God's Right to Fulfill the Promised Land

Below is a comment I made on a discussion board concerning  Israel right to the Promised Land. It's scriptural  information concerning God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is clear that God made the declaration and it ought to be clear he is still going to perform it for them.  It is quite contradictory for us as Christians to not see this promise that God is ready to fulfill in a way and on a scope totally unable to be grasp when Israel was elected over 3,000 years ago. I personally do not know where to draw God's line on the political front which is always hot news in the Middle East.  But I come to realize it is God's word which has declared it and it is based on the burden the Jews had to endure being elected by God.

 What moved me to write the article below is because a gentile christian  thinks the Church is the true Jews and there is no more promise land nationally speaking. Hence Israel has no recourse for their actions.  I responded with a historical account and the everlasting covenant God established thru Abraham.  When all is said and done it isn't Israel that made the promise,it is God who made it and it was unconditional. The only missing component was when. 

My dissertation to her comments are the following: 

.....There is still a biblical Jewish line in effect because of God's power of election. There is still a physical blood line for the inheritance that runs thru the 12 Tribes of Jacob who is the younger of the twins. Esau does not have an inheritance it was sold and God gave it to the younger. Abraham was told by God to agree with Sarah who wanted Hagar and her son Ishmael, the first son of Abraham out of the house. For the Lord told Abraham in Genesis 21: 12 "And God said unto Abraham; Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of the bondwoman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." 

Isaac birthed the twins from the same woman of course Rebekah, his second wife and in Genesis ch 25:23 "And the Lord said unto her (Rebekah); two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be seperated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger" in verse 34 "Esau despised his birthright" and sold it to Jacob. 

Gen 28:41 "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father blessed him. Then Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand , then will I slay my brother Jacob. Jacob wrestled with God and had his name changed to Israel. Jacob "Israel" birthed the 12 twelves sons/ tribes that becomes God anointed line for the messiah to come. This same group becomes the greater population of Israel the nation. God in his word dictates this lineage as the election. The devil uses flesh and blood to resist God on every hand of the move of God.

Abraham remarried after Sarah died and birthed even more sons and daughters but none were chosen specifically as Jacob was. There is no significance about being the siblings of Abraham...none whatsoever. It is historical honesty on the part of God to tell us the life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...both the good and the not so good. It carries little spiritual relevance on it's own. The most critical fact is God is revealing that Jacob is the line for the messiah and the line for the building up of a nation to come.  Clearly there are other offsprings of Abraham but it is God who elects not men who contend night and day with God's election all the while ignoring the grace given to all other nations during this time and through out the ages!! Israel was elected but also had a higher standard to live up to because of it. God had them document their successes and every bit of their failures for ultimately our example of how to relate to the God of all of us. It is an awesome plan by God with the blood, sweat and tears of the Jews shown without bias. 

As a gentile Christian I and we are adopted into the family of Abraham by our faith in Christ who is a descendant of Abraham through the tribe of Judah.  My adoption does not overrule the Jewish lineage which God has continued to keep in tact through out the ages any more than an earthly father adoption of another child does not overrule his own children by blood. They both partake of the promises and the inheritance and neither ought to be jealous of the other! But there is the rub, my friends! When all is said and done God has every right to give what he wants to whom he wants. And His Word has already spoken it. The mystery was not if but when God would deliver.  

As an adopted child of the same God, who was not elected to bear such a burden,  I am just honored to be a part of the family of God by faith.  Invited for worship and under the throne of His grace in Jesus name. For in Romans Ch 11 it is also the declaration of the Holy Spirit that Zion the Deliverer shall come and turn away ungodliness (unfairness....unrighteousness) from Israel. God is preparing to perform Grace and favor for His elected when the unbelief of the world magnifies itself to come down even into the Valley of Jehoshaphat to destroy them. This is the location of the Battle of Armageddon, my brethren and it's just a matter of who side we are on.  

As Christians, let us have our eyes opened to this reality lest many fail God as was done on Calvary's Hill. Let us hold no envy, jealousy neither conceit nor is it about being boastful of ourselves but humble   in our adopted role because God used the election of Israel to be an example for the Church and our lives has been blessed because of it. As a result, their burden ought to be lifted and their promise ought to fulfilled. A crucified savior was no surprise to God for the beauty of it became grace to the Church. Now it is time to lift the burden of  a people and nation he used and it is truly God's right to do it. 

Let the Church Be in Prayer

 From Psalms 109:1-5 "Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred and fought against me without cause. For my love they are mine adversaries; but I give myself to prayer. And they have rewarded me with evil for good and hatred for my love."

This a psalms by King David expressing his love for God and his fellowman and how he is often met with discontent and hatred for it. If you replaced the nouns with the word christians it would highlight our same predicament as we seek to praise God and reach out to others. The strong yet unwarranted anti- christian atmosphere is prevalent everywhere. It is most pronounce as same-sex marital rights spearheads the charge against us as discriminatory and downright unloving. This is not just a USA issue, it is a world drive for equality which is pressing on many nations in an area of human life unprecedented . Today in the news, Russia itself is grappling with it's momentum and key policy changes in such a stoic nation sits on Putin's desk.

As believers in Christ we really don't have any enemies because we are called to love our enemies and to live in peace sharing the good news of the gospel for salvation sake. It seems we are being targeted without just cause and hated though for many of us our desire is to love others in order to bring others to that marvelous hope in Christ. We work our salvation trembling in the reverence, not the fear of our God and seeking his direction as we give him our praise.

As I read  Psalms 109 this morning, it struck me deeply spirit to Spirit, the Church predicament.  The Church position has been to love the sinner but hate the sin. In hating the sin what is really being said is that the sin represent poison to the success of salvation and renders nullifies it. The basic principle is our sins of which none are to be excused must be confessed and turned away from. The church should be doing this in love and not in anger or with a condemning attitude but sometimes we do. David says "For my love they are mine adversaries" and that is what it seems we have received which is a stiff rebuke. Christians are being seen as discriminatory and the media and special interest groups come at us without a just cause. Waiting for one mistake in our biblical perspective. It seems we are being rewarded with our good by being called judgmental and without love for our fellow man. 

But what did David do as he was frustrated by the negative opinions of others concerning his love for them? He gave himself over to prayer. He did not fight them or force his God on them with a cry for revenge. David felt something for them and knew vengeance was the Lord's not his. And so must we. We must continue to pray for our strength to endure the rejection and yet pray that the adversaries receive the love of God thru Jesus Christ and have so much more than what little they have gained among themselves. Prayer also brought peace to David for in Philipians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving and let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Let the churches give themselves over to prayer for without we ay take matters in our own hands and in anger sin more.

The Bride & The New Jerusalem.

The Church is often described as the bride of Christ and rightfully so because Jesus loves his church as a groom loves his bride.  But in addition to that is some scripture in the book of Revelations  which provides some greater insight as to the designation of bride.  This is a case where the term "bride"  has both a symbolic and literal description and both are quite valid. I do not hear much about the new Jerusalem in my circle of christians but I reviewed it considering the Spirit's advise to read this wonderful book of the future. 

To be technical....the Bride is actually a city and it's called the New Jerusalem. For it is written in Revelations 21: 2-3 "And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God"...... And it continues Rev 21: 9-10 " And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me, saying, Come hither for I will show the the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven."

It appears that Christians are as a bride to Christ symbolically but are shared citizens that dwell within the New Jerusalem whose names being written in the Lamb's book of Life. It's members fall into several major categories: 1)The New Testament believers in Christ (Resurrected and Raptured saints) have entry. 2) Old Testament Jews and Gentiles who believed in the God of Israel and looked forward to a messiah to come and please include Abel who died righteous in the atonement of his sin which God gave favor. I wonder if Adam will be there for he communed with God like no other and may have been quite repentant. It's an interesting thought. 3) So also do those Tribulation saints whose lives were lost by the shedding of their blood in Christ name in the final call of God's grace.

The Bride is actually a city of which has a various groups of citizens who all gave proper atonement of their sins in looking forward to a savior to come as God revealed it in past ages. The names that border the walls of the New Jerusalem are the Jewish patriarchs which God used to reach all the Gentiles of the world in breathing His Spirit upon them to write the Holy Scriptures. Suffice it to say, it is incorrect to consider the NT Church to be the exclusive bride of Christ. God does not forget the deeds of others he has touched!

I think sometimes, we need to loose things on earth to prepare the things that are coming from heaven.  For the Bible states whatever is loosed or bound on earth shall be likewise in heaven. We need to cast darkness aside in preparation of awakening the sleepy and slumbering ones to be caught up by the hope of the rapture. Clearly we need to be found walking in the power of God's vision just as it is given by his Word. There is a tearing down in order to build up! The Old Jerusalem is preparing to be a faded memory which men die over in it's final and greatest of conflict because the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and is not made with the hands of men. In it shall be our mansion of many rooms! I feel a sense of utterance and shall go forward with it.

The current Jerusalem is a "cup of trembling" in the world today as prophesied by Ezekiel that it would be when Israel would come back as a nation. It is the center of the conflict among the Arabs and the Jews and it must play itself out among those who seek physical dominion. It has it's history and it has it's purpose for prophetic realities but peace is far from it and tensions will mount. It will be the "table of negotiations" that sets the terms and conditions that define where men stand before God. And it will set the stage that in a day God will stand before them in their unbelief! Such is the valley of decision and it will have served it's purpose.

And then comes the New Jerusalem for His Nation and for His Church and all to His Glory and given over to His Son as the Lion of Judah who rules the earth with His rod of love. And the waters shall be pure and the tress shall drink of it and their leaves shall bring a healing to the nations that remain and the people that remain after the valley of decision shall come and see the New Jerusalem. And we as ambassadors shall go forth and declare the good news of a Savior to the Gentiles and a Messiah to the Jews our Lord Jesus who has his seat in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And then there shall be peace...lasting peace at last. Let our voices ring before the sound of the Trump as a show of faith working mightily within us! Blessing..my fellow servants. 

Blessing and Curse of Democracy: A Christian Perspective

The most basic tenet of democracy is the freedom of choice or the right to choose. If it is limited to Christianity only, then in democracy's truest form, it becomes no more democracy. And therein lies the problem with it's basic form of governance. It is a system that allows itself to be govern by majority rule. In reality, it does not matter what the original founders principles in regards to the constitution were. Though they were good and sound christian ideals, they were endorsing principles of democracy with no exception even for religious practice. That was then and democracy continues but with a new impetus of immigrants as it citizens and therefore being under democratic rule have every right to reflect their ideals. These ideals are becoming the greater majority with even the beliefs (or lack of beliefs) of traditional citizens who are not following christian bible based standards per se.

In other words, democracy is doing just fine. Now the battle is on "Mar's Hill" as apostle Paul fought for the souls of them in Ephesus ( I believe). Our battle surely dwells on Capitol Hill as well as every other state hill in our country. Change is everywhere! Prayer in school was never a mandate but was simply a by product of faith  within the hearts of it's citizens. Being demonstrated and quite effective as a majority among it's people in advancing the Kingdom of God. Now prayer is a mandate being allowed under the legal act of the law. A form of legalism that will not nearly be as effective as by the heart. Now it appears, democracy is legalizing christianity as well as other religions due to the multiple representations that exist. It seems only fair because when you realize it is really democracy at work. From a christian viewpoint ( born again mainstream faith), the crack in it's armor is beginning to show as all forms of governance by man do have.

To be candid, as a christian our destiny isn't about saving our country, it's about advancing the Kingdom of God for that great day! It is God who builds a nation and it is God who will bring it down! In the midst of all of that transistioning it is my duty to know His will and to defend the faith which doesn't always guarantee the saving of a piece of dirt. For Abraham had to leave his Ur of Chaldees....and Hebrews had to leave their Egypt...and many of us came to America leaving something behind with few regrets! Perhaps our time to leave is approaching and the only place to go is to be caught up! 

I believe democracy will work like never before to the disappointment of Christians who firmly lean on the Bible. I consider it a time of purging and a sign of the times which God Himself may be giving up to this world system a reprobate mind and USA is no exception as we examine end time doctrine. What led me to write this article was a question was asked should we as christians pray along side Satanists? Personally, I don't see any difference between satanists and "other faiths" except for extremist with bolder defiance in the face of God. They all operate with unbelief of Christ divinity. But for the record as a born again believer in Christ, I choose not to pray alongside the camp because my choice of words will surely ruffle their feathers. However, I will come to defend my faith and declare my hope in Christ which will give them opportunity for salvation as apostle Paul did on Mar's Hill. Concerning the democratic process, I agree with the adversary that on this soil satanist also have their rights and while I vote to disagree on their agenda I also seek to live in peace with my fellow man as scripture advises.

Trumpet of Departure

 God always call his people to come out of something in order to get into what he has to offer. Such was Noah...Abraham....Moses....Israel....Christ calling his disciples to follow Him....His disciples led by the HolySpirit calling out to mankind to come to Christ. Christ will yet call out to His Church to be caught up from the wilderness of this world which now has no fertile land uncharted. The natural man such as the judge don't see these things and many people are likewise for it is as the board leader stated...it is logical. therefore it makes what we as christians believe seem illogical. But so be it....such is the faith in a true God worshipped in spirit and in truth. God works a pattern of departure among his people always in hope of a better place. And it has been a better place with each destination and now the final leg of the journey of deliverance is at our door. Keep the faith and be sober not slumbering in doubt for truly the trumpet is set to blow!!

Maranatha.....