8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #5

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Jesus taught that prayer must be in His name (John 14:12-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23, 24). 

In these verses Jesus teaches clearly that if we expect to receive what we ask for we must ask for those things in His name.  What does that mean?  Well, in the first passage (Jn. 14:10-14), Jesus shows us that praying in His name is praying in oneness or in unity with Him—that just as Jesus is one with the Father, we demonstrate that we are one with Jesus (and the Father) when we pray in His name.  For when Jesus ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit came to us and united us with the Father and Son.  And so when we pray in His name we demonstrate our oneness with Him, because we pray in unity with the Son who is one with the Father.  And we do it by the Spirit.  Then…

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The Lamb and the 144,000 Witnesses (Revelation 14:1-5)

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In this blog we will concentrate on the relationship between the witnesses and Jesus the Lamb during the seven-year Tribulation.

Revelation 14:1-5. Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.

Indeed, right from the start John noticed the meeting they were having on Mount Zion, which, as Ray Steadman points out was within the limits of Jerusalem.2  Ray Steadman also points out that…

Jesus Christ will be on earth during this time and will reveal Himself from time to time to these Jewish disciples, just as He appeared to His followers during those remarkable forty days after his resurrection.3  

Now the question is, what is the meeting about? Well, I think that since the earth was about to experience the great Tribulation, and be warned of it by angels (Rev. 14:6 ff), that this meeting is somewhat of a commissioning and for encouragement. I think it will be very much like when Jesus met with His twelve disciples on a mountain just before His ascension.

But it will also be like a great rally and a time of worship. And they will experience music and worship like nothing they have ever experienced.  Heaven itself will come down to them. They will hear a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like thunder, and the sound of harps, and singing by the redeemed in heaven. They will sing a new song. And only the 144,000 will understand what they are singing.

I have a feeling that these kinds of meetings will take place more than just this once. I think Jesus will meet with them quite regularly—as often as is needed during this incredibly evil and hard time. They will need constant encouragement if they are going to daily preach His gospel to the world. And they in fact will remain chaste and blameless. 

2 Ray Stedman, What On Earth Is Happening? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Discovery House Publishers, 2003), p. 93.

3 Ibid., p. 93.

Trends Toward Corruption and Self-Love

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Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:13, alerts us that in the last days “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse.” Crime and murder rates in this world are accelerating; and the porn industry has gone out of control. Here are two reasons for our present moral and spiritual corruption.

1. A rejection of God and the love of self. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul begins his list of evils with the main one: that people are lovers of self.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. (bold for emphasis)

Many people, even Christians, think that God wants us to love ourselves, that we can’t love others unless we love ourselves. But that is not true. When the bible tells us to love others as ourselves, it is assumed that we naturally love ourselves. But we can’t leave it there. That natural love of self must be checked—or it will get out of control. The love of self will soon turn fleshly—to impurity and to all the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). And in the end self-love will prevent us from loving God.

2. A rejection of truth. Once people have rejected God by focusing on self, they will have no interest in truth. Why? Because they get so caught up in what pleases them, and that’s all they want.

Yes, self-love is very dangerous. It…

  • Causes us to rationalize sin—because we want to satisfy a sexual urge.
  • Causes us to redefine sin. We tell ourselves it’s not so bad. We are too proud to admit we are wrong.

More on Self-Love

I think self-love is very deceptive. It is hiding everywhere, lurking on every corner. It is the basis of worldliness. We can’t get away from it, especially if we watch TV, go to movies, read the newspaper, etc. The world constantly is telling us how to love ourselves and that self-love is good. But the bible says the opposite (2 Tm. 3:2).

Self-love is selfishness. And we know that that is bad. But we don’t think of self-love that way. We think of it as being a good thing. That is why it is so deceptive. And it is also deceptive because what feels good to us isn’t always good for us in the long run. Food that tastes good may be very bad for us. Okay, good fresh fruit and vegetables are good for us to a point. But overeating anything, even healthy food can be bad. One apple is good; but three or four will give you a belly ache and may damage your stomach.

Do you have favorite TV shows or favorite movies? I don’t think anything is wrong with that; but when you sit and watch TV all day long on your days off, that is too much. You are feeding your flesh. It is the self-love talked about in 2 Timothy 3:2. If you really care about your physical and spiritual health you may want to think about denying yourself—which may involve some suffering. I think fasting—with suffering—may be good for you and good for the kingdom of God.

God has called us to love others, to reach out and care for others as much as we naturally care for ourselves.

Now that I think about it, I spend far too much time thinking about, planning for, and doing for myself. I ought to think more about doing for others and praying for others—being a servant as Christ was (Phil. 2:3-7).

Application

Will you join me and do what you need to do to break your trend of self-love?

  • Begin a new habit of thinking and praying for others.
  • Begin a new habit of denying yourself something that you crave.
  • For myself, I love watching cooking shows. But you may notice, as I do, that the cook always emphasizes bring out the good flavors, about what tastes good to the senses. You may also notice that most of the cooks are over-weight—sorry! My point here is that these TV shows are compelling us to love ourselves, to treat ourselves. In effect, I think the devil is using these shows to put me in a sort of self-love-spell, so that I will eat not to keep me strong, but to please my flesh and to keep me in a state of euphoria by tasty food. Oh, the devil and the world are out to get me. I will be more aware of what I watch on TV and what I eat.

Source: Foreshadows, By Steve Miller

3 Trends Leading to A One-World Economy

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These notes are taken from the book, Foreshadows:12 Megaclues that Jesus’ Return Is Nearer Than Ever, by Steve Miller.

1. We are closing the gap between developed and underdeveloped nations. China recently invested $400 billion on infrastructure projects in the Middle Eastern nation of Iran in exchange for an ongoing supply of heavily discounted oil. But this is a debt-trap for them. Apparently, China is giving them a loan to do the infrastructure and they have to pay it back with interest. And you know that China—as seemingly is being generous—is mainly interested in political or a military control over a nation and eventually the world. Yes, they are interested in world control.

2. We are moving toward a cashless and digital economy. This makes a lot of sense. I am all in favor of it. However, we see it as a sign that the Antichrist system is closer.

3. We are moving closer to a one-world central bank and currency. Once everyone is required to use bank-issued digital currencies, it will become possible for the world to go truly cashless and we will enter an era where totalitarian-style economic surveillance is a reality. Soon all buying and selling will be controlled by the mark of the beast.

I am not so afraid of being cashless; I am almost cashless now. I just don’t like the thought of being controlled. And that’s what it is coming to. However, we all should rest in the thought that God is always with us and is for us. He will not leave us. And He is soon coming for us.

8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #4

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Jesus taught that prayer should sometimes be with fasting (Mark 9:29).

On one occasion, when Jesus cast out a demon from a boy, and His disciples earlier were not able to cast out the demon, they came to Him privately and said, “Why could we not cast him out?” Jesus response was: “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

So here Jesus was teaching that the most difficult things (in this case, casting out a demon) require both prayer and fasting. Why? Because when we fast we depend more on God, and so our prayers become stronger. I suppose you could say that when we fast we receive an extra portion of the Holy Spirit, or perhaps we receive extra strength from the Holy Spirit. However you want to put it, you will find that fasting will strengthen prayer.

Now we know that we should always…

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8 Trends Toward A One-World Government

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Here are eight trends that are bringing us closer to the one-world antichrist empire (from the book, Foreshadows:12 Megaclues that Jesus’ Return Is Nearer Than Ever, by Steve Miller).

1. A trend toward rule by power elites. It is interesting and kind of shocking that a majority of citizens disagree with the powerful economic elites. Nonetheless, most policymaking these days is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans.

2. A trend toward blind loyalty. We are seeing that people more and more are not thinking for themselves, and they are too lazy to investigate what is true. They are regarding loyalty to their party as more important than what is right and true. We see this esp. on the issue of abortion. It didn’t use to be this way. But today 100% of Democrats are for abortion and 100% of Republicans are for pro-life. This is so sad; in the end times people will blindly obey their government because of loyalty regardless of what is right.

3. A trend toward greater dependance upon government. We see this esp. in the area of universal health care—free health care! And this will pull the people to love and depend on their government—as their god.

4. A trend toward tightening the reins of power. We see that country leaders more and more are wanting to be authoritarians: China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, Venezuela, Cambodia and more. Even the U. S. seems to be headed in that direction with its many executive orders and wanting to pack the court. Anything to get more control. And in the end the antichrist will be an absolute dictator.

5. A trend toward authoritarian governments advancing their agendas abroad. Today, thanks to globalism and technology, they can readily export their way of doing thing all over the world. China esp. has done this on a colossal scale.

6. A trend toward community identity. In communism and socialism, the state reigns supreme in people’s lives. Children belong to the state not the family; the state becomes the family. This ideology has become a major means of giving people a sense of community.

7. A trend toward expanding authoritarian power through technology. Both China and Russia have been involved in this—to exert their influence worldwide. But they use technology to manipulate information and the media, and to lie.

8. A trend toward silencing freedom of speech. This is a big one! In order for totalitarianism to succeed, freedom of speech (people that hold differing views) must be extinguished.

So what is a Christian to do in this changing world? Here are a few points:

  • Do not rebel under evil authority. Jesus never encouraged that.
  • Work at changing people’s hearts. Only the gospel can do that. Our greatest weapon for bringing about change is the gospel.
  • It is possible for us, as Christians, to live and persevere without freedom of speech.
  • Don’t be discouraged; trust in God.

8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #3

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Jesus taught that prayer must be with expectation—expecting the best from God (from Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:8-13; Luke 18:6-8). 

When you read these passages you will see that the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching on prayer is not entirely on the persistence of prayer, but I think it is more on the sure answers that God will give when we are persistent in prayer.  Hence, when we pray, God does not want us to be so focused on our own persistence in prayer, but rather on how loving He is and how He wants to answer our prayers quickly.  In both the Matthew passage and the Luke passage the emphasis is not so much on the asking but on the receiving, not on the seeking but on the finding; again, it is not on the knocking but on the door being opened.

The teaching Jesus uses in these three passages to…

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Four Trends Toward Greater Globalism

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I have been reading the book Foreshadows: 12 Megaclues That Jesus’ Return Is Nearer Than Ever, by Steve Miller. It is quite good. I think it is definitely worth blogging. The first foreshadow he discusses is The Rise of Globalism—so today I will write about that trend.

Four Trends Toward Greater Globalism

1. More advanced Technology. There are now many more connected devices in the world, bringing the world together more than ever before, such as: smartphones, computers, cameras, sensors, smart speakers, etc.

2. More powerful global corporations—that network the world.

3. More global coalitions and groups—that network the world. These would include The World Economic Forum, The United Nations, The G20 (that promotes international collaborations).

4. More emphasis on the world as a global community. This global community has a goal to change the way the world is governed.

  • They are and will deal with global problems
  • They will work as one to bring solutions
  • They will discuss what the Great Reset is, what they intend to do, and how they reimagine the world.

Some of these trends sound not so bad, even good. But if the leaders are not moral people, and don’t believe in God, that spells danger. Here are some of the dangers in globalism:

  • There will be less freedom. We saw this during the Covid-19 pandemic, how they handled it.
  • Government power will expand and be the norm.
  • Globalism leaves out God, rejects God as a solution, and ignores sin as a problem.