Don’t Fear What’s Ahead

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in Last Days, Teaching | Tags: , ,

Wars, global unrest, nuclear threats, looming economic disaster, earthquakes, solar storms, political upheavals, out-of-control inflation, famines, weird diseases… on and on it goes.

Who wouldn’t be afraid in today’s world?

Now I know that we should all walk by faith in these Last Days, and we should all know how to answer our fears with scriptures in the Bible.  There’s a lot of teaching on this topic, but I want to speak to the human side of this before I tell you how to be strong in the ways of spiritual warfare.

In our humanity, we all need comfort and reassurance that God is not cold or indifferent to us when the Times of Trouble come.  I think most of us know that, but it helps to recall that fact as the writer of Hebrews did in Chapter 11, the great ‘faith’ chapter.  Go read this chapter again for your own encouragement.

Sometimes, it is good to recall all the times of your life when God has done amazing things for you.  Recall the moment you were born again and how the love of God flooded your heart and soul.  There is no greater miracle than that!  One old-time spiritual song says, “makes me love everybody!”  Now there’s a message in that for sure!  But, be sure to recall all the other times you have felt God’s presence and remember His tenderness and His loving care.

For me, there are too many special times to count that God has spoken to me or answered a prayer breathed in earnest.  But, I remember incomparable times like when He encouraged me when I was in a prison cell with an inspired song.  Or, when He told me the prayers of the saints were flooding my cell with love and hope.

Remember, God will never, never, never leave us or forsake us!

World events may cause us to have a healthy fear of what is happening to our world, but we should never forget that all of it means that JESUS IS COMING SOON!  When Jesus steps out on that cloud and we see His shining face, all of the troubles of this world will be over, and we will be with Him forever!

But, until then, we are told to “occupy” so we must live with a supernatural knowledge that we are indeed a chosen generation… one that will usher in the coming of Jesus.  While this can be a time of great fear, it shouldn’t be for those who are working, watching, and waiting for His return.

There is a healthy fear and an unhealthy fear.  A healthy fear reads the whole Bible, including the Revelation, and heeds its warnings.  A healthy fear helps you to know that God’s Word is true, all of it, and we will have some Times of Trouble in the Last Days.  And make no mistake, we are in the Last Days.

A healthy fear prepares both the spirit and the body to meet each and every situation we are faced with – with the maximum amount of faith.  I am reminded of the three Hebrew children:  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  We can recall how they refused to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s  demands to worship him, and were thrown into the fiery furnace as a result.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s story is an example of great faith because they told Nebuchadnezzar that their God was not only able to deliver them from the fiery furnace, but that He would deliver them!

How many of us have enough faith to say “God, I know you can deliver us out of our troubles and I know that you will!”

In the natural, we are all afraid to some extent.  But in the supernatural, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to give us strength and courage.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7, KJV)

With everything that’s happening in our world right now, it sometimes challenges our level of courage to live through it all without fear.  But, that is exactly what Jesus said that we should do.  In fact, He says it very clearly right in the middle of the scriptures that tell of these frightful events.

“When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened.” (Luke 21:9)

And just a few verses later, He repeats the admonition to be careful not to fear.

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” (Luke 21:34)

Many say they are just not that strong – and they wonder how they can have faith in the face of fearful events.  The answer is humility and a heart that reaches out to God in spite of a weakness.

Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

Have you ever heard the scripture “Lord, I believe.  Help me now my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24)  Perhaps we should understand this as “Lord, I have faith.  Help me now with my fear.”  A humble heart is something the Lord will not refuse.  (Psalm 51:17)

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah” (Ps 46:1-3)

No matter what catastrophes may come on the earth in Times of Trouble, we should not fear!

Why is fear so hazardous to our spiritual life, especially in the Last Days?  Why does the Lord caution us about fear?  Fear is not just a distressing emotion; it is the spiritual force of Satan’s kingdom. Faith is the force of God’s kingdom. We are saved by faith, we are healed by faith, and we move mountains by faith.  Fear is the opposite of faith. “And whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). It’s impossible to please God without faith.  So, fear is a sin.

According to Revelation 21:8, the fearful will be cast into the lake of fire! Fear is that serious!  Fear is called a spirit, and the Spirit of God within us should overcome the spirit of fear.

Whenever you notice fear in your life, you can overcome it by answering it with the Word of God.

Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

“I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”  John 14:27

So in the Times of Trouble ahead of us, do what you can to be ready.  Do all that you know to prepare for any calamity.  Then, cast the rest of your care upon the Lord and watch how he delivers His own people.

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Love,

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Failure, Flesh and Faith

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in Teaching, Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

When Jesus was preparing to go to the Cross, he was surrounded by his own disciples who had walked with him for 3 years.  They had all felt his presence in the most tangible way possible, witnessed his miracles, and were taught one-on-one by him.  They were there when he multiplied the fish and the loaves of bread to feed the 5,000.  They were there when he healed so many people and drove out demons.  They had pledged their loyalty to him and made great swelling statements of how they would stand by him.  Yet, not one did when the going got tough.

Simon Peter even said that he would go to his death for him.  Yet Simon temporarily failed in his weak and fearful flesh when things got really rough, and he even denied knowing Jesus.

Luke 22:31-34 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Oh, Simon still believed that Jesus was who he said he was – but he couldn’t hang onto the courage to stand up for him with other men when his own life was threatened.  He lied when he said he didn’t know Jesus – he failed in his confession because he was afraid.  He went from fearless to fearful in a matter of hours.

Before all this happened, Jesus told Simon that it was going to happen – and it did – just the way he said it would.  He also told him something that saved his spiritual life.  Jesus told Simon that he had prayed for him that his faith would not fail as a result of his own sinful failure and lack of courage.  Denying that Jesus was the Christ was a terrible blasphemous sin, especially considering that Simon had pledged his life to defend Jesus just hours before.

Satan wanted to destroy Simon by causing him to lose his faith because he had lost his courage.  Simon had wept bitterly when he realized what he had done.  He was completely broken – and that’s when Satan would have finished the job with a great big heap of condemnation if Jesus would have allowed it.  Condemnation is always the first response of a wicked agenda.  Complete destruction of one’s faith can result by condemning an already broken-hearted sinner.

The trials of the Revelation Days ahead are going to get rough.  People who have stood strong and powerful in their faith in earlier times, may be assaulted by Satan himself.  Our brothers and sisters are a huge target of a common enemy.  We need to keep in mind that “but for the grace of God, there go I.”

We need to pray fervently and beseech the Lord for our brothers or sisters that have grievously failed.  That should be our first response.  Our hearts should break and our spirits should grieve that a comrade has fallen.  There should never by any other response from Christ followers except to intercede so that their faith not fail, as Jesus set the example with Simon Peter.

Then Jesus said something wonderful to Simon.  He said “when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”  Jesus knew that Simon would deny him, then repent and turn around, then preach a few days later at Pentecost and 3,000 would get saved by one message!  He knew that his faith would not fail and that he would then have the opportunity to strengthen others in the same way Jesus had strengthened him – by praying for him!

You can come back again from any kind of failure.  You can be forgiven and you can, once again, operate in the fullness of your anointing and calling.  Peter did – you can too.  Don’t be deceived by angry and proud voices if they tell you that you can’t come back.  We have a very relatable story about one who did – in Simon Peter.  Losing your way is not the same as losing your faith.

Let’s remember how to go to war in the spirit for one another, even when we fail.  Failure doesn’t mean that we are condemned – it means that we are weak.  Yet, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus.  If Jesus is interceding for us, should we not do the same for one another?

God is going to use the weak and the foolish things of this earth to confound the wise in the days ahead.  I have a rock-solid witness in my spirit that he will.  When God showed me in prison that he still loved me after my failures and that he would never, never, never leave me or forsake me, I knew that my faith was not going to fail.  It had been shaken but it had not failed.  It didn’t fail because of the prayers of God’s people – and the faithfulness of a loving God.

In the days ahead, let’s all remember to pray for one another that our faith not fail.  Let’s remember that we are but flesh too, and that given different circumstances, it could be that “it’s not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

Jesus is pulling for you, and we are too!

Love,

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The Answer to Depression

By Lori Bakker | | Filed in General, Last Days | Tags:

One of the words the Lord gave to Jim for 2012 is “depression.”  There are so many people depressed in today’s world and the world doesn’t have the answers, only God does.  When you look at the way the world is going, it’s hard not to be depressed.  The economy is in turmoil, the governments of the world are fighting each other, everywhere you turn there is confusion… just like Jim says.

People run to and fro trying to get relief from depression.  They run to doctors (and sometimes doctors can help), they run to psychiatrists (some of those can help as well), and then  sometimes people run to anything else that will give even temporary relief like sex, drugs or partying.  The trouble with the latter is that it just compounds the problem of depression.

So, what are we to do about depression?  How are we, as Christians, supposed to deal with it when we are attacked in our minds with depressive thoughts?

Depression is a complicated issue with many root causes. I’m not going to try to deal with all of the reasons people may feel depressed because there is a wide range of issues that may contribute.  But, instead, I’m going to share with you what worked for me and many others.

There is one sure way to lessen, or completely get rid of depression that is so simple, it’s hard to receive.  Depressive issues often focus internally:  what are they saying about ME, why did this happen to ME, how will this affect ME, when am I ever going to be happy, when will I ever be loved like I want to be loved, how can I pay my bills… ME, ME, ME, I, I, I!

Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.  When you give to others, you often find your focus is taken off of you and your problems, and your healing begins.

You want to get rid of depression?  Try finding someone to HELP!  Try giving away what YOU need!  Lend a hand, give a hug, encourage someone!  Volunteer at your church, babysit for someone, read the Bible to someone who can’t read or can’t see… FIND SOMEONE TO HELP!

As you get out of yourself and reach out to help others, your depression will ease and you will begin to understand a great mystery – that it is more blessed to give than to receive!

Invitation – Let’s Get Organized!

By Lori Bakker | | Filed in General | Tags:

Hi ladies and any gentlemen who want to participate!

We have just turned the corner into 2012 and this year promises to be a huge challenge in getting ourselves as ready as humanly possible for anything that may come.  We can’t know for sure what exactly we will be dealing with, but I’m determined to do my best for my family and for the Church family here at Morningside.  So, I’m looking for ways to improve my own organization, and perhaps we can help others to get organized in the process.  For some people, this is a huge feat!  For others, it’s just a matter of putting your mind to it.

Jim has been doing a lot of teaching about the world’s CONFUSION in 2012.  CONFUSION is, of course, the exact opposite of organization.  Since 12 is the Biblical number for organization, and we’re entering a year that is prophesied to be chaotic, I find that a little ironic, don‘t you? 

So, I’m looking for practical suggestions for preparedness in case of disasters or any other event that might require us to function outside of our usual circumstances and without our usual conveniences.  Most of you know that I’m petrified that we’ll be without toilet tissue so I stock up!

No suggestion is too silly or too small, or too complicated or too difficult.  What you have to share will be needed by someone!  

Who knows?  Your suggestion might end up in a preparedness manual. 

Let’s help each other get ready!

2012 Arrives Amid Great Confusion

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in Prophecy, Teaching | Tags: , , , ,

Here we go into a new year!  This is not just any new year, but 2012, which I believe is a pivotal year in the “Beginning of Sorrows.”  This year could be our last full year to get our houses in order.  God has spoken to me that this will be a year of great CONFUSION in the world.  God needs His Church to be in full force for what is coming!

These are the days of 2012, they have arrived with all the ominous warnings of ancient prophets, contemporary watchmen and Biblical prophecies of being prepared (spiritually and physically) for the months ahead.  People have been talking about 2012 for centuries, and now it is upon us.  We’re not on the precipice or the verge or the brink.  We are there!

“What does it all mean?  Can somebody please break it down?”

This week on your TV, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and I will be discussing his new book, The Harbinger.  You can also view these broadcasts in the Video Archive section of our website. I want everyone who can to tune in – this is  one of the most important series I’ve ever done and I don’t want you to miss it.  Time is very short and unless we are fully aware and spiritually tuned to prophetic events, even those who have been in the Church all their lives might miss the signposts of the most important time in the history of the world.

The word “harbinger” means a sign, omen, warning, herald of something to come.  Rabbi Cahn unravels the prophetic events surrounding the great 9/11 calamity and warns us of what is coming next.  He left most of us speechless with his teachings regarding the judgments of God upon this nation.

The World Trade Center bombing on 9/11 was a warning from God.  That warning went unheeded, and for the most part, it was responded to with prideful defiance and a powerful denial of its purpose.  Why does God send his judgment as a warning to a nation?  It is for one reason and one reason only – so that they will repent, turn around, and honor Him.

I remember the outrage of the world and especially of some in the Christian community, when anyone dared suggest that perhaps God was warning this nation through the devastation of 9/11.  “Why God wouldn’t do that!  He’s a Good God!”  Yes, God would and God did…  BECAUSE He is good and He doesn’t want any to perish in their sin, not even one.

Though this nation was founded upon Godly principles, we have turned away from His ways and now we must turn back – or we will receive the full wages of our sins (Romans 6:23).  I believe even at this eleventh hour, if we put 2 Chronicles 7:14 into radical action, we could stay the hand of God in His righteous judgment of this nation, and lessen the misery of the consequences of our rebellion.

“Then if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.”

At this time, however, the prophetic clock is still ticking away and the events preceding the Second Coming of Jesus will happen (are happening), just as it says and is foretold in Matthew 24, Luke 21, countless other Old and New Testament passages, and especially in the Revelation.  We are not going to change the prophetic unfolding of End Time events, but we can change what judgments are meted out and we have a choice how God deals with us individually and as a nation, based upon our responses to His warnings.

The economies and the governments of this nation and the world are falling apart, natural disasters are at an all-time high, and the whole of humanity is ready to plunge right into the doomsday scenario that is presented in the Book of Revelation.  Food could disappear off grocery shelves in a matter of hours.  Electricity and gasoline may be completely unavailable.  The world is on the brink of World War III.   Iran and Israel are  poised to unleash weapons of mass destruction at each other, not to mention the U.S., Russia, China, and others. THE STAGE IS NOW SET for the arrival of the antichrist.  We are on the very threshold of more calamity than the world has ever seen before.

The antichrist will use everything in his power to try to get Christians to deny Christ and renounce their faith.  Some people think we, as Christians, won’t have to go through that part of the tribulation – that God will take us all out of here before it comes down to that.  But what if He doesn’t?  What if we are so dull in our spiritual senses that we’re like that proverbial frog in the pot – you back off a little at a time from God’s standards and before you know it, you’re in hot water.  Could we even recognize our spiritual condition that has been so compromised with the world that it feels normal?

You can if you stay in God’s Word!

How then, should we try to live?  When the world comes apart, people everywhere will flock to the churches for answers.  There will be a last great awakening – a last great harvest of the ages.  We need to have ourselves ready spiritually and physically, and be ready to show others our faith in Jesus, the One that purchased life eternal for us on the Cross over 2,000 years ago.  That requires some practical preparations like food and water so that we will be able to minister the Gospel and help to bring souls into the Kingdom for all eternity.

As Christians, we sometimes forget that this life is but a vapor (James 4:14) and there’s an eternal life that quickly follows.  Eternal means everlasting, unending, perpetual, endless, ceaseless, and timeless.  That’s the life that God wants to spend with you, not just this life only.

You can’t go wrong serving God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength.

Get into the Word!  Know God’s Word!  Be ready to recognize the enemy’s movement and his tactics.  Know what righteousness is.  “Be ye Holy as I am Holy!”  (1 Peter 13-16)  We have made far too much of ‘religion’ and far too little of ‘holiness’.

There will be a lot of people running “to and fro” in the church world too – Confusion – and that means in a spiritual sense as well as a natural sense.  Don’t be confused.  Know what God says! (2 Timothy 4:3)

Some might say “well, if it gets that difficult, I’d rather just go be with Jesus.”  Do I need to remind you of Luke 12:47 or any of the other parables that deal with this kind of attitude?  “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes… for to whom much is given, much is required.”

You don’t have to store food, but it will be easier for you to avoid entering an antichrist system if you do.  You don’t have to get as healthy as possible by eating right and exercising, but you can minister to more people in the Times of Trouble if you do.  You don’t have to have survival plans and equipment, but what good are you to a dying world if you’re dead too?!  “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”  Matthew 9:37 NAS

There is also a dangerous philosophy of waiting until the last minute to get right with God and to get prepared – not only by the world but by Christians.  The twinkling of an eye is not much time, people!  It’s faster than you can snap your fingers!

So, get ready for the ride of your life!  We are about to enter a time when you need to be rock solid about your priorities, and nothing will deter you or cause you to waver, or even be distracted.  I’ve been telling people about the CONFUSION the enemy is going to throw at us this year.  It will take all of our resolve and great faith, coupled with God’s Amazing Grace to get us through.  If I could break it down to the simplest of terms, here is what I am endeavouring to do and I hope you will too:

  1. Get yourself still so you don’t have so many distractions
  2. Study your Bible
  3. Hear from God
  4. Do what God says!

Join us on TV this week too, if it’s at all possible.  Rabbi Cahn will take our world’s events and break it all down for you.  I’m confident this series of shows will leave you as speechless as it did all of us at Morningside when we taped them on Grace Street – but it will leave us more aware than ever before.

Love,

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God is Not the Author of Confusion

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in "Now" Words, Last Days, Prophecy | Tags: , , ,

Here it is, the Christmas season, and though it is a time of family gathering and festivity everywhere, there is a solemnity that many are feeling… like a calm before a huge storm.  Something is about to happen that will shake our world and test our faith.  I believe that what’s coming will either result in a ‘falling away’ or a ‘getting closer’ to God in the next few months.

2012 is a year unparalleled in the amount of speculation about some soon-coming calamity.  Books have been written, movies made and a great deal of talk shows produced in efforts to get a glimpse into the projected events of 2012.  Will the world end?  Will some cataclysmic event destroy our planet?  Will millions perish of some world-wide pandemic?  Will volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters rearrange our world’s landscape?

What can we know for sure about this highly anticipated apocalyptic year? 

Some people go to psychics, some go to the scientific community, some to the writings of ancient civilizations to determine what will happen to our world in 2012.  As for me, I go to the Word of God, the Bible – that ancient text authored by God himself through his holy people.  Then I go to the Lord in prayer and listen for His voice.  That’s the voice we can trust and the Bible the final authority.  The Lord said “my sheep hear my voice,” and I know that to be true.

As a watchman of the Lord, he has given me several specific words for 2012.  The first and most outstanding  word is “CONFUSION.”  2012 will be a year of confusion beyond anything we have ever experienced before in our nation and in our world, not just confusion, but mass confusion.

Yet, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:33 that “God is not the author of confusion…”  The Church, that Body of Believers that are born again and listening to His voice, should NOT be confused!  If God is not the author of confusion, that means it’s coming from satan.  The spirit of the anti-christ is disorder.

It’s almost ironic that 12 is the Biblical number for perfect order, just exactly the opposite of confusion.  God needs His Church to be in full force and in divine order so that we can be winning souls in the midst of a confused world.  The Church will be the new ‘ark’ in the confusing days ahead.  This could be the last full year we have to get our house in order and to get prepared for what’s coming!

In 2012, confusion is going to manifest in uncertainties, misunderstandings, good being spoken of as evil, disorder and turmoil of every kind.   If ever there was a time to “know what we know,” it’s now.  It’s time to get in the Word, because deception is coming!  The Word of God is truth and it leaves no room for bewilderment or perplexity.  It will dispel any darkness with its Light!

The Lord told me that first, there would be a great earthquake in Japan, and then total collapse of the world’s economy.  I can’t tell you the day, I can’t tell you the month or the week, but I can tell you that an economic collapse is imminent. 

Get your house ready and get your Church ready to be that ark of safety as the confusion swirls all around.  Be fully persuaded in your heart and in your mind that you will be steadfast and sure because the Word of God lives within you, and you know His voice.  This is going to be a year of soul winning because those who know God’s voice will have wisdom to guide them and love to sustain them.  They will not be confused – but instead, they will be steadfast and sure.  Jesus is coming soon and we are looking for Him!

God loves YOU, He really does!

The Christmas Story

By Lori Bakker | | Filed in Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

Hello Everyone!

Each year about this time, I like to remind families how important it is to tell the Christmas story to our little ones.  Even the older ones love to hear the true Christmas story about the birth of Jesus.  The Christmas story is paraphrased below from the New Testament Books of Matthew and Luke in the Bible.  It will be told here in 4 parts.  Be sure you print them and keep them to read to the children at your family gathering this Christmas!

Love,

Lori Signature

The Story of Baby Jesus

Part One

A long time ago, in the town of Nazareth, lived a young woman named Mary.  Mary did her chores, was kind to others, and loved God very much.  She was engaged to be married to Joseph, who was a carpenter.

One day, while Mary was at home cleaning her room, an angel suddenly appeared.  Before Mary could say anything the angel told Mary that she was favored by God, and that God was with her.

Mary was surprised.  She was trying not to be afraid, but she had never seen an angel before.  After all, Mary was just a regular lady like you or I.  Why was this angel visiting her?  What did the angel want?

The angel quickly tried to reassure Mary, “Do not be afraid!”  the angel said.  “God has found favor with you.  You will have a baby boy, and are to give him the name Jesus.”

Mary was confused, she was not yet married to Joseph, so how could she have a baby?  The angel thought that this might concern Mary so he said, “The Holy Spirit will perform a miracle, and because of this your baby will be called  the Son of God.”

To Mary’s surprise the angel had more exciting news;  “Even your cousin Elizabeth is going to have a son in her old age.  Many thought that she couldn’t have children, but she is already pregnant.  Nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she didn’t know what to say.  She realized that she was trembling, and knelt down.  When she was finally able to speak she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I hope everything you have said will come true.”

The angel then disappeared, and Mary was left alone.

Soon after, Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a baby.  Joseph was confused and upset by this. But an angel came to him in a dream and said, “Joseph do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.  The child Mary is going to have is God’s son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

When Joseph woke up he remembered what the angel had said.  He knew that everything was okay, and he wasn’t upset anymore.

In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world.  So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there.  This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay.  Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.

The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept.  In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lay down.  It was warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened.  Mary and Joseph had a baby!  But it wasn’t just any baby, it was Baby Jesus!  The creator of the whole world, the King of Kings, the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary’s arms and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep, they were so glad to have this special baby join their family.

The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 3
The Christmas Story – Part 4

Be Prepared, Weather the Storms, Clean Up After the Storms

By Lori Bakker | | Filed in Last Days, Prophecy | Tags: , , ,

This past year has been a year of escalation in violent storms.  In fact, records show that the number of thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes, has been rising rapidly for the last 30 years in this country.  There were about 60 natural disasters worldwide in 1980, compared to 247 events last year — a record.  (Source:  The New York Times “Climatewire”).

Didn’t Jesus say they would increase in frequency and intensity like birth pains?  Yes, He did!

Not long ago, the Lord gave me three instructions for the Revelation Days that we are in right now.  I believe they are for others as well.

First, He said to “be prepared.”

Jim and I talk a lot about  preparedness on the show.  We know that preparation is essential for us and we are trying to help others get prepared as well.  While we can only do our best, we understand that God is in control.  However, we do not use that as an excuse to avoid doing what we can to survive.  We will be as prepared as possible, while we trust God that His grace is sufficient for us.  We hope you will too.

The second instruction was “weather the storms.”

There’s a lot packed into that little statement.  While we can all get a good word picture from a ship tossed about on violent seas, weathering spiritual storms are just as important in these last days, and probably more so.
Have you noticed that the world is getting meaner, tougher, more violent, and just plain harsh?  It seems the culture of every continent is eroding with wave after wave of hate-filled human activity.  Movies, music and video games have degenerated into cesspools of violence and death.  Systematic desensitization to death and violence has been a major strategy of the evil one to corrupt the minds and spirits of our children.

We truly are entering a time that the Bible refers to in 2 Tim 3:1-5 (KJV): “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

It’s going to take a lot of God within us in the Last Days to keep our hearts and minds right when all manner of evil may be unleashed towards God’s people.  “Weathering the Storms” will most certainly mean weathering natural storms for which we can prepare by storing food and other essentials.

But, weathering the storms caused by an environment of wickedness can only be done by storing the Word of God within us.  The Word of God is the only thing that will cleanse your spirit and keep your heart and mind pure… especially when evil comes at you from every direction.

In the scripture we often use regarding orphans and widows, it would do us well to read all the way to end:   “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:27 NIV

The third thing the Lord spoke to me was to be ready to “clean up after the storm.”

When the Spring storms hit the middle of our nation, the devastation was so overwhelming that many people lost heart with the sheer immensity of it all.  There was loss of life and property and the areas where the storms hit were beaten and bruised beyond description.  The only way anything could be accomplished in the clean-up effort was a little at a time.

I watched as Jim and our teams went out to deliver food, water and other supplies to hurting people everywhere.  Relief comes when someone provides supplies and extends a hand to help and does whatever is needed.  The very beginning of restoration is cleanup.

Again, in the Last Days we need to be ready to minister to hurting people.  The Bible says that the Last Days is the “Harvestime.”  That means there will be a great harvest of souls coming into the Kingdom.  We need to be ready to help people when devastation hits, because they are not going to listen to you about your God if you can’t bring some kind of relief to them.

What we do from now on is critical and has eternal significance.  The Lord of Glory is about to return to set things in order, and we need to be looking for Him and listening to His Voice.  “Be prepared, weather the storms, and then clean up after the storms.”  That’s my instruction and I know there is love, care and concern from our Loving God in every word.  I hope you can receive them, too.

We’re on the Verge of Something BIG!

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in Last Days | Tags: , ,

There is so much happening in the Spirit right now.  God has been speaking to me about so many things that I need to get out – need to tell everyone – need to warn people about.  Even the Thanksgiving holiday has given me no reprieve on sounding the alarm!  The time is short folks!  We are on the verge of something really BIG!  I feel it in my spirit and I know it because I know His voice!

Others know His voice too.  When Rick Joyner came last week, he said he was almost “desperate” to get back here to Morningside and tell our listening audience “AMEN – it’s time to store food and water!”  Neither of us know precisely what is coming, but we know it is BIG!  We are pleading with people to get ready! 

We talked a lot about this nation and how it has turned away from God.  The scriptures are clear:  When a nation honors God, they will be blessed (Psalm 33:12).  When they turn against God, the scriptures say they will perish! (Deuteronomy 8:19,  Jeremiah 7:6, 25:6)

Rick had a lot to say about the condition of the nation and the church.  Here are just a few of the outstanding statements he urged our listening audience to pay attention to:

“Now there is going to be a time of trouble. There’s going to be a time of bartering in America. There’s going to be tremendous upheaval. We can come out of the other side better than ever.”

“Our future can be much brighter than our past. I’m talking about America.”

“The net worth of America is not measured in dollars. It’s the industry. It’s the initiative. It’s the people. It’s the freedoms that release these things.”

“I’m confident that if we will humble ourselves, if we follow 2 Chronicles 7:14, the Lord will not only get us out of this, it will be a reset. It will be like a Jubilee.”

“When a nation keeps taking stands against God and against Israel – it’s dangerous!  We don’t honor God as a holy God.”

“Our nation is in increasing jeopardy because of the way we treat Israel – and the way we treat the Lord is even worse!  Until 50 years ago, we wanted Jesus more than any nation on earth and since then, we’ve been asking Him to leave – we’ve demanded Him to leave!”

“We don’t even want the mention of Him in our history or in our public places… and He’s left!”

The ensuing meltdown is continuing and Rick believes we are in the worst jeopardy of our nation’s history!  This meltdown is the direct result of us turning from solid Biblical foundations, solid Biblical principles that He gave us as a nation!

The only answer is to get back to them.  You can go back and see it has been the departure from those founding principles that has led us to all of the crises we are now in.

 “Outside, people are saying now it’s July when everything starts unraveling really fast.”

“Some of our senators and congressmen said — they didn’t say it publically — but they said, “We’re now hoping to make it to January.”

“Our real debt right now is not just 15 trillion or 14 trillion. Add the entitlements on there… It goes way past 65 trillion.”

“The economic principles that are being used are counter-productive. They’re not just not working — they’re counter-productive. They’re unraveling things.”

“In the natural we passed a point of no return. In the natural there’s nothing we can do now and this is why they’re not addressing certain things. They said nobody has the answers and that’s why they’re not talking about it. So let’s go on, business as usual.”

“2 Chronicles 7:14 says: “If MY people.”  We need to understand that it’s us, not the heathen that needs to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways so that He can come and heal our land.”

“We ARE a Christian nation:  83% of Americans claim to be Christians.  Nearly 65% claim to be born again!  Though 65% claim to be born again, only 6% have a Biblical world view.  We have been making converts and not disciples.  We would not have drifted so far from our Biblical foundations had we understood what was in the scriptures.”

If you know Rick the way I know him, he doesn’t alter his message or adjust it for anyone or anything.  He says what he means and means what he says.  I respect him for that and I know him to be a solid man of God with a prophetic voice you can count on.  He hears from God.

I can’t say this urgently enough:  It’s time for understanding of the Times and Seasons.  It’s time to be like the Sons of Issachar who knew the Times and the Seasons and had wisdom about how to prepare for them. There’s something coming – it’s BIG.  Get yourself and your family prepared.  Have something extra to give to others so that you can show them the love of God during hard times.  Do it NOW!

“If just the evangelical church would say, “Let’s get ready to take care of ourselves and just 10 percent more…” We could take care of 50 percent of the people in America.”

                                                                                                                               Love,

                                                                                                                                Jim

Woe is Me (Pt. 10)

By Jim Bakker | | Filed in Last Days, Teaching | Tags: , ,

It really saddens me when I think of the way much of the church is handling the Book of Revelation.  Though in verse 3 of the first chapter of the Revelation we are promised a blessing if we read and keep (to watch over, to guard) those things within it, there seems to be a reluctance to preach it even though we are right now experiencing it!

The denial of what is going on in our nation and our world as Revelation Day Events is unprecedented, and this denial will cause people to be unprepared.  We should be shouting from the rooftops and pleading with and warning people that this current age is coming to a close.  But before it does, there will be hard times in this natural world – followed by the supernatural return of Jesus Christ to earth! READ MORE →