God’s prophet Isaiah speaks to America, describes our nation with the very words from the LORD that rebuked and warned Israel’s rebellion to God. You say I can’t apply to America what God said to Israel? Does God have a two-tiered ‘justice systems,’ one for Israel and one for America and the other nations like the Democrats have been using, one for themselves and another for conservatives (especially Trump supporters)? Does God change or evolve? NO! NO!

Don’t be fooled, the progressive power-hungry democrats are using their narrative: “MAGA/Trumpers are America’s enemies,” to cover what they really fear and is a threat for THEIR brand of democracy. They plan to win the unsuspecting minds and votes of people (illegals and criminals too) in order to keep the democrat party in power over us all with a “one-party government.” This is not a Republic, which America is. They are using every corrupt way they can, knowing they won’t be held accountable since they have ALL the power right now from the top down (except in our High Supreme Court for the time being). A pathetic bunch of hypocrites they are, to say the least.

Yet listen to what God’s faithful prophet was shown and told by our God, the God who is watching America’s leadership evolve (government and church) to see what He can still bless and protect:

“Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD, turned their backs on HIM….Why do you persist in rebellion?...From the top of your head to the sole of your foot THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS….your cities are burning….your fields (land and industry) are being stripped by foreigners (China mostly)….When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you, I am NOT listening. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD! (Abortion) Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong! Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. See what you’ve become: a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her – but now murderers! People oppress each other. Mere youths have become your officials, women rule over them and they oppress My people. The young rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored. Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts ($ from special interests, etc.) They do NOT defend the innocent, nor take up the cause of the fatherless and the widow. Their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying His glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide what is shameful. WOE TO THEM! They have brought disaster on themselves. WOE TO THE WICKED! Woe to them who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking and mixing drinks. Woe to them who call evil good and good evil. They will be paid back for what their hands have done. (We’re seeing it and feeling it, but it can get far worse!) Therefore, the LORD ALMIGHTY will turn His hand against you so that you are devoured by the sword (overcome by war) IF YOU CONTINUE TO REBEL AND RESIST ME.” (Isaiah 1,2,3 in part)

We (God’s people) are called to pray for those in authority over us so that we can live peacefully and prospering as a nation “under God.” The ‘righteous’ are to lead, not the wicked. The ‘God-fearing’ are to rule, not those who reject God and His Word, or use passages from within the Holy Bible to somehow authenticate their unconstitutional policies and justify their false histories/accounts/accusations/media hype.

Then the LORD says to Isaiah, and he writes: “Tell the ‘righteous’ it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” (Isaiah 3:10)

So, who does God consider to be “righteous?” Those who truly know the LORD and support what GOD says in His Word, and who seek to live and rule by God’s laws and principles, even if their government does not, even if they are persecuted for it – THEY are the ones whom God deems righteous. They know the difference between right and wrong, truth and lie because they agree with their Maker and Judge. They won’t compromise and partner with the wicked or sit with mockers of God. It’s sickening and grievous to see the progressive destruction of what “compromise” does to a nation that God wanted to keep blessing and protecting from her enemies.

Compromise: giving in to the godless – in what ‘seems’ reasonable at the time, but progressively and unwittingly enslaves a people that once had “liberty and justice for all,” a nation so richly blessed by God that oppressed people from other nations fled to willingly and legally live within our blessed boundaries; a nation that other nations feared because God favored us and showed His obvious DISTINCTION in comparison to other nations that reject Him.

Preparing AND praying for our nation!

As I was talking to the LORD this morning about our nation and the way it is headed under this current administration especially, this passage came to me as to worldly wisdom compared to the wisdom that comes from God, not only for eternal life, but for our earthly life too. 

When I was saved in February of 1975, I wanted to know my Savior who had saved me from going to hell. I wanted to know Him as best I could. I wanted to know what my Heavenly Father thinks of me. I wanted to know how He thinks about everything, especially since He is the Creator and will judge it (us) all. I wanted to know the future He has for me and my loved ones that I pray for. So, I started reading the Holy Bible. I was so hungry ‘to know’ that I read for hours each day until I had read through the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation. Then I started reading it again, and again and again….studying and meditating on passages that jumped out to me as they were the indwelling Holy Spirit (who is the LORD) speaking to me from God’s LIVING Word. 

The Word of God was NOT ‘inspired’ by men, but by God's Holy Spirit. 

The Word of God is our foundation of knowledge and pure wisdom and is the basis by which I judge everything happening. Yet what is happening in our world, and especially in America these days, it is evident that people do not KNOW what they need to know. They reject what God says in His Word, and yet refer to themselves as Christians. Others have rejected God altogether and think they are the ones to rule and tell everyone how to think and live. They are blind fools according to their Creator and Savior and Judge. 

“The beginning of knowledge and wisdom – is the fear of God.” Proverbs 9:10

When I was first saved, I came to the LORD because I “feared God.” I feared God because I believed what God says in His Word about salvation in Jesus Christ His Son; that without faith in Him I was doomed and forever separated from God and the eternal life He has planned for those who love Him, and whom He loves as His eternal family. Then as I began to KNOW HIM in His Word, I fell in love with Him. 

When I listen to this current administration talk about all the things they have planned to do, and that they’ve already done to this country, this passage in God’s Word says it all:

1 Corinthians 1:18-29 “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.’

“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

“But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

“Remember, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

I’m praying for people to come to KNOW the LORD in truth and spirit. I’m praying for our nation to have leadership with PURE wisdom from above. I’m praying for the LORD’s church to understand their responsibility in “such a time as this.”

As I was talking to my Father God, I asked Him: “What if Jesus had given up and asked You to save him from anymore sorrow and pain as He journeyed to His ‘physical’ end, would You have Father? What a question! Right? But I know that Jesus was also a human being like us with flesh and emotions.

Had Jesus asked His Father that, it would’ve been our Savior’s feelings and flesh asking, that human part of Him. At one point we know that Jesus asked the Father, when He cried out: “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death….He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as YOU WILL.’” (Matthew 26:38-39)

So I thought, then if I have His Spirit dwelling in me and His Word (truth and promises) locked in my mind, I also can overcome anything in life – like Jesus did. Right? Just think of what He has given us with the Word of God and His indwelling Holy Spirit. And yet, believers in Jesus Christ are overcome by our fleshly desires and the world’s threats and the devil’s lies and temptations. Why?

I’m convinced that most, if not all, of God’s people today do not utilize the Word of God and the power of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit as they could and should. I know I haven’t, and I’m constantly working on that with repentance and moving forward with a new day of all His mercies.

We are called to become more like Jesus Christ. Christ was a physical person like we are, but in Him was God’s divine nature of the Holy Spirit and unwavering faith in how His human life would end up benefitting mankind in making the way for us to come to the Father and live with Him forever.

We need to read and study the Word of God for our faith’s application and daily encouragement. Jesus Christ didn’t need to read the Word of God (Torah or Holy Bible), HE IS THE WORD OF GOD. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.….The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth….No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Himself know.” (John 1 in part)

When I asked Jesus to forgive me of all my sins, and to come live in me (February of 1975), He did. He waits to be asked, and when asked – He moves in and goes to work in us by His Spirit and His Word. We are responsible to feed on God’s words. If you don’t have a hunger for the Word of God, to know Him, and to know what He’s done in the past and is yet to do in the future; and if you don’t have a desire to please your heavenly Father, to understand what worship truly is – then you are not a child of God.

As Jesus said to those in His day who didn’t acknowledge Him as the One they were teaching about, “You are of your father, the devil.” Jesus never spoke ‘worried’ about people’s feelings; He spoke the truth that would set people free from all that besets us in our lives so we can live the life that is truly life. He showed us how to be His humble witnesses, as He lived to glorify His Father. With all the gifts and fruit of Christ’s indwelling Holy Spirit, we can be His faithful witnesses. And, He gave His promise as to what we could expect from God for faithfulness to the end of our life on earth.

Yet, in knowing that I have all the power in me (Word and Spirit) and all God’s favor on me, I stumble and fall. I’m reminded of when our Savior was carrying His Cross to His crucifixion; the cross He bore of all of OUR sins. His human weakness stumbled and fell from the weight. So, He fully understands our human weaknesses. And is why He calls out: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Peter 1:3 “His divine power (Holy Spirit) has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him (Word of God) who called us by His own glory and excellence.”Philippians 4:13 “I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength.”

What “thing” do you struggle with? What “burden” are you trying to carry on your own? What ‘hope’ do you have, and where does it come from? I pray it comes from faith in what GOD has said and what Christ has done for us? AMEN?

I’ve asked God why ‘animal sacrifices’ for covering man’s sin back then, and then why His ‘Son’s sacrifice.’ Why blood? How does “blood” cover sin so that the Father’s wrath on man’s sin-nature is held off? 

The other morning the thought came that it’s all about LOVE. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then this Scripture came to mind: “No greater love than this: that a man lay his life down for another.” 

Animal sacrifices, that God required of God’s people, Israel, to temporarily cover their sin - could never ‘completely’ atone for sin permanently like Christ’s own blood sacrifice on the cross has done. They had to sacrifice on a regular basis. Christ sacrificed once and for all. Love was the difference. An animal doesn’t offer itself; it doesn’t understand this. No animal that was used to atone for sin back then, understood what was happening to it. An animal is not made in God’s image, like man is. Dogs are loyal animals and have been known to protect their master to the point of dying, but that type of ‘love’ is physical only, not spiritual for eternal life. 

We might be blessed to live to be 80 or 100 in our physical bodies, but what then? There is eternity! “God has set eternity in the heart of man” so that man (not animals) would consider ‘life after death’ according to what GOD SAYS about it, not what man has conjured up out of self-deceived ignorance and arrogant unbelief. 

The ’obedience’ of God’s people back then, and of the priest to do what was required for those animal or fowl sacrifices were simply that: out of obedient fear. When God’s priests failed to meet that requirement from God – they suffered the consequence, and so did the people they were to cover with the blood sacrifice. 

God still says to us, “If you love Me – you will obey Me.” What do I obey? I obey the will of God by loving and trusting what Jesus Christ did for me on the Cross and then living in me with His indwelling Holy Spirit of eternal life. What our Savior did with His own body, was out of PERFECT love for us; perfect because it provided life eternal. 

When someone like you or I lays our life down for another – that act does not provide eternal life; it just allows the person we died for to live a little longer on the earth. And that’s why Christ’s sacrifice was a “once and for all” sacrifice that brought our pardon from the Father’s eternal wrath on our sin-nature we are all born with. 

With Christ standing at the Father's right hand as our High Priest, we are favored by the Father because we have believed in the life and blood of His Son. But why blood? “Life is in the blood.” How long will you live without the flow of blood? The flow of blood keeps everything in our body doing what it’s supposed to do for us to keep living. God was showing us in how He created our bodies how the physical life-flow has a spiritual meaning with the eternal life-flow of Christ’s blood. Our body’s blood gives life to our physical body. Christ’s blood gives us life eternal with God (in our new imperishable body). 

Wow! What a SAVIOR!

Sometimes I'm just warn out from all the battles in this life. Both inwardly and outwardly wars are waged. My mind is drawn continually into the fray. But how many of my battles are a normal and beneficial part of the Christian life and how many are not? How many are intended by God as a means to my sanctification and how many are a distraction from it? How many are a waste of time? 

I think we can all agree, people are at the center of every battle. Whether it's politicians or the news media, previous spouses or estranged children, church leadership or fellow congregants, we can all tell stories of how we've been wronged or are being wronged. (I forgot to throw in bosses and coworkers.) It seems neverending. No one would argue that this stuff has a way of messing with our minds. It robs us of peace and joy and unsettles our lives. People get into our head and never leave.

The standard Christian response to this is to forgive the offender and trust our heavenly Father. This is a biblical solution and it is correct. But I find that past memories and hurts still remain. They don't magically go away with a wave of the Scriptures. Our minds are a storehouse. Nothing leaves. Like a hard drive, all the data that was put in stays in. So I pray, God, is there more to this? The answer is yes. 

The solution doesn't end with forgiveness. This is only the first step. What follows is also found in Scripture. Job 42:1–6 (NIV): Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ MY EARS HAD HEARD OF YOU BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

God never told Job why he put him through all those painful trials but we do get a glimpse into one of the results. At the end of Job's difficulties his view of God had changed. He experienced a greater revelation and understanding of the character and nature of his Lord. He knew God in a way he never did before and it forever changed him. 

John 17:3 says this: "And this is eternal life, that they KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Every painful thing we experience in this life is meant by God to reveal himself in greater ways to our hearts. He wants us to KNOW HIM, and suffering is one of the ways this is made possible. 

As believers in Jesus Christ we have something the unbeliever doesn't, confidence that pain is never a dead end for us but a window into God himself. Suffering rewards us with the very person of Jesus Christ. And this makes it all worthwhile. So the answers to the questions I began with is that ALL our battles are meant for our sanctification and none of them is a waste of time. Only hopelessness and wishing them away is.