He gave His life for all of mankind, so that we would have a way back to the Father.
He knew there was no other way but to be the most pure, holy, unblemished sacrifice, to be the propitiation for our sins, in order to save us all.
THIS is what the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMaschiach has done for every single person that has ever lived, whether they believe in Him or not; whether they love Him, or hate Him.
THIS is the only way any human is allowed to be in the presence of the Holy, Living, Almighty God in Eternal Life.
Jesus Christ is THE only WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE; all other ways will lead to the everlasting fire.
HONOR Him today by acknowledging, remembering, and thanking Him for what the LORD God the Father permitted-to have His only begotten Son be the precious slain Lamb of God, take our place on that Cross, and become that Divine sacrifice for all of mankind.
If they have forsaken you, remember them by praying for them.
If they curse you, even to your face, do not retaliate-bless them, or say nothing and at least pray for their souls, and leave the judgment for them up to the Lord.
As much as it hurts your heart, if they choose to forsake you, let them go. Do not chase after them. Why?
Because God does not force anyone to love Him or follow Him. And if we are to follow in His ways, we are to do the same. Love them, but do not force them to love you back.
Let them go. Pray for them. Desire God’s Spirit to draw them to Himself, in order to save their souls. But do not force them to be kept in your life when they do not want to be there.
There will be much more persecution among the Lord Jesus’ followers-His Children-in the days to come, because those who are opposed to God, have their minds set on the world, and the things of this world (Rom. 8:6-8).
Those in the world who mind the things of the flesh, do not accept anyone who abides in the Spirit of God, and walks in His Way (1 Cor. 2:13-14). They are unable to understand, hence the reason there is animosity towards a believer in Christ, even if that person is their own family member.
Let the Spirit of God deal with them-all of them. Stay the course. Let them go, but continue to love them and pray for them. Endure to the end, for as the Lord Jesus said, “great is your reward in Heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets which were before you” (Matt. 5:12).
The path to follow IS a hard Path. Be prepared TO lose much…here.
But look forward to that “inexpressible and glorious joy” that Peter spoke of (1 Peter 1:8), which is “the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls…”(1 Pet. 1:9)
Let them go. Pick up your Cross, move forward in Christ, and know that He loves them even more than you do; He will do all in His Power to convince them of His Truth. But He cannot go against His own “prime directive”—the very Free Will gift He has given every person. It ultimately will be their own choice, to accept Him or reject Him.
Now go and fulfill Deuteronomy 6:5, Eph. 6:10-18, & Ps. 27:14.
I don’t think the late Benedict XVI fully realized how prophetic his statement was. David certainly did not realize many of his Psalms were prophetic either, at the time when he was writing each of them. But we are actually SEEING this happen before our eyes, whether we are part of a “C” Catholic church or not.
The fact is, anyone who considers themselves a Christian—a true believer IN the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/Spirit, and is baptized (Mk. 16:16), is a child of God, and IS part of the One holy “c” catholic (universal) and apostolic Church, regardless of what sect of Christianity you may hail from.
THIS AFFECTS ALL OF US—not just born-again, Bible-believing Catholics like myself who attend the TLM-Traditional Latin Mass-the very Mass that started it all, and yet the hierarchy has been trying to shut us down. Why? Because the TLM reminds them of how it all started, at the Last Supper between Christ and His disciples-that it’s all about HIM, and not the people in the seats. It’s FOR us in the seats, but the attention is wholly on GOD in that service, no one else, just like it was in the OT when the priests were in the tabernacle and even more so, in the Holy of Holies with the Spirit of God. And they hate that.
If you think that this does not or will not affect your church one day—think again. The power and spirit of AntiChrist has been here since the ascension of the Lord Jesus to the Father in Acts 1:8-11. The Apostle John spoke about it in his letters to the Church. He WARNED us that this would happen, and further more was able to explain and expound upon it when the Holy Spirit “raptured” or “snatched” his spirit up in a vision to Heaven in Revelation 4:1-2, and showed him some things that were at that time in his life that had to do with the Church, but the remainder of John’s vision had to do with what was to come in the latter days-the days WE in the 21st century, are living in presently.
You see, the problem with the CHURCH as a whole, is that one branch of the Tree thinks it is better, or holier, or more “Spirit-filled”, etc., than the others. Some branches do not at all accept the others as fellow believers, and would rather even dare to call them “heretics”; for that, the Lord Jesus will judge them harshly. It was Jesus Himself that admonished John in Luke 9:49-50 about this very thing; John and the other disciples saw someone casting out devils in Jesus’ name, and they told him to stop, just because that man was not in their particular group. Jesus said to John, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you, is for you.” But the devils and demons have done an excellent job in getting all of us to see each other as the enemy, INSTEAD of focusing on THEM! May the Lord forgive us for our lack of love toward one another!
NONE of us in any branch of the Church has it “perfect”; as a matter of fact, there wasn’t supposed to BE thousands of splits in the BODY of Christ! As the picture with the Scripture states, we were and ARE to be, ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT in Christ-ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, with ONE GOD and Father ruling OVER ALL of us (Eph. 4:4-6). But we managed in 2000+ years, to majorly screw that up to the point even the devils and demons themselves scratch their heads wondering how we managed to let it get that bad!
If after reading all of this, you still think that some parts of the whole BODY of Christ are “heretics” or “non-believers” because they do not worship exactly the same way you do, or sing the same songs you do, or preach the same way you do, or speak the Mass/service in the same language that you do, OR they do not seem to be as “holy” as you and your branch of Christianity is, well get ready to be KNOCKED OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE like Saul of Tarsus was (Acts 9:1-6)!
The Lord Jesus did it then, and in order to get HIS BODY of believers back to where it was wayyyy back in the time of Acts, there’s going to be some —actually, MANY of us who just may be going back to the “catacomb” days that soon followed in that first couple of centuries. So He will ALLOW it to happen, in order for us all TO become what He Himself prayed to the Father for in John 17, that we would be “sanctified in the truth, for Your Word is truth” (vs. 17), and that “the glory that You have given me I have given them, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE EVEN AS WE ARE ONE” (vs. 22). Jesus continued in verse 23, “I in them and You in Me, that THEY (that is us!!) may become PERFECTLY ONE, so that the WORLD may know that YOU sent Me and loved them even as you loved Me.”
The prayer in John 17 by the Lord Jesus has YET to fully be answered, because the BODY of Christ has been too busy arguing, fighting and condemning each other, instead of turning toward the Lord Jesus, and LISTENING to the HOLY SPIRIT, allowing HIM to lead and guide us, and grow us into the true BODY of CHRIST we were always meant to be, with ONE TRUE Spirit —not hundreds of evil spirits leading us into judgment and God forbid, even damnation!
PRAY and ask the Holy Spirit to REVEAL to you, how YOU as a believer in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit —the ONE TRUE GODHEAD—should be praying about this. Allow Him to HUMBLE you, and let Him show you what can do about all of this in this ever increasing evil time when the CHURCH BODY is and will be continuing to go through MUCH TRIBULATION in the days to come.
With much HUMILITY, REPENTANCE, and ALL of us in the Body seeking FORGIVNESS of such sins against each other, we may just be able to once again, stand strong (Eph. 6:10-18) against the TRUE enemy of our souls—the evil ones who have since the beginning of the time of God’s creation of humanity, sought out to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY (Jn. 10:10) us off the face of the Earth, just because the LORD God loves us, and created us in HIS image. Also, because He sent His Son, Jesus, to SAVE us from our sins (Matt. 1:21), IF we were to ACCEPT Him into our lives.
Mark my words, mark Benedict’s words, and most importantly, mark THE WORD OF GOD—because ALL Scripture will be fulfilled, and the Church WILL go through a time of persecution and tribulation this world has yet to see. But it is coming. And sooner than any of us who ARE watching and seeing it happen, would like to admit.
PRAY and SEEK the Lord God, and His Son, and ask Him to humble you and your church body, in order to work with the other true branches of the Body of Christ. Those who ARE truly His, will desire to do HIS will, and work with one another, in love, in humility, in reverent fear of the LORD God and His living Word, which IS His SON, the LORD JESUS (Jn. 1:1-2, 14), Who is and always will be the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE (Jn. 14:6) for all that accept Him as both SAVIOR and LORD of their lives.
Remember the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:26-29, and LIVE them out, in love, humility and service to one another, fulfilling the law of Christ, and answering His prayer to the Father:
“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither JEW nor GREEK, SLAVE nor FREE, there is no MALE and FEMALE, for you are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to Promise.”
May the LORD GOD Almighty have mercy on us, and forgive our sins of highmindedness, and help us once again to become the HUMBLE servants of the Most High He desired all of us in the Body of Christ to be—one HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC CHURCH. In Jesus’ most precious Name—Amen. ✨✝️📖✨✝️📖✨✝️📖✨✝️📖✨✝️📖 Pope Benedict XVI visionary….(from 1969)
WE ARE HERE ! The prophecy of Fr. Joseph Ratzinger in 1969: “We will soon have reduced priests to the role of social workers and the message of faith reduced to political views. Everything will seem lost, but at the right moment, right in the most dramatic stage of the crisis, the Church will be reborn. She will be smaller, poorer, almost catacombal, but even more holy. For it will no longer be the Church of those who seek to please the world, but the Church of the faithful to God and His eternal law. Rebirth will be the work of a small remains, seemingly insignificant yet indomitable, passed through a purification process. Because that’s how God works. Against evil, a small flock resists. “
I saw a devotional this morning, that spoke about how we have peace with the LORD God when we are awake, but especially, when we lay down to sleep. It quoted Psalm 4:8, and the prayer taken from it that my Godmother Helen used to have us kids to say before we were put to bed each night when I visited my cousins—“Now I lay me down to sleep…”.
But the verse that stood out to me this morning was from Psalm 23:4. As I read the verse over and over again, the words “valley of the shadow of death” resonated within me. For David, who had many enemies, being under attack by his king, and even by his own son at one point, I can see how this Psalm poured out of his soul and onto paper.
I looked up the verse, and the specific word צלמות “salmavet”, which in Hebrew is “of the shadow of death”. It is also defined as “death-shadow” (of distress, extreme danger), “deep shadow”, and “deep darkness” (of place of the dead). Even though they are mostly used figuratively, I sense there is a more literal meaning of it than we would like to admit.
This world has become more and more “the valley of the shadow of death”. In fact, I dare say that literally walking in this world right now IS like walking through the “shadow of Death”—the same Death that is mentioned in Revelation 20:14–the Greek word for death being θάνατος = “Thanatos”, the name for the ancient Greek god of Death (in Rome, the god was “Mors”). Thanatos may sound familiar, since in recent years the Avengers movies had a supervillain character named “Thanos” which first appeared in the Marvel comics. He most certainly lived up to the name in those movies.
Some other Bible verses that include “the shadow of death” or the other definitions of it are in Psalm 107:10–“There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains…” Boy, does that sound a lot like the people who basically are the “walking dead” on this Earth right now, who deny the very GOD who allows them to still have BREATH in their lungs.
Another verse is from Matthew 4:16 which is taken from Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness (חשׁך)- kho-shek’, which means “darkness, obscurity”; “darkness”, “secret place”, “death”, “misery”, “IGNORANCE”—!, “sorrow”, “wickedness”. Hmm, very interesting how that is “figuratively” used, because the way our world is right now—actually, it has BEEN that way, but MOST of us have been ASLEEP, eating the “Lotus cookies” (some of you will 😉get that), busy with our own lives, not paying attention to what really has been going on in the world, both physically and SPIRITUALLY.
We human spirits have partaken in “panem et circenses”—“bread and circuses—a WHOLE lot of distraction from what has really gone on in this world—the work of the evil ones who “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10)—the HUMAN PUPPET AGENTS of SATAN who have continued his work for millennia, because he vowed to himself to take as many with him as possible to the Pit and ultimately, to “the LAKE WHICH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE; which is the SECOND DEATH” (Rev. 21:8). That “second death” is WORSE than the first, because it is PERMANENT and ETERNAL.
WHAT needs to happen if one wants to avoid that “valley of the shadow of death”? You cannot avoid that, for WE ALL who are living ad breathing, are walking IN that valley right NOW—it is HERE on EARTH; it IS EARTH. Hence the reason why David wrote it the way he did, “Even though I WALK THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death”; David realized he was IN that valley throughout his lifetime. This entire life is about HOW to walk through that valley of death, misery, destruction, evil works, etc., and come out FROM it, with the help of the ONLY ONE Who can “deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13) that we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste of every single day of our lives. THAT Person is within the Eternal Triune Godhead—the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus DEFEATED Hell and Death (very real evil spirits) at the Cross, and OWNS the keys (Rev. 1:18)!! He is the ONLY ONE Who was RESURRECTED, and because of His victory at the Cross, as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” The Lord Jesus has made a way back to the Father—the ONLY way, for He IS “the way, the truth, and the LIFE” (Jn. 14:6), and there is NO OTHER WAY out of eternal DARKNESS, the shadow of DEATH, or DAMNATION, except one who acknowledges Jesus as LORD and SAVIOR of their life (Romans 10:9-10,13).
If you want out of the “valley of the shadow of death”, you first must REPENT (Ez. 14:6; 18:30; Matt. 3:2; Mk. 1:15; Lk. 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; 8:22). The Lord Jesus warns once again of what will happen if people do not repent of their sins and wickedness: “Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you SOON and war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Rev. 2:16). The “sword” IS His Word, and He, Jesus, IS THE WORD OF GOD.
SEEK the Lord and His Word out. BE HUMBLE and ASK Him to forgive you of your sins, and LIVE as a child of the King, Who WILL hold your hand and walk WITH you, “through the valley of the shadow of death” here, UNTIL the “appointed time” (Dan. 8:19; 11:35; Hab. 2:3; for Him to come back and “redeem His people” (2 Sam. 7:23; Job 5:20; Ps. 69:18; Is. 50:2; Jer. 15:21), and I will end with Hosea 13:14a: “I SHALL ransom them from the power of Sheol; I SHALL REDEEM them from DEATH…”
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for EVERY event under heaven…” Eccl. 3:1
“For the Day of the LORD of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low…” Isaiah 2:12
“Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let ALL the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; it is near…” Joel 2:1
This message is both a warning to those who continue to do evil, to STOP NOW, and for those who wait on the LORD—get ready, for He has NOT forsaken you! Keep your lamps trimmed with oil, and your minds focused on Him. Continue to PRAY for the the lost, and hope, for the best IS yet to come for all those who have waited upon the LORD.
“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourselves over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” Ps. 37:7
“For the evildoers SHALL BE CUT OFF, but THOSE who WAIT for the LORD SHALL inherit the land.” Psalm 37:9
“It IS good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” Lam. 3:26
Ezra the scribe sought the Lord to do His will. He studied, prayed, memorized His Word, and then taught it to the people. Even the Persian king Artaxerxes recognized the Spirit of God within Ezra, and decreed that what Ezra needed for his people, it should be done. Also, that Ezra should set magistrates and judges over the people, and he himself teach the people what they do not know (Ez 7:21, 25).
We would do very well to read the life of Ezra, and follow his lead in how he spent time getting to know the LORD God, reading and studying His Word, praying, and then taking the Word of God to the people, to teach and preach it to them.
Having the Word of God in your mind and heart (Ps. 119:9-11) is a very good thing these days. It is what keeps me in perfect peace (Is. 26:3), even during such evil days as we are living in.
When the enemy tries to get a foothold in my life, I quickly rebuke the evil ones with Scripture I have memorized, or go to the Word and start speaking it out, to extinguish the fiery darts (Eph. 6:16) that the enemy shoots onto the battlefield (my mind).
Yes, the hand of God can work for good in all souls that allow the Triune Godhead into their lives.
If one does not have the Spirit of God living and working in them, then as it is written, “the wrath of God abides in him” (Jn. 3:36).
Decide for yourself just who you will serve in this life (Joshua 24:15); for it WILL determine where you end up in Eternity.
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken UP; and a CLOUD received them out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward Heaven AS HE WENT UP, behold two men stood by in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into Heaven? THIS SAME JESUS, which is TAKEN UP FROM YOU into Heaven, SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER as you have seen Him go into Heaven.” Acts 1:9-11
(The Apostle John writes) “And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a White Horse; and HE that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp SWORD, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a Name written, “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16
“The LORD looks down from Heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God” (Ps. 14:2).
Pray for every inhabitant on the face of the Earth, that they may take a knee NOW, while they still have breath in their lungs, and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, Lord, King, and Master, before it is too late (Phil. 2:9-11).
If anyone has cried over the sins and evils that both mankind and demon have done, it is the LORD God, and His Son. The Holy Spirit has grieved like no other, to see this world decline and become like those evil creatures chained in Tartarus, awaiting their Day of Judgment (2 Pet. 2:4-10; Jude 1:6-7).
But until That Day arrives; Until the Lord finishes what He has started so long ago, EVERY person who still has breath in them, STILL has an opportunity to REPENT, and ask Him for forgiveness. He will gladly give it to all those who cry out to Him (Ps. 18:6; 34:6,17).
For those who refuse, There is a place where they will go for all eternity; It was NEVER meant for mankind, but only for Satan and all those angelic spirits who rebelled against their Master so long ago (Is. 66:22-24; Dan. 12:1-2; Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; Rev. 14:9-11; 20:11-15).
The LORD is Just. He must punish the wicked ones of mankind along with those angelic creatures.
That Day is coming…SOON. NO ONE knows that Day or Hour, but the Father Himself (Matt. 24:36).
Will YOU be ready when He calls His children HOME to Himself? Will YOU escape the Time of His Wrath upon the Earth that is yet to come (Ps. 110:5; Is. 13:6; Jer. 30:7; Joel 2:11; Rev. 6:17)?
The only person that can answer that question, and will be held RESPONSIBLE for what happens to their ETERNAL state, Is YOU.
Cry out to the LORD now; SEEK His Face; CALL upon His name. HE WILL ANSWER YOU (Jer. 33:3; Ps. 17:6; Ps. 20:6; Zech. 10:6; Is. 30:19).
“Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend into the Pit” (Ps. 143:7).
Do not wait for “tomorrow”; there might not be one.
This may have been written years ago in the days of Jeremiah, but the Word of the LORD still stands as true today as it did then.
His Word does not “expire”; it does not just speak to a certain people in a certain place for a certain time due certain circumstances that were going on…
No, God’s Words and Warnings still ring out loud and clear for the people of THIS century, and EVERY nation that exists today.
The United States of America has been given many blessings by the Lord God Almighty, and in the past century, this nation has slowly turned its face away from the LORD God, and turned toward false gods and idols.
The United States of America, and other nations as well, must REPENT before the LORD God NOW-IMMEDIATELY, before He ushers in a time of tribulation and wrath so fierce, hardly anyone will survive through it.
Mankind has allowed himself to be deceived by the father of lies, Satan, and his horde of demons to steal, kill, and destroy every nation and corrupt every leader possible, in order to bring those countries to ruin, and their people into demonic bondage.
The only way that The United States and the other nations will have a chance to survive, is for them to REPENT, wholeheartedly turn back toward Him and ask the LORD God to heal their nation.
If this is not done, and mankind thinks he has no need for God, he WILL be destroyed, but not before the LORD rescues His people out of the WRATH that is to come.
REPENT, or be DESTROYED. THAT is your FREE WILL choice, America, and all other nations that are under the wrath of the Almighty.
This is what I heard while praying and speaking to the Father this morning about all that is going on; about all those who, especially even my own loved ones, who no longer even speak to me. Their hearts have hardened because they have let the fiery darts (Eph. 6:16) of the evil one take over their minds.
Every one of us, especially those who consider themselves to be sons and daughters of God will be held accountable for NOT “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” because they did NOT “bring into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the OBEDIENCE of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:5).
Those who disregard God’s Word think that they will not be held accountable for any of this.
They are GRAVELY wrong.
They will not just lie in a grave or in an urn somewhere; they WILL stand before an Almighty God, His Son, Jesus Christ, AND the Holy Spirit, and give an account of the very lives we lived (Rom. 14:12; 1 Pet. 4:5).
Take the words that the Holy Spirit said here, seriously; VERY seriously.
Because there COMES a Day—SOONER than one thinks, that we ALL will be in front of Him Who is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).
“See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on Earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from HIM that speaks from HEAVEN: whose Voice then shook the Earth: but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not the Earth only, but also HEAVEN.” Hebrews 12:25-27
BUT, I will leave you with this hopeful consoling thought: The LORD is merciful (Deut. 4:31; 2 Chron. 30:9; Ps. 103:8; 116:5; 117:2; Joel 2:13)—He WILL continue to try and turn your evil hearts toward Him, even when all tribulation HELL breaks through, and hope seems to be lost.
He will continue to be there, waiting for you to “call upon the name of the Lord to be saved” (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13; 1Cor. 1:9; Is. 65:1; 2Pet. 1:10-11; Acts 2:38).
Walking in the Dark with Faith 