FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN CHIEF JUSTICE MUST APOLOGIZE FOR DEFENDING ISRAEL

Posted on by

Mogoeng had refused to apologize, saying South Africa’s judges should not be “censored, gagged or muzzled.”

Former South African chief justice given 10 days to apologize for defending Israel
Former South African Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. (South African Judiciary)

By World Israel News Staff Jan 22, 2022

South Africa’s Judicial Conduct Appeals Committee issued a statement on Thursday giving former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng 10 days to make an “unconditional apology for becoming involved in political controversy.”

“I’m under an obligation as a Christian to love Israel, to pray for [the] peace of Jerusalem, which actually means the peace of Israel, and I cannot, as I Christian, do anything other than love and pray for Israel, because I know, hatred for Israel by me and for my nation, can only attract unprecedented curses upon our nation,” Mogoeng stated in July 2020 during a webinar discussion with South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein that was hosted by The Jerusalem Post.

“Did Israel take away our land or the land of Africa? Did Israel take our mineral wealth? We’ve got to move from a position of principle here,” he said.

The anti-Israel group Africa4Palestine, the South African branch of the BDS movement, filed a complaint over the chief justice’s comments, accusing him of breaching the judicial code of conduct.

Mogoeng, who served as chief justice until his retirement from the position in October 2021, refused to apologize, saying South Africa’s judges should not be “censored, gagged or muzzled.”

“I respect the law. I will not defy the law. But if it does come to the point where I am forced to do the abominable, or I am forced to reject God, then I would rather be without money, be without any position. I will never refuse to obey the Lord,” he asserted.

“If I get to the point where there is a judgment that says, ‘You must say you hate Israel and the Jews’, I would rather cease to be Chief Justice.

“If I get to the point where they say, ‘Mogoeng, you must say you hate the Palestinians and Palestine,’ I would rather cease to be Chief Justice than to do it…

“I will not apologize for anything. There is nothing to apologize for… I can’t apologize for loving. I can’t apologize for not harboring hatred and bitterness.”

Rejecting Myogoeng’s appeal on Thursday, the Committee said:

“Pursuant to this decision, the committee, by a majority, directed that Chief Justice Mogoeng should issue an unconditional apology for becoming involved in political controversy through his utterances at the online seminar (webinar) hosted by the Jerusalem Post on June 23, 2020. A copy of the apology must be released by Chief Justice Mogoeng to the Office of the Chief Justice and the media within 10 days of the decision.”

This tiny nation, Israel, which God established for His purposes some 4000 years ago and which He allowed to be utterly destroyed and renamed Palestine is prophesied to be the centre of world affairs until Jesus returns to this earth to rule and reign the nations. Their re-establishment as a nation in 1948 was a prophesied miracle. Even before Israel went into their Promised Land Moses told them their entire checkered history, including their being cast out of the land and dispersed throughout the nations but also the end of the story when God would regather them and their Messiah will rule the nations and they will be a people, “holy to the Lord your God”.

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” Deuteronomy 28:1

“And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,” Deuteronomy 28:13

“And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honour high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.” Deuteronomy 26:18-19

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.“ Deuteronomy 30:1-3

“And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:5-6

The former South African Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng got it right he knows God.s plan for Israel and he will play his part in ruling and reigning with Jesus in the Millennium probably in the judiciary.

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ESCALATING AS PROPHESIED

Posted on by

YouTube Labels John MacArthur’s Sermon Hate Speech After He Said God Made Us ‘Male and Female’

We should not be surprised when this happens, God has given us many prophecies of what we can expect before Jesus pours out His wrath upon an unrepentant, lawless world and He returns to put things right and usher in His Millennial Kingdom. We are in those prophesied “end times”.

Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA, preached a sermon Sunday about biblical sexuality, which as CBN’s Faithwire reported was part of an effort by pastors across North America to protest a new Canadian law that took effect Jan. 8 after being pushed through Parliament with little debate.

The concern is that Canada’s Bill C-4 is broadly worded and could, in effect, ban biblical teachings on sexual ethics, and might even limit personal communications on the subject. Preachers are protesting the law at the pulpits, with 4,000 pastors affirming their opposition as well as willingness to speak out against it, Fox News reported.

According to Liberty Coalition Canada, the bill’s wording is broad enough to allow for “the criminal prosecution of Christians who would speak biblical truth into the lives of those in bondage to sexual sins like homosexuality and transgenderism.”

Standing in the pulpit on Sunday, MacArthur said, “There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that’s it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality.”

“On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can’t exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships,” he said.

But YouTube removed MacArthur’s sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur’s video presentation was “hate speech.”

“Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy,” YouTube said, according to Starnes. “We’ve removed the following content from YouTube: ‘There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY. That’s it. – Pastor John MacArthur.’”

Critics worry the law will perpetuate religious persecution and could even govern private conversations. 

“Americans should be preparing for a time when pastors and religious leaders will face persecution for teaching the Word of God,” Starnes warned. 

PARENTS BEWARE OF TIKTOK

Posted on by

TikTok Videos about Transgenderism dominate the Platform with 26 Billion Views. There is no shortage of pro-LGBTQ content on the video-sharing app TikTok.

An analysis by the Daily Mail found TikTok videos including the hashtag #Trans have garnered more than 26 billion views, the outlet reported, many of the clips featuring footage captured by young people playfully documenting their transitions from one sexual identity to the other, often undergoing hormone treatments to block or halt puberty, or recovering from body-modifying surgeries to appear more like the opposite sex.

This comes as TikTok, owned by the Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, has overtaken Google as the most popular web domain in 2021. In fact, the app is more popular than Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Twitter, and Amazon, too, according to Cloudflare.

Photo by Solen Feyissa/Unsplash
TikTok Videos About Transgenderism Dominate Platform with 26 Billion Views

Among GenZers, the viral video platform is also more popular than Snapchat and Instagram, Forrester Research reported in November.

Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend, which “advocates for the most vulnerable children who are caught up in the recent trend in society to replace the objective reality of sex with the subjective idea of ‘gender identity’ as the criteria for the being a man or being a woman,” told them Daily Mail that TikTok is “hugely influential and it’s full of videos that portray medical transition as cool and edgy.”

“Gender is seen as the new rebellion,” she said. “These social media platforms that promote medical transition should be made to include a warning on such material.”

Of the millions of videos on TikTok, one clip highlighted by the Daily Mail showed a user saying, “I used to be a good Christian kid,” before going on to showcase a transformation to a “trans, gay atheist who loves tattoos and chaos.” There is a seemingly endless stream of other similar content.

A spokesperson for TikTok told the U.K.-based outlet the app is “honored that the LGBTQ+ community has embraced TikTok from our very early days, as a platform for self-expression, education, community-building, and joy.” “Our content allows young LGBTQ+ people to know that they are not alone in their experiences,” added the representative.
In my opinion, this is just another “end times” sign. Biblical end times prophecy indicates the world will be throwing off God’s values just before Jesus returns. As well, Christians who defend God’s values will be persecuted. Jesus warns us there is worse to come before He returns to rescue the Saints and to pour out His wrath on an unrepentant world.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14

WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF ABSURDITY

Posted on by

Why am I saying we are living in the age of absurdity. Children, in fact, young girls, are being taught how to correctly behead infidels in the Islamic Mosque in Islamabad and yet a bill is being passed in the USA on Islamaphobia so that you cannot criticise any behaviour of Muslims.

Uploaded image
Students of Red Mosque Islamabad practising how to behead a person accused of blasphemy. Pakistan’s “kamyab jawan”. The video is available on jihadwatch.org

Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law is being discussed all over the world these days. Recently, a Sri Lankan national was beaten to death in an alleged blasphemy case and then set on fire by fundamentalists. The Pak PM Imran Khan-led government was criticized all over the world for this. Meanwhile, a video has now surfaced from Pakistan that exposes Pakistan’s violent, hardcore Islamic, and chaotic face in blasphemy. The video is said to be from the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

How can Muslims say they support a free society and say Christians are Islamaphobes when we just quote Muhammed from his supposedly holy books.

“When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” (Qur’an 47:4)

Sahih (Hadith) Book 1, Number 0033: It has been narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah said:

“I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay Zakat and if they do it, their blood and property are guaranteed protection on my behalf except when justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah.“

Muhammad clearly states here that Allah commands Muslims to kill people unless they testify there is no God but Allah.

What about Surah Book Number 1: 0029?

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) breathed his last and Abu Bakr was appointed as his successor (Caliph), those amongst the Arabs who wanted to become apostates became apostates. ‘Umar b. Khattab said to Abu Bakr: Why would you fight against the people, when the Messenger of Allah declared : I have been directed to fight against people so long as they do not say: There is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was granted full protection of his property and life on my behalf except for a right? His (other) affairs rest with Allah. Upon this Abu Bakr said: By Allah, I would definitely fight against him who severed prayer from Zakat, for it is the obligation upon the rich. By Allah, I would fight against them even to secure the cord (used for hobbling the feet of a camel) which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (as zakat) but now they have withheld it. Umar b. Khattab remarked: By Allah, I found nothing but the fact that Allah had opened the heart of Abu Bakr for (perceiving the justification of) fighting (against those who refused to pay Zakat) and I fully recognized that the (stand of Abu Bakr) was right.

The Bible prophecies that in the last days before Jesus returns persecution of Christians will escalate. The religion of Islam is the leading antichrist force in the world today that has been responsible for many Christians being martyred. This will only escalate.

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him… Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship… The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 1, 3-4, 9-10

END TIMES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

Posted on by

A Hindu nationalist religious leader called for fellow Hindus to behead Christian converts at a mass rally in India’s central Chhattisgarh state. Swami Parmatmanand, a prominent leader in the Hindutva movement, called for the targeted killings at a protest earlier this month. The protest was organised against an alleged rise in conversions of Hindus to Christianity.  Speaking to an audience, which included senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Swami Parmatmanand said: “Keep a lathi (stick) at home in our villages, people keep hand-axes. Why do they keep axes? Behead them – those who come for conversion. Now you’ll say that I am spreading hate although I’m a saint. But it’s important to ignite the fire sometimes. I am telling you; anyone who comes into your house, street, neighborhood, village, don’t forgive them.” The Swami continued: “I want to tell those Christians who converted, why did you leave the ocean for the well? “I want you to talk to them politely first. Stop, protest, shoot.”

Who is motivating this Hindu nationalist leader who says he is a saint despite urging his followers to kill fellow Indians on the basis they are Christians? It is certainly not the God of love who tells us to love our neighbour as ourselves. I would suggest it is Satan himself.

Note the placards signifying Christians are PEACE LOVING

Dr David Landrum, Director of Advocacy for Open Doors UK & Ireland, said: “What we are seeing in India is a coordinated campaign against Christians by Hindu nationalists. Violence is being incited by local political and religious leaders who see the public vilification of Christians as an easy way to shore up their Hindu vote bank. Police are complicit and state actors ignore and even condone persecution. The way Hindu nationalists spread the message of hatred through these rallies and protests is unbelievable. This self-perpetuating cycle of violence and intimidation has now become socially acceptable.”

Satan knows his time is short and he is doing his utmost to take as many people (people made in God’s image) down with him.

FAITH NEEDED FOR THE “LAST DAYS”

Posted on by

In his Dialogue with Trypho, the 2nd-century Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, summarizes the Christian life in those days:

And we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons, our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage, and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified… Now it is evident that no one can terrify or subdue us who have believed in Jesus over all the world. For it is plain that, though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others and in larger numbers become faithful, and worshipers of God through the name of Jesus.

Virtue does not emerge from some inherent goodness or nobility in man. Virtue is God’s grace manifested in men. Left to their own devices, men, and even women, are anything but virtuous. 

Dialogue with Trypho, CX

For Justin and the earliest Christians, many things about their newfound faith were probably still unclear. However, what was crystal clear, they knew that Jesus rose from the dead and His claim to be the Son of God was true. They knew that only by repenting of their past life and accepting Jesus as their Saviour and Lord could they receive the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and have the power to live the Christian life. Godly virtues, faith, hope, piety, righteousness, philanthropy were attainable only by the grace of God. These things were obvious to early believers in Christ.

Further, because of God’s grace, it was possible not only for men to become moral creatures, but it was by His grace that men could live freely. By His mercy, man could be liberated from the powers of supernatural oppression and the oppressive weight of their sins. In this freedom, the Christian had no fear of losing his head (literally), being thrown to wild beasts, put in chains, crucified, burned alive, or otherwise tortured. God’s grace provided the path to both virtues in life and victory over death.

Perpetual revolution” (not reformation) is the explicit doctrine of the foot soldier for the unconstrained vision of man.

As prophesied, men and women who reject any need for divine aid or help and who really believe a new revolution can solve the problem, are taking control of our institutions. Trade-offs are unacceptable for the advocates of the unconstrained view. Only total solutions are acceptable. Perfection is within society’s grasp, any identifiable flaw in the fabric of society must inevitably spur on the next revolution. The problem, of course, with this view, one Justin and the early church Fathers would have roundly decried as heretical, is that it consciously rejects what it regards as the most detestable doctrines of the Christian faith: original sin and the desperate need for God’s grace.

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN INDIA

Posted on by

Authorities in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh arrested seven pastors at a prayer meeting under the state’s “anti-conversion” law, which Christians have accused Hindu nationalists of using as a tool to persecute them.

The pastors were arrested during a prayer meeting they were holding in Mau district last Sunday, UCA News reported, adding that the pastors have been charged with “illegal assembly.”

The U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said this past weekend that the Christians remained in jail.

“We will move bail applications and are hopeful that they will be out of jail soon,” the pastors’ lawyer, Ashish Kumar, was quoted as saying.

The police initially also detained 50 worshipers but released them the same day. Two Catholic nuns who were at a bus stop near the prayer house were also held at the police station for several hours until the evening, said UCA News.

“Police wanted to book the sisters along with the pastors but let them go after the pastors and the faithful said they were not part of the prayer group,” Father Anand Mathew, a member of the Indian Missionary Society, was quoted as saying.

india church, delhi
An Indian man walks outside a deserted Baptist church, as India remains under an unprecedented extended lockdown due to COVID-19 on May 5, 2020, in Delhi, India.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the several Indian states that have “anti-conversion” laws, which presume that Christians “force” or give financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity.

The law states that no one is allowed to use the “threat” of “divine displeasure,” meaning Christians cannot talk about Heaven or Hell, as that would be seen as “forcing” someone to convert. And if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an “inducement.”

The ICC previously noted that India’s population data proves that the conspiracy of mass conversions to Christianity is a false claim. “In 1951, the first census after independence, Christians made up only 2.3% of India’s overall population. According to the 2011 census, the most recent census data available, Christians still only make up 2.3% of the population.” This is a sad state of affairs and Christians need to pray for India and God’s plan to liberate this nations from Satan’s clutches.

India ranks as the 10th worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. State Department to label India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.

Open Doors USA warns that since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased. The group reports that “Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences.”

“Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam,” an Open Doors fact sheet on India explains. “They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background. Christians are accused of following a ‘foreign faith’ and blamed for bad luck in their communities.”

This is further evidence we are in the prophesied last days before Jesus returns first to rapture the Saints and then to return with the Saints to set up His Millennium Kingdom. Time is short and the task is daunting but we know God is in control. Each of us just needs to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our steps so we complete the good works He has assigned for each of us.

“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

“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:11-13

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-1.jpeg

POSTMODERNISM – “INTOLERANT AND HATEFUL CHRISTIANS”

Posted on by

Six members of Congress have condemned Finland for prosecuting a Christian politician who is facing six years in prison for sharing her biblical beliefs on sexuality and marriage, voicing their concern with the top federal religious freedom advisory committee. 

Led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the Republican House members sent a letter to Nadine Maenza, the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on Wednesday.

They condemned the prosecutions of Parliament Member Päivi Räsänen and Evangelical Lutheran Mission Bishop Juhana Pohjola, which they argue to be “infringements on religious freedom.”  

Finland, Päivi Räsänen
Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen. | ADF International

Räsänen has been charged with three counts of ethnic agitation over statements expressing her beliefs about human sexuality and marriage. Pohjola, the bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, has been charged with one count of ethnic agitation for publishing Räsänen’s booklet.

In his address this week at an Alliance Defending Freedom freedom office in Washington, D.C., Pohjola warned that his prosecution illustrates that

“The Gospel of Christ is at stake” because of postmodernism and “cancel culture.”

He believes hate speech laws have been unfairly used against him.

“When postmodernism first swept over Western countries, its basic core was a denial of absolute truth. The only truth was that you must allow everyone to have his or her own subjective truth,” Pohjola said. “This hyper-individualism continues, but it has now a different tone. If you are against LGBTQ+ ideology, so-called diversity, equality, and inclusiveness, you are not only considered to be old-fashioned … but rejected as morally evil. This is what the prosecutor general understands her duty to be, to protect fragile citizens and victims from the intolerant and hateful Christians.”

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ESCALATING IN CHINA

Posted on by

A U.S.-based persecution watchdog says it has documented more than 100 incidents of Christian persecution in China between July 2020 and June 2021 as the country’s communist regime seeks to forcefully convert independent religious groups into mechanisms of the Chinese Communist Party.

A significant trend throughout the past year was an increase in church raids, says a report published by International Christian Concern. It notes that “not only were churches shut down or demolished, but pastors and church attendees were often arrested.”

One example of this crackdown happened earlier this month when more than 30 officials from the CCP, including SWAT officers, police officers, religious affairs bureau officials and local school district administrators raided Maizi Christian Music High School in Harbin city in China’s Heilongjiang province, the U.S.-based rights group China Aid reported at the time.

In August, officers from Chenghua District Mengzhuiwang office in Sichuan province forcibly entered the home of a church member, He Shan, where the small group of Early Rain Covenant Church members were meeting for worship, CBN News said at the time.

ICC has also tracked 23 incidents of authorities demolishing religious structures and symbols during its reporting period. “The CCP has torn down, destroyed, and removed numerous churches in China, especially those that refused to submit to its control,” the report says.

The persecution watchdog adds in the report that it recorded 14 cases of “Sinicization,” which is a state campaign to forcefully assimilate religious groups into CCP-defined Chinese culture.

As an example, ICC highlights the plight of a church bookstore that was forced to display Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book instead of the Bible. The Administration for Religious Affairs also ordered Christians to study President Xi’s book and memorize his speeches.

Chinese authorities are also removing Bible apps and Christian WeChat public accounts as new highly restrictive administrative measures on religious staff went into effect earlier this year.

The ICC report says that almost every province in China has seen an increase in Christian persecution, and this rise has been especially apparent in Sichuan, Hebei and Fujian provinces where the independent churches have been very visible and active.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-1.jpeg

This persecution of Christians is escalating all over the world and is evidence we are in the “end times” that Jesus spoke about that precedes His return. Jesus gives us many signs in the following passage from Luke. The same is given by Matthew. Jesus tells us that He is providing opportunities to witness for Him and that the Holy Spirit will even give us the words to speak. This is training and preparation for us to rule and reign with Jesus on this earth during the Millennium.

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Luke 21:10-19

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Posted on by

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

This Scripture tells us we need to let God’s Word and the Holy Spirit guide our thoughts and actions so that we can view the world through God’s eyes and live our life according to His principles. May this be true particularly in the area of our finances but may it be true in every area of our life.

Even the money we work hard to earn ultimately comes from God. “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

Knowing that it all belongs to God should convince us to welcome God into our financial lives! We have the opportunity to walk with God, even in this sector of life knowing that He will use it wisely and it will bear much fruit that will have eternal value.

We need not be concerned about provision for our family if we are truly seeking first the kingdom of God.

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

God is the source of all good things—our provider. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). 

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalms 24:1).

How important it is during this time of testing that God has sent with Covid19 to hold to these truths of God. There is no doubt that if you have “all joy and peace in believing” people around you that are fearful will want what you have. Opportunities are opening up for me to talk about the scriptures particularly “end times” prophecies, as I have never had before, particularly with my non believing family members.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

The persecution that Christians are experiencing now will escalate in the years ahead. Scripture reveals Christians will be refined during the time of tribulation that precedes the Rapture but will also be used mightily by the Holy Spirit at this time. It is time to start living with an eternal focus knowing Jesus prophesied return is near.

What role will Jesus assign to you during His Millennial reign?

“They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were 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

“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 sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:7-10

The Second Resurrection and Judgment Before the Great White Throne

“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. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” Revelation 20:11