Hamas, Gaza, the Whole Story

 "It also estimates the net worth of several Hamas leaders — all of whom, it notes, live hundreds of kilometres from Gaza, in Qatar. Abu Marzuk, deputy chair of the Hamas Political Bureau is worth $3 billion, while senior leaders Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh are each worth about $4 billion."

Eleven Billion Dollars, living in luxury far away from the people they are using to try to turn the world against Israel.  

The most amazing thing about the news is how little "news" makes it out past the guardians of the big lie.

"You Have to Push Back"

 What a blessing it is to be part of a body where the gifts of the Spirit are flowing. A friend said she was praying for me and she felt strongly that God was saying to me, "You have to push back." She was totally humble in the presentation, stating she had no idea what those words meant or what I am going through.

At the time I didn't know either, but I knew if I humbly received them as from the Lord, in His time He would reveal the meaning clearly and it would bring life.

The surface is never the truth.

On the surface, a situation at work had escalated and I had confronted it through the proper channels and my efforts to bring it out to the light and have it properly dealt with were pushed down and pushed aside. So, on the surface, God was giving me the green light to push back.

The surface is never the truth.  

I have walked with the Lord long enough to know my voice from His Voice, so I waited.

It is not always this quick, but around 1:30am on the following morning, HE led me to this understanding.

In the upside-down kingdom of God that exists in this evil age, we "push back" by laying down our lives, by not fearing those who can only kill the body, by not having any fear of man.  In this evil age we live lives that are not pushed around by the tactics of the enemy, fear, threat, intimidation, death.

Our "push back" is in our willingness to keep on laying down our lives out of love of the Messiah, following His example, empowered by His life.  His victory in this evil age was through death, through a willingness to say what the Father was saying and do what the Father was doing no matter what the cost.

Deeper still, to a love that is extravagant, to a forgiveness that is radical, to LIFE in every situation, never joining the side that is out to accuse, steal, kill and destroy.

To see as HE sees, from HIS perspective that this evil age is so very temporary and we are living with a hope, joy and peace that is anchored in the eternal age to come, the Kingdom of God.

The Powers that Be

 "It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation."  Revelation 13:7

“If anyone is to go into captivity,
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people."  Rev. 13:10

15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! ² And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.’" Jeremiah 15:1,2

This is ultimately how you know we are still in this evil age.  The Principalities and Powers are still given authority.  Yeshua defeated them at the cross, but the out-working of that only has a "ladder" from the age to come into this evil age.  The evilness of this evil age is still being played out.  The day of the Lord is still on the horizon. Mercy is still being shown to sinners and time is still being given for repentance. All Israel has not had the same Damascus Road experience given to Paul, where the Spirit of grace and supplication is poured out on the remnant people that is still left on the earth after the tribulation, the great one, has purified the earth of all evil.

The Day of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the meeting of the Lord in the air to escort He and His victorious army back to the earth to begin His official rule and reign from a throne in Jerusalem, all these things are yet to come and they are all after the tribulation, just read Matthew 24 and see what it says.  

Meanwhile, do not be surprised that the principalities and powers are experiencing a whole bunch of temporary victories, they know their days are numbered, they know Who is God Most High.  If we go into captivity, we know there is a time limit, if we are killed, we know we never die.  Mercy, and only mercy, has made us a winner.

Set Your Heart to Understand

 https://mysteryofisrael.org/the-olivet-key-to-daniels-prophecy-of-the-end/?fbclid=IwAR30TF3PGcVLjfeB9XCvv1tp57d6ZqRxKoRpsptfwax3Wg4Qegt2pzcveuA

 

The above link will take you to six pages that speak of Daniel, the abomination of desolation, and Matt. 24.  It is a "good start" for anyone who wants to set their heart to understand God's clearly displayed, end time plan.

The Naked Truth

 

Colonialism Related to Modern Evaluation of Ancient Writings

 I know, that is a not-very-inviting headline!  I personally would probably skip reading a blog with that title, but since you are here I will reward you with the best read today.

It is from the silly translation (The Message) of Daniel chapter 9.  "Your compassion is our hope."

Powerful and true words.  Daniel's entire prayer in chapter 9 is so in alignment with the heart of God for His chosen people and chosen land that Gabriel is dispatched to speak with Daniel face to face.  The only other times Gabriel is dispatched it is to announce to key players the arrival of the Messiah, so Mary (Miriam, the name means bitter) and Zechariah, (the name means remember) are given the Great News that Messiah, long awaited, is about to burst on the scene.

Okay so what do we mean by "colonialism"?  The Apocalyptic Gospel Podcast guys interviewed a Jewish Rabbi, Joshua Berman and he used this term related to the "critical scholars" who approach scripture with the idea that, "Everyone through out all time should write and record their history the way that we do now. Our way is the only right way."  Literary conventions have changed over time, we know this is the case and all sorts of things change in cultures over time.  That does not make our time better than other times. I would say Rock n Roll music was way better in the 70's but other people may disagree.  It would be "colonialism" related to Rock n Roll music if I were to say, no other Rock n Roll is any good, only 70's rock, but since I kind of like listening to Olivia Rodrigo, I would never say that.

Quoting from an article on colonialism, "According to Gandhi, it is through the practice of non-cooperation with oppression that the force of truth is animated." (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/)  Using this example the "non-violent" approach to fighting against colonialism in the modern evaluation of ancient writings would be simply to point out, that what is normal and expected in our telling of our story or of our telling of history is not the be-all-end-all, only way, that the story can be told.  When ancient writers want to go back and tell a story from a different angle that is okay and if we would dig a little further, instead of just yelling, "contradiction, contradiction" we would benefit greatly.  It is always good to stay in a place of humility and turn aside to see the burning bush, because if you don't stand there long enough looking at it, you would not know that it is burning, but not consuming the bush!

Slow down and enjoy the differences presented in the creation story and the Noah story and etc. Be a humble student, not a pride-filled professor.  Maybe that is what Yeshua meant in Matthew 23 when He exhorts His followers to have only ONE Leader, Father, Rabbi!

The Cursing of the Fig Tree

 Let's look at these verses and see what was going on, as this one time event. 

Yeshua curses the fig tree.

We need to look at this burning bush and come close to consider this. 

Matt. 21:18-22

Mark 11:12-25

 https://www.gotquestions.org/curse-fig-tree.html

Scarcity vs. Abundance

 James 4:1 "1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God."

 

The idea that we don't have enough within our boundary drives man to go off to war to get someone else's boundary. Lives are lost, Minds are destroyed, hope is taken away, PTSD runs rampant, suicides go way up.  

Scarcity that mindset that stuff is limited and God is not going to/or currently giving us enough leads us to go off and fight with other human beings.

But where Jesus is there was always abundance, even when they were down to 4 loaves and 2 fish.

He is enough.

The Tower of Babel, What's the Big Deal?

 A place of safety above the judgment of God in a flood, man made.

 The book of Jubilee's say it was about one mile high.

The goal to make a name for themselves.  To be high above the judgment of God.

It was rebellion and earned them the unfortunate prize of false gods ruling over them.

It also earned them the prize of being divided, division is a judgment a punishment.

 

AI, Yeshua and Cussing

 Part of a very well worded response from BING AI on cussing.

 "However, it is important to note that the appropriateness of swearing can vary depending on the context and social norms. In some situations, swearing can be used to express strong emotions, humor, or camaraderie. It is up to individuals to decide when and where to use profanity, but it is always advisable to be mindful of the audience and the situation."

The Rolling Stone magazine in a review of Guts by Olivia Rodrigo had a very interesting line.

"She uses cussing when it is needed." or something like that and I agree.

Queen of Denmark when sung live by Sinead O' Connor is powerful and cathartic.

as is Last Day of Our Acquaintance.

And it should be pointed out that Yeshua called people "sons of the satan" pretty sure that would have been considered offensive and inappropriate by some.

Yeshua Wanted John the Baptist to Focus on the Resurrection THE SAME AS HE DOES US!

 "the blind see and the lame walk, those with tzara’at are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them."  Matthew 11:5

Luke 7:22 "And answering, He said to them, “Go report to John what you saw and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, those with tzara’at are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them."

If you look at the account of that day, no one was raised from the dead.  In the series, "The Chosen" Yeshua states specifically to the disciples of John, "Oh and tell him the dead are raised also." IMO this is a coded and very merciful, message to John -- "There is no lasting hope in this evil age, but all your hope and my message in this coming is, The Kingdom is Coming and Resurrection after death in this evil age is the path to that Kingdom."  "John, my beloved cousin, you don't have to "look for another" but you do have to take all your hope out of this evil age and transfer it to the Kingdom to come"

"I will rule from Jerusalem, I will be in control of the Kingdom on this earth, but there are two comings, one now, and one at the Day of the Lord."