Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

Count it all Joy -- An example

Mike Lindell said something that really registered with me. He said that the stolen election was perfect. By that He meant it was God's perfect plan. Why? He supported Trump, why would he think that stealing the election would be "God's perfect plan", why would he rejoice? He said if Trump had won despite the election fraud no one would have cared, but because he lost people cared and demanded an investigation.

Also if it had been close, say a charismatic Obama versus an energetic Trump, competing campaign rallies, then it would be totally believable whoever won. But the fact that Biden has dementia, his rallies had about 8 cars in the lot that were from the local rental agency, rented by his campaign, and the fact that he hid in the basement during the campaign made it unbelievable. Trump went to five rallies in a single day, these rallies would be packed with tens of thousands of people all dressed in gear supporting him. The contrast could not have been more stark, that is what Lindell said when he said it was "perfect".

Within days grass roots protestors had formed the "Stop the Steal" rallies. They were not created by Trump's campaign. Thousands of witnesses came forward and signed affidavits. Experts from around the world joined in the effort doing statistical analysis, tracking down hundreds of thousands of mail in ballots, checking voters rolls, and filing legal challenges. No one paid these volunteers. That was "perfect", the Spirit of the Lord moving in the conscience of people around the world to stop this house from being broken into.

Why is the US important? Throughout human history human government has been tyrannical. Pharaohs, Kings, Emperors, Dictators, and Generals have all run the various countries. Early experiments with Democracy were only for landholders, the elites, not for slaves, working folks, common man. In world history the US is unique. Were they sinful? Yes. Were they composed of greedy and selfish people? Yes. But it was a government by the people, for the people and of the people. It has never happened before and if it fails it might never happen again. Israel's future, Taiwan's future, they both hang in the balance. If the US falls they fall, and if they fall then it will only be a matter of time till Australia and New Zealand fall. Every other country (Japan, S. Korea, S. Africa, etc) will become puppets overnight.

But this is like the trial where Jesus was convicted and sentenced. It was so obviously corrupt that no one could miss it. I believe that JFK's assassination was an inside job carried out by elements of our national security apparatus. That is based on years of study of the evidence. You may not believe that, fair enough. I also believe that the reason Nixon had to resign was because he couldn't let his henchmen fall on their swords because they had been involved in the assassination. I also feel that 9/11 was an inside job. The evidence is quite compelling and overwhelming that the official story is completely false. It becomes a little murkier when you want to know exactly who carried out this operation, but it is like looking through a dirty window. We can see enough though not as clearly as we would like. But maybe that is not enough for you, fine. Surely the mortgage meltdown in 2008 should have been enough. You could see clearly then that the people robbing widows houses and for a pretense making long prayers were protected and supported by Obama and Bush. The corruption in the government at that point was so astounding everyone should have been clear. That is why 80 million voted for Trump, they were clear.

So this election fraud it was perfect, we have 80 million who are already convinced, but as the evidence comes out you will see more and more people wake up and see what is going on. Maybe seeing CGI of Biden talking to reporters will wake them up, that is right, not a dream. Maybe seeing a scripted press conference with everyone having prerehearsed lines, maybe that wakes you up. Maybe seeing the censorship of the news concerning Hunter Biden will do it, apparently that woke up 6% of those who had voted for Biden. Lindell has released one movie "Absolute Proof" and will release a second movie "Absolute Interference" this week. He is planning on releasing information on the fraud every day for six weeks straight.

But even if that doesn't wake you up perhaps the loyalty pledge they want the military to make, the most persuasive evidence of a cult, that will do it. Perhaps seeing the hypocrisy of those calling for Trump's impeachment after the inauguration, the same people who supported BLM riots and looting, perhaps that will wake you up. Or the hypocrisy of those crying about "kids in cages" with Trump yet have gone silent with three times as many "kids in cages" with Biden. Maybe the hypocrisy in pushing for gun control laws by Biden while covering up and not enforcing felony violations of gun control laws by Hunter Biden will wake you up. Maybe the executive actions about eliminating genders, or legalizing abortions right up to birth, or having American's pay for abortions for foreigners, or maybe watching at they spend 90% of a $1.9 trillion dollar bill paying back their political friends.

The cross of Christ, it reveals the Son of God with the power of resurrection, it also reveals Satan, the liar and thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy. The cross of Christ is perfect, therefore we need to rejoice. Rejoice that the flesh, and Satan and the world has been nailed to the cross and rejoice that Jesus has the power of resurrection.

When you read Philippians one thing that is really compelling is that we are to have the same mind as Jesus Christ. Really? I have always been taught that what Jesus did on the cross I have no part in, He did that on His own. So why is Paul telling me 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. If I have no part in the cross why is Paul telling me to become obedient to the death of the cross?

You are not allowed to take part in the Passover if you are unclean (due to contact with a dead body). But is that fair? If someone dies and I am responsible for them then I am disqualified because I was taking care of my responsibility, why would you do that? Because of this God added a "second Passover" that occurs the very next full moon. Passover always takes place on a full moon, that is when the light was with us. However, a month later the Bible provides for a second passover for all those who were unclean because of a dead body or because they were on a long journey. According to Ephesians we were all dead in trespasses and sins when Jesus came and saved us. That was the first Passover. So all of us were unclean. So then, if we are going to take part in the Passover it will be in the second passover.

Rejoice and again I say Rejoice.

Let's consider Mike Lindell further. He was a drug addict that turned his life around and had a vision to invent the best pillow ever made. I think most of us would applaud a drug addict turning his life around. He built up a successful company and then with his profits he founded a drug rehabilitation clinic. Then through a strange twist he went to a a prayer breakfast with the president, was asked to pray and ultimately was asked to visit Trump in the Whitehouse. Again, most of us would think this is a wonderful story of redemption. But it didn't stop there, as soon as he returned home he was under attack. A coordinated bot attack was launched to damage his business. His credit rating was attacked, and in many ways his support for Trump resulted in a coordinated attack on his business. He could have thought "this is unfair, I have given myself to the Lord and all it has gotten me are these attacks" but instead he used this as a reason to rejoice. He realized the enemy was attacking him and that validated to him what he was doing. So the attack became much worse, Lindell supported the "Stop the Steal" rallies financially, so they tried to cancel him. 20 retail outlets stopped selling his products. You would think his business would suffer but instead his sales soared. Why? The Lord stood with him and many other believers did to, buying the products online directly from him. But he didn't wilt, instead he used his resources to produce a movie (Absolute Proof) showing the evidence of the election fraud. He was kicked off of various platforms so he set up his own free speech platform (Frank) and he produced a second movie (Absolute Interference).

His testimony is not simply that the Lord saved him from being a drug addict to running a successful company. Nor is it simply that he did a good work of helping other drug addicts. No his testimony is that like Joshua and Caleb he is a man of faith who sees these giants as his food. He is one of the mighty men of David who will slay giants. Whatever they do he simply rejoices and again he rejoices.

2Samuel 8 -- Blessings of obedience

1 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.

2 David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

3 Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at[a] the Euphrates River. 4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers[b] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. 6 He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

7 David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tebah[c] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.

9 When Tou[d] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram[e] to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.

11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: 12 Edom[f] and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites[g] in the Valley of Salt.

14 He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

This is the promised blessing of obedience in Deuteronomy: 28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:...7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven...9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you...13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

15 David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. 16 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.

The deplorables are now running the country. We walk by faith, not by sight.

2Samuel 9 -- Be a Blessing

1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

By this time David has learned he better speak very clearly. Many people have already killed Saul, and his other sons thinking they would gain favor with David. So David needs to make it very clear from the outset that he is looking for someone he can show kindness to unlike your typical king.

2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!”

Mephibosheth means “extermination of shame”. It literally means to cleave or split apart shame.

“At your service,” he replied. 7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s[a] table like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

According to our covenant with God we are blessed to be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a]

We have seen this progression in 2Samuel. When David is made King over all of Israel God established his house, He blessed him, and He made his name great. The next step in the blessings of the covenant is that we will be a blessing to others. In this story of Mephibosheth we see the gospel story. We were dead in our sins and offenses, that was our shame. Our salvation delivered us from that shame. Also, we are lame, our feet are out of place, unable to walk straight, unable to stand strong, unable to stand up straight like a man. But in our salvation we are seated together with Christ in the heavenlies, and we have an inheritance. When we become a blessing to others we express Christ in His saving grace.

2Samuel 10:1-14 -- Rout them

1 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”

It is shocking to me that the leaders of nations and their advisors could be so idiotic and childish. Of course this was a long time ago and yet we see the same thing today. After the 2016 election the claim was made that Russian disinformation influenced and swung the election to Trump. That is something very serious, so I was fully in support of the Mueller investigation to determine what happened. (Yet it is stunning to me that all those who were so “outraged” at Trump’s election and hoping for Mueller to convict him never paid attention to the findings of those investigations. In those investigations we learned several really shocking things that need to be prosecuted, yet by that time no one seems interested in hearing about it anymore.) So then Russian disinformation was claimed to be similar to “misinformation”. Here is the difference between the two, if Russia is trying to manipulate the American public with a concerted and coordinated attempt at spreading disinformation that is something the US security apparatus needs to be concerned with. However, misinformation is a much broader category. When Trump suggested that Hydrochlorquine could be used to treat Covid, that is “misinformation” and is “dangerous”. Fauci comes out and says that scientific studies have been done and shown that it is not effective. Even though that claim was totally false it was held up as the standard by which all other claims were measured. Later, after the election, scientific studies were published that proved Hydrochlorquine was effective. But then after Jan 6 they now claim that “misinformation” (anything they disagree with) can incite insurrection. So now not only are claims they disagree with censored, they (Democrats) now want private businesses to kick off news agencies like Fox and OANN from their platforms. It is an effort to silence dissent. But think how idiotic this is, David sends an envoy to show sympathy for the king’s death and they assume they are spies? Therefore they mock them the way despicable kids in high school would mock the fat kid. This is what we are seeing today in our country, despicable bullies in the halls of congress trying to bully and humiliate their opponents.

6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.

I am now hearing liberals who find what is happening obnoxious. As a rule most liberals are for free speech. They might hate Trump, might hate Fox, but for the Democrats to try and eliminate free speech, that is obnoxious to them. On the other hand there are “never Trumpers” who are completely offended by some of the things that Trump has said and yet the equality act put forth by the Democrats is completely obnoxious to them. This law would allow men (who identify as women) to use the women’s locker room, bathroom, compete in women’s sports and even use battered women’s shelters. This is not just for adults but for children in K-12 and this also applies to private religious schools. Even if it is “an all girls school” any boy who “identifies as a girl” could attend. Not only so but this law is exempt from laws that protect religious organizations. This is why they are idiotic, with everything they do they alienate more of the country. They didn't have a majority when they took power, but whatever support they did have is eroding fast, like salt dissolving in water.

7 On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country. 9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”

This is a two front battle. We need to fight in the political arena and also in the corporate arena. Politically we can have recalls like we are doing with Newsom and impeachments like we are seeing with Cuomo. We need to challenge changes to election laws in the courts and in the local legislatures. We need to primary representatives that we disagree with. In the corporate arena we need to boycott anyone who complies with cancel culture and censorship. We need to support those who stand for free speech. Too many Christians think that the Lord's word that "my kingdom is not of this world, if it were my angels would fight for me" means we are to be hands off with the country. How exactly do you pull sinners out of the fire, like pulling a log out of a fire, if you are "hands off"? The crucifixion of Jesus had everything to do with exposing the corruption of both the Roman Empire and the Jewish religion. The ministry of the Lord and His disciples has everything to do with Satan falling from heaven. Why would a position in the government or in the state religion be likened to "heaven"? Wouldn't it be better to be one of the Tech giants running a multibillion dollar company? There is no guarantee for multibillion dollar companies. Xerox can be the biggest powerhouse one day and disappear the next. Companies that make film can be replaced by smart phones. Chrysler can be replaced with Japanese and German companies. But the Catholic church has been around for over a thousand years, what company can say that? The US government has been around for several hundred years, not even Coca Cola or McDonald's can compare with that. Nancy Pelosi has real power, she may not be as rich as the owner of Facebook or Twitter but she has been around longer than them and for all we know when they are gone the Speaker of the House will still be one of the most powerful people on Earth. Ruling and Reigning includes dealing with people like Zuckerberg and Pelosi.

13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

At the moment they are being routed. Biden’s approval rating among independents is now down to 39%. Attempts to cancel Mike Lindell have blown up in their face. Firing Carrano has turned her into the most popular actress in the US. CNN has seen a 40% drop in ratings.

2Samuel 10:15-19 It is time to rout the cancel culture.

15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them. 17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

This is what we need to do, destroy businesses that work with the Democrats push for censorship. I heard there were now over 20 retail outlets that have stopped using Mike Lindell’s products. I would like to see Mike Lindell’s website expand to include all the products sold in those stores and see those stores go bankrupt. Many of them are located in shopping malls which are already on the ropes due to the Pandemic. If we rout these businesses who are spineless and going along with this despicable agenda (teaching their employees to “be less white”, firing people because they support conservative values, and censoring anyone who disagrees with the left). Mike Lindell is also releasing a free speech platform that is similar to both Twitter and Youtube. If he can get Trump on that platform he could get over 90 million users overnight. He could also get all those who have been cancelled and censored by Facebook, Youtube, and Google. This would mean he would own giant server farms to run this business. He could then begin to lease out space on servers like Amazon.com does and pick up all the business from those that don't trust Amazon.com. There are countries that don't trust Twitter, imagine that Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Israel and Uganda also join his platform. He could very quickly be competitive with Twitter. The stock price of Twitter has the projected growth factored in. If you go from a projected growth of 10% per year to -10% per year your stock price can drop from $100 a share to $25 a share almost overnight. This is how the mighty will fall. It won't be hard, there must be many Christians that work for Twitter and Amazon that do not agree with the censorship and would be happy to switch to Lindell's company and bring all their expertise. Mike Lindell already has a very powerful online presence and could expand, operating similar to Amazon.com for all the companies who don't want to work with Amazon. It is time to rout them.

2Samuel 11 Andrew Cuomo and Bathsheba

I am not comparing Andrew Cuomo to David, because David was a man of faith. What I am saying is that David’s sin here can be compared to any person in power and their sin.

1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. 10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” 12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” 16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. 18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’” 22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” 25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.” 26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

The story is clear, David lusts after something, in this case Bathsheba, he commits a sin to get it, in this case adultery. The sin has consequences and to try and cover it up with lies and deceit. When that doesn’t work he uses the power he has to kill off witnesses and cover up his sin. There is nothing in the story to suggest that David disliked Uriah the Hittite, it wasn’t personal, David ordered his death as a way to cover up his sins. Then miraculously third party witnesses to the battle hear that David is seemingly not bothered by mismanagement of his army causing the death of his troops.

Andrew Cuomo sends people to die just like David did

So let’s look at Andrew Cuomo. On March 25th he gave an order: No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”

That mandate was at direct odds with two key scientific facts about C-19 that were widely known since the outset of the pandemic:

1. Elderly people and those with chronic ailments—who are the very definition of nursing home residents—are extremely vulnerable to the virus.
2. The virus is highly transmissible, and thus, it can easily sweep through large groups of sickly and/or aged people who live together.

Including an estimated 18 days between infection and death, over 5,900 nursing home patients in NY were lost by the time Cuomo rescinded this policy. The fact that Cuomo repealed this mandate belies his claim that it did no harm.

Furthermore, Cuomo’s statistics on NY nursing home deaths are greatly understated because his Department of Health excluded people who caught the disease in a nursing home but died “outside of the facility.” Thus, Cuomo’s “official” figure may undercount the real one by thousands of deaths.

While rejecting calls for an independent investigation, Cuomo has repeatedly blamed others for the nursing home carnage in his state, but none of his explanations hold water:

• Cuomo first faulted nursing homes, stating that they were only required to readmit C-19 patients “if they have the ability to provide the adequate level of care.” However, Cuomo’s order:
• • unequivocally states in underlined text, “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.”
  • often made it impossible for homes to know if they could provide appropriate care by banning them from “requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
  • never mentioned or implied that it is illegal under NY State law for nursing homes to accept someone they cannot care for properly.
• Cuomo then claimed that his order “followed President Trump’s CDC guidance,” but the truth is that this guidance:
• • doesn’t recommend putting C-19 patients into nursing homes.
  • states that C-19 patients “should go to a facility with adequate personal protective equipment supplies and an ability to adhere to infection prevention….” https://www.justfactsdaily.com/the-facts-on-andrew-cuomos-nursing-home-policy

Why would he do this? He wasn’t trying to kill people in the Nursing homes, they were simply collateral damage like Uriah the Hittite. What he wanted was “Bathsheba”. So, in this case what is “Bathsheba”. Justifying shutting down the economy for the entire US required an epidemic that is truly frightening. NY was the first state hit and this was an election year (when kings go out to battle). Cuomo and four other Democratic governors followed this game plan and between them they had the highest number of deaths and their deaths justified the lockdown. Everyone who analyzes the economy and elections will tell you the US economy was doing fantastic right up until the lockdown and no incumbent president gets voted out of office if the economy is great and they didn’t get us into war.

Now here is where Cuomo and David are not similar. When Nathan came to him and exposed his crime he confessed and repented. This story has come out in the press and instead of confessing and repenting Cuomo is blaming everyone else. David was guilty of adultery and abuse of power. Cuomo is guilty of betraying the trust of the people of NY and abuse of power.

2Samuel 12 -- “I have sinned against the Lord”

1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Wow! You never see this. I don’t mean you never see rich, powerful people who are abusive towards the poor, that you see all the time. No, you never see them confess and repent so quickly, so easily. Usually they will say “I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me”. They will accuse you of being “out of your mind”. Or “we are just good friends”. Or what is most common is they just can't seem to remember anything that happened. But if they are caught dead to rights then “it just happened once”. Look at what Cuomo said when the justice department first opened an investigation: Yea, what a shock that the Department of Injustice sends a letter a few days before an election trying to advance a political theory. I was shocked and amazed that the Trump administration was capable of such a thing. Surely, they have played politics on this from day one, right? They have done a terrible job on Covid from day one, and they want a counter-defense, and what they were saying was, “Well, a lot of people died in nursing homes in Democratic states. It’s not just New York, it’s all the Democratic states.”

This denial is both “he didn’t do it” and “they are out of their mind” approach with a little indignation tossed in for good measure.

But it was worse, he also said “If you look at how many people died in New York nursing homes, New York is number 46 out of 50 states in the percentage of deaths in nursing homes. The way the law works is no nursing home in New York can accept a patient if they don’t believe they can care for that patient adequately, and if they can do it within the safety of their facility.”

This was because they had covered up how many had died in the nursing homes and hid the numbers. This was an out and out lie. Nursing homes were required to take these patients and they hid about 4,000 of the deaths with a deceitful accounting trick.

And then he accused those investigating of doing exactly what he had done: So the conspiracy they’re trying to spread just has no factual basis. But yes, people in nursing homes died, and they’re playing politics with the issue, which I think is especially cruel because people who lost loved ones in a nursing home, they’re dealing with it, and now they also have to deal with the confusion or the pain of maybe government did this.

So he was off and running with the blame game. They blamed the CDC Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa later said that his policy was “in-line directly” with directives from the Trump administration’s Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), but to the contrary:

• 12 days before Cuomo’s order, CMS warned that homes must be “vigilant in identifying any possible infected individuals” and “follow CDC guidance.”
• CMS administrator Seema Verma directly responded to DeRosa’s claims, stating that the CMS was “clear and unmistakable” in stating that nursing homes should reject people that they cannot care for, and “any insinuation to the contrary is woefully mistaken at best and dishonest at worst.”

They blamed Trump: After that, Cuomo claimed that NY “had more people die” because the Trump administration “missed the boat and never told us that this virus was coming from Europe and not from China.” In reality, the Trump administration issued a near-total ban on travel from Europe on the same day that the World Health Organization declared C-19 a pandemic (March 11). Yet, Cuomo did not announce a stay-at-home order until more than a week later on March 20.

Finally they blamed the nursing homes: Finally, Cuomo’s Department of Health published a report that returned to blaming nursing homes while claiming that his policy was not a “significant factor” in fatalities. However, the report:

• misinterprets association as causation by arguing that a “link between the timing of staff infection and nursing home fatalities” proves the nursing home staff transmitted the virus to residents.
• uses a false measure of timing based on the number of homes with an infected staff member instead of the actual number of infected staff members.
• uses grossly incomplete data that excludes residents who caught the virus in nursing homes but died “outside of the facility,” a figure that could number in the thousands.

https://www.justfactsdaily.com/the-facts-on-andrew-cuomos-nursing-home-policy

We never see the rich and powerful actually confess that they have sinned. They have created a legal system where they can settle a lawsuit without admission of guilt. What is it that really makes all Christians different from people in the world? They are all sinners, all prone to temptations from the evil one. The difference is that Christians have confessed and repented publicly of their sins.

2Samuel 12:14-31 You are not going to die

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[a] the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

What caused Nixon to resign was not the Watergate break-in, it wasn’t that crime, rather it was the coverup. Because David confessed and didn’t try to cover up his sin he is not “going to die”. However, “his son will die”. So in Cuomo’s case he clearly did a cover up and now they are looking into impeaching him and prosecuting him for that. Had they not covered it up or denied it they would have simply looked bad. If Cuomo had immediately confessed “his son would have died” but he himself would not have been removed. What does that mean? The claim that Trump had mismanaged the Covid crisis was a critical issue in the election, if Cuomo had admitted that this was false and that he in fact had mismanaged it then “his son”, Joe Biden, would have lost the election. But he didn’t and now Cuomo will be the one who loses.

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[b] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.” 19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” 20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. 21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!” 22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

We saw this as well. After the election there were huge rallies with hundreds of thousands of people all over the nation. They were kneeling in prayer, appealing to heaven. People expected that they would not accept Joe Biden’s inauguration and so they feared they would do something desperate. They brought in 25,000 troops and surrounded the city with barbed wire. But all those at those “Stop the Steal” rallies got up off their knees and went to eat. Why? Because they are putting all their trust in the Lord. Submitting to the Lord includes submitting to those in power and recognizing that all authority is from God.

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.[c]

Solomon means “peaceable” and Jedidiah means “beloved of the Lord”. The Lord loves the fruit of our submitting to his mighty hand and our being humbled under the mighty hand of God.

26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.” 29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown from their king’s[d] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent[e] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.[f] David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

There are two things going on here. The people of God are learning to be humbled under the mighty hand of God and to learn the way of peace. Through this we will get Solomon who will build God’s Temple on Earth and will represent the heavenly ministry of Jesus. At the same time the battle is going on against the Ammonites. We are seeing some really hateful ugly things taking place in this country. Laws concerning a direct repudiation of God’s word and God’s ordination. We are seeing hate speech, wicked people rejoicing at the death of wonderful people, and trying to violate the first and second amendments of our constitution. What we are seeing today in the US reminds us of the rededication of the 2nd temple during the second century BC. There was a Maccabean revolt against a ruler who is a type of the AntiChrist.

Acts 8:1-25 -- What can stand in our way of the Gospel?

8 And Saul approved of their killing him.

Just like those that approved of the crucifixion of Jesus.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Psalm 80:1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

This persecution has been likened to the wind blowing on a dandelion and sending the seeds in all directions. We are seeing the same scattering today. People are being scattered from the social platforms throughout the internet. They are leaving mainstream media, and they are leaving tech giants services like Google and Amazon.com

2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Psalm 80:4 How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.

This is our history. I heard one atheist mocking Christians as those that believe the reason we don’t have unicorns is because they were late to Noah’s ark. The plan right now is to go after anyone who was in the “MAGA movement”. Since there were 75 million or more who voted for Trump that is not possible, so instead they are targeting high profile people like Mike Lindell and news services like Epoch Times.

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

Stephen is killed and Phillip stands up. There is a verse in a song that says “all he could do the foe was just release the flow”.

Psalm 80:7 Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. 8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

Now is not the time to be timid. They are calling for the resignation of some politicians, they are recalling others, and they are passing legislation to deal with issues at the State level that the Federal government won’t deal with. We can hear their shrieks as we see hedge funds lose billions of dollars, and companies that agreed to the “cancel culture” go bankrupt. People are exiting the tech giants and as a result the daily usage of platforms like Twitter is plummeting.

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”

One of the really humiliating aspects of the last 2,000 years is the proliferation of charlatans claiming “great power of God”. This is a second way in which the enemy lays the groundwork to mock the church and hold us in derision.

Psalm 80:12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? 13 Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.

11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

People who are accomplished illusionists are very good at spotting fakes. This is why the FBI hires hackers to catch hackers and counterfeiters to catch counterfeiters. For this many to be astonished and to believe is a powerful testimony.

Psalm 80:14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, 15 the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This word “Spirit” can also be translated as breath or wind. When we breathe in the word of God and it becomes our breath, then we receive the Holy Spirit. The teaching and fellowship of the apostles is the breath of God, receive that word by faith and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 80:16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. 17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. 18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Such a common thought in the world, “how can I make money from this?” The rule in the New Testament is “freely you have received, freely give”. Money is an idol, the world worships this idol. In the church we only worship Jesus who saved us with the free gift of grace. Get your heart right with the Lord and your question will be how can I express Jesus.

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

Once we have received Jesus by faith He begins to work in us. We need our mind renewed with the mind of Christ. This is not an instantaneous process, but rather a process that takes time. The more we set our mind on Christ the more our mind is renewed. Prayer, fellowship, reading the word, singing hymns of praise, listening to the apostles fellowship, these are all ways in which we can set our mind on Christ.

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

The chapter began with a great persecution against the church, and yet almost immediately this is turned to the Lord leading a train of vanquished foes as the gospel is spread far and wide.

Acts 8:26-40 What can stand in the way of our immersing the world into the gospel of God?

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Phillip is growing in grace and power in his ministry because he is tuning his ear to hear the Lord’s speaking. You do that by obeying the Lord. The more you obey the better your hearing becomes.

27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Some remark how perfect this passage is for preaching the gospel, hence it was extremely fortuitous. I disagree. Every chapter in the Bible gives you the good news about Jesus. Some verses are simply more obvious than others. When you read the biographies of evangelists you will see many stories similar to this, where anything and everything opens the door to talk about the good news of Jesus. This is because all of creation is a shadow and Jesus is the body of all these shadows.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37]

Don’t you love this brother’s attitude? He heard the word, he’s received the word, and now nothing is going to stand in his way of obeying the word.

38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

This is a wonderful chapter that reminds me of Caleb and Joshua. These giants are our meat; this persecution is that we can win and be victorious in. Let this be our mindset at this time: “what can stand in our way of immersing this world in the gospel?”

Acts 9:1-22 -- Adventures in Prayer

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Psalm 55:1 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; 2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught 3 because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.

To be a Christian is an adventure. Murderous threats against you that cause you to go to your knees. The church knew that Saul was coming to arrest them. But, why? Why does Saul care that there are some who are of the Way? Why do the high priests want to arrest them and put them in prison? Paul tells us in the gospels that because he was more zealous than his contemporaries he was able to advance in his religion. So on one hand some people will do this to advance their career. But why would the high priests care? Why would they promote those who criminalize those of the Way? It is about power. If you have a monopoly you have power. Sitting in Moses seat gives them power, the ministry of Jesus undermined that power, it exposed their hypocrisy and their corruption. The early church was a double edged sword to Judaism, on one hand it undermined their monopoly and on the other hand it undermined their credibility by exposing their sins.

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Psalm 76:1 God is renowned in Judah; in Israel his name is great. 2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. 3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. 4 You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.

The Lord responded to the prayers of the church. As usual the Lord’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. But Paul's conversion reveals the achilles heel of corrupt leaders, man's conscience. Paul sincerely felt he was serving the Lord by doing this. He didn't even know who God was so he trusted the Jewish leaders. What he did know was that the Old Covenant was truly of God and according to that covenant these religious leaders were entrusted with God's word. Therefore he blindly trusted them. What happens when someone like this realizes they are being played? That is how we get a Paul. That is their weakness, they want those who are zealous and will do whatever they say, the risk is that these ones will have their eyes opened to see the Lord.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Psalm 55:16 As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. 17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. 18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

The Lord stepped in to rescue the church, but also to rescue Saul. This is what it means to love the sinner but hate the sin.

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Psalm 76:5 The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands. 6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still. 7 It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?

Imagine this, the Jewish leaders had sent their “valiant” to deal with this little sect, but the Lord is toying with them. They try to imprison the apostles and this just causes more to turn to the Lord. They try to forbid them to speak but that simply undermines their authority. They try to condemn Stephen but that gets flipped on them and the trial of Stephen condemns them. When they stone Stephen it causes Jesus to arise. The preaching of Phillip becomes prevailing. And, now when they lift their hand against the church the Lord totally humiliates them. We saw this two thousand years ago and we have seen this repeated throughout human history. Today those that have stolen control of this country are very clearly lifting their hand against the church and the Lord's anointed so we are seeing this played out again.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Psalm 76:9 when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. 10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Saul was at the forefront of the persecution of the church and the Lord in a flash of light converted him. Saul becomes Paul and a great gift to the church. How about that for adventure.

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.

The Jewish leaders' attempt to attack the church became a gift to the Lord. That is just so beautiful, they send their disciple to seize the saints and instead the Lord says "thank you very much, I can use this one" and instead Paul becomes a gift sent to the church by those who were trying to enslave the saints.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

12 He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.

They are being put to an open shame,

isn’t this the guy they sent to arrest the Christians and now he is preaching Jesus? 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Psalm 21:1 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! 2 You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. 3 You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. 5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. 6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.

Paul is "proving that Jesus is the Messiah"because that is what he is searching for in the scriptures. Each one of us when we come to the Lord we have a specific burden, you pursue that, pray over it, seek and you shall find. That is how you become a gift to the body.

Acts 9:23-31 Going on offense

23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. 9 When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. 11 Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed. 12 You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. 13 Be exalted in your strength, Lord; we will sing and praise your might.

Many of us are naive when it comes to conspiracies of the deep state, the deep things of Satan. So someone who is saved from that deep state becomes a gift to the Body. There is nothing they can do. Arrest, imprison, even kill, whatever they do simply causes more and more to turn to the Lord. They are exposed and God is glorified. If you want to fight spiritual battles and have great adventures it doesn’t get any better than this. It is fun, exciting and glorious all in one.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

Psalm89:19 Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people. 20 I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. 21 My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him. 22 The enemy will not get the better of him; the wicked will not oppress him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.

We need the fellowship of the Body, this battle is a corporate warfare. Notice how Paul is "fearless" even though there are conspiracies to try and kill him. He knows them, they are not some shadowy mysterious all powerful group. He knows their weakness. He knows that what truly scares them is if he can prove Jesus is the Messiah. They have a house of cards and that one fact causes it to all fall down. This message puts them on their heels.

28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

Psalm 29:1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

What do you think Saul said? He ascribed glory and strength to the Lord. And what do the Jews do? They try to kill him again. What kind of religion is this where every time you get exposed you try and kill that person? This was what cancel culture was like at the beginning of this age. This is the ultimate censorship. Here is someone who knew the Bible better than they did, they couldn't debate, they refused to repent, so let's kill him and that will shut him up.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

This is the point of speaking in tongues. The voice of the Lord is going out throughout the entire earth. Before we built roads we had the waters as our highway.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

This speaking is what is changing the age. Today many are complaining of injustice. I don’t want to say that is a joke, but the crucifixion of Jesus where He was arrested in the evening, tried that same night, sentenced to death, and then executed first thing in the morning is the kind of injustice we had at the beginning of this age.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. These rulers and leaders appeared to be so strong, and they have all been broken into pieces. 6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. Saul also shared his personal experience of the voice of the Lord being like a flash of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. No doubt those who heard like Barnabas shared how this speaking was shaking the world. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

They also shared how these rulers are being stripped bare as those they send to persecute the church are being converted. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” One of the great adventures in prayer is hearing of answered prayer. The response is always “Glory!” I have wondered for years why it took so many years after Jesus was crucified for Titus to come and destroy the temple. But here we can see why, the Lord was preaching the gospel to the Jews and converting them, they were gifts to the body because they knew the Bible.

30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Psalm 29:10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. 11 The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

This is how we enjoy peace and are strengthened. We don’t run from the battle, we turn to the Lord, pray, trust the Lord and obey the Lord like Ananias did. Ananias was like a cornerback intercepting the ball and causing a turnover. Then the church goes from playing defense to playing offense as Paul goes on the offensive proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Acts 9:32-43 Faith without works is dead

32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Psalm 126:1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Right now it seems like our government is paralyzed. They are incapable of acting justly or judging rightly. This didn’t begin 4 years ago, but it has been getting worse and worse ever since JFK was assassinated. There is a tremendous contrast between Peter and Paul. Peter is healing those who are paralyzed while Paul is out debating about the Messiah. There are twelve gates to the New Jerusalem, some come in one gate, others come in another. Some could care less about the debates others have to know that Jesus is truly the Messiah before they will believe.

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

The Lord is going to return just as we saw Him when He went into heaven, but will there be faith on the earth when He returns? Will He find us praying as the early church was praying? What is faith? It is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. However, faith without works is dead. Peter represents a more mature believer, one who is filled with good works. Just like James said, he shows you his faith by his good works.

What does any of this have to do with the rapture?

I look at the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation as the Lord pulling his first string from the game and putting in the second string. The goal is to win the game, obviously you don't pull the first string unless you are winning by a wide margin, and you can be sure once we see the rapture it will be by a wide margin. But you still want your second string to also play well. You would think after the world sees the rapture that the game is over, but it isn't. That said, think how easy it will be to preach the gospel once you have seen the rapture! Everyone focuses on the failure of the saints who are not raptured but are left behind. I prefer to look at it differently, they are getting a second chance, a real chance to get in the game. They need to hit the ground running. I imagine that after the rapture they will also be hiding in the upper room for fear of the "Jews" and also be praying. I imagine that just at the resurrection of Jesus is the center of the gospel the rapture of the first fruits will be a key focal point. The enemy will not roll over, you will have to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and you will have to have a work of faith that testifies of your faith.

Pray that you may be able to escape

Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

What does this mean? I think that Acts 9 shows us what it means. They are praying that they might be able to escape and they are praying that they might be able to stand before the Son of Man. What do you think, Ananias, Paul, Peter, do you think they will be able to stand before the Son of Man? Just kidding, that is irrelevant, the real question is do you think you will be able to? Does this chapter remind you of your experiences?

2Samuel 13:1-22 -- Calamity will come in your own household

1 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

When we see some ruler, some king, like David do the terrible thing he did and then seemingly get away with it we can get very angry. Instead we should trust that God is faithful. He said that because of what David did out of his own household calamity will come. We are now seeing this fulfilled. I like this term “in the course of time”. It is as though David’s act was sowing a seed in the ground and in the course of time that seed grew up and bore fruit. In the same way we are seeing calamity come out of Biden's own household. They are destroying themselves. Hunter Biden created a laptop as insurance against being killed, knowing that he was viewed as the weak link. Then he gave that laptop to a computer repairman who is blind. Apparently he thought this would be a good way to keep it safe. That laptop is bringing calamity to Biden's household. It convicts everyone who knew him of crimes, it convicts the FBI who had it for a year of crimes, and it corroborates accusations that Joe Biden is in bed with the CCP.

2 Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her. 3 Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” 5 “Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’” 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.” 7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.” 12 “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her. 15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!” 16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went. 20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman. 21 When King David heard all this, he was furious. 22 And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

David thought he was so slick in the way in which he stole Uriah’s wife and then had him killed. But what he did was teach his children how to be just as slick. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and his son rapes his daughter. It seems quite fitting. David hears this and is furious but has to also know that he is responsible for this. He was told “calamity would come out of his own household” and sure enough he can see it coming. You don’t want to expose the situation because that would damage Tamar even more, but by not dealing with Amnon himself he opened the door for Absalom to seek vengeance. Absalom is not simply going to take vengeance on Amnon, he'll take vengeance on David as well for not dealing with this. Meanwhile this guy Jonadab is a real snake, manipulative, and this also is a cruel justice. David was manipulative in destroying a servant of his, Uriah. So now a servant of his is manipulative in destroying three of his children and causing great harm to his reign. We need to wake up, the Lord is far better at "payback" than we ever would be. The lesson to me is "fear the Lord". I don't like the corruption I have seen, but I know that the Lord said "vengeance is mine" and that whatever the Lord would do is far worse than anything I would do.

2Samuel 13:23-39 Those that despise God will be despised

23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep shearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. 24 Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?” 25 “No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing. 26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons. 28 Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” 29 So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled. 30 While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.” 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn. 32 But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar. 33 My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

Whoa! What! Jonadab, the guy who advised Amnon to rape Tamar was also privy to Abaslom’s plan to kill him? David is surrounded by some very evil and wicked snakes. Yes, what David did was terrible, but Lord is dealing with it and we see him truly reaping what he sowed. His neighbor could not trust him while he was off fighting for David, now David cannot trust the people living in his own house. That is righteous judgement. Uriah couldn't trust the commanders who sent him intentionally to die, so then why should the commanders be able to trust the people serving them?

34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.

Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”[b]

35 Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.” 36 As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly. 37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son. 38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years. 39 And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

These time frames that are given to us in this book are very interesting. What was it that David had done? He had used his power as king to abuse those who were powerless. He was able to move Uriah around like a chess piece. He was able to kill him with the Ammonite swords. What we see here is that even if you are the king and think you are so powerful God can show you are powerless. What is David supposed to do? Does he imprison Amnon for rape? You couldn’t do that without Tamar’s rape becoming known by everyone. Do you force this abusive person who now hates Tamar to marry her? Then you have a domestic violence situation. There is nothing David can do other than watch this calamity like seeing a train wreck in slow motion. Now Absalom has murdered his brother, just like Cane. So now what is David going to do? He has lost one son, are you going to execute the other one? He is king and yet he does nothing about his daughter being raped and does nothing about his son being murdered. Nathan said that David had despised the word of the Lord and had despised the Lord. Well, now David is the one being despised.

Now if God would do this to David because of his sin do you think he would do it to Biden? Do you think calamity might come from Biden’s family? How about Cuomo? Do you think calamity might come from Cuomo’s family? How about Clinton?