Prophecy Update Newsletter
May 26, 2017
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Bible Prophecy
- By Bill Perkins - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/05/25/earthquakes-and-volcanoes-in-bible-prophecy "...He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes" (Jeremiah 10:10b). The wrath of God is a scary thing. In 1 Chronicles 21, God's wrath was abundantly seen when King David disobeyed God and took a census of Israel. As punishment, God sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 Israeli men in one day. In the future Tribulation, we know that God will pour out His wrath on all those who take the mark of the beast, as well as on those present on the entire earth. Rev. 14:9, 10 "... "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God..." Rev.16:1 - "And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the angels, 'Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.'" Believers living today in the Church Age, thankfully, have already been judged. 1 Thess. 5:9 - "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." But until we exit this earth and receive our new glorified bodies, we must live on a fallen planet, (Satan's temporary sinful domain). He is called, "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 2:4); "the ruler of this world" (John 14:30). And the problems coming from tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and volcanoes fall on both believers and non-believers alike. But where did all these weather problems come from that we have today? If the earth was good when it was created, these disasters would have had to come about after Adam sinned. It did, and our bad weather is rooted in sin. Prior to Noah, the earth was so wicked that God decided to, in essence, start over. With the exception of Noah's family of eight, God destroyed the earth with a GLOBAL flood. "The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered" (Genesis 7:19). The word translated 'high" is a little awkward from the Hebrew to English. At first glance in English, it makes us think that the flood waters had to be as high as Mount Everest. But the word in the Hebrew means "high place." And in reality, there were no high mountains yet. Prior to the flood, the weather was perfect on a perfectly created planet. "God saw all that He had made and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). "Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth;... But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground" (Genesis 2:5, 6). Later, when God flooded the earth to deal with sin, the physical ramifications changed the weather. Here's how: When God flooded the earth, the Bible says water came from both above AND below the surface of the earth. Genesis 7:11 "... all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened." It took a lot of water to flood this planet. Logically, "fountains" being plural; there were many places around the earth where water burst through the earth's surface in enormous amounts. We see these water portals today as volcanoes. Often there is even a lake at the top of the volcano, formed from water below. Flood water also came from the sky, and some Christian scientists have theorized that, prior to the flood, a huge vapor canopy engulfed the earth. The theory continues that this canopy filtered the sun's rays and that's why many people lived so long prior to the flood. However, other scientists contend that a vapor canopy would have turned the planet into a greenhouse and therefore the water vapor theory, to them, has no credibility. But regardless of how much came from above the earth, most of the water that flooded the planet came from below. Genesis 7:19 - "The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered." So the question is this: How did the water cover the "high" mountains? The answer is that there were no extremely high mountains at the time of the flood. The high mountains we have today came after the initial flooding of the earth, as we will see later in this article The first thing to realize is that over 70 percent of the earth is covered with water. If the earth's surface was spread out perfectly flat, there's enough water in the oceans to cover the globe to a depth of about two miles! When the earth was flooded from below, the tremendous amount of sediment released began to settle on the bottom. The heaviest particles settled first, then the next heaviest, continuing until the lightest dirt particles/sediment settled on top. The result is that today, all over the earth where there is a visible cutaway of a mountain, you can easily see these layers. This is clearly seen in the picture below where the light chalky sediment is the top layer and the heaviest particles are at the bottom. Evolutionists say these layers were laid down over millions of years. Of course they can't explain why the heaviest layers are at the bottom and the lightest layers are at the top. But there are two "layerings" found all over the planet. This is because after the earth was flooded and the first horizontal layers were formed, God then moved the ground vertically to make the mountains and valleys. "You covered [the earth] with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled. At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, so that they will not return to cover the earth" (Psalm 104:6-9). "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps" (Psalm. 135:6). So the newly laid down horizontal layers were pushed up, churning up the dirt in the water a second time. As would be expected, this second layering has the heaviest particles forming the bottom layers and the lightest layers forming the top layers-perfectly matching the Genesis flood story. Gray stone was at the bottom is the original creation bedrock. On top of the original creation rock, the angled layers are the layers formed from the "flooding from below." Originally these layers were laid down horizontally, but were pushed up at an angle when God "raised the mountains and lowered the valleys."As the mountains were raised, it caused more turbulence in the water, which in turn, caused additional settling of layers. In the beginning, God created the earth, the original earth. Then God flooded the earth from below. Lots of dirt, rocks and sediment came up with the water from below. Layers on top of the original earth were laid down horizontally from all that turbulence and debris as the water poured through the volcano portals to flood the earth. This is confirmed by the fact that the layers at the bottom have the heaviest particles and the layers at the top the lightest. But then God "raised mountains and lowered the valleys." This again caused a tremendous amount of "dirty water and sediment" to be stirred up. And this sediment again settled to the bottom forming new layers. Isn't it amazing that the secular geological display at the Grand Canyon confirms the biblical account of the worldwide flood about 5000 years ago? Fast-forwarding to today, the Bible says the earth will never again be flooded, sealed with the rainbow in the sky. This is referred to as the "Noahic Covenant." "... never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth" (Genesis 9:15b, 16). But earthquakes are a different story. The biggest earthquake is still in the future. Rev.16:18 - "And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty." Rev.16:20 - "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Wow! In the future there is ONE earthquake bigger than any earthquake that has ever happened on earth. God will flatten the steep mountains. No wonder men will be weak-kneed as they see the wrath of God on full display. But all things work together ultimately for believers. The high and steep mountains from Noah's flood cause irregular wind patterns on the earth. As the earth turns, the irregular and high mountains cause abnormal wind currents, which account for our weather problems today. But when all the steep mountains are reduced to rolling hills from that HUGE earthquake, the world's weather will change also-back to what it was like before the flood. Therefore, when Jesus returns to reign on the earth as King of kings, there will be no worries of tornadoes, tsunamis and hurricanes. The Big Volcano There have been several earthquakes in the Yellowstone Park area through the years, and they're increasing in frequency in the last few decades. It turns out that there is, today, one GIGANTIC volcano under Yellowstone National Park. It's not noticeable too much from the ground because of its size. The walls are miles apart and appear only as distant mountains. This volcano has had three massive explosions in the past...and geologists have found the remains of the debris fields of each eruption. The largest Yellowstone explosion carried ash and debris 1500 miles, to Canada, Mexico and all the way to Mississippi. I'm not trying to be "Doom-and-gloom, the end is near." But it is interesting that we're probably in that window of the expected 4 fourth Yellowstone volcanic explosion, and maybe even past due! And since we know that huge earthquakes ARE part of the Tribulation judgments, it is logical this COULD be part of the coming judgments. Luke 21:11 - "And there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." And if the Tribulation is near, so is the Rapture. Just saying... 
Watchman Waring: Trump vs Terror - By Hal Lindsey - http://www.hallindsey.com/ww-5-26-2017/
On May 22nd at 10:30 PM local time, an ISIS suicide bomber targeted a Manchester concert audience of mostly teen and pre-teen girls. A few hours later, two unlikely men stood together on a stage in the ancient city of Bethlehem. President Donald Trump of the United States and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas each gave a brief statement before taking questions from the press. "We would like to reassert our willingness," Abbas said to Trump, "to continue to work with you as partners in fighting terrorism in our region and in the world." It was the kind of thing Abbas has said to western audiences many times before, and especially to U.S. presidents. But in the past, no president ever publicly called him on it while standing next to him. Quietly, diplomatically - Trump did. Abbas claims to be America's partner, fighting terrorism in the region. But his government rewards terrorism, terrorists, and the families of terrorists with money and honor. A Palestinian in the region can give financial security to his family by committing a terrorist act. The Abbas government will give his family what they call a "salary" while he remains in prison. That "salary" will be at least as much as the average Palestinian annual wage, and can be four times the average. U.S. taxpayers help fund such "salaries." If the terrorist dies as a suicide bomber, Abbas and his comrades will not just give money to the family, they will name a town square (perhaps more than one) in the terrorist's honor. In other words, if the Manchester attack had been perpetrated by Palestinians against Jews, Abbas would have praised the attack, honored the attacker, and given a salary to his family. Abbas does not fight terrorism. He rewards it. He has made "terrorist" a respectable occupation, and the quickest route to fame and glory among his people. He is an enabler and encourager of terrorism. When it was Trump's turn to speak, he went back to the theme of his speech to Muslim leaders in Riyadh a couple of days earlier. "The terrorists and extremists, and those who give them aid and comfort, must be driven out from our society forever." The phrase, "those who give them aid and comfort," seemed to be a direct reference to the Palestinian policy of honoring and supporting terrorists and their families. Later, Trump said something that left no doubt about his concerns regarding the Abbas government. He said, "Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded." In a Jerusalem Post editorial, Adam Rasgon wrote, "The only problem with Trump's request is that Abbas almost certainly cannot fulfill it as prisoners and 'martyrs' loom large in Palestinian society and the PA president's popularity is declining." He's right. Abbas is too weak to stop paying terrorists' families. If he did it, his countrymen would rise up in arms against him. That weakness is a problem because any peace agreement would require strong leadership on both sides. The Palestinian leader's fragility makes a U.S.-brokered peace nearly impossible. Abbas is now in the 15th year of a 5-year term. That makes his leadership completely illegitimate. And the Palestinians know it. 64% now say he should resign. President Trump has been characteristically optimistic about the possibilities of peace. A few weeks ago, when he met Abbas at the White House, the President spoke of brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. "It is something that I think is frankly, maybe, not as difficult as people have thought over the years." We will see. Real and lasting peace among nations will not arrive on earth until the return of Jesus. But that doesn't mean we should stop working for peace. We will not be able to achieve ultimate peace, but we should follow the teaching of Jesus and be peacemakers where and when we can. In Matthew 5:9, the Lord said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." He knew our limitations. He knew that humans working for peace would not end all war. But when we work out even a season of peace, it alleviates massive levels of suffering. Avoiding another intifada means saving hundreds or even thousands of lives on both sides. So, we should be peacemakers. But we should do so with humility. Some of the peace efforts of past Presidents have done great harm to both Israelis and Palestinians. They pushed Israel to do more than was fair, right, or safe. They inadvertently encouraged Palestinians to take a tough line. Some previous administrations gave Palestinians the false notion that they would gain more by waiting Israel out, than by honestly seeking peaceful coexistence. In Psalms 122:6, King David wrote, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." We should work for peace here and now. But we should also remember that, ultimately, to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," means to pray for the return of Jesus. 
A Pre-Storm Bear Hug - Yaakov Katz - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editors-Notes-A-pre-storm-bear-hug-493966
Imagine you have been elected president of the United States and one day, after gathering your staff, you inform them that one of your goals will be to broker the "ultimate deal," a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians. You then ask your staff for advice on how to get it done. Your advisers do some research and explain that what Israel needs is to feel safe and secure, that America has its back and will continue to ensure its qualitative military edge and protect it at the United Nations. Only then, your advisers tell you, will Israelis feel confident they can take risks and make the compromises and concessions needed to achieve a peace deal. Now, with that in mind, think about the last seven months, since Donald Trump was elected president. First, he announced that Jared Kushner, his Orthodox Jewish son-in-law whose family has longstanding ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would serve as his senior adviser. He then appointed David Friedman, an old friend and bankruptcy lawyer he had used in the past, to be the ambassador to Israel. Friedman wasn't exactly a neutral appointment. A former president of the American Friends of Beit El, Friedman was a long-time supporter of the West Bank settlement enterprise and a strong advocate against the establishment of a Palestinian state. Trump then announced that Jason Greenblatt, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization and another Orthodox Jew who studied years ago in a yeshiva in the West Bank, would become - under Kushner's supervision - his main envoy to Israel and the Palestinians. Then, to top it all off, he made a historic trip to Israel this week. He started by taking the first direct flight between Riyadh and Tel Aviv and then became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for the Jewish people. In addition, while other presidents such as Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all visited Israel during their terms in office, none came so early, let alone like Trump, on their first trip overseas. I cannot say for certain that all of this was done by Trump simply to provide Israelis confidence, but even if that was not the case, his bear hug approach is working. His trip to Israel this week, which ended with his impressive speech at the Israel Museum, has not only endeared Israelis to the US president but has also given them a genuine feeling that the man who occupies the Oval Office really does have their back. As the president said, ISIS and Iran might threaten to destroy Israel but they won't succeed. "Not with Donald J. Trump," he said to a standing ovation. "Believe me." It was easy this week to believe Trump. There were no slips, no gaffes and even if the note he signed at Yad Vashem was a bit bizarre - he wrote, "It is a great honor to be here with all of my friends. So amazing and will never forget!" - he managed to spend two days in the deep end of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world without a major mishap. He made seven public appearances and while he spoke frequently about peace and its advantages for Israel and the region, he never once mentioned the two-state solution, a Palestinian state or settlements. He showered Israelis with love and they sent it right back to the extent that politicians from across the spectrum - on the Left and the Right - had difficulty saying something critical about Donald Trump. It's not easy to unite Israel's fragmented political system but Trump, the great polarizer, succeeded. The question on everyone's mind though is, what's next? Was this the end of Trump's interest in Israel or just the beginning? Will he now return home to the investigations about his campaign's alleged affiliations with Russia and become too busy to think about the Middle East, or will those same investigations push him to try and score a goal somewhere overseas like Israel? The general assessment in Jerusalem is that this is just the beginning. Greenblatt's return to Israel on Thursday as well as comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seem to indicate that this is the case. If so, the problems are just beginning. For Netanyahu, this will soon get complicated since to get talks started, he will need to pay a price, and that will come as soon as June 7 when the committee that approves new housing in West Bank settlements meets for the first time in months. Will it approve construction or not? If not, what will Naftali Bennett and Bayit Yehudi do? If Trump increases the pressure on Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction or to extend another grand gesture to the Palestinians, Bennett will have an excuse to pull out of the coalition and becomes a fierce opponent of Netanyahu on the Right. This is assuming the prime minister can bring a new party into his government. In all likelihood, if there are peace talks, the Zionist Union's Tzipi Livni will be willing to join if Netanyahu lets her run the peace talks as she did in 2014. A similar scenario exists for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. During his visit to Bethlehem on Tuesday, Trump hinted at the need for Abbas to stop paying salaries to jailed terrorists and the families of so-called "martyrs." Peace, he said, will not work "in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded or rewarded." But what will happen if Trump orders Abbas to stop the payments? Will he? If Abbas does, all indications are that the Palestinian street will gang up against him. If he doesn't, he will be blamed for again preventing peace. For Israel, there is another problem. During his visit here, Trump seemed to push a paradigm that goes something like this: Israel makes peace with the Palestinians and that paves the way for Israel to normalize ties and make peace with the rest of the Arab world. Basically, Palestinians first, Arab world second. Netanyahu has spent the last few years pushing a different paradigm. He believes that what is needed is a regional framework that sees a normalization of ties with the entire Arab world at once. He doesn't believe a peace deal is possible with the Palestinians alone. Instead, what is needed is a peace deal with the Arab world, which happens to include the Palestinians. These different paradigms are important to keep in mind since they could quickly lead to a clash between Jerusalem and Washington, one that Netanyahu will want to do everything possible to avoid, if not for the simple purpose of preserving his legacy. Netanyahu has now worked with three US presidents. The first was Bill Clinton, whom he repeatedly clashed with during his first stint as prime minister in the late 1990s. The second was Barack Obama, whose tense and volatile relationship with Netanyahu was far from being a secret. Now, there is Trump. Netanyahu went into this week praying that the trip would end the way it did - with the appearance, possibly even genuine, that the two men have a close friendship. The last thing Netanyahu needed was to clash with another president. That would make Israelis begin to think that the problem is not in Washington - as Netanyahu has told them all these years - but here at home or more specifically, in the Prime Minister's Residence on Balfour Street. Nasrallah decries Saudi Arabia, Trump and Israel - Roi Kais - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4967562,00.html
In a fiery speech marking the 17th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Nasrallah blasts the US and Saudi Arabia for supporting Israel and forsaking Palestinians. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech Thursday referring to President Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel. Nasrallah strongly criticized the recent American-Saudi arms deal signed in Riyadh, saying, "Saudi Arabia has given Trump what he has been wanting-money to be used for Israel." Nasrallah further added that the Saudi summit "ignored Palestine and Palestinian prisoners." Nasrallah made his comments at a rally marking the 17th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah was the topic of harsh words at the Riyadh summit, with the Saudis and the Americans calling for the organization to be disarmed. Nasrallah stressed that the statements made at the summit would not affect the internal situation within Lebanon. "Saudi Arabia has surpassed Trump, who has insulted the Islamic and Arab nation. Saudi Arabia has surpassed the racist Trump as the biggest supporter of Israel. Saudi Arabia has given Trump something that no other US president has been given. What is behind this is Saudi Arabia's desire to defend its regime, which is already known to be behind the ideology of the terrorists." Nasrallah also noted that despite all the measures Saudi Arabia has made in recent years, Iran's power has only grown. "Saudi Arabia will be the one to lose as a result of her actions against Iran," said Nasrallah, who added, "The war against the resistance has been going on for a long time. Not war, nor fighting nor threats will scare the resistance. The resistance is stronger today than ever." Nasrallah concluded his remarks by saying that the era of defeat has passed and the era of victory is arrived. "The resistance will not evacuate the areas and battlefields until all the victories our people expect are achieved," Nasrallah proclaimed. 
News from Hal Lindsey Media Ministries - Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com
This week, President Trump made his first overseas trip as President. He began by visiting Saudi Arabia and addressing a meeting of more than 50 Arab heads of state and leaders. He then moved on to Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He later visited with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. President Trump also did something no other sitting U.S. President has done. He visited the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, also known as the "Wailing Wall." Though he visited without Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Trump wore a yarmulka and spent time alone in prayer or contemplation before placing a folded note into a crevice in the wall. The President then headed to Rome to meet Pope Francis and on to Brussels for meetings with NATO leaders before a Group of 7 summit. Of course, the mainstream media has and will speculate wildly on every aspect of the President's performance. Very little of it will be positive. They have even announced that Mrs. Trump repeatedly refused to hold the President's hand and that he "shoved" the Prime Minister of Montenegro! As I watched these events unfold, I marveled at how entrenched certain assumptions have become in the world's thinking. Of course, most people routinely accept what the mainstream media says as fact. That's a dangerous thing since so much of what the media says is either incorrect or patently untrue. Most people do not know -- or will not accept -- that much of the mainstream media serves simply as a propaganda arm for those with "globalist" ambitions who seek, ultimately, a one-world government. Just as the ancient Bible prophets predicted. One of the greatest falsehoods of all was on constant display during President Trump's time in Israel. Though President Trump, thankfully, has a much more sympathetic attitude toward Israel than past Presidents, I believe his somewhat vague ambitions for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal may suffer from the fact that almost all "peace initiatives" for that region are doomed to failure because they are based on a false premise. I call it "The Modern Lie." Hitler's philosophy was that if you told a big enough lie (one that rational folks wouldn't be foolish enough to devise) and you repeated it often enough, the people would begin to believe it as truth. We're seeing exactly that strategy at work in the world today. In fact, the conflict that seems to preoccupy the world is predicated on an enormous lie. The mainstream media, the Left, the United Nations, and many governments of the world have either fallen prey to the lie or are actively perpetuating it. Either way, the conflict it fosters is just as deadly. More ominously, 'The Modern Lie' is rooted in and animated by 'The Everlasting Hatred.' What is the monstrous lie that much of the world has swallowed hook, line, and sinker? Simply this: The modern state of Israel was created when the Jews stole Palestinian cities, land, and houses. Those claims are patently false. On this week's program, I will present a series of powerful facts that prove the entire Mid-East peace process is based on a gigantic myth. A myth intended to deceive the world into annihilating Israel. A myth that will eventually lead to the destruction of the nations of the world, because God Himself will defend His people. Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, The Word Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com . Check your local listings. A NOTE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WATCH "THE HAL LINDSEY REPORT" ON TBN: Remember, the Report is now seen 30 minutes later, beginning at 6:00 pm Pacific/9:00 pm Eastern each Friday. A NOTE FOR THOSE WHO WATCH "THE HAL LINDSEY REPORT" ON THE WORD NETWORK: This Sunday, May 28, will be our last airing on The Word Network. We have enjoyed our years of association with Word and thank Word's management and employees for being such terrific and faithful partners of The Hal Lindsey Report. One more thing. Please pray for the victims and their families of the recent atrocity in Manchester. Pray for them to be comforted in their time of grief. Also pray that God will allow this barbaric act to open the eyes of our leaders to the evil that is growing among us. Only when we recognize it and confront it honestly do we have any hope of containing it or defeating it. Jesus GAVE His Life For Us - By Grant Phillips - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/05/25/jesus-gave-his-life-for-us/
I think it is very important that mankind understands this one fact; no one overpowered Jesus and killed Him, not the Romans and not the Jewish nation. Some religious people, and others who are religious about nothing, have been stating that "Jesus was a nice man. He taught many good truths. He is a great example to follow. Too bad 'they' murdered Him." For hundreds of years the Jewish people have been ostracized, hated, tormented, tortured, murdered, run out of their homes, enslaved, and most anything else demented minds can come up with because they "murdered" Jesus, a good man. For some reason, the Gentiles by Roman proxy have never taken any credit for the same thing the Jews are hated for, even though they, the Romans, were the ones who actually carried out the crucifixion. Prior to the Church there were only two classifications of people on earth; Jews and Gentiles. Since the Church came into existence at Pentecost, there are now three classifications of people on earth; Jews, Gentiles and Christians. Yet still, only the Jews are found guilty by the world court for "murdering" Jesus. Now that's really "the pot calling the kettle black." However, I return to the opening sentence, "no one overpowered Jesus and killed Him," and this is important to know. Jesus made this very clear. "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10:15, 17-18) Jesus said three times that He alone laid down His life. He said that no one took His life. He went on to say that He has the power to lay it down and twice He said He has the power to raise it up. Now is there any possible way to be clearer than that? Of course not. No one overpowered Jesus. No one took His life. He freely gave His life for us. Maybe we should ponder on that for a moment and really let it sink in. No one but Jesus has the power and authority to be in absolute control of their life. We haven't the power or authority of preventing our death or resurrecting our own person, but Jesus does. To me this emphasizes the fact that no one took His life. He gave His life for our sake, and was raised on the third day, just as He prophesied. When reading the Gospels, we see over and over that He knew where He was headed. His gaze was fixed on a Roman cross. There were times the mobs tried to take Him, but they couldn't do so because it wasn't His time. It is most obvious that no one was able to apprehend Him if He didn't allow it. When His time did come, He allowed them to take Him. Isaiah tells us that when His time had come He didn't even open His mouth to object as He stood before His accusers. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ died for the ungodly. He says someone just might die for a good person, but it's rare anyone would die a for righteous person. However, Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Read his words yourself. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11 NIV) Think about this now. It's rare anyone would die for a good person, but Jesus died for us even though we were His enemies. He reconciled those to God who look upon Him and believe in Him. All of this is because He freely chose to. No one made Him. He chose to die for us in order that we would have a path, the only path by the way, to God. Jesus Himself said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) All who come to Him in belief are His friends. He is our God and He is our friend, not just in time of need, but all the time. No one could love us more than Je sus Christ, not even our own family. We can know that love by asking Him to come into our lives. He will never turn anyone away. "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37 NIV) You may ask, "How do I know I'm one the Father gives to Him?" The answer is obvious, if you come to Him, the Father has given you to Him, and He will not turn you away. Jesus gave His life for all sinners, and that certainly includes all of us. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6) If you really desire to know how Jesus feels about you, just remember that He GAVE His life for you and me. No one took it. Grant Phillips Email: [email protected] Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html 
Daily Jot: Sedition, resistance, revolution - Bill Wilson - www.dailyot.com
In the wake of the Manchester, UK terrorist bombing, the BBC reports that America's closest ally in the war on terror, Britain, has stopped sharing intelligence related to the terrorist act with the US. The reason: Unnamed US "government sources" leaked critical information to American journalists long before it was to be public. Recently, President Donald Trump's intel officers, through "unnamed sources" leaked a false narrative about information sharing in a White House meeting with the Russian ambassador. It is widely reported that the "Fifth Estate" is at war with the Trump White House and orts from the previous Administration are undermining Trump's presidency, in what has been labeled a "soft coup." Connecting the dots of these stories, one can see a pattern of operatives in government and media working together to render Trump's Administration ineffective. While Congress may not want to recognize that "progressives" (the modern, more acceptable, name for communists or Marxists) are actually waging a campaign of sedition to overthrow the government, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the unfathomable is reality. Another indicator, of course, is the media. A study by Harvard's Shorenstein Center indicated that coverage of the Trump Administration was over 80% negative during the first 100 days, led by CNN and NBC with 93% negative; CBS 91% negative; Fox 52% negative. Looking behind the curtain in the news media, you will find actual revolutionaries who are committed to the so-called "resistance" that are working with seditious government actors to undermine the US. Case in point is how Breitbart revealed that Associated Press had hired a "reporter" who claimed she was part of the resistance on her Facebook page. This reporter, Melanie Plenda, infiltrated a closed fundraising event where Trump campaign manager and White House aide Kellyanne Conway was the headliner. Plenda reported the crowd size as a fraction of what it was and invented a false narrative that Conway was received coldly by the Republicans. AP refused to issue a correction for several days. Exposed, AP "clarified" the story, fired Plenda, but, according to Breitbart, still refuses to "transparently answer questions about the serious breach in ethics and accuracy." You see, AP is a providing source of news to all the other news outlets, so once a story is filed by AP, all the other news organizations print or broadcast it. A lot of power. A small example here of fake news. The larger issue is the sedition as a result of this "resistance" conspiring to revolution. It is akin to what God showed Ezekiel inside the temple walls in Ezekiel 8:9, "And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do there." There are many abominations occurring right now against God and country and the common thread is what they call the "resistance." It is a vile force threatening not only our nation, but also our religious freedom. 
Daily Devotion: The Objective of the Church - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. -Acts 2:47 In our culture, we tend to think bigger is better, and we apply that thinking to the church as well. We think the bigger the church, the more successful it is. But that isn't necessarily true. You can have a big church yet not have a strong one, because there are a lot of things people can do to draw a crowd. So it isn't only about being big; it is about being strong. And it is about being biblical. Then there are those who are critical of large churches. "I hate these megachurches," they say. "You go in there, and you have to wait for parking." But let's think about this for a moment. It would be like saying, "There are two restaurants we can choose from. There is this one restaurant with a line around the block. And there is this other restaurant with no one inside except the employees. Where do you think we should eat?" Did you ever stop and think that maybe there's a reason one of those restaurants is empty? Maybe the food in the other place is better than the place without any customers. Sometimes a large church or a lot of people can mean there is something they are getting out of it. It can mean they are being fed there. My objective never has been to have a large church; it always has been to have a biblical church and a strong church. We always have felt that we should leave the growth up to God. In and of itself, there is no virtue in being small. Not every church will be a large church, but every church should be a growing church. The objective of the church is to be as faithful as we can be to what God has called us to be. Because on that final day, Jesus won't say, "Well done, good and successful servant. By the way, how many numbers were you running?" Rather, He'll say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 
FROM THE HEART
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