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*Listen to the Show notes and podcast transcript with this multi-language player. Hello everyone, I'm Ron your host and welcome to another podcast from Live Behind the Veil. This episode is another gathering together of a few of the family members in a time of Worship. Even though these recordings are raw and not the best quality, we feel compelled to share these times of His presence with you. Our hope is that you can join in the Spirit of this Worship and give to the Lord what He is looking for from His people. God of the open heart We come very humbly and open our hearts, without bonds to live there inside. We escort each other to Your throne room oh God, neath Your scepter of love to abide. Your the God of the open heart, You are all and in all as we blend into one. By Your Word of grace You have brought us to this place, and by that Word You'll lead us on. We see each other by only Your eyes, we create by only Your hands. Seers and sons, a kingdom of priest, in Your worship we ever will stand. Your the God of the open heart, You are all and in all as we blend into one. By Your Word of grace You have brought us to this place, and by that Word You'll lead us on. Your the God of the open heart, You are all and in all as we blend into one. By Your Word of grace You have brought us to this place, and by that Word You'll lead us on. Worship in the Spirit & an individual psalm Lead us today oh Lord, lead us today Father. We're Your children, and we follow You with all our hearts. Lead us today – Father. We bow down to honor You. We bow low to worship You. You put a song in our heart – Father. We love You. Worship in the Spirit & Prophetic declaration Our hearts are given to You Father. Our hearts are open to You. Our hearts are crying out to be those worshipers. We bow our hearts before You. We humble our hearts before You. We give You everything within us. We worship You Father. Prophetic Declaration Thank You Father for knocking on our door. We open our hearts and we invite You in. You are our Lord. You are our Master. Yo are our everything. We lay it down. We lay our wants and our desires down – that You come forth, and You be all You are in us. Thank You Father. Worship in the Spirit & an individual psalm Our hearts give praise to You Lord. Our hearts give praise. We glorify Thee. We magnify Thee. We glorify Thee with all our hearts. We praise and worship You. We love You Lord. Our hearts love You Lord. We open our hearts, we open our hearts . We open the door to our...

Title: Qualities of an Elder Text: Acts 20:13-27 FCF: We all struggle when our leaders are ungodly. Prop: Because an Elder must be and continue to be blameless, so all Elders and would be Elders must endure in these same qualities. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 20. In a moment we'll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse 13. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Last week we noted Luke's shift in focus as his book hastens toward its close. Since the remainder of the book is concerning Paul's travels to Jerusalem, his imprisonment, his travel to Rome, and imprisonment there – Luke now shifts his attention to the character, person, and instructions of Paul. He began this last week by focusing on Paul's top priority. To the expense of himself, Paul desired greatly to instruct God's people in His ways. This was his primary objective. Such clarity in purpose reveals to us how all church leaders should prioritize the spiritual instruction of God's people. Today we will lean even more into the discussion of what godly church leaders should be, as Paul summons the Elders of Ephesus to himself to give them parting words of instruction before he goes on to Jerusalem. Let's see what he has to say. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Most Holy God, we come to You as Your children seeking wisdom and instruction from Your Word. We praise You Father for giving through Your Son and empowering through Your Spirit, undershepherds who care for the flock that You have claimed as Your own. We praise You for sending watchmen among us to watch out for wolves and to feed and to guide us. We pray that You would use this text this morning to equip us to understand and pursue all that You have given us regarding godly Elders. And we pray desperately that You would continue to bless us with men who love You and are called to serve. We ask this in Jesus' name amen. Transition: Let's get right to the text this morning. I.) Paul demonstrated the qualities necessary for all church leaders, so all Elders and would be Elders must endure in these same qualities. (13-21) a. [Slide 2] 13 – But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos (AH-sohs), intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. 14 - And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene (my-tell-EEE- knee). 15 - And sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios (KEY-ohs); and the next day we crossed over to Samos (SAM-ahs); and the day following we came to Miletus (my-LEE-tuhs). 16 - For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. 17 - Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. i. [Slide 3] On the screen behind me is the travel map of Paul and his 8 companions. ii. Luke records that by the plan of Paul, he desired to go by land from Troas to meet them in Assos. iii. Since this was Paul's plan all along, and we aren't told why, it is likely some unknown-to-us reason that Paul desired to travel by land on the first leg of the journey to Assos (AH-sohs). iv. More than likely, this took a couple days for Paul to catch up. v. Then they all sailed to Mitylene (my-tih-LEE-knee). Then the next day they came to what Luke calls the opposite of Chios (KEY-ohs). By this he probably intends the eastern side of the island of Chios as the map depicts. vi. Then the next day they came over to Samos (SAM-ahs), which is the unnamed island on the bottom. vii. Then the following day they came to Miletus (my-LEE-tuhs). viii. Miletus is about 25 miles south of Ephesus. ix. It has probably been about two years since Paul was in Ephesus at this point. x. Here Paul is faced with a dilemma. He loves the church of Ephesus and the Elders whom he helped to appoint and guide in that city. But he knew that if he stopped in to Asia to meet with them, he would be held up there. Most likely because of the love they had for him and he for them. xi. But, Paul is being led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem and to make it before Pentecost. xii. Most likely, Pentecost is only a few weeks away when he lands in Miletus. xiii. Nevertheless, Paul cannot ignore the church in Ephesus completely. He had spent 3 years ministering to them. So, what is he to do? xiv. Paul decides to send for the Ephesian Elders to come and meet him. b. [Slide 4] 18 - And when they had come to him, he said to them, i. From verse 18 through verse 35 we have recorded for us one of the fullest expressions in the scriptures of what Elders are to be and what Elders are to do. ii. We will take half of his exhortation this week and next week we will look at the rest. iii. The first half is mostly Paul instructing them from his own example. c. [Slide 5] “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, i. The very first thing Paul exhorts them with is his own example of how he ministered in the city of Ephesus. ii. From their own observation and experience, they know that Paul was with them the whole time. iii. This probably is not referring to Paul staying with someone, or not leaving the city. iv. More likely this is Paul indicating that he lived his life before them. They observed him in the most basic functions of human existence all the way to worship services, and evangelism, and discipleship, and preaching, and prayer, and everything in-between. v. He was not separated from them but was with them. vi. But what did they observe of him while he was with them? d. [Slide 6] 19 - serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; i. They saw Paul under pressure. ii. [Slide 7] And the first pressure they observed Paul endure was his own flesh battling against his pedigree. 1. Paul had every reason to be proud. He began a successful church in the city of Ephesus. He taught for three years avoiding persecution from the Ephesians for almost the entire stay. 2. He was a good speaker. He was wise. He was followed by many. 3. Not only that but he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a Roman citizen, and well-respected by many powerful people. 4. But in the midst of this the Ephesian Elders observed that Paul served the Lord in all humility. 5. Paul put the needs of others above the needs of himself. 6. He was meek, he was lowly. He was a servant to all. 7. He did not demand that others wait on him, instead he became the servant to them for the sake of Christ, his Lord. 8. He did not expect due compensation for all his work like the traveling philosophers and preachers of his time. Instead, he was content with whatever he had. 9. In this way, Paul served the Lord, as merely a slave to His master's will. iii. [Slide 8] The second pressure they observed Paul endure was the weight of his mission. 1. Paul served the Lord with tears. 2. Paul was passionate about the mission and the message that he was sent by Christ to give. 3. Paul wept with them and plead with them to follow the Lord. 4. Paul cried with tears of joy as they came to Christ and turned from their sin and their idols. 5. Paul no doubt shed many tears when many of them confessed their former dalliances with magic and as they burned their books in rejecting their former ways, never to go back. 6. Paul mourned the tragedy of those who denied Christ, many of whom were his own kinsmen. 7. Paul wept over believers who chose to continue in sin and did not desire to be corrected, like with the Corinthians. 8. Paul sobbed tears of joy when the Corinthians repented and returned. 9. Paul cried over false teachers making shipwreck of believers' faith. 10. Truly Paul's mission was weighty. iv. [Slide 9] The third pressure they observed in Paul was the persecution from the Jews. 1. Paul served the Lord even with his trials. 2. He rejoiced in suffering at the hands of the Jews. For His own Savior had suffered also at the hands of the Jews. 3. He endured the many plots from them all over the empire and even in Ephesus, to destroy him and the message he taught. 4. Through it all, Paul's eyes were on Christ, knowing that he could endure all of it and more through Christ who gives him strength. v. Paul did not bow to the pressures he faced. He had excellent moral character and spiritual strength. He was blameless. vi. But what did he do with such noble character? e. [Slide 10] 20 - how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, i. Against secret societies, hidden knowledge cults, Gnosticism, free masonry, scientology, Mormonism and any other religious group that trickles out secret knowledge to those who are loyal… ii. Paul did not withdraw or shy away from sharing with them everything he knew that was profitable for them. Everything that was expedient to them, he told them. iii. These mystery cults and philosophical and religious gurus ensure that you will continue to support them or their faith by holding back information you need, until you have sufficiently paid for it. iv. Not Paul. v. Paul gave them everything he knew that could help them. vi. He knew a good deal more about the law and about Judaism and about being a Pharisee. But this was not expedient to them. It was not profitable. But the things of Christ? The way of faith? The grace of God? vii. Of these, he told them everything he could. viii. And he didn't do it privately to only a few wealthy people, as if to peddle this gospel for personal gain. ix. Instead, he shared all this publicly, teaching in the hall of Tyrannus. And when those discussions continued, he went to houses and taught too. x. There was no membership fee, no subscription model, no downloadable content. xi. He passionately pursued any who desired to be taught the ways of the Lord. f. [Slide 11] 21 - solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. i. Finally, we see Paul say that they observed the undeniable fact that he, with great seriousness and sincerity, bore witness to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. ii. Paul shared the gospel, even after the church was founded there in Ephesus. iii. And he shared the gospel to every person he came in contact with regardless of their heritage or lineage. iv. We know that the Jews were despised and mocked in Ephesus. We know from the letter to the Ephesians Paul emphasizes the church being one made of both Jews and Gentiles. v. Paul passionately and sincerely bore witnesses to all men about the command of God for all men to repent toward God and receive faith in Jesus. g. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: Luke dutifully records Paul's exhortation to the Elders of Ephesus as he commends them to continuing the work there in their city. Paul's opening point is the track record that he exemplified while he was among them. He was a man who selflessly served the Lord by serving them, through tears and trails. He taught them in season and out of season. He reproved, rebuked, corrected and instructed them in all that was helpful to them, and he did the work of an evangelist calling all kinds of men to repentance toward God and faith in Christ. But they knew all this. They observed him for three years being this kind of man. So, what is Paul's message? What is Luke telling us? Quite simply – the church needs this caliber of man to be Elders. In fact, for every Elder or would be Elder, it is safe for us to conclude that this should be our character profile. Transition: [Slide 13 (blank)] Paul leaves the past and now looks to the uncertainty of the future. Will he be the same man? Will he make changes? If the pressure increases, will he break? II.) Paul will continue to demonstrate these qualities despite the cost, so all Elders and would be Elders must endure in these same qualities. (22-27) a. [Slide 14] 22 - And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 - except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me. i. Paul leaves the past and now looks to the future. ii. He knows that he must go to Jerusalem. We saw before how he resolved to go to Jerusalem and now, we see that this was by direct leading of the Holy Spirit. iii. Paul has no idea what to expect when he arrives. It has been about 5 years since he last went to Jerusalem. He went there after his second missionary journey and before heading to Ephesus. iv. In fact, the only thing he does know is what the Holy Spirit continues to remind him of in every city he visits. v. Really it is the prediction that Christ gave to Ananias at Paul's conversion. Jesus said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” vi. The Holy Spirit has revealed that many afflictions and imprisonments await Paul in the near future. vii. So, he doesn't know what will happen in Jerusalem, but he does know that he is going to suffer imprisonments and afflictions for the name of Christ. viii. What is the moral fiber of Paul? What is his outlook here? b. [Slide 15] 24 - But I do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, i. Paul is holding his life loosely. ii. He is not fighting to stay alive at all costs. He is not striving to avoid all pain and anguish. iii. If the Holy Spirit has revealed that this is God's will for him – it would be foolish to resist and to fight against it. iv. Paul will not flee like Jonah. v. Why? c. [Slide 16] so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. i. Jesus gave Paul a job to do. ii. He is to go and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to Jews, to Gentiles, and to Kings. iii. Well, so far, he has not proclaimed the gospel to kings. iv. He has certainly had audiences with many powerful and wealthy people. Some of them have even come to Christ. v. But, to date, Paul has never stood before any rulers to preach the gospel. vi. So, his mission is not complete. vii. Here we see again his desire to sincerely or solemnly testify to the gospel of the grace of God. viii. There are many perspectives on soteriology. For the last four hundred years the church has been enamored with the discussion of Arminianism vs. Calvinism. ix. I'm not going to talk about either right now. x. But one thing is for sure. If the gospel you believe is not a gospel of God's grace, then it is not the gospel at all. xi. So, what is grace? 1. We have all memorized the quick definition – unmerited favor. 2. And that is a fine definition of the word grace. 3. But if we are talking about God's grace and specifically God's grace in salvation, which is what Paul is talking about here, I do not believe the definition “unmerited favor” is sufficient. 4. So, how would I define God's grace in salvation? 5. It is simply this. God accomplishes 100% of our salvation. 6. There is no step that God has left to us in order to be saved. 7. According to Romans 3:24, we are justified as a gift by His grace through Christ's redemption. 8. [Slide 17] Another way to remember what grace is, is by the acronym for GRACE 9. God's 10. Riches 11. At 12. Christ's 13. Expense 14. God delivers the gift of all his riches, indeed sonship and becoming heirs to His throne, at the expense of Christ. 15. Notice that this still has nothing to do with us. Our response isn't factored in yet, for God has given His riches because of the redemption of His Son. 16. Now this isn't denying that there are necessary responses flowing out of that gift of justification by grace through Christ's work. 17. In fact, in the other instance in this text in which Paul talks about sincerely testifying about the gospel he explains the command and the responsibility of Jews and Greeks to respond in repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. 18. But God uses our repentance and faith, both of which the scriptures teach us are ALSO gifts He gives to us, God by grace uses this gifted repentance and faith as means to unite us to our gifted justification. 19. [Slide 18] To suggest that God has accomplished even 99.9% of our salvation and waits on us to do the other .1% - is to make another gospel… one that is not GRACE - God's Riches At Christ's Expense, but is in fact, God's Riches Awaiting Mankind's Submission. I know that spells GRAMS which isn't great… 20. [Slide 19] but My point is not for you to remember GRAMS but GRACE! 21. Call yourself an Arminian. Call yourself a Calvinist. Refuse to take a title. It matters very little. 22. But if your gospel is not ALL of God – then it isn't the gospel of the Grace of God that Paul preached. And that means… it isn't the gospel at all. d. [Slide 20] 25 - And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. i. Now Paul laments the fact that most likely, he will never see any of the Ephesian Elders again. ii. Is Paul being overly dramatic here? iii. No. Paul knows that his future will be full of all kinds of difficulties. iv. And as far as we know, Paul never did return to Ephesus. Paul will go to Rome as a prisoner. He will be release and then spend time in and around the Adriatic Sea between Italy and Greece, and potentially even going as far as Spain. But eventually he will be imprisoned for the last time and beheaded by Emperor Nero. v. So no, Paul isn't being dramatic. vi. He went among them and preached the Kingdom of Christ- of which they were now a part and working to do the same. vii. But never again will he see them. viii. In light of this, Paul wants to say one more thing about the future… and specifically their future. Then he will move to exhorting them. ix. We won't get to the exhortation this week, but let's look at what Paul says about their future… e. [Slide 21] 26 - Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. 27 - For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. i. Much like God commanded Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:17 and 18 warning him to be a watchmen for the people and warn them when God tells him to warn them, Paul recuses himself from any guilt that might be placed on him for the spiritual futures of any of these Elders present with him, and for any of the church in Ephesus. ii. Why? iii. Because he did not hesitate to tell them all that God had revealed. iv. If any of these Elders bring a different teaching or slip away from the teaching Paul gave either by adding to it or taking from it – it is not a charge that can be laid on Paul. v. And if they lead any of the Ephesian church members into apostasy or heresy – it cannot be blamed on Paul. vi. Why? vii. Paul did not hesitate to tell them everything God had given him. The whole purpose or counsel of God was available to them through him. viii. Again, this goes back to his statement that he didn't withdraw from telling them everything that was profitable or expedient to them. f. [Slide 22] Summary of the Point: As Paul looks to the future and understands that there is no hope for things to improve. In fact, things will most certainly get worse, for the Holy Spirit has revealed as much to him. But Paul's intention is to continue to exemplify these qualities and these passions. He desires to continue to be used up, to be emptied out, all for the sake of the gospel of God's grace. His desire is to leave no one's blood on his hands, but like a good watchman, he has told everyone all that they must hear to participate in the kingdom of Christ. Despite a bleak future – Paul intends to continue to exemplify these qualities, until he is extinguished. My friends… Elders and those who would be Elders someday… Is this us? It must be. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 23] All of our truth points come from Paul's example. This may be challenging for us to receive because Paul is merely a man, but when we understand that these qualities in this text are merely a reflection of who Jesus is and what He demonstrated, we then understand that the qualities Paul has demonstrated are simply those he has received from Christ. But if we were to look at the two letters Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus concerning the qualifications for Elders, we would see a remarkable but unsurprisingly similar 1 to 1 connection between those qualifications and the qualities Paul demonstrated to the Ephesians. Paul is blameless, temperate, sensible, respectful, apt to teach, not a brawler but considerate, peaceable, free from the love of money, he had a good reputation with those outside the church, he was not selfish, nor a liar to cheat people of money, he loved what was good, he was righteous, holy, self-controlled, and he held fast the faithful teaching of the gospel, proving to be able to exhort others in sound doctrine, doing the work of an evangelist, and was able to reprove those who contradicted the gospel. In that sense, Paul's life becomes an illustration of what qualities we must look for in men who are or desire to be Elders. And if we are Elders or desire to be Elders, Paul's example becomes a good template to compare ourselves to. But let me seek to apply this text today, primarily to Elders and would be Elders, but also to the congregation as a whole. 1.) [Slide 24] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that blamelessness is the chief qualification of an Elder. a. All the qualities Paul puts forward in this text are summarized in the basic qualification of blamelessness. b. Blamelessness is the quality one possesses in which it is impossible to find fault with someone. c. This does not, of course, speak to perfection. All men continue to battle and kill off their sin in this life. If the standard were perfection and true sinlessness, then only Christ could be given the title of Elder. d. Instead, blamelessness takes on a legal quality. In the law of moses it took two or three witnesses to bring someone to trial and find them guilty. e. Similarly, we see in I Timothy 5, Paul outlines the process for the discipline of an Elder. If two or three witnesses are not available to substantiate an accusation of sin against an Elder, then the accusation is not even to be heard. But if two or three witnesses confirm that an Elder is in sin, the Elder must be rebuked. f. This again instructs us as to the exact nature of the qualification of blamelessness. g. In order for a man, who desires the office, to be qualified for it, it must be impossible to achieve the necessary quorum among the body to accuse the man of living in sin. In fact, being blameless would imply that any such accusation would be hard to fathom considering the character of the man in question. h. Blamelessness does not mean sinlessness, but it does mean that there is no sin that is cherished, nurtured, encouraged, or befriended by this Elder. They desire the death of sin in their hearts and keep their accounts short. i. Looking at the rest of the qualifications we can see how all of them flow out of or into this one quality of blamelessness. j. Why must the man be blameless? k. Think about an Elder's responsibility. He is to guard the souls of the little lambs of God, serving as an undershepherd below the Great Shepherd. l. Such a place, such a responsibility, such a position given to a man who no one really trusts, or who when a rumor floats around people say, “well that does sound like a sin he would be doing.” Such a man cannot possibly watch for the souls of others… for others much watch out for his soul instead. He would be a liability to the children of God and the rest of the leadership. m. How can an Elder teach or lead someone in holy and Christlike lifestyles when he himself is ensnared and overcome by sin? n. So, by way of application for us this morning, we diverge into a few groups of people. i. First, if you are a man in this congregation, you need to consider blamelessness to be your command. 1. Whether you are an Elder or not, as a man in our congregation we still possess the innate headship of our home meaning that we are in essence an Elder of our family. 2. We have the responsibility of watching out for the souls of our wife and children or future wife and/or future children. 3. Such a role requires us to be the spiritual leader of our family. Setting the example in thought, word, and deed. Exemplifying Christlikeness. And pursuing Christ before our family and leading them to Him. ii. Second, if you are a man in this congregation who desires the office of an Elder, you must first be blameless. 1. No amount of biblical knowledge can make up for lacking blamelessness in your character. 2. No amount of teaching prowess can make up for lacking blamelessness. 3. No amount of kindness, gentleness, rule following, leadership, or charisma can make up for lacking blamelessness. 4. If a man is perfect in every way, and gifted as Paul was for ministry but was known for indulging in a specific sin… such a man is still unqualified to be an Elder. 5. And it is not enough to be blameless until you become an Elder… now you must live blamelessly not only before your family and the church, but before the other Elders as well. iii. Third, if you are an Elder in this church, let this be a healthy reminder to us that we must continue to be blameless. 1. We must continue to serve the Lord in humility. We must continue to serve Him and His church with tears and with endurance through persecution. 2. We must continue to declare the whole counsel of God to His people, sparing no teaching that is profitable and expedient to them. 3. We must continue to solemnly testify to all men the gospel of God's grace and implore them to turn from their sin and to God through faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. 4. My friends, we must be blameless. And we must make sure we hold each other to that standard. iv. Finally, if you are none of the above, you must pray for and seek out leaders who are blameless. 1. It is the congregation's responsibility to only seek out and receive Elders who are blameless. 2. And if a Prospective Elder is put forward for consideration, who you do not consider to be blameless, you must make your concerns known to the Elder Board. 3. Although we have only been Elder led for a few years now, there may come a time in the future where the Elders put forward another man we have considered to be qualified to be an Elder in our church. 4. You have a solemn responsibility to make your concerns known to us. Perhaps you know the man in a way we do not. o. For the sake of the church and the purity of the gospel message, Elders must be blameless. 2.) [Slide 25] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that Elders can hold others to a standard they do not meet. a. Nothing Paul will charge these men to do next week are things that Paul has not already demonstrated and done himself. b. Paul is not instructing the Elders in Ephesus to do something he would not or could not do. Instead, he is instructing them to be like him and continue doing what he was doing. c. There is a common saying in ministry and it is something like, “the spiritual maturity of the body can never exceed the average spiritual maturity of its leaders.” d. If such a thing could be measured mathematically, we could conclude that if the spiritual maturity of the Elder board was averaged to be 50% conformity to Christ (again, these are very crude numbers – just follow me for the sake of the illustration) – If this were so, then the church body cannot possibly be expected to exceed that maturity. e. Thus, if the Elders are a group of power-hungry little kings vying for their own slice of the church pie – imagine what such a church would be? f. Regardless of whether you are an Elder, a would be Elder, or a member of this body – this is still further incentive to find men who are blameless to lead. g. Because if they are not blameless, the church won't be anywhere close to blameless. h. An Elder can only preach and teach that which he has repented of and submitted to in His own life. i. Elders must practice in example what they intend to preach from the scriptures. 3.) [Slide 26] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must pray for godly leaders. a. This works out in two specific ways. b. First, we must pray for God to give more godly leaders to us. i. Unfortunately, Jerry Gunst isn't going to live forever. Neither is Nick, or CJ, or Justin - and even though I am not even 40 yet, I have already begun praying for and looking for a young man who could potentially replace me as the Primary teaching Elder of the church. ii. Our lives seem so long in some ways – so long that we procrastinate on things that go beyond our lifetime. iii. And yet life is so short in other ways. So short that by the time we do realize we need to plan for the future beyond our lives, it is too late. iv. Even now, we can be in prayer for the future Elders of Columbus Baptist Church. v. We can pray that God would give grace to save and shape and mold young men to rise up to the challenge of blamelessly shepherding God's people. vi. You can start that today. Every week I pray through our membership directory. And when I come to a name of a boy – I pray that God would raise him up to be godly and that he might become a future Elder or Deacon of this church. vii. Be in prayer for the future leaders of our church. Even if you will be long gone before they take office… be in prayer. c. Second, we must pray for the leaders we currently have to be godly. i. Occasionally some of you get a sneak peek into the lives of we Elders. ii. Occasionally you are exposed to the trials, the tears, the pains, the hardship, the difficulties we face in leading this church. And that is all in addition to the normal trials and troubles we face in our families and in our personal lives… And most of your Elders actually have ANOTHER job that they do that has its own set of difficulties. iii. My point is, that we… NEED.. your prayers. iv. I would even say that we are desperate for them. v. And don't just pray that we be healthy, that our kids are healthy, that our bodies are healthy… no… please… pray especially that God would protect us from the schemes of the devil and the principalities and powers that seek to destroy us to get to you all. Pray for that first. vi. I'd rather die of cancer having lived a godly life, than live forever having rejected my Lord's commands. And I can confidently say that that is true for all the Elders. vii. Pray for our physical needs – but not at the expense of praying for our spiritual protection and godly wisdom. 4.) [Slide 27] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” Elders, we must be Watchmen for these people. a. Notice how Paul twice emphasized that he declared the whole plan of God and all that was profitable to the Ephesian Elders when he was with them. He did this to the extent that if any of them walked away from this truth and their faith failed and they were cast into the lake of fire… then he would not be to blame for it. b. We too are watchmen of these people. c. May none here have the luxury of saying in that final day, “But that Elder didn't tell me everything. He never told me the fullness of your plan or the teachings that were of great expediency to me.” d. May we teach with our words and our lives all that is necessary to be known so that in the final day we are innocent of all blood, having watched out for all the souls in our charge. e. Let us not grow weary in our labor. But let us press on brothers. 5.) [Slide 28] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” A plurality of biblically qualified Elders is one of the greatest gifts Christ has given His church. a. Who wouldn't want a bunch of little Paul's looking out for them? b. Who wouldn't want a bunch of little Christ's guarding them? c. God has called and equipped men to lead His church. They are mere men, which means they are not perfect. But they are equipped by God, blameless, so that even when they fail, they humbly seek forgiveness and make appropriate changes. d. Who else would we want leading our church? e. What a great comfort it is to have godly men leading. f. May they remain godly so that we may thrive as the church of Christ. [Slide 29 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the Reformer Thomas Becon Lord Jesus Christ, you are the true and everlasting Bishop, the mirror and pattern for all faithful pastors both in life and doctrine. You came down from God your Father not only to be our Redeemer, but also our teacher, to open and declare to us the mysteries of the holy Scriptures. We humbly pray now that in your mercy you would look upon your poor and scattered flock, whom you have purchased with your most precious blood. Send us shepherds who will diligently seek the lost sheep, lovingly carry them on their shoulders, and faithfully bring them home again. Lord, you see how great the harvest is, and how few the workers. You are Lord of the harvest. Send us into the harvest! And take away from us those false prophets who come to us in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Take away those false anointed and false preachers, who by their subtle doctrine would bring us into error. Grant also, O Lord, that these true shepherds may accurately and reverently minister your holy mysteries to us… [that we may have] our faith … established, confirmed, and strengthened. And may we be comforted and made strong against the gates of hell, the devil, the world, the flesh, the curse of the law, sin, death, desperation, and all that is hostile to us. May their shepherds hands not be stretched out to receive, and slow to give. But establish in them a mind that is content, and willing to spend for the relief of the poor, that they may feed the flock both in word and deed. You commanded your apostle Peter three times to feed your flock. And you gave this command not only to Peter, but to all your apostles-even to all pastors who follow. Deal with your flock, most faithful Shepherd, according to your promise. Raise up faithful and diligent shepherds who may feed their flocks with your life-filled word, lead a good life, and maintain hospitality for the comfort of the poor. And in all things may they behave according to your will and commandments. So when you, the most high Bishop and chief Shepherd, appear, may they receive the pure and spotless crown of glory. In Jesus' name we pray this. Amen. Benediction: May the Lord grant you The love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can sway, The hope no disappointments can dismay, And the passion that burns like fire. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Your Nightly Prayer

Send us a textMorning by Morning, October 4, 2024 - Days of Awe Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look up to You, my Redeemer and Redemption, who is always near. ... “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 33:8).During these Ten Days of Awe on the Biblical Calendar -- from the Feast of Trumpets until the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:24-34) -- I stand in awe of You, I bow low in humility before You, I lift up my praises in worship of You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. These are days intended to honor You and humble our hearts before You, in both the love of God and the fear of the Lord.  These are days of repentance and return, introspection and intimacy, solemnity in the searching of our souls to surrender to You all that is not yet like You: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). Thank You that when we seek You in humility and search for You in faith, You promise that we will find You, that we will be embraced by You. “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13-14). “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). In these Days of Awe, help me embrace a living lifestyle of humility before You, dependence upon You, passionate persuit of You, in both the love of God and the fear of the Lord. This day and every day, I stand in awe of You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.Written and sent out from the morning prayer time of Tommy Hays each day.God bless you and may you have a great day!—Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministrieshttp://messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, September 11 - God our Strength and “Strong Tower” Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Fortress of Strength and the Rock of my salvation (Psalm 18:1). I look to You and wait for Your leading to begin my day grounded in You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... On this day  of “9-11”, our nation remembers the day of September 11, 2001 when we all watched in horror as the towers of the World Trade Center fell in New York, when a plane slammed into our Pentagon like a missile, when a plane piloted by fanatical terrorists was forced to crash into an empty field in Pennsylvania because brave Americans rose up in rebellion against the wicked plans of evil men that ominous day with the sacrifice of their lives. Our towers fell. Our sense of security was shattered. Yet You are the God who redeems all things , who causes even wicked and evil things to work together for good if we turn our hearts to You (Romans 8:28). And just as our nation humbled our heart before You that day in our grief and sorrow, in our shock and confusion, in humility and prayer, may we turn our hearts to You again today.  As we remember that day, may we remember You. For You are our Strong Tower. “The name of the Lord is a Strong Tower. The righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).  We need You now more than ever. So I join with all those across our land who humble their hearts before You to call upon Your name for Your mercy and grace, who embrace the Promises of Your Word: If we seek You with all our hearts, we will find You (Jeremiah 29:13). If we draw near to You, You will draw near to us (James 4:8). If we humble ourselves in Your sight, You will lift us up (James 4:10). Righteousness is what exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34), so let Your righteousness be found in our hearts again as we turn to You alone as our Fortress, our Rock, our Strength and Strong Tower. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.Written and sent out from the morning prayer time of Tommy Hays each day.God bless you and may you have a great day!—Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministrieshttp://messiah-ministries.org

Highlights: Happy birthday week to Terry! What Terry saw Tuesday in his visit to Browns minicamp; What it means that Amari Cooper was a no-show for the first day of mandatory minicamp, and what to expect next; Deshaun Watson risked injury at a softball game on Saturday. It was not smart, and could have been a lot worse; What Terry's seeing new with the Browns offense; What's up with Ben Lively, Gavin Williams and the Guardians rotation; A fan email about a way to save some throws for pitchers; Could a healthy Cavs roster be giving Boston a better run in the NBA Finals? Experience vs. new ideas in the Cavs coaching search; Terry discusses his upcoming Faith & You Father's Day column about his dad, and playing catch; And a couple more foul ball stories from listeners, plus an autograph story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen along as we begin our journey through the book of Hebrews. Notes//Quotes: Hebrews 1:1-14 - Kim “(1) Whereas pastors in the Christian communities were normally referred to as “elders” or “overseers,” in Hebrews alone among the New Testament documents they are called “leaders” (hegoumenoi) (13:7, 17, 24). Outside the New Testament this designation for church leadership occurs in two early Christian documents, 1st Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, both of which we know to have been associated with the church at Rome.(2) First Clement, a pastoral letter written from Clement of Rome to the church at Corinth sometime around the end of the first century, demonstrates extensive use of Hebrews. One section in particular (36:1–6) shows direct literary dependence on the book, and the rest of the document bears the marks of Hebrews' influence. Therefore, the earliest evidence of Hebrews' use in the ancient church locates the document in Rome.” - George Guthrie “32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Heb. 10:32-34) “God's Son—heir, agent of creation, sustainer of the universe, Savior, and sovereign—who now sits at the right hand of God… in 1:1-4 we find no fewer than ten weighty topics, which span from heaven to earth and from eternity past to eternity future. The list of themes reads like part of the table of contents in a systematic theology textbook! How can we focus our application when we are confronted with so much substance in such a short space?”  - George Guthrie "The story of divine revelation is a story of progression up to Christ. But there is no progression beyond Him." - F.F. Bruce "Just as the Spirit of God in this passage invites all to come as far as Christ, so He forbids them to overstep this last word of which He makes mention.” - John Calvin “There have been many attempts made by the fathers of the Church to explain the relationship between the two Divine Persons, the Father and the Son; but the explanations had better never have been given, fro the figures used are liable to lead into mistake. Suffice it for us to say that, in the most appropriate language of the Nicene Creed, Christ is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” He is co-equal with the Father; though how that is, we know not. He stands in the nearest possible relationship to the Father, — a relationship of intense love and delight, so that the Father says of him, “This is my beloved Son.”” - Charles Spurgeon “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” - C.S. Lewis Dear God, thank You for speaking to us in the Bible, the writings of prophets, who wrote in so many different ways over such a long period of time that we have good reasons to believe in Your absolute truthfulness and faithfulness. Father, we especially thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom You made all things. Through Your Son, O God, You have spoken to us truly in the Bible and through creation. We thank You that in addition to speaking and demonstrating Your will and way of life for us, that Jesus died so You could forgive us and purify us in spite of our sins. We thank You Father that Jesus sits at Your right hand and always intercedes for Your people. Oh God, we thank You for the angels who watch over us as Your servants, and we praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because He is far superior to the angels, for He is Your Son. Indeed, all the angels worship Jesus and so do we, Your children, because He is worthy of our adoration and praise. Lord Jesus, thank You were sitting on the throne of God, for indeed You are God. Unlike the leaders of this world, You rule with justice and righteousness. Indeed, we pray for You to come again quickly and visibly display Your just rule over all in the Kingdom of God. Amen — How God Teaches Us to Pray: Lessons from the Lives of Francis and Edith Schaeffer

Sheltered Nahum 1:7 #Nightlight #RTTBROS “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” Nahum 1:7 Hard times will come, but God is our stronghold, as Adrian Rogers declared: “Regardless of how steep the cliff, how sharp the thorns, or how dark the valley, our faithful Lord is walking with us every step of the way.” We can trust God to uphold us in every trouble As we start a new day, let us rejoice and be glad in it, for this is the day the Lord has made. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 KJV). God is inviting us to partner with Him to make this day count for eternity. As Max Lucado reminds us, "God's desire is to be your stronghold and your peace. He has strategically placed you where you are to reflect his wonderful light." When challenges arise, let us not despair but remember God is still on the throne. As the late preacher J. Vernon McGee said, "Don't forget that God not only reigns, but He overrules. He is able to take that which seems to be a defeat and turn it into a victory." We can have hope no matter our circumstances. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance" (Psalm 42:5 KJV). God sees all we are facing today and cares deeply. "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7 KJV). Max Lucado reminds us of God's tender love: “He will calm your storms and guide your ship to the harbor. Give him the sails of your heart and let him chart the course.” Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, our faithful Friend. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us, as the great preacher Charles Spurgeon proclaimed: “Do not despair because the enemy seems to have power over you...Though darkness surrounds you, the darkness cannot shut Him out." We have no need to fear. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 KJV). As we close in prayer, thank You Father for being with us and for giving us the victory through Christ Jesus. "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57 KJV). May we walk in faith and perseverance throughout this day. Our Podcast, Blog and YouTube Links https://linktr.ee/rttbros Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out. https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Today on Meditating the Word, the flight to Egypt, disaster becaue of idolatry, and a message to Baruch This is Day 233. Today we are reading Jeremiah 41-45. ---- Father God, thank You for Your Word, even when it's hard, Father, we know it's given for our instruction and our correction. So, we take these words of Jeremiah and apply them to our lives. How many times do we come to You Father, seeking an answer, but seeking the answer we want to hear, not necessarily the answer You give. Help us, Father, to listen and to obey and to follow Your ways and not our own. Help us to remain humble, Father, and not seek great things for ourselves, but to give You all the glory forever. Amen ---- We are reading the entire Bible this year in the order the events actually occured chronologically. You can download a copy of the reading plan from blueletterbible.com. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube, that way you'll get a notification each time a new episode is released.  It's my goal to encourage others to strengthen their Christian walk through daily reading God's Word. You can help, by sharing this podcast, and by rating and reviewing it. Thank you for joining me today and know that I'm praying for you. Join us tomorrow -- and every day -- as we continue our journey through the pages of the Bible. I can't wait to see you tomorrow.  Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. ---- Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/at-dawn License code: SFVKF2JFJJIFZDGT Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/a-journey-of-love License code: VUSCEHWQYYSXTUKG

Faction Cannot Prevail (9)      (audio)  David Eells – 8/20/23  Word From The Lord  Debbie Fenske 6/29/23   I want to share a word Jesus shared with me as I was sitting before Him, praying, and just waiting on Him. I heard Him speak a couple thoughts to me. After writing down the second thought Jesus just kept speaking this encouraging word.   “Many, so many who have, in the past, been a part of UBM, are beginning now to understand the evil, and the dangers of faction. The truth that they are receiving from Me is instilling a holy fear within them. This is why I rise up in David, My servant, moving within him to keep talking and warning about this. It has been imperative for him to do so, for faction is a disease, killing many. So many who have not understood this are now finally listening, and repenting, and many will return to My ministry of UBM to receive truth once again. For they are aware of the great deadness of their spiritual womb. My truth, and a holy fear of Me will produce life in them once again.   My servant, David, must not stop speaking about these things. For I will have My way, which is revealing to all I have chosen, the true condition of their hearts. My truth will break out again like a wildfire through the mouth of My servant, for My anointing will not leave him. And My anointed chosen will soon be revealed, and many, many blind eyes will be opened, and the deaf ears will hear. Hearts will be healed, and they will rush under the presence of My anointing, and will grow, and will with much Joy, and spiritual vigor, produce much fruit which will come forth from My life within them.  My provision, in every way, will flow once again. Press in, and I will give abundant blessings. Receive them now, as you press in to Me, that I may make them manifested to you. For My Spirit is moving, stirring hearts to come back to Me, and My anointing. They are coming back to the truth. Trust Me, and wait on Me, and you will see, soon, the outpouring of My Spirit, and My great supply of provision for my people, as the unleavened bread continues to go forth from My anointed, and spoken forth from all who have received, and believe, and are walking the unleavened walk. The time is set for my life received to pour forth from you, a flowing stream of life. Remain faithful, humble, and pure. I have not, and will not fail of any of My good promises to My unleavened bread ministry.”  Before I got on the zoom meeting, I prayed that God would somehow, someway, confirm this word. And I believe that He did that through some verses that were shared.   Deb Horton's scripture that she shared was Jeremiah 32:6-15. The confirming verse is the second part of verse 15. “Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.” I also felt confirmation was received in verse 15 of her scripture verses. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Houses, and fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”  Shay shared, Philippians 4:19-23. Verses 19 and 20: “And my God will supply all your needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God, and Father glory forever and ever. Amen.”   Amen! Yes, Lord. All glory belongs to You! Thank You, faithful Father, for delivering and rescuing those who you will from the evil faction, and opening the eyes of those who just could not see to receive the awful truth about faction, and so gave up and set aside your truth. Thank You for your blessings now, and those you are about to abundantly bestow upon UBM, and for your faithfulness to all, all over the world, who are faithful to you in giving out the unleavened truth of Your Word. Amen!      Satanist's Abuse of Young Women    David Eells  First I would like to say that we have pretty well used language in the following to make as sure as possible not to arouse any individual but any who would like to opt out can do so. The information is important because satanists depravity against against Christians is becoming rampant. Satanists astral project themselves to rape young women or otherwise control them. They then can have perverse thoughts they never had before. https://youtu.be/M9IV550e2ko   Satanists rape their own children to impart perverse spirits to them by injection so they can take advantage of them and also impart their evil gifts to them. One of the local satanists young girl who was very Christian when we knew her and opposed her father's faction was now seen to be a boy with very short hair, plus mannerism and dress, this is clearly bisexuality and historically satanists impart this and other evils by incest spirits. The father had a very long pony tail and kind of sickly looking. I am convinced that the local satanists who focus on us as their main hatred under Kevin C. Rea are astral projecting themselves into 2-3 of our young women to have sex with them at night without their knowledge. From research I discovered that this is common with satanists and more than one satanist can do this at a time. The women often awake with symptoms of pain in their vagina area. I am not sure of any other places. This is common with satanic night time rapes. Also, incubus demons molest women, but I do not think they are needed in astral projection cases by satanists. These are all from the same Devil. We can cast incubus out and bind any molestation by satanists in the name of Jesus.  Demonic Sexual Abuse  Excerpts from:  The Young Female Body as a Site of Demonic Sexual Abuse: The Case of Christians in Charismatic Pentecostal Churches in Durban South Africa By: Vivian Besem Ojong'  Ten young girls were interviewed for the study drawn from three churches in Durban South Africa. … The article exposes how young women under such forms of abuse have been silent (until now) and the alienation they suffer as a result of their experiences.  INTRODUCTION  The young female body is beginning to draw attention within the Pentecostal charismatic circles through the process of ‘deliverance'. These bodies are being perceived and represented differently through the local churches, the young women themselves and the media. …   Turner's (2004:71) concept of embodiment increases understanding of the subject matter because it talks about the body as a life process that requires learning techniques; practices which gives a body its place in everyday life. For young girls (with little experience in life), it is a bit challenging for them to separate what happens to their bodies and how they view their bodies and are viewed in society. Viewing the body from a phenomenological perspective, Merleau-Ponty (1962) describes the body as a province of meaning. Through the concept of embodiment, the paper examines how young women view their bodies after demonic sexual activity.   The realm of religion and sexuality is one which fueled with conservative and traditional values. Within the Pentecostal charismatic circles, sexual relations between demons and humans are an essential part of their belief and practice. Through the Pentecostal charismatic churches, the female body is portrayed as a site of active demonic sexual activities and exoticism and as one trapped in secrecy and shame. …   The aim of this research was to explore the meanings and explanations that young women gave to their experiences of sexual abuse of demons and the interpretations they gave to the public display of the process of exorcising these demons from their bodies. Since little or no research has been done on the experiences of such women, it is exploratory in nature, designed to understand general meanings the women gave to their experiences. Instead of sticking to the taken-for-granted definitions of sexual abuse, I relied on the specific explanations given to me by the women in my sample.   These understandings were then mirrored around the other existing forms of sexual abuse and forms of violence against women. Several key questions were asked: what are the different forms of demonic sexual abuse? How do the young women know that they have been sexually abused? Are they able to narrate these experiences to friends, families or pastors? What avenues exist for women sexually abused by demons? How do the women feel about aspects of their private lives being displayed openly in public? Are they able to exercise agency? Do the Pentecostal charismatic pastors take advantage of the women's situation for church growth? How can the feminist movement contribute to the empowerment of such women?   From the different churches I have been ministering deliverance to young women; I was able to utilize a sample of ten young women who were willing to explain and talk openly about their experiences. The data was gathered through in-depth interviews with ten women over a period of twelve months. These women fell within the ages of 13 to 21 years… These young girls are caught between telling their stories and keeping quiet. By the women maintaining silence and not narrating their experiences may be misconstrued as entirely an individual matter. But from a feminist perspective, women's continuous abuse lay in the ability of the abusers to stay hidden and keep the women quiet about their suffering. These young women have on a whole maintained silence about their experiences of sexual abuse for fear of further cultural and religious images of being depicted as some sorts of evils themselves. From the different interviews conducted, it was clear that most of them were willing and anxious to get help but at the same time, had remained silent about their suffering. Seven out of the ten women had become very reserved and withdrawn (even within the context of the church) as a result of their abuse, while the other three have become overly outwardly spoken.   These behaviors to me seemed to have been shaped as coping mechanisms in response to their abuse. Three of the women said they had decided to distance themselves from the rest of the women by either having no friends in Christian circles, or coming late to church and leaving early to avoid any communication with people. Whenever they found themselves in group meetings, they remained quiet throughout. These may be seen as some form of dysfunctionality; but actually these are means through which these girls survive sexual abuse on a daily basis. In order to get these young women to speak to me about the “unspeakable” experiences of their lives, I had to apply empathy.   When I first decided to conduct research of this nature on women who were sexually abused by demons, my main aim was to highlight their experiences and bring their suffering to the fore in a critical manner. (From what I have researched it is actually satanists using demons to do this for their own lusts in some cases but incubus demons don't need satanists to do this. Also the demon of asmodeus (spirit husband) God has also revealed is part of the raping of women and making them supernaturally attracted to him. This is used by the satanists to rape women. The author here also goes into the abuse of pastors trying to get notoriety with their deliverances and possible other abuses by them.)… Sexual abuse of women by demons is not a new phenomenon, but also not very clear within the Christian circles. … During the deliverance of these evil spirits, different voices are heard; the young woman's voice, the voice of the Pentecostal and the voice of the demon speaking through the women.   What appears to be strange about the two voices heard from the woman is that, she has no recollection of the demonic voice that speaks through her. To her ‘embarrassment' after each deliverance session, the young woman is told by those who attended the church services or those who watched the church services through live television broadcasts.   … Being a church minister, I have come to the understanding that this sexual demonic abuse of women is fast becoming a social/religious problem and warrants academic attention. …   As I moved from interviewing one young woman to another gathering their stories, I realized that these women's sexuality is being damaged as a result of continuous abuse and they are struggling dealing with sexual relations with men. As one of the young women narrated, ‘whenever a man approaches me and tells me that he loves me, I see the face of the demon' (Anna, 21yrs). M (18yr old) explained that, whenever she is approached by a man for a romantic relationship, she develops a fear that he may violate her body the same way the male demon does… The experiences of S (22yr olds) explain how dehumanized young women feel about these abuses…  When I was thirteen years old, I woke up one night and thought that I had peed on the bed. When I properly examined myself, it felt like someone poured prepared jungle oats on my private part… (As we will see this is the satanists doing their usual thing.) After one month, it became a weekly event and I began seeing faces of men but was unable in most instances to even shout for help or raise my hand until the person leaves me. This continued until I turned 21yrs. This demon started showing himself to me and claiming I am his wife. I don't know how he enters my room and he is very rude and harsh. He does not discuss anything with me. He only comes and has sex with me. There is something about him; whenever he comes, I am unable to speak, shout or run away. Since I turned 21, he ensures I see him before he will leave me.  E (19yr old) feels that she is used as a sex tool by multiple demons. (and Men) Every night from when I turned 15 yrs I have been waking up every morning angry because some short dark men have sex with me… They come straight for sex at night and leave the next morning. When it is night time, they come again. What is strange is that, one handsome demon came twice but I could not see him clearly when I looked at him. And sometimes, I see different men, some I recognize because they come often (these men don't exist in my community; I see them only when they come to sleep with me). I do not recognize most of them. There was a time I asked one who pretended to be nice to me; where he came from. He said that he lives under the sea, that I am his wife… Sometimes when I pray, I will be able to refuse to have sex with them. Sometimes, even if I did not sleep with a man, I will wake up in the morning angry because I will have the feeling that something was in my private part. As a result of these assaults, something in me hates men. I feel like I should be with a woman who cannot hurt me. Many of the men who do this to the women are bisexual and they are imparting these demons to the women.) I remember when I was 15yrs old, I had a dream whereby I was handed to a man in some sort of a wedding ceremony I can boldly say is among those who come and have sex with me. …..   At this point, she turned and starting weeping, asking me whether there is something in her that attracts these spirits… She said that early this year in January, she was walking and came face-to-face with the one she thinks married her, immediately she saw him, he smiled and disappeared before she could even think of what to do. Since then, she explained that… He has been appearing in my bedroom. (This is most likely a satanist who astral project themselves to and in the women.)  I will open my door and find him sitting and waiting for me. I cannot run away. I feel helpless. I have attempted suicide twice by talking overdose of sleeping pills but it did not work.      Testimony of a Sister in Christ    Being the age of about 4 years old is the youngest I can remember. When I was a child, demons, or unclean spirits, whether they were human or just demons I am unsure, but they would come to me especially when I was alone in my room at night and also attack me when I was physically asleep.  I remember as a child they would appear to me as a cartoon character or a character from a toy or doll, or sometimes to do with children's things. (The Lord did a lot of deliverance with me relating to demons that entered me as a child through children's films, children music, toys and dolls. (The origin of dolls was for voodoo and witchcraft and there are many demons in them.) I believe because as a child, I trusted and was comfortable with these things, demons would disguise themselves as that.  These demons or spirits in disguise would trick me into having sex with them and it was probably almost nightly. As I got a little older new demons came and some of them would threaten to kill me if I didn't give in to them. They promised to protect me from other spirits if I let them do what they wanted. These sexual things were not just spiritual but also manifested in physical things, and I would experience the physical feelings and sensation and soreness and smell etc.   Other demons would disguise themselves as a person that I had a “crush” on, which caused me to easily submit in this way. But mostly I remember as I got older, most of these spirits used fear and threats of death or torture, unless I let them do what they wanted.  Because this had been a normal thing since I was about 4, sexual sin was normal to me which I fell into around the age of 7. This was so normal that I didn't understand that it wasn't normal until after God woke me up to Himself.  When I had just turned 18, I was drugged by a couple that were involved with witchcraft, satanism and snuff porn. I had no knowledge of what had happened to me until I woke up in the morning lying naked in their bed. I had no memory for the past 12 hours. They told me of the physical satanic abusive things they did to me, but I had no memory of any of it, probably because of the drugs. The lady in the relationship was pregnant at the time.  When I was 19 and travelling in the USA, I met a man and some of his friends and I stayed with him at his hotel for a while. He had an extreme amount of money, and he wasn't very old. He told me it was from getting bitcoin before it went big and all money he had, he had to get from a crypto machine. I guess we got along because we had an extreme amount in common. (I did not know Jesus at the time) but one night God supernaturally opened the spiritual realm for me, and he showed me that this man was involved in human trafficking. He would get the women and take them to a specific place, and he would hand them over to the next line of people and he would get paid. I saw this was all true and this was what this man's original intentions were for me.   I was in extreme sin, and I didn't care if I lived or died, I didn't care about myself, so I kept staying with this man even though I knew of the evil he was involved in. I did not have much knowledge of human trafficking at that time, but I was interested to know more about it, so I asked him about it. He freaked out for a while and was worried that I was with the FBI or a spy or something. But after a little he could see I wasn't with the FBI and we were like friends with a lot in common, had similar personalities and desires in life, both in love with drugs and we both knew the truth about conspiracy theories etc.   I pretended to be interested in what he did and he opened up about it. The hotel and some of the hotel workers where he was staying, were involved with the human trafficking. This was a high-class hotel very close to an airport in California. This man would basically get women (Usually young women that were from overseas and traveling alone.) and take them to a party. (There they would be drugged and given to the next person involved.) Or sometimes they would trick the women to travel overseas (commonly to Brazil) with them where they would get kidnapped once they arrived. This man was just the front-line guy that would find the women, lure them to a place, where the next person would take them, and he would get paid usually between $15,000-$25,000 depending on what the women looked like and her age and virginity etc.   I found out long after this experience that the traffickers work and get paid in bitcoin etc. In my ignorance I kept staying with this guy for a while but then after God allowed another significant event not related to this, I left safely all by God's grace.   After learning of God's existence and my own will to follow Jesus, I wanted nothing to do with sexual sin in my mind or with my physical body. So, when these spirits would try to attack me sexually when I was awake, I would reject it and lean on Jesus, and they would flee after making many threats to hurt me.  But they continued to attack me while I was in my sleep state. They would disguise as my ex-boyfriend and do some bewitchment on me where I had no control or thought. Other times they would paralyze me physically where I couldn't move. They would sometimes sit on my chest or lie on my body and were so strong that I was unable to physically move, and I could only think of Jesus. They could now only attack me at night when I fell asleep. This would happen frequently.  The only Christians I knew at the time thought I was crazy as they didn't have any understanding of the spiritual realm.  I recall one time when I was physically asleep but I was awake. I was like rolled away, doing constant underwater somersaults, in this underwater kingdom. I knew this was real, it was not just a dream, and I knew that I was underwater. In this place there were many creatures that were half human and half sea creatures, and I saw them having sex with actual humans. Whether they were awake or asleep I don't know but it was so real. I saw where these creatures would do strong spells and enchantments on these humans that would force them to not resist but to give into having sex with these creatures.  Later I learned that the marine kingdom is real and the biggest satanist kingdom on earth. It is underwater where humans gather with demons and do evil rituals, and the marine spirits are responsible for all the sexual depravity in the world. They are the ones seducing people and giving them lust; they control and are manipulating them in sexual sins.  After I got married the attacks became less frequent. When they did occur when I was asleep, I would either recognize that the spirit in front of me was trying to seduce me and I would reject it, or I would wake up immediately unharmed. Sometimes it would paralyze me, and I couldn't physically move or do anything until it left.   Other times when I was asleep, the spirit would disguise itself as my husband, being all innocent and use some enchantment to make me attracted to it and make me desire sex. Because I really thought it was my husband, I would give into it, and I would wake up and realize it was a demon and I would have physical pain in my vagina (Like the attacks on our sisters by the satanists) and sometimes other symptoms.  When asleep, these spirits, whether they are humans or just demons, will disguise as someone or something we desire. They know our weak spots and they know what attracts us. Now, when they attack me, they would disguise as my husband and there have been times when I'm asleep, I literally see my husband and I lying in bed at the exact same time one of these spirits is also there. The feelings to have sex would be so real as if being physical awake, and then I would just wake up and realize that I was being tricked by an unclean spirit again.  These spirits also use enchantments or spells to make us feel physical and spiritual pleasure to make us unable to resist them. Sometimes the witchcraft enchantment- spell thing is so strong it just takes over your whole body and it's so real and hard to resist. Many times, after something like this has happened, the next day I have gross thoughts that I never had before.  From my experience, once a sexual act takes place with any of these spirits, even while asleep, a covenant with them is made and they have legal right, and they think they are your husband or wife etc., so they are given more control. Since finding God they have tried many times to convince me that they are my friend by disguising as something familiar and trying to trick me to think I want them because they have been there such a long time, but they are all liars.  But we only want to and have covenant with Jesus, so I have renounced all these spirit spouses and unclean spirits. I want nothing to do with them, I don't want their lies or seduction or witchcraft or enchantments or spells. They all must stop and cease in Jesus Name. And thank You Father for blessing all of us that we can and will be aware of what is really going on when we are physically sleeping. That You for always making it known to us when it's a demon disguising as our husband or another person. Thank You for only Holy experiences when we are physically asleep and awake and thank You that You have made us clean by The Blood of Jesus! ALL praise and Glory and Honor to You Holy One now and forever! AMEN.      Sunshine Daughter of Sacrifice     A Summarization of Parts and Excerpts  https://www.ubm1.org/sunshine.pdf    Teresa learned the following about James and Helen in her investigation and research of her daughter, Sunshine's death:  The two satanists, James and Helen put an ad in the newspaper for employment to ‘lure' Sunshine to them for an interview. They hired her immediately for a job position in their home. They knew she was a Christian and she confessed this to them up front.   James was born to a very wealthy family in the east and raised with the best of everything. After being educated in private schools and graduating from West Point, he served as an officer in the military. He has a highly charismatic personality, warm and outgoing. He dresses well, and appears to have everything going for him. Helen's grandparents were from Haiti. She was raised in the Midwest by her grandmother. Tall, thin and elegant, she managed to raise herself to respectability by her appearance. She claims her uncle is an attorney in this city. She is very straightforward, projecting an authoritative and intimidating persona.   As mentioned, Helen is of Haitian descent. She had not only taken up some of their traditions, but incorporated some of her own. Two hundred years ago some Haitians made a pact with satan in the third week of August, and now, during that week, their commitment was reaffirmed by the offering of human sacrifices. Helen told Teresa that she and James would be greatly elevated in power and be given 50,000 souls to rule over because of their sacrifice of Sunshine. The sacrifice of a Christian is supposed to increase their power especially.   Teresa learned through her own research in Sunshine's case, how James and Helen controlled and manipulated the police, the judicial system, and any witnesses to continue to get away with all their satanic crimes. She no longer trusted the police. There were too many discrepancies in the stories they had given her.  She was not comfortable contacting the detective again. She was told by him that Helen was dead, but learned from two women who knew Helen, that she was alive. They told her of Helen's and James' involvement in Sunshine's death. They said they knew beyond a doubt that Helen and James had murdered Sunshine, that Helen had admitted it – or, more exactly, she bragged about it to them, about what they did before and after. It was plain enough that they were frightened of Helen. When asked if they'd told the police, their response was, “We weren't asked.” Teresa had found these two women in five minutes and three phone calls, yet the detective hadn't managed to get in touch with them.   They told Teresa that the police wouldn't arrest Helen and James. Helen told them this herself. (The satanists bind the police with witchcraft and fear so that they will get away with it.  That is why it is better to go to God because His angels have authority over the witchcraft and murder and the sexual things they always do to their victims.)  Then they told her about Helen's involvement in satanism and witchcraft. “She's real powerful,” they said. Somehow Helen had convinced them she had great and mighty powers; you could see it when they spoke of her. They were certainly afraid of her. “We're not her friends anymore – we only know her,” they said.   Teresa went to the information counter at the police station and gave the woman the number of Sunshine's case and asked where she might go to get the transcript of the original police report. She was told that the record number was a child support case, not a homicide number. She was told to go to Homicide and was able to get the correct case number from the woman there. Here, she learned that James had been “in the system” several times with many arrests and the charges dropped for one reason or another. She then went to the deputy in charge of records, was able to look at the file and found very little information in it. There were no transcripts of a court hearing, nothing but a few copies of subpoenas and a letter from an investigator on behalf of James' attorney. When inquiring about the detectives' findings, she was told those files were with the sheriff's office and she would not be able to obtain them because it's a murder case and still open. She could not trust anyone at the police station.  (Go to God, prayer and faith.) Teresa contacted an old friend who had lived there for many years who knew a lot of people in high places and low, asking him to see if he could find out anything about Helen, James, the detective and the judge from the hearing. He got back to her about her inquiry with a warning. He told her that an old friend of his, a retired deputy sheriff, knew enough about the case to ask him to tell Teresa to drop it. He said her life would be in danger if she continued, not necessarily by James and Helen but others. He went on to explain “a scenario” to make her understand.    “Okay. Let's say there's this businessman who, for many reasons – be they financial, or he's on some kind of power kick – decides to benefit himself. He buys or operates a brothel or a massage parlor or whatever you want to call it, but it boils down to one thing: he has women who do sexual favors for money.”   “Okay, now this businessman throws a party, at some exclusive club, hotel, his home or wherever, and invites as many influential people as he can. Chances are it's taken him some time to build up this rapport with them, but, nevertheless, he invites these influential people – some of them might be police, lawyers, maybe even a judge or a congressman – you know, people who can make a difference to any kind of situation this guy might find himself in. Now, at this big party he has these girls give his influential friends any and every kind of sexual favor they can dream up with their sick, devious minds. And, unbeknownst to these influential friends, the businessman is taking all kinds of pictures of them in compromising positions. Then, guess what? If this businessman were ever to get into any kind of trouble, all he'd have to do is tell one of his influential friends about the pictures he happened to take at his party. Are you beginning to understand, Teresa?”   “Of course, I do. James and Helen keep getting off because they blackmail whoever they have to with these smut pictures. Right?”     (So they did this to Sunshine and it was possibly a snuff video?  She wrote that “Six Satanists, brutally tortured her while performing their chantings and rituals using her blood, as Satanists do, for hours until they were interrupted by a vehicle showing up, and they all fled the place leaving her there. She was just barely alive and still reciting Psalm 23.)    He answered, “You've got it. Now, can you see how much danger you're in? You can't trust anyone, because you never know whether the one you go to might have been a photo'd friend.”  (This they do with the police and judges and politicians. Its Epstein Island all over again and again and again. They have taken over the nation this way. The Children of God cult sent a pretty woman to seduce me but totally failed. They did this to men they wanted to capture. The faction sent one woman they captured to me; another failure. By the grace of God I had no interest.) Teresa wanted to find out why James and Helen murdered Sunshine and was able to contact a woman who was listed in the police report. She agreed to talk with her and her story correlated point-for-point with what she had already been told by Tinker, Helen, the two women, and with what the autopsy indicated.    Teresa wrote letters home telling Sissy and another dear friend all the details of what she had found, just in case something did happen to her. Then they'd have some idea why, and possibly even who.   She remembered a conversation with the detective a long time ago, when he'd told her there were some pictures of Sunshine in his file, and that she could have them later. She called and was told she was allowed to come and get them but when she arrived, the property sergeant told her that he had looked all through the homicide files and couldn't find the one for Sunshine's murder. He said that it was nowhere in the homicide department, and he would go to the archives across town to look for her file thinking it must have been transferred there. However, the next day when they spoke again, he told her that the file was nowhere to be found after he looked through all the archives, under every possible number. He confirmed to her that everything pertaining to the case, all the evidence, all the statements, all the confessions would be in the file. Teresa asked if new evidence were obtained, could the case be reopened and the sergeant told her, it's like it never happened. There's no case to reopen. It's all lost!   And the moment after Teresa had hung up the phone with the sergeant, God said to her, “It's finished. You can go home now.”  **The Lord had instructed Teresa to pray for Helen and pray specifically that she would confess. Helen eventually called her; the following is Teresa's account of their conversation:  About ten minutes later the phone rang again. I ran and answered it.  “Hello.”  Again, the question: “Sunshine's mother?”  “Yes, it is. Please talk to me. Please don't hang up this time. Please talk to me.”   She paused a long time, then said, “I don't know if I can.”  “This is Helen, isn't it?”  “I don't know if I can answer you...I don't know if I can talk to you.”  I started to speak again, and she hung up.  I resumed praying for her. God, she sounded like such a tormented soul! Help her, Father, and help me to understand and help her. I waited and waited, praying for her to call again. Eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock, one o'clock. I finally went to bed. As I lay there dozing, in my mind I kept praying, Father God, please have her call again. I know so little about Sunshine's death. I fell asleep, and the phone rang again at two-thirty. I ran and picked it up.   “Hello, please don't hang up – hello?”  After a long silence: “Sunshine's mother?”  “Yes, Helen, don't hang up. Please talk with me.”  “He'll kill me, you know.”  “Who, Helen? Who will kill you?”  “James. He's already tried. He'll kill me for talking with you. I made the confession…but I don't know why.”  “I do, Helen. I know why.”  “Why?”  “Because I prayed for you, too.”  “You prayed. Huh,” she snorted. “Your God has no control over me.” She was bitterly scornful.   “If my God has no control over you, then why did you confess? Why are you talking to me now?”  “Just you shut up and listen!” she snapped.  I knew I had made her angry, and I didn't want her to hang up again, so I said, “Okay, Helen, I'll listen. Go ahead.”  “I guess you want to know why we murdered Sunshine.”  “Yes, Helen, I would like to know. It would help me so much to understand.”  She paused a long time. “You wouldn't understand it if I told you.” she said contemptuously.  I felt she was trying to provoke me, but this was too important for me to let her get the better of me now. “Maybe not, Helen, but I'd like to try. I just need to know why. Why Sunshine? Please tell me.”  There was another long silence. Then, in a very arrogant tone, she said, “We ran the ad to attract girls like her. We chose her from the beginning.”  “Chose her for what, Helen? What are you talking about?”  “You ignorant, (blankety-blank) Christians, you have no idea what's going on, do you? You live in your own little (blankety-blank) dream world.”  “Well, Helen, why don't you inform me?” I already had a good idea of what she was talking about. But I wanted to hear her say it, in her own words. “What, Helen? What do us ignorant Christians have no idea about?”  “We do whatever is necessary. You understand?”  “No, I don't, Helen. Explain it to me.”  “I'm a witch. My mother and grandmother were witches. We do whatever is necessary. You understand!”  “Helen, please explain to me why it was necessary to murder Sunshine. Where does she fit into all this?” I was pushing her. I wanted to hear her confirm what I had suspected from the moment I saw Sunshine in the casket.  “Sunshine told me all I needed to know when I interviewed her for employment,” Helen sneered.  “What's that, Helen?”  “Well, she said, ‘I'm a Christian – I won't do anything that will hurt my walk with God.”  Of course, I'd heard Sunshine say this often. “Explain more, Helen, please.”  “It's time you all knew, you're losers,” she said.   She then went on to tell me every detail of the evening they murdered Sunshine. She told me how and why, when and where. There was no guilt or remorse in her explanation. On the contrary, she was bragging about what she had done. I regret that I didn't have more of a spiritual impact on her. I tried. I sincerely wanted to lead her to Christ, but she would have absolutely none of it.  Her last statement was, “The police will never get us. You'll see. You'll see.”      Protection In Ignorance    Anonymous - 2020   A few months after I started following Jesus, my husband and I were visiting my hometown and I didn't know it at the time as I hadn't been walking with The Lord for long, but demons kept giving me all types of thoughts and feelings to go visit my private catholic elementary school on our way out of town. (The enemy tries everything to lead astray.)   Mar 13:5 And Jesus began to say to them, Beware that no one deceive you.   Out of ignorance of spiritual knowledge and the devils' tricks, we went to visit the school, at nighttime and the school was in a secluded area, and there weren't houses anywhere close and it was so dark.   My whole life I had nightmares about trying to leave this school at home time, but I couldn't run quick enough, and it got late at night, and I was still trying to leave. Also, after this experience I remembered that so many times in my childhood where I almost went to this school alone at nighttime with friends, but it never ended up happening.   So, we got out of the car, and it was dark, and we walked inside to a main area in the school and there was barely any light, it felt like we were being watched in the physical the whole time when walking around. We went to a part of the school where I had spent many years and much time.   I saw a person in the physical standing from a distance and I saw them teleport to the left and then run to the right and move around so fast, it was completely supernatural but in the physical. (Satanists can do crazy manifestations in the physical with their witchcraft.)  I also saw another human shapeshift into a crow and then they flew around us making loud creepy bird noises. The presence of fear and evil was so strong in this place, and there were multiple people gathered here all doing creepy weird manifestations. We felt them all staring at us with extreme hatred.  My husband heard a loud growling noise and then said for us to go. We didn't know of real spiritual warfare or deliverance at this time. (The enemy will try all methods to isolate anyone to devour.)  1Pe 5:8 Be sober, watch: the devil, your Adversary, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking to gulp down:   We turned to walk away and then this bright purple light sort of the shape of a human appeared from the distance and we still aren't 100% sure what it was. We think it was either a Holy Angel protecting us, or a false light trying to distract us to stay.   Mat 18:10-14 See ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that their angels in the heavens see at all times the face of my Father who is in the heavens. 12 How think ye? if any man come to have a hundred sheep, and one of them go astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and seek that which goeth astray? 13 And if he come to find it, Amen I say unto you that he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 Thus it is not a thing willed before my Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones perish.   We left and were safe praise God. It was later revealed to us that it was a coven of satanists gathering and that The Lord had many Holy Angels around us protecting us even though we were on the enemy's territory.   I had a dream not long later where I saw that it was the satanists intention to kill us, but praise God that He protected us even in our ignorance.  Jas 1:16 Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.      Some Have Lost their Place in God    Anonymous (David's notes in red)  I dreamed I was taking a walk and came upon a beautiful forest. The beauty of this forest was breathtaking; I just had to walk through this forest. What caught my attention was all the trees were beautiful. There wasn't an ugly tree in this forest. As I got into the middle of the forest, there stood an even more beautiful tree. I looked at my watch and saw that I needed to get home for dinner, so I left. But I decided I would return to this forest the next morning.  I got up the next morning and went back into the forest to once again see the beautiful tree in the middle of the forest. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me; it appeared this most beautiful tree had moved left of where it was the day before, but I wasn't sure. (Just a little compromising the Word leads to worse and then you can be gone. Satan was once beautiful in the garden of God. The goats move to the left, according to Jesus. Goats represent stubborn self-will. At the time of this dream, we were watching some people move to the left, away from God, toward unforgiveness, bitterness, criticism and faction. I have heard from other parts of the world that this is happening there, too, right now. It is the separation Jesus spoke of between sheep and goats.) So I looked around and found a nice-size rock and placed it by the tree and then I went home.  The next day, I returned back to the beautiful forest to check on this most beautiful tree. Sure enough, the tree had moved a few more feet to the left. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with this tree. Once again, I found a rock and put it by the tree and left. This went on and on until this beautiful tree was completely outside the boundaries of the forest. I remember being sad for this tree. Also, I observed this tree wasn't the most beautiful anymore. It looked like any other tree you would see in the world. So I went home very sad.  The next day, I decided to go back and look at the once beautiful tree to see if there had been a change. My heart just sank when I saw that once most beautiful tree; it had completely withered. I went and got some water from a place I knew that was pure water. I put the pure water on that tree for many days but it didn't help. (The true water of the Word has no effect on them anymore, because there is no repentance. If this could happen to a once beautiful tree how much faster could it happen to a not so beautiful tree? Quite often it's the not so beautiful tree that draws the beautiful tree away from the Kingdom.) Then I woke up.  This tree was once most beautiful and died a slow and progressive death, and lost its place in the forest because it wasn't beautiful anymore. I noticed it wasn't pushed out; it progressively moved farther to the left (away from God). (The offended cannot blame anyone for their unforgiveness. It is they who chose to separate. It is a matter of sowing and reaping what has been sown. God is not mocked: whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap.)  Our tongue can give life or it can give death. If we are not walking in holiness before the Lord, what happened to this most beautiful tree can happen to us and we won't look so beautiful before the Lord.  I have a very unsettling feeling in my spirit for the factious. I strongly believe the Lord is shouting at them to repent and He is not going to give them a lot of time and will possibly reprobate some! I pray for their speedy repentance. (Yes, many have run out of time.)      Kevin Kills Eve and Her Sisters    Heather Guinn 4/26/20 (David's notes in red)  It was dark outside and I was inside a mall with my 3 girls and friend Petronique. All the shelves were empty and there was only one store open; JcPenney. People were rushing to buy things. (Its going this way now) My friend laid sleeping bags down for my girls to sleep on the floor that was close to the door.  I felt really thirsty. I told her that I was going to walk across the street to the Perkins restaurant and get some water. She looked at me and said, "Okay, but be careful." I told her I would. I started walking and the only light I could see was a street lamp on the right side of the building. There was a woman on the side of the hill behind the restaurant smoking a cigarette. (This is what she was to be careful of; the faction imparted by slander and witchcraft. Smoking represents partaking of unclean breath representing evil spirits Eve and sisters received from Kevin.)  She saw me and started to walk down. She was on the heavier side and had red hair. (Eve is dumbed down by their demons and full of fleshly desires put in her by Kevin. Kevin has always had lust and fornication. In her right mind Eve would never desire Kevin for she knew the great evil perversion of this man. Her sin was to go after her boys, contrary to God's and my commands to her.)  We went inside the restaurant and it wasn't decorated like a traditional Perkins. It was smaller and was decorated with all old wood. I asked her for some water and she seemed really annoyed. (The factious spirits are annoyed with UBM people.) She said, "Wait here." She went up these narrow stairs to the right. I followed close behind her. She began to panic as she noticed the white stand up freezer to the right was completely emptied of the meat it was stocked with. (This represents the righteous truth that should be preserved in a person's life. She lost the spiritual meat of the word and ability to do the will of the Father when she was deceived by Kevin's faction. She forgot about Cindy her friend, who was seduced into being a “rib wife” for the lusts of Doug Perry and left her husband and children to brainlessly be one of several wives in that cult. This man knows Kevin. They are kindred spirits.)  The left freezer was still fully stocked. (The leftist factious spirits and slander and hatred had replaced the truth.) She looked at me and I knew her thoughts without her saying anything. She was thinking that I distracted her and set her up for someone to steal the meat out. (She has Kevin's demons injected into her by him and they always blame the righteous for their own sins.) She was like, "no, no, no, my boss (Kevin) is going to kill me for this." (He killed her by taking this from her as we will see.)  There was a door that was open to the left that had a small glass window in it. I peaked my head out and looked to see a long metal grate staircase. I then saw a heavy set man that was wearing a bright orange vest. (Kevin is very heavy and the orange represents your life is in danger from what is in his heart.) He began to walk up the stairs to get the rest of the meat. He was whistling and I felt the most evil presence from him. One I've never felt before. (Kevin is her boss and is totally satanist. He stole the spiritual meat and was going back for more. Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.” Meat also is the solid food of scripture that is for spiritual grownups. All of the faction had this meat stolen by slander, witchcraft, and faction spirits. They forgot everything they learned from UBM. They died to God.)  I put my head back in and the woman said, "Hide," so I hid behind the door. (Does she have enough heart left to warn this woman?) I saw him walk up and the woman said, "Hey you can't be in here." (He, by witchcraft and slander, entered her soul and stole her meat.)  He was suddenly behind her and stabbed her several times in the neck and killed her. (He stole her meat and spiritually killed Eve.) I was then asking God what I should do. Should I rebuke him? What should I do?   I then woke up in the natural briefly and was so disturbed but God took me right back to the dream in the same spot where I left off. I rose up, pointed my finger at the man and said, "God kill that man." He dropped dead immediately. (In this case a spoken Word from the Lord could give Kevin over to death for the murder of many like Eve and then the elect will be set free from his principality and their captivity will be over. The apostle got such a word for Annanias and Sapphira and they died for far less than Kevin's murders and rapes have done.)      What Kevin Did to Eve and Sisters    Heather Guinn 1/10/23  It was nighttime and I was riding in a bus with a bunch of teenagers on this narrow mountainous road. I felt like I was my teenage self as well while on the bus. We were going to some camp-like place. (This represents a wilderness situation. An opportunity for teenagers to exercise faith and obedience for God to supply His benefits.) We arrived there and I was then my current age. (The wilderness is a place one can grow up fast for there is no means for self-sustainability forcing one to trust and obey God.)  I said I needed to use the bathroom. I go in and lock the door behind me for privacy. I walked slowly looking through the cracks of the stainless steel stalls. I get to the very end one and see a woman using the restroom. I knew it was Eve Brast. She looked at me and said, "What are you doing here?" (Some insight into Eve's situation at that point. Obviously they ran into the faction but at least Eve is getting rid of some waste that is not needed in the body. We know she and those like her will make it. :0)  I then walked slowly back to the door to leave and unlocked it. (2Th 3:14 And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, that ye have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. Eph 5:11-12  and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; 12  for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of.)  There were a bunch of ladies waiting in line. (Danger) I knew I wanted to go out on the dock to get to the water but had to go through this room where people were gathered. It was decorated in all wood. (Representing dead trees which represent dead people in the Word.)  A man was at the podium and said, "And this award goes to Eve Brast." (Kevin always wanted a position of authority even if it was over satan's people so this is him.) She was sitting in the back and shot right up. She had short loosely curled blonde hair. (She has red hair so this is faking submission to the sun/Son; a fake Bride. If a satanist like Kevin rewards you, it is for pleasing his flesh to do evil.)  She was wearing a two-piece white outfit with her belly fat hanging out. (The flesh is still there at this point in the dream but we believe it is passing away. They will be free soon. She dines with Kevin regularly and he got huge from no restraint, just like his sex life.)  She slowly ran up to the podium with her arms flared up like a prissy girl.  I walked out to the dock and the moon was shining bright on the water. I knew I was going to search the bottom to see what my husband had down there. (The light of the Son reflected into the water of the Word will reveal much. The moon glory represent death to self and 60 fold fruit.) The water looked completely still but when I got in, it was flowing quickly. (This is called living water.)   My husband (Representing Jesus) was then in the water with me (where the light was in the Word). I told him I needed oxygen (thinking it would be deep.) (Oxygen is life to the body as the Spirit is life to the soul. Breath and Spirit are often the same word.) He handed me the small oxygen tubes that they use in the hospital. I thought, "How the heck is this going to help me?" I grabbed it anyway.  I went down thinking I would find something but it was shallow and there was just sand there. (The sand on the seashore represents Abraham's seed.) I got up out of the water and just hugged him. Then a clear condom goes floating by us. I thought, "What the heck is that doing in here?" (Kevin's sin has always polluted the waters of the seed of Abraham but God drove him from us through faction. (He was not a beautiful tree as long as I have known him, but he drew away some beautiful trees.) His days of polluting us are almost up. I have prayed for him to repent but always get the same answer. In one dream he was killed trying to kill us and in another he was witnessed to go to hell when he died. Kevin just got caught stalking one of our women in her phone.  Then he sent emails from her to insult her friends. He then sent me a nasty message from there. A woman who never did anything to him and served her fellow man sacrificially.)      Eve Resurrected   Heather Guinn 6/29/21 (David's notes in red)  I was in a two-story house with my husband in a tiny room and it was nighttime. We were sitting down on a daybed couch. There was a little boy in a crib to the right. (Representing your fruit of Jesus in you.) I felt a very evil presence in the room. There were two smaller closets to the right that were completely pitch black. I then saw a little puppy that had a collar with a green light on it. (Puppies are small dogs capable of being big dogs and are not supposed to be among the righteous.) He started to go into the room and I said, "No puppy, don't go in there." It yelped and came out. The light on his collar then turned red and he became vicious. (He went into the darkness of Faction, which is vicious towards the saints and their own families.)  He lunged in my husband's face and almost bit him. The baby boy began to cry and suddenly there was a tall man with a long trench coat facing away from us. He picked up the baby, laid him across his arm and snapped his neck. (Kevin is antichrist, which hates the baby boy representing the fruit of Jesus in us and will kill that if one disobeys the warnings of scripture to forgive from the heart and avoid the factious.) I was then outside and there was the biggest moon I've ever seen shining upon this woman. (The reflected light of the sun/Son shining its glory on Eve.) The woman was slender with long red soft wavy hair. She was wearing a white lace dress. (Eve in a wedding dress, meaning she will be in the Bride as many dreams have shown.)  There was a bunch of zombie-like people (The faction are the walking dead seeking who they can kill to be like them.). They had the same red light collars on as the dog ravaging around. (They are vicious murderers.) One came up to me and bit down as hard as he could on my right hand but could not penetrate through the skin, so he went away. I then looked at her and asked her how she was being protected. She looked up at the moon and said, "I have a special protection." (The moon only reflects the light of the sun/Son. It doesn't have its own glory and represents death to self. This is protection. “Righteousness delivereth from death.”)  Pro 29:16 When the wicked are increased, transgression increaseth; But the righteous shall look upon their fall. When they fall like Judas everyone knows who the wicked are. Pro 17:4 An evil-doer giveth heed to wicked lips; And a liar giveth ear to a mischievous tongue. So the wicked are the ones who believe the slandering faction and they are cleased from the body. The righteous will stand the test and grow stronger with more fruit.     Demonic Satanist Attack   Zoé Osegueda - 8/19/23 The past couple to few days I had been greatly under attack, have been fighting, and have felt a bit weak from the warfare. The attacks were very intense mental attacks that I was not in agreement with. I believe it was definitely faction witchcraft sent to me and/or the body because things that normally wouldn't bother me were magnified in my mind.  At this point I knew it was oppressive demons and not just temptations of the flesh. I felt like the enemy was trying to kill me and make me fall away, so I asked the Lord if there was witchcraft being sent against me to please show me, and then Zoé woke up from the following dream that very morning: I had a dream that Lana told me that she was having a sleepover, and she invited me to come. I wanted my mom to come too, and so my mom came to the sleepover as well.  When it was dark, we went outside to look at the stars in the sky and I saw a lighthouse constellation. I said "Look, look! It's a lighthouse!" I was very excited because I had never seen that before. (A lighthouse is a guide to cause ships to avoid death on the rocks.) After looking at the stars and constellations, it was time to go to bed, and we all slept together in Fio and Lana's bed.  While we were all asleep in bed, I had a dream that there were several ninjas dressed in all black, with red ties on the back of their heads, chasing and attacking my mom. (These are the colors of Anarchy. All satanists and especially factious people are in anarchy because they willfully break all laws of God and man.)  I knew these ninjas were demonic and trying to kill my mom.  The ninjas had small swords in their hands and they were trying to slash my mom, until finally one got her and killed her.  Then I woke up from the dream in the dream, and I saw that my mom was still lying there in the bed with us asleep, and then I really woke up. End of dream. My mom received by faith at random: Psalm 72:4 He will judge the poor of the people, He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor.     Kevin's Reprobation   Anonymous - 8/18/23 During the morning prayer meeting, I was asking the Father if He could grant Kevin repentance to be like a Paul. I then said, to the Father "because he's going to hell in a hand basket."  After I said that, I had an open vision of a round black wicker handbasket that had a handle going across it with a black string tied to it.  I saw a  demon lowering the basket by the black string into a fiery hell slowly. I knew Kevin was in the handbasket. I then saw the arm of Lord, He had black scissors in His hand. The Lord cut the black string that was attach to the basket, and the basket descended faster into the fiery hell. 

Genesis 4:1-81 Samuel 15:32Proverbs 14:10Acts 8:232 Corinthians 2:10-11Ephesians 4:30-32Hebrews 12:14-17Matthew 6:8-15Matthew 18:21-35Acts 7:54-602 Corinthians 2:10-11Ephesians 4:30-32Philippians 3:13-14Repentance PrayerFather, I come to You in the Name of Jesus Christ. I confess that I am guilty of the sin of bitterness, the sin of anger and the sin of unforgiveness in my heart against anyone or myself.I renounce in the name of Jesus the root of bitterness that has related spirits, including unforgiveness, rage, anger, violence, revenge, retaliation, and even murder.In the name of Jesus I repent for opening any door to spirits of infirmity, including cancer as a result of the bitterness, anger and unforgiveness.I now close those doors in the name of Jesus and ask you Holy Spirit to burn anything out of me that is not of You.I acknowledge that I am guilty of bitter-root judgments and mindsets that are against Your will for my life. I repent of these evil mindsets and I renounce them in the Name of Jesus Christ.I repent for the judgments that I have held against other people or myself, in the name of JesusIn Jesus name, I repent for any hatred toward people or myself in the name of JesusFather, Your Word says that I'm to see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it, many are defiled. I make the decision today Lord, to obey this Word and forgive all who have offended me, hurt me, angered me and rejected me.I refuse to hold on to this root of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness any longer and I uproot it now from my soul and cast it away from my life in the Name of Jesus!I release everyone from the mental prison of unforgiveness and I release all offenses to You Father and ask that You cast them behind Your back and lay them not to their charge.I pray now for the release of the Kingdom of God into their lives to bring them to You in salvation.I plead the Blood of Jesus over the sin of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness and let it be dissolved as if it never happened in Jesus' Name.I now come out of agreement with the spirit of bitterness, the spirit of anger, the spirit of unforgiveness and I refuse to walk with you any longer. Get out now in Jesus' Name.Father, I thank You for forgiving me and setting me free from the pit and cage of bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness! I choose life in You all the days of my life. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen and Amen!.Mentioned in this episode:Nux Ad Preroll

Lady V's Devotional Episode  Matthew 1:23 ESV says this:  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with US).  Matthew 1:23 ESV  Devotional  When we enter a dark room, it is instinct to turn on the light. There is something inside of us that says— “I need to see where I am going”.  Yet, in life when things get it's darkest, we ignore the whispers to reach for ‘The LIGHT'”.   The LIGHT, Jesus, God with us, came into the world to help us to see beyond the darkness. Jesus came to open blinded eyes, to reveal The TRUTH that we all need a Savior to deliver us from the darkness.  But not just any savior—we needed THE SAVIOR of the world. We needed Jesus, Immanuel—God with us!   The prophet Isaiah and Matthew, the apostle, made the proclamation of who Jesus IS—as did many others.  Isaiah called HIM a Great Light, a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:2-6, ESV). And Matthew called HIM “Immanuel” which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).   Thus, we should never entertain the thoughts of being alone. We that are in Christ have the GREATER ONE with us. He is the Light that shines in the darkness. Jesus Christ—The Light in which the darkness has not overcome (John 1:5).  HE is the name you call on when you need saving from the darkness. Thus, there is nothing or no one else who can save you.   JESUS is ALL we need!  Jesus IS and always will be GOD with us.   We are never alone! The Greater ONE (IMMANUEL) is walking with us.  Beloved, if you are facing dark times there is a way out of darkness. The NAME that lights the way and roots out darkness. The NAME that is THE WAY!  HIS NAME is JESUS, IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US! The NAME above every name!   So, don't keep stumbling around in the dark!  Jesus IS the LIGHT of the world!  REACH FOR THE LIGHT!!  Let's pray...  Heavenly FATHER,   We come to you in the Name of Jesus, Immanuel, our God who is with us. We are thankful for Your Word that reveals that You are ONE.  We thank you for YOUR great love through YOUR SON, our LORD and Savior, JESUS.  FATHER GOD, we thank YOU for loving us and extending such grace to us through YOUR Son.  Thank YOU for the gift of YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, given to help us as we walk through this life.  Thank YOU, ABBA FATHER, that you sent us Jesus to light the way as HE is revealed as the LIGHT of the world, the TRUTH, THE WAY, and THE LIFE.  Thank YOU that YOU'VE given us the promise through YOUR Word that you will never leave us nor abandon us. For YOU are with us now and in ETERNITY.    We thank YOU FATHER for gifting us with Salvation through YOUR Son Jesus.   And Father God, I pray that every Believer will be reminded every day that we are not alone because YOU ARE WITH US.   Thank YOU for loving us and keeping us.   We love YOU Abba! All glory to your Name!  And it's in Jesus Name we pray...AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!  Grace and Peace to you all. And remember that JESUS IS LORD!  Prayer Scriptures  Matthew 1:23 John 1:1-9, 3:16, 10:30,14:26,19:30 Deuteronomy 31:8 Isaiah 60:1  Bible Study Resources  Holy Bible [NKJV, NLT, Amplified, MEV, ESV]  Get the Bible App by YouVersion  NLT Chronological Life Application Study Bible and Zondervan Handbook to the Bible   More devotionals you may like   In HIS Presence – S3-DE17  Heart of Compassion – S3-DE16  New Things to Come – S2-DE20  Listen to We R S.H.E.Talks Podcast with SD and Lady V  Use web player above blog post to listen or subscribe and listen via your favorite podcast platform.  We R S.H.E.Talks Podcast episodes you may enjoy  HIM: The Importance of God's Presence – S3E17  Lost and Found: The Compassion of Christ – S3E16  Let It Go and Receive God's Best – S2E20  Eternity Awaits – S2E17  Identity Crisis–Do You Know Who You Are? S2E10 

Crucified Life Brings Purity (7) (Audio) David Eells - 9/28/22 Father Chastens Every Son That He Receives Eve Brast - 8/17/22 (David's notes in red)   I had a vision of an angel in some brethren's house. His name, “Tobias” was spoken. This name means, “God is good.” He had ear length, dark brown hair and was dressed similar to the UBM angel Baruch in a sleeveless, knee length tunic with a brown leather belt and braided headband that tied in the back. He wore leather sandals that criss crossed up his calves and tied at the top. He held a long, stout, grey, metallic rod that was octagonal around in shape in his left hand and he cradled a leather bound book in the crook of his right arm to record acts of obedience and progresses. His eyebrows were furrowed but not deeply as Baruch's. My attention was brought in closer to the rod and I saw the word, “Love” engraved around it, near the top. He looked a little intimidating but was actually more personable and engaging. As I was wondering what Tobias' purpose was there, and especially about the curious rod he was holding. Then he spoke to me a message, “I am a buffeting angel… Keep your hearts pure. Continue to rid yourselves of all that defiles. Strive for unadulterated obedience to God's Word and surrender yourselves onto your Father's altar of sacrifice and things will go well with you. Otherwise, I am assigned to coordinate your Father's chastenings. But always remember that our God and your loving Father, “chastens every son that He receives.” For so my name testifies to God's goodness, He loves you very much. (Here is the scripture reference: Heb. 12:4-11 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have  been trained by it.) Here is a confirmation dream:   The Rod of Correction Anonymous - 9/15/22 (David's notes in red) (This person is representing the corporate body of God's elect. I believe Father gave this dream to confirm Eve's vision of the Buffeting Angel.) I dreamed I was in a well lit room, that had white walls with wood door and trim. (Representing, Jesus, the narrow Door of the cross.) (The white walls represent separation or sanctification. The well lit room represents discernment of truth. The narrow door or cross conforms us to His Image.) I was screaming for help to get out. (We can pray and complain to the Lord to get out from under the pain of our cross but, not until we repent, will we be set free. Our flesh doesn't like being crucified or being burnt up in the fiery trials. The sooner we stop running from our cross and let it do its work the quicker we will come into the image of Jesus.) Then this man with some kind of authority came into the room and was going to beat me with a thick, solid, three inch, diameter piece of metal. (Representing those the Father uses to administer the rod of correction. Pro 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child; For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.) I was fearful of the pain of being beaten and said, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry!” (This represents repentance. The Lord had recently permitted the enemy to use pain and inflammation in my joints to get my attention about criticism, judgment and unforgiveness. Thank you Father for your mercy and grace to teach me forgiveness!) I was then surprised that the man didn't beat me as he turned to walk away. (When we repent we will find mercy.) End of dream. I asked for verses by faith at random for the dream and received Isa. 60:14, (in context 10,14), my finger was on despised in verse 14. Isa.60:10 And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, in my favor have I had mercy on thee.  ... 14 And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; (Notice that this comes after the Lord is done using them to crucify our flesh) they shall call thee The city of Jehovah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (We will be holy after the crucifixion through our enemies is finished.) Also, Ecc 4:4 (In context 4-6) Then I saw all labor and every skillful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. 5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. (I.e. destroys himself) 6 Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind. (We need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and not compare ourselves with others. We all have different gifts and callings of the Lord.) This dream really threw me for a loop at first and I wasn't sure if the Lord was correcting me or encouraging me. It really made me examine my heart. So after examining my heart I asked the Lord if this was a correction and He gave me Luk 15:12. My finger was on the word, "thy substance", (In context 11-32)  11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me.. (When I first read this I thought for a moment and said this isn't me but it used to be me. The Father welcomed me back with open arms and forgave me when I repented! Thank you Father for your love, grace, mercy, long-suffering and forgiveness!) Luk 15:11-32 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country; and there he wasted his substance with riotous living. (We are running a race to finish the crucified life; there is no time to waste feeding the flesh.) (I took the Lord's salvation he had given to me for granted. Jesus is salvation when we abide in him.) 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. (Wasting time feeding the flesh will cause us to miss out on the high calling.) 17 But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: 19 I am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. (Now he must regain time lost or fall behind in the race. Eph 5:16  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.) 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son. (Still the time was useful for humbling) 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. (Living after the flesh is considered time dead)    Vision of My Cross and Triumph Samuel M. - 9/2/22 (David's notes in red) I was lying down and thinking on the Lord. I was deliberately thinking and meditating on Him and wondering whether or not I would be closer to the Lord and trying to overcome my shortcomings and to really manifest Christ. I was sorrowful that I have so much to learn to really be like our Lord Jesus. Then I had a series of visions. I saw a very large cross appear before me. I knew it was a type of our Lords because I felt it was the time period just before He was about to go up the hill and be crucified. This cross was like the Roman's crosses that they used for all the crucifixions. I then knew, this cross was for me and was in my own timeline. I was in terror and had a deep feeling of being separate from everyone else. There was no one to call out to in the physical and all I could see was myself, and this very certain fate. The weather was dark and gloomy and the enemy was accusing me in the background. Then I started to see scenes, one after another, of the spitting, punches, whips, slashes, and horrendous pain that our Lord Jesus took. Each time I heard God say to me, ‘Will you do this for me?' and I was in shock and I said, ‘I don't know if I can bare the pain'. The scenes stopped. I then felt the Lord embrace me and say, ‘If you didn't feel the pain, would you do this for me?' I immediately said, ‘Yes. Of course!'. Then Jesus spoke deeply to the feelings and terror I felt about the journey to the crucifixion. He said, ‘If you will do this without pain, why not with the pain?'. I was convicted. Am I doing this just to appear to be taking up my cross or am I truly going the whole extent and giving my all for Him? I then saw myself getting thrown down and about to be nailed to the cross. I was scared as I was getting my feet nailed. Seriously, this was something of a pure nightmare of pain. But something truly gave me peace. I felt that even though it was painful, it was only for a moment and then it would all be finished. After I felt the nails going into me, the scene changed to our current time. There were so many people there that I recognized but we weren't communicating with each other. There were brethren from UBM, my friends who believe in Jesus - even people I've seen online who have a strong faith and walk in the Lord. All of us were being led through streets towards a square. The crowds were violent and shouting vile words. They tried to shackle us and bind us, but nothing could hold us at all. All the chains just broke! They attacked us with everything from spitting at us to throwing spears at us. The crowds were totally against who we were representing. I had the sense that this was something to do with the persecution of our faith. We were all getting led together but I felt it was an individual battle. In my mind I didn't think to talk to or call out to the others with me but instead just carry on with this journey. Strangely and what eventually made sense later, was that none of the attacks hurt me or caused any pain. It was as if I knew it would hurt but it did no damage nor inflicted any pain at all. Along the way I felt that those in the crowds would just come over to our side and join us. It was sad to see them act that way and I just wanted them to be with Jesus. I then felt that the crowds were separated from us and God and there was nothing more that could be done for them or the world in general. We got to the square and everyone was crying and in their own struggles, but I was at peace. It was as if no matter what would happen to me (and all of us) it wouldn't be a bother at all! I remembered the scripture, “It's not I that live but Christ that lives in me”. I was basically countering all that I saw and would have felt in these attacks, with scripture and nothing could harm me. Then the crowds were preparing for a final blow. I heard a loud voice say, ‘Triumph!'. I knew that now was a time to celebrate and proclaim in full completeness of everything I am, to rejoice and I looked upward. As soon as I did, an amazing fanfare broke out! Like Psalm 150, every instrument played, with streamers and balloons and fireworks and everything you would have for a massive party all came down over all of us! It was so amazing. It even felt as if the Third Heaven was right there with all of us joining and we all sang an amazing song. It was so joyous! There was a bright light that shown on all of us like a giant spotlight and nothing else around us could be seen as all the light was on us. I was then brought back to that cross that the Lord Jesus instructed me to carry. I was then shown myself getting put on the cross and reminded of the Lord Jesus saying, ‘Embrace your cross'. I was so pleased to finally piece things together. It's not us that lives but Christ. We die to self. Take up your cross and follow Him. Death cannot hold Him. It is finished. Victory is His. I praise You Father for accepting all of us, let us triumph with You now no matter what. Glory to You in Jesus Name. AMEN! See My Son in the Mirror Angelica Garza - 9/17/22 (David's notes in red) I wanted to share what I believe the Lord spoke to me as I was struggling and praying. My struggle has been to overcome the guilt, shame, and condemnation of who I was. The enemy has repeatedly come into my dreams to destroy my confidence in being forgiven and righteous before God by faith. The emotions and feelings at times are so overwhelming. (Justification because of what Jesus did is the foundation of our faith. If we leave justification by faith we lose the battle.) This has been a tough trial for me, to overcome deferring to my feeling to tell me who I am instead of the Word. The Lord has seemingly been silent. I believe he wants me (and us all) to only believe his word, even if darkness is all you see. (We must walk by faith and not by sight. We must see Jesus in the mirror by faith so that we can come into His image. 2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.) I was reading Proverbs 1:30-33  They would none of my counsel, They despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices. 32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil. I have been praying for God to give me the gift to submit to His word, and to hear Him and any cost. I have come to the point that I don't care what it costs me so that I can continue with Him. I prayed after reading vs 33, Father, please speak to my heart. This is what I believe He spoke. I asked if I should share and got a yes. It's probably a very obvious, simple message for many, but I believe it's the answer for every trial we face. Father said, “See my Son in the mirror. No matter what you see, what you feel, know of a truth that my words are true. They are life, they are powerful. The enemy is losing ground, so he is trying to entice you at your weak points. Submit to the Word of promise, resist him, and he will be defeated in your life. The Word tells you who you are. Believe me, don't believe him, he is a liar. He seeks to destroy the image of Christ in you. Fight him! He will accuse you of who you were, but it's not who you are. He will tell you I AM not with you. He lies! I AM with you, even to the end of the world. Hold fast to that which you have, don't sell your birthright for one mess of meat. I love you. I will not give you up so easily as you think. I will fight for you, you are mine.”   How Do We Carry Our Cross? David Eells The crucified life is probably one of the most hated and denied doctrines and, yet, one of the most important doctrines, if a person wants to bear fruit and walk in the steps of Jesus. This is the death-to-self as we repent day-by-day, that comes as we read the Word of God and realize what the Will of God is for us. “Repentance” means “to change your mind.” When we read and ingest the Word, the “old man” dies and the “new man” comes to life, because the new man is the Word bearing fruit in our soul.   It says in (Zec.13:7) Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. Jesus quoted this in Matthew 26, speaking about Himself being the Shepherd, and the scattering of His disciples being at least the beginning of God turning His “hand upon the little ones.” It sounds very much like the Lord is out to kill us all. The Lord Jesus was the first, the Example, the Sacrifice, and without Him nothing else would be possible. He made it possible for us to die. Is God really out to kill us all, to “turn” His “hand upon the little ones,” just as He turned the sword against His Son? God took credit for crucifying Jesus Christ. He used wicked men to do it. But now, He says, He is turning His Hand upon the little ones, too. So, what is it about us that has to go to death, that has to be crucified? (Gal.5:17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. There's a war going on because the flesh and the spirit are enemies. The flesh, representing the old man, must die. (1Co.15:50) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. So, yes, the Lord's Hand is against the old man, to put him to death. It doesn't necessarily mean the death of the body. It means the death of the flesh which, of course, includes the mind of the flesh and speaks of the unregenerate soul of man. We're told that the flesh is contrary to God's way and His Will. (Rom.8:7) Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: (8) and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The mind of the lower nature, the mind of the fallen man, the mind of the old man, is the enemy of God. What we have to do is cooperate with God in this process of the crucifixion of the old man. Our Lord Jesus gave us a perfect example of that in (Joh.10:17) Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. Does the Father love all of those who are willing to lay down their life? Of course He does. Jesus said the Father loves those who obey the Son: (Joh.14:21) He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. ... (23) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Of course, obeying the Son is obeying the Word and obeying the Son is laying down your life to take up His life. The Father loved Jesus because He laid down His life so that He might “take it again.” (Joh.10:18) No one taketh it away from me…. Jesus is our example. He wants us to be willing to take up His life. No one else can take the life of the self, the old man, from us, either. People can kill you, but they can't take that self-life from you. We have to give that up. (Joh. 10:18) No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power (literally, the word here is exousia, meaning “authority”) to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. “I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again.” We have authority! When we were baptized, we reckoned ourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Rom.6:11. We reckoned that the old man was dead, that we were crucified with Christ and we don't live anymore. It's now Christ Who lives in us. We received authority to lay down that old life and we can say no to self; we can say no to the devil. We received authority and, likewise, anybody who loses their life will gain their life. If we lay it down, we have authority to take it up. ... Jesus, as our Example, cooperated with this process. He said, “I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. … This commandment received I from my Father.” Of course, we have received the same commandment and we do have power because of what Jesus did at the cross. We have power, or authority, which is the correct word here – dunamis. This authority is the right to use power. We use God's power to lay down the old life and to take up the new. Whether we will or not is a decision we have to make, individually. Not everyone will be a disciple of Jesus Christ, For many are called, but few chosen (Mat.22:14). So, although we have this command of the Lord to lay down our life, He said that it's quite conditional upon us. Some people think it's all over; well, it is, by faith. We see the end from the beginning but we have to cooperate with God in this process of laying down our self-life.   It's all about denying self in (Mat.16:24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. “Follow me” indicates that this person is a disciple, which is a learner and a follower. Denying self and taking up the cross are synonymous. We are not permitting self to live through this body. We deny self, take up our cross and follow Him. Of course, that is to the death. (Mat.16:25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it. Many seek to save the life of self. They seek to justify self and, when they do, they are giving up the opportunity to have the life of Christ and bear fruit. (25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. The word used here for “life” is psuche, and it's talking about your soul life, or self. We lay down the old self in order to take up the new. We lay down our old soul, our own mind, will and emotions, in order to take up Jesus' mind, Will, and emotions. This is our cross. We have this opportunity to advance in this every day, if we'll lay down our life to have the life of Christ. This is a condition and it should make many people tremble because this is a condition that's given to all Christians. Those who don't bear fruit in this area of losing our old life will not have eternal life. It doesn't matter what they have by faith; it matters what they manifest before they leave this life 30, 60, or 100 fold. We do not have to reach 100 fold to be accepted for we are justified by faith. Those who walk by faith will receive power from God to walk the crucified life and they will love, they will embrace the cross! They will embrace death-to-self. (26) For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? Again, the word psuche is translated here as “life,” but there's still another way it's translated: (Luk.9:24) For whosoever would save his life (psuche) shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life (psuche) for my sake, the same shall save it. (25) For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self (psuche)? That's the same word, psuche, translated as “life,” “soul” and “own self.” It is a person's mind, will and emotions. We will have His life if we're willing to give up our mind, our will and our emotions for His. The renewed mind of Christ comes from submitting to the Word of God. Besides just knowing the Word and submitting to it, there are some very important things we can do to cooperate with God in bringing this to pass: (1Pe.2:19) For this is acceptable, it for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. Obviously, we suffer wrongfully at the hands of the world, at the hands of the wicked and at the hands of the curse. We suffer wrongfully and, if we do it because of “conscience toward God,” this is okay. (20) For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted [for it,] ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it,] ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. The word “acceptable” here is actually the word “grace” and may be read, “this is grace with God.” When we do what we're called to do, what the Scripture commands us to do, and we suffer for it, this is grace with God. The Lord says, My grace is sufficient for thee (2Co.12:9)…. So, we're called to a cross and we're going to suffer if we do what's right. (2Ti.3:12) Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The world is going to come against us if we bear our cross. If we're willing to accept exactly what the Word of God says and if we're willing to submit, in circumstances, to God's commands, we're going to suffer death to self. And it's good because it's the only way to bear fruit. (1Pe.2:21) For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: (22) who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23) who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously. When Jesus was reviled or threatened, He turned the other cheek; He resisted not the evil (Matthew 5:39). He knew that this was God's method to bring Him to His cross and the next two verses speak of exactly that: (24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. So, by not defending self, we come to our cross, just as when Jesus refused to defend Himself, He came to the cross.   There is a well-known chapter in Isaiah concerning the cross and what Jesus bore there: (Isa.53:7) He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. We know this is true when He was before Pilate and when He was before Herod. He didn't defend Himself. He knew that this was the Father's Will for Him to go to the cross, so He denied Himself and went to the cross. He could have said quite a few things that probably would have served to defend Him, but He didn't. When we defend self, we're proving that we want to save this life, rather than lose this life. (Mat.16:25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it…. Many people, during the coming Tribulation, for instance, will seek to save their life, but they're going to lose it anyway because, in the great and terrible Day of the Lord, those who have proven themselves to be the Harlot are going to be destroyed by the Beast. They could have accepted their cross during the Tribulation. They could have accepted their deliverance from this world by the crucifixion of self, but since they cast it down, they will lose everything during the great and terrible Day of the Lord. We don't have any choice about losing our life – it's lose it now or lose it later. The point is, if we lose it now, we don't have to endure the Day of the Lord. Jesus was our example here because “he opened not his mouth” and did not defend self. He went to the cross. ... We have many people around us whose only purpose in life is to help us to go to this cross. This is God creating His sons. ... He said He would turn His “hand upon the little ones” (Zec.13:7). However, we still have to cooperate with God. He gave us a decision to make: either lose our life to gain our life or save our life and lose our life. ...We are here to lose our life, our psuche, our fallen, soulish life. Not every Christian will die, but every Christian will lose their life or they won't be Christian. ... There is no eternal life without the cross. No cross, no crown. People are deceived by the devil into thinking that they can justify themselves, that they can defend themselves in the presence of the Word of God, instead of embracing the truth there and letting it put to death their old life. ... Jesus' commands demanded that we do this but we have to make that decision.   Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Assamese Aymara Azerbaijani Bambara Basque Belarusian Bengali Bhojpuri Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dhivehi Dogri Dutch Esperanto Estonian Ewe Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Guarani Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Ilocano Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Kinyarwanda Konkani Korean Krio Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kurdish (Sorani) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lingala Lithuanian Luganda Luxembourgish Macedonian Maithili Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Meiteilon (Manipuri) Mizo Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Odia (Oriya) Oromo Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Quechua Romanian Russian Samoan Sanskrit Scots Gaelic Sepedi Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Spanish Sundanese Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Tatar Telugu Thai Tigrinya Tsonga Turkish Turkmen Twi Ukrainian Urdu Uyghur Uzbek Vietnamese Welsh Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Zulu Powered by Translate Printer-friendly version  

Friday, 16 September 2022   Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.” Acts 10:20   Peter was just informed by the Spirit with the words, “Behold, three men are seeking you.” The Spirit's words now continue, saying, “Arise therefore.”   Peter was obviously still sitting or lying on the roof wondering about the vision when the Spirit spoke to him. But with the arrival of the three men, the time to ponder had ended and he was called to get up. The connection to the vision he sought was soon to be revealed. Continuing His words, the Spirit next said, “go down.”   Rather, the verb is an aorist participle, “having gone down.” It is making a future assumption that he has already obeyed and that the next step is about to come to pass. In other words, “Once you have done this, then you are to next do this.” The next thing to do is then stated, which is, “and go with them.”   This has nothing to do yet with intermingling with Gentiles. There was nothing wrong with a Jew walking along with a Gentile. Rather, this is to assure Peter, in advance, that these men's intentions are proper and nothing untoward is going on. He can be confident that what they have come for is appropriate and that it surely has something to do with the very vision he received and was even at that moment pondering. Therefore, he should be “doubting nothing.”   Because this has been explained to him in advance, he shouldn't be at all concerned about the course of events, as if it is either out of the will of God, or that it is the wrong path to take in relation to the vision. Rather, it is exactly what has been planned for. This is then confirmed by the words, “for I have sent them.”   In reading the entire account, and without understanding the way things work, one could be a bit confused about this statement. In verse 10:3, it says that “an angel [messenger] of God” came to Cornelius and spoke to him, directing him concerning what he should do. Then, in verse 10:4, it said “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.”   Now, it says that the Spirit had sent these men. As the Spirit is God, there is no contradiction here. The works of God, within the Godhead, are clearly and unambiguously seen in this exchange.   Life application: The Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus is God. They also deny the deity of the Holy Spirit, saying that the Spirit is an “active force” but not a member of the Godhead. Some accept the deity of Jesus but say that this is God working through modes (modalism) where Jesus is the Father and the Spirit is the Father (or any slight variation on this concept), and that He is expressing Himself in these various ways – somewhat like an actor going behind a screen and putting on a different mask for a different part of the show.   These are heresies. They do not fit what the Bible teaches. Each member of the Godhead is separate as a “Person” and yet is one in essence in God. To divert from this is to run off on an avenue that can only lead to further heresy. And because there are so many forms of diverting from what is orthodox, there are innumerable little heretics, influenced by Satan, pulling people away from the truth of how God presents Himself in Scripture.   One must be clear, precise, and extremely careful with the knowledge he possesses. A small divergence can turn into an entirely convoluted approach to how theology is understood and presented. If anyone comes to you and presents a doctrine that diverts from standard orthodoxy, warn him once and then a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. And most important of all is what John says concerning the Father/Son relationship –   “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” 2 John -7-11   Keep away from those who twist the roles of the Father and the Son within the Godhead. They are not to be greeted once they have been shown what is right and who then reject that doctrine.   Lord God, may we be clear, concise, and careful in how we present what You have already revealed in Your word. Help us not to get sidetracked by those who think they know it all, but who are actually twisting and manipulating Scripture to tear us away from a right understanding of who You are. Be glorified in our worship of You – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  

We had a great conversation with country artist Presley Tennant on The Chris & Sandy Show. We talked about so many things from family, music, sacrifices, what's new, she told some great stories to a whole lot more! It was great having her back on the show!Some artists perform, but Presley Tennant shines whether it be on stage, in the writing room or on your radio. Radiant and fearless, Presley is a quintessential vocal powerhouse – captivating with a golden persona and unequivocal talent. Rooted in the classics, it's no surprise the Horsetown, USA (aka Norco, CA) native immersed herself in Country Music. Presley astonished the country with her velvety, soul-filled vocals and ‘it girl' image as a member of Team Kelly on Season 16 of The Voice at 16 years old; an experience resulting in adoration from viewers who became loyal fans and a direct path to her dream. Determined to make her own way in the industry, she teamed up with esteemed producers, including Kent Wells and Buddy Hyatt, to create her own version of California-Country, melding together western lifestyle, traditional roots and a modern energy. A born entertainer, Presley has not only performed at multiple Staples Center halftime shows in front of 15,000, but has shared the stage with musical heroes like Tim Mcgraw, Kelly Clarkson, Cody Johnson, Tyler Rich, John Michael Montgomery and more. Making 2022 the best yet, Presley Tennant will not only be opening for artists like Carly Pearce, Blake Shelton and Brett Young, but is slated to release her newest single “Gamble On You” this Spring. TikTok over 7.1M likes & 361k followers // IG: 63k Opened for Tim Mcgraw, Cody Johnson, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce and Brett Young Notable appearance: The Voice, Season 16 (2019) at 16 yrs old Vocals compared to Whitney Houston and Carrie Underwood Current single: Gamble on You // Father's Day Single: Half That Strong

"Who is Jesus?" Pastor Andy Davis preaches on Mark 3:20-35 to answer this question about the identity of Jesus. - sermon Transcript - Please pray with me now. Lord, as we come into Your presence now by faith in Christ, I realize that the central great need that we all have is to see Him who is invisible, to see Jesus Christ, the great majestic God and Savior whom we confess. We as a church, individuals in this church, are going through a variety of life circumstances. Some of us are thriving and healthy and prosperous and successful. Some are growing fiercely more than perhaps than they ever have before and are doing well in their souls. Others are facing significant medical trials or financial trials or relational trials within the family. Others are struggling and wrestling with secret sin and feel very guilty this morning, and there are a variety of other conditions. Some feel lonely in life because of their life situation, wondering if anyone cares about them, wondering who will love them. Others feeling overwhelmed by their job, by the pressures of their employment, perhaps even dreading going to work tomorrow. But Lord, whatever our circumstance, there is no greater need that our soul has than to see Christ, the glorious Christ, to have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ shining in our hearts. It solves everything. That we are reminded that this is the one who died for us, our sin are forgiven. This is the one who has promised heaven to us, saying nothing can snatch us out of His hand. This is the one whose death and resurrection puts in perspective all of the temporary trials that we're facing in life. And so, therefore, I pray that You would, Father, do a miraculous work here in this room today, that by the Spirit everyone here today would have far more exalted thoughts of Christ and a far clearer vision of Christ than they had when they walked in here by the ministry of the Word. That is in itself a miracle of grace, that words on a page that have been around for thousands of years can come alive, that we can come alive to them, and that You can strengthen our souls by this homely act of preaching, of hearing words. That it would be far more than that, that we would have a sense of the anointing work of the Holy Spirit of God in this place, and that work would be to one end, the exaltation of Jesus Christ in our minds and hearts. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. The Most Important Question: Who Is Jesus? Turn in your Bibles as we continue our study, our walk through the Gospel of Mark. As we look at the text, Mark 3: 20-35, we come to this section of Mark's Gospel to the most important question that we can ever face in life: Who is Jesus Christ? Who is He? Certainly, all of us face many important questions in life. Ultimate questions of being, of purpose, of identity. Who am I? Why am I alive? What is my purpose in life? Where am I going? What do I believe? Lesser questions come along the way also. What should I major in in college? What should my profession be? Who should I marry? Where should I live? What kind of car should I buy? Who should I vote for? Of all the questions you will ever face, there is nothing more important than this one: What do I believe about Jesus Christ? Why is that question more important than any of the others? It's because your eternal destiny hangs on your answer. The right answer to that question results in you spending eternity in heaven with God. The wrong answer to that question results in you spending eternity in hell and torment. For all the other questions I listed which mostly shape your life experience temporarily here in this world, they don't even come close to the significance of that question: Who do I believe Jesus Christ is? This is the ultimate fork in the road for all of us. “Of all the questions you will ever face, there is nothing more important than this one: What do I believe about Jesus Christ? … The right answer to that question results in you spending eternity in heaven with God. This question is not overtly posed in this chapter, but it is actually the whole point, not just of this chapter, but of the entire gospel of Mark, and indeed of all the gospels. Later, we will come directly to this question in Mark 8:29, when Jesus said, "'Who do you say I am?' and Peter answered, 'You are the Christ.'" All four Gospels are written to bring you to the right answer from the heart, to give you sufficient reasons to confess that Jesus is Lord God, the Son in human form, and that His mission from heaven to earth was for your salvation from sin, personally. All four Gospels have that same ultimate purpose, to give you enough information to make the right answer. If you see His miracles properly, if you listen to His teachings properly, if you see all of this evidence, you'll come to the right conclusion: Jesus is God. Now, there are many faulty answers to that question. There were faulty answers then, and there are faulty answers now. In that same chapter, Mark 8, Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea of Philippi. On the way, He asked them, "Who do people say I am?" And they replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others, one of the prophets." That list, those are all positive answers, generally positive, but insufficient., they speak well of Jesus but far less than they should have spoken of Him. In our text today, we're going to see some toxic answers to the question, utterly poisonous, degrading Him to the lowest level, speaking very poorly of Jesus. In our day, if you just went around and talked to your non-Christian friends and coworkers and neighbors and family and ask them what they generally thought about Jesus, you'll find that Jesus has a generally good reputation. People generally think well of Jesus. The most common wrong answer about Jesus is that He was a great man, a great moral teacher. Ligonier did a survey in 2020 on this very issue: who is Jesus Christ? Stunningly, 30% of people who identify themselves as evangelicals agreed with the following statement: Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God. 30%, it's almost a third of people identifying as evangelicals would say yes to that statement: Jesus was a great moral teacher, but He was not God. This is a great danger for the so-called evangelical church, that people think it is enough to have a generally positive view of Jesus as a kind, loving leader who taught great things and who loved people, but who was not actually God in human form. Actually, I think this is the normative view in America today. More broadly, back in 2002, Gallup did a similar survey, and while 80% answered that they believed that Jesus was the Son of God, it's like, "Well, that sounds good," a closer look of the data showed that only half of those that gave that answer held that Jesus was incarnate God, fully God, fully man. The rest said that Jesus was the Son of God in the sense that He was a man uniquely called by God to reveal God's purpose in the world. In other words, again, that Jesus was a great moral teacher, but not the Son of God. This brings us into the land of something that many of you will be familiar with C. S. Lewis' trilemma. C. S. Lewis, a great Christian thinker from England, wrote a book on the basics of the Christian faith called Mere Christianity, one of the most popular books in recent Christian history. Since 2001, it has sold 3.5 million copies in English, and has been translated into many other languages. It's been instrumental in the conversion of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. One of the most famous parts of C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity was his trilemma, on the identity of Jesus Christ— Lord, liar, lunatic. Essential to the trilemma is that Jesus claimed to be God, which He did in many ways. You look across the four Gospels, and again and again you see this. For example, in Mark 2, He heals the paralyzed man right from the start of all of His sins, past, present, and future. Rightly, His enemies said, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" The answer is no one, but Jesus took to Himself that authority, and He did the miracle to prove that He had the authority to forgive sins. He called Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. You may have read right through that without realized what an incredible claim that was in that Jewish context; “Lord of the Sabbath, I'm in charge of the Sabbath.” In other places, He said to His enemies, "Before Abraham was born, I am." You don't have to be any kind of Jewish scholar to know what that claim is. He is speaking the language of the burning bush and also claiming to be timeless and eternal. No doubt that's a claim to deity. He said, "Moses wrote about Me." He defended His working on the Sabbath with these words, "My father is always at His work. To this very day, and I too am working." He said, "I and the Father are one." He said, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen Father," and many other such claims. There's no doubt Jesus claimed to be God, that's foundational to the problem of the trilemma. A man who makes such a claim cannot be merely a good moral teacher. That's just not possible. That's been taken off the table by that claim. Either His claim is true or it's false. Either He was God as He claimed, or He was not. If He was God, we should all bow down and worship Him and trust in Him and follow Him. But if He was not, if the claim was false, either He knew it was false or He didn't. If He knew it was false and made it anyway, then He's a liar, a very bad liar. It's not a minor lie either. He was the deceiver of the people. If He didn't know it was false, if He really thought it was true but it was false, He was insane. Because He's in an intensely monotheistic religion, they would've told Him from the beginning of the claim how faulty and blasphemous it was. Indeed, they did. So He had to be crazy if He actually really thought it was true and it wasn't. That's how the trilemma works. C.S. Lewis did not invent this trilemma. Actually, Scottish preacher John Duncan first wrote it in 1859. Watchman Nee also repackaged it in 1936. But Lewis' version is most famous because it was in Mere Christianity. Lewis wrote: "I am trying here prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him, about Jesus. 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That's the one thing we must not say. A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg. Or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool. You can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Now, it seems to me that He was neither a lunatic, nor a fiend, and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." We're going to walk through this complex passage which you heard read earlier, Mark 3:20-35. The context here is that we have had a broad survey of Jesus' public ministry in Mark 3:8-12. Jesus was overpoweringly popular because of a river of healing miracles and exorcisms, driving out demons, so that there were thousands of people around Him every day. The issue of the popular opinion of Jesus starts to come to the fore: Who is Jesus? This text addresses that, raises up different opinions about Jesus. In verse 20-21, Jesus' earthly, biological family have deep concerns about Jesus. They think He's out of His mind so they go to take charge of Him. Then in verses 22-30, it describes that teachers of the law from Jerusalem have heard about Jesus, and they come down from Jerusalem to investigate. They don't deny the miracles, but they conclude exactly the opposite from the truth. It is by Satan, by evil power, supernatural power that Jesus is driving out demons. Jesus addresses their accusations and interpretations. Then in verses 31-35, Jesus' family arrives to take charge of Him and Jesus defines His true family: those who do God's will, a larger teaching of the New Testament. We know exactly what that means. To do God's will means to believe properly about Jesus, to believe in Jesus as Lord. Those are His true family. So that's the three parts of this section in Mark. The issues are many. Issue number one, the main issue which I've been talking about since I began here today is, who is Jesus? The identity of Jesus. What are we to make of this amazing man and His astonishing works? The second issue is Jesus' biological family, what do they believe about Jesus, including His mother and His brothers? The third issue, what is the origin of Jesus' supernatural power? Where does His power come from? The fourth issue in this text is the nature of Satan's kingdom. We get this from Jesus' first answer, “How can Satan drive out Satan?” What is the nature of His dark kingdom? The fifth issue in this text is the nature of Jesus' ministry. What's actually going on as He's doing exorcisms, as He's saving souls? What's actually happening? And that's Jesus' answer number two, He's actually overpowering the strong man, Satan, and plundering his house. We, the redeemed, are rescued from Satan's dark kingdom by an act of spiritual violence. We have been rescued powerfully by a mightier king. That's the nature of Jesus' ministry. The sixth issue is, what about this issue of the unpardonable sin, a sin that can be committed in time which can never be forgiven, not in this age or in the age to come, never be forgiven, the unpardonable sin? The seventh issue is the true family of Jesus, the true nature of Jesus' family. Who is my mother, who are my brothers? What does it mean to be a brother to Jesus and the nature of His family? That's far too much for one sermon, especially with this long intro I've already given you. It is too much to cover in one sermon, so our focus today is just going to be on this initial topic, the identity of Jesus, pulled by the gravitational pull of C. S. Lewis' famous trilemma, I can see it in the structure of the text. First, His earthly family will reveal their answer to who is Jesus, or at least at that point. They thought He was out of His mind, and so I'm going to cast that section as Jesus as diluted lunatic. Then the scribes from Jerusalem will reveal their answer that Jesus was possessed by a demon or even Satan himself, so He was a demonic liar, a deceiver of the people through demon power. And finally, when Jesus' family arrives to take charge of Him, Jesus will put them in their place. I mean, basically He's rebuking them by not going out to them, continuing with those that are sitting around Him and asking this question, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? “Those who do God's will, who sit at my feet and drink in my teaching and love it and believe in me, the teacher.” The answer for them is that Jesus is divine Lord. His Earthly Family’s Answer: Deluded Lunatic Let's walk through that. First, His earthly family's answer that Jesus is a diluted lunatic. Look at verse 20-21. "Then Jesus entered a house, and again, a crowd gathered so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him because they said, 'He's out of His mind.'" Again, is this issue that we have week after week after week, the overpowering press of the crowd. We've got thousands of people around Jesus at every moment. They are desperate for healing or that a loved one be healed. They're pressing Him so much, and Jesus' compassion is so relentless, they match together, their needs are relentless, His compassion is relentless, so He has staggeringly long days, especially because He prefers to heal one at a time. There's no evidence ever of mass healing, so He's just touching people, talking to people, interacting with people. It's an exhausting day so that He and His disciples are not able to eat, they're not able to rest, that's His lifestyle. In this particular case, He goes into the house to get away, but they won't let Him alone. Would you, if you'd come a long distance with a dying child or you yourself were desperate, you've been paralyzed, you're carried by some friends, or you're blind, whatever your need, you want to be healed. Whatever Jesus' needs are not that important to you. His family hears about this. The text literally in the Greek says “those near Him”, but at the end when He says, "Who is my mother and my brothers?" you know you're talking about His biological family. Jesus had biological half brothers and sisters. Mary was not a perpetual virgin, but she and Joseph had normal family life together, and they had four sons and an unnamed number of daughters. Mark 6 names Jesus' brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and then says sisters, two, they're not named, but so there's at least six half siblings. I say half because they shared a biological mother, Mary, but Jesus had God as His father, they all had Joseph as their father. In John 7, we learn an important thing about Jesus' brothers. At that point, Jesus says, "I'm not going up to the feast.” His brothers take Him aside and try to give Him ministry advice, saying, "You're doing all these miracles. No one does miracles like this and tries to stay secret. If you're going to do this, show yourself to the world." They want to be His PR agents. Let me tell you something, Jesus doesn't ever need your advice for anything. Who has been the counselor of the Lord? The text then openly says, "For even Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him." They had seen Him grow up. They'd been in the house with Him. He had never sinned, though. His first miracle we're told in John 2 is the changing of water into wine. He didn't know miracles as a child, as an adolescent, as a young man. He didn't do any miracles before His public ministry, but He was still utterly unique for he never sinned. He was completely unique. They did not believe in Him, but after His resurrection, Jesus specifically appeared to His brother James, and James would eventually become a pillar in the church in Jerusalem, and would write the epistle of James that we have in the New Testament. We believe that the epistle of Jude was also written by one of Jesus' half brothers called Judas, also Jude. In Acts 1, they are waiting for the outpouring of the Spirit, which would come on the day of Pentecost. They're there with Mary, they're all waiting. After the resurrection, that problem is solved, praise God. They do believe in Him, but not at this point. The proof is this text verse 20-21. They hear about what's going on, and instead of praising God and saying, "The kingdom of God is making progress," they go to take charge of Him because they're saying He's out of His mind. That's pretty emotional when you think about that. His family was saying He's crazy, as C. S. Lewis would say it, lunatic.They thought, "We need to save Him from this crowd and this weird lifestyle. We really need to save Him from Himself.” They go to take charge of Him. The Greek word used usually means “concerning arrest”, to arrest a man. You can imagine in our setting now it's something that's called involuntary commitment. You have to have legal grounds for that, to basically imprison someone, the reason being that the person is a danger. The person's a danger to themselves and to the society. They thought He was crazy. You may stop and say, "What about Mary? I mean, what's going on with Mary here?" Most commentators give her a pass. Most commentators say, "She's not included in this, but she's just along for the ride." They actually even give her a ministry of reducing the half brothers in their virulent unbelief at this point. We have no such data. We do know that He, Jesus, mildly rebukes her at the end of this by saying, "Who is my mother? And who are my brothers?" We should not think it beyond. I know that Mary knew she was a Virgin when Jesus was conceived and born. There's no doubt. She knew what the angel said., she believed it. We know the Magnificat, Luke 1. For even, John the Baptist receded from his pure strong faith in Jesus toward the end of his life. You remember when he is in prison he said, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" That was John the Baptist. “You mean someone else other than the lamb of God, someone else other than the Son of God.” How could that be? But that's what happened, people are weak. Peter was weak, he called down curses on himself if he even knew Jesus. So I don't know what's going on with Mary. I do know she ends up a vigorous, healthy believer in Jesus. But at this point, I don't know what's happening with her. “Jesus was the most, really the only truly sane man who ever lived. His mind was pure, pure light, pure love for God, pure love for others, pure love for the truth of God. His teachings were stunningly beautiful. They were rational, reasonable, clear, powerful, timeless.” Was Jesus a lunatic? This is the easiest part of my sermon. No. No, He was not crazy. Jesus was the most, really the only truly sane man who ever lived. His mind was pure, pure light, pure love for God, pure love for others, pure love for the truth of God. His teachings were stunningly beautiful. They were rational, reasonable, clear, powerful, timeless. His demeanor was perfect in every circumstance. He dealt with every person exactly as they needed to be dealt with. He was rational at every moment. All you had to do was listen to Him and you knew, if you didn't have a bias, a twisted, wicked bias, you knew. At one point, some combined the whole demon possession and insanity thing. In John 10:20, "Many of them said, 'He's demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to Him?’” They packaged the whole thing together there, but the evidence completely refuted that. Right there, in the next verse, others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” So no, Jesus was not insane. The Jerusalem Scribes’ Answer: Demonic Liar Secondly, the Jerusalem scribes' answer to the question was demonic liar. Look at verse 22, "And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said 'He is possessed by Beelzebub. By the prince of demons He is driving out demons.'" So the scribes, the teachers of the law, have met Him again and again, they been sent on mission from Jerusalem. Jerusalem's the spiritual center of the nation, so undoubtedly the religious leaders in Jerusalem have heard about Jesus' public ministry. How could they not? They send down a delegation to make an official evaluation of Jesus and His ministry. Interestingly, Jesus' enemies never denied His miracles. That would come centuries later, denying that He even did them. They did not deny it. They accept the fact that He's healing people. They accept the fact that He's doing exorcisms. That's a fact, no one else in history had ever done these things. But they had decided already first that Jesus was their enemy and they were His. They hated Him first, then they explained His miracle, second. Why did they hate Him? Jesus said they hated Him because He testified that what they did was evil. “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” He crossed swords with them when He cleansed the temple in John 2 at the beginning of His ministry, and then again on the Sabbath. Sabbath after Sabbath, He's crossing swords with them, so they hated Him, the opposed him. In John 9 He heals a man born blind and his parents didn’t want anything to do with this court trial on the healing of the blind man, and the parents say, "Ask Him yourself, he's of age." It says there, "For already the Jewish authorities had decided that if any Jewish person said that Jesus was the Messiah, they'd be put out of the synagogue." That's Jewish excommunication. They're out of Jewish life. That's huge, they couldn't buy or sell, they couldn't live in that community if you said Jesus was the Christ. So what explanation then can they give for these miracles? It's so tragic that they can't see the most obvious explanation, that the man born blind in John 9 did see. How can you not see, if this man were not from God, He could do nothing? It's got to be God's power at work. But they couldn't see it. Instead, they ascribe His supernatural power to the king of demons, Beelzebub. Verse 22, "He is possessed by Beelzebub. By the prince of demons, He is driving out demons." Beelzebub is the Jewish insult of the Canaanite word, Beelzebul, which literally means “Lord of heaven.” The Jews changed it a bit to Beelzebub, which means “lord of the flies”, but it's then what they called Satan, he’s the Lord of the flies. Beelzebub, that's what the word means. So that's Satan.These scribes are saying it is by Satan's power that He's driving out demons. It's a demonic deception, Jesus is a huge fraud. John 7:12, "Some said, 'He's a good man.' Others said, 'No, He deceives the people. He's a deceiver of the people. Liar.'" After His burial, you remember the delegation of Jews went to Pilate and said, "Give orders to make the tomb secure, because we know that while He was still alive, that deceiver said, 'After three days I'll rise again.'" Call Him a deceiver. That's what He is, a liar and a deceiver, demonic liar. Jesus' answer is that whole thing that you're saying is impossible, it cannot be. Look at verses 23- 26, "So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables. 'How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come.'" I want to tell you right upfront, some of Jesus' teachings are easier than others to interpret. This is not easy to interpret actually. It's a hard argument, a complex argument, difficult to follow. First of all, Jesus did openly teach that Satan's a liar and a deceiver, that Satan would do this kind of misdirection is actually well within his character. Furthermore, He warned that at the end of the world false Christs and false prophets would come and perform false miracles to deceive even the elected if it were possible. So false miracles are coming at the end of the world. Paul taught the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the antichrist, the man of sin, would perform deceptive miracles by the power of Satan. So that Satan actually could do this kind of thing is not beyond his tendency. Then how does Jesus' argument prove that it's impossible that His ministry is being done by Satan? I think the only way I could make sense of it is the level of destruction Jesus was doing to Satan's ministry and kingdom in Palestine. He's blowing up demonic strongholds everywhere, every day. He's driving out demons every day. He's rescuing people from darkness and bringing them into light every day. 1 John 3:8, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." The level of destruction is incalculable. It's been going on for 2,000 years, praise God. Jesus is leaving Satan's kingdom in smoking rubble day after day. There's no way that Satan could do this level of destruction to his own kingdom and still stand. That's the logic that Jesus is using here. Let me give an illustration. Imagine during World War II a specific German general rebelled against the Nazi regime and led a coup and destroyed a whole SS division, slaughtered them all, thousands of fanatical Nazi soldiers, blows up Hitler's Berlin headquarters, rounds up and disarms an entire German army, forces them to surrender to the allies, and then he wants to work with the allies to bring the rest of the still-fighting Germans to be subdued. Would you believe that guy is on the level? I mean, after that, yes. The level of destruction that he's done to the former regime is believable. There's no way this is just a trick, because Jesus is just laying waste to Satan's kingdom. We're going to see that as we go on. The demon act of the gatherings, that's not a satanic trick. Verse 26, "If Satan opposed himself and is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come.” What is the right explanation? Verse 27, "In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.” So every sinner saved, redeemed by Jesus Christ is a work of spiritual violence done to Satan's kingdom. We are all plunder, brothers and sisters, we're plundered by the stronger one who overpowered Satan and rescued us. We were locked up in a satanic prison, we were wrapped up in invisible chains of deception and sin, and we could not set ourselves free. Jesus, the king of light came in and our chains fell off and the prison doors swung open and there was nothing Satan could do to stop it. That's what's going on here. As Luke puts it in Luke 11:21-22, "When a strong man fully armed guards his own outs, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger comes along and attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils." Satan is the strong man, Jesus is the one stronger than the strong man, who strips the strong man of his armor and plunders his house. That's what's going on. If you're a Christian, just praise Jesus for rescuing you. As Colossians 1 said, speaking of God the Father but through Christ, "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves." He did that through Jesus. Praise God. So that's what's happening with these exorcisms, these poor victims are being set free. As we'll see in Mark 5 with the demonic of the gatherings, he becomes a believer in Jesus and spreads the gospel everywhere in the Decapolis. It's a work of liberation, praise God. Now we come to the unpardonable sin. Look at verses 28 through 30, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying He has an evil spirit. Jesus makes it plain in Matthew's account, you can't just say these kinds of things. It's not a freebie to just run your mouth and say it's of because Beelzebub that He's doing this. No, no, you're going to be held accountable. You're in danger year of committing a sin that will never be forgiven, not in this age or in the age to come. This is such a weighty topic that we're going to dig deeper into next time, so I'm just going to set it aside. We'll walk through it next time, the unpardonable sin. His True Family’s Answer: Divine Lord Thirdly, His true family's answer, divine Lord. So Jesus's biological family arrive, verse 31-32. Jesus' mother and brothers arrive, standing outside, they sent someone in to call Him. The crowd was sitting around Him and they told Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You.'" So mother and brothers are there. They're outside because of the huge crowd. “Send in a messenger to summon Him.” Inside the house, you got a huge crowd of disciples. They're sitting around Him drinking in His teachings. They're not there for healing. They're there to listen to His teachings. We're going to learn in the next chapter that Jesus would tell parables out with the outsiders and then go to the insiders and give them the true explanations of those parables. They're just drinking in the teaching of the kingdom of God. They're true followers of Christ. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. He knew that they loved Him and that they believed in Him and that they were His family. The messengers come in and say, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You.” In other words, “Stop what you're doing and come outside.” Remember, they're there to take charge of Jesus. You're not taking charge of Jesus, so Jesus effectively rebukes them. Look at verse 33-35, "'Who are my mother and my brothers?' He asked. Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God's will is My brother and sister and mother.'" Jesus is not being unkind to them, He's not being disrespectful. We already know from the changing the water into wine, He's not doing whatever His mother tells Him to do. He's going to do what His Father tells Him to do. He's not being unkind to them, but He does want to put them in their place, and He wants them to be genuine believers in Him. They are dishonoring Him, let's not minimize that. They think He's out of His mind. Something's messed up there, they need to change in their thinking about Jesus. The fact is exactly the opposite. If they're, to some degree, especially the brothers, if they're unbelievers, who's out of their minds? They are, not Him. Here we have the definition of the true family of God, the true family of Christ. "Whoever does God's will is My brother and sister and mother." What is God's will? John 6 probably says it most clearly of all. "They came to Jesus and said, 'What must we do to work the works of God?' Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, to believe in the one He has sent.'" That's it. That's what God's will is in this case, "Believe in Me as Your Lord and savior." This is a challenge to His biological family. He's challenging them to come out of the fog of partial unbelief into a full, clear light of understanding His deity and His role as their savior. They will come out, praise God. In a couple of chapters later, He's going to come to His hometown and He's going to see overtly the unbelief of His relatives. In Mark 6 He says, "Only in his hometown among his relatives in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them, and He was amazed at their unbelief. It's time for them to repent of that and to see Him for who He really is. He is their Lord, He is their God, He is their redeemer, He's their creator, their redeemer, their savior. They'll see that only by faith. What is your answer? As we finish now, what is your answer? Isn't that the most important question? We circle back to that now. What is your answer? Who do you say Jesus is? I mean, if you get nothing else out of this sermon, know this, you cannot say, “He's a good moral teacher, but not God.” That's just not possible. The question I'm asking is, do you really believe that He is God? Do you really believe the reason He came to earth and took on a human body is to save you personally from your sin and that His bloodshed on the cross is sufficient to do that, and that you're trusting in that and in His resurrection? Are you trusting in Him to be the savior of your soul? Your eternity hangs on it. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank You for the time we've had to walk through this deep, complex passage with so many different themes. Now we thank You, O Lord, for what we can glean from it, but we know the most important thing always in all of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is that we would have evidence sufficient to feed and to strengthen and to buttress our faith that Jesus is, as Thomas said, “my Lord and my God,” that we would come to that saving confession and know that through that our sins are forgiven. We praise You Lord Jesus for that. We praise You Father for sending Your Holy Spirit to us individually to bring us from darkness to light through faith in Christ. It's in Your name Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.

This is episode 23 where we talk about how God doesn't require us to be perfect, He made us, and He knows we're human and will make mistakes. Our job is to get up every day and do our best to use the keys He has provided for us. And when we fail, we must get right with God, receive His forgiveness and go on. Isaiah 64:8 says "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."Prayer: God, I may be a 'cracked pot,' but You are the Potter and You can use me for Your purposes despite my flaws. Fill me with Your goodness and light so that I can carry it into the world around me. I ask that you do the same for anyone listening to this devotion right now. We love You Father and it's in Your great name we pray, Amen!Thank you so much for listening to Episode 23 of the Dive Into Jesus - Daily Devotional. I hope you have a great rest of your day, Godspeed!Click here to make a one time donation!Click here to become a monthly supporter!

God is amazing! HOLY SPIRIT JUST GAVE ME THIS POEM! I love it! God is so good! Thank You For My Marriage & My HUSBAND! Jesus I love YOU SOOOOOOOOOO VERY MUCH!! I need You, I CAN'T do MARRIAGE WITHOUT YOU! I can't do nothing without YOU FATHER! Be In This Always! You are WELCOME every second of the DAY! Amen! Glory to God! JESUS JESUS JESUS… YOU ABOUT TO DO IT! Soon! ❤️

Childhood of Growth, Strength, Wisdom and Favor Jesus' entire childhood up to age 12 is described in four words: Growth, Strength, Wisdom and Favor.The irony is that He invented all that stuff.   For example, growth is the #1 characteristic of a thing that has LIFE.  How do you know something is ALIVE?  It grows in some way.  It is a big deal.  NASA's whole budget seeks out this one thing: life (on other planets).  So here we have the maker of LIFE becoming subject TO life.  This blew my mind. Strength:  Abundant, increase and good cultivating, curating parents. Wisdom:  this is something that is only from God, just like the other 3 characteristics. Favor:  I think we are glimpsing the TRINITY here.  I (Father), give You (Jesus) my favor.  I (Father), receive favor from You(Jesus).  I (Jesus), give you (father) my favor.  I (Jesus), receive favor from You (Father). I pray all these thing be yours dear listener.  Thank you for listening.  www.bewithme.us

WE ARE GOD'S WATCHMAN ON THE WALL SO WHAT WE PRAY FOR IS TO MAKE AERICA AWARE OF WHAT IS COMING! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Watch the the video here:  Points to Ponder:A watchman on the wall sees beyond what is near but is able to point tothe future! Usually in a tower one can see what is coming in thedistance. So they are inline with prophets, whom God tells His secretsA watchman must be careful in relating what he/she sees. In fact one musthave certain discernment to know what is seen! One must be unconditional in your approach..no pre-conceived ideas butspeak the truth as clearly as possible. God puts very grave consequence on the obligations of those called to bewatchmen! In fact a watchman is also one who blows the trumpet! Blow the shofar for prayer! Heavenly Father,we are assembled here in Yeshuah's/Jesus's name seeking You Will for usand to make others aware of Your loving kindness! To be like Your Son to heal thesick, set the captives free, bring sight to the blind, bind up the wounds of theafflicted, to raise the dead and be like Him who taught us I only do what I see MyFather doing! We know as the Gospels tell us that He went about doing good andreally turned this world up side done! Even though they were looking for aconquering Messiah, He came to overturn sin and make amends to You Father sothat we might worship You in spirit and truth. We are so grateful for what He hasdone for us for now we can call You ABBA as He taught us. Your desire is to beintimate with us and so we are here to open our hearts to You and be one withYou! You have called us to be watchmen on the wall for America, Israel and allnations who claim to be a part of Your Kingdom! Lord we are here to use ourvoice and our expression to warn others of how the enemy has attacked us and tobecome aware of the evil forces around us that we are to fight and bring down byour prayers and the civic duties we are to fulfill in this day! So Lord, we blessthose who are in the fight to save America from the destructive forces within ournation and any enemy that attacks us from abroad as we see through the use oftechnical hacking and even using biological warfare to attack us and bring us intoa captivity that is the plot of Lucifer and his minions! Lord, we stand firm in the words that Your prophets have spoken for ourday: the President Trump is to fulfill his second term and what he has started willcontinue to be established and fulfilled. Lord we seek Justice for all those whohave lied, cheated and upset our way of life a a free nation! We bless andencourage all those who are working to expose and correct the lie of thefraudulent vote! Thank You for giving us people who are willing to see thisthrough to a proper accounting! Le the dominoes fall as the state of Arizona andother states show exactly what has happened and to make it right and to be away of restoration of what the American people really did vote! Father, we walk in the authority of Jesus facing this pandemic and all theseplots to overturn the health of Americans. Continue to raise up righteous menand women who expose how to take our health seriously and that there is asolution for every issue. That You ant us to be in good health and that thehealing power that You created din our bodies can be relied upon when we takeour health seriously and follow those who show us the way to be healed andrestored! For it is Your Will that we are healed and in good health! May the HolySpirit continue to shine the Light of Truth in our lives and may we choose tofollow it! We declare that any member of this assembly that is dealing with anyhealth issues of any kind be made whole and restored by the Blood of Jesus forby His stripes we were healed! We believe it and accept it! We declare that the Peace of Jerusalem be established on the earth and thatIsrael, the land that is sacred to You, O Lord! Be governed by those You haveanointed for such a time as this!

We each have a God-given destiny: A plan that God has for our lives, which fits perfectly with who He made us to be. The problem is that many people aren't living out that destiny because there are some obstacles in their way, so let's find out what they are and how to get around them, so that you can live out your destiny.   Putting First Things First Most people these days live hectic lives, just scraping through each day. Personally, my list of things to do is as long as my arm and then some. There are some personal things I have to do; things to do with writing and recording and producing this radio-programme; there's an organisation to run; people to meet with; this project; that project; a new idea over here, another one over there; hundreds of e-mails each day ... Welcome to my world. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining and none of those things are terribly bad at all, but the point is that with so many more things to do than I can possibly fit into my day, or my week or even my year, my process for deciding what I do is absolutely critical. Chances are, the same is true for you. One of the big mistakes I used to make is that I'd sit down in the morning, which (given that I'm a morning person) is my most lucid and productive time, and just start answering e-mails. After a while, I realised I wasn't getting anything else done because by putting my E-mails first, I was putting other people's priorities first. I was in fact dancing to their tune instead of sorting out for myself what the most important things were on my agenda, and doing those things first. There's a well-known principle or framework that you read in a lot of management books, that sets out the difference between what's urgent and what's important, and what you discover is that almost nothing that's urgent is important, and almost nothing that's important is urgent. And yet most of us react to urgent things, or at least the things that other people say are urgent, and so we spend most of our time doing urgent things, instead of the important things – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And before you know it, your life is kind of slipping away, doing a whole bunch of things, which, in the scheme of things, sure, they make you busy, but how important are they? Do you see my point here? How are you spending your life, and are the things you're spending your time on important and worthwhile? I guess I'm asking those questions for you to ask them of yourself, and answer them. Come on! Be brutally honest. For instance, making sure I have some time with my beautiful wife Jacqui is important. Making sure I encourage her and give her a hug and a kiss, and spend some unhurried time with her in the morning over breakfast is really important, but it's not urgent. It's not as urgent say as the e-mail that comes in from a radio-station somewhere around the world that says they weren't able to download tonight's radio-programme from our FTP server. And yet what I used to do (because remember, mornings are my most productive time) is get up early and spend no time at all with Jacqui over breakfast, and just work furiously through that time, and by the time she comes home from work and I come home from work, we're both tired and there you go. We haven't spent any time together. Do you see how easily this stuff happens in people's lives? The urgent trumps the important in so many people's lives, and before you know it, your life is falling apart. Things are in a mess. Marriages are falling apart, all because we allow the urgent to crowd out the important. It's scary, isn't it? So what about you? What about your life? Are you letting the myriad of urgent things crowd out the important things like spending time with people, managing your finances properly, nurturing your children, developing relationships with your co-workers? See, all those things are incredibly important, and in many-a person's life, they're being cast aside simply because we're too busy doing the urgent stuff. ‘I don't have time to exercise!' Well, if you don't make time for exercise (which is important), let me tell you you'll certainly be making time for sickness (which will be urgent), and actually, that's how it works. Doing the important things generally over time reduces the number of urgent things that you need to do because if the important things go undone, that leads to crises and those crises increase the number of urgent things requiring an immediate response. I don't know what your destiny is, but this is what I do know: It doesn't lie in a myriad of things that other people tell you are urgent; it lies in the things that, in your heart of hearts, you know are important. If you or I went to God, this God who handcrafted us, who designed us in His heart – blueprinted our DNA, if we went to Him and said: ‘Lord, what's the most important thing that I have to do with my life', what do you think He'd answer? What would He put at the very top of our to-do list? Well, actually, we already know. A clever young lawyer once asked Him a very similar question. The lawyer sort of said (and this is my paraphrase): Well, Jesus, you and I both know that in the Law of Moses handed down over all those years, there are 613 commandments and prohibitions. That's kind of a lot. I mean that's a lot day-to-day to remember to do, so how would you sum up the Law? I mean, if I'm trying to prioritise these things in my life, which one of all those commandments is the most important one? You can read the exact words in Matthew 22 and Mark 12, and if I had to paraphrase Jesus' reply in kind of here-and-now speak, it'd run something like this: Look, I know you have a lot of things to do. There are lots of rules: Do this, do that ... They're all good things, but you can sum up the whole Law in just two commandments – to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. That's the most important one, and the second one is just like it: Love the people around you as much as you love yourself. That's the whole Law in a nutshell. Do you know something? The most important thing that I do almost every day, the thing that I do before anything else, is that I spend an hour or so alone with Jesus praying; reading the Bible; asking Him questions, and that's what sets the course for my whole day – day after day, month after month, year after year. Actually, it sets the course for my whole life. It is quite simply the single-most important thing that I do, and it's through that time with Him that I've discovered my destiny.   A Lifelong Journey If I were to ask you, "What's your destiny? What were you put on this earth to achieve – to do? What impact are you meant to have on this planet of over seven billion people? What's the point of your life, and is it heading in the right direction", I wonder how you'd answer those questions. I ask those questions of people rather a lot, and I can tell you the number of people who have a clear sense of destiny and purpose and direction – well you know, it's less than five per cent – maybe one in twenty; maybe. Now I'm not saying that we should each have our lives completely mapped out because things happen along the way. There are twists and turns in life that are totally unexpected. Little things can change the whole course of a life. We can't map out our whole lives in the minutest detail and say. "Yep. That's what I'm going to do, that's where it's going", and yet deep-down, we need to have some sense of a destiny. Another way of putting it would be to have a sense of direction for our lives. Where's your life headed? And that destiny is invariably tied up with two things: Our dreams, and our skills and abilities. If you're one of the majority – one of those people who hasn't quite yet cottoned on to the direction for your life, where it's meant to be headed – then this is for you. Can you remember the dreams that you had for your life when you were young? Can you? There were some back there that were never going to fly. I mean, if you're short and slightly dumpy, and you were dreaming of becoming a famous basketball-player, well, that was obviously never going to happen. But so often, there's a dream in people's hearts that's been there for a very long time. Here's a conversation that I've had so many times with people about this whole question of destiny. We get to talking about the direction in which their life is heading, and the person says to me something like: ‘But you know, I'm sure there's meant to be something else, something more, something that I don't know, something I'm meant to be doing, but I don't know what it is'. Does that sound vaguely familiar? So I ask them then, "If you had no constraints, if money wasn't an issue, if you could be anything or do anything that you wanted, what would that be?' And the answer invariably comes back along these lines: ‘Oh, well! Anything I want? Well you know, I've always dreamed of" ... and then, they tell me the answer. They tell me about their destiny. It's already there; it's already been woven somehow by God into their DNA. Now of course, there's a risk that this is a short dumpy basketball-player kind of dream, and so then I follow up with my second question: ‘What are the things you're really good at?' Most people can tell you that, and what I've found is that there is almost always, in 90% of cases, a wonderful fit between their dream and their natural skills and gifting. You know something? We've just discovered their destiny. We've just discovered what they're meant to be doing with their lives, and the tragedy (I mean, the absolute tragedy) is that deep down they probably already knew that. So what's held them back? The constraints we put on our lives. Remember my first question? ‘If you had no constraints, if money wasn't an issue, if you could be anything or do anything that you wanted, what would that be?' My question removes the constraints. Then all of a sudden, people can look at things the way they're meant to be looking at them – through the eyes of freedom. For twenty years, I was a high-priced IT consultant, but there came a time of dissatisfaction – a time when I came to the conclusion that I wasn't fulfilling my destiny. Every few years, the opportunity emerged to do what I'm doing now – to produce these radio-programmes, and use one of the small handful of talents that I naturally have (which is to be a communicator), to bring hope and change and transformation into people's lives through these radio-programmes, but that meant taking a risk. It meant confounding people's expectations of me. It meant leaving a big salary behind, and going and working in a small, at-the-time ailing, not-for-profit organisation. And those constraints and expectations and the money thing and the risk, all those things I have to tell you, were tough issues to navigate. It wasn't an easy decision to make. It was (at the time) a huge leap of faith for me. When I look back on it now, this is what I know ... it's always like that when we have to make a decision as to whether or not we're going to get out there and fulfil our destiny, because destiny requires courage. In fact, the two seem inextricably linked. When we step out on the destiny journey, there's always a risk of failure, and yet there is nothing as fulfilling and energising as living out your destiny. These last years doing what I'm doing now, there have been some real challenges, some really tough times, but I wouldn't swap them for anything. And in pursuing this destiny, here's what I know: The only person who can make it happen in our lives is Jesus Christ. Now some may scoff at that, and sure; there's plenty of evidence of genius and achievement out there in the world. People are capable of doing amazing things, but here's what I'm absolutely certain of: Jesus the Son of God, when He laid His glory aside, when He became one of us, when He came into this world with a destiny, His destiny was twofold. It was to reveal God to us and secondly, it was to die on that cross and rise again to give you and me a free gift of eternal life. And without that Jesus who fulfilled His destiny for you and me, you and I may well be able to achieve some amazing things, but we will never achieve anything of eternal significance and value. Because of my gift of communication, I guess I can hold people's attention. I think I can make them laugh and even cry, but without Jesus, without His story, without His grace, I have nothing of eternal value to impart, ‘cos he's the One that saves. He's the One that transforms. He's the One that gives new life, and my destiny lies in Him to be who He made me to be, and to do the things that He made me to do, so that His purposes will be achieved on this earth; and my friend, your destiny, your true destiny, lies in Jesus too. He has plans and purposes for your life, and He came up with them even before you were born, and when we give our lives to Him completely, wholly, fully, without constraint, without limit, without reservation, then we discover that destiny, and let me tell you it is a perfect fit (your destiny) with who He made you to be. How do I know that? Psalm 139. Go read it – His Word, His truth, your destiny.   Ugly Duckling Syndrome The final obstacle to living out our destiny is this: We compare ourselves to other people. We all do that. We all look at these talented and gifted people around us, and we convince ourselves that we can never be as good as them; we can never do what they can do; we can never live out our dream, our destiny. You know what I call that? I call it ugly duckling syndrome. Hans Christian Andersen's powerful story The Ugly Duckling is a literary classic, not so much because of the way it was written (my hunch is that the piece probably loses some of its poetry and lilt, having been translated into English) – no, the power of The Ugly Duckling, the thing that's made it a classic, is in the way that it resonates so deeply in our souls. A swan's egg, by some strange set of events, finds itself in a ducks' nest in a farmyard, and so a swan is born into a family of ducks. No one really cares why or even realises that it's happened; everyone just assumes that this little guy is meant to be a duck, and all of his little life people reject him for being an ugly duckling because he's ugly! Everyone misunderstands him; everyone rejects him, and it hurts. He's all alone, but amidst the bleakness and hopelessness of this world, there is one thing – just one – that makes his little spirit soar. Have a listen. One evening, just as the sun set amid the radiant clouds, there came a large flock of beautiful birds out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen anything like them before. They were swans, and they were curved with their graceful necks, while their soft plumage shone in the dazzling whiteness. They let out a singular cry, as they spread their glorious wings, and flew from those cold regions to warmer countries across the sea. As they mounted higher and higher into the air, the ugly little duckling felt quite a strange sensation as he watched them. He whirled himself in the water like a wheel; he stretched out his neck towards them, and uttered a cry so strange that it frightened him. Could he ever forget those beautiful, happy birds? Then when at last they were out of his sight, he dived under the water and rose again, almost beside himself with excitement. He knew not the names of these birds, nor where they'd flown, but he felt towards them as he had never felt for any other bird in the world. He wasn't envious of these beautiful creatures, but wished to be as lovely as they. Poor, ugly little creature, how gladly he would have lived even with the ducks, had they only given him some encouragement. At the moment, he didn't yet know who he was. He just knew who he wanted to be, but because he didn't know who he was, who God had made him to be, he simply didn't have a license to go and be who he'd been made to be, and even when he finally encounters those birds again, he thinks he's going to die. Surely, surely, that can be the only outcome. ‘I will fly with those royal birds,' he exclaimed, ‘And they will kill me because I am so ugly! And to dare to approach them ... but it doesn't matter. Better to be killed by them than to be pecked by the ducks, beaten by the hens, pushed around by the maiden who feeds the paltry, or starved with hunger in the winter.' And he flew to the water, and swam towards the beautiful swans. The moment they spied him, they rushed to meet him with outstretched wings. ‘Kill me!' said the poor little bird. And he bent his head down to the surface of the water and awaited death, but then something happened that changed everything in an instant. What did he see in the clear stream below? His own image: No longer a dark grey bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a ducks' nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg. It's not until we really know who we are that we discover how inconsequential the distorted images the world's misunderstanding reflects back to us, in fact, are. My friend, as I meet people around the world (and I've met so many; more and more as the years go by), I'm so deeply impressed by the amazing abilities – the talents, ideas, creativity, perspectives, motivations – that are buried inside each and every person, each person whom I've ever met. And that's not just other people: It's each one of us. It's not just them: It's you, because each (in our own unique different way) have the capacity, the capability, the potential to do the most amazing things – to be the most amazing people. Please, please, don't fall for that ugly duckling deception. You are such a person. You have a destiny, and it's waiting for you to be lived. That's precisely the thing that God wants you to know today, when you step out on your journey of destiny – your God-given destiny, for as the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10, you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared beforehand, so that you would walk into them. See? God made you in a certain way, and He's already prepared the way – the good works, and they're waiting for you on the road ahead, and He's created you as a piece of His workmanship, perfectly suited to the destiny that you're called for. If you go back to Psalm 139:13-18, you discover that not only did God create us in our mother's womb, not only did He lay down every strand of DNA and give you a hair-colour and your heart and your eye-colour and all those characteristics, but He also at the same time wrote down in His book every day, every experience, everything that would happen on your journey, and those two (that He made you, and what He made you to do) are an absolutely perfect fit. It's about discovering that we are indeed God's workmanship, you and I. It's about discovering who we are and what our purpose is, so that we can go and walk into the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk into, with a certainty and a quiet confidence, in the knowledge that we're a perfect fit – that we're the right one for the job, no matter how daunting that job may first appear. Father God, we've heard Your good news. We know we've made so many mistakes. We've stepped out of Your plan. We went our own way, and each one of us (in our own way) knows it didn't work out. And so, we want to come back and we want to discover the me that you always meant us to be. Father, thank You for Jesus. We just want to accept Him; I believe that He died for me, and that He rose again; I believe that I'm forgiven because of Him, and that I have eternal life because of Him, and Father right this day, lock, stock and barrel, with everything that I am, with every hope and every dream and everything I have, I want to step back into Your plan for me. I want to step back into my destiny. I give everything I am and everything I have to You, for You to do with as You please. Father God, thank You that You do have a plan. Thank You that I can just come back because of Jesus, and thank You Father that in that plan, I'll get to know You, and as I get to know You more and more and more, I'll discover the person I was always meant to be. I'll discover the destiny that You have for me. I'll discover, in my heart and in my experience, that I am Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that You prepared beforehand, so that I could walk into them. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I want to thank You. I want to thank You for giving me this life. Amen.

PRAYER FOCUS: PROTECT OUR PROPHETS INSTEAD OF CRITICIZING! ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR DISCERNMENT! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We give thanks to You for Your Loving Kindness endures forever. And let America know and realize Your loving Kindness endures forever.  Yes Father even in times like these when we face turmoil and division.  It is You who have given us the Holy Spirit who reveals all truth to us and gives great understanding of what Your Son Yeshuah has said and done for us!  We know that in our distress or in moments of fear or challenge we can call out to You and You hear us and through Your loving Kindness give us all we need and  release Your Heavenly Host to protect us from all attacks of the enemy and bring forth Justice to rule in our land and bring to us those You have anointed to lead us in such a time as this! Father, in this hour we cry out to You to raise up those who are strong in their spirit and have the spine to turn away the jackals that have taken over the land.  As Your holy prophets have spoken this charade will soon come tumbling down especially in these days we are in.  Father we seek the Hammer of Justice to fall on all those who have betrayed, lied and cheated and stolen from We the People who have overwhelmingly shown our choosing Donald J Trump to be President for 4 more years. Lord, in this time the enemy censures us when even we pray to have Your Will fulfilled in our land as You have promised!  But Lord they will not stop us or defeat us for they are really the defeated ones. Now, is the time to bring to swift conclusion that all the corrupt as they are exposed  to fall in shame for the arrogance they have show in claiming they won when in reality they only hide the truth and run from those who are the real followers of You and what You have planned for us! As the Psalmist proclaims it is better to trust in You at all times even as the enemy surrounds us and shouts out their lies and rules to crush us and our American way that is founded on Your Word and expressed in our sacred documents of our covenant with You and with one another as expressed in our Constitution.  Lord our founding fathers and mothers were as loyal to You and Your Word and Your Savior Jesus the Christ as could be in their day.  So, Father we are proud of our heritage and proud to say that Jesus is Lord and King over us and our nation is a nation of Your Kingdom!  So Lord we can say You are our Portion and Inheritance and we have nothing to fear for the enemy cannot take away what the Spirit has revealed we are Yours and we are loyal to Your loving kindness in all we do and say! Father, we ask for more of the Discernment that the Holy Spirit can give us so that we follow those You have anointed for such a time as this. That we will know the true prophets from You and honor and protect them.  Let any who criticize and mock or ridicule Your prophets fall to the side and remain in the dust!  Father, we are so grateful for You have great plans for us and Your prophets point the way in which we should walk looking only at You and not be distracted to look to the left or the right.  Our focus is on You Father! For we know that the Promises You make You keep.  Father our enemies persecute us wrongly, but because of our faithfulness to Your Word we are made whole and they fall into the pit they have dug for us. Now Lord, bring the evil ones down from their towers and be ground into dust before Your Justice and Truth!  America is Yours, Father so here we are use us to keep Your Kingdom growing here and around the earth. We pray in the Mighty Name of Jesus the Christ! Amen! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5)

PRAYER FOCUS: IN PSALM 37 WE HEAR OF THE FATE OF SINNERS AND THE REWARD OF THE JUST, WHICH ARE YOU! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to You in the words of the Psalmist in Your Holy Word: we will not follow the wicked ones nor be jealous of their wealth. We know that they are not better than we are. Their lives will be short-lived success! And it will soon shrivel and quickly fade away like grass clippings in the sun! We will keep doing what is right in Your eyes Father. We have fixed our hearts on Your Promises and so we will be secure because of our faithfulness to You! God You are our delight and pleasure of our life because You protect us and overshadow us from our enemies. You have promised to give us what we desire most: to be one with You and in peace and harmony with one another especially in this time when we have been cheated out of what we have chosen and that is to follow Your anointed to be led by President Trump! But we believe and trust You will manifest Your Justice in righteousness by bringing into the battle those who will overturn the cheating, the lying and the deceiving of the enemy and those who have chosen darkness over Light and death over Life. Father this nation has clearly shown that we want what You have Promised because we have overwhelming voted to re-elect President Trump, Father You will recognize the 80 million that voted for him in the days ahead. We do trust You that what You Promise You Keep! Father, our hearts are quiet in Your Presence and we lift our prayers to You as Your Son, has taught us to have Your Kingdom come and Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We know that the wicked are not better off than we are., for one day soon they will be destroyed and their arrogance and pride will be put to shame. Their nakedness will expose their shame and will be a sign of how dark they have chosen to be accepting and telling us that lies and deceit is the true way, when in reality it answers what it is said in Romans the wages of sin is death. We will see it manifest in the days ahead that even physical death will be a sign of your Justice for those who have been treasonous and betrayed us to make their selfishness more important than the peace and harmony of Your people in America and in other nations where Your People cry out for Justice and righteousness! We can let the wicked keep plotting against us who are Your chosen one with all their sneers and arrogant jeers for we know You God, do not loose any sleep over them for Your Plans are already unfolding in our day! Father the evil ones take aim at the poor and helpless and plan to slaughter us who do right, but You Lord will turn their weapons of wickedness on themselves so that it pierces their pride-filled hearts until they are left helpless and their wealth comes to naught and is given to us who will steward it according to Your Holy Way! For You Lord will give it all to Your blessed ones in the end and the cursed one will have nothing! Father, we know You take delight in us as we follow in Your Son, Yeshuah's footsteps! Lord we are happy for as we see You are the Savior of all who love You and are loyal to Your Torah/Commands. Even in our time of trouble You are our strength. Because of our Faith we please You and You Father give us deliverance in our time of need, for our Hope is in You and we have nothing to fear because Your loving kindness covers us now and forever! Amen It is so! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5) Prayer Request (54) Prayers (398) Prophetic Alert (3) Testimony (27) Uncategorized (2) Website Updates (4) Archives March 2021 (1)

PRAYER FOCUS: THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S! NO ONE ELSE CAN TAKE THE CREDIT! STOP FIGHTING ONE ANOTHER AND STOP HAVING TO BE RIGHT AND WATCH WHAT GOD DOES! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, Let Your Holy Fire blaze in our hearts to make us pure and holy as an offering to You and be willing to fulfill Your Perfect Will for us here on earth as it is in heaven! Father, we love You with all that is in us to do. There is no other god for us You are the only true God. We repent of even giving our enemy the impression that he is so strong and has so many in his camp to overpower us. It is not true! You are our strength! You are our buckler and our shield and the enemy has no Power or Might like Yours! Give us more boldness of Faith to face our enemies without fear, knowing that Your Son, Yeshuah has already defeated the enemy and has defeated the works of the devil! Lord we repent of our in fighting. Constantly judging others because they do not speak as we speak or they have a different view of what is happening. Father, all we need know is that we are covered by the Blood of Your Son, Yeshuah and that we are one in the spirit and worship You in spirit and truth!. There is no god, but You Lord and Your words ring in our hearts and are the song we sing: You will never leave us or forsake us! For no weapon formed against us will prosper. We are here to be in harmony with You Father, and to be in harmony with one another living as Your Son, Yehsuah, showed us and poured Himself out for us. Each of us is a great gift from You to one another and we each are of great value to You and so a s You love us we are here to love one another. That is our Mission and we accept it and are willing to put into action ever moment of our lives to be just like Jesus! Father, during these days we want to place a special protection around those who hear from You and are willing instruments to speak prophetically for You, like Mark Taylor, Hank Kunneman, John Enlow, Kat Kerr and other women and men! Lord Your prophetic words are a treasure to us. We know You are God who makes Promises, but even more importantly Keeps those Promises. So Father, we hold on to the word that President Trump will continue to be President fro 4 more years. What You have said will come to pass and it will be another opportunity to see You Manifest Your Glory and we will see Your Mighty Works unfold before us in this time! We are so grateful for the wonderful gift of the the Holy Spirit who is sent to us to reveal all truth and to bring conviction on the earth to purify us and make us one in all that we are to do to defend Your Kingdom and spread it around the world! May Your Holy Spirit raise up the righteous men and women who will reveal the truth about who is the real President and that You have not abandoned Your anointed. It is not over in fact it has just begun as Justice will unfold. As our prophets have spoken we will see the tribunals of Justice. We will see the corrupt fall from office! We will see the prophets and priests of Baal crushed and that those who have committed adultery with Jezebel will be exposed and their kingdoms will crash and be no more! As You Spirit has spoken: The time has come to hold all the enemies of the Living God accountable for their atrocities against mankind. Repentance can save your soul but there will be no mercy in the Justice that is here! We will see our churches cleansed and purified of leaders who have led us astray, but now Your Mighty Prayer Warriors are on a Rescue Mission to save and heal those who have been abused, confused and led astray for the Truth is Marching on! Lord, let Your Holy Fire do its work now and forever! Amen It is so! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15)

PRAYER FOCUS: GOD IS OUR SOURCE NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US! FOR GOD HAS HEARD OUR CRY! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, Just as You heard the cry of Your people Israel who suffered for 400 years under Egyptian rule, You have heard us, so we too will see a deliverance from our enemies and all those who have betrayed us in destroying our nation. We are still under the covenant our founding fathers and mothers made with You. Yes, Father there is still a loyal remnant who wants our nation to be under Your rule and to be free from the enslavement of all those who promote socialism and communism and all other forms of captivity. We trust You Father, that during these days when there is no one who really knows what You are going to do, that Your Promises You have spoken through Your prophetic voice in our day will come to pass. We trust You, Father for You are a God of Justice and You hate evil and all that sets Your People in bondage. So this day Father, we say Jesus is Lord and You are our first love and we await the miracle that is about to unfold so that President Trump remains in office for 4 more years and that all those who are corrupt will be brought down. We see that You laugh at Your enemies who say no one can defeat us we are in control we are too powerful. You have said that we will see on throne after another not just fall but be destroyed and with Your Holy Fire will be turned to ashes. Father in this hour of our unified prayer under the authority of Jesus we bind the strong man and his strongholds across this nation that we loosed from their power of captivity. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed! We take the Sword of Faith and strike at all the altars of the evil ones to be smashed and utterly destroyed. And with our strength in You O Lord we are here to rebuild altars of worship of You across this nation! So again we proclaim we no King but Jesus and we are Your People and we live under Your Commands for our only concern is to live in Harmony with You O Lord and to be in harmony with one another so that we will be shining Light to the world that proclaims You are our God and we serve no other. That this nation will be ruled by Justice and laws based on Your Holy Scriptures! Thank You, Father for raising up in our midst anointed men and women to be our judges, Congressmen and women, Governors, mayors and all those You have anointed to lead us. So now all those who are corrupt, committed treason and betrayed us are arrested and face the just punishment they deserve. We are ready to see it and accept it no matter how long it takes it to be done. Father, we are grateful to be alive in this day and to know that Your loving kindness reaches into each of us and that we walk by Faith and not by sight! That no matter how weak we feel even in the face of our enemy we are strong for we can do all things in Christ Jesus now and forever! AmenQ! Some special prayer requests: Mark Taylor's mother undergoing some health issues.Gene Ho who is running for Mayor of Myrtle Beach, SC being attacked by his enemies to defeat him! For all who are suffering health issues, especially any under the attack of Covid-19 For the protection of President Trump and his family all the pressure they are under trying to keep America under God and making us live by law and order! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5) Prayer Request (54) Prayers (385) Prophetic Alert (3) Testimony (26) Uncategorized (2) Website Updates (4) Archives January 2021 (8) December 2020 (8) November 2020 (7) October 2020 (10) September 2020 (7) August 2020 (9) July 2020 (8) June 2020 (14)

PRAYER FOCUS: DO YOU FEAR GOD OR REVERE HIM? AS FOR ME I REVERE HIM. HE NEVER TAUGHT ME TO FEAR HIM! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to You in Praise and thanksgiving for we are washed clean by the Blood of Your Son, Jesus the Christ! We have nothing to fear for Your Loving Arms surround us with protection and comfort from Your Holy Spirit! Father  release Your heavenly Host in this hour as we are gathered here to proclaim Jesus is Lord and we want Justice here as it is in heaven and that we too live by law and order as everything in ruled that way in heaven! Father, Your Son has taught us not to fear You but revere You! To worship You in spirit and truth.  If we love You and make You the center of all we do and say we have nothing to fear even those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul!  You have given us a spirit of love and a strong power for self control!  Lord if any of us feel fear we place in Your Hands for we know You will never leave us nor forsake us.  We want to see more clearly with spiritual eyes the victory you have planned fro us even in this hour! Father, here in America we have those who do not revere You nor have any respect for Your Commandments/Torah!  The lawlessness we see in our  treets is because of those who say there is no God and  e is far from us.  Fools that they are Lord may the Light  ierce their darkness! Lord bless those who are standing  o protect Your people especially those in law  nforcement.  That they be protected from the hate and  emonstrations of violence against them.  Lord we pray  or these mayors of Chicago, Seattle, Kenosha , Portland  nd other cities who have abandoned righteousness and  iven in to the blindness of being liberal and fearful of  peaking with authority to protect their people and to  aise the standard of God in all that needs to be done in  his hour!   Lord, continue to raise up men and women  ho will take the lead to turn this chaos around. Unify us  ord in this prayer so that first we win in the heavenlies  nd we will see it manifest in our cities!  We bind the  trong man and break the  power of these strongholds of  he enemy by the Blood of Jesus and to see the  ovement of the Holy Spirit in these areas so that law  nd order are returned.  Thank You, Father for blessing  s with President Trump and all who are aligned with him  o do the right thing to bring this to a close and to  rosecute those who have done evil and have them face  he just punishment that they deserve for being a part of  he kill, steal and destroy. Lord, Your people are crying  ut so now is the time to  set free from this tyranny of the  sms that are from the pits of hell!  Lord the only banner  e wave over us is the Blood of Jesus the Christ! Father we pray that You will give to President Trump all the wisdom he needs to lead us in truly trusting You as a nation.  That there will definitely a fulfillment of what Your prophet Mark has said about the Supreme Court, have it happen now in this hour!  Also the prophet’s words that it is end of the corrupt, that we will see Justice prevail in seeing those arrested for the evil they have freely chosen to be a part of.  Thank You Father,, when we see the children being rescued from child trafficking.   Thank You for bringing law and order back into our society as a whole! Thank You, Father for the Great Awakening that is taking root here in America and is spreading across the earth.   We thank You Father for raising up prayer warriors who are banding together.  Bless all of the leaders of our state calls in the Strike Force of prayers and them leaders of International calls in places like India, Kenya and other nations rising to have You as their Lord and Messiah.  Lord, we are so grateful to be alive in this hour for it is a sacred time and the beginning of the time You are to dwell with us here on earth as it is in heaven! Amen! It is so!

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We open our hearts to sing the song that You have placed in us! A song of Victory that sings praise to You for all You have done for us. It is a song of joy because it is a song of Salvation by the Blood of Your Son, Jesus the Christ! Father we want our voice to sing in Harmony with You as You sing over us a song that fills us with Light, Love and Life!  You are a part of every breath we take and You Presence fills us with Faith, Hope and Love that is never ending and we are here to share it with all You have place in our life from our spouse to our family, to our neighbor and even over our enemies! It is a song of Freedom: freedom from sin and all iniquity! Freedom to worship You without fear and to speak the Truth no matter who is against it.  A song You have placed in us so we gladly sing Your praises and give You all the Glory! Father, we sing a song of Faith over our youth that they may not be deceived by the music industry that is controlled by evil puppet masters.  We pray prophetically to break the chains that bind all those who are caught in the glory of popularity and the attraction of worldly wealth and prestige. Lord that more of these artists of music and song will break their ties to this industry and truly bring forth music to uplift us and recognize that this talent is from You and that you are the source of all inspiration!  Lord that all of this wonderful talent will truly sing a song song that gives You praise and draws us all closer to the Truth and to live life to the full as You have designed us to be!  Lord, for too long we have let the world have mastery over even our worship songs that make us feel good thinking that You are present when it is You we must please and glorify!  Lord that we will have more discernment to worship You in spirit and truth! Father, that Your present day children of Israel who have returned to Your land You have given them may again sing the songs of the Torah that speak of Your Majestic ways of saving them that now these songs will be a means to truly know Your Son Yeshuah as their Messiah.  That more and more of Your people of Israel will know the truth so that the song they raise will be in harmony with us their brothers and sisters in Your Family that has bee born again through Jesus the Christ!  That the songs of tradition will be sung for the fulfillment that Your Son has brought to all of us so we will be one people as You have always wanted that all nations will know Your Power and your Glory now and for all eternity! Father, we continue to bring before You the protection of our President Trump and the song You have placed in his heart to make America truly a land that is free to worship You and live in accord with Your Commands and Your Will.  That the Hammer of Justice will fall on all those who have deceived us by changing the song we sing into a false worship in the world of evil.  We are here Lord to return and sing the song to give You all the Glory & praise!  There is no other god but You Father!  We reject and stand against any making us have a one world religion blending all religions into one.  That all of those who promote this one world religion will be brought to their knees to either truly change or face  the consequences of false worship.  The god they worship is not You, Lord and we reject it and stand in worship of You, the God of Loving Kindness and Mercy to all who seek You and draw closer to You each moment of our lives! Father, in these times we are in we seek to find and more who are willing to be righteous and take on the duties to make America a land of the covenant that established us 400 years ago.  That we will be a land that our fathers and mothers of the Faith have given us through their blood sweat and tears.  That the prayers they raised will continue to echo throughout our land and we now stand in agreement with those prayers and...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, Keep us free from lying lips and deceitful words of those who walk in darkness!  Lord cleanse us of all the lies that we have fallen prey too.  Lies that we have oftentimes based our life and attitude on! Lord, free us from all curses and words that have been a burden on us telling us we are not good or we can’t do it and that You do not love us because of our past or what our generations have done.  Lord we are cleansed by the Blood of Your Son for we are now a new creation and have an intimate relationship with You and now have a Bight Hope for our future and a Faith in You that pleases You and brings us even closer to do Your Will.  Jesus is the Light!  Jesus is the Way!  Jesus is the only means to come to You Father!  We are so grateful and blessed by Your Wondrous Grace and Mercy!  Thank You for the Holy Spirit who revels all truth to us and guides us in the ways of peace and unity with all of Your Family! Lord in this struggle with lies we recognize our guilt in accepting these lies and so we turn from them and seek to learn even more intimately the Way of Your Son and to defend the Truth and to walk in His Light so that we can pass this on to our children and our children’s children!  Lord those who continue to lie and deceive reveal to us so that we will stand in Truth and use our tongue to proclaim Your Word to counteract and prove that we are not in their camp of deception but as the Army of God we are here to overcome lies with truth and we have no fear in proclaiming it from the roof tops!  For Jesus is Lord and He is our Messiah so that the Kingdom of God is here in pour midst and we are here to be used to spread it across our land and around the world and especially to Israel that it may be the sacred place You have planned from the beginning and no plan to split it or divide it will prevail for a Your Prophet Kim Clement sang out and we as well: ISRAEL IS FOREVER! Lord God Your Will be done and make us one new man with no distinctions between us all in Unity under the Holy Spirit! Lord, break down all of these forms of media that proclaim lies and deceive us.  Let those You have appointed and anointed to teach and spread the Truth take over all media that we can hear the Truth and truly know what You have promised us in this our day.  Thank you for the gifting of the prophets in our time and those of the past who have prophetically called out that this is a time of renewal and reformation of America and a movement across the earth that has started the Harvest!  Lord we put a protective shield around those You have called to speak as prophets may they draw closer to Your Heart and truly listen to your Voice so that we will know Your Will and we will declare it and rejoice in it! Now is the time for the awakening and the renewing of our minds to be in the Mind of Christ Jesus! Father thank You for revealing to us our worth and value in Your Eyes!  That our tongues will proclaim Your Praise and we uplift and encourage all You place in our life to care for!  Praise You Father Son and Holy Spirit! Amen Alleluia! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5) Prayer Request (54) Prayers (325) Prophetic Alert (3) Testimony (19) Uncategorized (1) Website Updates (13) Archives May 2020 (11) April 2020 (10) March 2020 (10) February 2020 (8) January 2020 (14) December 2019 (8) November 2019 (12) October 2019 (14) September 2019 (17) August 2019 (24) July 2019 (24) June 2019 (17) May 2019 (15) April 2019 (12) March 2019 (12) February 2019 (13) January 2019 (15) December 2018 (10) November 2018 (14) October 2018 (17)

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to You making this day a special day of repentance and forgiveness especially toward those who have been false shepherds and those who have instructed us and led us into error in our search for the Truth especially in being made disciples of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus the Christ/ Yeshuah.  Father. We humbly admit our guilt of being angry, resentful and upset by the lies and deceit that was used to lead us into either false worship or taking on errors that were not the message of Your Sacred Scriptures to us!   Father we admit that our hearts at times get overwhelmed with thoughts  of hate and resentment when we have been misled.  Forgive us for any evil intent we feel toward these false teachers and guides in our lives.  When we become aware of the deceit we are hurt and feel foolish that we could be so misled, but Lord forgive us for our lack of truly seeking to know the truth and to discern the lie from the truth! Now that we are aware because the Holy Spirit is revealing more and more of the truth to us we are so grateful for the opportunity to change but Lord release from us any hate, resentment or ill will toward those who have misled us whether it be our parents, teachers or those who call themselves pastors or teachers of the Gospel.  Father remove from my heart all the transgressions of iniquity your find in me so that I may be pure of heart now in my walk in the new wine You pouring out in this day.  Yes, we walk away from all false religion and false rituals and false leadership in our churches/assemblies,so Lord lead us to those who can show us the way in which Your want us to go!  That we will have now real shepherds committed to the truth and to teach the truth and not be afraid of public opinion but only speak in boldness of Faith and the anointing of the Holy Spirit in this hour! Father, in this hour through Your Holy Spirit we are seeing a new Golden Vision of Reformation of Your People to walk as Your Son, Jesus the Christ/Yeshuah has shown us .   To heal the sick, bind the wounds of those who have been harmed and abuse. To set the captives free as we see those righteous men and women who bravely walk into the darkness of child and sex trafficking to set the captive free and bring restoration into their lives.  Lord that You will give us all boldness of Faith to walk out of the safety of our bunkers and walk into the swamp around us to expose those who are evil and drive them out of their positions and to give us the strenght to take their place to lead this nation and any nation into the Light and the prophetic word You have declared over us in this day!  Lord here is our heart cleanse it even more and dwell in us to be used to do even more as Your Son told us we would do because He has passed on to us the authority to do as He did to destroy the works of the enemy and make this world a suitable dwelling place for You to reign and rule now and forever! Father continue to bless and protect our President Trump and all who are one with him especially this day as those who are intent to worship Satan and all of the evil that they can muster against our anointed President.  We stand here without fear for we know there is no God like unto You and that they are worshiping that which has no power and might like You Father.  Let them taste the disaster they claim  over our nation that they will be filled with chaos and confusion and darkness and it have to cry out for Mercy from You Lord for there is no God but our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   That all of theses hexes, vexes and curses are nothing but empty words and have no power to come into the Kingdom of our God!  That the gates of hell will not prevail and like Balaam of old when he tried to curse Israel he was stopped by You and only was able to bless Israel, wo now Lord make their voices bring blessings to us and that Your Holy Ange...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Beloved Father, We come to you with humble contrite hearts know it is our Faith in You and the work of Your Son, Yeshua that please You.  It makes us a part of Your holy Family, we are set apart to do a special work for You to spread the Kingdom and to defend the Truth as You have revealed it to us in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Words of Your Son which shows the way in which we should walk. To walk by faith and not the feelings of our fallen nature, but to walk in the new Mind of Christ.  To see one another as You see us worthy of the precious price of the Blood of Your Son.  We are important to You and You want to share Your heart with us and so Father we give You our hearts to share with You.  What You want is what we want and so we freely choose to follow Your Commands to love one another by loyal and faithful actions from a pure heart empty of all transgressions and iniquity.  No to sin and Yes to Love! No to fear and Yes to Faith! No to despair and doubt and Yes to Hope!  All because of the Love poured out on us by Your Son, Yeshua! Father in these days of unrest and turmoil we seek special protection for President Trump and all who are working with him in loyalty to follow that which You have placed in his heart to do bring America back from the brink of destruction to again be the Light on the Hill and a voice of Freedom through out the earth!   That the Hammer of Justice will rightly fall on all enemies who are resisting what has been prophetically pronounce over us.  That all of our enemies will be scattered and no weapon formed against us will prosper! Lord, it has been spoken that the witches, warlocks and others who worship a false god they call Satan is place curses, hexes and other evil expressions against President Trump.  Lord we stand against it for Satan is no go nor is he some kind of cosmic entity that has power over us or is some how equal to You in might and power!  Lord with You we laugh like the prophet Elijah of old against the prophets of Baal.   Scream louder maybe they will hear you!  There is no God but You O Lord!  There is nothing to fear for Your Holy Angels surround us and intercede in this battle.  That those who are wrapped up in this foolishness will be see all of their chanting and canting will come to naught for it is not Your Will and has nothing to do with Your Kingdom in our midst for as Your Son has said the gates of hell will not prevail!  This will all come to naught for it of the fragrance of the pits of Gehenna! Lord we know Your Will is with President Trump for  You have anointed him for such a time as this! And we will see as we pray and act our Faith that You are not done with America nor are You done with the Trump dynasty You have begun! Father, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem as our brothers and sisters in Israel remember today the 10th of Tevet fasting and praying to remember the loss of the First Temple by King Nebuchadnezzar that now is a time to look to the Messiah who is the Living Temple of true worship for You Father.  That the Israeli people will open their hearts to hear of Yeshua and that soon they will say His name with reverence and awe and as prophet Kim Clement spoke Israel is forever and Yeshua will be shouted from the roof tops in the Land that You have chosen.  Thank You Lord that we have a President who recognizes Israel and Jerusalem as its capitol and that soon we will one day be one new man both Jew and Gentile before You as one in the Spirit as Your Son has prayed over us to be! Father there is much turmoil and fear among people because of what President Trump has done in ridding us of an enemy and leader of hate in this world.  May we see even more of our enemies fall and loose any influence of those who are blind and following the false gods of Islam and other forms of pagan worship through out the earth.   That we are like our President to stand withou...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, ​We are so amazed at Your Great Love for us, even though we are weak and tainted by sin and the foolish things we do You love us and promised You would never leave us or forsake us.  You prove it over and over again when we take a moment to reflect on all You have done for each of us in this moment.  We come to ending of what we call a year 2019 and yet when we look back we see miracles and marvelous acts that You have brought into our lives and You Promise even more as we stand on the verge of changing the year to 2020!  Lord, we are so grateful and blessed to live in this time frame You have set for each of us no matter what stage of life each of us is in.  Yet, here we are Your Army, this remnant we call the Strike Force of prayer under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  We thank You that You have called us together and we are ready to continue doing as You call us to do in the Year ahead! We look forward to seeing a Golden Year of Reformation.  Father is 400 years since You made America a land under a covenant with You through those who came to these shores.  We are so grateful for our Heritage of Faith and our history of learning to be brothers and sister in one nation with You as our only God!  Thank You Father! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You Holy Spirit!  We give You praise and honor and all the Glory! Father with in a few hours around the world we will shout out Happy New Year!  But it is not a happiness the world seeks of the flesh it is a Spiritual Happiness we need and want to share.  It is by the Blood of Your Son we are made a new creation and have access to You personally.  There is no other way to call You Father except by Your Son, Yeshuah/Jesus and only through Him can we become close to You and by the Power of the Holy Spirit we are made one and have all we need to grow closer each moment to You!  What an amazing and wonderful Gift that Creator of it all wants to be intimate with each one of us!   So sacred and such an honor that You call us Your Family!  We are here Lord to give ourselves to You! Father as we stand on the edge of walking into the future of another year we hear Your calling us to have a Golden Year of Reformation.  That we will see that which we have been praying for in America will come to pass as we move forward!  We will continue to intercede for our President Trump and all those who serve with him to fulfill what You have told us through the prophet of our day.  We will see the corrupt receive their due and the raising up of more righteous men and women to fulfill positions of leadership and fulfill acts of bravery to rescue that which the enemy has stolen and that which we have lost because of our slothfulness and complacency.  Lord no more!  We are Your Army and like David when he ran toward Goliath we are here to the face the giants of our day and slay them with the Sword of Truth and Righteousness!  We are more than conquerors and we can do all things in Christ Jesus! Father, we pray for the continuing of reformation of our Justice system: especially seeing President Trump over seeing th rooting out of all those who are corrupt in each department like the FBI, the CIA and other branches that need to be pruned, broken off and burned up so that Justice will prevail and America will see the miracles of the weak and poor be lifted up to a dignity of worth and wanting to fulfill the destiny You have written in each one’s book.  Lord You have started the Harvest and we are here to be Your Laborers to be sent to reap and bring others into the Kingdom! Father, we pray for reformation of our cities especially one like L.A., Chicago, Baltimore, New York and others that new leadership will arise and You will inspire us with the ways to clean up the mess of homelessness and other ills that plague these places.  Lord, give us strong men and women of Faith to lead us into this new Golden Age ...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to You with love in our hearts and placing our will in Your Hands so that You can use us as Your Army to defend  and to spread Your Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven! Father we repent of anything that is in the way of our being one with You from the smallest irritation to any failing in loving our neighbor as our self.  We are here Father to be the Image of Your Son in a world filled with darkness ad intrigue from the evil that lurks to destroy Your Kingdom.  But we are confident in our waging war against the enemy for Your Son has spoke and said the gates of hell cannot prevail against that which He has established and so therefore we see it growing daily here in America and around the world and even in Your sacred land of Israel!  Praise You Father for as Your Son has said it is all for Your Glory and to be done according to Your Will! Father, during these days we call the Christmas Season even though it is not one o Your assigned feasts it is still a sign of making the world give honor to Your Son, Yeahua.  Lord You are an awesome God for You can take something that man uses to bring false worship and turn it around to make straight crooked ways.  Lord use these days of saying Jesus the Christ to bring an awareness of Your Holy plan into our very midst from the White House to pour house!  Lord, we are in a time when the nations of the gentile will be brought into the Great Harvest and the tribe of Judah will also learn and find that the True Shepherd is Jesus the Christ!  Lord Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! During this time our brothers and sisters of the tribe of Judah celebrate the Dedication of the Temple and the miracle of the Menorrah staying lit for 8 days!  What really matters is the faithfulness to keep alive the belief in You to bring forth the Messiah.  Without holding on to You as the only God we would not have the plan that You wanted.  We thank You Father for this faithfulness to hold on to You and let no false worship over power their Faith.  Lord that is what we need today to hold on to our Faith and proclaim that Jesus is Lord  King.  That we do not be afraid to say the Truth or to be scared because it is not politically correct to give Him the honor and praise He deserves.  Lord that we might be even be more bold to show our worship of of You no matter where we are at some form of entertainment or some family gathering or fellowship that we are not here to placate others because they might be offended or hurt their feelings.  Lord that we will always be bold no matter who we are or what age we have to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and there is no other way to You, Father, but through Him and Him Alone.  As the song goes: In Christ alone! Father, we pray for the Davidic anointing to be on our President Trump as he leads us a shepherd through this vale of tears and brings us to restful waters to be Your People who worship You in spirit and truth and we are protected to be the America You have destined us to be in this time in which You have given us.  Give President Trump and those who serve with him the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit to out wit the enemy and those who are always trying to rid him of his office which he has rightfully won under the Power of Your Right Hand. Strengthen them who are righteous to be defenders of the Truth that Justice will prevail and those who are corrupt will face the consequences of their treachery!  Lord during these days of celebrating Your Son may we see the miracles of healing and miracles of injustice stopped! To see miracles of unlikely promises being fulfilled.  Miracles of restoration and miracles of strategic intervention for all of us across the earth! Father during these days that we celebrate the Light during these days until the new year of 2020 comes may more and more come into the Light to see Your Son as our only Hope to make th...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, The first thing we want to do is give You honor and praise!  In fact Father we give You a shout of Praise!  Just as the armies of old like Joshua at Jericho, Gideon with his 300 against an overwhelming army of the enemy as King David did with his army a shout of Praise to given before battle.  Lord in praising You we recognize the battle is for Your Kingdom and because of Yeshuah it is already a victory that we are marching into!  We praise You God for all that You are doing through us and in us int this hour.  We are Your faithful remnant trusting in Your Word and believing as Your Son has taught us: say to this mountain fall into the sea and it happens so now in our Praise we know Your Will is done as it is in heaven.  We have angels at our side who only see Victory for they are not weak or timid in Your sight they are Your Messengers to help us in our moment of weakness and fear.  Praise You God! What You did then You are doing NOW! Father, we repent for all the unrest that is even in our ranks as followers of Jesus.  How all the back biting, judgmental ways, slanderous talk, critical speech, mocking comments and words of doubt and fear are spoken among us.  O Lord forgive us for having anything like this come from our lips or have any place in our hearts.  This Army here before You is putting Praise of You on our lips and we will silence words like this from our ranks.  We are here for You Father.  We have only one side in this civil war that is going on here among us.  Jesus Christ is our Lord and Messiah and the we are renewing our mind everyday to take on His Mind and to see life as You see Life!  We bring to you our best in all that we offer to You!  The best of all that we do in whatever You have given us talents to perform it is done in Your Name and You get all the glory!  Lord we stand firm our words are not useless but are creative and uplifting to bring to life all that has been given us prophetically that it will happen in our day!  Praise You God for it all! Lord there are things that we still must do spiritually as well as physically.  For one thing Lord  we need to support President Trump more fully with our prayers and our voice and our actions when it comes to elections and to all that is happening these days by all those who are trying to get rid of him as President.  Lord, enough of this impeachment and talk of evil men and women who are destructive in their words and actions.  Silence them let their words let  be in their own lives leading to destruction because that is their choice to be so adamant in being  selfish and living in hate.  Lord, make us more and more aware of all those who are against Your Will and give us strength to remain faithful to all that You have planned and already doing as we stand in the thresh hold of this Great Awakening and harvest for Your Kingdom come now! Lord, we intercede with our brothers and sisters in Kentucky as they start the recount for their governor.  Lord reveal the fraudulent votes and all the schemes to throw the election from the people into a win for those who would lead us astray from the good that has been started in the state of Kentucky.  Reveal the truth there and stir the hearts of the people of their state to speak up and show solidarity in wanting the truth and bringing Justice to bear on this issue of voting!  Lord not only here in Kentucky but in every state of our Union.  Bring down those who have stolen elections and have fraudulently put themselves in office.  Lord let the red tsunami happen now!  Arrest the corrupt! Lock them up!  Let the righteous prevail!  We speak this in Jesus Name! Father, we want to live in harmony with Your heart and with one another as true brothers and sister in You Holy Family here on earth as it is in heaven.  Harmony is what we seek in our ranks as this Army of Prayer Warriors.

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: ​ Heavenly Father, As we gather here before Your throne we are confident that You will use us to bring Your kingdom stronger in America and around the world.  We trust You Father that Your plan for us is great and that we will see Your Glory shine through everything that takes place this day and all the days ahead.  Release Your Holy Angles as protection in our midst to over come the enemy in all of his tactics and plots to defeat us. Lord, we hear Your Voice above all the noise the enemy makes in this hour as they are in the death throes of loosing control and all of their systems that are corrupt are disintegrating and falling apart.   Thank You, Father for separating us from those who claim to know You but You do not know them.  It is time of separation of the wheat from the chaff, those who truly are loyal to You and are willing to die to themselves take up the cross and follow Jesus as His Army for Victory on earth as it is in heaven! Father, we are grateful that You have anointed President Trump with a spirit like King David to face the enemy with boldness and defeat the Goliaths of our day called the Deep State and all of the hordes behind it.  Lord, he has even stepped forward to proclaim that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel. With Kim Clement we have learned ISRAEL IS FOREVER!  We love what You Love Lord.  Even though the Israelites do not know Your Son our Messiah we know You have never abandoned them at the right time they too will worship and honor Yeshuah as Messiah.  Lord the land of Israel is sacred to You for the Blood of Your Son was shed there.  So Lord we cry out No dividing the land! No two state solution!  Lord You made a covenant with Abraham and promised his descendant this land it theirs and no man can change that! Lord give President Trump wisdom and strength to uphold Israel as nation that is an important part of Your Plan for mankind!  Lord, that during these days they too will prosper to fulfill the plan that has been spoken through Mark Taylor and others that America and Israel will lead the world to new and wonderful discoveries and benefits for all mankind!  Thank You Father for us to be alive in this time to see the miracles You have in store for us.  Lord Your Plan is winning and the plans and plots of the enemy will fall and be crushed! We proclaim: ISRAEL IS FOREVER TO YOUR GLORY,  O LORD! Father, we know You are true to Your Word!  That You never revoke the covenant You made with Abraham.  It is still a part of Your plan.  Any covenant that we truly make with You lasts and that You never break the covenant it is always us because of weakness and foolishly think we know better than You or can fix it better than You!  Lord forgive us we are always eating of the tree of knowledge instead of the tree of Life.  Lord thank You for the Gift of the Holy Spirit who leads us into all Truth! What a great and awesome Gift we have.  Lord we are so grateful for even in the plan that unfolded for America was established with Mayflower Compact on this day in 1620...399 years ago! What a great Gift You have given us.  Lord that is why we call out in repentance against all that we have allowed to destroy and undermine the covenant we made with You through our forefather and mothers in Faith! Lord, You gave us America to break away from the tyranny of the divine right of kings and all the rulers who have made their people captives and beholding to man instead of the God of Freedom given us through Jesus the Christ!  Lord we are so grateful that here in America there is a growing awareness of what we have been given and to really know and understand our heritage in Faith!  Yes, we have made many mistakes and done what is evil in Your sight in this land, but as we return in repentance You blot out all our iniquities and wash us white as snow! Lord, this land is Your land and we sand on hallowed ground because of those...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: PRAYER FOCUS:  THAT WE HAVE A HEART TO KNOW, EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR ALL THAT GOD IS DOING IN OUR DAY! Father we are so grateful that we can unite with our brothers and sisters in Your Family across the earth as we are this morning. Lord what we seek here in America we also unite to bring the same into the nations of the world that want to be a part of Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  Father we know You hear us because Your Son promised that anything, we speak in His Name You will answer.  We see it and hear it happening in our day.  With hearts filled with love for You we are so grateful. Father, we are under the shadow of Your Wings so we are confident that we are protected from all the attacks of the enemy.  Release Your Heavenly Host to continue to wreck havoc on the enemy’s camp and bring chaos and disunity among them so that that which they plot against us will stay in their own dark camp.  Let them be blinded by Your Bright Light which surrounds us and may they shake and squeal as they see we are surrounded by Your Warrior Angels that show Your Might and Power.  Again thank You Father for keeping Your Eye on Your Family gathered here and in the spirit now and in the days ahead. Father, we continue to intercede for our President Trump in all that he endures from the enemy forces around him.  Continue to keep him courageous and bold to speak out against the enemy. Thank You God that he has a bold tongue to speak back to the enemy and that You have made him wise in his strategies to overcome the enemy and even to trap them into falling in their traps for him but become stepping stones to move America ahead and back on the solid ground of our foundations from our forefathers and mothers.  Thank You, for this great gift of America and all that it has done for the salvation of souls a a part of our Christian heritage!  Father, that we will continue to be a part of the Great Harvest You have begun, and that America is a Kingdom Nation. Father, we seek the continue exposing of the wolves in sheep clothing in our midst especially in our government but in our assemblies of worship.  Make those who have lied and deceived us by twisting the words of Your Son face the evil they have done to Your Flock.  May the prophetic word You gave to Mark Taylor come to pass now in our day that the truth will be revealed through the discoveries of hidden scrolls or whatever form it is will shine brightly in our midst so that the separation of Your true Disciples will be clear.  Through the Holy Spirit’s convicting Power let Your People walk away from all that has held us captive and limited us from knowing You intimately in thought word and deed in Christ Jesus our Savior and King!  Yes, Lord there is a separation between those who speak Your Word truthfully and those who are blind leading the blind into the ditch and keeping us off the narrow path You have destined us to find and walk!  Thank You Lord for using righteous men and women to guide us in this day like the ekklesia movement amongst us in the Strike Force of Prayer and other influences to walk away from sources that hinder us from knowing Your heart and being one with You as Jesus has promised us that You are one  with Him You are also one with us! Lord God through the authority given us by Your Son, our Redeemer we say to the mocker, the rebellious and the liar: we say Repent and follow Him or face the consequences of your free choice to follow the path to death and destruction.  As for our house with Joshua we say: We serve the Lord and follow His Commands! Lord raise up those who will change the narrative from fakeness to Truth in all forms of our media from news to entertainment so that we will hear the Truth that sets us free! Lord we are here to stand by the Justice that You are bringing into the land by those You have anointed to lead us in this day.

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: WE STAND IN GOD’S FAVOR! SO WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CAST OUT DEMONS. RECOGNIZE AND USE IT!Heavenly Father,Thank You for pouring Your Favor on us f or such a time as this.  We come before You with humble contrite hearts because we now all that we have and all that we have been given are from You and You alone! We know that You have surrounded us with Your Holy Angels to protect us from any of the attacks of the enemy.  You keep us off the enemy’s radar and scramble the enemy’s frequency.  We are here Father to hear Your Heart and follow Your Commands to Your Will so that we live in Freedom given us by the Love of Your Son.  We are so grateful for such Favor from Your mighty Hand!Father, as the leader of this band of Prayer Warriors I intercede for all You have drawn to be a part of this ranch of Your Army called the Strike Force of Prayer.  Lord touch each one with Your Divine Favor and may there be only unity among us.  Lord that we will each see that there is no jealousy or comparison on who is favored more or who has been given more talents. Each of us is favored by You O lord help us to develop our personal relationship with You so on that day You will say to each of us: Well done good and faithful servants, for I know You and you know Me! Lord deepen our relationship with You and to make us to know Your heart and to fulfill the Love You give us by loving You in return.  We confess and seek forgiveness if we have betrayed Your heart in anyway.  Drawing close to You Father is all we seek!Father, because You have favored us through Your Son, Jesus, we know we have been given authority and He told us we can do more beyond what He did so Lord that is what we are here for to see things change in history because of our repentance and prayer.  We see it Lord happening now here in America and around the world.  The defeat of the enemy is happening Lord!  We see that Justice is being brought into our land and we say even more Lord so that our land is purified of all that has made us captives and limited our freedom.  May those who have deceived us and lied to us be ever more be exposed and made to give back all that has been stolen and make recompense for all those who have been harmed and abused by their selfish greed and selfish pleasures. Thank You, Father for the turn around that is taking place as more and more we are aware of Your Might and Power over the enemy is happening now!Father through the authority given us by Your Son we say to enemy’s forces who are into child and sex trafficking cease and desist!  Exposure of your sin is before us so either repent or face the consequences of your actions now.  Lord it makes no difference who they are whether they be in high office or have fame and fortune that they face Justice and their perversions be stopped in our land and any land that proclaims Jesus Christ is Lord! Lord, may the riches of the enemy be brought to naught and to be given to Your people so that Your Kingdom will spread and reign over us through those who are righteous in leading us to be one nation under You O Lord.Father we continue to seek protection for president Trump, his wife and family and those around him who are true and can be trusted.  Lord weed out those who are betrayers even among those who are his counselors from among those who call themselves religious leaders.  We intercede that President Trump concentrate only on Justice and that soon he will declare a day of Fasting and prayer for our nation as other Presidents have done in the past so that we will truly be united in recognizing that there is no other God in our land but You O Lord!  Protect those in the justice Department and Law Enforce, Border Patrol, First Responders and all others who are her to serve and protect our People.  Lord again weed out and expose those who are betrayers of the trust we have given them that they will face full...

Prayer Points: Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ, I come to you asking that you forgive me of my sins, please wash me clean with the Blood of Jesus. I repent for all of my wrongs. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I acknowledge my sins, shortcomings, and struggles before you. I now ask for the grace necessary to get me through these strongholds victoriously. Heavenly Father, in Jesus name I ask you to bestow your grace upon my life and give me mercy and help. Father God in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your grace which has been showered upon me. I love You and I thank You Father. Amen!

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:Heavenly Father,    We seek Your Protection as we gather on this day of Repentance and Prayer here in America!  Keep us off the enemy's radar and silence his frequencies and keep all of his methods of distraction and distortion of the Truth far from us.  Let the plans of chaos, rebellion and iniquity stay in his camp that we may be under the shadow of Your wing to give You all the glory and honor You deserve.Father as we enter Your Court of Heaven the men of this Strike Force stand in the gap for all men as guilty before You of any and all disrespect, lack of honor and abusive treatment of women, the Crown of Your Creation.  We, men in Your Army confess our lack of love and proper respect for women in Your Creation Plan.  We are here to stand in true accountability for the sin, rebellion and iniquity of men toward women.  With repentant hearts we seek Your forgiveness and the forgiveness of all women in our lives that we have harmed or hurt in any way by our selfish and lustful ways even in our bloodlines and past generations.  We seek the complete removal of any legal right Satan has over us and also anything he has done illegally. We stand repentant and humble before You Lord!  Let a fresh flow of Your Son's Blood flow over us so that we are washed whiter than snow and from this day forward a new vision will be given so that men will truly see women as the helpmate You have created her to be!Lord, we stand in the gap so that the way women have been abused through all of the sexual perversion that pervades the mind set of this world be crushed and thrown back into the pits of hell where it belongs!  That all women, whom we call wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend receive the healing touch of Yeshuah through us in our prayer today.  That those women who are trapped in prostitution, sex trafficking and other forms of abuse whether physically, mentally or spiritually be set free!  We stand in the gap that they will receive the healing love of Yeshuah into their lives through us and the righteous men who are willing to sacrifice like Christ for His Bride to bring restoration and renewal in our land of America and throughout the world!Lord, as we prepare Mothers Day here in America we seek a proper honor and respect for all mothers and that a new awareness of protection of a mother's womb become sacred throughout the land.  That all women, young or elderly be appreciated for the motherly ways that are innately in them and that they express in their caring ways for all who seek their aid and companionship!  Lord, You showed a special love for mothers as Your Compassion for the widow of Nain and even for Your own mother even as You were dying on the cross.  May we as men acquire that same compassion in our relationships with women in each of our lives whether in our family or those who are a part of our lives in various ways.Lord, that selfishness and lusts of the flesh in us be replaced by the mind of Christ and that respect and honor be always shown and given to women as You have planned it from the beginning and has been restored by Yeshuah, Your Son and our Messiah and Lord! Lord, that we see women as the sacred vessel and temple You have created them to be so that You dwell in them as You dwell in us!  That we are equal and together give the true Image of You in our world that You created for us!Father, give all of us a better understanding and awareness of the Holy Spirit in our life.  That the Holy Spirit is here to lead us into all truth and He is the Comforter just as a mother comforts children and that Women are the carrier of His Wisdom in life as Your Scriptures show us that Wisdom is always a woman and that the Holy Spirit is the feminine principle of the God head!  May we truly be one man and woman as Yeshuah prayed that we be one with You Father!   Thank You for this great privilege to walk and shine Your Presence in our l...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, As we come before You we seek Your Protection from all the evil intent of the enemy against us and all of the ways that he tries to influence in thought word and deed.  We are Yours Father and we are here to pursue Your Heart and to walk in the footsteps of Your Son Yeshuah, our Messiah and Lord!  Keep us off the enemy's radar and set a protective wall of Your Angels to protect us from the firey darts of the enemy and all of his ways of deceiving us and leads us astray. Lord, enlighten us more through the Holy Spirit with Wisdom and insight in the battle that lays before us today.  We are covered by Your Robe of Righteousness and take up our arms to fight for the Kingdom and to cleanse our temple of all false idols and only worship You the the True and only God! Father, we are here to cleanse our temples of all false images of Who You are and What You look like to us.  We can call You Father as Yeshuah has taught us.  He called You ABBA Father or as a child: Daddy.  We are so aware now that You want to be intimately involved with us as Father who loves His children and wants to be close to them and keep them in a loving way close to Him.  Father, so many times we have been in rebellion and sometimes have wondered off like Yehsuah told us about the Prodigal son and his father. But we are comforted by the fact that as soon as we repent Your Forgiveness covers us, we are so thankful and grateful for Your Loving Ways.  You Father are our inspiration to take our of our children and our possessions as a true gift from You and that Life itself is such a precious Gift from You.  O Father that more and more of Your wayward children would return to You.  So Father as this band of Warriors come before You we intercede for all of Your lost children that today they will hear Your Call and return. After today we seek the continue cleansing of all idol worship that has infiltrated our land of America and our assemblies/churches.  That we will truly be the spotless virgin bride You will bring to Your Son on that Glorious Day when all is finished and we are all in our eternal home.  But Lord, we know that now is the time to wage war against the enemy and fight for the victories You have planned even today for us. Father, we seek special protection for our President Donald Trump as he leads us even in international concerns.  Give him Wisdom as he confronts the situation in Viet Nam with North Korea and all that is involved.  May Your Plan unfold in all that takes place in those conferences.  May this be an opportunity for the Gospel to again awaken in Southeast Asia and all across those who believe but have been persecuted for so long.  May we see the fruits of their sacrifice come alive in the change that You are bringing to that whole region. Lord that Your Kingdom come there as well as here! Father, we want special protection  for all those who speak prophetically into our times. Mark Taylor and others who as prophets correct us in pointing out that which You have brought under condemnation the systems that have choked your people in our assemblies/churches.  Lord continue to expose the false leaders, the wolves in sheep's clothing and the liars and deceivers o with a false Gospel and twisted words of even Your Sacred Words of Scripture.  Lord as You expose the corruption in our assemblies, raise up new men and women who truly are Your disciples and are willing to serve and lead You People in a way that You have planned for us.  We repent of any false religious forms that we have clung to and seek true freedom to follow the Holy Spirit in the new thing that He is doing in our day by bringing us into gatherings of believers, such as You have here with us the Strike Force of Prayer in our call to pray together in the Spirit.  Lord that this will spread even more across America, Canada and all nations who want to bring the Kingdom into...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, As Your Army gathers here before You surround us with Your Heavenly Protection from all the assaults of the enemy.  Keep us off the enemy's radar and scramble all of his frequencies from interfering with our communication with You, Father.  Keep all distractions from causing confusion, chaos and anxiety from us and to keep it in the enemy's camp.  Let Your Holy Spirit guide us into a unity of prayer and voice that it will be heard around the world and proclaim Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father, Your Son, Yeshuah has given us authority to bring down the strongman and any stronghold he has established in out land, so Father fully armored as Your Army we move forward to regain the land of America and all that has been stolen from us by deceit lies and all other forms of treasonous acts against the authority You have established through our Constitution and the law and order we live by here in America.  Lord we do respect the rightful use of authority to protect and bring peace among us. Father we repent of any times that we have been disobedient or caused any disrespect toward authority and that those who rightfully placed over us to ensure our safety and protection.  Lord, we  repent of the lack of respect and honor given to first our parents, teachers and guides.  Lord forgive us for any disrespect we have shown to our President and those who hold proper offices of authority from law enforcement to the military because we know Lord they serve us under great stress and walk into harms way to ensure our safety and protection.  Forgive us Lord so that we return to living under righteousness and Justice as You have commanded us to live as we see in Your Word and shown us the example of Your Son who set us free to live in spirit and truth! Father we intercede for all those who are blind and will not see the importance of honoring and respecting authority.  Lord that through our example and discipleship that our youth be raised up to know the importance of following orders, rules and laws that bing true peace and respect for one another.  Lord that America will follow the rule of law we have followed and none of the rubbish of laws and and ways of life that do not worship our God, You Father.  No sharia law or any other law but the Law of  America based on Your Sacred Scriptures as our forefathers and mothers believed and were willing to die for.  This is what has made America great and we are so thankful that we have a President who believes and walks as we want and do our best to fulfill! Father, continue to expose the corruption, the lies, the deceit and treasonous ways of those who have used authority for their own selfish gain and taken advantage of those who are under their rule.  Lord that our leaders will be truly mindful of the people and for the people and that they are to live by the same laws that they command us to live by.  Too long Lord, Your people have been abuse by those who lord it over us, now is the time of Righteousness, Justice and Truth to prevail!  May they repent or receive Justice for the evil that they have brought to America from abortion and forms of sexual perversion and the disgusting abomination of same sex marriage and pedophilia and child abuse.  O Lord strike down and bring to Justice those whom have desecrated America and do not even admit that it is here in our midst.  O Lord we want America cleansed and remarried to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob who sent His Son Yeshua as our Messiah and King.  Lord what You are doing here in America let it happen in Israel and all the nations that will align with Your Scared Plan for this time.  Our Canadian brothers and sisters as well as those who join with us in this Strike Force of Prayer Army that they too will see the Holy Spirit do a s wondrous work in their nations.

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, With repentance in our heart and on our lips we seek forgiveness for any defilement we have allowed to cover us in any way either knowingly or unknowingly that hinders are true worship of You and hinders our service to others in Your Name.  In these moments with You now remove us off the enemy's radar. Keep us hidden from the vision of those who are aligned with the enemy so that any schemes, plans or plots come to nothing.  That the enemy will be totally surprised by what is in store for them because of their lying, cheating and destructive ways here in America.  Keep chaos, confusion, anxiety and division in their camp.  We trust in You Father, for we know that there is no God like our God and no god has power and authority as our God does!  Victory is our because of You!  Thank You for making us a part of Your Kingdom Army.  Thank You, Father for protecting and strengthening us in the war we are waging to restore America and rekindle in us the fire of freedom in Christ Jesus and the renewal of the sacred plan You have for America and the land of Israel and its people. Father, we cry out not for revival but for restoration.  The assembly of believers (the church) is not dead, but weak and in a stupored state.  Restore us to our first love and the original plan You have for us to live by Your Word and to be disciples of men to make us a holy nation, a people set apart, a royal priesthood and living stones on which to build Your Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.  It is all because of Your Great Love for us even when we were still sinners and living in darkness that You sent the Light of Your Son to rescue us and make us a new creation for this we give You all the glory, honor and praise and thanksgiving now and forever.  Allow us never to forget  what You have done. Father, we are children of Your Light and so we seek the convicting power of the Holy Spirit shine the Light in those areas of our life we need to change and purify from all defilement.  We know we are washed clean by the Blood of Yeshua as soon as we repent and turn our selves into the Light!  Let this Light pierce the darkness now!  Because we are Your disciples we can shine the Light before all men and spread the Good New of the Kingdom all across the land and around the world! Lord, let Your Light continue to pierce the darkness that surround our nation especially in our government and any who are leaders through power and might not in the spirit.  Inspire and protect President Trump and all those who are in one accord with him to bring America back to what we were meant to always be a shining Light on the Hill!  We need restoration to our true foundation of  America as a land of the free and the home of the brave.  Lord, during this month of December expose even more intently the deception and lies of those who have been treasonous to America.  That as Your prophet has spoken 2 will be take and 3 will be shaken, that the Supreme Court will be shaken, that the old systems are condemned and to be destroyed.  That the Hammer of Justice will smash the old and bring in the new.  That the Bell of Freedom will ring loudly and awaken America and its people. Father bring Light into the darkness found in our assemblies(churches).  Reveal all the sneaky lies and deceptive teachings that have hindered Your People from being who they truly are in Christ Jesus!  Raise up bold leaders who are willing to die to themselves to nourish the flock they are to tend and disciple.  Father we cry out for restoration in our assemblies, our nation and its people!  Continue to bless us in our efforts  as Your Army to be watchmen on the wall to awaken our people and point the direction we are to go! Through the Fire of love of the Holy Spirit kindle in us the desire and willingness to be Light!  Kindle in us the fire to ignite others to awaken to our call as Your Kingdom A...

For a full list of prayers available through this podcast and our website, please follow this link: https://psalm71.podbean.com/e/full-list-of-available-prayers-1513057365 NOTE: This prayer has been recorded TWICE, first for listening and agreeing, then again for repeating. This prayer was originally scripted by Pastor Win Worley. Further information about Pastor Worley, his books, booklets, and his video and audio recordings — a great many of which are currently available for free — is provided below. OVER A CHILD WHO HAS BECOME INVOLVED IN CULTS, EASTERN RELIGIONS, FALSE RELIGIONS, ETC. As a priest of God in my child's life, and purchased by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I now renounce and repudiate all the sins of my son/daughter according to II John 5:16. "If any man sees his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death."I pull down all strongholds in which Satan has blinded the mind of (name) so that the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot shine through them. I break the power of (name cult, false religion, etc) over my child and ask You, Father, to loose a spirit of truth upon him/her.I blind all spirits of mind control and psychic powers that may have my child's mind bound and ask Father, that You send your ministering spirits to snip and break all bonds or fetters on (name)'s mind.Father, I now call You to remembrance of Your word as written in II Cor 4:6 and ask that You command the light to shine out of the darkness, to shine into the heart of my child (name) and to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to my son/daughter.In the name of Jesus Christ I break and loose (name) from the curse of the law. I ask You Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal to (name) the redemption that Jesus paid in full for him/her, and I thank You Father and praise You for the immediate release of (name) from error and false religion. Author: Win Worley Text source: Win Worley Booklet #4: Warfare Prayers, p.5*available for free PDF download: https://davidblum61.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/warfare-prayers-win-worley.pdf   ABOUT PASTOR WIN WORLEYWin Worley pastored at Hegewisch Baptist Church in Highland, Indiana, from 1970 to 1996. Pastor Worley is rightly considered to have been, by the grace of God, one of the most influential and ground-breaking deliverance ministers of the past century. Pastor Worley traveled the globe teaching about deliverance, and meanwhile authored several classic books on the subject. He produced as well a series of dozens of booklets covering a wide range of doctrinal and spiritual warfare topics. Win Worley’s books and booklets may be purchased at the following locations: HEGEWISCH BAPTIST CHURCH http://hbcdelivers.org*HBC also offers a generous amount of free Win Worley booklet preview material, as well as numerous links to Pastor Worley’s audio and video teachings. WRW Publications, INC. (Hegewisch Church’s storefront website)http://www.wrwpublications.com Agape Bible Church Bookroomhttps://agapebiblebr.com ALSO BE SURE TO LOOK FOR PASTOR WORLEY’S AUDIO SERMONS AT THE INTERNET’S PREMIERE DELIVERANCE PODCAST AND MAGAZINE: www.omegamanradio.com  

###All praise to You Father, Lord of All Creation. You are the only One worthy! You are still sitting on the throne! You sit on the throne of all and the throne of our hearts! It's all under Your feet, Jesus. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it! *Recorded live at Catch the Fire Worship Center, Raleigh, NC. Soaking led by Susan Valles, Steve Massengale, and Andre Bright [www.susanvalles.com](http://www.susanvalles.com) [www.facebook.com/susanvallesministries](http://www.facebook.com/susanvallesministries)

All praise to You Father, Lord of All Creation. You are the only One worthy! You are still sitting on the throne! You sit on the throne of all and the throne of our hearts! It's all under Your feet, Jesus. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it! *Recorded live at Catch the Fire Worship Center, Raleigh, NC. Soaking led by Susan Valles, Steve Massengale, and Andre Bright www.susanvalles.com www.facebook.com/susanvallesministries

###We sing praise to You Father. You deserve all our praise! You are the King of Our Hearts! Rule and reign, Oh King of Glory! He gives us a crown of beauty and teaches us to reign with Him on the earth. We stand with our crowns and say, "Come in! Come on all you Children of God! Come and stand here with us and receive from the Father of All Creation." *Recorded live at Catch the Fire Worship Center, Raleigh, NC. Soaking led by Susan Valles, Steve Massengale, and Andre Bright [www.susanvalles.com](http://) [www.facebook.com/susanvallesministries](http://)

We sing praise to You Father. You deserve all our praise! You are the King of Our Hearts! Rule and reign, Oh King of Glory! He gives us a crown of beauty and teaches us to reign with Him on the earth. We stand with our crowns and say, "Come in! Come on all you Children of God! Come and stand here with us and receive from the Father of All Creation." *Recorded live at Catch the Fire Worship Center, Raleigh, NC. Soaking led by Susan Valles, Steve Massengale, and Andre Bright www.susanvalles.com www.facebook.com/susanvallesministries

Listen to Prayer Audio: https://strikeforceofprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Obedience-to-our-commander-in-chief-brings-victory-and-blessings-2017-09-14.mp3   Father, We come in humility as Warriors in Your Kingdom Army!  We pledge to You are Love/loyalty to be obedient Servants of Your Will and Word!  Forgive us of our disobedient past and anything we are doing now that makes us disloyal to You? Father, let Your Protection rule over us during our prayer time with You!  That we may be off the radar of the enemy. That this sacred time that we are together in Your Presence, that the enemy will not hear or see or understand our communication with You!  Thank You, Father for Your hedge of protection around each of us! Father, we know Obedience is key in following Your Commands.  In Obedience, we say we listen to Your Word and fulfill what You tell us what our assignment is for this hour!  In obedience, we are victorious in every battle we are in on a personal or family or community or state or federal level!  Your Word is our motto, our banner and orders we stand on! Father there are many areas that we need to correct because of our past disobedience.  When we obey You fill us with blessings, protection and prosperity for our families and future generations!  Disobedience and rebellion bring us punishment, judgement in the forms of disease, plagues, poverty, famine, slavery and defeat at the hands of our enemies.  So, Father, we are repentant before You of our disobedience. We declare and decree We are Your Obedient Servants and we intercede for our nation to again be obedient to Your Word and  we speak your Word into every phase of our lives as a nation under your Command, a land of the free and the home of the brave as witnesses to how the Kingdom reigns over us in Victory! Father as Your covenant children walking in obedience to Your commands we are blessed and we are blessing to one another!  Father, you have told us to be a blessing to others as we now share our blessing with our brothers and sisters in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other parts of our country!  We offer our tithes and offerings to those who are in need and have lost so much!  We know our sharing with obedient hearts is a sign of Obedience to your command for our brothers and sisters to see Your Love through us!  Bless Coach Dave Daubenmire and his boots on the ground and the others who are obediently obeying Your Commands...as the Army of the Kingdom Your Son because of His Obedience has removed the curse from us.  He is our true Hero and example of being an obedient servant to even giving up His last breath to save us.  We look to Him, Father as our image and model of obedient service to You.  May every step we take and everything we do be a sign of how much You love us to all those who are blind or deaf to the Truth of the Good News that Your Son has fulfilled for us from the Cross, to the grave, to the Glory of the Resurrection!  Thank You! Father for this great and everlasting Gift! As it says in Your Word: whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord and He will repay him for his deed. (Prov. 19/17) Consider this Lord when You look upon Your people in America who have been obedient in giving, caring and rendering assistance to the poor and needy!  Fulfill us Lord with your continuous blessing and let us see victory over the enemy as we are free in Jesus. Amen! I say over all who are gathered together in obedience in this hour: A blessing of Divine Health. Divine Wisdom, Divine Protection, Divine Prosperity be in you and through you and around you in Jesus Name!  Amen! Notes: Obedience brings blessings Disobedience brings the curse! Being Obedient to our Commander in Chief obedience brings victory we are told to take ground and hold it to bring victory Obedience means listening to the commands in order to fulfill them! Obedience unites an army

CALL FOR SINNERS TO REPENTANCE Father, we pray for grace and repentance and healing for Your Church and our nation. Salvation is a free gift from You and we believe that You will open her eyes to see Jesus and His eternal gift of grace. We pray for her to have a sound mind. We pray for the Holy Ghost to convict, bring her to repentance and reveal Jesus to the Christians. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” (Lk. 5:32). We ask You Father to call the intercessors too fast for the freedom of the lost souls our world. We lose all the bands and cords that are holding that hold all souls in captivity: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free and that ye break every yoke?” (Isa. 58:6). Father, we ask You to send Your warring angels to fight for Your church and our nation's life and soul. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved…” (Jn. 3:17).

John 6:28-29 1. Jesus I believe You Matthew 6:9-10 2. I agree with You Father

http://amzn.to/GF3mTPat Holliday Kindle Books Warfare Prayer Against Invisible Walls, Barriers, and Barricades In the name of Jesus, we ask that You Father to root up and destroy every invisible barrier that is over our family, health, finances, salvation and ministry, barriers that are  constructed and enforced through spoken word curses, Blood line Curses, iron like curses, witchcraft prayers, necromancy, amulets, candle burning, hoodoo, voodoo, charismatic witchcraft, Jezebels witchcraft, homemade witchcraft, hexes, vexes, envy, jealousy, evil eye stares, astral projections, enchantments, demonic hand writings and ordinances, group psychic meditations, and ungodly soul ties to the living and the dead, evil angels, dark angels, ancestral spirits in the name of Jesus Christ, according to Acts 19:19, Job 14:17, 2 Cor 10:4-5, Matt. 13:41-42, Job 4:8-9.

Amazon.com: Pat Holliday: Books http://amzn.to/11LyZ4ZPRAISE AND DELIVERANCE Lord God, according (Lk. 10:19), “Behold! I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you,” we tread over power of you Satan. We destroy all your unholy relationships between you and our families. In the name of Jesus Christ, we cut, sever and break all cords, snares, controls and bondages used by these spirits that keep our family in bondage. We command you to be humbled before the throne of Jesus Christ and take away your throne, your scepter and your hirelings and command you to bow your knees to Jesus. We ask You Father that You send angels to break all yokes of bondages for their freedoms We bind every evil spirit over their wills and command you Satan  to free them from   confusion, Antichrist, unbelief, religious spirits, cult spirits, rebellion, spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness, evil spirits over their flesh of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, witchcrafts, strange men   We forbid you Satan, and forbid you to send  re-enforcing devils during and after these prayers. We bind retaliating spirits from attacking every prayer warrior and their families.