Political situations in the Bible?

I was reading these Scriptures in the Bible, and I came across these verses which I even shared in the Scripture reading in the Church.

1 Kings 16

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. ⁹ Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, ¹⁹ because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴ And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. ²⁵ Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸ So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. ³¹ And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ³³ And Ahab made a wooden image.^[a] Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴ In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.^[b]

It just occured to me now that Ahab was the son of Omri.  We all know what happened to Ahab, and Jezebel.  The Bible is so rich with practical solutions and answers to everyday problems.  Whatever happens now has happened before in the Bible, which brings in Ecclesiastes again, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  So then Elijah was born and he was the one that delivered the people of Israel from Jezebel, if I’m not mistaken.  In the book of Revelation Jesus says to one of the Churches that they have allowed that woman Jezebel to come in and to persuade people to commit sexual immorality and eat food given to idols.

We also know that two witnesses will be given – one Elijah, and there is speculation if the other one is Moses, or Enoch, but I believe it is Enoch, since Moses already saw death.

This is something to chew on and dig deeper on.  Some people are so much focused on reading the New Testament, and while that’s good for the edification of the Church as well, some of the deepest stuff is found in the Old Testament, and ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Many times the Holy Spirit will bring a word in season, and just at the right time, we will see things, that are confirmed in the Spirit.  But like any good Christian knows it takes digging.  So let us take out our shovels, and do the laboring.  I believe this laboring is more important than laboring for money, which cannot satisfy.

The Old Testament had numerous numbers of Kings in them and what happened to them so sometimes all of our answers are in the Bible, but it takes someone just to help point it out.

The Political situations in Israel at the time when they were recorded in the Bible, were much worse than they are now in America. (well maybe only in America)  But back then they had kings being killed, and that’s how others would reign.  A King was in power until he died.  This case with Omri and Tibnih describes the factions that are going on.  Now I’m not going to say that one is better than the other.  But the nation of Israel was divided into two parts – half followed Omri and the other half followed Tibnih.  I don’t think at this point we have any Tibnih’s and even Tibnih died because he was not chosen.

But the blessed thing to know is that Jesus Christ is King over all Kings or Presidents or Prime Ministers, and if we obey Him, then we don’t have to really worry about what happens with these earthly kings because our citizenship is not of this world.
Another situation I would like to point out is that of Herod and Pilate.

Luke 23-

Jesus Faces Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard of Galilee,^[b] he asked if the Man were a Galilean. ⁷ And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. ⁹ Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. ¹⁰ And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. ¹¹ Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.

Imagine that for all this time you have had two people, who were maybe in leadership or not,  and they despised each other, I mean really despised each other – it says they were enemies, but because of Jesus they became friends.

They both decided later that there was nothing wrong with Jesus, and they just chastised Him and let Him go (Thank You Lord for the chastisement of our peace was upon Him)

But here’s where the situation gets tricky –

Taking the Place of Barabbas

¹³ Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; ¹⁵ no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him;^[c] and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” ¹⁷ (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).^[d]

¹⁸ And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.

²⁰ Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. ²¹ But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

²² Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”

Let’s pause here, there was this leader who knew he was about to do the wrong thing, a thing he didn’t feel comfortable to do, and because of the insistence of the Crowd, if he decided not to be a people pleaser, and took a stand and just boldly said “I will  not do it, I will not allow this man to be crucified. – then maybe we would have had Pilate dying for Jesus.  But in God’s master plan it didn’t happen that way.  He knew that Jesus was going to die for all mankind and He was already slain in His father’s heart for the sins of mankind.

THE CROWD CAN BE WRONG!!!!

²³ But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.^{[e] 24} So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. ²⁵ And he released to them^[f] the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Sometimes we choose darkness and slippery slopes, instead of holding on the innocent virtues.  As a society we can see the decline.  We have as a crowd over and over again chosen the way of Barabbas (rebellion) instead of the way of Jesus.  Lord forgive us.  Thank You Lord for opening our eyes to see the Truth.

That’s why in the Bible says that many will be called, but few are chosen.  Because many in turn will choose the way of Barrabbas (rebellion), instead of the way of Jesus.  The Bible also says as was in the Days of Noah,

 

–⁵ Then the Lord^[b] 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. ⁶ And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ 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.” ⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

So shall it be when the Son of Man comes.

He also says – will he really find faith here?

One aspect to that is that we are constantly bombarded with News and even prophecies, which provoke fear.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, so let us all be like Noah and find the grace of God, which comes from a repentant heart, and seek out the wisdom of God.

 

 

What the life of Martin Luther, Christians, and Ecclesiastes all have in common

I have been skimming through the works of Martin Luther that is sitting on my coffee table.  As I writer I see myself getting into similar issues, and I am sure that we Christians have faced obstacles and challenges of the same kind at some point.  After the vast digest of reading, which I also glanced and skimmed over, since I’m not a big reader, but I love to write is that – we need to be careful what we do say because even in Luther’s errors, led to tremendous tragedy.  Words have more power than you think.  Life and death is in the power of the spoken and written word, and honestly this whole time people have not changed at all.  People are exactly the same, which is why I am really beginning to understand the depth that is found in Ecclesiastes where Solomon pretty much says, “There is nothing new under the sun” and basically saying people have not changed.  What’s more revealing is Solomon’s revelation just “Fear God, and Obey His Commandments.”  It makes me wonder what impact the book of Ecclesiastes had on Luther as he was translating and interpreting it.  He was a poet by nature, so sometimes at some level, the poems at their base level maybe better understood.  I find my life and my works in many ways mirroring that of Luther, but I still choose to believe that my latter days are better than my past.  As a Church, we need to look back at history.

What I have come to learn is that life really is all about Jesus Christ.  It’s all about Him.  He created the Word, both spoken and written.  He also says choose life not death.  The task is not easy, but we are all challenged with that.

A few recommended readings –

Out of the Storm by Derek Wilson

The Life of Martin Luther by Schofield

Ecclesiastes

Some learn by Bible College

Some learn by School of Hard Knocks

Some learn by the Word of God
We can spend hours and hours studying to know doctrines, and such , but at the end of the day – do we have a relationship the Person of Jesus Christ, which is more important.

 

 

 

No weapon formed against us will prosper

If you have been watching the News, you know that there are some nations that have possessed chemical and biological weapons.

We need to wake up and pray Bride, and claim this Word – No weapon formed against us will prosper, from Psalm 54.

For the People in Israel, and the Bride of Christ. – This is a time of prophecy being fulfilled.

 

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54 “Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
² “Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
³ For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴ “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
⁷ “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
⁸ With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

¹¹ “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.

Let the person with wisdom understand what this means in vs. 16.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

This is a time to call for prayer and fasting not for just Israel, but for the other nations involved.  Step up Bride of Christ, and pray and claim this promise over ourselves.  This requires prayers, for those that cannot pray with fervancy, then pray with the Spirit, in all manner of prayers and supplications, and do not be lukewarm.
Heavenly Father,
We come before you as your Church, and we intercede on behalf of you with groanings and utterings, and declare your promise that NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WILL PROSPER, Lord we know that Your Word does not return void, so during the times and the seasons that we know, we need to put aside all foolishness, and vain teachings, but go into a spirit of intercession, quicken us, Holy Spirit, with the fire, pour out the HOly Spirit fire, that will consume us Lord with Your Passion as Your Bride, Lord God, we pray and lift up our voices to You and cry out that we may be heard among you.  Give wisdom to leaders and nations, that they may make wise decisions, and let us not be like ostriches who keep our head in the sand.  Let us wake up, and see what is going on around us.  Thank You LORD that we will not be forsaken and forgotten, and that You will protect Your Church, Your Bride, and Your Beloved nation of Israel as You have promised in Your Word.  Your Word, is Holy True, Righteous, and We proclaim, a fire and a passionate bride LORD God, Let us wake up, let us not be like the Lukewarm Church, Let us see the reality of the situation, and intercede.  We proclaim Your Word over us today, that NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WILL PROSPER.

IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME I PRAY!!!

 

Christ for all of the Nations of the World

This is a song I heard by Newsboys called He reigns.  I believe Christ is for the whole world to be saved.  Thanks for whoever originally posted this video.  I do not own the copy right, but I was inspired by the video.
To make a clarification on one of my earlier posts, I believe that God also God of Israel as it says in the Old Testament.  His name is YHWH (LORD)  Elohim (Creator consisting of Father, Son, and Spirit) Y’Israel.  That’s who He is and you cannot change who He is.  Just like you cannot change your own ethnicity.  You were born with it.  If you are born in Spain and of Spanish ethnicity and you go to France, and live in France and you and your Spanish spouse give birth in France, to a Spanish child, your child and you are still Spanish.  You cannot change your ethnicity even if you were born in another country.  At the same time we know that God’s Kingdom is not of this world, but is a Heavenly Kingdom, and we are just temporary residents and thank God that that Jesus came in the flesh to die for the sins of the whole world, and now the whole world can rejoice in the rejection of Christ, by the Jews, so that the Jews and Gentiles and the whole world may come to know Christ and we can all be part of God’s Kingdom when we choose Jesus as our Savior!!!!  He is also King of all nations and all Kingdoms and every culture, every race, included in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.  Hallelujah!!!  Amen!!!

For the Multitude of the nations which this blog only covers a few, but Jesus Christ wants the whole world to be His!!!

Repent, Accept Christ, and Choose Christ as your Savior for the time is near.  He loves the whole world.

God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.- Psalm 47:19

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  Psalm 46:10

Do you have little foxes that spoil the vineyard?

Today I was reading Song of Solomon, and I came across upon –

Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes.  – Song of Solomon 2:15

I’m going to take an unusual twist on this verse.  We have cats and a new litter of puppies, which gave birth and they are stray, and sometimes they “spoil” the yard and driveway.  The Hebrew word here chabal means to in some cases to offend or to destroy or to pervert.  Our situation is that these horrendous animals were defacing our property, and we had done everything in our property.  Also they made it very difficult to go outside.
Imagine the Shulamite woman who wants to go to meet the shepherd at be with the flock and her beloved, but she has a responsibility to keep the vineyards clean, but her own vineyard she has not kept clean.  Why was it – because of the foxes?
I was wondering why God was allowing all these to happen to us, and only us, but apparently I know why – He wanted to at some point make this Scripture a revelation.  Foxes can spoil a vineyard by eating or doing some kind of destruction.  If you look up the Hebrew word for foxes it means “jackal or burrower”  So let’s say you have a lawn, it may be not be garden of the year, but it’s a pretty decent lawn, and some animal, either a dog or cat has defaced the property.  So that is what is these brothers felt like.
To backtrack we go to –

My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard I have not kept.

Imagine if your neighbors because they were mad at you and they made you clean up the yards, but in the process your own lawn looked like a mess.  This is what the Shulamite woman felt like.  She was actually dark because she had been all day cleaning up her “neighbor’s” yards.   Now she couldn’t take care of her own.

Here she is the Shulamite woman – all she wants to do is to spend time with Shepherd, and her brothers want her to catch  the foxes that spoil the vineyard.  When I first this I thought it was the daughters of Jerusalem saying this, but it is actually the brothers.

So in relation sometimes we in a Church setting have to deal with little foxes that cause offense, travail, and destruction, but all we want to do is to be fully committed to Christ.

Sometimes as the Shulamite woman we want to be fully committed to Christ, but we have distractions of this world, or we have all these little problems and issues that get in the way.

Sometimes God gives you a promise and a vision, and a calling, but because of all these misunderstandings, which come from things taking out of context without proper interpretation of cultural and historical context, we end up with little foxes that have tender grapes that must be managed and cared for.
Nobody likes to have these foxes that spoil the vineyard.  But what are we to do, keep the Shulamite woman from the Shepherd?  I didn’t like to have these dogs and cats spoil my yard, but now I can see why that happens, and I hope someone somewhere can get something from this.

Great is Jesus’ Faithfulness

God is in Control

I am not associated with the Church in the video but I like this song, and it spoke volumes to me at this season and I’d like to share it.  I do not own this song or it’s copyright.  Thanks to whoever posted it.

 

Having God sized eyes

This is a follow up to my post on God loves the mediocre or average person.  There are so many negative influences in our lives.  I believe everyone has a purpose, and some people don’t have dreams, but unless you never talk to anyone all day long everyday  of your life, each person has something somewhere that God wants to accomplish and you just don’t what your life means to someone somewhere.  Every life has purpose.

When God looks at a person – does He see the pit they are in?  Does He see the dismay and the despair?  No He sees the beauty and the amazement and the awe and the wonder that each person He has bestowed upon their life.  Yes it is true that some people go to work, come home, eat, and watch television and think that that’s all there is.  But do you know just by you being alive and being there that you have affected someone somewhere.  You have made an impact on a person somewhere in their life, that they can look back and say – if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have been where I am today.  Each person has value.

If you don’t believe me read these parts of Psalm 139 –

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;^[b]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

The problem is that we don’t believe these things about ourselves.  We believe all these lies and negativity all around us from everywhere that we don’t see that God has something wonderful in store for each of us.  He has given us a gift of being born into this world.

Jesus said “So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20

Do you know how much faith is a mustard seed?  It’s very small.  It doesn’t require much faith.

So if faith is not the missing link, then what is?  It is the vision.  Proverbs 29:18 – ¹⁸ Where there is no vision, the people perish.

You cannot go searching for a vision, but God will give it to you at the right time.  The Wright Brothers had a vision to build an airplane.  If you look at the heroes of faith, they all had a vision, and their vision was a promise of an eternal city, but they also had been given promises in their life.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; ^[a] for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child^[b] when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

The Heavenly Hope

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,^[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

The Faith of the Patriarchs

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”^{[d] 19} concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

The Faith of Moses

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in^[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

By Faith They Overcame

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

³² And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again.

Even though we have a Heavenly Hope, which is in Christ Jesus does not mean, that should live life on earth as if we were worthless and not worth anything.  Each person is worth something and God has a plan for each of them.

Because of the drastic negative outlook of people around us, believers, preachers, unbelievers, around us, we all see through dark colored glasses not seeing the immensity of greatness that God sees around us.  He sees the amazement.  Everything was created by Him and for Him and for His good pleasure, and in knowing that we must know that God has something special planned for each one of us, but a certain force has blinded our eyes to see the truth.  As if it depends on us to do something.  A lot of money doesn’t mean much, neither does distances traveled.  You can have tremendous impact on someone’s life just sitting at home and being on your computer.  It’s the power of a word.  It’s what word, though, do we speak?  Do we speak words, that make others look at their lives and think pitiful thoughts about themselves?  Or do we speak life?  Do we speak the Word of Jesus?  Or do we speak man made conjecture?  Do we add faith to faith or do we add doubt with faith?  Do we make people realize how limited they are in the natural?  Or do we say that we walk by faith and not by “sight”?  Vision is an amazing thing – it shows us how we are, and it is by faith in God that this vision is operated.

Do we have God sized eyes, do we see ourselves as someone born with a purpose?  Or do we see ourselves as someone who is just mediocre, because either someone has told us that, or because we believe that about ourselves?  We are not mediocre!!!  There is no such thing as mediocrity.

It is because we don’t have faith in the God of the Bible, and vision, and the ability to see ourselves the way that God sees us and in a sense have lost our identity.  Whose eyes are you looking through, dear friends?

Mark 10:27 With men it may be impossible, but with God all things are possible!!!  Even the miraculous!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer to Bless Israel

Heavenly Father,

I ask You to bless Israel, for You promised them, blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.   So I am speaking abundant blessings upon them –

³ “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

⁴ “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

⁵ “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶ “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

We ask you to bless their weather, and their children, and their families, and their schools, their hospitals,  we ask that You provide all their needs, and we ask that you bless them in the government.  We ask that you bless the hungry people with food.  We ask that You bless the women, widows, orphans, sick, hungry, thirsty, needy, and oppressed in Israel.  We ask that you bless them with Your awesome Presence so that there may be a revival in Israel like never before.  We ask that you bless them with safety and security because You are Jehovah Shammah, we ask that You bless them with an abundant storehouse of goods, so that they may proclaim that You are the God who blesses Israel.  May You bless them with the shade upon the right hand, and protect them from the heat and scorching sun, and protection from the storms both naturally and spiritually.  Take up Armor and Lord defend them against wicked things in high places, and spare the nations of the world for Israel’s sake, and have mercy on anyone who chooses to go against Israel.  We pray for Your Church that we as one accord will come with one purpose to seek out daily to pray for Israel.  We operate by faith and not by sight, and we know in Your Word, that no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has in store, for those that love You.  Remember the nations for the way that they have honored You in the past and served You and pour out a blessing upon each nation who has a remnant that still choose to glorify Your name, Oh, Lord.  Bless them with riches, and provision, wisdom, and strength and courage for the feeble, and weak, and we pray for revival in Israel.  You said in that when they were gathered in one accord in one place that there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind, with tongues of cloven fire, so we’re asking for the spiritual rain to be poured down, and let Revival come, across the nations, starting with each heart, and with each person.  Move in Your people, cause Your people, the Church, to come alive with prayer and fasting and with one accord reach out to pray for the nation of Israel.  We pray for the nation of Israel, divine providence, protection, and power come down.  We ask that You Pull Heaven Down!!!  Thank You Heavenly Father for abundant grace and mercy.

In Jesus MIGHTY name I pray,

Amen.

Hope for Storms

My prayer is for those that are going through storms – whether there are physical weather or other kind of storms.  Our prayers reach out to you – that our God is with us –

Even though I walk through the valley
Of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle
Of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back, I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming
For the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Yes, I can see a light that is coming
For the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You
Still I will praise You

Keep praising God and giving thanks.  Let your church unite in prayer of giving thanksgiving or your family go through a time of thanksgiving of blessings.

Heavenly Father,

We ask based on Psalm 83, to forgive the nation of America for conspiracies against Israel.  Forgive and have mercy upon this nation.  We bless the nation of Israel right now and we pray for favor on the nation of Israel.   You have made Your power known to America.  Divert the plans of the nation against Israel and have mercy upon America.  We know you are working, but we ask for forgiveness.  Thanks for rain where it is needed, but we know that Israel is Your chosen so on behalf of this nation, we Your Church in America, bless the nation of Israel for You said in Your Word, that blessed is those that bless Israel.  Pour out the blessings on all the leaders of Israel, and America and have them line up with Your divine will, Heavenly Father.  Thank You that despite all these things that are going on, You have chosen a remnant in America, and in Israel, who still abide in You, for the rest I ask that they may once again know and experience the love of Christ, and come to embrace the nation of Israel as one of their own.  We know there is a reason, and a plan and a purpose for everything.  Thanks for revealing this to us, and giving us some hope for the future, for Jeremiah 29:11 says Your plans are not to harm us but to prosper us and to give us a future and a hope.

In Jesus Mighty Name I pray,

Amen.