Perspective

God wants us to wholly trust in Him. Jesus spoke a parable about a persistent widow who came before an unjust judge who didn’t fear God or man. The widow was so persistent, the judge gave her justice. Jesus taught that God is much more just and will answer the saints speedily. Then Jesus said, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). 

Satan is portrayed in the Bible as a thief and killer of men. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). 

Satan is a destroyer of all good things of God. Jesus Christ lambasted the scribes and Pharisees in John 8:44: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Satan has made the world a far worse place to live because of his influence upon humankind. He has turned nations against each other and has been the unseen hand behind all the deaths caused by continual wars. Isaiah 14:12 states: “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!”

Author of the sins of humanity

He has been the cause of the destruction of families and all the perversion of this society. He is behind the spread of alcoholism and drug addictions which control the lives of so many people and decrease the quality of life. He promotes the ideologies that cause people to turn away from God. He influences “Christianity” to teach false traditions of men. As a result, people are getting farther from God and church attendances are declining rapidly.

The Guardian reported on January 22, 2023:

“About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, with about 3,000 new churches opening, according to Lifeway Research. It was the first time the number of churches in the U.S. hadn’t grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic. With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated…But while Covid-19 may have accelerated the decline, there is a broader, long-running trend of people moving away from religion. In 2017 Lifeway surveyed young adults aged between 18 and 22 who had attended church regularly, for at least a year during high school. The firm found that seven out of 10 had stopped attending church regularly.”

What about our personal spiritual life? Is our faith in God growing or are we losing ground? Are we allowing the influences of Satan’s world to win out? We are warned by the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:18-18: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.”

Major causes of losing faith

What are some of the major causes of people losing faith and trust in God?

1.    Losing hope and being a doubter

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Our hope in what God promises is the basis of faith. Thomas has the dubious distinction of being labeled the apostle who was called “doubting Thomas.” He doubted Jesus had been resurrected. Christ appeared in their midst: “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’”

2.    Loving this world more than God’s way and His coming kingdom 

What does this world have to offer which truly has any lasting value? Jesus taught His disciples, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Interestingly, Mark records this statement by Jesus Christ in Mark 8:36. John Mark came from a fairly rich family. He had to work to keep his mind off the physical material things of this world just as we must do today.

And yet if we allow ourselves, we can be drawn to the world like a fish is attracted by a glittering lure and gets hooked. Satan makes sin seems fun and exciting, but once hooked, there will always be disappointment in the end. The apostle John wrote, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

3.    Neglecting regular prayer and study of the Word of God

Regular prayer and study of the Bible is a very important part of developing a relationship with our Creator God. With prayer and Bible study we have two-way communication with God; through prayer we talk with God, and through the study of the word of God, God talks to us.

4.    Trusting and relying on your feelings

The Bible does not tell us to trust in our feelings and rely in ourselves, but rather the exact opposite. We are taught to have trust in God. Proverbs 3:5-7 gives us instruction: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

5.    Forsaking the assembly with the church

Let’s face it, going to the lake or to a ball game sounds like it may be more fun than attending a church service. This is what a carnal minded person might want to do. The apostles warned about having this kind of mentality creeping into our lives. Hebrews 10:24-25 admonishes us, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

When we keep our eyes on the goal of the kingdom of God and place our trust in Him, we will never be disappointed. We will never be separated from God’s love, and our Father will always answer us in times of need if we persistently seek Him.

This is my Perspective and the current edition of the Prophetic Times follows below: 

Prophetic Times

As crisis unfolds in Gaza, Europe talks about tightening borders

November 2, 2023 washingtonpost.com reported:

As Israeli forces push into the Gaza Strip and the United Nations warns of humanitarian catastrophe for civilians there, some European politicians appear focused on ensuring that those who survive and manage to leave don’t come to Europe.

In the weeks since Hamas’s attack on Israel, Europe has been divided on how to respond and worried about how the conflict might spill over. 

Countries across the continent have reported an increase in antisemitic incidents, as well a rise in anti-Arab hate speech and hate crimes. Two terrorist attacks — one in France, one in Belgium — have not been directly linked to the crisis but have nonetheless frayed nerves.

With division and fear in the air, far-right voices have seized the moment to play up the possibility of mass displacement from the Middle East and argue that Europe needs to tighten its borders ahead of a potential spike in asylum seekers. European bans on pro-Palestinian protests prompt claims of bias.

At a European Union summit in Brussels last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned, without citing specific evidence, that instability in Israel and Egypt would “immediately” send people fleeing to Europe. He also sought to link all migration to terrorism, saying “those who support migration also support terrorism.”

Though some E.U. leaders and officials bristle at Orban’s tone, Hungary is not a total outlier. Politicians from Poland to Italy to Germany have stressed that the violence in Israel and Gaza necessitates an ever-greater focus on closed doors.

Israel has no right to defend itself, says Russia at UN

November 2, 2023 jpost.com reported:

Israel has no right to defend itself as it is an occupying power, Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said at an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

‘The only thing they can muster is continued pronouncements about Israel’s supposed right to self-defense, although as an occupying power, it does not have that power as confirmed by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice handed down in 2004,’ said the Russian representative.

Despite stating that Israel does not have the right to defend itself, Nebenzya proceeded to state that Israel does have the right to ‘ensure its security’ and ‘to fight terrorism.’

‘As for Israel’s security – and we recognize its rights to ensure its security – this security can only be fully guaranteed if we resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,’ said the Russian representative.

Hamas Terrorist Attack Ignites Open Hatred of Jews Around the World

November 2, 2023 breitbart.com reported:

Hamas terrorists kicked the lid off hell and invaded Israel on October 7 in a barbaric attack that included mass rape, murder, torture, and kidnappings. 

Ever since from the streets of Berlin, Paris, Rome and on to the very heart of London, New York’s Times Square, and the steps of the Sydney Opera House, there has been a dramatic surge in anti-Jewish hatred.

The Hamas attacks, a pogrom in everything from name to historical definition, have left Jewish people reeling from a multitude of threats.

Iran’s Khamenei calls upon Muslim countries to boycott Israel

November 1, 2023 jpost.com reported:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslim states to cease oil and food exports to Israel, demanding an end to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, state media reported.

‘The bombings on Gaza must stop immediately … the path of oil and food exports to the Zionist regime should be stopped,’ Khamenei said in a speech, according to Iranian state media.

Iran-Backed Houthis ‘Declare War’ on Israel After Reported Killing of Saudi Troops

November 1, 2023 breitbart.com reported:

Ansar Allah, the Yemeni Shiite jihadist terror organization known more commonly as the Houthis, took responsibility on Monday for a ‘large number of ballistic and cruise missiles’ as well as drone attacks against the nation of Israel.

The Iranian state outlet Mehr News reported that a spokesman for the Houthis formally ‘declare[d] war’ on the nation of Israel in support of the Sunni genocidal terrorist organization Hamas.

The Houthis are an Iran-backed terrorist organization that seized control of the capital of Yemen, Sana’a, in 2014 and ousted legitimate President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, triggering a civil war that remains ongoing, albeit in a ceasefire state, at press time. The group’s slogan is ’Allahu akbar, death to the United States, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory for Islam.’ Despite Ansar Allah’s direct ties to the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, and its stated goal of destroying America, the administration of leftist President Joe Biden removed the Houthis from the official U.S. government list of foreign terrorist organizations as one of his first acts in office in February 2021.

Report: Jews in Berlin Forced to Consider — Is It Time to Leave Germany?

October 31, 2023 breitbart.com reported:

Segments of the Jewish population in Berlin are being forced to consider a question many once thought unthinkable in the wake of the atrocities committed by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers and the subsequent promises of “never again” — is it time to leave Germany?

Spiegel International reports testimonies from a host of Jews in the national capital worried about their futures and those of their families as a rising tide of antisemitism is seen once more to cast a shadow across the city.

The despair has arrived on the back of the Hamas terrorists attack that killed 1,400 people in Israel on October 7 and kidnapped around 220 more. The report summarizes the fears in a metropolis once known for its anti-Jewish hate and the records of history:
Berlin, of all places, the city from which Adolf Hitler ruled over Nazi Germany. When the Nazis came to power here, 160,000 Jews lived in the city, around a third of Germany’s total Jewish population. By the end of the war, only 1,500 remained – with the rest having been murdered in the Holocaust or driven to suicide or to flee abroad.

The Guardian reports Germany’s antisemitism commissioner has condemned the country’s recent increase in anti-Jewish violence, warning it risks transporting the country back to its “most horrific times.”

The remarks tap into a debate that has played out across Europe, and in particular in Germany and France – home to the E.U.’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities – as officials scramble to contain the spillover of tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war.

Erdogan threatens to declare war on Israel 

October 28, 2023 express.co.uk reported:

Turkey's president appears to have threatened to intervene in Gaza in an impassioned speech at a pro-Palestine rally this evening. 
Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech to a rally this afternoon in which he told attendees Israel was responsible for war crimes, and framed Hamas as "freedom fighters". In comments that have prompted Israeli outcry, and led the country to withdraw its diplomatic presence, president Erdogan suggested assaults on Gaza constituted a "massacre".

In the same speech, he reportedly said that Turkey can "come at any night unexpectedly” to ecstatic reception from hundreds of thousands of attendees. The footage, which is currently circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter, purportedly showed the pro-Palestine crowd responding with the chant: “Turkish military to Gaza.”

Iraq’s Sadr demands closure of US embassy

October 30, 2023 spacewar.com reported:

Influential religious leader Moqtada Sadr called on the Iraqi government Friday to close the American embassy in Baghdad because of Washington’s ‘unconditional support’ for Israel in its war with Hamas.

‘If the government and parliament do not respond, we will take a different position that we will announce later,’ the Shiite cleric, who often criticises the government, warned on X, formerly Twitter.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has criticised the ‘Zionist occupation’ since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, calling it a ‘genocide’ of the Palestinian people.