“17 Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. 18 Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 1:17-19 NASB

Many pastors today have followed the path of Jeroboam when God gave him the ten northern tribes of Israel to rule over. He panicked when he thought about them going to Jerusalem to worship God, so he set up two golden calves, one for the north and one in the south, and told them that these were their gods and that they need not journey to the south. He feared losing HIS CONGREGATION, so to speak, if he stuck by the whole revealed Word of God. You see, when we make a counterfeit way to God, He NEVER honors it.

Many today have compromised for fear that the numbers will cease to attend their churches. Pastor, our job is to be faithful to proclaim the whole message of God’s Word and leave the church growth in His hands. How many huge churches today have sprung up into thousands and all of a sudden collapsed? The Church belongs to God, not to us and this makes us His servants or stewards. It is required that these be found faithful. These are the churches that grow and remain strong even when they become large. I am thinking of a wonderful such church that is turning 25 in December. It is growing and solid in God’s Word.

If you choose to follow God and not man-made methods, you will find opposition along the way but you will NEVER be uprooted since it is God who supports you and the ministry you lead. My Messianic Rabbi friend and brother once explained the word faithful. He said that the Hebraic understanding of this is FULL OF FAITH. Doesn’t that say it all? Faith that is fully focused on God and His word, with a desire to lead people to HIM, not to ourselves.

May God bless and keep you as you stand and deliver His revealed word to HIS children.

For this story, read 2 Kings 12.

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels set out to rid the world of Christianity in particular. Their attacks focused on this and the Bible.

“The first requisite for the happiness of the people s the abolition of religion” Karl Marx

“My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.” Karl Marx

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.” Karl Marx

“If some few passages of the Bible may be favorable to Communism, the general spirit of its doctrine is, nevertheless, totally opposed to it.” Frederick Engels

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill

“But at the moment I’d like to talk about another way because this threat is with us and at the moment is more imminent. One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. . . . Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it. We have an example of this. Under the Truman administration it was proposed that we have a compulsory health insurance program for all people in the United States, and, of course, the American people unhesitatingly rejected this.” Ronald Reagan

It should not be difficult for Christians today to see which side to be on. They are like night and day. A Godless world is a guarantee for emptiness and unhappiness. The world with God at the center is filled with light, joy and fulfillment. Our nation is being led into darkness every day by those who want to put Socialism as our form of government. Wherever Socialism/Communism rule the people live in slavery. I have been to Communist China on a mission trip and what I saw grieved me deeply. The people walked quickly, facing straight ahead since every move is monitored by evil people. What a horrid way to live.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject to a yoke of slaver.” Galatians 5:1 NASB

“For you were called into freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 NASB

“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” 2 Peter 2:18-19 NASB

You see, the ways of the LORD are freeing, but the ways of Satan enslave. He wants to take as many humans with him into Hell as he can. God desires that NONE should perish in Hell but enter into eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Think on these things.

“The wilderness and the desert will be glad,
And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom;
Like the crocus
2 It will blossom profusely
And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
The majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the Lord,
The majesty of our God.
3 Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
4 Say to those with anxious heart,
‘Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
The recompense of God will come,
But He will save you.’
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.
For waters will break forth in the wilderness
And streams in the Arabah.
7 The scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground springs of water;
In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
8 A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it.
9 No lion will be there,
Nor will any vicious beast go up on it;
These will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk there,
10 And the ransomed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting joy upon their heads.
They will find gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Bold added for emphasis) Isaiah 35 NASB

This deals with both the first and second coming of Jesus/Yeshua. Just think about how our environment will drastically change for the better. Most of all, we will be in the presence of our God. Now that will put new wind beneath our wings. Light up your smile and live with faith, hope and love.Let your joy shine through your face as others get a glimpse of the glory of God in you.

“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”   Luke 21:28 NASB