General Articles

The Holidays :: Jerry McDermott

Published on: by RR7

The great Winter holidays are approaching. Truly, when you start receiving Christmas catalogs, you know Thanksgiving is near. After turkey-time it is time for the Christmas sales panacea. How many people lose sleep waiting at night for a next-day deal? Then come the beautiful colored light displays everywhere on streets, homes and shops.

The holiday season is also de rigueur for parties. There are decorating parties; work parties; Home Owners Association parties; neighbor parties; family or relative parties, senior parties; plus others I haven’t thought about.

In the Christmas spirit, I’d like to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Unfortunately, that is the normal politically correct salutation. I Don’t want to offend anyone, eh? While Christmas is a feast day for Christians, it is a Federal Holiday. In fact, the title of December 25 is “Christmas Day.” Therefore, it is more proper to say, “Merry Christmas.

Whoa! Wait a minute. All we have considered is the usual holiday hype but not the reality. Christians realize that Christmas is the acceptance of the Lord’s birth. Incredibly, the heavenly Father arranged for His Son to be born of a virgin and to die for everyone’s sins. The ultimate reality is that the Son of God was born such that mankind could become Born Again. Without His life, death and resurrection we might still be offering oxen, chickens, and doves for appeasement of our sins.

The wonder of God’s love is how the complete life of Jesus is our model. While we celebrate the birth of a baby, the divine child grew up and showed us how to model our lives as the righteousness of Jesus.

As we work to complete the salvation mode in our lives (see Philippians 2:1-16 and chapter 3), the Bible foretells an extraordinary future life with our Lord. This is the Rapture of the Christian Church when we are bodily risen to be with Jesus in the clouds and subsequently to be transported to heaven. On earth we had a soul, spirit, and earthly body that was subject to every malady. In heaven, we will have an incorruptible body.

Paul explains, “He will give a new form to this lovely body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of His glorified body by His power to subject everything to Himself” (Philippians 3:21).

Why does Christ want complete control? He wants us to turn to Him before making decisions based on just our instinct. Further, in His famed love for us, He doesn’t want us to do anything stupid. We did not approach our Lord about a particular expense and were deceived about the quality. All along, God knew we did not need it. Yes, we found out the hard way.

We failed to pray about the item; and once the ownership started, we failed to calm the anxiety about the repairs.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

There is a wonderful sequence in the sixth chapter of Matthew where Jesus outlines the Christian life:

  1. Seek His Kingship.
  2. Seek His way of holiness.
  3. Then all of life’s essentials will be given us.

The finish of the holiday season is the New Year. If you like resolutions, why not model 2020 according to the life recommendations of our Lord.

While the vast displays of Christmas lights are captivating for a few days, remember the Light of the World is our Lord, Jesus Christ, and He displays His love every day.

Lining Up :: By Daymond Duck

Published on: by RR7

This week, Breaking Israel News published an interesting article about Israel’s stalemated election and Prime Min. Netanyahu’s legal problems.

It is just one man’s opinion, and there may be political motivations behind it, but some readers might find what the rabbi is saying to be interesting.

The original article can be found at:

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/140704/rabbi-whats-happening-netanyahu-gods-judgement-not-accident/?goal=0_bb2894f273-d50a37fea6-61167281&mc_cid=d50a37fea6&mc_eid=85b73fe6f2

Mendel Kessin, an orthodox rabbinic scholar, keeps delivering a speech titled “The Worldwide Reduction of Evil and Netanyahu’s Downfall.”

The rabbi is making four points that, in my words, are: 1) Many world leaders are having problems; 2) Israel will get a different kind of government; 3) The judgment of God is falling on Prime Min. Netanyahu; and, 4) Israel will go in a better direction.

I want to expand on my understanding of these four points.

One, according to the rabbi, God doesn’t have to drag nations into war to weaken them.

God can weaken nations internally with riots and demonstrations, and that is what God is currently doing to Israel’s enemies and the Arab nations.

God is weakening the nations because He intends to change the world.

Two, in the past, non-religious Jews formed coalitions to rule Israel.

Israel’s two failed elections mean that God is rejecting the process that allows non-religious Jews to rule over Israel.

God wants Israel to establish a procedure that will produce a different kind of government.

Three, there is no doubt that Prime Min. Netanyahu is one of the world’s greatest leaders and he has done a great work in Israel, but God has allowed him to suffer humiliation (be indicted) and great financial expense (years of paying high-priced lawyers) because he has refused to destroy the Islamic terrorists that are humiliating Israel and causing Israeli citizens to lose crops, property, money, etc.

The rabbi is saying, Prime Min. Netanyahu is reaping what he has sown.

He is saying, the Prime Minister’s most important responsibility is to protect the Israeli people and their assets, but Mr. Netanyahu has failed to do that for the Jews that live near Gaza, so God is not protecting Mr. Netanyahu and his assets.

Four, the rabbi is saying Israel’s new kind of government will be a religious leader that will give Israel a bright future.

This writer does not know whether the rabbi is right or wrong, but Israel’s future includes government approval to rebuild the Temple and resume the animal sacrifices, and eventually, to accept the reign of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Moving on to another subject: On Nov. 23, 2019, the U.S. Commander of Centcom visited Bahrain, the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Israel, and Vice Pres. Mike Pence visited the Kurds in Iraq to discuss the situation in Iran.

The U.S. sanctions against Iran are working, Iran is in financial trouble, and the Iranian people are rioting and demonstrating.

Iran has two choices: Change her ways so the U.S. will drop the sanctions, or risk starting a war.

The U.S. believes Iran will risk starting a war by attacking a major target in the Middle East, but the location and details are anyone’s guess.

Two days later, DEBKAfile reported that their sources believe that Iran is ready to move forward (on the risk of starting a war).

Five days later, Pres. Trump and Prime Min. Netanyahu discussed the situation over the phone and finalized their plans on how to deal with Iran.

Moving on one more time, it has occurred that God helped Joshua capture Jericho with trumpets in just seven days (Josh. 6:1-20) and He helped Gideon and 300 men defeat the Midianites with trumpets, pitchers and lamps in one day (Judg. 7:10-22).

What an amazing God!

But in 1948, God helped a poorly armed Israel win the War of Independence in twenty months; in 1956, God helped Israel win the Suez Canal War in eight days; in 1967, God helped Israel win the Six-Day War in six days; and in 1973, God helped Israel win the Yom Kippur War in eighteen days.

I would say that the same God that helped Joshua and Gideon in Old Testament times is still on the throne, and many prophetic events are lining up.

God said He will regather Israel and “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD” (Isa. 54:17).

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com