Daniels 70 Weeks

And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week [seven years]. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator. Daniel 9:27

The way that this verse was always taught to me went something like this: there are 70 weeks determined for the Jewish people. The weeks are actually 7 years each, so there is 490 years attributed to the Jewish people in Daniels prophecy. The years of Daniels prophecy began when Nehemiah was permitted to rebuild Jerusalem and Temple worship was restored. There were 69 weeks, or 483 years, exactly from the time that Temple worship was restored until the time that Jesus was crucified, leaving one week of the prophecy to be fulfilled. This final week will begin when the anti-christ enters into a covenant with Israel. And for the first 3 ½ years of this treaty there will be bliss and harmony, but right in the middle of the covenant, the anti-christ will break the deal and there will be 3 ½ years of great tribulation, ending only when Jesus returns. It was preached that since Daniel writes that this is a time of his peoples trouble, that it only applies to the Jews, so the Christians will be raptured out before all of this goes down, leaving only Israelites, and the rest of the unsaved world to deal with it. Oh, along with anyone who may be saved during those 7 years, but what a terrible time to be saved, so you better choose Jesus now, so that you wont have to deal with it! That is the 70 weeks of Daniels prophecy to a Full Gospel believer in a nut shell. Now there may be some nuances that I have missed, but this is the cliff notes version.

I was very content in believing this way until this last December, when the Holy Spirit began to show me that there is no pre-tribulation rapture; when He began to show me that during the Great Tribulation will be the greatest time of ministry that the world has ever experienced. All that I had been taught, all that I had heard, and even preached was shown to be false, and it was great! And last night, the Holy Spirit plainly showed me the Truth behind the 70 weeks of Daniels Prophecy.

The questions that I had always had were: the Bible never mentions a break in the 70 weeks, why do we believe that there is? Why did the weeks stop when Jesus was crucified, Israel was still a nation, there was still a Temple until 70 AD, 37 years after Jesus’ crucifixion? Why didn’t the weeks start in 1948 when Israel became a state again? Why would a new Temple have to be built to start the weeks again, when there was a Temple when the 69th week ended? It all just didn’t add up. And last night here is what the Holy Spirit showed me.

Jesus is the One who will make the strong Covenant with many people for one week, which is 7 years, and remember the many people are the Israelites, because this prophecy of Daniels is to the Jews alone. The strong covenant began when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on Him as a dove, and God began to use Him to minister the New Covenant with power and demonstration of the Spirit. Look at what Jesus did, He preached as no one had ever preached. For 3 ½ years He raised the dead, caused the blind to see, healed entire towns, drove out demons, changed the weather, and fed thousands from blessed table scraps. God used His flesh, Jesus, as He has used no one before. This is strong! Then right in the middle of the 7 year strong covenant, Jesus was crucified, causing the sacrifices of the Law to end. Never again would the blood of animals or the offerings of worldly things be accepted by our Father or needed. Jesus paid the price once with His perfect sacrifice, and that sacrifice will last for eternity.

But, what about the last 3 ½ years of the strong covenant? Look at scripture, for the next 3 ½ years the Holy Spirit uses Jews alone to minister in the power of the Spirit, to Jews alone. Thousands were added to the church daily, miracles abounded, the Holy Spirit was still operating and honoring the strong covenant of many Jewish people. Then at the end of the 7 years, it all stopped, Paul is called and chosen by Jesus on the road to Damascus and the New Covenant moves to the Gentiles. Paul’s ministry began in 36 AD, 3 ½ years after Jesus’ crucifixion. And we never again read of the Holy Spirit moving powerfully in Israel to bring salvation, until the Book of Revelation during the end times. Our Father moved to the Gentiles, to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Thessalonians, and the Romans. Our Father fulfilled His strong covenant with many people. He honored it and stopped the sacrifices by offering Himself so that there would never be a need for another one!

Now what about the one of abominations who comes and makes desolate that Daniel speaks of? It is satan, look at Revelation 12:5-9. When Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven, satan was cast out to the earth. The perfect Blood of Jesus was applied to all of our sins and the accuser had no room any longer in Heaven to accuse us, so He was thrown down to earth. And satan, the abomination, the one who makes things desolate will do so until the end of times. Satan is allowed to cause desolation until he is bound and thrown into the abyss at Armageddon.

And she brought forth a male Child, One Who is destined to shepherd (rule) all the nations with an iron staff (scepter), and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.. And the woman [herself] fled into the desert (wilderness), where she has a retreat prepared [for her] by God, in which she is to be fed and kept safe for 1,260 days (42 months; three and one-half years). Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in heaven any longer. Revelation 12:5-8

Want further scriptural proof? Look at what Revelation 12:6 teaches us, for 3 ½ years after Jesus was caught up to Heaven, the church, which remember is only Jewish people at this time, is kept safe. The Church suffered persecution, but it flourished and grew abundantly. Jesus never said that we would not be persecuted when we are saved. But even though the Church was not part of Jewish custom or tradition, they were in the wilderness, meaning they were not part of the mainstream, they still flourished in a place of our Fathers safety, in Israel, for 3 ½ years. And right at the end of the 7 years, the time from when Jesus first began to preach, to the time Paul is called, that protection leaves and the church moves to the Gentiles.

There was no break in the 70 years. There will be no new Temple in Jerusalem at the end of times. There will be no treaty between the anti-christ and the nation of Israel. There will be no more sacrifices of animals to be ended. The 70 weeks of Daniels prophecy was fulfilled on the Road to Damascus when Jesus called Paul! When the nation of Israel completely rejected salvation and the gift was given to the wild branches!

A Pre-Tribulation Rapture?

“Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.” Matthew 24:9-10

Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), 2 Thessalonians 2:3

2 Thessalonians 2:3 has been used so much in my life to teach on the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture. But this verse does not teach us of a snatching away, or a rapture, but a great falling away of many false believers. They will fall away because of the affliction and tribulation that will arise for Jesus’ Name sake. Those who will fall away have no root in Christ and as soon as the trials of this life come they will wither up and fall away, just as they do today. There is a great Truth for the truly saved and it is this: when trials come, especially great ones, and we are weak, Jesus becomes strong within us and we actually become victorious. But for those who are only acting saved, they will fall away during the great Tribulation, because Jesus is not within them. They will become offended at the trials and they will flock to the anti-christ.

“And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.” Matthew 24:14

Notice that Jesus teaches us in Matthew 24 that after the great falling away of false Christians, then will the Gospel be preached to every nation and then the end will come. In Matthew 24:9 Jesus proclaims that all nations would hate us and in Matthew 24:14 He teaches that the end will be known by the fact that the Gospel is being preached in every nation. In Revelation 14:6-7, Jesus shows us that the Gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, and tongue with a loud and powerful voice. “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal Gospel (good news) to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every race and tribe and language and people. And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.” Remember that in the Book of Revelation an Angel often refers to a human messenger or message, read what Jesus says to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

So the question for me is why would God rapture out His mature believers, Who are His Body, His flesh and His bones when for the first time the Gospel is being preached in every nation and the people of the world needs His ministers of Truth the most? How will they hear without a preacher, so our Father, Who is love, will take His mature preachers out? If this where the case, it would be like our Father is taking His body out of the world to torture the non-believers for 3 ½ years before He sends them to hell.

So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed Luke 17:28-30

Lot and Noah were both delivered from the wrath of God, Lot and his family escaped to the mountains and Noah and his family to the Ark. But remember that the destruction and wrath of our Father came right when His families were taken out. According to the pre-tribulation rapture concept there is still 3 ½ years of tribulation to come. With Sodom and the Great Flood God was swift and no one left was saved. But during the Great Tribulation we can read that many will be saved, Rev. 6:11, Rev. 7:3, Rev. 7:14, Rev. 9:4, Rev. 20:2-4 and several other verses. So if the end of times is as it were with Lot and Noah, then the end will only come right after we are removed, when there is no chance for anyone else to be saved.

Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household to give to the others the food and supplies at the proper time? Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing. Matthew 24:45-46

Jesus teaches us that when the master comes, not when the master calls the servant to him. What better and proper time for us to be used by our Father to give food and supplies to all nations and people in need than during the Great Tribulation? Wars, natural disasters, diseases, plagues and inflation will be devastating the population at this time. And as the world always has, they will hate us and want to kill us for being used by God, just as with Jesus, Stephen, Peter, Paul, and John.

And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other. Matthew 24:31

Winds is translated from the Greek word Anemos, Strongs 417, it means the four corners of Heaven. And the Universe translates to mean world, Ouranos, Strongs 3772. So when the trumpet sounds the Angels will gather all saints both in Heaven and earth. So with these translations in mind let’s go to Corinthians.

Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed). In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 The dead in Christ will rise first!

The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Revelation 11:15 The Angel has sounded the seventh trumpet, the last trumpet, and the end has come!

For this we declare to you by the Lord's [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death]. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (The living in Christ shall in now way precede those of us who have died in Christ!)

The Truth about the end times is that the last Trumpet will sound, and after it does the first thing to happen is that the dead in Christ will be raised and then after they are raised up, the rest of us will then be transformed. If there is a pre-tribulation rapture before the last trumpet, then 1 Corinthians would be false, because we who are living in no way precede those who have died, and the dead in Christ will not be raised until the last trumpet! 1 Thess. 4:15 clearly shows us that we will in no way precede those who have died before us.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God's children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is. 1 John 3:2 clearly teaches us that when Jesus comes and is manifested that we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. So if Jesus is made known when He is manifested, then we haven’t been transformed to be like Him when we were raptured. So that would mean that we never saw Him during our rapture. Because we are only made like Him, when He appears and is manifested, the pre-tribulation rapture theory teaches that we are just caught away, and Jesus is not manifested until His return. So wouldn’t our rapture just be to rescue us from the tribulation and why do we need to be rescued from tribulation when we are one with God, more than Conquerors through Christ Who loves us, and Greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world?

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Notice that the Holy Spirit has Paul write that we, the living ones, not those living ones. God has Paul write that he is part of the ones participating in this event. God also has Paul write that we shall be changed in 1 Corinthians 15:52. I just like that and wanted to share it with you.

For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) 1 Thessalonians 5:9

This is the scripture that I used all of the time to say that there was a pre-tribulation rapture, but I also use the Truth that salvation means to be saved right now from all earthly ills, deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation, deliverance from the molestation of enemies, salvation as the present possession of all true Christians Fourfold salvation: saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin. This meaning of salvation I get all of this from is found in the Strong’s Concordance for the word salvation, Soteria, Strong’s 4991. We don’t need to be raptured out of trials and tribulations to enjoy these things of salvation now, why then would we during the Great Tribulation? The Israelites still lived in Egypt during the time of God’s wrath on Pharaoh and the instruments of our Fathers wrath never harmed them.

And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Actually this verse tells us that God will keep us spirit, soul, and body until Jesus returns. So even if the Tribulation is great, our Fathers power is always greater. So if it is true, as the scriptures have stated that we aren’t transformed until the last trumpet, and yet we are raptured away from the great tribulation, it would suggest that God couldn’t keep us spirit, soul, and body through the time of Jacobs trouble? Yet He kept the Israelites during Egypt’s great trouble? God doesn’t need to rescue His flesh from His own wrath. Think about it, when America used the atom bomb on Japan did we cause our own people to suffer the radiation and blast? So if God is pouring out wrath, is He going to pour it out on His own Body, His Own Flesh, His Own Bone? Remember the Tribulation is God pouring out His wrath, not satan pouring it out. Satan is on the receiving end!

The Marriage Supper of The Lamb:

Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself. She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white--for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God's holy people). Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God. Revelation 19:7-9

In Revelation 19:1-7 John hears roars of praise, but God never says that the roars are from the Saints who have been raptured. And then in Rev 19:7-9 notice what the beings are saying: His Bride has prepared herself, She has been permitted to dress in fine linen. If the roars of praise were from us, or even those of us who had been killed for His Name’s sake, then wouldn’t John have heard something like glory to God we have finally been prepared and we have been permitted to dress in fine linen. The voices are speaking praises to God about someone else. There are millions of angels in Heaven, so they could be the voices. And just a quick thought, wouldn’t John have ever felt like he was part of the Marriage Supper, that He was part of the Bride that was giving praise, and then been permitted to write that He felt that He was. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. and in 1 Thess. that we will be transformed, he saw it and was writing as being active in it. Yet John only observes others giving praise. To me, and this is just a thought, if I was seeing something that I knew that I was going to be part of, it would somehow come out in my writings that during all this praise that I too joined in the praise, that I too spoke the words with my brothers and sisters, as Paul wrote.

After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse [appeared]! The One Who was riding it is called Faithful (Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady) and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness (holiness, justice, and uprightness). His eyes [blaze] like a flame of fire, and on His head are many kingly crowns (diadems); and He has a title (name) inscribed which He alone knows or can understand. He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in blood, and the title by which He is called is The Word of God. And the troops of heaven, clothed in fine linen, dazzling and clean, followed Him on white horses. Revelation 19:11-14

Immediately after the praise for the time for the Marriage Supper has arrived, we read in Revelation 19:11-21 that Jesus Rides off on a white horse with the troops of heaven to go and conquer the beast and false prophet. Now that sounds like Jesus appearing in the sky like lightning and then as He returns to earth the dead in Him are raised first and then those of us that have been left shall be caught up with Him to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I may be wrong but it only sounds like the praise is being given because the time of the Supper has arrived, not that it is taking place? Also when Jesus was going to the Cross, He spoke about being able to summon a legion of angels to rescue Him. Sounds like the Troops of Heaven? I believe this is the first place in Revelation that we read of Jesus actually physically returning, so this is the first time the dead in Him could be raised. In 1 Cor. and in 1 Thess God writes that the dead will rise when Jesus returns, then we that remain shall be caught up in the sky. Here we read this is when Jesus returns.

Revelation 11:15 the last Trumpet, Revelation 8:1 last Seal, Revelation 16:17 last Vial

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:52

And he gripped and overpowered the dragon, that old serpent [of primeval times], who is the devil and Satan, and [securely] bound him for a thousand years. Then he hurled him into the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and closed it and sealed it above him, so that he should no longer lead astray and deceive and seduce the nations until the thousand years were at an end. After that he must be liberated for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived again and ruled with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years. Revelation 20:2-4

The Marriage sounds like it happens somewhere around Revelation 20:4, when we have our thrones given to us and we begin to reign, after the dragon has been cast into the bottomless pit, not during the rapture as I have always been taught. There couldn’t be a marriage if the dead in Christ cannot be raised until the last trumpet and we who are alive in no way can precede them.

I had always thought how can satan gain such power if we were still on the earth during the great Tribulation. But the hot will be hot and the cold will be cold, there will be no lukewarm Christians anymore. So if we are as Jesus is, 1 John 14:17, and our Father is working through us as He worked through Jesus, John 14:12, then of course satan could be permitted to be stronger than ever, because our Father will have made us stronger than ever.

Also Jesus’ yoke is easy to be born and His burden is light, Matthew 11:13. God will never place on us more than we can handle. And remember that when Stephen was stoned for preaching, he shined, he saw Heaven open up, and he asked for those who stoned him to be forgiven.

When the Holy Spirit began this study for me I believed and wanted to believe that there is a pre-tribulation rapture, but the scriptures that have always been used to show it to me don’t teach it and I have looked for ones that do, and as of yet I cannot find them. And as I think about a pre-tribulation rapture I think, why? Do we need rescued, that makes our Father seem weak if you ask me? And it seems that God has always been about giving people every last chance and then at the Great Tribulation He takes away the very instruments that have been used to show forth is grace. I know our Father can choose new ones to be used and empower them with Himself. But why aren’t we part of it and the one thing that keeps coming up to as why is we need rescued from a really bad time. But that just doesn’t seem right to me.

In Revelation we never read about those John sees in Heaven are those who were overcome with disease, pestilence, or famine that is the wrath of our Father, only that these are those that were martyred during the Great Tribulation. And Jesus clearly tells us that some of us will be used by God to be martyred. But once again look at how great of an experience it was for Stephen. God will even empower us during being killed, He is that great!

But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately He sends forth [the reapers] and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready. Mark 4:29

The Angels come and gather us for a rapture, but yet there are still millions to be saved, was the harvest ripe? Does a farmer go into a field and only take some of the wheat and leave some?

The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Then the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin], who sit on their thrones before God, prostrated themselves before Him and worshiped, Exclaiming, To You we give thanks, Lord God Omnipotent, [the One] Who is and [ever] was, for assuming the high sovereignty and the great power that are Yours and for beginning to reign. And the heathen (the nations) raged, but Your wrath (retribution, indignation) came, the time when the dead will be judged and Your servants the prophets and saints rewarded--and those who revere (fear) Your name, both low and high and small and great--and [the time] for destroying the corrupters of the earth. Revelation 11:15-18

The last trumpet blows immediately after the two witnesses are killed. Notice as soon as the power of God stops flowing mightily through man the time of this world is over. This is the time when God’s saints are rewarded. If there had been a time of reward before this, a pre-tribulation rapture, when some teach is the time of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, than these verses in Rev. 11 would be wrong. The time of the Marriage Supper is after the last Trumpet and not before.

Messing Up

Jesus looked up then, and seeing that a vast multitude was coming toward Him, He said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread, so that all these people may eat? But He said this to prove (test) him, for He well knew what He was about to do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennies' (forty dollars) worth of bread is not enough that everyone may receive even a little. Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, There is a little boy here, who has [with him] five barley loaves, and two small fish; but what are they among so many people? John 6:5-9

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way. And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated and desert place? Matthew 15:32-33

The first response of the disciples was to doubt that they could help. Not only did they doubt, they even mocked Jesus a little: “forty dollars won’t even begin to meet the need.” They even doubted and mocked Him a second time, after they had seen a miraculous production of food.

Jesus said to him, Solemnly I declare to you, this very night, before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times. Matthew 26:34

And sure enough, Peter denied Jesus three times that night.

Then [His disciples], forsaking Him, fled, all [of them]. Mark 14:50

Now, let me ask you a question, what was different between the Disciples, who doubted, mocked, denied, and forsook Jesus and the rest of Israel who doubted, mocked, denied, and forsook Jesus? Jesus clearly said that if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before the Father, Matthew 10:33. But yet, the Disciples were allowed to doubt, deny, mock, and forsake Jesus and still receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. Yet the rest of Israel, who did the same things, were not, why?

Now this is the really cool part, because this Truth will blow religion away. The Disciples were simply rewarded in spite of themselves, because they were chosen of God. The same reason that we can doubt, question, deny, and mock Jesus and not be separated from Him and still receive all of the blessings that come along with being chosen. Religion tries to tell us that we are in control and that if we obey, then we receive a blessing and if we don’t obey, there is a curse. But yet we see that Peter did not obey and even denied and lied, and yet he was rewarded. We see that the Disciples doubted and mocked and yet they received a surplus of food. All simply because they were God’s kids. And admit it, we all have questioned, doubted, mocked, forsook, and denied our Lord, even after we were saved! And praise God, He never left us for one moment and He never forsook us!

I was raised in full gospel, holy rolling, churches and the famous saying was always that God cannot bless us past our last act of disobedience. Sounded religious enough, but it is pure bull! The Truth that sets us free is that if we are chosen, than our Father is always blessing us, even in our ignorance. He may need to correct us and even discipline us, but even that is blessing! All things now work together for our good, it’s just the way it is for God’s children. We have been born into this blessing. And just as with the Disciples we may doubt, we may forsake, we may deny, and yet our Father will never leave us or forsake us and in that union is eternal blessing and provision.

Our Father knew us before we were. He knew what we were, how we were, and how He was going to live through us. So, just as Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him, He knows when we are going to mess up. And it doesn’t change for one second the Truth that He will miraculously intercede on our behalf so that we might be saved to the uttermost! Religion that has a form of godliness, but denies the power of it, will preach how we are to obey and the consequences of our actions. But the Truth that sets us free is that Jesus knows what we need, when we need it, and even if we fall short, no big deal, He knew it was going to happen and the miraculous provision is still coming.

This is the truth that needs preached from the rooftops. And if someone is all concerned about how this will affect someone who may choose then to intentionally mess up, all they are telling you is that they are serving God through works and not through salvation. Because for the chosen, who are filled with the Holy Spirit and power, we know the desire of our hearts is to fully allow Jesus to shine through us. We know that it is our Fathers power alive within us that allows anything to happen. And the farthest thing from us is to look for and desire a life that doubts, denies, mocks, or forsakes Jesus, our Lord and Savior! So preach the Truth that our messing up in no way hinders our Father from shining forth through us or providing miraculously for us. The Disciples messing up never did and neither does ours!