Today’s the day! The Election of 2020 is finally upon us. Remember, whatever happens and whoever sits the Oval Seat—it’s not The THRONE. And the ONE who is seated there ETERNALLY, with many crowns at His Feet, is never surprised, never outwitted, never overthrown. It is toward His VICTORY that I cast my eyes and look forward to the things to come which make all else an empty abyss.

For...

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12)

But...

The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Rom 8:11) and He gave us a spirit NOT OF FEAR but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim 1:7)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him ENDURED THE CROSS, despising the shame, and IS SEATED at the right Hand of The Throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2)

For He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him. (Col 2:15)

And...

He has said these things to us, that in Him we may have peace. In the world we will have tribulation. But take heart; He has overcome the world! (Jn 16:33)

For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him IS LIFE, and the life is the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. ... (Jn 1:1-51)

So...

See that you are not alarmed by tribulations (Mt 24:6) and see that no one leads you astray. (Mt 24:4) The time has come for us Christians to wake from our Laodicean states and strive forth—not in protection of our “kingdoms”, but in the mission of the Gospel. (Rom 13:11)

Only then will we go to our real home for TAKE HEART--Jesus' return is soon!  (Mt 24:14; Rev 22:20)

Examine how the Message Bible interprets the 2 Corinthians Scripture:  

What type of legacy are you leaving behind?  Praise God we have the True and Better Craftsman! The One who through His scarred hands forged the bridge to eternal life and placed within us a birthright that will never tarnish. The only real legacy we can leave behind is people. Let us labor not to build an inheritance of moth and rust, but one of crowns that we can cast at His holy feet.

Matthew 6:19-20 (ESV) Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."

There has been a lot of debate and political upheaval in the news lately about what it means to be a Christian, what values they should hold, and if all paths lead to God.  Christians who preach the Gospel are quickly labeled as “narrow-minded”, “intolerant”, and  “bigoted” and accused of “hate filled speech”.  Perhaps the best way to explain why Christians are so passionate is because they have experienced the love and sacrifice made by Jesus--and because they have been forgiven so much, feel a strong desire to share that Good News with everyone else.  Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), an avowed atheist, summed up the concept of witnessing.  He said in his famous YouTube video, 

If you saw someone crossing the street in front of an oncoming bus, what would you do?  Would you just stand there, say nothing, and watch them get hit?  Would you call out to them?  Would you try to pull them back to the sidewalk?  What if it were your child? This is why Christians feel compelled to share the Gospel of Jesus and His FREE GIFT of salvation and eternal life with everyone. God sent His Son to exchange His life for yours.  He died and rose again and He wants to create a new life for you.  There is a real heaven and there is a real hell.  Deciding exactly who Jesus is, is the most important decision of your life Read More

It was a blessing to capture this fairly rare event today, cloud iridescence producing an irisation effect!  Irisation is a type of diffraction phenomena caused by the scattering of light rays when they strike objects of a similar size to their wavelengths; in this case most probably water droplets in these cirrus fibratus and cirrocumulus clouds.   The circum horizontal arc is produced by the scattered light waves interfering with each other and ultimately creating beautiful color patterns.  This phenomenon is rare because it usually has to occur within a 10 degree angle of the sun and only briefly appears as these thin clouds rapidly form and then evaporate. In this case the entire event lasted approximately 4 minutes before I was left with a vacant, albeit beautiful blue and white speckled expanse of sky.

Finding myself in this unexpected moment of revelation into a work of God’s hand took my breath away. I watched it slowly appear, glowing brighter and brighter with ever more vivid colors, and then watched it gradually fade away.  It left me sad and longing for just one more glimpse.  I continued to watch the wispy clouds with the hopefulness of a child- that maybe just a tip would become aglow with the glorious reds, yellows, blues, and greens that had shown so spectacularly mere moments ago. Nothing happened.  But what did happen was that I was still and in that stillness I experienced that sense of awe, that He is God.  I was struck by His tremendous love for us- of how He is the Great Designer and knew each of us intimately before the foundations of the Earth.  Oh how amazing it is that He cares so deeply for us that He shed His Son’s blood for our salvation! How wonderful it is that I can cast my cares upon Him and be filled with His supernatural peace! How satisfying it is to yield myself to Him and serve Him with all my strength! How awesome is our God! So be watchful for the small moments of life- the moments we can find ourselves lost in His majesty, and commune with God.