Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done is coming and is being done

Rev. 6:11 tells us that the martyrs were to rest a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also. Since becoming a believer in Jesus in 1970, I have wondered many times about who these fellow servants and brothers and sisters were. I felt comfortable with the "cozy American Christian" explanation that these folks would be the ones saved out of the Tribulation, and of course, were gonna get massacred by the then powers that be engineered by Satan himself. Well, it's been 40 years now, and I see our fellow servants and brothers and sisters in the Lord being killed, imprisoned, starved, persecuted RIGHT NOW, and this has been going on for a very long time. I get the clash of kingdoms, and I see why believers in Jesus don't or shouldn't match the world, we should behave and live contrary to the system of this world.
Doesn't the Scripture tell us we are in the world, but not of it. America, the place of my birth and
the place on Planet Earth I have been blessed to grow up and old in, is, inspite of the secular humanistic inroads espoused by the elitist, the media, Hollywood and the public education establishment, unions and the pantheon of gods many American's worship, America still has a
remnant of true worshippers, who hold the entire nation before God's throne, interceding greatly
for a return to righteousness. Scripture says, Righteous exalts a nation, sin is a reproach to any people. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we, who believe and say we follow Jesus, really like being safe and secure from all disturbances.

Modern historians have said that the greatest miracle of Valley Forge was that the army held together. Despite the lack of food and total absence of pay, despite the illness which was taking more than a dozen lives a day, despite the utter hopelessness of their situation, the men stayed.
And one smuggled the following in to the Philadelphia paper: "Our attention is now drawn to one point: the enemy grows weaker every day, and we are growing stronger. Our work is almost done, and with the blessing of heaven, and the valor of our worthy General, we shall soon drive these plunderers out of our country!" Wow, was that faith talking in our early days or had that guy lost it altogether. I say FAITH.

The rejected are becoming the cornerstones in North Korea, the greatest persecutors of Christians in the world today, yet the church of Jesus survives. They all have horrific stories to tell, but they want to evangelize their homeland nonetheless. Pray for them. We, someday, will all rejoice together.

There are just a few very teeny Christian bookstores in Egypt. When Muslims come in looking for Bibles because they wouldn't dare enter a church to get one, they do so very secretively,
hoping no one saw them. An Egyptian Christian woman who runs a small bookstore had been
beaten by three Muslim men so badly that the side of her head turned black. Then they dragged her to the police station where the police raped her and beat her somemore. When Tom White of Voice of the Martyrs asked her why she came back to work, she replied, "They almost
killed me. So I decided that since I survived, God wanted me to come back and continue."
In the last 3 years, VOM has smuggled 50,000 Bibles into the hands of Egyptians.
Pray for the Muslims who turn to Jesus, it is a sure thing that they are in grave danger from their own families as well as the Muslim community. Pray they remain faithful to the end.

Darrell writes in the chapter, The Cosmic Battle, "The suffering of the church in the world is not a sign of Satan's victory. It is a sign of his realization of defeat.

I remember many years ago hearing a Pastor in San Jose jokingly say to his congregation,
"I know I have the pie in the sky in the great by and by, but I want the steak on the plate
while I wait." Oh, really!! This kind of talk coming from a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ,
along with the name it and claim it, and wealth and propersity messages that have come from
many a pulpit in America, don't jive with what our brothers and sisters are experiencing in
N. Korea, Indonesia, China, Russia, Afganistan, Uzbekistan, Tzajekistan, and a lot of other stans,
the Middle Eastern Muslim controlled nations, Africa, Myanmar, Burma and places I don't even
know of. Things are changing here in America, but here, it's more the enemies power of deception at work.

The suffering is not a sign of Satan's victory, it's a sign of the realization of his defeat. Even though the war has been won, the enemy will not surrender, (remember Pearl's story of the
snake with only the body still wiggling, it still looks like it can hurt you, but it's been decapitated,
it's just a matter of time.

We overcome by the blood of the Lamb (that awesome Lamb who was the only One worthy to
open the seals on the scroll) and the word of our testimony (12:11) The counter to deception is
truth. Practice the presence of Truth in our lives daily. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life,
no man, none of us humans can get to the Father but by Him. Practice being Truth Tellers.

Amen, brothers and sisters - To Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything
we ask or think, to Him be all honor and glory forever and ever.