The First Sinners...our examples   

     It was only fruit, but Adam and Eve ate from the tree God forbid. They failed his test, and we do the same today, far worse than apples.

     Our pastor says, "We try to cover shame with success, image, religion, busyness, or 'being a good person.' Not that those are wrong, but they can't restore relationship with God."  

     "On the night of Jesus' resurrection, the disciples were locked in a room, fearing Jewish leaders who wanted their status restored. Doors are shut. Dreams shattered. Their leader for three years has been crucified. Suddenly, Jesus stands before them. He doesn't need the door. He is the door."  

     "Peace be with you," he says. "Like in Genesis when God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul, Christ breathes into his followers and they become spiritually alive." 

     "Today we may feel locked in anxiety, shame, a painful past, or circumstances. Doors shut. But the risen Jesus doesn't need an open door to reach us. He steps into our room and says, 'Peace be with you.'" 

     "It's not patching ourselves with better fig leaves. It's Jesus giving us life. The Holy Spirit taking residence. Beginning to produce love, joy, peace, patience and more. You don't have to fix yourself first. You simply believe that he died and rose again, confess your sin, and receive the breath that starts it all." 

     John 20:22. "When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit." What to pray?

     "Jesus, I confess that my independence has left me empty. I lay down my self-effort, my pride, my attempts to fix myself. Breathe on me, and let your peace fill every locked room of my heart." 

 😌

 What is TrumpRx? 

     Never heard of it? Me neither. While the war with Iran gets the headlines, the Trump administration is active in numerous ways to improve life and wellbeing. They are testing a strategy to lower prescription drug costs by linking U.S. prices to what other wealthy countries pay. 

     The theory is that Americans should not pay more for the same medication than patients in Europe or Canada. The TrumpRX website lists discounted cash prices for certain medications that foreign and domestic drug manufacturers have agreed to offer. 

     People without insurance or who need drugs that insurance does not cover are most likely to benefit. About 8% of Americans are uninsured. That's 28 million who might benefit from a cash-only option. 

     The 43 drugs currently available are all brand-name. Those most likely to benefit consumers are weight loss and fertility medications, the least likely to be covered by insurance. Consumers still need to shop. Most patients can also take a generic drug for a fraction of the cost of a brand name prescription. 

     Supporters and skeptics alike agree that more competition could benefit consumers, but they disagree on how many people TrumpRX will benefit.   

WORLD magazine

Jewish Man Seeks Safety...in Germany! 

     How history can rise again. Welsh billionaire Sir Michael Moritz, 71, is applying for German citizenship because the U.K. has become "an uncomfortable place" for Jews. 

     Anti-Semitic attacks spiked in the U.K. after an October synagogue attack. Germany - where millions of Jews died during World War II - is now more welcoming of Jews.

     Moritz's grandparents were killed in the Holocaust. German law allows descendants of those stripped of their German citizenship by the Nazis to return. 

Historic Session 

     First Lady Melania Trump presided over a United Nations Security Council meeting on March 2. 

     Really. It was the first time a sitting first lady took the gavel for the meeting. The U.S. held the rotating Security Council presidency for March. Normally the UN ambassador or a senior government official chair the meetings. 

     Mrs. Trump said, "The path to peace depends on us taking responsibility to empower our children through education and technology. Conflict arises from ignorance, but knowledge creates understanding - replacing fear with peace and unity." 

     Last year, her husband the President criticized the UN, that all it seems to do "is write a strongly worded letter, and then never follows that letter up." 

Do you see what we see? She speaks of "the path to peace" while her hubby was already starting a war. Both necessary for eventual peace.  

                Views 😉

 Jesus said:

     "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:20 

     "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul. Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? - Mark 8:34-37 

     "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you." - Luke 6:37-38

     "Everyone who drinks water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14

A Spiritual Battle

     Pastor Gary Hamrick continues: "In Romans 11, Paul writes, 'I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew.'" 

     "Christians have become the beneficiaries of the blessings of God, grafted into the vine. ...remember, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Salvation is available to all," he writes. "For God does not show favoritism," Romans 2:11. "Israel has a unique place in world history." 

     'For you are a holy people to the Lord your God...chosen to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the people on the face of the earth.' Deuteronomy 7:6.   

     "Make no mistake" - Hamrick writes - "This is a spiritual battle. Satan incites antisemitism, and antisemitism is satanic. And no one bears more responsibility in the fight against antisemitism than the church." 

     "God chose Israel for a sacred purpose. Because of this, we bless Israel, we honor the Jewish people, and we pray for the peace of Jerusalem" - Psalm 122:6. 

So, the U.S. military (some members Christian) and Israel have joined forces in conquering to some extent the satanic leadership of Iran. The Bible says that "there will be wars and rumors of wars." 

  

 Friends at Last! 

     Isn't it interesting that the U.S. (the great satan) and Israel (satan) are joined in war on Iran's leadership, a tool of the real Satan? 

     Today, there are Americans in colleges, workplaces, politics, even in some circles of the church, who fall under antisemitism. Around the world, there is hatred for tiny Israel for no reason, other than Satan.  

     God loves people, his creation, and yet he allows Satan - his creation turned against him - to incite people and nations. There will be an end to Satan, but we're not there yet. "People have hated Israel ever since the tiny nation became the conduit for God's redemptive plan for mankind." (Pastor Gary Hamrick) 

      The "chosen" people themselves haven't always pleased God, and the rest of us, likewise. Still, he loves us. 

     "God, through the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, introduced the Savior to the world. His name is Jesus, Yeshua - Jewish Messiah, on a rescue mission to save. This Savior was born in Israel, died in Israel, rose from the dead in Israel and is coming again to Israel!" 

     "God's covenant that he would establish a people and a place through whom Messiah would come for the sake of the whole world - is the basis for why we support and bless the Jewish people while we pray for their salvation." 

 Continued Saturday

     

Trump, China, Christians, Muslims

     Continuing Wednesday's blog, "President Trump has criticized America's military entanglements. A 'fellow' (woman) in Washington says that Trump's military action in Iran follows in the same vein as his Republican predecessors. "It was the dream of neoconservatives to get rid of the Iranian regime after getting rid of the Afghan and Iraqi regimes. 

     She added, "Years of American opposition to Iran in the form of economic sanctions bolstered the regime's position by weakening Iranian society, unintentionally stalling reform efforts and pushing the Islamic republic into the arms of China. China buys more than 80 percent of Iran's crude oil exports."

     She worries Chinese propaganda painting the U.S. as "reckless" and the People's Republic as the "true upholder of international law and stability." She also is concerned that the Trump administration's intervention could jeopardize internal Iranian resistance efforts. 

     Another expert agreed, but noted Operation Epic Fury may also strengthen the U.S. in the eyes of its Asian rival. Trump is willing to back up foreign policy objectives with force. 

     Christian ministries say growing numbers of Iranians are becoming disillusioned with Islam and are looking elsewhere for answers. Heart4Iran is a ministry that broadcasts Christian programming into Iran. Its satellite TV station operates a 24/7 call center. The CEO, who fled from Iran, said, "The Iranian people's perspective regarding Islam has changed a lot, long before this attack. 

     The doctoral student in Ohio (see yesterday's blog) is considering moving back home - but only if the regime fully changes. "I want the whole world to know the true nature of this government. How their ideology destroyed my beautiful country." 

           Jimmy