Thursday, January 30, 2020 -
The first chapter of II Thessalonians was a great comfort to me this morning as I put the extremely important and time-sensitive document in the mail to Judge Arcara (see yesterday’s journal entry).
I have also been reading in Psalms every evening about how God is going to take vengeance on our adversaries as long as we leave it to Him and don’t take it into our own hands! In this Kathie and I echo David, “Oh give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries” (Psalm 108:12-13).
Paul congratulated the Thessalonians for their perseverance and faith in the midst of all their afflictions and persecutions that they were forced to endure (v. 4). Kathie and I have been to the recently unearthed catacombs in Thessalonica where these believers were forced to hide. Paul goes on to remind them that these persecutions and afflictions are a test (v. 5). The root word here for afflictions is the same as in II Corinthians 4:8, which means oppressed by evil in every way!
Yet what does Paul say, “For, after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed – for our testimony to you was believed” (vs. 6-10). Wow! It is for this reason that I continue to pray for the salvation on behalf of those who have afflicted me or who have heaped on me and my family evil injustice – from Janet Jenkins to the prosecutors, the judges, the government witnesses, and even the Southern Poverty Law Center attorneys and my own attorneys who misled me. I pray they will repent of their sin, as I have also had to do, repent, and come to know the true and living Christ as Savior, Lord, and Redeemer!
The wrath of God is a terrible thing and I wish it on no human being. May the Holy Spirit convict hearts unto repentance. May there be a very true and real revival in our land! I pray for God to raise up national leaders who will call those who have embraced evil to repent and turn to Christ! I pray this will also be the cry of President Donald Trump in the years to come, that he himself will find reconciliation with God, and lead this nation into true revival. Please pray with me towards this end! God may not be done with the United States of America yet!