Burdens Lifted - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Burdens Lifted

- Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

"In fact, God wants to help you out of your troubles. He wants to take away your burdens that are crushing you. He wants to load your table with plenty of food.” Job 36:16

In 2010 I made my first trip to India. I say my first because I expect the Lord to take me back there soon again. The people of Hyderabad, Kamman and Muerchela touched my heart, as the Lord Yeshua had taken me there to touch theirs with His love for His people.

Traveling down the road with my good friend John Ebenezer, a pastor on the never-ending go, I was amazed at the load people would carry on their heads and back. They slowly walked along the side of the road, heading to their daily destination as they had done so many times before. From my vantage point the weight they carried seemed overbearing on their frail bodies.  It was a heavy burden to carry, and I wondered how they could do it day after day.

In the southeastern India big city of Hyderabad, having well over sixteen million inhabitants, we had stopped at a local store to get some provision for the evening meeting. Out front of the intended destination, wearing a sarai, a full colorful dress, a woman was carrying sand bags to the one man mixing cement for the construction job they had. I was able to capture a few shots with my Canon camera, as I watched in amazement as she quietly worked in the hot sun. What a picture it was, both in the natural and the spiritual. What a burden she had.

Carrying a heavy load is mentioned several times in the Word of God. The Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, inspired the writers to share of the day to day efforts put forth by people, to simply get daily bread. We can read of the daily routine – getting up in the morning early hours, sweating through the day in the hot sun, and going back home to rest as best one can for the next day. And then only to do it all over again. As it is today for many in the nations’ populations.

The burdens we tend to carry weigh us down, in spirit, soul and body. The conflicts we experience in relationships; the stress we have in constantly carrying concern for getting the bills paid, raising the kids, or the sickness that drags on, drains our emotions and saps the life out of us. And then we go through it again the next day.

This reality in life deeply effects both our natural and spiritual state. Sometimes it can be so overwhelming that we want to be as Job’s wife spoke to him in Job 2:9-10, “Why do you still hold on to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” But he answered her, “You’re talking like a low-class woman! Are we to receive the good at God’s hands but reject the bad?” CJB

As I observe people around me on the job, stress levels at a peak, or those walking the streets, while constantly on the go, I find myself drawing near to the Lord, pressing in to experience more of His care, for them and myself. Resting in His peace, finding the shalom He has given, and trusting in the promise to cover us in His grace, puts my heart at ease. Just knowing He understands and provides for everything we need lifts the heavy burden we often feel we have to carry alone.

Having that peace in our heart, that our burdens don’t have to rest squarely on our shoulders, but on His, gives you and I the break we need. As we seek Him, in order to know of His love, to do His will, and walk in His grace and provision, we experience the sense of contentment and assurance He alone provides. He is there to carry us along, and the burdens we have.

We are not called to bear it alone. Jesus, Yeshua, has made a way for us to keep our eyes fixed on Him, and to rest in His Almighty love. As we turn to Him, giving Him once again the concerns that want to load us down, we can find that His load is light.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NASU

You don’t have to carry that heavy daily load by yourself. He has made a way, and we are to walk in it. Call upon Him today.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People. Inc.

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Now Think On This #148 “Burdens Lifted” by Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (05.07.14) Wednesday at 5:00 am in Charlotte, NC.

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This

Divorce Shocker: Most Marriages Do Make It

Divorce Shocker: 

Most Marriages Do Make It

Paul Strand

CBN News Washington Sr. Correspondent

As senior correspondent in CBN's Washington, D.C., bureau, Paul Strand has covered a variety of political and social issues, with an emphasis on defense, justice, and Congress.  Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulStrandCBN and "like" him atFacebook.com/PaulStrandCBN.

CBN NEws May 6, 2014

ATLANTA -- Most people believe only half of U.S. marriages make it. But a leading researcher is announcing the true divorce rate is much lower and always has been.

Shaunti Feldhahn received her research training at Harvard. She and her husband Jeff help people with their marriages and relationships through best-selling books like,For Women Only and For Men Only.

This Atlanta-based couple often quoted in their writings and at conferences what they thought was accurate research: that most marriages are unhappy and 50 percent of them end in divorce, even in the Church.

"I didn't know," Feldhahn told CBN News. "I've stood up on stage and said every one of these wrong statistics."

Then eight years ago, she asked assistant Tally Whitehead for specific research on divorce for an article she was writing. After much digging, neither of them could find any real numbers.

That kicked off a personal, years-long crusade to dig through the tremendously complicated, sometimes contradictory research to find the truth. The surprising revelations are revealed in her new book, The Good News About Marriage.

The Real Divorce Rate

"First-time marriages: probably 20 to 25 percent have ended in divorce on average," Feldhahn revealed. "Now, okay, that's still too high, but it's a whole lot better than what people think it is."

Shaunti and Jeff point out the 50 percent figure came from projections of what researchers thought the divorce rate would become as they watched the divorce numbers rising in the 1970s and early 1980s when states around the nation were passing no-fault divorce laws.

"But the divorce rate has been dropping," Feldhahn said. "We've never hit those numbers. We've never gotten close."

And it's even lower among churchgoers, where a couple's chance of divorcing is more likely in the single digits or teens.

Hopelessness = Divorce

As the truth about these much lower divorce rates begins to spread, Feldhahn said she believes it will give people hope, which is often a key ingredient to making marriage last. She said hopelessness itself can actually lead to divorce.

"That sense of futility itself pulls down marriages," Feldhahn said. "And the problem is we have this culture-wide feeling of futility about marriage. It's based on all these discouraging beliefs and many of them just aren't true."

Christian psychotherapist Angel Davis has also written about marriage in her book, The Perfecting Storm. The Athens, Georgia-based therapist agreed with Shaunti Feldhahn's warnings about hopelessness.

"The Bible says hope deferred, it makes a heart sick," Davis said. "And we are so influenced by numbers and by culture."

Jeff Feldhahn said anytime he tells people about his wife's findings about how incorrect the 50 percent divorce rate actually is, they're stunned.

"Their mouth drops open and they're just shocked," he said. "They go, 'I can't believe I believed this all these years. And I've heard it so many times. And I've heard it from the pulpit so many times.'"

Shaunti added, "This is a great chance to stand up and say. 'We were all fooled. Not anymore.'"

Spreading the Good News

To that end, Feldhahn has been working to spread the news to pastors and other leaders as fast as she can. The news is changing Pastor Daniel Floyd's counseling because he had bought into fictional research, he admitted to Feldhahn.

"I told her, 'I've said this. I've taught this,'" the pastor at Lifepoint Churchin Fredericksburg, Virginia, recalled.

Floyd said he's sure this news will change a generation of marriage counseling.

"I think it's significant," he said. "And (it) could change the conversation from one that is 'Wow, it's just the way it is, and half of you are going to make it, half of you are not,' and change the conversation to know historically, an overwhelming majority have made it and you can make it."

Psychotherapist Davis said this belief can change lives and marriages.

"We know in psychology that what you believe affects how you feel, and then it leads to action," Davis stated. "So when other people are accomplishing something we think is hopeless, it gives us hope. And then we start feeling different and start acting different."

Feldhahn has more shocking research: four out of five marriages are happy. That number flies in the face of the popular belief that only about 30 percent of marriages are happy.

"Most people think most marriages are just kind of 'eeh'…just kind of rolling along," she said. "And they're shocked when I tell them that the actual average is 80 percent: 80 percent of marriages are happy."

Not knowing the true statistics often leads couples to avoid marriage and just shack up instead.

A Game-Changer?

Feldhahn said that couples who avoid marriage do so based on wrong assumptions.

"Like, 'if I'm just going to get divorced and I'm not going to be happy, why bother getting married, right?' And it's based on a lie," she said. "That feeling is based on a lie."

Pastor Floyd said these new facts can be a game-changer for married couples.

"I think it really helps people in the challenging moments to say, 'If I'll just stick with it, then there's a good chance I'm going to make it the distance,'" he said.

"With hope you feel you can make it through, even though you're in a tough patch," Jeff Feldhahn said.

His wife also pointed to other research that proves most of the unhappily married can turn it around.

"The studies show that if they stay married for five years, that almost 80 percent of those will be happy five years later," she said.

The Good News About Marriage also reveals the divorce rate among those active in their church is 27 to 50 percent lower than among non-churchgoers. Feldhahn's hope is that once people learn the truth that they will spread it far and wide.

"We need to change the paradigm of how we talk about marriage -- from marriage being in trouble and all this discouraging stuff to saying, 'No, wait. Most marriages are strong and happy for a lifetime,'" she told CBN News. "That makes a total difference to a couple who can now say, 'You know what? Most people get through this and we can, too.'"

Click here: Watch video on CBN News 

Satanists Refuse to Bow, Want Believers to Sit in Lap of Lucifer - Jennifer LeClaire

The Satanic Temple unveiled its proposal for a monument it intends to erect next to a depiction of the Ten Commandments on the Oklahoma state Capitol grounds. (Satanic Temple)

Satanists Refuse to Bow, 

Want Believers to Sit in Lap of Lucifer

5/6/2014 JENNIFER LECLAIRE  CHARISMA NEWS

It appears satanists don’t give up so easily—and they are taking their latest cue from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma with an homage to Satan that aims to inspire the masses to sit in Lucifer's lap.

Here’s the backstory: The ACLU last year filed a lawsuit representing Oklahomans challenging the constitutionality of the state's Ten Commandments monument. Listen to the anti-Christ argument.

"The monument's placement at the Capitol has created a more divisive and hostile state for many Oklahomans," says Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma's executive director. "When the government literally puts one faith on a pedestal, it sends a strong message to Oklahomans of other faiths that they are less than equal."

Here we go again. Secularists want the monument removed because, as Daniel Mach, director of the national ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, puts it, “No one should be made to feel unwelcome at their own state Capitol."

What’s surprising is that this largely anti-Christ lawsuit includes at least one Christian. Indeed, a Baptist pastor is looking for justice because, apparently, he feels like the government has trivialized the Ten Commandments' religious meaning by placing the monument in a political and secular context.

"To argue that the monument merely commemorates something historical rather than religious is a slap in the face to the many Oklahomans, like myself, who incorporate the Ten Commandments into our religious practice," says Bruce Prescott of Norman, an ordained Baptist minister and theologian.

Against this backdrop, the Satanic Temple, a New York-based satanist group, saw a door of opportunity. The satanists decided to fight for an homage to Satan that would stand next to the Ten Commandments monument and put an end to the strife. (Ironic, I know.) Now that monument is almost completed.

“The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures," says Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Satanic Temple. "The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.”

Sitting in the lap of Satan? It’s all fine and good with the ACLU. Kiesel says, “Whether you choose to believe in a god, a creed, a code or simply to believe in yourself, your choice should be your own, not coerced or influenced by what the government wants you to believe."

I don’t believe the government should coerce anyone into believing anything. Jesus certainly doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean Christians should bow to Satan’s will—or sit in Lucifer’s lap—in Oklahoma or anywhere else.

Saints, satanists are rising. It’s an Antichrist spirit. I’ve been sounding the alarm on this for a while, and I’ll keep on sounding it. Let’s remember the words of John the apostle: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

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JERUSALEM LISTED AMONG WORLD'S "TOP 10 DESTINATIONS ON THE RISE"

PRESS RELEASE                      JERUSALEM LISTED AMONG WORLD'S  "TOP 10 DESTINATIONS ON THE RISE" IN NEW SURVEY BY TRIPADVISOR The Israel Museum New York - May 6, 2014: Jerusalem has been named one of the "World's Top 10 Destinations on the Rise" in a recent survey by TripAdvisor. The survey lists Jerusalem among the world's most popular up-and-coming places to visit, a result that is bolstered by the recent record-breaking tourism numbers to Israel for the first quarter of 2014.   Jerusalem is known for its significance to the world's three major monotheistic religions, and people around the world, and is home to millennia-old historic sites, innovative museums and a burgeoning food and wine scene. TripAdvisor is a prominent travel advice website used by millions of travelers each year. "We are very pleased with TripAdvisor's recognition of Jerusalem as one of the world's top upcoming travel destinations. We hope this award will further intrigue and inspire travelers to visit us in 2014 and make this year the best ever for tourism to Israel," said Haim Gutin, Israel Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America.   For more information about travel to Israel, please visit: www.goisrael.com.  MEDIA CONTACTS Ross Belfer at WEILL - rbelfer@geoffreyweill.com - 1-866-PRWEILL ISRAEL GOVERNMENT TOURIST OFFICES ◦ NORTH AMERICA New York ◦ 212-499-5650   Canada ◦ Director: Ami Allon ◦ 416-964-3784    Los Angeles ◦ Director: Eliezer Hod ◦ 323-658-7463  Atlanta ◦ Director: Eyal Carlin ◦ 404-541-2770 Chicago ◦ Director: Omer Eshel ◦ 312-803-7080

Sharing Love From Sweden - "We Need Our Daily Bread" - Eva Haglund

 WE NEED OUR  DAILY BREAD

Eva Haglund 

from Stockholm, Sweden

We need usual food. We need usual bread. We also need spiritual food. We need the heavenly Bread.

Yeshua is Bread of life (John.6:35) We need Him. There were people in the Bible who just was interesting in usual food . They were not interested in the Bread of life -Yeshua, but He told them that they needed Him first. He is the Word. Then the Word is also the Bread of life, as bread to our souls.

It is written in John 1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." When Yeshua is the Word we need to read the Bible. We need the Bread - our daily Bread. The Bible is like a bread. We need to be hungry for it.

It is good to read the Word every day. We need it every day. God also can speak to us personal in the Bible. If we are in difficult situations we need Bible verses to stand on.When we read the Bible we learn of God more and it helps in our daily walk.

The Word ought to be precious like gold for us. It is like a golden mine or like a diamond - mine. It is like water in a desert.

There are churches where there is just words from human being but God's Word is not preached. That is not clean water as the Word is. We need words from heaven. The Word. It is a living water. It is alive. We need this living water for our souls. This well of water.

Yeshua is wonderful. He is love. 1 John.4:8. He is wonderful and He is the Word, which is also wonderful.

It is written in Ps.119: 105,  "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." A lamp gives light. It shows the way. We need Gods light in our path. We need to see.

In Ps.119: 48 we can read,  "My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on your word."

We can see that David loved words from heaven - from God. He was singing in the Psalms to God. I think it is good to read the Word aloud also because then you hear the Word and it is good to hear it. I also think that you can sing from the Word. For instance, from the Psalms as David wrote.

To confess loud some things from the Word every day is good. As an example, "My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth." It is a help for your faith.

Hebrew 4:12 says, "For the Word is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged soul piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

The Word is strong. It is strong like a fire. It build us up.Then it is good to hear good sermons also and to read good christian books with teachings for instance.

We need the Word - our Bread.

"Make signposts for yourself, set up landmarks..." - ISRAEL365

Make signposts for yourself, set up landmarks ... Return, O Maiden of Israel, return to these cities of yours. JEREMIAH (31:20) הַצִּיבִי לָךְ צִיֻּנִים שִׂמִי לָךְ תַּמְרוּרִים ...שׁוּבִי בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל שֻׁבִי אֶל עָרַיִךְ אֵלֶּה ירמיה לא:כ ha-tzee-VEE lakh tzi-yu-NEEM si-MEE lakh tam-ru-REEM ... shu-VEE b'tu-LAT yis-ra-AYL shu-VEE el a-ra-YIKH ay-LE

Today's Israel Inspiration This incredible road sign in the Golan Heights provides a stark insight into life in Israel and the true miracle of Israel's existence this Independence Day. We see it is only 60 km to Syria, 135 km to Jordan, and just a bit further to Iraq. Surely God could have nestled His Chosen Land in a more blissfully peaceful part of the world! Yet how much more so are we stirred to thank Him as we celebrate Israel's birthday, made all the more miraculous in our eyes when we view the road signs here in Israel. Sponsor a day and download our Independence Day Photo eBook » 66 of Israel's Heroes Share a Message Inspired by Israel's Declaration of Independence, 66 of Israel's heroes share a message for 66 years in this phenomenal video: "Am Yisrael Chai!" - "The People of Israel Live!" Watch Here » On Independence Day, Israelis Fire Up the BBQ For one day in the spring, the humble falafel is all but forgotten as Israelis fire up their grills for some serious meat-eating. Read More » Israel's 66th Birthday T-Shirt Celebrate Israel Independence Day with this great 100% combed cotton t-shirt. Available in several colors and sizes for the perfect fit. Get this Great Deal & Free Shipping » Today's Israel Photo Mazal tov to reader Ronnie Goldstein who submitted this incredible photo of a signpost in the Golan Heights on the Syrian-Israeli border. Thank you to all our readers who sent us such wonderful photos of our beloved Land of Israel. Thank You Help us continue to spread the beauty and significance of the Land of Israel! Sponsor a day for $25 and download our beautiful "66th Independence Day Photo Album." Get our Independence Day Photo eBook » “Blessings on Israel365” It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365! Stay in Touch » Dear Rabbi Tuly, I very much enjoy all the things you and your team are doing with Israel365!  Blessings on Israel365 and Am Israel Chai! Jeni H., USA Israel365 is a wonderful oportunity for everyone who dream to be in Israel one day, to feel more closer to this place. Thanks for that. Juliana A., Brazil Shalom, Rabbi Tuly Weisz RabbiTuly@Israel365.com

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“The Significance of the Rebirth of Israel” - Joel Rosenberg

Joel Rosenberg Israel turns 66. Here’s the story of how the U.S. almost didn’t support the prophetic rebirth of the Jewish State in May of 1948. by joelcrosenberg

(Tel Aviv, Israel) -- After an amazing and fascinating week in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for which I'm so grateful, I arrived in Israel last night to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the rebirth of the State of Israel. This is my first time to be here for Independence Day and it is very special.

Today, many take the existence of the modern nation of Israel for granted. But it is actually a stunning miracle and the fulfillment of ancient Bible prophecies.

Indeed, few Americans know how close the U.S. government came to refusing to support the establishment of the State of Israel in May of 1948. Few realize that most of President Truman’s advisors were dead set against the Jewish state, despite the horrors of the Holocaust, and that even many American Jews didn’t support the re-creation of Israel.But God had His purposes. He had His plan. And He made sure His plan came to pass, and remarkably, the U.S. played an interesting role in those prophetic developments.

It is a fascinating story, and one I shared in some detail in my non-fiction book in 2012, Implosion. Here are some excerpts you might find interesting on this Israeli Independence Day:

“The Significance of the Rebirth of Israel”

Over the past six decades, the United States has been Israel’s best friend and chief ally. That warm and strategic relationship began with President Harry Truman’s official and highly public decision to be the first world leader to recognize and support the newly declared State of Israel on May 14, 1948. Yet few Americans realize the tectonic struggle that took place at the highest levels of the U.S. government and almost prevented Truman from making or implementing that decision.

Until recently, despite decades of studying Jewish history, traveling to Israel, and working with various Israeli leaders, I had no idea just how close the Jewish state came to being denied early and critical recognition by the American government. Not long ago, however, an Israeli friend recommended that I read Counsel to the President, a book that takes readers inside the Oval Office and describes the political infighting against Israel in vivid detail. What I found absolutely fascinated me.

The book is the memoir of Clark Clifford, a highly respected Democrat who served as senior advisor for and special counsel to President Truman. Later, Clifford served as chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board for President John F. Kennedy, as secretary of defense under President Lyndon Johnson, and as an informal but highly trusted advisor to President Jimmy Carter before retiring from government and later passing away in 1998 at the age of 91. Clifford’s memoir explains his up-close-and-personal role in some of the most dramatic moments of American history in the post–World War II years, from advising Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, to helping Johnson seek an exit strategy from the Vietnam War, to counseling Carter during the darkest days of his presidency, to playing poker with Winston Churchill on a train bound for Fulton, Missouri, where Churchill was set to deliver his “Iron Curtain” speech.

Yet Clifford didn’t begin his 709-page tome with a description of any of these events. His first chapter, titled “Showdown in the Oval Office,” begins like this:

May 12, 1948—Of all the meetings I ever had with presidents, this one remains the most vivid. Not only did it pit me against a legendary war hero whom President Truman revered, but it did so over an issue of fundamental and enduring national security importance—Israel and the Mideast.

Clifford noted that Truman regarded then–secretary of state (and decorated Army general) George C. Marshall as “the greatest living American,” yet Truman and Marshall were on “a collision course” over Israel that “threatened to split and wreck the administration.” Simply put, “Marshall firmly opposed American recognition of the new Jewish state,” opposition that was “shared by almost every member of the brilliant and now-legendary group of men, later referred to as ‘the Wise Men,’ who were then in the process of creating a postwar foreign policy that would endure for more than forty years.” President Truman, in contrast, was a strong supporter of Israel, in large part because of his belief in the Bible….

---

Interestingly, Clifford noted that Ben-Gurion and his advisors had not yet decided on a name for the Jewish state. “The name ‘Israel’ was as yet unknown,” Clifford wrote, “and most of us assumed the new nation would be called ‘Judaea.’”…..

Also interesting is the fact that Truman’s support of the creation of the Jewish state was opposed by many American Jews, a fact unknown or forgotten by many friends of Israel.

“A significant number of Jewish Americans opposed Zionism,” Clifford wrote in his memoir. “Some feared that the effort to create a Jewish state was so controversial that the plan would fail. In 1942 a number of prominent Reform rabbis had founded the American Council for Judaism to oppose the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. It grew into an organization of over fourteen thousand members, which collaborated closely with State Department officials.” Clifford also noted that Arthur H. Sulzberger, the Jewish publisher of the New York Times, and Eugene Meyer, the Jewish publisher of the Washington Post, “opposed Zionism” as well.

Nevertheless, Truman had spoken favorably of the creation of a Jewish national homeland since not. long after taking office. In 1947, for example, Truman had publicly made it the policy of the United States government to back passage of the United Nations Partition Plan, creating the legal framework for the rebirth of the State of Israel as well as an adjoining state for the Palestinian Arabs. To succeed, the Partition Plan needed a two-thirds majority vote of the U.N. General Assembly. With just days to go before that historic vote on November 29, 1947, however, supporters of the plan were still three votes short. Some have suggested that President Truman personally called leaders of other nations to encourage them to support the American position. Others say he didn’t but that staff in his administration did; the record is not clear. Either way, most historians—including David McCullough, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his extraordinary biography Truman—acknowledge that Truman wanted the plan to pass and played a role behind the scenes.

In the end, Truman got his way. The Partition Plan dramatically passed at the last moment, thirty-three to thirteen, with ten abstentions….

---

Given  Truman’s backing of the Partition Plan, it would seem in retrospect that his decision to formally support the new state of Israel was a fait accompli. But the political crisis inside the White House and State Department was real and festering for the next two days. Tensions mounted, and time was running out. Reporters were asking what the president would do on the issue, and the advisors closest to the president had no clue. President Truman kept his cards close to his vest. Clifford later wrote  that he thought “the chances for salvaging the situation were very small—but not quite zero.”

By May 14, neither the secretary of state nor the secretary of defense nor any of the Cabinet or senior advisors knew which side the president would come down on. Then, a few hours before Ben-Gurion’s scheduled announcement, an aide to Secretary of State George Marshall called Clifford at the White House to say that Marshall still did not support the creation of Israel but would not oppose the president publicly if he declared in favor. This was a significant breakthrough. With less than an hour to go, the State Department aide called back to suggest again that Secretary Marshall hoped the president would delay making any decision for more internal discussions, presumably over the next few days.

“Only thirty minutes . . . before the announcement would be made in Tel Aviv,” Clifford recalled, “the American segment of the drama was now coming to a climax.” Clifford told the aide he would check with President Truman and get back to the secretary. He waited three minutes, then called the aide back, saying delay was out of the question. Finally, atsix o’clock, the president formally announced his final decision to Clifford. The United States would recognize and support the State of Israel. Truman handed his statement to Clifford, who immediately took it to the president’s press secretary, Charlie Ross. At 6:11 p.m., Ross read the statement to the press, and thus to the world:

Statement by the president. This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine. . . . The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.

History had been made. Bible prophecy had just been fulfilled. After a long and painful labor, the State of Israel had miraculously been born in a day. “Who has heard such a thing?” the prophet Isaiah wrote more than seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. “Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children” (Isaiah 66:8, NIV).

What’s more, the first world leader officially to recognize Israel’s legitimacy was a Christian who had been raised reading the Bible and believed it was true. Most of his senior advisors had vehemently opposed the creation of Israel. Much of the American Jewish community opposed it too. The Arab world would soon turn against the United States and move increasingly into the orbit of the Soviet Union. Yet Truman backed Israel anyway because he believed it was the right thing to do, the biblical thing to do.

“The fundamental basis of this nation’s ideals was given to Moses on Mount Sinai,” Truman once told an audience. “The fundamental basis of the Bill of Rights of our Constitution comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus, St. Matthew, Isaiah, and St. Paul. The Sermon on the Mount gives us a way of life, and maybe someday men will understand it as the real way of life. The basis of all great moral codes is ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’ Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

That is not to say that Truman made all his decisions based on Scripture. Truman was an intensely private man when it came to spiritual and religious matters, and he did not often discuss what he believed about the Bible and how he connected those beliefs to public policy. The 1940s were a different age. Presidents rarely discussed such matters with the public. Truman even felt reticent about discussing his beliefs with Billy Graham, as Graham described in his autobiography. However, it is not conjecture to say that Bible prophecy was a critical element in Truman’s decision-making process.

Clifford confirmed it in his memoir. “[Truman] was a student and believer in the Bible since his youth. From his reading of the Old Testament he felt the Jews derived a legitimate historical right to Palestine, and he sometimes cited such biblical lines as Deuteronomy 1:8, ‘Behold, I have given up the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord hath sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’”

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joelcrosenberg | May 6, 2014 at 5:48 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-307

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