Signs in the Sky

It may have started. In the past week, we have seen three or more signs in the sky.  It set the whole world wondering what is going on above them.  We waited while an asteroid approached earth. Astronomers told us about that one.  It purportedly passed between the earth and the moon 

Around the same time, another fireball crashed in Russia, injuring over a thousand people and spreading panic throughout the region.  The next day, people saw another unannounced fireball speed through the California sky and fall to the ground.

Some reports say that a meteorite also hit other areas, including Cuba. 

These incidents occur from time to time, with increasing frequency.  An object from space scars the earth or makes a hole in someone’s roof. The occurrence of several of these events in a dramatic way may signal the beginning of the end, the wonders in heaven above spoken of in Acts in the Bible.

Other signs we have seen over time include mysterious lights acting in weird ways. Unusual spirals sometimes decorate the sky as documented on news sources and seen on the Internet. We see photos of angels and hearts formed by clouds or a combination of sky features on the Internet.   One even featured a face with a smile and it was labeled "God's Smile. 

Who knows what wonders and mysteries we will behold in coming days and years? 

In Acts in the Bible, we read about these signs and watch the heavens with wonder and awe.

 19 "And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:"

21 And it shall come to pass; that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is the important

The important thing to remember is that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  It is the promise the Bible offers in these uncertain days. It is something each of us can do now, wherever we find ourselves today.

Image from Public.Domain.Images.com

How Israel and the US are Linked

If you start doing research into the links between the US and Israel, we find many surprising similarities.  These two nations share twin destinies.

Religious freedom.

From America’s earliest origins, its destiny has been intertwined with Israel’s. The Puritans looked for religious freedom and the founders of America provided it. Israel and the US had a covenant with God.

Hedge of Protection

God blessed both nations with a hedge of protection built around them. The hedge cannot be broken as long as the people acknowledge God in all things and put Him first. If the people repeatedly anger God and start worshipping idols of any kind, the blessing will be removed.

In Israel, many are throwing out ancient mores such as the Ten Commandments.  America is kicking God out of everywhere and everything. Some mock Him openly.  We see bare spots in the hedge.  How long before it disappears? 

Promised land

The Jews looked upon the land of Israel as the Promised Land of God.  He led them out of Egypt and after many years of scattered groups living all over the world guided them to the one nation of Israel.

 New Americans considered their adopted land as God’s Promised Land that He led them to, just as He had the Israelites.  

The United States of America, in Hebrew, means The Covenant Lands of America. The founding fathers thought that the national seal of America should show the Israelites crossing the Red Sea while Pharaoh’s Army drowned.  They even discussed making Hebrew the official language.

These are but a few of the many reasons that the US and Israel carry strong links to each other.

 Images:

Praying Hands from Wikimedia Commons

ROSSELLI, Cosimo -Crossing of the Red Sea from Wikimedia Commons

This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.  

Where is God?

Most people seek truth. They want to know about God and wonder where He is in today’s modern, confusing world. 

Many scoffers on the Internet say He does not exist and that He is nowhere to be found.  One friend even refers to Him as “your imaginary, invisible friends in the sky.”  The truth is that God is alive and if you look, you will find Him.

You can find him in the darkest night. He inhabits the cave you run to when trying to escape the cruelty and terror of this world. He lives in your house and your neighbor’s house.

He sees you when you are alone. He knows all the secret places in your heart and is waiting for you to ask Him for comfort, encourage, and intervention in your life.  He watches you become more desperate, ready to throw in the towel and decide to turn to Him.

You can hide your true nature and thoughts from everyone else. You can fool your family, friends, and the people where you work.  Never forget that God sees everything.

God marches with you in the army. He is there when shells explode and your buddy lays wounded beside you.  He is there through all of life’s tragedies, the unspeakable events you hear about on the news almost daily. He walks beside you as you bury your child. He wants to comfort and console but you need to ask Him.

As you journey through today’s events, ask God to help.  The answer you seek comes in many forms. Just ask and see what happens! What do you have to lose?

Images:

Hopetoun Falls "Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0" public domain

 Sombrero Galaxy created by NASA and is in the public domain.

Faith and a Raging River

Would you try to cross a river overrunning its banks?  Perhaps you have seen a flash flood.  The water suddenly comes roaring down from the hills in the wake of a thunderstorm.  The riverbed fills and overflows.  The water rushes quickly and violently. Boulders, uprooted trees, and other debris pose a danger to anything in the water.

In Joshua Chapter 3 in the Old Testament in the Bible, God told the priests and the people to do that very thing. The raging river Jordan was in flood stage and dangerously flowed over the banks. 

He told the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant in front of the crowd of wandering Israelites. He told them to stand in the river. 

 It took a lot of courage to stand in a river when common sense told them they should wait for a better day when the water was calm and the wind barely moving, but they obeyed God's commandment.  As soon as their feet touched the water, an amazing thing happened.

The water coming downstream piled up in a heap.  The land dried instantly. The priests with the Ark and all of the Israelites passed through. The waters then started flowing again.

Everybody knows that you can't suddenly stop water from coming down stream.  It would take a long time for dry land to appear normally, but God did it instantly, and can do it again.

The priests and the people showed faith by willingly stepping into a raging river.  God took care of them.

God did the impossible when he parted the Red Sea, healed the blind and lame, and performed miracle after miracle.  He can do things in your life that no one else could achieve when you have faith and obey His voice. What raging river in your life do you need to cross?

Image of Jordan River Sign

Credit Jean Housen

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 

3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

My Night at the Bar

My Night at the Bar

A few years ago, my friend from down the street invited me to a bar.  Her husband played the slide trombone in a band at that bar.  Another friend played the guitar and wrote songs.

We sat at the band table, sipped diet colas, and listened to the music. Soon couples began dancing. 

I first saw her as she stepped onto the dance area with a man about her age, maybe the mid twenties.

They danced very close.  She engaged him in conversation and kept constant eye contact.  I thought they were deeply in love.  The music stopped, the man wiped his forehead, let out a loud “whew,” and fled the scene.

Soon another man asked her to dance.  She acted much in love with him too. It happened the same way with many more that night. She and all the men got drunker by the hour.

The men she danced with also became older.  She finally walked out the door with an extremely inebriated man in his fifties. I don’t know if it was her place, or his.

My heart cried to see that woman put so little worth on herself and give herself away with no commitment and no kind of loving relationship. The man used her for his own gratification and did not value her as the precious child of God that she was.

I will always remember that night at the bar because of her and the man who took her home.   

In Matthew 10:31 it says: “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

Luke takes it even further.  12:7 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. Luke 27 Peace I leave with you ... Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

Bible verses from www.BibleGateway.com in the public domain.

Image from Public-Domain-Images.com 

                           

Dirty Little Secrets

As a few of you know, I make some extra cash cleaning a church. I battle cobwebs, dust, sanitize the rest restrooms and kitchen, vacuum, mop, and remove the trash.  

The church looked clean. 

Saturday, the pastor and his wife brought over a new vacuum cleaner.  Anna is a nifty little cleaner with eyes, a wide smile, and really long nose, which is the hose. It has a HEPA filter as big as it is. Dust checks in but does not check out.

It is Time to Depend on God

Happy New Year!

A man holds hostages in his apartment in Colorado. He kills two men and a woman before the police shoot him.  A man breaks into a school and shoots innocent children and their caretakers.  Scenes like this become more common. The whole world appears crazier every passing day as incidents rise and the sanctity of life decreases. Mayhem rules.

Worldwide, the economy tanks more every day.  Riots break out around the globe. Food shortages become more common. The government of the US becomes more unpredictable and less responsible every day.

Seniors, and the disabled, scramble to find a way to live as their income drops and costs of everything else rise.

Our society becomes more godless than ever before. Religion becomes a joke and atheists ridicule God followers as naive, uneducated, and mentally deficient.

This same God that the intellectual thinkers decry as no longer relevant is the same God that we need to depend on in the coming days of chaos and disorder. The same yesterday, today, and forever, he meets every need if we put him first.  He comforts, consoles, and encourages.

We cannot trust our own feelings, our own inner resources, or the government now or in the future.  Trust in God always.

Ask and He will reveal Himself to you in some way.  Everyone finds Him in a different way: perhaps alone in a room, in a church, on a mountaintop, or while cleaning the restroom.  He is everywhere. 

Look for Him and when you find Him, trust in Him.  Read the Bible, His inspired word.  Praise Him for his goodness. Tell Him your problems.Listen for answers. 

When a tragedy or disaster rocks our world, the answer is only a prayer away. When the government fails us, God is still there. It is time to find our strength in Him.