The New Year's Gift

I have always been different from everyone around me, so it should come as no surprise that I celebrate New Year's Eve differently too.  I really don't give much thought to celebrating it.  Sure, I may turn on the TV and look at other people celebrating, but it doesn't really move me.

I don't know where I got the idea, but for at least the last dozen years I have had my own tradition.  I spend New Year's Eve alone with God, and I ponder which spiritual attribute I lack the most--the one that would give me a closer walk with God, in the year(s) ahead, if I had it.  Then, I request it of God.


The most memorable was the year that I asked Him for faith.  I had already heard that one shouldn't ask for faith because it would bring many trials.  But, that's what I felt led to ask for, and I'm glad I didn't let fear stop me.

When the spring semester ended, I was surprised to learn that I would have no financial aid for the summer . . . and my lease would end at the same time!  As a single parent of three kids, this was not a good situation to have looming on the horizon!

After much prayer, I decided that camping in the woods all summer was one option.  But, that a better option would be to buy a camper shell for my pickup truck, store our things somewhere, and travel the USA for the summer.  I realized we had what might be a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'!

That summer is one that none of us has ever forgotten!  A whole summer of 'quality time' together really bonded us deeply.  We had a couple of destinations in mind--relatives that we could visit for a few days, but mostly we had 'time to kill'!  (I find that almost impossible to imagine these days!)

For $100 we bought a family pass to the National Parks, and we lived on $600 a month.  Every day I got behind the wheel and asked God to guide me.  I would set a jar of canned food on the dashboard and head east, driving and praying.

By midday we had a warm 'meal'.  We ate very simply and very rarely paid to stay at a campground or eat at a restaurant.  We trusted God to show us a safe place to park each night, and prayed we could sleep unbothered.

We soaked in the beauty of God's creation and rested--what a blessed thing that was!  We learned that California had a nearly magical forest of giant trees;  that in Michigan, blueberries grew on the ground; and that the mosquitos in Minnesota were something to be reckoned with!!  We fell asleep in the woods at dusk, serenaded by the most beautiful birdsong I had ever heard.

That summer, I learned that God can take a bad situation and turn it completely around; that He can be trusted to watch over me, even while I'm asleep; that He is always with me, even when I have no idea where I am; that some of His best gifts are free; and that a glimpse of blue sky, the song of a bird, or a gentle breeze can help me reconnect with Him when I feel alone and afraid.


In the days ahead, as the works of man grow more depraved and ugly, and as evil increases around us--remember to look up sometimes.  Let God's creation remind you of who is eternal and who is really in charge.  Remember that the trials and tribulations that lie ahead are only temporary.  Life on earth has never been easy.  Although things will get a lot worse--it won't last much longer!!  Ten years from now, it may all be behind us.

We have much to look forward to.  We will have a thousand years to live on earth, in peace and equity, with Jesus Himself in authority.  How I yearn for His truth and justice to be established upon the Earth; for righteousness to be the standard, and the law to be upheld; for things to finally be fair; for a chance to rest and walk with Him; for a time when evil is put to flight and goodness can prevail.


Last year was difficult.  Not the circumstances of my life, but the evil around us grinding on me, wearing me down.  I imagine that a year from now, 2009 will seem like 'a piece of cake' as evil continues to increase.  I've become polluted by our culture, taking on bad attitudes and values, picked up from TV and movies.  Anger has taken root inside me, and hatred has started to grow, as I have seen America stolen and our rights stripped away.

Learning that it is all part of God's judgment has helped me put it in perspective.  I have long known America was provoking His judgment.  Realizing that the destruction of America that is now taking place is God's will--because of our sin--my anger at the people involved diminishes.

Instead I cry bitter tears of regret.  We had it all, but knew it not!  We had such a priceless gift from God, but we threw it away.  We squandered our freedom, to indulge our lusts.  Oh how foolish we were!!  America is forever lost.  We can never go back.


The anger and attitudes I have adopted have hardened my heart and made me more callous towards the pain and suffering of others.  Tonight, I need to repent of my anger, and my attitudes, and move beyond them.  I think what I need to ask for this year, is compassion.  Someone's life may depend on it.

Novus Ordo Seclorum --'A New Order of the Ages' (Oh yes . . . Part 3)

(Continued from Part 2, 'Amerika')

There WILL BE one world government, ruled by the antichrist.  I don't want to see it happen, because I've read the end of the book--I KNOW how that turns out!  While the Bible spells out much about what will take place, it doesn't say that America has to be the seat of his power!

Sure, our currency reflects the designs that the freemasons have, for a world government that begins in America--but that is not prophecy! It is a hope, a plan, a goal of some--but God has not decreed it to happen.

Don't be fooled by false 'prophecies'--a prophecy is only as infallible as the one who ordains it!  Maybe the Mayans somehow saw the future--or not.  Maybe Nostradamus saw what would happen--or not, etc., etc., etc.

The Bible makes it clear that if a prophet is speaking God's prophecies--he will never be wrong!  If he is not 100% right in his prophecies, then they did not come from God.  And if it doesn't claim to be the word of God, then it is not even a prophecy.  It is a goal, a hope, a fear, or an opinion!

If you are still not convinced that something new has settled upon our country, that there is a conspiracy unfolding, then look at the alliances Obama is making.  He is snubbing our traditional white, imperialist allies and befriending dictators!  Sure, you can say he is just trying to 'establish a dialogue' with them to bring about resolution to current conflicts--but that is just the cover!  In fact, it isn't even a cover.  All of this is happening in plain sight, yet people do not see!

We currently have several world leaders, who have recently seized power from their people--Putin, Chavez, Zelaya.  Elected democratically, they then changed the laws, enabling themselves to stay in office.  Wake up please.  It is happening in America now too!

If you don't think he sympathizes with these dictators, look at his response to the heroic efforts of the Hondurans in ousting a leader who was doing the same thing he is--usurping power and violating the people's constitutional rights!  He sided with Zelaya and insists he should be returned from exile and placed back into power over the Honduran patriots!

And consider his lack of response to the brave freedom loving people in Iran who were protesting a fraudulent election.  Silence, until he was repeatedly pushed to issue some kind of response-- and even then it was lukewarm at best!

These are the people that Obama is befriending--bold, audacious men that take what they want by force.  I believe he feels a kinship with these men because he has similar ambitions.  In fact, I believe they are all auditioning for the position of world leader.

These are the philosophical allies of our president--and he is working to establish them as his political allies as well!  Every move he makes is to court those who despise freedom and draw them into his circle of influence!

Look at his appointees-many of them are drawn from the ranks of the organizations he puts them in charge of overseeing!  Do you not see that he is throwing the door open wide and letting the fox into the henhouse?  And he welcomes people from every ideology that is opposed to America as we know it!

The status quo is under attack--and it probably should be!  But the direction in which he is taking us instead is not towards honesty, transparency, justice, and equality.  Those are his claims, but you must look at his actions!  While he may cover his real convictions with the words we want to hear, the people he surrounds himself with don't even attempt to veil their convictions!

It has struck me how he has told us, more or less, what he planned to do.  His agenda is not deeply concealed.  In fact, it is so obvious that it is hard to understand why people are not seeing what it is!  Unlike previous administrations, his ambitions and design are all happening in plain sight-this is very unusual too!  Here is why I believe that it is happening this way:

Whether or not he knows and intends that what he is putting in place in America will pave the way for the antichrist to have world dominion is not apparent at this time.  However, there are deep spiritual involvements and implications here!

Understand, for example, that a person cannot be possessed without inviting it.  There are spiritual laws that cannot be violated.  So too, it would be a violation of spiritual laws for Satan to seize control of  government on earth.  However, he is free to persuade & deceive men to grant him the power that is rightfully theirs!  So, he courts the leaders of the world's people.

So, Obama is NOT violating spiritual laws in creating a government for the antichrist to control.  He is doing this in plain sight to obtain the implied consent of the American people!  He may say one thing, but we can see, if we choose to, what he is really doing.  This protects the antichrist from being unseated on the grounds that he violated spiritual laws in obtaining his power. Therefore, if you have any objections to what is happening, you must act to oppose it now, while the power of government still belongs to the American people.


(Continued in Part 4, 'The Witness')