Grace and Peace to You From The Lord Jesus Christ.
As we move deeper in the the Covid-19 crisis, I am compelled to write down some observations. I look around me and I see fear; fear of sickness, fear of the unknown, fear of people that have seasonal allergies, fear of hugs and friendships, fear of joblessness.
If you are a Christian and you are reading this I hope that you will be encouraged in Christ. This will be a lot of scripture but we need to be reminded that our help is from the Lord, not the government and not the medical community.
In Christ we are Groaning but Hopeful!
Romans 8:18-39
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [f]corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession [g]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Suffering yet LOVED!
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Given what we need by the One that OWNS ALL THINGS!
Matthew 6:24-34
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [i]mammon.
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his [k]stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [l]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Therefore we can be content and thankful knowing that God is caring for us.
Philippians 4:6-20
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your[c] care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
14 Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I [g]have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Know that God is with us even if we lose everything and that He is working for our good, we need to remember to give Him glory.
This is for my encouragement as well. All this being said I also believe that Satan is trying to use the virus to his advantage, measures have been put in place to prohibit the gathering of believers and the corporate worship of God, we must not stop worshiping God just because we are unable to meet. Satan looses ground every time someone is in prayer and worship.
We Are God’s Witnesses….
I have been impressed by the fact that a witness is a person that has seen something and is asked to testify in court. Now we are God’s witnesses, that means that God will put you (if you are a Christian) in places and situations so that you can see and testify to the work that He has done. Over the years we have been led down a road to see things that God has done. Most of the time we like to focus on the things we see as good or exciting, but God also does things that seem hard to us.
We were in Japan on 03/11/2011, the day the earthquake, the tsunami and the Fukushima reactors blew up. Being in the 2nd or 3rd largest earthquake that has ever happened, the earthquake made us more aware of the increase of earthquakes around the world. We got to see China move back to a closed nation, as the government has become more and more hostile to Christianity and other religions. We moved to the west coast of America and got to see the death that came to the sea life, do to radiation from Fukushima. We saw the lack of concern for the Laws of God; legal drugs, cross dressing, homelessness on the rise, no love for people, and an evil obsession with comfort and entertainment that leads to murder, abortion, extra marital relations, divorce, and the list goes on….
All of these things and more have led me to believe that the world is under the judgment of God and we are in the last days. I’m not surprised that we are here. But how should we live in this time? If God is judging, how can we stand? The Bible is clear God always judges his people first, as Christians we need to humble ourselves and repent of our sinful ways, our friendship with the world, our love for things that we know don’t please God. We can’t walk in sin and expect God to give us a free pass just for believing in Jesus, God believes in spanking His kids, just read Hebrews 12. We don’t get the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket out of here just because we think we are good enough. STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED, and the answers for this time will make themselves apparent.
The Fight is On!
I know that many of you that will read this, will disagree with what I’m about to say, but please listen. We are told of the beast system in Revelation, and in Daniel, and it does say that at the end Satan and his angels will be cast down to the earth and that they will have great wrath as they know that their time is short. I believe that the Covid-19 virus maybe used as a means to implement that global system. All of the technology is in place , the sinfulness of mankind is at a high level. They can implant a chip under the skin to track everything we do based on a vaccine that you may need to fight COVID-19, and are ready to do so. On September 23, 2017 the sign of Revelation 12 happened. Plagues are happening all over the earth; grasshoppers, hail, flooding, asteroids, earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars, waters turning to blood, and meteors are on the rise. Jesus told us that this time would come, but many in the church are not ready to face this world with the beast on the rise, we have been told that the rapture will happen first and that we should not fear what Satan can do. Now part of that is true, Jesus told us not to fear the one that could kill the body and then could not send us to hell, but we are not to underestimate the power that Satan has over this world. I believe that God would not have told us of the mark if we didn’t have to face it at sometime. It is important for us to consider a world where as Christians we will not be able to function without denying Christ. Our HOPE is in Christ. We know how this ends, Christ has already won the battle at the Cross, but these last times are going to be hard.
Here are some links to things you should read. Don’t be surprised …
Daily World ACCURATE numbers of COVID-19.
NYC Mayor to synagogues and churches: Close for coronavirus or be shut down permanently.
How did we get here, (FAKE NEWS?!?)
Revelation 12 sign. If you haven’t see this, you need to.
Pray Hard,
Craig and Deborah Graber <><