Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
JERUSALEM, Israel – U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman stirred up some controversy in the Muslim world when he told the Jerusalem Post what President Donald Trump pledged on the 2016 campaign trail for months: that the U.S. will ultimately move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Friedman said the president has made his position clear on the embassy move and that it is a matter of "when," not "if." Vice President Mike Pence used the exact same description in July.
In Friedman's wide-ranging interview with the Post, he explained that the only issue remaining concerning the embassy move is the timing. "We think about that all the time," he added.
Palestinian representatives and their supporters were also upset by Friedman's reference to Israel's "alleged occupation" of Judea and Samaria (a/k/a the West Bank). It was a phrase in the Post interview in which Friedman was explaining how there are much more nuanced views among both the left and right in Israel than he had imagined before becoming ambassador. But it was seized upon in a number of media outlets.
One unnamed Palestinian official called on the Trump administration to clarify its position on the West Bank. He told The Guardian that Friedman "has an extensive record of attacks against the national rights of the Palestinian people, including funding illegal colonial settlements and participating in celebrations of the Israeli occupation."
Israel considers the territory to be disputed rather than occupied.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the uprooting of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria has ended.
Friedman described Trump's relationship with Netanyahu as "phenomenal."
Hurricane Irma damage in the Dominican Republic. ( REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas)
As I write these words from the safety of my home, with the weather outside beautiful and calm, people in other parts of America (and the Caribbean) are suffering terrible upheaval. Lives have been lost. Families have been torn apart. Houses have been destroyed. Whole islands have been devastated.
So, I do not write this lightly. In fact, I think of the famous dictum of Rabbi Irving Greenberg when talking about the Holocaust. "No statement," he said, "theological or otherwise, should be made that would not be credible in the presence of burning children." (He was referring, of course, to Jewish children who were thrown into the fire by the Nazis.)
In that same spirit (and without intending in any way to compare the Holocaust to today's natural disasters), we should make no statement, theological or otherwise, about Hurricane Harvey and Irma (along with the fires in the west) that could not be made in the presence of families who have lost loved ones (or, lost everything else).
As for the cause of these storms, I will leave that to others to decide. Are these satanic attacks? Divine judgments? Completely natural occurrences? The results of global warming? Something else? Again, that is for others to say.
What I have sensed as I have prayed for the victims and prayed for the nation is a very simple message, one that I heard whispered rather than shouted. And it was not an angry, thundering message but rather one of loving appeal from the heavenly Father.
Do I believe that one day God will judge the whole world? Certainly.
Do I believe that His wrath will be poured on a rebellious creation? Without a doubt.
Do I believe that His voice will thunder with such intensity that the very earth will shake? Yes, I honestly do.
And yet it is not the voice of thunder or anger or wrath that I hear right now.
Instead, it is the still small voice that is heard in the midst of the fire, wind, and storm (see 1 Kings 19).
It is the voice that is heard as a toddler clings to her dead mother in the flood-ravaged streets of Houston.
It is the voice that is heard as a family desperately searches for a missing loved one in another city nearby.
It is the voice that is heard as a couple rides a boat through a flattened neighborhood in Barbuda.
It is the voice that is heard as a million people pack their cars in Florida and flee for their lives.
It is the voice that is heard as the proud human race cowers in terror in the face of a storm of monstrous proportions, as the work of our hands—the work of decades and even centuries—is leveled by wind and rain.
It is the voice of the Creator speaking to His creation.
It is the voice of the Father speaking to His children.
It is the voice of the Lord that says, "America, you need Me!"
It is the voice of appeal, the voice of mercy, the voice of the Healer ready to mend and restore.
You might say, "But how can that be? Surely God is not passive in the world. Surely He had power to stop the storms. Some would even say He sends the storms."
Again, it is for others to decide what is happening behind the scenes and how God governs His world (and again, let it be done with caution; see Deut. 29:29).
Yet even those who believe that the Lord is sending these disasters as a judgment on America must do as Job did many centuries ago. He was convinced that God was responsible for his terrible suffering, yet He knew his only hope was in God. So what did he do? In the words of a Jewish philosopher, he fled from God to God. That was his only choice.
But, to repeat. I am not saying that these hurricanes and fires have been sent by God as judgment. That is for Him to know and make known.
What I'm saying is that these storms remind us of our frailty, of our weakness, of our helplessness, of our need. What I'm saying is that they remind us that we are the creation, not the Creator, and our help is found in Him alone.
We can send satellites to Mars and build enough nuclear weapons to blow up the earth. And we can design robots and discover the meaning of DNA. Yet we cannot stop the wind and the rain and the fire. We cower before Mother Nature, recognizing our fate is not in our hands.
Right now, towns and cities in our nation are completely overwhelmed, and the rebuilding process will take many years. But that is also a picture of our spiritual state. We are torn apart, divided and devastated, and the time for rebuilding must begin now. Yet we can only rebuild with the help of our Maker.
It is His voice that I hear again, saying, "America, you need Me!"
If we seek Him, He will be found.
When I began to write Saving a Sick Americalast year, I was overwhelmed with just how sick we were. But the more I wrote, the more I felt hope rising out of the despair.
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(Jerusalem, Israel) -- Is Russia preparing to invade another European country, or simply training its forces to do so in the future?
That's the big question as Vladimir Putin prepares to launch a massive series of war games on Thursday dangerously close to the borders of three NATO member states -- the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- as well as Ukraine, which Russia has invaded and occupied portions of twice since 2014.
While it sounds eerily similar to the plot of my forthcoming political thriller, The Kremlin Conspiracy, the exercise -- code-named "Zapad-2017" (Zapad in Russian means "West") is all-too-real. It is set to begin on September 14 and conclude on September 20th, and tensions in the region are high.
Moscow says only 12,500 troops will take part, most of which will operate in the country of Belarus, just south of the Baltics and just north of Ukraine. But "some Western analysts, and Baltic State governments...have expressed concerns that the exercise will in reality be significantly larger, involving between 60,000 and 100,000 military personnel," notesJanes Intelligence Review.
"According to the Baltic States, the last Zapad-series exercise in 2013 involved 75,000 military personnel, six times higher than Russia disclosed," says Janes.
Have the U.S. and other NATO commanders positioned enough forces, tanks, fighter jets and other defenses of their own to protect against a Russian blitz? I pray yes, but I'm not so certain.
According to a recent RAND Corporation analysis: "As currently postured, NATO cannot successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members. Across multiple games using a wide range of expert participants in and out of uniform playing both sides, the longest it has taken Russian forces to reach the outskirts of the Estonian and/or Latvian capitals of Tallinn and Riga, respectively, is 60 hours. Such a rapid defeat would leave NATO with a limited number of options, all bad: a bloody counteroffensive, fraught with escalatory risk, to liberate the Baltics; to escalate itself, as it threatened to do to avert defeat during the Cold War; or to concede at least temporary defeat, with uncertain but predictably disastrous consequences for the Alliance and, not incidentally, the people of the Baltics."
Estonia's Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna says NATO has intelligence suggesting Moscow may leave Russian soldiers in Belarus once the exercises are over, Reuters reports. He said Russia will use 4,000 railway carriages to transport its troops and equipment to Belarus, perhaps to establish a new Russia military base.
“For Russian troops going to Belarus, it is a one-way ticket,” Tsahkna told Reuters in an interview in Malta. “This is not my personal opinion; we are analyzing very deeply how Russia is preparing for the Zapad exercises."
Meanwhile, "Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has described Russia's build-up for the exercise as 'preparations for an offensive war on a continental scale,'" reports the BBC, and Ukrainian defenses are being bolstered.
According to the BBC, Poroshenko believes Russia is "using the pretext of an exercise to mobilize and position forces to conduct offensive operations" and that "he could not rule out the possibility that the drill 'may be used as a smokescreen to create new Russian army assault groups to invade Ukrainian territory.'"
I'll definitely keep you posted as events unfold. In the meantime, please pray for safety and security for the people of the Baltics and Ukraine. Please also pray for wisdom for their leaders and the commanders of NATO.
Greetings LoveMusic! worshipers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of Israel and the nations.
Don Moen shares the heart of the Lord, Whom alone is the Strength of My Heart.
Whether you are in a tough place in the dark valley, or on the highest mountain top in your faith walk, you can always call upon the Name of the Lord Yesus, and know that He is always with you.
Listen to this worship song and trust in the One Who is the Deliver, the Healer, the Provider, Jehovah Jireh, Lord of all.
'God Is The Strength Of My Heart' is of one the songs featured in Don Moen's album, 'God Is Good'
"God Is The Strength Of My Heart"
Whom have I in heaven but You There is nothing on earth I desire beside You My heart and my strength many times they fail But there is one truth that always will prevail
God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart And my portion forever, forever
Whom have I in heaven but You There is nothing on earth I desire beside You My heart and my strength many times they fail But there is one truth that always will prevail
God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart And my portion forever, forever
God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart God is the strength of my heart And my portion forever, forever
The end of the world is coming again and people wonder, “Is it true this time?”
This year’s doom’s day prediction is scheduled for September 23rd based on an alignment of the stars called Virgo, the constellation of a woman that will be in position over the moon and under 12 stars. As with most end-time predictions, the date corresponds to this year’s Jewish calendar and believers are saying this rare alignment of stars represents the last days woman found in Revelations chapter 12 with “the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”
What are we to do? With the Jewish holidays just weeks away, we could spend our remaining days and hours (or until next year’s predictions) trying to calculate what the Bible says about the end of the world and wait to see what happens.
But the truth we so easily ignore, and which is often concealed behind these annual doom’s day predictions, is that the end of the world is coming for all of us - and it could be any day, at any hour. By September 23rd, millions around the world will die in car accidents, disease, overdose or in one of the many hurricanes and natural disasters now visiting the earth. Are you ready?
Can you get ready? The idea that we are at the end of the world can be scary, and if so for you, hold that thought for a minute, and ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” When you discover the answer, think about what changes you could make in your life, where you might better invest your time and how you can make things right with God, and with yourself. Nobody knows better than you what you need to do to get your house in order.
If you clean your house just once a year it becomes an overwhelming task to face. The time you need to clean it, and the energy you would need is so great that you probably give up before you even start. Our lives are not much different than a dirty house. If it hasn’t been cleaned for a long time it's easy to give up. It would be far better to clean regularly, take the garbage out every day, wash your clothes when they are dirty and fix things when they break. Maintain your life, correct, repair and be ready for the end of your world. It could happen any day.
These end of the world scenarios remind me of the safety exercises that are supposed to make us ready for fires, bomb attacks and earthquakes, so that when the real thing happens we won’t become confused and disorientated and get lost. In the Israeli army we use a saying from Alexander Suvorov, the greatest Russian military strategist: “Hard in training, easy in war.” Practicing to be prepared for the coming of our Messiah, or to meet him sooner than we thought, is always a good idea, even if you wonder about the sign of a 12 starred constellation.
Exercise kindness, unselfishness, sympathy, decency, good will and live an upright life before God in your daily life and perhaps the end of the world (or the end of our world) might not be so terrifying. The only way to cope with the disquieting fact of our pending mortality is to practice daily the skills of faith in God and a moral lifestyle until these become so much a part of who you are that you don’t even have to think, or worry, about it anymore because you are prepared.
The Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (chap.13) reminds us that we prophecy in part, but faith, hope and love endure forever (not doom, gloom or red moons). One more thing. Remember Noah. The end of his world came true even as he boldly warned the people through his words and actions. How many believed and repented? How many missed that boat?
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"Chuck Pierce Prophesied to Florida on July 20: Surge! The Enemy Will Be Exposed!" Chuck D. Pierce, Corinth, TX
From the Desk of Steve Shultz:
At THE ELIJAH LIST, we love it when we are able to show you what has been prophesied ahead of time. One of the many reasons for prophecy is for you to know your God, and for you to learn that God saw this whole thing before it happened.
Chuck Pierce prophesied this word about THE FLORIDA SURGE on July 20thearlier this year. I can assure you that no one, or probably very few, understood in July that this word was about this hurricane.
Watch Tallahassee closely. Possibly something is being prophesied regarding what will happen concerning Tallahassee during this hurricane! We can't fully know that yet.
Some of the very highest level prophets give you prophecies concerning things to come...in BITE SIZE PIECES.
It's up to the Body of Christ to search out the full meaning of the pieces when properly fitted together.
Keep praying concerning Florida, the SURGES, Tallahassee, and any other "clues" mentioned in this word.
Let's all lift up the people of Florida during this time!
Please forward this word to your friends! Encourage them to subscribe to the Elijah List right here: http://elijahlist.com/subscribe.
Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News http://www.elijahlist.com
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"Chuck Pierce Prophesied to Florida on July 20: Surge! The Enemy Will Be Exposed!" Chuck D. Pierce, Corinth, TX
Prophetic word spoken by Chuck Pierce in Tallahassee, Florida on July 20, 2017:
The Spirit of God is starting to bring down revelation on top of us. It is very important that we grab hold of this. This is why we have gathered. I told Dutch (Sheets) when we walked in, that God is saying something, but I am having a hard time grabbing it. But when you got us to that place (in worship), all of the sudden, I could see the word that was written across Florida. The Lord said that the word for this state is: SURGE!
He said, "Watch – the signs are coming. And there will be SURGES on both sides of the state. And I say that will be a sign because the enemy is trying to find a narrow way in through this state to affect an entire nation, but I brought you together tonight to create a SURGE in the atmosphere.
"The SURGE will be like a light that shines down, and when the enemy comes in by night trying to enter in, to move up in the land, trying to create a strategy, he will be exposed. You will hear of him being exposed throughout this nation.
"And I say to Tallahassee, I have called you into a new place. I say I have called you together. I've called you to secure the entryway in from this state into an entire nation. You will begin to worship while the enemy is creating conflicts throughout the university systems of this state.
"But I say to you tonight, I am drawing you together to create a SURGE in the heavens, and where darkness is trying to enter in, you will create such a SURGE that My glory will come in and overtake the state."
Charles D. "Chuck" Pierce serves as President of Global Spheres, Inc. (GSI) in Corinth, Texas. This is an apostolic, prophetic ministry that is being used to gather and mobilize the worshipping Triumphant Reserve throughout the world. Chuck also serves as President of Glory of Zion International Ministries, a ministry that aligns Jew and Gentile. He is known for his accurate prophetic gifting which helps direct nations, cities, churches, and individuals in understanding the times and seasons in which we live. Chuck and his wife, Pam, have six children and seven grandchildren. He has authored over 20 books, including the best-sellers Interpreting the Times, Redeeming the Time, and Time to Defeat the Devil.
