Tag: RELATIONSHIPS

Spiritual Warfare – Is it affecting You?

I clearly see this happening to us, although it was present well before I was born; I was blind to it. I didn’t know it truly existed until a few years ago: the unseen forces we often battle! And so many of us react: “I just don’t know why that happened?!” After reading this, you might understand:

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1Peter 5:8

7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Job 1:7

Throughout the bible, there are references to being “sober” or avoiding being drunk. Have you ever heard someone make an excuse for something bad that happened and say: “Well that’s because I was drunk,” or “I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t been drinking,” or simply: “I was drunk.” Could it be possible that being under the influence of anything that puts our mind in an uncontrolled state literally allows or gives spiritual access and influence over our mind and body? Isn’t it interesting that alcohol is also called “spirits”? These are questions to think about, I don’t have the answers, but these questions have crossed my mind recently. I think about this next statement Jesus made to the Pharisee named Nicodemus:

12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

John 3:12

There are heavenly things and spiritual forces we do not see nor comprehend. It seems to me there are some spiritual laws that we do not fully comprehend either, but we are affected by them. Jesus also said this about Satan:

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

and Jesus said this to the unbelieving Jews:

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

We also know from the Bible that right after Jesus was baptized by John (the Baptist) in the Jordan River, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days, and he was tempted by Satan. It’s interesting that this “tempting” occurred immediately after people visibly saw the spirit descend on Jesus and audible heard God speak. I believe this happens in our lives too, when we get closer to God, we can be sure that we will experience this spiritual warfare to try to interfere with our connection/relationship with God. It’s much easier to deal with an enemy, when we know who it is that is attacking.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16

Jesus knew scripture and quoted it in response to Satan’s temptations. This is a good reason why WE should know scripture too, so that when we are tempted, we can recall what scripture states and avoid the lies, deception or the temptation.

  1. In the first temptation, about turning stones to bread, it seems to me that Jesus is emphasizing this point; we live by every word (scripture) that comes from God’s mouth, not just by the bread that provides physical nourishment. In another part of scripture, Jesus refers to himself as “the bread of life” and in the gospel of John, Jesus is described as “the Word.”
  2. In the second temptation, it seems Satan wants Jesus to commit suicide, but Jesus responds that we are not to test God!
  3. In the third temptation, Satan wants to be worshipped, but Jesus responds: only God is to be worshipped.

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew 4:1-11

Here is another example of the spiritual warfare affecting mankind. Saul chose to do things his way and not obey God. Saul wasn’t repentant for doing it Saul’s way, he justified it. Therefore, God rejected Saul as King. From this we see that when God’s spirit is with someone they are blessed and protected, but after a period of time when a person remains disobedient, God removes His Spirit and an evil spirit is then allowed access. Here is what happened to Saul, found in scripture:

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the Lord tormented him.

1 Samuel 16:14

The entire book of Job is about a spiritual attack from Satan. Everything was taken from Job to turn Job against God, but fortunately Job did not turn away from God and God rewarded Job. We also see from this that everything is under God’s ultimate control, even Satan. God transferred the power over Job to Satan. This is concerning because Job was righteous and God allowed some horrible events to occur. But we have to remember that our time on earth is temporary, our focus should not be on this world, but on the next. Those with God’s spirit will live in eternity with God in the future when Jesus returns. So ultimately whatever hardships we experience as testing of our faith when we continue to trust in God, if we endure and prevail, we will be rewarded in eternity, if not before then. God is faithful and keeps promises. We may not always like the way events work out, but we must trust that God will work out everything for the best of those who love Him.

9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Job 1:9-12

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10

Another thing to know about the spiritual attacks is that we can’t let our guard down. When God removes an evil spirit, if we don’t remain connected to God, even more evil will come to attack us. Here is the example of this from scripture of what Jesus said to the Pharisees (the righteous law keepers):

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Matthew 12:43-45

To summarize, we are likely experiencing spiritual warfare (if it is not a direct consequence for our “sinful” action) when the following happens:

  • Sadness
  • Believing negative lies
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Loneliness
  • Physical Illness
  • Physical Destruction or Brokenness
  • Feeling Unworthy
  • Feeling Emptiness
  • Feeling Lacking in some aspect
  • Feeling Insecure
  • Experiencing Temptation
  • War/Fighting/Anger

From scripture, we learn if we are not living obedient to God, we can experience these things as a consequence of our behavior. The consequences are allowed by God with the hope that we “wake up” and turn back towards Him. While this may be upsetting to hear, if we turn back towards God with all our heart, He is merciful, forgiving, loving and wants all of His children (us) living in Eternity with Him on a new earth and heaven that will come after Jesus returns. God has incredible future plans for us in Eternity; his plans are so much greater than ours.

because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    as a father the son he delights in.[a]

Proverbs 3:12

HOW TO STOP SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Knowing about spiritual warfare gives us the ability to fight it off. First take an honest look at the life we are living, do we need to change anything according to what God wants for us? Secondly, pray. Turn to God for help. Jesus often withdrew from the crowds to pray and Paul said this in scripture:

17 pray continually,

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Sometimes this spiritual warfare can feel like it’s on a “repeat cycle” and never ends, just keeps coming. There could be a reason for this too because Jesus told us:

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 

John 8:34

Continual disobedience (aka sin) or towards God keeps us IN SLAVERY of sin. Doing something we know we shouldn’t but can’t seem to stop, that’s what continual disobedience is, and we wonder “why?” Why is because we are SLAVES to it, we have allowed it, by our choice, now it takes over and CONTROLS us. If we believe we are not enslaved, well that’s another LIE and spiritual attack to keep us in the continual disobedience. Do you see how this works? We allow ourselves to be MANIPULATED by Satan when we don’t fight it off and do something different. Remember: insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We need to make a change to end that cycle! It will continue until we do something about it, until we get tired of being a pawn in slavery to the enemy of God. This fact comes from the mouth of Jesus himself: if we are in sin, we are a slave to it. What does Satan come to do? steal, kill and destroy. So how long will we let this cycle continue before we truly take action and defeat it? Maybe we’ve unsuccessfully tried to stop this on our own in the past? Why not try this time: WITH GOD!? Remember what Jesus told his disciples:

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

When we surrender our life to God, when we choose God instead of remaining in disobedience, God HIMSELF will make it possible. By FAITH in God. Faith can do unimaginable things, Jesus said this too:

20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

Remember what happened to Peter when he had partial faith, or fleeing faith:

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14: 27-32

So how do we obtain FAITH? Paul tells us how (read scripture!):

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 10:17

ETERNAL SECURITY

It’s simple to know if we will be in eternity because Jesus said to enter God’s kingdom, we need to be born again, born of the water and of the spirit. The water is a baptism indicating “repentance,” born of the spirit is receiving the Holy Spirit from Jesus when we ask him for the Spirit and he knows that our intentions are towards being obedient to God. The Spirit helps us overcome the natural rebellion we have and gradually changes us.

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]

John 3:5-8

This is interesting as documented in the gospel of Matthew, John (the Baptist) also said water for repentance and that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. It makes sense because we receive the Holy Spirit through Jesus, from God, but John also mentions “fire” – to me this sounds like the testing, often throughout scripture it mentions refining metal through fire symbolic for refining of people through testing.

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:11-12

When we know Spiritual Warfare exists and how we can fight it and we know how we have Eternal Security- we then have nothing to be concerned about and can experience peace in all circumstances, knowing the promise of God. This peace can remain in our lives when we talk to God daily (through prayer) and our faith increases as we learn more from scripture about Jesus, daily reading of scripture is recommended too. We need daily reminders of the love of God. Jesus made it possible for us to share in God’s kingdom, when Jesus returns, we just need to make the choice.

I pray for wisdom, guidance and protection from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to come to you and remain with you until we have that eternal security when Jesus returns and then will be together as brothers and sisters in God’s kingdom, eternal peace, joy, happiness, and celebration. It will be amazing! It is from God! Get ready for it!

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Discernment vs. Deception: Good vs. Evil

We are in a deception transition period from what I see happening in the world where good and evil are mixed up, creating confusion about right and wrong. Our warning about this came almost 2,000 years ago, if we don’t express and support the truth, soon the younger generations will have a difficult time identifying good from evil. This is what we were told:

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 1:32 (Paul)

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

Romans 1:28 (Paul)

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people….They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

2 Timothy 3:1-9

We are seeing truth distorted on a continuous basis and anyone speaking against the lies is called “the enemy” and is publicly “shamed”. There is a tremendous pressure for all to “comply” with this new “untruth/lie” deceivingly packaged as “compassion and love” – a strong deception, but “marketed” as something opposite, completely confusing many. There are many opinions, but there will only be Truth remaining in the end.

HOW TO AVOID DECEPTION- WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Know the messenger! Don’t trust anyone you don’t know very well. Find out who they truly are. They may be charming, convincing, appealing, etc. BUT:

Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

Proverbs 26:25

So what are 7 abominations? Possibly the 7 things God hates:

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty (proud) eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood (murder), a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Proverbs 6:16-19

If the following surrounds their life, do NOT trust them:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery (intoxication), idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galations 5:19-21

WHO TO TRUST – WHAT TO LOOK FOR

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galations 5:14

God is love. When a person has God’s spirit (Love) residing within them, you will notice the following surrounding their life:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Knowing this information, we can “test” the messenger and know if this is a trustworthy or untrustworthy source of information, despite the delivery of the message.

If we want to be known as “good” we should remember that Jesus said there is no one “good” but God, however, God is kind and compassionate and with our “surrender” to Him, Jesus said if we ask, he will send the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) who, once we are open to receiving the Holy Spirit, will begin to work within us. The Holy Spirit provides wisdom, guidance, protection, understanding of truth, peace, gifts (Romans 12:6-8) (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), power, love, discipline, and God’s eternal seal placed on us for our resurrection, redemption at the time of Jesus’ return.

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[a] his Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:11

USE IT OR LOSE IT!

So remember these verses and use them to evaluate people better knowing who is trustworthy, use it to make future critical decisions in life, and most importantly, get to know Jesus through scripture (read the Gospel of John) If you believe what John writes about Jesus, what Jesus said, pray and ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit to come to you; we all need the Holy Spirit for all the reasons mentioned above.

by Categories: bible prophecy, bible study, FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

When Someone Hurts You…

Right now, find a personal peaceful place of momentary solitude and read or listen (on the podcast) to what I share in this letter. There are many times where having others around is good and positive, but for the moment, find a place and make some alone time for yourself, so you can think without being distracted or interrupted. I don’t know where you are in your beliefs, but what I’m about to share is what has been effective for me personally, when “life” didn’t always go as well as I wanted. I am 100% confident this will be effective for you too, but please be patient, it may or may not be a “quick fix,” depending on the depth of the “hurt” you experienced, but this will be an effective lasting healing. I sincerely hope you give this a try because it works and not only works, but in my opinion is the ONLY solution that will have a lasting healing from the “hurt”! I’m saying this from my personal experience, this will be the best thing in life that you ever did, if you follow through!

In your solitude, whether you have faith or not at this time, just please try this: quiet your thoughts and think about the words in this prayer and say this, directing it towards Jesus:

“Dear Jesus, I’m struggling with hurt (and anger) right now and I need discernment, strength, healing, wisdom and hope that only you can grant me. Please help and guide me through this time in my life.”

WHY JESUS?

As you probably know, the best person to get advice from is the person who has been through the experience and has overcome the experience successfully, so there is no one better to get advice from than Jesus, because he lived on earth and went through many things that we go through: He was tempted, he was abandoned, he was betrayed by those closest to him, he was murdered, people stole from him, people rejected him, people made fun of him, he was beaten, he experienced aloneness for 40 days , his closest friends didn’t support him, denied him, he felt physical pain, he was lied to (Peter his friend), he experienced hatred from others and MOST importantly: He SUCCESSFULLY overcame ALL this! I can’t think of anyone who experienced ALL these things and still came out on top, overcame all of it, can you? This is why Jesus is the ONLY one I go to for advice (through prayer)!

RELEASE YOUR FEELINGS

This is in private: tell Jesus everything (uncensored) because he knows it anyway- no one else needs to know. Be honest about everything, talk to him, because he already knows, it’s good to be honest about the hurt (and anger) or write it down (and tear up the paper, or burn it afterwards, but “pour” it all out, release all your feelings), and understand this hurt is TEMPORARY! It WILL get better. If we don’t express this hurt and anger, it can build up inside and come out later in ways we don’t want it to, if it’s not taken care of sooner, it will come out later.

DISCERNMENT ABOUT THE EVENT

This is one of the things asked for in the prayer above: discernment. Sometimes what happened can be confusing to us, we don’t understand why it happened, but we can be sure it happened due to evil: please be aware, we live in a world that is impacted by unseen forces (both good and evil) and there is a good probability that whoever hurt you has something evil influencing them. That is why we are told not to fight evil with evil, but to fight evil with good because the spirit of God (Only God is good) is more powerful and effective than we are and will conquer anything evil. If a person has unknowingly allowed evil access to our lives (through continual sin), evil is influencing and evil spirits can also possess a person and make them act in wicked ways. People who allow sin to remain in their lives do become slaves to evil. That’s why getting sin out of our lives is beneficial for us. Sin creates an open portal in us and allows much worse events to happen because it separates us from God. Only God can truly protect us from evil – that’s why we need to eliminate what separates us from God. These evil spirits bring with them into people: sickness, mental health issues, addictions, violence, etc. This is real, not a fairy tale. If you don’t believe this, you are simply in a “blind-state” about it at the moment, but Jesus will open your eyes, when you sincerely seek him. If we do not have God’s spirit residing within us, by default, we are vulnerable to evil, but we can change that by calling out to Jesus in prayer and asking for His Spirit, which he willing gives to those who ask with good intentions. There is no doubt that it’s evil behind what hurt us; God’s spirit (when residing within someone) will warn a person before they act in an evil way, but it is up to the person if they choose to respond to the guidance. Discernment is the ability to distinguish between good and evil, we have to know about this before we can understand this. Evil is deceiving, in fact it can portray itself as “an angel of light” but we can discern what is evil by what we see in action, this is called the “fruit” of the spirit, what the spirit of God “produces” in action (which will not be seen in a person influenced or enslaved by evil): “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galations 5:22-23

LET IT GO

This is where you’ll need the strength we asked for in prayer: to let it go. After the “hurt” happens, it served its purpose and it is time to move on, it is over, the damage is done: God will use it for good, if you are one of God’s children and God will restore you and bless you in some way. Sometimes bad things happen as lessons in life (teaching us), other times bad things happen to test our relationship with God- to see what decision we will make after it happens: do we get closer to Him? or do we reject Him? And other times bad things happen to us as punishment for what we have done (separating ourselves from God- through our continual sin, know that we all sin and we all are not and will not be perfect as long as we are alive), so God disciplines His children with the hopes that we learn from the discipline and change our ways before something worse happens. Changing our ways means living life with Jesus as our model, our example, looking up to him for how we should handle ourselves. (This information is scattered throughout the New Testament and best found in the gospels. I like the book/gospel of John because he was one of the 12 original disciples who followed Jesus. he personally felt like he was “the closest” to Jesus and you’re hearing about Jesus, from first hand physical experience- from one of Jesus’ friends.)

FORGIVE

The person who harmed us may never ask for forgiveness, but we still need to forgive them because if we don’t, God may hold back His forgiveness of us. We all have broken God’s commandments at some point during our lives, so we ALL are in need of His forgiveness. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean what they did was “okay” but if we use discernment, we see that what they did was purely out of evil influence in their life. In truth, they may need more help than us, but leave it to God. God is just and will justly take care of the offense, God tells us: “it is mine to avenge“. And this may not be the most Christian way to think about the outcome, but God’s wrath is much more severe than anything we could ever do, so leave it in God’s hands and trust that God will address it in the future. He will. He is trustworthy and just. We truly don’t want to be against Him for this same reason. It is a battle that will be lost.

REDIRECT YOUR FOCUS

What we surround ourselves with affects us. Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (Corinthians 15:33) The best way to deal with the hurt when it arises is through prayer: express it and ask for help. Reading or listening to scripture or teachings from the bible will take your mind off it and give you something more useful/productive as an alternate focus. The music you listen to affects us, so try a change, find something peaceful, not sad, and even better is to find worship music that sounds good to you. This will uplift and encourage you as it takes your mind off the hurt. If you like positive “pop, hip-hop” upbeat music, there is an app you can download and listen to anywhere you go: here is the link to the website: BOOST Radio is 24/7 Pop, Hip Hop & Hope. Clean hip hop and pop music. – BOOST Radio (myboostnation.com) here are some other options: Top 10 Christian Radio Stations (godtube.com) When you are ready to be around others, choose people who build you up in your relationship with Jesus. This is the way to have support and lasting healing: we need to stay connected to Jesus, that’s what he mean when he said: I am the vine and you are the branches; if we are not connected to him we will not have the spirit of God protecting and guiding us.

KNOW THE FUTURE

There is only one who knows the future and he is God. When Jesus was on earth, he told people about the kingdom God has prepared for those who come to God through Jesus. This time on earth is temporary, there is a future eternity where people who have God’s spirit residing in them will be changed in an instant (at the return of Jesus) and those people will be rewarded with an incredible immortal future in a beautiful NEW earth and heaven that is not broken, where there will be no suffering, no tears, no sadness, but only joy and happiness and it will be indescribable, magnificent. No one can adequately, effectively describe what God has in store, but this world has nothing to compare to it. So it will be amazing. God’s new earth and heaven will surpass any expectation because of who He is. Don’t worry about what happens here, this is simply a transition to something greater, focus on the future of what God has in store for us. It will be incredible! Here is a glimpse: Revelation 21 (NIV) – Then I saw a new (blueletterbible.org) and Revelation 22 (NIV) – Then the angel showed me (blueletterbible.org) Help those you love know about what is in store for them as well, if they choose God and trust in Jesus (who we get to know through reading the gospel)! Jesus told everyone: “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:16 ,

MY PRAYER FOR YOU

I pray that you are healed from your hurt and that God restores and blesses you in ways you can’t even comprehend right now, but when it happens, know that God did it! Through Jesus’ name, Amen.

by Categories: bible study, Dating, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, Marriage, Parents, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Why Don’t We Care More About God?

It’s easy to not deeply care about someone we only know by name (a stranger), but not someone we truly know (an important person to us).

Think about this for a minute: think of someone you know: that person you see occasionally (it could be someone from work, or someone living in the neighborhood, this person should be someone you see occasionally but don’t interact with much), you know their name, but you might not know many details about them such as their life story, stories of their struggles, or stories of their favorite memories in life. You know them primarily by name only, the depth of your knowledge about this person is limited. Let’s refer back to this person as “stranger” going forward.

Now think about someone you love (it could be presently or in the past) but pick someone that you believe you truly love, someone whose “well-being” you truly care about, someone you take time to be with regularly, you know their struggles, you know their life story, you know what makes them happy. Let’s refer to this person as “important” going forward.

Take a minute to think about both these people, you “know” both of them, but one you know primarily know by name, the “stranger.” and the other you know many more details about them and they are the “important” person to you. This is how most of us are with God (until we seek Him), we know OF Him, but we don’t truly KNOW Him. If we don’t truly know a person, we can’t genuinely love that person- the same holds true about God. How can we love God or make Him a priority in our life, if we don’t genuinely know Him? We can’t.

The best way for us to get to genuinely know God is by reading scripture (the bible) daily, here’s what I’ve learned about God and us over the past three years of doing this. Let’s start at the beginning: Creation. God’s creativity is so much more impressive than anything mankind can create. Think about our bodies, the intricacy of our unique DNA coding, the systems of the body, how they work together, the ability of our body to “heal”, the intricacy of our eyes, the complexity of vision, all the tiny blood vessels, nerves, and muscles, throughout that provide what’s needed for various components of our bodies to function as designed. Think about our minds, the capacity to think, ponder, analyze, feel, etc. This didn’t just happen by “accident”- there is a complex, well- designed system that even the doctors today don’t have full understanding, often treatments are still trial and error when doctors try to fix something. God made us. He intentionally made everyone of us (we are here because He wanted us here): each of us is unique and has special gifts, created by God. We were created to relate with Him and with others in this world. God wants to be known and sometimes uses supernatural means to be discovered by us. Think, for a minute , about that “important” person brought to your thoughts earlier. You love that person, now imagine this: what if that person didn’t know you? You knew them, you love them, yet they don’t react to you, they ignore you, they don’t respond to you. Wouldn’t that be frustrating? Now think about how God feels when we ignore Him. God has feelings and emotions. We were created in His image and similar to Him, we also have feelings and emotions. How would you feel if the person you love responded to you as a “stranger”?

Creating us is what God did, but there is more about who God is. There is a mystery about God, revealed through scripture. There is one God, but a triune God: God the Father, the Son of God (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. All three were present during the creation. This is a detail that can be supported by the original Hebrew scripture with the word: Elohim This is very interesting because the word is “plural” and the singular form is Eloah and both are used in scripture, but the creation as well as other pats of scripture use the plural version. Explore this if you doubt. Why would God be referred to with a plural reference if He is not triune? Genesis further describes God’s Spirit hovering over the waters during creation and the bible also says “let us make make mankind in our image” (Genesis 1:26) It is not until Jesus arrives that we fully understand this “triune”, when Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist all are present: the spirit descends visibly when Jesus comes up out of the water during baptism and God speaks audibly telling those present that Jesus is His Son (Matthew 3:17). But even further back in scripture, about how Jesus came became man, we learn from God’s messenger angel, who visited Mary (Jesus’ mother). The angel explained that it is God’s spirit who makes this pregnancy occur, not by man, the angel also visited Joseph who was engaged to be married to Mary and was thinking about secretly departing from her due to the pregnancy, but the angel explains what happened to Joseph and Joseph follows through with Mary. (Matthew 1:18) The three (triune God) are present at the very beginning of Jesus’ human life. Something else to think about: throughout scripture, no one technically sees God, Moses gets the closest to seeing Him, but then hides his face. When Moses returns to the people he is described as “radiant” (Exodus 34). Scripture often tells us God is Spirit, so it’s hard to comprehend His presence, is He pure light or does He have bodily form? Scripture mentions the throne of God and Jesus is seated at the right hand, so it does seem like there is a form of some type and if mankind was created in God’s image, then it would also seem likely. If we look back in scripture again, in Genesis (Genesis 3:8), God is walking in the garden (all three are present: Elohim) it is written about God’s voice being heard, and then the singular version Yehova (Jehova) is also used and so is Ruah (which means spirit or wind in the Old Testament, in Hebrew; ruah is used used 378 times) and is interesting to discover. Could it have been Jesus who was walking in the garden? (I don’t know the answer to this question but it crossed my mind after reading this verse.) Jumping forward, in the book of Revelation, Jesus reveals that he is the beginning and the end (Revelation 21:6), he also reveals this in the gospel of John when Jesus tells the Pharisees that he existed before Abraham who was born around 20 BC (John 8:58). It is believed that Jesus was born sometime between 6 BC and 2 BC. In the New Testament, pneuma is the name for Spirit, it refers to either God’s spirit or other spirits and is referred to 385 times in the New Testament. When we explore the original words of scripture like these: Elohim, ruah, pneuma, and the words of Jesus documented in the New Testament Gospels, our eyes begin to open and the Bible gets interesting by exploring and discovering “who” God is through scripture we begin to learn.

But there is more to learn about God than “who” He is. There is the personality and character of God that we discover through the Bible. This is best discovered gradually throughout the entire bible, so this following summary will not be complete, but is an attempt to summarize some of what I’ve learned about God’s character through studying scripture. Since God made us in His image, I think we can comprehend a little bit of His character is because God is the only one who is good; we are not, so we can’t fully relate to a perfect God. (Jesus said this documented in the Gospel of Mark 10:18 – also explore the word Jesus used for God “theos” in Greek found here) So we are imperfect beings trying to understand a perfect Being, therefore we are limited in our comprehension of God and in what has been revealed to us through scripture. Here are some characteristics of God found through scripture:

LOVE: God loves us greater than we currently have the capacity to love. Our love is often conditional. God’s love is unconditional. He loves us even while we are broken, separated from Him by sin. He created us to experience a loving relationship with Him. When any human relationship fails, it is different from our relationship with God who’s love remains, unfailing. We can’t comprehend God in exactly the same way as we experience human relationships: God is perfect, humans are not.

FORGIVENESS: God sets the standard so high on forgiveness. When we comprehend His capacity to forgive we are amazed, especially when we think about betrayal. How hard is it for us when someone betrays us, then comes back? Some of us may be forgiving yet others struggle with it, but not God and He wants us to be like Him in forgiveness to others. He wants us to understand how often He forgive us (which is whenever we truly mean it and ask Him for forgiveness, He forgives). Aren’t we grateful that He is like this? How many times do we mess up and then regret it? What if He wasn’t forgiving? Do you realize what that would mean? We would never have a relationship with Him again. Think about that for a minute: what if you hurt that “important” person you love and you never had the opportunity to be back in a relationship with them because they didn’t forgive you for what you did against them. How much greater would that hurt us when we know what God has planned (Revelation 21 and 22) for those who love Him back and those who have a relationship with Him?

MERCY: God see us as His little children, He lets us make decisions (even ones that aren’t good and ones that go against Him, the Commandments He gave us Exodus 20)- He is not controlling (He let us have free will), but then He will discipline His children, the ones He loves Revelation 3:19 (for our benefit to learn from our mistakes and turn back to Him) He cares for us and wants the best for us. Jeremiah 29:11

JEALOUS: Yes, God gets jealous. There are different types of jealousy: one type is “coveting” something someone else has; wanting something that is not ours, being envious of someone else. This is not the jealousy of God. God made us, God loves us and God is jealous when our love is shown to someone or anything else more than Him. In fact it is in the beginning of the commandment He gave us (Exodus 20). Whatever we love more than God is our idol: it could be money, it could be a false god, it could be ourselves through self-centeredness, fame or pride, it could be things we may obtain, it could be any person we hold on a pedestal, it could be our “important” person. We should know that God is meant to be our priority, He gave us everything we have and He can take away whatever we prioritize over Him to teach us this lesson. It’s much better to make God the priority now so we don’t have to learn the lesson the hard way.

ANGER: Yes, God gets angry. The anger that God shows is against evil. This is righteous anger. He is not “hot-tempered” and scripture tells us to avoid “hot-tempered” people– that is not God’s character. God is slow to anger, scripture tells us that too. God actually hates 7 specific things Proverbs 6:16 (link here): included are pride, lying, harming innocent people and those who contemplate and choose evil.

JUSTICE: God is just, God is perfect, therefore when he subjects anyone to wrath or to death, it is justified. God is patient (2 Peter 3:9), he gives people opportunities and time to repent, but if God sees there is no repentance, at a certain point (only God knows that timing) He takes action and destroys evil. Yes, God destroys evil. Sometimes He does it now, but He will also do it later to the evil that remains during the Judgement of all Evil (sin) separates us from God, so God destroys it according to His timing, but we can trust that He will do this, even when we don’t see it happen immediately when bad things happen in our world. It will come. Scripture tells us, God says “it is mine to avenge” Unless a person repents, they will perish. Scripture tells us this.

POWERFUL: God is powerful and can make supernatural things happen. With God all things are possible. Scripture gives us insight to God’s power through God’s response to Job about who He is: Job Chapter 38, 39, 40, 41 Jesus foretold that he has overcome the evil within the world through his death and resurrection. (John 16:33) We overcome evil when we choose to be “born again“, become the spiritual children of God, when God’s spirit resides within us. (John 5:4).

God will be respected; all people will end up bowing to Him when Jesus returns and Jesus will rule from that point on through eternity. Those who make fun of God or mock Him have a horrific future ahead- the irony of this is that the ones who are doing the mocking right now are the ones who are currently deceived and will be the ones in the future who will be known as fools in the end. But those who turn to God, get to genuinely know Him and remain in relationship with Him through prayer have nothing to fear because God loves and protects His children. He has an incredible amazing future planned; it’s only a matter of time before we experience it. Take this to heart and take action now: make God your “important” person, your priority, don’t leave Him in the “stranger” category, get to know Him and experience His goodness, His blessings in your life. Click here to see who is blessed by God, there are multiple pages so scroll to the end to see the various pages in scripture that mention “blessed”.

When we think about “success/advancing” in the world, so many of us do well getting to know those at the top who can make a difference in our future, but at the same time many of the same don’t know the ultimate God who WILL make a more substantial difference in our future (eternity). This is called blindness until people are made aware and short-sightedness if they don’t take action that matters for eternity, people don’t understand, but desperately need to understand and need to know God. Not for selfish gain in this world, but for our future, for Life. Once we truly comprehend the truth about Life and Death, we can break from what enslaves us by calling out to God, helping others do the same (we’re not to be selfish), then rest in the grace and eternal blessings from God. Remember it all started with God’s LOVE for us. Jesus made the WAY for us (John 14:6). We simply need to seek God, repent and place our faith in Jesus to save us and help others know this Truth.

by Categories: bible prophecy, bible study, FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Make It Count, RELATIONSHIPSTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Letting God Guide

I wasn’t satisfied with my life. I continually made goals, found something to look forward to, something to create and work on, but once it was accomplished, it seemed to lead to a “dead end, an unfulfilled feeling” – I didn’t find the happiness, joy, peace and comfort, or sense of accomplishment I hoped for throughout the life I lived. I was disappointed and I wondered if this is all there is to life?

A tragedy lead me to a new quest, a quest for “answers” about life. A well liked, respected, happy teenager died in a car crash on the way to work. This gave me even more questions about life, purpose, why did this happen but it led me back to church in 2015. It also led me to realizing how short life can be and I had a feeling of wanting to make the most of it; to “make it count” as this teenager said it. Only I did it the wrong way “make it count” doesn’t mean “live it up,” doesn’t mean “escape.” (I see in hindsight this is where the “tug of war” started, I was being pulled in opposite directions: towards God and away from God at the same time.) Two years later, I still didn’t have the answers, feel complete or fulfilled but I knew one thing: I wasn’t seeing anything positive coming from my life. Inside I still had hopefulness, but disappointments continued.

One evening at church, I decided to turn it over to Jesus, to surrender my life to Jesus- that was 2017. I didn’t know what that truly meant but what it meant to me was to pray every day in the morning when I woke up and at night before I went to bed: for guidance. And this is what happened, almost immediately bad things started happening to me, but I stuck with it and kept praying. Then I went into a period that felt like a roller coaster ride: big swings of good things happening followed by disappointments over and over again, but I didn’t loose my prayers, I kept praying.

After two years of this, at my lowest point, in 2019, I called out to God in prayer: “What is going on!? I’m trying to do the right things so why is all this happening to me?” Then I opened the bible on my nightstand, the bible I bought but never opened hoping for “something”, and I got more than something! I received insight! “Spiritual warfare” became clear to me; it was the Book of Job that I had opened to, and the first book I read. It then made sense to me what I was going through: I was trying to get closer to God so I was being met with spiritual resistance; God allowed me to be tested. I stuck with my prayer plan but things didn’t get much better and seemed to be getting worse. I had specific questions about how I was living my life, so I decided to try to find the answers in the bible, I started seeking those answers in the fall of 2019, I made the decision and made a goal of reading the entire bible to find out what’s in there: front to back. I did this during every free moment I had and was able to accomplish it in 3 months (August – October).

It opened my eyes to so much. It “convicted” me and made me cry. I knew I had to change things about the way I was living because “sin” separates us from God. I didn’t want to be separated from God. I found out things I didn’t even think were “sin” that I had done in ignorance were sin and did some that I knew were wrong, but made excuses. I decided I wanted and needed to change. This wasn’t a very “uplifting” time of my life, I was confronted with everything “wrong” that I did. It was depressing but it was the truth and I didn’t want it in my life any longer, it had to go. I started making changes and lost people that were in my life as a result, not by my choice, by their choice; they rejected me. Then the 2020 pandemic hit and it affected the world. It made me wonder if this was more significant than the event itself, did it have biblical significance?

I started seeking answers again and arrived at the conclusion that this must be a “wake up” call from God to all of us. I continued studying the bible during the “shut down” of the world and learned a lot about bible prophecy- events that haven’t happened yet. At the same time it became apparent that corruption within the world was being exposed and was greater than I ever could have imagined. Beliefs and trust I had were blown apart during this time. I then realized I couldn’t trust anyone (other than God). People were proving to be more “evil” than I ever anticipated. I was shocked, so I “detached” from most people and spent more time studying scripture and in prayer.

My prayer life then changed. I started asking God direct questions in prayer, starting with a closed bible, asking Him to respond to my question through scripture. It started happening (I was getting answers), but I wasn’t completely convinced, I thought it could be a coincidence. That was until April of 2020, I asked a question and opened the bible but I didn’t like the response, so I shut the bible and tried again, but I opened to the same page. I closed it, prayed again and opened to the book of Job (which is about being tested). I was still not convinced, so I closed the book again, prayed and opened it up to the same exact page I had opened twice before, but didn’t like the response! This was too much of a “coincidence” to be ignored for me: 3 times opening to the exact same page; a page that wasn’t creased, saved or visited probably not more than once before (ie. the first time I read the bible). I called my mom about it and shared it with her; it was not something positive that I read, so I was not going to share it with anyone else. Then a month later, it happened! The response found in the bible happened. It wasn’t what I wanted, but in prayer that day I opened the bible, I had asked God for clarity about what was happening- what the outcome of current prayers would be because this was something that was being prayed about for a long time by multiple people and we were seeing encouragement, then discouragement in response to the prayers, so just like before when I didn’t understand what was happening in my life, I wanted to know about this, so I asked God.

After this, whenever I had questions, I would pray to God, ask Him to direct me to something in the bible that would answer my question and it worked. I say “it worked” because I would get an answer then oddly various God focused people would mention the same subject that very day or within 24 hours, I usually heard the message repeated about 3 times from different sources. This seemed to be confirmation to me. This continues currently.

At this point, in May 2020, I decided I was ready to get baptized. I delayed this decision because I knew I wasn’t living my life in obedience to God and I didn’t want to get baptized and be a “fake” Christian, but I was finally ready, I signed up BUT the annual baptism event that occurred in June at the church I was attending was canceled due to the pandemic restrictions, so I didn’t get baptized in 2020.

In August 2021, I happened to see an email from the church, somewhat of a “last call” for anyone who wanted to participate in the September 2021 baptism. This was odd to me! For years the baptism was offered in June, but now I see one for September? I signed up, but almost missed it! Thankfully I got in and I did it.

September 12, 2021 I was baptized! But this is when more unusual things started happening. The night I was baptized, I had a spiritual dream. It wasn’t a positive one, it was somewhat threatening so I shared it with someone I know who is a true Christian, I prayed about it, prayed for forgiveness of my past, prayed for protection and affirmed my decision to follow Jesus and reject everything contrary. Some time later (weeks or months later), I was alone, it was nighttime and I literally saw the exact imagery I had dreamed about in the sky that evening. I took a video of the sky because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: EXACTLY what I dreamt about. Then after this, more started happening. I started having spiritual dreams which I NEVER had in my life before. They were very detailed and the strangest part about this is that parts of my dreams started happening in my real life, not just once, but numerous times. I wrote down my dreams and recently recorded them on my podcast (Faith podcast link). I decided to record them after things that I dreamt about happened over and over again. It was another point where I thought: I don’t think this is coincidental, something is happening. I had 9 dreams so far, since my baptism, the last one was Mother’s Day 2022. The dreams encouraged me in faith and belief that God is real and the bible is true!

Through these past three years of seeking God, seeking answers and studying the bible, I finally know the God who was once distant from me, who I “knew of,” but didn’t know personally. During this time and through my trying times, God provided exactly what I needed: not more, not less, but just exactly enough. I finally know God better but also believe there is probably still so much more to know. The distant God I learned about in religion, showed up in my life when I started seeking Him. In hindsight I see that He was always there, patiently waiting for me to “wake up” I am forever grateful that I “woke up” in time. God is there for all of us, patiently waiting, loving us and hoping that we seek Him and love Him back. He loved us first, He loves us despite our bad choices in life and longingly, patiently is waiting for all who have not turned to Him. This is my experience, and now my prayer for you: that you may “wake up” and get to know the real, living, communicative God who loves you and wants you in eternity with Him when this all transitions from a broken world to the perfect world God has prepared, waiting for His Children.

The bible reveals God’s nature, His love for us. He created each of us out of love, He delights in us (those He created). He is saddened by our blindness to Him and the sin we choose that separates us from Him. He wants us back, but leaves the choice to us: do we love Him back? Will we seek Him? He made it easy for us to be with Him in eternity: it is a simple choice: do we choose Him in return? He took care of the “law” and judgement of us through Jesus. Jesus specifically came for sinners (all of us) to enlighten us about God, the future kingdom, during his years of teaching and then he provided the way for us to be in eternity with God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life- the only way to the Father (God). The “law” (the 10 Commandments) teach us what is right and wrong. The payment for breaking the commandments is death. Without Jesus, that will be our future: death/eternal separation from God because God is Holy and sin can’t be in the presence of holiness, whatever contains sin dies in the presence of holiness (we find this information in the bible). But Jesus provides protection from judgement through his death on the cross. Protection for those who accept, have faith, believe and trust in Jesus. That’s what it means that “Jesus paid the price” for us. He gave his life in exchange for our death. Jesus, the Son of God, was sinless and obedient to God the Father. He was the only “acceptable” being that could pay for the enormity of sin of all mankind, because he was and is perfect/without sin. He willingly suffered and died specifically to save our lives through satisfying the law of justice. This is a spiritual law that we may not fully understand, but God is just, the law is just and God took action to save us from the law of death because He loves us and want us with Him. This is something many of us can’t truly comprehend completely: the extent of His love and willingness to do whatever it takes. God is love.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-13

If you haven’t already done this, please seek God, get to know Him, it is worth it and will change your life, make your life complete. I am praying for all who read or hear this. God is compassionate and forgiving. Life is complete when we are connected to Jesus. Jesus is our protection and our way to an immortal life once God gives us His Spirit which happens when we ask Jesus for this and He sees our good intention by our response to His love. Jesus told us the way we show God our love back to Him is through obeying His commands. He is so encouraging to us, He even gives us His spirit to help us where and when we are weak but seeking Him. The flesh is weak but God’s spirit is strong. God’s spirit fills the gap of our weakness and give us love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Completeness) When we choose to surrender to God, we become a brother or sister to Jesus and a spiritual child of God. We become “born again.” Jesus told us that we will not be in God’s kingdom unless we are “born again”- born of the Spirit. Have God’s spirit residing in us. We are promised an inheritance with an eternal immortal life with God, so incredibly beautiful and fulfilling that it can’t be adequately described by any of us, but there is this revelation of the presence of God that happened to me in my dreams that I can’t describe well enough either, but I will assure you: you want this in your life, you will be grateful in the future that you made this choice to love God back- to be “born again”!

by Categories: bible study, FAITH, FAMILY, Following Passions, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

3, 2, 1…Watching the Countdown (NOW)

Here is the introduction and reason for this post: (click link here)

Time is getting close, some are running out of time and are not aware of what is ahead for ALL of us! Look into this now, “you’ll thank me, many others and most importantly: GOD later” for sharing this information with you!

Here are the links I promised in the introduction:

Revealing Revelation by Amir Tsarfati, you can also find the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other places.

I’m not promoting this book to increase their sales; I have no affiliation, in fact you can hear and see much of this information via YouTube (at no cost), but some prefer to read and other prefer to listen, so either way, don’t delay! The most important is that you comprehend this information.

As I mentioned in the introduction, there are many others (some who have studied bible prophecy for 40 years!) I will provide YouTube links to the main account, you will need to search their videos to to listen to their opinions, and there are many different opinions, but there are also points that all agree, namely:

  1. There will be a final 7 years until the return of Jesus (for judgement this time: both good and bad)
  2. There is an Eternity ahead, nothing to fear, a beautiful future ahead: an abundance of laughter, happiness, beauty, adventure, music, no more tears, immortality, peace and love for those who take action now (Read Revelation 21 and Revelation 22)
  3. There are warnings for ALL of us in the Book of Revelation
  4. We appear to be in the End Times right now: either in the beginning of the final 7 years or just slightly before the 7 years start (there are mixed opinions about where we currently are in this timeline)
  5. There will be a major battle involving Israel forthcoming.
  6. There will be a global governance. It will be both political and religious.
  7. The leader of both will be inspired by evil and will deceive the majority of the population sending them into eternal torment through deception. The deception will involve miracles.
  8. The only way to “save” ourselves is to accept Jesus as our Savior, put all our trust in Jesus, ask God for forgiveness of our sins, change our sinful ways, get baptized, then watch and wait for all this to happen, staying in close contact through prayer and reading the bible so that we do not fall for the forthcoming deception and that we have endurance through trials and testing. Technically we are NOT “saving ourselves”- Jesus did that by his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. This is how it is possible for us to be “saved” only through Jesus, we can’t do it on our own. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father (be in eternity/God’s Kingdom) except through him.
  9. There will be a time when Jesus calls his followers (those who have prepared in advance- see #8) to meet him in the clouds (some will raise from the dead and others will ascend alive and will be changed due to God’s spirit residing in us). This happens before Jesus’ return for judgement of all. Jesus will protect us from God’s wrath. (There are many opinions about when this happens: before, during and towards the end of the 7 year period. I honestly don’t know who is correct. I think the towards the end, but it’s better to prepare now so when it comes we are ready)
  10. The leaders of this political and religious governance will eventually force people to “take a mark” in their right hand or forehead and this will be the only way we will be able to buy or sell anything. They will be all about controlling the population.
  11. The leaders of this political and religious governance will be revealed soon and rule for 3 years and 6 months.
  12. Jesus will conquer them (evil) after this period and he will be recognized as the only authority, the King of All when he returns on the clouds in Jerusalem, Israel, visible by all (made possible perhaps because of the Internet/technology?)
  13. Jesus will rule (here on earth) for 1,000 years. Mortal and Immortal people will be present during this time, the immortal reigning under Jesus, as appointed by Jesus.
  14. There will be a final battle with evil after the 1,000 years are over. God wins, He destroys evil supernaturally forever and Judgement Day occurs (Jesus will be the judge of all of us). People will be raised from the dead for judgement day, then sentenced to eternal life or eternal torture based on the choices they made during their life on earth.
  15. For those who receive Eternal Life, Immortal, new bodies will be given to us. God has prepared a New Heaven and New Earth that will come down and replace what we have today (the present earth will be completely destroyed) and God will LIVE in eternity WITH us!!!

As I mentioned, if you want to see, hear, listen to the various opinions on End Times through a variety of personalities, here are some YouTube accounts to check out- but as always, let the Bible be the “truth checker,” people are not perfect, everyone makes some mistakes and there are “opinions” discussed in each that are open to interpretation, but they have been typically forthright in telling us when it is “an opinion” vs “fact from the bible”:

AOC Network

Behold Israel

El Shaddai Ministries

Endtime Inc.

J.D. Farag

Nelson Walters

Ken Raggio

In addition to those listed above, here are some YouTube accounts that will help you grow in faith:

Answers in Genesis

Got Questions

The Bible Project

One for Israel

Maranatha Bible Church- Chicago

I pray that you don’t take this lightly; that you do something today if you haven’t already. There is much to be hopeful about in the future, and to look forward to, but it all depends on the actions we take today! There will be trials ahead, but don’t loose faith- keep your eyes on Jesus and what he preached. (Read the gospel of John to know more about Jesus- John was one of the original followers of Jesus and he was also the one who received the vision from Jesus that is documented in Revelation)

My prayer for you right now: Dear Jesus, Please open the eyes and minds of those who read this and reveal your truth. Amen.

May God bless you today in some way!

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