Revelation 13:16-17 (NKJV) He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
The Holy Bible tells us that in the end days, there will be a one world government and a one world currency. For many of us, especially those living in the dominant and sovereign United States of America cannot imagine how such a concept could be real. It is easy to see how people would dismiss the truth of God’s Word because America has been the world superpower for so long and our overall healthy economy has provided a strong foundation for the global economy. If there has ever been any question about that, one should be quick to reconsider because in the past 7-8 months, the US economy has nearly collapsed, and the ripple effect has been powerfully felt around the world.
There is absolutely no question that our global economy is in very serious trouble, and it might be prudent to consider that the United States economy may very well collapse at some point in the not-so-distant future. Is that an alarmist statement? Perhaps, but considering that the Bible says that there will be a one world government and a one world currency in the last few years of history as we know it, something dramatic will have to happen to force this scenario upon us. There is no question that we will see the one world currency and the one world government, because the Bible is very clear about that. Just what events occur to get us to that point is up for speculation. My guess is that the United States economy will literally collapse or President Obama will hand over or sovereignty to a global system before the collapse officially happens. Perhaps he knows collapse is inevitable, so he is acquiescing to the world pressures to globalize. Perhaps, he is truly a socialist at heart and is eager to relinquish our sovereignty to global powers. I’d say both.
In any event, there is no denying the reality of our world today an there is no denying the direction that we are all headed. Is it an isolated situation and things will stabilize back to normal in time? Or is it a prophetic reality that once again, confirms the authority, infallibility, and accuracy of God’s Word?
It is time to wake up and pay attention to the world in which we live. It is time to get out the Bible and see what God has to say about these events. Don’t take my word for it, read about it yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Below are just a few headlines in recent days (April 2009) that speak to the truth of what is happening in our world. Don’t dismiss its significance. Pay close attention to IMF. You will likely hear of it more and more. It stands for International Monetary Fund. It is likely going to develop into the one world currency.
The G20 moves the world a step closer to a global currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c....html#comments
The world is a step closer to a global currency, backed by a global central bank, running monetary policy for all humanity.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 2:06PM BST 03 Apr 2009
A single clause in Point 19 of the communiqué issued by the G20 leaders amounts to revolution in the global financial order.
"We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (£170bn) into the world economy and increase global liquidity," it said. SDRs are Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund that has lain dormant for half a century.
Published: 03 Apr 2009
GORDON Brown yesterday forced the world’s richest countries to stump up $1TRILLION to kick-start global growth. He strong-armed America, China, Japan, the EU and nations from across the planet into historic action at a gruelling G20 summit.
And afterwards the Prime Minister declared: “This is the day the world came together to fight back against the global recession — not with words, but with a plan for global recovery and reform.”
He added: “I think a new world order is emerging with the foundations of a new progressive era of international co-operation.”
US President Barack Obama, who attended the summit in London’s Docklands, hailed it as “a turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery”.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2358332.ece
Barack Obama's New World Order
The United States is still the same country it was a year ago, give or take about 6 million jobs. But its international branding campaign, as led by the new President, Barack Obama, is so different that the rest of the world might be forgiven if it has to do a double take.
Most of the hallmarks of the foreign policy of George W. Bush are gone. The old conservative idea of "American exceptionalism," which placed the U.S. on a plane above the rest of the world as a unique beacon of democracy and financial might, has been rejected. At almost every stop, Obama has made clear that the U.S. is but one actor in a global community. Talk of American economic supremacy has been replaced by a call from Obama for more growth in developing countries. Claims of American military supremacy have been replaced with heavy emphasis on cooperation and diplomatic hard labor. (Read "Obama in Europe: Facing Four Big Challenges.")
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599188951200
World Bank President Admits Agenda For Global Government
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
World Bank President and Bilderberg elitist Robert Zoellick openly admitted the plan to eliminate national sovereignty and impose a global government during a speech on the eve of the G20 summit.
Speaking about the agenda to increase not just funding but power for international organizations on the back of the financial crisis, Zoellick stated, “If leaders are serious about creating new global responsibilities or governance, let them start by modernising multilateralism to empower the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank Group to monitor national policies.”
In other words, give global institutions the power to regulate national policy as part of the creation of global government.
What Zoellick is outlining is essentially the end of national sovereignty and the reclassification of national governments as mere subordinates to a global authority that is completely unaccountable to the voting public of any country.
http://www.infowars.com/world-bank-president-admits-agenda-for-global-government/
Psalm 83:1-18
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.” O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.
Perhaps some of the names in this passage are unfamiliar, but they are names of countries that surround Israel today. At least weekly, reports have been published that Israel's enemies (specifically Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria) want to eliminate this God-given land and the Jewish people who inhabit Israel.
We are witnessing an Israeli air assualt against Hamas in the Gaza strip. One must be cautious when reading most national/international media reports about this conflict because Israel may likely be portrayed as the villain because they have been forced to strike Hamas leaders who hide out among civilian populations. The sad result is that civilians get killed or wounded and the propoganda in the national media generally blames Israel for these casualties.
The truth is that Hamas (like Hezbollah in the 2006 war) uses women, children, and civilians as shields as they hide out among the general population and lob rockets into Israel as they have been doing non-stop for quite some time. Hamas' unwillingess to stop killing Israeli's through their frequent rocket fire was the catalyst for Israel's Air strikes. There is no way that any other soveriegn nation would sit idly by and allow a terrorist group continue to behave in this way without consequences.
It will be very interesting to watch how this incursion unfolds. Just today (1/3/09) Israel has been forced to enter into Gaza on the ground. Since Hamas terrorists live among the general population, a ground invasion will be the most effective in eliminating the terrorists and minimizing collateral damages.
It is important to know that Hamas is ONLY a proxy for Iran. Iran is the head of the snake in this scenario, as Israel finds itself surrounded by the coils of this serpent who is hell-bent on annihliating Israel. This is not speculation, it is a well-known repeated statement by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Further, these statements are repeated by Hamas leaders in Gaza (west), Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon (north), and Syrian leaders (northeast). Iran and its proxy leaders have its headquarters in Damascus, Syria interestingly enough.
Is that significant to Bible prophecy? Certainly it is. There is no way to determine if Psalm 83 (above)/Isaiah 17 (below)is about to be fulfilled, but the violence in the Middle East is intensifying by the hour and it has the potential to draw other Iranian proxies into a larger regional war. If this happens, pay close attention to the words of the Lord as you read the prophecies of Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17. They will come to pass at some point in the future, we just don't know exactly when, but each time Israel finds itself in a deadly battle, it takes us that much closer to the fulfillment of God's prophetic Word.
Isaiah 17: 1-14
Proclamation Against Syria and Israel
The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken;They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria;They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” Says the LORD of hosts.
“ In that day it shall come to pass That the glory of Jacob will wane, And the fatness of his flesh grow lean. It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, And reaps the heads with his arm; It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain In the Valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, Like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three lives at the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”Says the LORD God of Israel. In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy the of Israel. He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars. In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough. And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation. Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings; In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow. Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the kind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who rob us.
For additional commentary on Isaiah 17, please read "Soveriegnty Isaiah 17" in prophecy section of this website.
The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They need the true peace of Jesus Christ as does the rest of this world.
Somewhere along the way, the performance-based ideology of our society intersected with our spirituality and it created a religion or a dutiful exercise in our efforts to know God. In life, when we perform, we know we must meet certain standards to meet a certain goal or expectation. If the stakes are high, we push ourselves to achieve what we want to achieve and our minds and behavior become focused on the goal. As a result, we often have to disconnect from everything else so that we can maintain our compliance to these rigid expectations and the drive to achieve propels us forward.
In the United States, we live in a capitalistic society, and although it provides wonderful opportunities for people, it creates an underlying mindset that our value and worth equates to high performance and production quotas. If we perform and achieve, our value will grow and we will earn our rewards. It makes good sense in the secular world and it often pays off in the business world.
But, as in every other comparison to man-made, worldly systems, this performance-based theory runs counter to God’s message and His view of Christianity. The Lord is seeking those who will submit to His ways, follow Him, and seek His guidance. He wants us to desire to walk with Him and to surrender our lives to His purpose and for His glory. When we get caught up in religion, we are generally focused on our own outcomes and image. Frequently, the desires of our heart reveal that our efforts to have relationship with God are based solely out of our human awareness of Him and our ideas of what we believe He wants from us. Sadly, these theories are a result of not knowing Him properly and are also a result of the performance-based ideals that we naturally project onto Him. This repetitive cycle of our minds and behaviors expose that we are perhaps more religious than we are Christian.
When we truly do not know the Lord, we make up ways to get to know Him from our own human experience. These efforts are futile and will eventually collapse because we do not have the strength, wisdom, capacity, or persistence to maintain such high-level pursuits. We become tired, weary, and accomplish nothing spiritually, and our “religion” crashes and burns from the weight of our own ignorance.
Many of us have learned this the hard way, but God wants to have relationship with us. He does not expect us to perform for His love, grace, and mercy. He wants us to know Him through His Word, and when we do, we will experience an internal transformation that shapes our hearts in ways that naturally desires to seek Him. When our hearts genuinely desire Him, we will find that obedience is no longer a task or a duty, but instead a heartfelt longing to please Him. This lifestyle draws upon His strength, wisdom, and persistence and has the capacity to sustain us through anything.
Being religious is a function of the mind and a behavioral display of our lack of understanding. Being a Christian who truly walks with the Lord, reveals an intimate relationship of the heart and a willing surrender of our lives to the One we so passionately desire to please. Religion collapses. Christianity endures.
http://www.helium.com/items/1189258-christianity-religion-knowing-god-being-a-christian-being-religious-pleasing-god
It is so easy to judge.
Just look at the loner down the street, or the woman who has jumped from relationship to relationship, or the man who is drowning in the depths of his alcoholism. Just look at the person who is rapidly spiraling down a destructive slope but can’t see it, and what about that person who all of a sudden turned into someone that you “don’t know anymore” because their behavior is radically different than it used to be?
These people are good targets for gossip and judgment. These people are easy to point fingers at and tell our gossip buddies how messed up they are and how selfish they are. So often they, in a weird sort of way, help the gossiper feel somewhat vindicated that they somehow have life far more figured out.
Most of us have been in either the shoes of the gossiper or the shoes of the one being gossiped about—or both! It is human nature, I believe, to examine the appearance of any given situation and immediately draw conclusions and pass judgment. Often, our judgment is so critical, that we avoid the one we perceive as messed up, and we perpetuate the negative comments, fuel the community gossip, and heighten the negativity that surrounds them.
But we were told in Scripture not to judge. We are also told in Scripture that God deeply loves all of us—even the sinner. And, we are also told that our ultimate goal is to become as Christ-like as possible in our journey.
But…let’s face it…the world is getting darker by the day, people are becoming less moral, and society has been desensitized by behavior that would have been shocking just twenty years ago. People are just flat out doing irrational, impulsive, and selfish things these days…and without having a sense of why, we just sit back and cover our mouths in anger and disbelief and point our finger in judgment of them.
We think to ourselves that God will love us more because our lives are not quite that messed up and because we are not making such “irrational” and “selfish” choices. We think that God will be more proud of us because our lives don’t necessarily reflect the crazy messed up life of the one we are so brazenly criticizing…as we avoid them, judge them, and continue to hurt them by our own behavior.
How can God love people who are so messed up and who have done hurtful things to others? How can God expect us not to judge them? Why does God expect us to love them unconditionally, when clearly, their actions warrant condemnation and not loving support?
I am of the opinion that God does not expect us to condone and approve of poor choices and decisions, but I happen to believe that God loves those people very much because He understands that the basis of their outward lifestyle and choices are not a reflection of their value and worth, but a reflection of the pain and anguish that they have suffered from previous experiences that the world has not been privy to. He understands that often poor choices, selfishness, and other behaviors that people are so critical of, are often a result of deep pain…pain that no one knows about…pain that must be balanced with something that counteracts it or numbs it. Often the counteractive behaviors are those very things that invite hurtful judgments from others.
Think about Jesus and the adulteress. She was caught in the act of adultery, and every one of her peers insisted that she be stoned to death. Yet, Jesus, in all His wisdom and love for her, recognized her deep emptiness and recognized her behavior as a means to try to fill her deep emptiness. He did not sentence her to death, He reached out to her and forgave her. How and why? I just believe that Jesus knows where we came from and understands that circumstances often drive people to do things they would not have otherwise done had they not been subject to hurtful influences that often propel them on destructive paths. He sees our potential and value and does not assign it to our lifestyle. He recognizes that we are all sinners and that we all make poor choices—some perhaps worse than others—but we are all in need of forgiveness….no matter what we have done or not done.
Jesus reached out to this woman.
Jesus forgave this woman.
Jesus loved this woman.
Jesus talked to this woman.
Jesus helped this woman.
Not once did He gossip about her, smite her, judge her, or condemn her. He offered His love and forgiveness, and told her to “go and sin no more”.
We can’t see the depths of pain that people carry…directly. But often if we detect behaviors that scream selfishness, destruction, immorality (anything that invites judgment), we might be able to determine that there is pain somewhere within. We can choose to do the opposite of Jesus and point our fingers, gossip about them, and avoid them…or we can reach out to them, love them, and offer Christ-like support to them as Jesus did to the woman caught in adultery.
We simply don’t know what people are going through…we don’t know the pain and trauma they might harbor. Let’s challenge ourselves to stop adding to their trauma by being so judgmental and critical, and strive to reach out and talk to them and guide them into the path of forgiveness that WE ALL need. Jesus Christ is the only way to forgiveness. Share Jesus.
John 8: 1-11
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours, Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
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