This week I woke up singing a hymn from my childhood days, “IN TIMES LIKE THESE.” I haven’t sung this song in ages, and I was not sure that I was singing it correctly, so, I went to my hymnals and searched them until I found one that had the song in it. I was then able to sing the song completely and concluded that the words were relevant for today. Let me share two of the verses and chorus with you, so those of you that never heard this song will understand what I am talking about.
In times like these you need a Savior,
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
In times like these you need the Bible,
In times like these, O be not idle;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure.
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
According to the dictionary, a savior is a person who saves someone or something (especially a country or cause) from danger, and who is regarded with the veneration of a religious figure. A savior is a rescuer, liberator, deliverer, emancipator, champion, a knight in shining armor, a friend in need, and Good Samaritan. Additionally, the dictionary states in Christianity it is God or Jesus Christ as the redeemer of sin and saver of souls.
The word anchor means reliable or principal support, a mainstay, something that serves to hold an object firmly, and without looking up the definition of “solid rock” we know that it is something hard that cannot be broken, and when an anchor grasps it, nothing is moving.
I am sure that all of us can say without a doubt we are living at a time where we are experiencing moment to moment changes and we need something tangible on which to hold. Our answer to this is declared in the song. We know God sent Jesus to redeem, save, and deliver us. Jesus is our rock, our answer, and only hope. Though the world has many gods there is only One for all the rest are conjured up by man; thus, all of them will fail and are like shifting sand. Nevertheless, thank God, we have a Savior, we are not dillydallying but anchoring on Jesus our solid rock.
Last week I wrote a blog titled “PRESSURED TO COMPLY” and in it, I speculated whether the Covid-19 was God’s judgment of the earth inhabitants. This week’s blog can be considered a continuation of that theme because of some of the events that happened this past week such as the decrease in the number of Covid-19 hospital admissions and the talk of lifting the shut-in status in several states. My present concern and questions are, “If Covid-19 is God’s judgment, did we learn anything and when things stabilize will we return to the practices that caused God’s hand of judgment to come upon us?”
The book of Judges talks about twelve leaders chosen by God to bring about justice and deliverance for the oppressed people of Israel for they appeared to be in a cycle of sin, suffering, supplication, and salvation. Thus, Israel needed God’s repeated interventions due to their disregard for His laws, commandments, and statutes. God was always delivering them and bringing them out of their captivity but after a period of repentance they forgot about the hardships and oppression they experienced and they returned to their sinful practices. This is seen in a key verse that describes them in Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
In Revelation chapters, two and three John the disciple of Jesus was told to address the seven churches in Asia. In these letters were instructions on what was needed to be an overcomer and at the end of the letter was this statement, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” God gave them the vital directions for their success, but would they listen.
This is where we are today. Many voices are saying, “The world has been shaken and now there is an awakening.” However, I fear that we will follow in the footsteps of those that have gone before us and when we settle back into our daily routine we will forget. Our awakening will be momentary and not permanent and it will be necessary for God to judge us again. Furthermore, as stated in Matthew 24 by Jesus who knew the failures and immoral habits of man that wars, famines, pestilences, calamities, and earthquakes would intensify and become more frequent as the end time draws nigh. And these catastrophes are not even the 21 judgments that will occur on earth during the tribulation.
All I can say and pray is “God help us to remain awaken after the shaking.”
On 12/28/19 I posted a blog titled “THE YEAR OF THE MOUTH,” and in that blog, I wrote about the Hebraic calendar which is different than our Gregorian calendar celebrating the year 5780 and that this new era is known as “Pey,” which means “voice” or “mouth.” Additionally, I wrote prophets are calling this time, “The Year of the Mouth.” and in accordance with this, as God’s ambassadors our voices must be heard unlocking God’s kingdom plan and aligning heaven and earth with His plan.
Ministers, prophets and fellow believers that understood the mandate for this year have been sharing it with people. Unfortunately, though this information has been shared it did not always fall on good ground, for many believers have forgotten it or have not allowed their voice to be heard in the atmosphere. In other words, a large portion of the body of Christ is missing in action So, what does God do? It is possible that He allows unpleasant circumstances to happen in the world to awaken His children.
I don’t know if Covid-19 is God ‘s judgment on this sinful, ungodly world, or Satan’s orchestration. In Isaiah 26:20-21 it states, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (KJV) and another translation reads, “Go home, my people, and lock the doors! Hide for a little while until the Lord’s wrath against your enemies has passed. Look! The Lord is coming from the heavens to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide the murderers. The guilty will be found” (TLB). The preceding verses in this chapter are a song of praise by the believers that were partakers of the millennial reign of Jesus, but at the end of the chapter verses, 20-21 instructs the believers that they must sequester themselves while God metes punishment on the unrighteous. So, this Covid-19 may be a move of God and if it is a remedy can be found in II Chronicles 7:13-14 which states, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Presently we have been advised to shut-in and this has resulted in some positive things and some negative things. For me, the positive things have had preeminence; it has caused me to open my mouth and declare the Word of God into the atmosphere of my home and community more than I was previously doing, and I know that the various kinds of stress and anxieties that people are experiencing have caused them to also pray, decree and declare the Word of God more intensively and intentionally.
Furthermore, my church is meeting from our homes, on our church prayer line, and we are spending time praying, decreeing, and declaring; so, collective prayers, declarations, and decrees are going up to God from all of our homes. If we were not experiencing Covid-19 this would not be happening. Thus, amid our present crisis I see the hand of God for the sleeping church is awakened and pressured to comply with the mandate for this ear; the year of the mouth.
Finally, all I can say is, “Praise God,” He does all things well, and He knows what to do to cause His will and plan to be accomplished in the earth.
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.
The Teacher's Pick 