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Apocalyptic Overtones - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/20/apocalyptic-overtones-by-daymond-duck/
The word “revelation” comes from the Greek word “apokalupsis,” and it means the unveiling or disclosing. The Book of Revelation begins with these words: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1). This can be taken two ways: 1) As the disclosure of information about Jesus, and 2) As the disclosure of what God intends to do, starting with the Church Age and running through the beginning of the New Heaven and New Earth. It is my opinion that current events are pointing the world to what the Book of Revelation says, and the Book of Revelation tells us what God said must shortly come to pass. Put another way, we are no longer in a normal world; we are in a world that is in transition. We are receiving apocalyptic overtones (or warnings) from God, and as disturbing as this transition and these warnings are, they are child’s play compared to what is coming. Here are some of the most recent events that caught my attention: One, on Dec. 11, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Texas’ lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia. The court did not deny that Texas has evidence of widespread voter fraud (Texas had an abundance of evidence, and other groups do too); the Supreme Court just refused to hear the evidence (this is what most courts have done). The battle is not over, but it will take a miracle for Trump to win, and that is in God’s hands (Sydney Powell still has cases pending in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia; Republicans seated delegates in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona that voted for Trump in opposition to the Democrat delegates; an evaluation of the Dominion voting system used in Antrim County, Michigan, found an error rate that exceeded 68% by shifting thousands of Trump votes to Biden, and a judge has issued an order for the evaluation data to be released). As I see it, Trump has been standing in the way of the shadow government’s plan to establish a world government. There are people (called globalists) that want all the power, all the money, and to tell everyone what to believe and how to live. This is not a conspiracy theory. Politicians issuing unscientific job-destroying lockdown orders and social-distancing orders (that they themselves do not obey) to enrich their rich friends and doners, and impoverish the middle class, are evidence, and it will get much worse. It is a forerunner of the Apocalypse with its Satanic world government and religion. It is an effort to fundamentally change this world (legalize abortions, LGBTQ rights, drugs, rebellion against the God of the Bible, divide Israel, etc.). The world’s most powerful people are trying to establish a government that owns everything and leaves ordinary citizens with owning nothing. Sydney Powell recently said powerful elites have been using the Dominion voting systems to stay in power around the world for 15-20 years to control elections and elect and re-elect themselves and their friends. Globalists intend to number people, mark people, subdue people, control people, change people’s DNA, control people’s healthcare, replace cash with a digital currency, decide who can buy and sell, lockdown and silence the Church, tell people who to worship, etc. Trump was a major impediment to their plan from Hell (Biden supports most of it), and it now looks like America’s corrupt election has put the globalists’ “Great Reset” on a fast track. Many Americans will never accept Biden’s presidency as legitimate; his health and corruption will not let him be president very long. He will be replaced, and America’s leading role in the world will likely be replaced by several leaders (perhaps 10) from a handful of nations. Here is the good news: This world is not the Christian’s home, and the success of the voter fraud seems to indicate that true Christians will soon be going home. Dislike their sin if you want, but pray for them because the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, will soon hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And they will say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev. 6:15-16). Two, it has been reported that Gen. Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor to Pres. Trump, said in an Op-ed that was published on Dec. 10, 2020, “We do not want a world governed by tyrants whom no one has elected and who want to have power to destroy us. We understand what their plan is: to eliminate dissent, subdue any criticism and outlaw those who do not submit unconditionally to the dictatorship of the ‘new world order.’” These are apocalyptic overtones from a former advisor to the Pres. of the U.S., or I don’t know what the words mean. Three, on Dec. 6, 2020, Israel’s Prime Min. Netanyahu displayed a proclamation that will be prominently displayed on the wall of Israel’s Cabinet room to honor Pres. Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The proclamation will be displayed next to a proclamation recognizing Pres. Truman’s May 14, 1948, recognition of Israel as a nation. What these two presidents have done is considered two of the greatest events in the history of Israel. Pres. Trump has also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Israel’s right to large areas of Judea and Samaria, withdrawn from the Iranian Nuclear Deal, and obtained normalization agreements between Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE. Sudan and Morocco have agreed to sign a normalization agreement. On Dec. 12, 2020, the Kingdom of Bhutan signed a normalization agreement. If Jordan and Egypt are included, Israel will soon have agreements with 7 nations (Two more appear to be waiting in the wings: Oman and Indonesia, making it 9). We are not seeing the covenant with many, but we are seeing many nations moving toward peace with Israel and agreeing to a covenant of peace that will allow all faiths to worship on the Temple Mount (this is opening the door for a rebuilt Temple, and I believe it will be hurriedly rebuilt during the Apocalypse). Four, I do not know what to think about this next item, but it is so serious, I have decided to pass it on just to make people aware in case something happens. On Dec. 8, 2020, it was reported that the U.S. has been positioning large numbers of troops, equipment and supplies in the continental U.S. and Aircraft carriers off the east and west coasts of the U.S. in case the U.S. Supreme Court voids the election (see raptureready.com End Times News, Dec. 11, 2020). According to the report, rumors are circulating that some Democrats are planning to ask the UN to remove Trump from office, if the U.S. Supreme Court voids the election. This sounds absurd, but absurdity is becoming common in the U.S., and considering everything the Democrats have done to remove Trump in the last 4 years, why would they stop just because the U.S. Supreme Court voids the election? Five, on Dec. 6, 2020, Pastor John MacArthur told his congregation, the world’s governments “have done something that’s never been done in human history. That is, they have made the issue (of Covid) and the response global. Now we are a global world. And that is a setup that we’ve been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come, in the future, an Antichrist who would have a global government.” Six, on Dec. 9, 2020, it was reported that former VP Biden said he will sign an order on day one of his administration (if he has one) to require people in federal buildings, on planes, trains, buses, and wherever possible to wear masks for the next 100 days as a patriotic act, and this is just part of what he intends to do. The big question here is will citizens be required to be vaccinated as a patriotic act. Seven, here is a link to Dr. Pierre Kory’s interesting testimony (10 min.; hundreds of thousands of views) before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about a cure (Ivermectin) for Covid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8SXOBy-4w It is obvious from the comments that many citizens believe that some government officials are not interested in a cure for Covid because they view Covid as part of a globalist scheme to bring in a world government. Finally, God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this. Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc. Daymond Duck [email protected] Will the King of Morocco Get a Seat on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount? - by Aviel Schneider - https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/will-the-king-of-morocco-get-a-seat-on-jerusalems-temple-mount/ The latest peace agreement between Israel and Morocco might introduce yet another player into Islam’s push to control the Temple Mount. Moroccan kings have always considered themselves defenders of Jerusalem’s Islamic holy sites. For this reason, in 1969, two years following the reunification of Jerusalem, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was founded in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. On that occasion, the number one agenda of the OIC was to “liberate” the al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem. Today, the OIC includes 56 Muslim member states and claims to represent all Islam. With the Palestinian Authority, there are 57. One of the most important committees in the original OIC was the Jerusalem Committee, which only dealt with the liberation of Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque. The Moroccan kings Hassan II and his successor King Mohammed VI chaired this committee. Now, with the normalization agreement with Israel, Morocco is moving to stabilize its political position regarding the al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Morocco has been signaling its interest in the Temple Mount, Islam’s third holiest site, for some time. In connection with this, Morocco has donated numerous expensive carpets for use in the Temple Mount mosques. Through the Jerusalem Committee, funds were also transferred for use in the renovation of buildings and structures surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Jewish Western Wall. In March of 2018, Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, visited the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Bourita, by the way, was one of the key players in bringing about official normalization between the two states. Why official, because thousands of Israelis have been vacationing in Morocco for years, even though both states have not officially had diplomatic relations. I am not exaggerating when I say that many of my friends have been to Morocco and rave about this country. But now the cards are being shuffled in the Islamic power game over the al-Aqsa Mosque, now that Israel and Morocco are officially friends and Israel is quietly and carefully moving closer to Saudi Arabia. Up until now, the country of Jordan on the eastern bank of the Jordan has been the sole guardian of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem. This was enshrined in the 1994 Oslo Accords between Israel and Jordan, as well as in other agreements. It is often believed that the Palestinians are the guardians of the mosques on the Temple Mount, but that is not true. Who will control the temple mount? As a result of Donald Trump’s American “Deal of the Century,” the competition with regard to who will lead as the Islamic protector of the Jerusalem mosques has also heated up. For years, behind the scenes, the larger member states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran (the only Shiites) have claimed leadership in the OIC. For the Hashemite kingdom in Jordan, the task of guarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not only a long-standing religious and historical legacy, but above all a major factor in its Middle East policy, which has acted to strengthen its monarchy, especially against the extreme Islamists in the country. Now, if Jordan’s position regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is weakened because of the new players from Rabat and Riyadh, the stability of the Jordanian kingdom could be further diminished. Israeli Middle East experts are even of the opinion that this could threaten the country’s very existence since Palestinians make up 70 percent of Jordan’s population. The Jerusalem Committee, under the leadership of the current king’s father, Hassan II, decided many years ago that Jordan’s status with regard to the Temple Mount was only temporary. In response to this decision by the Jerusalem Committee, the Jordanian representative angrily abandoned the deliberations and returned to Amman. At the time, Saudi Arabia and Egypt gave Morocco their political backing. The OIC with its Jerusalem Committee has been somewhat irrelevant in recent years but can now become relevant again with these new political developments between Israel and the Arab governments. Morocco and Saudi Arabia are maneuvering behind the scenes and want to get more involved in matters relating to Jerusalem’s mosques. They may try to weaken Jordan’s status as the sole guardian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, but at the same time this could also be seen as a dangerous challenge to Israel and the United States with regard to the super-sensitive issue of Jerusalem. In addition, one must not ignore the new voices in the Arab world, which in recent months have increasingly discussing the Islamic tradition regarding the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem considered the third most important holy place mentioned in the Koran. Israel has to be very careful here and not take the wrong position when it comes to Islamic religious issues regarding Jerusalem. Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop… - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop/ Do you feel like another major crisis could erupt at any moment? If so, you are certainly not alone. Here in 2020, it has just been one thing after another, and we have come to expect the unexpected. Right now, so many people that I am hearing from are anticipating that more big trouble is just around the corner, but as we wait for “the other shoe to drop”, economic conditions all over the United States continue to rapidly deteriorate. For example, on Thursday we learned that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits last week was the highest in four months… The US job market continues to suffer, and Thursday brought more bad news. Another 885,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week — an increase from the week prior and higher than the 800,000 claims that economists were expecting. The latest figures, which are adjusted for seasonal factors and reported by the Labor Department, are particularly grim since last week’s numbers were revised up to 862,000. And even before the revision, that week had been the highest level since mid-September. This isn’t how the numbers were supposed to be trending. For four of the past five weeks we have seen the number of new unemployment claims go up, and experts are warning that we should expect things to get even worse as we head into winter… ‘US weekly jobless claims continue to head in the wrong direction,” Edward Moya, an analyst at the currency trading firm OANDA, wrote in a research note. ‘The labor market outlook is bleak as the winter wave of the virus is going to lead to more shutdowns.” Could we soon see more than a million Americans filing new claims for unemployment each week like we did earlier in the pandemic? To put this in perspective, the previous all-time record prior to 2020 was just 695,000, and that old record was set all the way back in 1982. We absolutely shattered that record once COVID-19 started spreading widely in the United States, and we have been above that old record every single week throughout this entire pandemic. Just think about that. We are seeing numbers that we have never seen before in all of U.S. history every single week, and now they are starting to climb higher once again thanks to the new lockdowns. In addition, the number of Americans that are collecting unemployment aid from two major federal programs is also on the rise again… The number of jobless people who are collecting aid from one of the two federal extended-benefit programs – the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which offers coverage to gig workers and others who don´t qualify for traditional benefits – surged to 9.2 million from 8.6 million for the week that ended Nov. 28. But the number of people receiving aid under the second program – the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which provides 13 weeks of federal benefits to people who have exhausted their state aid – also rose from 4.5 million to 4.8 million. By now, the “recovery” was supposed to be in full gear, but instead major companies keep laying off more workers at an astounding pace. For example, on Thursday we learned that Coca-Cola will be eliminating 12 percent of their entire U.S. workforce… Coca-Cola is planning to cut 2,200 jobs, including 1,200 in the United States, as it faces declining sales during the pandemic. In the United States, where there were about 10,400 employees at the end of last year, the cuts represent roughly 12% of the workforce. In Atlanta, where the company is headquartered, about 500 jobs are being eliminated, the company said Thursday. Coca-Cola wouldn’t be doing this if the U.S. economy was about “to turn a corner”. All of these big corporations that are letting workers go can see what is about to happen, and they are slimming their payrolls in an attempt to make it through the coming storm. Meanwhile, Congress is getting close to approving yet another “stimulus package”, and the Federal Reserve is promising to do whatever it takes to support the financial markets. Trillions upon trillions of dollars are being slammed into the system, and as a result M2 is up more than 60 percent so far this year. In other words, our money supply has been increasing at an almost vertical rate in 2020. Back in November I included a chart in an article that I wrote which shows exactly what I am talking about. If you are not one of my regular readers, you can find that article right here. For many years, many of us have been warning that hyperinflation would arrive someday. But now we can stop warning, because the process has actually started. Other industrialized nations have also been flooding their systems with new money, and this is really starting to drive up food prices all over the globe. The following comes from Zero Hedge… The reason this has suddenly become a hot topic is because while overall inflation remains subdued (we will spare a discussion here of why the CPI is purposefully distorted to stay as low as possible – readers can catch up here, here and here), food inflation has been on a tear in recent months. In fact, it has gotten so high that earlier this week Goldman published a report looking at “The Recent Spike In Food Inflation”, in which it noted that “in recent months, inflation has risen and surprised to the upside across a number of major EM economies (e.g. Turkey, South Africa, India, Brazil andRussia).” According to Goldman, one of the main drivers of these increases has been higher food inflation, which has coincided with a sharp increase in the price of some key agricultural commodities (e.g. grains, oils and soybeans).” Sadly, this is just the beginning. Eventually, the food riots which have already started on the other side of the planet will start happening in the western world too. And as hungry people become increasingly desperate, I believe that eventually companies will start putting armed guards on food trucks. We aren’t quite there yet, thankfully, but things are really starting to get crazy out there. A few days ago I went to the supermarket again, and I really tried to economize and get things that were on sale, but I still spent more than 260 dollars on one cart of food. Just one cart! As the cost of living continues to soar into the stratosphere, many American families are going to discover that they are no longer able to afford enough food for the week. And once millions upon millions of Americans get desperately hungry, that is when we will see absolutely insane economic riots in this country. All of these things are coming, and we definitely will not have to wait very long at all for “the other shoe to drop”. Rare Galactic ‘Star of Jacob’ Candidate about to Light Up Night Sky Presaging Messiah – Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.israel365news.com/162387/rare-galactic-star-of-jacob-candidate-about-to-light-up-night-sky-presaging-messiah/ What I see for them is not yet, What I behold will not be soon: A star rises from Yaakov, A scepter comes forth from Yisrael; It smashes the brow of Moab, The foundation of all children of Shet. Numbers 24:17 (The Israel BibleTM) On Monday night, a bright light will appear in the nighttime sky, the result of a rare convergence of the largest planets in the solar system that was last seen almost 800 years ago. SATURN AND NEPTUNE: LAST SEEN BY GENGHIS KAHN On the night of December 21 (the Sixth of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar), the solar system’s two largest planets, Saturn (שַׁבְתַאִי Shabtai in Hebrew) and Jupiter (צדק, Tzedek in Hebrew), will appear to unite, creating a particularly bright point of light in the southwestern heavens. The night also happens to be the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere when the North Pole has its maximum tilt away from the Sun and marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The convergence will be in appearance only with the planets appearing to be separated by just one-tenth of a degree from our perspective or about one-fifth the width of a full moon. The two planets will not actually be close together and will, in reality, be 450 million miles apart. The two planets align once every 19.6 years but this particular astronomical phenomenon in which they appear as one point in the night sky has not taken place since dawn on March 4, 1623, but even then, the convergence occurred close to dawn and is not believed to have been visible. The previous sighting of Jupiter and Saturn converging was in the year 1226 when Genghis Khan was conquering Asia. It is not expected to appear again until March 15, 2080. BALAAM’S STAR OF JACOB Such astronomical spectacles have frequently been ascribed Messianic import. The source for this belief is in the Torah. When Balaam is hired by Balak, he blesses them concerning the end-of-days. What I see for them is not yet, What I behold will not be soon: A star rises from Yaakov, A scepter comes forth from Yisrael; It smashes the brow of Moab, The foundation of all children of Shet. Numbers 24:17 This Torah verse also plays a central role in the Jewish concept of the Messiah though it is the subject of different interpretations This verse was interpreted by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, known as Maimonides and by the acronym Rambam who was the foremost Torah authority of the 12th century. In his book, Mishneh Torah, the Rambam brings this verse about a star appearing as proof that the Messiah will come one day. According to the Rambam, the Messiah will come from Jacob, more specifically, from the tribe of Judah. Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra, an 11th Century Bible commentator from Spain, explained this verse as a prophecy that relates to the time of King David In addition, the Zohar, the foundational work of Jewish mysticism describes in detail the stars that are prophesied to appear as a precursor to the Messiah. THE FAILED “STAR SON” OF 132 CE The prophecy of the Star of Jacob was applied to Simon bar Kochba, leader of the Second Jewish Revolt of 132 CE, whose adopted name meant “Son of a Star” in Aramaic. The failure of the Bar Kochba revolt – which was considered a political Messiah – had a large impact on the interpretation of the Star of Jacob. The failure of the revolt led the sages to deemphasize the eschatology of the Star of Jacob. That led to a preference for the explanation that the Star of Jacob was no longer relevant since it was described as already happening in the time of King David. MISINTERPRETING SIGN LED NIMROD TO BUILD TOWER OF BABEL, PHAROAH TO JUMP INTO RED SEA In his book Davar B’ito, a guide to the calendar based on esoteric Jewish sources, Rabbi Mordechai Genuth discussed the upcoming astronomical event. “Astrologers ascribe great importance to such events as a sign of imminent change,” Rabbi Genuth said. “But this can easily be misinterpreted. According to some traditions, this convergence of Shabetai and Tzedek led the astrologers to direct Nimrod to begin building the Tower of Babel with disastrous results.” Rabbi Genuth explained that the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler believed that the “star of Bethlehem” that the New Testament related as preceding the birth of Jesus could have been a rare triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. “Pharoah had experts in astrology and astronomy,” Rabbi Genuth said. “They advised him that his stars were on the rise and the Children of Israel and Moses in particular could not overcome him. But he did not take into account that God created the world and through His will and the Jews observing commandments, the stars and their import could be brushed aside. This message of God’s will overcoming nature was powerfully reiterated at the Red Sea.” LOOKING TO THE STARS: GREAT WISDOM OR GREAT PAGANISM Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, emphasized that interpreting prophecies requires a complete and proper understanding of the source material. “There is a human tendency to see what you would like to see and not what is actually written, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and not a biblically-based prophecy,” Rabbi Berger explained. “The Rambam brings this verse about a star appearing as proof that the Messiah will come one day, specifically from the descendants of Jacob. The Messiah must come from the Jews and it will be recognized by the Jews, more specifically, from the tribe of Judah.” Rabbi Berger noted that the term the sages used to describe pagan idol worship is avodat cochavim o’mazalot (serving stars and signs). “Searching the stars for signs can lead a person to wisdom but it can also lead people astray,” Rabbi Berger warned. Daily Jot: Election Update–Does SCOTUS wink? – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com Like sands through the hour glass, the time to resolve election integrity issues is slipping by. Many options are being considered in attempt to get the court system, state legislators and the US Congress to take action. Sunday, the President and his legal counsel filed suit with the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court “eviscerating the laws enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature governing the election of presidential electors in the middle of the 2020 Presidential election.” The suit claims that Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court violated Article II of the US Constitution and various other statutes. This case may serve as precedent to similar violations by other states. The suit claims, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decisions involve issues of the utmost federal importance involving the Constitution’s most fundamental rights as exercised in the Nation’s most important election. The outcome of the election for the Presidency of the United States hangs in the balance because the selection of presidential electors is governed by the Constitution and congressional enactment, in addition to state law enacted by the Legislature. In the four related opinions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dramatically changed Pennsylvania law governing absentee and mail voting during the 2020 Presidential election, which likely changed the result in Pennsylvania and, potentially, the outcome of the overall Presidential election. “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s changes are contrary to settled caselaw, the unambiguous language of the Election Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. at 104-05 (“Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person’s vote over that of another.”). Only the state Legislatures, not the Courts, are empowered to set (or change) the rules for selecting Presidential electors.” The President’s lawyers are asking for SCOTUS to expedite “an appropriate remedy” to 1) decide before the election result finalization deadline on January 6, and 2) time is “plainly of the essence because once candidates have taken office, it will be impossible to repair election results tainted by illegally and belatedly cast or absentee and mail ballots.” Please understand that this is just one of the many avenues being taken to ensure election integrity. The battle is uphill because Democrats and their media shills are only saying there is no evidence of election fraud, or that the President refuses to concede an obvious defeat. Notice they are not saying “We didn’t cheat” or “We didn’t break the law.” This is key. It is all part of the art of deception. The President is trying to clearly demonstrate that laws were broken and that cheating did occur. Proverbs 6:13 says a wicked man, “winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers.” If SCOUTUS winks and shuffles its feet at this situation, there is no assurance from this day forward that any election will be fair and honest. And with that, our freedoms of speech and of religious expression are well in jeopardy as is the Republic. Daily Devotion: The Essence of Christianity - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ —Matthew 1:23 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-essence-of-christianity/ - Listen Joseph was heartbroken. He thought Mary had betrayed him. In those days, betrothals were different from modern-day engagements. A betrothal was almost like being married. And betrothed couples were treated as though they were husband and wife. So when Mary revealed to Joseph that she supernaturally had the Messiah in her womb, Joseph didn’t know what to do. He didn’t buy it. He loved her, but he didn’t want to go ahead with the marriage. The Bible tells us that Joseph was a righteous man. He wanted to do the right thing, but he basically had only two options: (1) publicly tell everyone, which meant that Mary could have been executed, or (2) put Mary away privately and terminate their relationship. Joseph chose the second option, but God had different plans. Matthew’s gospel tells us, “As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’” (Matthew 1:20–21 NLT). In other words, the child in Mary’s womb was the very Messiah. Matthew continues, “All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us”’” (verses 22–23 NLT). This is really the essence of Christianity: God is with us. The Christian faith teaches that God is with us, living inside of us, helping us to be the people He has called to be. Christianity says that we are never alone again. ![]() FROM THE HEART
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