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MA#10    MAY 2001

IN THIS ISSUE

FOREWORD

IN MESSIAH'S MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

DISEASE AND FEROCITY WILL BE BANISHED

“They will not harm or destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. ...  The wolf also will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat.”  … “The calf and the young lion and the young fattened animal will feed together, and a little boy will lead them. The cow and the bear also will graze and their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand on the viper’s den without danger. .”

(Isaiah 11:9, 6-8)

BRITAIN’s

FOOT & MOUTH EPIDEMIC

“The hand of Yahweh the LORD will bring a very severe pestilence on your livestock.”  (Exodus 9:3)

*      UNPRECEDENTED FOOT & MOUTH EPIDEMIC

*      PLAGUE OUT OF CONTROL  - WORSE TO COME

*      700,000 ANIMALS SLAUGHTERED ( just the beginning )

*      INTERNATIONAL TRADE EFFECTED

*      IRISH STOCK MARKET SLUMPS

*      EUROPEAN BANK IN DILEMMA

*      UNITED STATES and AUSTRALIA ON FULL ALERT

*      THE PLAGUES OF ANCIENT EGYPT

MAY 2001.  BRITAIN is in the grip of a Foot and Mouth epidemic. The disease broke out last February on a farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall in northern England. Within a short time it had spread to Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

By the end of March, the number of cases reported totalled more than 670. The virus next penetrated the quarantine mechanisms of the Irish Republic, France and Holland. A number of confirmed cases were reported in these countries also.

British Agriculture Minister, Nick Brown, confessed that the outbreak of hundreds of cases of foot-and-mouth disease was unprecedented internationally, and that the epidemic was yet to reach its peak.

F&M is one of the most dreaded of livestock diseases, being highly infectious, and having very serious consequences.

F&M is caused by a virus. There are, in fact, seven  types  of  the  virus,  and sixty sub-types.  

The disease afflicts cloven-hoofed animals causing them to develop painful blisters in their hooves and mouths so that they stop eating as much. They soon suffer a loss in weight and a fall in milk production, and inevitably abort their young.

Although the majority of infected livestock survive, they never regain robust health, and they become commercially useless.

The disease rarely affects humans, even if the diseased meat is eaten, but an epidemic of the disease seriously affects the economy and prosperity of nations. It decimates the livestock industry, and precipitates economic disaster - not only for the farmers, but for the whole nation.

This is now happening in Britain, in the Irish Republic, and in parts of Europe.

British agriculture is now referred to as “a sick old man.” Hugh Byrne, Ireland’s Natural Resources Minister, called Britain, “the leper of Europe.”

In this age of globalisation, Europe, the United States, Australia and other nations are very concerned lest the disease wings their way.

THE SPREADING DISEASE     

The virus can be spread by direct or indirect contact with infected animals; it can be spread by air, by cars, by wheels, and by shoes. Humans are often the carriers. And while the virus does not normally affect humans, it does cling to their clothes, boots, and to their pets’ feet and fur.

The virus can go undetected for three weeks before being diagnosed, and during that time, animal movements that criss-cross the country can rapidly spread the disease. Even healthy animals may be disease carriers.

Making things more difficult, a certain strain of the virus, in sheep, does not manifest itself clearly, and therefore it is difficult to detect.

Britain, which produces vaccines for other nations fighting foot-and-mouth disease, has not had an outbreak itself since 1967.

Agriculture Minister, Nick Brown, says the disease may have been introduced into Britain through illegal commercial or personal imports of meat.

The Times newspaper said the particular strain of virus in the British livestock was common in China and South-East Asia. The infected meat, it said, may have been smuggled in from the Middle or Far East, and served in a restaurant, before ending up as pig swill (scraps used for pig food). Pig swill could have been the source of the outbreak.

Industry experts say Britain is a prime destination for meat traders who sell cheap meat smuggled in from countries where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic. (The disease, in fact, is endemic to every continent except North America, Australia and Antarctica).

F&M is a disease that knows no boundaries. In a matter of weeks, the disease cut a swath of economic devastation through the heart of Britain’s farming and tourism industries, and now it threatens to do the same in Ireland and continental Europe.

According to experts, the epidemic is clearly out of control in Britain. Prime Minister Tony Blair described the plague as a “hellish situation,” and said his government hoped to contain the epidemic in Britain by May. But according to an Agriculture Ministry report, the worst is yet to come. The number of new cases could rise to as many as 70 a day, and more than 4,000 farms could be wiped out by the end of May.

HOW TO CONTAIN THE PLAGUE?

Once the plague has broken out, there are only two ways of containing the disease.

1. By vaccinating all animals.

2. By destroying all diseased animals, and all healthy animals that could have come anywhere near them.

The British government has been considering vaccination, and has now received permission from the European Union Standing Veterinary Committee to vaccinate, should it be decided that that is the right way to go. Earlier the government had shied away from vaccination because of the long-term implications it can have for export markets

PRE-EMPTIVE  SLAUGHTER

The culling of livestock began quite early. By the end of March, more than 700,000 cows, sheep, goats and pigs, out of a total livestock population of more than 55 million, were destroyed

This was just the beginning. Some government experts predicted that the crisis would continue to grow for months; and in a worst-case scenario, it could mean the loss of 50% of the livestock of the nation.

The British government stepped up its efforts to bring the crisis under control by announcing two new policies - burial for up to half a million sheep, and slaughter on suspicion of the disease for new cases, without waiting for laboratory tests.

To create “firebreaks” between sick and healthy animals, the government ordered nearly all livestock on farms next to infected farms, to be destroyed.  The cull involves the slaughter of all animals susceptible to the virus.

200,000 apparently healthy sheep in Scotland were slaughtered.

Britain is compensating farmers up to 90% of market value for slaughtered animals.

To help stem infection, the government prevents pigs from being sold and then resold within 21 days. The Agriculture Minister wants this rule applied also to sheep, goats and cattle.

NO  ESCAPE  FOR  IRELAND    

When F&M was confirmed in a sheep herd across the border in Northern Ireland, fears were triggered that the disease would spread to the Irish republic and hit its $6 billion-a-year livestock industry. Dublin imposed rigid restrictions and monitoring.

St. Patrick’s Day parades and rugby matches with Britain were banned, as were hunting, fishing and horse racing. Golf courses were closed, and farm animals linked to British herds were culled. Nevertheless, the dreaded virus hit.

The news of the outbreak sent shock waves across Ireland, and stocks slumped more  than  5  percent  on  the  Dublin stock exchange. In late March, the Republic confirmed its  first  cases  of  the  disease,  and  agricultural  officials  pre-pared to destroy 40,000 animals.

F&M presents a major problem for Ireland, as it exports 90 percent of its farm production. And agriculture accounts for 12.7 percent of Ireland’s gross domestic product.

A national population census, scheduled for April 2001, has been postponed because of fears that officials roaming around the countryside could spread the disease.

THREATS  TO  THE  CONTINENT

Defying Europe’s checkpoints, and quarantine precautions, including roadway disinfectant mats, F&M swept into France and the Netherlands, and sent jitters throughout Europe.

France was considering a vaccination of all livestock against the disease, but such a move would be catastrophic for exports.

In the Netherlands, farmers appealed for vaccinations to save their herds. In the meantime, 18,000 animals were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak. A Dutch Agriculture Ministry spokesman said, “It’s very disappointing. You can never completely control foot-and-mouth.”

Supermarket shelves of milk and meat were quickly cleared as the Dutch anticipated bans on food from farm areas.

As European farmers looked nervously at the worsening situation in Britain, German and Italian officials announced the first suspected cases in their countries.

A German agriculture official warned that the virus was virtually certain to seep across the border from the Netherlands. Infected  Dutch  farms  are  only  50 km  from  the border with Germany.

Sweden cancelled its “Food Chain 2001” trade fair for organic farmers, scheduled late March, for fear visitors might bring in the disease.

As the threat to Europe continues, the European Central Bank, which oversees the common European currency, is facing a decision of whether to raise interest rates in a battle against inflation, or to lower them to boost industries facing a global economic slowdown.

The fact that Europe, despite its expensive and sophisticated surveillance and tracking systems, has failed to contain the disease, has worried many. And as the battle to contain the outbreak on the Continent continues, Europe is not very happy with Britain.

CONCERN IN THE USA

The American government is very concerned about an invasion of F&M, and the Agriculture Department has set up an emergency hot line to give advice on the disease. It has also halted the importation of meat and meat products from the 15 nations of the European Union, and placed all ports of entry on heightened alert.  Beagle sniffer dogs are everywhere.

In the last two years, the Department has reported 18 emergency outbreaks of foreign plant and animal diseases in the United States. But the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States was in 1929.

The US has had considerable experience in fighting F&M. After six outbreaks in the last century, it set about eradicating the blight from North America.  In 1947, Washington led a campaign to push the disease south of Panama.  And in 1954, the  federal  government  established  a  research  facility  at Plum Island, N.Y., to develop vaccines.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT

According to the New York Times, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said the government was seeking to balance its support for economic globalisation with the need to protect its $50 billion meat industry.

“With 96 percent of the world population living outside the U.S., we have to have those markets abroad,” Veneman said. “As the economy becomes more global, so too does the food system.”

Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota has called for an extreme measure - a ban on the importation of all livestock and meat products from all countries.

To the Agriculture Secretary, that would lead to a potentially disastrous trade war that could hurt all kinds of American food and farm exports, valued at $59 billion a year, including $4.5 billion of meat.

In Britain, F&M is causing a great deal of suffering to the farming community; and many farmers have been in tears. A farmer who also has several rooms for bed and breakfast, said; “Farming is our main livelihood, but we can’t sell or move any animals. And there are no bookings for Bread and breakfast.”

Many are saying, “Farming is finished!”

The fear is that the epidemic will drive many farmers out of business, in spite of the compensation the government is paying for slaughtered animals. The down side is that farmers will not be allowed to replace their livestock until six weeks after the last outbreak in their area.

And then, if they are able to buy new livestock, the farmers must wait until the summer of 2002 for the animals to reproduce, and then months more before they have any lambs and calves to sell. It is an 18 to 24 months period without income that few farmers can afford, especially after the Mad Cow epidemic in the 1990s, which led to mass slaughter and export bans.

F&M, like Mad Cow Disease, can result in the bankruptcy of smaller farms, and their takeover by large-scale farming. At least one farmer has gone to court to challenge the slaughter of healthy animals.

This gives some idea of the economic effects of an F&M plague.

TOURISM AND BUSINESS HIT BADLY

The Foot and Mouth epidemic has affected the tourist industry as well as the  farming.

At the beginning of the outbreak, the British government warned tourists to stay away from the countryside so that they wouldn’t contribute to the spread of the disease.

Historic sites, National Trust homes and gardens, royal parks and zoos were closed, along with public foot paths, and horse tracks, and much of Britain’s network of canals.

As citizens heeded the advice, rural villages and hamlets began to feel the pain as business began to dry up. Some restaurants say business is down by 80%. Soon tourism officials were complaining that to save the farmers, the government was killing an industry worth four times as much as farming

Many of the National Trust estates have been reopened, but most of the tracks are closed off, with notices saying, “Keep Out” and, “Don’t step off the pavement.” Tourists in the Lake District may go boating, but are not to walk around the shores on the lakes.

Tour cancellations are badly affected country areas; taxis sit idle; vacancy signs hang on hotel fronts; stores are in the dumps, and a lot of people, including farmhands, are being laid off. Farmers, instead of milking their cows, are engaged in the joyless task of disinfecting their properties.

THE PLAGUES OF ANCIENT EGYPT  

The Foot and Mouth epidemic reminds us of the plagues that afflicted Egypt in the time of Moses. The fifth plague affected livestock, while the sixth, affected men and animals. Pharaoh was warned:

“‘Look! The hand of YHWH will bring a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But YHWH will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.’ And YHWH set a definite time, saying, ‘Tomorrow YHWH will do this thing in the land.’ The next day YHWH did this very thing, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.”              (Exodus 9:3-6) 

“Then YHWH said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will become boils breaking out in blisters on men and animals throughout all the land of Egypt.’  So they took ashes from a furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw them toward the sky, and they caused boils to break out in blisters on men and animals.”   (Exodus 9:8-10)

We cannot say that either of these plagues were Foot and Mouth disease; but they certainly were horrendous plagues; and certainly Britain’s F&M outbreak is a horrendous plague.

The plagues upon ancient Egypt were a judgment because of the slavery it imposed on the people of Israel, and because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go.  Do you remember the circumstances of the Israelites being in Egypt?

The story goes back four hundred years before Moses. You can find the account in Genesis 37 to 50. Joseph, a son of Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, was sold into slavery by his treacherous brothers.  But the Hand of God was upon Joseph, and eventually that Hand elevated him to the chief rulership of Egypt under Pharaoh. This was because Joseph had been able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, and to warn him of a severe famine that would come on the Middle East, some seven years down the track.

Joseph supervised the food production and storage in Egypt, and this saved the nation from starvation. During the famine, Pharaoh invited Jacob to bring his family of 70 members, and their servants, to settle in Egypt.  (Genesis 45:16-21. 47:5-6)

Years later, another Pharaoh arose who enslaved the Israelites and used them as masons to build Egypt’s pyramids and palaces.  In due time, because of the harsh oppression of His people, God raised up Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, and back to the Promised Land.

Pharaoh refused to let the people go; and it took ten severe plagues to make him release them.

Now, my reader, what are we to make out of the many plagues, pestilences and Prophecy that are hitting the nations today?  Are they judgments or warnings from Almighty God?

In Scripture, Prophecy including earthquakes, pestilences, plagues and droughts are presented as judgments; or otherwise, they are disciplinary measures to cause people to repent of their evil ways and to return to God.

The Almighty made it very clear to King Solomon that when these kinds of Prophecy struck, there was a remedy; Yahweh would heal. But the leaders and the people must repent of their sins and evil ways.

“Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him; ‘I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

    If I shut up the heavens and there is NO RAIN, or

    if I command the LOCUST to devour the land, or

if I send PESTILENCE among My people, and My people who are called by My Name …

         HUMBLE THEMSELVES, and

         PRAY, and SEEK MY FACE and

         TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS,

    then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land’.”  (2 Chronicles 7:12-14)

2001 is a time of emergency in Britain; and our hearts go out to all who are suffering. And our prayers ascend to Heaven on their behalf. But this is a time for the people of UK and Ireland to humble themselves, and to pray, and to seek God’s Face, and to turn from their wicked ways. This is a time for believers to confess the sins of the nation, and to beseech God to raise up leaders of integrity and righteousness, and to grant repentance to the nation.

But many in Britain say, “In which way are we more wicked than any other nation?”

Britain! To whom much is given, much is required!  Britain! From the first century AD you have had the Gospel.  You have experienced the Reformation. You have had many evangelical awakenings and revivals. God called you to send out missionaries of the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Britain! You have been instrumental in establishing righteous standards in many parts of the world. You have been privileged, and blessed by God, in many ways.

BUT HOW IS IT TODAY?

To quote from one of your own members: Gary Streeter MP, shadow Secretary of State for International Development (UK) has assessed the pressing issues of Righteousness and Justice in our contemporary society. 

Writing in Prophecy Today magazine (March-April 2000), Mr Streeter says of Great Britain:

*     a racist attack takes place every four minutes

*     435 abortions take place every day

*     480 couples are divorced every day; nearly half the marriages end in divorce..

*     Crime costs Britain £14 million every day.

*     On average a child in the UK spends 3 hours daily watching TV, and 3 minutes talking to his or her dad.

* £300,000 is spent on pornography every day.

*     Every year there are 7,000 suicides in the UK and Ireland; and 100,000 attempt suicide.

That’s not half the story. There’s the moral depravity; the drug and alcohol addictions; the alarming crime rate; as well as the apostasy in the pulpit; and the apathy in the pew.

This is the time, I repeat, for the people of God in Britain to pray for their country.  And the same must be said to every other nation on earth today!

A TRAGIC LOSS

A communication received from the UK reads: “We are praying for a fast solution to this F & M which is causing such great distress in this country. I must share with you the report I’ve just read of a vegetarian farmer who has never had a sheep slaughtered before ... she breeds for wool.

“I share the sense of her agony at losing 300 of what she regards as her ‘children’ - sheep she helped birth, and who had always followed her voice, without recourse to a sheep dog.” 

Tragically, this good English shepherd could not save her precious sheep from the havoc of F&M.

There is a Good Shepherd, though, who can save His sheep from disease and disaster. He’s my shepherd. Is He yours?

“Y'shua the LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Yes, when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

“You prepare a table before me in the face of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil. My cup is full and running over. Only goodness and lovingkindness follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of YHWH forever.”  (Psalm 23)

Y’shua, Jesus the Good Shepherd, is speaking now:

“My sheep hear and listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no-one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no-one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.”  (John 10:27-30)

Y’shua is the Good Shepherd we all desperately need today!

“Which man among you who has a hundred sheep, and if he loses one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine even in the desert, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he finds it, he will put it on his shoulders, rejoicing; and when he reaches home, he will call together his friends and his neighbors and say to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  (Luke 15:4-7)

r r r r   r

WIDESPREAD  ETHNIC  CONFLICTS

It is tragic that at a time when the world is shrinking, when racial integration is taking place in many nations, we see ethnic intolerance and violence seething all over the globe.

The Lord Jesus Christ was speaking about ethnic cleansing and wars when He said;

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines.”  (Matthew 24:7)

This prophecy comes from the Gospel of Matthew, where the Greek word for "nation" is ethnos, from which our English word ethnic is derived. Jesus was saying ethnos will rise against ethnos. Although this word includes wars between nations, it certainly includes ethnic conflicts such as we have seen in the Balkans, in Indonesia, in Sri Lanka, in India, Burma, the Philippines, in Rwanda, Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, N. Ireland, Israel, Russia, China, and in many other places.

Why all thE ethnic hatred?

When you see the ethnic brutalities you exclaim, “It’s wicked!” Yes, indeed it is! And the reasons for it are many - there’s the historical background, there’s  grievances, discrimination, exploitation, hatred, politics, customs and religion, and so on. But the basic cause, as someone has just said, is wickedness. Man’s heart is selfish, crooked and wicked.

Look at this diagnosis of man’s heart, by the Almighty God who searches the innermost being of man.

“The heart is more crooked and deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick - incurable. Who can understand it? I, Yahweh,  search  the  heart,  I  test  the  kidneys  -  the  most secret parts, to give to each man according to his ways, and according to the results of his deeds.”   (Jeremiah l7:9-10)

The apostle Paul amplifies this description of men’s crooked and desperate hearts:

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge Yahweh, the LORD God, any longer. He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which ought not to be done. They became filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, heartless, merciless and ruthless; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”        (Romans 1:28-32)

But why is man so wicked? Has he always been evil?

No, man has not always been evil. Man was created perfect. And even Satan, the devil, was not evil at the beginning. Yes, Satan is real; he is a very intelligent being. You might call him “the force of evil,” but he is not eternal; he is a created spiritual being. He was a beautiful angel. In Hebrew his name was Helel which means “shining one.” He is commonly referred to as Lucifer, and the Bible has given him the names, Satan, the devil, the destroyer, the evil one, and “the god of this age.”

His fall from an archangel to a demon occurred when he gave way to an evil thought that germinated in his mind. It is recorded in the book of Isaiah:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O Helel (shining one, Lucifer), son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground - you who have ruined the nations - you who said in your heart, ‘I will ascend into the highest heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the north. I will ascend higher than the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’ But you are thrust down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit.”    (Isaiah 14:12-15)

It is this same evil one who has blinded mankind, and brought them into the bondage of corruption. And Satan constantly manipulates men to fulfil his evil plans.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing - the unbelieving, whose minds the god of this age has blinded so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Messiah, who is the image of God.”  (2 Corinthians 4:3-5)

The reason the whole world is not yet a cesspit of corruption is because the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has delivered countless millions of people from sin and evil, and made them “the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13)

And what is the Gospel?  It’s as the apostle Paul declared:

“Now brethren, I again declare to you the Good News which I have already preached to you - the Good News which you  have received, and on which you take your stand; by which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the words that I preached as Good News to you - unless you believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that the Messiah died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)  

But  regarding  man’s  heart;  God  says  it  is  wicked.  It’s incurable!

Is that final?  Does it mean there is no hope for man?

For the old heart there is no cure. God says, “I can do nothing to improve your old heart. And you can’t either! It is simply incurable; but what I can do, is to give you a NEW heart.  I can give you a HEART TRANSPLANT  -  and  a guarantee that goes with it!”

We’re talking here, of course, not about our physical heart, but about our soul - the innermost part of our being. God says:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; and I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My laws, and you will guard My judgments, and do them.”  (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

This is what the Master referred to as being “born again.” It is receiving spiritual life. Again Jesus said,

“The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they might have life, and might have it beyond measure. I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”  (John 10:10-11)

When the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, died on the cross of Calvary, He gave “His life as a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:28)

On the basis of the sacrificial death of Christ, as a substitute, for sinners. God can forgive our sin, and give us a new heart - and new life. The glorious result is salvation - our deliverance from the cesspit of evil and darkness.

“For He delivered us from the power and dominion of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  

(Colossians 1:13-14)

It is because of the Gospel and the redemptive work of the Messiah at Calvary, that there is still righteousness, love, justice, and goodness on the earth, and that the nations have not totally sunk to the depths of depravity.

But there is a battle going on, in every nation - the battle of Evil against Godliness. At times it looks like Evil is going to win. But no! I’ve read the Prophets and the Revelation, dear friend, and it’s Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, who wins! How could it be otherwise?!

Soon the prophecy of Isaiah 2:4 will be fulfilled.

“For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea.” “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”   (Isaiah 11:9. 6:3)

This is Messiah’s Millennium - the 1,000 years of righteousness that begins after Y’shua returns, bringing restoration to this corrupt and polluted planet. And after the 1,000 years?

"In keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells."   (2 Peter 3:13)

Those who love darkness rather than light will, of course, not be too keen to live in Messiah’s Millennium, nor in the eternal realm of righteousness. And of course, they won’t!

But my question to you, my reader; On what side are you? Are you on the side of Righteousness, or the side of Evil? On the side of God, or the side of Satan? If you are not sure on which side you stand, then why don’t you call upon the LORD God and ask Him to give you a new heart, and to place you in His Kingdom, right now? He loves you, and has provided for your salvation. The guarantee the Lord Jesus gives is:

“My sheep hear and listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no-one will snatch them out of My hand.”     (John 10:27-28)

Below is a prayer which you may pray, if you want to make your decision for Righteousness, for Christ, for God. Pray sincerely, trusting God to answer your prayer right now.

DECISION  PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of the Lord Jesus. I come just as I am, a sinner needing a new heart.

I know I am not worthy of Your mercy, and that I deserve to suffer the penalty of my sins, but I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus the Messiah, to die on the cross and to pay the penalty of my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead, and lives to save those who call upon His Name. Father, I call to You right now, asking You to forgive all my sins, and to deliver me from the power of sin. Please give me a new heart.

Lord Jesus, I ask You to come into my life, to be my Saviour and my Master from this day on. I surrender my life to You, and by Your grace, I will follow You all the days of my life. Master, save me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and with the joy of Your Salvation. Make me a faithful witness for You until You return to take me to the Father’s House.

Thank You Father for hearing my prayer. Thank You for Your salvation. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking my sins away. Thank You for the everlasting life which by faith I receive from You today. Thank You, Master. Thank You. Amen.

     Signed ............................................................          Date ..................

PLEASE KEEP YOUR SIGNED PRAYER WITH YOU AS A

REMEMBRANCE OF THIS WONDERFUL DAY IN YOUR LIFE.