Piece By Piece.

Today's wars are not fought as they once were. With the extreme advancement in our technology there are aspects to war today that never existed before. We can fly an unmanned aircraft into a war zone and use it to kill people. We can use drones and remotely drop bombs. War today has been taken to another level entirely. People today can use instant video chat to hold meetings that decide life and death for others. When we look at prophecy, as we did yesterday, it can be very confusing.  In fact after re-reading yesterday's study I was more confused than ever- I did a very lousy job trying to convey my thoughts that's for sure, so I'm going to take a step back and try to explain my thoughts once more.

This is truly just a study on my thoughts, right or wrong I don’t know. Ultimately I hope God is guiding me and there is truth in what people may read here. Always go to the Bible for yourselves though, please… go right to God's word and with prayer and supplication request comprehension, truth, and all that you need to know our God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior, our Lord.

Prophecy is like a puzzle with many, many pieces.

This prophecy puzzle started in the beginning when we were told this--

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

It shall bruise thy head- Satan's head.

And thou shalt bruise his heel- Christ's heel.

Satan would be destroyed and Christ would be hurt but not ultimately destroyed.

From the first prophecy puzzle pieces unto the last there have been a myriad of them in between.

There are two special books of prophecy- Daniel and Revelation, an Old Testament and a New Testament book. These two books written hundreds of years apart go hand in hand in many ways.

One impressive prophecy is the one concerning the dream a king had about a statue.  That statue started history from the day the dream was given and marked history down to the very end-

Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 

Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 

Dan 2:44  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 

Dan 2:45  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 

A stone breaks the entire statue- all of history comes to an end.

The prophecy puzzle pieces were given and hundreds of years later, thousands, the pieces were each put into place until we can without any doubt see that the only remaining piece to be put in this particular part of the puzzle is the stone destroying the statue. All the parts of that statue represented a time period in our history and they've all come to pass beyond doubt, right down to the ten toes and the knowledge that there would never be a single world power in dominance again- there never has been. What is left is our Savior returning. 

Now some may say that the puzzle is taking a long time to put together, but our time and God's time are two different things. A day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day with God.

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 

So while it may seem like the prophecy puzzle's completion is taking entirely too long, it's not. God is longsuffering, without that longsuffering neither you, nor I would be here right now living in the time right before the end.

There are puzzles pieces and a major one was put into place in 1980, when it was put in place this was also said….

Luk_21:32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

When the puzzle piece was placed it was made very clear that the generation of those born in 1980 would not pass until this occurred-

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

A generation in the Bible can mean various lengths of time- the span of one man's life until his offspring appear, forty years is another, and there may be more references to generation. What is known though is that from one generation to the next it is not more than the life span of a man whether that be death at 72 years or later. 

We know the end will come, or else how could all those puzzle pieces have been placed already? Prophecy has come to pass over and over again. From ancient days until 1980, and on…NOTHING will stop all of it from coming to pass, nothing. Our believing doesn’t matter, truth is truth. You can shake your head in total disbelief, but it won't change a thing.

Obviously a lot of detail has been left out here on prophecy, I've studied it more than once in the past and it's available for anyone to go back and read. I'm not saying I won't go through it all again, God's will be done, but right now I'm looking into the prophecy that isn't known to be fulfilled just yet. Meaning, the pieces of the puzzle are in front of us, but we can't put them in the puzzle just yet.

Logically we know that at some point we will be living prophecy and we won't be able to look back as history. We can only hope and pray that we are alive and able to witness things transpire in our watching and praying as we wait for our Savior to return.

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 

Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 

Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 

Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 

Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 

Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 

Prophecy's Puzzle Pieces.

Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 

Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 

Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 

Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 

Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 

Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 

There is a lot of history we can account for and a lot we can't in prophecy.  It's wonderful when we can look back and fit the pieces together like a massive puzzle. Then we are left with puzzle pieces we know WILL fit into the puzzle to eventually make it complete, but we can no longer look back upon history for these pieces because they are for the future.

We know can see the pieces, we just do not know how they fit.  We grasp at all sorts of things as we try to figure it all out so we are prepared. Isn't that what prophecy is for, at least one of its aspects.

In the Bible, prophets predicted outcomes of battles. Prophets predicted events thousands of years into the future. Prophets predicted births, deaths, kingdoms that would be overthrown, and others that would rise up. Prophets predicted events leading up to the end of the world and it's not a lovely picture at all.  In the verses above we have some of those pieces of prophecy leading up to the end of the world and the return of our Savior.

Those pieces of prophecy flow one verse to the next and they talk of kings and kingdoms. Also in those verses of yet unknown prophecy contain this--

Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 

With chariots.

With horsemen.

With many ships.

Do we even have chariots today? And if we do they are most likely in a museum not something used in active warfare. Horsemen fighting? Not likely, not in our day and age. Ships, sure we use air craft carriers and submarines, but nothing like ships of old. 

So here we are with a prophecy of the time of the end when the king of the south will push at another ruling power, and the king of the north will come against that other ruling power like a whirlwind- with those chariots, horsemen and ships we just talked about.

The prophecy was given thousands of years ago at a time when chariots, horses and ships were used in battle, was Daniel showed these so he'd comprehend and be able to write about a warfare to take place?  We do know that right now the wars being fought are commonplace and many. If this is the time of the end and there are powers warring with other powers ultimately those who are calling the shots, so to speak, are in control of the wars on the ground. Seldom do those in control deciding who goes to war, are involved in the war themselves physically. Who is fueling the wars? Often we don't know about the funding of wars until many years later and even then it can be covered up. It is very possible for a power to fund wars that even hurt their own country as long as an ultimate outcome is provided. Wars are much different today as we well know. 

If a power's goal is spiritual domination then not being able to touch another power you're trying to infiltrate would be a loss, right? 

Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 

Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

There is so much we need to consider and if God wills, we may eventually comprehend fully, until then we are left to study, to contemplate.  We will study and contemplate more tomorrow by the GRACE of our LORD.  The time of the end needs to be at hand, our world is in upheaval as never before and evil has run rampant so that the majority of people now call evil good, no longer recognizing evil for what it is.  Surely the cup has to be full, surely our Savior has to be on the verge of standing up, and most assuredly the time of trouble has to be so very near. Our Savior must come soon….please, He must come soon.

Time of Trouble.

But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Dan. 11:44-12:2)

Before our Savior returns- and we DO believe He will- He said so.

Joh_14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Joh_14:28  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Do we believe these words? We must if we believe in our Savior. 

The Lord IS going to descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump God!  Clearly when the LORD returns it is going to be the most spectacular event ever to be seen by those who are still alive and watching for Him. Our Lord returning for us, this is OUR HOPE, this is OUR REALITY!

In Daniel we read that right before our Lord returns there is going to be an awful time of trouble. Before that time of trouble begins to take place, Jesus is going to finish the work He is performing in heaven.

The work Jesus is undertaking is intercession for us with God the Father. Jesus is pleading the cause of all those who are to be His. There will come a time when Jesus HAS to be finished with His intercession in order for Him to return. No one will rise to meet Christ in the air who hasn't been forgiven of every sin they've ever committed. Jesus' precious blood will cover all the sins of those who belong to Him.

If we believe this then we have to STOP living in a fantasy world and believing that no matter what everyone on earth will belong to Jesus.  We have millions of people who do not believe in Jesus at all and refuse to believe in Him- will these people rise to meet Jesus in the air when He returns? Absolutely not. Before Jesus returns EVERYONE will have had a chance to find forgiveness and eternal life is Jesus Christ our Lord. Not a single person will be able to say they were NOT given a chance.

Face to face with the truth they may be utterly and completely shocked because of their unbelief. Choosing darkness- no enlightenment, over light- full enlightenment, is something everyone is going to be accountable for. 

This is going to be true--

Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Read that again…

Those who do NOT sincerely receive the love of the truth, will NOT be saved.

'…That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.'

All that isn't truth is unrighteousness.

Our LORD is coming for us and before He does that, there is going to be an awful time of trouble. Probation will be closed and we will still be living upon this awful earth completely forgiven, secured in the Holy Spirit. 

We may not know when this all takes place, but we know it WILL take place.

We know that Jerusalem is a prophetic focal point and all the major events that take place there are for our watching.

 'And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up,…'

Jerusalem where the one staking his claim by placing a formal residence there- outside of their own land but connected, a representative of their own place, will meet his end, and what end is that? The reign of terror this one has enforced to capture all they can will be over. The time of trouble coming is the time when our Savior's mercy is no longer available.  No more mercy, no more chance to be redeemed, to find forgiveness- this is the end that will be made.  Truly, when something is no longer of any effect it can go through the motions all it wants, but the result desired will never manifest.

Satan longs to deceive as many as he can and once our Savior stands up and probation is over, Satan's deception in utilizing millions of people to gain all the people he can to his evil ways will be over. Satan will know this, but people won't and they most assuredly will create that horrific time of trouble.  Just as a criminal knowing they are about to be captured and locked up in prison- may go on a wild spree of criminal activity because their freedom is at an end--Satan knows it and is reacting to knowing. That time of trouble will be more horrific than we care to even begin to imagine, and by the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD and SAVIOR, may we be kept as HIS, our eternal life secure in HIM and HIS love!

More on this tomorrow by the will of our LORD, now and forever!

Whole Not Part.

We can't stand against the wiles of the devil… if we are only wearing part of the spiritual armor we are given and told to put on.

You can put on your pants but forget your shirt, and you are not fully protected from the elements. You can put on your shoes but forget your hat, and you are still vulnerable. You could put on everything but forget one piece of your clothing and that part of you is exposed to the wind, the rain, the sun, the snow. 

Spiritual armor is truly amazing. We can put on the whole armor of God and we are fully protected spiritually.  This spiritual armor will protect us spiritually wholly, unlike physical armor.  With physical armor various parts of us are still vulnerable, it's not lifesaving against an explosion even if you are fully covered. Only spiritual armor has the properties that protect us spiritually in all ways.

Each piece of our spiritual armor is connected to the other through the spiritual force of the Holy Spirit and no wile of the devil can penetrate that spiritual force. 

We've talked about the armor of God several times and we may talk about it several more times, I have no way of knowing.  It will forever be so incredibly important.

Our loins girt with truth.

Our chest protected with the breastplate of righteousness.

Our feet wearing the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace.

In one hand the shield of faith.

On our head the helmet of salvation.

In our other hand sword of the Spirit- the Word of God.

Our mouths speaking prayer and supplication as we watch in perseverance.

Our armor- truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, Word of God, prayer and supplication, perseverance- do we wear this armor- ALL of it, the WHOLE of it? If we have any hope at all of standing against the wiles of the devil, we must put on the WHOLE armor of God.

Through Jesus Christ our LORD we will, all through HIS LOVE!!!!!!!

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 

Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ever Believing.

2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 

Paul FOUGHT a GOOD FIGHT.

Paul KEPT the FAITH.

Remember this from yesterday-

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

We are to fight the good fight. Paul fought the good fight. That good fight is a fight of faith. We need to keep the faith as Paul kept the faith. It is so easy to doubt. I'm not talking big gaping doubts, tiny doubts creep in eating away at our faith, those are what I'm talking about right now. We fight to keep our faith- to believe in our God through every single trial we will face. Believing that God is our all in all takes faith. We are so tempted to look to ourselves for so much and failing to look to God. Do our lives reflect our faith? Are we living for God as we live, or is He an afterthought we have at various times. Does our faith tell us that all through the day, all during the little annoyances and the huge setbacks we face that God is in control? Do we rest in that assurance in the peace that truly passes understanding? Do we allow our faith to run dry periodically, slipping into believing only in ourselves or other people, so that we despair over ourselves, our many failings- not holding fast to faith we need to hold fast to. Our faith can slip in so much, in our thoughts, in our actions. God needs to be in every single part of our lives. We need God with us every second of every day, He needs to be the first thought, not that last.

We need to fight the good fight of faith- of ever believing.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith.

1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Fight the good fight of faith.

Lay hold on eternal life.

We are FIGHTING in our spiritual life. At a recent Bible study we talked a little bit about spiritual fighting. If people who are Christ followers don’t realize that there is a spiritual fight they are engaged in then they have not read Gods word at all.

The struggles of a Christ follower are very real. The spiritual warfare is real. We don't have to see our attackers to be attacked. We don't have to see Satan to know he is real. Once more, it has to be said because people tend to forget-  if you believe in Jesus you have to believe in Satan.  Jesus did battle with Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness for forty days. And Satan didn't hide himself after that. Evil spirits were in the presence of Christ often in the form of possession of so many people. This was REAL then and it is REAL today. Satan did NOT disappear from our world when Christ died and rose again. Jesus even prayed this--

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 

Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

Jesus would have had NO reason to pray this way if there were no longer evil in our world. There IS evil in this world in so many ways. A lot of evil has been hidden by Satan in things we don't even want to imagine. So much evil is called good it's unrecognizable to us. The standard we have is God's word, God's truth.

We need to fight the good fight of faith, laying hold of eternal life. 

We need to fight.

The good fight of faith is a life devoted to living for our Savior in a world where Satan will do all he can to keep us from eternal life. God will keep us from evil as our Savior prayed for us to be kept from evil. Being kept from evil as long as we are Christ's! We are not to be taken out of this world. We are to be kept in this evil world but kept from evil - all through our Savior's love.

The fight is an everyday spiritual battle and if you think you can take a single day off and are going to be free of the attempt of evil to seduce you, to attack you, to ruin you eternally then you're wrong. We can never take a day off from this spiritual battle, never. We must pray DAILY. 

Jesus prayed this--  'Give us this day our DAILY bread.'  If, we weren't supposed to pray daily, then those words would not be necessary. Perhaps…give us our weekly bread, our yearly bread… would have been used, but that's not the case, that's not truth. We are to pray THIS DAY for our DAILY BREAD. In our DAILY prayer.  Daily protection, daily need for protection. As we fall under attack sometimes if we are allowed the discernment we will recognize the attack for what it is. Other times we get caught up in believing as the world does and things just go wrong because of worldly reasons, tangible reasons. We forget that behind so much that is tangible are evil forces manipulating them invisibly. They are REAL. Jesus battled with the invisible evil forces, we too must do battle with them and through our SAVIOR'S love, we will grab hold of the faith we need to fight.

All in HIM now and forever, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. In His love, His grace, His mercy, His everlasting existence!

Heirs.

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

We are sons and daughters of God. We are heirs of God through our Savior, Jesus Christ.  What do we inherit as heirs of God?

Mat_19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Mat_25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Heb_6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

1Jn 2:25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 

Rev_21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Tit_3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life

Heb_1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Jas_2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

*******

We inherit --everlasting life.

We inherit --the kingdom.

We inherit --the promises.

We inherit --all things.

We are made heirs- according to the hope of eternal life.

We are heirs- of salvation.

We are heirs of the kingdom.

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Our inheritance is eternal life.

Our inheritance is the kingdom of God.

Our inheritance salvation.

No earthly inheritance can compare to the inheritance God has for His heirs.

Eternal life in the kingdom of God, salvation.

Please LORD, we would be the heirs of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have no worthiness of our own. We have nothing to offer. We cling to the hope found in Christ to save us from all evil, from ourselves who are prone to evil, please, save us! Please.