Facts of our Faith; Israel in the Last Days

History is reality. I viewed the movie, "The Passion of the Christ." It
so vividly portrays the crucifixion of Jesus. We must not deny our
history nor let humanists or atheists rewrite the truth of our history.
This was an event that really happened. It wasn't myth or make-believe.
It was historical reality. If you had been there, you could have
touched the cross and gotten holy blood on your hands. It also has
cosmic, eternal, and personal consequences for our lives and for the
whole earth.

Recently I had a conversation with a highly educated psychiatrist who
has a very large clientele in our city. He began to try to evangelize
me into Zen Buddhism, saying he had read all the books and thought all
religions were the same. (For me, this encounter confirmed the caution
which many of us in the Church have regarding referring suffering
saints to members of his profession, at least until we know these
physicians are not anti-Christian in their practice or belief system.)

When I told him I was a Christian, he said it was only because I was
taught it in my childhood.

I answered, "Yes, I was taught about God and the Bible in my childhood,
but that's not why I am a follower of Jesus today. I am a Christian
because of two facts: one is objective, the other is subjective." We
were interrupted in our talk but he returned later that day, sought me
out, and picked up our coversation with the question, "What were the
facts you were going to tell me about?"

I said to him "The objective fact is historical: that Jesus Christ died
on a cross and was raised again from the dead. The BIble says his death
was for our sins. His resurrection was well-documented by eyewitnesses,
recorded in the Bible, and reported in secular history."

I went on to say "The subjective fact is that the salvation He
provided, since I chose to believe in Him, has transformed my life. In
my childhood, I saw firsthand the power of Jesus when He appeared to my
mother and healed her of tuberculosis and she was released from the
sanatarium where she had been kept for many months."

He went away with puzzled look on his face, with no answers to refute
what I had said.

There is no reason for us to defensive about our faith. All religions
are not equal. God only had one Son who alone died for our sins. There
has only been one permanent resurrection in human history-- it was
Jesus! Rather than trust in idle speculation and compare futile
philosophies, I'm going to stay with the facts that are rooted in the
Bible and confirmed in history. I'm going to trust in The One who can
forgive my sins and raise me from the dead. I will follow Jesus.

Today, with the world in turmoil, we may have strong encouragement and
strong hope based on the Scriptures and based on history. The facts are
on our side! God is in charge. Prayer changes things. This is true for
us personally if we will hold steadfast to our faith. We have a history
with God in which He has been faithful to us.

We may also have hope for the besieged homeland of the Jewish people,
Israel, based on God's promises in the Bible. Here in the land of
Canaan, God chose to plant a covenant people who gave us the blessings
of western civilization and gave us the Messiah. Here, the Lord Jesus
will return to rule the nations. It is time to show mercy to Israel, to
pray for their eyes to be opened to their Messiah, and to specifically
pray for laborers for this harvest.

Some of you may be planning to attend the upcoming conference, Israel
and the Last Days, to be held in Charlotte, NC, next week. I plan to be
there. Why? Because I want to hear what the Spirit is saying to the
Church about this important subject. Since we have a call to serve
emerging leaders on the mission field, there is no reason to exclude
the mission field of the Jews (or Arabs). We want to be prepared to be
effective.

In light of this, my wife and I just had the opportunity to some spend
time with a dear couple who were in Jerusalem with Derek Prince when he
died last year. Due to their long assocation with him and his love for
Israel, they have a clear perspective on what is happening in the
Middle East today. Needless to say, it was a very valuable time for us.
Recently I asked myself this question: What do I believe about Israel
in the last days? The beginning of the answer is found in an outline I
have prepared entitled "Israel and the Last Days." It's not all of the
truth, but it is the part of the truth that I am seeing now. (Email me
with your request at ron@touchedbygrace.org and I will forward it to
you in Word format.)

My position is this: Israel's fate in these last days is in the hands
of the Church, not the UN or the terrorists. And the Church as a whole
has been doing a terrible job of showing kindness to Jesus' nation.
Don't forget- our Savior was a Jew. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
Mercy toward Israel requires skilled laborers to be raised up from
among her own people. So I ask this question: Where are the Jewish
apostles? Where are Jewish prophets? Nothing less will accomplish this
task.

In this season, it seems to me that many things hang in the balance for
the sake of the kingdom of God. We are at a crossroads. We don't want
to fall short of "crossing the Jordan," so to speak. We don't want to
get "stuck in the door," halfway in between the old and the new seasons
in God, seeing His destiny for us but not able to fully enter into it.
We need new wine and a new wineskin in the days ahead. I am listening
with both ears!

It is time to be tender before the Lord, to be vigilant in prayer, to
quickly repent of sin, to love one another fervently, and to avoid
criticisms of each other. There is an attack being loosed by the devil
against the Body of Christ. "Divide and conquer is his strategy. The
devil is lying to us about God's goodness. He is slandering our Father.
He wants us to join him in his diabolical doubt, to accuse our Father
in Heaven, to question His goodness, to think that the Lord won't keep
His promises.

I have seen this tactic before. By God's grace, I reject it! I refuse
to listen to the devil's slander against my Heavenly Father, or against
those God whom has used as earthly fathers to train me, fathers in the
flesh or fathers in the faith. Instead, I choose to practice
thanksgiving and praise to God, to pray for leaders even when they make
mistakes, to remember God's acts of mercy in the past.

I affirm and declare that God is able to do ALL He has promised! His
Word is true! God cannot lie! His love never fails! Therefore, I can
trust Him with all my heart and know that He hears me and will answer
me when I call.

The next area of attack from the devil is against us personally. It is
an ad hominem attack. It is designed to weaken us so we will wilt. The
devil wants to undermine our identity in Christ. The devil wants us to
feel disqualified, to feel unworthy, to doubt that we are really God's
children. We must stand on the Word of God, putting our faith on what
Jesus did for us on the cross, and let the precious Holy Spirit whisper
in our hearts that we are truly loved by our Father in Heaven.

Remember your history in God. Realize that God has always done you
good, even when at the time you couldn't understand it all. Later, you
saw His mercy in the outcome and felt the strength that came to you as
you endured discipline and became a partaker of His holiness. The
battle made you more dangerous to the devil!

Pray for us that effective doors for God's word will be opened. There
are more needs than there are resources. This is not a day for us to do
what we can do, but to do what He wants us to do. Thank you for your
love, your prayers, and your gifts to our ministry.

The grace of of our Lord Jesus be with your spirit!

Ron (and Lana) Wood
Touched by Grace Ministries Inc.
P. O. Box 12749
Wilmington, NC 28405
www.touchedbygrace.org