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G-d’s goodness overcomes all

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Throughout the Bible there are many places where, as believers, we read the text and immediately grieve in our hearts. One of the saddest dialogs is found in the book of Exodus, yet this same dialog takes place today and, unfortunately, too often we respond in exactly the same way without realizing what we are saying and doing.

In Exodus chapter 6:6-9, we find one of the most powerful promises Scripture contains.

Therefore say to Bnei-Yisrael: I am Adonai, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Adonai your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and give it to you as an inheritance. I am Adonai.” Moses spoke this way to Bnei-Yisrael, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and cruel bondage.

According to verse 9, when Moses spoke these words to the Children of Israel, they did not listen to him because of their spiritual and physical condition. They looked at themselves and their circumstance and then judged G-D’s ability to fulfill His promises based upon their situation. Here, we see the Creator of the Universe reminding His people that He still loved them and remembered them and was going to redeem them and fulfill His promises. Yet, because the Children of Israel based G-D’s power and sovereignty on their current state of affairs, knowing how bad their spiritual and physical conditions were, they could not believe that G-D’s good could overcome their bad.

Reading these verses today, I know that some of you are in difficult circumstances right now. You know the promises G-D made and the redemption that was brought to you in Messiah Yeshua. You know who G-D is and can quote John 3:16, Romans 8:28, and Romans 9:9, as well as many other verses filled with promises from G-D by memory. Yet, you are looking at your situation in the same way that the Children of Israel viewed theirs. You may not be proclaiming your response vocally as the Children of Israel did to Moses, but your response is heard by G-D just as loudly. You are allowing your heart to believe that your problems, your Egypt, is more powerful than G-D’s promises.

So, let me remind you today that when G-D said these words to Moses to speak to the Children of Israel, they were at the lowest point in their lives physically and spiritually. Yet, none of their predicaments kept G-D from promising them that He would deliver them, He would restore their relationship with Him, and that He would bring them to the land of prosperity.

With this in mind, please remember this absolute truth: Your bad, no matter how large it appears to your heart and mind, will never, ever become larger or more powerful than G-D’s good. (Click to Source)

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Top 30 Evidences for God

This article is a brief summary of the evidence supporting God’s existence.

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1. The Fine-Tuning Argument. The obvious fine-tuning of the world “proves” the existence of a “Designer.” Science has calculated the odds against our universe randomly taking a form suitable for life as: One in 10,000,000,000124 [Ravi Zacharias, The End of Reason, p. 35]
2. The Teleological Argument (Design). The obvious design (complexity) of the world “proves” the existence of a “Designer.” Science has estimated that the odds that intelligent life exists on the Earth as the result of non-directed processes to be around: One in 102,000,000,000 [Cited in Gary Habermas and Mike Licona, The Case for the Resurrection, 2004, p. 179]
3. The Moral Argument. The existence of a universal morality among humans “proves” the existence of a universal “Lawgiver.” If the evolutionary worldview were true, we would be advanced animals acting on chemical impulses. Absolute moral standards would not exist. But they do exist! See: Moral Argument (Proof God Exists)
4. The cosmological argument. The principle of cause and effect “proves” the existence of an “uncaused Cause.” Simply put, nothing cannot create something, and therefore, either the universe has always existed or something outside the universe has always existed. Scientific evidence shows us that the universe hasn’t always existed. Therefore, the something outside of the universe, that has always existed, is God. Furthermore, the characteristics of this something are the same characteristics that are attributed to God. This argument has a logical progression, and is rational, compared to the atheist’s argument.See: Cosmological Argument (Proof God Exists)
5. The Golden Ratio. In God’s creation, there exists a “Golden Ratio” (the mathematical constant of 1.618) that is exhibited in a multitude of shapes, numbers, and patterns whose relationship can only be the result of the omnipotent, good, and all-wise God of Scripture. See: The Golden Ratio: Amazing Proof of God
6. The Great Pyramid. Isaiah 19:19-20 tells us that The Great Pyramid “shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord”. It was built thousands of years ago, yet it contains extraordinary measurements of Earth and space that could not have been built even with today’s modern technology! People are more willing to believe that Egyptians used superior technology from alien visitors thousands of years ago! See: The Great Pyramid: Amazing Proof of God
7. Hidden Sevens in the Bible. The recurrence of the number seven – or an exact multiple of seven – is found throughout the Bible and is widely recognized. But there turns out to be much more below the surface. For example, in the first 17 chapters of Matthew Gospel, there are 42 such words (7 x 6) and they have 126 letters (7 x 18). Always an exact multiple of 7. These are just two features, there are 14 features, in total, in that chapter! What are the chances? In the 12 verse of Mark Gospel, the chances of this being random chance have been calculated at 54,116,956,037,952,111,668,959,660,849 to 1! It is absolutely, completely, and totally impossible to mathematically disprove this phenomenon. The overall validity of this discovery—the fact that God did it—is unimpeachable! And, of course, this phenomenon only occurs in the original Biblical Hebrew. See: Hidden Sevens in the Bible: Undeniable Proof
8. 101 Scientific Facts & Foreknowledge in the Bible. Scientific research continues to unfold the wonders and mysteries of our universe. Interestingly, the Bible has anticipated many of these scientific facts! Many of these facts were penned centuries before they were discovered. For example, the Bible shows circumcision on the eighth day is ideal (Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59). Medical science has discovered that the blood clotting chemical prothrombin peaks in a newborn on the eighth day. This is therefore the safest day to circumcise a baby. How did Moses know?

The Bible says that light can be divided (Job 38:24). Sir Isaac Newton studied light and discovered that white light is made of seven colors, which can be “parted” and then recombined. Science confirmed this four centuries ago – God declared this four millennia ago!

The Pleiades and Orion star clusters described (Job 38:31). The Pleiades star cluster is gravitationally bound, while the Orion star cluster is loose and disintegrating because the gravity of the cluster is not enough to bind the group together. 4,000 years ago God asked Job, “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?” Yet, it is only recently that we realized that the Pleiades is gravitationally bound, but Orion’s stars are flying apart. See more: 101 Scientific Facts & Foreknowledge

9. The Shroud of Turin. It is considered to be the linen cloth the dead Jesus was wrapped in after He was crucified. It’s an ancient, sepia-colored, rectangular, 14.3 x 3.7 foot linen cloth woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils with the front and the back image of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin on it. The Shroud of Turin is an icon of faith and controversy among Christians. We can’t be completely dogmatic about the Shroud of Turin, but there is certainly a high degree of probability that it is genuine. See: The Shroud of Turin: Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection

10. America 9/11 terrorist attack predicted. The link between the 9/11 attack in America, and the attack on ancient Israel (Isaiah 9:10), is uncanny. For instance, both were attacked by Assyrian terrorists, both terrorists were Semitic people (children of the Middle East), both buildings in the attacks had fallen bricks, both had a sycamore tree cut down, both buildings were rebuilt with hewn stone, both sycamore trees were replaced with a cedar tree…etc. It’s unbelievable evidence of God. See: Ancient Israel & America: Uncanny Link
11. Biblical Shemitah years in America. The biblical Shemitah came every seven years to Israel, and brought cessation to production, trade and economic activity, and ultimately, a nullification to the nation’s financial realm, the wiping away of credit and debt. This ancient pattern, established by God, has manifested in modern America. From September to September is the Shemitah year and each of the crashes America’s experienced as a nation, for the last century, have been on a Shemitah year! People cannot understand why September is a historically bad month for stocks, however, it’s easy to understand why if you read God’s Word. This is further evidence for God. See: Biblical Shemitah Years: Beyond A Coincidence

12. Blood Moon Tetrads on feast dates. There have been 56 tetrads since Christ’s day, however the last 8 have fell on the first and last of the 7 “feasts of the LORD” (Lev. 23:4; cf. Gen 1:14). On God’s “appointed times”, just like He foretold in Genesis 1:14! And not just have they fallen on the seasons (appointed times), but they have also been for signs (things to come). See: Signs in the Sun, Moon & Stars – End Times
13. Rebirth of Israel, and recapture of Jerusalem, exact date predicted in the Bible. Not only was Israel becoming a nation prophesied, it was also prophesied down to the very date. And if that wasn’t enough proof for you, the recapture of Jerusalem was also prophesied to the very date! Two of Israel’s most significant end-time prophecies fulfilled, and predicted by date thousands of years beforehand! See: Israel Significant Dates: Prophesied in the Bible
14. Biblical archaeological discoveries. There have been thousands of Bible discoveries; but the wonder of it all is that even with all the overwhelming archaeological evidence, none has ever contradicted a single claim the Old and New Testament makes! See here.

15. Specific Bible verses have numbers and themes in the text of the Bible that seem to line up with the locations where the verses are found. This requires a supernatural author. For example, Matthew 24:42 is about the Day of the Lord. It is the 24th chapter, it’s about the DAY (24 hours) of the Lord; and the 42nd verse (reverse of 24) is the key verse to watch out for we don’t know when this DAY will occur. These three references to things related to 24 are all found in the 24,000th verse of the Bible (now that really sets it apart)! Mathematics shows it’s statistically impossible for this to be chance occurrence (calculated at billions to one could not be coincidence). See over 35 more examples here.

16. Donald Trump’s election and 7s. God’s hand was clearly present in Trump’s election. For example, he was 70 years, 7months and 7 days old on his first full day as president of the United States, and he defeated Hillary Clinton by 77 electoral votes…etc. Many take these numbers as a sign that Donald Trump was supposed to become the next president as the number 7 is very significant in The Bible and Revelation! The world was stunned that Hillary Clinton lost in a landslide victory to Donald Trump, since Clinton was heavily favored to win in virtually every poll conducted by our mainstream media. See: Donald Trump, Israel, & 7, coincidences?
17. Theomatics. Throughout the Bible, multiple factors and clustering (known as theomatics) is so consistent in words and phrases, that it boggles the mind. The major fact is that it happens so regularly, as to defy any mathematical odds. In other words, if God did not place this phenomenon into the text, then the numerical values for words and phrases would only produce “random” results. It is absolutely, completely, and totally impossible to mathematically disprove theomatics. See here.
18. Overwhelming evidence for a young earth and universe. There are over hundreds of evidences for a young age of the earth and the universe. For example, there is evidence of recent volcanic activity on Earth’s moon. This contradicts the supposed vast age – it should have long since cooled if it were billions of years old! If the sea had no sodium to start with, it would have accumulated its present amount in less than million years at today’s input and output rates. This is much less than the evolutionary age of the ocean, three billion years…etc. The list goes on. See: 101 evidences for a young age of the earth and the universe
19. Overwhelming evidence for Noah’s flood. Noah’s flood really happened, there is a flood of evidence for it in the fossil record. For example, fossilized jellyfish must have been rapidly buried because their soft bodies float and decay within hours of death. There are millions of fossilized jellyfish. It is not possible for trees to remain vertical for thousands of years while layers form around them. Yet we see thousands of them. We find fossils of sea creatures in rock layers that cover all the continents (more than a mile above sea level) contain marine fossils. Fossilized shellfish are even found in the Himalayas…etc. The list goes on. See here and here.
20. The spiritual realm. Testimonies of supernatural healings, demonic encounters, angelic encounters and many different spiritual experiences by generations of people all over the world speak of a reality/realm that exists beyond the physical. See: The Spiritual Realm: Evidence God Exists
21. The Bible. The New and Old Testament have an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting their reliability. In fact, the Bible should be enough Christian evidence for anyone since its reliability, alone, defies natural explanation. For example:

  •  If the average-sized manuscript were two and one-half inches thick, all the copies of the works of an average Greek author would stack up four feet high, while the copies of the New Testament would stack up to over a mile high!
  • 40 authors wrote the Bible over a period of 1,500 years, yet when the 66 books of the Bible with their 1,189 chapters made up of 31,173 verses are brought together (KJV), we find perfect harmony in the message they convey.

See more here.

22. End-time prophecies fulfilled. Bible prophecy is a fantastic proof for God’s existence. The fact that over hundreds of prophecies have been fulfilled, and have all converged, within the last century should be enough evidence for anyone. Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter – NO errors. The odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is estimated at over one in 102000! See: 101 Last Days Prophecies
23. Historical records for Jesus. There was never any debate in the ancient world about whether Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure. The historical evidence for Jesus of Nazareth is both long-established and widespread. Within a few decades of his lifetime, he is mentioned by Jewish and Roman historians, as well as by dozens of Christian writings. See here.
24. “Torah Codes” and “ELS” (Equi-distant Letter Sequences). Instead of reading a text normally––one letter at a time––hidden words are looked for by reading the text every 2, or 3, or 4, (etc.), letters, skipping over the letters in between. For example, the first five books of the Bible are known as the Torah, and in each of these five books, in 50 letter increments, we find the letters spelling “Torah.”! In addition, the number 50 has several important meanings relating to Torah. What are the chances? The chance of just two appearances at intervals 50 is 1 in 400,000! See here.
25. Jesus’ number is in everything. The relationship between the two numbers, 792 and 3168, is foundational to the creation of the earth itself! It is evident that these two numbers are found to repeat all through the creation! Why these two numbers? Maybe because the Gematria value for “Lord Jesus Christ” in Greek is 3168, and in Hebrew is 792! See: Jesus’ Number in Everything: Amazing Proof
26. Laminin. The protein inside our body, called Laminin, has an extremely vital role in our bodies. So vital, that without it, we could literally cease to exist. What is it exactly that makes Laminin so special? It is a cell adhesion molecule that is organized into a specific structure and it dictates what job the cell performs in the body. In other words, it literally holds all the cell membranes in your body together. It is the glue of the human body. The cross-like shape of the laminin molecule is evidence of God’s hand in creation!

27. Planets aligned to form Jesus on the cross during crucifixion. On the day commonly viewed as that of Jesus’ actual crucifixion, April 3, 33 AD, the planets Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Earth and Venus aligned to form what looks like Jesus on the cross with the head, the hands spread out and the legs together in accurate positioning, rotation and on a galactic scale. Indeed, even Saturn’s rings can be viewed as representing the ‘halo’ or ‘crown of thorns.’ This alignment appears to have occurred only six times between the year 0 and 2000 A.D.
28. Hidden name of God in DNA. YHWH is used almost 7,000 times throughout the Bible as the only and unique name of the Mighty One of Israel (God). The four elements that make up human DNA: Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Carbon, when converted to letters, based upon their matching values of atomic mass, spell YHWG!
The last letter (G) is the “stuff” that gives us the color, taste, texture, and sounds of our body: carbon. If we were to replace the final H in YHWH with its chemical equivalent of nitrogen, YHWH becomes the elements that are all all colorless, odorless, and invisible gases!

Just as the first chapters of Genesis relate that it is in a nonphysical form (invisible) that the Creator was present during the time of creation: It was “the spirit of YHWH” that first moved over the face of the earth. (Genesis 1:2). The one letter that sets us apart from YHWH is also the element that makes us “real” in our world – carbon. Evidence of God’s hand in creation! 

29. Cross at centre of galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of the center of the Whirlpool galaxy, M51. The cross-like shape is evidence of God’s hand in creation!

30. Pillar shields Israel from the Islamic State. On the 1st December 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists had been hammering Israel along their border for several days, almost defeating Israel, when, on the fourth day, a large cloud pillar formed within minutes, so thick it made for zero visibility. This strange storm of what appeared to be dust, cloud and rain did NOT cross the border fence into Israel. It sat like a barrier between ISIS and Israel. This is evidence of God protecting Israel as He promised.

There are numerous other evidences for God’s existence. If you know of greater evidence for God, than the top 30 shared in this article, let us know in the comments below! (Click to Source)

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Torah Commentary – Lech Lecha (Get Yourself Out) – One Man Was Listening – SCRIPTURES FOR October 28, 2017

Torah Commentary
Lech Lecha (Get Yourself Out)

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Gen 12:1-17:27
Isaiah 40:27-41:16
Acts 7:1-8
Romans 3:19-5:6
Hebrews 7:1-19; 11:8-12
 
One Man Was Listening
I was talking to a Jewish friend with a number of other people in the room a few of years ago. During the conversation someone said, “God spoke to me” and went on to state what they thought they had heard. After the crowd left my Jewish friend looked at me with a facial expression I have seen many times. A look which normally means I am about to learn something very important. He brought up the “God told me” statement and proceeded to explain why he would not make a statement like that. It was not that he believes HaShem does not speak to people, but rather his explanation brought a greater meaning to the dialogue between the Creator and His creation. My friend’s explanation went like this. God is always speaking, so to say “God told me” is to say He only speaks on occasion. A better way for this person to have explained their encounter would be to say, “In a moment that I was listening…”
Allow me to expound a bit. Is there ever a time in which HaShem is not speaking? I would say “no”. His voice is in world events, creation itself and even conversations we are having with others around us. The question is, “Are we listening for His voice in those things and at those times?”
In Genesis 12 we read of a dialogue between HaShem and a man named Abram. It appears from the text that he hears an audible voice, but was his hearing the audible voice due to his learning to hear an inaudible one? Let me explain. As Abram grew up in Ur and later in Haran, did he witness the sin and depravity of the culture and wonder if there had to be a better way of living? If so, he heard His voice. If ancient writings are true and his father was a seller of idols, did he look at them and consider they were just carvings of wood and stone? If so, he heard His voice. Did he look up to the stars at night and wonder just who it was that created the heavens and the earth? If so, he heard His voice.
My point is that Abram had made a lifestyle out of listening to the ever speaking voice of HaShem. On that now infamous day when the inaudible became the audible it was as natural to follow that voice as it was for Abram to breathe.
There is another person in the story though that does not get much credit until later. Her name is Sara. Scripture does not record her hearing a voice. That is not until Abram came home and told her to pack her bags as they were moving to a new place. From the text it appears that Sara did not question Abram’s decision, but started packing. How could she do this? I believe it was because she had been listening for the voice of HaShem as Abram had.
When Abram came home with the news, Sara did not need to get alone and pray, because the inaudible voice she had been hearing had now become audible through her husband’s voice. On that day, her husband’s voice and the Creator’s voice matched exactly. No questions were needed.
Through the next few weeks we will see the journey of Abram and Sara continuing to follow HaShem’s voice. We will read of the times their hearing was good and the times it was not so good. I am so thankful Father did not just give us the successes of this couple. If he had, the standard would have been too high to reach. I am also grateful He did not only record their failures as it would cause us to not even try. The successes and failures give me hope; for it tells me Abram and Sara were human, flesh and blood like you and me.
In Genesis chapter 17 HaShem tells Abram to “Walk before me and be perfect.” Thankfully the word translated perfect is not the best meaning for the word. In Hebrew it is tamiym and means entire, complete and whole. In the Complete Jewish Bible, David Stern translates it as pure-hearted. Other translations use whole-hearted. The Hebrew spelling is tav, mem, yod, mem. It is a picture of waters coming together and merging into covenant as one. Think about that for a moment. Have you ever seen two rivers come together? They don’t struggle to become one river, they just do. Flowing in covenant with our Creator should be no more difficult than two rivers combining into one. That is, if we have learned to “listen” to the direction we are supposed to flow.
Shalom and Be Strong,
Mike Clayton
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Torah Commentary – B’resheet (In the beginning) – Noach (Noah) – The End Justified the Beginning – SCRIPTURES FOR October 21, 2017

Torah Commentary

B’resheet (In the beginning)

Noach (Noah)

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Genesis 1:1-11:32
Isaiah 42:5-43:10
John 1:1-18
Revelation 21:1-5; 22:1-5
Note: To catch up with the Torah cycle this is two portions combined
The End Justified the Beginning
We begin another Torah cycle! I express this with anticipation. Many “new to Torah” folks may question why we read through and study the same five books year after year. Allow me to answer the question by asking the seasoned Torah pursuers, “Was anything new revealed to you as you read through the Torah last year that you had not seen in previous years?” I imagine there is not a single “no” out there, so a shout of exuberance, “Here we go again”!
It is in this section of our readings that makes me wish I was on the three year Torah cycle. Actually, that is not completely true. Skip the three year cycle and let’s jump to the thousand year millennial cycle with Messiah teaching it from Jerusalem. This portion carries so much meaning that I desire to camp out at each sentence.
Honestly, I am having a very difficult time getting through the first verse this year. This is not uncommon, although this year seems to have more meaning. I have been meditating on this verse in light of Isaiah 46:10, “At the beginning I announce the end, proclaim in advance things not yet done; and I say that my plan will hold, I will do everything I please to do.” A more literal translation of the verse would be “HaShem declared the end out of the beginning.” I recognize we understand that He knows all things, but have we considered He declared that all things would happen even before they happened. This means HaShem knew Eve would listen to the serpent instead of Him. Cain killing Abel was no surprise. He knew man would become so corrupt He would have to kill all but eight people and start over. HaShem knew that for six-thousand years man would repeatedly turn his back on his Creator. In fact, the Hebrew word “nagad”, which is translated “declared” is a picture of a man walking away from the teachings and instructions of Yah.
On a personal level we recognize HaShem knew my sins and yours. All of our days are numbered and no surprise to Him. He even knew that after you and I turned back to His ways that we would fail. Yet, His grace is sufficient. His love is endless. We have the gift of repentance and Yeshua’s Blood to atone for us. Father’s Love is great. His desire for a relationship with us in spite of our shortcomings is humbling.
Now here is a challenging question for you. Had you been HaShem knowing all man would do against you for six-thousand years. If you knew in advance the pain for man’s rebellion and had a choice to go forth with Genesis 1:1, what would you have done? Consider that for a moment. Truth is He made a choice I am not sure I would have made. Why did He?
The answer lies in a single word of the verse in Isaiah which is “end.” Yah did not focus on the process, but rather the end result. What is the end result? Take a moment and read Revelation 21:1-4. Therein lays the answer to why Father made the choice to go forth with Genesis 1:1. It’s all about relationship to have a people that would be His and He would be theirs.
Where is our vision as we read these first words of Genesis 1:1? What do we plan to focus on during this next Torah cycle? I would challenge you to focus, not on what has been or what is, but rather on what will be. When you read again the words, “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth”, allow your mind to consider the love, mercy, grace and desire our Heavenly Father has to look past the process of redemption and see the destination called redemption. This truth in itself will continue to help us put one foot in front of the other in our journey.
One more challenge as we begin this Torah cycle. Many of us have read through the Torah several times. With that comes the hazard of just glancing through the verses. Consider this a good time to think about reading in a different translation. This may help notice messages in Scripture we have never seen before. Remember that even the people’s names and genealogies have great meaning. Take time to pull out your concordance to do some research. An example that many of us know is located in Beresheet Chapter 5. Genealogy can make you glassy eyed, right? In this particular case the meanings of the names form a sentence and witness to Messiah, which is “Man is appointed to mortal sorrow, but the blessed Elohim shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing comfort.” How is that for declaring the end out of the beginning?
May our year be filled with Yah’s Spirit of revelation. Not revelation for our intellect, but rather to prepare us to be a people He is proud to call His. (Click to Site)

 

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Demon Possessed? No… Demonic Infestation? YES!

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I have gotten emails from so many people asking about battling demons, are they possessed, how to stand up to this evil and many other questions.

It is weird; I have not felt what I am feeling since the time that The Lord asked us to return to the US.

What am I talking about is battling the demonic.

See, I have never had the desire to go into deliverance ministry. Yes, I know a lot about it and have studied it in the past at length. One does not do what I do and not have a strong grasp of this area.

But I am finding myself being pulled into this area more and more, much like when God pulled us back into the US.

This is an area where I do not feel fully suited and at times I think about “what might happen” and I have to say at times it scares the tar out of me.

But if God is calling me towards this area of the ministry, then I am submitting to Him. Just know that I am not jumping for joy, if you want to call it that. Deliverance and spiritual battle is hard core because you are on the front lines and you can literally have the pulp beaten out of you.

It is only through Jesus Christ and His protection that one is able to operate in this area.

Walking a balanced Christian walk and being mature is what is needed.

To be honest, I feel like Gideon in this calling. I want to stay in my comfy bible prophecy, world events and preparedness arena, not get my hands dirty and not put myself in harm’s way.

But when I get an email from someone and they describe what is going on, things just pop into my head and I reach out and try to help as best I am able.

Great thing is that 98% of the cases I have worked with have seen success or on the path to success.

Demons Are Winning & We Don’t Even Realize It

I look all over and I see so many people who know that something is wrong, but they cannot put their finger on it, they just know that “thinks are not right.”

Others know but they seem to be afraid or to embarrassed to reach out.

What am I talking about?

People are being plagued with the demonic, “demonized” or better yet, “infested” or having an infestation of demons.

This is why I say that demons are winning and people don’t even realize it.

This is also where I feel convicted and I need to right a possible wrong where I might have misled some of you.

In earlier articles I have said that a born again Christian cannot be “possessed.”

This is correct and I still stand by this. The thing is that the English language is very limiting. The word “possessed” seems to be a catch all phrase when it comes to the demonic.

I know that this seems to be splitting hairs, but I feel that it must be explained so that people, who are in fact demonically oppressed, infested, demonized, depressed & influenced do not just walk off and think everything is honky-dory.

Things are not honky-dory and this is why I want to try to clarify.

Here is a quick word study… Possession

Matthew 4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils (G1139), and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

STRONGS # G1139

δαιμονίζομαι

daimonizomai

dahee-mon-id’-zom-ahee

Middle voice from G1142; to be exercised by a daemon: – have a (be vexed with, be possessed with) devil (-s).

Because our English language is so limiting, we tend to instantly jump to the conclusion of “being possessed” as something out of the movie “The Exorsist” and we should be levitating, heads spinning and spitting up green pea soup.

BUT… since this is NOT happening to us, we say “Oh, I guess I am not possessed then” and we go along our merry way.

To be “possessed” by a demon, one literally has to open ones inner soul and spirit up to said demon and basically submit their lives to the demon; much like when one becomes born-again.

The reality is that one becomes “demonized” not possessed. As stated before a more descriptive word is  “Infested” or having an “Infestation” of demons.

But Ray, you keep saying that we as Christians can’t be possessed, so what are you saying?

ANALOGY – Our Holy of Holies Where The Holy Spirit Resides Within – Possesses Us

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

In reading this, it dawned on me and it became crystal clear how I can explain how Christians are affected by demons.

The Jewish temple is a holy place, much like we are holy when we become born again.

So the questions is this, how can the demonic have influence on us, invade us, infest us and still demonize us when we are holy?

This is where the Jewish temple can help with an analogy. The Temple had three main areas, The Outer Courtyard, the Inner Court yard and the Holy of Holies.

The manifest presence of God was only in the Holy of Holies, not in the Outer Court or the Inner Court.

In the same way with all of us, the Outer Court of the Temple represents our physical bodies, the Inner Court represents our soul, and the Holy of Holies represents our spirits.

Just as the manifest presence of God was only residing in the Holy of Holies, in the same way the Holy Spirit is only residing in our human spirits. Our holy of holies which is the innermost part of our beings is a ken to the Holy of Holies that was the innermost part of the Jewish Temple.

In using this Jewish Temple analogy, we can grasp the human-spiritual makeup with the Lord.

Just as Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 , we can see that our physical bodies are now His temple.

It is our physical bodies that now actually “house” our human spirits where the Holy Spirit now lives within.

The Jewish Outer Court was where just about anyone and everyone were allowed in to, men, women, gentiles, etc.

We know that the entire Temple compound was considered holy. But as one progressed further into the temple it became increasingly more holy.

King Herod had enclosed the “outer court” with colonnades and it was referred to as the Court of the Gentiles because the “gentiles” (non-Jews) were permitted to enter the Temple area.

This is the same area where Christ cleansed the temple from all the money changes. He created a “cat of nine-tails” and literally beat the money changers out of the holy temple, out of the “Outer Court.”

Like the money changers who “infested” the Outer Court area (which is considered holy), demons are able to “infest our bodies, our “Outer Court.”

Do the money changers “own / possess” the Outer Court?

No, they inhabited it, but did not “own or possess” the Outer Court. That is why Christ was able to drive out the infestation of money changers (demons).

Why?

Because HE (Jesus Christ) is the owner of the Holy Temple. He was the only one that had the true authority to cleanse the area. The money changers listened and obeyed Christ and left the Outer Court area.

Again, this is an analogy to help explain how Demons can in fact “demonize” us / Infest / oppress / influence / depress us and I felt that it was necessary to explain this.

I don’t want people to think that just because they are a Christian that demons will not attack them.

Wrong, if anything Christians are being hammered by the demonic and many of us battle our demons daily.

How Do We As Christians Become “Demonized / Infested” By The Demonic?

This is the question that is at the top of many people’s list in all the emails that I have gotten.

How do we become “demonized / infested”?

Simple, in many cases we allow it. We give up our “legal rights” and allow the demon in.

To expand a bit further we give the demon “legal rights” to come in and demonize and infest us, our lives and our family’s lives.

At least that is how the demons see it, and they are very legalistic lot as well.

What are these so called “legal rights”?

  1. The Occult
  2. Direct Willful Sin
  3. Inheritance – Generational
  4. Fears and Phobias
  5. Unforgiveness
  6. Trauma
  7. Abuse
  8. Ungodly Soul Ties
  9. Curses
  10. Addictions
  11. False Religions
  12. Cursed Objects
  13. Cursed Buildings

Before Christ died on the cross, demons did have limited “legal rights.” We learn of this by reading Job. But because Christ died, was buried and rose on the third day, those limited rights that demons once had are now gone. Christ took those keys away and now demons no longer have any legal rights and they know it too.

But because they are very legalistically minded, cunning and are liars, they like to play that “legal” game with people and because many people lack of knowledge and freedom in Christ, we let them.

Outside Our Control

I know that some of you are saying that some of these areas are outside our personal control and you are correct. But the demon does not see it that way.

For example, a cursed / haunted building. It may be cursed / haunted due to a prior owner.

In my DVD “Demons – Days of Noah and The Demonic Wars” Christina Peck tells her story about her demonically haunted home which the demons would actually manifest themselves before her and Josh.

It is a pretty amazing story.

If you do not have my DVD, contact me and I can provide you details on how to get it.

Now in this case, the demon did not care about Josh & Christina, in the demon’s mind they had a “legal right” to the home based on the prior owner, not Josh and Christina. It was the demon’s home and Josh and Christina were there just so that they could torment them.

This is how demons think. They have taken up shop / “infested” an area, object or family lineage and they then believe they have legal rights to that person, place or thing.

But the hard facts are that demons do NOT have “legal rights” they just take them because we gladly give them over out of our own lack of knowledge.

In the case of Josh and Christina, they did not know what to do because they were still fairly new Christians, at least Josh was, and this was something that they were not fully taught in church.

Their best solution was to move out and that thank God that worked. Interestingly enough, the current owners contacted them and they have the same demonic problems.

Conclusion

Can born-again Christians be possessed? No, but they can be oppressed / depressed / influenced / infested and demonized.

The reason that they cannot be “possessed” is that the Holy Spirit resides inside each and every one of our own personal “holy of holies.”

BUT… demons can try to gain access to our “Outer Court” areas in our lives and they believe that they can do that via their “legal rights” to enter and conduct their form of business, much like the money lenders did in the outer courts of the temple.

It is Jesus Christ who is the only authority that these demons have over them. They MUST submit to the name of Jesus Christ. It is His shed blood that set us free from these false “legal rights” and the demons know this and must submit to this.

It is our lack of knowledge in this area due to the days we are living in and the lack of proper teaching from pastors, preachers and teachers out there. This is a topic that 20% (and growing) of the church does not believe in. Many believe that Satan and his minions are all just fairy tales.

When we have a demonic infestation taking place in our lives we need to stop and realize what is truly going on.

It isn’t a stroke of bad luck or God being mad at us, it is demons taking a false “legal right” that they “think” they have based on the things we have done in our lives, opening up doors for them to come in and demonize and torment us.

What the church strongly needs is deliverance from this evil. But to do that, we need to admit that there truly is an evil and that we need delivering.

I find it interesting that God is pulling me in this direction on top of the other areas I preach and teach on. I find it also interesting that I have taught on “The Servant Warrior” for the past several years. Much of that teaching can be applied in the physical, but amazingly enough, it can also be applied in the spiritual and our battle against the demonic.

We are living in the last days of the last days and I totally believe that God is raising up spiritual warriors. They are greatly needed because so many people are being afflicted by the enemy and they don’t realize what is happening or why. Those who do, they know that they need help, but they do not know where to turn.

If you are someone who has questions or thinks they need help, contact me. I have been helping a number of people and through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and through His authority we are seeing success in helping people be delivered of these demonic infestations. (Click to Site)

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Some Doubted

…but some doubted.  Three little words that stand out to me like a piece of pepper stuck in someone’s tooth.  The phrase is in Matthew 28:17, When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

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Let’s put this in context.  It is the last chapter of Matthew after the disciples had witnessed Jesus’ life, miracles, ministry, death, and resurrection.  There, a resurrected Jesus stands before them and when the SAW him they worshiped him, but some still doubted.

What does that passage tell us about human nature?  It tells us many things, mainly that in spite of seeing all of the great events in Jesus’ life, the disciples still doubted.  Why do you think that is?  I think it is because they did not at that time have the Holy Spirit within them.

Now it would be easy to stand in judgment of the disciples at this point.  After all, they were THERE.  They saw him, they touched him, they ate with him and saw him die and rise again.  Surely, had we been in their shoes we would not have doubted.  I would not be so certain myself.  

How many people do you know of that have had awesome miracles in their lives that they KNEW were from God, only to claim after the excitement wears off that it was just fate or circumstance or the wisdom of the doctors that saved them?  How many times in your own life has the Lord delivered you and afterward you doubted that it was His divine intervention?

The Holy Spirit is what divides the New Testament Christians from the Old Testament Jews and further the Tribulation and Millenial believers.  Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we are able to have the Spirit of God inside us at all times.  During the Old Testament times, the Spirit of the Lord would come upon people for a period, but that was temporary and He did not indwell the believer.  That is the only thing that sets us apart.  That is why those who profess faith in Christ but have never asked Him into their lives struggle.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of the most under-appreciated movements in our modern day churches.

Without the Holy Spirit, we do not even have faith in the things we can see and touch.  That is why people can go to church their whole lives and know in their mind who Jesus is but never make the commitment to let Him into their hearts.  I think that is why so many professing Christians do not bear any fruit. 

Who are they?  Are you one?  Is the person sitting next to you in church one?  They are Christians in name only.  They come as far as they can in the Christian walk without asking the Holy Spirit to come into their lives.  They have accepted the kernel of doubt in their own hearts as part of everyone’s faith.  They do not believe when others profess to not have any doubts about their faith, because they themselves do not know the truth.

You can go to many churches and never hear a word about the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit within us is the perfecter of our faith.  He convicts our conscience.  He is the guiding force that keeps all of us in line and living for God and not ourselves.  

Only through the Holy Spirit are we able to have communion with God and worship Jesus our Savior.  This Age of Grace ends with the Rapture of the Church, those left behind will never have the opportunity to receive this blessing.  There will be many Left Behind, that never truly became Christians but this post is to encourage you today, we are believers.  We are Watchers.  We are Saved.  

(Note – this post was originally written in 2003, but the Helper prompted me to publish this old work again today.  I have never heard preaching on it. It remains one of my favorite pieces and one I shared with my beloved Bible Teacher Father on his deathbed.  I will never forget the look of pride he had in his eyes as I showed him the Scripture and opened his heart to the revelation the Lord had given me.  Peace and Love, my Friends.)

(Click to Site)

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The Cautious Watcher

25-aaron-with-lampstand

The Prophecy Watchers have been on heightened alert for the last 20 years but history did not start when we came to conscientiousness!

In 1998, I had a conversation with my then 78-year-old grandmother about the pending global catastrophe of Y2K.  We were at my father’s (a fellow Watcher) kitchen table and we were going over our preparations.  My grandmother was a spirit-filled, godly woman, but she had about her the pragmatism and practicality that had carried her through near-starvation during the Great Depression and the long years of waiting for her husband to return home from World War II.  As my dad and I enthused over all the biblical signs and prophecies, we laid out the case for her about why we believed the turn of the millennium was going to kick off the long-awaited chain of events that were going to see us going home soon.  She listened graciously.  She then said in an off hand manner, “During and after World War II, when Israel became a nation we were certain the Rapture was imminent.  Just be cautious.”

I remember being initially irritated with her.  I was excited!  I wanted to GO!

For generations, we have read the Scriptures, we have watched the heavens, we have deduced the times.  We have correctly identified thousands of significant prophetic events, compelling numerical distances between dates, extrapolated Hebraic meanings from those numeric dates, and concluded that we are indeed living in the last days, but it is worth noting that at least a dozen times in the last 2000 years the Church has had compelling reasons to believe THEY were also in the last days.  Doug Woodward does an amazing job of outlining the 1666 Rapture Frenzy.  These were not Middle Age superstitious imbeciles, Isaac Newton wrote about the subject.

With the publication of The Harbinger, the discovery of the blood moons and their historical significance, and the availability of free Stellarium software the Watcher community has been on heightened alert since 2008.  As the book of Daniel has been opened, our understanding of the Scriptures of the End Times has multiplied at a breakneck speed, the Holy Spirit has poured out the anointing on His Servants far and wide.

An example of this is the knowledge of the fulfilled Spring Feasts at the first coming of the Lord Jesus.  Those of us who have been at it for awhile take that revelation for granted these days but I have to stress that a mere seven years ago even the most ardent and learned of Watchers was unaware of this amazing fact.  I was blown away in 2013 by the Rosh Hashanah Rapture Theory. (Click to Site)

feasts2bof2bgod

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Torah Commentary – Re’eh (See) – See, Perceive or Selah – SCRIPTURES FOR August 19, 2017

Torah Commentary
Re’eh (See)
Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17
Isaiah 54:11-55:5
1Corinthians 5:9-13
1John 4:1-6

yeshuatheMessiah

See, Perceive or Selah
The title of this Torah portion is translated very simply with the word “see.” This small simple word can be taken for granted by some.  For the vast majority of the people in this country, “seeing” is the first thing they do every morning. People wake up, open their eyes to see, or depending on your optical ability, at least look at the images our eyes are allowing their brains to discern. I question whether there is a difference between seeing or looking?
In Hebrew the word is re’eh. The word has the meaning of looking at something with our eyes, but that is not the context in how it’s being used here. The Hebrew meaning is for us to perceive and consider something so as to bring forth discernment. Many of you may relate to the example I’m going to use to explain my point. Most people wake up in the morning head to the bathroom to begin their daily routine to make themselves presentable before leaving home. Many of us find in the mirror the proverbial “bed head” look with hair going every direction. As one makes sense of the new style their pillow created they might find a few gray hairs that certainly could not have been there the day before.
How you handle these sneaky little gray hairs is what brings forth my point. Will you make a mental note of the location of these sly little hairs to pluck them out, hide them with a new hairstyle or run to the local Wal-Mart to grab a bottle of hair color? Are these little gray hairs a frightful unwanted sight or do they bring you to a place of introspection? Do you just “see” the gray hair or do look deeper to evaluate the Scriptural meaning behind gray hair and how it’s interpreted. Do you perceive what is happening in your life regarding your maturity and reflect on decisions you are making? The gray hair is a sign to us to ponder if we are learning the lessons life has been trying to teach us or traveling around the same mountain of mistakes. Are you gaining wisdom through maturity or just going gray? (Click to Site)

 

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Torah Commentary – Va’etchanan “And I besought” – The Call to Return – SCRIPTURES FOR August 5, 2017

Torah Commentary
Va’etchanan “And I besought”
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Isaiah 40:1-26
1 Kings 19-22
Matthew 4:1-11; Romans 3:27-31
James 2:14-26

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The Call to Return
This Torah portion is so rich that it is difficult to not write pages and pages of commentary. Instead I will focus on a great work which is happening in our day, a work based upon just one verse. In Deuteronomy 6:4 we find the Shema, “Hear oh Israel YH VH our God, YH VH is One”. For many people this is the first verse in Scripture they learn to say in Hebrew! The importance of this verse for the Jewish and Messianic communities is likened to John 3:16 in the Christian church. These verses are foundational in faith.
It was the mid 2000’s when the Shema took on fuller meaning for me. It was then I learned the verse in English and Hebrew. Later on, while I was at a speaking engagement in Lucerne Valley, California a dear friend and brother brought this verse to life for me. He, his wife and congregation had the alarms on their cell phones set to ring at 9am and 3pm. When the alarm went off they would stop whatever they were doing to recite the Shema. I liked the idea and set my alarm also. For a year or so I followed the tradition. In time the alarm and recitation lost interest in my daily life, subsequently the alarms were deleted. I found it was never a heart’s desire to do this, but more an interest in joining in with my friends.
I am not sure what prompted me, but a couple of years ago a change of heart occurred. I decided to set my alarm again. In meetings, conferences and daily life I have encouraged others to do the same. It is quite the experience to be in a meeting and hear alarms going off all over the room at 9am or 3pm so we can join together as one to give honor to the One that brought us together in the first place! Even more exciting is being on a tour to Israel with a busload of folks, or even just a few people in a restaurant, rise, turn toward the Temple Mount and begin to recite the Shema. Rather interesting conversations and events have happened around this as you may imagine.
Why the Shema and why now?
The Shema is not a prayer, but rather a call and declaration. As we honor Elohim, it is a call to those who turned away from Him. It is our voices being used to call out to the “Lost sheep of Israel” to make teshuvah (repentance and return) unto the Elohim of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov through the covenant of Messiah. When you and I recite the Shema our voices are going to the far reaches of the earth to call our brothers and sisters to nasa (lift up their heads) and return unto Him. It is a declaration of the revelation that the Elohim we serve is Echad, (One).
The words of the Shema are few, but filled with great meaning. Here is an amplified version by Barry Phillips of Remnant of Yisrael.
“So hear, grasp and comprehend, Yisrael, You covenant people chosen by YHWH, full of colors, nations, and tribes, YHWH, He Who is Mercy and Lovingkindness is our very own Elohim, our personal Creator and Judge Who will repay. This YHWH, the second mentioning, the revealing of the first mentioned, Y’shuah, is a mystical and wondrous unity of One; The first and the last together.” (Click to Site)