Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
Proverbs 27:12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
1 Chronicles 12:32a And of the sons of Issachar, having understanding of the times, to know what Israel should do.
Michael Douville discusses what is going on in the oil market and what it means for the global economy! The latest data from oil markets is reviewed. Be informed and know today’s economic condition. Click on the link below for Michael’s presentation on YouTube.
Born on the far south side of Chicago in a struggling neighborhood, I was identified with 29 others as having Potential. A new education format was tried where promising young minds were exposed to fine Teachers. My Public High School years were filled with Full Professors from the University of Chicago teaching Biology, Chemistry, History, and English. The Advanced Placement program was born; I was taught to think!
My Father thought I should be a Doctor so off to the University of Illinois I went. However, while working during my 3rd summer break, Business and Investment took me away! My Father never recovered, I was thrilled!!!
A curriculum change brought me to owning a few small businesses before I was 21 and Governor State University tried to educate me. I was off and running hard!!! Real Estate has been my passion.
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Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Make no mistake, Israel’s future includes a third Temple…
The following is a recent post on YouTube from the Temple Institute out of Jerusalem.
Today is Israel’s 72nd Independence Day! The fulfillment of the words of the Hebrew prophets spoken thousands of years ago, and the answer to the prayers and tears of our ancestors over countless generations, the modern state of Israel is a blessing for all who live within it, and for the world at large.
Leviticus 11:13-19 Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the ostrich,the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
April 2020: Recently, The Guardian posted a story on the origins of the Coronavirus. Many studies were compared from scientific experts from around the globe.
Scientists think it is “very likely” or “most likely” the COVID 19 coronavirus has its origins in a bat. But… Science is not really “sure”.
The Guardian best captured the spirit of the article with the disclaimer at the end.
Due to the unprecedented and ongoing nature of the coronavirus outbreak, this article is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation at the date of publication. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions of the article will continue to be footnoted in line with Guardian editorial policy.
The bat is mentioned three times in Scripture. Twice the bat is mentioned in the context of the Law. At that time, God told Moses bats were “detestable”. Another appropriate translation would be an abomination. The Jews were told not to eat certain kinds of birds.
The “bird” is ceremonially unclean. Notice, the Creator of the universe states the bat is a bird. Leviticus 11 is the first time the bat is mentioned in Scripture. The bat is included in an extensive list of birds. The bat is the last bird mentioned. God says the bat is a bird.
Science tells us bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera; with their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more maneuvrable than birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. -Wikipedia
Imagine that. God’s classification system is different than the modern day altar of Science. God’s order and humanity’s order are not the same. See multiple examples provided in the links below regarding the topic of creation.
“…I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…it is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw(s) and holes as sound parts.” –Charles Darwin to Asa Gray
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From the time of Moses, fast forward to the days of the apostle Peter. Christ has died on the cross for sin. Christ has fulfilled the Law.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Peter in Acts 11 has an encounter with the Lord regarding the Law and unclean food. Restrictions on food consumed are being lifted. Granted, the greater issue is not about food but food is used as the example.
Acts 11:6-9 and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. “I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ “But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’
Granted, we are not under the constraints of the Law. We have freedom because of Jesus Christ. But, we may want to think twice about exercising this freedom of handling, preparing, and eating bats.
Luke 1:16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God…
And he will turn… ἐπιστρέφω/epistrephó in the Greek. As defined by Strong’s Concordance, the term means to return. Thayer’s Lexicon interprets the idea as to cause to return, to bring back, to turn oneself about, or come back. The idea is in a literal, physical sense. Stop going in the path one is taking. Turn and go in a different direction.
This term is used 36 times in the New Testament. Below are a few examples how ἐπιστρέφω/epistrephó is utilized.
Luke 2:39 When they had performed everything according to the Law of theLord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.
Matthew 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.
2 Peter 2:22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
People were going the wrong way and had left the God of Israel. The angel Gabriel is telling Zechariah the priest his son to be, John the Baptist, will be the reason fellow country men will return to God.
Return to the Lord. To the Jew, this is the concept of Teshuvah. In our western world, the term we are familiar with is “repent”.
Teshuvah is a time to turn toward God. People are called to turn away from their sin, repent, and change course. Let go of the ways of the world. It is a time of inward reflection and sincere self-assessment. The goal is a change in lifestyle away from sin to obedience in God’s word. Return to God and His ways. This is not a warm and fuzzy spiritual word that causes your stomach to flutter or hair to stand on your neck. There should be some conviction. Be honest. Right is right and wrong is wrong. We can all do better. Prepare and turn to God with a joyful heart.
Teshuvah is a 40 day period in the late summer of the year. This is the season to prepare for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah and the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
Elul is the last month of the civic calendar in Judaism. Elul is the sixth month of the religious calendar. Elul 1 marks the beginning of Teshuvah. The 40 day period of Teshuvah ends on Tishri 10 in the Hebrew calendar, Yom Kippur.
It takes both a negative and positive battery cable to jump start an engine with a dead battery. Most Christians only have the negative side hooked up, Christ in them—the hope of glory. Christ in them is the dying of Christ that puts to death the old nature. Yet even that doesn’t work until the positive side is hooked up that brings to life the new nature. The negative side is Christ in us. He is our hope of glory. The positive side is us in Christ. He is our Lord of glory. The glory of the Father raised Jesus from the dead. The same glory raised us too.
We eat that same bread of life when we take communion. Jesus is our peace offering and He is both kinds of bread. He’s the unleavened bread that puts to death the old nature and He’s the leavened bread that brings to life the new nature. But we can’t stop at the resurrection. We must have the image and revelation that we are seated in Christ and in the Father now.
Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman takes and works into 3 measures of flour until it forms into dough. What happens to dough when it has good active yeast in it? It rises! It multiplies! It makes a few fish and a few loaves of bread feed 5,000+ people on a hillside. It turns water to wine. The yeast of the Father’s glory raised the Bread of Life.
We are His disciples, following Him, being transformed into the image of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. From glory level to glory level we are transfigured into glory until we are wearing the full wedding garment of Christ which is life and immortality that came to light through the Gospel. We wear always eternal life, Zoe life, and the “never die”, the “cannot be corrupted”, the “deathless”.
The Bible says the Father created us for glory and honor. Psalm 91 and all through the old and new testaments are images of this wedding garment of Christ which is the activated state of the Father’s glory that we are to “live in”. From the beginning God created us for glory, to be in the image of his glory. The wedding garment of Christ, Joseph’s coat of many colors, the robe of righteousness, the armor of light, the garment of praise, and many more images are all the same thing! It’s the activated state of the Father’s glory that He has always wanted us to live in permanently! These are his real sons!
The evidence that we have on the wedding garment of Christ is perfect peace, perfect love, joy unspeakable existing in our lives; it is especially evident in storms. His glory is that “in Christ” position that all true disciples have. A believer is to wedding as a disciple is to marriage. We don’t get to date Christ off and on when He’s convenient.
Being a disciple is living in the activated state of the Father’s glory “in Christ” all the time, following Him, receiving revelation, being transformed into His image of glory, and releasing God’s glory in the earth realm where He transforms every dark condition into light. The Father takes over every realm on earth. His glory fills the earth through us! Sickness, disease, corona virus, deformities, sin, corruptness, are all meant for His glory and it all disappears as we release His glory! It’s replaced by health, life forevermore, immortality, obedience, perfect peace, perfect love, tremendous joy, etc.
There are many ways we can release His glory. Speaking the words we hear the Holy Spirit speak. Doing the works we see the Holy Spirit do. Declaring the revealed (Rhema) Word. Praise. Worshiping the Father in Spirit and in truth. Taking communion. Praying in the Spirit are some of the ways. All of these things also increase more of His power and authority in our lives. They increase and expand the realm on earth that the Father has given us to operate in. It’s our sandbox. He widens the tent pegs of our realms where we are kings and priests in His temple. Each widening is a promotion in glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Revelation 3:20 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have to start realizing who we are. ❤️
April 20, 2020: For the first time ever, oil has traded below zero. The May contract for U.S. West Texas intermediate crude oil absolutely crashed to a low of -$38.08 during trading on Monday. As of this post, the price had corrected upwards to approximately $1.00 a barrel.
The price of international Brent crude fell to $26.60 a barrel. Brent crude capacity is not land locked as is the case in North America.
The oil price war between the Saudis and the Russians has not helped the matter either. You can bet both of these actors are watching the current situation carefully.
As a result of COVID-19, demand for oil and gas has decreased. Supply has increased to the point where there is essentially no place to store the oil in North America.
The oil storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma is filling up fast. It is estimated the facility can hold around 85 million barrels. This is the key storage facility in North America.
The global economy is experiencing first hand the result of a lack of working and the free flow of commerce. People around the globe have been shut in their homes because of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Without economic demand, prices are falling.
The ripple effects of this move merit watching. Soft commodity food prices are on the verge of breaking lower as well. The idea of cheaper costs sounds good in the short term.
But eventually, producers and suppliers will cut back their production. And this will lead to an inventory squeeze, a spike in prices and ultimately inflation.
With the opening of the third seal in Revelation 6, John speaks of a time when it will cost a day’s wage for food. About 2,000 years ago, a denarius was a day’s wage for labor. Remember this is looming at some point in the future… A day’s wage to eat.
The dollar is breaking to higher levels against the currencies of the world. Will a strong US Dollar lead to the scenario of hyperinflation described in Revelation 6?
Revelation 6:6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
Luke 1:14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth…
Gabriel is revealing the promise of Zechariah’s son to him, John the Baptist. Zechariah is told his son will result in joy and gladness. In the Greek language, the root word for joy is a form of the word for grace or χαρά/chara. In other words, Zechariah will experience joy because of God’s grace. As a father, Zechariah would also experience “gladness” or ἀγαλλίασις/agalliasis. The translation of “gladness” does not fully define the term. Other translations could include wild joy, ecstatic delight, exultation, or exhilaration as noted by Strong’s Concordance.
and many will rejoice at his birth… The birth of John the Baptist will result in others to “rejoice”. This is the verb form of grace or χαίρω/chairó.
John the Baptist will be a source of God’s grace.
Luke 1:15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
…for he will be great before the Lord.
God’s view of John the Baptist is “great” or μέγας/megas. John will be large, great, in the widest sense. -Strong’s Concordance.
And he must not drink wine or strong drink…
Many take this charge to be a Nazarite vow. This concept has its origins in Numbers 6:1-21. John the Baptist is to set himself apart and dedicate himself to God for his entire life. John is one of three people in the Bible who were to devote their lives with a Nazarite vow to God. The other two were Samson and Samuel.
In general, there are three primary considerations when taking a Nazarite vow. One, a person is not to drink wine or any beverage product that comes from a grape. A person is not to eat grapes or raisins either. Two, no razor shall touch his head. In other words, no hair cuts or facial shaving allowed. Three, one is not to come in contact with a dead body.
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and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit…
Keep in mind, this is before the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. That event was yet future.
There were not many people who were blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit prior to John the Baptist. Aspects of the Spirit allowed Moses, Joshua, Saul, and Solomon to carry out various duties with God given insights.
King David particularly valued the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
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…even from his mother’s womb.
This promise is confirmed later in the book of Luke.
Luke 1:41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
A couple of years later, after I had gotten off the streets and had my son, I received a call. My son was a few months old at the time. CeeCee was on the phone. I still don’t know how she found me. She was in hospice care and was dying of AIDS. I knew she was HIV positive. I had known a couple of women who worked the streets who were HIV positive. It did not change that they were my friends.
CeeCee had contracted HIV in L.A. She had been gang raped and was addicted to heroin. Her family had disowned her. She had been HIV positive for 17 years. She said she wished to infect every man who tried to buy sex. She carried so much hurt, so much brokenness, and so much anger.
After her phone call, I visited her daily for months at the hospice, sneaking her cigarettes, only one each day I visited. I also sneaked in candy bars and soda. I had thought many times, Gosh, if my friend is going to die and you guys can’t do anything to save her, what’s the big deal about a cigarette?
I’d sneak in her stuffed animals and also bring treats for the girl she shared a room with. She was dying, too, but she didn’t have visitors, so we often shared my daily visits with her.
The brain lesions caused CeeCee to drift in and out, so she wasn’t always aware of my presence. She called me one last time when she had a moment of clarity. It was dinnertime at our little home. She said, “Christine.” It was the first time in the 15 years or so I had known her that she had ever called me by my real name. “I’m going to meet my Maker,” she said.
I was at a loss for words. What do you say to someone who matter–of–factly states that they’re going to meet their Maker? What do you say to someone who knows they are about to die? I struggled to remain calm for my friend.
I asked, “Have you made peace?”
“I have no regrets,” she said to me, “no guilt for anyone I infected.”
I went to see her the following morning. She was unaware of my presence. I held her hand and spoke to her, telling her stories of our past experiences in life. Then I went home, holding onto CeeCee’s smuggled–in cigarette, just in case tomorrow’s visit would be better.
About an hour after I left, I got a call. It was the hospice. CeeCee had died. The nurse said it was almost as though she had waited for that daily visit from me before she allowed herself to drift away. Then the nurse said, “I wish everyone here had an Ellie in their lives.”
I took the cigarette from my jacket pocket and put it in the trash. By the time CeeCee passed, everyone who was HIV positive there, all those dying people, knew my name. They would wave and say, “Hi!” I’d smile and say, “Hello!” After getting to know so many of the folks in the hospice, I tried to become a volunteer there. But I was a convicted felon, a criminal, and the law wouldn’t allow me to come in to do such a thing.
I don’t know if CeeCee spoke to God before her death. I know her family never let go of their shame over her life as a prostitute or her contraction of HIV, even though it resulted from the violent acts of seven gang members. Her family refused to put down their pride and see her one last time. In fact, they didn’t even come to pick up the body after she died.
CeeCee lies in a markerless grave in Kansas City. I share her story because she was my friend. Both her life and death were a tragedy. By my sharing about her, others can know of her and that she was cared for. I just wanted to give her a voice.
I often wonder how different CeeCee’s life—particularly her last days—might have been if her family had been able to look past the shame and embrace her with arms of love. I wonder the same of the many people in that hospice who spent their final days isolated and alone. Where were the other Ellies? Where were the people who could love them, freely and unconditionally? And what difference might that kind of love have made in their lives and hearts?
We all have people—whether close to us or at a distance—who have made choices we disapprove of or have experienced horrific things we don’t know how to deal with. We can hold them at arm’s length and shun them, pushing them further into isolation, hurt, and shame. Or we can draw them near with arms of love, saying, as Jesus says, “Come as you are.”
Key verse: Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
TEXT: JOSHUA 1:1-9
@beholy404
Courage is a contagious virtue, but discouragement and despair are strong weapons in the hand of Satan to destabilize and derail a seemingly mighty strategist. Many mighty men have lost the battles of life in moments of discouragement and despair. So, add to your faith courage to have good success. Joshua was a brilliant military strategist, a warrior and a special assistant to Moses before the latter died. God told him to take over the leadership of Israel to lead them to the Promised Land. He repeatedly encouraged Joshua to be strong and be of good courage.
Change is a natural occurrence in life. Times of difficulty, depression and dire needs often come and go. These periods of crises and challenges are not strange to men and women of God in every generation. Standing on the promises of God courageously is the only panacea when believers are faced with illness, fear, discouragement, disappointment and seemingly overwhelming tasks and circumstances of life. The exit of one person does not necessarily close the chapter of God’s promises for His own people.
Moses’ death was a great blow to Joshua and the nation of Israel. Joshua needed courage to move ahead and fulfill God’s instruction for his life because he was afraid to lead a rebellious nation like Israel.
Courage is the bedrock of success or achievement in life. Only those with persistence, faith and courage can obey divine instructions when the task seems impossible. Absolute dependence on God moves Him to pour His grace upon us and we are empowered to achieve great things.
*THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:* Courage is like a propeller that moves the engine.
Leviticus 23:9-14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
Acknowledging social distancing practices, the Sanhedrin has completed a toned down version of barley harvest and omer wave offering.
The Sanhedrin requested Rabbi Aharon Yitzchak Stern to be in charge of the abbreviated ceremony.
“We did the best we could and what we were able to do was as close to the Biblical commandment as possible. It is a pity the government prevented us from performing the complete ritual on the Temple Mount which is currently empty.” -Rabbi Stern informed Breaking Israel News
With this quote, it appears the Sanhedrin was not allowed to sacrifice the Passover Lamb on the Temple Mount.
With the ceremony, the counting of the omer has begun. The culmination of the counting will close 50 days later at Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.
On Shavuot, the law requires that two loaves of bread be brought to the Temple. The grain of the loaves is from wheat.
Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD.
Make no mistake, the Sanhedrin continues to look at completing sacrifices on the Temple Mount. They want to make the Shavuot offering on the Temple Mount in 50 days. The Sanhedrin also wants to make the second Passover offering on the Temple Mount next month.
