Manchurian candidates exist in the church also. In fact, some of the vilest forms of betrayal occur in the church and among individuals who believe in God. 

Manchurian candidates in the church are not uniquely members of the antichrist's army. Some of them are members of God's army. Some of them are members of Satan's army. And some have their personal armies.

When called to action, members of Satan's army are expected to instantly obey. The same is true for members of the antichrist's army. They have no choice and no free will. God's army has a choice, they can choose whether or not they will obey. But there are consequences for disobedience--consequences that can result in being excluded from the Kingdom of God. 

When called to action, free men and women of God should say: "Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart."

When you have a choice between honoring the King of Sodom and the King of Salem, common sense should dictate that you choose the King of Salem. The King of Sodom approached Abram in Genesis 14 and promised he would allow Abram to keep his wealth in exchange for the souls of his people (Genesis 14:21). To Abram, the thought of betraying the trust of a God who had just enabled him to rally 318 men to rescue his nephew Lot was unthinkable. He chose instead to honor Melchisedek, the King of Salem, and gave him a tenth of everything he owned (Genesis 14:20).

Today, many ministers, priests, pastors and evangelists are facing the same dilemma. They can choose either to maintain the status quo and their wealth, possessions and places of prestige, or to honor the Lord their God who has blessed them and, through his sacrifice on the cross, given them victory over Satan and the requisite bread and wine offered by the Melchisedek priesthood (Genesis 14:18). They can clearly see the chains that bind members of their congregation. They witness the empty solar plexuses longing to be occupied with the Holy Spirit as God intended. They hear the pleas for deliverance emanating from the spirits they profess to serve. And they choose to maintain the status quo for the King of Sodom. But the Lord God Almighty says, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40; Habakkuk 2:1-14).

God's truth is absolute. It is not dependent on circumstances. Absolute truth exists in a state of absolute for all eternity past, present and  future. First century truth remains the same truth in the twenty-first century. For example, to say that one is alive may be true, but it is not absolute truth because certain parts of one's body, such as the spleen, may not be fully alive, and one may not remain alive for all eternity. 

Not every statement in the Bible fits this definition of absolute truth. Some statements are based in opinion and the writers are quick to so indicate. Nor does every truth apply to everyone. Some truths relate only to Israel in the context of their specific covenant with God. Other truths relate only to the church, and others to the church, to Israel, and to every believer. Nevertheless, if a statement fits within the definition of absolute truth, it is true for all time. 

Anyone who purports to interpret or reveal God's truth must have two important qualifications. They must have God's indwelling Holy Spirit as evidenced by an occupied (not empty) solar plexus. God's Holy Spirit, not the human brain, reveals and interprets God's truth, and they cannot do so effectively if they lack the indwelling Holy Spirit. They also must have heard directly from the Holy Spirit in connection with the truth that is interpreted or revealed. 

Your life depends on your ability to authenticate the sources of doctrine and other information. If you don't know the difference between truth and falsehood you are doomed for all eternity. 

One guaranteed sign of life is multiplication. When God confers life, he also confers the capacity to multiply. Anything that has no ability to multiply has no life. It may appear to be alive, but appearances often are very deceptive. 

There is a colossal global movement whose goal is to infiltrate the earth's entire food supply with genetically modified ingredients and substances. The seeds of many plants, and the reproductive cells of many animals have been genetically modified, ostensibly with the goal of achieving a greater degree of "perfection" or offering greater protection from certain occurrences in nature. In fact, science has arrived at the point at which even humans beings are being genetically modified to "enhance" or add certain functions and abilities. 

When the devil offers or purportedly gives added "life" to anything, including humans, one must necessarily examine carefully the nature of that life. Does it have all the hallmarks of true life? Is it life to the full? The catastrophic result of this seemingly uncontrollable movement favoring genetic modification is sterility. Seeds that have been genetically modified to a degree that overrides or contaminates their inherent genetic makeup can produce only one crop. The new seeds produced in that new crop are generally all sterile. Similarly, animals that have been cross bred, or whose genetic makeup has been compromised are almost always sterile. They cannot reproduce themselves. 

When an organ in the body begins to lose function so that its cells rejuvenate at a slower pace, one may not notice the change initially. However, eventually the multiplication process becomes so inefficient that the organ becomes diseased, fails to function as intended, and must be removed in order to curtail the spread of the disease. That is the recurring theme of death--the absence of multiplication, or the inefficient pace of multiplication. 

If we look into the future that we seem committed to designing locally, nationally and internationally, it is a future whose foundation is death. Eventually, the absence of multiplication in our plants and seeds will destroy our food supply. Animal species also progressively will become extinct in relation to their degree of genetic modification, especially if animals with the original genetic blueprint have been endangered. The magnitude of the problem will not become evident until it is too late to remedy. Even humans risk becoming extinct if they join the genetic modification band wagon. Globally, it is time to choose this day whom we will serve--the author of death, or the living God, the author of life. 

My new blog post titled "Multiplication" is generating stress in some circles and I am finding it extremely difficult to post. In the meantime, feel free to read it at www.rebekahisaac.info

When someone establishes a kingdom, they have the privilege of also establishing the rules. There are entry rules that determine who can be a citizen of the kingdom, and there are rules deemed necessary for the smooth functioning of the kingdom. For numerous reasons, God's rules often are treated with disregard because we don't believe he exists and is alive and/or we don't believe he inspired the Bible's writers. Our disbelief cannot change the facts. Moreover, the rules benefit us and ensure our enjoyment of a kingdom that is free of sin, greed, and selfish ambition. 

There are two requirements for gaining entry into God's kingdom, and two requirements for remaining in the kingdom. To gain entry, one must (1) make a decision to repent or turn away from everything God considers sin, and (2) be baptized by full immersion in water in order to connect with Jesus' cleansing sacrifice on the cross, receive God's forgiveness for all sins, and become an appropriate vessel for God's indwelling Holy Spirit. To remain a citizen of God's kingdom, one must (1) love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself. 

Determining whether you are qualified to enter and remain in God's kingdom is simple if you ask yourself four basic questions and give honest answers. 

1. Have I made a firm decision to stop doing, thinking or speaking anything God deems to be sin, and do I immediately repent and ask God's forgiveness if I commit any sin? (1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 3:1-10). 

2. Have I been baptized by full immersion in water to cleanse me of the stain of sin so that I can be a pure vessel for God's indwelling Holy Spirit? (Acts 2:38-41).

3. Do I love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and is my love for God evidenced by my obedience? (1 John 2:3-29).

4. Do I love others as myself, and do I treat others as I would want to be treated (Matthew 22:36-40). 

I encourage you to take action before it's too late. Don't allow yourself to be disqualified for the prize of being part of our God's eternal kingdom (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3). 

1.  In Judaism, Shavuot is known also as the Festival of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost. God determined that it should be celebrated exactly seven weeks (49 days) after the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12). 

2.  At this first Passover, Moses instructed the Israelites, who were being enslaved in Egypt, to put the blood of a lamb on their door frames to protect them from the angel of death that subsequently devastated Egypt just prior to the exodus (Exodus 11; 12:1-30). This was God's final act to free the Israelites from their enslavement, and the blood was to be a sign that they were under God's  protection. None of the Israelites who placed the blood on their door frames suffered loss, but every Egyptian household lost their firstborn. Pharaoh eventually acceded to God's demand, through Moses, to "Let my people go." 

3.  Shavuot celebrates the freedom from slavery in Egypt and the giving of the Law, which is the Ten Commandments and the basics of the first five books of the Torah (the Old Testament) to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20-34). The Israelites began a new chapter in their relationship with God. The Ten Commandments trained God's people in avoiding certain thoughts and actions that have a negative spiritual effect on their relationship with him, and the Law trained them in the physical aspects of their social and other interactions in accordance with God's commands. 

4.  When Jesus resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, he defeated death and paid the penalty for all sins, past, present and future. He became the eternal Passover Lamb whose blood was shed for our protection (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Luke 22-23). Baptism by full immersion in water connects us with Jesus' shed blood (Matthew 26:27-29; 1 Peter 3:20-21). As the blood on the door frames protected the Israelites in Egypt, our Messiah's shed blood at his crucifixion now offers eternal protection so that those who believe and appropriate the protection of his blood will not experience spiritual death. His blood is symbolized by the cross, which is placed spiritually on the back of the neck of a person who has been cleansed by his blood and sealed with the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is symbolic of a yoke on the doorpost of the soul that helps to protect the soul from corruption and death. He calls us to yoke ourselves to him daily and follow in his steps (Matthew 16:24-25; 11:29; 1 Peter 2:21). Merely making the sign of the cross on oneself can be a daily reminder to remain yoked to our Messiah and Passover Lamb, and to walk as he walked (1 John 2:6).

5.  Ten days prior to Shavuot, and forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven, after warning his apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the gift promised by God, the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Ezekiel 37:14, 39:29; Zechariah 12:10; Joel 2:28; Acts 2:1). They received God's gift on Shavuot or Pentecost. It was the day on which God's Holy Spirit descended first on Jesus' apostles to lead, teach, sanctify them and enable them to do the work of their spiritual ministry in preparation for the coming kingdom of God (Acts 2: 1-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1).

6.  For Israel, Shavuot is a celebration of freedom from their enslavement in Egypt and the first fruits of the wheat harvest (Exodus 34:22). For the church, the sons and daughters of Zion, Shavuot or Pentecost is a celebration of freedom from their enslavement to sin and depravity, as well as the first human fruits of the Gospel message. The Gospel's first human fruits were the apostles and the 3,000 people who were immediately baptized on Pentecost when they heard the apostle Peter's message and received God's indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 2:5-46; Isaiah 66:8; Ezekiel 11:29-20). Receiving God's indwelling Holy Spirit is mandatory for anyone who seeks to be part of God's millennial kingdom (John 3:3; Revelation 20).

7.  The Holy Spirit is God's Spirit enabling man to seek to become like God in righteousness and holiness (Matthew 5:48). The indwelling Holy Spirit seals us and marks us as people belonging to God (Ephesians 4:17-32; 1:13-14). He embodies the spiritual laws by which we should live. Instead of rules governing the physical aspects of the life of God's people, as was given to Moses, the Holy Spirit is now capable of indwelling a cleansed humanity. He directly leads and guides us in the spiritual ways of God in order to ensure the soul's protection. He is the law and we now can all "know" the Lord (Jeremiah 31:34). It is the Holy Spirit that Adam and Eve lost after they disobeyed God, hence the nakedness of their soul. They no longer had a protective aural covering.  

8.  After the giving of the law on Sinai, the Holy Spirit proceeded to lead and guide the Israelites for forty years until their arrival in the Promised Land (Exodus 13:21; 16). He appeared to them as a pillar of fire in the sky, but today he indwells God's new temples--bodies that have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus (Ezekiel 36:27, 37:14; 1 Corinthians 6:19). God expects that we would use the fire of God's Holy Spirit in the same way that Moses used it--to reveal and lead the path to the Promised Land, the coming kingdom of God (Exodus 40:36-38). We not only must allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to purify and sanctify us, we also must stop when God says stop and go only when he says go. 

9.  Pentecost is the culmination in the spiritual realm of this process planned by God for centuries. Just as the Jews were saved because of the blood on their door posts when the angel of death visited Egypt, so every disciple of Jesus is saved by the blood of Jesus when they demonstrate acceptance through their baptism. God is the God of Jews, Christians, Muslims and everyone who seeks a relationship with him as God (Isaiah 65:16-25; Zechariah 2; Micah 4:2). He now says that the celebratory banquet is ready (Matthew 22:1-14; Isaiah 25; Galatians 4). The plan of redemption that began when he made clothing to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21) has come full circle as we once again can have his indwelling Holy Spirit. God will reject anyone who rejects his plan of redemption and creates a different plan (Isaiah 66:1-4; Mark 8:38; Matthew 22:11-14).

10. On the cover of my new book (see www.rekehahisaac.us) is depicted the fire of God's Holy Spirit. I encourage everyone who so desires to look deeply into the flames and experience its purifying power. As occurred during the exodus from Egypt, it is the Holy Spirit who will lead and guide you in the days ahead during the global exodus from the world's enslavement to sin and depravity. God's Holy Spirit will direct you in exactly what you are to do, what you are to say, and where you are to go in order to escape the plots of the devil who will endeavor to draw you back into his enslavement (John 12:49-50; Exodus 4:15).  

Heaven comes to earth when spirit and soul collide. They collide when the atmosphere is so pregnant with joy and expectation that for a moment in time, the path of the spirit and the path of the soul become one. 

Spirit and soul are not often headed in the same direction. While the secret goal of the spirit may indeed be joy, the brain usually can compel the spirit to pursue the brain's roadmap for getting to the place of joy. So the spirit is sent on wild goose chases. Perhaps for decades, it pursues relationships, possessions, recognition, the perfect physique, etc. In each, there might exist some fleeting sense of happiness that can be sustained only for a limited time. 

But genuine joy results from pursuing oneness with God. Before joy takes up residence in the soul, the spirit experiences genuine joy not as the happy experience of achieving a goal, but rather, as an inner sense of unfathomable bliss that permeates every cell of one's being. The experience is fleeting. It lasts perhaps for a few hours or a few days at the height of a spiritual journey. It is fleeting not because the experience is now in the past, but rather, because the true experience has not yet arrived. It is a taste of heaven, a touch of God that leaves us with an insatiable craving for more, for that moment when heaven again comes to earth. 

And what does The Lord, your God require of you? All or nothing. Love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. 

God is aligned with his creation to the extent that he desires what is best for them, and seeks to give them the desires of their heart. However, his creation is not necessarily aligned with him. Spiritually, there are only two opposite alignment options. One can align with good or with evil, with God or with the devil. In the context of alignment, there is no middle ground because the middle ground is a place of non-alignment. 

If we assume that a liquid state is good and a frozen state is evil, one recognizes the mutual exclusivity of the conditions of good and evil. At the point at which the liquid  becomes fluid, it ceases to be frozen. And at the point at which it becomes frozen, it ceases to be fluid. The two states cannot peaceably coexist. Similarly, good and evil cannot peaceably coexist because the evil always will have control. It is the dominant condition. Like the recessive gene in genetics, good has control only when it exists in exclusivity. 

Absolute is a concept that shatters all other concepts that are less than absolute. It conveys a definitiveness that is devoid of inherent characteristics or anything other than finality. When we hear the word "absolute" we know that all arguments must end, there is nothing further that needs to be said or done but to accept what is absolute. 

The most vile deception that has been percolating throughout the universe is that our holy and loving God created Satan, a wretched spirit that has caused more pain and suffering for God's creation than could ever have been imagined. If our God created Satan, then our God is not holy. If our God created Satan, then our God is not loving. If our God created Satan, then our God is not good. 

It is because our God is a good, holy and loving God that he seeks to rid the world of the evil being perpetrated by Satan, and to demonstrate to us that sin does not have to be coexistent with humanity, or with free will, or with the capacity to choose. Indeed, the notion that Satan was created by God is absolute falsehood, as is the notion that sinfulness is an inherent human characteristic. 

When I think of the word "balance" in isolation, several images come to mind, among them that of a ballerina balancing on the toes of one foot and a Cirque du Soleil performer catapulting across a 30 foot high rope. When I think of the word  "balance" from a spiritual perspective, it seems to be more personal, drawing me into a questioning of when and where in my life am I out of balance. 

Most of us crave balance emotionally, spiritually, physically, relationally, and in any other way possible. I, also, crave balance. I want to be that ballerina who has only one leg on which to stand, yet stands with a grace and elegance that defies all odds. And when catapulted across a tight rope because of unfathomable circumstances, I want to nonetheless be left standing and in complete control on the other side of the experience. 

Maintaining that degree of balance is not an inherent skill--it takes years of practice during which you fall repeatedly and yet, repeatedly get up off the floor and try again. It requires that you trust in a God of love whose ultimate intention never is to cause you harm. And it requires that you align your spinal column with his such that you become unshakeable. The columns in a building must be perfectly aligned with the principal column at the center if the building is to remain secure and intact. Similarly, each person who seeks to be part of God's kingdom must seek perfect alignment with Christ at the center. We gain alignment with him, and with every disciple, when every facet of our being is aligned with the Father in heaven and with his purposes. 

The dilemma of human relatedness is that while we are fully responsible for our lives and circumstances, we generally are only 10% at fault. It may be surprising to learn that 90% of the fault for any given circumstance in our life is with another person or persons. Some meant no harm but caused the circumstance unknowingly or inadvertently. Others intended the circumstance. 

How do we live in harmonious community with others, while maintaining a healthy immunity to their sinful nature? First and foremost, we must know who we are and who we wish to become, and choose to be in close community only with those who invigorate and are eager to uphold that vision. Second, we must consistently reject any words, thoughts or actions that seek to derail our convictions and point us in a direction that conflicts with our vision, and is other than God's best for us.  

When confronted with their frailties, human nature will reach for anything that might give them a sense of stability. Often they reach for something outside of themselves that requires them to denigrate or diminish anyone whom they view as being at least partially responsible for their awakening. It is an awakening tinged with fear and trepidation, that brings forth a violence previously unheard and unseen. This is the reason that prophets of God were killed and stoned, and why Jesus was crucified. 

For those in genuine relationship with God, the consequence of this awakening is a progressive surrender, a realization of how great is our God. Any other response should serve as a danger signal. 

When a tree is pruned, every branch that bears no fruit is cut off and discarded to allow greater nourishment for the fruit-bearing branches. Branches that bear no fruit utilize resources but never return a yield. Gardeners prune trees but God prunes countries. God prunes for the same reasons that the gardener prunes, to cause the country to become more fruitful. 

At present, America is experiencing a spiritual winter. It is frozen in a state of barren perpetuality. Pruning is essential if the country is to progress beyond its current state. When and how that pruning will occur is not known, nor the nature of the pruning. However, given the eschatological time frame in which we now live, the pruning can begin at any moment.