9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit

As you will see I the Scripture verse I will give you in this article - there is one very special incredible verse that will tell you that God the Father wants to transmit 9 specific fruits of the Holy Spirit up into our personalities.
The first three articles that we have listed in our sanctification section all set the stage as to what God is looking to do with each one of us. God wants all of us to enter into a sanctification process with Him so that He can begin the process of molding, shaping and transforming us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. He wants to make us more holy like He and Jesus are. He wants to transform us by the renewing of our minds. He wants to put right thinking into our thought process.
In the first article we have listed under this section titled "Sanctification," I gave you the specific verses from Scripture that showed you that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that this sanctification process is done with you in this life. However, you will not be a passive robot in all of this. You have to be willing to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit once He begins to start this process within you.
Your job is to get into the Word to find out exactly what it is God is going to want to change about you. You will need to find out what qualities God will want you to try and "put on" into your personality and what qualities He will want you to try and "put away."
This article will be the first of a series of articles giving you all of the appropriate Scripture verses showing you exactly which qualities and attributes God wants to get worked into your personality and which qualities that He will want to pull out of you.
And there is no better place to start this series of articles than with the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. If you want to start off by keying on some of the more positive qualities that God would really like to get worked into your personality - really study and meditate on these specific 9 qualities.
When God the Father purposely isolates and spells out 9 specific qualities that will be coming directly from His Holy Spirit - He is really letting you know the extreme importance of these specific 9 fruits. These 9 fruits are major fruits and qualities that are coming directly from God Himself, and every Christian should do the best they can to work with the Holy Spirit in getting all 9 of these fruits worked into his or her personality.
I'll first start off by showing each of these 9 specific fruits so that you can have all 9 of them isolated at the top of this article. I will then give you the Scripture verse that these 9 fruits are coming from. I will then do a brief commentary on each one of these fruits so you can fully understand what each one of these fruits are and how they can dramatically change the quality of your life and your state of being if you are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to start to work all 9 of these fruits into your mind, soul and personality.
Here are the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit

Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

Now here is the specific verse from Scripture where these 9 fruits are coming from:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22)
Before I get into the appropriate commentary on what each of these fruits are all about, note the following:
1. The word "Spirit" is with a capital "S" - which means that these 9 fruits are coming directly from the Holy Spirit - not from us.
2. What this means is that God's love, God's peace, God's joy and God's goodness can be started to be transmitted up into your personality. These are His attributes and His personality qualities that will start to flow and mesh into the core of your personality. Think about the ramifications of this - that God the Father Himself is allowing us to share in a part of His divine nature by allowing His Holy Spirit to transmit and impart these nine qualities right up into our soul and personality!
That is why God the Father is specifically telling us in this verse that these 9 fruits are coming directly from the Holy Spirit - so that we can fully appreciate the magnitude of such an experience.
Jesus has already told us that He is the vine and that we are the branches. The branches draw their life from the vine - not vice versa. Just as the branch draws its life from the vine - so we too draw our life directly from Jesus. Jesus will release His life to us through the Holy Spirit in exactly same way that the vine will release the life of the tree into the branches.
In one short, but incredible powerful Scripture verse, God the Father is giving all of us an incredible revelation on what can go on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm for those that are willing to work with Him in this sanctification process.

Replacement Theology Refuted!

The Bible clearly teaches that the Hebrew God chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for a special purpose to ultimately affect all humanity.
God first revealed Himself to "the fathers" and promised to be their God and the God of their descendants. The rest of mankind was "temporarily" left in the dark and to their own devices.
God drafted the 12 Tribes of Israel to become His Servant Nation! Moses rejoiced in ISRAEL'S UNIQUE CREATION (Deut.4:32-34).
The Great Creator God had never chosen any other people to represent Him! He had never inducted any other nation into His international service! He had never revealed Himself and entrusted His "Instruction Manual for Mankind," His holy Law and Word, His Divine Constitution, to any other nation or people in history!
Of physical Israel, God declares: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2), and "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD" (Ps. 147:19-20).
Yes, God ordained Israel to serve as His Custodian of Divine Revelation, specifically the Jews (Rom. 3:1-2). And please note that this was written AFTER the Church was founded and Jesus had given certain authority to his apostles!
The lying proponents of "replacement theology" deny that there's any advantage to being a Jew or an Israelite. The apostle Paul, under inspiration, strongly disagrees! He wisely continues Jesus' recognition of the Jew's God-given authority: "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do" (Matt. 23:2-3). And Moses prophesied that the Jews are to retain their God-given authority until Christ restores Israel as "One Nation under God."
Moses didn't say that Gentiles or the Church had any right to covet or steal that responsibility from the Jews: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, UNTIL Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Gen. 49:10). Jesus didn't do that at His first coming, which is why His disciples asked Him after His resurrection and just before His ascension: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). The King of the Jews will accomplish that divine mission when He returns!
God formed Israel as His Holy Nation, instructed them as His Son, and inducted them into His Divine Service. They received a special calling to become a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, a MODEL NATION, a LIGHT TO ALL NATIONS. God decreed Israel would be "above [not equal to] all people, And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Ex. 19:5-6).
NO OTHER NATION CAN COMPARE TO GOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL AND HIS REVELATION TO THEM! (Deut. 4:5-8). Please understand that this utterly unique relationship and revelation is what made Israel great, it wasn't something inherent within them. It was a gift and a blessing they had received from God, despite themselves! It wasn't because they were any better than anybody else; it wasn't because of their race; it was because of GOD'S PURPOSE AND GRACE! (Deut. 7:7-8; 9:5; Matt. 3:9; Rom. 3:23; 9:10-18).
The apostle Paul wrote to Church brethren, about their different gifts and calling (they weren't all equal): "For who makes thee to differ from another? And what do you have that you didn't receive? Now if you received it, why do you glory, as if you hadn't received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). It is by God's design that individuals and nations should have different and distinct gifts and callings.
It is our Heavenly Father who directs and establishes us where we belong in His plan, whether it's in the Church or among the nations (Deut. 32:8). Who are we to question His wisdom or to quarrel about positions? (Isa. 45:9-10; Matt. 20:23; 1 Cor. 12:18).
Jesus is the Firstborn of many brethren, the Church is the collective firstfruits of humanity, and ISRAEL IS THE FIRSTBORN OF MANY NATIONS! In fact, Isaiah 19:25 pronounces: "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance." God has dealt with those three nations more than any others on earth. That is His choice and prerogative. But for now, God has privately tutored Israel like He commands fathers to teach their sons (Deut. 6:7).
God has never referred to any other nation as His Son! Only Israel has that honor: "Thou art my Son" (Ps. 2:7), and "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt" (Hos. 11:1). We're the little boy that will show the way to the whole world, once God has subdued our sins, conquered our enemies and changed their bestial natures to befriend us (Micah 7:19-20; Isa. 11:6; Zech. 8:23).
We need to grow up and we will. Israel has been given a head-start in spiritual education, a special advantage, compared to others. We're not yet mature as a grown man but at least we're a child while others are still acting like animals! (Lev. 26:22; Rev. 13:18). Nevertheless, "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles; I am the LORDand my glory will I not give to another" (Isa. 42:6,8).
God will faithfully fulfill His purpose for calling physical Israel. He will finish what He's started with our nation! He won't offer that opportunity to any other! God promises, despite the demonic doctrine of replacement theology: "This people [Israel] have I formed for myself: they shall show forth my praise" (Isa. 43:21). Not Germany or Italy or Ethiopia! Do we believe God? Do we doubt He's capable of redeeming Israel? Replacement theology doesn't trust God and denies His saving power! It attempts to limit the Holy One of Israel!
God refers to future events as if they had already happened, since He knows He'll bring them to pass! (Rom. 4:17). Israel is the first nation that God has called out of spiritual Babylon, but they're only the first and not the last. God has called physical Israel to prepare them to serve as a CONVERTED NATION with but under His brilliant Kingdom of God-Beings, just like the GLORIFIED CHURCH is destined to serve as Immortal Priest-Kings, with but under Christ! (Rev. 3:21; 20:6).
ISRAEL WILL BE THE FIRST NATION TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT! (Ezek. 39:29; Isa. 44:3). Then we'll share our spiritual blessings with all mankind: "But ye [Israel] shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God; And [Israel's] seed [physical descendants] shall be known among the Gentiles, and their [literal] offspring among the people: all that see them shall [finally] ACKNOWLEDGE THEM, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed" (Isa. 61:6,9; Isa. 60:14). And at that time the tribes of Israel will acknowledge Judah for faithful service (Gen. 49:8, Zech. 8:23).
Christ will rule from Jerusalem as Israel's God-King, and yet there will also be a human prince and other mortals reigning under Him (Jer. 30:21; 33:26; Ezek. 46; Zech. 14:16). Likewise, internationally, the human nation of Israel will rule with but under the divine Kingdom-Family of God, and Zadok's physical descendants will faithfully serve in the Temple at headquarters (Ezek. 44:15).
All of the above glorifies God for his tender mercies and faithfulness to our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It reveals that "with God all things are possible." It confirms that "I would not, [Gentile] brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so, all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins; as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), FOR THE GIFTS AND CALLING OF GOD ARE IRREVOCABLE" (Rom. 11:25-29).
Those who foolishly push replacement theology are "wise in their own conceits." They have shamefully twisted the Scriptures that refer to spiritual Jews, to spiritual Jerusalem, the spiritual Temple and spiritual Israel - that generously admits repentant Gentiles into the SPIRITUAL COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL - to spiritualize away God's faithful promises to physical Israel! Now that they've been admitted, they jealously want to exclude Judah and usurp Israel from their rightful place in God's plan! (Rom. 11:24). Individual Israelites may fall away, converted Gentiles grafted in, but the NATION OF ISRAEL is here to stay!
"O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance; We are thine: thou never barest rule over them [Gentiles]; they were not called by thy name" (Isa. 63:17-19).
Some Gentiles have forgotten that God hasn't called Israel to become spiritual Gentiles, but has called everyone to become spiritual Israelites! They've forgotten that ISRAEL IS THE HOLY ROOT to which they've become attached! Paul warned them: "Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee" (Rom. 11:18).
They forget that the Church is CONVERTED ISRAEL that embraces righteous Gentiles. They've ignored the biblical principle of DUALITY. That there's the physical and there's the spiritual, and that both have their ordained place! Satan is the one who would love to spiritualize Israel away into oblivion! He wants God to break His promises to physical Israel and let them die in a spiritual holocaust!
However, God refuses to forget His physical people Israel and His holy purpose for them! "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee" (Isa. 49:14-15,Jer. 31:20).
We're supposed to ENCOURAGE ISRAEL TO REMEMBER THEIR ROOTS AND JUDAH HIS RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD, not discourage them! Nevertheless, God remembers them and places His special protective seal upon 144,000 Israelites before the Day of the Lord (Rev. 7:4), and purposely names the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem after the 12 Tribes! (Rev. 21:12). This ought to prove that Israel remains first and foremost in God's Mind! (Zech. 2:8). After all, salvation is to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16).
Paul addresses the nonsense of those who would belittle Israel by asking, "Has God cast away his people? GOD FORBID!" He goes on to show that God has always graciously preserved an ISRAELITE REMNANT, a "holy lump," even when He permitted the majority of Israel to go astray so that He could meanwhile recruit Gentiles (Rom. 11:1,5,16).
Those who preach the polluted propaganda of replacement theology would say physical Israel doesn't matter any more, but Paul clearly fought against such damnable lies! He also reminded his Gentile audience that it's the Israelites who were given everything from the Land Covenant to the Law (Rom. 9:4-5).
Those who preach Satan's lies against Israel had better read and believe and take warning! God says, despite Israel's horrible sins, "I WILL NOT CAST THEM AWAY, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their [physical] ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD" (Lev. 26:44-45).
And with physical Judah and Israel, God promises to enter into a new or renewed covenant: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a NEW COVENANT with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah" (Jer. 31:31). God also states emphatically that just as surely as the sun, moon and stars continue to shine, "If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a NATION before me forever. Thus saith the LORD: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD" (Jer. 31:35-37).
Again, God has heard the lies of those who say that He's spiritualized away His precious promises, that the TWO PHYSICAL FAMILIES OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH (and literal descendants of David and Levi) aren't important anymore, and says such blasphemers "Have despised my people, that they should be no more a NATION before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the SEED of Jacob (unconverted Israel), and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be RULERS over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them" (Jer. 33:17-26).
GOD'S WORD STANDS! Those who deny it will be history! "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6). God will keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to their physical descendants: Israel will become His model nation, His Kingdom of Priests and His light to all nations! (Lk. 1:68-75). We can bet our lives on it!

What You Do For Others Will Be Done Unto You!

This is not a golden rule, but this is what the word says. What you make happen for others, the almighty will make happen for you. When I wake up each morning the very first thing I ask is what can I do for the father today and then I ask a second question, what can I do to help someone else today. Also, how can I make someone else day better? By doing this I have just taken my mind off my problems to help someone else. When you think about your problems you are magnifying them above God therefore you see your problem as being bigger than God. When we take our minds off ourselves and what we want and start concentrating on others we will be able to see and have prosperity in our own lives. To understand this concept from the father is to understand what his specific words can do for you and your family and connect you with prosperity.
I will give you an example of what happen to me. There are three vehicles that my wife and I own now. Several months ago we only had one. We use that vehicle to visit people in the hospitals, go to church, work and take others where they needed to go. We were blessed with a new 2005 car and a small truck along with the current vehicle we now have. This was all done by simply, continuously praying and believing the word of God and standing on his word.
Most people think praying once will do the trick-wrong. You must be consistent so that he knows you are sincere and when you do this he knows he can trust you with more. You see, he wants to give you more but he can�t because you have placed shackles on him. You must learn to seek him for him not for what he can give you because that will come. The key is seeking his face not just his hand. He has much to give us, but he also has much to tell and teach us. So the important point here is seeking and praying for others in their situations and God will come and see about you in your situation. Simply put what you make happen for others he will make it happen for you. When you give it, it will be given unto you 30, 60, 100 fold. Just trust him even if your finances are low, your spouse has left or wants to leave, your child is on drugs or someone is irritating on your job. No matter what it is you began to trust and believe him to take care of these situations for you. After all, this is what he wants to do for you, he knows what�s best; but if you don�t, it place limitations and constraints on him when you don�t believe in him or his word. This does not allow him to act on your behalf.
The Golden Rule Says �do unto others as you would have them do unto you.� When you began following God�s plan you are doing unto others and blessing them in the process you will be blessed.

The Great Mideast Commission

When the time had come for Jews to return to Zion, God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and the Jews (Ezra 1:1,5). Not everyone was willing to leave Babylon, having settled in, but others inspired with a pioneer spirit were willing to go back home and clear the way for those who would eventually follow (Jer. 29: 4-7).
Those Jews who stayed behind in Babylon were encouraged to assist those who were headed for the front line. Their consequent generosity went down on record, and revealed how eager and willing they were to be involved in such a historic project and holy mission. This partnership, based on a mutual respect, in GOD'S WORK OF RESTORATION, revealed they understood how some are COMMISSIONED to build with the materials others are contracted to provide. It's most encouraging to know others are behind you and that God blesses everyone's genuine efforts (2 Cor. 9:10).
Now God's time has come to RESTORE THE TRUE GOSPEL TO JERUSALEM! The Church began in Jerusalem and was prophesied to return just before the close of this dark age and the dawn of the Wonderful World Tomorrow (Matt. 24:16). The Jews were the first to be offered salvation and now they'll be the last to receive it - but they will receive it (Zech. 12:10). Everything has come full circle (Matt. 23:39).
Read here what Mr. Armstrong taught:
"How are we preparing the way for Christ's Messianic coming? In three ways:
1) by proclaiming and publishing worldwide the gospel of the Kingdom of God...
2) by making ready a people for His coming... And
3) something that even I did not realize until recently we were also COMMISSIONED to do - clean up the filth and rubble in that area that was the original Jerusalem and City of David... Why is that important? Because Christ has said He will yet choose Jerusalem... His throne will be there.
Do you not suppose it will be in the very spot He chose for David's throne? Where was David's throne? It was on this very spot where we are now cleaning up and hauling off the rubble of century after century of accumulation... That is the spot we are cleaning up!
So there is a physical preparing, as well as a spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah's Coming! Further, God says we are to SHOUT [not shut up], with amplified power, to the CITIES OF JUDAH the glad message that the Messiah is soon coming" - Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, Volume II, pages 469-470 (emphasis mine).
Isaiah 40:9
9 O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the CITIES OF JUDAH, “Behold your God!”

And during my Bible reading last night, this stood out:
2 Samuel 10:12
12 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our People and for the
CITIES OF OUR GOD. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
God says, and His apostle taught, we are to share the GOOD NEWS WITH JUDAH. None of the Church of God congregations have done this! What are we waiting for?
We must sound the alarm from Zion (Joel 2:1). What's spoken in Jerusalem is heard around the world (Joel 3:16). We have the UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY - and responsibility - to warn Judah that a German-led Europe is about to make their move into the Middle East! We could do this through full page newspaper ads!
Europe's Crusader spirit grows restless. Soon "Roman troops" will again occupy the Holy Land (Isaiah 40:9)! Who else can warn them? Who else can help restore Israel's identity (Isa. 49:5), and say to Judah, "I am Joseph your brother"?
And doesn't God's Word imply an APOSTLE will be sent to the MIDDLE EAST (Isa. 41:27). Couldn't such an apostle to Jerusalem and the Jews - getting God's Word out to the cities of JUDAH - something Mr. Armstrong wanted to be and do but wasn't empowered - be the chief spokesman (in the spirit of Elijah to the NATION) between the Two Witnesses and, as an envoy from the House of David, an anointed DAVIDIC MESSENGER, be like GOD before the Jews in Jerusalem (Zech. 12:8)? Hasn't God now shared the possibility of such a revelation with us? (Isa. 48:6). Will we prepare the way?
Meanwhile, though, shouldn't we do all that we can and WORK TOGETHER WITH JEWISH FRIENDS in Israel, whether sponsoring Israeli author Yair Davidiy's translation of Israelite identity knowledge into Hebrew (www.britam.org), encouraging the Temple Mount Faithful in every way possible (www.templemountfaithful.org), plant a forest or create a garden in honor and memory of Herbert W. Armstrong, and help those faithful Jews living in pioneering communities ("settlements") with whatever they need? Who else has any game plan? Let's at least DO SOMETHING!
May God's Church be open for suggestions and seriously consider our options. Time is running out!

Europe's Bitter Roots

As prophesied, there were four Gentile superpowers: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greco-Macedonian, and Rome (Dan. 2:31-45). THESE are the roots Europe would do well to research!
Nebuchadnezzar, the first leader in this series of human governments, had a most impressive and perplexing dream. This was no normal dream or fanciful flight of imagination - it was a prophetic message from GOD!
But none of the king's priests or pagan magicians could tell him what was going on! They didn't have a clue or represent God! Since "Neb" saw they were on the payroll for nothing, just wasting his time and taking up space, he sentenced them to death! They stood exposed as worthless charlatans, left shaking in their boots! But God saved the day and spared them all.
GOD intervened for Daniel, a prisoner in the palace, and used him to clarify what the nightmare meant. This Jewish ambassador disclaimed any extraordinary credentials, but attributed His God-given understanding to Israel's God. He testified before the king and court, that the Most High God far transcends the pagan superstitions! He then proceeded to offer the inspired explanation.
The king had seen this monstrous statue of a man, with different body parts composed of different materials. Daniel interpreted the "members" as representative of successive governments. Each kingdom would have its own characteristics and reflect the disposition of their ruler. Different men are made of different mettle! Each emperor would leave his imprint on history. Just as the huge statue had two legs, coming down in time sequence to mankind's last throes of misrule, the original Roman empire was broken in two - between east and west. Power was split between Rome and Constantinople.
After Rome fell (in 476), it's spirit was determined to transform itself ten times, seven under the Catholic Church's influence. The three former entities of the Germanic tribes (the Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Heruli) embodied the Roman form of government, but they were Arian kings - not Catholic or Italian (Dan. 8:24). Justinian's "Imperial Restoration," in AD 554, healed Rome's "deadly wound" inflicted by these barbarian invaders (Rev. 13:3), and exorcised Italy of her foreign occupation. It lasted, as foretold, for 1260 years.
In AD 800, Charlemagne was crowned as imperator Romanorum, an "heir" to the Western Roman Empire. He was truly considered the "King Father of Europe." It was this Christian Caesar who firmly established the "ideal" of a unified Christian Empire in Europe's heart and mind.
In 962, Otto the Great's "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" conjured up images of Charlemagne's Empire. Germany became the new power center, the heart and core, of the Roman Empire. After all, it was their kings, throughout the Middle Ages, who held a steel grip on the imperial title. They were the "Protector of Europe."
In the early 1500's, Charles V dedicated himself to reconstruct the Gothic style of Church-State union. He wanted to bring back (from the dead) a coalition of nations that would keep their own identity, but share a common faith. Although his project didn't get off the ground, or his dream house materialize, its grand design stirred the imaginations of others.
Dr. Habsburg, his descendant, has predicted: "Our generation will find its historical inspiration in the concepts last embodied in the person, mind and political views of Charles V.... Inasmuch as he represents an eternal ideal, the Emperor (Charles V)... is still living among us - not only as our European ancestor, but as a guide towards the centuries to come." Can't you feel his "presence" in the pope's plea?
Napoleon considered himself Caesar's heir apparent. Early on, during a pilgrimage to Charlemagne's tomb, he intoned: "There will be no peace in Europe until the whole Continent is under one suzerain, an Emperor whose chief officers are kings, whose generals have become monarchs."
This vision for European unity and peace is being seen again. Did Napoleon have a sneak preview? Later, unable to achieve his grand design, he bemoaned: "I wanted to found a European system, a European code of laws, a European judiciary. There would have been but one people throughout Europe."
Mussolini fantasized about a modern version of the Roman Empire. To fulfill it, he began his venture by enlisting the Vatican. After he restored Italy's honor by defeating Ethiopia, he declared it a "Roman triumph" and proclaimed "the reappearance of the empire on the fated hills of Rome." His almost non-existent empire was Rome's sixth prophesied resurrection. (Rev. 17:11).
In October 1936, the "Berlin-Rome Axis" sealed Italy's fate with that of Germany's Third Reich. Hitler (also in possession of a concordat with the Vatican) saw himself as destined to lead a great Germanic Empire. His mountain fortress in Obersalzberg afforded him a magnificent view of the Untersberg. Within that mountain, legend whispered, Charlemagne still slept - waiting for his day to rise again and restore Germany's glory! The Fuehrer would point out to visitors; "It is no accident that I have my residence opposite it." The restless Roman spirit refuses to die!
The Final Conflict
We've come to the end of the road: EUROPE'S FINAL ARRANGEMENT IS TAKING PLACE NOW! And all prompted by the pope and eager politicians! The ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image, referring to 10 kings, correspond to this carbon copy of the "Holy Roman Empire." It'll include rich and poor countries, and be made up of both strong and weak elements, but they won't stay together for long (Dan. 2:43). They don't share the right chemistry!
Rome's dream will become our nightmare! This seventh resurrection will be responsible for the nuclear fires prophesied to sear the earth (Isa. 24:6)! It's campaign promises of peace and security, will quickly be broken! EUROPE'S PREPARING FOR WAR! Europe's last trump is near! They'll attempt to fight Christ at His coming, but they're fighting for a lost cause (Rev. 17:12-14)! Jesus will lead a brilliant campaign (Hab. 3:11) to break up the Gentile monopoly on world government!
Christ's lightning strike will be a smashing success! He'll take over the reigns of human governments and rule supreme (Rev. 11:15)! ISRAEL will be RESTORED as a Superpower!
The Gentile authorities will pay tribute to our God and King, and acknowledge Israel as God's Instrument. At that time, THEY'LL REALIZE AN EVIL SPIRIT HAD LED THEM and that Rome was his capital of confusion. It'll be destroyed, never to rise again! BABYLON IS FALLEN! BABYLON IS FALLEN (Rev. 18:2)!
http://beyond-babylon.atspace.com/beyond-babylon-5.htm

How Healers Can Prevent Healing

Do you have a tendency to shift the blame for things that seem to turn out wrong? Most of us do! The occurrance of nonhealing in the Christian ministry is no exception. Usually we shift the blame onto the poor individual with whom we are praying.
Look at most books on healing. They will have a chapter on nonhealing in which all the causes are attributed one way or another to person being prayed with.
The problems are fairly common, in the sense of occuring quite frequently. Ask yourself: which of the following is/are most likely to apply to you? That will put you on the road to significantly greater success in your praying for healing.
(What follows is inevitably a concise discussion. A fuller one, along with related topics, can be found in "The keys To Praying For Healing" at http://www.christianword.co.uk)
1.Everything In The Bible Is True But Not All Truth Is In The Bible
John said in his gospel that the world would not have been large enough to contain an account of all the things that Jesus did and said (John 21. 25). How big would the Bible have to be to contain all truth?
We are concerned here only with healing. We can learn much about how to pray with others for healing from the gospels. But can the gospels tell us everything about it? Of course not. So we need to use some commonsense and prayer, in relation to our experience, to fill-in the gaps. If we are prepared to be self- critical and learn from our experience, in this activity as in others, we shall see a gradual increase in our success rate.
2. We Imitate Jesus But We Are Not Jesus
In our book "The Keys To Praying For Healing" my wife and I discuss this whole reality. Everyone Jesus prayed with was healed. That is a 'target' for us. It is not a 'rule' governing our experience in praying for healing. Notice that even Jesus' near disciples had difficulties in sucuring healing when praying with others (e.g. Mark 9. 14 - 18). Since wew are not Jesus, sometimes we shall fail.
This failure may well be due to our own deficiencies on occasions. A deficiency is not necessarily the same thing as a fault. For example, we can have a deficiency because of ignorance. If we are ignorant of something, we cannot take it into account. But in other cases we may be ignorant of something we 'ought' to have known about. The we are at fault.
But read Acts and see how Peter learned from his observations of Jesus (e.g. Acts 3. 2 - 8). Compare his approach to Jesus' approach. Can we not do that same? Of course. And from that we shall learn to increase our rate of success in the healing ministry.
Yet we shall never equal the success rate of Jesus himself. So a fundamental rule is: do the best you can at the time and do not become discouraged by what might appear to be failure. Allowing oneself to get down is a cause of failure we can (and certainly should) avoid. No prayer can be categorised as complete failure because God always responds to us in some way.
Is it not true that Jesus was sinless? certainly. Are you sinless? Hardly! So there were no obstacles to the flow of the power of the Holy Spirit through him. There ARE obstacles in us. These come from sin and sin comes from selfishness. So we need to concentrate our efforts on eliminating the latter. Greater success will follow, albiet as a long term achiement.
3. Lack Of Attention To Basic Problems In The Sufferer
Do you know the person you are praying with? Sometimes, of course, we know people very well. We need to make explicit use of that knowledge to isolate any possible abstacles to healing.
What is their expectation of healing going to be? Have they any experience of being prayed with? Do they remain still and receive or insist on praying as well? Are there any serious ares of sin in their lives of which you are aware which could constitute an obstacle to sin? (But be very careful how you approach these).
In some situations we may not know the person at all. When we are praying with people at public Christian meetings, days of renewal, conference and the like, we may often find ourselves ministering to strangers. Follow any information path which seems to be of possible relevance. There are often reasons for nonhealing tucked away in peoples lives.
4. Lack Of Proper Diagnosis
Would you be worried if your doctor began proscibing medicine at your next visit without asking about the problem or investigating its causes? We also need to investigate possible causes. One of the most common reasons for nonhealing lies with a failure to conduct a proper investigation into the person's problem.
Do not feel that you have to get straight into the praying bit. Take your time and don't let anyone hurry you unnecessarily.
5. Expecting God To Work Instead Of Ourselves
Who accomplishes the healing? God, of course. But does he choose to do it independently of us? Obviously so in some cases. But often he does not - or why do we bother praying with people for healing? If we are in the healing ministry he expects us to do that share of the work which he has entrusted to us. If we skimp on it, if we do not do all that we can if, in short, we fail to love our fellows, then we are at fault and healing will often not occur.
We need to do all we can, as part of our ministry, to ensure that healing happens. Always ask "why" when it does not. If there is no obvious reason lodging with the person being prayed with, perhapsthere is a fault which lies with us. If we examine ourselves in this way, we may learn something new for next time.

I Did It God's Way

Frank Sinatra made famous the song "I Did It My Way". It has become so famous that sometimes one even hears it played at funerals - even Christian funerals. It is as though people are so loose in their knowledge about what God wants of us that they see having "done it" their own way as a real testament to the quality of their lives.
But the principle on which this song is founded is anathema to the Christian trying to follow Christ. It is the last thing we should want as a summary of our lives - that we did everything in our own way!
We are called to live as Jesus lived. One crucial aspect of his life was that it was led by the Holy Spirit. This was at least from the start of his public ministry when, after his baptism in the Jordan, Luke 4. 1 tells us that he was driven into the desert by the Spirit.
There are other scriptures which one could quote also if space allowed. But the lesson is that, to live as Jesus lived, we also need to be led by the Spirit. Easy to say. But how do we do it?
First Essential
The first essential is to know that this is really what God requires of us. We all "know" it in an academic way. We know it as a principle. But what we also need to have is the conviction of it!
If we do not have that already, there is only one way to get it: by prayer. Preferably by prayer based on the scriptures.
Meditate on selected, relevant passages, especially from the New Testament, and preferably from the gospels. (This is discussed in detail by a book on our site: "The keys to Christian Meditation"). For example, read the gospels carefully explicitly looking for passages which have especial reference to Jesus being led by the Spirit. You need to find them. They are not always overt, so look with care and take your time.
Meditate on these passages allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you. Search for the realisation that we are to imitate the example set for us by Jesus.
The conviction may come in various ways: all at once, or as a gradual process of a growing conviction which no one can give you the details for in advance.
Second Essential
Once we really know that this is really what God wants of us, the second essential is to integrate it into our lives. Easy to say. But how do we start?
We start with the determination not to take decisions "off our own bat", not to live as we want but as God wants. We want to end up saying "I did it his way", not "I did it my way".
You can begin in either of two ways. Start with the really important decisions and work down to the daily ones; or start with the small ones and work up to the big ones. This is a matter of personal choice - but also of opportunity
What the big ones? Changing job, changing house, changing church and so forth. Maybe we are not facing major decisions like this. So we then have no alternative but to start with less important ones: joining a new club, where to go on holiday, take up some new pastime.
In all these matters it is not what we want but what he wants. And any apparently small matter could turn out to be extremely important because we never know where a decision will lead. Still less where it will lead when God makes it for us! That is one of the things that makes being a (Spirit led) Christian really exciting.
So pray and ask for direction in all these things. The Holy Spirit lives within every Christian. If we have the conviction of this, then we ought to have little difficulty in turning to ask the Spirit's direction. But...
Third Essential
The greatest problem we have in seeking God's will is our own will. It repeatedly gets in the way. It is like trying to push a ball down under the water. Every time we relax the pressure it shoots back to the surface. So the third essential is that we must be sure we are following God's will and not our own. We do not want to be looking for confirmations which merely confirm our own preferences.
One excellent method is given by Ignatius of Loyola. He recommends that, whatever our own preference is in a given decision, we should pray for the grace to want the opposite. If you have a desire to move house, pray for the desire stay in your present house. As the grace comes from God over a period, we shall eventually arrive at a kind of equilibrium position where we are indifferent as to whether we stay or move. Then we are in a position to hear God speaking to us.
Following Is Forsaking
Following God's will is forsaking our own. That is rarely easy, especially in the world we live in today. The media, not least TV, constantly tells us in all manner of ways that we need to fullfil all our own desires if we are to be happy. One current advert tells us that, whatever we want, "You are worth it".
But can you honestly say that, however much you have responded to such adverts, you have actually been truly happier as a result of buying the product? Most likely not, because happiness is God-shaped and only doing his will, in big and in small things, can really bring us happiness.

How To Pray

WHAT PRAYING IS NOT?
Many people cease-up when they think of prayer, especially prayer that they have to make up themselves. Just reading what someone has written down in a book of prayer is one thing, but having to approach God with one's own words...
Praying is sometimes associated in people's minds with "thee "'s and "thine"'s. Probably that is because many people immediately think of church and church services when they think of prayer. Certainly, in some liturgical churches there are prayers with this kind of language in them. Yet these kinds of words are neither necessary nor, in many respects, even desirable, especially in our own private prayer
WHAT PRAYING IS
For most people, talking to others is not a problem. But praying is essentially no more than talking. Yet, because it is talking to God, many people either get up tight about it or think they cannot do it properly. But there is really no proper way to pray. God wants us to approach him just as we are and where we are, as the unique individual he created us to be.
So praying is, in essence, no different to turning to a friend and communicating with him or her. In other words, praying is just simply talking to God as we are, as we are feeling at the moment, with all the problems we may have at that time -- or, indeed, all the joy and gaiety we have in our heart at that moment.
WHAT GOD DOES NOT WANT
When we talk to God we need to approach him with sincerity. He does not want falseness of any kind. He does not want us to "put on a face", pretend to be someone we are not, feign a disposition which does not come naturally to us at that time.
God does not want dishonesty from us. He does not want us pretending to be something we are not, with thoughts and feeling we do not really have.
WHAT GOD DOES WANT
Clearly, then , God wants us be ourselves, whatever that may mean at the time. He wants us to be open about where we are in our lives. He wants us to talk to him just as we would to our best friend, Or as we would to someone we have turned to for help, or even to someone with whom we want to share our elation at that time.
God not only understands us (even better than we understand ourselves), he knows exactly where we are and what we are feeling at every given moment. So it really is pointless to be anything but completely honest and straightforward with him. To do anything else is merely to kid ourselves!

Following God Or The Advertisers?

We live in a society which is today increasingly dominated by economic considerations. At national level, political factors, aims and objectives are frequently determined, or at least are severely modified by domestic or international economic forces.
What applies to an individual country applies, probably with even greater force, to individual corporations and firms.
The latter have always been, but today are even more locked in fierce battles with rivals. In the end those battles are for victory over YOUR mind. You are the ultimate objective of all their wheelings and dealings. Why ? Because you are the one who BUYS. And whether you buy from them or not is what determines their economic viability.
(An extended discussion of this and related topics can be found in "The Path To Freedom" at http://www.christianword.co.uk)
Mammon Or Messiah?
None of this would really matter were it not that manufacturers, services providers and the like who hire and pay advertisers are propagators of Mammon (using that term as Jesus would have used it). In other words, they have scant concern for Jesus as Messiah. Rather, theirs are values of the world. As John 15. 18, 19f tells us, God and the world are at enmity. The reason? Worldly values are almost always not on God's list of things that will benefit us. Rather, they are on his list of values that will take us from him.
Enticement
At the extremes, advertising can be completely informative or entirely persuasive. There are decreasing examples of the former and increasing examples of the latter.
Moreover, the content of persuasive advertising is more and more characterised by by two outstanding features. The first is sex; the second is that, especially on TV, the actual content is increasingly irrelevant to the product acually being sold. Indeed, the relationship between the two becomes more and more obtuse.
This, in fact, seems to emphasise that advertisers and advertising agencies have only one real objective: to sell the product regardless of any other principles. This is the reason for the observed higher role of sex in advertising. Advertising professionals have found that sex can be used to promote almost anything.
The Language Advertisers Understand.
Every time we, as consumers, respond to adverts by buying the product, we are in fact rewarding advertising agencies and the manufacturers who pay them and keep them in (very often) a highly lucrative business.
These people understand only one language. that language is the corrolation between advertising expenditure and sales. This is the ONLY thing they understand. It is the only relationship which speaks to them.
The Implications For Christians
Whenever we buy a product or service (such as insurance, a holiday, travel or credit card) through advertising we are doing two things.
First, we are voting for more of the same advertising. It does not matter whether we wanted to or intended to. the inescapable fact is that this is what we have done.
Secondly, regardless of how immoral or objectionsable the advewrtising, we have supported it with the only kind of support it can appreciate: our money. it does not matter whether we wanted to or intended to. the inescapable fact is that this is what we have done.
The Consequences For Christians
The consequences are clear and obvious. No Christian can in conscience buy products or services which are being marketed through objectionable and morally questionable methods. No Christian can justify the purchase of goods and services which, however good in themselves,are subject to marketing techniques which offend against and undermine the values and principles which Jesus, the Bible and the Christian Church have set for us. Each of us has the unavoidable responsibility of first examining the pattern of our purchases in the light of the methods by which they are marketed. lollipops or cars, it makes no difference; and secondly, to write to the producers and tell them that we are refusing to buy and why.
Where retailers are concerned, the implication relative to one product may result in a boycott of that retailer. qwertyuiopqwertyuiopqwertyuiopqwertyuiopqwertyuiop For example, in the UK Boots the Chemists have chosen to sell "French Connection" products which all carry their offensive set of initials.
The language in which we speak to stores like this has to be not only clear but also carry the kind of weight and consequence which will communicate our objections.
In a society increasingly dominated by sex, secularism and the destruction of Christian values, these are the only effective responses available to us. If, that is, we are to follow Jesus rather than the advertisers.