MEM

Today it seems we cannot get the attention of the average church goer let alone those first-time hearers unless it has something to do with end-time prophecy (eschatology) - the return of our Savior and King.

The "Prophets of God" article is the most viewed by visitors to our web site. It is recommended for everyone to understand the purpose for Prophecy. Only the Creator God can tell the end from the beginning. Why? That we may know Him, that we would believe and turn to Him with all our heart soul and strength. Why do so many today hunger to know what is going to happen? Why did the common people in the time of John the Baptist and Christ flock to hear them? What makes us want to know? Did a loving Father (Creator) want a righteous, faithful, just, merciful and humble family? You decide.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.

Isa 46:9 ​​​​​​​​remember the former things of old; ​​​​​​​for I am God, and there is no other; ​​​​​​​I am God, and there is none like me, ​​​10 ​​​​​​​​declaring the end from the beginning ​​​​​​​and from ancient times things not yet done, ​​​​​​​saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, ​​​​​​​and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 ​​​​​​​​… ​​​​​​​I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; ​​​​​​​I have purposed, and I will do it. ​​​

Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

From the very beginning Scripture has a prophetic pronouncement (Genesis 3:15). Throughout the Scriptures, from the beginning to the end, prophecy was a key to the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. That is God’s Kingdom filling the whole earth - Why? For our good!

Isa 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Jer 29:10 "For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

Matt 3:1 KJV In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.' "

Mark 1:14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

In the gospels and the early church letters we see the same gospel message - repentance - salvation - and looking forward to Yeshua’s return to establish His Kingdom rule on the earth. In the meantime, or until then, many are called to prepare for that event (His return). Our attention should not be so much on when He will return but, are we prepared.

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Most of Yeshua’s parables are about His going away and His return. Showing how we should occupy until then and what will happen if we are not ready - read them with that construct.

Matt 20:16 "So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."

For the righteous the future will be with The Messiah (Christ) - laboring with Him in bringing salvation to the whole world. If one wants to know more about that soon coming event the Book of the Revelation is a good place to begin…

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. What time? The end of Satan’s rule over this earth and the beginning of God’s Kingdom reign on the earth!

Our prayer Matt 6:10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Rev 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." These seven churches represent the whole body of Christ - all the churches, throughout the church age.

(See the three previous MEM issues)

Rev 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. …"Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." John would see the future, after the church age - How could that be possible?

Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."

Rev 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." …

Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets…

Rev 15:7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.

Rev 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth…"

Rev 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

Rev 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Rev 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…

There are those that rightly spoke of Yeshua (Jesus) during His first coming by preaching repentance and the Kingdom of God - and His prophetic warning to that establishment about the apocalyptic events to come on their generation. This was a horrible time with much loss of life, persecution, exile of the people and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.

Now we have the Apostle John’s written prophetic warning, about the second advent, with Yeshua’s strong warning to hear and repent for the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Why? Because of the coming apocalyptic evens. Rev 2:11 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.'

Luke 21:31 "Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.

Luke 21:34 "Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

For the Church of God - "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Proverbs 5:7 Now then, my sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 8:32 "Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways.

Proverbs 7:24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth.

"As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new man."
― Thomas ΰ Kempis

"You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give."
Eleanor Roosevelt

(From an e-mail and edited for length by MEM)
  
My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!

B-L-I-N-D!
  
I'm sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of Democratic candidates calling for policies to "fix" the so-called injustices of capitalism. 

I put my phone down and continue to look around. 

I see people talking freely, working on their Mac Book's, ordering food they get in an instant; seeing cars go by outside and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we've become completely blind to it. 

Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose. These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don't give them a second thought. 

We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty. One. Times. (31) Virtually, no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. 

Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful.
  
Our lack of appreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. 


… My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let's just say I didn't have the popular opinion, but I digress.
  
Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? 

We have people who are dying to get into our country. People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. 

Yet, we have a young generation convinced they've never seen prosperity, and as a result, elect politicians dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.
  
Why? 

The answer is this, my generation has only seen prosperity.  We have no contrast.  We didn't live in the Great Depression or Great Recession as adults; didn't live through two world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War or see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.  We don't know what it's like to live without the internet, without cars, color TV, without smartphones. We don't have a lack of prosperity problem.

We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague."

Not all items verified by MEM

Who do you think of as a prophet? Some rare individual who speaks for God with great authority. There have been some prophets holding this office, such as Moses. But when someone told Moses that someone else was prophesying and expected him to object, he said he would that all God's people were prophets. In the New Testament Agabus is a little-known prophet, as were the virgin daughters of Phillip. Prophecy is described as one of the greater gifts that you should especially desire. You don't have to hold an office to exercise it. Listen to what the Spirit says and relay it to others.

(Adopted from a blog post by Dale Cresap)

Psalm 34:11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Psalm 81:8 "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

Psalm 81:11 "But My people did not listen to My voice; And Israel did not obey Me.

Psalm 81:13 "Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

Blessed be YHVH (Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High…)