New World Currency?

After last Friday’s downgrade on the nation's credit rating and the stock markets kept tumbling over, concerns about the weakening U.S. economy, and the debt crisis in Europe, China calls for One World Currency to avoid international financial crisis over U.S. debt. 

A few days before, more precisely on August 1^st, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a Kremlin youth group while touring its summer camp north of Moscow, that the United States is living beyond its means "like a parasite" on the global economy and said dollar dominance was a threat to the financial markets. Then he added that "Countries like Russia and China hold a significant part of their reserves in American securities ... There should be other reserve currencies."

Notice that both countries, China and Russia, are basically saying the same. Without going into deep eschatology, the Bible mentions that Russia and China will be the ones that will ignite the last world war on the face of the earth, Armageddon.

The Bible also mentions that in the days of the Antichrist the world will be under One World Currency, a currency probably stipulated by him. Analyzing the end times prophecies we can see that the platform which will bring the Antichrist into power, with full acceptance by the world and its leaders, will be a financial crisis that no world leader, no high qualified economist, no one will be able to control it. But the Antichrist will.

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What’s going on in the world economy is a wake up call, that we are closer than ever to these end times days. How close are we? We are at the edge, the turnaround of the end times.

Here, many people are saying that the world “always had its ups and downs. Things were much harder in the time of the great depression then they are now, and no antichrist showed up, no rapture happened.”

One thing that these “analysts” don’t know is that many signs prophesied for the last days, were not visible, were not active, in those days when the world economy was in jeopardy. One of those signs was that the state of Israel hadn’t been established yet.

The state of Israel was established in 1948 (May 14^th). After this, after 1948, the world was never the same anymore. This prophecy having been fulfilled was the gate to the end times. After this, anything is possible concerning events prophesied for the last days.

Bottom line is that, now… the rapture can happen at any time and the antichrist can show up at anytime.   

The Apostle Peter in his second epistle, verses three and four, gave us a warning by saying… “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’”

On charisma Magazine, August 2011, there was an article by Perry Stone where he said that “many apocalyptic Muslims who hold traditions concerning the last days believe there will be a worldwide economic crisis in which all paper money will be useless. The only money of value will be money consisting of gold and silver.”

“History confirms that when a major economic crisis blankets the world, precious metals such as gold and silver are sought after by investors, businessmen and private individuals.”

Have you noticed that lately there are more and more ads of financial companies offering their services to people who wish to invest in gold?

If for some reason the Antichrist decides to govern the world based on silver and gold he’s a fool. He will be charged by fraud and behind bars for a thousand years. In Haggai 2:8 we read that: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, said the LORD of hosts.”

Will this be the new world currency during the millennium (thousand year reign of Christ)? Jesus told John the Apostle in Revelation 3:18 “I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich”.

At this point when Russia and China are calling for a new world currency, it’s the turning point.

You might be asking, “are you saying that I should invest in gold?!”

(…maybe later…).

 Right now, just take Jesus’ advice: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near”. Luke 21:28

The Positive New Year

Today is the first day of this New Year of 2011. The year just started but many “experts” have already presented their predictions. I really don’t want to get into this subject otherwise I’ll be here all day. I just want to say that we need to be very careful of whom we’re listing to and how we create images of this New Year based on someone’s negative predictions that will have some impact in the days ahead if we give it some attention.

If you listen to the media and the weather forecasters you will want to bury your head in the sand and wait till the year is over. No question that the media and the weather reports for this New Year are very negative, very scary. I say a lot of times that if I didn’t know what I know and if I didn’t have what I have (the Word of God), inside of me, I would be very scared to live in this world today.

If you are at this stage of relying in the media and the forecast reports, or any other negative report concerning this New Year, let me tell you this: God can turn around negative situations and bring to your life positive results. Yes; if you let God work in your negative situation, then you can expect Him to bring you, bring to your life, from the midst of that situation, positive results.

Right now you’re probably not giving me a lot of credit on this unless you have (like I have) experienced it before and more than once.

To help you understand this and look to your New Year beyond any human reports, first of all I want to let you know what God says in His Word concerning this New Year, for which I believe you have some plans, projects and dreams to come true.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we can see God’s expression concerning our life and His will, for the best, concerning the days ahead: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

To me, God’s positive thoughts for my life, for my New Year are so positive that there’s no room for any negative to remain. Believe it or not, to me this is more than enough. Based on God’s prediction, my New Year is already tailored for the best.

To reinforce this, I want to give you an example that will help you believe that God can really work the negative and pull out the positive.

You probably never heard this before, but I have to let you know that the negative always works in favor of the positive, so that the positive may reach… the objective.

Imagine that you’re on vacation, you’re on a cruise and you’re visiting beautiful places. You get hold of your camera and you just capture that beauty that your eyes see. You do your best to capture all you possibly can to get a great photo. After a few shots, you say to yourself… I got it! At this point you know that you have a great picture. Now pay good attention to this: You captured a great picture but you don’t have it yet, right? Why? (And this example that I’m about to give you, is based on the conventional way of photography).

When you finish taking pictures, you pull out from your camera the film and you take it to a photo shop to… to do what? To develop it, right? Now, very carefully get hold of this revelation that you’re about to receive: When you bring the film to the photo shop, you ask them to develop what? The “negative”!

That’s the official name of the film where you captured your beautiful photos. So we can say that in that negative you captured beautiful (positive) photos. Your beautiful pictures are in the negative. So now, from that negative they will get out and give you, the beautiful photos that you and others can see.

Did you get it?!

By this, how hard is it to believe that God can get out of the negative in your life, beautiful results that were around you (inside the negative) but you couldn’t do anything about it, till the moment that God shows up and starts to develop your… negative.

My point here is that, God will move in your difficulties, in your storms, in your problems, in your illness, in all your negative circumstances, if you’re willing to hand Him the negative, confident that He will develop it, bringing to you, to your hands, to your life… positive results.

Remember this, God is the creator of ALL things, and He can do anything, if you just give Him… something. So, on this New Year (starting today) don’t try to develop your negative. Remember, you’re not an expert. God is. So give God a chance.

Have a Happy, Prosperous and Blessed New Year.

The Season of Bigness

We are living, like never before, in the season of bigness. Not greatness but bigness. It is a plague that affects so many that are trapped in a 3D illusion. All over the place we see people looking for big things; big houses, big cars, big cities, big stores, big this and big that, and also… big churches. Some people that I know, they can’t be part of a small church. It just doesn’t work for them. There’s a mindset that many have developed and nurture it on a daily basis, that if it isn’t big, it’s not good, it is not great. For many, big is the symbol of good. And this mindset cancels any possible discernment to analyze, to find out, how good it really is in proportion to its… bigness. And that is; If there really is any possibility, if there really is any parametric equation that will show what measurements are required, what size, that will equal… good.

What many people don’t see, don’t get, is the fact that NOTHING in this entire world, starts big. Great things start small. Big churches started small. And for them to be big TODAY, somebody (many) paid the price of growth. For sure, in most cases, the price was always a high price. But they paid it and God honored it.

Big churches never started big.

Question: What is a big church? How can we describe or define a big church?
Answer: Big churches do not exist.

First of all we cannot define a church by the size of its building. The word church in the Greek is “ecclesia” which (in a very simple way) means “assembly”, an assembly of people, a group, more specifically, a congregation. So by this, the size of a building is irrelevant.

Now, what we really see is churches, congregations, with a small amount of people, others with a substantial amount of people and then we have others with a large amount of people. This is the only difference that we can find from one church to another - The amount of people. But if the concept and the purpose of a church changes by how many people it has, then we have a problem.

The church of Jesus Christ is many times (through biblical context) called; the Body of Christ, being He the head.  Now, the body is always subject to the head, which makes the head superior to the body. Many churches get so big that they become head and body. Here the ends don’t justify the means. It’s like going to a school and trying to analyze students’ knowledge by how big, how large or how tall they are.

This boils down to one thought.

From the beginning God always did great things with just a handful of people. He always moved forward with just a few. With only twelve Jesus changed the world.

We don’t need "big" churches (don’t get me wrong), what we need is committed people to do great things. As I said in the beginning, many are not comfortable in small churches. Small churches usually don’t have all the entertainment, all the programs, all the fascination, all the attractive features, etc. etc. Many go, because many are going. It’s an influential impulse. There is no purpose. At this point any result obtained has no effect. It is useless. Impulses die, but purposes, become goals that when active in the spiritual realm, impossible becomes possible. I say a lot of times that "if ten thousand people are doing the same exact thing, that doesn’t mean that thing is right".

Jesus compared His church to a bride. I’ve seen others comparing it with an umbrella, meaning that when you’re under it, you’re protected. Others have compared it with a hospital. I compare it with a table, where you go and you sit and you’re fed with the Word. The rest is irrelevant. This means that the size is not subject nor is it dependent of the purpose.

In Matthew 19:30 Jesus said... “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”  Then in chapter 20:16 He makes the final statement: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” 

Read "The Experience" about a small congregation with greatness. read now 

Principles to Overcome

I have a few devotionals around the house where I can pick a daily verse for every day of the month. Most of them also have a comment on the verse.

This morning I grabbed one, and the daily verse that I have known since I was a child, just popped up with high intensity like never before (Amazing how the Word of God is “new every morning”).

John 16:33  (NASB)

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Here in this verse Jesus is giving the formula to overcome life’s struggles and vicissitudes, life’s storms. Peace is the key. There is nothing in this life that can turn you down, if peace is a constant. Peace is so powerful, so needed, so desired that the apostle Paul said to the Philippians (4:7) that the peace of God “transcends all understanding”. Other versions say; “exceeds”, “surpasses”, or, “goes beyond” (anything we can imagine).

Now… This peace we can only get it in Him, Jesus. For me (this morning) to get something from the kitchen, I need to be in the kitchen. I cannot get something from the kitchen if I’m in the living room. No matter how close I am. To have the peace that He said “in Me you have”, I have to BE IN Him. Not close, not at the door… in Him.

To be in Him and have access to His peace, we need a pass, a key, a springboard. That is, His Word. Notice how He said it. “these things I have spoken to you”. His Word is like a magnet that pulls us to Him, in Him, and in Him we get hold of His peace.

Before Jesus notified His disciples that times of trouble would come, first He gave them the good news (This is the perfect example for us to be careful on how we approach people with good and bad news). He gave them the good news first, then the bad, and then more good news. In other words, He gave them the bad news in a way that they could not be afraid, dismayed, or suffocated to the point of giving up at the starting point. Here we can see a very strong differential between life’s storms and peace.

See how Jesus put it (I can see the picture of Him talking to His disciples and moving from the left to the right in order to emphasize His message so that they could understand these principles).

He said; “in Me you have peace”. Then He moves to the right and says; “In the world you’ll have tribulations”. Now… He didn’t tell them “pick one”. NO. He made them aware of both. But He also, at the same time, prepared them for the bad days to come by telling them that before those days come… “you can have My peace”. And “if you get My peace NOW”, you’ll be prepared, you’ll be ready to face the storms of life that will come to turn you down, later.

If we carefully analyze Jesus’ statement, we can see that this protection, this armor, this… as David expressed himself in Psalm 91; “the secret place of the most High”, we can see and accept that God’s peace, has a double effect because… we can have it, and have it, in Him. No joke, huh?!

After this we see Jesus explaining that for them to take hold of these principles as lifesavers and not let it go, they needed to be courageous. In other words, Jesus was telling them to “hold on”, “keep your hands on the helm”, “don’t get distracted”, “don’t give up”.

Jesus knew for sure that just by saying this (take courage) sooner or later they would, someway, somehow, slip, get distracted and be suffocated by the afflictions and negative circumstances, storms, and has He said… tribulations, that He had to give them an anchor, a guaranty, something to hold on and be (as the apostle Paul said) more than conquerors.

Jesus told them (and told me this morning); “I have overcome the world”. What in reality Jesus was saying is that He did it for me. Now I have a reason to “hold on” and “not give up”. Because if I’m IN Him (in Him we live and in Him we have our being) I can overcome life’s storms. And He did it for me as a testimony that I can do it, in Him, through Him.

This is why (later) John said in his first letter (5:4,5); for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

We can see by this statement that John experienced how to overcome the world by being in Him. This is why he said; “for everyone born of God overcomes the world”.

Only when we are born of God are we in Christ, and in Christ, in Him… we overcome life’s storms.

Ignorance is a Killer

I was in my late teens when in my church’s bookstore there was a book that many where buying, but I can’t remember if I bought or not. If I did, I know for sure that I didn’t read it. It was written by the General Superintendent of my church’s denomination which I left in my late thirties. The title of the book was “My Friend Cancer”. It happened that he died of cancer. As I said, I know for sure that I never read the book. The title really didn’t impress me enough (this was in the late seventies). In those days many believers had this poor mentality nourished by the ignorant “theological doctrine” that God would give diseases to punish, correct, discipline, teach, humble, etc. etc.

I receive, probably once a week, an email from Godtube. It announces the most watched videos. A couple of days ago I got another one, and the video just dragged me thirty something years into the past. It was like a recap of some event that was lost in my memory. I just couldn’t believe that this “hell’s doctrine”, was taking control of a Christian’s life to the point of (like in the past) being part of his testimony as a believer.

I watched the video and it hurt so much the words of a thirty-two year old man from South Carolina, son of missionaries, met Jesus when he was five, went to Bible Seminary, working at a local church in the information technology field, married with three kids and life was going good till the moment that he was diagnosed with cancer. On May 16, 2010 he went home to be with the Lord. Before he passed away he made this video and here are some of his words:  

"God has a plan for my life. I know that God is in control. The Bible says in Matthew 7:11 that God gives good things to those who ask. God cannot give me a bad gift. And it is through that lens, I can say that cancer is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am a better husband and a better dad. A better boss and a better employee. A better friend and a better follower of Jesus. And through cancer, God has shown me some amazing things about himself. Those are indeed good gifts…

I am praying for God to heal me. That is my desire. I want to walk my daughter down the aisle. I want to watch my sons become men. I want to grow old with [my wife]. And I want to live my life with my friends at work. But I may not be able to work much longer. And I may have just celebrated my last Christmas with my family. This I do know, if God chooses to heal me, then God is God and God is good. If God chooses to not heal me and allows me to die, then God is still God and God is still good. To God be the glory".

From a very young age I’ve been concerned with people that don’t know God. The lost. But lately… like never before, I have this anguished feeling concerning the ones that know God, the ones that are saved, but are living as if… they were lost. And by this believer’s words we can see that in perspective. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of so many out there that know about God, but they don’t know God.

If God would want to correct, discipline, teach, punish us by sending, or even by allowing us to be sick, in that case, many of us, many many, would be sick from a very young age and many many, that are alive and in good health, would already be dead. One day a lady that was in the prayer line told the man of God that God had given her that infirmity to teach her something. The man of God asked her (in a very natural way) “are you taking any medicine?”. She answered, yes. He then replied to her… “naughty, naughty, naughty”, “if God wants you sick, why are you trying to get well”? Contrast, isn’t?

This young man said that God had a plan for him and that God was in control.

No question that God has a plan for our lives. How do we know this? In Jeremiah 29:11 God said: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. Can’t be clearer, more specific. Notice that here God doesn’t mention any diseases inside His plans. And the plans that He has for us, He says that they are to prosper and NOT to HARM. Plans with a hope and a future. Is there any room here for diseases? NO!

One day, from the pulpit, a preacher was saying; “God is in control”! People got very excited and lifted up with such an astonishing message. At the end, a minister that listened to him, approached him and asked; “So… God is in control”? “Oh, yeah! God is in control” replied the preacher. “What is God in control of”? Asked the minister. “EVERYTHING”! Said the preacher. Then he continued saying; “Everything that happens was planned by God. The will of God is done on earth”. For a moment the minister talked to himself; “What a fabulous belief. So comforting. It removes the burden of decision making and God get’s blamed for everything that happens”. Then he looked the preacher in the eyes and asked him; “so… when a man rapes a girl, we cannot prosecute him because God is in control”. The preacher stared at him. He continued saying; “If someone breaks into your house… I’m sure you don’t use locks since God is in control… if someone breaks into your house, ‘God was in control’, so you don’t prosecute him, right”? The preacher’s response was… “I hadn’t thought about that”. The minister again talked to himself… ‘if you’d think twice, you would be the genius in your family’.

Is God really in control of everything? NO. God gave Adam the control (dominion) over all the earth. Adam lost it. He inadvertently gave Satan the keys. This is why Jesus in Revelation 1:18 said that; “I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death”. This is why he said to Peter; “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven” (NLT). We, believers have the control through the resurrection power of Jesus. Other versions say that; “whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".

When Jesus died on the cross, a big percentage of Christians have the knowledge that he died to redeem us from sin. Which is correct. But what many forget or don’t even acknowledge, is that He also died so that we may have the health of God, and we can be free from all curses. Through Isaiah 53:4 and Matthew 8:17 we come to the understanding and the belief that Jesus took Upon Himself Our Infirmities. Here a question comes on the surface (and many times I ask it when I have to pray for the sick). If Jesus took them, why do we have them? If I take something away from someone (whatever it might be) that person no longer has it... because I took it. Makes sense? One thing we know for sure. The Word says that He took them upon himself. This is why Isaiah (53:5) says that; “by His stripes we are healed”.

Here’s how different versions have translated it: