[Matthew 5:11, 44] “Blessed are you, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you], and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. … But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;“
[Matthew 10:23] “But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.“
[Luke 21:12] “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute [you], delivering [you] up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.“
[John 15:20] ” Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.“
[Romans 12:14] “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.“
[Luke 17:33] “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.“
[Mark 4:17] “And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.“
[2 Thessalonians 1:4] “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:“
God is reviving His church, to restore it back to the church as described in the Book of Acts. This is a must watch video for those interested to know what God is doing at this time in the USA. People selling their homes and going as God leads, to make disciples as God instructed. The barriers of the institutional church are being broken down and true, John 17 unity is being restored. It is exciting to hear the testimonies of these transformed Christians. I hope you will be inspired to get in step with what the Holy Spirit is calling you to do in these last days before Jesus returns.
Consider this verse in Ephesians. Able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20
What about this verse? With the indwelling Holy Spirit Paul tells us “we have the mind of Christ.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
How about this verse? We are a new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Created for good works that we should walk in them. Are we?
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
Have you developed a relationship with the Holy Spirit?
Christ made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell your spirit, to be your counsellor, teacher and comforter. Proverbs 20:27 tells us that our spirit was always intended to be the lamp for the Holy Spirit.
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.”
Do you grieve the Holy Spirit and or quench His work in your life?
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30
“Do not quench the Spirit.”1 Thessalonians 5:19
How important it is to understand that the Holy Spirit is a person with whom you need to relate to, just as you do with Jesus and our Heavenly Father. It is important we understand the roles each of them has, and we operate with them. For example, Jesus taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father and we do so in the name of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus made it possible for us to come back into a father, son/daughter relationship with our Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit’s role is to produce the Fruit of the Spirit (9) in our lives, to provide the ministry gifts (9) and to sanctify us, to make us like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will empower us to do the good works we were created in Christ Jesus to do. But just as Jesus said to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane, not my will but yours be done, we likewise need to say to the the Holy Spirit not my will but yours be done this day and everyday until Jesus returns.
Concerning “TheDay of the Lord“; in Thessalonians, Paul compresses the details for the purpose of giving a summary statement concerning coming judgement. He highlights the point that on that first day when Christ returns there will be two immediate consequent effects.
The saints will be delivered – The Rapture
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
and the wicked begin to be judged – Wrath of God
“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7
Paul is not intending to describe the full account of the complex-whole of judgement elements which we see in Revelation. He does however, give us hope that, in the end, God’s righteousness will prevail and he assures the Thessalonians that there will certainly be a coming day of retribution for their persecutors.
The Rapture event Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
How many of you read my post “Covid 19 Coupled with a Major Debt Crisis – What’s Next?” dated June 15th 2020? I thought this to be one of my most important posts for 2020. If you have not read it, can I suggest that you do.
In that post some of the best qualified economic/political pundits gave their views on the likely outcome of Covid 19 coupled with the existing debt crisis of most countries. Debt levels are so great that even with interest rates barely above zero, countries cannot pay down the debt. It also means their currencies are next to worthless.
A FINANCIAL RESET IS INEVITABLE WAS THEIR CONCLUSION
In Australia debt is rising fast. No government can stop the inevitable financial crash.
As you would expect, the combination of failing revenue and runaway spending has resulted in a boost to government debt with total government liabilities at $1.3 trillion by the end of May – $300 billion higher than expected.
Net debt has hit a record $463.7 billion compared to $373.6 billion in the previous financial year, virtually destroying the Morrison Government’s stated aim of clearing all government debt by the end of the decade.
The Finance Department numbers are sobering but few are arguing that the Federal Government has been spending too much – indeed much of the economic commentary is urging them to ramp up spending now that interest rates have effectively reached their lower limit and the economy still needs stimulus.
The key to how the Federal Government will react to such calls will be announced by Treasurer Frydenberg in an economic update in late July, with the 2020-21 budget now due to be released in early October.
This is all part of God’s end times scenario. If your trust is in governments, yourself, or anything other than God then it is misplaced. Only He can give you true peace, the peace that comes from realising that He is in control, He has revealed the truth about the world and us in His Word (BIBLE) and we know the end of the story. Jesus will return first to rapture His church and then to rule and reign 1000 years from Jerusalem.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus… when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
The world has moved far from God’s instruction on raising children. God tells us to discipline our children corporeally, yet never without proper instruction of the righteous behaviour we need to exhibit. In much the same way, the Lord disciplines the one He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:12).
Folly is bound within the heart of a child, yet the rod of discipline will drive it from them (Proverbs 22:15). He who withholds the rod hates his son, but the one who disciplines him diligently loves him (Proverbs 13:24).
In Hebrews 12:6 we find the same principle carries through; the Lord disciplines those whom He loves and scourges His own children. The two terms here are synonymous with the examples above from the book of Proverbs, in that the usage of παιδεύω (discipline) and μαστιγόω (scourge) carries both the corporal and instructional component. Again, παιδεύω carries with it the idea that instruction is rooted intrinsically in how to live in a proper manner before God and man. The usage of μαστιγόω here is a bit more violent than most Evangelicals would like, but it literally means to “beat, whip, or flog” physically. In essence then, what the author of Hebrews is telling us is that God will punish our disobedience in rather harsh ways. He will “use the rod” just as the loving father in the book of Proverbs instructs. Like before, it is a “both/and” proposition rather than an “either/or” one. Both components are present and designed to work with an explicitly good purpose in mind, which is that those trained by discipline will experience the harvest of righteousness and peace yielded by and through it at a later time
“For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:10-11
The following article (abbreviated) is by Damian Wyld Director, Australian Family Coalition
It’s easy in such a time to feel like you’re the odd one out; believing in such quaint ideas as the uniqueness of man-woman marriage, the intrinsic value of human life, mere biological truth, or that the virtues underpinning Western civilisation are worth defending, rather than apologising for.
Are you mad for believing such things? No, you’re not.
Aside from having the weight of evidence on your side (history and science just for starters), vast swathes of the world still hold to the same principles as you. And here’s something truly remarkable. Some nations, learning from past mistakes, are now returning to those principles. Within the last few weeks, significant steps towards enshrining the family have occurred in not one, but three countries: Hungary, Poland and Russia.
What these countries really have in common is that each endured the scourge of Communism for decades. This awful ideology, the cause of millions of deaths worldwide, proved incredibly effective at causing birth rates to plummet, divorce rates to increase, and the overall impact on the family to be catastrophic.
This makes what we’re seeing in Central and Eastern Europe all the more amazing. So, what is happening there? As you might have read recently, Hungary has made good on its proposal to legally set in stone a person’s biological sex at birth. Despite attacks from the EU, the UN, and Amnesty International, the Hungarian Government and Parliament show no sign of backing down.
Meanwhile, Poland is in the middle of a presidential election. Incumbent President Andrzej Duda has used his campaign to decry the Rainbow Agenda as a “foreign ideology” and “even more destructive to the human being” than Communism.
“Today, there are attempts to push an ideology on us and our children, It’s totally new, but it is also neo-Bolshevism,” Duda said. “The Polish family has preserved our values. The family is a special value, which demands special protection from the state … Marriage is a relationship between women and men, and so it will remain.
Duda pledged to “defend children from LGBT ideology”.
”Duda won the first round of elections just days ago and, according to polls, is slightly ahead of his ‘progressive’ main opponent the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, going into the final round of voting.
Lastly, Russia has just held a referendum on constitutional amendments. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most media commentary has focused on limits to presidential terms (allowing Putin to stay in power longer), so there has been minimal coverage of other changes. The revised constitution backs up existing laws that declare marriage to be the union of a man and a woman, as well as referencing “the memory of our ancestors who transmitted ideals and faith in God”. Whatever one makes of Vladimir Putin or of geopolitics, these changes would have been unthinkable a few decades ago in the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union. My point here is not to point to any political leader, but rather to the people of these three countries; people who have endured hard times and bankrupt philosophies; people who are now seeking a path forward. They know from firsthand experience that strong families build strong societies and nations and what is happening in the west with gay marriage and and adoption of LGBT will undermine .
Werner Nachtigal founder Go2020 shared that in some of the hardest to reach Muslim nations, there were thousands of decisions for Christ—6,400 in Somalia, and 8,300 in Afghanistan. He told the story of one unnamed North African city, where a Muslim imam used the mosque’s loudspeaker to call Muslims to come and watch the Jesus film. 16,000 people made a decision for Jesus as a result. In Tanzania, almost half a million people responded to the gospel. These numbers and stories are truly mind-blowing.
The Canberra Declaration community, say they have truly been blessed to be a part of the Go2020 prayer and outreach movement. God is good!
Global Outreach Day was a worldwide Go2020 prayer gathering to pray for the global harvest in the midst of the COVID-19 virus crisis. Many prayer streams, so far embracing 145 nations and including International Prayer Connect, have come together to arrange this united event. It will be led by ministry leaders from every region of the world, including some praying children.
Persist as the prayer does not start until about 7 minutes in when David Demian gives a great introduction.
In the USA they, as a society (Supreme Court), have now said as a matter of law that to hold beliefs about marriage and gender and human sexuality that are consistent with the Bible is discrimination, that it’s hateful and bigoted.
Now, society might give some of those hateful religious people an exception because their Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act tell them that they have to do that. But, when you think about the political and cultural trajectory of the USA, how long do you suppose that the religious liberty exception is going to last when everybody thinks that this is a bigoted and evil view?
We should not be surprised, Jesus told us beforehand.
Jesus told His disciples “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Matthew 10:22a but also “But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22b
Thankfully, there are many prophecies warning us of escalating tribulation in the seven years preceding His Second Coming. World events indicate we are approaching that last seven years but IMO we are not there yet.
Why is it important to get back in the habit of regular and faithful attendance? Why should those connected to a local congregation make a new commitment to attend as regularly as possible? Here are five reasons:
1. The Bible mandates we gather for worship. The writer of Hebrews is unequivocal:
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” Hebrews 10:25, NLT
Gathering for worship is not an optional activity. It is not an occasional activity. It is an ongoing and regular commitment.
2. The Bible emphasises the importance of the local church. Think about it. After the four Gospels, almost all of the New Testament is about the local church or directed to the local church. Throughout the New Testament, different local congregations met together and worshipped together. It is simply what believers do.
3. When we gather together, we encourage each other. Look at Hebrews 10:25 again. “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” What Day? The Day of Jesus return. Therefore, this will be increasingly important as persecution escalates.
4. When we gather together, we encourage our leaders. The encouragement of one another includes the encouragement of our leaders. They desperately need it. I pray that many people will return to the in-person gatherings with new levels of commitment. Our leaders will be greatly encouraged.
5. We grow spiritually when we commit to faithful attendance. We grow as a believer in Christ when we have a committed prayer life. We grow when we are committed to read Scripture daily. We grow when we share our faith regularly. We grow when we serve in ministry. And we grow when we commit to attend worship services faithfully. That attendance is a spiritual discipline. It is a vital and necessary act toward greater spiritual maturity.
The pandemic and quarantine have been transformational moments for our world and our churches. We now have the incredible opportunity to hit the reset button in our own lives. Church is about relationships and therefore small groups. It is not about meeting once a week on Sunday. God has reminded us, perhaps even given us a major wake-up call, first about what church really is and how really important it is.
