Life as we know it...

Life as we know it... seems to be based on what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think and feel - our senses. The truth is, life is more about that which cannot be seen. We assume we live in a physical, material world. We actually live in a world that is much more spiritual than we realize and than some are willing to admit. Our lives are spirit filled, some good, some bad.

We are made in the image of God. That doesn't mean to say your 'body' is the image of God, but your 'spirit' is the image of God. All of our lives, even if we aren't aware of it, are filled with an ongoing spiritual battle between good and evil. We have free-will so it is our responsibility to make the choices we will live with. God gave us the spirit of right and wrong when he made us, every newborn has this knowledge. It is evil's desire to pull you in their direction so road blocks and confrontations are always put in front of you. No one has an easy path. We all face tribulations and trials, heart ache and trouble. Every time you face these problems and turn away from evil, your spirit grows and the angels in heaven cheer.

God never said life would be easy. What He said was that He would walk us through it, He will always be here with us. He is the Light and the Way. He gave us a book with all the rules and stories, for us to use so we could know the truth. The Bible is a great self-help book and holds all the answers. He wants us to know what we will be facing and how to live a happy, prosperous life. A lot of people mock it who have never taken the time to read it. I believe the Bible is filled with God's spirit. It is that spirit which you cannot see but you can feel, in your heart, it is there. He knew we would need this information so He had this book written. The Book comes from God, not from man. It's the Spirit that wrote it. God is in control of all things.

Someday our spirits will not live here in this world. He has gone to make us a new home. In that new home you will not need your body, will not face these trials, and will know truth. We live now by how we each 'perceive' the world to be. But that is a lie and is not 'truth'. I believe this day will be here soon. I hope you are prepared. Ask Jesus to show you the way. He will.

Urgent Times: Oil and Greed in the World

I received a letter from CBN which I agree with. The letter is a call to prayer with a sense of grave urgency. You see, Russia's vicious dismemberment of the nation of Georgia is the beginning of an unfolding sequence of aggression. Presently, pipelines from Siberia that run through Russia supply the majority of natural gas and oil used by Western Europe and Ukraine. A pipeline from the Caspian Sea has been bringing one million barrels a day of non-Russian oil through Georgia to Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. Russia wants to control all of those vital pipelines. Further, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is near Baghdad, capital of Iraq. Russia helped Iran build its two aggressive nuclear facilities. Georgia and Iraq are sandwiched between the dictatorships of Russia and Iran. Vladimir Putin (Russian leader) appears to want to dominate the Caspian and the Persian Gulf oil and add it to Russia's enormous supply of oil and gas. If he succeeds, Russia will gain a stronghold over the economies of most of the world and can then act to bring America to its knees.

Iran is under the domination of a fanatical group of Shiite Muslim clerics. The president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a fervent believer in the Mahdi, a mythical messiah who, according to his belief, will come to make the entire world Muslim, but only after a period of worldwide chaos and destruction during which all Jews will be killed. Despite warnings from the United Nations, Iran is on an accelerated course to build nuclear facilities and an atomic bomb. They recently test fired an improved intermediate-range ballistic missle, the Shahab-3, that is capable of carrying nuclear warheads to hit Israel, Iraq, and most of Europe. In 2008, the nation of Israel cannot ignore the ravings of a fanatic who soon will possess nuclear bombs with a will to use them. If Russia moves again to crush a neighbor or enter the Middle East, and if Iran develops an atomic bomb, time for talk will be over.

In Lebanon, on Israel's northern border, the radical group known as Hezbollah has, along with Iranian help, completely rearmed and now possesses as many as 40,000 rockets targeting Israel. To the south of Israel, in Gaza, another Iranian client, Hamas, is armed to the teeth and longing for an opportunity to strike Israel. Any Israeli strike against the nuclear facilities of Iran will trigger a counter blow from Iran and possibly Syria. These are not the only dangers. Russia could consider hostilities the excuse to enter the fight on trumped-up reasons in order to further its ultimate aim of controlling Middle East oil.

As the potential conflict spreads, oil terminals would be engulfed in smoke and flames. The Straight of Hormuz would be blocked, and with it 40 percent of the world's oil. The industries of the world would face severe energy shortages and the economies of both America and the European Union would face a devastating depression. What if the United States decided to oppose the Russian expansion? The Russians have enough long-range nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles aimed at the United States to annihilate all of our cities. Would the United States risk war with Russia over Middle East oil? Perhaps, but unlikely. If we act, it will be ugly. If we don't act, our economy could either be crippled or faced with continually escalating exactions demanded by Russia for oil.

About 2600 years ago, God gave the Prophet Ezekiel a description of an invasion of Israel after the Jews had been regathered to the Promised Land from all over the world in the 'latter days'. Ezekiel wrote of an invasion force led by Russia that would include Iran and 'Cush', which is Sudan. The other parties described by Ezekiel that constituted the invading force could include some of the Muslim nations in the former Soviet Caucasus region and possibly Turkey. According to Ezekiel 38:12, they would come seeking "plunder and loot". What greater plunder than the oil riches of the Perisan Gulf?

What is clear is that the Israeli strike against Iran will be the trigger. From then on, dramatic events will follow in quick succession. It will conclude when God has rained fire on the islands of the sea and on the invading force coming against Israel. According to Ezekiel, the "young lions of Tarshish" will be questioning the Russians about their aggression - questioning, but not acting to stop it. The term "young lions of Tarshish" refers to England and the United States. According to Ezekiel, when the Middle East trouble begins, the young lions of Tarshish warn Russia and Iran, but refuse to act. We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against our coastal cities.

Prayer can change the course of history! The Bible says, "Seek righteousness, seek humility.... that you may be hid in the day of the Lord's wrath." The fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much. The believing prayers of tens of thousands of God's people can change the hearts of the leaders of Russia and Iran. God can cause situations to arise which will save Israel. He is Almighty. With God all things are possible! Please prepare your heart in earnest and pray.

Pray that God's mighty angels would surround and protect our nation in these perilous times. Pray for unity among the body of Christ as we intercede for our nation and our world. Pray that America's leadership will seek Godly wisdom as they face critical events in the weeks and months ahead. Pray for the Holy Spirit to sweep across the globe, preparing hearts to accept Jesus and enter God's Kingdom before tragic events unfold. Pray for God to change the hearts of leaders in Russia, Iran, and other nations who wish to harm Israel.

Pray for God to fill the hearts of all Americans and their leaders with the Holy Spirit in that America will be set on the right path and Americans will clean up their act and confess their sins. These are urgent times. Hopefully, our Lord will intervene and head off the disaster that seems to be approaching. Let us pray together.

Our Cat

Our cat has her own story, as many pets do. I don't know where hers began but I do know that it must have been very rough for a cat. She was two when we adopted her - but let me back up to that part of the story. Our family was devastated over the loss of our dog and for quite some time didn't want to get another animal. We waited a couple of years before we felt we were ready. We wanted a cat. My daughter had some specific ideas about what she wanted in a cat - it had to be a girl, had to be 2 years old, had to be soft as velvet, had to be grey, had to be "about this big' as she showed me with her hands. I just said okay, we'll see what we can find, but I figured she'd be happy with a cat anyway, no matter if it met all those specifics. Finding what she had her heart set on was going to be difficult even if possible.

The following Saturday we headed out to find our cat. I knew that sometimes the pet stores have adoptable pets on the weekends so we stopped at the first one we came to, just to check it out. It was a PetSmart, one we hadn't been in before. Walking in we saw no animals, usually there are several dogs and some cats in stacked cages. We asked at the counter and we were told they come only every other weekend and this was the off weekend. We milled around for awhile, looking at cat beds and toys and talking about our new addition to the family. We came across a wall of cages behind a big grated fence. Peering into it we saw that there was one animal in a cage in there - a cat all by itself. It was grey. It was the size we liked. The note on the front of the cage said it was a girl, 2 years old, and her name was Velvet! We knew we had to have this cat. What were we going to do, we couldn't leave her there. We talked at length about options and what we might try. We asked the guy at the counter again and we were told that they have nothing to do with the animals there, we'd have to take our chances and come back the next weekend. We just couldn't leave the store and not take 'our' cat. That was out of the question.

As we were standing around talking near the row of cages two women approached us. They set some flyers down and we saw that they were from the animal control. What a Godsend they were! Yes, it was not their day to be at the store but they had come in to just drop off some things. Yes, they would allow us to adopt this cat. We went through an interview process and filled out papers. We bought a cardboard cat carrier to place her in. We were told that she was not good with people and hated children as she had been very mistreated before she came to their shelter. No one had wanted to adopt her. Velvet did not like to be touched, to be taken out of the cage, to be placed in the box, to be carried in the carrier, or the ride home! Once we got her home she ran off to hide and wouldn't come out. We knew it would take some time for her to get used to us and we were determined that we had done the right thing and this cat would grow to love us. It was fate and it was in God's hands and He had brought us to her. That was obvious. She was everything on the list. We didn't keep the name Velvet and felt she needed a new start. My daughter named her Soiresse.

Little by little she would peek out from where she was hiding. We put her little food and water dishes near where she could get them if she waited until the house was dark and everyone was asleep. As the weeks went by we didn't see her much. We let her be and gave her whatever space she felt she wanted or needed. Time would tell and we were patient. She needed to heal from whatever trauma she had been through. We knew she was eating and using the cat box so all that was doing fine. There were days we would see her. If we approached she would run. One day I slowly crawled toward her, laying close to the floor and nudging myself carefully forward. I laid my head sideways on the floor and when she saw me do that she rolled over. Hmmmm, this was something new. I laid my head on the floor the other direction and she rolled over the other direction. We had made a breakthrough! For several days I played this game with her at least a couple of times. Every time she rolled over. She was getting used to me. I would lay on the floor with one arm stretched out and just lay there and she would slowly come close to my hand to sniff it and check me out. I never did try to pet her. That would have been going too far too soon.

As you might have guessed we grew to love each other. There was no overnight success. It took years and patience and love and understanding. She has been with us for seven years now. At this point I can pick her up but hold her only for a short moment and then she doesn't like it. If I am working on my computer or watching television she wants to sit on my lap and sleep. In the morning before I wake up she lays on top of me. She wants to be close when it is on her terms and she doesn't like to cuddle. If people come over she hides. She avoids people even if she knows them. I teach art classes in my home studio a few days a week. I have noticed lately that when I am having a class she will walk by the door and peek in. She has been brave enough only once or twice to actually enter, walk up to me for a quick pet and then exit.

She is our bundle of love. She has her own personality and is healing from her abused past. It is taking a long time. There are some traumas we never get over. I don't know what actually happened to her, I will never know. What I do know is that we will love her through it. People are like that too. We don't know what trials or troubles they have faced or are facing. We need to show patience, loving, caring, and give them their space and time to heal and to grow - with love. We need to love them through it.