The world has been hit with a pandemic virus which is called, “Coronavirus” or Covid-19. Though this virus has been around for years, this particular strand is said to come from an infected bat in Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China. This virus has spread from central China to 204 countries and territories around the world, and as of April 4, 2020, there have been 1.134,418 cases and 60,115 deaths globally reported. Additionally, these statistics are changing every hour.
Because this is a new strand of the virus there is a lot of unknown information about it. This unknown has led to intense fear among the world population, a fluctuating global stock market, major global recession, the travel industry at an all-time low, closing down of all non-essential businesses resulting in the loss of employment for millions of persons globally, and a shortage of food and personal hygiene items. Also, vacations are being canceled affecting the tourism industry, schools and colleges are closed, the world of entertainment is shut-down, the sports season suspended, sports events and conferences canceled, and most important churches have been instructed to shut down.
Amid all these uncertainty believers have God and His Word to sustain us. Furthermore, during this time, we are hearing about the passing of fellow believers which causes us to mourn; however, our assurance is that we will meet them again and they are now in the presence of the Lord.
I am feeling like I want to blog about all of the changes taking place, but since things appear fluid I will probably wait until things settle down. I am finding many of the topics or titles I would use for these blogs would be similar in content because they are all expressions of the time in which we live. Some of these titles are “World Turned Upside Down,” “Preview of Things to Come,” “It All Came Tumbling Down,” “Restricted but Not Constrained,” “Stage Set,” “A New Norm,” and “Living in Daunting Times.” At this time, I am following the instructions that Naomi gave Ruth in Ruth 3:18, “Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.”
Let me close this blog with these two things. First, as kingdom believers, God has given us power and authority to intercede on behave of the world. So, as we go thru this time of unknown if you are in doubt on areas that need prayer I recommend these seven areas:
1. Religion (Church, Ministries, and Religious Leaders)
2. Family and Marriages (Children, Youth, Adults, and Seniors)
3. Education (Schools, Universities, and Colleges)
4. Business (The Marketplace)
5. Government (Locally, Nationally, and Internationally)
6. Media (The Press, Television, Internet and Social Networking)
7. Arts, Entertainment and Sports
Secondly, most of us know Proverbs 3:5-8 using the King James Version but today I am going to share it from The Message Bible, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health; your very bones will vibrate with life!” Be blessed, and be safe.
I am always in awe of God, how He orchestrates things and prepares us ahead of time for things to come. Unfortunately, our problem is we do not listen, we do not take His Words seriously, and since many of us do not journal what He is saying, we eventually forget His vital instructions. Amos 3:7 states, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” God wants us to be informed but he needs us to have a listening ear. He gets no glory or praise from our defeat but he does from our victory. What God needs are willing participants who will respond to His call. I thank God, that last year I responded to His bidding.
Last year I was prompted to study the life of Noah and to write a blog on what I learned from his life. On August 10, 2019, I wrote the blog, “LESSONS FROM THE SHUT-IN” and posted it on my blog website, “theteacherspick.com.” Little did I know that the things I studied, the lessons learned, and the blog posted would be needed a year later to help someone who may be anxious, fearful, and hopeless.
Last year God revealed things that would help you and me go through this time and so as I did last week I am inviting you once again to go to the archive in my blog site and read the blog, “LESSONS FROM THE SHUT-IN”
Noah and his family were shut-in for over a year, I pray that will not be our story, only God knows. Though you may be feeling some kind of way right now, remember, if Noah tried to get out of the shut-in before time he would have drowned. So, relax and enjoy this time. Also, feel free to go into my archive and read some of my blogs which cover many topics and books in the Bible.
Finally, my prayer for you and your family is that God will keep you safe.
Due to our present world crisis, the Coronavirus or Covid-19, and the stats I read today (Total Confirmed Cases – 277,049, Active cases – 174,744, Recovered cases- 90,883, and Fatal cases- 11,422) I decided not to post the blog I was writing for this week. Instead, this week’s blog is an invitation to go into the archive of my website and spend some time reading the 56 blogs I did on the book of Revelation. I began blogging January 2, 2012, and the book of Revelation was where I began going from chapter to chapter describing the major events that will occur in the future.
Besides the fear, anxiety, and depression that many are expressing and experiencing during this crisis, I am hearing people talk about what we call “end time events”. Therefore, I want to help those who had difficulty reading Revelation to understand what is about to shortly happen.
For those that understand the times, we can see how the stage is being set for the rapture, the tribulation, and the rise of the Antichrist. Unfortunately, many are clueless and some proclaim erroneous information on what they think is going to happen. I believe my blogs will help them for they were written thoroughly and simplistically so that even a child could understand.
In closing let me say the book of Revelation is one of my favorite books and I spent years studying it and teaching it. So, I hope you will read the blogs or direct others that you know need to understand eschatology to them. (To quickly find the blogs look for the REVELATION SERIES with the starting date of January 2, 2012).
God bless you and keep you covered under the blood of Jesus.
Doomsday is referred to as a time when human civilization is at risk of partial or complete destruction. This is going to eventually happen but anyone that understands eschatology knows that it will not be in our near future.
Often, when we hear of climatic catastrophes happening around the world we will also hear predictions of the world coming to an end. Exactly when this world is going to end no one knows except God. I do know that according to the scriptures this earth is going to experience trauma not only from the events that Jesus told his disciples about in Matthew 24 but from the judgments that the earth and its inhabitants will experience during the tribulation. During that time the Antichrist will attempt to become the world leader; however, his attempted reign of terror ends with the battle of Armageddon after which he and the false prophet are placed in the lake of fire.
The earth will then experience prosperity under the rule of King Jesus for a thousand years. Following this time Satan who was bound during the thousand-year reign of King Jesus will be loosed deceiving men and causing them to revolt against the dictatorship of Jesus. The final earth battle called Gog and Magog will occur resulting in the enemies of Jesus being destroyed and Satan joining the Antichrist in the Lake of Fire.
Everyone that has ever lived on the earth who was not a participant in the rapture will stand before Jesus at the great white throne judgment and if their name is not found in the book of life they will be cast into the lake of fire. It is at this time that doomsday will occur. All of the enemies of God will be defeated, and sin will no longer exist. For the true children of God, God has great eternal plans for us. Revelation 21:1a states, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,” and it is on the new earth that believers will experience unspeakable joy as we will forever be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Apart from reading Revelation, if you are interested or curious about the information I shared in this blog you can get more details by reading my blogs on the book of Revelation which can be found in the archive. Also, my next blog will be on the Millennial reign of Jesus. I invite you back next week to read it.
I believe Jesus will be returning soon to rapture His bride; so, in this blog, I am going to share what I think are signs that the rapture is imminent. Below I have listed ten signs with explanations. If you have not taken note of these events, I pray this information will be helpful to you as you prepare for your future.
1. During the tribulation, Jerusalem will be the hub of activity. Presently, Jews are calling Jerusalem their capital and now other nations are beginning to recognize it as such.
2. At the onset of the tribulation period, the antichrist will make a treaty with Israel allowing them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Articles, instruments, furnishings, and vessels need for the temple have already been made and are stored in the Temple Institute. Plus, priests are now being trained to do the work needed in the future temple.
3. Modern technology needed for taking on the mark of the beast (microchips implantation), the ability to see the two dead prophets on the street in Jerusalem come to life and giving the statue of the antichrist the ability to function in mysterious ways have been invented.
4. Deviant sexual behavior has risen to unbelievable heights and the world due to media exposure has become desensitized to it.
5. For years’ scientists have been predicting an asteroid will hit the earth doing tremendous damage and they have now predicted this will happen around 2029. Could this be the “Bitter worm” spoken about in Revelations 8:10 -11?
6. Plagues:
A. Swarms of locusts have devoured entire farms in Africa and they are spreading throughout the Middle East, and have even reached China.
B. The Coronavirus will shortly be considered pandemic killing many people along the way.
C. The African Swine Fever which has spread to more than 40 countries, has already killed millions of pigs in China.
D. The H1N1 Swine Flu is on the rise and the H5N1 Bird Flu and H5N8 Bird Flu is killing birds and chickens around the globe. These events produce a food shortage.
7. Climate change is affecting the whole world. The meteorologist can no longer accurately predict the weather. Fires, flooding, frequent earthquakes, and seismic activity resulting in volcanic eruptions are happening in divers places. No one can say they are living in a place where catastrophes won’t happen.
8. Global realignment of nations (Russia and China) that were once enemies are now working together strategizing ways to take over the world.
9. Wars and rumors of wars are happening all over the world.
10. Worldwide the killing of Jews and Christians on the rise.
I haven’t written or posted a blog since January 11, 2020, because I was away on a mission trip in Uganda. While there with the mission group, we were able to minister the Word and give clothes, food bundles, candy, footwear, stuffed animals, school books and school supplies to the needy in five different communities. This was my fourth year going to Uganda and as I did in the past, I came home forever thankful that I live in America.
You may be asking why I am forever thankful, so let me share some of the conditions that exist in Uganda and you will understand. In 2017 the population of Uganda was 42 million persons and the recorded poverty rate for 2016 was 87% of the population. Thus, you will see people young and old begging or trying to sell some items to get monies and this goes on from early morning to late at night.
Most families do not have indoor plumbing, bathrooms, or kitchens. They cook their food out-doors, use the community out-house, and get their water from the community water hole station. You will see all ages of people carrying containers to the water hole to get water to use in their homes and this water is sometimes contaminated causing the people to get infectious diseases.
In Uganda, a large portion of the children is uneducated because parents must pay for them to attend school. The cost of the fees that the parents must pay for a child to attend school is approximately $100. a year and for those parents that are working their annual salary ranges from $80. to $120.; therefore, for many Ugandan parents, educating their children is not a priority when they don’t have a job, trying to get monies to feed their family and scraping up monies to pay rent.
The roads in Uganda are horrific, there are hardly any traffic lights, and most people’s mode of transportation is a motorcycle. It is pure chaos.
If you go to the hospital, the doctors may not tell you what is wrong; if you are hospitalized, you need to bring your own sheets and if you have surgery, you need to bring bandages.
I could continue sharing things, but these are just a few reasons why I am forever thankful. I realize I take so many things for granted because of the privileges I experience living in America, but I’ve learned from my trips to Uganda that as bad as sometimes think of America, I need to shut my mouth and be forever thankful that I live here.
Everyone born in this world has the awesome privilege of communicating with God, the creator of the universe. He is no respecter of persons; He allows us all to approach Him with our praises and concerns. Most importantly, He hears each one of us though millions maybe talking to Him at the same time.
What I’ve come to love about this communication is that everyone can communicate in their own manner and God hears them. He does not discriminate and pick someone’s emotional prayer above another person’s quiet prayer, but instead He notes the sincerity of all our hearts. So, I am thankful for the privilege of coming to God knowing He wants to hear from me and He is always listening. Also, He truly misses me when I fail to speak to Him.
When God was creating man, He said and did this, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28). He gave man the responsibility and authority to manage the earth for He was not going to do man’s job. By expressing our worldly concerns to Him and getting His help and direction, we can subdue and have dominion in the earth realm. When we pray, we can rest in the knowledge that we are covered and have the backing of a higher power, and when we speak, we are to speak with authority the Word and thoughts of our creator. We can do the job on earth because the Great One is in us. All of this happens because we know the privilege and responsibility of prayer and we follow these three life changing words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”.
Let’s start the year off correctly; stop complaining. It is so easy to find fault and complain about everything from the start of your day to when you go to bed at night. Even worse if you are a constant complainer, you don’t even realize that you complain all the time.
If you are a constant complainer, people around you often tune you out because they know most of your conversation will be negative and based on what you are feeling, not what is happening. Also, your presence changes the atmosphere and not the right way.
So, here are a few things that you can do to change for the better in 2020. Speak slowly and think about what you are going to say before you speak. When you feel things are not going in the way you desire, think of others in a worse situation and be grateful you are not in their shoes. Remember the scripture found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Lastly, on New Year’s Eve, this is what my pastor suggested for believers to do this year when they find themselves in trouble and don’t know what to do and say, or about to say the wrong thing, lift both of your hands up. This is a signal to God, “I’m over here,” “I need your help,” “I surrender God, come and see about me.” Guess what I’ve been doing it since that time and I believe I am getting help. So, I close this blog recommending that you join me giving thanks and raising your hand.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year festival, which also marks the start of the Jewish New Year. According to the Hebraic calendar which is different than our Gregorian calendar, the year is 5780, and it is the beginning of a new decade or kingdom era. In Hebrew, this era is known as “Pey,” which means “voice” or “mouth.” As God’s ambassadors, our voices must be heard this decade. We must unlock God’s kingdom plan and align heaven and earth.
Additionally, prophets are calling this time “The Year of the Mouth.” for believers are to proclaim, announce, publish, or declare decrees for all to Hear
When believers declare they are with confidence saying or stating something in an official or public way and the decree they make is an authoritative order having the force of law behind it. For with the knowledge of Ecclesiastes 8:4a, “Where the word of a king is, there is power,” believers speak with boldness and confidence.
Because we understand kingdom principles we realize the words God spoke to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 51:20, “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms,” is the same words He is speaking to us. We are the vessels that He is using on earth in this present time and the mandate that He gave to Adam in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” has not changed.
Those of us living in America use the Gregorian calendar which starts our new year on January 1; so, we are a bit behind those that were aware of “The Year of the Mouth,” but thank God it is not too late to begin declaring the decrees of our Father.
With this fact in mind let me close my last blog of 2019 with this decree for your life found in Ephesians 1:17-19, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” God richly bless you throughout 2020.
The Teacher's Pick 