Take His Word For It!

Consider how GOD honors His Name: for His Name is HOLY Indeed! At the Name of Jesus Christ EVERY KNEE shall bow and EVERY TONGUE confess, that He is LORD! Yet there is something that GOD exalts above even His own Name! His WORD! PSALM 138:2.

Review PSALM 119 and you will see over and over again the Psalmist addresses the WORD of GOD. Here are a couple verses from that Psalm for your consideration: 

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." vs 160 "I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil." vs. 162 "I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word." vs. 147

GOD created the heavens and the earth, and on the third day (yes a 24 hr period!), He created all vegetation: 

The Price of Blood

Gold. Diamonds. Silver. Emeralds. Bronze. Opals. Precious commodities that connote wealth, affluence, extravagance. What makes these materials of value and great worth?

Part of it is scarcity. The less there is of something, the more its worth. That's why various kinds of wood are generally valued less than metals of the finer sort.

Another factor in appraising that which is valuable is demand by way of desirability, attractiveness and or need.
Yet what is THE most valuable commodity there is in all the world? In all the universe?

To answer that, one must consider what is the rarest substance there is, and how much of a demand there is for that substance.
Consider the spiritual values that the BIBLE deals in, most especially where the righteousness of the souls of men are concerned. 

War Objectives

Wars have been fought ever since Cain slew Abel. After that mono e mono, they've become more sophisticated and deadlier, but reasons for such conflicts haven't changed all that much. Wars have been fought for possession of land, for political and religious reasons, for resources.

The church, the ecclesia of the LORD Jesus Christ are also called upon to wage a war, but for entirely different reasons:

Marching Orders

Soldier. Think about the sort of images and ideas that this word brings to your mind. Don't read beyond this point, just think about that word "soldier". What do you think about when you read that word?
Me, I think about discipline, training, sacrifice.
When engaged in battle, soldiers spend relatively less time in the actual engagement compared to the set up, and even all the training beforehand. Let alone the time when they are simply waiting for the engagement to begin.

God's training for us involves much discipline, hardships, instruction, tests and waiting on Him, long before He uses us in ministry and in spiritual warfare.

Ambassadors

American Heritage Dictionary defines "ambassador" as follows: A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as a representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another. Also: A diplomatic official heading his or her country's permanent mission in certain international organizations; an authorized messenger or representative. 

Question: "What does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ?"

Answer: In a letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul discusses the ministry of reconciliation, and he uses the term “ambassadors” for Christ: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, emphasis added).*

* to read this article in its entirety, check out GOTQUESTIONS: What does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ?

an aMAZE-ing World

Ever play and solve one of those newspaper puzzles? I'm talking about those mazes, where there's the starting point, and with a pen you work your way through it, trying to avoid the dead ends, and find your way to the end.

As I read and study Biblical prophecy, I sometimes wonder how we will get from where we are now (an ever-moving 'starting' point) to the very end (the, uh... 'ending' point: profound, I know).

We know that the very end time scenario (called among Biblical scholars, 'eschatology' or the "study of last things" that is, of the end of the world as we know it [and I feel fine]) will involve the world as a global empire, ruled by none other than the beast himself, the seed of the serpent, commonly known as the anti-Christ.

The One World Government will find its center of power, not in the USA surprisingly, but in Europe. People will buy and sell via a numerical system, no doubt in conjunction with the sophisticated computer system now in place. There will be a one world religion as well, governed by the right hand man of the Beast, the False Prophet. There will be multiple false-Christs, false prophets, false signs and wonders, and mass deception. A great apostasy in the church is anticipated.

So how will we be going from where we are today, to such a scenario as portrayed by scripture? Please note: its not like I'm actually worried or fearful of the future or about the 'how', just fascinated by it and intrigued by the history-in-advance which the Bible calls prophecy. For only God can "declare the end from the beginning." ISAIAH 46:10

More and more today we are hearing about "a world without borders" and such organizations as the EU, and NAFTA (border between US and Mexico? nah!) are by economic and industrial means, fusing nations into supra-national conglomerates, each member nation then loses its own sovereignty. Even Africa is considering developing its own version of the European Union, the AU. Likewise the Far East is working on creating its own supranational block, the foundation being China and Japan.

Once these para-national blocks are linked, voila, there is your one world government! The Bible states this power structure will be founded upon what's known today as Europe (both western and eastern). Wars, like bridges are being constructed to suit the will and desire of strong men behind the scenes. Other wars are fought w/o military application, but with money, Foundations, and believe it or not, Secret Societies (these are the hidden, but most important ones, as these will effect the tide of events w/o alarming, or alerting the masses) and semi-secret organizations like the C.F.R. and the Trilateral Commision, and even the Bilderbergers!

Smart cards are a reality today; they are like credit cards, but instead of a magnetic strip, it has a transponder chip that can actually compute and store vast quantities of information. Problem: they can get lost or stolen.
Solution: micro-miniaturize the chip so it can be easily and comfortably inserted under the skin (REV 13:16-18).

A vast network of mega-computers that are capable of storing info of every working man, woman and young adult exist today. One of which is in Belgium. Bio-chips exist as well, for use in our pets (Info-pets) and small children, in order to track them in case they get lost. Coming to a bank soon, just for YOU! heh

Years ago, people scoffed at the idea of a one world government. Not today, its happening. Not long ago it was absurd to think that the religions of the world would unite under a single banner, and meld into a singular entity. Yet if you watch and listen to various religious leaders today, they're all talking "unity".

As political leaders are craving a single person to forge global unity and man the helm of Mother Ship Earth, the religious world looked to John Paul II as one who could unite them. It will be interesting to see how Pope Benedict and forthcoming Popes will follow their lead.

Scads of false Christs all claiming to be the enlightened One who holds the answers are a dime a dozen today. Whether you're talking Indian Guru's, the Dalai Lama, Malcolm X, Reverend Sun Yung Moon, among others, all of which have claimed to be "Christ". Occult phenomenon is at an all time high today, as is demonic and spiritual manifestations, and look to only increase.

In the church, not just in the denominations but even so-called evangelical and fundamentalist groups, there is an increasing desire for the seeker-sensitive, social gospel and emergent church movements and they are underfoot; the Word of God is being taught less and less. Truth is becoming relative: subject to the whim, fancy and desire of the individual. Jesus is becoming anything but Who He really is and even the church is swallowing such swill (anyone know about a movie and book called The Da Vinci Code?).

It's aMAZE-ing, isn't it?
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will never pass away." Have any anxiety that one day you will open your bedroom window and find EVERYTHING gone? Course not! GOD's Word is even surer than that, and we see things happening JUST as He said they would!
Prepare For A Blink-of-an-eye Journey! It's near!

may the LORD JESUS CHRIST bless you all WAY TOO MUCH!