I dislike using the tags and titles so often used in churches, but have to say that I am primarily a prophet and have avoided using that title.
A genuine ministry does not need to prove it. I am also a pastor and I am zealous for the Lord’s Church—the Body of Christ worldwide and fervently wish more Christians would adopt a similar approach. In my 52 years with the Lord, this coming September, God has graciously enriched my life in many ways. He has taken me to heaven several times and the Lord has visited me in my home. He has also permitted me to see angels and visions that, like Paul, are almost impossible to describe.
For such reasons, I no longer play church! As a result, my popularity level is low with many pastors who treat me and others like me as if they are aliens from another planet, but I don’t care. I am not a man pleaser. Many others like me are questioning how we do church and that is obviously very unpopular. Many others like me are aware of these changes, but people really do not like to hear about change. Perhaps now, people will listen to voices like mine and not treat us like freaks.
This stance has permitted me to look outside the box so to speak and I can observe things—as a prophet—from a distance. Sometimes that is not possible when you are in the middle of things happening around you when engaged in church activities.
For a long time now and particularly since the beginning of this year, the Lord has been impressing on my wife and myself many things that were startling, yet very encouraging, but hard to comprehend. They are now happening. If you recall, I published an article titled 20/20 in early February that touched on this, saying to expect radical change. It could perhaps change our whole way of life. Those who cannot adapt or are unwilling to embrace change may be in for a rude awakening.
It is no longer business as usual—perhaps the usual is no more. Everything has changed.
You may have never experienced the kind of rationing and shortages that existed during World War 2 and shortly afterwards, but we are already facing similar issues. Supermarkets are all but empty already and panic buying is revealing the worst of fallen man’s behavior, but there is enough to go around at present. Supermarkets and the government are asking people to stop panic buying as the warehouses and supply chains are still full and intact. They cannot keep the shelves full during panic buying! I must ask however, “What would You do if the supply chain totally fails?” Those end time prophecies and global catastrophe movies that once seemed pure fantasy might not be so ridiculous after all!
Enough of that. How about pastors and churches? Is your pastor keeping you up to speed with real events? It’s not easy, I know, but if a man takes on the role of ministering to the Lord’s sheep, he has to feed them; lead by example; teach And preach truth, build up the sheep and not fleece the sheep and more...
A pastor thus has all kinds of things to consider that the congregation does not need to do. They include things like the government regulations to adhere to, keep updated and report. I am registered with the Australia Government and must submit annual reports on my activities. They include things like providing public liability insurances and all kinds of hidden matters.
If a pastor of a church wants his own church building, he also needs all the facilities associated with it. They include maintenance costs, insurances, land taxes if applicable, staff wages and more. All this happens even if there are no meetings and many churches are empty most of the week anyhow.
For many years now, the Lord has been trying to get my attention and the attention of others, that the way we do church may no longer be what He wants and to get away from all that! I will not get in to church politics now, but it is self evident that, despite the hype and the programs attendances are slowly declining, or are not what we pretend they are. We believe, from what the Lord has been telling us is that small groups or home churches is most likely the way He wants us to go.
He has also been speaking about what He has called Green Spots dotted around the world. We did not really understand that until now. Those green spots are something like the cities of refuge in the Old Testament. They are places where Christians who are tuning in, are getting away from supermarket foods and growing their own—totally devoid of additives, preservatives and genetically modified products and returning to the original pattern God gave us!
Churches and communities can come together and share all things in common. A local “church” can have a plot of land and grow fresh produce in the middle of a crisis when supermarket shelves are empty! Money plowed into keeping the building used for a few hours a week could be diverted into real practical projects 24/7. We started looking at this in 2010, but did not really comprehend it then. I was planning to build a global ministry center on 132 acres of land and build a church for 2000 members, but would have followed the same lines as the other churches I knew and, to be honest, might have failed. The reason is simple. It was the wrong time, in the wrong place and we were not ready ourselves for what is now coming.
I am not getting onto fads and weird offshoots at all. This is now starting to make sense.
Something I never really gave much attention to other than glibly quoting it is the fact that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We have all focused on ministry from the spiritual side and to a certain extent have totally ignored that we are triune beings comprising spirit, soul and body. We correctly concentrate on getting people saved and into our churches and go to great lengths to cater to the different age groups and fellowship groups, conduct bible study evenings and have special events as I did—but generally speaking we have all but ignored caring properly for our bodies. Can you recall meetings in your local church that teach how to feed and clothe our temples properly? I can’t and I never did that.
One thing that is emerging more and more is the necessity for Christians to eat right! We are so accustomed to fast foods, junk foods, easy fix foods and supplies that are often artificial without checking the labels, we have been slowly poisoning ourselves. Our natural immune systems cannot cope and Christians are sick, despite the healing ministry of Jesus. I did not mention pharmaceuticals but shall do so later.
We pastors have a duty of care and a moral obligation to lead by example and teach the congregations about these things, but we really are not doing it. My old denomination and others do not teach this. They are advocating church planting, daughter churches and campuses. Where did the term campus originate? Please look closely now at all the different kinds of church programs and meetings and see how “practical” they are in really equipping their flocks for real life. If you do an honest appraisal and look at their web sites, I think that you would find what I am saying is correct. If so, then most of them falling down on the job. Many large churches are now exposed in ways they never considered before. Severe restrictions are being placed on large gatherings of people in all areas of life. Our governments are placing restrictions on the numbers pof people pemritted to gather in non essential meetings.This includes churches. If large meetings become obsolete and I use that word carefully, many churches will be in serious trouble and may be forced to close.
Many churches are already ceasing corporate meetings and streaming services on-line if they have the facilities. Some publish voice recordings of sermons. Many others do not even have that. What happens to the people who have been geared up to hold church for a few hours a week only in a building somewhere? What happens to the people who do not yet know the Lord and are in need of answers, prayer and real ministry?
The larger churches in particular depend on financial support from the congregation by way of tithes and offerings to keep running.
I doubt if such support will continue. Think about it.
Many churches are already ceasing corporate meetings and streaming services on-line if they have the facilities. Some publish voice recordings of sermons. Many others do not even have that. What happens to the people who have been geared up to hold church for a few hours a week only in a building somewhere? What happens to the people who do not yet know the Lord and are in need of answers, prayer and real ministry? The larger churches in particular depend on financial support from the congregation by way of tithes and offerings to keep running. I doubt if such support will continue. Think about it.
If we have heard correctly from the Lord and if others I know have heard correctly from the Lord, we may never return to the way we have been doing church. Perhaps we might have to return to the original pattern of home churches and the like as we see in the New Testament! If this is true, then what do we do, especially if you are a pastor? Here are a few points to consider.
- The church has to learn to see beyond the groupthink so prevalent today
- The church has to discern the difference between hype and reality
- The church has to teach public and private health. This is something that is not being done. The church has an obligation to provide truthful and accurate information related to public health measures in respect to combating the spread of the virus.
Please see what different churches are doing in this regard. Are they up to date with such information on their web or simply advertising their meetings? Again a quick search on the Internet will verify what I am saying.
This puts more pressure on me and others like me. My own web site reached more than 760,000 visitors the last time I checked. The numbers should speak for themselves. Good, sound, practical biblical teaching of the truth is paramount, but many major ministry web sites contain little if any teaching, or if they do, it is extremely difficult to find it! Check it out.
- The church must be able to share the gospel with people afraid of dying. We should have no fear of death because of the promises we have in the completed work of Jesus. Do you know what they are? You should!
- Pray with effect. Pray with intelligence. Pray in the Spirit. Pray for our leaders, because this is a biblical command. They are continually finding out that there are many things beyond their control!
- The church should care for vulnerable church members. The church is called to do good to all men—but especially to the household of faith (see Galatians 6:10). We especially need to look out for older and disabled church members who often do not have adequate resources especially if panic shopping prevents their ability to purchase the necessities of life.
- The church needs to be able to provide proper care and attention as far as feeding people. Many programs provide cheap, near end-of-life foods that are generally unfit for consumption. A quick look into the charity bins etc will verify that.
- The church should look for ways to love our neighbor. In every community there are vulnerable people. During a panic, the population goes into survival mode and its default position is “every man is for himself.” This is already happening in many places. We should be able to behave differently from the world in this present crisis. Perhaps the church—your church— can do this is by making sure the elderly, disabled and other groups of vulnerable people have all they need regarding food, toiletries and care. This is a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year requirement.
This is something that is alien to many of us, perhaps because of our way of life and habit patterns, but Christians need to learn and practice both health and healing. We need to learn about preventative health, not only divine healing.
Most of the deaths from the coronavirus are among those who already had underlying health issues, whose immune system was already compromised. The average person who is constantly eating wrong, like consuming processed foods, snacks between meals, eating late at night, will compromise their immune system. Many products are difficult to digest, leading to inflammation, a possible root cause of cancer, arthritis and other serious maladies.
God has provided a list of the foods that we can eat in His word and what to avoid, but we have been ignoring His advice and wonder why sickness prevails. I am not suggesting that we become like some of the religious groups around, but we really do need to do some checking and make appropriate changes.
Unfortunately, many believers think they can violate natural law and then pray for divine healing. It does not work.
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This is not the first Coronavirus
There have been several OTHER strains of Coronavirus, but this is most likely the worst. The image here is taken from the back of a box of a commonly found product that was widely sold from supermarket shelves many years ago in the US and it clearly mentions “Human Coronavirus”. It also mentions other situations like Salmonella and other “bugs”, many of which can be fatal.
Certain stories are calling it another strain of influenza and the “flu season” last year killed many people, but we have forgotten that. More reports are saying that this is a totally new strain of disease. Others are saying it is biological warfare designed to cripple our global financial sector, take out the elderly and the weak and reduce the people who are on some form of Social Security payments.
No matter what it is, this is without doubt a serious situation and no one can afford to ignore it, even people who call themselves Christians. We need to know the truth and we need to know what to do with it, not just in the light of this present situation, but in any and all possible future problems like this.
Previous outbreaks of diseases have come and gone. 50 million people died from a flu virus, commonly called the Spanish Flu in 1918. The ever increasing strains of influenza virus now seem to be an inevitable way of life and it is commonly referred to as “Flu Season”. If this Coronavirus is indeed another strain of flu, it may well run its season and pass away in time as has happened in the past—but what if it is not? What if it is here to stay? Reports are emerging saying we are already running out of flu vaccines. This now poses another of my questions, “Is this current outbreak really new?” I honestly do not know, but I do know truth! It is this truth that will see you through—provided you apply it!
There are so many reports out there you could die of worry, if not of the Coronavirus itself, if you do not know—and apply the truth. It is this Truth...that is Not being circulated! Information often disguised as facts might not be truth!
Global economy
One thing that is self evident is the affect this virus is having on the global economy.
Some people are talking about China’s economy, saying that they deliberately introduced this virus to bring a crash in Western markets to gain an advantage.
They are forgetting one thing, even if it is working. They are forgetting what God can do and has done in the past.
Many places once teeming with people, all spending money and keeping the cash flow running are not there. Martin Place in Sydney that is a hubbub of activity is deserted. Grand Central Railway station in New York at 42nd Street (I’ve been there) is eerily empty. Other cites around the world are also like that.
Qantas Airlines has ceased all international travel and severely restricted national flights, standing down thousands of staff.
Apple stores are closed world wide. This is a familiar story everywhere now and we are in for a bumpy ride if nothing changes. The threat of a recession is being discussed, but what if this develops into depression like we have had before in “the great depression” that started in 1929 and lasted 10 years. God looked after His people during that time! He looked after His people for 40 years in the wilderness. It might not have been luxurious ***** accommodation or designer clothing, but they never starved and their shoes never wore out! We have God’s promises and precedent to rely on, so even if this thing causes a crash, we will see it through.
Covenant promises
We are in a wonderful and privileged position, because God chose us. Jesus said that we did not choose Him but He chose us. This is not getting onto the topic of predestination, but before we were born, God saw ahead in time to the day when you and I would become one of His! I could quote numerous scriptures to illustrate this and how precious we are to Him. It might not always seem like that, but it is a fact. When we come to Christ, we enter into a blood covenant relationship with God. For this very reason, we have a unique position unlike other people who do not have such a privilege...by their personal choice.
Some of the privileges offered to us include protection. There are many covenant names of God, of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit. There are too many to list here, so I recommend you visit the page on my web site titled I Am...the covenant Names of God. Each of His names or titles depict an aspect of His nature and reveal His covenant promises. He is known as Adonai, Hashem, El-elyon, El-shaddai and numerous others. The name Jehovah is one and takes on several aspects, one of which is Jehovah-Chesed that is found in Exodus 34:5-7. Others include Jehovah-Raah, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, Jehovah-Jireh and I point specifically to one you may know that is Jehovah-Rapha. It is found in Exodus 15:26 that states-
And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
Hearken back to the Exodus. God commanded the people to personally apply the blood of a lamb to the doorpost and lintels of their homes. He promised that when He saw the blood, death would not strike. This means that He was looking for the blood.
He still looks for the blood, but now it is the blood of the Lamb of God that was shed for us at Calvary—but it must be personally applied to your own life. No one else can do that for you and you cannot do it for others.
It is a choice process. You can choose to do it or choose not to do it and the outcome depends on your own choice making processes. We all have the power to make choice processes not only with how we deal with this virus, but in every area of life.
It has always been like this and always will. Adam and Eve chose to eat that fruit. Joshua told the people to choose God and His ways in Joshua 24. Elijah told the people to make such a choice in 1 Kings 18.
Choice processes are found in the Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah and basically all the books of the bible, so it is evident that we have the power to choose. We can therefore choose and believe truth—or believe a lie.
We can choose to trust God or not trust Him. We can choose to obey Him or not.
Those who chose well on that first Passover survived, but those who did not suffered the consequences.
This is an unchanging process set forever in time, so if that Coronavirus starts to creep into your town, village or city, you can exercise your God-given right to choose what will happen. I am not being silly about it. Neither am I being religious about it. God has given us the keys and it is up to us to use them.
I now want to share Psalm 91 with you. Do not assume that you have read it before and think you understand it. Like many of the things of God, we can glibly quote something and say that we know it—but we do not and we do not always apply it!
Psalm 91
This psalm can relate directly to the Coronavirus. Note my emphasis.
You who live in the shelter of ‘Elyon, who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai, who say to Adonai, “My refuge!
My fortress! My God, in whom I trust!”— he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter and from the plague of calamities;
he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his truth is a shield and protection.
You will not fear the terrors of night or the arrow that flies by day, or the plague that roams in the dark, or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it won’t come near you.
Only keep your eyes open, and you will see how the wicked are punished.
For you have made Adonai, the Most High, who is my refuge, your dwelling-place.
No disaster will happen to you, no calamity will come near your tent; for he will order his angels to care for you and guard you wherever you go. They will carry you in their hands, so that you won’t trip on a stone. you will tread down lions and snakes, young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.
“Because he loves me, I will rescue him; because he knows my name, I will protect him. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble. I will extricate him and bring him honor. I will satisfy him with long life and show him my salvation.”
Put it to work
Like many of the things of God, they do not “work” automatically. Many must be personally appropriated.
The blood of the Passover lamb had to be personally applied to every home and the people had to enter into those homes to be saved.
Psalm 91 is conditional. We must choose to live in God’s shadow of protection. We need to choose not to fear. We need to declare that He is our refuge and shield of protection—and live there.
Our health is extremely important because we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. What we do with our bodies is something that the church has generally overlooked, despite the fact that the word of God deals in depth with these matters but this is a topic best shared on another occasion.
I am a firm believer in the healing ministry. We know of course of the miracles of Jesus, but the healing ministry of Jesus is now our healing ministry—because all believers have been given it. Whilst there are special Gifts of Healings as seen in 1 Corinthians 12 and there are certain people God has raised up and specially anointed for the purposes of healing and we usually call them healing evangelists—every believer can and should lay hands on the sick and expect to see them recover. Jesus said so! James affirmed this by saying-
Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. James 5:14-15. See also 1 Peter 2:24
The word of God does speak of exceptions. It does not say that it works for everything else but not for Coronavirus. It covers everything.
Many years ago when the bubonic plague was killing people a preacher by the name of John G Lake told the doctors to gather a sample from someone who had just died and place it on a slide to view through a microscope. When someone died of that thing, frothy foam came out of their mouth containing those bugs. They were crawling all over the slide. He then told them to get another sample and place it on his open hand and then put that on another slide for viewing. When they did, those bugs were dead! He “just happened” to believe what God said about and did it. I could share more stories like that and give personal testimonies I have experienced, but this should give you an idea of how to handle this present crisis.
I do not know if this is a man-made biological weapon or not (but I am suspecting it to be so). Neither do I know if this is a form of judgment by God which is not out of the question or not and I shall touch on this later. It may be a simple case of a virus and God has already spoken in part about such matters. In the natural realm, good housekeeping is His answer and this is the kind of thing that many believers are not adhering to His instructions, to their own detriment. The first thing is not to panic.
Fear not
People are afraid. I understand that, but a born again believer in the Lord should definitely not be afraid! The words “Fear Not” are a command!
They appear scores of times in the bible. It is said that fear is actually a sin. I tend to agree with this, knowing what God says about the things that can instill fear.
Perfect love casts out fear. John said-
We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them. By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world.
Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. 1 John 4:16-18
He was referring to fear of punishment etc here, but it can equally apply to fear of anything. We can even fear fear itself!
What can happen is that when someone becomes fearful of getting the ailment, they are putting their trust more in the thing’s ability to harm them than in God’s promises of protection. They have “more faith in the sickness” than “faith in God”.
I hear folk say things like, “What am I going to do? What am I going to do?” concerning this and other issues.
The problems are real and we do not ignore them, but instead of hitting the panic button and running around in panic mode, they should stop, quieten their spirit, sit down and have a round table meeting with the Lord about it. Ask Him what to do. The first thing that He will probably say is, “Do not be afraid.”
I have found that many people are susceptible to ailments simply because they are afraid of catching something.
I was new in the Lord when chicken pox infections struck our community. I had only just “discovered” about healing as my son Gary had been healed of a condition that had the doctors baffled.
They showed me x-rays of his left hip joint that was decomposing. I could see the rot in the ball part of the joint. Friends in the church prayed and Gary was miraculously healed. Don’t tell me that God does not heal today. I declared that it would not touch us and none of my family were infected. Long after the incubation period had passed, I developed an itch on my chest and I can remember saying something like, “Oh no” and looked down. Nothing was evident but a couple of days later I got a severe case of chicken pox. My pastor came to visit on several occasions, sat on the edge of my bed and laughed at me in a nice way saying that I looked a sorry sight. When I recovered I thanked him and asked him if he ever had any problems like that and he had not. He told me, “I pleaded the blood”. Hmmm. I still wonder how I got it. Did my “faith confession” lower my guard and I had allowed that thing to get me. In the light of this Coronavirus, I really think that we should never do what I did (it was fear) and do what my pastor did. Fear can attract problems like a moth is attracted to a candle.
Prayer
I am not getting onto politics here but the White House has daily prayer meetings.
There are many Spirit filled believers in office and they pray seriously.
If they can do it, why not us? The media does not share such information, preferring to circulate fake news or what suits their agendas, so whose report do you believe? This prayer is often attended by the President and/or the Vice-President and it is now more intense due to the present crisis.
They are asking God for guidance in the thing. President Trump called for a National Day of prayer concerning this virus.
Please avoid speaking negatively about him—you do not know the man and it is easy to form opinions from the opinions of others. Such negative talk is ungodly. They are in office because God permitted it and in a sense are His choice. That’s in the bible. Instead of speaking ill of them—pray for them and this is a biblical command. Rather than criticize our leaders we should pray for them See 2 Timothy 2:1-4! They need real wisdom in knowing what to do for everyone and what policies they need to implement in this crisis.
Choices
Our leaders have to make choices now that they may never have had to do before.
Pray that they will make wise choices. It has become so bad in Italy that doctors are reaching the point when they have to decide who lives and who dies. Other reports coming in indicate that other countries may do likewise. Imagine that happening in your own country.
The global economy is under threat and I have already touched on that. Governments are already talking about how to avoid going in to recession. I need not say any more on that.
Our whole way of life may well change shortly. Perhaps it will never return and we shall have a “new norm”. If this is true, our only real guarantee of anything is what God has promised. I am not being alarmist. What I am saying is that we all need to reconsider our options and how we approach life in general. Do we trust God or not?
That nice sounding often religiously quoted saying, “as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord” may well be put to the test and become reality. My wife and I have already made that stand and lived like this for decades and God has never failed us. Christianity is more than “going to church” and having nice “awesome meetings” that are becoming more like an entertainment venue than what it is supposed to be.
Medication & chemicals
The image seen here is a picture of this virus under an electron microscope. Science and medical research is a wonderful thing and a good tool when used properly. I believe in doctors and admire their dedication and commitment, but they really cannot cope with such events and, without sounding critical, are struggling to find answers. I also believe in medicines with some reservations. One major problem is that medication is often over prescribed and people depend on them too much. Overuse of drugs and medications, especially antibiotics is rife. It can dull the body’s natural ability to resist infections. Do not think for a moment that getting a pill is going to help. It is not that simple. Do not pray for a vaccine to be invented. What if it isn’t? What if it takes years to develop? History has proved that there are different strains of viral infections, so as fast as one vaccine is developed, another version may emerge. One factor to consider is that people could become dependent on the medication itself and not on the Lord.
Flu vaccines do as much harm as good and I have previously mentioned the flu vaccine.
We do not take any medication...none! We have done so by personal choice and by listening to the Lord very carefully.
Whenever we have had medication, the side affects were worse than the original problem and we are not the only ones who have come to this conclusion! Our doctor told us that the flu vaccine was harmless, but would not take it herself, or let any member of her family take it. Why? Did she know something? What really is contained in those pills and needles we so readily receive? I can’t even begin pronouncing some of the things listed in the contents. What are they? What lasting affects do they have? Are there any side effects? Do you know what you are really ingesting?
A major problem with medication is that it is over-prescribed too often and that is dangerous. Antibiotics are not going to help. They are designed for infection and are so over-used that the natural immune system is at risk. Doctors prescribe things like amoxicillin telling patients to complete the course, even if the symptoms disappear—but this practice is being proved to be a myth.
As fast as one drug is developed, new strains of infection become immune to the treatment and the cycle continues. We know many people who are in constant pain, are coughing and hacking all the time, race to a doctor and get more pills and ignore advice to change their lifestyles—their matters of hygiene and diet! A quick look at someone’s list of pills reveals much. There is a TV ad about a welfare center here that cares for people with intellectual disabilities. They are teaching them to be self sufficient and I think it is great. The problem is that the movie clip shows them going to a doctor’s surgery and shows the carer counting out a big list of pills and recording them on a calendar. When I saw it, something exploded in my spirit and warning bells started sounding. There may be good reasons of course, but what are they taking and why? Society is becoming drug dependent. Why? What would happen if the drugs are no longer available?
On a personal note, we do not eat certain foodstuffs any longer—not because we can’t eat them but because God has led us to getting back to His basics and our own personal health has radically improved. We eat well and are very content.
We can eat what we want and when we want, but don’t bother now. Why consume things that could harm us?
There is a pork ad coming onto our TV that asks the percentage of product actually produced in Australia and it is very small. They are of course trying to promote Australian meat and I agree with the principle. Many foods we consume without a second thought like “meat” is not meat at all, but artificially created by taking DNA samples from the genuine product and cultivating it as food in laboratories. Read the labels folks. Read the labels. Ask questions. Pray!!!
God’s medicine is found in His word. We tend to discard “The Law” thinking it is Old Testament and only for Jews, but it is for the good of all. He has told us what is good to eat and what is not and it works!
I am not being paranoid, but pointing out certain things so that you will be more informed, be able to pray intelligently—without getting fearful and emotional about it and act accordingly.
The book of revelation speaks about sorceries and a Greek reference is a word from which we get the words pharmacy, pharmaceuticals and drugs. The meaning is enchantment with drugs. Our society is creating drug dependent people, taking stuff that is legally prescribed. There are “socially acceptable” drugs that people think are harmless, but they are not. Smokers for example think that a substitute for tobacco like “pure tobacco” is OK because it does not contain the chemical ingredients in the ordinary product. It is still taking a foreign product into the body in a way that is not natural. It is still a drug.
Some reports have implied that this virus is deliberately introduced as a biological weapon. If it is we need to ask how it is spreading. If you have seen pictures of people spraying streets and using fogging machines, what is really in the stuff being sprayed? Authorities say to remain in isolation and that the virus has a short life outside the human body. If it does not last long outside, then why spray the streets anyhow? Again, I am not being paranoid, but asking questions and encouraging you to pray about it.
God's hand
I must say something now that may startle you. It suddenly popped into my thoughts and took me by surprise. Please bear with me and turn to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Here, God said that if we do it right before Him, things would go well, but if not, we could be in trouble. We like the blessing parts that are seen in the first 14 verses and claim them as promises. I do! There are definite promises of protection, blessing and provision and I have proved it works. We jump up and down and make our “faith confessions” on the parts we like and stop there, but there is more...
What we gloss over is that they come—as a result of our obedience. Verse 14 states that we are not to deviate from what He has said and is immediately followed with the little word but. It links what follows, stating that if we get out of step with Him, all of the things we want to avoid may happen. The rest of the chapter speaks of plagues!
I am not being alarmist at all, but is this is a possible factor that needs to be considered?
Is it remotely possible in our wildest of imaginations, that in some way, God is “involved”? Don’t stone me now. God is a God of love, mercy and forgiveness, but He is also a God of righteousness and judgment and has declared in His word that does not change. He has already judged sin of course and that’s why Jesus came and was made to be sin itself—but the bible does speak about God smiting His enemies and “sending” plagues.
Those plagues adversely affected those in rebellion and disobedience and the heathen but who are the heathen?
A simple answer could be that they are people who have not entered into a blood covenant with God.
There was a clearly marked demarcation line between God’s covenant people and the Egyptians before the Exodus.
God has promised those of us who are in covenant relationship that we can be immune from those issues but what about those who are not in covenant?
Is this also a “wake up call” of some kind to the Church? I searched the web for what churches are saying and was shocked to see that few of the “successful big churches” say very little on the matter. No teaching whatsoever is easily found on most of them. All you will see are pictures and movies of their services, worship and programs. Finding links to essential Christian doctrines are extremely rare. Visit one and test out what I said. We should be leading the way and providing facilities to people who are searching for answers.
After 9-11, churches in America started to fill for a mere few weeks, but no biblical teaching was provided and it was a return to business as usual.
I’ve stated before that we will witness the collapse of many churches because the Lord has been speaking much on those lines. I felt hypocritical and judgmental, but He kept insisting that this will happen. It is! Large gatherings of people are now being frowned upon, even forbidden and this includes churches over a certain size. Watch to see what happens.
It was reported that the virus emanated from China. Is this a “Christian” country in covenant relationship with God? If it is not, then by definition, the word heathen could apply. Where does China really stand?
Iran has been really hit hard and they are openly advocating the extermination of Israel and so are God’s enemy, touching the apple of His eye and our attitude towards Israel is a serious matter. Iran and China do not reveal all that is happening and cover up things, so we do not know the real impact but I’ve seen pictures of mass open graves and corpses in mortuaries that are alarming.
The virus is widespread in Europe, where Christianity is under threat. We stopped in Brussels several years ago in the middle of a Muslim suburb and it was disturbing to say the least. My research is startling. Just because people use the title “Christian country” means nothing. One report stated that in the UK, only 7% of young adults identify as Anglican, fewer than 10% categorize themselves as Catholic and Muslims at 6%, say they are on the brink of overtaking those who consider themselves part of the country’s established church. The rest have no religion at all and 59% of people never attend any religious services.
In the Czech Republic, 70% said they never went to church or any other place of worship, and 80% said they never pray. In the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, between 56% and 60% said they never go to church and between 63% and 66% said they never pray. Most of Europe is like that. Similar traits are happening in the USA and elsewhere.
It seems therefore that people in general have no meaningful relationship with God—by personal choice.
I am not saying that this is definitely what is happening, but what follows from this in Deuteronomy 28 from verse 15 onwards may relate to what is happening today and the curses of the bible may be overtaking them. I am not suggesting that God is “punishing” anyone, but asking questions. He might not be directly involved in that sense, but knowing ahead of time what can happen and is using the foolishness, selfishness, greed and other traits of natural man for His purpose.
If God cannot bless as He wants to, then all He needs to do is...nothing! Someone once said that for evil to triumph all it needs is for good men to do nothing. The thief is then free to steal, kill and destroy, just as Jesus said he would do—unless the only force capable of restraining him—the Church—takes her rightful position. We can do that, but are we?
This sort of rattled my cage a little, but it is also exciting. Can this be a prelude to the separating of sheep from goats, wheat from tares, getting God’s covenant people ready for something extraordinary? I do not know, but this will happen, so why not believe it can be in our day?
As I pondered more on this, it seemed that the Lord prodded me a little and reminded me of something Paul said. I knew the phrase but had forgotten where it was found and had to search for it.
I am talking about “end time things” now. We believe that Jesus is coming back...right? I do. I also believe that it is in my lifetime and I am doing my best to live accordingly, having investigated scripture and drawing from personal experience as the foundation for such belief. I know that many foolish things have been said and done about this, but this is something that is burning in my spirit, especially after my last visit to heaven and because the Lord keeps talking about it.
Paul addressed a belief problem in the church at Thessalonica, firstly telling them not to panic and not to be afraid, which is what I am trying to do. It is found in 2 Thessalonians1-12.
Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and concerning our gathering together unto Him, we ask you not to let your mind be quickly shaken or be troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter coming as though from us, as if the day of Christ is already here. Do not let anyone deceive you in any way.
Fear is hitting people today and it is a dangerous thing. This is why God often tells us Do Not Be Afraid!
Paul said that there would be a falling away and this is happening. But what is this falling away? I believe that it is not a falling away from “Christianity” but from the pure and unadulterated faith we should have in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ and the empowering that the Holy Spirit can give us. Being a Christian is more than having church and holding awesome meetings.
We are supposed to take Christ with us. That word Christ speaks of the anointing. It is the anointing that breaks yokes and liberates men. It is the anointing that empowers us to do what Jesus did and asks us to do. Are we really doing it?
For that Day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things?
This is the part we might need to pay close attention to.
Now you know what restrains him that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working. Only He who is now restraining him will do so until He is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His presence, even him, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Who is restraining the evil? Is it the Holy Spirit or is it us, or is it both? If the Church is taken up and out of here in this present dispensation as we believe (the rapture), will the Holy Spirit also leave? Considering His present ministry here, the restraining force is gone and all hell can then break loose. Jesus was given delegated authority from the Father and He passed this onto His Church. It is up to us to make use of it and “hold back” the enemy forces simply by being here. Paul says that we carry the fragrance of Christ. He lives in us and we take Him with us wherever we go, functioning as His hand, feet and mouth, so if we are gone, there is no witness as we presently know it. As you can imagine, this conjures up all kinds of discussions and possibilities.
All I am doing is presenting a range of things for you to pray about and do your own research.
Perhaps the time is ripe for a global “Great Awakening” as the pride of humanity is being brought low and masses of people are being unsettled by this virus and other huge challenges. Perhaps this will drive people to their knees and seek the Lord in earnest. Perhaps the God of the second chance is giving us a second chance, despite the serious plight we are in. I do not know, but I do know the outcome because I’ve read the end of the book and we win!
Self sufficiency
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