Providence and Perspective

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7


Expectations. We put them on ourselves. We put them on others. And we put them on God. There are expectations which God would want us to faithfully hope in and others that we selfishly put on Him.


I used to have a list of expectations when I was younger for the woman I would like to marry someday. I had it from the physical appearance to what kind of personality she would have to other small details that shouldn't matter. The consumer in us whats to pre-order our spouse and expect God to give it to us as long as we remain faithful so that way we can justify that we "deserve" that person.


We have never deserved to have anything that God gives us but He gladly gives us His grace and mercy. It's not until you break yourself away from the selfish mindset that you truly start to allow God to fill your heart with the desires He wants you to have instead of the desires you want to have.


God has been laying upon my heart a desire for Israel. A desire to marry a woman who loves God and Israel just as much as I do. When I think about what's happening to our nation and where this world is heading, I get anxious. I feel as if I need to hurry up my plans, find a good job, get married, have a few kids, and feel like my life is somewhat complete before judgement hits this planet.


But what does that first part say in Philippians 4:6? "Do not be anxious about anything..." Why would any of us be anxious? Because we have plans. Selfish plans. Plans that we want to see through. We think we know better than God. I read these verses today and praying to God saying, "You're right God... I've been selfish and dumb for thinking my timeline is better than yours."


Prayer has been hitting me hard in all my teachings. I don't feel as if God has been on the outside of my heart's door but more of the fact that He has been with me but I have refused to talk to Him. Kind of like a stagnant marriage life when the spouses don't talk to each other for a while. Or maybe He would be doing all the talking and I would stay quiet.


After opening up once again and communicating once again, there is a peace that God brought upon me. One that is definitely hard to understand.


Something else that I have been noticing is that my struggle with lust has dwindled. Working in front of Victoria Secret you would think it would drive a man crazy. By the grace of God I have actually gotten stronger. The pictures don't phase me. The women may be attractive but in all honesty my heart longs for a woman of God.


I know and see many physically attractive women almost everyday, including on Facebook. There isn't a day when I wish one of them would be surrounded by a halo and God say, "Go after her!" The hardest part about the wait, is the restraint of self. and waiting for the right moment to pursue. Something else that is troubling is seeing women who claim to believe in the same God you do and you see them make poor choices, even publicly for everyone to see.


I long to love my future wife like Christ has loved us. To be self-sacrificing. To love her enough to go to Hell and back. And if necessary, to die for her. God willing, I will be the husband she desires as well, and also be a loving father to children. We all desire the promise of new life and God is the only one who can bring about those promises in our lives. If I ever have the privilege to get to that point, it will be because of Him. He knows how long I have been waiting and been fighting to one day have a future family.


I pray for God's providence and perspective. He has given it. He is giving it. And He will continue to do so. Amen.

The Value of Motherhood

Single mothers these days, I believe, are under appreciated. Many churches will shun single moms because of the choice they have made and instead of being helped, the doors are shut in their face. Why is it that the church can tend to forget that one of the groups of people that God calls us to help are the widows? Especially those with children.

I've also noticed that while I have gotten to know many women, there is a negative mentality that if a woman has a child that it's a good reason to stay away from getting to know her on a more intimate basis. Even though scripture does point out that it is better for the woman to stay with the original father of the child and try to work things out, I think many women who know it's better to find someone else are often overlooked just because they have a child or more.

Children are a blessing. Scripture points this out in Psalm 127:3. Ask any mother who has children, they never say they regret having them. They will say something along the lines of the child being their greatest mistake that they would never take back. I have been thinking a lot about single moms lately. They take on responsibility that many women have denied themselves before. Even though it would be better to have a partner, helper and father figure around, they have made the choice to continue with the choice they made.

Many selfish men do not realize what the woman has in her life. Single moms should not be looked upon as having a burden with them. They should be seen as women with blessing. They have already proven themselves to be responsible, hard working, and committed to taking care of someone they love. Motherhood is a very beautiful thing and we should never look down upon a woman who decides to take that challenge on. It's not as glorious as many women who are not mothers would make it seem before hand. It's hard work.

I just wanted to encourage and applaud you single mothers out there and don't let any man make you feel less than who you really are. Men who don't see the great potential in you don't deserve your time. Let a man who recognizes the value you have to deserve the value of your time. Happy Mothers Day to you all and God bless!

The Rapture Challenge

Before this starts a debate or argument, I want to share what I believe. What you believe is your own business. But I want you to test your own belief. Instead of accepting a popular belief without truly understanding it, truly search the scriptures and know for sure what you believe.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."
— Corrie Ten Boom

If you don't know who Corrie Ten Boom is, she was a Dutch Christian woman who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust and is very well known to the Jewish people because of all that she did for them. She is an inspiration to me because she knows what it's like to suffer and do good things for God's glory. If you also don't know, she has been known to speak out against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine.

She has good reason to. Why? Because she endured hard times during the Holocaust. The Holocaust is probably one of the greatest prophetic times of the Tribulation. She knows what it's like to fear for her life but yet remain consistent in helping those that needed to be saved, particularly the Jews.

A quote of hers that hits me hard is, "How dare you have a doctrine that takes you out of this world when it will need you the most!" Think about it! The world has yet to see it's worst days and we have this idea that God will take us out and people will be needing leadership and love the most! How SELFISH of us to believe that we will leave and let others suffer! The Bible remains VERY consistent that we are to endure hardship for HIS name's sake!

Is there ever a scripture verse that tells us to anticipate being rescued and not have to go through pain or suffering? Far from it! We are called to be a people that will do what is necessary and carry our cross so that He will be glorified! Why would we want to miss out on God's greatest moment to reveal Himself to people who do not know Him yet?!

I think what our religious leaders have deceived us on is this concept of thinking being saved is more necessary so that we can get our "lift ticket" and not concern ourselves on knowing how become spiritual warriors. "Get saved so that you don't miss the rapture!" It's like being frightened so that we don't miss out on something. That is not a healthy faith. That is a destructive faith. We should not live in fear so that we may receive a reward. We have been told that if we end up being "left behind" that we are screwed.

Instead of being hopeful for Christ's return because we could have the opportunity to lead the biggest multitude of believers the world has ever witnessed, we have accepted an idea that takes us out of the picture. How is the world supposed to come to Christ if those who know Him leave? How does abandoning the world help save it? It doesn't make any sense!

I have realized that God's greatest prophecy for the end times is the story of the exodus out of Egypt. God saved His people from oppression. He promised them He would save them and they anticipated it. The great song from "Prince of Egypt" that we enjoy singing, "Deliver Us!" I believe to be what we are singing in our hearts now. We are anticipating Christ's return. He is our version of Moses.

When He will show up, He will show up with great wonders, miracles, and signs. We will abandon the lifestyle we live now and go into the wilderness again, just as our ancestors did. He will provide food, water, and protection just as He did for our ancestors. How incredible will be to experience that?! That gets me excited! But sadly our Pre-Trib prophets have told us that it will be so terrible that we might as well die instead of endure, that somehow if we are not "lifted" that we are not "worthy" of being taken.

My brothers and sisters in the faith... God is consistent. He doesn't create new things but recycles and is a circular God. That is why we have the seasons. There is a time and a season for everything. He doesn't go in a straight line. History repeats itself. To deny this fact is foolish. There was never a point in time when God "raptured" anyone from a terrible moment in time but helped His people endure so that He would be glorified in the end.

He wanted to get the credit for His victory for His people. How does He gain victory by taking people away? We are His vessels, His tools, His ministers and workers. How are seeds to be planted if there is no one to plant?

I challenge you all to consider this point of view and I would love to continue the conversation. I have so much to say on this that it would take many days and nights to discuss. Many of you may be hardcore Pre-Trib rapture fanatics. I used to be as well. Until I did my own homework on the issue. Challenge yourself. What makes the most sense when ministering to the world? What makes sense in God challenging you in your faith? Enduring hardship and seeing who will stay loyal or hoping you say that last minute prayer and getting into Heaven? Think about it. Pray about it.

"If God has shown us bad times ahead, it's enough for me that He knows about them. That's why He sometimes shows us things, you know - to tell us that this too is in His hands."
— Corrie Ten Boom (The Hiding Place)

Shalom

I need to be honest so that you will understand

My dear brothers and sisters,

As a bond servant to our Lord and Savior, I want to come to you with the deepest love and humility. I have been writing and saying many things that have been argumentative. The reason for this is not so that I may try to come across as some spiritual know it all. I do admit that as I have been learning many historical things about our faith and diving into the Old Testament and Judaic principles that I have come across as prideful and haughty. I do believe the enemy may have tempted me into that mindset in order to create conflict among us. I want to resolve this conflict.

My journey in learning all these things and making them the main focus on my status updates and such is to provoke my fellow believers to think and consider them. My teachers have taught me to do my own research and not just take mainstream ideas for granted. We have grown up in a church that have taken ideological and theological arguments and haven't fully investigated them with solid scriptural background. As I have been learning about the background of our faith and how the Jewish faith has actually preserved many important things and how the Catholic/Protestant movements have perverted our faith, it has opened my eyes on why we do what we do. It has also made me aware that there are things we shouldn't do and mold our minds around the Hebrew mindset and interpretation of scripture. Not the Greek/Roman/American modern day interpretation of things.

I argue why things are so important because we are constantly deceived by modern day thinking. I heard a great quote today and I believe God had me hear it for a reason. "The purpose of arguing is the pursuit of truth." I know Titus and Timothy advocate not having foolish arguments. But I believe my arguments about the things we believe should never be foolish. We must always know why we do what we do and always have purpose behind what we do and believe. Any part of scripture is never there for just "fill in space." If it is there, it is there for a reason!

Something I think I have been noticing is that I have been failing to get you, my loved ones, excited about what I have been learning. And rather turning you away from it which hurts me even more. I already feel very alone in trying to do what's right and I lack the encouragement in what I am learning. I don't see you guys enough as it is day in and day out. I feel as if I am back in the military again trying to keep myself spiritually nourished on my own with no accountability and no one to challenge me in my faith. I've learned that you don't learn just be reading, you learn by example. This is obviously what Yeshua came to do.

When I argue about the Torah and following the Law, I don't argue that it is meant for salvation. It was never meant for that. What I do believe is that if we are to keep ourselves holy, because Christ makes us holy, we must follow the Law. The Law tells us how to stay holy, to keep us from profaning ourselves, and to be separate from the world. It tells us how to live a blessed life. God said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." It was never foretold that one day some would be done away with. That some would be acceptable and others wouldn't. We have come to a point where we have some kind of "edited" version that only apply today. If you read from Yeshua's words that he commanded, he actually added on to the commandments. He didn't take away to make it easier, he made it harder.

I don't claim to be a prophet. But as I read the story of Jeremiah, I feel a connection with him because God commissioned this young guy to tell His people what they needed to hear even if they didn't want to hear it. Jeremiah didn't want to upset the people but knew that he had to speak anyways. The Word of God couldn't be contained inside of him. That's how I feel. I don't mean to speak it out of "YOU MUST DO THIS AND DO THAT!" I don't mean it to come across as some kind of "I know better than you do therefore you must listen to me!" Far from it!

There seems to be a lot of questioning about the things I believe such as which laws I follow. My answer to that is, I believe in what the Law says. Now some circumstances have changed. Prophecies have been fulfilled and that has put forth a REnewed way of doing things. But the principle still applies. What I have desired is, instead of questioning my motives and what I have been learning, I want you to listen to the radio programs and decide for yourself. I am only a man and even those of you who know me well know that I can tend to have a hard time explaining things properly because I have an ADHD tendency! Haha!

I believe there are deeper things in scripture that we are not allowing ourselves to discover and as I am discovering these things for myself, I get excited and want to share them! I don't want to keep them to myself because that would be selfish! I want to get our minds wrapped around God's! I realize how much I have been missing in years past as I learn from my teachers! Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is the glory of kings to search out a matter." Meaning that God wants us to pursue what he has hidden.

Some of you are aware of my desire to get into geocaching and to me I believe God has given me this desire because God's favorite thing to do is to hide something and for us to go out and find it. Using God's Positioning System (the Torah) we are able to understand why things were placed in the rest of the scriptures. It is the key on the map that explains everything else and tells us where we are going and what to look for. The voice coming from the GPS is the Holy Spirit to help guide us. That is what I believe.

I want to challenge you guys to look into this stuff as well because I don't want to do this alone. And I honestly want to know what you think. These teachers have taught me so much, the Holy Spirit has been confirming the things they have taught me, and as I do my own research on these things, my eyes are just opened. I used to have doubts, I used to struggle with so many issues and doctrines, and now I have a peace about those matters. The Truth has set me free! I don't believe one part of scripture is more important than the other. But I do believe that if you want to understand all of scripture, you have to understand where it came from which is the first 5 books.

On the topic of the holidays, or the holy days, research their significance. We were told by God to remember those days, to celebrate them, to teach the traditions to our children so that we would never forget what God did for us back then and continue to look forward to what He will do, especially when it comes to Shabbat, or the Sabbath. I believe we are failing when it comes to this day. It is meant for rest, time spent with loved ones, and meditating on God's Word. How many of us still incorporate work, stress of some kind, and don't give God His time to be spent with us? Shabbat is God's appointment with Him and if we don't invite Him into our place of rest, what kind of message is that sending Him?

I have so much to say and not enough words or time to say it all in. My heart's desire is that we will pursue the truth together someday. It may take many discussions, some may be argumentative, but when arguing, have it be in love and pursuing what is righteous and for God's glory! I wish I could say all these things to everyone in person but with our busy lives and everyone being stretched thin with things, I felt this would be the best way to share with you what has been on my mind and heart. I love you all and look forward to hearing back from you at some point.

“May the LORD bless you and keep you; May the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; May the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Shalom

P.S. The radio programs can be found at www.solaceradio.com

The sabotage of Jesus' birth

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:1-6

No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six to seven months after Passover, or around Rosh Hashanah (the Hebrew New Year). One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?

The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.

In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun.

Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under themistletoe began as a fertility ritual.

Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”

"They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs."

Psalms 106:34-35

I bring this verse from Psalms to make a point. Our ancestors thought it would be okay to MINGLE with the other cultures because they didn't see the harm in it or saw things that they wanted to include. God wanted no part of that. In fact, many times over, He warned His people and commanded them to not mix any other gods with Him. He wouldn't have it!

I know this may make some people mad but I can't sit back and let us celebrate the birth of Christ in the way it's been done for so long. God has been profoundly speaking me to about these things and as famous men in the past have upset the apple cart.... well... I may be doing that as well.

In no way am I saying that his birth is of no consequence and that we shouldn't be celebrating it. But what I am saying is that we need to get our heads, our hearts, our spirits, our lives back in the Hebraic swing of things - the way God intended us to. We can't accept what the world has fed us for so long. We can't just go with the flow and think it's okay. We need to know what we believe and know our history. We need to know why we do what we do. To think that adding little things that WE deem as innocent may not be what GOD deems as innocent. We have no right to say what is good and what is bad. Rather test it by scripture!

To be holy is to be separate. We must separate ourselves from the world! Many of our Christmas traditions come from the world's influence! I'm asking and begging my fellow believers to pray about this and test the Word of God on this! I'm not trying to judge or tell people what to do. This is a matter I leave totally up to you and our King.

I know what it's like to get caught up in family tradition and having such warm fuzzy feelings about time spent with family which there is nothing wrong with that! But lets reconsider what we think we know and believe and realize what we are doing. Let's do our history and truly know what we believe.

I believe we can still celebrate good family time. I believe we should celebrate Jesus' birth when it DID happen. I believe we can still have be just as generous, giving, and have a good spirit towards people. But I see the family of God allowing itself to be manipulated and mixed with a world that will drag it to death with things it shouldn't be associated with. Don't go based on feelings! Feelings are deceiving! The heart is deceitful among all things and we have no way of understanding it! Just because we get emotionally attached to something doesn't mean it's okay to continue or keep in our lives.

Let the Word of God be our guide. Let Him tell you what is Truth. Paul said in Colossians that we shouldn't let anyone JUDGE us when we DO celebrate, eat, and recognize things like the Sabbath and other holy days that God has set aside for us. He didn't say we didn't have to do them anymore, He was merely addressing the fact that we will have religious people think they know better than us and try to deem us as unholy. We should not let them do that to us.

And if you read all of what Christ says, He NEVER says to stop doing what God commanded us to do in the Torah and Old Testament. There are references that He says things like, "do this in remembrance of me." NOT "you no longer have to do this or remember this because of me". 

When addressing the "doing away with the Law" one must be careful for it's not the entire Law that Paul speaks of. The law that Jesus overturned was the"wages of sin is death" THAT is what he did away with! Granted there are many laws in the Old Testament that don't apply right now because there is no present temple and other technical things of that sort. But when one truly searches the scriptures, there are profound truths that we are overlooking and we should very much pay attention to.

Now that I've opened up this can of worms... I want to emphasize again. This is not an attack on faith. This is not an attack on you personally, any of you. This is an attack on the mediocrity, the laziness, the going with the flow, the misconception we have allowed ourselves to just keep strolling with. I challenge all of you to search. Search deep. Go farther than you can even fathom in your journey of faith!

Don't just agree with what pastors, preachers, or idiots like myself say. Do the homework! There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth! The truth is never biased. Learn the truth and you will not be biased but wise.

I challenge you.

Decision vs. Deception

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9

I've been thinking... which is what I do a lot... and one thing that has been hitting me hard is the fact that we don't know anything when it comes to being able to find the right person for ourselves. We are complete idiots. I've had so many conversations with people about why they thought it was a good idea to be with someone and in the end, I come to the conclusion that it would be so much better if someone so much wiser than ourselves just made the decision for us.

I'm talking about a Divine Matchmaker.

"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10

How often do we try to take matters into our own hands? I know I'm guilty of it. I've seen many people rush in and out of relationships, make excuses based on worldly points of view, selfish reasons, and in the end realize it was a total waste of time or wish they could take it back. Some may not necessarily want to take it back but wish they could have realized things earlier and not been so blind.

God has been speaking to me about something that I feel I need to share. I believe God opens up doors for us to come across potential marital partners and if we don't pay attention to His voice, we will not realize how much He wants to bless us with someone better than who we think we would like to be with.

Being a guy, I see beautiful women all the time. There are days when I wish I could be with this or that woman but even with my self preservation and limited wisdom in wanting to be with a Godly woman, I know I can try to reason with myself (my deceiving heart) and attempt to reason with God,  He knows better than I do.

Something I wanted to bring to everyones attention is that even though we need to guard our hearts, we also need to be careful in not letting it take control. We can get so caught up in the moment, the hype, the wanting to be loved feeling, the emotional and passionate rush that we forget to be rational in who we are choosing to get close to. Our heart is the place where we combine passion and reason. If we are not careful to keep Christ at the center, we will lean on our own understanding and make decisions that we think is best.

"He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD." Proverbs 18:22

"A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." Proverbs 31:10

“The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there." Genesis 24:7

I think of the references where God tells certain biblical figures to "find a wife" or "get a wife."

What does that mean? How is that done? What does that entail? Are there moments when a man must take matters into his own hands? Or does God make it obvious to the point where it's unavoidable that "she" is the one to be with?

I'm sure it's the same way for you ladies who can often be more passionate about the marriage ceremony than men. I know I look forward to marriage and always have. We all want to be loved. We all want to know that the person we choose to be with will help us as we go on in life. Not someone who will control us or bring us down but do the complete opposite. Even God realized that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18).

I will not claim to be the expert on this subject, God is. But I do believe that something we need to do is first surrender ourselves to Him. We need to make sure that we are not deceiving ourselves on our own selfish desires and thinking we know better than Him before we invest in making any decision closer to being with someone else that will impact the rest of our lives.

We must know that Christ is the center of our reason and emotions. Men can tend to think more on reason and women can think more on emotion. But when Christ is the focus on both and when a man and woman come together with that principle in mind, they are truly a new amazing creation. That is what I look forward to. That's what I think those of us who love God, should keep in mind and look forward to as well.

The Reality

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:36-37

            You have made the decision to be a part of a nation that is not of this world. You are here for a purpose. You chose to be a part of this because you were first chosen by Him. Something deep inside you was calling and you answered the call. You know that this path was highlighted and put before you for a reason. It is your solemn duty to figure out from this day forward what your purpose is. You are to seek out what your King asks of you and fulfill the tasks at hand. You are now at spiritual boot camp for discipleship. Realize right now, at this moment, you are NOTHING. Without Christ in your life, you do not deserve the right to live. You don’t deserve the right to exist. We are nothing but dust, water, and a soul occupying the elements. God is the one that allows you to breathe every breath, allows your body to function and let the universe stay intact.

“Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4

            If you haven’t already, you better get it through your skull that the first step to realizing who you are is humility. You must first be broken before you become fixed. God does not use those who think their lives are already put together. He uses those who know their lives are broken. Obviously if you think you have every together, God knows that He is not in control of your life. If you think you are in control, think again. Every great warrior for God always demonstrated the importance of humility. Get used to being on your knees before Him in prayer. Practice allowing Him to be in total control of every circumstance in your life, for it will be life changing.

            You now belong to the Divine Kingdom. One that this world longs to see yet often takes the wrong route to get there. The King that reins it is the one that died for us so that we would be able to enter it. Therefore we should be willing to lay our lives down for Him in service and gratitude. When He calls us for active duty, which is every day, we should answer immediately. The Kingdom is the one that will last forever after this world come to an end. The New Jerusalem is the capital and the twelve tribes will surround it just as it was in the wilderness and in Israel.

“Before me every knee will bow; every tongue will confess I am the God of gods” Isaiah 45:23

            We must rid ourselves of the democratic, socialistic, communistic, and any other political system that claims to have the answers or claims to have the Godliest qualities. Only a Messianic monarchy is the perfect system for our ruler is perfect and just. Only He is able to rule us in a way that we will never be able to question. We have allowed the demonization of the kings of old to put a distaste of a king over our lives. As well as allowed our pride to get the best of us because we think our voice matters when questioning authority and getting what we want. Consider that over! You are now to listen to your superiors. You are to obey those that lead you spiritually. You are to honor those who are older and wiser than you. You are to submit yourselves to the LORD’s will in your life and bow in reverence to Him. The only form of government that is compatible with God is a monarchy. Yeshua is the King of Kings and we should treat Him as such. We need to get back to the concept of bowing down before Him and surrendering our dignity to get it back. One day we will be flat on our face before our very Maker and be accountable of all our actions. There will be a day when we will bow before Christ the King.

“A king rejoices in wise servants but is angry at those who disgrace him.” Proverbs 14:35

            Now that you have made the choice to be a part of this new citizenship, you should be aware of a few things. My hope is that you learn things about yourself to make you a sharper warrior for His glory. Pray that God will show and tell you what you need to hear and He will provide. I know that is my testimony as each day comes. Trust in Him and He will never fail. You are now a threat to the enemies of God. You are now a target for terrorism. The enemy will terrorize your mind, your soul, and your very being. The enemy will try to hit you where you are weak and try to keep a foothold in those areas of your life. Ephesians 6:12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

            The mission at hand right now is to figure out who you are. Can you take the spiritual heat and fight against the darkness that has plagued God’s people and this world since the beginning of time? You are here to allow God to strip you of your past, erase the baggage of your life, strengthen you, show you the new identity that God has given you, and show you what potential you truly have in Him. Another point to make is that God gets all the credit and glory. I have been called to share what I am sharing with you because it was His idea but I am merely the vessel in which He chose to see it done through, just like those in Scripture.

            You should be aware of the war that has been going on behind everything we do day to day. We must be aware of it and study it. This is a matter of survival. The enemies of God, Satan and the powers of darkness, “…come to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). The enemy’s number one weapon against us is deception. Sun Tzu, the most well known Chinese expert on war, wrote in his book The Art of War, “All warfare is based on deception.” In the next chapter, I will use Sun Tzu’s wisdom to give a deeper spiritual perspective on warfare and how to apply it to our spiritual lives. There is a popular saying, “Know your enemy better than yourself.” Since we have a hard time figuring out who we are for most of our life, the wise thing to do is figure out who you are so that you may be able to withstand future attacks from the enemy. As you learn about your strengths, you will want to train yourself to use them wisely for God’s benefit. And as you learn about your weaknesses, be sure to guard yourself so that you may not be tempted or put in a vulnerable situation to being attacked without help.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

             This book will help you discover your personality, but not just from the psychological sense but as we walk through the 12 tribes of Israel, you will find out your spiritual personality. There are aspects about us that go deep into the history of our ancestors and how much we are related to them. We have attributes that complement each other and God intended it to be that way. We are the body of Christ. We are meant to work together, not against each other. When you find out your place and purpose, you will realize how much more full your life will be because of His calling in your life. We are not limited to what we may try to comprehend and understand. We are to instead lean on His understanding.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5