Looking at Isaiah 66 we all wait for the time of prosperity in our life. Some are born with a silver spoon and others are born into proverty, and into middle class. Middle class get left out so often between two extreme opposite of people. Yet they too are promised prosperity and hope. Where am I going with this, the gospel message is a message that is preached to all and it about prosperity and hope. What is true prosperity, it not found in gold, or even silver. Christ message was taking up our cross, or mission in life and following Jesus. If we look at Paul's journey alone in Acts we get the idea that prosperity is found behind the stoning, the beatings, a resurrection and chains, Paul found something that most of us fail to grasp fully in our faith I think. It somethink not talked about behind the pulpit in this manner. It is about the faith being more then the persecution of the situation. I am still horrified at the idea of persecution, storms, devastation, things that come without warning and things that do come with a measure of warning. It is those events in one's own life that have prophetic meaning that we might not mention but exist, and it speaks to our hearts about how God warns us of things to come, even when we can not prevent them. Persecution is that way, storms are that way.

Paul faced all his storms in scripture, so did Peter. Peter's final storm of being crucified upside down is not in scripture. Yet the storms of his own beatings, were not anything compared to the miracles he witness first hand by being with Jesus and then in ministry praying for the sick and the inflicted and the miracles that came even with his own shadow falling on the crowd, because of the power of the Holy Spirit being so thick in his life. What then is prosperity with God. What is the hope that drives men and women to be willing to die for the Gospel. Is this Christian prosperity. The hope of heaven where treasure of gold exist and jewels that have not been seen by most before. The prosperity of faith is what stretches the mustard seed to grow strong and in faith. The pillars of Jacinth and Boaz. Faith is seen in another makes one envious sometimes, but it is our hearts desire that stirs that type of envy that God honors. Yes there is envy that God does honor. Yet are you prepared for that desire of faith to grow to abound not in wealth of prosperity of gold, or silver, but the richness of God's promises.

If you want godly peace in your life to flow like a river you need to be able to see first what the desire is. Faith that causes mountains to move and crumble is measured by weight of common gold. In fact if you took and measured faith by gold, then a mustard seed of faith would perhaps weigh quite a bit. What is the point? Isaiah 66 is talking about the prosperity of faith to the gentile nation. An open door of faith that is coming that has always existed for them but not understood. As Gospel spread to Samaria and other regions of the world, what can one only imagine for a moment if the command of Christ to go forth and spread the Gospel was not a hope of a time of peace. When we think of bringing in prostyletes one would think it time of revival without war. No in truth the spiritual war is far greater then the battle field at times. Hopefully not as bloody. Yet for the early church it was blood battle of faith. It was a bloody mess of persecution for the believer. The horror did not out weigh the conversion. Something had to stir the hearts of the non believer to greater measure then what could be weighed by treason of faith of other religions. Something had to stir the heart of believer to be able to press on in faith despite what would come. As the Gospel spread and the names of places in scripture are recorded even in Old Testament like Tarish where Paul is from, prophetic to who would be hearing the Gospel. Prophesy of place that Gospel would spread to, is only a measure of the type of prophesy that perhaps were conveyed to those of faith that knew there scripture. Jesus may of been God's peace symbol but He also brought division. Division came from town to town, to city to city, to country to country and still exist today.

I can not help but think of time of Christ message being spread it also caused confusion of what it means to be a Christian. It talks of us all traveling back to Jerusalem where both Gentile and Levitical tribe being priest in Jerusalem. Several things we know both Moslem and Jews say one God but do not claim Christ as Savior. Islam gained control of the temple mount around 2005 or 6 or maybe a little later. As I watches Jews leave on the news, I began to wonder what is the meaning of this. We see three groups of people that look at Jerusalem differently. Christian are looking for a new Jerusalem not built with human hand, but built by the hands of God. We looking for a kingdom not of this earth or world as we know it. We know there is coming a new heaven and a new earth. We know the spread of the Gospel brings division but it also brings peace. Christ brings peace to the heart and to the soul. It is more then a feeling it is a fact. We know prophesy alone is enough to carry a believer down a road further then thought possible. I set a goaled of walking ten miles a day in 2017. I reach my goaled and it did for several days in a row in a period of five months roughly. My goaled was to go back to work. My body was not strong enough to continue walking the distance. I did not give up but went to gym, and continue to strengthen myself. I realize if I would work, I had to build endurance. I began to build endurance. I fall asleep at my computer. I realize then I still had a ways to go. This is 2019. I lost strength and regain and lost and regain once more strength need for working. I find myself behind a desk and ask is this crazy or what. This is not prophesy, this is setting goals and working toward them. President Trump said he wanted to build a wall. That not prophesy. It only prophetic if it not event that could be foretold by knowledge. Beware of what is prophetic and what is knowledge. Government set goals they seldom prophesize of events coming because they see and hear almost everything today. This type of witchcraft can be confused with prophesy. Most of our knowledge from newspapers and media of events around the world is only seen through the eyes of the writer that write those events.

Peace negotiation are only peace by the those that adhere to the terms. Jews and Moslems form lines of negotiations that seldom last. Christians divide by prophesy of both Old and New Testament people of old law or older traditions then Moses going back to Abraham. Many nations can claim ties to Abraham family through marriage at the least. If not Abraham at least Noah's family. God has never been pleased with Idolatry. Worship of Christ is not Idolatry. We worship God the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit. For Christ to enter he had come through one family line or another. Jews were line chosen to bear the mark, yet no one is exempt from being in need of being born again not of flesh but of spirit. No one is exempt from needing sins forgiven. For that price being paid for our sins that divide us from God. Sin against man divides man without forgiveness. If God can forgive and drop the punishment for sin, can we with each other.

Paul unjustly beaten did not prosecute or at least no evidence that he gain prosperity for the crime. Yet he shook the dust from his feet each time. Would this cause a stir, it should. There be more news if a president was not receiving pay for his work. He receiving pay, he negotiating with heads of other countries and he is a business man. Okay enough said. Let us continue is no payment for persecution right. This century those we enslaved in our country have fought for repayment to their families in a court of law. Do people owe for war crimes in other countries if they won the battle. Where is forgiveness?

Jesus returns and the final battle won, will their be handouts from the New Jerusalem of the message of peace. Christ taught in last days when the coming of the Son Man would like the days of Noah. Now no one knows for certain if anything happened as the water poured from the sky onto the earth. But we know one of Noah's sons was a builder of boats. And so how far did the story of Noah go in the genalogy. The story of Noah is like a marker and a sign of the orignal God that may of gotten distorted over the centuries.

Without our Bible the Gospel message of Christ gets distorted. Whether he was just a good teacher or/and Messiah, and Everlasting Father. The spread of the Gospel the hope of man and the spread of God through out the decades. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, but he gives us evidence through scripture, through miracles, and through prophesy. How long did it take people knowing of the story of ark alone, take to hear a message of peace. These people knew not necessarily about Abraham or his children warring. Yet evidence of God has existed in many places if nothing more then a story of a boat and earth being covered by water. How long must the world hear the warnings of the floods and disasters and do nothing. How long is God going to spread the Gospel message to the world before his wrath comes upon the entire world. Only God the Father knows that answer. How many times will Christ say before the Father forgive them for they know not what they do. God sent peace first then a sword by the Holy Spirit sending Christ once more not with peace but a weapon of war. This is not a weapon of humankind but the spiritual war that will become physical when we see Him in the sky. Christ will defend his people, not we ourselves beyond the word of truth, except in battle of political nature. We must separate the spiritual battle from the physical battle. Allow God to be the convictor of the heart.

Dear Heavenly Father, convict the heart of man to salvation in Christ Jesus, let this on going battle of faith be kept by the Spirit and not by battle of blood shed. Let peace flow like a river between us as knowledge is shared and untangled to be spread once more. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study for Devotion: Act 8:14-17 KJV
14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.