2/2
Read the Bible, read/watch/listen to what others have to say about whatever Spiritual item you are looking into, and if you are a Christian, PRAY about it!

If you receive something from the Lord, make sure you test it to see if it agrees with God's word (the Bible). Then write it down and pray about it some more.

If you have given up your authority over your own discernment, take it back – out loud. More than one time. Then ask the Lord for wisdom. Be expectant to receive it, and be careful!

1/2
Do not give up your own authority over your own discernment! Today I was concerned to see people "learning" about God on Telegram. It was generic info, not carefully worded and not exactly "right." Please – you have to research all info for yourself, ESPECIALLY Biblical truths!

Do not accept someone else's opinion or statement on anything. Not a pastor, not a friend, not a family member, not someone or something you find with a search engine, and especially not someone here or on Telegram or wherever (including me), no matter how many "followers" someone has. Do. Your. Own. Research!

Should Christians (Jesus followers and God obeyers) be active? Yes. Passivity has come from western wealth/comfort and evil ideas dripped into western culture and individual brains. Have you attended a church where Genesis and the reality of the spiritual war were never preached? I have. Why? Jesus is the Word of God, all Scripture is breathed out by God, and Jesus literally said He is the truth. So what happened to believing in the entire God-breathed Bible?

The Bible talks about "powers" and "authorities" and wars in the Heavenly realm. David fought many wars – because God told him to. Jesus and Paul said we will be opposed and persecuted. Does that mean we just accept it? Maybe, not necessarily, only God has the answer for each individual. But blanket passivity usually is not the answer – and really is just an excuse for fear, which as people of faith we should not have – it's faith OR fear, they are mutually exclusive.

Please be careful not to fall for the "God is just love" dilution of God's character that is so prevalent today. God is not a "benevolent force" or whatever. God IS love and mercy, but also laws and justice, among many other things that we literally don't have the capacity to fully understand or appreciate. Think about it – how could we possibly fully understand God? (And be careful not to define Him in human terms.) One example: How we think about "love" and being "faithful" is so shallow and narrow compared to God's character. The closest any of us can come to understanding all of it is Jesus. Who He is and what He did here. Jesus paid our penalty – as Colossians 2:14 says: "...by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." So: God is that amazing love AND has standards (laws) which REQUIRE justice when violated.

Isaiah 14:3-7, 9-11
When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury ceased!
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
All of them will answer
and say to you:
'You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!'
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.

Do you believe in Jesus? Have you surrendered to Him? Have you repented from your ways and gotten baptized? (Baptized as an adult - babies can't choose and can't repent.) Have you been discipled by a mature believer? All people need these things. They will put you on a true path, given by God himself to you individually, to peace and a full life. I encourage you to do it - find out!

I follow Jesus only. My allegiance is to Him. I will never be abandoned, let down or deceived by Jesus. If you have allegiance to anything else - any person, any ideology, or even any church or pastor - you will be disappointed and likely misled, as billions have been. Follow Jesus alone. That is what He asks and requires - for our own good! Remember at the tree mankind chose to decide for themselves what is good and evil rather than listening to and obeying God. Whether you think that is true story or not, I'm sure you can see the devastation caused by people doing exactly that.

2/2 - Every person's God-given gifts are needed by everyone.
Romans 12:4-9
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
#BIBLE

1/2 - Discernment and pattern recognition are spiritual gifts – gifts from God. Calling people with those gifts "conspiracy" theorists or whatever is ridiculous...and it might insult the giver of those gifts. Even if you don't (yet) believe in God and instead believe in evolution - yes they are mutually exclusive - it should be obvious that discernment and pattern recognition should be a tremendous advantage there as well. James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
#BIBLE

Should we "waste time" with people who are not interested? Should we "scatter seed" to someone clearly hostile to facts or the Truth? I think yes but I also think of this verse sometimes – Jesus talking in Matthew 10:14: "And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town." The only way I can answer these questions for me is it's case by case, and I try to obey God while ignoring my flawed self, and I leave all outcomes to Him. That last part is the most freeing for me.

Post 2/2
Remember Jesus said many things, one of which is He IS the truth (John 14:6). What an amazing statement! So profound, like everything He said. Now consider this, Matthew 7:24-26, Jesus talking:
"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand."

Post 1/2
God seems to have wired everyone to believe. It is a need we all share. It's just that some don't realize that need is ONLY truly fulfilled in Him. That is what brings peace – the peace "which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). So I encourage you to try not to "believe" in timelines, perceived signs, personalities, posts, politicians, scientists, or whatever you think you want to believe in...and then get disappointed. If you only believe in Him but watch the rest (as the Bible says to do), you will have a lot more peace. Not giving advice, just my experience!

In his book Richard Wurmbrand proves Marx created communism specifically because he hated God. That is what is at the core of communism and anything like it (socialism). Also, God set up structures and order. We are supposed to follow them, NOT what some person thinks is best...which is what happened at the tree: people decided to go against God and decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. How has it worked out so far.....

"Witnesses" remind me of this, Hebrews 12:1-2 – run with endurance and look to Jesus!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

God is patient, way more patient than us. God talking to Abram in Genesis 15:13-14 and 16 – he is waiting for "complete iniquity" for the Amorites:
"...they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Encouragement to please be careful of people that post about God and Jesus a lot, including me! Because it is easier to tell how to evaluate what someone is saying if they don't believe at all than if they say they do believe but then say things the Bible does not support, or work in no-nos like horoscopes, and so forth. So discernment goes beyond just facts and rumors, and really most important part is the spiritual part! This DOES NOT mean that folks who don't believe don't have value. Of course they do. They are also made in God's image and He loves them too. Just have discernment!

Do you hear from God? Try to. You can. This is one of Jesus' hardest teachings but it tells why it's so important – Matthew 7:21-23...it seems to me He is talking about believers: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Pray the actual words of Scripture out loud! They are THE MOST POWERFUL WORDS WE HAVE because they are literally the words of God. John 1 says Jesus IS the Word, the Word is God and all things were made through Him (powerful words). 2 Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is breathed by God. The only spiritual weapon Ephesians 6 lists is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Revelation 19:15 talks about the Faithful and True rider on a white horse: "From his mouth comes a sharp sword..." PRAY ACTUAL SCRIPTURE!

Take care not to be deceived by wolves dressed as sheep. They look like you and say things that sound right but...Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV:
Take care, brothers [and sisters], lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

I have seen posts likening what is happening in the stock market to Jesus overturning the money-changers' tables in the temple. No. Jesus only got RIGHTEOUSLY angry. Meaning he got angry when God was disrespected – when the holiness of God was not respected above all things. This is also why He got mad at the Pharisees. Jesus' disciples also wanted Him to be political, but He never was.

If you go to a foreign country or a different state and you don't believe in their laws, are you still subject to them? In the same way God's laws apply everyone even if they do not believe or understand. Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Please be very careful of people who are careless and non-specific with using the words God, Jesus and concepts that appear Biblical. Intentionally or not, they could lead you astray. Example from a post I saw today: There is no "sword of Christ" – but Ephesians 6 says "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Hebrews 4:12 and Relevation 1:16 too). The Word of God is Jesus and the Bible. The Words of God are very specific, never wrong and powerful. So take care to exercise discernment and know your Bible. NOT the Catholic or any other altered Bible. Just the Holy Bible.

1 Peter 5:8-11 ESV
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

2/2 of Luke 18:1-8, Jesus speaking:
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

1/2 Luke 18:1-8 – Do not give up:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!'

How much of this did you see in the media and with certain politicians and corporate leaders over the 4 years of President Trump's first term and do you still see now? Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Psalm 144:5-8
Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.

Romans 1:18-32 is on point to what is and has been happening. Here is 18:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

To all the generals etc posting on Telegram other than Lin. I guess I appreciate it but if all you do is forward unsurprising "news" stories you are only preaching to the choir. I assume you did not skip town and are still hard at work. Good. But if you want us to keep tuning in and don't want to drop crumbs, at least post something personal. Otherwise it's a useless echo chamber.

John 14:27, Jesus speaking:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”