Time To Pray :: By Nathele Graham

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles, Nathele Graham

“This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Paul wrote those words to a young man who was one of the first pastors. He needed guidance and needed to be aware of the troubles that he faced. The same problems plague pastors today, but many pastors seem to ignore Paul’s words. They forget that all Scripture is directly from the Holy Spirit. As we read these verses, it’s easy to think that they describe people who aren’t a part of Christ’s church. But Paul was writing to a Christian pastor, and the concerns were about happenings within the congregation.

You don’t have to look hard to see that we are living in the perilous time that Paul warned Timothy about. The English word “perilous” doesn’t sound too bad, but in truth, the Greek word chalepos is bad. It means hard to bear and painful. The only other place chalepos is used is to describe the demoniac in Gadara. What’s happening in the world today is very demonic, but sadly, the evil is spilling into our congregations.

In order to keep the collection plates full, many pastors compromise God’s truth. Most pastors like to preach about the joy of the Lord rather than repentance. God and sin are opposites, so you cannot turn to God unless you turn away from sin. There is no joy in sin, but many pastors are willing to compromise Biblical truth in order to keep collections up and pews filled.

The last church I attended was very non-Scriptural. The pastor spent more time quoting from his “favorite atheist” and rock and roll groups than teaching from Scripture. When he did try to teach Scripture, he was so far off base that it was pitiful. The Sunday school material was very “fluffy.” One lesson was about demons, and I hoped it would give good information. Sadly, the lesson likened demons to termites. I don’t know how many of you reading this have faced spiritual warfare, but believe me, it’s nothing like termites.

Paul was serious with Timothy not compromising God’s truth. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

If you are preaching a watered-down Gospel, or another Gospel not found in Scripture, or tickling ears, God will ultimately judge you. How many people have you led down the wrong path? How many will end up in Hell because you haven’t taught repentance? Think about it. Jesus Christ gave His life so that we can be forgiven from our sin. Since He knew just how bad sin is, any pastor who doesn’t preach about turning from sin needs to study Scripture.

It’s easy to blame the pastors, but every Christian has a responsibility to know Scripture. If you happen to be clinging to a denomination or listening to a pastor who isn’t Biblical, then you are part of the problem. Paul knew that a time would come when Scripture wouldn’t be honored and preaching wishy-washy sermons would be the only way to fill pews.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Are you a “Christian” who believes the fable of evolution? Do you believe the fable that God approves of two men or two women marrying? You need to study Scripture.

What’s wrong with this world? Why is it that abortion is a protected right, but it’s considered hate to stand up for the child that is being murdered? Why is it considered “hate speech” to speak against things that Scripture says is sin? Social media will block ministries that speak God’s truth, while there are numerous sites that glorify Satan.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:20-21).

What is the driving force behind all of this upside-down craziness? Plain and simple, it’s Satan. Christians have been willingly silenced, so Satan is getting louder. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).

There are some very outspoken pastors who stand firm upon the truth of Scripture. May God protect these men who honor God. If you attend a church where the pastor is Biblically sound, you are blessed.

God is real and is in the supernatural realm. Satan is also real and also supernatural. Most denominations deny the supernatural. They are so afraid of giving Satan any glory that they deny supernatural power, including the power of God. The Gospels give many accounts of demon possession, and Jesus told His disciples how to deal with them.

Once, a man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus to be freed. Jesus had gone up a mountain with some of the disciples, so the remaining disciples tried to cast the demon from the young man. They failed. When Jesus saw that there was a problem, He took authority over the demon and cast it away. The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast the demon out. “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).

This tells us that there are various “kinds” of demons. It’s time to heed Jesus’ words. There are demonic spirits within our congregations, in our governments, in our schools, and in our neighborhoods. It’s time to stop denying the supernatural and turn to our all-powerful God of all creation. We need to fast and pray. It is a spiritual battle, and we are giving the victory to the enemy when we don’t trust God. Stand and fight with the supernatural power of God.

The spiritual battle is attacking our families. Men have given their God-ordained position away. They cannot love their wives as Christ loves His church because either they don’t bother to take a wife and just rely on fornication, or they’ve divorced and don’t live in the household. Women have taken the position of leadership in the home because being a wife and mother has become a job that isn’t respected, and many want to be the “man of the house.” Children are affected by this break in the family order. Instead of being raised by their parents, daycare, babysitters, step-parents, and schools are the authority in their lives. Satan is behind it all.

If we recognize that it’s a spiritual battle, we can then see the way to fight. We need spiritual weapons. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

A soldier never enters battle without knowing how to use each piece of his battle gear. Christians need to know how to use God’s armor. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Paul understood how important it is to be clad in God’s armor. He was attacked for his faith on many occasions, and the armor was important.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet o salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:13-20).

Put on God’s armor, and don’t take it off.

It’s time to pray for all the saints. We all must be bold in our witness for Christ and have our spiritual armor securely in place.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:
www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God breathed.

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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).

Jerusalem, A Cup of Trembling :: By Dave Hubley

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

(There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.)

“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:2). Emphasis added by me.

2500+/- years ago, the Holy Spirit, through the prophet Zechariah, exposed God’s plans to all who would heed them through the light of the Word of God.

The Lord God’s purpose was to reveal not only His plan for Jerusalem at the end of the age but also for these Prophetic Words to ring like a dinner bell here in 2024 to anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see.

With the attack of October 7, Jerusalem is now, indeed, a cup of trembling.

In reading the whole of the Word of God, both New and Old Testaments, we should read them with the understanding that God has not changed in the slightest. He assembled His Word, and He fully intended to convey this message and His Power to all subsequent generations.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).

“But You remain the same, and Your years will never end” (Psalm 102:27).

Jerusalem has been at the forefront of (modern-day) world events since May 14, 1948, when the Jewish state of Israel was reborn in a single day. (See Isaiah 66:7-9.)

The very next day, the 1-day-old Jewish state was assaulted by combined Arab armies in a futile attempt to “push the Jews into the sea.” This event and subsequent failed attempts (as well as a blind, rabid hatred for the Jews) have been driving governments worldwide to attempt to bring about “peace” at any cost. This cost, they think, will be to the Jewish people, but God has other plans, and He will have the last word.

Peace and safety (security), they cry. This is their goal for the “good of all people,” they claim, but this is subterfuge. It is really defiance of God and His Word and hatred of the Jewish people and their state. God is not deceived; neither is He even deceivable.

“For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

The world system’s tactic is to divide Israel’s land. These efforts to force compliance on Israel, God says, will result in a judgment of all nations that have gathered against His people.

“On that day, I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).

“I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land” (Joel 3:2).

They insist on a “cease fire” when it is, in fact, only a pause (hudna), allowing Israel’s enemies to rearm and make plans for their next vicious attack. God is not fooled.

It is futile to keep doing this, but that does not occur to those who attack or those who drive and support the attacks because they are driven by blind, mind-numbing hatred.

The Truth is, they really hate Jesus Christ.

The solution to this dilemma is simple: if humankind would stop hating long enough to listen. But they are unable to stop the hating and unable to stop attacking Israel.

They know this, yet they are fueled by this hatred, and so they make their plans.

Guilty as charged by the Lord through His prophet, Jeremiah.

“With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish, saying, ‘Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more'” (Psalm 83:3-4).

God knows the thoughts of their hearts.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One” (Psalm 2:1-2).

“Why?” the Word of God says.

It’s a rhetorical question. The Psalm continues:

“Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords” (Psalm 2:3).

The below Psalm of God declares the “end from the beginning.”

“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them. Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury: I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain” (Psalm 2:4-6).

The Lord has already provided an answer to those who would knowingly or intentionally bring harm to Israel. He also has His plans, and His council will stand (Isaiah 46:9-10).

“I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:11).

“It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea” (Isaiah 11:11).

“‘I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,’ Says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:15).

Sadly, the Israeli people are blind (not all of them, however); they quote their own scriptures and yet ignore them at the same time, contrary to God’s council.

“Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22).

Recently, the Israelis have begun preparations to wean themselves from foreign aid as they realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

There are always strings attached, and if they allow themselves to be bullied, bribed, or coerced into a “ceasefire,” it would only restart the same cycle of destruction, resulting in the numbers of enemies arrayed against them to grow and the lethality of weapons against them to be “improved” before they attack yet again.

On October 7, 2023, the prophecy of Zechariah became a wake-up call to the world that what God allowed to happen will change everything and a reminder that:

“Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

Despite that fact, the “world” will not respond to His call because the scriptures mean nothing, or they are nonsense, to a large part of the earth’s inhabitants.

It seems the Words of Matthew 24 are now coming into sharp focus.

“Jesus answered, ‘See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains'” (Matthew 24:4-8; also Mark 13:5-8).

The wars and rumors of wars aspect has taken on an entirely new and ominous meaning with the present warnings of nations “going nuclear” and the proliferation of these weapons.

Nation (ethnic group/race) rising up against nation is also part of the “sea and the waves roaring.” That roaring is the cacophony of increasingly terrified humanity crying out to human leaders to “fix” the unfixable consequences of hubris (Luke 21:25).

As well, the corresponding turmoil of the natural world, the aberrant, violent weather patterns, earthquakes and volcano activity can no longer be dismissed.

Yes, these things have always existed. The point of the prophecies regarding them are to indicate that they will increase in frequency and violence, as they clearly have even in just the last year or so, as God is removing His restraining hand from His creation.

The accelerating rate of these events being equated to birth pains (pangs) is in harmony with God’s Word and is quite evident to anyone willing to admit it.

Some will deliberately dismiss the prophecy of Zechariah 12:2 and even the entire chapter of Zechariah 12 and 14. There will be many who will do this and even try to dismiss the whole of the Word of God. These “mockers” were prophesied by the Lord.

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation'” (2 Peter 3:3-5).

Perhaps the sudden clarity of (Zechariah 12:2) becoming a stark reminder that God is Sovereign and active in this world, as He has always been, will wake some up. We can only hope and pray with renewed vigor for that to occur.

The special message I promised you:

For anyone who may read this article and has not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no hope or peace in your life.

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

  • Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
  • Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
  • That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  • To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
  • Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross.
  • To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

  • No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
  • No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
  • Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics or politicians. There is only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God, with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com