WHAT HAS GOD ACHIEVED WITH COVID

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1. More focus on what’s important. One Christian wrote, “I feel like I’ve been more observant, it has forced me to slow down and see things that I wouldn’t normally see or appreciate.” Another wrote, “Less distractions. More time to focus on our creator. More time for prayer.” This pandemic is forcing us to prioritize and remember what’s truly important in life.

2. God has got my attention. Because of the removal of distractions, Christians are able to hear God and respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading. One Christian wrote, “God has brought His Word out loud and clear, spoken in song and on social media. His people, the Church, have risen and are staying connected and meeting needs.”

3. Reconnecting with family. This was one of the most popular responses. Being forced to stay at home, people are able to reconnect with family in meaningful ways. One wrote, “Very much enjoy working at home with my lovely wife.” Another shared, “The gift of extra time and conversation with my adult children that I didn’t expect to have.” A third wrote, “Given us sweet family time.”

4. Great interactions with neighbors. A famous command by Jesus is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). But since most of us live life on the go, we don’t have much meaningful time to interact with our neighbors. These stay-at-home orders that many of us are experiencing is changing all that. One Christian shared, “love seeing all my neighbors out in the pretty spring weather playing with their kids and pets.” Another wrote, “more opportunities to encourage others and talk about my hope in the Lord.”

5. Rest in God. Whether by choice or not, people are seeing the benefits of slowing down and finding the rest that only comes in God. One Christian wrote that through this crisis, she’s been able to “rest in God and depend more on Him.” Another shared, “I got closer to Jesus.”

If you are afraid of contracting this disease, pray to God to help you get over the fear of the virus. Remember, “The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control“. (2 Timothy 1:7, ERV)

If after prayers, you are still not able to banish the fear of the virus from you, stay home, stay safe, and keep trusting God (Philippians 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:7).

The following scripture is one that has been helpful for me in tough times. Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to be our comforter as well as our counsellor and teacher.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Remember, pestilence is just one of the end times signs that Jesus told us would warn us of His return to earth.

“Then he (Jesus) said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and pestilences.” Luke 21:10-11

NOW IS THE TIME TO LIVE WITH ETERNITY IN VIEW

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This catastrophe (Covid 19) is a perfect opportunity for the church to remind people that the kingdoms of this world are not where our hope is found, and that we preach a kingdom that is coming and has come: the kingdom of God with Jesus on the throne. First, Jesus will fulfill the Abrahamic covenant and rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years.

“They (resurrected believers) 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 ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

In this kingdom there is perfect rule, although we are told Jesus and the resurrected saints will need to rule with a “rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27, 19:15) and at the end of the thousand years when Satan is released from the abyss where he has been chained for the thousand years he is still able to raise an immense army to come against Jesus and the saints.

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10

It is only after this final battle will this earth be destroyed with fire. The second resurrection of the rest of the dead (mostly unbelievers) will take place followed by the white throne judgement. It is only then John sees the new heaven and new earth where the saints will dwell not only with Jesus but also our Heavenly Father.

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.” Revelation 20:11

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,..” Revelation 21:1

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Revelation 21:2-3

available on Amazon as an eBook and trade paperback

Preface to my book LIVING ETERNAL NOW

The Bible is full of fulfilled prophesy which is testimony of its divine inspiration and inerrancy. It is estimated that as much as 75% of the 2,500 prophesies in the Bible have already been fulfilled, and most of those yet to happen are “last days/end time” events.

How many churches today are preparing their congregations for Jesus’ second coming? Do you realise that there are more prophecies about Jesus’ second coming than His first. The Pharisees and Sadducees did not get it with His first coming, and the church is not getting it, with His second coming, maybe in your lifetime.

“For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Matt. 24:44

Equipped with the knowledge of the Bible’s “last days” prophecies, we will see many of these events unfold in our time. We will look at these unfolding “end times” events in the last chapter, Discerning the Times. It is an exciting time for a Christian who is prepared to live eternal now. For both the unbeliever and believer alike “great tribulation” is ahead, but the discerning believer understands the times and is prepared.

I would like this book to help equip Christians to fulfil God’s assignment for them in these last days. You will only be able to do that, if you are aware of the times we are in, submit to the indwelling Holy Spirit, have total confidence in God’s Word, and are able to defend it to an unbelieving church, atheists and agnostics.

COVID MADNESS

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AUSTRALIA

State governments continue to pursue a foolish “Covid-zero” policy – even as vaccination rates rapidly accelerate, and the lethality of the virus has markedly decreased. The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is right – “This isn’t a sustainable solution.”

“The virus is not going anywhere. We cannot do this forever. Indeed, the longer we delay the inevitable, the greater the cost will be.

We are incurring unthinkable additional costs for fear of what we must face… lives, livelihoods, children, the economy and democracy are all straining under the burden of “Covid-zero.”

Fear is making us foolish. 

Let’s take a glimpse at the state of our nation…

  • 3,345 suicidal people called LifeLine on a single day this week – yet another record.
  • Our children simply won’t be able to pay back the debt levels.
  • Many small businesses are finished.  
  • We are not living (or even leaving the house) for fear of dying.
  • We are giving up total authoritarian power to people who despise what we believe.
  • Compassion is dead, with callous disregard for those torn apart or mourning.

And yet our State Premiers are telling us all this and more will continue – despite decent levels of vaccination.

It seems we’re too afraid to accept the brutal reality that, with half-decent levels of vaccination, a tiny proportion of Delta cases will die. Moreover, we will spend anything to delay it. 

Fearfulness and fearmongering are winning the day. This will change only when public opinion changes, and when Premiers stop getting the approval ratings they crave.” 

Christians – that’s you and me – should lead the way. We do not fear death, Jesus has secured eternal life for us and He will ensure you live to complete the work He has assigned for you to do.

Contact your Premier and set him/her straight on the need to get people vaccinated but then to start living normal lives accepting the risks associated with Covid 19 as we do with any other virus, bacteria or other pathogen. Let Scott Morrison and your local member know what you are doing.

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Heb 2:14-15) 

GOD AT WORK DURING CORONAVIRUS

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Jason Hubbard from International Prayer Connect, shares amazing good news of what God has done in our world during Covid- 19 between Passover and Pentecost 2020.
“The doors to the our church buildings may have been closed but the Church has not been closed. We are living through a Great Quarantine Revival and I think God is just getting started.” Nick Hall Pulse Movement

  • Jesus Fast with Lou Engle – 40 Days March – 9 April 2020: 72,000 people. 1.9 million reached with call to fast & pray – 10 languages, 190,000 read the devotionals and 21,000 join Esther Fast to end Covid-19. 
  • Brazil Send 8 Feb & 25 April 2020 137,000 people in 3 stadiums and 3.2 mil watch. 15,695 salvations and re-commitments.
  • Good Friday Pulse Movement 10 April 2020 with Nick Hall. More than 130,000 came to Christ in virtual evangelistic event. 100 million tuned in from nearly 100 countries, translated into 40 languages.
  • World Prayer Together 1 May 2020 600,000 from 100+ nations in 12 languages for a 4 hour global call to launch GO20202 month of evangelism. 1.8 million house churches in May representing 38 million in united prayer. www.runministries.org
  • Watchmen for the Nations Passover & Pentecost Events 7 April & 28 May 2020 3000,000 from 100 nations translated into 26 languages. Also 10 days of worship & prayer 21-30 May 2020 www.watchmenforthenations.com
  • GO2020 52.6 million Christians shared the gospel on and off line. 227 million people reached with the gospel. Prayer Covenant for Children mobilised 7000,000 GO2020 kids and adults in Africa to pray for those they wanted to reach. Jesus film had 163 million views. A video clip of Amazing Grace got 2 million views and UK Blessing Song had over 2.2 million – now nearly 3.5 million!
  • Global Media Outreach reached 14.3 million people in 150 countries with webs based evangelistic services. 175,997 indicated decisions.
  • #Hope Story 60 second testimonies were seen by a million people. Stories were shared from nearly 50 nations On TikTok alone, 200,000 viewed a Hope Story of a young Aboriginal Australian. #HopeStoryChallenge 

CORONAVIRUS GOD’S WAKE UP CALL

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John Piper has written an excellent book, Coronavirus and Christ. The following is a few excerpts from the book. The audio book is below.

The coronavirus is God’s thunderclap call for all of us to repent and realign our lives with the infinite worth of Christ. The coronavirus is not unique as a call to repentance. In fact, all natural disasters-whether floods, famines, locusts, tsunamis, or diseases-are God’s painful and merciful summons to repent. We see this from the way Jesus responds to disaster in Luke 13:1-5: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

God’s message for the world in this coronavirus outbreak. He is calling the world to repentance while there’s still time.
Let’s be more specific. What does repentance mean? The word in the New Testament means a change of heart and mind. Not a superficial change of opinion, but a deep transformation so that we perceive and prize God and Jesus for who they really are. Jesus described the change like this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matt. 22:37) Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10:37) In other words, the most fundamental change of heart and mind that repentance calls for is to treasure God with all that you are and to treasure Jesus more than all other relations.

What God is doing in the coronavirus is showing us- graphically, painfully-that nothing in this world gives the security and satisfaction that we find in the infinite greatness and worth of Jesus. This global pandemic takes away our freedom of movement, our business activity, and our face-to-face relations. It takes away our security and our comfort. And, in the end, it may take away our lives. 
The reason God exposes us to such losses is to rouse us to rely on Christ. Or to put it another way, the reason he makes calamity the occasion for offering Christ to the world is that the supreme, all-satisfying greatness of Christ shines more brightly when Christ sustains joy in suffering.

This is what it means to repent: to experience a change of heart and mind that treasures God in Christ more than life. 

“Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you” (Psalm 63:3). This was Paul’s faith. It was true in life and death. In life, because Christ is the sweetness of every pleasure, and better than them all. And in death, because “in [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy; at [his] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).