A Warning Shot Across The Bow

Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, is standing in the Coliseum with his companions before a set of doors. And as they're standing there as a group, facing those doors, Maximus says, Whatever comes out those doors, we have a better chance if we stay together. Brethren, in the time and the times we're living in, can't we echo those words? Whatever comes out those doors, we have a better chance if we stay together.

Whatever comes, we have a better chance if we stay together and with God and each other. Notice with me Psalm 50 and verse 5. Psalm 50 and verse 5. God says this. See, a lot of times God says something, has it written down, like, about God, but sometimes God inspires His writers to write down quotes. And this is like a quote from God. Psalm 50 and verse 5. Gather my saints together. Gather my saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. That covenant by sacrifice is the covenant of baptism to be in Christ as made possible by His sacrifice. That's what is being referenced there. Gather my saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And, of course, what makes that covenant possible is the sacrifice of Christ, yes, but for you to partake of that covenant, you also, as you very quickly find out, you also have to make a sacrifice. Gather my saints together unto Me. Now look at 3 and verse 16. Whatever comes, we have a better chance if we stay together with each other and with God. Malachi 3 verse 16. Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another, and the Lord heard, hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name. They that feared the Lord spoke often one to another. And God hearkened, He heard, and He was involved with them. Hebrews 10 verses 24 through 26. Hebrews 10. Beginning in verse 24. And let us consider one another. Let us consider one another to do what? To provoke. Not provoke in the sense of the way the word is used in the King James like a confrontation. But it has to do with stir and stimulate and spark. Like iron sharpening iron, let us consider one another to stimulate the spark unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of Psalm is. And we can be very, very, very thankful for technology that at least allows us to have some measure of togetherness. Because, as we well know, there are many of our congregations right now that cannot meet. They can't even get a hall. But, you know, we're blessed. Atlantis having services today, combined services with their two congregations for the first time. We're having services for the first time since the closure here in Gadsden. Chattanooga is having to wait a little bit longer. It's quite a blessing. But this issue of assembly, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of Psalm is, but exhorting one another. And this is scary, a little bit more special meaning right here when it says, and so much, the more as you see the day approaching.

Staying with God is shelter in the storm. Sheltering with God is protection in the midst of the storm.

Become very familiar with Psalm 91 because you're going to need it. You're going to need it more and more as time rolls along, because we're not going fully back to normal as normal was. This world is not going back to normal as normal was. Things are changing. Things are changing.

And we pray, thy kingdom come, don't we? But between now and the kingdom here, and the things that actually help to bring it forth, like birth pangs, there's going to be a lot of troubles, a lot of trouble. Psalm 91, let's just read the entire thing.

Psalm 91, verse 1, He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High, stay together with each other and with God. Stay with God. Sheltering with God. That's protection in the midst of the storm. He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. And I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God, and him I trust.

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, from the noisome... notice, pestilence. What are we dealing with right now? We're dealing with a pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, under his wing shall you trust, his truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night. We live in a part of the country, and frankly, there are not a lot of parts of the country where...

that it isn't true to say, but if there's a lot of terror, it comes by night. Tornadoes and such. Nor for the arrow that flies by day. Nor again the pestilence that walks in darkness. Nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. Thousands shall fall at your side. Some have lived to see that. Well, some of us someday see a thousand fall at our side. Ten thousand are right hand. But it shall not come nigh you. Only with your eyes shall you behold, and see the reward of the wicked, because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation. There shall no evil befall you, and neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling.

Verse 14 is a key Scripture in this chapter. Verse 11, of course, put his charge about you as angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against the stone. There was an ultimate fulfillment of that in Jesus Christ.

You shall tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon, shall you trample under your foot. And again, key verse, verse 14, because he has set his love upon me, this is like God being quoted, because he has sheltered with me, has set his love upon me.

Therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me. I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him with long life, lest satisfy him and show him my salvation. Home should be a safe haven. Sheltering at home should grant a measure of safety.

But the only guaranteed safety is God. The only one who can guarantee safety is God. The terror by night, Amy and Clarenda, vineyard of the Chattanooga congregation, living in north Georgia, they were at home that night. When the terror by night came, they lived in a double-wide. That's two halves put together. Their bedrooms, opposite ends, of that double-wide. God nudged Amy. She felt the impulse to have Clarenda, her daughter, come sleep in bed with her that night. Amy lost her husband, May 31st, this 31st, two years it will be. She would have lost her daughter as well.

And she would have lost herself. But for sure, well, would have lost her daughter. But she was nudged to have Clarenda come sleep with her. And as they were lying there in bed, Amy heard a freight train. Heard a train. There's no tracks near here. And then realized it was a tornado going over. And then she heard a much more powerful train. And she grabbed at Clarenda. They rushed to the closet. And they both got in the closet just barely in time.

Didn't even get the door closed. And Amy wrapped her arms around her daughter Clarenda. Amy's 45. Clarenda's 24. She wrapped her arms around her. And when she wrapped her arms around Clarenda, an angel of God, sent by God, wrapped its arms around both of them. And they saw through that door that didn't get closed, the front half of their home just disappeared in destruction. And then the park they were in rolled by the tornado.

Just rolled down the hill and totally destroyed. And if you've seen pictures that were posted, only the closet in which they were in was the only part that wasn't crushed. The terror by night, sheltering with God, they were at home in what's supposed to be a safe haven. They got bruised. They got banged up. They got thrown about in that closet. No broken bones. Clarenda had to have ten stitches in her head.

Amy said in so many words, they looked like the Walking Dead, but they were walking. And they were together. And they were alive. And Amy's son, Jason, brother to Clarenda, within less than a two-year span, would have lost father, mother, and sibling. And death occurred around them. There were some dead bodies around them there. How applicable are David's words in Psalm 23 verse 4? Just how applicable are those words? When David, who knew what he was talking about, who lived it, he said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You know, one of the times he walked through the valley of the shadow of death was when he was a teenager. Because that 9'6' Goliath cast a pretty big shadow down in that little valley. And he was walking in the shadow of death, but as he said, I will fear no evil. And if you go back and you read it, as we're all so familiar with it, he did not fear.

He didn't stagger around backing up. He ran towards the giant. He says, For you are with me. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, for you are with me. How many valleys shaded with the shadow of death will we walk through in our lifetime? I walk through a number. Angela's walked through a number. I know enough about enough of you that you walk through some of those valleys with the shadow of death. I know of many, and I know of many right now who are walking through valleys shaded with the shadow of death. How many will we walk through in our lifetime?

You know, we're walking through one now. We really are. And there will be more that will be walked through later on. The deepest valleys and the biggest storms lie yet ahead of us. They're not behind us. And we're not in the midst of the biggest one that we will yet be in. God is our true shelter in the storm. Revelation 3 and verse 10, I can tell you one of the most wonderful applications of Revelation 3 verse 10, for those who are alive and faithful to God and with God and sheltering with God, when the worst times of all come eventually, that the Bible defines as the Great Tribulation.

In Revelation 3 and verse 10, because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation or tribulation, which shall come upon all the world, not just on this nation or that nation, but upon all the world who try them that dwell upon the earth, shelter in the storm.

See, again, and to me, Psalm 91, that very first verse, He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High, who is sheltering with God, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. With what we're currently going through, because it's not over, with what we're currently experiencing, I would ask us a question. Do we now take the times, ourselves, and the Scriptures more seriously than we have? What we're living in and with right now is unprecedented. We have never had the nation shut down. We've never seen the world shut down like this.

What does it speak to us to the times we're in? What does it speak to us as far as ourselves and the Scriptures? And I would follow that question up with, if we don't, if we're not taking the times and ourselves and the Scriptures more seriously than we did, what will it take to make us do so? What's it going to take? What has happened and what is happening is this. And you can use this for the title of the sermon, A Warning Shot Across the Bough, because that's what it is, A Warning Shot Across the Bough.

It's a naval term. I think we all know what it means. It's like when a ship fires around over the bow as a warning to stop, pay attention, take notice, hold up, look at things.

A warning shot across the bow, because if you don't, a naval terminology and the olden days are special. But even now, the basic follow-up was a warning shot across the bow, and if you don't, give us your focused attention, the next one is going to be in the hull and sink you. For us as God's people, for you and me, for us as God's people, it can most certainly serve as a wake-up call.

For those of us asleep, it should wake us up. For those of us awake, it should make us even more awake. At what point does the meaning and the extended meaning of the ten virgins who go to sleep, at what point does that really begin to kick in?

But in the light of the current events, there are a couple of scriptures that carry a lot of deep significance. They carry much deeper significance now. One is Romans 13, verses 11-14. Romans 13, verses 11-14. This is one of the two that I will turn to. I'll turn to this one first, Romans 13, verses 1-14. In the light of current events, a scripture like this carries much deeper significance. And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. And again, he's speaking something that applies to Christians, true Christians, any time, any place, any age, to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, you know, just party time and all of that strife and envy. But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.

Second Scripture is Ephesians 5, verses 14 through 18. Ephesians 5, verses 14 through 18.

Paul says, Wherefore he says, Awake, you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

See then that you walk circumspectly, discreetly, wisely, not as fools, but as wives. Redeeming the time just means using the time wisely to have something good to show for it, because the days are evil, maximizing your time in a right and positive and good way. Wherefore, be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine wherein it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The times are pressing in upon us. You know, some of us in here don't have a whole lot of years left. That's just a simple fact. I don't. There are several of us.

When you're given a full life, and I can't claim to God, well, God, you've not given me a full life. He says you're in your seventieth year. You can't say, Rick, that I haven't given you a full life. And, of course, I want more life, but I have lived a full life. And I have, by living it, and those of you in the same category I am, can testify to this. You go through zones. You go through different zones of perspective. You go through the younger zones where you're reaching forth. You're in the ascendancy. Then, it comes to time. You kind of plateau off in life. Your life's been built. You plateau. Maybe hold that for years. And then you start a certain descent. And it affects your thinking and how you weigh things and look at things. And, of course, you begin to feel the press of time that, well, just how many or, let's say, just how few years do I have left?

And I want to use them good and wisely. And those different zones we go through are designed by God to serve a purpose. I gave a sermon about the aging process in God. They're designed to serve a good purpose. And somebody, 25, is not supposed to think or see or view life and time exactly the same way as a 75-year-old would. Because if they view it exactly the same and feel about life exactly the same, then one of them has got to be wrong. You've got a 75-year-old trying to act 25. Or if a 25-year-old is trying to act 75, that really is a problem. Anyway, but the times. You know, when you get into that zone where some of us feel the press of time just due to our aging, this is different, though. See, this is a press of time upon all of us, regardless as to our age. Again, the current events serve as a wake-up call. They are a warning shot across the bow. You know, in more ways than one, this is a prelude. It is a preview.

It's an advanced warning of what is to come. More than ever, we must personally apply. Personally apply Luke 21.36. Personal Application God will allow sufficient events and configurations that create the inability for you to hide in somebody's shadow or to ride somebody's coattail. We've seen that in times past, not too awfully long ago, in church affairs. But God will allow things to work in a way that He can individually, personally scrutinize each one of us.

And more than ever, we must personally apply Luke 21.36. You watch. You watch, therefore. You pray always. Not good enough, per se, that your buddy watches, that your friend prays. No, it's got to be taken personally. Watch you. You watch, therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. And as we so rightly notate, accounted worthy to escape all these things, those things refer to all the troubles. And to stand before the Son of Man has to do with the resurrection. But you think about that. Watch and pray. Vigilant. Vigilant. Vigilant to oneself and vigilant to one's surroundings. Vigilant to oneself and to one's surroundings, to what's happening around us. Both are involved. And stay connected to God. Stay connected. Don't let the connection be broken.

And if you feel like it's being broken, fading, that connection is frazzling. Whatever. You do whatever it takes to increase the health of your connection and the strength of your connection. Because that is so crucial. Brethren, God has given you eyes to see. He has given you ears to hear. Don't stick your head in the sand. Period. You have eyes to see. You have ears to hear. Don't stick your head in the sand because if we do, then verse 35 applies to those of us who stick our heads in the sand. For as a snare, shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. As a snare.

And as I've said, I don't know if an ostrich actually sticks its head in the sand. You know, we use that phrase, stick your head in the sand like an ostrich. But I've often pictured this in my mind that if the ostrich sees a lion out there and he does stick his head in the sand, the oval lion disappeared until it fills this big set of jaws biting its butt off. As a snare, as a snare, it's very revealing how fast this entire COVID-19 situation has come upon the world and taken it by storm, isn't it? Think about how fast. It's been... I mean...

And I won't say a whole... there's a lot more that I can say about it that I'll say... There's some things I'll say yet today, but there's more I'll say about it in a later time. But it's very revealing how fast it's taken the world by storm. The world has been caught off guard, hasn't it? And the world will continue to be caught off guard because it will continue to practice its wrong ways. Verse 34, it will continue to practice its wrong ways. And before those wrong ways are mentioned, Christ says, Take heed to yourselves. Be vigilant unto yourself. Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, excesses... Talking about excesses, extremes and excesses, and drunkenness. And notice, cares of this life. Cares of this life. There aren't cares that you have to take care of. But there's more than sufficient example in this world's history where cares of life, just taking care of the cares of life, crowd God completely out of the picture. Don't get trapped in that, he's saying, so that they come up on you unawares. Because just like this came like a snare, it happened so fast. There will be other situations in the future. Whatever's behind those doors, we have a better chance if we stay together. Who's always behind those doors? No matter what is behind the doors, who also is always behind those doors, and who always wants to separate and scatter God's people. Daniel 12, verse 7. Obviously, prophecy for our time. And in the giving of this prophecy, it also allows for the revealing of certain actions, certain perspectives, certain activity going on. And I'll just pick up verse 7 at the beginning. Daniel 12, verse 7. Notice what comes to a head during that time. It doesn't say that it starts during that time. It talks about it comes to a head during that time. And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people. All these things shall be finished. To scatter the power of the holy people. There is a national application of God's national peoples, and there's an application to His spiritual peoples. The church, or the greater church of God. Daniel 7. The same regardless as to what humans that you may someday be able to name in some of that activity. The undying spirit that pushes that also is pushing in terms of trying to separate and scatter God's people. And in Daniel 7, verse 25, it says, again, just breaking into the prophecy, but he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall, and regardless as to human instrumentality, there's a spirit that wants this, shall wear out the saints. The wear and tear. Trying to put enough wear and tear, they just quit. Just too tired to go on, just quit. Wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change times and laws. And notice, they shall be given unto His hand until, here we go, a time, one year, and times, plural, two years, and the dividing of time, half a year, three and a half years.

Behind the scenes. We talk about front and center stage. We talk about in front of the curtain. We talk about who's in the wings. We talk about who's back behind the curtain. Who's operating behind the scenes. Daniel 10, verses 10 through 14. Daniel 10, verses 10 through 14. Daniel said, And behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said to me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright.

For to you am I now sent this is Gabriel talking to him, the archangel Gabriel. And when he has spoken this word to me, I stood trembling. And he said to me, Fear not, Daniel. Don't be afraid, because from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to chasten yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I am come for your words.

And then he lets Daniel in on something here. See, Gabriel has been given a certain prophetic assignment, and he shares some of the inside, some of what's going on behind the scenes with Daniel. He says, But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me. He's not talking about a human being here. He's talking about the fallen Lucifer. He's referencing him, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. No human can stand against an archangel. No human can stand against an angel.

They're spirit. We're not. We're flesh and blood. But for three weeks, 21 days, it was a lock-up. Gabriel and the former Lucifer, who is now known as Satan. And lo, then, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Can you imagine what goes on behind the scenes? He came to help me. And he remained there with the kings of Persia. And now I've come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days.

For yet the vision is for many days. But he lets Daniel in on the insight that there are battles and issues, things that are supposed to go forward, that Satan tries to stop, some things that he wants to go forward that God has to slow down. But behind the scenes, behind the curtains, there's a whole world. And we're affected by that.

Ephesians 6 and verse 12. Paul, for we wrestle. We wrestle. We struggle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual. In the King James, it says, against spiritual wickedness in high places, or wicked spirits, wicked spirits in high places. Let's ask ourselves a question.

In this land of ours, wicked spirits in high places, what are the highest places in our land? The highest places in this land of ours, the halls of government, the halls of power. And let me tell you something about wicked spirits.

Power, influence, and control are to the wicked spirits what honey is to the bee. I know, whereas I speak, by both the biblical record and secular history, and the history I've lived as a minister. Power, influence, and control are to wicked spirits what honey is to bees. Do not think that the halls of power, the halls of government, have only human beings in them.

Our world is infiltrated with their influence. There's a whole world behind the scenes that we're affected by. I don't take the Scripture lightly. 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says that Satan is the God of this world. Well, if he's the God of this world, he's the ruler of this world. And again, when he offered the kingdoms to Christ, Christ didn't dispute that they weren't His to offer. He just wasn't going to obey Satan and forfeit his life and forfeit any opportunity for us to ever have life. He wasn't tempted.

Satan tried to tempt him, and he tempted him with power. Because most human beings, most, are susceptible to power in one form or another. And some people just cannot live without power. Satan has seen this over 6 millennia. Now, he's the God of this world. It is His for a time. Oh, I know! I can show you the Scripture in Psalm. The earth and the fullness thereof and the heavens thereof, they belong to God. But the atmosphere, the tone, the way people think and operate, and the way things, the currents, and all of that... No. His, Satan's, is the heaviest influencing factor of all.

And people just don't generally know it. Ephesians 2, 2. When we read Ephesians 2 and verse 2, the God of this world sets the tone. Paul even acknowledged to the brethren, you know, you, wherein in time past you, you walked according to the course of this world. There is a course. There is a current that's flowing according to the prince of the power there. Who sets the course of this world? Well, it's in accordance to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works, and the children of disobedience. Satan is the heaviest influence factor of all.

Now, I was taught long ago by a wise old gentleman that all of us probably recognize the name of, and many of us were mentored to a certain degree by. And you know exactly what I'm talking about, Mr. Armstrong. And he, you go back and you read what God gave him to understand, and it's tremendous. And even the greater church of God today, in so many regards, is tied to what God did through Mr. Armstrong. But he said long ago that Satan's prime way of influencing, prime, not only, but prime, is broadcasting in moods and attitudes. Broadcasting, like radio waves, so to speak.

Broadcasting in moods and attitudes. And he uses flesh and blood instrumentality. Do not think that there are no government officials who are influenced. Do not think there are no government officials who are possessed. There are some that are very strongly influenced, and there will be some at times that are possessed. See, when Paul, and again in Ephesians here, chapter 6 and verse 12, when he said, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, what he's driving at, there is a spirit there.

There is a power there that's what our real enemy is that wants to destroy us. He's not saying that that being doesn't use flesh and blood instrumentality. Hitler is a prime, classic proof that flesh and blood can be used by Satan to cause the misery, the deaths of millions and millions.

He is, Satan is the great manipulator. He's the puppet master. He's the great puppet master. And here's something about him. He's constantly pushing at the limits. He's constantly pushing at the boundaries. And he's taking whatever leeway he's allowed, and he's working his will with human beings to whatever degree he can.

And the atmosphere, or the M.O., the modus operandi of this world, has his fingerprints all over it. And this current situation definitely has his hand in it. Let me throw a thought in here.

Sometimes God allows and uses Satan's doings as an influence or a catalyst for moving prophecies forward. Now again, there's a lot I can say, and I choose for the time factor and a couple other factors to cover more later.

But I'll cover so much today. Sometimes God allows or uses Satan's doings as an influence or a catalyst for moving prophecies forward. Is this one such case? Personally, I think so. I think so.

Satan always tries to thwart God's plans and purposes. That hasn't changed from the time he was given assignment on this earth and started doing what he wanted to do, not carrying out what God wanted. It's been that way with him. He's always tried to thwart and continues to try to thwart God's plans and purposes. He always tries to change or block prophecy or to affect the timing of it.

This is what Gabriel was alluding to there in Daniel 10 that we read. Satan held something up for 21 days. Something that was supposed to go forward, he actually was able to block the timing, affect the timing on a three-week...

By the way, we count time, it was three weeks worth of time, 21 days, until Michael joined Gabriel and whatever had to truly fully go forth at that time did. Things moved on.

But, you know, he never succeeds. But sometimes, he must think that he has succeeded only to find out that God took mileage out of it to move things along.

Job is a clear case of that, where Satan thought he was really winning the ballgame. And people... I don't want to get off into that other than to say... People don't understand that God saw something in regards to Job that the devil didn't even see, and God knew that something had to be processed in Job so that he could give Job the kingdom in due time. And Job finally came to realize what the real issue, deep issue really was. But Satan thought, you know, he was winning, and God took mileage out of it to Job's benefit, to his spiritual benefit. If God had been only concerned with Job's physical welfare, he wouldn't have let the devil do what he did.

But he was concerned for what supersedes the physical, and that's the spiritual.

Anyway, I suspect... I mean, it's my personal suspicion that the devil lives with a high level of frustration.

Because he has been had time and time again, but he never gives up.

So, currently, what is truly going on? Let's just ask ourselves a few questions. What is truly going on? Is this a lot bigger than just a coronavirus?

Are there things at play here that supersede? I'm not saying COVID-19 is not involved. But I'm saying, are there some things in play here that supersede that? What are the forces and factors that make up this whole situation?

Are there any prophetic implications in this issue?

See, in a very true sense, without stretching it, in a very true sense, this COVID-19 situation has morphed into, quote, a perfect storm.

It is a perfect storm. A perfect storm because it has not only brought certain forces and factors together, but it has also provided opportunity for certain additional forces and factors to come into play.

Let me tell you just a fairly brief, fairly thorough list of what COVID-19 has provided.

COVID-19 has provided opportunity. It has provided a platform, a vehicle.

It has provided an excuse. It has provided a cover. It has provided a justification.

It has provided a trial run. It has set a precedent. It has set a pattern.

It has provided a means by which to test the waters.

It has been very revealing and educational. I won't explore that today, per se.

It also serves, what it reveals also serves as, again, a warning shot across the bow.

Not just for God's people, but for others too, but especially for us as God's people.

I do not say, listen carefully, I do not say, nor do I think, that one man or group of men calculatedly put this whole situation together, at least not totally humanly.

But there are both currents and there are undercurrents flowing in our society.

And these, like in a storm, these fed into the storm more and more, strengthening it.

These big storms that come, they feed themselves. They get fed.

More and more air, wind, moisture is sucked into it and they grow in power.

And these things have fed into the storm more and more, strengthening it, and helping to make it the powerful storm that it is.

It has provided a training ground. It has provided a trial run.

It has and is a living experiment in real time.

In regards to such, there are those who have and who are taking advantage of this situation for their own design. The approach of some has been and is, never let a good crisis go to waste.

Never let a good crisis go to waste. In other words, use it to further your plans, use it to get your way, take advantage of it, and use it as an opportunity.

Again, there are forces and factors at work. There are attitudes and actions and agendas in play.

There are strong currents flowing. Some are of this physical world around us, and some are the unseen spirit world that surrounds us. But they all have fed energy into this storm that we have found ourselves in the midst of.

God willing, I will look closer at this perfect storm later with the forces and factors that are driving it and feeding it.

But for now, I want to leave us with this. Two scriptures. First, 1 John 4.18.

First John 4.18. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. Perfect love, complete love, mature love.

And I'm sure that we're all at different points on that scale of growth into complete and mature and perfect love.

But the more we do grow in God's love, because remember this is the chapter verses 8 and 16 where it defines God as love.

And the more we do grow in that, the more fear is diminished, is crowded out. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. And then 2 Timothy 1.7. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We don't hunker down in fear. I refuse to hunker down in fear. We walk forward with these words on our lips, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me.

We stay together with God.