Tuesday, June 28, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 10

16 Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your majesty to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:16-17)
We have come to the end of this amazing prayer from Moses, the humble man of God, the content which should lead us to dive headfirst into the Book of Ecclesiastes, to get the "rest of the story". 

With stress, distress and lack of redress increasingly unavailable even in western so-called civilized countries, what can the Righteous (born-again Christians) to do?  Sure the Righteous (or the Elect or authentic Christians, if you wish, can pray. However with the virtual non-existence of prayer meetings and even less prayer warriors in our churches, how does the good Christian life even look?

The Foundations are being destroyed on purpose by leaders in politics, the media, academia amidst passivity from the Church of Jesus Christ. None of this should be a surprise to anyone who reads the Bible. The spirit of Antichrist was in this world from the moment Christ won the Victory on the Cross of Calvary. Daily, we see the evidence of the destruction caused by the evil one – the prince and power of the Air. While he is literally on a short leash, the destruction his demonic forces have caused to mankind is causing great distress in the Body of Christ.

Oddly enough, this stress is heavier on Christians who live safe, productive and wealthy (by comparison) lives in the west, where the kind of persecution against Christians is not as vile, violent and intense.  In the persecuted lands, all our brothers and sisters in Christ have is complete Faith. Their Faith and Trust in the Lord Jesus as Master and Savior is what fuels them. Their very existence and eternity is fully dependent, moment by moment on this earth on Him.

Still, the human condition is universal, even in degree. Christians in the post-Christian west need the same or even greater measure of the Power and Presence of the Lord to live daily.  Verse 16 cries out for the Lord to give some kind of indication that He is with His people who are under duress, and that some sort of sign. We have to be careful here. Jesus criticized a “faithless generation, who only wanted signs and wonders”. There are certainly those.  However, coming from such a hero of the Faith like Moses, who requested to see the Lord’s Glory and God let Moses see His back as He went by, this is a valid request.

The Lord Jesus WILL reveal Himself to those to whom He will reveal Himself! All you  have to do is remain committed and sold out and surrendered to selflessly work in the piece of the Wall, which He placed before us.  I know that and several other ordinary people over time have had these experiences.

Verse 17 wraps up this amazing prayer from the heart, which every Christian should pray. Moses seeks the approval of the Lord which will power him to succeed in his life’s work.  Each woman of God should seek this. Each man or young person should do likewise. God says in return “show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15)” or  “I (God) have qualified you, now stay the course of Faith and remain committed to My Word and Me. He is also saying, “do not seek the approval of men and their systems but cut a straight path to the Gospel of Truth and Love and I will give you rest, success and all My Best. 

What a way to end up this amazing prayer.  The Blessings and Best of God are not dependent on the proportion of our work and faith to God as to whether are successful in this life or not. What remains constant and true over the millennia since this written is this: “God is no respecter of persons….and the rain falls evenly on the righteous and the unrighteous.” However remember, what He promises in Jeremiah 29:11-13: "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".

Sunday, June 26, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 9

14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days! 
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, the years in which we have seen evil....Psalm 90:14-15
The great hymn of the Faith “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is based on a short passage from the Book of Lamentations. This book of tears and regret over the Babylonian destruction of the once great city of Jerusalem had driven the great prophet Jeremiah to weeping and sadness over the condition of  his people.  This event had happened in the 6th century BC after the people of Jerusalem ignore and then persecuted the prophet of the Lord – Jeremiah – for preaching Truth. 

In Lamentations chapter 3,  Jeremiah spoke in graphic detail how God had punished the rebels in Jerusalem who had not just spurned Him, but worshipped pagan idols in the Temple itself. This descriptive passage goes on for 20 verses of Chapter 3, but then Jeremiah immediately switches to record the mercy of God, after He judges. He writes:
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:22-24)

This is such an awesome illustration of our Great and Gracious Heavenly Father. Moses prayed in Psalm 90:14 and 15 above and Jeremiah shows magnificently what it looks like in real time. This is a great encouragement for us today, who sometimes feel under the gun. It is not secret God has, is and will continue to judge this world for sin and disobedience. We see it in the many natural disasters which claim many lives. The rain falls both in the righteous and unrighteous so many believers lose their lives in natural disasters. They are, however, ready to meet their Maker by virtue of their Faith.

However, here is a shocker- life is tough....and it is going to get even tougher as the years go by. Whether the report be medical, physical or financial, all people - regardless of Faith of Financial status -will be afflicted with the storms of life. This is where Moses is headed with the portion of the prayer in these verses. However he (Moses) is praying for the silver lining in these moments of Life when we find ourselves in the Valley of Despair.

Fortunately for us, God already thought of this when He gave us the entire Scripture! We are given the Oracles of God, the Manual for Daily Living (MDL) to get us through all of our days. Job, the Servant of God, who lived before or around the time of Abraham gives us the perfect response for those Times of Affliction here in Job 19:25-27:
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

So here it is right here- directly from God Himself, via His Word, the Bible:
1. From Psalm 90:14-15, we know life is going to through us some heavy stuff, that is some curve balls we will get hit with, where it hurts.
2. We know life is lived, for the most part in the valley. God gives us those mountaintop experiences so we can be reassured of His Presence and His Peace.
3. We know we, who are His through Salvation, can approach Him, in our affliction and cry out for Grace, Mercy and Compassion.
4. We know that even if the answer is no, to live is Christ and to die is gain- we are with Him forever, anyway.
5. We know we can turn to the Bible, His Inspired and Holy Word and say with confidence as Job did:
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
16 He also shall be my salvation,
For a hypocrite could not come before Him. (Job 13:15-16)

Saturday, June 25, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 8

Return o LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. (Psalm 90:13)
This is an amazing prophetic prayer from Moses!  For the Lord to return, when this is written 3500 years ago for all people of all time, He had to have come in the first place! Jesus was not to be born, as a child, as prophesied in Micah 5:2 in the province of Bethlehem for 1500 years. Therefore the Holy Spirit was prophesying of the Lord’s birth and Second Coming, which we, in the 21st century still await!

Knowing this, should we Christians in the 21st Century pray for the immediate Great Appearing of the King of Kings – the Commander in Chief of the literal armies of Heaven and the Creator everything – Yahweh?  We should, we can and we surely do. However  none of this will hasten the Return of the Lord! This is a good reason to be so. First, the Second Coming will happen when it happens. Then secondly, when Jesus cuts through the Eastern Sky on the White  Horse, it is all over. There will be no mulligan. Anyone on earth who is not saved, born-again or a child of Christ will experience the Wrath of God. In fact, the only people left on earth will be those who are lost to eternity, as it will now be the official End of the Church age.

Revelation 19:11-20 tells only part of the story of what will occur when the Second Coming is obvious to everyone who is around the perishing world. The rest of it can be read here in Isaiah and can be watched in detail in this video teaching (see PLUMBLINE teaching below) on the real story behind the Second Coming and the Holy Spirit interviewing Jesus about the battle He will wage against the rulers and armies of the left behind world.

Moses anticipates the Second Coming God and prays for compassion. There is no more compassion than for the redeemed of the Lord to evangelize the lost. True compassion involves any and all attempts to share the Love of God, Who gave His Son – Yahweh – to be crucified on a Cross, to die for our sins, be buried and resurrected in victory to reign forever. This is love. This is mercy, grace and compassion. 

I say that because when the Lord returns in the near future, we who are saved/born-again and children of God into the Kingdom of Heaven, will already be with Him forever and ever. We would have received more than compassion. We would have already been the recipients of God’s Grace, Riches, Atonement, Compassion, and Eternal life through Christ. We have this now. All we need is to stay the course and persevere until the end. However what this one verse of anticipation and expectation SHOULD do is fire us up even more to preach the Gospel…AND at all times use words – His Words.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 7

10 The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,  that we may gain a heart of wisdom.....(Psalm 90:10-12)
Any glance at the obituaries in any local newspaper would show its usual share of senior citizens who have passed on into eternity, after long productive lives. However, on an increasing basis, a disturbing trend has developed over the last two decades as more and more younger people are moving into eternity in their 20's, 30's and 40's. I have known some of them.

Judging from the brief synopsis of their lives and legacies,  the chief end of the younger set seems to be a whole lot of self-gratification and almost nothing of any eternal value. Most of them do not even have a Christian burial. They are mostly cremated now and "celebration of life" in taverns, restaurants or banquet halls are increasingly the norm. Their apparently main accomplishments in life seem to include things like "he was a loyal St. Louis Cardinals and NASCAR fan"....or "she loved pets and volunteered tirelessly at the local animal shelter"....or  so and so "loved family picnics, backyard barbecues and feeding ducks in the park".

What does all of this mean, in relation to what the Bible says in these verses (Psalm 90:10-12)? It most definitely shows us that the normal nice folks next door and down the street, while susceptible to the same uncertainties of life, which you and I possess, are oblivious to what the next stage of life holds for them.  As previously stated, mankind was created to live forever. The choice is up to the individual WHERE their eternity lies. By the time this current age expires, which it will, NOBODY could use the excuse before God that they never heard of God, Jesus or the plan of eternal salvation.

Before the great Flood in Genesis 6, of which there is ample evidence (Grand Canyon, rock formation etc), people lived hundreds of years. However, the sheer volume of water flooding the earth, altered the eco-systems to the point where, apart from Noah who lived a couple hundred years after the Flood subsided, the atmosphere (and God) only allowed a lifespan of around 120 or so years. Abraham lived 176 years before he went into Eternity. Moses was stronger at 120 when God took him, than most 40 year olds are today. The average lifespan in the 1800's was hardly 35-40 years yet today, due to excellent medical care, we can now live into our 80's and 90's.

In the long run, the numbers are not as important as our preparation to meet our Maker.  Additionally, the demands of modern life are such that hope is a premium. The cost of living and/or providing for a family leave many to wonder if "this is all there is".  When you parallel this to the increasing number of  "nones" (those with no religious or "faith") - they are correct - there is no Hope. There is no Hope because they refuse to see the evidence of God all around them in Creation and the still on-going proclamation of the Gospel from street corners and church pulpits. We can blame the culture, churches and conmen from Charles Darwin to Marx to the new Buddhist craze of "meditation" etc. But the fault, as we know from the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Who indwells Christians, that the problem is sin.

Sin faces the Wrath of God. The nice couple in the 40's who perished together in a motorcycle accident, as friendly and hard-working as they were in their community, will face eternal separation from God as much as the 70 year old pastor who was never born again, but faked his way through life with people thinking he was such a godly man!  The nice grandmother who volunteers in the small town library or the forty year old social worker who specializes in helping people access needed benefits for her hungry toddlers will face the anger of God one day, for rejecting the Gospel and staying at arms' length from the Everlasting Arms which wanted to hold and love them.

So given the fact that the majority of mankind, whether they perished when a bridge collapses in China or an earthquake kills 350 in Ecuador or another scaffold collapses outside a half-finished skyscraper in Seattle,  will have no standing before God, what can be done?

Verse 12 tells us "teach us to number our days".  The original word for "number" is the Hebrew word "manah". Basically, God is encouraging us through this portion of Moses' His Prophet's prayer to make every day of our lives count! Not just that, but we have the opportunity to approach God to ask Him HOW to make it happen. "Teach us" means "God, I have no clue how to do this, can you help me make something out of my life, to make a difference to someone else's life which can bring meaning both them and me, please? Teach me, oh God, how to do this thing called life. I feel so useless, in vain search of meaningful thoughts and actions and feel as if all I do is work, sleep, eat, watch TV, go to ball games and such. Help me oh, God."

This is guaranteed to work....but there is one catch. God does not hear the prayer of an unrighteous or unsaved person. This cry and appeal to Holy God only works if your life is found in Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are a real Christian, which Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The second part of verse 12 is "that we may gain a heart of wisdom". The Wisdom of the knowledge of God implied here is "chokmah" or true wisdom, which starts with knowing God, fearing Him in the right way and wanting to seek and serve Him daily. This is what brings meaning to our lives - being wise in the Ways, Works and Wonders of God. Hence, this heart of wisdom can only come from knowing Him....and we know Him from knowing His Word - reading, studying and understanding the Scriptures. Verse 12 is calling us to come to God to ask for a realization of some of His Wisdom that we may be focused and disciplined in our approach to life.

This may seem easier to speak about than to put into practice. However, it is a common sense approach to these fleeting years on earth. It used to be when we were little kids that the summer months seemed to last forever. Now, even young people comment how fast the years are flying by. This can be compared to the last few sheets on a roll of paper towels where those last sheets of Bounty or whatever, fly right off the roll - then it's over.

Life is like this, for us as well as all mankind. The end of all things approaches quickly. Therefore, it is very wise to be prepared no matter how young or old, whether 17 or 70, to stand before God. The question is - how prepared are we?

(Photo Credit Here)

Monday, June 20, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 6

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh (Psalm 90:7-9)
Fortunately, Moses was not speaking of himself personally here, even though his sin in striking the Rock for water, when God told him specifically to SPEAK to the Rock here in Numbers 20. Moses was punished for this and never got to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land - Joshua did. 

Moses saw firsthand the terrible anger of the Lord. From the Ten Plagues of Egypt, which were directly right at each of the ten pagan demonic gods of the Egyptians to fiery serpents which killed thousands of rebellious Israelites in the desert, and everything in between – Moses knew it was a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God. Nothing could shake the image in his head of God’s discipline of the grumbling ungrateful elders of Israel who were led out of Egyptian bondage and wanted to go back under it. Moses knew how swift and fierce the Judgment of God against evil doers could be.

Secondly, as the author of the Book  of Genesis, Moses was given the historical record of the early days of mankind directly from God. He knew exactly what he wrote in Genesis 6 which led up to Great Flood of Genesis chapters 6-9. All of corrupt mankind except Noah and his family and two of each kinds of animal, were wiped off the face of the earth, by a God Who said He regretted making man. That scroll he wrote must have stuck in his mind until the day he died at age 120.

So we know the Mighty Power of God to destroy evil. He will do so again. John 3:17 said that ( in the First Coming) Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. This is true.  However later on, Romans 1:18-32 describes the filthy condition of mankind today, from the highest to the lowest level across the entire world. The coming Judgment of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, and as described in detail in Isaiah and Ezekiel 38 and onwards, is not a picnic. The opportunity for humankind to be saved will also be over. The armies of the United Nations and the antichrist will be no match on that day for the Commander in Chief of Heaven’s armies as He reclaims His creation and sets up His 1000 year Throne in Jerusalem. 

Psalm 90:8 mentions our iniquities – the worse of the three levels of sin.  Sin, Transgression and Iniquity are ascending in their offense against Holy God. Romans 1:18-32 contain the indictment against all evil men and women; the corrupt culture, massive pagan religions which destroy people and deny God and a synagogue of Satan which claims the Name of Christ for respectability but is a wolf clothed as one of Jesus’ sheep. Those iniquities of Psalm 90 precipitate the Wrath of the Lamb.

When the Books of all mankind are opened before the Great White Throne of God, all secret sin will be revealed and judged of those who were not sealed as truly born-again Christians. (see Psalm 90:8b).  They – the majority of all human kind- will be eternally separated from God and depart with more than a sigh. However when Moses wrote this part of the prayer in Psalm 90:9b, he did not know of the Redemption plan of Yahweh, His best Friend in the desert for 40 years, to step off the Throne 1500 years later and sacrifice Himself on a Cross for the Hope of all who believed! It was not revealed to Him.

Our takeaway (and/or Action Point) from this portion of the Prayer of Moses (Psalm 90:6-9) is that we do not have to pass from this life to the next with a dissatisfied or scared sigh! We should check out of here with all flags flying, dirty boots and torn jeans from fighting for one more soul with the Gospel of Christ –whether through prayer or evangelism!  At the very least, it is the easiest thing in the world to have all our sins, transgressions and iniquities forgiven so we can march under the Banner of the Christ, with Jesus as our Lord and Master right into eternity, where He has prepared a place for us with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!


Sunday, June 19, 2016

OLD SCHOOL TENT REVIVAL SUNDAY JUNE 19 – SUNDAY JUNE 26, 2016. MEETING STARTS AT 6:30 PM NIGHTLY, SPRINGFIELD, IL

Old Fashioned Tent Revival kicks off from Sunday June 19 nightly until Sunday June 26, 2016 at the corner of North 5th and Enos Streets, Springfield Illinois(right next to the building seen in this photo). We are usually done around 8:15 pm – 8:30 pm.

Seating is available in the tent and off street parking is available all long both 5th and 6th Streets. Personal prayer or counseling (all free) are available each night on request. Please bring your bible. Jesus Christ is in the House and He is Lord! This is your REAL summer time refreshment!
ROSTER:
SUNDAY JUNE 19: Preacher: Bernie Lutchman (BMIC President & Sonshine Ministries)
MONDAY June 20:  Preacher: Pastor Daniel Yielding (Bind Up the Wounded Church, Oakford, Il.)
TUESDAY June 21: Preacher: Pastor Daniel Yielding (BUTW Church)
WEDNESDAY June 22: Preacher: Dr, Earl Powell (BMIC Chaplain)
THURSDAY June 23: Preacher: Pastor Daniel Yielding (BUTW Church)
FRIDAY June 24: Preacher: Bernie Lutchman (BMIC President & Sonshine Ministries)
SATURDAY June 25: Preacher: Faith Outreach Christian Center led by Pastors Paul and Zach Ayappa
SUNDAY June 26: Preacher: Faith Outreach Christian Center led by Pastors Paul and Zach Ayappa
Music all week led by Pastor Daniel Wilson (Clementine Church);  Terry Lynn Gaddis (BUTW Church); Bernie Lutchman (BMIC & Sonshine Ministries); Zach Ayappa (MB); Brandon Austin.

Friday, June 17, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 5

You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; toward evening it fades and withers away. (Psalm 90:5-6)
At times, this prescient prayer by the servant of the Living God – Moses – sounds like the Book of Ecclesiastes, which was written by the repentant “preacher” King Solomon.  In the previous verse of the prayer,  Moses spoke of the eternal self-existent attitude of Almighty God and His firm control over Time. Here, Moses prayer shows the quality of his close relationship with the Creator – Yahweh.

Moses, under the Authority of the Spirit, basically speaks stark truth about the uncertain nature of every breath of life in these two verses. Solomon goes into a unique discourse on death in Ecclesiastes 9:1-10. In both cases – Moses and Solomon – we confirm and it is affirmed that death is no respecter or persons. It affects the wealth and the poor; the good and the bad; the righteous and the rest of this world.  

It basically comes down to the “DASH” on our tombstone. This marking, which separates the year of our birth on the tombstone to the year of our departure from mortal life, is our entire life time.  The Tombstone is the record, our legacy is how we built that record.  Solomon, the preacher exhorts to live well.  As he writes in Ecclesiastes 9, we must live well with what God has given us : from our wives or spouses to the food we eat.  He says we should live the best we can since there is not enjoyment in the grave.  Since the New Testament though, written 1000 years after Solomon wrote this, we know there IS joy in the grave. We know this because of the Gospel - the birth, life, Death, Sacrifice and Payment on the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ the Only Son of God. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 1:21 that to live is Christ BUT to die is gain!

The Savior, Jesus Himself – Who met with Moses on Mt. Sinai and travelled with Him in the desert for forty years, said in Matthew 6:30 as He speaks about the splendor and majesty of the beautiful flowers of the field and Solomon’s fine expensive royal garments. Jesus said "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?".

Jesus speaks what the Spirit, who gave this prayer to Moses speaks. It syncs perfectly with Moses' inspired verses above in Psalm 90:5-6, where the bottom line from the Full Counsel of Scripture is this - behold what seems beautiful and oh-so-good and perfect today, because it will be gone by tomorrow, like the sands of time. This life is fleeting and the only thing left behind is that dash on the tombstone and a legacy with our families and the work we may have done. This dash could be empty vanity of vanities or it can be fruitful and full of divine work for the Lord, through those we have helped along the way. 

What is your journey going to be classified as, when you have arrived at your destination...at the end? Would it be carried away like a flood and cast into the sea with no trace of having lived or would life happen so wonderfully in the lives transformed in our wake, because we have served Jesus Christ and His church and people here on earth....giving it our all? The choice is free and all yours.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 4

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)
Time and Timing are of the Lord. Time on earth, in our world, began at the Creation of the planet around 6000 years ago. However, our Timeless and Eternal God has not only always existed but time is no consequence to Him. Humankind will discover on Judgment day when all the books will be open….along with the Book of Life (notice that there is only ONE Book of Life, and many books of the deeds of everyone else who ever lived!).

The vastness and fathomless depth of the Universe is incomprehensible. This is confirmed by Commander Scott Altman, the great American astronaut who was sent up by NASA in the STS-125 Atlantis space shuttle to fix the Hubble telescope in May 2009. After watching a private presentation where he explored the sheer size of the discovery of over 3000 plus galaxies picked up by our amazing Hubble telescope, Commander Altman stood in awe of the majesty and power of God as He read from Genesis 1 about the “real big bang” – that is – when God spoke the world into existence. The word of a man who has seen the universe close up as opposed to a 19th century failed seminary student who hated God – Charles Darwin, naturally is more credible.


The self-existent God not only gets to determine the time of a person’s life, but the timing of every event in that person’s life. It has always been so.  Daniel reported in Daniel 7, as he saw a vision of God as He really is - who holds 10,000 years the same as we would a week-long vacation. Daniel said in Chapter 7:9-10 "
9 “I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened....Daniel 7:9-10

Daniel's incredible vision is a perfect representation of not just what the One True God looks like but what is going to happen on Judgment Day when the "books were opened". The brief experiment with man, which God came up with but which also cost Him the Life of His Son - the Creator of all things - is over, when Daniel recorded this, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. At this, the God of Eternity, to Whom six or seven thousand years are about seven hours in Eternity.

When we were young, many years ago, time seemed so slow. The summers felt as if they would never end. Time seemed to drag. But now in the approach to senior years, time flies. A year feels like a thousand minutes to us. It feels thus, because That Day, when the Books are open, is fast approaching. Our lifetimes may appear to like one night watch to the Ancient of Days. However, if we approach life with an eternal perspective and understand the Power, Majesty and Richness of His Glory, we will spend Eternity with the One Who holds Time in His Hands- our Time. It's an amazingly incredible thing!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 3

"You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” (Psalm 90:3)
The fragility of human life is even more evident by worldwide events in the past decade.  The thing is – it has always been so, ever since sin entered the world, via Adam and Eve. It was not meant to be so, man was created to live forever. 

The Book of Ecclesiastes tell us about not just the brevity of life, but its precariousness.  Ecclesiastes 9, verse 2 tells us who will die – everybody, whether Christian or not – born-again believer or not. Psalm 90:3 reminds us that we are literally on borrowed time, not knowing when the gig is up, the bill is due or it’s over.  This is a stark reminder that everything we are, as a human being, is literally hangs on the mercy, grace, compassion and love of God. Whether people believe that or not does not change timeless truths.

Luke 13:1-5 is stunning in its stark horror of those who do not live with the end in mind, in a constant state of readiness to “meet thy Maker”. Jesus was just informed of the evil execution of some of God’s people as they worshipped in the synagogue by the brutal Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Then He Himself volunteered another tragedy which occurred with 18 people who died when the Tower of Siloam collapsed. His Words should shake every person alive today….even solid long time mature Christian believers. 

These people killed by Pilate while offering religious sacrifices to the Priests in the Synagogue, as prescribed by the Torah were not only described as sinners but as lost! Jesus said in verse 3: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish". This Truth is a wake-up call to the church. The people who died in the Temple, even as they brought their offerings, tithes and sacrifices to God, were dispatched to be separated from God! Jesus knew they had not repented in their hearts, they were just doing religious rituals....just like all these fake Christians today who sing all the songs, raise their hands in the air...even go on Missions trips or preach. Yet they never had a true born-again conversion from darkness to light; from sin and death and hell to heaven; from a child of the devil to a saint destined for eternal glory.

Today, we have a lot of folks losing lives in train, construction and other accidents. Many other lives are lost in natural disasters and terrorist attacks as in the one committed by Pilate.  Jesus, the Judge of the Universe, had the same answer as to those in the temple in verse 5, when telling of the 18 people accidentally and tragically killed when the Tower of Siloam fell. He said in verse 5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

How does this pertain to verse 3 of Moses’ Prayer? Truth! From Dust we were created; to dust we shall return and God makes the call! 

Jesus shows us very clearly that we have to be ready to meet our Creator. Moses prayer shows the end of the process of physical like when God calls the ticket in and says "Return (to Me), o children of man". However the state in which a person returns to our Creator and God is determined right here on earth. The question remains: are those whose souls are demanded by the Father tonight prepared to meet Him or not?"

The problem is more and more and more people in this world, filled with billions of people, are not taking the warning from Christ - sent by His preachers and the worldwide church - and are returning to the Father to cast away forever, into outer darkness.

The Lord has said that He prefers not one to perish and be sent away from Him, but that all comes to Repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus said Himself in Luke 13, verses 3 and 5 that people will not make it, unless they repent and turn to God. This is the only way for Moses prayer here, in verse 3, to be meaningful to anyone alive today - because this is going to happen. 

Sunday, June 12, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES, PART 2

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psalm 90:2)
The heart of a truly Godly person could not be more evident than in this second verse of Moses' Prayer of Praise and Pronouncement. Each previous time, when Moses prayed, it was to beg the Hand of God to refrain from judgment against the Israelites. This time, Moses' prayer was worship based on Truth with the prophetic integrated into the prayer!

Verse 1 reassures us, through the Holy Spirit moving Moses to write down Psalm 90, that we have a safe and sure refuge in God, through Christ. Verse 2 UNDERSCORES this Truth by the Spirit talking about the immortality and self-existence of God. There was no "Big Bang" and something cannot come from nothing as lost scientists and others who believe in Evolution teach. God was and is always God. He is the Ancient of Days. He is the Creator of ALL things and He is God.

Moses asked the Lord on Mt. Sinai "Whom shall I say sent me?". Jesus told him "Tell them I am Who I am sent you" (Exodus 3:14).  This is the best the English can translate what Christ actually said. He said "tell them YHWH sent you" - the Self-Existent God Who is Spirit. The (Hebrew letter) H -Hey- represents the Spirit of God. When God changed Abram and Sarai's name to AbraHam and SaraH, He put His "H(hey) or Spirit in them to seal them. This is what He does for us at the point of Salvation until we go to be with Him, either through death or the coming Rapture.


We learn several things about God through this powerful verse (Psalm 90:2) of one man's Spirit inspired prayer:
Mountains - they are firm, foundational and never move - like God Who is Invincible!
Creation of the Earth - He is Incredible in the sheer biological, geological and beauty of what He created.
Everlasting to Everlasting - He is INFINITE ...no beginning, no end...and the God Who is FOREVER. He is the God of Eternity Past AND Eternity Future.
You are God - He is IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, God only wise. He just IS!

Proverbs 8:22 tells us that "The LORD made me at the beginning of His creation, before His works of long ago" (Holman)- proving He knew us before the Foundation of the World.

1 Chronicles 16:11 gives comfort, reassurance and sheer hope for the woman, man or son and daughter of God...that because of all the Attributes and Amazing characteristics of the Awesome God of Heaven. This verse tells us "Search for the LORD and for His strength; seek His face always"

Trust in God, through Christ now, before it is too late. He is Invincible, Incredible, Infinite, Immortal, Invisible and God - Yahweh - just IS...in Jesus' Strong Name, amen.

Friday, June 10, 2016

THE PRAYER OF MOSES, PART 1


 Psalm 90 verse 1“You have been our dwelling place in all generations”.
Moses the most humble man on the world here in Numbers 12:3 "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth". It is my humble opinion that this statement still stands over 3500 years later because there is no one alive today who fits this description....or can come close to the Face to face relationship the great prophet Moses had with the Lord Yahweh!

Many in the Bible, and now - from personal experiences - have had brief life-changing encounters with the great God of Heaven, but Moses was different. Jesus met so many times with Moses in the Tabernacle and for those extended periods on Mt. Sinai where He not only instructed Moses, but gave him the Law and the direction to lead his people to the point where Joshua could cross them into the Promised Land.


As great and humble as He was, God never forgave the last big sin Moses committed- pride in striking the Rock when he was told specifically to speak to the Rock (which was Christ). This is a perfect example of the extremely high standard God has for those who are His leaders- then AND now!

To understand the final recorded prayer of Moses, please grasp the full meaning of what he actually did! Yahweh, through the Holy Spirit, had Moses physically write down the ENTIRE first five books of the Bible – the Torah/Pentateuch. These greatest ever writings include the COMPLETE revealed knowledge of human history for its very beginning!! Moses was and is the only person in the entire history of mankind, who KNOWS what happened at Creation and in those early days. While he was not there at the moment of Creation, Moses heard it  directly from the One Who actually created the earth- Jesus! No matter how many big named preachers who ever lived preach or no matter how many times we read the Bible cover to cover, we will  never have the original intent and insight that Moses had because of this – never in this world!

Therefore, when Moses writes in verse 1“You have been our dwelling place in all generations, he is speaking from the position of Authority of one who spent more than 40 years in the Sinai desert.

As Christians, we are not in the Heavenly Realm as yet, since the plans and purposes of God are still in place, until the completion of time. What the Holy Spirit is saying through Moses’ prayer is that just as He – God – was within a breath and a prayer’s reach of Moses at all times after he was called at the Burning Bush, He (the Spirit and Person of Yahweh) is there for us as well!  This is SOP – Standard Operating Procedure – for ALL the people of God who have put their Faith and Trust in Him from Adam and Enoch to the last person under the wire before Jesus shuts it down for good! This is for ALL Generations – Old AND New Testament saints, Jew, Gentile and every configuration in between.

God Himself provides the proof in the very next Psalm – Psalm 91:1  where He says “He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High, shall ABIDE (dwell, live, set up camp, settle down) in the shadow of the Almighty”.

How can a person dwell and live in God, when he or she currently lives among the most disgustingly corrupt times in all humanity – by Faith! By Faith!  Read John 15:1-11 and marvel and love and be blessed by the Savior – Jesus Christ/Yahweh – who said in Verse 7 “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done”.

This is the good, kind, loving, and wonderful merciful Savior, Savior Redeemer and friend who rescued the souls of all who seek to follow Him, love Him, obey Him…..and turn from all sin, repent and trust/obey/accept Him as Lord of all. 

Moses knew this Jesus personally and relationally. Hebrews 11:26 tells us that Moses “esteemed (held high and dear to his soul) the Reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward”! How did Moses know Jesus Christ 1500 years before He was born in Bethlehem Ephratah in a cold damp cave? Moses knew Him from the Burning Bush, the Mountain, the Pillar of Cloud, the Pillar of Fire, Face to face, in the Tabernacle and in the Voice of the Spirit dictating the Oracles of God. We, who are called by the Name of the King – Christians – have no idea who fortunate and blessed beyond measure we are heirs to the Kingdom of Yahweh, the same Jesus Who walked and talked with Moses!. Meditate upon this, and fall on your knees in gratitude. 

Monday, June 6, 2016

THE WORLD TODAY .....WORSE THAN SODOM & GOMORRAH!

48"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.49"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. 50"Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it (Ezekiel 16:48-50).
The Great Billy Graham recounted that his wife Ruth had just gone through the draft of one of his books when the revelation of the enormity of our sin - as a people - hit her and Ruth told Billy the following: "“If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” This quote was made in 1965!

If you look at the events of the early 1960's we see that the United States Supreme Court had just done the unthinkable - removed any mention of God from schools and banned official school prayer. In less than two years since that occurred (1963), the filth and degradation of the 1960's sexual and moral decline of America and the rest of the world begun to accelerate.

We are at a point in human history at the present time, where the will and wanton lust of mankind are speeding towards a collision with the Holiness and Hands of God, Who will always bring sin into Judgment. In fact the sin of this modern age, in the 21st century, parallels that of Genesis 6 when God regretted creating man and proceeded to send the Great Flood to cleanse the earth. However, in some sense, the sin of the West and the pagan religions of the East is even more vile. This is so since we have the Record of the Truth as recorded in the New Testament, and the Knowledge of the Sacrifice of the Son of God - the Lord Jesus, at the Cross.

Jesus Himself warned against what will happen to those in the modern era, who rejects Him, the Truth and the Gospel. There is a harsher penalty and judgment coming for those in the modern era - since the Resurrection in 33 AD - who reject the Gospel and Christ than the final judgment STILL awaiting Sodom and Gomorrah and its residents who await the second death in the Lake of Fire!

Jesus said in Matthew 10:14-16 "And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."


Jesus was NOT talking about tolerance or hospitality but about the acceptance of the Preaching of the Gospel! Read all of Matthew 10 here. But why would the Lord warn about a harsher judgment against the most corrupt and evil cities in ancient history? To comprehend this we must look at the underlying cause of man's sinfulness - PRIDE.


We know from Genesis 18 part of the story of the destruction of Sodom where Jesus told Abraham that the "sin...and outcry against Sodom was grave". Sexual perversion and the attempted gang rape of two Heavenly Angels by morally degenerate men was only a symptom of that area's evil! We know from Scripture, there were actually five cities involved in total, in addition to Sodom and Gomorrah, which lay by the Dead Sea. The five cities "on the plain" are fleshed out in Archaeology here.


God revealed in the Ezekiel 16 passage and verse 49 that their sins were the following in order of magnitude: Arrogance; Abundant Food and Abhorrent Apathy and comfort. Arrogance is the original sin of Lucifer, Satan or the devil - the fallen worship leader of Heaven, who introduced evil and death into the world. The description of his sin in Isaiah 14:12-17 is identical to the Arrogance of 21st Century man. Nothing has changed except the year.

Man has not just shaken his collective fists at and spit in the Righteous Eyes of God, but modern corrupt man has taken on to him and herself, the mantle of committing the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit! How so, you ask? The Holy Spirit is the Author, Interpreter and Restrainer of Scripture or the Bible. There are explicit warnings about rewriting, reconfiguring and changing the Word of God to fit the political and societal agendas of a violent world, which is diametrically opposed to the Will and Word of God.

It is not just the rewriting of the definition of Biblical Marriage which God ordained in Genesis 2:24 and which Jesus reaffirmed in Matthew 19:4-6. It is the corruption of the Moral Code and Natural Law, where wrong is now right; the Gospel is being corrupted by huckters and prosperity gospel purveyors and worse! The unborn and innocent are being sacrificed to Molech as "unviable tissue masses" and under the banner of "reproductive rights" while children are being horribly misled/corrupted/brainwashed as early as Kindergarten by evil in the name of sexual identity or whatever the phrase is these days. There is no thought to the Judgment coming to these adults who are corrupting and misleading God's children with their own ungodly agendas in schools across the west and the culture. 

There is a specific warning against those kinds of people here from Matthew 18:6-7 "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!"

So in the final analysis, what does this all mean? How is this relevant to a Christian in the 21st century or just anyone who is concerned about these things? It matters a whole lot because God will bring every single action and more into Judgment on this day.  We know what caused the divine destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and it was not just sexual perversion. It was supreme arrogance, wealth and corruption which led a large sector of this forever demolished cities to think they could violate God’s Holy Angels when they came to rescue Lot.  

There is a strain of thought among secularists and so-called bible scholars and theologians that all of this is allegory.  As an aside here – whenever we hear the word “scholar”, think skeptic…in most cases. There have been amazing archaeological finds under 4000 years of silt and dirt where Sodom and Gomorrah existed by the Dead Sea, and the finds are even worse than the nuclear fallout of Hiroshima! There is no weapon on Planet Earth that can equal the Wrath of a Holy, Righteous and Angry God…as the unsaved world will discover during the Tribulation period which precedes the White Horse of Christ cutting through the Eastern Sky!

With all of this doom and gloom and scary news daily of some unholy outrage against God and His Holy Word and the coming Judgment against the world, what can the righteous, the saved, the redeemed and the good people who are seeking rescue do? 
- First of all, we must examine ourselves with the stark light of the Truth to see if there is anything in us which is not in alignment with God.  
- Secondly if there is some hidden sin, it HAS to be corrected immediately and dealt with through repentance, reconciliation and restoration. 
- Third, we must be fully aware of not just what the Bible says and means, but how God wants us to apply it to every aspect of our lives. If we have no clue on the Application of Scripture, we will not comprehend the times, the timeline of events and the events themselves….thereby knowing that these are the signs of a rapid advance to the end of days. 
- Fourth, in these times of approaching armageddon, significant natural disasters and a universe clamoring for the Savior, we have to be God’s alarm clock. If we do not spread the Gospel, the Road to Salvation and heaven and the Love of God to as many people as possible, we would have failed as Christians.
- Finally, we must trust fully in the Sovereignty of God. He is in charge of all things. He is the Judge of all things. He rules forever. He is merciful, longsuffering and compassionate. But His tolerance for evil and the stench of sin has an expiration date, which is quickly approaching. He will do as He says in the Book of Revelation and if we do not wish to be caught up in fire and brimstone 100 times worse than the nuclear-type blast which hit Sodom and Gomorrah, at the Second  Coming, repent now, believe the Gospel and put your complete Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of your life.

MUST SEE VIDEOS ON THE RUINS OF SODOM & GOMORRAH