The Euphrates River is about 1,800 miles long, one thousand feet to one mile at some points wide, and is on the average 57 feet deep, For a long time, this river was a formidable barrier to East-West communication and transportation. Although modern transportation systems can cross the river easily, the water has nevertheless become a subtle dividing line.
The drying of the Euphrates as prophesied in Revelation will serve as a sign to the kings of the east to begin a catastrophic invasion.
Tuesday September 13, 2022
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet
for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Our Lord Jesus might have said in all his sorrows, “I have known better days than these.” When he was tempted of the devil in the wilderness, it must have been hard for him to have restrained himself from dashing the devil into pieces. If I had been the Son of God, feeling as I do now, if that devil had tempted me I should have dashed him into the nethermost hell, in the twinkling of an eye! And then conceive the patience our Lord must have had, standing on the pinnacle of the temple, when the devil said, “Fall down and worship me.” He would not touch him, the vile deceiver, but let him do what he pleased. Oh! What might of misery and love there must have been in the Savior’s heart when he was spat upon by the men he had created; when the eyes he himself had filled with vision, looked on him with scorn, and when the tongues, to which he himself had given utterance, hissed and blasphemed him! Oh, my friends, if the Saviour had felt as we do, and I doubt not he did feel in some measure as we do—only by great patience he curbed himself—he might have swept them all away; and, as they said, he might have come down from the cross, and delivered himself, and destroyed them utterly. It was mighty patience that could bear to tread this world beneath his feet, and not to crush it, when it so ill-treated its Redeemer. You marvel at the patience which restrained him; you marvel also at the poverty he must have felt, the poverty of spirit, when they rebuked him and he reviled them not again; when they scoffed at him, and yet he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He had seen brighter days; that made his misery more bitter, and his poverty more poor.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version
Tuesday Reflecting
“As your days, so shall your strength be.” – Deuteronomy 33:25.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:13.
He will not impose upon you one needless burden; He will not exact more than He knows your strength will bear; He will ask no Peter to come to Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support on the unstable wave; He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or withdraw the stone if too heavy. But neither at the same time will He admit as an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your crime.
~ MACDUFF
Prayer for Monday
Lord our God, Ruler over the world, our longing is to see Your thoughts and Your will in all peoples, so we come before You and ask that we may find continued strength in Your Word and never cease to hope for the coming of Your Heavenly Kingdom. Even when the world storms and rages, even when earthly kingdoms rise up against each other and everything seems dark, even then we ask You to let Your presence be known and felt. Let Your Kingdom go quietly forward, to the honor of Your most precious and holy name. Help us come closer to the goal Jesus has shown us, closer to the time we eagerly wait for, the day of His coming when all shall be made new and good through Your power, through Your Spirit. In Jesus’ mighty and anointed name, we ask these things of You.
Amen.
Over the triple doorways of the Cathedral of Milan there are three inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a beautiful wreath of roses, and underneath is the legend. “All that which pleases is but for a moment.” Over the other is sculptured a cross, and the words, “All that which troubles us is but for a moment.” But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the inscription, “That only is important which is eternal.”
Monday September 12, 2022
James 4:14
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
What does matter after all? What are the axiomatic truths upon which all human life may rest with confidence? Fortunately they are not many. Here are the chief ones:
1. Only God is great . . .
2. Only God is wise . . .
3. Apart from God nothing matters. We think that health matters, that freedom matters, or knowledge or art or civilization. And but for one insistent word they would matter indeed. That word is eternity.
Grant that men possess perpetual being, and the preciousness of every earthly treasure is gone instantly. God is to our eternal being what our heart is to our body. The lungs, the liver, the kidneys have value as they relate to the heart. Let the heart stop and the rest of the organs promptly collapse. Apart from God, what is money, fame, education, civilization? Exactly nothing at all, for men leave all these things behind them and one by one go to eternity. Let God hide His face and nothing thereafter is worth the effort.
4. Only what we do in God will remain to us at last . . .
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version
Monday Reflecting
“As your days, so shall your strength be.” – Deuteronomy 33:25.
Watch your way, as a cautious traveler; and don’t be gazing at that mountain or river in the distance, and saying: “How shall I ever get over them?” but keep to the present little inch that is before you, and accomplish that in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and the river can only be passed in the same way; and when you come to them, you will come to the light and strength that belong to them.
~ M. A. KELTY
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. – 1 John 3:1-2.
Being called children of God is a sure sign of God’s love. With wonder in his heart, John marveled that believers should be called “God’s children,” an expression that emphatically emphasizes their relationship with God. Those who believe in Christ Jesus right this moment are God’s children now, they do not have to wait to be known by the Father as His children.
This relationship that the individual has to God results in the world not knowing them (see John 1:9–13); but it also gives believers an unshakeable confidence and assurance in their relationship to the Father. John asserted that there was no progressive process by which believers gradually become God’s children, it happens the moment an individual believes in Christ Jesus and His redemptive work.
Although the future will bring changes in believers’ bodies, as far as being glorified like Christ’s, the future will in no way make them more God’s children than what they are today. In Christ believers are as related to God as they will ever be and that relationship can never be broken.
When Christ appears to take his church to heaven, all believers “will be like him,” possessing glorified, resurrected bodies as Paul confidently writes under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration:
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. – Romans 8:16-17.
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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. – Romans 8:29-30.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. – 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.
The present unglorified body should not block the expression of one’s true relationship to God. The coming of Christ will only be a change in the mode of the believer’s existence, not a change in his position before God. John in his epistle/letter is trying to reassure Christians, not just in his day, but beyond, because during his time his opponents, who had become many, had raised questions about a believer’s present standing with God as compared with their eternal standing. The beloved Apostle is making it perfectly clear that your relationship with God AS Father, starts and endures from the moment a person accepts Christ Jesus and His mission to restore that relationship with the Father that was lost through Adam.
When it is all said and finished, there is no doubts about our standing with God Almighty, as our Heavenly Father. We truly become “children of God” as well as co-heirs with Jesus Christ! What an awesome and amazing truth!
*Pastor’s Note: As I mentioned some time ago, I have been doing a lot of study on Bible prophecy and I have started to become familiar with the writings of several great teachers who specialize in Biblical prophecy.
Over the next few weeks, as part of my Prophetic Words category, I’m going to share one or two questions, in no particular order from the excellent book by Mark Hitchcock entitled, The Complete Book of Bible Prophecy. My hope and prayer is that it will give some insight into much of the end-times prophecy the Bible speaks of and hopefully alleviates some of the fears and confusion people have about studying prophecy.
Bible prophecy ALWAYS points to God and His plans for this world that He created through Christ Jesus. Therefore, for true Christians, it is meant to be a comfort that God continues as always to have everything under control despite what it might appear to the average person.
Mr. Hitchcock’s teachings are informative and enlightening as well as inspirational and any book you can get for yourself from his writings will most definitely be well-worth it. I hope you are blessed AND informed and some of these questions and answers will give you a greater strength to walk in confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The following is the first question I present to you from his book:
At every prophecy conference I have ever attended, someone always asks this question. After all, this is the big question, isn’t it? How close are we to the end? How much longer will it be until Jesus comes back?
This question reminds me of the man who was sitting downstairs late one night reading, while his wife had already retired to bed. He heard the grandfather clock begin to chime in the hallway and started counting the chimes to see what time it was. The clock chimed nine, ten, eleven, twelve—then thirteen! Upon hearing the thirteenth bell, he got up, ran up the stairs, bolted into the bedroom to wake up his wife, and said, “Honey, wake up, it’s later than it’s ever been!”
That’s the one sure answer to this question I can give. We are closer to the end than we’ve ever been. However, the ultimate answer to this question is, no one knows for sure how close we are to the end except the Lord. We can point to various signs the Lord has given us, such as the regathering of Israel to her land, the European Community as the possible reuniting of the Roman Empire, the continued heightening of tensions in the Middle East, the unstable conditions in Russia, and the development of a one-world economy that the Antichrist could easily control. And it does appear that these signs point to the imminent return of Christ. So the Rapture must be even nearer. But how near? We really don’t know. These signs indicate that the general time of the Second Coming is near. But we still must confess that we don’t know the specific day or the hour of his coming for his church. We can confidently say that “Jesus may come today,” but we must also admit that he may not come in the next decade. He may not come in my lifetime or yours.
One passage often used to pinpoint the coming of Christ is Matthew 24:34: “‘I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place.'” Some use this verse to prove that once the signs of the last days begin, Christ will return within one generation, which is usually calculated to be about forty years. However, this verse probably means that the generation that personally witnesses the signs in Matthew 24:4–30—that is, the Tribulation period—will not pass away before Christ returns. Thus, Christ could return sixty, seventy, eighty, or more years after these signs begin. Therefore, this verse should not be used to establish a date for the coming of Christ.
For those of us today who see the storm clouds of some of these signs gathering on the horizon, all we can say is that we believe we are in the end times in a general sense.
My grandfather was a pastor who loved the prophetic Scriptures. When Israel became a nation in 1948, he recognized the prophetic significance of this event. My father has told me that my grandfather commented on numerous occasions that he believed Jesus would come in his lifetime. He lived his life believing the end was near and looking for the Rapture. However, the Lord called my grandfather home in 1963 at the age of sixty-three. Was my grandfather wrong? No, he wasn’t wrong. He didn’t miss the Rapture. He is presently with the Lord, and at the Rapture he will be resurrected to join the Lord and his saints in the air. The precious hope of the Rapture added unspeakable joy to his life. The point of prophecy in Scripture is that we are to live as if Christ could come at any moment. That’s all we can do. We must leave the timing of this event with the Lord.
All I can say when people ask me how close we are to the end is that I earnestly believe that Jesus could come today, and I pray that he will. That’s close enough for me!
WHAT was the curse that God put on creation (Genesis 3:17–19)? One of the most stubborn myths in Western culture is that God imposed work as a curse to punish Adam and Eve’s sin. As a result, some people view work as evil. Scripture does not support that idea:
Notice three ways that the curse affected work: (1) Work had been a joy, but now it would be “toil.” People would feel burdened by it and even come to hate it. (2) “Thorns and thistles” would hamper people’s efforts to exercise dominion. In other words, the earth would not be as cooperative as it had been. (3) People would have to “sweat” to accomplish their tasks. Work would require enormous effort and energy.
Most people know how burdensome work can be. Workplace stresses and pressures, occupational hazards, the daily grind, office politics, crushing boredom, endless routine, disappointments, setbacks, catastrophes, frustration, cutthroat competition, fraud, deception, injustice—there is no end of evils connected with work. But work itself is not evil. Far from calling it a curse, the Bible calls work and its fruit a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 3:13; 5:18-19).
The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as De Imitatione Christi (c. 1418–1427). The devotional text is divided into four books of detailed spiritual instructions. The devotional approach of The Imitation of Christ emphasizes the interior life and withdrawal from the mundanities of the world, as opposed to the active imitation of Christ practiced by other friars. The Imitation is perhaps the most widely read Christian devotional work after the Bible, and is regarded as a devotional and religious classic. The book was written anonymously in Latin in the Netherlands c. 1418–1427. Its popularity was immediate, and after the first printed edition in 1471-72, it was printed in 745 editions before 1650. Apart from the Bible, no book had been translated into more languages than the Imitation of Christ at the time.
VAIN is the man who puts his trust in men, in created things.
Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem poor in this world. Do not be self-sufficient but place your trust in God. Do what lies in your power and God will aid your good will. Put no trust in your own learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather in the grace of God Who helps the humble and humbles the proud.
If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the natural gifts that you have.
Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God’s judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.
John Linton (1888 – 1965) John Linton is not normally listed among the elite of the evangelists in this century: Moody, Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., Appelman, John Rice. But he was not some lesser light—God mightily moved through his ministry. He left a trail of converts to Christ as well as revived, restored, rejoicing churches.
His gospel soundness, his compelling delivery, his Scotch brogue and his devotion to our Lord made him widely acceptable. You cannot hear the inimitable Scotch brogue in his sermon, but you can enjoy its sweet and powerful message.
He died at age 77 in the pulpit while conducting evangelistic services.
The Bible – A Supernatural Book
The Scientific Accuracy of the Bible – Part Two
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God . . . – 2 Timothy 3:16.
Until recent years science believed the moon to be a great luminous body like the sun. It was counted a remarkable discovery when science proved that the moon does not shine itself but only reflects the light of the sun. But the Bible had already told us this: “The moon . . . it shineth not” (Job 25:5).
The ancients all insisted that the moon was larger than the sun. Modern science knows better. Sir James Hopwood Jeans, who has no superior as an astronomer, has shown that the sun is five million times as big as the moon.
Did the Bible reveal this fact? It is right there in the opening pages of God’s Word: “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night” (Genesis 1:16).
The opening words of Genesis indicate light on this earth before the fourth day of creation when the rays of the sun appeared: “Let there be light: and there was light.”
This was believed impossible until the great scientist de Laplace showed that in the condensation of the original formless chaos there was such molecular and chemical action as must have emitted light. No scientist now disputes this.
Boardman, in his Creative Week, asks, “Why will the Academy vote Moses a blunderer for declaring that light existed before the sun appeared and yet vote de Laplace a scientist for affirming precisely the same thing?”
In other branches of science the Bible reveals the same divine foreknowledge.
In 1615, William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood. It was then seen that the life of the body was in the blood.
Before Harvey’s discovery, doctors tried to cure people by bloodletting. They didn’t know that the blood was the very life. But away back in Leviticus 17:11 we read, “The life of the flesh is in the blood.”
Sir James Simpson of Edinburgh, through the invention of chloroform, did more than any other man has done to relieve human suffering. This humble, Bible-believing Christian declared that the words of Genesis 2:21 led him to his great discovery. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.”
Sir James Simpson believed the Bible to be God’s Word and concluded that God would know how to perform a surgical operation. The experiment proved successful.
The same Bible teaches that the second coming of Christ takes place in a moment of time. Paul said it would be “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52). The Bible actually declares that at this precise moment it will be both night and day on the earth:
“In that day . . . he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.”
“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”—Luke 17:31, 34.
At night sleeping in bed, in the day working in the field—all at one moment of time. How can this be possible? Because the world is round; and while we are sleeping at night, men on the other side of the world are working in daylight. But it was not until many centuries after the Gospels were written that men came to understand that night and day reigned at one moment on this earth!
It is because of the scientific accuracy of the Bible and its knowledge of facts before men discovered them that Dr. James Orr, in The Bible Under Trial, page 41, asserts:
With any amount of critical violence you cannot get the supernatural out of the Bible. It is there and will reassert itself.
For Sunday September 11, 2022
Psalm 78:53-54
He led them on safely . . . and He brought them to His holy border.
Let’s face it: the Christian life is not a walk in the park; in fact, most of the time it is an uphill climb on rugged terrain. It shouldn’t surprise us, for Jesus told us that we would have tribulation in this world (John 16:33). Still, when trials come, we tend to question why this would happen to us. Fortunately, God’s Word promises us a safe landing.
Joseph must have understood this at a young age when, after being betrayed by his own brothers, he faced so many trials that anyone else would have given up. He trusted the Lord with the outcome of his life; at the end of it all he was blessed beyond measure, and his family was preserved during a nationwide famine.
Billy Graham once said, “I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.” It is precisely this perspective that will prevent us from becoming bogged down in the struggles that are inevitable in the lives of believers. It will also strengthen our resolve to press on until the return of our King.
Friend, if you are experiencing a trial, set your mind on the safety and blessing that lie at the end of your difficult journey, and trust the Lord with the outcome. He won’t let you down.
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
UNKNOWN
“All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God . . . – Deuteronomy 28:2 (Read verses 2-13).
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. – Hebrews 10:35-36.
The San Diego police department established a We Tip anonymous witness program in September, 1984. By the fall of 1994 the program had helped solve 2,085 crimes in San Diego County. Rewards from $25 to $1,000 were paid to those who informed on drug dealers, homicide suspects, sex perverts, etc. Citizens who participated in the program never had to identify themselves. The tips resulted in the arrest of a thousand suspects and convictions in fifty-seven homicide cases. Through this program, the police department disbursed over $139,000 in rewards, with another $81,000 offered that has never been claimed.
God is not handing out $25 to $500 tips for information. He offers a revolutionary life that cannot be measured, evaluated, or understood just now. He offers a dream of one day being what we can only imagine now, of life at a level that is only a vision now. While our hopes remind us of what we would like to be, our victories remind us of what life sometimes can be—and our defeats remind us of what life often is. We desperately need God’s vision of what life can be in him!
Thomas à Kempis, Prayer for Sunday 9-11-2022
I bless you, and give thanks to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, most mighty King of kings, for your persecution, and for the hardships forced upon you, in the days of your childhood, when you fled from the face of the most wicked King Herod, and were driven forth as a stranger and an outcast from your own land, and had to enter in secret that land of Egypt, from which, in the days of old, you had with a mighty hand led forth the children of Israel.
Grant to me now, I ask you, O my beloved Jesus, to tread, at least in my small degree, in your steps, in this matter of patience; give me grace not to murmur when I have to suffer wrong; but rather humbly to give way to an angry man, to submit cheerfully to being laughed at, and evil spoken of; and when any one vexes and annoys me, give me grace to curb my anger against him, to pray earnestly for his salvation, and so far as may be, to set down his fault to the account of the old serpent who led him into it.
Give me grace to live peaceably with others, willingly to give way to them, and with them patiently to bear, for your honor and glory, the lack of this world’s goods, no matter how great it may be.
Amen.
*Pastor’s Note: This is from a favorite writer of mine who also does awesome poetry. As so many of you know, I love poetry and I’ve read a lot of Sister Kathy’s poetry. Here is one of her recent posts. By the way, the artwork with the poetry is from her husband Paul who is an avid and awesome painter too! I hope you will be blessed and enjoy this jewel from Sister Kathy and her husband Paul Boecher.
As I usually ask, please stop by and let her know you appreciate her ministry (and Paul’s for that matter) for us as well as for the Lord. While you’re there, check out her other articles and Paul’s paintings. She is a very prolific writer and poet. Remember, these teachings and the poetry and Paul’s paintings, are a sacrifice of praise and worship to the Lord! Give her a like and some encouragement! Also, Kathy and Paul could both use our continued prayers. Thanks and God Bless!
atimetoshare.me – Home
ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©
Sunlight dances across brilliant blue skies,
Weaving a kaleidoscope of light and color,
Twisting and turning through boughs and leaves,
It balances just the right amount of a warm, comforting glow.
Each fragment of fractured light disperses into brilliance,
Tiny mirror like reflections float across the water,
Reflections of the blessings God sprinkles into our lives,
Capture those everyday things.
Cling to them with hugs of joy and thanksgiving,
Plant them firmly in your memory,
Never let them go,
They are God’s daily gifts to us.
Prayer for Friday
Lord God, we thank You that it is Your will to strengthen us through Your presence, through Jesus Christ, the Leader, Lord and Master of Your cause, Who is and remains victor among all on earth. Our souls need strength and our hearts need confidence so that in our time we can draw near to You and to Your kingdom through Your Son. Bless us and strengthen us with the Holy Spirit whenever we begin to grow weary. Your Holy Spirit can give us the power and strength to believe and hope, the strength and the foresight to see the salvation that is coming to give joy to all the world. In the glory of our Savior’s name, in Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.
No matter how large a number is, it is finite: it is always possible to mention a number that is larger. Scientists speak of the “googol.” It is a one, followed by 100 zeros. The googol is inconceivably large. But then think of the “googolplexes” which we believe is the googol raised to the googol-th power. It is said, that if this number were written out, there would not be space on earth to contain the pages required. In fact, they would more than fill our galaxy!
Faithlife Corporation produces the Logos Bible Software, and offers a free Bible App as well as a Basic Fundamentals program. Check them out, they are worth the effort. Clicking on the image will open another window and take you to their site.
BibleGateway.com is a Christian website designed to allow easy reading, listening, studying, searching, and sharing of the Bible in many different versions and translations. A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages. It is a GREAT tool to have!
This site is dedicated to answering question based on a Biblical foundation and perspective. It is a GREAT site to check out!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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