A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – Encouragement in Difficulties

Sometimes it seems that we forget while serving God…there will be opposition. Our modern culture and erroneous teaching leads us to believe that if we are “doing right” and pleasing to God that bad things will not happen to us. How opposite that thinking is to true Christianity. Take a look at the Apostle Paul’s list of trials and tribulations he endured while serving the Lord.

2 Corinthians 11:25-30 “ Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;  in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;  in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—  besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?  If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

1 Peter 4:12,13 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

We are to expect opposition from the enemy when we are promoting and living out the Kings wishes as laid out in His word. But we can rejoice in knowing that we are making enough of a difference to trouble the kingdom of hell and most of all, that we are pleasing God. Resist the lies of the modern “belief” that when all is well between us and God, we will be healthy, wealthy, and all things will go smoothly. That is simply not what the Bible tells us.

1 Peter 1:6 “ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”

Shalom

Awaken

It’s time to prepare beloved of God. It’s time to prepare yourselves for the days ahead. It’s time to train your spirit, soul, and body to be surrendered to God. It’s time to take a deeper step into obedience in everyday life. It’s time to be led by the Holy Spirit in all things. It’s time to wake up and say to the Lord….”what do you want me to do today” or get quiet and listen to see what He will say to you.

Romans 8:14 “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

It’s time to be spirit ruled and not flesh ruled.

Romans 8:13, “ For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

It’s time to surrender all and return to our first love, beloved remnant of God. It’s time to fast and pray and get so close to Jesus that He once again becomes our all in all as He was in the beginning.

Revelation 2:4-7  “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.  But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

It’s a painful journey, if you are like me. I thought I was fine! Then the Lord said to me “You have an idol”. I was floored! “What!! I love you Lord…how could I have an idol?” He quickly said….”You have your children as an idol in your heart.” As soon as He said it, I knew. I had been mourning a tragedy that happened to my daughter.  It occupied my thoughts night and day! And I was truly unaware of how much of my thought life was about that. I quickly surrendered it to the Lord and began a journey to find out what else I was blind to! And He graciously has taken my hand and is leading me into a place back to my first love and works and preparing me for beyond.

If you have had a calling on your life or suspect you do. Do not give up hope just because the country is falling apart and the hour is late. Dust off your hopes that God is great enough to complete that which He began in you long ago….or maybe recently for some.

Phillipians 1:6 “ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Go Deeper Beloved of God…..God Deeper

I will leave you with this poem.  Blessings! Have a wonderful day!

AWAKEN THE SEEKER

Deeper and deeper and deeper we go

So many mysteries

We must continue to grow

Digging beneath what seems to be real

We search out to discover

What’s under the seal

If life ever seems to stagnate and plateau

Go back to the mystery

Think of all you don’t know

There’s a joy in the seeking, a hunger in our souls

We are made to keep drinking

To fill up that hole

Let not monotony darken your heart

There’s a mystery awaiting

You just have to start

Never too old, never too late

To awaken the seeker

To finish God’s mandate

copyright Jean Chamblee 2010

WHO ARE THE MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE LAST DAYS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE

Hi Folks!!  Just wanted to share a very brief and simple overview that we shared with our youth group…..hope it blesses you too!  (Working on a more intense and exhaustive outline for the book of Revelation to share in the future….blessings)

WHO ARE THE MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE LAST DAYS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE?
1. Jesus Christ!!! It is always important to understand that God is in control and that when things happen it is because He has allowed them to. Hebrews 13:5 “….for Jesus has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” If we commit to staying close to Jesus and in a right relationship “under His wings”. He will walk us through all the difficult times ahead. Amen!!!
2. The Anti-Christ He is a counterfeit that tries to copy and take the place of Jesus Christ by deceiving people. His goal is to trick them into worshipping him and to take them to hell along with him, keeping them blinded to God’s love through lies.

a.What are his attributes?
Daniel 7:25
“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
 And shall intend to change times and law.
 Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.”

b. The dragon (Satan) gives him power and he will appear to be killed and resurrected (again he always tries to copy Jesus)

Revelation 13:2-4 “The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.  And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.  So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
3. The False Prophet …. He will lead the people to worship the anti-christ and head up the one world false religion.

Revelation 19:20  “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

4. Image of the Beast/ Antichrist beast system Revelation 13:15-18  “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

5. Harlot Church/ one world false religion (except true christians) it will contain, Buddist, Hindu’s, new agers, atheist, orthodox jews, muslims, eastern and false cultic religions of all sorts. (True christians cannot be a part of it because we believe : John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”)
Revelation 13:11-14 “ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.  And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.  He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.  And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast.

Revelation 13:8
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Memory Verse: John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Remember that all these evil players at the end of the age are here for only a short time…..only a few years and then Jesus puts them away!

Revelation 1:8  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

BETRAYAL IS COMING….JUDAS KISS

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no one deceive you bay any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…”

BETRAYAL IS COMING…JUDAS KISS

The kiss of Judas
Is at your feet
The time’s drawing near
This spirit will be released

I can hear the cries
Of days just ahead
When brother betrays brother
Many will end up dead

I can feel the tears
On wet stained cheeks
Hearts so tender
They could never believe

Believe the betrayal
That is coming their way
With a purpose so sinister
So large in this day

They’ve teamed up with Satan
To give it a go
To rise to the top
Illegally so

To take you all out
Out of the Light
Out of the living
And into the night

Don’t care about you
Their hearts are so cold
How could you see it
When you’ve loved them so

Run to your Maker
Give Him your tears
Don’t let the bitterness
Steal away your years

Moments in time
Don’t risk the hate
Run, run away from it
Let forgiveness have it’s way

Rise above it
Rise above it all
Love is the answer
They will soon hit the wall

Let God bring the justice
He promises to
For those unrepentant
He’s said what He will do

Keep your hands clean
Keep your heart pure
Don’t let temptation
Take you down in the dirt

Let love arise
It’s a conquering force
Take on this power
By making your choice

Choose to forgive
Let it go, set it free
The damage will be minimized
It will heal, you will see

Trust in Your Maker
Walk in His ways
It’s the only way, beloved
We can survive in these days

Evil can’t triumph
If we don’t let it in
Jesus forgave us
From all of OUR sins

So must we do
Let God make things right
Don’t let yourself
Sit in judgement tonight

Keep your hands clean
Walk with hearts upright
All things God has seen
It’s all in His sight

He will deal justly
In this we can trust
We don’t have to help Him
He’s faithful and just

Betrayal it is coming
For some it is here
Take heed with this warning
There’s no need to fear

This life is fleeting
Our soon coming King
Will remove all the pain
That this life did bring.

copyright Jean Chamblee 2011

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

2 Thessalonians 2: 3 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…”

The word for “falling away” is better translated in the Greek as apostasy. The word apostasy means the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.

I believe we are seeing the fulfillment of this apostasy right in front of our eyes.

We must be careful to be followers of God’s word and not followers of personalities. We must remember that even good teachers can err. Did you know that the smartest/ wisest man in the scriptures fell away from God at the end of his life? That’s right Solomon fell into error….

1 Kings 11:4 “For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.”

The Bible teaches us not to make alliances with unbelievers or those that worship idols.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?”

The one world harlot church is going to do just that and we are seeing it now. Embracing all religions and all of their gods in the name of a worldly peace is completely against scripture. We can love them, but we are not to make alliances with them. I am heartbroken to see some of our finest ministers leading many into this path that is against Christ. Truly we are living in the days of the harlot church and the spirit of anti-christ. Jesus Christ is the only and true “Prince of Peace”. Counterfeits are everywhere…..
I pray we all will be diligent and watchful.  Amen.