Government Unrest as China arrests Xu Zhiyong sentences him 4 years in prison:

     Last August I wrote about a man named Xu arrested then and put in house arrest for 3 months (see Hua Ze Misrule of Law August).  Last Wednesday he was arrested for wanting transparency of Government finances and of rule of law.  Sentenced to possibly 5 years in prison.  I said then as I say now this is a man to watch and to pray for.  China will not make it easy on this man for his efforts to relax the Governments oppressive ways.  A former Law lecturer this man took on many high profile cases to highlight the wrongs done in his country.  Unfurling banners in a protest movement for the "New Citizens Movement" got him thrown in jail now as a dissident.
     If as history has shown with others of his stature and convictions this man will undoubtedly suffer but in time will be released either because of world interventions or as an act of God intervening on a man's behalf who suffers for the right reasons.
  I urge others to pray for this man and that he would continue to fight and not lose his hope and if even possible find his hope and strength in a God who cares for him even if he does not know it. I hope Christians in China find him and help him to be free again.  

It is Finished!

      See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes[b]on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

  Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

      Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  

     In a single day it was finished.  What Mary and John beheld as they stood looking up at the limp body of Jesus was so much more that met the eyes.  One man and the Son of God took away the sin of the entire world in a moment.  Just as the scriptures and the prophets said hundreds of years before.  The sin that was laid upon Jesus was "filthy clothes". Once arisen from the grave and glorified those same clothes were removed and became "fine garments."  Our sin if we  wanted to believe it was completely taken away.

     It's up to us to believe this story, sort out the facts, search down deeply and let the reality of it take hold and become a new creation just like Jesus.  We are not bullied, railroaded,or coerced into a confession by those who want to increase numbers in a church.  This is not the way.  

     It must be because of love or a complete emptiness refilled by someone or something higher than us.  It must be the touch of God himself to make this happen.  It must be because of the state we find ourselves in, a "God Hole" that cannot possibly be filled with anything else but him.  Riches pass away, wanting is more desirable than obtaining, and life is fleeting.  Raise kids and look in the mirror.  And you will see that the hair on your head has changed and faster that you would believe.  If eternity awaits, what is the shape of that eternity?  Will it be unquenchable sorrow or joy unspeakable?

Holding it all together:

     You wake up, say hi to the wife, bye to the wife, get the kids in the car drive to school, say bye to the kids, say have a nice day, and drive to work.  In the back of your mind the water bill needs to be paid tomorrow, the heat, next week, rent is due today and your 350.00 dollars short!
     While driving to work, the truck begins to sputter and gasp...oh! no! forgot to put gas in the tank...truck stops while you frantically try and pull out of the traffic zone.  Hop out of the truck, get the gas can and pour 1.5 gallons in the tank, crank the truck, it starts thank God and you continue to drive to work.  Your mind already overwhelmed by today's events and it's not even 8 am yet!
     Welcome to life in America, your stretched, pulled and fried all because of ....well that's life here.  Running on minimum dollars but thankful to have even that.  I watch the people on the corners of the street that hold cardboard signs like, anything helps, homeless vet, or hungry, thinking of a cheeseburger!  Or the more outrageous sign holder like "cereal killer" like some now! 
     These are the things that I hold together daily all the while doing the best I can in the midst of some of the more crazy events of life.  So how do I do It?  I Pray and Pray and try and stir up the faith I know is there and let God worry about the future events and the daily ones also.  Somehow he does what he does and things work out.  Though not always the way I think it will.  I suppose that in the middle of all of these things the suffering that I do is not nearly on the magnitude of what the 1 st century Christians faced.
     Blamed for starting the fires of Rome, Nero had the Christians tortured, thrown to the Lions and torn apart and burned at stakes..  That is suffering.  Brutal. And that is just what the Devil is.
     Though you may think running out of gas and out of money may be small potatoes, let's extrapolate and look at what the Devil intended for you.
     Running out of gas extended times, means late to work, means a possible write up means three or more times multiplied and you are possibly out of that job.  Out of money for some extended time, possibly late on rent and then evicted by the landlord who no longer believes you intend to pay him.  Phone bill, heat bill, water bill all go unpaid and then your credit is shot. That scenario I have lived and worked my way out of at least two times in my life.  It is unpleasant, hard on family and hard on faith.  And it is what the Devil uses to interrupt our life to not necessarily kill us but make us doubt our
Lord's ability to intervene and help us.  It is the scenario of futility that the Devil will use to frustrate us.  Don't believe me...what about Job? the righteous man, wealthy and full of life who honored God and gave richly to his friends.  Satan sifted him with God's permission but he did not die.  All was taken from him down to the bone.  His skin raw and inflamed Satan tried to get him to doubt his God.
     Remember Nebuchadnezzar the King?  Grew hairy like an animal, skin and nails and lost his mind for a season until he acknowledged God was supreme.
     So we live as a created creatures sometimes unwilling to admit we need help and there's the rub.  God wants us to acknowledge him and wants us to know even in those circumstances he has our best interests in mind.  Seems impossible, but true.  Seems drastic because of the pride of life we have and the ability to rise up almost God-like in unimaginable circumstances and rebuild again and again.  Think Twin Towers...and again they rise ......the human spirit is almost unquenchable.....but not quite.
     

Chunking:

     Ever see a starving dog eat after days of being starved, he chunks. Literally he fails to chew what's in his mouth and whatever is in there goes down whole.  It's what the devil does every day. He chunks down people who are unaware that they have just been eaten.  He does this very subtly by killing the nerves so you don't feel like anything is happening at all.  Peter warned that in the last days" people would become lovers of selves and love would wax cold in them."  This is how he does it.  Destroy little by little so that eventually you become numb and oblivious to what is actually happening.  A fight here, lost trust there, a little separation among friends and he has won the battle.  Love is strained and love gets elbowed aside until it waxes cold.
    We as Christians must protect  ourselves from being chunked in this way.   It's extremely hard to do considering it's a 24/7 battle going on around us from dawn to dusk.  If one says there is no fight I challenge you, open your eyes and see that the battle is in every corner of the world.
   "I saw Satan fall like lightening....cast down from heaven to the realm of men....."  Here now is the principality of this world devouring us to avenge his fall from grace by the hand of God.  He is angry and will fight tooth and nail for anyone he can claim as his own.   But be of good cheer those of you who trust in God...."I have over come the evil one... and the world....So we have an advocate for us after all.   

What? Death is that you?

What some fear most is at the end
around the corner and in the bend,
When it comes to death,
I hope that I will find
I really haven't lost my mind
Will I be asleep in bed,
or fall on my head
either way everyone but me
will know that I'm dead
I hope I do not fight
while in mortal fight
I am now in the tunnel of light!

Remember This:

Martha’s brother Lazarus had died four days earlier. Before his death, Martha called to Jesus to save him, but Jesus came too late. Still, Martha believed. She declared that God’s will would be done, if not now, then in the future, on that great Resurrection Day. And Jesus said in response: Martha, today is your resurrection. In me, there is life, each day. And then Jesus called Lazarus forth into life.

Our Lord is telling us: today is our resurrection.

In Christ, we are renewed, every day. The old things, the broken things, the depressed and dead things, are behind us. Through the blessing of an intimate relationship with our eternal God, this flesh of ours perishes each morning and our spirit is renewed. A personal springtime. A fresh awakening. Our resurrection. cc from a daily blog

That Great Day of The Lord

That Great Day of The Lord will be terrible:

Multitudes, multitudes
    in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
    and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
    and thunder from Jerusalem;
    the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
    a stronghold for the people of Israel

[a]“In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[b]
There I will put them on trial
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.
3 They cast lots for my people
    and traded boys for prostitutes;    they sold girls for wine to drink.

One has but to look into history and see that the Jews were dispersed to the four corners of the earth.  Now in that great day Jerusalem will be a great city again and the Jews will return home to their homeland.  Will we see this with our own eyes?  It is happening even now.  For the last two decades, Jews have been returning home. Why is the issue of settlements so abrasive to those outside Israel?  Why does Natanyahhu fight so hard to keep them?  It's because he knows the promise of God.  Statehood was a miracle in 1948 and continues to be now.  All around Israel are the enemies of God. Those who wish to push Israel into the sea.  Iran, Iraq, Turkey? Maybe.  Will the United States turn too?  That remains to be seen.  If the Palestinian issue continues to be forefront in the news and sympathy builds for those refugees who are considered "occupied" then the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place.  
     Peace will reign for a few short years 3-1/2 before tragedy.  Then look for the end..... Secretary of State Kerry is trying hard to install a peace.....It's in the news every day!