By Jorge Parrott
This year has been like no other. We are in a time few of us have ever imagined or witnessed.

In Joshua 3:4 we see “Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

If we were not living through this we would say this type of chaos and uncertainty is impossible and would never happen but here we are. How we respond as the Lord shapes our character every day, including this year, will impact our eternity. ‘Choose this day whom we will serve’ applies to the opportunities abounding before us amidst the chaos and uncertainty we all face.

We are in a war with a rampant ‘plandemic’ of fear as fake news and mainstream media propaganda abounds. We need to unplug from too much media to stay in the Lord’s peace and presence. The spirits of control and greed are hurting millions. For example, we hear of the effectiveness of low cost, preventive medical treatments being denied, and shunned by the World Health Organization, the CDC, and the National Institute of Health. Our major cities are being turned into war zones.

As freedom-loving God-fearing people, we declare right now that we will not retreat before the enemies of the Cross. Together, praying in faith, along with the righteous prayers of the saints, many Intercessors, watchmen/women, and all true followers of Jesus that we trust in the Lord as never before to stand boldly and courageously to hear the voice of our Shepherd and obey His Word, His commands, and His marching orders.

Amid the COVID-19, global lockdown, and civil unrest, our liberties, and Constitutional rights are at great risk. More people will die from starvation globally than from COVID-19 this year. You already know all this. So, where is the good news?

Look up! The Lord is not surprised by any of this, and neither should we. As we approach the soon and inevitable return of our Lord Jesus the Bible tells in Isaiah 60:2 “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you,” The Word of God prophesied times like these thousands of years ago. Why do we quibble over statements like ‘why did not many prophets speak of this in 2019?’ ‘We see in part and prophesy in part.’ If we read the Bible, we should know times like this were coming.

Now is no time for fear, only faith. This season is seeing too many fall away from the faith. Our hope is in the Lord alone. As a nation, the USA’s hope rests in our faith in the Lord. Psalm 91 foretells this. This silent majority of hard-working, family folks of all ethnicities are rising up after first bowing low in repentance, then praying and worshiping as if their lives depended on it, because they will. Our Constitution and Judea-Christian heritage are being attacked daily. Repentance and massive national revival need to happen.

Sons Of God Are Rising Up

As sons of God and believers, the Lord uses times such as this to draw us closer. We have heard of and seen personally often times when the oppression and persecution rises, so does the real faith of true believers. (Romans 8:28) Repentance and humility are keys to our redemption, wholeness, and peace, as always. Jesus said 2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Many individuals and churches are earnestly taking advantage of the lockdown to ‘get right with God.’ The USA is at a crucial crossroads. Communities and hubs of Jesus lovers have rapidly grown globally this year. This is evidence of the Lord’s heart for true, organic Ecclesia preparing His Bride in real koinonia as they gather in homes and online. Welcome to the future of the global, thriving church.

Do Not Be Deceived!

There exists a well-funded, well-armed, and well-organized Socialist/Marxist uprising intent on overthrowing our US President and preventing his re-election and being used by evil strategists to usher in the new world order. These angry plotters are doing everything, including ripping our nation and many nations apart with lawlessness, efforts to defund the police, and other heinous crimes to destroy our history, creating division and racial discord. They are against Christians and Jews and the nuclear family and the unborn.

We need to heed these words found in 2 Chron. 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” We have not seen anything yet, either! We don’t need to get caught up in all the conspiracy theories. Truly, we need to keep our eyes and our focus on the Lord, not the accuser of the brethren or the world media. We are seeing that the enemy of our soul has conspired since the fall of man to divide and conquer the plans of the Lord with lies, fear, and the twisting of God’s truth. Global persecution of Christians is at an all-time high and increasing rapidly, even in the West. We need to prepare in faith, not fear. Pray for our brethren in many nations facing brutal persecution, starvation, and martyrdom for their unrelenting faith in Jesus as Lord. In Revelation, we read that the first ones mentioned to be thrown in the lake of fire will be the cowards. Have we learned to love not our own lives unto death? Bob Jones, the prophet, often asked the last few years of his life “Did we learn how to love?”

Cherishing Family And Friends

Family, friendships, and trusted relationships are the Lord’s extravagant plan, gift, and design, and in times like this, these are to be cherished and nurtured. He calls us friends. During this year, we have had a rich fellowship with many friends locally. At the same time, meeting with many around the world online regularly for targeted prayer, fellowship, including laughing as we enjoy the Lord and each other.

Suicides are way up, sadly. Pastor Jack Hibbs said there had been more suicides in California this year so far than have died from COVID-19. People need hope, ‘fierce hope’. Our Christian walk should overflow with the love of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. This compelling joy and hope overflow in as we go to the marketplace, to work, to church, say hello to neighbors and everything in our lives. Matthew 24:12-14 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Our prayer is you will discover this ‘fierce hope’ along with the resurrection life we have in Jesus.

Time For Sharp Discernment

One of the symptoms of COVID-19 can be to experience our loss of smell. Just as we have our natural five senses, we also have spiritual senses. Bob Jones, the well-known prophet who went home to heaven on February 14, 2014, often spoke about our sense of smell in the spiritual sense equates to discernment. ‘Taste and see the Lord is good.’ It is hard to see that God is good when all we see is the evil around us. Loss of one’s sense of taste is also one of the symptoms for some people with COVID-19. What are we listening to? We must guard our gates of what we permit into our spirits. What are we tasting in our spiritual walk this year? Just as some have lost their natural sense of smell, many have lost their spiritual sense of discernment. Look at the news any day of the week, and we hear bizarre accounts of rioting crowds destroying federal property, statues, and preferring anarchy and no police to law and order. Of course, we need to end police brutality and make needed reforms. To the radical anarchists/Marxists ‘no lives matter.’ We genuinely need to enforce the existing laws of the land and protect Constitutional rights inspired by our God-fearing founding fathers.

In our CMM College of Theology over the last thirteen years, the Holy Spirit has shown us a lot. We have been so blessed with about a thousand hungry students, some young, some older, (even some in their seventies and eighties) who learn critical thinking skills in order to ‘eat’ the whole Word of the Lord and be transformed by the revelations they receive by the Holy Spirit. Many believers worldwide have read the Word and heard preachers speak but real transformation takes time in His presence, by worship, prayer and fasting, being still, and hungering in holy desperation to allow the Lord to help us ‘unlearn’ man’s traditions and encounter the true and living God. In Psalm 84:10 we need to see “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere..I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

We need to believe the promises of God and this new covenant relationship through Jesus as we ‘take every thought captive to the mind of Christ’ and see with the eyes of faith. We are granted access into His throne room to come with boldness to receive His grace and mercy…Heb. 4:16. It is only the Lord’s grace and love for each of us that holds the world together, or the economy, even our very ability to breathe this moment! What an amazing Abba Father we have. “The angels all around us have no doubt of our success.” Kevin Zadai

In closing, please be encouraged and utterly full of hope and joy as you read this and take it to the depths of your heart and understanding of our identity in Jesus Christ in us, the hope of glory:

Ephesians 3:14-21(NKJV) “ For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father [f]of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”