LISTEN

Week Twenty, 2022

Everyone, of every nation, the entire earth, and all its creatures, come here and listen! The Lord is angry with all nations; His wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, He will give them over to slaughter.

Isaiah 34:1-2

Isaiah prophesied to the entire earth and said God was really mad. The world then was an evil place. But look at it now and God must be really mad. Look around!!!!

The war in Northern Europe is torturing, killing and raping civilian women and children. It’s barbarism unknown since Nazi Germany. Look around even closer to home. We have allowed the Devil to subvert our land. It began with a campaign of whispers. As he whispered to Eve “Do as you please.” To the young, he has whispered that the Bible is a myth. He is telling our youth that man created God, rather than the other way around. He is whispering what is bad is good and what is good is “square.” He is suggesting when we look for help, we pray “Our Father, which art in Washington.”

He has educated authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. First in theaters and now at home on TV, we are saturated with dirtier movies and vulgar sitcoms contrary to traditional and Christian values. We openly peddle narcotics and allow massive illegal drugs to walk across our borders. We are consumed as a nation with alcohol and those who don’t escape reality with alcohol do it with pills. Families are at war with themselves and even our churches are at war within. And with the lure of higher ratings, the media is memorizing our youth with filth. Our schools refine intelligence, but neglect to discipline emotions. Schools now have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at the schoolhouse door.

Our prisons are overflowing, which judges promote pornography. We have evicted God from the courthouse and the schoolhouse and soon from the houses of Congress. Our churches have been subverted, often preaching feel-good sermons substituting psychology for religion. We have made the symbol of Easter an egg and of Christmas, a bottle.

We take from those who have and give to those who want, killing the incentive of the ambitious. States promote gambling as the way to get rich, rather that encouraging self-initiative and work. Patriotism is out of vogue and immoral conduct is okay if that’s what someone wants to do. Christian ethics has given way a post-modern country where right is whatever you can get away with. A major university recently announced that students can live together in campus housing regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Marriage is old fashioned, and swinging is more fun and what you see on TV is the way things ought to be. The sanctity of life is out, and aborting babies is in, in the name of reproductive rights. Boys want to be girls and vice versa. And the Senate confirms someone who can’t define what a woman is to serve on the highest court in the land. The Ten Commandments have become the Ten Suggestions.

What is God saying to the nation and is He as angry as he was? I am sure that His wrath is on our nation and rightfully so. Who would have ever thought that we would ever be where we are? God is love. He created human beings for an incredible purpose—to welcome us into His family as His children! He loves all human beings greatly.

When will our nation get right with God and please Him as our creator? How long will He allow us to wander before His wrath is upon us? It could be coming soon.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Let’s be reminded of where our help and our strength come from. He is our God, our refuge, our strength, our ever-present-help.

“God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.” – Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

Ever-present. I love that thought. Knowing that He is ever-present calms me and strengthens me, reminding me that I am never alone. I have nothing to fear. Let’s praise Jesus for the strength and freedom that He provides and for the grace and hope He gives. Let’s be reminded that He is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear. Let’s Praise God for being ever-present.

And now this is my prayer for all of us and for the world around us:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13 NIV

Read the short prayer again… and overflow with hope… being reminded of who this ever-present God truly is. Marty Stubblefield

— o —

This old lady handed her bank card to the teller and said “I would like to withdraw $10”. The teller told her “for withdrawals less than $100, please use the ATM.” The old lady wanted to know why… The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her “these are the rules, please leave if there is no further matter. There is a line of customers behind you”. The old lady remained silent for a few seconds and handed her card back to the teller and said “please help me withdraw all the money I have.” The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and respectfully told her “you have $300,000 in your account, but the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back again tomorrow? The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The teller told her any amount up to $3000. “Well please let me have $3000 now.” The teller kindly handed $3000 very friendly and with a smile to her. The old lady put $10 in her purse and asked the teller to deposit $2990 back into her account. The moral of this story is…. Don’t be difficult with old people, they spent a lifetime learning the skill.

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

The Bible is a book of commands and consequences. Bob Sprinkle

Biblical rest requires a release. Kelly Knouse

The Bible needs to be within us not for information, but for transformation. Cindy Heiberg

Forty percent of all pastors are considering walking away from the pastorate. Max Wilkins

You don’t need to be on social media to make a difference in the world. The Minimalist

The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth. Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Virtue is to the soul, what health is to the body,” wrote the French Essayist François de La Rochefoucauld

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Oscar Wilde

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” Ed Cunningham

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. Mark Twain

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our day. Psalm 90:14

Freedom in America is not guaranteed, it is only rented for as long as we are willing to fight to defend every person’s freedom or we will have none at all. Dwight Short