SUNDAY POST: Holy Spirit Power to be Witnesses

 God, Jesus Christ, Sunday Posts  No Responses »
Mar 092014
 

Holy Spirit Power to Be Witnessesholy_spirit_flame

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

After the cross and the resurrection, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples for forty days before He ascended to the Father. One of His strategic messages of preparation concerned the Holy Spirit enablement they would need to fulfill their ministry. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” After this vital promise was given, Jesus was taken up into heaven to the right hand of the Father. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, this promise was fulfilled by the outpouring of the Spirit. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit“ (Acts 2:4). The grand result of this empowering would be the spread of the gospel, region by region, throughout the entire world. “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Their success is documented in the Scriptures. The religious opposition admitted that Jerusalem was promptly reached. “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine“ (Acts 5:28). Soon thereafter, Judea was being touched. “At that time a great persecution arose…and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea…Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word“ (Acts 8:1, 4). Next, the message of Jesus entered Samaria. “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip” (Acts 8:5-6). Finally, the gospel of grace poured out around the world: “The word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world“ (Colossians 1:5-6).

This worldwide outreach was an astounding development, considering the unimpressive human credentials that characterized Jesus’ followers. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus“ (Acts 4:13). The explanation for their effectiveness was contained in the last phrase. These men had spent time with Jesus, had been impacted by Him, and were now walking in the spiritual strength of His Spirit.

In order for any disciple (then or now) to be an effective demonstration of the reality of the risen Christ, they must live by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hoekstra, Bob. “Holy Spirit Power to Be Witnesses,” Day By Day By Grace. Blue Letter Bible. 19 Mar 2004. 8 Mar 2014.
http://www.blbclassic.org/devotionals/dbdbg/view.cfm?Date=03/04.

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Putin mocks the West and threatens to turn off gas supplies

 Bible prophecy, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine  No Responses »
Mar 082014
 

putin_2846194bThe Telegraph: “Vladimir Putin has mocked diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis as Russia threatened to disrupt European gas supplies by cutting off sales to Kiev over its unpaid debts.

The Russian president said through his official spokesman that, despite deep   disagreements with the West, he did not want a confrontation over Ukraine to   spiral into a “new cold war.”

Opinion: And that is the result of a weak US president. Gog is flexing his muscles and he’s just getting started. If we are where I think we are, the preliminary geopolitical alignment of nations for the war of Gog and Magog is in focus.

Russia, according to Ezekiel 38:1-6 has the Russian states, which will include East Ukraine, aligned with Turkey (Gomer) and Iran (Persia), Sudan,  Ethiopia, Eritrea (Cush)  with Libya Algeria and Tunisia (Put).

Imagine a force that powerful descending on the tiny nation of Israel. Further imagine that the tiny nation will be unprepared for the attack (Ezekiel 38:11). Certain destruction would be assured except for one very important factor.

The war of Gog and Magog is won by divine power:

In the mountains of Israel they will fall by divine intervention: “I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.   And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. God’s chosen people will turn to the Lord: Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord” Ezekiel 38:21-23.
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Netanyahu likens Iran to Nazi Germany in Los Angeles speech

 End Times, Iran, Israel  No Responses »
Mar 082014
 

netanyahu-un2013-2Joel Rosenberg: “Washington, D.C.) — “In a speech to Jewish leaders in Los Angeles on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew parallels between Nazi Germany and Iran, warning of dire consequences if anti-Jewish rhetoric is allowed to go unchecked,” reported the Los Angeles Times.

“There is a regime today that calls daily for our annihilation, openly and unabashedly,” Netanyahu told a crowd of several hundred people gathered at the Museum of Tolerance, which houses Holocaust-related materials. “Our principal lesson in history is that when someone says they’re going to annihilate you, take them seriously.”

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Abbas: I will not recognize Israel as Jewish state

 Abbas, anti-Semitism, Bible prophecy, End Times, God, Israel, Land for peace, Middle East, netanyahu, New World Order, Obama  No Responses »
Mar 082014
 

JPost: “There is “no way” Abbas was quoted as saying by Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Netanyahu most recently repeated his request for recognition during his speech at AIPAC’s 2014 Policy Conference on Tuesday. “Recognize it. No excuses. No delays. It’s time.”

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Opinion: Listen carefully, do you hear any condemnation from Secretary Kerry or the president? Nothing, nada, zip, which is precisely why Abbas can get away with the charade. One demand, only one, and he’ll  have an Arab state with its capital in Jerusalem.

But he won’t do it.

Yet just a few days ago it was President Obama pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu. President Obama said Israel will have to make tough choices, adding … if not now, when?

But no such demands are made on the descendants of Esau.

This is a very old feud. It began in Abraham’s (Genesis 25:23) own family: “And the LORD said unto her (Rebekah, wife of Isaac)  two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be born of you; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

The elder is Esau, who, not coincidentally, had a major league hatred for his brother Jacob, whom God renamed Israel, over a birthright. Esau was told by his father Isaac: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40).

Fifteen hundred years later the prophet Ezekiel forecast an end to the feud:

“Because you [Esau's descendants] have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity [Babylonian Captivity], when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.”

Twenty-five hundred years later - is now.

The feud is coming to a crescendo. Psalm 83 ought to do it.

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Turkey gives US Warship authorization to cross Bosphorus

 Bible prophecy, Economy, End Times, National security, New World Order, Ukraine  No Responses »
Mar 072014
 

shipDigital Media: “A mere day after Turkish F-16s were scrambled to intercept a  Russian surveillance plane near its air space, Turkey has given a US warship  permission to cross its Bosphorus Strait into the Black Sea.

Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News says its sources have not given the name  of the US warship. They have however said it is not the nuclear powered aircraft carrier U.S.S.  George H.W. Bush as has been suggested.”

Opinion: Rumors of war abound. The Ukranian crisis has five very big components.

1. Energy: Ukraine has a 1.68 billion gas bill that is due to be paid to Russia today. Russia signaled it may cut supplies, ratcheting up the pressure on its cash-strapped neighbor as the two nations scrap over the future of the Black Sea Crimea region.

2. Financial: Ukranian bond yields have soared due to lenders lack of confidence in lending the cash strapped nation, making it near impossible for the nation to borrow. The $1 billion in loan guarantees that the US congress provided yesterday is a pittance.

3: Strategic: Crimea is the only Russian naval port that doesn’t freeze over in the harsh winters, making it Russia’s military lifeline for access to the Mediterranean.

4. Military: Czar Putin called the breakup of the USSR “The greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century,” keeping a potential war over Ukraine on the front burner.

5. Biblical: The Western part of Ukraine wants to return to its European (Roman Empire) roots. Using the Bible’s guard rails, Daniel 2:31-35 calls for all of the Roman Empire’s former nations are return in preparation for the wars of the last days. The final dictator’s global government will ”devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:23).

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 Posted by at 1:23 PM

Obama's Bizarro World Budget For Fiscal 2015

 Economy, National security, New World Order  No Responses »
Mar 072014
 

Investors Business Daily Op-Ed: “Just how out of touch is President Obama? In the midst of a faltering economy and rising global threats, he proposes a budget that would sharply cut defense spending and impose $1.8 trillion in tax hikes. Despite its relative insignificance in the grand scheme of things, the annual White House budget proposal does provide a window into the president’s thinking on the size and scope of government.”

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