Apocalyptic Hope

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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
(God can do whatsoever He wills)

All power belongs to God and He can do whatsoever He wills. We are the clay, He is the Potter.
Jeremiah 18: 1-10
He can fashion and mold our lives as He so desires. It is His decision whether we are to live or to die,
God's Book of Life Exodus 32:32.

God does not act out of whim, for He a precisely mathematical God, and orders the most complex events to their ordained conclusions. God does not pre-destinate our lives in the sense that He determines our lives for us, yet He has knowledge of our lives from beginning to end, for He foreknew us from the foundation of the world.
(Psalm 139:15,16)
God saw our lives played out before Him from the beginning. He saw what choices we made, having given us a Free Will and desiring that we exercise our free will daily. He saw our motives, our hidden thoughts , our desires, and our plans. He knew long before we were born what our personalities would become.
He knows the real ME, and He knows the real YOU.


"The well of Providence is deep. It's the buckets we bring to it that are small"---M. Webb



Having made the decision to create us, and then seeing our lives unfold before Him, He would not retract that
creation regardless of our choices. Those who ultimately made choices that doomed them to the Lake of Fire, He could not erase from design. To do so would be to betray Free Will and to betray the Holiness of God regarding the consequences of our choices. No. Once the plan was conceived and played out, it could not be taken back.

OUR GOD IS DIFFERENT

The gods of pagans and rebels are whimsical. They are angry and vengeful, and demand total control over robotic
knee-jerk worship and lifestyle. They do not communicate with man on a level plain, but only as Master and Baal, Overlord.

JOHN 1
Our God is not so. Our God entered into human history and took the form of man (while retaining His Godhead)
so that He could identify with our weakness, trials and temptations. He was tempted in all ways like us
(Hebrews 4:15), but the temptation never overtook Him ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). He died-- rejected by the very creation He created. (John 1:11) His creation resented His goodness and truth. We didn't want someone to die in our place to satisfy the consequence of sin to a Holy God; for if One did that, then we would be required to respond to that all-encompassing love. (John 15:22) We would have to love God in return, and there are many who do not wish to do so. They are too proud to submit to the power of crucified-love, although they will readily submit to the power of hate. (satan)

What is crucified-love ? Crucified love is dying to self (ego) and obeying the Voice of God (the Holy Spirit) in all our affairs. Crucified -love is trusting the One who has all power to lead and direct our lives.
How do we arrive at a trust in God and His Son Jesus Christ that is rock solid ?
[ The worship of "mary" contradicts the worship of Jesus]

TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM

We come to trust a person the more we know that person.
We come to know the person of God (Jesus) by reading about Him in the Holy Scriptures.
To know Him is to love Him.

ORIGINAL SIN ---- Self-will ---- inherent in ALL of us

Let us review the Person of God....His Power and Sovereignty over our lives.
Jesus overcame death and hell and rose from the grave on the third day. It is through His victory upon the cross and through His resurrection that we obtain overcoming power to endure temptations and trials here below.
As we come to comprehend this overcoming power, we are better able to understand why it is we suffer in this world, due to Original Sin.
( Genesis 3 ) We do not suffer at the hands of a whimsical God, delighting in our pains. We suffer from men who enjoy their sins and seek to crush the good in this world, and who are under the power of the evil one.

' FROM ' and ' THROUGH '

Why does God not intervene, so that we do not suffer ? God has power to alter and change events if we cry out to the Lord in sincerity. This is most often the case; God oftentimes delivers. God has delivered me FROM many a harmful situation and He has delivered me THROUGH many a harmful situation. Either way, I am delivered. Sometimes my deliverance is long delayed and I question God."Do you care ?"

OVERCOMING POWER

That was what John the Baptist was thinking while in prison...."Are You the One, or should we look for another?"...meaning 'do You care?' Our Lord gave to John the Baptist the answer of overcoming power " Tell John...that the dead are raised to life".

This was the cry of Jesus on the cross: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me "? (Mark 15:34)
Did the Father care ? Yes, and our Lord received that care inwardly to sustain Him, for He finished His trial by saying
"Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." Luke 23:46

THY WILL -- NOT MY WILL

It is at the time of our personal 'cross' that we are purified white ( Daniel 11:35 ) in submitting to God's will .... when we cannot feel, see or hear from God in times of anguish. It does not mean that God can not deliver us. It means we are being allowed into the holiest understanding of God on the cross, that only those who suffer can comprehend. God NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us ( Hebrews 13:5 ) . His Grace is all sufficient.
( 2 Corinthians 12:9 )
It is then we come to understand that we must count it all joy when we suffer (James 1:2), for we enter into the fellowship of His suffering, a distinguished fellowship ( Philippians 3:10 )

GOD'S STRANGE WORK...Isaiah 28:21
"that He may do His strange work"

A time of temptation (trial) is coming upon the whole world unlike any other time. It is a time of God's strange work, wherein even the devil gets his unhindered free will for a season. We cannot know why such a horrendous time is coming, or that why the good people of this earth will suffer trials, torture and death, while at the same time evil people will be enjoying life for a season. It is a mystery for now. God's grace will sustain us through all our trials, tortures and even death. "For nothing can separate us from the love of God" Romans 8:38

But someday we will know why circumstances took the turn they did. We will see the logic and reasoning behind it all. And it will make perfect sense to us. God is able to bring good out of evil...
"All things work together for good to those who love God" Romans 8:28
"You (antichrist system) meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." Genesis 50:20

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8, 9.

Let us reflect on the Sovereign Power of God---God's Free Will
There are many passages in the Bible that either speak directly about God's power over the heaven and the earth, or there are many examples of His powerful intervention in the affairs of men.
We will select but a few of these passages to meditate upon, whenever life becomes overwhelming.
Let us begin with the prophets.

ISAIAH 40 --- "Only God can Make a Tree"
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"



Scientists cannot explain "mass" http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1695000/1695390.stm



"Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being His counselor hath taught Him?
With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgement, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding? "

HWO --- HIS WORLD ORDER

" Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance:
behold He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.....
All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity. "

" To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?...
Have ye not known have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning?
have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers:
that stretcheth out the heaven as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: "

" That bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
Yeah, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth:
and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. "

" To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. "

" Lift up your eyes on high and behold Who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host (of heaven) by number: He calleth them (stars) all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth "......

" Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God [ El Olam ], the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? There is no searching of His understanding."
Isaiah 40:12-28

EL OLAM -- God is Eternal : from age to age, from vanishing point to vanishing point

Isaiah 41:4 "Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD, the First, and with the Last, I AM He."

Isaiah 42: 5 "Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and the spirit to them that walk therein;

Isaiah 42: 8 " I AM the LORD: that is My name and My glory will I not give to another,
neither My praise to graven images." (do we oooh and aaaah over other's statues, idols ???)

Isaiah 42:15 " I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs;
and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

Isaiah 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not;
I will lead them in paths that they have not known:
I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

Isaiah 43:8-21 "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled:
who among them can declare this, and show us former things ? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, 'It is truth."

NO OTHER GOD

"Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I AM HE:
Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me.

NO OTHER SAVIOR, DELIVERER OR REDEEMER [no political messiahs]
"I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no savior [no demagogue...no earthly man as god]

"I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you:
therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, that I AM GOD.

"Yea, before the day was, I AM HE.
And there is none that can deliver out of My hand:
I will work, and who shall let [ prevent or stop ] it?

Thus saith the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;
for your sake I have sent to Babylon [capitol of the world], and have brought down all their nobles,
and the Chaldeans [ land of astrologers, drugs ( pharmekia ) psychics, channelers, necromancy...
speaking with dead spirits ( or praying to dead saints )
whose cry is in the ships [ commerce ( merchants, retailers, bankers etc. ) and military ].

"I AM the LORD, Your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your KING.
Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power;
they shall lie down together, they shall not rise:
they are extinct, they are quenched as tow."

Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

The beast of the field shall honor Me, the dragons and the owls:
because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen."

This people I have formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." ... ISAIAH 43

ONLY GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE

Isaiah 44:6-8 " Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the LORD of hosts;
I AM the First and I AM the Last; and beside Me there is no God.
And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people?
And the things that are coming [ prophecy ], and shall come, let them show unto them.

Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it?
Ye are even My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me ?
Yea, there is no [other ] God; I know not any.
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity."

"return unto Me [repent], for I have Redeemed thee." Isaiah 44:22

Isaiah 44: 24-28 "Thus saith the LORD thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb,
I AM the LORD that maketh all things;
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself.

"That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad;
that turneth wisemen backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

"That comfirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers;
that saith to Jerusalem, "Thou shalt be inhabited" and to the cities of Judah, "Ye shall be built",
and I will raise up the decayed places thereof.

"That saith to the deep, "Be dry" and I will dry up thy rivers.

That saith of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd" and shall perform all My pleasure:
even saying to Jerusalem, "Thou shalt be built"; and to the temple, "Thy foundation shall be laid."
[all of God's prophecies came true in the past; that is the guarantee that they will all be fulfilled in the future ]

Isaiah 45:5-12 "I AM the LORD and there is none else, there is no God beside Me:
that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me.
I AM the LORD and there is none else.

GOD IS LIGHT

I form the light, and I create darkness: I make peace [antichrist, the beast, cannot make peace], and create evil:
[even the allowance of evil works to God's good plan for us...this is "the mystery of iniquity".
All mysteries will become understanding when we crossover.]
I the LORD do all these things.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above and let the skies pour down righteousness:
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together;
I the LORD have created it.

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Shall the clay say to Him that fashioneth it, "What makest Thou "? or thy work, " He hath no hands" ?
[ See Jeremiah 18:1-10 ]
Woe unto him that saith to his father, "What begetest thou?" or to the woman, "What hast thou brought forth?"

Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker:
Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me.

I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and all their hosts have I commanded."

Isaiah 45:18-24 .....CREATOR GOD
"For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens:
God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain,
He formed it to be inhabited : I AM the LORD; and there is none else.
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth:
[God does not work covertly, like the governments of mankind. God does nothing "in a corner"Acts 26:26;
God declares through an open Book --the Bible--all His intents and purposes ]

I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain:
I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations:
they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

(How many churches and ministries have statues and images ??) The idolatry within the church is being judged here in America. There are now more mosques being built than churches.)

Mosques outgrowing churches here in America http://www.mcjonline.com/news/01b/20011217b.shtml



ONE AND ONLY GOD
Tell ye, and bring them near ; yea, let them take counsel together : who hath declared this from ancient time?
Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside Me;
a Just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me. (not even "mary" )

False cult of "mary" www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=mary1
False Mary http://users.rcn.com/comingsoon/cult.html
Worshipping Mary www.dailycatholic.org/issue/archives/1999Dec/230dec3,vol.10,no.230txt/dec3dc1.htm

LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, all the ends of the earth:
for I AM God, and there is none else.
I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return,
That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
[ Philippians 2:10,11...."that Jesus Christ is Lord".
It is inevitable...all creation will admit the truth, though some must pay the consequences of admitting this truth too late. For them, only remorse and regret remain....plus the Lake of Fire]

Surely shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength."

Isaiah 46:3-5;9-11

HIS CARE: FROM WOMB to OLD AGE
"Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by Me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

And even to your old age I AM He; and even to hoar [white ] hairs will I carry you:
I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like ?.......

THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY....Rev. 19:10

"Remember the former things of old: for I AM God, and there is none else;
I AM God and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. Isaiah 46:9,10

HIS INSTRUMENT: A RAVENOUS BIRD FROM THE EAST
Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth My counsel from a far country;
yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.."Isaiah 46:11

"I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of My mouth, and I showed them;
I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.
I have even from the beginning declared it to thee: lest thou shouldst say:
'Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.' " Isaiah 48:3-5
['the devil made me do it' will not be an excuse.
We are accountable for the choices we make, and the voices within that we listen to]

"For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted ?
and I will not give My glory unto another.
Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel [ can say one's own name here ], My called;
I AM HE; I AM the First, I also am the Last ... Isaiah 48
[ The Alpha and the Omega;the Amen; the Aleph and the Tav; the A and the Z ...Revelation 1: 8, 11]

BOS KOL...the VOICE OF GOD

Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens:
when I call unto them, they stand up together. [all of creation hearkens to the voice of God...Psalm 29]
All ye assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things?
The LORD hath loved him [Jacob / your own name... as one who is called ]
He will do His pleasure on Babylon [the place of the heart of worldliness]
and His arms shall be upon the Chaldeans ... Isaiah 48
[ astrologers, psychics, channelers, those who communicate with the dead spirits, necromancy, horoscopes, witchcraft, tarot cards, wizardry, enchantments,etc.]

From the Book of DANIEL

"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing:
and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth:
and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him: "what doest THOU ?" ....

"Now I ( use own name here) praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven (NOT the "queen of heaven"),
all Whose works are TRUTH, and His ways judgement:
AND THOSE THAT WALK IN PRIDE HE IS ABLE TO ABASE". Daniel 4: 35, 37

Chapter Four of Daniel is a KEY chapter in understanding our relationship and our surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We are to ask the Father, in JESUS name, to send the Holy Spirit into our life in order to change our heart, mind, soul, attitude and behavior, that we may have less of SELF and more of GOD.
E.G.O. means "Edging God Out"
________________________________________________

to be continued.

LINKS to other sites on the Sovereignty of God...

The Problem of Suffering: Why does God allow it ?
http://www.ccel.org/contrib/exec_outlines/suf/suf_01.htm

Why are we still on earth rather than in heaven ??
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/miller.html

Why does God allow evil ?
http://www.tgm.org/DoesGodAllowEvil.html

Suffering Reveals the Heart
http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/rtb/4rsn/4.3.html

A.W. PINK..The Sovereignty of God
http://www.reformed.org/books/pink/
also at
http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sovereignty/sovereignty.htm

Free Will, Volition and the Sovereignty of God
http://withchrist.org/wherestand.htm

Suffering: Is life unfair ?
http://www.hoyweb.com/faq/suffer.htm

Sovereignty
http://www.gnmagazine.org/courses/cc4/sovereignty.html

Why does God allow people to suffer ?
http://www.av1611.org/jmelton/suffer.html

Paul Smithson....The Sovereignty of God
http://www.examiningthescriptures.com/sovereig.htm

Michael Nevins...The Total Sovereignty of God
http://www.unionlife.org/SOVEREIGNTY.htm

Romans 8:28 ......Bob Deffinbaugh
http://www.bible.org/docs/nt/books/rom/deffin/ro-24.htm#TopOfPage

Scripture Verses on the Sovereignty of God
http://www.freegrace.net/scriptures/sovereig.htm

The Sovereignty of God
http://www.gnmagazine.org/courses/cc4/sovereignty.html

TRUST IN GOD

Trust in God ...Message Board
http://www.bagongpinay.com/cgi-bin/forum_all.cgi?read=527

"THY WILL BE DONE"......testimony of Paul Harvey, radio-announcer who lost his voice
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25460

Since God is All-Powerful, we can TRUST Him with our lives completely
http://lascoe.com/music/Trust.htm

Blind Trust in God
http://www.ourlittleplace.com/blind.html

Trust in God
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9353/trustingod.html

Psalm 4: Evening Prayer of Trust in God
http://www.bartleby.com/44/3/4.html

Psalm 27: Fearless Trust in God
http://www.bartleby.com/44/3/27.html

The Humble Submit and Trust in God
http://home.gwi.net/~maxswan/the_humble_submit_and_trust_in_god.htm


Salvation: www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/sal.htm

Bible: www.blueletterbible.org