POW! I Never Thought of it That way!

“So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” (Ex. 17:9). “For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me”   (Psalm 18:39).

Hey Gang:  I have adopted Jonathon Cahn into my hillbilly family because he talks and writes with language and illustrations that this hillbilly can understand.  In this month’s devotional he wrote the following opening to a devotional he titled “The Blotted Enemy”: “Fight your spiritual battles as if they are defeated already.  Lay the groundwork covered in prayer before even stepping on the battlefield”. 

To that, my dear sainted Grandma would add, “Stay prayed up to date for there are times when you do not have time to set up your altar and go to the Lord in prayer.”  In my work with out of control teenagers I found that to be oh, so, very true. 

Cahn titled his teaching “The Blotted Out Enemy” based on Exodus 17. The first battle that Israel ever fought was against the Amalekites or Amalek.  I have read the story many times and used the illustration of Aaron and Hur holding up the arms of Moses during the day of fighting.  As long as his arms were up the Israeli’s prevailed but when they sagged, the Amalekites prevailed.  There are a barn full of messages with illustrations from my life that I could share but will save them for another day.  I suspect each of you might also have stories of those times when your guard was down and Satan gained an upper hand.

Then God says, “I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (vs.14).  But notice in ver

Question?  If the enemy of Israel, the Amalekites, are blotted out, how can God keep fighting them, or how can God’s people keep warring against them, if they are already blotted out?  Think about that for a moment or two?  There is a very important- not so hidden truth ingrained in these verses.

Satan is a defeated enemy of God and all of God’s people but, has he thrown in the towel and retreated into the shadows?  In no way! Even in the wilderness, we are told, after failing to convince Jesus that he had a better plan for Him, we read he slinked away awaiting a more opportune time to return and “bug Him” (Luke 4:13). 

In other words, God fights a blotted out enemy - and so do we.  The key to living a victorious life is to understand that we are in constant warfare with a defeated enemy! 

I read an article recently that stated that the number one seller on the book list, the Bible, is, in most cases, the least read.  In the same article, the author, after doing some serious research, discovered there is a growing discouragement and anxiety growing among many who proclaim that are believers in Yeshua.  He also discovered that there is a correlation between those who are discouraged and filled with anxiety and their time invested in their prayer closet and time in the Word. 

Soooo, Does that not compute?  If you eat one meal at McDonald’s a week, how long will your body survive?  The point Jonathon is pounding: “The old sin doesn’t look defeated, yet Messiah finished the battle on the cross. Remember His words, “It is Finished?”  The enemy is blotted out.  You will win the fight, and you have to fight a defeated enemy.  Win the battle that is already won.  Fight the fought battle in His strength.  You live on the winning side.  On the cross, it is already blotted out.  Keep in mind that -at the name of Jesus, Satan must flee!

Blessings,

Gramps

Alert! New post on grampswhatshappeningman.blogspot.com  Sept 1

AN Encouraging Word for the Moment -Part Three

“Praise the Lord, I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly.  Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them.  Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:1-3).

Hey Gang:  When most pastors come to the passage of Hebrews eleven, they tend to zero in on one character and develop a series of message around each person named.  Good way to do it, but when we zero in on the specific trees, we tend to miss the impact of the forest.

What I want to do today is to look at these as a total forest and make some conclusions about their lives that we can take to the bank.  Because, as you will see, what is true about them is also true about us.  They were just normal people, just like us - and what I mean by that is, they had their hang ups.

Remember in part one we zeroed in on the truth that God commended them (they had gained God’s approval).  The second message I want you to remember this morning is “God liked them”.  Say that with me - “God liked them and He likes me.”  Not a phrase we hear very often in this me-centered world.  It is not a phrase that appears in the text, but when God commends us we can assume that God also likes us.

God liked these people.  That is why He put them in this chapter as role models for us.  They are here because they are God’s heroes.  They are just normal people with fears, struggles and doubts, but God like them.  He liked David even though David had problems with his kids and his grandkids; when I say problems, I mean real problems.  Except for Solomon we are hard pressed to find any of his kids  who served the Lord.  And David was called “a man after God’s own heart”.  God liked David.

God liked Noah!  Noah was the only one who followed God in a wicked world.  And let me tell you he lived in a wicked world!  One could say the heart of the people was evil continuously - but “Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord”.  He was by no means perfect, just like you and me, but God liked him.

The third thing that is true about these folks in Hebrews eleven, “God was for them”.  We know the verse, “If God be for us who can be against us?”  Do we not sometimes get that turned around and think that God is against us so who can be for us?”  God is not against us, He is for us.  He was for the people in this chapter even with their doubts and fears and is it not neat to know the God who created the universe IS FOR US?

What about my fears, my problems, all the things I have done?  God’s response!  Yes, I know all about those things.  I have a file that began before time began but keep this in mind, you are no different than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are normal and I commend you for your faithfulness and I like you and I am for you. And when I need things done, I look for broken vessels who are willing to be placed on the potter’s wheel and molded into the image of My Son.

Soooo, keep in mind, God loves normal people.  He is not looking for super heroes.  I know because He choose me!  And hear me now, He has also chosen you for something that will bring honor and glory to Abba Father.  One more time, God commended them, God liked them and God was for them.

  Can you say “Praise the Lord” for that? 

Blessings,  

Gramps

An Encouraging Word for the Moment -Part two

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen.”  (Heb. 11:1).  Many folks can quote that verse but tend to stop short when quoting;  the following words add power and credibility, “For by it the men of old were commended (gained approval)’

Hey Gang, I believe God put that special chapter in the Bible to show us that all of those mentioned had one thing in common, they were just like you and me and had their times of discouragement.  In it we find a listing of God’s hero’s and what they did in their lives for God through faith.  It opens up with these words, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.  This is what the ancients were commended for”.

Is that not a neat promise from God? When we are obedient and place Him in the driver’s seat of our lives we are ‘commended’.  God was commending the people of this passage.  In essence I believe He was praising them.  Wow, is that not a neat promise to the sheep of His pasture that obedience is rewarded by praise from the throne room of heaven!

As a child I listened to the Sunday School stories of Moses, David and all the miracle workers of the Bible, taught by Ada Holliway, my teacher. I believed those heroes of the Bible were perfect in every way.  And after seeing Charlton Hesston’s powerful role as Moses in the Ten Commandments, there was no question that I could never live up to his example. 

But one day the light came on in my brain and I realized that Moses had doubts and even argued with God as to his worthiness to be God’s leg man in leading the children of Israel out of bondage.  Did he not lose it and kill an Egyptian and strike the stone in the wilderness?  In other words was he not just like me or I was just like him?

 And then there is the story of David, a shepherd boy, who stood before the mighty Goliath and shouted “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God” (I Sam 17:26).  The same David that stole another man’s wife and then tried to cover his sin by killing her husband.  The same David who was “a man after God’s own heart”.

Abraham and Sarah had doubts when God told them they would have a bambino in their quiver, even in their very old age.    Sarah’s response…she laughed.  Do you think they had doubts?  Isaac lied.  He also said that his wife was his sister.  He did that because he was in a foreign country and he did not want the king to kill him and take his wife. 

Sampson had a problem with immorality. Jephthah said things before he thought them out which resulted in the loose of his daughter.  Samuel and Eli had big time problems with their kids.

The point! Each had doubts and sins and struggles and problems, just like that person who stares at you each morning from the bathroom mirror.  I just want to suggest to you that these were normal every- day variety of people just like us.   

Notice verse 32 “What more shall I say, I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Heb. 11:32-34).

Then verse thirty-eight goes on to say, “The world was not worthy of them.  They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground”.  Although they were commended for their faith none of them received what had been promised.”  (vs.38-39).

Soooo, God begins this passage by telling us they were commended and ends it in like manner.    They were just like you and me but they were commended by God.  But hang in the for one more session on  An Encouraging Word For The Moment, for I believe God wants you to know the rest of the story.

Blessings,

Gramps

An Encouraging Word for the Moment

 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Hey Gang:  For the past several months I have been on a mission to cut sufficient wood to provide for our needs for the next two years.  I am blessed by a neighbor who recently harvested a bunch of trees and gave me the tops.  I have learned, in my sojourn with the wood project, that when we get older we no longer have the strength and stamina we had as young bucks.   

But, there is always a ‘but’ to save our ego, our minds are still geared to yester year and getting the job done but our bodies send us clear messages that the days of eight to twelve-hour work-days are gone forever.  Just a warning for you super turkeys out there who have noticed the first grey hair and felt the first pangs of soreness after a day of labor.

I believe that if I were to ask the majority of folks in our country today what the number one malady is, they would remark discouragement.  My hillbilly dictionary defines discouragement as a mixture of fear and lack of knowledge.   I believe there are times in every ones’ life when they are discouraged.  I certainly am no exception to that statement. 

Perhaps you are discouraged today.  We live in an unpredictable world and just when we think we have the world by the tail, someone clips it off.  Hebrews 12 tells us in that in the last days everything that can be shaken is going to be shaken.  Are you in God’s shaker this morning?  If so I want to give you Good News that you can take to the bank.  No, not to the money bank, the news says they are on the precipice of failure even as I write this.  Put the Good News it in the one place that is truly secure – the bank/depths of your heart.

My dad drove a bus for more than twenty years and looked forward to the day when he could get the rocking chair out and place it on the front porch and slowly start rocking, but one day he received a pink slip that stated the bus company had filed for bankruptcy and would cease operation within the month.  Where does a fifty- five year old man with only a basic education find work to feed his family? 

 Now that folks, is discouragement, and I might add there are multitudes of dads who have been sent packing and can find no meaningful work to feed their families at this moment.  You may know one such person – go to them today and come alongside them with God’s love and encouragement.  If there is one thing the church is lacking is providing for hurting people who are in need of “encouragement”.

Paul tells us in Romans fifteen why God gave us the Word, “Everything that is written is to teach us and help us through the encouragement of the Scriptures, that we might have hope”.   (Hainley Rendition).

Soooo, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, my purpose in these next  Morning Messages is  to encourage you and through that encouragement challenge you to “Go ye into all of your world and spread the Good News…”that Jesus Christ is standing at the door of their heart wanting to come in.”

Blessings,

Gramps

 PS Nothing so constant as CHANGE!  As you know we decided it was too much for us to do two blogs.  This is still true  BUT we get some things about prophecy from credible writers that need to be shared in their entirety - that only requires getting permission and K typing the info.  We will be putting these on, in no schedule, but give you an alert -.ALERT -grampswhatshappeningman.blogspot.com. The first - Plan of Salvation- has been posted.
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Paul Harvey's Warning to America, 1965.

Hey Gang:   If you went through the 700 Gramps Morning Messages you would find the following warning by Paul Harvey.    It came across gmail again this day and thought it is one worthy of your time. 

Paul Harvey’s Warning To America: If I Were The Devil…

On April 3rd, 1965 legendary radio host Paul Harvey issued a warning to America.  In this warning, he detailed what he thought the devil should do if the devil wanted to keep destroying the United States.  Sadly, the truth is that most of this stuff has come to pass.  What Paul Harvey saw for America’s future back in 1965 if the devil had his way was eerily accurate.  Please share this with as many people as you can….

If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, so I should set about however necessary to take over the United States.

I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” “Do as you please.”

To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is “square”.

In the ears of the young marrieds, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct.

And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington” . . .

If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting. I’d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa.

And then, if I were the devil, I’d get organized. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing and less work, because idle hands usually work for me.

I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild. I would designate an atheist to front for me before the highest courts in the land and I would get preachers to say “she’s right.”

With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I construe as against God and in favor of pornography, and thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the school house, and then from the houses of Congress and then, in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons, but not wise enough to control them.

If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol
of Christmas a bottle. If I were the devil, I would take from those
who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps.

In other words, if I were Satan,
I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing.

Paul Harvey, Good Day.

If You Could Speak to the Iraeli People, What Would You Say?

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel,  You who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; Even to your old age I will be the same; And even to your graying years I will bear you!  I have done it, and I will carry you;  And I will bear you and I will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:3-4).

Hey Gang, If could stand on the top of the Mount of Olives and shout so as to heard across the land of Israel, that is what I would shout.  Zechariah tells us precisely what is going to happen in the last days just prior to the end of the age when he wrote “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the people around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will be against Judah” (Vs. 2).

 He goes on and paints a panoramic picture of 2015 when God has fulfilled His word to ”make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured.  And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.  (Zech 12:3).

I would shout, “Listen up people - “The apple of God’s eye’,  “In the day the Lord  will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them”  (Zech 12: 8).

Listen up readers of Gramps Morning Thoughts, the Lord decreed: “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will  again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.  And He will lift up a standard for the nations, and will assemble the banished one of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa.11:11-12).

After retiring as president or Eagle Village we placed all of earthly possessions in a storage unit and moved into our fifth wheel with the intention of traveling and volunteering in ministries as long as our health allowed. After several trips in the middle parts of the states, we were heading for the south to spend the winter months and decided to visit friends in route but God had another plan in mind for us.

It was to be a two or three day visit and then off to the sunny south but God had a different idea., We were asked to remain in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and pray for our hosts as they sojourned to Jerusalem for meeting for an missionary organization called The Ebenezer Emergency Fund. This organization sent out fishermen to the old USSR to find Jews who wanted to make aliyah (return to Israel) and help them travel to Kiev, Russia where they were put on ships to travel to Haifi, the port of embarkation for the Olim (returning Jews).

Our hearts desire was to be a fisherman and go to Kiev and be part of the crews that ministered to the Olim that were found and brought to Kiev; many of whom were in very poor physical condition.  Although the fisherman on land and on the ships were not allowed to witness to the Olim, many came up to them and said, “We know why you are here and want you to know we believe in your Lord.”

One story that was very special involved a very elderly lady who was bed fast.  They found her in a very isolated remote village more than a thousand miles from Kiev.  Her heart’s desire was to go to the land she had always loved, Israel.     The story of getting her to Kiev was a story of God’s loving and powerful hands; one of one miracle after another until the day she was carried aboard the ship and bound for the land of her dreams.

Five days later she arrived in Haifi and was taken from the ship to the embarkation center where shortly after her arrival her heart gave out and she passed away.   The question is often asked, “Why did you invest so much in an old lady whom you knew might not survive the rigors of a trip of this magnitude?  The answer is very simple but not understood by many folks today – because Jesus said, “Go into all the world and save my people”.  There were as many hallelujahs that were heard in the heavenlies when this dear saint passed through the gate of heaven as when Peter and Paul and the great saints of the ages reached their heavenly home.

Soooo, my friends, there is so much that wants to get out my heart and brain to you but will have to restrain myself until another time.  But let me add one last comment before closing: the wonderful things about Israel becoming a nation and seeing Jerusalem come under Jewish control is it is fulfilled prophecy that you can touch.  We were blessed to be able to go to Israel, not to do the tourist thing but to get our hands dirty in the soil of the land.  Did you know you can be blessed filled sand bags when you know those sand bags may one day protect one of God’s chosen people?   

The word says one day Israel will become a home of God’s chosen people, the Jews, once again, and the olim will come from the four corners of the earth.  That is not pie-in-the-sky but pure reality.   Something that can be shared with someone that is not so sure the Bible is the Word of God.

Blessings,

Gramps

PS Next one on Fri then return to regular schedule

Off line for 2 weeks

We are having trouble with internet provider so will be offline some for next days or couple weeks.  Will send b]from McD's if something special comes.  So check in a few days.

Blessings,
Gramps

A Very Serious Matter

Hey Gang, suggested reading for you.  We are less than 40 days from the end of this Shemitah year.  If you are not up to speed on this you might what to go back and read the four blogs on Shemitah that I wrote a month o so ago.  It would also increase you knowledge base if you also read the blogs on Jubilee and the Feast Days.  I would suggest the patriarch and matriarch of each family sit down and discuss this and take action.  If you have questions about what I am talking about you might want to call and we will bring you up to speed. This is a very serious matter.  If you do not have a patriarch or matriarch to discuss this with we would bring you up to speed in what the religious gurus and financial leaders in the world are saying and predicting.

Remember use your heads how best to protect your family.  Have some extra staples in the pantry, some extra cash in case the banks will not allow you to get yours from there, make a house payment ahead if you can, and have extra meds on hand. 

Research indicates that a higher percentage of people are heeding this warning than ever before.

4.      REPEAT FROM LAST WEEK: How to Prepare for You and Your Family in the Event of a National, Regional and/or Citywide Emergency

A comprehensive plan on how to prepare for you and your family 

The following is a comprehensive plan for how to prepare in the event of national, regional or city-wide emergency leading to stores without food, no electricity, no fuel for cars and disruption in all areas of life.

It’s important to note a couple of things. First, stores have only a three- to four-day supply of food—and we know how fast the shelves can be cleared in preparation for a major snowstorm or hurricane. Second, our society is heavily reliant on computers that run every area of our lives. A major cyber event could cripple and disrupt the U.S. economy. 

Preparation

http://www.ready.gov

Through its Ready Campaign, the Federal Emergency Management Agency educates and empowers Americans to take some simple steps to prepare for and respond to potential emergencies, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Ready asks individuals to do three key things:

1.      Get an emergency supply kit.

2.      Make a family emergency plan.

3.      Be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses.

All Americans should have some basic supplies on hand in order to survive for at least three days if an emergency occurs. 

Following is a list of some basic items that every emergency supply kit should include. However, it’s important that individuals review this list and consider where they live and the unique needs of their family in order to create an emergency supply kit that will meet these needs.

People should also consider having at least two emergency supply kits—one full kit at home and smaller portable kits at their workplace and in their vehicle.

Ready.gov has a variety of downloadable publications that cover various topics about planning and preparation for disasters and emergencies.

How to store 6 months’ worth of food for an emergencyClick for the website

Storing food for future use was a part of life for early Americans, but the growth of stores that offer fresh supplies up to 24 hours a day caused most people to stop storing their own food. Many people are reconsidering this choice as natural disasters, financial crises and political unrest grow. 

Emergency preparedness organizations such as the Red Cross recommend storing two weeks’ worth of food, but many people prefer to prepare supplies for six months.

Food and water in an emergency

For FEMA.gov/PDF, click here

If an earthquake, hurricane, winter storm or other disaster strikes your community, you might not have access to food, water and electricity for days or even weeks. By taking some time now to store emergency food and water supplies, you can provide for your entire family.

Water

http://www.ready.gov/water

Water is an essential element to survival and a necessary item in an emergency supplies kit. Following a disaster, clean drinking water may not be available. Your regular water source could be cut off or compromised through contamination. Prepare yourself by building a supply of water that will meet your family’s needs during an emergency.

How much water do I need?

You should store at least one gallon of water per person per day. A normally active person needs at least one gallon of water daily just for drinking. However, individual needs vary, depending on age, physical condition, activity, diet and climate.

Suggested emergency food supplies

http://www.ready.gov/food

Following a disaster, there may be power outages that could last for several days. Stock canned foods, dry mixes and other staples that do not require refrigeration, cooking, water or special preparation. Be sure to include a manual can opener and eating utensils.

Managing food without power

Recommended supply list

http://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/checklist_1.pdf

Family supply list

http://www.ready.gov/document/family-supply-list

Water, food and clean air are important things to have if an emergency happens. Each family or individual’s kit should be customized to meet specific needs, such as medications and infant formula. It should also be customized to include important family documents.

When Under Attack....

“Behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Rev. 22:12).

Hey Gang:  My daddy was born in 1904.  At the time of his birth not one of the counties mentioned in the Bible that will be involved in the Battle of Gog and Magog and Armageddon was in existence.  Today, they are not only in existence, but they are armed with mighty killing devices and ready for war. We are warned that, if God does not intervene man, will annihilate himself.  The common denominator among each of these nations is "annihilate Israel and every Jew and Christians”. 

Is this something new in our world?  No, it has been the very top of Satan’s agenda since he lost the battle to keep Jesus confined to the tomb for more than three days.    His agenda has always been to break one of the promises that Jesus made, while on earth, so that he can say, “See, Jesus is not perfect, therefore, He cannot be the Son of God. And, if He is not the son of God, then I am king of the earth.” 

True, Luke, in the twenty-first chapter, paints a very dismal picture that, if allowed to eat at ones insides, can be downright frightening.   In Church, this morning, a brother shared the message that Evening News has been forbidden in their home – his wife gets the hebby-jebbes when she hears all the things that are going on.

Now, I want to make a confession, there was a time when I felt that way –perhaps not to that extent, but yet pangs of fear hit me in the chest cavity when I read of Luke’s description of ‘That Day’ and I compared it to today.  When Israel became a nation I rejoiced.  It was a prophecy fulfillment that I could touch with my hands and walk in the same places that Jesus walked.  I was blessed to go there several times and get my hands dirty by digging in the earth.

 In other words, until that first time when I stepped from the El Al Airliner that touched down on the sacred ground of Israel at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, my faith was not as anchored on Jesus and His Word as I wanted it to be.  There are no words that can describe the feelings that flooded my soul that moment. 

I have often shared the wonderful message that, at that very moment we landed, and in the following days as we traveled to many of the major places where Jesus performed miracles, stood on the Mount of Olives and looked across the Kidron Valley to the Gate Beautiful and realized that that is very place where Jesus will enter the City and take His place as King of kings and Lord of lords, I was pumped as never before.  Wow, if that does not get your thumper thumping you has best do a check on your spiritual thumper.

The writer of Hebrews quoted a prophecy given by Haggai (2:6) that should set your feet to dancing: “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”  This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.”  Stop, Take breath! Now read the final line “FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE”.  (Heb. 12:26c-29). 

Soooo, my friends, if you fear when you hear the ‘sky is failing’, keep in mind the many “My God shall’s’ and “I will’s” throughout the Scriptures and especially the “Do not be afraid’s”.    C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request:  ‘Do as Thou hast said.’  The Creator will not cheat His creature who depends upon His truth; and, far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child.”

Oh, one last comment before I sign off.  Going to Israel is not an option for many for a variety of reasons but let me assure you there are many DVD’s, and wonderful descriptive books that are beautifully done. With a teeny-weeny touch of imagination you can visualize yourself in the Garden of Gethsemane or at the Tomb,  or standing with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.  It does make the Scripture’s come alive!

Blessings,

Gramps

What Would It Take to Get Your Attention?

“Arise go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”  But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:2-3a).

Hey Gang:  After cutting, splitting and stacking more than twenty cord of wood, we have finally said enough for a while, hooked up ye-old camper and split for a camp grounds in Cadillac where I am writing this morning blog to you.  If you are familiar with the camping world, you know that when the sun begins to set in the west all the campers become pyromaniacs and build their evening fires.  We are camp fire cookers so we tend to keep our fires burning throughout the day.     \

For the past several weeks I have been revisiting the Minor Prophets and have been amazed how many verses stand out in bold print.  This morning I happened to open, my Bible to Jonah and, even though it was not in sequence with my reading, I tend to pay attention to those Scriptures I open my Bible to; a habit I picked up years ago when time was short and I needed a quick word from the Lord to get my day started on the right foot.

When I read Jonah it always reminds me of the many times I made stupid mistakes that placed my family and loved ones in the belly of the whale.  God could have used a multitude of different ways to get Jonah’s attention but to prepare a very special fish to get his attention was truly a unique way and, I suspect, there were no long dissertations.

I wonder, after recovering from the shock of figuring out where he was, if he praised God that he was alive or prayed to God that he would perish very quickly.  I have done things in my life that placed me in  embarrassing situations but “the belly of a while”, NEVER!  

As I was reading several points seemed to stand out and cry for attention.  In verse four of chapter three we read, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  Why? Because “their wickedness had come up before God”  (vs. 1:2).    I wonder if Nineveh was any more evil than our country has become in the past several decades?  Did they murder their babies? Did they make gay marriage part of their law? Was their government more interested in power and control and creating nest eggs for their membership than being a government of the people by the people land for the people?

One of the verses that really grabbed my attention was “Then, Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (3:4B).   In recent months we have heard a great deal about the Shemitah Year; in past Shemitah Years God has chosen to send His wrath upon the nations of the world who reject His Word.  Statistics indicate that in the last two Shemitah years our stock market has come unglued.  

Soooo, my friends and neighbors, here is something for you to run through your human-computer hard drives:  today is the fifth of August- which happens to be forty days to Shemitah, the last day of the Sabatical year.  In the past several weeks I have received a number of warning from several sources, even the government, warning that in these days of unpredictability we should be prepared for difficult times.   

They even sent out a listing of those things that we should have tucked away in our homes, such as extra water and food and first aid materials. I will send more of this list out to you on Saturday.  Keep in mind an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

  My prayer, and it should be your prayer, that God will spit-up a Jonah- prophet that can catch the attention of the believers of this country to humble themselves before God and pray for His mercy as we have never prayed before. Drop everything you are doing and seek God until you hear His voice; and put away all the bangles and beads of the world and place Yeshua as King of kings and Lord of lords of your life and your house.

Blessings,

Gramps