Life is full of seemingly impossible choices. The right choice is always to trust God. “Abraham believed God” (James 2:23) about a future line of descendants through his son Isaac. Then, in the “obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26 KJV), God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac as a human sacrifice. When Abraham complied, Yahweh stopped the sacrifice, substituted a nearby ram, and confirmed, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18 KJV). Every offspring possessing faith — Arab, Israeli, Gentile — becomes a child of Abraham (Romans 4:16; 9:8).
Faith
Daze of Deception
UFOs are lying wonders. Recently, I ran across this series of YouTube videos (3 hours), “Daze of Deception: Part 1,” “Daze of Deception: Part 2,” and “Daze of Deception: Part 3” from Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel (Chino Hills, CA). We must be getting pretty far along into the Last Days for us to be discussing this stuff out loud in Bible preaching churches. My wife and I used to identify the phenomenon of UFOs as “lying wonders” (2Thesssalonians 2:9 KJV). In context, the “lawless one” (2:9 NIV) refers to the Antichrist, which Jack Hibbs identifies as Nephilim. This is Twilight Zone stuff that respectable evangelical pastors know better than to discuss from their pulpits. I wonder how many have much of an idea how to biblically discuss UFOs and UAPs? Without knowing about Jack Hibbs, I commented on this in earlier posts. (1), (2), (3), and (4).
If NASA really makes an announcement about UAPs before the end of 2023, I wonder how they’ll get around an admission of ET being from another dimension, undefined by our current understanding of the laws of physics? “NASA has not found any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and there is no evidence that UAPs are extraterrestrial.” Even the Roman Pontiff would be willing to baptize aliens, if they felt they needed it. If Jesus was just another alien, then there is nothing special about the Bible, and it would be unnecessary “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 1:3 NIV). All the wildfires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars (Ukraine), and rumors of wars (China, North Korea) are falling into place with Matthew 24. “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28 NIV).
The Bible is our only credible explanation of what is going on. This will shake out the wheat from the chaff. “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NIV).
Maranatha!
Stand Your Ground
Stand your ground. No retreat. Deny the enemy the opportunity of flanking and destroying the line. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1Corinthians 16:13 KJV). Since this is a spiritual war, every action translates into consequences for the progress or delay of victory. Satan and the forces of the Antichrist cannot ultimately win, but they can delay the Almighty’s final victory and their judgment. If you were Lucifer wouldn’t you want to put off the final day of your reckoning with your Creator and Judge? This was the thinking of the demon possessed pair that met Jesus. “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29 KJV). No matter how long the delay, the All Knowing Creator is not surprised or confused by the enemy. Lucifer will be a chained lion (Revelation 20:1-3) during the Millennium, but He presently “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1Peter 5:8 KJV). Spiritual warfare demands, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 KJV). We may admire the tenacity of soldiers such as Joshua Chamberlain at the Battle of Gettysburg, who stood their ground and even bayonet charged their foe; but, we know our victory is by faith assured, if we will have the spiritual backbone to “resist stedfast in the faith” (1Peter 5:9 KJV). God bless all soldiers of Christ!
Children of the Righteous
The children of the righteous are those children which God has given to a Christian parent or parents. “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him” (1Samuel 1:27 KJV). Faith will die out on the planet in one generation, if we fail to raise our children in the “nurture and admonition of the LORD” (Ephesians 6:4 KJV). God gave children to the parents, not the state or church. Just ask the parents of Moses. The awesome duty of Christian parenting is more than providing food, clothing, shelter, education, and socialization. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1Timothy 5:8 KJV). Our children’s impression of who God is comes from how they see us act, not just our talk. I am still amazed at what I hear my children say all these years later. They were listening more than I thought! Would you do things differently? Of course you would! But, our Heavenly Father has especially given us His promise that our children will meet us in Heaven. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). Do we believe it? Remember, Christian parent, you are not responsible to God for how He keeps His part of this promise. Do all you know how to do on your part, and leave the fulfilling to the God of the Impossible!
Walking With God
Man has a history of walking with God. Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8 KJV). The Voice was the Pre-Incarnate Christ, the Son of God, the Eternal Logos who was made flesh, walking in the garden with our parents. God seems to enjoy walking with man, too, for Enoch “walked with God” (5:22), until he apparently walked Home, “for God took him” (5:24). Some describe the Rapture as an Enoch Walk. Noah “walked with God” (6:9) and was chosen to rescue the world from the plague of the Nephilim. Abraham walked with the LORD, whom he trusted. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3 KJV). Moses walked with I AM and gave us understanding of how to live, “for the law was given by Moses” (John 1:17 KJV). The apostles walked with the Lord Jesus Christ. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1John 1:1-3 KJV). May we be counted among those who walk with God!
What Is Your Greatest Satisfaction?
What is your greatest satisfaction in life? “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24 KJV). The LORD had just said that we are not to glory in our wisdom, power, or riches (9:23), because that betrays us as lovers simply of ourselves and not God. Understanding and knowing Yahweh is our highest honor. “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Philippians 3:8-10 KJV). May Paul’s words ring in the understanding of our heart, especially as we face our Jōb moment of why me? It is not just a privilege to serve Him; but, just to know and understand Him is our highest honor! Thank you, LORD!
Not All Have Faith
“And that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith” (2Thessalonians 3:2 NET). God knows not all have faith. Screenwriters need a villain to provide drama for the plot’s deliverance of its hero or heroine. God does not need to recruit sinners to provide drama for the stage of life. Already “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). But, sin is not like gravity, since not everyone has to sin. From the beginning, God has been positioning His resources and all the players in this vast drama of life for the conclusion. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11 KJV). Let us not be like Lucifer, who allowed his self-love to overpower his love for Yahweh. Let us not even blame the Devil, our environment, or our upbringing for why-we-are-the-way-we-are. Instead, “since the day we heard it, [we] do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10 KJV). It may not always feel like it, but the Almighty wins the final victory!
Aging of America
The aging of America will become more predominant in our thoughts, as the birth rate of most nations shrinks — except India and the Third World. Who is looking after the world? Who’s going to take care of all the elderly? Whose idea was it to populate the earth? “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28 KJV). I still remember — almost a half century ago — the disdain of my state college professor towards that Scripture reference, when a vast auditorium went dark, and he displayed Genesis 1:28 to a large audience with sound, music, and an overwhelming pictorial montage of industrial pollution, overpopulation, urban sprawl, garbage, crime-ridden neighborhoods — the festering sores of humanity. Jesus answered the question of who would take care of everyone — God would. Humans must cooperate with God, but the buck stops at His desk to make everything work. “25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:25, 33-34 KJV). For our aging disciples, the LORD promises, “And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar [gray] hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4 KJV). Hope lives where God reigns!
Why Doesn’t Everyone Finish?
Why doesn’t everyone finish their Pilgrim’s Progress journey to the Celestial City? “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14 KJV). A common saying in the world, ‘If it were easy, everyone would do it,’ makes a lot of practical sense. How does anyone know they are His chosen few? Peter answers that question. “2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity [Greek, agapē, love]. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2Peter 1:2-10 KJV). Maranatha!
An Invisible Hand
There is an Invisible Hand at work in our existence. It is the hand of the Invisible God “with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13 KJV). God has made Himself invisible to us because faith or confidence is the foundation of our relationship to Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (11:6). Faith is “seeing Him who is invisible” (11:27). It is a good thing the Lord can read our thoughts, when we converse with Him. We would look mighty strange to others speaking out loud to someone, who wasn’t there. But, then again, how often have you nearly run into someone speaking on their smartphone with earbuds?
We Need A Miracle 
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