Healing a divided America with revival, respect for life

People call it a divided America, we have such big problems. I give a few ideas below on how to improve things, but it requires a heart change, not just an outward one; we need leaders who won't be Pharisees, and they can come from anywhere - you can be one. Because, if we move forward trusting God, things can improve.

God made each of us special. As Tony Evans said recently, we have too much division, and God's people must lead the way in showing how to heal the many rifts we face. And, that fact is one of those major Biblical facets we must unite in. While each of us is special, we must also realize that means, logically, that others are, too.

Accepting that others are important as living human beings is a big part of starting the healing process, as I've stated numerous times like here, and someone else mentioned in this blog post I found on the importance of teaching kids God made them special. Instead of doing that, though, we tear others down more and more. About the only thing Americans agree on is they are tired of the election, even if Google searches find things better if they contain Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump - or Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton if you want them in that order. :-)

Don't worry. This is the last you will hear in this post of the name Trump or Clinton (or Clinton or Trump) or any world leaders. That's because imperfect people can't create a perfect world the way God can.  Although, the Cubs and Indians making the World Series, the Cubs for the first time since 1945 and the Billy Goat game, may have made some feel a lot better.

We can, however, start the healing process by valuing others the way God does. Only by following God's ways can we truly be victorious, as we trust Him for a Repentance Revival.

Repentance means turning from sin. While people have trouble agreeing on anything, I imagine most would agree that the very destructive climate in our world is sinful. Reconciliation - with repentance both personal and national - needs to take place, because our prayers for revival won't work without us repenting not just for 50 years of sin but for the 400 our nation has done since the colonies were founded. As the last link mentioned, we've all sinned. That leads to things like that example I often used early in this blog, the person who hates and screams at someone for cutting them off in traffic, not bothering to think that the person may have only done so because they were rushing to see a loved one in the hospital - something many of us would do ourselves.

We each struggle with that sin nature, so the world won't be perfect till Jesus returns. However, we e can each begin with ourselves by following the Lord with all our hearts, turning to Him for renewal.

Here are things we can do to unite and end this horrible division.

Why Are We Here? Uniting in God's love

We are here, fearfully and wonderfully made by God, for a reason. No, you are not an accident - in fact, many have said DNA is so complex it proves there was an intelligent designer.

God is many things. He is Holy, He cannot come in contact with sin. He is just. That means he must punish sin. However, He is also mercy and grace. That means that He doesn't want to punish the wicked but wants to offer them that grace and mercy. He has no joy at the punishment of the wicked.(Ezekiel 33-11.) So, God had to make a way to punish our sin that didn't cause us to also be condemned.
 

So, because of the above, God chose to come Himself. Jesus was fully God and fully man. Because He was fully man, He could die for the punishment of each of our sins. Because He was fully God, He was perfectly sinless and therefore didn't have to suffer for His own sins. He could suffer for each of our sins. Also because he was God, after He died on the cross for your sins He rose from the dead.

Knowing the facts isn't enough of course if you don't trust Him to do anything for you.

That trust is all you need, though, just calling on Him by true faith to forgive you and save you from your sins: Admitting that you're a sinner in need of His salvation, Believing when he bled and died He took the punishment for your sins and then he rose from the dead, and Calling on Him by faith to save you and forgive you, choosing to turn from your sins and let Him make you new inside. You are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life. You can even go here and talk to an Online Mentor who will help you grow in faith or answer any questions.

Once we trust Him by faith and are reconciled to Him, we need to show others that love so they can see there is that unconditional love out there.

 Repenting and Returning in Our Hearts

Of course, we've had major problems in our history. I have said numerous times that we must repent not just for 50 years but for 400 years of evil. We have problems with priorities even now, problems which can be corrected by looking at what the Bible, which can be shown easily to be the Word of God - says is important. Sure, we failed int he past because people selfishly wanted to see themselves as superior (still the main problem today in many places) but that doesn't excuse us from our need to avoid that problem now.

This nation must return to the great love God has for each of us. This is the Love which allowed us to disagree without hating each other. It allowed us to overcome barriers and triumph over anything.

This is why in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (and, if you think that only applies to Israel, Jeremiah 18:5-10) talks of the people repenting  (turning from their wicked ways) and then God healing their land. Think about it: You can't just say, "Give me a cure for this disease if you are running away from the doctor at the time. You have to actually go up to that doctor and receive treatment.

Of course, that doesn't mean we have to do everything right and then God blesses us. That return means a change in our hearts and actionst hat show a genuine willingness to change will follow as God gives us strength to do so.

As an example, a person who has been an alcoholic might go to Reformer's Unanimous and make Christ (not just a generic deity but the One who has the Power) the center of their lives. They still have to work day by day to trust God to keep them free those problems, but he gives them strength to avoid the peoplew ho dragged them down, the places that tempted them, etc.. One woman in our churchw as saved out of that and for the last 44 years of her life never entered a restaurant with a bar in it for fear she would return. her friends could but they knew not to do it with her since that would tempt her more. (The mark of a true friend, understanding the other's needs and taking action.)

She trusted God to be her victory. He knew the way she was built and what alcohol had done to her - a logical consequence. There, by the way, is something else we must return to, accepting as common sense that our actions have consequences we can't avoid, something that was easily understood before.) He gave her a way to overcome it that may be more drastic than others saved out of that, but that is something that can ruin the body and casue such problems it is best never to start.

Anyway, the point is that we must trust the Lord to bring us victory by being our victory. We can't bring Victory ourselves because there is a spiritual battle here, and it must be won with spiritual weapons.

Ironically, at times we seem to recognize that it is a spiritual battle. However we are actually on the opposite side of what we should be.

How to fight the enemy, and not fight ourselves

You may guess that forgiveness is a big part of it. That is certainly true. We must fight the enemy by not opposing each other so fiercely, and one reason we do is we don't have that forgiving attitude. It's true that the vicious nature of society today is one of the problems. However, we must also not be united in the wrong things, as mentioned before, such as here and here.

Forgiveness isn't saying something is right. Forgiveness is saying "I love you anyway." Remember, God forgives us by saving us from our sins, but he is also just in that He had to punish sin and took it upon Himself. He still allows us to face the consequences of our sin on Earth, though, it's just that His mercy nd grace give us more chances.

Not only that, but His justice, like anything else, is better than ours because he knows the priorities which matter most, such as described above. the terrible injustice of this world comes about becasue people don't hold to those priorities.

So, you can see how that heart-mind decision to trust Jesus to forgive and sve us and then turning to Him with the intent of correcting such things - and letting Him be our strength in doing so - is cricual.

Ephesians 6:12 says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but agaisnt powers, against principalities, gaainst the rulers of the darkness of thhis world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." So, when someone opposes us, we should - instead of reacting harshly - say, "We're on the same side against this evil." And, of course, be willing also to work with that person to help them.

Communication with each other, then, is vital, but of course, as noted and linked before, it's still vital to stand for the absolute truth of God's Word. That same devil who tempts us so much 9though we also have our own sin nature)  can also mislead us by getting us to unite in the wrong things. There is great deception coming, according to the Bible; here is how to be prepared not to fall for it. The only way to do that is to know Him personally now, though there may be a chance during the Tribulation it's not safe to presume one will make it alive, so many bad thigns will happen. This discusses that Tribulation and gives other links about it in more detail which you can copy for others.

AS for now, though, we are still here and have a chance to unite in God's perfect love and peace. So, after doing that, what else can we do?

Further Healing the Divide

What are some other things we can do to heal this divide?

1. Proper priorities are needed. As noted above, God sees each person as important. Those priorities, then, should include valuing human life and having a concern for everyone.

2. Build the fruits of the Spirit. Gentleness is mandatory, for instance, God wants us to have it. That's why it's one of the Fruits of the spirit of Galatians 5:22-23. Our treatment of others, especially those who are weaker, must be with the Godly compassion we are called to have. Of course, the fruits of the Spirit can only come if the Holy Spirit lives in you, which he will if you have trusted Jesus to save you. People can have such a deliverate attitude without it, but only God can perfect it, and the Spirit will increase it and will give it to those who don't have it. Especially in families, it's vital to have these fruits. (Note that I've mentioned in other posts about the King James Version's superiority - here is a good show discussing the fruits in depth.)

3. Have meaningful conversations. Try to understand each other's perspectives; when they don't conflict with sound Biblical doctrine, like the Bible says in Philippians 4:2-3, we should be of one mind in the Lord. Some people have been through horrible thigns, and need others to show understanding and compassion.

4. Commit to building meaningful relationships. instead of focusing on social media, we should be trying to talk with each other and not using sound bytes all the time. Our society has a short attention span and we may need to work to lengthen it, but God can do that when we trust Him and turn our hearts toward Him.

5. Give of yourself. Don't just talk about how others matter and pray for others, but be willing to put feet to those prayers and get out and work with others. This isn't just protesting and letting words be heard, this is actively trying to find solutions to problems.

6. Have patience. It will take a long timeand the Bible says things won't be perfect till the lord's return. But, we can improve things for some, at least.

7. Keep the Gospel at the center. Remember that being nice and friendly and all the other thigns are good, but we must ensure that the saving of souls is our top priority.

After all, each of us will some one day, and go to either heaven or Hell. The Lord will return for His people. It's why I've done posts sharing about how to reach Muslims, for one thing, and indeed witnessing to them and anyone.

We must start by uniting, as noted above, in sound doctrine and turning toward the Lord and away from the bitterness which has plagued us int he past as we've let our free will make us think we can do anything. In reality, though, common sense xisted for so long because people knew that with freedom came responsibility.

So, let's all take more responsibility for our own actions and establish that right and wrong as fundamental to our society once more, united as one nation and not a bunch of individuals who don't have any common goal. After all, we were never meant to be just a great big mess of individuals. We were meant to be a melting pot of peoplew ho worked together with a respect for liberty and expected others to respect that absolute right and wrong which we knew had been established since the foundation of the world by the Lord Himself in His Word, including the freedom to accept or reject HIm and the freedom to follow Him and the importance of respecting thsoe who do; something in past times that nonChristians consistnetly did.

In this day and age, we face spiritual battles which are increasingly fighting believers in Christ (but, note, not other religions, because the devil only has to fight the truth). However, God will prevail in this. We just have to make sure we're on the winnings ide.

Part of revival; Avoiding danger in fallen world

Would you avoid something you knew was awful if you could, be it something as awful as a mile fall from a plane or a shark attack, or as simple as spiders or mice, which spook a lot of people?

We all avoid things we think will destroy us. This recent post discussed celebrating the Abundant Life Jesus gives when we trust in Him to save us from our sins, it's so much greater than what we get when we look at only what we can get out of it. And, as much as we say "live life to its fullest," nobody rushes to be attacked by a shark. Even "Shark Tank" has people taking huge precautions. That or falling a mile from a plane without a parachute would be on everyone's list of things to avoid. For some, even something as simple as spiders or mice make them run in horror.

In the wake of the tragic death of Jose Fernandez, I considered that recent post on enjoying the abundant life Jesus gives. It's very appropriate as a subject itself, of course. And, there are so many good thoughts - like these from Philippines 4:8 - which God shows us in His Word are important for us to live happily.

(Notice I didn’t say to be happy? Happy is an adjective. Happily is an adverb which modifies the verb "live" in the old fairy tale ending. They live happily ever after, but that doesn't mean everything is happy. They simply choose to focus on what they are thankful for. Even if Mongols attack there castle or smallpox ravages the kingdom, they can focus on the love they share no matter what happens. We shouldn't let circumstances define us.)

So, God clearly gives us some wonderful things to focus on as we enjoy the abundant life He has given those who trust Him to save them from their sins. It's something we need as only He can give divine protection against evil.
 

However, one should also avoid certain other things just like one avoids the really bad stuff mentioned above. (And as some people avoid spiders, etc.) We can avoid evil, nightmare-inducing things on our own and - as long as we have a relationship with God - improve it. Just as you avoid things that you know will kill you (a shark or a fall from a plane) or that you are really scared of.

Divine Protection From Evil

 The first step to avoiding evil is to make sure you're on God's side so He can protect you - sit in that chair of grace, so to speak.

God is holy and can't touch sin; He can't allow it into His perfect Heaven; I'll explain in the next section where that sin came from originally. You can go to that section if you want and come back, of course, but for now, suffice it to say that God has it this way so those who are covered by His atonement for sin can't have anything bad happen to them in Heaven.

We have a sin problem, though. We are all sinners; nobody is totally, 100% righteous.(Rom.3:10,23, etc.) Though all we like sheep have gone stray, and turned to our own ways, God laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.(Isa. 53:6)

So, we all have sin in us, but God reconciled us to Himself by bearing our sins in His own body.(1 Pet.2:24) Jesus, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for each of our sins - yours, mine, everyone's and rose fromt he dead. That gift of His grace and mercy is free to anyone who trusts in Him to save them. It's not about praying certain words, it's calling on Him in your heart to save you and forgive you.

A good way to remember that is ABC - Admit you're a sinner, Believe Jesus, God in flesh, died to take your punishment for your sins, and rose from the dead, and Callon Him to save you from yoru sins, Choosing to repent (turn from your sins) and make you new inside.

You can do that right now, in fact. If you haven't, you should do so now because we never know what will happen. You can turn from your sins and tell God something like this: "Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, I know I can't get to heaven on my own, but You died to take the punishment for my sins and rose from the dead. Lrod Jesus, I trust you today to save me from my sins and make me new inside, come into my heart today and save and change me. I believe you have saved me not by anything I have done but by the fact I totally trust in what You did for me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you don't know Jesus as Saviour, you can't go to God's perfect Heaven where you'll be free from sin and all those burdens when you die. You'll be separated from that perfect love and peace and goodness forever in a horrible, wicked place meant only for the devil and his angels.(Mat.25:41) So, it's important to trust Jesus as your Saviour first.  Here is a great tract with more explanation. Gotquestions is a great site to help with questions, and online mentors here can help personally.

Anyway, we should love God's grace and mercy because He has given it as a free gift to anyone who will trust him to forgive them for their sins. He will cleanse them from all unrighteousness. A saved person can't be possessed by the devil.

However, a saved person can be oppressed, just like Job when he followed the Lord and the devil was allowed to try to ruin his life, but Job apparently kept his sight on those eternal rewards. And, the devil can certainly possess an unsaved person and, made bad enough, can totally wreck that person.

Thankfully, there is hope for such a person, as we see witht he possessed man in Mark 5, but the best thing is to never allow evil to be in your life in the first place.

Yes, i talked about possession. there is a spiritual realm; indeed, superstring theory has proven there are more dimensions than jsut what we can see plus time. I mentioned it because it, and all spiritual warfare, is very real. We need God's protection from that evil so we can enjoy the freedom from oppression God gives us.

 

Making the shark from Jaws look tame

This leads to the main subject - avoiding Deception like mentioned to some extent in the previous post, though it focused more on the devil counterfeiting things. This centers more on a type that would be a big problem even without a movie about it. it is something which can appear harmless but is really dangerous and is something to avoid at all costs.

Before the Sharknado movies - which I have never seen but which I have heard one could make fun of on the level of Mystery Science Theater 3000 - there was Jaws. A shark attack is one of those really important things to avoid, though thankfully there will not be tornadoes with many, many sharks in real life. They almost certainly won't happen even in the tribulation period, that terrible time when God will judge the evil of the Earth and the devil will try to take as many as he can with him to hell.

Even today, however, the devil is at work trying to lure people away from God's goodness and to his evil. And, he does that through things that look innocent.

As discussed before, the devil was a created being that had untested creature holiness, meaning he had not been tested to see whether he would sin. He chose to try to overthrow God. (Isaiah 14:12-15,Ezekiel 28) This rebellion caused him to lose his place in Heaven and he took a third of the angels with them him(Rev. 12) and they became demons.

So, think about it. When you see images of things that are demonically possessed, these are things that hate God and want to destroy His perfect love, peace, compassion, and all the other good things about God. They do not love His grace and mercy.

These things are real and they can and do possess things and even people. It may seem innocent, and when you walk out of a movie theater or turn off a TV you may think it's okay now" - or at least after about a month when you finally go near the water again after watching "Jaws." However, keep in mind that these things not only hate love, mercy, and other good things, they also hate you. The beasts of the field stalk their prey by blending in with their surroundings till they can pounce. Even so, the devil walketh about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.(1 Peter 5:8)

God gives us hope. he gives us freedom from the terror those evil things cause. However, we need to put our faith in Him to do somust as one must put their whole eight into a chair to sit in it; you aren't trusting it if you think it'll collapse and thus you're ready to spring out of it if it starts to teeter.

How To Avoid Evil

As noted numerous times, revival begins with us. That means not just trusting Jesus as your Saviour and then doing good, but also staying away from things which can hurt us, just like you stay away from a shark attack.

 Yes, demonic things and things which have them in them can hurt us. They want to, in fact, because they hate God's creation. Therefore, we should stay away from them.

How far away? Obviously, some people can handle a little more than others. But, there are some limits all need to have as we trust the Lord to protect us.

First, understand that any so-called games or other activities involving magic really are inviting evil spirits into your life, those bad guys that want you to eventually be miserable even if they make things look fun at first.

Next, remember that Hollywood and other places want to make money. They want to make things seem innocent because if they made things really horrible and gory who would watch? Okay, things have gotten a lot worse than they were with Jaws back then, so maybe people would watch.  But, that just shows that the devil is trying to downplay things so that people can be drawn in.

If you have to deal with the subject, bathe it in prayer. Jesus is more powerful then these things. He cast them out all the time, after all. But some can't be stopped without prayer, and lots of it.

This is where I say that some people can handle it better. Look at a passion play, for instance. Somebody has to play Judas, who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and had so much hatred in him, right? Someone else may play people who shouted to crucify him. Still other performers have played Nazis like the Gestapo and SS. They weren't the bumbling people who were likely in on the prisoners' plans and worked to defeat Hitler in Hogan's Heroes. They were cruel and hateful and despicable people. Some actors and actresses can do that and not have it affect them, well others might find themselves deeply bothered by it.

However, that is when acting is someone's job. There is no need to pretend the scary stuff at other times.

When it comes to certain things, of course, they are urban legends and really can't happen. A youth told me once of a story that if you said "Bloody Mary" she would appear. That is a trick to scare people, although there was a real queen named that - she persecuted Protestants in the 1500s in England. Her spirit won't reappear if you say her name - although it might cause you to then think bout her.

Evil spirits do exist, though, and we should be careful never to attempt to communicate with them or use them. They are not dead loved ones - those types of things are really calling up demons. Same with any sort of fortune telling or astrology. The devil might try to trick you into thinking he's guessing right, but it's usually very vague, and God commands us to live by faith anyway, and He actually does reveal quite a bit to us when we trust Him. He gives us as much as we need to live and the rest, well, some people really want to live an adventurous life, right? Not knowing everything about your future is actually an important part of that adventure. Of course, you want to be sure where you'll go when you die, but that's different.

Things like that prey on the imagination. The imagination can be good, of course. It's great to be creative and use the talents God gave you, of course. The key is, first, people with imaginary friends when pressed will admit they are imaginary, and they serve a developmental purpose anyway, though not everyone has them. They should ot be turning the person away from God, though. In fact, when I got older I prayed and dedicated my stuff ed animals to the Lord to be used however he wanted; because of some developmental delays(possibly very mild Asperger's Syndrome) I knew He could use them to help me and He did.

You know what I found then? They always pointed me toward God or if I was talking with one of them since it was hard to verbalize stuff that "animal" would remind me to talk with God about the situation. Why? because I knew that God was using them. In fact, my biggest struggles in lie came at a time I thought I was grow up enough I'd never need them anymore to help me verbalize things and make sene of thigns in my mind. It was never "them," though - in fact, I readily say I'm them or they're me. That ws God at work using what He needed to use to help me.

Don't let it take you away from God

Whatever it is you are thinking about, then, make sure that God remains on the throne of your heart.

The devil wants control of this world, and one day he'll hve it for seven years of the worst stuff in human history. God will judge the world's sin then. This post tells how to avoid trouble and what to do if it starts and you're still here.

For now, remember that there is great deception out there even without the devil having complete control of things. To avoid deception, stay in God's Word and away from the evil things like the next Ouija movie and any boards or other things like it. There are so many good, family-friendly things you can d, and so many non-spooky characters you can be and things you can write. You don't have to include the Gospel in everything you write - unless God leads you to do it. However, God wants to protect you from bad stuff He knows is out there.

So, stick close to Him, know He is personal and knows you better than you know yourself. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by Him(Ps.139:14) for a special purpose, and that is to glorify Him and show His love, goodness, grace, mercy, compassion, and all those other great attributes of His to a lost and dying world.

The only way to show them is to be following Him and not the spirits of darkness in this world. He died and rose from the dead to give you freedom from all that, and to give everyone else that freedom, too.

How To Avoid Being Fooled

Youthquake just recorded this radio show on Daniel 9 and praying for repentance revival.(Which also faced spiritual attack as it wasn't able to be uploaded on the Youthquake site for a while because of computer glitches.) It meshes with what I've said about the need for a repentant heart, like here, and reconciliation.

Part of that is avoiding deception, too. It's vital to know what's real so you can avoid being tricked, because if you fall for the wrong trick, it can be fatal. It's like if you think your road is clear when there is invisible ice and you wind up skidding and crashing into a tree or slipping and breaking something while walking. The ice can't be seen since your senses (which, being human, can be wrong) may say it's not there, but your faith(trust in what you know of driving) tells you to be careful.

Yes, our senses are faulty at times. Even places like this secular article suggest there are dimensions beyond what we perceive, thus explaining the spiritual realm. The devil uses tricks I'll discuss to turn people away from God.

However, God has unconditional love for each of us and is always longing for people to come to Him for salvation. You are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance from eternal life.

He made this world without suffering or sin in it. However, mankind brought sin in by choosing to rebel(Rom. 5:12), and things have been declining since. Still, each of us - you - have God's Word: You are "fearfully and wonderfully made"(Ps.139:14), a special creation of God here for a special purpose. The devil wants you to think you have no purpose or design, but you do - to show God's love to everyone once you are saved from your sin. While we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we earn spiritual death - separation from God's perfect love forever - because of our sin, God has given each of us the free gift of eternal life by simply trusting Him to save us from our sin.

Indeed, if you or anyone else were the only person ever on the face of the earth. God still would have come to this world, and Jesus Christ, God in flesh, would have died to take the punishment for your sins and risen again. He wants to give each of us life more abundantly, with eternal rewards that will last forever. You can go here to talk to an online mentor who can help guide you in your walk with God.

God reveals His truth so we can avoid deceptions, just like something that can reveal when that invisible ice is there so we don't slip driving or walking.

What Counterfeits Can Trick Us?

Some things have been discussed, like how to pray the devil doesn't counterfeit things in a revival. Others haven't. I'll mention them later, but first, the need to understand and follow sound Doctrine is vital. There are many traps that sound good but aren't. A milkshake might sound great, but one little bit of dog food will make it very yucky and you won't want to eat it. At least I hope not. Yet if it is only called a milkshake and you don't investigate it, you won't know till it's too late that it has dog food in it.

That's why, as some are famous for saying, there are no counterfeit $47 bills. There aren't any real ones. Sound Doctrine comes from the inspired Word of God, and even the original Antiochan texts have been counterfeited. (This is why, while we know the Bible is fully reliable, in places like this,  I've mentioned it's important to use the King James; others come from the Alexandrian texts.)

No, I'm not talking about some weird place that serves dog food milkshakes. If only I was talking about something that simple. It would be funny. However, the devil tricks us with much different things, things which look very satisfying on the outside but are destructive inside, just like having a $5714 bill might feel satisfying till you try to use it and find out it's worthless.

One of those things is the ecumenical movement. Many churches in it do not preach sound Doctrine. That in itself should turn you off. They may be nice people, but they are deceived as to what is most important. God is most important. We can't create a perfect world because we are sinners who come woefully short of the glory of God. God's ways will always be better than man's ways, as posts like this on God's justice shows, and this on His ways versus the world's.

It's just one of the things I warned about here. It's leading to the One World Religion of Revelation which even the devil will fight (2 Thess.2:3-4) before this world of sin is destroyed by God. We must lovingly warn people away from it in a spirit of compassion so God can protect them. It will be the devil's way of trying to draw many to destruction. They are trying to create a world in their image by making works the most important thing, but nobody can overthrow what the Bible says,. The Bible says salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.(Eph. 2:8-9,John 3:16,etc.) It is available to everybody, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.(Romans 10:13.)

Others focus only on the world. They think that God will give us worldly things. However, this idea doesn't even make sense logically. God wants us to focus on treasures that can never grow old, can never wear out, and so on. In wanting what is best for us, God doesn't let everyone become rich with worldly things because He knows those will never last. If a person happens to be rich with them, God expects them to use that for His Glory by giving to missions, tithing, and so on. Sure, he provides their needs, but many people have lived for Him while facing poverty, persecution, and so on - the case of George Muller and how he had to pray and have God provide that day's food that very morning at times is a perfect example. He says, "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."(John 16:33)

The above factors are important to take into account whenever we pray for revival. There is another solemn assembly being called September 21, but we must be repentant and not just call on God without turning from our wicked ways in our own hearts and lives. We can't say, "Turn this wheel and let me drive North" as we continue to push the gas pedal to the floor and speed South.

Avoid "Science Falsely So Called"(1 Tim.6:20)

 Superstring theory shows that extra dimensions beyond our three physical and time can exist. There is a spiritual realm; we know that from the Bible.What we take in should be tested against God's perfect, inerrant truth.(John 17:17)

Creationism isn't a requirement for salvation, you just have to trust that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead and call on Him by faith to save you and make you new, putting all your trust in Him to do so. Still, the devil uses what the Bible calls "science falsely so called" to trick people a lot. This Bible quote shows the Bible supports science but doesn't support pseudoscience, things that are based on false assumptions, etc..

For isntance, even secular Discover Magazine had this article on Neanderthals, for instance, debunking a lot of evolutionists theories about them. Actually, their DNA is present in many Europeans and Asians today, and could easily be said to have just had normal diseases. Much about them has been debunked by science, which keeps changing, whereas the Bible's comments about science, such as here and here, have been true since time began. God told of them thousands of years before we discovered them

 Evolutionists use time to try to prove things, but they claim the simple becomes more complex without an outside force, when it can't, any more than a bunch of airplane parts can form an airplane.Cave paintings of dinosaurs and dragons, all of which are remarkably consistent, seem to indicate - along with some Out of Place Artifacts - that people lived with them and were much more intelligent than we credit them with being.

Let's leave that aside, though, because some are now claiming it was aliens because they can't explain it any other way. This leads to the spiritual realm and an even more dangerous deception. This link is around 2 hours long, but it's a video from December, 2011 that talks about how demonic creatures may appear from other realms pretending to be aliens, but they are not. That link, starting at about 29 minutes, starts talking about string theory and why there are multiple dimensions we can't see. Starting about 1 hour, you'll hear the connection to Genesis 6 and the evil Nephilim.

Even Worse Tricks To Avoid - Occult, etc.

Those are big problems. However, the occult is an even bigger one since there is so much spiritual warfare. In fact, the devil does so much to get into our minds that I've chosen not to link occult stuff; it's not good for even adults like me who are strong in their faith, let alone those who struggle. Event he strong should do lots of prayer and even fasting, immersed in God's Word, before searching the 'Net about it. It is vital to recognize some things are real problems. One video tells of something which clearly exists and speaks of a desire to limit human population to 500 million; this lack of concern for life goes against God, who values each person individually, as I shared above and have blogged in places such as here. He is personal and wants a relationship with you to not only save you from sin and hell but to be a trusted guide, comforter, helper, friend, and so much more.

The devil makes things very enticing, drawing people into it, if they're not careful. People who refuse to accept God's unconditional love will fall for a strong delusion someday in order to continue doing wickedly. The Bible says it's coming. We don’t know what that delusion will be. However, we know two things for certain:

1. Every spirit must be tested, to see whether it is of God.(1 John 4:1) In fact, 1 John 4:1-3 – along with 2 John 7 – show why a certain question from the Bible is important to ask any creature.

2. Today is the day of salvation. Whether or not that delusion involves demons posing as aliens - mentioned in part of this radio show from Youthquake - the greatest evil is being restrained. That delusion will come full force on those who remain after the restrainer (the Holy Spirit) is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7) as believers are caught up in the Rapture. Jesus’ return is imminent. He could come at any time.

Superstring theory proves there is a spiritual realm, as noted. The devil could use the idea of aliens when it is really demons appearing to people. Thus, this warning is issued.

There is a lot more out there than we can see, including spirits. Those who experience strange, supernatural things generally view them as scary, and have dabbled in occultic stuff beforehand. These are NOT aliens from other worlds. They are demons. These people did not test things to see if they were of God. They got caught up in evil instead.

That's why this question will allow that person to know for sure if something can be trusted. It must be answered “yes.” Such a question is important.

Before the question - a summary of what the devil/demons are

The Bible warns that God has an enemy, the devil. The devil can masquerade as an angel of light. He hates humans. Why? We are God’s creation, formed in God’s image.

God created everything in the beginning, and gave angels freedom. However, in his pride, the devil – an angel named Lucifer - tried to overthrow God, and become like the Most High. Instead, the devil was defeated by God’s perfect love, goodness, etc.. Now, the devil works with fallen angels which followed him to deceive God’s creatures. That deception is what led to the fall of Adam and Eve, which is when sin came into our formerly perfect world. It’s also what leads to those spooky sightings, if those sightings are of evil spirits and not some experiment.

God is a God of love, though, as well as one of justice. He wants us to believe and follow Him willingly. He gives us free choice. He doesn’t want us to be mindless robots. Still, He wants us to be in His perfect Heaven someday. We can’t get there ourselves, because we are imperfect. We say, think, and do things that displease God; that’s what sin is. We can’t earn our way there, because we can never be perfect. Only perfection can be in Heaven, because it is a place with no pain, no suffering, no tears, no decay, no death. We, as imperfect people, can’t see, hear, or even imagine the wonders that await us. But, we will always have that sin on us unless something is done for us.

God not only made the way, he gave Himself for us. God couldn’t just say “Sin is forgiven” from up in Heaven. He had to come to this world, be born as a baby, and live a perfect life, before He died on the cross as the perfect, sinless substitute for our sins. He took the punishment for each of us, the punishment we deserved. He had to be human in order to die for us humans, to take human punishment. And yet, He was also God the Son, so after He died, He then rose from the dead. God the Father sent God the Son to die for us, but at the same time, God the Son came willingly. He lives in every believer through God the Holy Spirit, and intercedes on our behalf before God the Father in Heaven.

This is why I emphasize salvation so much. We need God's protection from that evil, since we are powerless against it ourselves.

Even the devils – the fallen angels – understand who God is. That’s why in Matthew 8:29, and elsewhere, they cry out that Jesus is the Son of God. This means that he is God. It’s just like James and John were nicknamed the “sons of thunder” because of the way they acted, or Barnabas, the “son of consolation.” The devils feared God, and trembled. However, there is one important difference between those evil spirits and good spirits.

Evil spirits deny that Jesus Christ is God in flesh. That is the spirit of antichrist, as the Bible says. It poses great danger. They deny that Christ’s salvation cleanses from sin. They try to lead people down another path, a path that seems good to people. But, it’s a path that ends in destruction.

That’s why we must test the spirits, to see if they are of God. And, why we are warned so emphatically about the spirits that deny that Jesus Christ is God in flesh. They must *never* be followed, because they lead man away from our perfect, loving, yet holy and just God.

So, what is the question which must be asked?

After all that, i imagine you can guess it. It is this: “Is Jesus Christ God in the flesh?”

What does this have to do with aliens? See, claims of life on other planets would change all of society. However, we’d have to be sure the “aliens” were not lying spirits, since we wouldn’t know what their inside was. It's just like we need to gauge whether a person is saved by how they act and not just by their words. I can say I'm the King of Belgium but it doesn't say anything about the real King of Belgium. And, I sure wouldn't want Belgians thinking I was their king. (Though they do make great waffles. :-) )

Another reason is that strong delusion God warns of in 2 Thess. 2:8-12. That strong delusion could, possibly, be devils disguised as aliens. They could also be the Nephilim of Geneses 6:1-4, about which there is much debate, but which some believe to be part demon, and part human.

Is there intelligent life on other planets?

No, it will be up to those who have been saved from their sins to explore the cosmos once we get to Heaven.

Here’s why: 1. Creation began on Earth, no other planets are mentioned; 2. Jesus died once for all. He didn’t die in several places; 3. God never changes, he is always faithful and true; he wouldn’t have one plan of salvation for one planet, another for another – even in the Old Testament, salvation was always by faith; 4. Jesus’ talk of others “not of this flock” refers to Gentiles, as His followers then were all Jews; 5. God wiped all flesh from the Earth during the Flood, save for those in the Ark, because of the gross evil – in His mercy, He gave them one last time to repent as the waters rose. There is no sign people built spaceships before then. Even 10 Edisons and Einsteins living centuries couldn’t create all that would be needed for interstellar travel. So, that eliminates that option.

Even if there could be, though, that brings us back to the question that must be asked, and why they'd have to say "yes.":

God had a perfect relationship with Adam and Eve until the Fall of Man. If creatures never fell from grace, they’d have a relationship like angels who remained loyal to God. He’d tell what He had done for humankind. Since Jesus died once for all, and Jesus is God, they would know. They would clearly say “Yes, Jesus Christ is God, and He came in flesh as mankind’s Savior, for all who receive Him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) shall be saved.” They’d testify that the Bible was true. We’d know they were friendly. And, they’d be people. They’d see common history from the start of Genesis. The Word of God is swift, and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and can easily pierce the hearts of His creation – us. (Hebrews 4:12)

God can’t lie. It’s impossible. When He says something exists, there it is. He tells the story of Creation, the Fall, Redemption and through it all, His great love for His creation. When the fullness of time was come, He came into this world to die once for all of His fallen creatures. He would not leave His fallen creatures without the possibility of salvation.

The Bible is our authority for everything. Jesus Christ alone should be followed, as He alone is perfect love and goodness. Only He provides salvation, as He is God in flesh; only He was the perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sin. The Bible has an answer for everything. One key passage is James 1:5, the promise that God will give wisdom to anyone who asks; He will give cheerfully, and never complain about it. Go to Him with all your questions, and all your problems, because He can help you like noone else.

Jesus is, after all, God, Who came in the flesh; He is well acquainted with our infirmities, yet was without sin, so He could take our punishment when He died on the cross, and then rose triumphantly from the dead. The Bible clearly shows (in Revelation 19) how He’ll come after the Battle of Armageddon, and rule and reign on this Earth.

Revival will do even better things (exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think)

This was inspired by Hollywood, specifically complaints about how "white" the Oscar nominations were.

However, that isn't the main topic of this post, so don't worry if you don't watch many movies - Hollywood becomes sortt of a theme for some illustrations but that's all. Indeed, the need for an end to the old "racial" problems - when there is only one race, that of humanity - has been mentioned in a variety of posts. There are a lot of areas that would be much more diverse with a repentance revival, but that's not the only thing that needs to be impacted.

We need to pray for God to move in hearts as He promises He will give in Ephesians 3:20, "Exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think." That adjective translated "exceeding" implies a cup so totally running over that we can't imagine it. And, abundantly means more than enough. The power within us is Him and Him alone, something only believers have through His Holy Spirit, as I've shared before. So, we can pray God gives us far above the peace, comfort, love, etc. we need as we trust Him and grow in Him.

Some of what I could say about TV and movies has been said by many more eloquent than I am for decades.Instead of complaints, I want to focus on the positive; as mentioned before, a lot of people focus only on what God is against and not what He supports. God supports love, mercy, compassion, justice, forgiveness, and so on. Of course, He also supports honesty, humility, holiness, righteousness and other things like that. He wants to be your friend, with a connection through prayer stronger than anything, as noted in posts like this. He's a God of love who always knows what's best.

So, we should focus on praying that such Godly things become commonplace. When it comes to Hollywood, that can mean things like having wholesome relationships where yes there can be struggles, just like the man struggled in War Room and the woman struggled in prayer at first, but where people are not going out of their way to hurt others. Its just like the list of things in Philippians 4:8 that we should focus on, things that are true, just, pure, lovely, and so on.(Edit - a verse which now has its own post.).

Can we have this and still have a good, diverse number of movies with complex plots? Of course. There is a big difference between a good guy who struggles with something and overcomes(Like "War Room") and a hero/heroine that is so bad that he or she really seems to be a villain. (I see plots like Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as "man versus self," the point there is genuine redemption. Even a rebel like the Fonz at first on Happy Days improved, which is the key to that Philippians 4:8 type of thinking. Despite how poorly he treated women and his general attitude, he had redeeming qualities even at first, and he often wanted to improve. And, he did, with the help of friends who wouldn't stoop to his level but kindly helped him seek improvement; it may not seem luike as much now, but remember it took place from the mid-'50s to the mid'60s.)

I'm not saying that we should be praying for a more diverse version of Hollywood's Golden Age/New Hollywood (roughly 1940s-mid 1980s) just for the sake of wholesome entertainment. As stated before, that would be asking amiss, asking for our sake or for others and not for God's. It would be wonderful if a child star could emerge like Shirley Temple and everyone would enjoy the wholesomeness, but this must be an effect of revival and not the reason to have or desire it. Similarly, a more diverse Hollywood will be the effect of true revival and not the reason to seek it.

Instead, we should pray for things such as for God to fill the holes we have in our hearts.

 It's easy to see right away how that can be even better than, say, more racially diverse Oscars. If a person was filling some need in their heart by acting superior to others, and God changed that person's heart so they are more accepting of African-Americans than they were, they have gained something far better and far more than just a desire to vote for African actors next time. They have gained a desire to accept them in other areas, too, looking forward to the day all we who have trusted in Christ's forgiveness will celebrate around the throne of God together.  This is one reason I pray that God raises up a generation of stars who will honor the Lord for giving them that talent and who will stay away from Hollywood's vices. Their hearts are more sensitive in many ways to the love of God, and they're more willing to realize the need to receive Christ as Saviour and honor Him for giving them such talent.

This is not just directed at those with talents, of course. Each of us is special to God. However, each of us has a special area where we can minister to others through our actions as well as our words, and they have a stage others don't. Plus, this has sort of become a theme illustration for this post, partly because there is so much vice there. However, society as a whole is the same way. For a major repentance revival, we need to pray God's healing, cleansing Spirit will heal everything and everyone.

As noted, we should focus on those things from Philippians 4:8 when we pray for God to change and cleanse us. However, to do that, we need to recognize there are things that are the opposite, though, and how to avoid them

Often, that is the same as what was prayed above - asking God to fill those holes in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. God-sized holes that we try to fill with so many things that don't last, things which will one day disappear and which constantly need refilled before that. Often performers are just like the outside world - it's just that their battles are more noticed because they are in the spotlight.

That is another reason the youth of this country - not just the stars but the ordinary youth who will merely be fans - are so important, most of them don't yet have those God-sized holes, though much prayer is needed for those that do. Some grow up in awful home situations, for instance. Some feel unloved and need to see evidence that God loves them, through those who are Godly who can come alongside them as friends, surrogate moms and dads, and so on.

The devil is constantly trying to disrupt things, of course. He is not as powerful as the Holy Spirit, of course. God is more powerful and will defeat the devil one day, but God gives us freedom of choice to choose Him. In the meantime, the devil has all sorts of tricks to make us think that we have power when we don't. There are even people who try to seek and use him to fill those holes in their hearts. That is very dangerous. But, it explains why some of our entertainment is as evil as it is. The things that are used to start this seem innocent at times. But they are not. For instance, there are some things that should never be played with because they do have real evil components. Ouija boards, tarot cards, seances, magic(as opposed to mere illusion-making), and other such things had demons in them, because they are really being used to access the spiritual realm and get at the powers of darkness.

God calls us into the light, however. Not the false light that the devil can produce but the true light of the Gospel. that's why Jesus says he is the light of the world. If a person has messed with dark spirits like that, Jesus Himself can get rid of them, but it is much better to never dabble in them. It's like being at war and saying, "Would I rather have a major battle with billions of dollars in damage on my soil, or would I rather not  bring the enemy in to cause that battle to be needed?"

(I should note that a believer can't be possessed by demons, but they can be horribly oppressed. However, some nonbelievers have been possessed by evil spirits. Hope is not lost but the spiritual battle will be intense even after they trust Jesus to save them from their sin and come live in them.)

All oppression is really from the devil, of course, even if he doesn't possess people. This oppression has caused the terrible violence in this world as well as all the other sins, as he goads us into sinning with the lusts of the flesh,t he lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; but,t hese things will be destroyed one day.(1 John 2:16-17)

Instead, we need to focus on God's perfect peace, and use the power of prayer to unite in Spirit and - most importantly - in truth. God *wants* to forgive our sins, he *wants* us to repent and turn to Him so he can cleanse us. he doesn't want to browbeat us about our sin; that's the devil that does that. God promises to take our sin as far as the east is from the west. In other words, you can go only so far North till you reach the North Pole; same for the South Pole. But, if you go West, you can keep going more and more west and you'll still be east of something. Same if you keep going East, you'll always be West of somewhere. east and West, in geographic terms, can never meet.

A simpler way to put it is this. The handwriting of ordinances against us was nailed to the cross once we trust Christ to forgive and save us we don't bear the weight of that sin anymore.

So, what we must really pray for is that the people of Hollywood -a nd of America as a hole - no longer be weighted down with sin, but instead that sin would be lifted from them. And, that in repenting, they would turn all things over to Jesus and let Him make their hearts new.

Then, we would get a more diverse Oscars culturally, with more black/African-Americans, because voters would no longer be burdened by the weight of their sin of false pride. they would no longer feel superior to others because of outward appearance. They woudl believe we are all equal.

Then, there would not be the horrible coarseness and negativity and vulgarity in our world, because a spirit of peace would be upon people.

then, there would no longer be a desire to fill one's hearts with so many temporary things, because people would let the Lord fill their hearts with his perfect peace, and we would forgive others as we have been forgiven.

And, so on. Of course, the horrible fate would be avoided that those face who die separated from God by not having let Him save them from their sin. thankfully, while there is life, there is hope that a person will turn from their sins and call on Jesus Christ to forgive and save them. And, while this nation exists, there is hope that people will pray and repent and there will be revival in it.

We need to start now, though, seeking the Lord for that repentance revival by turning to Him ourselves.

Keep praying - God still works miracles

I mentioned earlier how prayer works and how our prayers can do many positive things; not because of us but becasue of God's love for us and willingness to move when we pray with a right heart attitude.

I thought of titling this "Christ's resurrection power," but there are many bad things about our past we wouldn't want resurrected. However, quite a few of those are still around, it's just that the oppression is more subtle in many cases. Mankind's solutions haven't changed hearts the way god can in His miraculous way.

We do want to see the good stuff resurrected, and it is that same incredible power that not only can bring back the good stuff but also change hearts to remove the bad stuff. As noted, major revivals have happened which have caused many people to suddenly stop drinking alcohol, stop cheating, etc..

The reason for this is that God works miracles. He will always be in the business of working miracles.

There are different kinds of miracles, of course. At times, we call it a miracle when what it is instead is God's perfect timing. Take, for instance, the story of a missionary in the heart of Africa years ago. A mother had died in childbirth, and this baby needed a hot water bottle to stay alive. There were no modern hospitals, and nthere was no outside communication. Even if there was, there was no way a hot water bottle could be delivered in time.

Still, the missionary prayed. And, after quite a bit of prayer, a box arrived that had been sent five months earlier from a church. Guess what one of the kids in a Sunday School class had put into it? Yes, a hot water bottle. There was no logical reason it would ever be needed, but God had stirred this kid's heart months earlier, perhaps because of this prayer - remember, God hears outside of physical time. And, this premature infant's life was saved.

FGeorge Mueller's story of caring for orphans in Britain contains quite a few of these isntances, too. In each of our lives, there are cases like that as well.

However,

Of course, that kind of thing is not as much of a miracle as the healings and other things that Jesus performed well here on earth. Those miracles we're clearly things that where totally unexpected, because the people were intelligent back then, and they knew that things function in a certain rational manner. So, when jesus healed people, the Pharisees were upset and the regular people were overjoyed.

We don't see many of those kinds of miracles today because of two things.

First, even physical healings in Acts came because they further the gospel. While not a physical healing, a similar type of miracle - the supernatural opening of the cell doors in Acts chapter 16 - was done because the Philippian jailer needed saved and the Apostle Paul's time was not yet come. Sadly, many Christian martyrs today do not see cell doors opening.

The second reason is that the miracle healings today are spiritual, which is the most important thing anyway. So, the change in someone after they get saved, such as going from a foul-mouthed, bitter person to a pleasant, happy person who does not swear is a wonderful miracle that comes because God the Holy Spirit lives inside that person and works in their heart to make that change.

This second is what concerns us, because it is that kind of miracle which will need to take place for God to heal America. It's the kind that we need to pray for. This is not saying that physical healing can't happen. It can. But, God wants our focus on Him and rewards in Heaven. We are to be in the world but not of it, not so attached we can't stand to let go of any of the world's things. Hence, i've said we must repent of our actions and attitudes in many cases.

So, why does God heal souls and broken hearts and cause people to change through the Holy Spirit? Because these things are necessary for us to function while we are here doing God's work. It glorified Him to work such miracles. God will heal our nation for the same reason. "Not my will, but thy will" could be replaced by "not my glory, but thy glory."

In other words, we should not pray for God to heal this country only to bring it back to the glorious place it was years ago. We should not be focusing on where America is in the world, so much as where America is in God's eyes. if god chooses to make us a strong world leader again, he will, but as Psalm 84:10 says, it is better to be a doorman in the house of the Almighty.

So, what will this miracle we term repentance revival look like? let's look at what others looked like and see.

Past revivals were known as much for people returning to godly principles as they are 4 people getting saved. Of course, many people do trust Christ as Savior during Great Awakening. But, more importantly, there are many people who choose to start being more honest, pure, caring, and so on toward others.

The way society is headed now, it would clearly take a miracle for it to turn back to the way things were. However, on the bright side, God is willing to do that. He just needs a lot of people to pray and seek His face, because there is such intense spiritual warfare, the devil has such a hold on things.

Of course, a person can't do that well unless they are saved. Which is why revivals also find many people coming to trust Jesus as Savior. However, it's also why revival needs to start with us.

What else would happen? As noted in other posts, such as here, we would return to Godly values. However, they would be administered fairly. Things like love, justice, mercy, forgiveness, honesty, integrity,  purity, etc. Would be demonstrated regardless of who someone was. It should have been common sense to show these attitudes toward everyone back then - and it was to those who truly followed the Lord with all their heart.

I imagine a number of readers think "That would take a miracle, all right." But, that is why we trust God is the first place. "It is He which hath made us, and not we ourselves."(Psalm 100:3) God is in the miracles business.  He says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.(2 Corinthians 5:17.)

So, since He has given us all our talents and abilities, and whatever food, water, clothing, etc. we need, then we can trust Him to help us. It doesn't mean everyone would have thsoe values, but it does mean many more people would, and the results would be wonderful.

The values we have should reflect that desire to see that others matter, as I have shared in numerous posts. However, it should reflect something else as well. That something else is a desire to please God not for our own righteousness sake, but because of our love for him. After all, despite our sin he did not abandon us like he could have. He has consistently loved us even though we turn away from him so much.

He promises to bless the nation which honors him. Remember, well 2nd Chronicles 7:14 could be only to the Jewish people, it is also true that Jeremiah 8 contains verses that speak to Gentile nations. In other words, God will bless us when we return to Him.

Now, have we lost blessings and rewards because we are not following him? As a nation, yes. Although, each individual can still have his or her own for what they have done. But, the important part is that God could restore some of the blessings to our country. And, even if He doesn't, remember that God is no respecter of persons. He looks at the heart, and He will bless us with riches that aren't measurable such as peace, good harvests(which are in some ways measurable, but aren't noticed the way power is), respect, and so on.

Indeed, some of tried to measure national happiness, and so if you want to go that far, maybe the ways would be measurable after all.

That peace, after al, would include a decrease in crime, too. But, that means the Holy Spirit must be at work guiding our thoughts as well. When people stop focusing on what they can get instead of how they can help otehrs, they will be happier, because we can "be content with such thigns as ye hve."(Heb.13:5) When we stop seeking to fill our own lusts, then we will be more content. It may seem hard to understand for some, but that is why it's known as a peace that passeth understanding.(Phil.4:7)

Can we go back tot he days of the 1930s? I pray for God to raise up a generation of youngsters who will be moral leaders in good, wholesome entertainment. And, He can do it. But, the battle will be much more fierce.(Perhaps I will post about that someday soon, too.) However, for now, that can jsut be part of that general need for repentance revival in our country.

God can do it. he is still in the business of working miracles - not only getting people saved but turning those who are into people who truly live for Him as we put Him first in everything. After all, He came that we might have life and life more abundantly.(John 10:10)

"Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave," showing Muslims God is love

That line, part of the great hymn "Rescue the Perishing," embodies what we must pray God uses us to do for everyone in America and everywhere else - especially Muslims, in the wake of the recent shooting of a Philadelphia policeman. There are many who are struggling with things - guilt, shame, fear, agony, etc. - who need Jesus because the enemy, the devil, is filling them with these things and keeping them from the freedom God has for them. Each saved person must have pity and show that love and forgiveness to them, giving them a chance to receve it just as they were given and received. Just looking at Paul's life beforehand and his understanding of grace shows what a great change God can make in someone.

So, just as the next one about youth will be important for everyone to share bit will be a bit more specific, this is, too.

Three things are clear. 1. ISIS is influencing people and for months has drawn even Americans to it, as well as many in other countries, with horrible results in those nations as told in the latter half of this prophecy update. 2. Most Muslims are still not influenced by ISIS or other radical groups, and in fact are coming to Christ in record numbers. And, 3. The Holy Spirit can influence people toward the God of love, mercy, and forgiveness as shown in the New Testament. It's up to us to make sure everyone, including Muslims, understands this and believes it, because radicals like ISIS want to lure the US into war.

However, we must be dedicated to honoring the Lord with our hearts, not just our lips, because if anything keeps people away from the Lord, at times our biggest enemy is us. If I say I'm King of Belgium, whatever i do has no impact on what the real King of Belgium is like; however, it will make it harder for some to know the real King of Belgium.

As noted in a few other posts, the Holy Spirit can help. He is there, as Jesus promises(John 16:7-12) to work in nonbelievers' hearts, too. However, we don't want to make it harder for the Spirit to work. Jesus calls us to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us.(Matt.5:43-48,Roamns 12:20-21,etc.)

So, what do we do? Here are some ideas and resources.

Showing God's love to Muslims

A common response to the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" is that "You CAN make him thirsty."

Are we making Muslims thirsty? Or anyone? Look at what Jesus did in John 4(woman at the well). She knew she was thirsty, and he knew it, but He didn't come right out and say she was thirsty. Instead, He got her interested, so much so that when He says He has living water that will spring up into everlasting life, she asks, "Evermore give me this water." Her reply wasn't prompted by anything but a sincere desire to quench her thirst.

Now, she was thinking only of physical water at first, but the important thing is, Jesus' attitude made her want what he had.

This, as an aside, is why funerals are often the best times to reach someone. They are not only thinking of the fact they, too, will die and/or wanting answers, but for the Christian, they can be sure that loved one is in Heaven. Muslims have no guarantee of Heaven, because they are taught they have to work their way there. Indeed, all religion is about man trying to reach a perfect, holy God on his own, whereas true Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ saving a person through His own shed blood, and making that person new inside, constantly working in them to make them more like Him - more loving, gentle, compassionate, etc..

It is certainly good to point out such facts, and not to attack their beliefs openly,. Instead, as noted, "make them thirsty" by remarking about the joy, peace, comfort, etc. that relationship with Christ provides.

A testimony is simply telling what Christ has done in your life, after all. The devil - the god of this world - has blinded people to the truth(2 Cor. 4:4) - another reason we must show there's a difference between us and the world, and not be hypocrites. And, since the devil has put spiritual blinders on them, we can't remove those blinders by worldly means alone. We need the Holy Spirit to work in each person's heart.

We are called to be in the world, but not of it. Romans 12:2 says "Be not conformed to this world..." In other words, if you would struggle with other faiths as a newer believer, a ministry to Muslims might not be for you because you might be tempted to compromise on basic fundamentals of salvation in trying to witness to them - those being that Jesus Christ is God in flesh, born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross to take the punishment for each of our sins, and rose bodily from the dead. However, if you would be able to stand firm on those, then it's important to be sharing your faith in love.

Of course, it seems rough at times when you look at what the most radical are doing, but remember that, first, many of these people are not radicalized but are simply living in terror themselves because of what they are taught, and second, that Jesus died and rose fromt he dead in triumph over such terror. A triumph He wants each of these people to have. And, many times they don't realize how God can truly give them victory over it. This is true of Muslims and of anyone who is not saved and followed a system where they try to be perfect and fall woefully short.

A few of numerous resources

Of course, there are other things we can use, too, to help Muslims understand the Gospel. It's just that it should be done as a friend helping them understand, not to attack. However, we must realize that the god of Islam is NOT the God of the Bible. Here is a good 2-part sermon series on Islam if you prefer something audio that is simple. 1, 2.

A few of the truths in those, among many which show Allah is not the God of the Bible...

For instance, the meaning of Sonship is different. They say Allah had no son because they only think of physical relationships when they think of a son. However, there is an Arabic word, "ibn, which can be used to help them understand Jesus is a perfect likeness, he is God in flesh(John 1:14, etc.) because in Him(Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.(Col. 2:9)

There is also a way or two to explain the Godhead which will help. Here is one that might help with a few misconceptions. Also, simply explaining "I am a father, a son, and a brother - one man, three attributes is a start. The point is that we can agree that God is one god, and go fromt here to show how He manifests Himself.(As that first one does with talking about how God manifested himself to Moses, etc..)

Part of Muslim culture, however, prevents them from seeking unless the Lord intervenes. because they fear that God will punish them for ever doubting. Whereas, the Bible shows that God welcomes questions and praises those who seek wisdom. this is something to point out slowly, as the Spirit leads - or perhaps more quickly as you are talking, however God leads. Again, we don't know how many others have been witnessing to a person or how effective they have been. But, the Holy Spirit does.

So, be patient and do however much the Lord leads you to do. Once a Muslim person trusts Christ as Savior they often face terrible discrimination, ostracism, and being disowned from their families. So, they will need you to be there for them to help encourage them. But that will be easy, they will be brothers/sisters in Christ then, learning to grow spiritually just like you.

All is not okay - there is a horrible battle brewing, as this prophecy update shows. The devil wants to take them to hell with him, and also wants to take all those who refuse to accept God's great love and salvation from their sins.

Why prayers don't work without repentance

In the wake of the horrible San Bernandino attack, one hashtag which trended for a bit was that prayers don't work. This post will explain why some prayers don't work.

It all has to do with repentance, and it's pretty simple.

We Have A Friend in God

God is personal, He desires a personal relationship with each of us. First John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God is always willing to forgive us, He just wants us to come to him and accept we need forgiveness for our sins. That word cleanse helps to explain why repentance is needed by our nation, and why if we harbor sin in our hearts God won't hear our prayers - because truly turning from our sins lets Him cleanse our hearts.

Let's use a personal example. Most of us have had arguments with friends but remain friends. Let's say  one friend asks a favor of another, say helping them to move. The one says okay but then brushes it off and does something they think is more important but put in reality could have been easily put off, and doesn't seem to care they broke a promise.

Now, they remain friends but there would be something between them. The one promises to do something and doesn't care that they really inconvenience the other. If they had wanted to do something different, it would have been easier to just say no I can't do it, although the words I can't bring into question whether its true. For instance, if we're talking something like babysitting and the child is old enough, the kid could come along and entertain the moving person's baby or help to sort small things. But, "Sorry I can't this weekend" usually is just accepted among friends.

Anyway, so if the one that had to move is asked by the other friend to help them, that friend who moved is likely to say, hey, "ait a minute dude, I had to move and you promised to help and then didn't and didn't say why or anything". Ignoring the different layers of things (the reason, difficulty of move, etc.), in general the other should just have to apologize and - being friends - it would be forgiven and things would be back to normal.

The Part Repentance Plays in Prayer

It's the same way with God and our prayers. The first prayer He'll hear and answer "yes" to the person praying it is the sinner's prayer of repentance, which establishes that relationship. The person realizes they're a sinner in need of a Saviour. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."(Rom.10:13) That is, calling on Him to save them from their sins and come into their heart and make them new inside, as clearly shown from the context of the previous verses.(This is why not all who cry "Lord, Lord" are saved, they say it with their mouths but don't trust Him to save them with their hearts.)

You may ask, "What about that prayer I prayed that He answered before I knew Jesus?" There could have been someone else praying, or he did it(saved you from ana ccident, helped you do something, etc.) because he knew it would bring you to Him. John 16:7-12 shows the Holy Spirit is at work even among thsoe who don't know Jesus, after all. There are also Muslims who have had dreams where Jesus appears, often after they pray asking God to reveal Himself to them. This is proved by Hebrews 11:6, that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.It usually won't happen where the Word of God is readily available, but yours truly, when global Media Outreach, had a chat experiment, had a person from a Muslim country say he'd just awakened from a dream and needed to receive Christ. Likely, that person had been to a site like Jesus2020.com and had been pondering it.

Anyway, so when someone has trusted Christ as Saviour and invited Him into their heart through the Holy Spirit, they have a relationship with God. Jesus call His disciples "Friends," just like God called Abraham "Friend." And, let's say - like that example with the friends above - that person harbors sin in their heart. Maybe it's hatred of some group, or trying to push God away, or lusting after someone while trying to pray.

All of a sudden, God's like that guy who was moving and his friend wouldn't help him. When he or she goes to ask god for something in prayer, It's like God saying, "Dude, you've got something in your heart/life that's come between us. We can't be close again till you get rid of that." We're still saved, but that relationship is strained, just that like guy who wouldn't help his friend move after promising to, then asks a favor of the friend who moved.

Of course, we're all sinners in need of a Saviour, and we will be till we die because of that old, sinful flesh/Adamic nature. We don't have to confess every sin each time we pray - if we did, those quick emergency prayers for wisdom or the words to say to someone or whatever else wouldn't be possible. God *wants* to hear and answer those prayers, just like any others. He knows each situation, and understands sometimes there are times you have to just shoot up a prayer.

Say, for instance, someone told you they just found they have cancer and you pray for the right thing to say. You don't have time to ask God to forgive you for snapping at someone foolishly and not apologizing to them. (Of course, if you let that anger fester, it can turn into sin in another way - you won't be trying to think of how to offer words of encouragement because you're too busy fuming about the other problem.) However, if you're kneeling in prayer over a bunch of things, and plan to pray for several minutes, that's when you need to let the Spirit remind you to repent of that foolish fury and, if needed, apologize to the person you offended.

Application To San Bernandino, etc.

So, that brings us back to San Bernandino and prayers in general for our country.

Remember that prayer involves a lot of spiritual warfare.I've posted about the whole armor of God as just one of a number of messages on that warfare.The devil doesn't wnt people to get saved - instead he wants people to be as violent and mean as they can and to take as many people with him. So, what's his strategy going to be with the saved world, those who can't be taken from jesus because He is able to keep us from falling(Jude 24) and nobody can pluck us out of His hand(John 10:28-30) and nothing can seperate us from the love of God(Rom.8:36-39)?

The devil's strategy, since he can't have our souls, is to block our prayers. Because prayer changes thigns, but if he blocks our prayers, he can have his way a lot more.

And, that's just what he's done. To prevent evil like San Bernandino, it takes lots of prayer warriors calling for these thigns to be exposed and calling on the Lord to protect us and to revive our nation. But, our country has a problem - we have turned so far away from God that national repentance is necessary. Only then will God heal the land - and, even if 2 Chronicles 7:14 is only about Israel, Jeremiah 18:5-10 contains pretty much the same promise to Gentile nations.

Mucch has been written in this blog before about praying not just for forgiveness for the last 40 years, but for the last 400. Indeed, we also must pray for God to change our hearts - we need to turn from our wicked ways, not just say "I'm sorry" but just keep doing them.

Thankfully, He understands how hard it is. He knows we are just flesh, and that we need His heelp to cleanse this nation. He is still longsuffering toward us, and just waiting for us to turn our hearts toward Him; then, he can be the one to point us int he right direction.

the next post - as long as nothing else intervenes - will discuss one place they are trying to have revival, and also a warning of how we need to pray the devil not counterfeit it. For now, however, just remember that God wants to heal our land. he is always waiting with open arms, just like the father of the Prodigal Son.

The question is, are we willing to answer the call. Not so we can just change overnight, but so the Lord can change hearts once we trust Him to forgive and save us. Only then will He pour out His Holy Spirit and convict people of sin and bring more people to Him and give them that perfect peace, love, comfort, wisdom, etc. he offers to all who trust Him.

it doesn't have to be millions at once praying. But, it does take consistent prayer, with people praying like peter and John in Acts 4-5 that the Lord would intervene and move in the nation despite what leaders want, because we ought to obey God rather than men. And, when you look at the fruits of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23) you see that against such there is no law.

So, let us go tot he Lord in prayer and seek His protection regardless of what leaders want. They have tried to remove Jesus from public discourse. Let us pray and call on the Lord to return, not jsut by saying Merry Christmas, but by actively seeking the Lord and turning from our sins ourselves, being the kind, peaceful, tenderhearted, temperate(self-controlled), meek(power under control), wise, joyful, etc. people he calls us to be. Not by our own strength, but by Him working in us.

Only then can we - in the Lord's strength - bring about change and end the oppression in this country.