Will There Be Peace?: A Brief look at the End Times

Will There Be Peace?: A Brief look at the End Times

What is this Abraham Accord?

For the past few weeks in the news, we have seen a treaty drafted between Israel and the United Arab on 13th August 2020. They called it the Abrahamic Accord. On 15th September, 2020 UAE and Israel signed an US-brokered agreement that has come to be known as the ‘Abraham Accord’, implying that the three parties represented the three Abrahamian religions Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Donald Trump joked saying, “I wanted it to be called the Donald J. Trump Accord, but I didn’t think the press would understand that.” National security adviser Robert O’Brien calls Trump’s efforts in the Middle East “remarkable,” adding that the president “should be a front-runner for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

He asked them why call it the Abrahamic Accord? The Arab ambassador Friedman told him that, “Abraham, as many of you know, was the father of all three great faiths. He is referred to as “Abraham” in the Christian faith, “Ibrahim” in the Muslim faith, and “Avraham” in the Jewish faith…And no person better symbolizes the potential for unity among all these three great faiths than Abraham, and that’s why this accord has been given that name.”

The US which represents Christianity, the nation of Israel represent Jews, and UAE represent Muslims. The three great religions today and Abraham is considered the father of all 3. Followers of The Way and Christians (claims) follows the lineage of Abraham. The Jews follows the lineage of Isaac, and the Muslims follows the lineage of Ishamel.

A section of the Abraham Accord says,

“Recognizing that the Arab and Jewish peoples are descendants of a common ancestor, Abraham, and inspired, in that spirit, to foster in the Middle East a reality in which Muslims, Jews, Christians and peoples of all faiths, denominations, beliefs and nationalities live in, and are committed to, a spirit of coexistence, mutual understanding and mutual respect;”

The announcement released following a joint call between President Trump, the Emirati crown prince and the Israeli prime minister-describes the agreement as a step toward the creation of a new “Strategic Agenda for the Middle East to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation”.

What does this mean for us? (Disciples)

I have been teaching a little bit on the end times to my church lately just in passing. I’ve mentioned Daniel’s 70th week dream (Daniel 9:24-27) and that Daniel’s dream is still in effect today. What we’ve failed to understand as the church is the interpretation of the dream. The dream mostly had to do with Israel and their destiny. For years Israel has been seeking peace and restoration of their land. But according to Daniel’s dream, they will not see total restoration until the consummation kingdom. The consummation kingdom will occur after tribulation. Many modern scholars believe that Israel becoming a nation again will happen during the church age. Many evangelist have misinterpreted the scriptures as well believing that we as a nation will be judged on how we treat Israel. We failed to understand that when Jesus is speaking about the judgment of the nations, He is talking during the tribulation period that nations will be judged based on their treatment with Israel (Matthew 23-25). Not now.

This is one of the reasons we see the evangelicals and the presidential advisors pushing the president to be at peace with nations. Not because it is the right thing to do, but the fact that we will be judged. But if you are a follower of The Way, you will not be on earth during the tribulation and not be judged on how you treat Israel. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 that

“and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.”

This is referring to the tribulation period. Jesus will rescue us before all this will occur. Many believe that we are in tribulation now because of the unrest and the unfolding events here on earth. This is just the beginning of what is going to really occur. We call this the birth pangs (Rev 12:6) of the world and the natural result of sin being in the world. What is going on now will not compare to what is to come in the seven-year tribulation period after the Holy Spirit has taken off the restraint of sin and evil from the earth (2 Thess 2:7).

During the 70th week in Daniel’s dream, there is nothing in his dream about Israel will become a nation again. This is something man-made. From a biblical perspective, it is the Christians that made Israel a nation again. The same Christians that started Christianity 1700 years ago. So the question, Where does Israel and Christians fit in biblical scripture and prophesy today? There are several prophetic scriptures that say false claims about Israel and the Messiah. The nation of Israel leader, prime minister would be a Christ figure according to the Jews. They will bring peace to Jerusalem. Donald Trump made all this happen in the 70th year since Israel was formed into a nation. In 2019, they celebrated their 70 year as a nation and the Christians, Muslims, and Israel are trying to fabricate a fulfillment.

According to the works of Tim Lahaye:

The actual event that inaugurates the Tribulation is found in Daniel 9:27 when the Antichrist, “the ruler who will come,” makes a covenant with Israel for seven years. Even though he will break that covenant, his signing will trigger the prophetic clock of God, and from that moment on only seven years will be left for the human race on the earth. One of the reasons we know Christ is coming before the Tribulation to rapture His Church is because the Rapture is a secret thing. The Glorious Appearing will not be secret but well known, for exactly seven years will elapse from the signing of the covenant to the Glorious Appearing of Christ on the earth.

When Christ raptures the Church, the Antichrist may make a covenant with Israel the next day, the next week, or who knows when. There are sufficient signs existing today to indicate that this event could take place soon: for example, Israel’s return into the land of Palestine to become a nation, with whom the Antichrist will deal; the one-world church that will dominate the first half of the Tribulation period; and the craze for one-world government, already in existence and continuing to gather momentum until it culminates in the signing of the covenant between the Antichrist and Israel. From that point God’s prophetic clock will begin to tick and humanity will have only seven years left.

The Jews believe that this incident is going to provoke the coming Messiah. Their expectation of the Messiah has been going on for 2500 years. So the belief of the Jews is that when Israel becomes a nation, that is when the Messiah will come. But we as Followers of the Way, we know that the Messiah has already come and we are living in the inaugural kingdom kingdom at the moment.

It is all about the belief of the timeline of the end times. There are so many beliefs on the rapture, tribulation, and the millennium. We as the church must teach these things so that we can effectively discern the timeline of the Lord.

30 Day Fast: The Toughest Fast I Have Been On (Part Two)

30 Day Fast: The Toughest Fast I Have Been On (Part Two)

So last week i talked about the 30 day fast The Lord led me on in the month of July. It was probably one of the hardest fast I have been on because of the tough lesson I had to learn.

I often get asked what kind of fast do I partake in? Do I do the Daniel’s Fast? No food at all? Well, it really depends on what The Lord leads me to do. I’ve done many types of fast, but this time I did what I called a 19:5 fast. I fasted for 19 hours of just water and then had a five hour window to eat. Where did it come from? The Lord! I am still a vegetarian and I recently limited my dairy intake from little to none. It was very tough in the beginning because when the five hour window opened up, I was eating whatever I could find. I began to realize that what I was eating was not good for the body and needed to make wiser decisions since it was the only meal I was able to eat. I started eating a little bit more cleaner and when I had very long days I tried waiting until I got home which made it tougher. But when I began to think that what I am doing is for The Lord, I was able to make it through those long days.

I went through an emotional roller coaster in which I could not really tell anyone about. I was a mess. There were some days The Lord called me to the floor of my prayer room and there were days where i just laid in the bed meditating. During that time, The Lord was teaching me about the doctrine of laying hands and walking in power and authority. I heard so many confirmations from others I encountered throughout the fast and when the power of laying hands broke out in the church, The Lord said, “This is part of the reason I placed you on the fast”. To see the power of God move throughout the house in everyone and not just one moment but a week by week encounter is a sight to see. The fast was not just for me but to pray and help push people into their next phase in their spiritual walk.

In my book, Praying and Fasting: Still an Effective Kingdom Principle, I talk about the power of praying and fasting for others. I still get joy out of fasting and praying. Right when I ended my fast, it seems like the enemy was waiting right there waiting for me. But I was not afraid because I heard the Holy Spirit in the midst of it encouraging and comforting me through it all. As I type, I am in peace. Even when the seas of life are raging around me, I meditate on Psalms 27: 13-14 that says, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

What was my take-away from the fast?

As I mentioned last week, The Lord has been working on my heart. The kingdom is about building a community and loving one another. The Disciples spent just about every waking moment together and we as disciples should do the same. Pray for one another. Talk, teach, and to learn from each other. It is definitely a new place for me but I am coming around.

I am definitely in a season of praying and fasting. It has been very interesting to partake in. Nevertheless, i am grateful The Lord finds me faithful do go through. That encourages me even more to keep pressing and praying. I could not tell you why this mandate is on my life, but I will stay the course. It is not pretty and fun but at the end it is rewarding.

God WILL GIVE you the solution to a problem

God WILL GIVE you the solution to a problem

God WILL GIVE you the solution to a problem.

I remember I had to design project that I could not figure out how to do it. God showed me in a dream step by step on how to accomplish it. As I was waking up out the dream, I said “God show me again” and He did.

Instead of me spending hours and hours on a project, it only took me less the ten minutes to do.

If you have a difficult task in front of you, pray! God will give you the solution to your problem. The answer is right in front of you.

“Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:19‬ ‭NASB‬‬

New Year, Who Dis?

New Year, Who Dis?

New Year, Who Dis?

How is your first week coming along?

As we go into the new year, it is always great to see New Year Resolutions, new businesses, habits, and promises working to come to pass. I often wonder what brings people to a place at the end of December to reflect their year and call it a lost? I see this often on Facebook and I wonder was it really bad as we say it was? We may had bad moments but it should not cause us to throw the whole year away.

So we decide to start afresh with a positive mindset and drive. But by February or March, we get discourage and lose the momentum to keep going forward. Could it be that we never included God in our resolution in the first place?

I usually do not make resolutions but I do make business plans and steps to take every year. I pray over them and modify when the Lord says so. I recently introduced a new component in my business last October that I never had in my original plan. I knew the Lord was moving in this direction.  But if I was so headstrong in keeping in the plan I had in the beginning of the year, I would have missed the shift and blessing. What I’m trying to say is remember to leave room for God to shift, add, or change your resolution. If something that you had written down is not working, do not give up. Just stop, pray, listen, tweak, and go.  You have to remember that it is ok if that happens.

The Bible says in Proverbs 19:21 says that “Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.” Man will plan so much and have desires in their hearts to do so much, but the direction, purpose, and will of God will always trump and remain primary. It is better to go to God first and to hear His plan and strategy than to exert so much time and energy in something that God does not have a desire to come to pass.

So as you start your new year, remember to put God first. 2017 mistakes has passed away and the 2018 will bring in the new.

Calm My Raging Soul

Calm My Raging Soul

When I left the house this morning, I felt the urge to pray. It was hard for me to pray a certain prayer because I knew that it was a prayer against my will and plans. God gave me a word a while back that in a few months, a change is going to occur. Being antsy and tired of the current situation that I am in, I tried to rush the process and the timing of God. I know from experience, rushing the timing of God is never a good thing. So I laid down my will right in the car. I said to God, “I will wait for you. I do not want my flesh to get in the way of your promises for me”.

When I got to work, the spirit of the Lord hit me while getting coffee. I began to cry, “Lord, calm my raging soul”. My soul is trying to get what it wants and I do not want to receive anything God has for me outside the timing of God. I believe that my soul is not at ease because I have not found my resting place in God. Like a baby who is irritated and fussy and cannot communicate to its parent what is wrong, my soul was in the same state. I realized that I needed more than just a vacation or to sleep more, but I need the love of the Father to cradle me and say it will be OK.

In the book, “The Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyers says that, “The rest that God offers us is not from physical work, but a rest for souls- a rest that operates as we go about daily life and take care of the responsibilities… If you are truly believing God and trusting Him, we have entered into rest (Heb 4:3)… You can speak His word to your raging soul and tortured mind just as Jesus spoke to the wind and waves and said, “Hush, be still. (Mark 4:39)”.

When your soul becomes uneasy, begin to pray in the spirit and tell your soul to hush and be still. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). When you have nagging desires and your flesh is trying to rise up and causing you to feel anxious, remember we serve a God who is ABLE TO KEEP you from falling. Stay in the rest and comfort of God for it is your protection and safety net.

Do Not Let Your Anger Get The Best of You

Do Not Let Your Anger Get The Best of You

Anger can take over a person in an instant. When we act out of anger, we do not think first. We act first. In result can lead to detrimental issues. Proverbs 14:17 says that, “A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of evil devices is hated.”

The other day, being in a rush, I closed my computer too quickly and the computer shut down completely on its own. In result, I lost a portion of revisions that I was working on. I had never gotten so angry in my life.  I was at the church and I could not let anyone see how angry I was. I immediately left and stood at my car. I was slamming things, yelling, about to pull my hair out because I just lost 2 hours worth of work.I could not get in the car to drive because I knew I would speed out of anger. I knew the Holy Spirit was coaching me through the whole thing because as I was driving, there was a sense of ease or calmness that came over me all of a sudden. The whole drive home, the Holy spirit had to coach me through the whole thing. Even though I just lost 2 hours of work, I was going to stay up for hours to catch back up. But the Lord rest assured in me that all was not lost.

When you are angry and emotional, you have to quickly shift to wisdom. Wisdom told me to leave the church quickly. Wisdom told me not to hop in the car and speed off. Wisdom caused peace to go through my mind and body. Wisdom told me that all is not lost. Being emotional without wisdom is mania! It causes you to become crazy and emotionally driven. That is why the enemy fights against us to receive knowledge and wisdom! We need to get wisdom to handle our emotions. Proverbs 14:29 says that, “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.” God wants to shift us to use his wisdom more in situations and learn how to live in a climate of peace and wisdom.

You have to learn how to resolve anger before it gets out of hand. Ephesians 4:26 says that, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger”. Have you ever gotten so angry that you stopped talking to God? Anger causes you to be estranged from God or causes you to be a stranger to God. See how the word “anger” in is the word “stranger”? It pushes you away from God because you are so caught up in your emotions to a point where you will not allow yourself to hear from Him. Anger distorts your view and judgement of everything.

So the next time you get angry, slow yourself and shift to the wisdom of God. Do not run from God but run to God.

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