Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
The Truth of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture! - By Isaiah Anderson - https://christianityandpolitics.blog/2019/01/13/the-truth-of-the-pre-tribulation-rapture/
The denial of the pre-Tribulation Rapture by many has increased recently, some even going so far as calling it false teaching. Sadly, in some cases, I've witnessed teachers and pastors singling out those that believe this doctrine as being false teachers, even non-Christian in some extreme cases. Is the pre-Tribulation doctrine true? In this short article, I hope to demonstrate the validity of the Rapture, but specifically the pre-Tribulation rapture. I truly hope this helps bring peace to the Body of Christ on this topic. What I'm about to say may be shocking to some, so please read to the end and don't allow the initial statement to stop you from possibly looking at this topic with fresh eyes. The doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture is not only valid, but it's really the only choice we as believers have. Otherwise, we're endorsing, knowingly or unknowingly, the un-biblical act of works salvation. That's right, if we hold to any other view, except a pre-Tribulation Rapture, we are by default, holding to a works based salvation. The Bible clearly teaches salvation is by faith alone. It also correspondingly teaches, a Rapture event will take place for all Christians, just prior to the Tribulation period. The Rapture Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NASB). But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB). From reading the verses above, we can conclude the Rapture doctrine is valid. All we need to do now is determine the approximate timing, and who is being Raptured. The Tribulation Saints The timing of the Rapture is where most of the confusion or debate occurs. So, this is where we'll start...when will the Rapture happen? Since we should be able to agree from the previous verses, that there is a Rapture event spoken of in the Bible, I will primarily focus on the groups being addressed and sequence of resurrections to hopefully answer the important who, why, and when. The Bible, specifically the Book of Revelation, speaks about a unique group of people, who will come to faith in Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period. We commonly refer to this group as the Tribulation Saints. The distinction is no accident, a purposeful separation is made between the Bride or Church of Jesus Christ, and the Tribulation Saints. It should become clear why this is done in the following paragraphs. I will be focusing on this group, but I first need to clarify some of the Christian terminology, like what is the Tribulation, pre-Tribulation, etc. The Tribulation The Tribulation is a seven-year period, which is often broken into two parts, the Tribulation is the first 3-1/2 years, and the great Tribulation making up the final 3-1/2 years. The seven-year period comes from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 9, which speaks of a 70-weeks prophecy, or 483-years of time given to the human government's reign upon the earth. The final week or 7-years are given to the reign of an enigmatic person, he is called by many names in the Bible, but for brevity, we will use the most well-known name, the Antichrist. All of this precedes the promised coming of the final Messianic government and His endless global reign. Interestingly, this prophecy foretells the death of the Messiah and suggests a necessary resurrection for Him to have an eternal reign, which corresponds to Isaiah 53, the famous prophecy of the coming Messiah's substitutionary death and resurrection. It's during this period, the Tribulation, that we are told of a coming time of judgment and wrath upon the entire world, one that ultimately ushers in the second coming of Jesus Christ. The pre-Tribulation Rapture The pre-Tribulation Rapture is the event, which teaches, all Christians living just before the Tribulation, will be snatched out of this world and having their mortal bodies, translated into immortal bodies. We are promised to eternally live with the Lord Jesus Christ. "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3 NASB). So What's the Big Deal? The Bible clearly says, the Antichrist will kill and overcome the Tribulation Saints. Also, we find no Rapture event depicted in the Book of Revelation for this group of people, the Tribulation Saints, which is very important. The Bible, or Book of Revelation specifically, only speaks of two resurrections. The first resurrection being for the Tribulation Saints, who are martyred for Christ Jesus, and have not taken the mark of the beast. The first resurrection has no mention of the Church, the Bride of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb, nothing. Only those living during the Tribulation and coming to faith in Jesus Christ will take part in the first resurrection. We can also see this group of Tribulation Saints in Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17. When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (Revelation 6:9-11 NASB). After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:9-17 NASB). The Tribulation Saints will be separated out for their sacrifice during the Tribulation period. These people alone will participate in the first resurrection. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-7). The Default Problem. Those that insist on the Church being in the Tribulation, they have a serious default problem. If only the Tribulation Saints are resurrected first, it means the entire non-Tribulation Church, everyone from Christ until the Tribulation, will have to be resurrected at the second resurrection. The second resurrection is commonly called "The Great White Throne Judgment," and no one is looking forward to that one. See Revelation 20:11-15 Below. Besides the massive problem with the above scenario, we also must accept the Church being overcome by Satan, which is clearly shown to occur in Revelation 13:7. During this period , the Tribulation Saints, and the entire world are overcome by the Antichrist. Yet, Jesus said the Church would not be overcome by gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). Depending on how you interpret that promise, one could serious concluded an issue exists. Secondly, by default, our justification is based upon our own good works. Everyone not included in the first resurrection will be raised in the second resurrection and judged according to their deeds. It's important to note, there is no separation, or special division for a Church spoken of in the second resurrection...it appears they are all thrown into the eternal lake of fire. If we are judged by our deeds, my guess is none of us are going to pass the test, and thus the gates of hell will have prevailed. The promises of faith salvation are also meaningless. No, this is a serious problem! (Revelation 13:7) It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. Jesus said, I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18 NASB). The Bride and God's Promises of Protection FROM the Wrath of God. The Church or Bride is promised to be protected from the wrath or judgment to come. Please read, 1 Thess 1:10, 1 Thess 5:9, Luke 21:36 & Revelation 3:10. The Bible is very clear on the above point, we are not protected through the coming Tribulation, we are protected from the Tribulation, which clearly demonstrates a removal before the Tribulation period. This perfectly harmonizes with the Rapture verses that we read above, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Also, the Bride or Church, is situated in heaven before the first resurrection! Let me repeat this, "the Church is in heaven BEFORE the first resurrection!" Why would we need a resurrection if we're already in heaven? The Tribulation Saints will still be waiting for the first resurrection to occur (Revelation 20:4-7), while the Bride or Church is in heaven at the promised marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9). Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he *said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God." (Revelation 19:7-9 NASB). Accordingly, if there is no pre-Tribulation Rapture, the non-Tribulation Saints would have to wait for the second resurrection to occur. We have a massive problem with this belief, it means the Church would miss the millennial reign of Christ, which we are promised to be with Him, and even worse we're to be judged according to our deeds or works! Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15 NASB). Serious Theological Questions. Are we saved by the imputation of Jesus' righteousness, God's grace, and the free gift of salvation, or by our own righteous works? Clearly, the Bible teaches our justification and salvation is a free gift, one based on Jesus' substitutionary atonement, God's amazing grace, and the imputed righteousness of Christ to all believers. We are not saved by our righteous works (Titus 3:5-7 & Romans 5:1-2). He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7 NASB). Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 NASB). If you believe the Church is in any part of the Tribulation, you by default are holding to works based salvation, which is unbiblical and false teaching! Conclusion One can make little sense of the end times prophecies without a pre-Tribulation Rapture, which makes the two resurrections major obstacles to reconcile, as does the empty promises of our redemption, and ultimately it would make Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross a needless act. No, the pre-Tribulation doctrine plays a significant roll in the continuity and understanding of God's eternal plan for mankind, the Church, and the judgment of the spiritual forces of darkness. We can see the faithful Bride, the Church age believers throughout the ages that have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord's promised salvation by faith in Christ. We cannot add any personal good works to the perfect work of Christ upon the cross. It is through this perfect work of atonement by Jesus Christ, that we are justified before a Holy God. And we can trust His promised protection from the coming wrath, which will come upon the entire world. The timing is at His choosing, but in the Bible He gives us many signs to be looking for, the greatest is the return of the Jews to Israel and restoration of Jerusalem. I do believe the time is very near, which means the Rapture could occur very soon. Repent of your sins and place your trust in Christ today because we are not promised a tomorrow. The time is quickly running out. The UN, the "State of Palestine" and the Torture of Women - by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13561/palestinians-women-torture A Palestinian mother of three has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces of torturing her and threatening to rape her during the two months she was held in a PA prison in the West Bank. The accusation by the woman, Suha Jbara, 31, came on the eve of PA President Mahmoud Abbas's visit to New York, where he is scheduled to assume the chairmanship of the largest bloc of developing countries in the United Nations, known as the "Group of 77 and China." As chairman of the group, which represents 134 nations, Abbas and the "State of Palestine" will negotiate and co-sponsor proposals and amendments on various developmental, humanitarian and legal issues that are on the agenda of the UN. On January 11, Jbara, who was released last week from detention, held a press conference in Ramallah in which she detailed the various methods of torture she experienced at the hands of her Palestinian interrogators. Her horrific experience, however, does not seem to be on the agenda of the UN or the Group of 77 and China, headed by Abbas. Apparently, the UN group's members, who voted in favor of naming the "State of Palestine" as chairman of the group, do not care much about the human rights record of the PA security forces in the West Bank. Jbara, a dual citizen of the US and Panama, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces in early November 2018 at her home near the West Bank city of Ramallah. According to Jbara, she was accused of "illegally collecting donations" for families of Palestinians killed or wounded during clashes with the Israeli army. Bizarrely, the PA is accusing Jbara of something that the PA itself has done for years and is still doing: paying salaries to Palestinians in Israeli prison and the families of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks on Israelis. According to Jbara, her interrogators also accused her of "collaborating" with Israel. During her detention, she went on hunger strike for 27 days. The torture, according to Jbara, included pouring cold water on her face, solitary confinement for several days, strip-search, sleep deprivation, lengthy hours of interrogation and verbal abuse. "The first stages were the worst," Jbara told the Palestinian Wattan TV station. "They interrogated me for several hours, without taking into consideration that I felt sick. They moved me from one office to another. I saw a number of detainees who were blindfolded and handcuffed. The interrogators were pouring cold water on their faces and some of the detainees were lying on the floor. It was a horrifying experience for me." Jbara also said that the Palestinian interrogators threatened to take her three children away from her. "They used my children to blackmail me," she reported. The interrogators apparently also threatened her mother, her sisters and her with sexual assault. "I'm now in a very bad health condition," she said. "I even have difficulty walking." Last month, a representative of Amnesty International met with Jbara, while she was still being held in Palestinian detention, and heard about her brutal treatment at the hands of her interrogators. "The Palestinian authorities must urgently investigate the torture and ill-treatment of Suha Jbara, an activist who has told Amnesty International that she was beaten, slammed against a wall and threatened with sexual violence by her interrogators," the organization wrote. According to Amnesty's report, Jbara described how, upon her arrest, she had a seizure, lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital. Armed security officials later dragged her barefoot, out of the hospital, and transferred her to the Jericho Central Prison. There, when she asked for a drink, a male interrogator threw water in her face, slapped her, punched her in the chest and back, and threatened her with further violence. She was blindfolded and handcuffed throughout her interrogation, and was not allowed to drink water or use the lavatory. "He insulted me all the time," she said, "used very dirty and violent sexual language, threatened to bring a doctor to look into my virginity and say that I was a whore, and threatened to hurt my family and to take my kids away from me." According to Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International: "Suha Jbara has described her torture in harrowing detail. In her testimony she gives an account of ruthless interrogators who have shamelessly flouted Palestine's obligations to treat prisoners humanely and violated the absolute prohibition under international law of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." Yet, Jbara's story has barely attracted the attention of the international mainstream media. As far as many foreign journalists covering the Middle East are concerned, a Palestinian woman complaining about torture in a Palestinian prison is not newsworthy. Had she been detained by Israel, Jbara would have most likely made it to the front pages of the world's leading newspapers and magazines in a matter of minutes. This is the kind of story that the "State of Palestine" does not intend to raise during its chairmanship of the largest bloc of developing countries at the UN. It seems that, from the point of view of the Palestinian Authority leadership, Jbara's ordeal does not fall within the category of human rights. The PA regularly complains about human rights violations of Palestinians held in Israeli prison for security-related offenses. But when the PA's own security forces detain and torture a mother of three, Palestinian leaders are found elsewhere -- like at the helm of a UN bloc. Actually, Palestinian leaders can rest easy concerning their torture of Palestinians. By being selected to head the bloc of developing countries, Abbas and the leaders of the "State of Palestine" will be in the company of countries rewarded for human rights violations -- including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Venezuela and Yemen -- just elected as the vice-president of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, despite Yemen being ranked "as the worst country in the world on gender inequality (149th out of 149)" -- as well as several countries in Africa and Asia. That group exemplifies the old saying: birds of a feather flock together -- and these birds are definitely of the predator type. Nearing Midnight: 2019 Prophecy Prospective - Part II - Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ Man himself is at the center of stage-setting as we continue to look at prospects for Bible prophecy fulfillment in this new year and beyond. We have looked at Israel as the second most focal area of prophecy. Mankind is, in my estimation, third on the list as we consider prophetic prospective for 2019. God's human creation is the only creature that has volitional choice. That is, only we can say yes or no to God in the matter of whether to obey or disobey-of whether to decide for good or for evil. In this regard, fallen mankind is observably taking the precise prophetic path God's Word foretells. Daily headlines tell the story. It's as if the Apostle Paul's prophecy comes into view moment by moment. The figure of the prophesied earth-dweller takes shape hour by hour as chips fall away while the evil sculptor carves mankind's final, rebellious form during these end of days. Some will criticize my assessment as greatly flawed because I present analysis only from the perspective of America's part in the ongoing end-of-days developments. I'll admit this is a valid criticism in some ways. However, the United States of America is, in terms of being materially blessed and even spiritually blessed, the apex nation of world history. All other nation-states are linked to America's economic hegemony. And, America's position in being spiritually blessed takes second place only to the nation Israel's position as number one. Israel is God's chosen people to be example for all others. The Law was given through that nation to show all people how to comport themselves. The Ten Commandments, in God's holy eyes, superseded the Code of Hammurabi, which was written under human authorship as a body of law for governing human conduct in Babylonia in ancient Mesopotamia around 1754 B.C. The history of the Israelites, throughout the Old Testament, dramatically portrayed how the Hebrew children would be blessed of God when they obeyed His Law. When they transgressed, the Lord would, after periods of bidding them to repent, judge that people. In this sense, Israel is spiritually blessed beyond all peoples. The nation was materially blessed, as well. They possessed phenomenal physical riches during the reign of Solomon, one of the wealthiest kingdoms of history. Today, their breakthroughs in practically every technological area of endeavor is moving the nation toward another level of super-wealth attainment. Sadly, that achievement will lead only to the greatest of all judgments-that of the Tribulation era. Again, America has far surpassed in physical riches and opulence any nation of world history -including that of Solomon's kingdom. The technological instrumentalities for living life on a plain beyond any other nation of history is undeniably obvious. -Thus even though that level of luxury has come to be treated as commonplace in the U.S. We often wonder over the fact that even the poorest of America's citizens, for the most part, live a lifestyle that is luxurious in comparison to the conditions endured by people in most all other parts of the world. Again, in this respect, America is the apex nation ever to exist upon this fallen planet. Yet this great blessing is taken for granted by those of us who live that lifestyle. So, too, the spiritual principles of the Almighty Creator, the one and only God of Heaven, have been taken for granted. Most in our nation today-including many of those who attend church regularly and consider themselves to be Christians, give little to no thought of the morally/spiritually deteriorated state of their nation and world. These matters are almost never addressed from the pulpits at this late, prophetic hour. We have moved deeply into the Laodicean time predicted by Jesus, the Ascended Lord, as recorded by John the Revelator in Revelation 3. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (Revelation 3:14-19) This condemnation seems to be speaking almost directly to Christendom in America today. The malaise regarding lack of energy or desire to deal with the descent into societal and cultural evil is spiritually organic. It has spread like septicemia suffered in a biological sense. Failure of resolve by the born-again to deal with this descent has wrought ungodly consequences. This lack of effort has permitted the development of the reprobate mindset forewarned by the Apostle Paul more swiftly than otherwise would be the case. To get the full scope of what God's Word says about what brings about His righteous judgment, we need to appropriate discernment from the only source of truth. We will begin our next week's look at the prophetic prospective for 2019 by examining Paul's Holy Spirit-inspired condemnation of a generation that looks very much like our own as we begin the new year. Israel Watch: Babylon Calling - Jim Fletcher - [email protected] In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the Israelites were warned that invasion was coming. Sure enough, in 586 B.C., the Babylonians came from the east, sacked Jerusalem, and carried off thousands back to their kingdom. There, the Jewish exiles mourned for 70 years, before the Lord allowed them to return after a decree from a new empire, the Medo-Persians. A reversal of sorts was announced this week, as word came that several Iraqi delegations had visited Israeli government officials! Wow, what an amazing turnaround of history, especially given the hostilities of the last century between the countries. Of course, no one knows where this will end up, but I am reminded of David Allen Lewis's remark on the peace between Egypt and Israel: "A cold peace is better than no peace." Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged this latest breakthrough and it is nothing short of amazing. Most of the readers of Israel Watch no that in the past few short years, various Arab countries are warming up to Israel, as evil forces threaten all of them. From a report in Israel National News: "Three delegations from Iraq visited Israel in recent months, the last of which arrived in Israel within the last month, Hadashot TV reported on Sunday. "The delegations included a total of 15 influential people from Iraq, including local religious leaders, both Sunnis and Shiites. "According to the Hadashot TV report, the delegation met with Israeli officials, visited the Yad Vashem Museum and met with academics and organizations related to Iraqi Jewry." I was not sure at all that Iraq would ever do such a thing, given the Saddam Hussein years and even prior. And remember, Iraq took part in the wars against Israel in '48, '67, and '73, in one form or another. Saddam's well-publicized threats to wipe Israel off the map were routine for decades. "Last month, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attended a conference of Israeli ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry, and told the diplomats, 'When I meet with Arab leaders, they say to me, 'We have security and economic interests, and we also want to enjoy the fruits of progress, and we will not mortgage our normalization with the State of Israel to the whims of the Palestinians.'" This is astonishing, and proves that many are getting sick of the tired old Palestinian mendacity. It has brought much destruction not only to Israel, but also to neighboring Arabs. If for no other reason, they have finally grown tired of subsidizing the PLO-Hamas Hatfields' and Mccoys' feud. Netanyahu has skillfully split-off the Palestinian demands from normalization with other Arab countries or, should I say, actual Arab countries. There's no question that there are many thousands of Arabs in the Middle East that simply want to get on with life and put an end to a century of fighting, murder, and destruction. Now, should we expect Netanyahu to host Iraqi President Barham Salih anytime soon? Not so fast, but these delegations are a really big deal. Things change so quickly geopolitically in the Middle East, but let's enjoy this good news as we head into 2019. Daily Jot: Hatred covered by deceit - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com Have you noticed that the national media narrative against President Donald Trump has shifted in the past few days from collusion with Russians to actually being an agent of the Russians? On Monday's broadcast of MSNBC's "Hardball," host Chris Matthews stated that he sometimes thinks we're near a point where President Trump is "going to just start talking to us in Russian," like the Russian agent in the film "No Way Out." CNN is reporting that following the firing of FBI Director James Comey, the FBI's holdovers from the previous Administration actually considered investigating Trump for essentially being an agent of Russia and acting on its behalf. This, quite frankly, shows how out of control the deep state has become. CNN reported Monday, "The congressional transcripts obtained by CNN reveal new details into how the FBI launched the investigation into Trump...the bureau had previously contemplated such a step, according to testimony from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page. Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent...texted Page in the hours after Comey's firing and said: "We need to open the case we've been waiting on now while Andy is acting," a reference to then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Page was pressed on the meaning of the message in her interview with congressional investigators, and she confirmed that the text was related to the Russia investigation into potential collusion." Now the entire media narrative has morphed into Trump being some sort of special agent on behalf of Putin. Let's think about this a bit. Those accusing others of doing something they never considered are often the ones who are doing what they accused. Does anyone remember a whispering conversation between the immediate past "president" and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev regarding missile defense systems, "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility." Or how about Hillary and Bill Clinton's foundation's $145 million haul from the Russians over the uranium deal she made as Secretary of State? Or her campaign manager John Podesta doing a $35 million Russian energy deal? Where are these narratives and investigations? The narrative, however, is that Trump is the Russian agent. And it started with the past "president" telling a Clinton campaign rally in October 2016 that he was concerned about Trump's, "continued flattery of Mr. Putin and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approaches" after him. Then comes the fabricated "pee-dossier" paid for by Clinton and the Democratic National Committee with an assist from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. This has all the makings of a set up to topple a duly elected president and to cover up very cozy relationships that endanger Americans.Proverbs 26:26 says, "[He] Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shown before the whole congregation." The media is complicit in this cover up and We The People need to demand the truth from those we elect. Daily Devotion: Safe Passage - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org "Men," he said, "I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on--shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well." -Acts 27:10 The apostle Paul knew what was coming. He had warned the ship's officers, but they didn't listen. But in the middle of the storm, they suddenly were paying attention to what he had to say: "Take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What's more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.' So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said." (Acts 27:22-25 NLT) That was good news. Their hearts probably started to leap. They would survive the storm. They weren't going to die. Then Paul added, "But we will be shipwrecked on an island" (verse 26 NLT). We want to avoid shipwrecks, of course. We want to avoid the storms. But sometimes there are lessons we learn in the shipwrecks of life that we would not learn otherwise. On one occasion Jesus said to His disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake" (Mark 4:35 NLT). The seasoned sailors got into their little boat and started rowing away, making their way across the Sea of Galilee. But then a great storm hit, which was not unusual for Galilee. As they were panicking, Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping. So they woke Him up and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?" (verse 38 NLT). So Jesus rebuked the storm-and He rebuked them as well: "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (verse 40 NLT). Jesus did not promise smooth sailing. But He did promise a safe passage. 
FROM THE HEART
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