DISCIPLINE #7 OF 12 - COUNSEL

 THE BMIC BLAST - JUNE 2025

THINGS GOD ABSOLUTELY HATES

TEXT:

16   There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
17   haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
18   a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
19   a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

MARK 3:16 - "PETER - FISHERMAN, DISCIPLE, NEW TESTAMENT WRITER"

“And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter”. (Mark 3:16)

Peter is the best known of all the disciples, of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, we admire the dynamic personality that he was, because, in a sense, there is a lot of Peter in us.

Born in the small fishing village (about 100 people) next to the Galilee sea, Peter is as bold, brash and salt of the earth as you can get. His hometown – Bethsaida – means “house of fish”. Peter and his brother, Andrew, may not have been as educated in the Torah (the first five books of our regular Bible) as the priests, scribes, and Pharisees, but they were just like every Jewish man. They knew the Law of God. This would be their foundation as Disciples of the One Who gave the Law to Moses.

Among many other noteworthy things done by Peter, his bold character speaks loudly through his statements and actions:

• “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (to the question by Jesus as to ‘who do men say I am’). Peter is the first to make the clearest statement of the Messiah. Jesus said this was a divinely-inspired statement (Matthew 16:16-17)
• Peter jumped out of the boat in the rough stormy waters of the Galilee and started walking on it when He saw Jesus walking in the water towards the boat. When Peter took his eyes of  Jesus, he began to sink (Matthew 14:28-29)
• Peter boasted to the Lord that he would never forsake him “even if everyone else did (Matthew 26:33). Yet Peter denied he even knew Jesus, with cussing and swearing, to strangers, not once but thrice.
• The impetuous Peter took his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the Temple guard after they came to arrest Jesus (John 18-10-11). This led Jesus to teach a truth that His followers will not live by the sword.

Peter, as hot-headed and shoot-from-the-lip, as he was, also did some wonderful things. After the Resurrection, he ran to the open, empty tomb and was the first man there.  After Jesus appeared on the banks of the sea and was seen cooking fish and bread for them, Peter did not wait for the boat to come ashore. He jumped into the water and swam to the Savior. It was here that Jesus officially forgave Peter and appointed him the foundation on which the Church will be built.

• It was Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit after Jesus went back Home, and sent the Counselor, who preached the first evangelistic sermon of the Christian Church. Three thousand were saved (Acts 2:14-41).
• It was Peter who healed a lame beggar. He was arrested and brought before the 
• Jewish High Court and told to stop preaching Jesus. He kept on. The man who denied, lied and cried ignorance about and of Jesus, was now shouting His Name out, loud and clear (Acts 4).
• Peter was there when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8).
• Peter was there when God sent him to witness to the Roman soldier Cornelius In these two actions, he was a living example of exhibiting the Foundations of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that it included EVERYBODY (Acts 10)!
• Peter stood up for non-Jewish Christians and told them they did not have to follow Jewish Religious Law in order to become followers of Christ, thereby, literally expanding the church to all tribes and tongues (Acts 15:7-11).
• Peter dictated the Gospel of Mark, to Mark, who wrote down the first-hand eye-witness account of Jesus by the Great Disciple. It was the first book of the New Testament ever written (around 45 AD) and used as Scripture by the Apostle Paul in his travels. 
• Peter wrote the two amazing Epistles of 1 and 2 Peter, which clearly gave us the Keys to Godly living. In 2 Peter 3:  Peter revealed for the first time, that the writings, letters, and exhortations of the Apostle Paul, are Scriptures.

316 APPLIED:

Today, we are very much like Peter. We are quick to speak. We make promises we sometimes are unable to keep, as we oversell and under-deliver. This is a serious one because sometimes our families get short-changed as we run around trying to put out fires everywhere. So now it is time for soul-searching.

• If we find ourselves full of pride by thinking “how could Peter do …..(fill in the blank offense against God),  then let’s pull out that same Prayer Journal I recommended in the application steps of Matthew 3:16, and start documenting our prideful thoughts.
•  Let us then, approach the Lord in the spirit of humility and seek His forgiveness from these shortcomings. Denying we fall short, while thinking with a false secret of superiority over another human being, is a transgression against God. It is best if ever never let things get this far, for our own good. 
• As a sign of our growing maturity, as a Christian and just a basic human being, let us be very careful about rash decision making, then projecting the Name of God unto it. 
• Sometimes in life, we must make a snap decision about a matter. In such a case, pray hard first and discern any potential fallout from this decision. Then, think biblically as to evaluating any consequences. Wherever possible, consider the end from the beginning, just like our Heavenly Father would. He sees all sides of the question and its consequences.  After all of this, then make the decision trusting God, in complete dependence on Him.
• Be willing to go the extra mile, to show someone of a different background, race or status as us, the love and salvation of God, in Jesus Christ. Peter showed us how to build the church: reach out to all, from all nations and neighborhoods.
• Be willing to give it all. Peter, like all of the Apostles/Disciples of Christ, gave his life for the cause of Christ when the time came. Only John, who wrote the Books which bear his name (John, Revelation etc.)lived to be a ripe old 95 years of age.  Peter, according to legend, was crucified upside down, because he did not think it worthy to be executed like His Savior and mine - the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask yourself this question - are there things I will consider giving up for Jesus Christ? If so, what could those things be? Pray for this question to resonate, within.

Photo Credit

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

(Photo Credit Here)

PRIDE AND THE FALL OF SATAN, PART 1: "I WILL"

There has never been a time where pride, ego and self-aggrandizement combined with social gospel -which has nothing to do the real Gospel, have all come together to confuse even some of the faithful. This has always been the intention of the Evil One, who was created along with the main angels of God - led by Gabriel and Michael - yet fell from his lofty perch as worship leader in the Heavenlies when he thought he was more important than God.

We read about this incident in Isaiah 14:12-15 where God Himself, through the Holy Spirit inspiring Isaiah to write, revealed exactly how Lucifer (Satan) fell from grace to the detriment of him, one third of the angels and all created mankind. We read here thus:
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!

For you have said in your heart:

I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High.

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit"

The five "I Wills" (highlighted in BOLD above) shows the pride and self-importance of the being now known as Satan which has billions from creation and billions now and until the end of time, to end up in eternal destruction in a place called hell. If that is too strong, try this one: "Eternal Seperation from God". Lucifer used his high position as the worship leader in Heaven or "son of the morning" and his freedom to be his own personality, yet under the final Authority of God, to promote his own agenda. Since then, he has been spreading lies, deception and worse and contributed 100% to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis Chapter 3. So how do we avoid that "fall" today? How do we, in the land of the living, go from "I will" to "Thy will"?

Tomorrow: "Humility"

THE EYES OF THE LORD PART 2 - "ALL IN"

“For the Eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

The theme of the 2014 Fellowship of Christian Athletes annual sports camp (for high school kids and led by its powerful Chaplain Kirby Myers of the Naval Academy FCA) is “All In”…..as in totally sold out to Christ, or committed to walking in His Ways – which are not our ways.  At least one quarter of the high school teens are only there for the sports camp training from the best football, baseball etc. coaches in any state.  Some of these coaches are many times state champions like the Central Illinois father-son team of Ken and Derek Leonard, the latter having four straight state 4A High School football championships under his belt. We can say that kids like those are not “all in”.

So it was with a king of Judah named Asa, who was ruled the southern kingdom around     the 9th century BC. When he had been king for 36 years, the southern kingdom of Judah was attacked by the northern kingdom and its vicious armies.  But instead of turning to the Lord, Who had favored the southern kingdom, Asa made a treaty with the pagan kind of Aram (Syria)….a man named Ben-Hadad.  The Lord had already sent the prophet Azariah to warn Asa that if he (Asa) sought the Lord, the Lord will be gracious and open to him. But God also warned Asa that “if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”!  2 Chronicles 15:17 said that Asa’s heart was “blameless all his days”.

But then, something happened. When Asa made his pact to seek Ben-Hadad’s assistance to defend Judah, he disregarded the Word of the Lord. The Lord then sent another prophet, Hanani, to deliver the word from on high. When Hanani went to tell King Asa of the direct admonishment of the Lord, for relying on a pagan alliance with Ben-Hadad rather than God whom Asa followed for most of his life, the King through Hanani in prison! Not just that, but King Asa had a complete shift in character from the majority of the many decades of good rule, and began oppressing his own people. In due course, King Asa developed a severe disease in his feet and instead of turning to the Lord for healing, as apparently he used to do, he turn and trusted only in his mortal doctors. There was a strange end to this once Godly turned prideful and selfish man - King Asa. When he died, he was buried in a grave - WHICH HE DUG FOR HIMSELF!

There are some critical lessons for us to learn from a man like King Asa. They are relevant for even these modern times. The first one is that you can do all kinds of wonderful work for the Lord. You can do go missions to dig water wells for people or build churches in Central America. You can feel the homeless at the local breadline or even win souls for Christ in passionate street ministry. You can be the best preacher in town with the liveliest church. If all of this means your self-reliance on your own judgment, is more important than seeking the Lord.... or you have some notion about making friends with the world to "get along", then you are in mortal King Asa territory. In this case, it would be a good idea to search your own heart to see if you are truly born again!

Secondly, the scary thing was - Scripture said Asa's heart was "blameless all his days"....until that 36th year when he committed a HUGE sin by taking the gold and silver from GOD's TEMPLE in Jerusalem and giving it to Ben-Hadad, for some defense "alliance". We can be deceived into thinking we are alright for most of our christian life and show our true colors towards the end of life, when it counts the most. We can appear to live the perfect life, in the eyes of the world, yet suffer shame and loss on Judgment Day. Asa shook his fists in front of Holy God not once, but many times in the last three years of his long reign as king. He knew the power of God - we know the power of God. He knew God would fight his battles, if he asks - we know the Source of our Strength, but sometimes do the opposite of Philippians 4:13. 

He knew the prophets of God (Azariah and Hanani) and persecuted them for speaking truth - we stick our heads in the sand because we, as a church, are afraid to acknowledge sin, call it sin, call evil evil and then stand up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are no different from King Asa sometimes...to the point of doing it our way, with no apologies to Frank Sinatra. Some of us refuse to even pray and/or intercede for our families and friends or country, because "God knows I'm okay". Some of us are so full of our own pride and self-importance that we even dig our own philosophical grave, as King Asa did so we could be buried "his way"!

The Scripture, whose context anchor this historic event, says that "the Eyes of the Lord run and move to and fro" across all mankind....to find AND support those whose hearts were ALL IN, or LOYAL to Him! King Asa was NOT loyal to HIm when it counted. Are you?
Jesus said in Matthew 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." What the Savior really means is that the elect - those who are called by His Name and are saved WILL make it all the way to the end of all things.  This is absolutely true. True believers have the capacity to persevere (also called "Perseverance of the Saints") because the Holy Spirit of God, who lives in us to guide us to the path of all Truth, leads us into the path of all Truth. The challenge from now on is for each of us to set our eyes and hearts to "Jerusalem" to fix our gaze on Him; to never waver and to never, never, never give up and never give in.

Let us then resolve to be like King David in Psalm 139:23-24" Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way within me". Then beseech the Lord to remove all filth, sin, iniquity and the propensity towards transgression, that His Eyes may find us "all in" for Him! Amen.

SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES, # 1 - PRIDE

In a day when down is up and up is down...in a day when good is called evil and evil good...in a day when lies and liars are good while the Truth offends...one thing is constant. God STILL hates sin. He despises it and says so and will judge those who commit it. 

A book which a perishing world, which is too blind and stupid to recognize it is under judgment already, despise - the Bible contains Truth for today and the Playbook for Life. It behooves every person alive to seek its revelation and knowledge. It belongs to every person alive to search it for comfort and peace. It contains the message of Salvation to all who would listen and apply....FREELY. It has everything and is sufficient for everyday life.

To that end, we look at the following passage to grasp the knowledge of what God hates so that we, you and I who seek relationship with Abba Father, will draw closer and not do these things. These things are difficult at times to maintain and stay away from....for even the strongest follower of Jesus Christ, because we live in a broken fallen world. So should that fact keep us from pressing on? No! We press on every more and press IN to prayer, intercession, fasting, digging deeper into His Word. 

These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
 

A proud look, A lying tongue,

Hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that are swift in running to evil,

 

A false witness who speaks lies,

And one who sows discord among brethren.

Proverbs 6:16-19

So we will examine each of these "no-no's" which God hates individually. 

First - PRIDE! There is a reason God hates Pride as the number one abomination. You see it was the pride of a created being named Lucifer which brought sin into existence and therefore, into the world. Here is where Pride began (from Isaiah 14:12-21)

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

(CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ACCOUNT OF THE FALL OF LUCIFER OR SATAN OUT OF GRACE WITH GOD)

This explains why every civilization and person that collapse morally and ethically.

This explains why Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed - because pride leads to perversion.

This explains why the Roman Empire fell - because pride, power and perversion lead to destruction.

This explains why the British Empire fell - because pomp, oppression, power and perversion lead to irrelevance and then destruction on Judgment Day.

This explains why Europe is a moral and spiritual wasteland because the lie of the Age of Reason, Evolution and more aligned them permanently with Lucifer, their father.

This explains why America's days are coming to a close, as prideful men has sold the nation's Bible-based birthright for a godless philosophy of mammon, the mad pursuit of godless socialism and the lust for personal power.

Pride is not just the satan-worshipping Karl Marx's Communism which has killed more hundreds of millions of people in the past century than Hitler ever imagined. But pride is the self-righteous, smug smut which everyone - from the corner deli to the local TV reporter to the city councilman, to the abortionist to the highest halls of power in the nation's capitol - indulges in. Yes, and pride can still be found in the church....which is the most dangerous of all. While the unredeemed in the political and social and celebrity world are expected to act like they do, God's people are supposed to know and act better than that - so why don't we? - Foolish Pride.

How do we realize we have committed the sin which God hates so much that He literally destroyed the sinful pride of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49), which led them to commit sexual perversions which is repeating itself in today's push for same-sex "marriage" acceptance and more? We repent! We repent IMMEDIATELY and then humble ourselves.

The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives Grace to the humble. Our Savior was the Humble servant during His time on earth to model our life around. Can we be like Him and resist pride? We sure can. Stay close to Him. Pray and talk with Him. Praise Him. Honor Him. Worship Him. Bow down before Him and Love Him. Do these things, oh ye worshipper in Spirit and in Truth...and the sin which God hates most - Pride, will not cause you or I to fall. Amen. 

THEY IGNORED HIM!! LET'S NOT DO THE SAME!

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM!

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:1-6 ESV)

The above passage is familiar to all who know the full Christmas story! As we look at this amazing event - the Birth of the Savior (and He was actually born closer to the Feast of Tabernacles around September 30 rather than December 25), we are discovering different nuggets and jewels from the Kingdom of God! 
We found out that the Shepherds were the First Pastors (READ THAT STORY BY CLICKING HERE).  That would be the Shepherds of Bethlehem who watched their flocks by night.
We found out that the prophesy of the PLACE of His birth (which is quoted above) was specifically spoken of by the Old Testament prophet Micah, many hundreds of years ago! In fact that same prophesy is quoted above in Matthew 2 (in red)!

But what I wish us to take a look at is the following verse which has been troubling me for three days now: ".....When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”....(Matthew 2:3-6 ESV)

To be more specific, let us look at this part here "....the chief priests and scribes of the people....told him (Herod)....for so it was written by the prophet"!!! 
These priests - scribes and pharisees - KNEW THE MESSIAH WAS GOING TO BE BORN IN BETHELEM.
These priests - scribes and pharisees - KNEW THE ENTIRE SCRIPTURES (BECAUSE THEY STUDIED BOTH THE HEBREW SCROLLS AND THE SEPTUAGINT) SPOKE OF THE COMING MESSIAH, YESHUA THE KING, ALL THROUGH THE HAFTARAH OR THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS.
These priests - scribes and pharisees - KNEW THE WORD OF GOD, BECAUSE THEY LONGED FOR THE MESSIAH TO RESCUE THEM FROM ROME.
These priests - scribes and pharisees - KNEW ALL OF THIS.....AND DID NOTHING WHEN THE LORD SENT THE MEN FROM THE EAST TO INQUIRE!

THEY DID NOTHING!! NOTHING!! This is the church today! God could send the wisest prophets, missionaries, prayer warriors...and more. He could, would and does send warning after warning after warning to us to take heed, repent and get things right with Him as a country and personally. He even takes His Hands off and lets certain catastrophic events happen - yet we do NOTHING...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING....just like this religious people who could rattle off the written word....then go back to their comfortable surroundings! They went back to sleep....we are sleeping today! We are no different than those people!

You know the old story about the flood and the man who waited at the top of the house for God to rescue him, from the waters rising all around him. You remember that a boat came...and the man refused help. He said "I'm waiting for God to rescue me!" Then a helicopter dropped a ladder down and the man refused to go up into the safety of the chopper. He said "I'm waiting for God to rescue'" Well, the man drowned and stood before God where he complained to God "where were you while I was waiting on the roof and the flood was rising all around me. Why didn't You rescue me, God"
Finally God had enough and said "I sent you a boat and a helicopter and you refused them!!!"

Things happen to us because we refuse to recognize, read and react to the signs all around us. As America and its church sink further into the morass of its own making, we have only ourselves to blame.
We have ignored the news and whereabouts of the Messiah, when He was and IS always within reach. 
We have ignored and refused the prompting of the Holy Spirit daily in the church and in most, even in their own lives.
We have ignored and refused to bend the knee to the Lord and Savior and instead turned to sinful and morally bankrupt world systems to rescue us from all kinds of stupid cliffs....when we should be more concerned about rescuing as many as possible from the coming judgment!

This Christmas season, let us resolve to NOT be like these priests - scribes and pharisees - who not just knew where the Savior is, and refused to go to Him for ALL America's problems! Let us go to Him NOW and seek forgiveness; hope; compassion and His Eternal Love, Peace and Joy - the true message of Christmas! 

THIRTY DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE - DAY 23

PRAY THE NAMES OF GOD

DAY 23
GOD IS WRATHFUL


Think about this for a second - Holy Father, the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit are up in heaven looking down on the unformed mass called planet Earth. Jesus speaks our world into existence and then all Three say "Let Us  make man in Our Image".

Adam the perfect man is breathed into existence, given everything and a beautiful woman....except one thing - Do not eat from that Tree! Sure enough, Adam broke covenant with the Maker and all hell has since broken loose! It got so bad around the time of Noah that God Himself regretted publicly that He even made mankind (Read Genesis 6).


There was not just vile and evil acts of men - murder, mayhem, greed, pride, idolatry, devil-worship etc.. - but the fallen angels were committing a no- no! Angels, who were created before man, began having sexual relations with women, because they saw how beautiful women were. This created the Nephillim as well as a breed of giants. 


In His Wrath, God destroyed the earth once by the Great Flood, when only Noah and his family were spared.
In His Wrath, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, not just for sexual perversion, but for the sins of pride, greed and idolatry.
In His Wrath, God destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel, after they abandoned Him and committed the worst acts any human can devise.
In His Wrath, God destroyed Judah and Jerusalem by sending the Babylonians, after they did the same and both ignored prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah.


This is God's Corporate Wrath, where He judges an entire people. But what mortal men and women should be concerned about is His Personal Wrath! For 2000 years, the world has ignored the plain-as-day Message of Reconciliation brought from Heaven by Holy God, in the form of the Lord Jesus. The Ancient of Days, stepped off His Throne, gave up all His Rights to be born a baby in Bethlehem and lived for 33 years as a lowly man.


He showed us the Father in Heaven. 
He showed us the Love of God.
He showed us the Salvation of God.
He showed us the Way to God.
He showed us the Grace of God.


He was beaten. He was humiliated. He was persecuted and then killed by religious men. Yet He said not a word except "IT IS FINISHED". For that living Sacrifice of God, Who gave the explicit way back to Him, so that Adam's sin can be paid for, through all time, has been trivialized by evil men and women until today.


The majority will continue to rebel against Him. While they see no judgment coming, they live in perpetual sin and degradation. They mock God. They blaspheme God. They spit in His Eye. They curse Him. They deny Jesus Christ and more. They have no idea they are storing up Wrath for themselves. But a day is coming, declares the Lord. Read the following two distinctive passages from the prophet Nahum and then pray with me:

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
the LORD is avenging and wrathful;
the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
(Nahum 1:2-3 ESV)

Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
The LORD is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
(Nahum 1:6-8 ESV)


Father in the Name of Jesus, I thank You that You are patient with us. I thank You that You did not destroy us again, after the Great Flood, where You gave Your rainbow as a covenant You will never flood the earth like that again to wipe out evil man and his sin.


I thank You that You gave a way of escape from the coming Wrath and Judgment through the Passover Lamb, Who died on the Cross for my sins.  I thank You that You gave us the church age so that we may be saved, before the Day comes when it is no longer available.


Lord, day after day, night after night, many of all ages, including those who call themselves Christians die in their sins because, for their own stupid personal reasons, they refuse to come to You, to seek forgiveness and make their peace with You. Countless billions will spend eternity in Hell and the Lake of Fire, away from You, because they believed the Lie from the Pit.

They believed the Lie that it's okay to believe what they want.
They believed the Lie that they can say what they wish against the Lord Jesus.
They believed the Lie that there are other ways to You and Heaven apart from Jesus.
They believed they Lie that they can live as they wish, with no cost..."because in the end, it will all work out"!
They believed the Lie that a "Loving God won't send me to hell", while rebelling against You all the days of their lives. 

While they believe all those Lies, Father, they stored up Wrath for themselves, which they will realize on the moment of their death, means eternal separation from You. Still, while they stored all of that up, You gave them the way of escape through Belief and Forgiveness through the Son, Jesus...and they continue to ignore it. You could wipe all that away, if they would just come to the Cross!!!!

Father, in these last days, I pray many will open their eyes and hearts, before it is too late for them...and I pray many will see the signs of the Times and confess with their mouths and believe in their hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord....and BE SAVED through His Blood and His Name, amen and amen! Oh God, let it be so, in Jesus' Holy and Precious Name, amen!

TOMORROW: GOD IS FULL OF GRACE

(image by google images)

PRAYER FOCUS FOR TONIGHT - REPENTANCE

REPENTANCE (dictionary definition):A deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin,wrongdoing, or the like regret for any past action.

TRUE BIBLICAL REPENTANCE IS A TURNING AWAY FROM YOUR SIN AGAINST HOLY GOD.


OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS, BEFORE THE MORN, REPENT FOR THE FOLLOWING:




Sins of Pride Sins of Greed 
Sins of causing others pain 
Sins of neglecting the poor and persecuted
Sins of omission
Sins of Commission
Sins of the Eyes and lusts of the Flesh
Sins of neglecting daily worship
Sins..sins...sins!


Here are Bible verses to focus attention on from Christ Himself:


“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).

“Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:20-21). 

“And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-5). 

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. … Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7, 10). 

“And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48).

(Image by Google Images)