Do you drop your head to avoid being hit by a foul ball at a baseball park, or do you quickly look around to see a feathery bird swimming on the lake? How you interpret my words depends on your circumstances. How do we respond to the Almighty? Do we take Him at His word? Literal or figurative interpretation depends on context; but, shouldn’t we allow God the same benefit we give to anyone else of taking His words literally until shown otherwise? “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21 KJV). Genesis is a miracle, but it has literal days and poetic language. Interpret it as literal as you can until you can’t, but trust God’s account of His miraculous work. LORD, You are our Creator. May we magnify You for Your wonderful work. Cause us not to limit Your glory in our attempt to understand Your creation. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Author: Ken
Hope for the Prodigal
How often do you think about sons and daughters, who once enjoyed your close fellowship as disciples, but now bear little resemblance to Christ? Especially for you, Christ’s Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is meant for your encouragement. Christ had just reproved the “Pharisees and scribes” (15:2) for their hypocrisy of not rejoicing in the penitence of the “publicans and sinners” (15:1), when they would rejoice over the recovery of one lost sheep (15:4-7) or one lost coin (15:8-10). His story of the Prodigal Son reminds Christian parents that our Heavenly Father yearns to restore our hardened, impenitent children, but first they must be reduced “to be in want” (15:14) of their former provisioned circumstances, and be Spirit led to confess their need (15:17-18). Only then can the Holy Spirit “give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2Timothy 2:25). The Father restores gladly, but the rest of the family needs to understand the Spirit filled significance of using the bounty of the Body of Christ to call Home the wayward. LORD, You are the Good Father watching for the return of our prodigal children. Your compassion is encouragement they will return. Make us to prosper to draw them home. Make it to be so. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Gospel in the OT Genealogy of Genesis 5
To illustrate God’s good intentions towards humanity, even when most all were adamantly against Him, look at what God was saying through the Hebrew meanings of the genealogical names of the godly in Genesis 5. The following is an insight from Bible teacher, Chuck Missler (The Book of Genesis Handbook, Koinonia House, Inc., 2020, p. 153).
“Adam” signifies “Man (is)”
“Seth” signifies “Appointed”
“Enoch” signifies “Mortal”
“Kenan” signifies “Sorrow; (but)”
“Mahalalel” signifies “The Blessed God”
“Jared” signifies “shall come down”
“Enoch” signifies “Teaching (that)”
“Methuselah” signifies “His death shall bring”
“Lamech” signifies “The Despairing”
“Noah” signifies “Comfort, Rest”
Translated as a whole, the genealogy reads:
“Man is appointed mortal sorrow; but the blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest.”
Isn’t that the Gospel? And, didn’t that ultimately result through Yahweh’s actions from the cataclysmic Flood judgment?
“Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34 KJV).
Excerpt From:
Understanding Spiritual Warfare
Kenneth Fall
https://books.apple.com/us/book/understanding-spiritual-warfare/id6472605817
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False Prophet: Directs the Worship of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:13)
Worship director for the Great World Leader is an esteemed role, except the Antichrist is that leader, who blasphemes Almighty God (Revelation 13:6), because he receives his power from the dragon (13:4). How does the world go so horribly wrong? Why does the LORD God allow this affront on such global display? “And he [the False Prophet] doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:13 KJV). Toleration of the smallest wickedness in ourselves is the camel’s nose in the tent that brings down the house. “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1Thessalonians 5:22). If we could not tolerate such sin in ourselves now, then would not such wholesale wickedness be condoned so easily later? “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth” (James 3:5).
Yahweh is carefully teaching the world, directing our hearts back to Him. It has not been apparent to the Church that the Judge of All the Earth has been teaching His people, we must submit our case before the Courts of Heaven, before He can act. He will not unilaterally perform His will in judging the earth until He gets our agreement or sanction. He created us to walk in agreement with Him, not to function as an independent tool. “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee” (2Chronicles 20:12). When sanctioned by the Courts of Heaven, Jehovah will do what He did for Jehoshaphat and Judah. “And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped” (20:24). The world will need to know the god of the World Leader and his Prophet is not the True God, and we, His people, call upon the LORD to judge the dragon, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.
LORD, we know it is Your desire that all should repent and none should perish, but Your Spirit will not always strive with man. You alone know, when humanity’s iniquity is full. Save such as should be saved. Honor Your holiness, love, and perfection. Fulfill all righteousness. Use the devil, the Antichrist, and False Prophet, then judge them. Save Israel. Return quickly, in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
The Unprofitable Servant
Jesus’ Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) was actually about faithfulness in handling wealth and possessions (Greek, talanton, one money “talent” is the equivalent of 200 pounds of gold) placed under our control by the Father, and not a story about unique talents or abilities, which distinguish us. Each of three servants were given differing amounts of capital or property to administrate, invest, and manage with the expectation of returning the property or principal with a profit equal to the original property. The first two conscientiously took their lord’s original investment and faithfully “traded” (Matthew 25:16 KJV) or duplicated that amount, but the last was an evil, unprofitable servant, who had a low, selfish, and unkind view of his master. “Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed [scattered seed]: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine” (25:24-25). Why should I benefit such a boss with my labor, if he is not worthy of me? He’s only exploiting me. LORD, grant to us a willing heart for service and deliver us from Your sentence of casting the “unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (25:30). In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
Opinion: Hebrew and Greek Mindsets
Attempting to communicate between cultures and languages is more than finding word equivalents in translation but relating experiences that tell a story. The ancient Hebrew mindset required a story that described the experience, while the more western Greek mind looked for how doctrine would drive the question. When the Almighty confused humanity’s language at the Tower of Babel, He masterfully changed the focus of different language groups to impede the success of their communications. “Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse” (Proverbs 1:14 KJV). When the Spirit of God reverses the Babel Effect, “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11). Understanding Scripture and communicating God’s message requires the Holy Spirit’s intervention, “for we know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Romans 8:26). LORD, cause us to think and communicate in whatever mindset Your Spirit desires to make Your message plain to us or through us. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen and amen.
Opinion: Why Christians Believe in Evolution
Christians believe in evolution, not because it is the best explanation supported by faith in the Scriptures, but because it best supports their rational mind seeking to reconcile their faith in explaining the universe. Jesus taught that humanity’s existence “from the beginning of the creation [that] God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6 KJV). He did not say how God created, but Genesis does. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). No missing link, but a direct connection between God’s breath, dust, and a living soul. Here’s where both theistic evolutionists and intelligent design creationists need to focus: Creation is a miracle wrought by the Creator, which conforms to the poetry and physics of speaking the universe into existence, then crowning it with His creation of man. Yet, neither science nor poetry can adequately explain the Miracle of Creation. LORD, You are the Creator of all things. We are the work of Your hands. Lend us the voice to praise You for Your miraculous work in creating us. Justify Yourself for all You have done in saving us. And, return quickly to deliver us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
False Prophet: Beast Out of the Earth (Revelation 13:11)
Appearing with the religious character of a lamb, the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20) speaks like the devil, and he is no different from the Antichrist. “And I beheld another [Greek, allos, another of the same kind] beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11 KJV). He purposely directs the worship toward the Antichrist (13:12), who the world knows is empowered by the dragon (13:4). How could religion be used so zealously against the righteous? Christianity began with the martyrdom of Jesus at the hands of the unbelieving Jews. Yet, Judaism continues to be the root of the tree. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15). Typically, a prophet comes before in order to introduce the one appointed to receive the attention, just as John the Baptist came before Jesus of Nazareth. It should not surprise us to find a religious figure prior to the Tribulation with deep ties to historic anti-christianity, which especially depicts the adulteress character of the Thyatiran Church Age (representative of the center and bulk of Church History), who could answer to the description, the False Prophet (Revelation 16:13). This False Prophet would be active long before the Antichrist ascends to the throne of the World Temple in the middle of the Tribulation Week. Father, Your Son taught us to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Cause us to be those doves, as we advocate for Your Son. Cause the sting of the enemy’s objection to be thwarted by the power of Your Spirit blessing the message, preserving the messenger, but, most of all, justifying You. Return quickly, in Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
The Way You Treat Your Neighbor
Is the way you treat God. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1John 4:20 KJV). Humanity is only able to function acceptably, when God is understood as the motivator and motivation for all our actions. Salvation or religion is that window of opportunity for us to bluster out of our slumber and attempt to understand what has just happened. Unless the Spirit of God lays hold of us and we begin understanding His efforts to communicate with us from the Word of God, we will slumber back asleep, as if nothing happened. “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:29). LORD, You said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), grant to us the privilege of proving that with our lives. Make Your Word more valuable than our words, in our daily life. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen.
Antichrist: Response to the Rapture (Revelation 13:10)
The sudden disappearance of people worldwide will not only be noticed by all, but must be explained by world leadership, especially by the one Christians identify as the Antichrist. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1Corinthians 15:52 KJV). If we recall the words of Jesus, “Surely I come quickly” (Revelation 22:20), we should understand the “dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [Greek, harpazō] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1Thessalonians 4:17). The Second Coming of Christ combines the Resurrection of the Saints “first,” then accompanies the harpazō of the living saints “together with them” (4:17). The nature of our translation is called a “mystery,” because much takes place in the Unseen Realm, before His return, then “every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1Corinthians 15:51). This is for our encouragement, not just theological slight of hand.
The “mystery of iniquity” (2Thessalonians 2:7) has been conspiring against the Almighty, since the original rebellion. Answering the Removal of Saints worldwide would be the goal of the devil, certainly by the time of the modern rapture theory discussions, but anciently speculated due to the examples of the raptures of Enoch and Elijah.
What will be the response of the Antichrist to the Rapture?
First, the sudden removal of all the godly influence of Spirit Indwelt Saints would leave not just a moral vacuum, but a disruption of the peace due to the absence of all the godly, who have departed this world (Jeremiah 29:7). Second, Antichrist must offer himself as a leader, actively promoting and attempting to replace the world’s missing peace, requiring the cooperation of the world’s leaders. This would be in connection with the peaceful-conquering-by-displaying-power diplomacy of the First Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:2). A “king of fierce countenance” (Daniel 8:23), shall promote the demonic “craft [witchcraft] to prosper in his hand” (8:24), and will eventually proclaim his divinity, when “he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many” (8:25). Third, Antichrist will do like the New Age literature prophecies of a coming alien visitor Avatar, seeking to aid us in our evolution, overcoming poverty, disease, famine, war, political, cultural, religious, and economic division, while promoting unity through “globalism, ecumenism, personal immortality (reincarnation), pantheism (‘you will be like gods,’ Genesis 3: 15), moral relativism, and the notion that the Bible is not the word of God” (from Alien Encounters, Ch. 13 “The Cosmic Deception” by Chuck Missler).
Fourth, malcontents have been removed, i.e., by the Rapture, and are being removed, i.e., the Fifth Seal Judgment of martyrdom of post-Rapture, born-into-the-Kingdom-during-the-Tribulation Saints (Revelation 6:9-11). Fifth, global unity will be promoted through the construction of a World Temple at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. If Solomon built the Temple in seven years, Oppenheimer built the atomic bomb in less than three years, couldn’t the Antichrist complete the Tribulation Temple with all the resources of the world, in less than 3 1/2 years? “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).
Sixth, miracles and “powers and signs and lying wonders” (2Thessalonians 2:9) will be used by the Antichrist to persuade the religious and the scientific to trust the Antichrist, and to unreasonably fight the LORD God Almighty. The inexplicability of UFOs defying the laws of physics, the paranormal activities of demon possessed individuals, all of these will increase. “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2:10-12). Seventh, it is extermination by Antichrist for any found godly, but of more significance, God’s patience has finally come to an end in finishing His Final Harvest, so He can now complete a thorough cleansing of the ungodly from the earth. “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Revelation 13:10).
LORD, cause the Sleeping Church to awaken to the battle against the enemy. May we be praying for the success of Your Gospel, the unstoppability of Your Gospel, obedience to the Gospel, showing us who must next receive Your Message, the boldness to explain Your plan, the preparation of their hearts to repent and receive the Gospel, education of Your children, the sustenance of Your family, the overcoming of our ignorance, the hastening of Your return, the defeat of the forces of Antichrist, and the judgment of the devil and his little gods. Make us willing to witness a good confession laying down our lives, if need be. May the ideas put forth by this writer prosper, even as it is understood, if Your Spirit is making me think these thoughts, there are others thinking them, as well. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
We Need A Miracle 
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