The sun is shinning and the grass is sort-of green for the moment. While I don't know about many other parts of the country, where I live the weather has been stranger than ever and is becoming downright scary. Fall was beautiful and the Farmer's Almanac predicted a very long and wet winter. After several years of severe drought and water conservation I was excited, even though I would have to ask for help with snow removal until the brace on my right hand was removed and I had regained a whole lot more movement and strength.
We got one inch of snow in November and not another drop of moisture until January when an additional inch fell. But that was gone before morning with sixty degree weather that broke every record since the mid 1800's. Nonetheless, I was still hopeful until February passed with nothing but a few drops of rain. The first week in March surprised me with an inch more of the white stuff, but that was only a total of three inches for the entire winter when we were used to getting three to six feet.
I have never seen the Rocky Mountains looking so sad and bare and my prayers have become even more desperate since anything, other than certain kinds of cactus, needs more than a drop of water to survive. I could envision most of the trees in the state dying since the driest winter in over 150 years has left their root systems starving for moisture, as it has my much-loved and tenderly cared for perennials. Most all of them are up now when the tulips have yet to bloom, and I have already watered them twice in one week because I desperately want them to make it.
With 80 degree temperatures, when it should only be in the 50s or low 60s, my house has turned into an oven because I refuse to turn on the AC in March. But I suppose with all that is going on in the world and all the confusion and unrest in our country due to the lies mainline media continues to spread, I should be grateful having something like the weather to distract me.
But as we approach the Easter Season I feel renewed hope, regardless of what might be in my near future. I love seeing pictures of our Risen Savior, hearing others bear testimony of his atoning sacrifice and singing songs that let me know of his complete love and forgiveness if we are only willing to reach out and take his hand. Life was meant to be challenging and hard, but I would much rather go through those difficulties with him than trying to navigate them on my own.
That said, I have heard so many conflicting opinions about what is going on in the Middle East and assigning blame when there is none that my head has yet to quit spinning. It took me days to even partially understand the reason behind the bombings, what the desired outcome was and why it had to happen when it did. In the scriptures we read much about secret combinations and men loving power and money more than God or any of his children. That certainly seems to be the case now, but during my recent study of the Old Testament I have come to appreciate and understand my brothers and sisters in the Middle East somewhat better.
They have always been warring people intent on capturing their neighbors and stealing whatever wealth they could. Sometimes God allowed the battles to be brutal with many lives and fortunes lost. But when they listened to the words of their prophets and turned their hearts away from harming others he would intervene in their behalf.
The story of Jonah is one example, although I found it rather hard to believe when I was young. But after reading what a Biblical scholar by the name of W. Cleon Skousen had to say about it, I found the adventure quite compelling and believable. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh to warn the people because they were vile, corrupt, murderous and lacked any feelings of compassion. He figured they would never listen to a humble servant of God and he would most likely be killed.
Most everyone knows how he stowed away on a ship headed to the furtherest port he could find in the city of Joppa, or today's Tel Aviv. A mighty storm arose and the ship was about to overturn. Jonah finally admitted he was the one who had made God angry and if they tossed him overboard the storm would cease. They resisted at first, but he was finally tossed into the depths of the sea.
Here is what Dr. Skousen said that changed how I perceived this part of the story. A whale is an air-breathing mammal and rises to the surface at intervals for oxygen. The amount of air in the stomach at one time would be minimal but apparently enough to keep Jonah alive because the whale was a big as a medium-sized boat and its inner organs were exceptionally large.
He compared these facts to a more modern-day story that came from an article he obtained an original copy of in August 1961 whose headline read, "Man Was Swallowed By Whale--Emerged Alive."
He then proceeded to tell the tale of young seaman by the name of James Bartley who fell overboard on a whaling expedition and was assumed lost, or more likely dead. Much to the surprise of his whaling crew, he was found inside a sperm whale's stomach doubled up and drenched but still alive, though deeply unconscious. For two weeks he remained under lock and key in the captain's cabin--but gradually regained possession of his senses and by the end of the third week had almost completely recovered.
During his short stay of less than twenty-four hours in the whale's stomach, his exposed skin and been severely burned by of the animal's gastric juices, and his neck, face and hands were bleached and shriveled, but he clearly remembered slipping along a smooth passage in complete darkness and then realized he had more room.The walls of his prison were thickly slimy and yielding. Once he realized what had happened he could breathe more easily but the oppressive heat seemed to sap his vitality. He admitted to trying to face death calmly but the terrifying quiet finally overcame him.
His case was thoroughly investigated by members of the scientific community but no one could poke any holes in his story. What is noteworthy is that Bartley bore no teeth marks and his being swallowed fit in with known scientific facts of the time. Even him being able to breathe could be explained by the whale's stomach not being full when he was swallowed and it being killed before Bartley was completely immersed in fluid.
I've included that story because it adds credence to what happened with Jonah, even though anything is possible with God. He delivered his message and the people of Nineveh wept, wailed and pleaded with the Lord hoping to obtain his pardon from their violent sins and abominations.
Professor Skousen says that one of the greatest lessons to be learned from the scriptures is that prophesy can be reversed because its whole purpose is to warn people as to what will happen if certain behaviors continue. Jonah's task was to deliver a message and let the people decide. They chose to turn their back on evil and their city was not destroyed until years later during the ministry of the prophet Hosea when the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided and dispersed.
That era of history seems applicable with what is happening in Iran right now. One day, God will bring his covenant people back to the land of their inheritance but a great deal must transpire before then, and perhaps this is just another part of a saga that will some day end.
Meanwhile, President Trump is making good on his promise to wipe out the Deep State, but that will not happen with a few simple arrests when the judicial system is so compromised. He freed Venezuela from tyranny while dismantling the biggest hub of human and drug trafficking in the western hemisphere. The people there are dancing in the streets, but not the hard-core Democrats or the deep state because they need the money those insidious evils bring in to keep their one-world dream of human enslavement alive.
Once that mission was complete he focused on Iran, whose desire to kill Americans and turn what was left into an Islamic regime has only accelerated the past few decades. Iran has controlled terrorism throughout the world for almost half a century and the Deep State has funded most of its terrorist activities--think back to the pallets of cash Obama sent there and the uranium Clinton made sure they received. The threat of nuclear bombing was real and with Israel's help that has been stopped.
The next mission will be Ukraine where so much money is still being laundered by the Deep State players. It is a multi-layered organization crafted by Satan himself and he has everything to lose, as do those who follow him. That's why they will use any means necessary to keep their nefarious actions hidden and why we have to stay strong as Christians and patriots since we have yet to fight the biggest battles of our life--those for God, family and the country we love.
President Trump's operations are precise and cannot be rushed and anyone who thinks otherwise is still in the dark. I pray for him, all the patriots in our nation and the brave men and women in our armed forces every day. I also pray for those people whose lives are being decimated that they will have the courage to rise up and seize their freedom while they have the chance.
Yes, things will change while that is happening, but a couple of months of increased gasoline prices and financial worry will be worth it if more people around the world get a taste of the freedom we take for granted and in so many cases, seem willing to lose as long as we don't have to take a stand. But I know America is God's chosen land and was founded on Christian principles. If it goes down the rest of the world will too.
So that's why I choose not to let fear override faith and hope. We are living in marvelous times while helping to usher in the return of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The roles we will be asked to play are different, but all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing. Let's stand together for freedom and human rights because God will prevail whether we step in and help or not.
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