Syria forces ranged for major counteroffensive to dislodge rebels from Quneitra - High tension on Golan - http://www.debka.com/article/24239/Syria-forces-ranged-for-major-counteroffensive-to-dislodge-rebels-from-Quneitra-High-tension-on-Golan 

 

The Syrian army was poised Wednesday, Sept. 3 for an all-out offensive in the coming hours to take out the rebels holding parts of the Golan town of Quneitra and the crossing into Israel, debkafile's military sources report. The concentration of Syrian troops at a staging point is clearly visible from Israeli military positions and villages on the Golan.

 

The assault force consists of a large number of troops from the Syrian army's 7th Division with many tanks, which the Syrians have been wary hitherto of moving into the battle zone, after being cautioned by Israel via the UN that they would be infringing ceasefire agreements with Israel and risk incurring IDF counteraction.

 

However, high authority in Damascus appears to be counting on the revulsion and shock,  generated around the world by the beheading by ISIS of the American-Jewish journalist Steven Sotloff, deterring Israel from intervening against Syrian forces which are fighting another Al Qaeda offshoot, the Nusra Front.

 

 All in all, say DEBKA's sources, the decision to embark on a large-scale assault on rebel gains in the Golan means that military priorities have been reshuffled at the highest level of Syrian policy-making. After treating the Golan and Quneitra front as a strategic backwater hitherto, they suddenly occupy center stage in Damascus as a key arena for vanquishing rebel forces.

 

Israel's Golan forces and population are in a state of preparedness. Tensions rose palpably Wednesday, when Syrian fighter-bombers flew over Quneitra and dropped Iranian-made barrel-bombs on rebel positions. They acted in defiance of Israel's threat to send its air force against Syrian jets intruding in the Golan no-flight zone.

 

This threat followed the first Syria air strike over Quneitra on Aug. 28, against which Israel refrained from interfering. But Damascus was obviously not deterred from launching another air strike over the Golan to support its coming offensive.

 

Wednesday night, the Security Council called on all UN members who had any influence with Nusra al-Jabha to intercede for the release of the 44 UN Fijian observers the Islamist group is holding hostage since last week. The same resolution also ordered Nusra to immediately return the weapons and vehicles, some of them armored, they had seized from the UN Disengagement and Observer Force.

 

 With the Syrian sword about to fall on their heads, it is doubtful that the Syrian Islamists will heed either of those calls.

Barack Obama's Curious Rage At Israel But Not At Hamas - http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=24706 

 

 

On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. - Zechariah 12:3

 

A "quiet intifada" has been taking place in Jerusalem for a few months now. It's "quiet" because the media isn't telling you about it.

 

Gaza, ISIS, and the Golan Heights are definitely important, but meanwhile, hush-hush, without anyone saying anything, Jerusalem is becoming divided. There have been thousands of incidents of attacks on Jews, with rocks thrown, fireworks shot as weapons (the newest thing), and Molotov cocktails hurled at Jews where the east and west of the city meet, as well as dozens of cases of frustrated Jews attacking Arabs. Not to mention isolated cases of shootings spattered throughout the city, reported on in the back pages of newspapers.

 

Jerusalem is now criss-crossed by the "geography of fear" (a phrase coined in the First Intifada). Many fewer Jews and Arabs venture out of their own neighborhoods to "the other side." The everyday contact between Arabs and Jews, which in quieter times was never much discussed, is on the wane.

 

Islands of normalcy, coexistence and cooperation -- hospitals, transportation, and the workforce -- still exist, but are showing cracks. The Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital, where Jewish and Arab staff treats Arabs and Jews alike, is constantly the target of rocks and Molotov cocktails. Arab drivers who work for Egged or other companies are getting beaten for nothing by hotheaded Jewish thugs.

 

Even the Bedouin along the highway between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim have become involved.

 

In "border" neighborhoods like Armon Hanatziv, which faces Jabal Mukabar, or French Hill, across from Issawaia, Jewish residents have begun organizing self-defense. The small pockets of Jewish settlement in the City of David, in Kidmat Zion, in the Muslim Quarter, or in Beit Yonatan, find themselves under siege repeatedly. The dozens of wildfires in the city and its environs -- even near the Knesset -- are also related to hostile activity.

 

Two buildings, one in Armon Hanatziv and another in Neveh Yaakov in the northeast of the city, represent the breakdown in Jewish-Arab relations in Jerusalem and the implosion currently underway in the capital. Elisha Ben-Kimon of the Yedioth Jerusalem local paper has documented the deteriorating relations between the Jews and Arabs who live together in these buildings. It's nothing to be proud of. There is a lot of mutual racism and loathing, but these are only symptoms of the general atmosphere.

 

The true litmus test that will determine the future story of the continued unification or eventual division of Jerusalem is the light rail, which crosses the city from the south (Mount Herzl) to the north (Pisgat Zeev) via the Arab neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina. Originally, the advanced system was intended to provide a solution to heavy traffic on the city's roads and crowded public transport. In practice, the train has become a symbol of the fragile coexistence. The train expresses everything about Jerusalem that is sane. For three years it has served hundreds of thousands of Jews and tens of thousands of Arabs each month. The number of violent interactions was next to nothing. But the murder of teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir in retaliation for the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teens in June, turned it into a symbol of the unrest when hundreds of Arab youths from the north of the city turned their anger against the light rail, destroying stations and vandalizing expensive equipment.

 

The train was back in operation a few days later, but ever since, nearly every day, rocks and Molotov cocktails are thrown at it -- about 100 such incidents thus far, two or three a day. The municipality and the police insist -- rightly so -- that it continue to run through the Arab neighborhoods. Now the train has become the flag of a faltering coexistence, and anyone who lowers that flag is in effect waving a white one.

 

The police are proud of the enormous number of arrests they have made, over 600. Some 250 indictments have been issued, but the fact is that no deterrence has been achieved. The police, like the army, must demonstrate more creativity. Intelligence networks must be improved. The city should be flooded with police officers and soldiers to reach the ringleaders of the violence. If nothing else avails, those leaders should be kicked out of Jerusalem, the way arch-inciter Sheikh Raed Salah was. The court will allow it, if it is presented with evidence. If we don't come to our senses quickly, it's only a matter of time before the quiet intifada in the capital heats up.

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Ebola continues to spread an an exponential rate.  According to the World Health Organization, 40 percent of all Ebola cases have happened in just the last three weeks.  At this point, the official numbers tell us that approximately 3,500 people have gotten the virus in Africa and more than 1,900 people have died.  That is quite alarming, but the real problem will arise if this disease continues to spread at an exponential pace.  One team of researchers has used computer modeling to project that the number of Ebola cases will reach 10,000 by September 24th if current trends continue.  And if the spread of Ebola does not slow down, we could be dealing with 100,000 cases by December.  Even the WHO is admitting that the number of cases is likely to grow to 20,000 before too much longer, and global health officials are now starting to use apocalyptic language to describe this outbreak.

 

For people in the western world that have never seen anything like this other than in the movies, it can be difficult to grasp just how horrible this epidemic truly is.  In the areas of west Africa where Ebola is spreading, fear and panic are everywhere, food shortages are becoming a serious problem and there have been reports of dead bodies rotting in the streets.  People are avoiding hospitals and clinics because of paranoia about the fact that so many health workers have contracted the disease.  According to the World Health Organization, more than 240 health workers have gotten the virus so far and more than 120 of them have perished.

 

We have never seen anything like this in any of our lifetimes, and the scary part is that this might only be just the beginning.

 

The following are 16 apocalyptic quotes from global health officials about this horrific Ebola epidemic...

 

#1 Dr. Tom Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "It is the world's first Ebola epidemic, and it's spiraling out of control. It's bad now, and it's going to get worse in the very near future. There is still a window of opportunity to tamp it down, but that window is closing. We really have to act now."

 

#2 Dr. Joanne Liu, the international president of Doctors Without Borders: "Riots are breaking out. Isolation centres are overwhelmed. Health workers on the frontline are becoming infected and are dying in shocking numbers."

 

#3 David Nabarro, senior United Nations system coordinator for Ebola disease: "This outbreak is moving ahead of efforts to control it."

 

#4 Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO's assistant director-general for emergency operations: "This far outstrips any historic Ebola outbreak in numbers. The largest outbreak in the past was about 400 cases."

 

#5 Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization: "...we hope to stop the transmission in six to nine months".

 

#6 Dr. Daniel Bausch, associate professor in the department of Tropical Medicine at Tulane University: "You have a very dangerous virus in three of the countries in the world that are least equipped to deal with it. The scale of this outbreak has just outstripped the resources. That's why it's become so big."

 

#7 Gayle Smith, senior director at the National Security Council: "This is not an African disease. This is a virus that is a threat to all humanity."

 

#8 Dr. Tom Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "The level of outbreak is beyond anything we've seen-or even imagined."

 

#9 Vincent Martin, head of an FAO unit in Dakar:  "This is different than every other Ebola situation we've ever had. It's spreading widely, throughout entire countries, through multiple countries, in cities and very fast."

 

#10 Dr. Richard Besser, health and medical editor for ABC News: "Emergency rooms are closed, many hospital wards are as well leaving people who are sick with heart disease, trauma, pregnancy complications, pneumonia, malaria and all the everyday health emergencies with nowhere to go."

 

#11 Bukar Tijani, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization regional representative for Africa: "Access to food has become a pressing concern for many people in the three affected countries and their neighbours."

 

#12 Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security: "People are hungry in these communities. They don't know how they are going to get food."

 

#13 Dr. Daniel Bausch, associate professor in the department of Tropical Medicine at Tulane University: "This is for sure the worst situation I've ever seen."

 

#14 Dr. Tom Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "I could not possibly overstate the need for an urgent response."

 

#15 Official WHO statement: "Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak."

 

#16 Dr. Joanne Liu, the international president of Doctors Without Borders: "It is impossible to keep up with the sheer number of infected people pouring into facilities. In Sierra Leone, infectious bodies are rotting in the streets."

 

Despite all of these warnings, a lot of people in the western world are not too concerned about this epidemic because they have faith that our advanced technology will prevent a widespread Ebola outbreak in the United States and Europe.

 

But I wouldn't be so certain about that.

 

So far, the most promising experimental Ebola drug seems to be ZMapp.  In clinical trials, it has been doing very well on monkeys.

 

However, it hasn't turned out to be a silver bullet for humans so far.  Two out of the seven people that have received ZMapp have died, and as CBS News recently explained, current supplies are exhausted and it takes a really long time to make more of this stuff...

 

 

ZMapp's maker, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., of San Diego, has said the small supply of the drug is now exhausted and that it will take several months to make more. The drug is grown in tobacco plants and was developed with U.S. government support.

 

Kobinger said it takes about a month to make 20 to 40 doses at a Kentucky plant where the drug is being produced. Officials have said they are looking at other facilities and other ways to ramp up production, and Kobinger said there were plans for a clinical trial to test ZMapp in people early next year.

 

The cold, hard truth is that Ebola is a brutally efficient killer for which we do not have a cure at the moment.

 

And what makes things even more complicated is that a different strain of Ebola is now spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  A treatment that works for one strain of Ebola may not work on another strain.

 

So let us hope and pray that Ebola does not reach the United States.

 

If it does, it could potentially spread like wildfire.

 

 

 

 This article is about the Second Coming not the Rapture. There are no signs of the Rapture. It can happen at any time and without notice. But there are signs of the Second Coming and the church is told to watch for those signs.

Many prophecy writers, including myself, believe the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation period. In that case, the Rapture will occur before the Second Coming because Jesus won't come back to this earth (He will remain in the air at the Rapture) until the end of the Tribulation Period. So, if the Second Coming is close, the Rapture is even closer.

 

Most of those who watch the signs think the Second Coming is very close. They know that Jesus said, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. 24:36). But they also know that Jesus said, "When ye shall see all these things (the signs), know that it is near, even at the doors" (Matt. 24:33). And they also know that the Bible says we can see the day approaching (Heb. 10:25).  So even though no human being knows the day and hour, prophecy teachers are not contradicting the Scriptures when they say the Second Coming is close.

 

They believe it is close because God has revealed timing clues along with some prophecies. For example, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38-39), God said it will happen in the latter days (Ezek. 38:16) and latter years (Ezek. 38:8). But in order for this prophecy to be fulfilled, God said Israel will be back in the land; Israel will have cattle and goods; Israel will be opposed by Russia, Iran, Turkey and others, etc. These pre- conditions are in existence today and they seem to be screaming out that the latter days and latter years have arrived.

 

Another example involves one of the verses mentioned above (Matt. 24:33). Jesus said His Second Coming will be close when all of the signs are apparent in the same generation. Between 70 A.D. and 1948 the nation of Israel didn't exist so it was impossible to see all of the signs during that span. Between 1948 and 1967 Israel didn't control the Temple Mount so again it was impossible to see all of the signs. But all of the signs appear to be coming on the scene now. Some prophecy teachers call the appearance of all of the signs a convergence of the signs. Some even think this convergence of the signs is more important than any other sign including the return of Israel. Anyway, this convergence of all of the signs in the same generation is a timing clue signifying that the Second Coming is near.

 

 Bible prophecy requires the establishment of a New World Order (world government) during the Tribulation period and before the Second Coming (Rev. 13:7). In 2009, Henry Kissinger said, "Pres. Obama has been chosen to bring in the New World Order" and we are now a little more than two years from the end of his second term. In 2013, Vice-Pres. Biden said, "The affirmative task we (the U.S.) have now is to actually create a New World Order." In 2014, he said, "I believe we and mainly you (the 2014 Air Force graduating class) have an incredible opportunity to lead in shaping a New World Order." And in 2014, Pres. Obama talked about a coming "new order based on a different set of principles." So if our leaders are close to the establishment of a New World Order, the world is close to the Second Coming and even closer to the Rapture of the church.

Bible prophecy requires the establishment of a global religion during the Tribulation period. In Feb. 2014, it was reported that Pope Francis wants to reverse the Protestant Reformation and unite all religions. The Reformation began with a split in the Roman Catholic Church. The recognized beginning of this split occurred on Oct. 31, 1517 when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation will occur on Oct. 31, 2017. So Pope Francis has established Oct. 31, 2017 as a goal for an anti-Reformation (a reversal of the Reformation by uniting Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Jews into one religion). He may not be able to do it, but again, if the world is close to the establishment of a world religion (in 2017); it is even closer to the Rapture of the church.

 

Bible prophecy requires the coming Antichrist and his False Prophet to have the ability to identify everyone and to track all of their buying and selling about three and one-half years before the Second Coming (Rev. 13:16-17). Now, it is being reported that Obamacare requires every American to have a National ID card and that the Dept. of Homeland Security will start enforcing this in 2017. In fact, NBC recently predicted that every American will have a RFID implant by 2017. So the appearance of things that will be used after the Rapture (ID cards, chipping people, etc. by 2017) are timing clues that signify that the Rapture is getting close.

 

The Tribulation period and Second Coming also require the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1-8) which many believe is the rise of the Antichrist with an increase in  war, famine, pestilence and earthquakes (also see Matt. 24:5-7). The Antichrist can't rise because the church is still here (II Thess. 2:7-8), but this year it has been reported that wars have increased seven years in a row; the price of several foods (pork, beef, chicken, etc.) has reached an all time high and this is just the beginning; drug resistant viruses (pestilences) are spreading around the world, and big  earthquakes (those larger than 7.0) have doubled since 1979. How can those who watch not believe that we will soon be going home?

 

Bible prophecy requires the Antichrist to confirm a Middle East peace treaty that will begin the Tribulation period after the Rapture of the church. There have been many failed attempts at a Middle East peace treaty, but proposals are now being drafted that will ask the UN Security Council to take over the peace process; to set a date for dividing the land of Israel and creating a Palestinian State; and to enforce the UN Security Council actions with international troops. It means the PA is asking the UN Security Council to dictate a solution and send in troops to enforce it.

 

After the Rapture, there will be a global economic collapse (Rev. 6:5-6) and a recent report by the Bank of International Settlements recently said the entire world is now in a situation of unsustainable debt and more. As the world approaches the Tribulation Period what it does to Israel will come back on it.  The U.S. is trying to erase Israel's borders and for all practical purposes God has allowed America's borders to become seemingly non-existent. More could be said, but many prophecy writers have good reason to believe that they can see the day approaching. Are you prepared?

 

Prophecy Plus Ministries

Daymond & Rachel Duck

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The occupant of the Oval Office continues to use the barbaric atrocities of the Islamic State to be an apologist for Islam. In remarks upon his arrival on a foreign policy visit to Estonia, the "president" called the IS a manageable problem and sympathized with the Muslims living in Iraq and Syria as victims of the IS "cancer." The "president's" rope a dope non strategy with IS ignores, at least publicly, that the IS is not waging a political war, but rather one on ideology. American and European leaders do not seem to understand that there is no negotiating with this group of barbarians to achieve a peace of any sort. Muslims are not victims of IS, they tolerate, support, or submit to it, rather than rise up against it.

 

As reported by CNN and the Weekly Standard, the "president" said, "We know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISILl's sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point  where it is a manageable problem. And the question is going to be making sure we've got the right strategy but also making sure we've got the international will to do it. This is something that is a continuation of  a problem we've seen certainly since 9/11, but before and it continues to metastasize in different ways." IS is slaughtering people at will and threatening terrorist attacks on American soil and it is a "manageable problem"? Still no "strategy"?

 

"And what we've got to do is make sure that we are organizing the Arab world, the Middle East, the Muslim world, along with the international community to isolate this cancer. This particular brand of extremism that is first and foremost destructive to the Muslim world and the Arab World and North Africa and the people who live there. They're the ones who are most severely affected. They're the ones who are constantly under threat of being killed. They're the ones whose economies are completely upended...And they're falling behind because of this very small and narrow but very dangerous segment of the population. And we've got to combat it in a sustained, effective way. And I'm confident we're going to be able to do that."

 

When there is no plan, no strategy, no international coalition, the self-evident strategy is the one allowing IS to advance. Muslims killing Muslims is a millennia-old prophetic phenomena. As the angel of the Lord said of Ishmael in Genesis 16:12, "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." The IS seeks to destroy Israel, America and all the nations that do not agree with it or will not submit to it. This is not about politics, it is about ideology. We must prepare ourselves for what is to come because our "president" is sympathetic to, and an apologist for, Islam--his actions speak louder than his words--we know him by his fruits.

 

 

Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.

-Hebrews 12:1-2

 

Are friends and loved ones in heaven watching us right now and cheering us on? What "huge crowd" is this? What is this "great cloud of witnesses," as it says in the King James Bible?

 

One big hint is the fact that Hebrews 12 comes right after Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is a record of the great men and women of faith who died serving God. We sometimes refer to it as the Hall of Faith. You read about Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Gideon, Samson, David, Rahab, Daniel, and the list goes on.

 

So who are the witnesses in Hebrews 12:1? One interpretation says they are simply people of faith who have gone before us, giving us a model to follow so that we might live and exercise our faith as they did. Reading about the lives of these men and women who have walked with God and trusted Christ and stood strong in the face of trials and persecutions can add steel to our souls.

 

Another way to look at it is that these men and women aren't simply giving us a template to follow, but are actually observing us and taking note of our progress in the faith. They are the "cloud of witnesses" watching us and cheering us on, if you will.

 

Is that the case? Are there heavenly grandstands where people monitor the progress of loved ones living out their lives on earth? It wouldn't surprise me at all, but I don't know. But I do know this much: We are in the race of our lives on earth, and we don't how long it will last. And I know for certain that Jesus is watching us, turn for turn, step for step.

 

            

 

 

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3. That's simple enough and very straightforward. God gave this Commandment, along with nine others, to Moses on Mt. Sinai and we need to pay attention. Most of us flatter ourselves by thinking that we are above such things as serving another god, but are we? We snicker to think that anyone could possibly have ever worshipped Zeus, and we shudder to think anyone would sacrifice their children to the satanic god Molek, but stop and ask yourself what serves as your god. A god is what you worship and there are many gods we put before God Almighty. What god rules in your heart?

 

Putting other gods before God Almighty is as old as time itself. Satan lied to Eve when he said "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5. Satan tempts all of us and just like Eve we fall for his lies and run after false gods. God's word is true and His ways are perfect; we need to listen to Him, not Satan. Eve listened to Satan and ate the fruit, then learned about evil right from the mouth of Satan. Temptation will always cross our path and that's when we need to stop, read God's word, and turn from the abomination of false gods and only worship God Almighty.

 

When a person accepts the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ a transformation takes place. The Holy Spirit is sealed within us and we become a new creature in Christ. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and He is sealed within you, me, and every Christian. That fact alone should humble each one of us and make us very aware of every word we say and every action we take. When we choose to put another god before our Lord and Saviour we are allowing a false god to sit on the altar of our heart and we take God with us into our sin.

 

Christians need to always put Jesus first. Anything that is put ahead of Him is a false god. That can include a job as well as other seemingly harmless activities. Working on Sunday isn't a sin, but each of us needs a day to rest and every day should include time devoted to God. When we move away from fellowship with other Christians or put off the study of God's word it is easy to allow false gods to enter our life and we begin to put that god ahead of the Lord God Almighty.

 

Even religion can become a god to us. Jesus spent much of His ministry on earth opposing the Pharisees and they are the epitome of self-righteousness. They were devoted to their religion, but were mostly devoid of God's love. They allowed false gods on the altar of their hearts and those gods didn't allow them to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. They saw Him as a threat to their religion. Luke tells of a dinner which a Pharisee invited Jesus to. This Jewish Pharisee had no desire to worship Jesus; he only wanted Him there for show. Does that sound like us? We want Jesus there, but we don't want to serve Him and honor Him. A woman showed up at the dinner and this woman was a sinner. Unlike the holier than thou Pharisee, this woman worshipped Jesus openly and with all her heart. "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment." Luke 7:37-38. Christians need to truly understand the debt Jesus paid for us and that we are all sinners saved by grace. Like that sinful woman we need to worship Him and praise Him openly, even when we are in the home of a Pharisee. The Pharisee, of course, smugly thought to himself that if Jesus only knew what kind of woman she was He would have pushed her away. Jesus knew what this Pharisee was thinking and took him to task. The question we must ask our self is are we like the Pharisee who had the god of self-righteousness and religion ahead of God, or are we like the sinful woman who worshipped the true God?

 

The Jews had to have the Temple in order to worship God as He instructed them. Sacrifices were offered daily with special offerings at specific times during the year. The Temple was a place to worship and also was important to the Jews' daily life. Solomon built the first Temple, which was destroyed at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Eventually the Temple was rebuilt and the Jews once again were able to worship God as He had instructed them. This second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and ever since that time the Jews have not been able to worship God properly; the required sacrifices cannot be offered. Had they accepted their Messiah when He walked among them they would understand that they only need Him. "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. When we accept Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit and we need no more sacrifices offered in an external Temple. Christ was the once for all sacrifice. When we accept Him we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He is sealed within us, and our body is His Temple. Whatever we do He is with us. "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 2 Corinthians 6:15-16. A Christian must not put any idols on the altar of our heart. Fellowshipping with non-believers can only pull us away from Jesus. Since we are the temple of God, if we put jobs, friendships, television, music, religion, or anything else ahead of God we are defiling the temple within us.

 

When you place a false idol in your life you are serving Belial (Satan). We are told many times in the New Testament that we are the Temple of God and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. That isn't something to take lightly. That fact should lead us to serve Christ wholeheartedly, just like the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Corinth was a very pagan city and the Corinthian Christians wanted to hold onto their pagan ways. The problem is the same today. We accept Christ but love the world. The Holy Spirit lives inside of you so don't allow idols of sin to crowd in. Your sins are forgiven, but that is not a license to continue sinning. Do you have sexual relations outside of a one man/one woman marriage? You have placed an idol in the Temple. Do you tell "little white lies"? That too is an idol. Don't defile the Temple within you with abominations.

 

Most of us have heard that "money is the root of all evil". This is misquoted often by those who just repeat what they have heard. The proper quote is "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10. Money is not evil, but the love of it causes it to become an idol. Those who love and idolize money will do anything to get it. The verse just prior to this one says "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." 1 Timothy 6:9. It isn't the money that causes the problem but the worship of money places a false god in your Temple.

 

Jesus encountered a man who loved money. This rich man ran to Jesus to ask what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. Perhaps he thought he could sacrifice more sheep or put more money in the offering. When Jesus asked him about various Commandments, such as not committing adultery or killing, the young man replied that he had kept the Commandments since his youth. Religion was a god to this man, but so was his money. "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."  Mark 10:21. The man couldn't do it. He loved his money more than he desired eternal life. It wasn't the money that held him captive, but the love of it. The tabloids are filled with sad stories of famous people who love money so much that they will do anything to get more...anything except follow Jesus. How about you? Are you willing to take up the cross and follow Jesus?

 

We can lust after the pleasures of this life and place those pleasures ahead of our love for Jesus, but what have we gained? When Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for the last time He began to tell His disciples what would happen there. He would suffer greatly at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders and be crucified. This is the ultimate love...sacrificial love. God allowed Himself to be abused and crucified for a sinner such as me. His love is perfect love. The disciples tried to stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem, but He knew He had to go. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26. That is a question each of us needs to answer. Remember what Christ has done for you and don't allow any false gods to enter your temple. Have no other gods before Him.

 

This life we travel through is short and only what we do for God will last through eternity. You are the temple of the living God and only the Holy Spirit should sit on the altar of your heart. Are you so filled with religious rites that you forget to allow His love to flow through you? You cannot say enough Hail Mary's to save your soul, nor can you buy your way into eternity. Salvation comes only by accepting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once you have made that commitment it is time to clean out all of the false gods that weigh you down and come ahead of serving Jesus.

 

What sits on the altar of your Temple? Is it an idol or is it the true God? It's time to be sure that you only serve the one true God.

 

God bless you all,

 

Nathele Graham

[email protected]

 

www.straitandnarrowministry.com 

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Ron Graham's previous commentaries archived at http://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html 

 

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