Do we face difficult challenges in our land? Yes, it is looking more and more as though our country could become like one of those other socialist, communistic countries. I am reading postings on Facebook about our Founding Fathers and the Godly morals and values that this great United States of America was built on, and how people are seeing those morals and values continue to decline with the passing of each day. I understand and agree with the feelings of frustration and helplessness. It seems that we are unable to stop these things from happening. Our voices do not seem to matter to this liberally-controlled government. But, as I have said before, God is on His throne and He is in control.

I read a devotional the other day that referenced a poll that was done called the Barna Poll. They are a research group who polls our churches and those who claim to be Christians on their beliefs, etc. A recent poll by them shows that, “Half of Americans who call themselves “Christian” don’t believe Satan exists and fully one-third are confident that Jesus sinned while on Earth, Barna Group poll. (www.barna.org)

Another 40 percent say they do not have a responsibility to share their Christian faith with others, and 25 percent “dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches,” the organization reports.

Pollster George Barna said the results have huge implications.

“Americans are increasingly comfortable picking and choosing what they deem to be helpful and accurate theological views and have become comfortable discarding the rest of the teachings in the Bible,” he said.

In other words, our country is going down the wrong path because “my people, which are called by my name” have not been humbling themselves, praying, seeking His face, and turning from their wicked ways for quite some time. They have chosen to pick and choose whatever theology makes them ‘feel good about their sin’, discarding most of God’s written Word.

Those of us who are refusing to go the ‘way of the world’ appear to be in the minority. Perhaps the “Tea Party” movement will continue to awaken the American people to bring about the change we really need. We will see how things play out in November.

As bad as things seem right now, and as bad as they could possible become in the near future, I am still very thankful and proud to be a free American citizen. Ours is still the best country on earth to live in.

My bigger picture is that “this is not my home, I am just passing through.” I will spend eternity in Heaven with my Lord and my God where no one will ever take away any freedoms from me again. While I am here, I will continue to stand on the true word of God and do my best to share His Good News with all that I can.

May God Once Again Have Reason to Bless America

For any who may be interested in a brief history of the King James Bible by Dr. Laurence M. Vance, click here . You may learn why many consider it to be the truest word of God.

The most common excuse that leads most baby Christians astray is: “The King James Version is hard to understand, and this version makes it easier for me.” In innocence they are taking a very dangerous step into an evil realm. “Do you pray and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you understanding before you read?” There are also wonderful tools to help with understanding  words and their origins. For example, “The Strongest Strong’s Concordance for the KJV” and “The Interlinear Bible – Hebrew, Greek, and English”. The Interlinear Bible points to the Strong’s Concordance as well. I have found a wonderful KJV Life Application Study Bible that I find very helpful.

Most people are not doing the needed research to learn the truth about these other versions. There are words, phrases and complete verses left out. They have also twisted some of God’s word becoming blasphemous.

When my eyes were first opened to the deceit in these other versions, it was to this scripture that is tainted in the NIV version, for one: Isaiah 14:12 (NIV) “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” Compare to the KJV: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” I have one NIV Bible so that I can see for myself the great distortion. It is completely obvious when you compare it with KJV.

Who does the true word of God say is the Morning Star: Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” The NIV has changed scripture to read that satan is the morning star. What blatant blasphemy! Again, it serves satan’s purpose. For more on how the NIV perverts the word of God click here.

The NIV removes 63,625 words. That is equal to removing Obadiah, Jonah, Haggai, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude and more! Go Here for more facts about this and other versions or Here. Do not just take my word for it.

I would give a strong reminder: Deuteronomy 4:2,3 “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.”

AND

Revelation 22:18 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

We HAVE to treat God’s word with great respect so that we do not alter its message, even accidentally. I believe those who intentionally distort the word of God will stand and give account to God for doing so. This is very serious indeed.

“I must under God denounce every attachment to the New American Standard Version. I’m afraid I’m in trouble with the Lord . . . I wrote the format . . . I wrote the preface. When you see the preface to the New American Standard, those are my words . . . it’s wrong, it’s terribly wrong; it’s frightfully wrong . . . The deletions are absolutely frightening . . . there are so many . . . Are we so naive that we do not suspect satanic deception in all of this?” The words of Dr. Frank Logsdon, Co-founder, New American Standard Version.

I have seen “The Greatest Story Ever Told” many times over the years, and though it is a beautiful rendition of Jesus’ adult life and death, I know that it is a watered-down version of what He really went through. The part where they have Jesus nailed to the cross and stand it up and thump it into its whole brings me to tears every single time I see it. So I was not sure I would be able to make it through such a graphic portrayal as The Passion until now. Or so I thought; sigh.

I learned years ago that Jesus was literally beaten to an unrecognizable state, but to watch this take place for nearly two hours was totally devastating for me. I could barely breathe when He lay on his stomach; one arm chained to a stump, as they ripped his flesh on the back of his body open with the Cat of Nine Tails, and then turned him on his back and did the same to the front of him. He never once cried out. The actor played Jesus to a T as far as I am concerned. The look of love in his eyes when he caught the soldiers’ eyes as he took our stripes, clearly spoke, “I do this for you.”

I made myself sit through the movie, trying to choke back the sobs, while yelling, “Stop! Stop! Enough!” at the Romans who were spitting on Jesus, kicking him, mocking him, and whipping him all the way down the road to Golgotha. I tried to tell myself that this was a stark reminder of how really filthy and heinous our sin is to God and that our sin requires a sinless blood sacrifice. I contemplated the fact that they sacrificed animals in Old Testament times, but I thought, “They did not torture those animals, they just killed them. Stop torturing my Lord!”

For a while I was angry because I felt that God let it go on for too long. He is, after all God, He could have stopped it. Then I was furious that the Roman general only gave Jesus temporary reprieve when he told the other soldiers, “I said to punish him, not scourge him to death.” I have never had such a difficult time watching a movie before in my entire life. It is beyond amazing to me that He even lived to make it to the top of the hill. Yes, I know, He rose again on the third day, and I am oh, so happy that He did. I just wish He did not have to suffer as He did.

I shared my feelings (very strongly) with some dear sisters in the early morning ours of our recent church Ladies Retreat. Miss Bonnie gently reminded me that had Jesus just simply been put to death, it would not have the impact it does to save souls. I had to agree with her, but gee what does that say about us. Another sweet sister said something that finally got through to me, duh. It was something like this, “Remember that Satan was controlling those Romans and others who wanted Jesus crucified. He had many blinded. BUT, Jesus has the victory. He rose on the third day.” It was like it was the devil’s party. He is pure evil and what they did to my Lord was pure evil. Our sin is also pure evil.

I am overwhelmingly grateful that Jesus Christ paid the price that I could never pay for my sins. At the same time, I am so utterly sorry that I have such a sinful nature that required Him to go to such lengths for me. I am devastated to sobs when I think about the horrible beatings and mutilation He endured for my sake, but I will not dwell on that. I will be ever so thankful to the point that there are just no words to express my gladness that He thwarted that devil’s party and came back to life.

I find this scripture a great comfort, especially at this time of the year:

John 14: 1-3 (KJV) “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Jesus was the first to die and rise again, and when I die, I will rise to be with Him. With the signs we see in our world today, I may not even have to die, but be caught up to Him with The Rapture. “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

Scripture often compares Israel to a fig tree. Jesus spoke of the fig tree as a mega sign of His return in Mark 13:28, 29: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: so ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.” Ezekiel 37-39 talks about the rebirth of Israel — the gathering of Jehovah’s people. When we see these signs, Jesus said we know that His return is very near.

The gathering of God’s people happened in May of 1948 when Israel declared that it was once again a free state. After the annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazis, Jewish people started coming back to the land God gave them hundreds of years prior. Never before in history had a nation ceased to be and then come back into being. Soon after, five Arab countries went to war with Israel which divided the city of Jerusalem. The old city, the temple mount, and most of the historic sites were under Jordan’s control.

Another war in 1967, that lasted for six days, resulted in Israeli forces seizing the old city and reuniting the whole of Jerusalem. After many centuries, the Jews had control of the city of Jerusalem, fulfilling Bible prophecy.

God said He will destroy his people’s enemies, Zechariah 12:2, 3: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” In other words, Jerusalem will be the center focus in the world in the last days. We are seeing these things happen in our time. God will protect Israel.

We read and hear of the conflicts in the middle east every day, and many times Jerusalem is at the center of it. We should all be very familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Most Arab leaders around the world resolutely believe that the whole West Bank and the old city rightfully belong to the Palestinians. They want the territory relinquished as a condition for peace.

Zechariah 14 talks of how God will bring all the nations of the world against Jerusalem. I believe it is speaking of the battle of Armageddon and how the Lord will end it. There will never be any real peace until Jesus comes back and rules His kingdom on Earth. That is what we need to be watching for. I also believe that the world is at the point where the Rapture of the Church is the next prophecy to be fulfilled. We must watch and be ready for it to happen at any moment.

Next: The Rapture of the Church

Spiritual deception is more rampant than ever. There have been various cults popping up for some time now. Most of us are aware of the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Church of Scientology, Christian Science, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. We recall the heinousness of the Jim Jones mass suicide in 1978 in Guyana, The David Koresh Davidians who were killed by government agents in Texas in 1993, and Heaven’s Gate suicides in California in 1997. As I shared in Watch for the Lord-Part 1, we now have a new group showing its face under the guise of revival through a new emerging church.  All of these impostors are a catalyst to the revelation of the last deceiver of all, the Antichrist.

The majority of our Christian churches are turning away from God’s Word and going the way of the world. Since the beginning of time, people have felt a void before finding that Jesus is the answer to that void. Today, they are trying to fill their emptiness with whatever feels good to them. We see such abominations as homosexuals filling the pulpits of feel-good churches and leading people astray. It is obvious that they are not preaching God’s true Word. They will answer to God for lying to their followers and telling them that it is okay that they are ‘gay’, and that they cannot help it. Yes, God does love us all, but He hates our sin, and He calls homosexuality an abomination. The sin of homosexuality is as bad now as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Everywhere we look, we can see the New Age movement and some turning to mysticism for their euphoria. They want to be spiritual, but they do not want to be part of God’s true church because they do not want to follow God’s rules. They want to make up their own rules as they go. There are plenty of deceivers coming out of the woodwork every day to help them along their way.

Another sign is the persecution of God’s church. Jesus said in Mark 13:9, 10 “But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the Gospel must first be published among all nations.”

Christians have been persecuted for centuries. For over 200 years after Jesus died there were many thousands martyred by people like Nero and Diocletian. The bloody Romans fed them to wild animals and watched them torn to pieces for their entertainment. There are Christians being persecuted around the world as I write this; Burma, Iraq, Iran, Malaysia, Algeria, to name a few. You can go read about those and more at Persecution.Com which is the Voice of the Martyrs.

It is important that those of us who are true born-again followers of Jesus realize that we will also be persecuted for our beliefs. 2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV) says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Remember also John 15:18-21 (KJV) “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent me.”

We see people in our country attacked daily for taking a stand for what they believe in. The unbelievers recoil in anger when we try to share God’s truths with them. Brit Hume was excoriated terribly for his recent suggestion that Tiger Woods turn to Christ and the Christian faith in order to receive the forgiveness that he assuredly will not receive from his Hindu faith.

The lost especially do not like the truth that there is ONLY ONE WAY to God and that one way is JESUS CHRIST. They would rather be told that there are many ways to salvation and they can just pick whichever way they think fits them best. Moral relativism is very big in our society these days. It is the theory that all points of view are equally valid, and that all truth is relative to the individual. There are no absolute truths – “that may be true for you, but not for me”. This, in turn, leads to turning away from God and tolerance of sin.

The Holy Bible tells us that this persecution will get much worse in the last days.

Next – Why we need to keep our eyes on what is happening around Jerusalem