Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Revelation 12:12.
Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects, he has gained control of the apostate churches; but here is a little company that are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God…. Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer.
The trying experiences that came to God’s people in the days of Esther were not peculiar to that age alone. The revelator, looking down the ages to the close of time, has declared, “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. Some who today are living on the earth will see these words fulfilled.
The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived.
Those who are seeking for truth, that they may obey it in the love of it, are the ones who excite his (Satan’s) malice and stir his ire. He can never weaken them while they keep close to Jesus.
The Faith I Live By p. 289
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray that God will provide for a job. LS
—-Please pray for my husband Bruce. He’s having heart cath. this morning. Kay
—-Please pray for Travis and his colleagues that they give their lives to Christ. Rosemary
—-The family of Pastor Gwynn request prayers of healing due to medical emergencies that have come about. Verlyn
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Dear Friends,
It is hard for me to imagine a state legalizing abortion up to the day of birth, yet that has happened. How much sadness there is in this sinful, old world. This makes me think of a time when, at the age of 37, I was pregnant for Esther. We were very poor and had difficulty meeting the most basic of necessities. Because we had no medical insurance, I went to a clinic in the local hospital. The doctors were taking their residency and I rarely got the same doctor twice. One of the doctors urged me to have an abortion. This was no passing comment. He tried to pressure me into it. The man was younger than I and thought that I was too old and too poor to be having another child. I was shocked! How dare he suggest that I allow him to murder my baby! You can be sure that I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of that idea.
Our Great Creator assures us, “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.” Isa 44:24 He says to us as He said to Jeremiah of old, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.” Jer 1:5 David observed, “Thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:13-17 How comforting it is to know that our Great Creator has been there for us even as we were being formed in our mother’s womb. That womb which is so private that no one could watch our formation, it was as if we were formed in the depths of the earth. Only now, with the advances in technology, can we observe the formation of a baby while still within its mother’s womb.
Moreover, from the moment of birth, the King of the Universe has always been near during the good times, during the times filled with danger. He sees our actions, he hears our words and our thoughts. He knows our attitudes. He notices when someone treats us unfairly and He sets about to work out circumstances in our behalf. He is our Comfort, our Strength, our Redeemer, our King. What a wonderful God we serve! How great is His goodness toward us! “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Ps 145:3-9
“Let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” Ps 95:6 Let us praise Him for His love and care for us even before we were born. Let us spread abroad the message that it is our Redeemer Who has formed us from the moment of conception and we must not destroy what He is creating.
Rose
The Trial of the Church