On the Third Day

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: On the Third Day 
• 'One wrong move': Tehran Times reveals Iran's targets in Israel 
• Nearing Midnight: The Blueprint 
• Why Are We Still Here?
• Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: It’s just a mess 
• Daily Devotion: A Message of Hope 

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On the Third Day – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/on-the-third-day
 
The number 3 represents divine perfection in the Bible. It is associated with the Godhead, for there are 3 persons in God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first mention of the number 3 is in Genesis 1 and describes the 3rd day of creation. “ Then God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9-10). On the 3rd day of creation, the earth was caused to rise up out of the water, symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 3 is the number of resurrection, for it was on the 3rd day (after the crucifixion) that Jesus rose again from the dead (Luke 24:7).
 
Also on the 3rd day of creation, God caused the earth “to bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day” (Genesis1:12-13). The seed is buried in the earth, dies, and is then resurrected to new life; which is symbolic of Christ, the firstfruits of the dead, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming (Rapture). God declared the 3rd day of creation ‘good’ twice.
 
ABRAHAM’S FAITH CONFIRMED AT MOUNT MORIAH
 
In Genesis 22, God decided to test Abraham’s faith and told him to take his only son (by Sarah), Isaac, and offer him as a burnt offering to the Lord. Abraham was instructed to go to Mount Moriah to offer the sacrifice, so he cut the wood and loaded it on his donkey and set out for the place God had told him about. On the 3rd day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He placed the wood on his young son Isaac, and together they made it to the designated place on Mount Moriah.
 
It was later in the day (3rd day) that Abraham built an altar there, laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. “As Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son, the angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Jesus, the Son) called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:15-18).
 
Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, so he took it and offered it up in place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jirah, which means “in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (King James Version). The N.K.J. version says “in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
 
“The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By Myself, I have sworn, says the Lord, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son - that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:15-18).
 
The author of Hebrews mentions the faith of Abraham regarding this event. “By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
 
This event foreshadowed the death of Christ in many ways and is called typology. This term has been defined as “a method of biblical interpretation by which a person, event, or type in the Old Testament corresponds to another one (antitype) in the New Testament within the framework of salvation history.” In this case, Abraham represents God the Father who is sacrificing his only begotten son. 3 times in Genesis 22, Abraham responded to the calling of his name with “here I am.” This is a typology of a future event when God said to Moses, “I AM Who I AM. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). God told Moses His name 3 times in this one verse – I AM. Abraham, in this typology, represents God, the great I AM.
 
Isaac represents the Son of God, Jesus, who is willing to die for his Father. Isaac carries the wood to the altar. The wood represents the cross that Jesus had to carry for his own crucifixion. Both Isaac and Jesus’ birth were genuinely miraculous, albeit in different ways. God supplied the sacrifice for Abraham, which was a ram. He also supplied the sacrifice for all of mankind, which was the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
 
ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 
 
The next Biblical 3rd-day event is found in Exodus 19. The Children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai on the first day of the 3rd month of Sivan, according to Exodus 19:1-2. The first thing Moses did was to go up the mountain and talk with God. Moses brought back the words of the Lord to the people and the people agreed to obey Him. The Lord told Moses to be ready for the 3rd day. “For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people” (Exodus 19:11).
 
Here is how Moses described that day: “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled” (Exodus 19:16,18-19).
 
On this 3rd day of the 3rd month of Sivan, God spoke to Moses (who drew near the thick darkness where God was) and the people (who stood afar off) and gave them the 10 Commandments verbally (Exodus 20). God would later write down the 10 Commandments on two tablets of stone, which the Hebrew people would later keep in the ark of the covenant. Some Torah scholars believe the 10 Commandments were given on Sivan 6, but this cannot be proven by scripture. They also try to declare the 6th day of Sivan as the official day of Pentecost, but this can’t be accurate for Pentecost comes 49 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, which is the Sunday after Passover. So Pentecost comes on different days of the months, but always comes on the same day of the week, Sunday. Moses returned with the stone tablets of the covenant law (inscribed by the finger of God) at the end of the 40 day period and fast he spent on the mountain (Exodus 31:18). Many Bible students believe the Rapture could occur on the day of Pentecost, for various reasons.
 
On a side note to this article, I recently received an email from Sharon G. who wrote regarding Rabbi Yarov Rambsel’s work on “equidistant letter sequencing” and their decoding through the Hebrew language of the Tanakh. She writes: “In Modern Hebrew the word for ‘rapture’ is ‘shilhuv’ and hasn’t been used until recent times. Obviously, YHVH who is all-knowing would prepare His secrets for any eventually. So we see in Exodus 19:16,17, that reads: And it came to pass on the third day in the morning…. In the Hebrew text on the third day in the morning…is written b’yom hashlishi bihiot haboker. Every other letter in the Hebrew from left to right spells be’shilhuv which is the ordinary term for “in the rapture” written in Modern Hebrew. Is this a picture of the Rapture? It fits the context! A trumpet, Moshe a type of Yahshua bringing the people to meet YHVH on His mount or throne.” I have always been fascinated with the concept of “equidistant letter sequencing “in the Tanakh. For more information on this teaching, go to https://www.rabdavis.org/a-brief-examination-of-the-rapture/
 
HOSEA AND HIS END TIMES PROPHECY
 
In Hosea 5, Hosea gave the children of Israel a prophecy from God regarding impending judgment on Israel and Judah. Then in Hosea 5:15, the Lord gives Hosea a glimpse into the future and talks about the coming Jewish Messiah: ”I will return again to My place until they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction, they will earnestly seek Me.” Hosea told the people when they repented of their unbelief, the Lord would return to them. “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, the latter and former rain to the earth” (Hosea 6:1-3).
 
 
I have written several articles regarding this prophecy and how it relates to the end times. I believe Hosea is talking about Jesus Christ’s return (2nd Coming) at the end of two days (2000 years). At this time the Lord will resurrect (raise up) the Old Testament and Tribulation saints and will establish His Kingdom which will last for 1000 years. On the third day, eternity will begin in which God will create the New Earth and Heavens.
 
Another interesting decoding of scripture involving “equidistant letter sequencing involving the Rapture is found in Hosea 6:2 of the Tanakh (see rabdavis website above). The phrase (in Hebrew) “in the third day…or b’ yom hashlishi... Taking every other letter from left to right starting with the letter shin to the far left in this phrase spells the letter ‘shilhuv’ which in Modern Hebrew spells ‘rapture.’ Starting with the word hashlishi of the same phrase and counting every 132nd letter from right to left spells ‘natzai’ which is the ancient Hebrew word for “snatched up, rescued or saved.”
 
 DAVID AT MOUNT MORIAH
 
Abraham’s sacrifice on Mount Moriah wasn’t the only important Biblical event that transpired on this mountain site. About 800 years later, King David bought a threshing floor (and the land) from Araunah the Jebusite on this same location. He then built an altar to the Lord there, so that a plague God had sent upon the people (for David’s sin) would be stopped, according to 2 Samuel 24:21. David built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; so the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel on the 3rd day. (2 Samuel:24-25), after 70,000 men of the people had died.
 
SOLOMON AND THE FIRST TEMPLE
 
Several decades later Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah at the same location that Abraham and David had built altars to the Lord. When it was finished, after 7 years of construction the priests brought the ark of the covenant into the inner sanctuary of the temple to the Most Holy Place. “When the priests came out of the holy place, a bright cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” 1 Kings 8:10-11). Abraham’s name for this same location, Jehovah-jirah, was aptly named, perhaps prophetically, “in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (K.J. version).
 
According to my calculations (see: Chronology of Mankind: 6,000 Years of History Pt 1 :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready), the construction of the 1st Temple of Jerusalem was finished in the year 3000 A.M. (anno mundi – the year dating from the year of creation). If a day of the Lord is as a thousand years for man, and a thousand years as one day (according to Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8), then the construction of the 1st Temple of the Lord was finished on the 3rd day of the Lord. The 2nd Temple was also built on this same location. Ironically (but probably not), the 2nd Temple was finished on the 3rd day of the month of Adar according to Ezra 6:15. However, the glory of the Lord never filled this house of worship and sacrifice.
 
ESTHER AND THE FEAST OF PURIM
 
The next important Biblical event that occurred on a third day is found in the book of Esther. The events of this book take place in Persia in approximately 479 to 473 BC when Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was king of Persia. Esther’s family had been taken from Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar brought the Jews into exile. After Babylon was defeated by the Persians, the Jews were distributed throughout the kingdom. Esther had been adopted by her older cousin Mordecai. Through some unusual circumstances (Esther 1,2) Esther eventually became the wife of King Xerxes and thus the Queen of Persia.
 
Haman was the prime minister to Xerxes and was an evil man who hated Mordecai and the Jews. He invented a plot to gain permission from the king to exterminate the Jews from the kingdom. Mordecai persuaded Queen Esther to risk her life by going before (unannounced) the king and asking him to spare the Jewish people. Esther told Mordecai to gather all the Jews in Shushan and fast (for her plan) for 3 days and nights. It was on the 3rd day of the fast that Queen Esther went before the king and set her plan in motion to rescue the Jews from certain death. Eventually, Haman’s plot was uncovered and King Xerxes issued a decree that allowed the Jews to defend themselves from attack. Haman was hanged on the gardens that he built for Mordecai, and Mordecai replaced Haman as prime minister of all Persia. The feast of Purim celebrated Esther and Mordecai’s prevention of the plot to exterminate the Jewish people. The first Purim was celebrated in 473 BC. 
 
THE TWO WITNESSES
 
Before Jesus began his ministry, John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness about the coming of the Lord. John and his disciples were baptizing those who would believe in this message, when one day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John bore witness of the Holy Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and remaining on Jesus. The Holy Spirit was the One who told John to baptize with water and told him, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the son of God” (John 1:32-34). John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit were the two witnesses to Jesus’ ministry and true identity. 
 
JESUS’ MINISTRY BEGINS
 
Jesus’ ministry began on a day when John stood with two of his disciples and looking at Jesus, he said again, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples followed Jesus and remained with him that day. One of the two disciples was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew brought Simon to Jesus and Jesus told him, You shall be called Cephas (which is translated, a stone).
 
The next day (the 2nd day of Jesus’ ministry), Jesus added Philip and Nathanael to his growing number of disciples. On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples also attended the wedding. At some point during the wedding, they ran out of wine. Jesus’ mother, Mary, told Jesus about this dilemma and Jesus told her that “his ‘hour’ had not yet come.” Jesus reluctantly agreed to help out, however, and translated six waterpots (containing 20 or 30 gallons apiece) of water into wine. This was Jesus’ first miracle during his 3-year ministry. “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11).
 
This wedding probably occurred on the 3rd day of the week, Tuesday. It was a tradition from ancient times that Tuesday was the best day to get married. The reason for this belief is that Tuesday was the 3rd day of creation and the only day in the creation account in which God pronounced a double blessing (Genesis 1:10, 1:12). Therefore Tuesday is known as the day of double blessing. This makes it a great day to get married. Perhaps that is the day when the bridegroom, Jesus, marries the bride, the Church, in heaven.
 
JESUS’ RESURRECTION ON THE THIRD DAY
 
Jesus was crucified near Mount Moriah or at its summit in the year AD 33 or in the year 3989 A.M. (anno mundi) approximately 11 years shy of the 4th day of the Lord. Paul’s out-of-body experience where he was “caught up” to heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) occurred a decade later in AD 43 (as I wrote about in my previous article). This event happened on almost the exact 4th day of the Lord, 4000 A.M.
 
The one event that surpassed (in importance) Jesus’ birth and death was his resurrection. “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20,23). Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion (which occurred on Passover, Nisan 14, AD 33) on the Feast of Firstfruits, Nisan 17, AD 33.
 
Before his death, Jesus predicted his resurrection several times to his disciples. There are 9 recordings of Jesus predicting his resurrection on the 3rd day to his disciples; 3 times in Matthew (Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19), 2 times in Mark (Mark 9:31, 10:34), and 4 times in Luke (Luke 9:22, 13:32, 18:33, and 24:7). On the 3rd day after his crucifixion, Jesus proved He was who he said he was, the Son of God (Luke 22:70; John 5:24-26; John 9:35-36; John 10:30, etc.), for His Father raised him from the dead and He now sits at the right hand of God.
 
There are, however, a couple of predictions from Jesus regarding his resurrection in a sort of parable. The Scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign from Jesus to prove he was the Christ. Jesus answered them and said, “ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Another time, after Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple (the first time), the Jews asked Jesus, “What sign do you show to us, since you do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in 3 days I will raise it up” (John 2:18-19).
 
As I have mentioned many times, 3 is a very important number signifying divine perfection. There is nothing more divine and perfect than Jesus’ resurrection. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again (on the 3rd day), even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:14,17).
 
Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus!
 
Randy Nettles
[email protected]
 

 


 


 
'One wrong move': Tehran Times reveals Iran's targets in Israel – Tzvi Joffre - https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/tehran-times-publishes-targets-iran-will-attack-in-israel-688785
 
A "rocket alert" map displaying a list of targets Iran would strike including pins in Lebanese territory and on Palestinian cities.
 
An Iranian newspaper published a map on Wednesday threatening Israel with missile attacks. The map shows pins representing rocket alerts for dozens of potential targets, including Lebanese territory and Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
 
The map, published on the front page of the Tehran Times, was part of an article headlined “Just one wrong move!”
 
“An intensification of the Israeli military threats against Iran seems to suggest that the Zionist regime has forgotten that Iran is more than capable of hitting them from anywhere,” wrote the paper, adding it “doesn’t need to remind the illegitimate regime of Israel of Iran’s defense capabilities.”
 
The article ended with a 2013 quote by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that Iran would “destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa” if Israel “makes a mistake” and conducts a military strike.
 
The threat comes as Israel and the US advance preparations for a military option should negotiations in Vienna to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal fail. A massive IDF drill mimicking a strike on Iran is reportedly planned for next year.
 
Despite the threat being directed toward Israel, the map shows potential targets over the border with Lebanon and on what appear to be Jenin and Nablus.
 
Ramallah and Hebron also seem to be in Iran’s list of retaliatory targets should Israel conduct a strike against the Islamic Republic.
 
Iran, it is suggested, would also fire missiles toward a slew of empty areas in the Negev Desert, although it is unclear why they would do so.
 
The map does avoid the Gaza Strip, however, focusing red pins along the borders of the coastal enclave.
 
If Iran were to fire on Palestinian cities, it would not be the first time the so-called “Axis of Resistance” (a name used by Iran and its proxies for their alliance) has hit Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank.
 
During Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, a rocket fired from Gaza by Hamas landed near the Palestinian town of Azun in the West Bank. Hamas claimed at the time that the rocket was aimed toward the Israeli city of Modi’in, located some 30 kilometers south of Azun.
 
During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, multiple rockets were fired toward the West Bank, with one rocket landing near Hebron and another near Bethlehem.
 

 


 
Nearing Midnight: The Blueprint – Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
 
Throughout the past weeks, months and even years, we’ve looked at the evil of the principalities and powers of Ephesians 6: 12.
 
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
 
We’ve addressed how the wickedness within this cabal is ratcheting up for the conclusion of the age. The cabal includes both demonic and human diabolists that are determined to lay groundwork of the most disastrous kind. It is preparing the way for the reign of Antichrist, which will be the most despotic, tyrannical regimes of all human history.
 
The human minions within the high places have little to no idea that they are working to help Satan complete his destructive mission. However, these are every bit as much his Tribulation demolition force as the demonic principalities and powers of the supernatural sort.
 
There is no doubt that the stage is being set for Daniel’s seventieth week—the seven years of Tribulation leading up to Christ’s Second Advent. The avalanche of deception and wickedness that we see being foisted upon end-times mankind we term “Satan’s blueprint,” and it is drawn up and implemented by the ultimate architect of evil.
 
We’ve looked at how the US is the number-one holdup to this luciferian plan coming to full construction. By that, I mean that in human terms, this is the case. It is, of course, God the Holy Spirit resident within the Church (all born again believers) who restrains the evil, as pointed out in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
 
But in human terms—in geopolitical terms—it is America and our constitutional adherence to national sovereignty that offers most resistance to the New World Order builders. That’s who brings the hellish drive to deconstruct national borders that we see plaguing our country. It is why the present presidential administration is sometimes openly, sometimes covertly, bringing illegal aliens across our borders and flying others in the early morning hours into places like Florida from places like Afghanistan. Satan wants no national borders. He is determined to establish one-world rule as soon as his blueprint is fully implemented.
 
The devil’s blueprint has been cleverly drawn, and was begun earnestly, in modern times, during the mid-twentieth century. With Hitler and Tojo defeated in 1945, the minions of Ephesians 6: 12 created the United Nations in succeeding years. Where Wilson and the one-worlders had failed with the League of Nations following WWI, the UN sprang to life and now makes its powerful presence known in every aspect of life on planet earth.
 
Satan even had in his blueprint to plant this one-world organization in America’s most influential city—influential not only within the US, but effectively in most every nation on earth.
 
The devil’s determination to tear down America’s boundaries–in every area of existence, not just in terms of geography—includes in his blueprint the following you will recognize.
 
In terms of society and culture, the satanic plan has divided the nation to an ever-increasing extent. He has fomented racial, political, class, religious, and economic chaos and division in other ways. The “seas and waves” are roaring in this nation that once was the world’s greatest experiment in liberty of human history. The republic that Benjamin Franklin once was said to have told a woman: “We have given you your republic, if you can keep it,” we have now lost.
 
One of Satan’s human minions, whom we are told is most notorious in helping create this condition of decline–George Soros, along with other ultra-rich one-worlders—has completely corrupted our lawmakers (Congress) and our constitutional guardians (Supreme Court judges). Washington, DC, has rightly been called “the Swamp.”
 
The satanic blueprint has replaced the Bible and moral coding with educational corrosiveness that has caused the majority of college students to hate America rather than claim it proudly as that great experiment in liberty Franklin and the other founders intended. This deception and wickedness have separated the young from their parents in many cases. Even the youngest students in kindergarten are now taught disgusting things about their sexuality and that one race is superior over another. The mainstream media glorifies the burning and looting of cities and the killing of police—a thing that is also acclaimed by the party of the political left. At the same time, anyone with a countervailing political, social, or cultural view can be placed in prison and vilified–held in an unconstitutional gulag—for months, even years. Not a governmental finger is lifted to help in their plight.
 
The blueprint has deceived much of the nation in the matter of what is right. The blueprint says one can be whatsoever gender they want to be. Anyone who disagrees is held up to ridicule and, in some cases, is threatened with physical harm and even death.
 
The devil and his blueprint have arranged for a very small percentage that makes up LGBTQ, etc., to completely dominate the national landscape. Mainstream news and entertainment powers that be seem to be all in with the insanity. And insanity is what the nation has come down to–the reprobate mind of Romans 1: 28.
 
So we are now, perhaps, at the point Jesus spoke about in framing the very end of the age. His words tip off those who are watching for Him to rescue them/us from the fulfillment of Satan’s blueprint.
 
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:28–30)

 


 
Why Are We Still Here? - By Alice Childs - Alice Johnson Childs - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/12/11/why-are-we-still-here-by-alice-childs/
 
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58, KJV).
 
This was my response to a dear sister in the Lord who, like many of us, myself included, are facing serious and multiple health issues that the Enemy of Our Souls often uses to wear us down and cause doubt and depression to paralyze us. In answering her, God ministered to me again, lifting my spirit and reminding me that His plan and timing are perfect and that serving the Risen One who saved my soul from eternal Hell is my joy, my honor, and my privilege. In encouraging her, the Lord once again encouraged me. I hope this encourages you too.
 
“Dearest one, I have never thought you were ignoring me! I completely understand your situation. I also understand your frustration. It does indeed feel as if we are literally drowning in vapidness, lawlessness, despair, and outright demonic evil. We feel this way because this is the spiritual condition of a lost and dying world that even now teeters over the precipice of the abyss that is the coming Tribulation.
 
As for the question of why we are still here and the overarching question of the timing of the rapture, we must realize and accept that that event always has and always will be an ever-imminent occurrence.
 
I have never been one who believed that the rapture is necessarily attached to any particular feast day or event.
 
Perhaps I am wrong, but to my understanding, scripture clearly teaches the doctrine of imminence. From the beginning of the Church Age at Pentecost just after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, until the end of the Church Age — which will occur with the rapture of the Remnant Church, on whatever day it happens — the rapture has always been imminent. The rapture could have happened any time after the birth of the church. It can still happen at any moment now. It will happen precisely on God’s schedule before the Tribulation begins, but only God knows the exact day and hour that will be. The rapture is always imminent.
 
The reason the Remnant Church is still here in this hell hole of evil that is growing darker and more demonic by the minute is because of God’s great mercy. It is as simple as that. Rest assured, though, that as bad as things are at this moment and the worse they will certainly get, our loving Father will not leave us here one second longer than is necessary in His perfect plan. As bad as it is now, we know this is nothing compared to what will happen during the Tribulation. Remember that we are promised by God Himself that His bride “is not destined” to endure His wrath – not one nanosecond of it.
 
Because He is love, God will give lost humanity every possible chance to be saved before He ends the Church Age. Because of His great mercy, He will even offer salvation after He will have removed His Church from the earth. Such is His love and desire that “none should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
 
His timing is always perfect. He knows the longing of our hearts. He longs for us to be with Him even more than we long to be with Him. Trust that truth. “… And the Spirit and the bride say COME… ” (Revelation 22:17).
 
As for feeling like you don’t belong here, well, that’s totally natural because we believers don’t belong here. Our citizenship is in Heaven. The truth is that we are here at our Lord’s command and for His service. We do not and cannot know who or how many we are reaching for the Lord. Every word spoken, every encouragement given, every prayer lifted on another’s behalf, every scripture shared – everything done to further the gospel, all of that is our service to our Lord – our testimony to Him – a testimony that will stand in eternity as a point of rejoicing for those who heeded the gospel or stand as a testimony against those who heard but ignored the Truth. The fact is that we cannot and will not know until we stand before our Lord at the Bema Seat just who or how many the Lord used us to impact.
 
In fact, I believe that the ones who may well earn the most crowns will be those who quietly served the Lord “in the background,” so to speak – those who are the billions of God’s unknown (to us) unsung heroes of the faith. Many who may have thought that they were making no impact at all may well have reached more and done more for Christ’s kingdom than those who openly had more of a public platform. We cannot know, nor are we meant to know this side of glory, how many souls our efforts, small or great, known or unknown, will have reached. This way, only God gets the glory lest we begin to be puffed up with pride, thus taking for ourselves the honor and glory due Only to God.
 
Don’t ever fall for the enemy’s lie that you aren’t making any effort or are not of any use or value to God. That’s Satan’s way of shutting you up and shutting down your service to God. It’s what Satan wants. Don’t fall for his tactics!
 
It is never our words or our deeds that make the difference in people’s lives anyway. It is the powerful, active, living Word of the living God that has the power to change one’s eternal destiny. We are only the mouthpieces that spread His Word. We are the hands and feet that distribute it and the fingers that type and disseminate His Word. The Holy Spirit, through God’s Word, does the changing of people’s hearts, not us or what we say. We are merely His vessels. God doesn’t need us; He wants us. He who spoke atoms into existence, He who created all that exists from nothing does not need us. But because He loves us, He has gifted fallen humanity the honor of serving Him for our eternal good and for His matchless glory.
 
To us who betrayed Him, He has gifted us, first with salvation and then with the privilege and honor to work alongside the very Creator God within whose hands and feet remain the scars of the nails that He suffered on our behalf. God the Son will bear for all eternity the scars our sin placed on Him when the very Creator of the universe gave Himself as a ransom for “whosoever will” believe. Within His own incarnate body, He will forever bear the evidence of His sacrifice as atonement and payment for our sins. Those scars will be eternally evident for all creation to witness. That is the proof of His unfathomable love and amazing grace towards us.
 
We in these mortal bodies of flesh cannot understand that kind of love! That is why we gladly serve Him even in the midst of such overwhelming and ever-increasing evil, horror, pain and suffering. We serve Him because our Lord left His throne of glory clothing Himself in the flesh of humanity, and as sin’s perfect sacrifice, came as the God/Man to redeem us – US!
 
We who are guilty have been offered complete pardon. We who deserve Hell are freely offered Heaven, if we only believe. This is why we serve Him. Never ever think or allow the Adversary to stop you from serving in whatever capacity and place God has placed you! Keep going. We are almost home! You do not know what impact you are having.
 
Don’t stop! We are not responsible for what others do with God’s message. That is on them. But we will be held to account for whether or not we remained faithful to what our Sovereign has placed us here to do.
 
We cannot go by our feelings. Our emotions and feelings are subjective, fickle, and are so easily manipulated and deceived. We go by what the Word of God has already told us. That is where we find what His will is. He has already given us everything we need to know to serve Him and to do His will, whatever He has called and placed us to do. Never trust your feelings or emotions because Satan can and does so easily deceive and manipulate us through them. Rely upon God’s already completed, always sufficient, permanently revealed Word. Everything we need to know, every answer we will ever need is already there. We just need to read, study, learn, and follow it.
 
As for waiting on the Lord, we must do that too with patience and longing, all the while serving Him in whatever way He leads, knowing that it is only His great love that “none should perish but that all should come to repentance” that stays His call for us until the very final nanosecond. Not all will heed our warning. Not all will come to salvation. We know this, but our Merciful Father will give the world every last chance both before and after He calls His body/bride home.
 
I know you’re tired. We all are. I know you’re discouraged. We all are. I know your body is broken and giving out. The rest of the body/bride of Christ is failing in body too, including myself. Still, we cannot give in to the fiery darts or the relentless attacks of the Evil One – not this close to the finish line!
 
Hang in there! Keep spreading the only truth that can save men’s souls from Hell, then leave the results in Jesus’ nail-scarred hands. We are only the vessels. The power that changes eternal destinies lies solely with the Holy Spirit of God.
 
Never allow Satan to stop or sidetrack you from doing what God has called and placed you here to do. Even if you feel your part is insignificant, know that it is not. Nothing God has given us to do is insignificant in His plan. Even five loaves of bread and two little fish fed multitudes in the hands that created all things! Nothing is too small or insignificant in the Master’s hands! Keep spreading the gospel everywhere you can, including on social media if you’re on it. Keep on posting scripture. Keep encouraging the brethren. Keep praying for the body of Christ. Keep warning the lost. Keep fellowshipping, praising, and worshiping together with other believers, and keep on keeping on until Jesus calls us Home. Keep on going!
 
I love you, and I’m praying for you.”
 
Alice
 
[email protected]
 
www.authoralicechilds.com

 


 
Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: It’s just a mess - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
 
There are a lot of bad things happening in this country. We have elected leaders that are supposed to handle at least some of them through policy changes or adjustments. But overall, they are doing nothing but the opposite. It is almost like they purposely want to destroy this country. And it is quite obvious they care little about the right to free speech, the free exercise of religion and your right to privacy. All this begs the question as to why we allow them to continue to destroy our way of life. It is almost uncanny. The Congressional job approval consistently is in the teens, but everybody reelects their congressman. Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.
 
Let’s take a bit of inventory. There are ships backed up in harbors across America. Goods cannot be delivered to the stores. The higher demand for fewer goods causes prices to rise. Joe Biden and his party-first mayors and governors exacerbate the problem with COVID mandates, reducing the supply of workers. Crime in major cities is sharply higher with murder rates up 30%, the highest in history. This, after Democrat mayors in major cities supported defunding the police. Their solution now: restore some funding, but crack down on gun ownership. Meanwhile, mass robberies plague inner cities. Biden’s solution is to send your tax dollars to these hellholes so they can hire more police. Create a crisis so you can expand government, I guess.
 
How about the energy crisis? If you look at what you are paying at the gas pump, it’s a strong indicator why you are just not having enough money to go around. Gas prices are up 40% since Biden took office—that’s from a $2.25 per gallon national average to $3.13 today. This affects almost everything you buy from groceries to your electric bill. Why the rise? The Biden Administration is bent on forcing the nation to address climate change—the weather—with “green” energy. Cancelling supply delivery options like the Keystone Pipeline and ending oil exploration and leases on federal lands has turned the US once again into an oil dependent country. There is no “green” energy infrastructure to economically replace or even transition away from oil and gas.
 
Local, state and federal governments are trying to take away your rights to free speech and religious freedom over COVID–even your ability to provide for your family if you don’t take the government-mandated serum. At the same time, COVID cases are skyrocketing among the “vaccinated” and people are dying in hospitals because the government-mandated protocols are only about 50% effective. But, you know, Biden surely can focus on the greater threat to society—Parents speaking out at school board meetings against some of this stuff. For their heartfelt and peaceful dissent, they earn the label of domestic terrorists and come under the watchful eye of the FBI. Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise man is cautious and departs from evil; but a fool is reckless and overconfident.” It’s just a mess. Say it with me…Stupidocrisy.

 


 
Daily Devotion: A Message of Hope - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
 
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about’. —Luke 2:15
 
https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-message-of-hope/ - Listen
 
After the angel delivered the good news to the shepherds, they had a choice as to what to do. They could have said, “Let’s just hang out here and soak it in.” Or they might have said, “We can’t go there. We’re not dressed appropriately. Besides, no one wants shepherds around.”
 
Instead, they essentially said, “Let’s go quickly and see this thing for ourselves.”
 
A lot of times we miss out on what God wants to do in our lives because we don’t respond appropriately. Luke’s gospel tells us, “They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished” (2:16–18 NLT).
 
In first-century Israel, the people were hoping that someone would overthrow Rome. They were hoping for a militant Messiah to free them from their captivity. But Jesus wasn’t coming to overthrow Rome; He was coming to die for the sins of the world.
 
We have the same message as the shepherds did. And we, too, need to share this message, especially during this Christmas season. We all know people are hurting this Christmas. Some have lost their jobs, some are sick, some have a loved one who is sick, and some are very depressed.
 
We need to tell people there is hope. We need to tell people that a Savior has been born. And we need to tell them they don’t have to be afraid. The reason is that Christ has come. Christ has been born. He walked this earth, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. And now He offers the ultimate gift of eternal life. We have a Savior.


 


 
FROM THE HEART
    
Let Us Make the Short Time We have Left,
Count for ALL of Eternity!

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