For the first time in our history, Standard & Poor (S & P) announced August 5th, 2011 that it has downgraded the credit rating of the United States one notch below AAA. It said, “’political brinkmanship’ in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “’less stable, less effective and less predictable’”. The S & P also stated, that ‘politicians in Washington were becoming less able to get to grips with the country’s huge fiscal deficit and debt load’.

Russia’s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, stated on August 1st, 2011, “They (the U.S.) are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar”. He also stated, “They (the U.S.) are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy”.

China stated on August 6th, 2011, that we, the United States, “need to cure our addiction to debt”. It also stated that we, the United States, need to, “come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone”. Further, “to cure its addiction to debts, the United States has to re-establish the common sense principle that one should live within its means”. And if that isn’t enough, they went on to say that “(Washington) has been spending like there’s no tomorrow … they have been irresponsible fiscally so they deserved it (the S & P downgrade)”.

This is where compromise and greed have gotten us in this land of plenty. All three of the entities listed above were dead on accurate in what they had to say concerning our predicament and what has transpired to get us here.

Every one of our “leaders” in Washington should be crimson faced at this entire fiasco. If they have even a smidgen of decency about them, they should be embarrassed to be seen in public. Some had an opportunity to stand their guns, so to speak, and failed miserably. Politics, immorality and greed, as with Rome in the past, is destroying the greatest nation that has ever existed in history. We started out as a self-sacrificing, Christian nation, and have spiraled downward to a selfish, satanic sewer of immorality and greed.

We have been “taken to the woodshed” by two countries that would love nothing better than to destroy us. But why should they bother? We are destroying ourselves. Give us enough rope, and we will hang ourselves. Actually, the rope is already over the tree limb, and the noose is around our neck. All that is left is for someone to slap the horse on the rump, and we’re done for. Frankly folks, I don’t see that as being very far off.

Here’s the sad part though. No one has done this to us. We have done it to ourselves. We vote scoundrels back in office time after time, because of our own greed and immorality. We listen to these silver-tongued orators promise us “pie in the sky”, and now we have gotten what we deserve, a rotten tomato in the face.

All the blame can’t be laid on Washington though, because we the people have held our hands out for years wanting more and more, not realizing or not caring, that those in Washington cannot give unless they take from someone else. Our generation is a spoiled nation of people, who can’t live within our means even in our own lives.

It is my belief that our great country must decrease in importance from the world scene, in order that the nations of the world are arranged as depicted in prophecy. This is rapidly happening right before our very eyes. Due to our own sins, we are rapidly decreasing economically, as shown above. Our dollar is on its way out globally, and will probably be replaced soon with a different world trade standard. Our economic lifestyles will also soon change in my opinion. And I hate to say it, but we probably haven’t seen anything yet with the unemployment rate that is going to befall us, possibly soon. Our dependence on oil is our Achilles heel, and could bite us hard at any time.

My advice would be that we need to “get our own house in order”, not just economically, but especially spiritually. If you’re in debt, get out of debt. Live within your means. If you’re in debt to Satan, come to Jesus Christ. He is our only hope, and as the Apostle Paul says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) The fact is we do have hope in Christ, in this life and in the life to come, if we are in Christ and He is in us. Do not place your hope in man. There is none. There is no need to be miserable though when Jesus Christ lives within us by His Holy Spirit. Even when our earthly world is falling apart, there is always the glorious presence of Christ within us, and the expectation of His soon return.

Can there possibly be any good news from this mess that we are in and spiraling deeper into? Absolutely beyond a doubt there is. Even through the sadness of seeing a once great nation destroyed by Satan’s minions, know that God is still in control. He is allowing all this to transpire, and it is fitting perfectly into His plans for the removal of His Church (Rapture) and His judgment upon this world (Tribulation), which could kick into high gear at any time.

As I have repeatedly said, no one knows when the Rapture will take place, but God Himself, so I dare not guess. However, He does tell us to watch for the signs that He provides for the last days. The snatching away of the Church will occur before these signs reach their maturity, but even now we are seeing them ripen on the vine. The Rapture surely cannot be far off.

If you are living in a dream world, thinking that everything is going to be okay, and certainly will get better, please come down out of the clouds. You’re living in fantasy land. We are definitely at the final stages of God’s dealing with mankind. Everything is going to get worse, and worse, and worse. Somewhere in there, Jesus is going to remove His Church and the Tribulation will start, bringing hell on earth for seven more years. We are never going back to the United States of America that once was. Get used to it. Get ready for Christ’s return.

Grant Phillips

grantphillips@windstream.net

Pre-Rapture Commentary

http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)

“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)

These two verses have one thing, especially, in common. One states it; the other implies it. What is it? Jesus is saying in Mark 8:34, “Take up thy cross.” He is saying the same thing in Luke 18:22 by implication.

In Luke 18:22, Jesus was not telling the young ruler that he needed to sell all he had and give to the poor, in order to follow Him. He is not telling us that we need to sell everything we have and give to the poor in order to follow Him. He was telling the young ruler that his “things” were his gods. That too, is the message to us today. To follow Jesus, the young ruler needed to put Jesus first in his life, above and beyond everything else. Now it may be, that we need to sell some “things” and give to the poor. If God has called upon us to pray about another’s need, perhaps He is also calling upon us as a fulfillment, or at least a partial fulfillment, to that prayer.

Then Jesus said, “For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:25) Think this out. Is it not true, generally speaking, that the more we have, the harder it is to let go of it? Let me give another scenario. If one person has a job earning $100,000 per year, and another person has a job earning $10,000 per year, which will have a harder time if they both lose their jobs? Which will it be harder on if they both are unable to find another job for an extended period of time? The answer is obvious.

We need to consider the possibility that there may be “things” in our lives that keep us from following Jesus. We cannot take up our cross and follow Him, if we already have a full load of “things” in our lives … those “things” that have become our gods.

There are numerous verses where Jesus either says plainly or implies for us to take up our cross and follow Him. Bless yourselves by reading the Gospels and looking for these instances. There are many.

So we see that taking up our cross is not allowing anything to come before Jesus in our lives. The pecking order should be something like this; God first, family second, others third, ourselves last. Notice that there is no mention of “things”.

Believe it or not, I have noticed over the years more pastors than you might realize not giving of themselves to their families as they should. They think they are putting God first by giving everyone else their time, not realizing that they are not putting God first when they deprive their own families.

What does it mean though to “take up thy cross”? From what I have heard over the years, many people think (giving two examples) that if they are afflicted with illness, or have family problems, then this is “taking up thy cross”. It is not. Everyone has been, is, or will be afflicted with some kind of illness. Everyone has been, is, or will have family problems. We all suffer the same maladies in this life, on this earth, but that is not “taking up thy cross”.

My heart goes out to anyone suffering sin’s affects upon this world. That is not to say that they are suffering because of their sin(s), absolutely not. It is simply saying that this fallen world has placed its curse upon us all, and it was caused by original sin. But these problems are just that, problems caused by a fallen world. They are not our “taking up thy cross”.

“Take up thy cross” simply means that we die to self, as our Savior died for us upon the cross, and live wholly for Him. Jesus died upon the cross, was buried, and rose the third day. (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) Here we have the cross, the grave, and the empty tomb. For us, we die to self, we are buried in Him, and we live for Him. We can die to self because He died for us. We are buried in Him, because we rest all hope in Him with complete trust. We live for Him, because He lives in us. That is what it means to “take up thy cross”.

I would like to add that Jesus also spoke of a yoke. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

When two oxen are yoked together, one is always the lead ox. Jesus takes our load upon Himself and leads us in the way we should go. In James He says that He will give us more grace to combat evil desires. “But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” (James 4:6 NLT) Would it not also be true that He gives us more grace for any circumstance if we need it? Of course it would.

When we take up our cross for Him, we soon discover that the burden is light. Sometimes we are afraid to step out for Him, but once we do, we find that He gives us more grace. He makes the yoke easy and the burden light.

I hope this has inspired many to get out of the easy chair, so to speak, and “take up thy cross”. This is where the Lord wants us. This is where we need to be.

Grant Phillips

grantphillips@windstream.net

Pre-Rapture Commentary

http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com