- December 3 – The Angelic Birth Announcement, Mary’s response
Read the rest of the series: December 1 | December 2
Here we see Mary, as she endeavors to comprehend and wrap her mind around the Angel’s word to her. The impossibility of such a supernatural and unbelievable thing happening. So many questions must have assaulted her thinking. What would people think? Who would believe an angel appeared to me? Why would God choose me? What will my family say?
This is impossible. Yet she did not voice any one of these doubts and fears. Her response was one of the most powerful and clear answers in recorded scripture: “Behold the Lord’s servant, be it unto me according to Your word.”
When God called them, many of God’s servants gave Him excuses why they could not say yes to Him. They saw their limitations and failures and too great of a task.
Mary shows us what our mindset should be when the Lord speaks to our hearts. Her confession, “I am Your servant, I am here for You no matter what You ask of me, I am yours. Be it unto me according to Your word.” She simply received and let the word of God have its perfect work.
For every believer, our place is to simply be a receiver—”Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” Peter declared.
When I think of Mary, I cannot help but hear Jesus teaching us about our hearts being like soil. To the degree we receive the seed is to the degree it yields its intent. Some 30, some 60, some 100. Her response as His servant was, “Be it unto me according to Your word.”
May we become receivers of all He has for us in His promise of His good work He has begun and will finish according to His word.
Glory to God in the Highest!
-Keith Curlee
- December 2 – The Angelic Birth Announcement
Read the rest of the series: December 1 | December 3
Mary’s astonishment at a child being conceived by a virgin, and her personally being chosen to carry the Messiah, God’s Son, is nothing short of unfathomable. As I see it, not since Moses’ encounter with the great I AM, had there been such an announcement of God’s divine intervention into the impossibility of humanity’s condition.
This divine encounter concerning a virgin and Elizabeth, a barren woman, would bring forth God’s eternal redemptive love and plan for eternity. The angel gives Mary a sign of confirmation, telling her that her relative Elizabeth is already six months with child.
God’s ways are to give a word and then confirm it to us with signs and wonders of all kinds. When there seems to be no way God makes a way.
The Angel brings the word of the Lord from heaven to her and all believers in generations to come. “Nothing is impossible with God.”
In this season of such wonders—with God clearly intervening—not by just moving on men, prophets, kings, judges, and men of faith. He now does this:
He will be called God with us and nothing will be impossible for those who will go with God. Glory to God in the highest!
-Keith Curlee
- December 1 – The Angelic Birth Announcement
Read the rest of the series: December 2 | December 3
Mary said, “How can this be, for I am a virgin?” The angel replied, “The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you.”
There will be no doubt that which is born in her will be of God. That which is impossible will be made possible by the word and power of God.
The angel then says, “For that reason.”
In this definition of reason, the cause, the ground, the origin—this is authored by God. Just as in the beginning of creation the Holy Ghost overshadowed the deep and God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Now the new creation was to come forth, a holy Child, the Son of God. Now light has come to the darkest place in creation, the hearts, the souls, of fallen man.
The light of the world. Let there be light.
As we celebrate His birth, may the Holy Ghost overshadow you and you know His power. Glory to God in the Highest
-Keith Curlee
- With Thanksgiving
As believers, our attitude determines our altitude. The revelation and realization of our approach and entrance into the presence of God is an attitude of gratitude. It is with thanksgiving for all He has done, for every blessing, for our every breath; in everything, we give Him thanks.
When we come before Him accompanied by the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the gates of heaven are opened. We know that, for all He has done, we have not deserved nor are worthy of such goodness and favor.
When I was first being led by the Holy Ghost into the Baptism in Him, during the Charismatic movement, those who were filled with Him declared, “Thank You, Jesus.” The overflow from their spirit was the declaration and proclamation of what He has done for us. It is a true sacrifice of worship.
It is fundamental in our relationship to Him. It has eternal value and will never cease.
When Jesus fed the five thousand, He took the five loaves and two fishes, looked to heavens and simply gave thanks. The Father received His sacrifice and opened the windows of heaven and multiplied that which was given and fed all who were there. And there were leftovers: 12 baskets full—take-home boxes for the 12 disciples.
The power of the attitude of Thanksgiving, the pleasure and joy it brings to our God.
Hallelujah, let us give thanks now and forever and this day a feast commemorating and celebrating all He has done.
Blessings. – Keith Curlee
- The Holy Ghost: Another Helper
Here is another of Jesus’ and the Father’s complete endorsement and promise concerning God the Holy Ghost. Another exact and unchanging representation of their relational Oneness:
For David, his help came from heaven, from above, the Lord. Yes, but the Father sent His Son to us, His only begotten Son. Likewise, the Father and the Son sent the promise of the Holy Ghost, also from Heaven to Earth, pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. After we come to Jesus, believing and confessing Him as Lord, our next confession should be the call for HELP!
He told His disciples He would not leave them orphaned, helpless and alone. In so many of us we have difficulty in asking and receiving help. I would like to share one aspect or work, help, of the Holy Ghost. He has come to help us pray.
Recently I was in a prayer meeting where prayers were offered up and they were all over the spectrum; praying for this and that and reading scripture in an attempt to cover all the bases. Myriad needs and wants — all genuinely heartfelt. I was so troubled and asked the Holy Ghost to help us. In a matter of minutes a precious sister came to the microphone and prayed this: “Holy Ghost help us to pray, we need Your help!” My spirit leaped inside me and suddenly I was moved on by the Holy Ghost and began to pray in the spirit, in tongues. I felt undergirded and lifted into a place of intercession.
Jesus was asked to teach us to pray, but the Holy Ghost helps us to pray. Such confidence in praying and asking for help from heaven has so much power. I have often heard believers say, “I don’t know what to pray.” They confess that they do not know what to pray. So many times we have used up our words of understanding. At a loss for words, but He is not at a loss. He knows how to help us pray the will of God.
This intercession is too deep for words. Praying in our understanding, yet confessing, we do not understand. This is not to negate praying in our own language and words. Nay, Nay! Paul puts it in order for us. He says in 1 Corinthians 14:15:
It is important to see the priority, or order. Pray and sing with the Spirit, and pray and sing with understanding. Yes, praying and singing in tongues is what he is advocating. For the Advocate, God the Holy Ghost. Praying and singing are both expressions and parts of worship. I assure you that in heaven, as worship goes up, it is not all in English. Many tongues and voices will be calling out and crying to the Lord. Yet very clearly each worshipper and prayer is heard and received. What a mighty God we serve.
Our cry and call to Jesus in worship is, “Worthy, worthy are you alone,” and our next cry is, “HELP me pray, Holy Ghost, in Jesus Name.” He has sent Help. We do not have to look to the mountains as David, but God the Father and Son has sent the Holy Ghost to be IN us and alongside, with us, forever. He is ever present when we pray. Ask Him for His help.
In addition, in Ephesians 6:18, Paul commands, “With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints.” Pray at all times in the SPIRIT. This verse is for another time.
Thank you Heavenly Father and Son for another Helper, the person of the Holy Ghost, Hallelujah!
-Keith Curlee
- Shout Unto the Lord Joyfully
Years ago my daughter Hannah passed through a dry time while in college in Tuscaloosa. I was ministering to a house group in a town not far away. I received a call from her from her just before the meeting. When I answered the phone I heard her shouting, “Dad I got my shout back, I got my shout back, I got my shout back! Dad, shout to the Lord with a voice of triumph!” The sound of victory coming from her innermost being was full of joy and worthy of the Lord her King. The Holy Ghost spoke to me: “Where is your shout?” Just a couple of hours later she showed up at the meeting, washed my feet, and prayed for me to get my shout back. I got it back!
Ever since then, when God answers my prayer or gives victory, I shout. In worship I shout, when others have victory, I shout, when the devil is cast out, I shout. According to the word of God, shouting and joy are expressions of one another. Joy is not something that cannot be contained, it is shouted from the housetops, unto the Lord.
Last week, there was a spiritual battle in the heavenlies for this nation.
A battle of principalities and powers in high places. Rulers of darkness in our time and the spirits of wickedness in heavenly places, where the Prince of the Power of the Air resides. Positioned between heaven and earth. The battleground in the Spirit. Politics and these spirits wanted to make it about flesh and blood. Two personalities and two parties — red and blue — and grievous to the Holy Ghost, righteous and unrighteous, among God’s children.
Already the balance police in the body of Christ began to preach to those who are celebrating victory. To tone it down, be humble, do not gloat, do not boast, and not to offend. These voices are quenching the Holy Ghost and robbing those who have been crying out to God on behalf of the millions of babies who have been murdered on the lie of reproduction rights. So many believers were praying, fasting, beseeching, meeting, and calling on God to have mercy on this nation and bring us back to our Judeo-Christian roots. The foundation it was built on. As God told Israel, “Choose life this day.”
There were two joys at stake as well: the joy of the Lord and a joy which was temporal and based in humanism and emotions. Joy, for the believer, is vital to our relationship with the Lord. So vital that Paul writes, “rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” It is where His strength comes from.
Yes, for those who see victory, do not let anyone quench your shout of victory and joy. Shout to the Lord give Him glory and strength. For this joyous victory will be required to get about the Father’s business and the increase of His Kingdom. For the Kingdom of God IS righteous, peace, and JOY, in the Holy Ghost!
So shout unto God with a voice of triumph! HALLELUJAH!!!
-Keith Curlee
- Peace
In this last political cycle, much was said concerning words. The President-elect was the primary target, and he was held to a higher standard. He made himself vulnerable to sound bites. I cannot deny that his forthright speaking — saying what is on his mind before thinking — is his Achilles heel. Nonetheless, transparency and openness are there and it makes him an easy target for the mainstream media. He is not a politician, but a businessman. Politicians mostly think about what to say before they speak. They are calculated but do not say what is really on their mind.
Israel’s Islamic enemies, led by Iran, have identified Israel as little Satan and the USA as the great Satan. Their religion is war and their handbook is the Quran. The most tragic part of the diplomatic effort for peace is that our ambassadors’ diplomacy is considered Satanic by the Islamists. The USA is the great Satan. The continual funding of millions of dollars in this effort is futility.
My question is, what do you expect? To my sorrow, the present administration has believed those who voted for Trump are deceived and are not discerning the Spirit. I know there are also demons accusing him as Hitler and a fascist. Fear and terror are Satan’s warfare tools. They are not only a threat to peace but there cannot be any peace, especially by diplomacy. Peace must offered first, but when rejected, must be won.
The gospel is offered in peace, being reconciled to God. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5, proclaims that King Jesus’ message of the gospel is carried by Ambassadors of Christ: “Be ye reconciled to God.” But in governments it must be clear what is good and what is evil. Israel will not have security unless they continue to be resolute in their pursuit of finishing Hamas and Hezbollah. The new administration will deal with Iran by sanctions and by loosing Israel to strike Iran’s oil fields — their economic strength. Peace between nations should always be extended first and then, if not received, then strength must be exerted. Let’s not forget the ascension of the antichrist is peace. Peace at any price is idolatry.
I am praying and calling for the government of Lebanon to step up and politically expel Hezbollah and take their God-given nation back. To put their nation first. The position in this post is mine and mine alone. I am not speaking for anyone else.
Come Lord Jesus the Prince of everlasting peace.
-Keith Curlee
- Choosing Everyday
The word of the Lord is not complicated when it comes to communicating with His children. These two verses are clear when it comes to how we shall live.
First, He calls His children to know they have choices to make in their new life; no longer slaves, but free. He says, “Choose.” In fact, He is calling on them to do so, and both Heaven and Earth are taking notice—they are witnessing.
Secondly, the choices are simple: life and death and blessing and cursing.
Thirdly, the consequences of these choices directly affect not only the chooser and his children but also their children’s children.
Next, He tells us that His choice is life, not death, blessing and not cursing. He gives us daily life and eternal life. This is His desire for His children. So demonstrative: Life! Jesus, when He came, clearly “Amens” this choice.
Choosing life and blessing is choosing God, the giver of all life and blessing. We are His children, those who put their trust in Him.
Finally, the land we live in will be a place of blessing for the length of our days and we will be made strong.
Thus His will is for life and blessing. The question for me is, “Does my will surrender by choice to His will?” Every day I will, by His grace and mercy, choose Him and His life and blessing. To love Him, obey Him, and cling to Him these days and in every day. Blessed be the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever Amen!
– Keith Curlee
- Wake up or Woke up?
If elected, Kamala, the candidate of joy, will not bring joy to the womb of many women and babies. No joy for so many babies. Only a violent invasion and terror to their life. Remeber Mary and Elizabeth sharing real joy, which is spirit to spirit. Some two years later the government of that day sought to murder children in Bethlehem under the age of two and the unborn.
Biden/Harris policy is the policy of death. Why can’t we see that Satan is always looking to destroy children in every generation?
Whenever a deliverer was to come there was murder of a generation. Jesus is coming again and Satan is loosed on the children of this day through abortion and the transgender abomination that has been accelerated by the Biden/Harris administration. President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law. Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.
Is it Wake up or Woke up? We are at a major crossroads. Yes, Jesus is and forever on the throne of God. Seek His Kingdom and, yes, also His righteousness. His righteous shall shine.
-Keith Curlee
Photo by Helena Lopes
- For me, I choose life
The Consequences of Roe vs Wade: 63,459,781. Running total of abortions since 1973.Since Roe vs Wade was made into law, these numbers cannot be denied nor refuted.
Based on numbers reported by the Guttmacher Institute 1973-2017, with 3% added for GI estimated possible 3-5% undercount for 1973-2014. Another 12,000 per year added for 2015-2021 for abortions from “providers” GI says it may have missed in 2015-2017 counts.
The consequences of Roe v. Wade can no longer be continued without our nation falling short of the grace of God. One of our nation’s anthems sung at many events is, “America the Beautiful.” The second verse goes like this:
“America! America! God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.”The reversal of Roe versus Wade may have kept the crown of brotherhood from being taken away and our nation becoming irrelevant in the most prophetic and historic times ever. For we as believers know one of our rewards to receive from Jesus is a crown of life.
I would contend that our choice of life is clearly before us. One of the first choices God gave Israel was:
The choosing of death in 1973, Roe vs Wade, has brought about the rejection of God’s blessing and the grace of God not continuing to be shed on us as a nation. 63,000,000 plus children being annihilated has seared the conscience of this nation. This abomination has been veiled by making it a political debate, a civil rights issue, and a redefining of abortion as reproductive rights.
As believers, we constantly pray and ask for God’s blessing in our lives. To think that God’s judgment on a nation is not going to affect its people as a whole is the height of naivety and deception. God will always take care of His own, and He is faithful and good. But, as with Israel, when they went into captivity as a nation, Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abedigo also went and even faced death.
For me, I choose life and I will demonstrate it unashamedly by my vote, my choice, for my soul knows it well.
The rejection of children is a rejection of God’s blessings and the choosing of the curse—for any nation. To think that the evolution of abortion has come to invading the security of a woman’s womb, in the last trimester much less in the first, is unconscionable and godless. May God’s grace and mercy—the crown of brotherhood bestowed on this nation—be lifted from our heads as a people.
In closing, this is where the division of this nation began, not these last few years. This was the beginning of the tearing apart of the fabric of our nation, and our downfall.
Blessings. – Keith Curlee
- Jesus’ Advance Warning
The thing about Tribulation is that Jesus told us not to fear, even though it will increase—for He has overcome the world. The believer’s tribulation and the Great Tribulation need not be confused. Just as John said, the spirit of the Antichrist was there in his time. The Great Tribulation and the appearing of the Antichrist are specific events and tied together. This Tribulation is defined as great, has not occurred since the world began, and will not be repeated. It will be the last. It will be so full of deception that if left to continue no life would be saved—even the elect.
In the previous verses, the disciples asked Him, “What will the sign be (singular) of Your coming?”
He replied, “Let no man deceive you.” This is the spirit behind the last days and end of the age. We know the devil is the Deceiver, but there will be those who say they are the Christ, or represent Him, and those who will say they are prophets. He simply says these are False Christs and False Prophets. The deception will be so powerful that if it were permitted to continue, even the elect would fall into it. Many will be misled, and this is happening at an alarming rate. There is such a demonic spirit loosed from hell, as Satan knows his time is short. For just as Jesus said, he and this time will be cut short. The Satanic ruler of his kingdom of darkness will enter a time of Jesus’ return and His wrath upon the armies of Satan and nothing shall stand before the armies of God. Satan always comes up short. Hallelujah!
Jesus gives advance notice concerning Matthew 24—the end of the age—that we would know so we would not be deceived. Jesus is our Prophet, our Priest, and our coming King. Thank you Holy Ghost for leading us into all truth. Sanctify us with your truth, who is Jesus! Maranatha! -KC
- I saw Jesus: The Story of My Journey to Faith
Be encouraged by this powerful testimony of a young Muslim woman coming to Jesus. I have been blessed to have known her for many years. -KC
His face filled the sky
While a passenger in a car driving in Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley, I rested my head on the back seat looking out the car’s rear window and spoke silently one word in my heart: “Jesus.” Suddenly, a face filled the whole sky from horizon to horizon looking straight at me, and smiling. I instantly knew it was Jesus. And he made me feel at that moment like I was the only person in the world that mattered to him!
I looked at Jesus’s smiling face and was instantly filled with an indescribable joy that I never knew existed in this life. The vision of Jesus ended but the waves of joy continued. The three other passengers in the car were completely unaware of what had just happened to me. The joy kept sweeping over me, my heart was pounding, but I kept silent. There was no way I could explain what a life-transforming event had just happened to me.
We were on our way to a picnic. My half-sister was playing matchmaker but I was not in the least bit interested in the man who was in the car with us. I just wanted more of Jesus! I wanted more of what I had just experienced and was still experiencing. I wanted the picnic to be over, to return to Beirut, and to start my new life with Jesus right away!
Who are you, Lord?
Why would a twenty-four year old Shi’ite Muslim woman be thinking about Jesus, of all people? Perhaps the reason was because for four long years I cried out to Allah without any results. I poured out my hopes and dreams for the future and there was only silence from Allah. I even offered prayers in the name of our prophet Muhammad. He was just as distant. No matter how fervently I practiced my Islamic faith the surprising result was that I grew depressed, more so every day. What was wrong? What was wrong with me?
Although I was not a Christian, as a Muslim I believed Jesus was a prophet, as all Muslims do. I certainly didn’t believe that he was God incarnate, God in the flesh. Such a concept was completely foreign to me and I would immediately reject such an idea. Indeed, I denied it for years after Jesus appeared to me.
However, I was drawn to him. I wanted to know everything about him. And of course I wanted to know why Jesus appeared to me and poured his love into my disappointed and hurting heart.
The six-year long search for God
During that same six year period while I was drawing nearer to Jesus, I became more and more distant from the religion of my birth. The rituals that I had recently adopted, trying to give meaning to my life, such as prayer five times daily, reading the qur’an, fasting ramadan, covering my hair and my body (hijab), no longer appealed to me, no longer comforted or made sense to me.
Our clan is originally from Baalbeck in Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley. We are asyaads, that is, our family is related to the prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah. My father, Sherif Sayed Abdallah al-Husseini, therefore was a sayed. Even so, despite our illustrious genealogy, coming from a respectable Shi’ite Muslim family, in the bloodline of Muhammad, we were not observant Muslims, we were cultural Muslims. We lived very secular lives.
I had a home in Africa
I am a Lebanese born outside of Lebanon. My grandfather had a textile business in Nigeria. My father joined him in Africa at age fourteen to work in the family business. When he turned nineteen my grandfather insisted he become a respectable and settled man and arranged a marriage to a tall, beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed Shi’ite Lebanese woman. They had five children together and when the children were grown, my father left his wife and remained single until he met my mother, Shadiya Ali Ahmad. He was forty-five and she was twenty.
My mother had been married three times before she met my father. Her first marriage, at age 12, was an arranged marriage to her forty-year old cousin. She came from the southern Lebanon town of Blat near Marjayoun at the base of Mt Hermon, one of the most beautiful and picturesque areas of Lebanon and walking distance from the border of Israel.
I grew up in the northern Nigerian village called Kano, an hour’s flight from Nigeria’s former capital, Lagos. Despite both of my parents’ previous marriages and children, I was raised as an only child. My parents loved traveling and sometimes took me with them. I enjoyed trips to Europe starting in grade school.
My parents had an active social life and so they engaged a succession of nannies to look after me. In addition to the nannies, we had a houseboy, cook, driver, and a gate man. But my father did all the gardening; that was his main form of relaxation. He also had a vegetable garden. I loved our home with its broad lawns and gardens. It was green everywhere. I had lots of pets including a dog, a cat, a parrot and monkey who lived inside the house in a cage.
All my neighbors were Lebanese Shi’ites and I played with their children. My best friend was a boy, his name was Rida. We played in our tree house and swing set. My uncle, who lived nearby, had a swimming pool and we would splash around for hours. I didn’t know or play with or interact with local children. We lived in a cozy Lebanese community. I attended Kano’s Lebanese primary school where I did well. My favorite class was art class; I still enjoy art. I did not receive religious instruction at school or at home. We never prayed, attended mosque or fasted ramadan.
My parents lived the high life in Nigeria with their Lebanese Shi’ite business colleagues. In the family Mercedes-Benz, the obligatory Lebanese symbol of material success, they visited bars, pubs, nightclubs, took drugs, gambled, and drank alcohol in public. Growing up, there was always alcohol in our house. My parents loved throwing catered parties in our spacious home and would dance the night away with their Lebanese friends.
My home life was chaotic and my mother was concerned for my well-being. When I was ten years old, she decided that I could not remain in this environment. Looking for a solution, she decided that I had to leave Nigeria and go to Lebanon. Through mutual friends, she heard about a Maronite Catholic convent boarding school in southern Lebanon, not far from my father’s village of Jouaya. While I was away at school in Lebanon, back in Nigeria, my parent’s marriage was unraveling. My father had Nigerian girlfriends. My mother had her own social life.
I would return home to Nigeria for summer vacations. At age sixteen, after six years at boarding school, my mother and I flew back to Nigeria to be with my father. At summer’s end, my mother left us. She returned to Lebanon to be with her young boyfriend who was more interested in her money than in a relationship. Although I was a virgin – and he knew it – he tried to molest me, unsuccessfully. I did not see or hear from my mother for six years. There was no social media back then and telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. We communicated exclusively by letters.
My mother leaving us, leaving me, was the hardest period of my life. I lived in Nigeria with my father but I longed for my mother back in Lebanon. My father had the reputation in the Nigerian Lebanese community for gambling and womanizing. He solicited prostitutes and would bring them into our home right in front of me, a different woman every night. I was starved for love and affection. I started to look for love in all the wrong places. Men, acquaintances of my father, tried to take advantage of me.
My struggle
I had the reputation as a party girl in the Nigerian Lebanese community. For a teenage Shi’ite Muslim this is unacceptable. My father wanted to be left alone to live his life his way. This attitude of my father’s was the result of him having a very harsh, strict and controlling father. Therefore, he did not make my private life his concern. He loved me but did not put any boundaries on me. Actually, he didn’t know how to raise a teenage girl. And Mom was back in Lebanon.
One day I was confiding in my first cousin, my father’s niece. Her father was as immoral as his brother, my father. But his wife, my aunt, was a devout Shi’ite Muslim. She and her daughter, my first cousin, both covered (hijab). She said, “Zeinab, you are so miserable. Why don’t you perform your salat (Islamic prayers)? Here is a prayer rug and a hijab (Muslim garb).” This conversation took place a week before ramadan. Perhaps the month of ramadan would be the appropriate time to make a life change, to turn over a new leaf in my life. I decided to practice my Islamic beliefs for comfort.
I went to my bedroom, put on a hijab for the first time in my life. I looked in the mirror and I loved what I saw. What did I see? What was I feeling? I felt security. I felt honor. At 16, I read a book on how Shi’ite Muslims should pray but I didn’t do anything with it. Now, in the privacy of my bedroom, I performed ablutions (ceremonial washing) and then knelt down on my cousin’s prayer rug and began salat, the ritual of calling on Allah.
I did not take the hijab off for the next four years. This garment transformed my life. My former wardrobe was trendy and colorful and caused men to leer, flirt and ogle me. Now, I was invisible. Not only so, I became an honorable woman in the eyes of the Lebanese Nigerian community. I felt safe, protected.
I dedicated myself to our Shi’ite Muslim faith praying and fasting. I was so devout I would not shake the hands of a man – even a male relative’s hand. I tried to be the best Muslim in the eyes of Allah. I had no social life whatsoever. I withdrew from my past life completely. In becoming a devout Muslim woman I was looking for healing from past exploitive relationships. I waited for Allah to send an honorable and loving husband my way to start a family and take my expected place as a Shi’ite woman in the Lebanese Nigerian community. I thought this would be Allah’s reward to me for forsaking my former life and embracing Islam.
While entertaining a prostitute in our home, my father had a stroke. Five days later, he was gone. I was all alone in Nigeria. I was devastated. The shock of my father’s death brought about a deep dissatisfaction towards my religion of Islam. But there were other factors, as well. I felt oppressed. For example, my devout aunt had a million and one Islamic legal scruples. And her legalism was choking me. I couldn’t breath around her. Her faultfinding was continual. If I didn’t perform my ablutions just so, the way she believed was right, she said my salat was unacceptable to Allah. She actually told me that my four years of performing salat was illegitimate because, according to her, I had left out a step and therefore performed it incorrectly. I was not able to express myself freely whether in conversation, dress, or social interaction. Four years of being a mutahajabi (covered woman) left me feeling estranged and empty. I started to wear more revealing and fashionable hijabs. I put on make up. And I felt like a hypocrite. For me, I’m either all in or all out. Either I am going to be the most devout Shi’ite Muslim or a secular woman. Nothing in between works for me. I took my hijab off.
My relatives disapproved. My covered aunt rejected me. She literally told me, “Get out of my house.” It was so hard. Rejection and feelings of insecurity returned. I had no father, no mother (she was in Lebanon), no social life, no expected husband, I was a young lady adrift. Because I disobeyed Allah in removing the hijab I expected him to kill me. For ten days I was terrified, but even so I never put on the hijab again. Ever.
I went back to my former social life. I hadn’t been to the seashore for four years. I went to the beach to swim with friends, to enjoy life again. Since my aunt kicked me out of her house, I went to live with my single uncle who was living the same life my dad used live. I realized this was not the environment I was looking for or needed. I saved money from my job in order to leave Nigeria and move to Lebanon to live with my mother.
Out of Africa
Upon arrival in Lebanon, I moved in with Mom and went looking for a job. Beirut International Airport was near our apartment so I applied for a position there. I was hired over more academically qualified applicants because of my fluency in English. I was on salary which included bonuses and comprehensive benefits. I was making money and friends and was so happy to be financially independent. It was my dream job.
Because of my vision of Jesus, and the waves of joy that I had experienced, my own religion, Islam, had no appeal to me. I knew in my heart that the course of my life was irrevocably changed. I knew this even though I hadn’t embraced Jesus as Savior and Lord of my life, yet. But my thoughts were consumed with Him. I thought of Him every single day and joy would fill my heart when I remembered the vision in the car.
At work, I met a Druze lady who told me she had become a Christian after having an encounter with Jesus. She gave me a Bible. I was so excited with what I was reading that I read half of the New Testament in one sitting. Despite the challenges and obligations of my new job at the airport, which were overwhelming at times, I would read the New Testament when I was able. But I wasn’t only reading the Bible. There were other spiritual influences vying for my attention.
Because of my complicated family life, I was looking for answers to my dysfunctional upbringing. I started reading books by the late Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho. Osho saw families as inherently dysfunctional and destructive and so discouraged marrying and having children. He was infamous as the “guru of free love and materialism.” I read books by the television personality, Phillip McGraw, better known as “Dr. Phil,” which I found interesting. I also read John Grey’s books including his bestselling Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus looking for answers as to why my relationships with men lacked depth and were invariably exploitative.
Although these many books on relationships that I devoured did give me insights on the fascinating subject of human psychology there was something missing. None of these people, with their advanced academic training and their rich life experience, could touch my pain, pain I experienced as a child and took with me into adulthood. I tried to cope with the world around me by burying my hurtful childhood memories but, as the saying goes, what is buried alive is still alive.
Compounding my emotional distress was that I was still unmarried in a culture that expected a young woman to behave responsibly by marrying and raising a family. Actually, I was in step with my culture’s expectations. I very much believed in the institution of marriage and desired to be married and raise a family ever since I was a young woman. But I wouldn’t settle for just anyone. I knew in my heart that the man God had for me had not yet come. I had marriage proposals but they were not what I was waiting for. They just didn’t feel right.
For six years I looked for solutions to the life-controlling issues in my life in my many books on spiritual topics and human relationships, but to no avail. I was feeling helpless, hopeless and becoming depressed. Out of sight in my bedroom closet, I kept a picture of Jesus kneeling and praying that I had purchased at the famous Lebanese Christian pilgrimage site Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, which even Muslims visit to receive baraka (blessing). I opened my closet one day and looked at the picture and said out-loud, “Jesus help me! I need you!” Four days later I had a dream.
My dream
I had a dream of Jesus sitting on a rock. As I stood before him, my head was at the same level as His chest. I waited for Him to notice me but He was looking straight ahead and didn’t see me standing in front and below Him. Then, someone appeared on His right side and spoke these words, “Zeinab loves you so much.”
Immediately, Jesus looked down and straight at me. Light was blazing from His eyes and He held my gaze. The light from His eyes stopped and when it did I ran towards the rock and hugged Him with my face buried in His chest. I wept and wept. I woke up from my dream wet with tears. Now I was wide-awake and still crying. This must be a vision not a dream, I thought to myself.
I was thrilled! My depression was gone! The joy that filled my heart left no room for anything else including the pain related to my childhood memories. People would ask me, “Zeinab, why are you so happy?” It was so clear that I was a transformed person but it didn’t make sense to them. I would tell people about my dream, in fact, I was driving everyone crazy telling and retelling my dream. But while they couldn’t deny that my mood had been transformed, they couldn’t understand why.
I had questions, too. First the vision of Jesus in Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley and now this vivid and life-transforming dream. What had happened to me? Some time later, looking for an explanation to my dream, I typed into the YouTube search engine: “Dreams of Jesus.” I came across testimony after testimony – over a hundred testimonies! – of Muslims who, through dreams and visions, have received revelation that Jesus is God incarnate and the Savior of the world. I was surprised and delighted beyond words. As a Shi’tte Muslim woman, I sincerely believed that Islam was the perfect religion and that Muhammad was the perfect man the, “seal of the prophets,” who exceeded all the prophets who preceded him. Now, suddenly, I realized that Islam is not only not the perfect religion but all that I found objectionable and off-putting about my faith made sense. Watching these video testimonies of my fellow Muslims, I realized that I wasn’t the only one getting the silent treatment from Allah. They supernaturally encountered the same Jesus I did. I was amazed!
I had many questions. For example, did Jesus die on the cross, as Christians believed? Is the qur’an the word of God to humankind, or not?
I also watched videos of Christians and non-Christians becoming Muslims. But their stories did not resonate with me. I found them lifeless.While watching YouTube video testimonies of former Muslims, I spotted other videos that addressed my questions. An Arab Christian theologian, from a Sunni Muslim background, addressed my question concerning the truth about the qur’an. One person’s testimony answered my question concerning the crucifixion to my complete satisfaction.
An unforgettable video of an Iranian believer’s testimony, who was a former member of the Iranian branch of Hizb Allah, talking about his supernatural encounter with Jesus, left me convinced that Jesus is who He says He is: He is the living, incarnate God. I received a revelation of God the Holy Spirit and was filled with Him.
I watched videos explaining the origins of Islam, something I knew next to nothing about. I was amazed to learn that the “perfect man,” as we call the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was not at all perfect. This shocked me. Also, I learned about the human origins of the qur’an which Muslims believe is of divine origin, the very word of Allah revealed via Angel Gabriel to Muhammad.
The Search for a Church
After a year of watching videos on YouTube I was hungry for knowledge of the Bible. I started looking for a church. I returned to my former Maronite Catholic school and shared with some of the faculty my encounter with Jesus. Their response was one of disinterest. They were polite but unwelcoming. This surprised me. One Maronite priest thought I was hallucinating.
Puzzled by the response or lack of response on the part of Lebanese Maronite Catholics I stopped sharing my story with them. If the Maronite Church would not accept me perhaps He has another plan? I decided to ask for direction, to seek the Lord’s guidance on this matter very specifically. I prayed, “Lord, which church do you want me to be part of? “ Although I prayed a specific prayer I didn’t receive a specific answer. Nevertheless, I trusted God to lead me. It was my habit to exercise on Beirut’s corniche or seaside sidewalk. Beirut lacks parks and green spaces so thousands of Beirutis walk the corniche all hours of the day and even at night. One day, I met a Dutch evangelist and his family and shared my testimony with them. They were thrilled. Later, I met an American couple who were distributing Arabic and English tracts. I had seen videos on YouTube of persons that were just like this Dutch and American couple. I felt they were the real thing, the genuine article. I wanted fellowship with them. I wondered, What church did they belong to? Would they accept me as a member? I was afraid they would reject me, too.
The American couple invited me to a Lebanese congregation that was bi-lingual, Arabic – English, but I hesitated and did not accept their invitation. I continued to pray. “Lord, I want to be part of a church that You have chosen for me.” I also wanted to be baptized by a pastor who really knew Jesus. I also prayed that the Lord would make it possible for me to be baptized in the Jordan River and on a special day for Him. Lebanon and Israel have been in a state of war since 1948 so I would not be able to go there for my baptism. But I could be baptized in the River Jordan in the country of Jordan. Anyway, I left the details in God’s hands. I simply prayed and waited.
My mother broke her arm. Three times a week I would accompany her to the physiotherapist. On one of the visits I met a woman who was also bringing her mother for therepy for a sprained arm. She introduced herself and started sharing the Lord with me. I was amazed! When I shared my testimony with her she was even more amazed than I was! I told her that I wanted to be baptized and she invited me to her congregation. I was determined to go to the church of God’s choice, could this be the one? She promised to talk to her pastor about me and assured me that her congregation would be delighted to meet me: ahlan wa sahlan (Arabic for Welcome!). When I asked the woman why in a crowded waiting room she walked up and greeted me she replied, “The Lord spoke to me these words: ‘That woman over there and her mother will be in heaven together with you.’”
Over the years, I had watched videos of wonderful singing in churches and wondered if such churches existed in my country. I googled “American Evangelical singing church, Lebanon.” I discovered that the church, the American couple I spoke to on the corniche had invited me to (but didn’t go), and the church this woman I met at the physiotherapist’s clinic, was inviting me to was the same church that turned up on the Google search engine. It is a Lebanese congregation with Arabic and English worship and preaching in Arabic. Perfect!
The next Sunday, I went to visit the congregation, which was approximately thirty minutes drive from my home. I walked into a room full of music performed by a live band. I immediately recognized the worship as exactly what I’d seen and heard on the Internet. I started worshipping, arms raised high, with waves of joy rolling over me. I’d finally found what I was looking for. The Lord answered my prayers. After the service the Lebanese woman introduced me to the pastor. I excitedly shared with him how I came to the service and of my desire to be baptized. The pastor promised to baptize me upon his return from a brief ministry trip to Jordan. We agreed on the following Saturday, which was Easter weekend. This was the answer to my prayer that it would happen on a special day for Him! But what about the Jordan River?
As we gathered for my baptism on the agreed day, the pastor announced that he had a special surprise. He held up a bottle of water and said, “I’ve made many ministry trips to Jordan over the years. However, this trip I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to bring a bottle of water from the Jordan River back to Lebanon which I will use in our service today.”
I couldn’t believe my ears! Water from the Jordan River? The pastor had no idea that I had asked the Lord specifically to be baptized in the Jordan River. Here he was holding a bottle of water from the Jordan…oh-my-goodness!
I was baptized in the sea at Byblos (Arabic Jbeil) along with twenty others from our church wanting water baptism. We were also joined by lots of curious onlookers wondering what was going on as they watched us one-by-one immersed into the sea and brought up again accompanied by prayers, declarations, songs and hugs. What a day of rejoicing!
Soon after finding a church, the Lord opened up an opportunity to take a Bible intensive course on the island of Cyprus. I joined other Muslim background believers from Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. I now travel every year as volunteer staff (we are all volunteers) to help with this discipleship program.
The Adventure Continues
The Bible says, “Honor your mother and your father that your days may be long on the earth (Exodus 20:12) .” Is there anything more challenging than family members? You can share your testimony once, but after that you must show them the proof of Jesus’s redemptive work in your life every single day. My mother has had a hard life. Her childhood was abruptly interrupted at age twelve when her parents married her off to a man of forty. Naturally, she resents this. And the root of bitterness has borne its fruit. Although still an attractive women, her four marriages have left her scarred and she struggles with life-controlling issues. The Lord has used my mother to polish the rough edges of my character. I have learned that love is a choice, not a special way of feeling. I long for the day when my mother will experience salvation and receive Jesus’s healing touch in her life.
Although I’m the only believer in my family, they nevertheless love me. They don’t understand my relationship with Jesus, who is only a prophet to them – one of many in Islam, but they are accepting of me. I invest particularly in the lives of my nieces and nephews: they love their Auntie Zeinab! Their parents have even allowed them, on several occasions, to accompany me to my church.
I am passionate about helping young women from a similar background as my own in their relationship with the Lord. I’m learning how to communicate in a loving way, showing patience, understanding and forbearance as they grow in their walk with Jesus. The Lord has also given me a burden for trafficked women and the LGBTQ community here in Lebanon. I am trusting the Lord to open doors for me among both groups.
Locally, I am part of a weekly home group of Muslim background seekers. They enjoy the worship, Bible study and fellowship. Each one is on a journey towards Jesus. What a joy it is to meet and encourage them to know the lover of their souls, Jesus.
I have particular joy in exercising my gifts, the gifts of helps and service, in my church here in Beirut. I have a handicrafts business which is not only a source of income but an outlet for my passion to create and my passion for art. This includes the design of jewelry and crochet products.
I look to the future with confidence and with peace, the peace I always looked for never found until the vision of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, in the Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley. God’s assignment to me is to love. To love God, love others, and make disciples. The adventure continues!
Zeinab al-Husseini
Beirut, Lebanon - Shelter In Place
This phrase, “Shelter in Place,” has become a common warning in our day. Usually used during dangerous weather threats and catastrophes, as all creation groans for the manifestations of the sons of God. The increase in these worldwide catastrophes cannot be denied. Being here in the Middle East, it has a different use. The threat of wars and rumors of wars have swirled for years over the region as all of the nations of the world are being gathered for a final confrontation of the Satanic forces and King Jesus with His Kingdom to come.
Be not deceived, HE IS COMING AGAIN! Even as rockets are being launched into Israel and controlled strikes in southern Lebanon and Beirut by Israel.
In the verses above, the shelter in place for the people of God is He Himself. They run to Him, into His name. The word of the Lord describes Him as our refuge, tower, bulwark, shelter, fortress, shield, and a secret place that He only knows. What a great blessed assurance we have being hidden in Him. His name is above every name and He has given it to us.
As we face the uncertainty of these times, where the heavens above are full of the last battle for this globe — God’s creation and Satan’s false claim — we have a place of safety and protection. In Him, there is no darkness at all. He has provided for us, and in this place is fullness of joy, not just survival, but so much more. For the righteous, when we look up we do not see catastrophes, but we see:
Fear not and run into Him! Hallelujah the King is coming!
-Keith Curlee
- Discerning of spirits
How is it that such a pagan act as was displayed in Paris, framed by the spirits of other gods can be reasoned away by some who do not see the demonic spirit behind it? The scripture is clear concerning the visible and invisible.
The invisible is reality for us as believers. The natural eye cannot see nor ear hear what God has prepared for us—only the eye and the ear taught of the Holy Ghost.
The events of the opening ceremony in Paris were pagan and a form of worship to other gods. The spirits of Ishtar, Diana, and Aphrodite were manifested and acknowledged. This was not the first time this has happened in a world event. During the opening of the 2022 British Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham England, Prince Charles, representing the Queen, officially opened the games with Baal worship, and the woman riding the Beast was paraded before the nations. It begins with falling stars coming to the earth in the form of crystals. The woman takes it in her hand and prays to it.
The 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremonies contained full-blown Babylonian worship of Baal. The Tower of Babel has been replicated. The invisible war for who will be worshipped is the ultimate warfare of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The sexual revolution of my generation opened the door to all kinds of spirits of perversion that were practiced by Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Diana. The temple worship of those days included men dressing as women and sexual perversions. These occurred even during June when her festivals were celebrated and parades were held in the streets. In their ancient writings, her sign was a rainbow 🌈.
It is no coincidence that President Barack Hussein Obama, who supported the Respect for Marriage Act, lit up the White House as a rainbow in June. His administration repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996.
The continued display of pagan worship at the largest worldwide broadcast of a sporting event is so blatant and is watched more than any other. From the Super Bowl to the Olympics the “influencers” of these days have a demonic agenda that cannot be explained away nor denied by the city set on a hill, believers in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God.
Shine Jesus Shine, that the whole world shall see!
-Keith Curlee
- Ministering in the Middle East
Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision pertains to the days still future.” –Daniel 10:12–14
I have been in the Holy Ghost in these passages. Daniel’s prayer was heard when he spoke it from his mouth and from the first day heaven responded. They heard Daniel‘s heart was set on understanding and humbling himself before God.
Prince Michael was sent then but was met in the heavenlies by the prince demon of Persia, who fought him for 21 days. The prophetic word to Israel concerning the last days and their promised future was in Daniel’s answer. Satan sent his prince demon to thwart this prophetic vision and word to Daniel and the people in Israel.
This stronghold is what is loosed over the Middle East and at war now over Israel and the entire region. This principality is what we are to bind in our spiritual warfare — our struggle. I have many times encountered this spirit, especially in the last eight years as I have come. 21 days Michael fought this spirit to bring this prophetic revelation. It is why the Holy Ghost sealed it up until this appointed time:
But as for you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal up the book until the end of time; many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.” -Daniel 12:4
The meaning of number 21 in the Bible is that it represents great wickedness of rebellion and sin. After the children of Israel left Egyptian bondage, they had twenty-one major rebellious events as they wandered the wilderness. 21 days describes the strength of the principalities’ gyration of wickedness and rebellion.
The spirit of prophecy is the spirit of Jesus. Of course, Jesus reveals Himself in revelations and is not thwarted and by the Holy Ghost shows what is to come — the seal of Daniel is opened. This war is going to bring the whole world to see the glory, might, and power of the only true God and His glorious Son; the reigning King of heaven and earth: Jesus.
We, like Michael, rebuke you, prince demon of Persia, in the name of the Lord. Iran is Persia, and its demonic spirits are Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Jihad, the PLO, etc.
How humbling it is to serve and be a part of the ministry here in the Middle East for the last 30 years for this day.
Hallelujah to the King!
- Declare the Kingdom
The world today, human society, is not God’s world.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and they that dwell therein.
-PSALM 24:1
The Bible tells us that Satan the devil is “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). This evil being is the one who reigns in the world system today! He deceives all of humanity into following his ways rather than God’s (Revelation12:9). God tells us that, “The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one”—under Satan’s powerful influence and control (1 John 5:19).
We are to declare the Kingdom of God, the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”
-Titus 2:11-14 NASB2020
Our God desires to have a holy people, a nation.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
-1 Peter 2:9 NASB2020
He has and continues to call unto us to become all that He desires and has birthed us to be. His new creation.
- There is Freedom
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 NASB2020In all the political and religious confusion and deception being released in our land daily, we as believers have this everlasting word of our God. The promise of the Holy Ghost and His being poured out on all flesh, who is in us and with us. Whom the Son, Jesus, sets free is free indeed.
As was evident in the debate, there was little reference to what made this country free. Its foundation is “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” It will not be any party’s policies or ideas that will bring this nation to the truth, but an unprecedented move of the Holy Ghost bringing repentance and a true change in direction.
It is simple: our nation has experienced times of repentance and true revival in our history.
Jesus has freed us from sin and all unrighteousness through the power of the gospel of the kingdom of God. The sin of this nation is fomenting like the stench of a garbage dump. The smell of such defilement and adulteration can only be endured by Him for so long.
We, as those who have been set free, must not be silent as if our freedom can be accomplished by not preaching the gospel. We cannot be ashamed while the world and those among us call the condemnation of sin judgmental.
In the economic system of the world, the wages of sin is death. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, for it is condemned already. It is lost in its sin and doomed to eternal damnation, separated from the love of God, its redeemer, Savior, and Lord.
Today, let freedom ring, let the voice of the redeemed freely declare, with a shout, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Father in heaven, grant us repentance in our land. Turn us back by your great power—the power of the Holy Ghost! Freedom!
-KC
- The Fatherhood of God
Matthew 7:11 NIV
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask himOur God is not a ceremonial God that can be so empty, repetitious, and a form that denies the power of Him and what He has done. He is a celebratory God and He ordained feasts to celebrate His everlasting covenant with creation and those who have chosen Him.
In our day we call them Holidays to commemorate and celebrate victories and historical events in our various nations’ histories. They are there for one generation to acknowledge what God has done and what those who came before us accomplished.
Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, for us in the U.S., are two of the most important celebrations. In them, the first and fifth commandments in our relational behavior are declared. The first four have to do with our relationship to God and the next six are to one another. The first of these is the command to honor your Father and Mother and it is the first and only commandment with promise. The promise of God’s favor on the children’s lives, “so that their days are prolonged on the land which the Lord thy God has given you.”
First, we have the destruction of the family institution that was and is created by God. When He created them male and female and gave the marriage covenant to bring forth offspring, their children, it was good — out of His goodness. The first attribute that is testified of God is that HE IS GOOD. Everything He created was amended by His goodness. It is this promise to children that the evil one hates, and his evil purpose is to target the innocence of children to destroy the family. No greater evidence is the genocide in the birth of Moses and of Jesus. In our lifetime it is the legalizing of abortion.
History shows that in the changing and overthrowing of governments, a ruler’s whole family was annihilated. Honor brings favor and promise to those children who, even when a Father is not honorable, God and His authority and sovereignty remain. He contrasts the difference between earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father. If you fathers, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more your Father, wills to do more than you can think or ask, so much more. He is not saying fatherhood or motherhood is evil, but He is drawing a comparison that, in terms of His goodness, the heavenly Father’s goodness is so far above It can never be measured nor be compared between the two. It will always be seen in this light. As Jesus responded when He was called good,
And He said to him,Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:17 NIVThe rejection of the fifth commandment is based on earthly fathers’ evil disobedience and not acknowledging the authority and goodness in God the Father. We as fathers need to see our place to be like Him. Otherwise, we rob our children of the promise of God to them. It is a huge stumbling block placed before them as children to overcome in their lifetime. “Forgive me my Father,” I would say. Fatherly offenses far outweigh and are more prevalent than motherly ones. Unforgiveness, seeded in them as children, is the devil’s scheme to keep them from receiving the Heavenly Father, sending the Son to be their Savior and Lord. Everyone in the family unit is to keep this commandment and celebrate fatherhood, which was the priority of Jesus. When He taught us to pray, He first brought honor to the Father,
Matthew 6:9-10 NIV
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”I pray that we will as fathers, seek to fulfill the last two prophetic verses in Malachi,
Malachi 4:5-6 NIV
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”The hearts of the father and children are restored so that the children and the land are preserved. Honor and happiness to all fathers on this: an important day set aside for celebration.
Hallelujah! -KC
- Gaza Occurs 19 Times in the Bible
”So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it. So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.“
Judges 6:4-6 NASB2020There cannot be any denial according to the Word of God concerning God and His people. All the theology, traditions, and scholars who search the scriptures and think they testify of man’s knowledge, and what He thinks about God, does not change God and His Word. Our righteousness is as filthy rags.
I simply want to point out the geographical place, the land, Gaza included, in God’s promise to them. Many years before Mohammed, the Quran, and Islam. This scripture, for me, is a current picture of what is happening in Israel and Gaza There is no regard — the mentality of Hamas is to ruin it. Israel is suffering from their disobedience and again, Israel was brought low. God’s judgment comes to them in Him lifting His protection. The God of Israel is waiting for them to call upon Him again.
The paradigm has changed not just to ruin, but to eradicate, to annihilate. As a Syrian Senator told me at one time, “Israel will be like sugar in water.”
The same spirit is in replacement theology, the Church has taken the place of Israel. The Church is the Bride of Christ, His body, and His representation in the earth. We are strangers and aliens. This is not our home or land. The earth is the Lord’s, He owns it. He gave the land, and set its boundaries to the Hebrew People.
Remember Israel oh Lord, out of all his trouble. Let him not be ashamed. Let not his enemies triumph over him. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered. Hallelujah!
- Your Thoughts Are Not My Thoughts
Your thoughts are not My thoughts and your ways are not My ways, saith the Lord.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.“
Isaiah 55:8-9 NASB2020And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it.
Matthew 27:33-34 NASB2020In 1974, Betsy and I were blessed to go to Israel for the 2000-year celebration of the Feast of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. We had the privilege of eating a meal with Hogn Vanderboven, the keeper of the garden tomb, nephew of Corrie Ten Boom. I remember going into the tomb and while we were coming out you could see Golgotha, the place of the skull.
Many scholars believe that after David killed Goliath he paraded Goliath’s head throughout Israel and brought it to Jerusalem and placed it there. The name of Goliath of Gath is a name derived from the two words “Gola Gatha.” One can say fairly confidently that David took the head of Goliath (the head of the serpent) and after displaying it on the highest hill in Jerusalem for all to see, buried it in a place called Golgotha. It is still known today as “the place of the skull.” Seeing the rock formation with two hollow eyes — resembling eye sockets in the skull of man.
This so illustrates to us how, in juxtaposition, man’s thoughts and man’s ways are not our Lord’s thoughts and our Lord’s ways. This was the fall of man, who was deceived and disobeyed by thinking there was a better way. The lies of the evil one mixed with Adam and Eve’s choice to believe the Satanic discord caused the mind of man to fall from the fellowship and ability to know God. His soul died, separating himself from God. No longer to be a living soul, bringing death, and the Adamic, inspired by the Satanic, mindset of man. Humanity was lost.
When I looked upon the hill, I saw so clearly the cross as a sword thrust into the place of the skull. Our thoughts are eternally opposed to His thoughts and so are our ways. As Isaiah said, they are so much higher as the heavens are higher than the earth. Only the cross of the Son of God, God’s lamb could take away our sin and redeem us to become the children of God. Jesus redeemed us from the curse.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
Galatians 3:13-14, 16 NASB2020
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 NKJVJesus, lover of my soul. He Is Lord.