Numbers 13:30-33) It is interesting to note that prior to this happening, humans lived a very long time. Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather, was the longest living human and lived 969 years. Noah lived 950 years. But when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh: yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3) Something happened after the flood that caused humans to live much shorter lives.

“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’” (Genesis 6:5-7)

We know it must have taken Noah a very long time to build the ark for him and his family. People must have asked him what was he building and why. Perhaps he would have told them that God was going to send a flood to destroy the earth and that they could escape His judgment by going with Noah and his family in the ark when the time came to board it. In our world today, people are growing increasingly wicked as they turn against God and embrace evil. In America, Satanism is on the rise. It’s in the entertainment industry, in after-school clubs, Satanic prayers are opening city council meetings, it’s on full display in opening ceremonies for sports and other events, and its upcoming 2023 national conference in Boston Massachusetts was sold six weeks in advance (see: https://endoftheamericandream.com/satan-has-become-one-of-the-hottest-spiritual-figures-in-america/). Is it any wonder then that we see the USA collapsing before our very eyes?

Most in our world today are willingly ignorant of God’s word. What does it mean to be “willingly” ignorant of God’s word? Dictionary.com defines “willingly” as “In a consenting and often cheerful way.” To be “ignorant” is defined as Lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned.” Thus, in a consenting and often cheerful way, most in the world lack in knowledge or training of God’s word, the Bible. They know of it. They know it exists, but they choose not to read it, not to believe in what it says. Like the people in Noah’s days must have thought, they don’t believe that God’s judgment will come, and they continue in their depravity, growing further and further away from God, with some believing that they can be like God and that they don’t need him. Like Nimrod, who is described in the Bible as a
”mighty hunter before the LORD,” whose desire was to build a tower that reached the heavens so that they “could make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth,” (Genesis 11:4) so do men today build high towers in order to bring glory to themselves instead of God. Like in the days of Nimrod when all the people in the world spoke one language, today we have technology that quickly translates languages so that they can be understood by those who do not speak it. This universalism, or globalism, is being pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and other global agencies in opposition to nationalism or independent sovereign rule by countries. This type of thinking was the same type that Nimrod had in mind as he was building the tower of Babel. The Bible tells us what God did to disrupt Nimrod’s plans:

“But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel [confusion], because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:5-9)

God will let us only go so far in our wicked ways in which we seek to be like Him but reject Him, just as He did in the days of Noah and just as He did with the tower of Babel. I believe we are living in very dark days, when people are playing God and wholeheartedly rejecting Him and His Son’s free gift of salvation and mocking and scoffing at those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. At some point, and I believe that time is rapidly approaching, that He will have had enough, and His judgment upon the earth will begin. We will be in the days that the Bible spoke of long ago, the days of the tribulation period upon the earth, a time like no other, nor ever will be.

If you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, I pray that you accept His free gift of salvation today, before it’s too late. I pray that unlike the people in the days of Noah, that you will get on the ark of salvation, and will be spared from God’s wrath that is soon to come. 🙏🏻✝️

April 18, 2023: 2 Peter 3:1-4 - Where is the Promise of His Coming?

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’” - 2 Peter 3:1-4

Let us examine the Scriptures to see where exactly is the promise of His coming, Jesus’ second coming to the earth. There isn’t just one, there are many. I have included several below.

When Jesus was alive, He told His disciples that He would leave them but He would come again and take them with Him:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:1-4)

Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would come again but at that time, it would be in His glory and He would judge the nations:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…’” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 25:31-34, 41)

After Jesus was resurrected to life, walked the earth for forty days, and ascended to heaven:

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’” (Acts 1:9-11)

In both the Old and New Testaments, there are other prophecies of Jesus’ second coming and of His everlasting kingdom:

“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, 'One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:29-31)

“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.” (Jude 14-16)

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Jesus Christ; Revelation 1:8)

King Solomon wrote on the subject of people thinking delay in judgment means it won’t come and that they not only continue in sin but abound in it:

“Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13)

Are we not seeing this in our world today, with evil and lawlessness rising exponentially? The western nations which once believed in God and His Son and were restrained by their adherence to God’s commandments have abandoned their faith and have unleashed evil that is spreading across the world like a contagion. God’s judgment is promised, and it is coming much sooner than I believe most people realize.

The apostle Luke spoke of the fact that God has an appointed time at which He will judge the nations through Jesus Christ. God’s delay does not mean that He has acquitted us of our sins; only believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior can do that. Rather, the delay only means that we have another day to trust in Jesus with our hearts that He is who He says He is, and that only He can save us from all our sins. We must be careful not to confuse God’s delay with God’s forgiveness of sins by anything outside of believing in His Son Jesus the Christ:

“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man [Jesus] whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:29-31)

Mockers and scoffers should take heed to those who mocked and scoffed long ago when God tried to wake up His people, the divided nation of Judah that had split from the nation of Israel. Both nations were deep in sin against God. But they didn’t listen to His messengers, and they didn’t listen to God:

“And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)

The Bible promised Jesus’ first coming long before it happened. When Jesus came the first time, He fulfilled at least 300 prophecies written about Him. Gotquestions.org has written an excellent article about this. (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html). Just as the Bible promised Jesus would come the first time, so it promises that He will come again. Based on fulfilled prophecy alone, the Bible, God’s word, can be trusted in what it promises.

I believe God is trying to wake up the world, but for the most part, we aren’t listening to His warnings. We aren’t listening to what the prophets warned about in His word. We aren’t reading His word. We aren’t listening to the warnings of Jesus, the signs He told us to look for before the end of the age and before He comes again, which are all around us. Many in churches are listening to false prophets and false teachers who they themselves aren’t listening to God’s warnings. God’s judgment is coming, and I believe it is coming quickly. When Jesus comes the second time, it won’t be like His first coming. This time, He will judge each and every person who rejected His free gift of salvation, who chose evil instead, so that they could remain in sin and walk according to their own lusts. The time to decide is now: are you for Him or are you against Him? Are you a believer or are you a mocker and a scoffer? I pray that today, you will choose Jesus and will not be subject to His judgment, but will have eternal life in Him.

“He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:10-12) ✝️

April 16, 2023: 2 Peter 2:22 - A Dog Returns to His Own Vomit and a Sow to Her Mire

“But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’” - 2 Peter 2:22

We can fool people. We can fool ourselves. But we can’t fool God. Though we may look like Christians, dressed up for Sunday service, carrying our Bibles as we walk into church, singing along with the worship team, agreeing with the pastor during the sermon; though we may check all the boxes that we have in our minds of what a Christian should look like on the outside, if we haven’t believed in Jesus as our Savior in our hearts, inevitably we will fall back into our true nature, our sinful nature. This is also true of pastors and Bible teachers in churches who have not been saved by believing in Jesus Christ; their hearts are owned by the god of this world and not by Jesus. But God sees what we can’t see, He knows what we can’t know:

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7)

The Bible tells us in the latter days, some will turn away from the faith:

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

We are definitely seeing this in our world today. It is almost a weekly occurrence that we read of another pastor, worship team leader, Christian singer, or some other prominent church leader who has publicly renounced their faith, sometimes in order to live a lifestyle of which God calls sinful. Why? Because they never believed in, trusted in Jesus with their heart. If we don’t trust in Jesus with our heart, we are one hundred percent at risk of being pulled back into the pigsty, where we can wallow in the mire of our sin. Sadly, this happens time and time again. We heed the advice of the god of this world, who tells us, “Listen to your heart,” and we ignore what the Bible tells us about our heart:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

The Bible tells us that if we seek God with our heart, we will find Him:

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

The Bible tells us, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) We are born again, and we are a new creation. We can trust in Him in all things, and let Him guide our thoughts and our ways and not let our feelings direct us:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Our heart is no longer held in bondage to sin by the god of this world, but we are set free and made new by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Until this transformation is made within our hearts, we are not saved by Jesus, and like dogs whose stomachs are upset, vomit up their food, and then eat of that disgusting vomit, we return to our disgusting sin, living like an animal instead of the special creation God made us to be. However, once we are saved, our treasure will not be in this world but in Him:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:21)

May we truly love God with all of our heart, never turning away from Him:

“Jesus said to Him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 4:8) ❤️✝️

April 15, 2023: 2 Peter 2:21 - Don't Turn from the Way of Righteousness

“For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” - 2 Peter 2:21

When He walked the earth, Jesus told His disciples of the simple and beautiful way that a person is saved from their sins and will be with God when they die, and that is through Him and Him alone:

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

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-14)

The way of righteousness is clear: it is by believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth that Jesus Christ is our Savior. It is only by His precious blood that He shed on the cross that we are washed of all our sins and made clean, made righteous through Jesus Christ:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Therefore, as through one man’s offense [Adam, in the Garden of Eden] judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:18-21)

The Bible gives a perfect example of the salvation of Jesus Christ: It’s what He did for us and whether or not we choose to believe that He did it in order to save us from all our sins. It’s a perfect example that salvation is not about earning our way to heaven, for it is impossible because we are all sinners; only Jesus is sinless and righteous.

When Jesus was crucified, there were two criminals who were crucified at the same time. One criminal mocked Jesus. The book of Luke provides us with the account of what the other criminal said and did:

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:39-43)

One man believed in who Jesus is, and the other did not. One was promised entry into Jesus’ kingdom, and the other was not.

In one of her talk shows, Oprah Winfrey said, “There are many paths to what you call ‘God’ and ‘there couldn’t possibly be just one way.” A woman in the audience asked Oprah, “What about Jesus?” Oprah said, “What about Jesus?” The woman told her the words of Jesus from John 14:6, and that if Oprah doesn’t believe it, she is buying into the lie. Oprah went on to argue with her that there could not be only one way with all the millions of people in the world and all of the various religions. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOxmd3cpxgY). It is a powerful discussion of Jesus, and praise God for the woman who had the courage to profess the truth to Oprah and to all who were in the audience and to all who subsequently watched that episode. What they did with that truth was up to them.

In the book of Psalms, Psalm 119 speaks to the way of truth and how critical it is to choose it, to cling to it, and to cling to God:

“I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:30-32)

For pastors and teachers who know the way of truth by having knowledge of it but not having truly accepted it, not having believed in their heart, they too, have bought into the devil’s lies. They are living a lie; pretending to be saved, professing to be saved, when they are not. Today’s passage of Scripture tells us, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” I can’t even imagine the regret they will feel every single day when they are in hell, in the lake of fire, for eternity, thinking that they were so close and yet they rejected the truth of God to buy into the lie of the devil. Let us who are saved by Jesus’ precious blood, endure until the end, believing in Him as our Savior, knowing that He will admit us into His kingdom, and we will never, ever regret our decision to believe in Him - the way, the truth, and the life:

“This is a faithful saying: ‘For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”’ (2 Timothy 2:11-13) ✝️

April 14, 2023: 2 Peter 2:20 - The Latter End is Worse for Them than the Beginning

“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.” - 2 Peter 2:20

We are all born sinners. No one has to teach us to sin; it is inherent within us. The Bible, God’s word, tells us the only way we can be saved from all our sins is to confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is our risen Lord and Savior:

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes until righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between the Jew and Greek [non-Jewish person], for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’”  (Romans 10:9-13)

Notice the Scripture above says “believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.” Compare that to the words of today’s Scripture verse, “after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” There is a wide chasm between knowing of Jesus Christ and believing in one’s heart that He truly is the risen Lord and Savior. The gospel of John is all about believing in your heart that Jesus is the Christ; in fact, he uses the word “believe” nearly 100 times. Below are several examples.

• “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

• “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

• “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:13-15)

• “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:16)

• “For God did not send HIs Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:17-18)

• “Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (Jesus Christ; John 5:24)

• “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 1:23)

• “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5)

There are many pastors in churches today who have deep knowledge of Jesus Christ and can cite Scripture all day long but who do not believe in the saving power of Jesus. A person can be educated in the seminary and know all about God and Jesus, they can graduate and get their degree, but if they do not believe in their heart that Jesus is the Christ and trust in Him as their Lord and Savior, they are not saved by His precious blood. They might do many good things in their churches, but they aren’t saved if they don’t believe. They might lead others to Christ, but if they don’t believe in Him themselves, they aren’t saved. They might provide financially for missionaries around the world, but if they do not believe in Jesus as their Savior, they are not saved. They might lead one of the largest churches in America or in the world, but if they themselves do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, sent by God to offer the free gift of salvation to all who would believe in Him and if they have not taken of that free gift, they are not saved. They are pretenders. Of these types of false pastors and teachers, the Bible tells us:

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (1 John 1:18-19)

“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 1:22-23)

While the actions of these false pastors may be constrained for a while by their head knowledge of God, because they are not saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ by believing in Him, they are at risk of acting on the temptations of the devil and succumbing to him, once again being entangled in their sins. It is interesting that one of the definitions of “entangle” on dictionary.com is “to confuse or perplex.” Another definition is “to involve in difficulties.” How much confusion do we see today, especially in the USA, including in the churches? These definitions align perfectly with what the Bible says about the devil:

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (Jesus Christ; John 8:44-47)

Many false pastors in the world, including in the USA, are preaching a different gospel and are deceiving many, and they themselves are in the snare of the devil. They are purposely twisting the word of God to accommodate their sin and the world’s sin, for they seek not to offend but to appease. The Bible is offensive and does cause division because it is intended to convict us of our sins and to show us the way - the only way - out of our sins: by believing in God’s only Son, Jesus the Christ, who paid the penalty of our sins with His precious blood, so that we may be forgiven of our sins and spend our eternity with Him when we die. I would much rather be offended so much by my sin that it punches me in the gut and makes me realize that I am a sinner in need of the Savior and turn to Him and be saved than to be lulled to sleep by the sweet-sounding lullabies of the devil and his minions, as he sends me to the pit of hell, where I’m entangled in his snare forever.

We who are in Christ, who have been saved by His precious blood must absolutely be aware of this and closely listen to what is being preached in the pulpits today so that we are ourselves are not deceived. Peter reminds us of this:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

In today’s Scripture verse, Peter tells us of these false pastors that, “the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.” Perhaps this could be as Jesus talked about in the passage below:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 12:43-45)

As we grow ever closer to the second coming of Jesus Christ, we will see - and are seeing now - an increase of persecution of believers in Jesus Christ. Peter reminds us that we will be persecuted, but we who remain steadfast in our faith in Jesus will have eternal glory with Him:

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11) ✝️

April 10, 2023: 2 Peter 2:19 - False Teachers Promise Liberty but are Slaves of Corruption

“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.” - 2 Peter 2:19

The country that I live in, the United States, and the world in general, is deteriorating at lighting speed. I have never seen such deception, corruption, and depravity in my life. Here in the USA, most people place a high value on freedom and liberty, but in that quest for it, we have abandoned the One alone who can set us free - the Lord Jesus Christ - and we have bound ourselves in the snares and chains of sin, of which are held in Satan’s grip. The only One who can give us true liberty, true freedom is Jesus Christ.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believe in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…” (Isaiah 61:1)

While our nation wasn’t perfect, and no nation could ever be, for we are all sinners in need of a Savior, we used to have a reverent respect of God and His Son Jesus Christ. We taught the Bible in our schools, we often began the school day by praying or reading from the Bible, we placed the Ten Commandments in public schools and public places. We respected God’s authority and His perfect plan for mankind. We placed value in the unborn and in the elderly. Our families were intact, with fathers who placed God first, led their families, and stayed with their wives and children. We had pastors who unashamedly preached and taught on the word of God, not avoiding those verses that may offend. Their sermons were not bound by the constraints of government that had financial leverage over them. Those pastors did not send out surveys before they built their churches to see what people wanted in a church and once it was built, they did not ask their congregations what they wanted them to preach on. No, they planted their churches and preached and taught the word of God as led by the Holy Spirit’s direction. They didn’t close their churches when the government deemed them as “non-essential” when a virus came around but were the places of comfort when trials arose. They cared about the lives of the people who came and listened to them, but most importantly, they cared about their eternity and whether or not they believed on Jesus as their Savior. They didn’t preach what the people wanted to hear; they preached on what they needed to hear. They weren’t ashamed of the gospel of Christ, as the apostle Paul so eloquently wrote:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith'.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Today, many so-called pastors are ashamed of the gospel of Christ and of the word of God. They deny that many of the things God calls as sin are actually sin. They aren’t led by the Holy Spirit, and they are not preaching and teaching through the Holy Spirit but through the spirit of Satan. Their motivation isn’t to lead the lost to Jesus but to lead the lost to themselves, to keep filling their pockets so they can enjoy the luxuries that they themselves have coveted; they are driven by their love of the god of this world instead of their love of Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ. Their appeasement of sin has brought spiritual, moral, and emotional decay to our country, and we are witnessing the death of our nation. We have a society that is all too willing to embrace their smooth words. They don’t desire to listen to sermons and messages that convict them of their sins and lead them to Jesus, the One who loves them and wants to liberate them from their sins. Instead, like mice in a trap, they seek that which is tasty but comes at a cost and keeps them in the chains of sin, in bondage to Satan, the one who hates them.

I know there still are some good, solid pastors in the USA and in the world who are preaching the full word of God and who do care about peoples’ salvation, but sadly, it is getting increasingly difficult to find them. As Peter, I strongly encourage you to make sure you are listening to pastors and teachers very carefully. Do they deny that Jesus is the Christ? Do they deny that only He can save us from our sins? Do they deny that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through believing in Jesus as their Savior? Are they promoting as acceptable anything that is a sin to God? Do they avoid preaching on messages that are difficult, that convict you of your sin? Do you always leave your church feeling good about yourself? Do they avoid preaching on the prophetic books of the Bible? Do they avoid preaching from the Old Testament? Do they believe that the God of the Old Testament was a different God from the God of the New Testament? Do they think it is the role of the church to bring God’s kingdom to this world by fixing it/cleaning it up so that Jesus can return? Do they think that the church has replaced Israel and that God is done with Israel? Is your church’s pastor a female? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be listening to a false pastor/teacher and are at risk of being deceived. There are many out there who are preaching and teaching a false christ, a false gospel, saying this is what Jesus would do.

It is critical during these perilous times that we not only remember the warnings of Jesus, Peter, John, Paul, Jude, and others that deceivers would rise in the last days before Jesus’ return, but that we take care to heed them:

“And Jesus, answering them, began to say: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am He,” and will deceive many.’” (Jesus Christ; Mark 13:5-6)

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 16-25)

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1) ✝️