It’s official, America is in BIG trouble

Reblogged from servehiminthewaiting.com

By STLloyd March 31, 2015

 

Folks, at this point in time, the question of God’s plans for America, how it will all end, and whether we have “more time” is answered, because Scripture has already told us that those who curse Israel will themselves be cursed.  Can God be swayed?  Of course He hears the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men and women.  But on the question of the treatment of Israel, the verdict has already been announced, and is non-negotiable.  Chastisement is coming.  The only room for variableness, may lie in degree of severity, which is all the more reason to put on the armor, and fast and pray like never before.
Here is Jan Markell’s commentary on this:

Revenge, Abandonment, Betrayal

By Jan Markell

March 30, 2015

www.olivetreeviews.org

Did you ever expect to see those three words linked to the U.S.-Israel relationship? Have we fallen down a hole and we now are in an “Alice-in-Wonderland” world? America embraces her enemies and lifts sanctions on Iran. She will likely place sanctions on Israel. It is an upside down world. Is the Mad Hatter in charge?

Things aren’t falling apart–they’re falling in place.

The entire world is in the process of abandoning Israel which the Bible foretells in Zechariah 12:3. It is ultimately fulfilled in the Tribulation but the process begins much sooner.

Here’s what some are saying.

Pamela Geller, President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative  and Stop Islamization of America says, “The White House actions against Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu are a ‘jihad against the Jews.'”

She refers to the story broken by Israel National News that the Obama administration declassified a Department of Defense top-secret document with details of Israel’s nuclear assets, a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced to avoid a regional nuclear arms race.

Geller states that Israel has shared its nuclear secrets with America for decades. They just never imagined someone in the White House would stoop so low as to reveal them to the world.

Joel Rosenberg says, “There is mounting evidence that Obama is preparing to ‘divorce Israel.’ Once it would have been preposterous even to ask such a question. Today, it feels like it’s a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’ Mr. Obama will formally abandon American support for the Jewish State. And the situation is rapidly going from bad to worse.”

Rosenberg cites some headlines:

• U.S. Could Abandon Israel at the U.N. (CNN)
• Washington Threatens to Abandon Israel at the U.N. (Times of London)
• The U.S.-Israel Relationship is at “The Lowest Point in the Alliance That Diplomatic Sages Can Recall (New York Times)
• Israel-White House Relations at All-Time Low (Breaking Israel News)
• Iran Deal Worse Than Israel Feared (Times of Israel)

Rosenberg states,”For an American President, or Congress, or the American people, to turn against Israel and the Jewish people would be more than bad policy or unfortunate politics. According to Bible prophecy, such moves would pose an existential threat to the future of the United States.” 

Israeli commentator Caroline Glick writes, “the administration’s animosity toward Israel is a function of Obama’s twin strategic aims, both evident since he entered office: realigning U.S. policy in the Middle East toward Iran and away from its traditional allies Israel and the Sunni Arab states, and ending the US’s strategic alliance with Israel.
“Over the past six years, we have seen how Obama has consistently, but gradually, taken steps to advance these two goals. Toward Iran, he has demonstrated an unflappable determination to accommodate the terrorism supporting, nuclear proliferating, human rights repressing and empire building mullahs.”

Find Jan’s newest DVD on which U.S. Presidents have blessed or cursed Israel here. What are the consequences of cursing? How has our current President contributed to this? The DVD is just $15 and runs almost 60 minutes..

White House correspondent Bill Koenig, my frequent conference and radio guest writes in his e-newsletter, Koenig’s Eye-View from the White House:“The more President Obama’s actions affect or jeopardize Israel’s security, the stronger the response will be from the God of Israel as evidenced in Scripture. This will have enormous implications for the United States.” 
Koenig writes, “The Obama administration keeps speaking about its unprecedented security cooperation with Israel, but what good is that if Iran gets nuclear weapons? What good is it if Iran deploys missiles in Syria and Lebanon, or Hamas takes over the Palestinian Authority, entrenches itself in the mountains of Judea and Samaria and brings in arms from Iran and Turkey? What good is it if Iran takes control of Yemen and the Red Sea?”

(Find info on subscribing to Koenig’s e-newsletter here. It’s well worth the nominal cost.)

Journalist Bill Wilson writes, “The U.S. government is trying to literally ‘cut’ Israel in half with its proposal of a Palestinian state. All that burden themselves with this issue may find themselves ‘cut into pieces.'”

The White House has also suggested Israel shrink her borders to PRE-1967 borders. Call them suicide borders. They are not defensible.

Bill Koenig states, “This is the White House that continues to leak information that puts Israel’s security at risk, while speaking of its close co-operation with Israel. This is the White House that pressured the Pentagon to leak potential Israeli military actions against Iran to the press in 2012, 2013, and 2014. This is the White House that leaks news about Israeli air strikes inside Syria.”

Koenig provides a complete timeline of Obama’s anti-Israel hatred in his newsletter. He quotes Breitbart News suggesting President Obama finally called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his re-election — but the “congratulations” was actually a lecture directed at forcing Netanyahu to surrender to the terrorist Palestinian regime.

Joel Rosenberg summarizes that we are watching Barack Obama:

• Negotiate an incredibly dangerous nuclear deal with Iran.
• Refuse to share the precise details of this deal with Israel, America’s most faithful and trusted ally in the region.
• Treat the Israeli Prime Minister nearly as persona non grata.
• Send his political strategists and operatives to defeat the Prime Minister and his party in Israel’s recent elections.
• Threaten revenge because Netanyahu won re-election.
• Threaten to abandon Israel at the U.N. and allow anti-Israel resolutions to pass without an American veto.
• And now declassifies details of Israel’s top secret nuclear program in what is being described as an unprecedented move.

Rosenberg concludes, “This is the most dangerous moment in the 67-year history of the U.S.-Israel relationship. What do the next two years hold? I cannot say for sure. I’m praying for the President and his top advisers to back off, turn from this dangerous path, and find common ground with Israel, despite policy and personality differences.”

Iran is about to become a nuclear power player with the blessing of America and a few other blind-as-bats nations. That means many nations in the region will  have to pursue this goal as well. If you ever wondered what end-time references to fire, vapors of smoke, and the resulting strange signs in the heavens mean, I think it is obvious. At the time of the very end, nuclear war will be raging — for sure in the Mideast. Maybe it will happen before the Rapture. The timing of all such events is uncertain. The Bible references appear to be Tribulation-based.

Things are coming together. They are falling in place. Even if it seems they are falling apart, they really are not. Nations must have “distress with perplexity.” (Luke 21:25.)  Can you think of a single nation that is not plagued with some kind of perplexity or plague? A dilemma for which the leaders have no solutions.

Neither kings, generals, mullahs, ayatollahs, presidents, Fuhrers, or pharaohs can obliterate Israel. But the evil they perpetrate on God’s covenant land can boomerang back on them and their empires.

We have been warned. Scripture is clear. Mess with Israel and there are consequences.

“And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

  

Join us October 2-3 for “Understanding the Times  

2015″ near Minneapolis, MN. Speakers include Dr. Robert Jeffress, Michele Bachmann, Pastor Jack Hibbs, and Amir Tsarfati.  Find all details here.  There is no charge or registration needed. 

NOTE: We surf the Internet and post current headlines each morning. Find them here.

Look for this RSS symbol, enter your e-mail, and have them in your in-box by 10 a.m. CST.
 We read all e-mails but due to volume, we cannot reply to all.

UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES RADIO Find complete syndication for “Understanding the Times” radio on almost 670 radio outlets here. They include American Family Radio Talk Network, CSN Network, HOPE-FM Network, Bott Radio Network, The Psalm FM Network, Sirius Satellite Network, Salem Communications, OnePlace.com, and individual radio stations. We are live Saturdays, 9 a.m. CST out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. You can listen live here or here. You can download onto a listening device here. You can just listen online here or here. Find the RSS feed at OnePlace.com or iTunes. Find upcoming guests here. Find info on listening devices such as iPhone, Android, iPad here.

Awaiting His return, Jan Markell You may pass on these items or have people sign up on  our Web site.  You can access our radio programming from the last five years on Complete Archives.  Also see the Web site for other options to catch the program, “Understanding the Times.”

Left fears facts: From ‘gay’ marriage to climate change

Left fears facts: From ‘gay’ marriage to climate change

The plan all along

Reblogged from http://www.hallindsey.com/ww-3-29-2015/

By Hal Lindsey

 

According to conventional wisdom, just before the elections in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu said things so egregious that the United States has been forced to rethink its position as Israel’s friend and advocate before the UN Security Council.  But the conventional wisdom is wrong.  The change didn’t come as a result of Netanyahu’s comments.  His words made a “handy excuse,” but the change in policy was the plan all along.  The following is a brief history of how we know this.

We know this from several sources.  One is a man named Martin Indyk.  He served as U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations from 2013 to 2014.  In effect, he ran the peace talks for the Obama Administration.

Indyk now serves as vice president and director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution.  That organization recently received $14.8 million dollars from the government of Qatar.  The New York Times pointed to that transaction as a classic example of a foreign government buying influence in Washington.  Qatar’s philanthropy also extends to several terror organizations, especially Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Back in February, well before the election, Indyk told the Institute for National Security Studies, “If there is a government in Israel after these elections that decides to pursue a two-state solution, then there is a way forward.”  Otherwise, he said things would get ugly for Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reported at the time that without a change in Israel’s government, “Indyk warned, there will be ‘international actions’ pursued not by the Palestinians, but rather by the international community ‘in terms of a Security Council resolution’ to ‘lay out and preserve the principles of a two-state solution in the future.’”

Security Council resolutions are subject to veto by any of its permanent members.  That means that these things could not happen without U.S. approval.  So, this ultimate Obama Administration insider — the man they chose to lead what they considered crucial peace talks — warned that the U.S. would turn on Israel if it re-elected Netanyahu.

In the understatement of the year, Indyk said such actions would likely be “against Israel’s will.”

This means that before the elections and before Netanyahu’s offending remarks (which he didn’t say anyway), the plan was already in place to withdraw support for Israel from the UN Security Council and other world bodies.  Blaming the shift on Netanyahu’s manufactured comments is simply a ruse at best.

Blessing and Cursing

The current strain in relations between the United States and Israel has been well-documented.  That relationship stands at the lowest point since Israel’s founding.  Statements against Israel made by the President and Secretary of State have been bad enough, but the level of rancor shown by lower level White House and State Department aids has been absolutely stunning.

The problem has been characterized as a clash of personalities between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu.  But the real problem is Israel’s security.  The president and his men seem to believe that the Palestinians will turn into good guys when certain terms have been met – terms that have been debated and rejected, since they will leave Israel undefendable.

But Netanyahu and most other Israelis have heard such pipe dreams from previous administrations of both parties, and they’re not buying it anymore.  They know the history.  They remember their own recent experiences with the Palestinians in Gaza and the disastrous Oslo Accords.  From those giveaways, they learned that you will never win by trying to appease an insatiable foe.

The new American policy toward Israel has already begun to manifest itself.  The recent declassification of U.S. documents pertaining to Israel’s top secret nuclear arms program makes a good case in point.  What kind of nation tells the world its ally’s most important secrets?

On CBS’s Face the Nation, Peggy Noonan expressed the opinion of most observers when she said, “I think U.S.-Israeli relations right now are in the worst shape I have ever seen them in — the worst shape they have been in since 1948 when America was instrumental in inventing Israel.”

That’s an interesting phrase — “instrumental in inventing Israel.”  It’s hard to fathom how a 239 year old nation could possibly have “invented” a nation that came into existence over three thousand years ago.  Of course, she means the modern State of Israel, but it’s still not in any way an American “invention.”

Israel is God’s invention.  He created it.  He made certain promises to it and about it.  No matter what the United States does, God Himself will take care of Israel.  While the Bible tells about some terrible times in store for that small nation, it will endure.

And God will deal with nations according to their dealings with Israel.  In Genesis 12:3, He said to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.”  [NASB]

Anyone who thinks that verse refers only to Abraham as an individual and not to the Children of Israel, should look at Numbers 24:9.  There the promise is repeated as an oracle from the Lord, but this time specifically to the nation of Israel.  “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.”  [NASB]

We see the pattern hold true throughout the Old Testament.  Even those nations used by God to punish Israel when it strayed, were themselves punished when they treated Israel poorly.  Babylon is a perfect example.

In 1948, the United States, led by President Harry Truman, became the first nation to officially recognize Israel.  He did so only eleven minutes after their Declaration of Independence became official.

 Warren Austin, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, was so outraged by Truman’s decision that he left and went home.  According to the Truman Library, Secretary of State Marshall had to send “a State Department official to the United Nations to prevent the entire United States delegation from resigning.”  Marshall did this despite the fact that he and most of the rest of the U.S. foreign policy team had also opposed Truman on the issue.

What followed for the United States was an era of growth and prosperity unlike anything in the history of the world.  From that time through 1973, the U.S. economy grew by almost 4% a year.  Household income grew an astronomical 74%.  Compare that to the last few years when we’ve seen household income actually fall.

When God said He would bless those who bless Israel, He meant it.  In the United States, we’ve seen it with our own eyes.  But if He meant one side of the equation, He meant the other side as well.  He will curse those who curse Israel, just as we see happening before our eyes to the United States.

The Global Threat Picture as the Defense Intelligence Agency Sees It - LT General Michael Flynn

Lt General Flynn Interview on the Middle East

Prophecy update March 29 2015

Why Yemen Matters

 Reblogged from http://www.danielpipes.org/15681/why-yemen-matters

 by Daniel Pipes

Washington Times
March 28, 2015

The Middle East witnessed something radically new two days ago, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia responded to a plea by Yemen's president and led a 10-country coalition to intervene in the air and on the ground in the country. "Operation Decisive Storm" prompts many reflections:

Saudi and Egypt in alliance: Half a century ago, Riyadh and Cairo were active in a Yemen war, but then they supported opposing sides, respectively the status-quo forces and the revolutionaries. Their now being allies points to continuity in Saudia along with profound changes in Egypt.

Arabic-speakers getting their act together: Through Israel's early decades, Arabs dreamt of uniting militarily against it but the realities of infighting and rivalries smashed every such hope. Even on the three occasions (1948-49, 1967, 1973) when they did join forces, they did so at cross purposes and ineffectively. How striking, then that finally they should coalesce not against Israel but against Iran. This implicitly points to their understanding that the Islamic Republic of Iran poses a real threat, whereas anti-Zionism amounts to mere indulgence. It also points to panic and the need to take action resulting from a stark American retreat.

Arab leaders have a long history of meeting but not cooperating. From the right: King Hussein of Jordan, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Yasir Arafat of the PLO, and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya in September 1970.

Yemen at the center of attention: Yemen played a peripheral role in the Bible, in the rise of Islam, and in modern times; it's never been the focus of world concern – until suddenly now. Yemen resembles other once-marginal countries – the Koreas, Cuba, the Vietnams, Afghanistan – which out of nowhere became the focus of global concern.

The Middle East cold war went hot: The Iranian and Saudi regimes have headed dueling blocs for about a decade. They did combat as the U.S. and Soviet governments once did – via contending ideologies, espionage, aid, trade, and covert action. On March 26, that cold war went hot, where it's likely long to remain.

Can the Saudi-led coalition win? Highly unlikely, as these are rookies taking on Iran's battle-hardened allies in a forbidding terrain.

Islamists dominate: The leaders of both blocs share much: both aspire universally to apply the sacred law of Islam (the Shari'a), both despise infidels, and both turned faith into ideology. Their falling out confirms Islamism as the Middle East's only game, permitting its proponents the luxury to fight each other.

The Turkey-Qatar-Muslim Brotherhood alliance in decline: A third alliance of Sunni revisionists somewhere between the Shi'i revolutionaries and the Sunni status-quotians has been active during recent years in many countries – Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya. But now, in part thanks to diplomacy initiated by the brand-new King Salman of Saudi Arabia, its members are gravitating toward their Sunni co-religionists.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia has done something unprecedented in putting together a military coalition.

Isolated Iran: Yes, a belligerent Tehran now boasts of dominating four Arab capitals (Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Sana'a) but that's also its problem: abrupt Iranian gains have many in the region (including such previously friendly states as Pakistan and Sudan) fearing Iran.

Sidelining the Arab-Israeli conflict: If the Obama administration and European leaders remain obsessed with Palestinians, seeing them as key to the region, regional players have far more urgent priorities. Not only does Israel hardly concern them but the Jewish state serves as a tacit auxiliary of the Saudi-led bloc. Does this change mark a long-term shift in Arab attitudes toward Israel? Probably not; when the Iran crisis fades, expect attention to return to the Palestinians and Israel, as it always does.

American policy in disarray: Middle East hands rightly scoffed in 2009 when Barack Obama and his fellow naïfs expected that by leaving Iraq, smiling at Tehran, and trying harder at Arab-Israeli negotiations they would fix the region, permitting a "pivot" to East Asia. Instead, the incompetents squatting atop the U.S. government cannot keep up with fast-moving, adverse events, many of its own creation (anarchy in Libya, tensions with traditional allies, a more bellicose Iran).

Impact on a deal with Iran: Although Washington has folded on many positions in negotiations with Iran and done the mullah's regime many favors (for example, not listing it or its Hizbullah ally as terrorist), it drew a line in Yemen, offering the anti-Iran coalition some support. Will Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i now stomp out of the talks? Highly unlikely, for the deal offered him is too sweet to turn down.

American diplomats meet again with their Iranian counterparts to capitulate on yet another difference.

In sum, Salman's skilled diplomacy and his readiness to use force in Yemen responds to the deadly combination of Arab anarchy, Iranian aggression, and Obama weakness in a way that will shape the region for years.

Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2015 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

Related Topics:  Persian Gulf & Yemen, US policy

Related Articles:

• The Middle Eastern Cold War
• The Saudi Scandal Continues
• [The Need to Name and] Know Thy Terrorists

Palm Sunday: The arrival of the King of Kings

by kingsjester

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage^[a] and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; ² and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. ³ And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”

⁴ So they went their way, and found the^[b] colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. ⁵ But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”

⁶ And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. ⁸ And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’^{[c] 10} Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord!^[d] Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹ And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve. - Mark 11:1-11

What must it have been like, in Jesus's day, as they waited on and then experienced, His arrival into Jerusalem?

They must have really been puzzled at this carpenter's son from Nazareth.

The only information that they had on Jesus back then, was word of mouth. There was no internet and was no television there was no communication of any form except for word of mouth.

We all know how information that is shared word of mouth changes from the original message with each person that tells the story.

By the time word came to Jerusalem, they probably thought that Jesus was a conquering Warrior King, who was going to set them free of the tyranny of Rome.

They were right and wrong, all the same time.

Jesus Christ came to set them free, all right, but it was not from Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire. Christ came to set us all free...from our sin. Sin is a thief, which destroys us from within and everyone around us, keeping us in slavery so that we will not ever be truly free.

What must they have thought when they saw this promised King come riding in on the back of a lowly donkey?

I am sure that there were some in attendance who experienced a major letdown. Their minds probably had difficulty, trying to reconcile their pre-conceived expectations of Jesus, with the reality of the Son of God.

Who was this guy on the donkey that the local kids were laying palm branches down in front of?

It may seem strange, but today's non-believers seem to still be experiencing that problem with reconciling their preconceived notions of whom Jesus Christ is, with the reality of His unconditional love and acceptance, after repentance.

They don't seem to understand that...

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ meets you where you are with an extended hand, not a shield and sword.

...That comes later.

The hard part about Salvation is accepting the fact that, as human beings, we all possess a sinful nature. And, that without His love and indwelling within us, we can do nothing at all.

Christ has done his part. He died for our sins.

Now, if you haven't accepted him yet as your Personal Savior, it is up to you to do your part and seek forgiveness for your sins.

All those centuries ago, those common people of Jerusalem, at least, most of them, did not have a clue as to whom Jesus actually was, and the fact that they were entertaining the King of Kings, the Son of God.

In Modern American Society, we do not have that excuse.

We have God's Word, available to us, in many translations, in paperback, hard-cover, in audio and video, and on-line.

There is no excuse, in any Modern Culture, especially here in America, to not be familiar with the Root of Jesse, the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lion of Judah, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

We in this generation, may have the same opportunity to see Christ, as those in Jerusalem did, so long ago.

Although no man knows the hour, Christ is coming again.

And, he's coming for all those who worship Him in beauty and in truth.

Will YOU recognize him?

As the following song says,

"Praise God! He's coming for me!"

The King is Coming (Words and Music by Bill Gaither)

The marketplace is empty, no more traffic in the street All the builder's tools are silent, no more time to harvest wheat Busy housewives cease their labor, in the courtroom no debate Work on earth has been suspended as the King comes through the gate

Happy faces line the hallway, those whose lives have been redeemed Broken homes He has mended, those from prison He has freed Little children and the aged hand in hand stand all a-glow Who were crippled, broken, ruined, clad in garments white as snow

Chorus: The King is coming, the King is coming I just heard the trumpet sounding and soon His face I'll see The King is coming, the King is coming Praise God, He's coming for me

I can hear the chariots rumble, I can see the marching throng And the flurry of God's trumpet spells the end of sin and wrong Regal robes are now unfolded, heaven's grandstands all in place Heaven's choir is now assembled, start to sing "Amazing Grace"

Chorus: The King is coming, the King is coming I just heard the trumpet sounding and soon His face I'll see The King is coming, the King is coming Praise God, He's coming for me

Until He Comes,

KJ

2 feet of hail on the Equator in Colombia and Ecuador

The Struggle - Ray Stedman

http://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/ephesians/the-struggle

A daily devotion for March 28th

Read the Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-12

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes (Ephesians 6:11).

Our experience confirms the suggestion of this passage—that life is basically a struggle. Life never conforms to the rosy idealism of our dreams or to the romanticism of our songs. The explanation of this struggle lies deeper than we ordinarily think.

The common view of our struggle has been that we are engaged in conflict against flesh and blood, against other men and women. But Paul says the battle is not against flesh and blood; it lies deeper than that. The basic problem is that this is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield. The battle is visible not only in the wars, revolutions, and crime waves that fill our newspapers, but it is also seen in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the neurotic problems and mental illnesses that afflict us today, in family fights and church struggles. It is even visible in nature, where all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive.

The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, the world rulers of this present darkness (6:12 RSV)—a most significant phrase. The picture of the Bible from beginning to end is that all human beings without Christ, without exception, regardless of how clever or educated or cultured they may be, are the helpless victims of satanic control. Under the control of satanic forces human beings are uncomfortable and unhappy but also completely unable to escape by any wisdom or power of their own.

But the good news is that some have been set free through the coming of that stronger one, Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8b). Through Him deliverance is obtained. Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.

They are not set free to live unto themselves. They are set free in order to battle. That is the call that comes to all Christians. We are not set free in order to enjoy ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free. How do you do this? Paul's answer is in one phrase: Put on the whole armor of God. Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. This is the amazing thing we must learn. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip.

Father, tear away the delusive veils by which I have allowed myself to be rendered powerless in this great battle. Help me to understand that I would have no possibility of fighting were it not for the delivering work of the Lord Jesus, who has come to bind the power of darkness.

Life Application: Why does life not conform to our rosy idealism and romanticism? What is the true nature of the human struggle? How can we face life with confidence and freedom?

We hope you were blessed by this daily devotion.

From your friends at www.RayStedman.org

Bringing Christ To WorkEphesians: Riches in ChristThe Breastplate Of Righteousness

Navigation Help

Related Message

This daily devotion was inspired by one of Ray's messages. Please read The Strategy of Satan for more on this portion of scripture. You may also listen to the audio of the message by clicking the arrow below:

( Or Download the Audio File )

Copyright © 2007 by Elaine Stedman — This daily devotion is from the book The Power of His Presence: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice and a hyperlink to www.RayStedman.org if the copy is posted on the Internet. Please direct any questions you may have to webmaster@RayStedman.org.

Ray Stedman's authentic Christianity | RayStedman.org