“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast
rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten
horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his
heads the name of blasphemy.”
Revelation
13:1. As planet earth takes on the appearance
of what the Word of God plainly teaches us about the
days of Noah and Lot, it seems many in the Christian
community become more astonished at world events. The
Bible gives us every reason to believe there will be
an all encompassing world government in place in the
last days which will be managed by the antichrist. The
book of Daniel and the book of Revelation are our
guides in learning what the antichrist has in store
for planet earth.
Commerce has so fully
connected all the nations of this planet, that what is
emerging is a massive blending of earth’s cultures –
for better or for worse. Most people don’t see the
significant prophetic ramifications of such merging
and blending. This mergence is all the design of the
evil one to set up his all encompassing government. As
we here in America watch our leaders reframe our
nation into a Marxist socialistic society we can be
assured these are the plans set down by Satan himself.
Take a look around the nations of this world and you
will see this same phenomenon occurring simultaneously
wherever you set your gaze.
Many today are
concerned about America’s economy yet see little to no
significance that the worldwide economy is actually
what’s in the enemy’s crosshairs. A huge majority of
folks simply won’t see the big picture. They refuse to
believe that one foreign nation’s economic downfall
could bring chaos to the shores of America. Since many
people these days have no use for God and scoff at His
word they won’t know what’s coming until it hits them
head on. That fact alone should give the rest of us
cause to pause and reflect on biblical prophecy. Many
simply shrug off the fact that Greece’s economy has
flat lined. Greece’s economic problems have begun a
ripple affect across Europe. What’s that all about?
What does Greece have to do with the economy in the
rest of Europe’s capitals? Or America for that matter?
It’s simple really. We are now so connected
financially to each other that as a world community
every time a nation’s economy collapses the entire
world economy will be adversely affected. Just as
Greece has begun to scrape rock bottom, many other
nations have begun their own decent into financial
ruin. This, of course, will be miniscule in comparison
to what will happen when the US economy finally gives
way to all the false prosperity in which we have been
immersed, especially within just the last four years.
Certainly humanity is experiencing very strange times,
some are quite fearful at what they see approaching.
If you are a Christian
and you are fearful of the events currently shaping
this world then you are falling for the enemy’s
deceptive antics. Fear mongering is a goal of the evil
one (Satan) as he attempts to gear up in his
anticipation of the Rapture. Satan’s most debilitating
tool is fear and he uses it quite efficiently. Many
people fall for Satan’s lies, even Christians. This
allows Satan to build strongholds that become huge
stumbling blocks in a person’s life. When a Christian
becomes overwhelmed with the fearful situations
confronting them, it means they’ve lost sight of God.
Who is it that gets us through our day by day
struggles? Here’s a clue, His name is Jesus and He is
our God and Saviour.
For many years
contentment has been very high here in America. For
the most part we’ve placated ourselves with a sense of
false prosperity which led to a false security. This
all occurred when we as a nation decided to leave
behind the God of all creation and His precepts. In
our world today many have journeyed into the realm of
self-importance, self-reliance, self, self, self,
which ultimately leads to self-destruction. When
“self” becomes the overwhelming factor, thus power in
a person’s life, they stop helping others as they stop
relying on others for help. Here in America the
majority of people now believe it is the government’s
responsibility to take care of them, such as a parent
would take care of their little child. In many of
those cases these Americans believe it’s their
right
to live off the government dole – self-impotence.
Apparently some folks
are waking up to the fact that America is not immune
to the upheavals which occur in other nations. It has
become obvious to some that we are no longer separated
from the chaos that occurs on the other side of the
globe. This is becoming a frightening fact that the
self-absorbed in America have no concept of how to
face. There are more than a few who have shrugged off
America’s impending financial collapse, not to mention
the very obvious truth that America herself has been
transformed while moving “FORWARD” into the realm of
the one world government/currency/ecumenical system
which will be headed up by Satan himself.
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of
nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring;”
Luke 21:25.
Now that we can see the one world everything gathering
steam we’ll begin to move into the arena Luke speaks
about, that of distress of nations – perplexity. It’s
the idea that we might actually feel some heat from
all the current distress of nations that perplexes
American’s. We can see the US is being destroyed from
within and yet we are clueless and helpless as to how
to stop the approaching disaster. A large number of
manufacturing jobs have been relocated to other
nations around the world leaving the American worker
to try and survive on minimum wage incomes and/or
handouts from the Federal and State governments. In
the meantime, the cost of everything soars.
Perplexing? Most assuredly.
“…there shall come in the last days scoffers…”
2 Peter 3:3.
The Greek word
“eschatos”
is translated into our English word “last” and it
actually means extreme or uttermost. I believe we are
living in those extreme last days of which the Apostle
Peter speaks. Being one who is continually confronted
by scoffers I can tell you they have become quite
common in these last days. Surely we must be very
close to that “uttermost” time. If so, should we be
all that surprised in regards to the strange even
extreme worldwide events currently unfolding before
us? Bible prophecy is God’s way of telling us what
will occur in the future. Are we not now moving into
exciting times in regards to how close the Rapture
must be? Certainly to those who are lost the future
that is approaching is one which will cause much
anxiety and perplexity. Yet Christians should be
comforted by the current state of worldwide affairs.
The conclusion we come
to as we view our current state of worldwide events
(nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom -
wars, and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes,
pestilence – in divers places) is that the birth pangs
Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24 are obviously upon us.
Sadly, as this world moves ever closer to destruction,
the majority of folks will turn to someone who has
already convinced them that he can bring about a
utopian existence to this crazy, seemingly out of
control world.
I’ve read that many
people are beginning to emigrate from the US in search
of greener pastures. This is an exercise in futility.
This world is going to be equally and adversely
affected by the severity of a major economic, thus
societal, collapse; no one nation will be better off
than any other. You can run but you can’t hide.
Numerous websites are
promoting preparedness in regards to what they see as
an approaching collapse of our economy and the
possibility of civil unrest. Preparedness is not a bad
thing, in many cases being prepared for calamities,
unforeseen circumstances, or even impending droughts
will help those who are prepared make it through such
events. Remember, the most important preparedness is
being prepared for eternity. At this “eschatos”
(extreme) point in time our eternal destiny should
already be settled.
Being prepared for an
eventual economic collapse will take a lot more than
just a little food set aside. Preparing for civil
unrest is going to be even more difficult, especially
if the Feds are allowed to confiscate all the guns.
Don’t forget about the Homeland Security and their
recent purchase of enough hollow point ammo to shoot
every American at least six times. Something evil this
way comes – and he is the destroyer.
“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a
black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of
balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst
of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a
penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and
see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”
Revelation
6:5-6. In the last days a full day’s wages will
be necessary to purchase one meal, not everyone will
be blessed with work and wages. Many see usefulness in
stocking up on silver and gold as a solid and reliable
form of currency in these last days. There is a line
in the old song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” by the
late Larry Norman, which says “a piece of bread will
buy a bag of gold”. Well, that certainly sums up the
usefulness of gold in the last days. No, what we
should be stocking up on is treasures that will last
for an eternity. What are those treasures? They are
whatever the Holy Spirit leads you to be involved in
during your life on earth.
The republic on which
the US was founded is gone, probably forever. But the
born again see a glorious future with the King of
kings at the helm. Those who remain lost will never
understand what awesome godly living is all about.
Those who are born again will see glorious times on
earth when the Lord returns with His saints and His
Kingdom is ultimately established.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.”
James 1:22.
As we, the followers of Jesus Christ allow the Holy
Spirit to work in our lives He moves us into the realm
of establishing ourselves as doers of the word and not
just hearers. As we are focused on doing God’s will
for our lives, the many antics of the enemy cannot
overcome us, and fear will not take seed in us.
“For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7.
Therefore, fear not my brethren, Jesus is at the door.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
www.straitandnarrowministry.com
ron@straitandnarrowministry.com
All original
scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed
Many of you have
inquired as to the state of my health, therefore I
feel I must maintain this little running commentary to
keep everyone up to date. My eyesight has become a
major problem, and the Myasthenia is worsening, none
of the treatments have been successful. I’m in stage 2
diabetes which is caused by the steroids I’m taking as
a treatment for the Myasthenia. The prostate cancer
has made a comeback and I have begun the hormone
treatments again. Through all this
“I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Philippians 4:13. Your prayers and
comments are most welcome and appreciated.
I’m very grateful to
those of you who have been led by the Holy Spirit to
send gifts of support. I know that God is the giver of
all good gifts. I’m very grateful that He has placed
you folks in my life. I’ve placed this little
acknowledgement here at the bottom of my commentary
because some of you ask if you can send a gift. My
response as always is: When God leads you to send a
gift of support who am I to refuse.
Please send your gift
to:
Ron Graham
96 County Road 5480
Salem, MO, 65560.
For those of you who
have suggested it, I have set up a PayPal account
using my email address
twotug@embarqmail.com
as my account access number. Thank you my brethren,
God bless you all.
If you
would like to be on my email list to receive the
commentaries just drop me a line and let me know. I
never add anyone to my email list without their
requesting I do so.