TRAWDADDY: 04/21/24

Sunday, April 21, 2024

The World Is Only Going To Get Rougher, But Greater Things Are Still Ahead For Believers

These are dark days, but our hope is not in anything in this world. The Bible says in Colossians 3, “If you indeed were raised with Christ, and seek those things which are above where Christ is at the right hand of the Father, and do not seek those things which are on earth….”

I want to tell you that according to what the Bible says, things are only going to get rougher. But why is He saying, “Seek those things which are above”? Because greater things are still ahead for us, the believers.

We are going to be taken up at the last trumpet with the sound of the archangel, and we are going to be escorted into the throne room.

Imagine one day you received a legitimate notification. It’s not one of the scams that float around today, but a real and proven true notification that you had inherited a large fortune. The notifying entity told you that the process time necessary to transfer the funds to you was going to take three-to-four weeks. Think about how you would view any current financial woes you may have during that time. Let’s say that your personal financial situation was dire, even perilous. Would the notification change how you lived, felt, and thought for the next three-to-four weeks?

Obviously we all wish this scenario would actually happen. But what we need to remember is that in a far more important way than temporal financial freedom, we have received notification from the King of heaven that a pain and problem free existence is in our future. Our feet will walk streets of gold. Our eyes will behold ultimate beauty. Our ears will hear things unimaginable to our finite minds. And, most of all, we will see the King of Kings and Lord of Lords face to face!

1 John 3:2 KJV – “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

This notification we have received is not spam. There are no catches or hidden fees. It is a promise from God, who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) that someday we will see Him as He is. In order for that to happen, we need to remember another promise from the author and finisher of our faith:

John 14:1-3 KJV – “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Whether through death or rapture, our future is nothing like our present. When we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). This should remind us of another truth:

Psalm 16:11 KJV – “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Over and over the Bible directs our minds to the future. This practice enables us to face the present without being overwhelmed by temporary circumstances that are unpleasant or painful. Our future is one of fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. It’s not like a vacation you wish wouldn’t end or a place you long to visit someday again. It is our eternal existence through Christ who has promised all this to be true.

Until our future becomes our present and permanent experience, we would do well to heed to words of the Psalmist:

Psalm 121 KJV – “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

Our fictitious fortune notification we began with may actually happen for a few people here on this earth, but our promise is much bigger and is true for us as many as received Him. For to them He gave the right to called the sons and daughters of God (Acts 4:12) which makes us welcome in the Father’s house when Jesus comes to receive us unto Himself.

Until then, let’s keep our eyes lifted up and not let circumstances get us down. This life is not all there is and the next one is far better and way longer, and with all that is going on in the world today, it seems possible we are heading to the Father’s house soon!

In these last days, the whole world is looking at you. If you behave anxiously, fearful, and confused, if you are into reckless conspiracy theories, if you are an angry person, if you are fighting all day long, if you are hateful, I’m not sure you’re ready. The Bible says He never gave us the spirit of fear. But of what? “Of power and love and sound mind.”

We are going to see more and greater and more terrible things. Not that I’m wishing to see that, but I know where this world goes. And you should too.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

The Spirit Of Antichrist In America— Eliminating God From Our Calendar

harbingersdaily.com

By Mark Hitchcock

On March 29th, President Biden signed a White House proclamation observing March 31st as “Transgender Visibility Day.” This year, that day coincided with Easter Sunday, the holiest day on the Christian calendar—and the most important day in human history.

This has been a major topic in the news, and I’m sure you’ve all heard about it. It was especially disturbing to Christians as we were celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.

Now, we always want to be fair, even to people with whom we disagree. To be fair to President Biden, “Transgender Visibility Day” has actually been on the calendar for March 31st since 2009. Therefore, he was recognizing something that was already in place. Having said that, he did go out of his way to highlight and draw undue attention to it—going as far as to sign this proclamation.

Putting these two celebrations on equal footing is an outrage and blasphemy. This represents a larger agenda of the government’s years-long erosion and assault on morality and the Christian faith. In some cases, laws today are even being weaponized against Christians.

When I heard about this “proclamation,” my mind immediately went to Daniel 7:25, a verse about the coming anti-Christ.

Let me provide a little bit of context. In chapter seven, Daniel sees a vision of four great beasts coming up out of the sea, which parallels the “great image” made up of four different metals seen by Nebuchadnezzar in chapter two.

In Daniel Two, you have a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. Daniel chapter seven, the same thing is pictured by these wild beasts. The first beast is a lion, representing Babylon. The second beast is a bear, representing middle Persia. The third beast is a leopard, representing the Greek Empire. The fourth beast represents what we might call Imperial Rome—the historical Roman Empire—however, it is depicted as having ten horns which describe a form of the Roman Empire that has not yet existed.

The Roman Empire, sometime in the future, is going to be represented by ten rulers or ten kings. What we see in the European Union today could be an embryonic form of that. Among those ten horns comes an eleventh horn described as a “little horn.” This little horn is the first clear mention of the coming Antichrist in Scripture. He rises from obscurity and anonymity, then begins to calm, and ultimately, takes control of the world.

Daniel 7:25 in the NIV, speaking into this little horn, says, “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.”

The “set times” refer to religious holidays. The “laws” refer to laws that support God’s will and His character. The NLT says, “He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws.” The NASB says, “he will intend to make alterations in times and in law.”

I believe what this is saying is that the anti-Christ will revise the calendar to get rid of God. He will try to create a totally secular calendar.

He will create a world without God. He will erase from planet earth every vestige of Christian thought. He will create what we like to call a new world order, a one-world system of economics, politics and religion that exclude God and His point of view, and His perspective on life.

2nd Thessalonians 2 refers to the coming Antichrist as “the man of lawlessness.” That is an apt description of what he will do. He will bring in lawlessness, set aside all these religious holidays, laws, and times that honor God, and either get rid of them or replace them.

Now, there are interesting historical examples of this. Darius, in Daniel chapter six, said that no one could pray to any other god or worship any other God but himself for a period of 30 days. He changed the laws and the Times.

Another interesting historical example of this is during the French Revolution in the late 1700s:

One writer says [this] about [the] French Revolution: the seven day week was replaced with a work week of ten days with the result that Sunday as a day of rest and Christian worship was eliminated. The French Revolution was so monumental in what it tried to accomplish and get rid of God that it even changed the seven day work week, which comes right out of the Bible, to the ten day work week.

This writer goes on and he says, “The French calendar was also changed to reflect the new anti-Christian spirit of the revolution. The convention voted on October 5, 1793 to abolish the Christian calendar and to introduce what they called a republican calendar. The founding of the Republic, September 23, 1792, was the beginning of a new era and a new year 1. Instead of the birth of Jesus Christ being the focal point of history the founding day of the new French Republic would define how time would be kept.”

They did away with Annō Dominī, which means, as you know, the year of our Lord, and made 1792 their year 1, the first year of the republic, a republic without God.

One of the things I love about our calendar is that Jesus is literally the hinge of history, and they tried to abolish that notion.

How does that end? And soon a republic that was subject to chaos and anarchy and finally tyranny. This experiment without God didn’t end well.

It won’t end well for the Antichrist, either. The Lord Jesus will come back and triumph over that blasphemer. What we see today in our culture, more and more, is the beginning of his overhaul of set times and laws.

In America, three months and 28 individual days are devoted to LGBT causes and commemorations, including:

Transgender Day Of Visibility (March 31)
International Asexuality Day (April 6th)
International Day Of Pink (April 10th)
Day Of Silence (second Friday of April)
Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26th)
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17th)
Pansexual Awareness & Visibility Day (May 24th)
Harvey Milk Day (May 22nd)
Pride Month (the entire month of June)
International Drag Day (July 16th)
LGBT History Month (the entire month of October)
National Coming Out Day (October 11th)
Spirit Day (floating mid-October)
Intersex Awareness Day (October 26th)
Transgender Awareness Month (the entire month of November)
Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20)
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The Real Reason Republicans Aren’t Stopping the Invasion

www.youtube.com/TuckerCarlson

Jeremiah17:9-10

An Ancient Evil Reborn in Today’s America

www.hallindsey.com

By Hal Lindsey

On a spectacularly beautiful September morning in 2001, hijacked planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The bloodlust of radical Islam needlessly took the lives of thousands. And, briefly, America woke up.

That short-lived awakening was purchased at a terrible cost. But while it lasted, it was amazing. People from sea to shining sea realized again what it meant to be Americans. They didn’t suddenly become blind to the nation’s shortcomings, but they also saw what was rare and precious in the American spirit. Then the nation drifted back into slumber.

While the people slept, an ancient evil rose among them. At the beginning of this millennium, most people, including Jewish Americans, thought antisemitism had mostly been banished from the land. But after 9/11, against all reason, it started growing again. Today it manifests itself everywhere. Young people speak antisemitic slogans as a bizarre form of virtue signaling.

We can see it in the signs and hear it in the chants on campuses and in the streets. Young people, most born after 9/11/2001, today sing out the ideologies of our 2001 enemy — “Death to America!” … “There is only one Solution, Intifada. Revolution!” … “Long live Hamas!” … “Death to Jews!” They compare those who disagree with them to the Ku Klux Klan. But who would agree more with the chant, “Death to Jews!” than the KKK? These pitiful children have become the thing they decry.

They warn us of their intent, saying, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you!” They often cry out, “We are Hamas!” If they are Hamas, it means they want to kill Jews and Christians. Their hate has nothing to do with so-called colonization. It is all about hatred for “people of the book” because they are Jews and Christians.

By claiming to be Hamas, campus radicals are actually saying they want to murder your babies and burn your homes. They want to behead and mutilate. They want to rape, take hostages, and then keep on raping. That’s what October 7th was about and what they praise.

If they “are Hamas,” they want to replace democracy with a theocratic ruling elite. Hamas leaders have not held an election in Gaza since they came to power in 2006. Gaza’s Hamas overlords ended women’s rights, destroyed freedom of religion, criminalized freedom of speech, and have done their best to end freedom of thought.

They murder homosexuals, a group whose cause most of these young people consider dear to their hearts. The control Hamas exercises over its subjects knows no limits. They tell women, for instance, exactly what clothes to wear.

Antisemitism is just one aspect of the ancient evil. It can be described more generally as open rebellion against God. God loves people, so the ancient evil hates people. God chose one people for the task of presenting Himself to the world through His words and the Word. So, the evil does everything it can to engender hatred against the chosen nation, and especially toward a Jew called Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate.

What is the answer? Be faithful. If you are a Christian, draw close to the Lord. Pray fervently. Study His Word. Stand as a friend to Israel. It is not that they can do no wrong. They can, and often do, make egregious errors. They have embraced many of the same sins and ungodly attitudes that are bringing about America’s moral freefall.

But in all that, remember God’s Word. Israel is what God says that it is.

Be Grateful: God Is Your Answer (Do Not Worry) - A Powerful Prayer Thanking God For His Goodness

www.youtube.com/DailyJesusPrayers

Matthew6:25-34

GOD DOESN'T MAKE EMPTY PROMISES. HE FULFILLS ALL THE PROMISES HE MAKES.

www.youtube.com/AskJesus

2Peter3:8-9

Christ’s Love Compels Us – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

A Clay Jar

Encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:12 NIV)

aclayjar.net

by Ed Jarrett

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV

“Christ’s love compels us” is an interesting expression, full of meaning. “Christ’s love” can refer both to Christ’s love for Paul and to Paul’s love for Christ. The love of Christ that Paul had experienced, and the love that Paul, in return, now had for Christ, compelled him. The love of Christ is not just a thing to know, or even to cherish, although those are good. The love of Christ demands a response. It is not a passive state. It demands action on our part.

Paul was more concerned here about what Christ’s love was compelling him to do than with a full expression of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. But he did express the universal nature of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. He died as a substitute for all people, so, in a sense, all have died.

But his substitutionary death only had value for those who have put their faith and trust in him and what he did for us—those who have risen with him and now live.

Compelled to Live for Christ

Paul then returned to what Christ’s love compelled him to do. And he included all of those who have been raised with Christ and now live. We are to live, not for ourselves, but for him who died in our place and has given us this new life.

There is no question about Christ’s love for me. He gave up his life so that I could experience a new life. But how much do I love him? Am I willing to live my life for him rather than for myself? What about you? Does our love for Christ compel us to live for him now? It should!