Happy 4th. July To You All. What Can We Learn From the Surfside Condominium Collapse? Your Doctor Is Wrong About Insulin Resistance.

Independence Day,  The Origins of America

Happy 4th. July to you all

“As Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4, we should all be looking forward to the great, spiritual day of deliverance coming when Jesus Christ returns.

  Stephanie McCabe/Unsplash

July 4th is a day of physical deliverance, but God's Kingdom will bring greater, spiritual deliverance to all people.

July 4 is the day the United States of America celebrates its independence from Great Britain. American President and founding father John Adams seemingly foretold the future when he wrote the following about Independence Day:

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more" (from the Massachusetts Historical Society).

And indeed, Independence Day is observed with family gatherings, firework displays, and the like. But can we trace the United States through history before July 4th, 1776? Did God somehow intervene in human history? And what can this tell us about America's future?

A declaration of independence and prosperity

"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you' " (Genesis 12:1; New Living Translation). God declared Abram's independence from his family and his former homeland. He promised Abram that "all the families on earth will be blessed through you," and the man who would be Abraham simply yet boldly did what God instructed (Genesis 12:3-4; NLT). The key take-away is that Abraham's descendants would be so blessed and prosperous that not only they would benefit, but the rest of the world as well.

A few generations later, we see Abraham's grandson Israel blessing his own grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh. As Israel (also called Jacob) reached the end of his life, we read an interesting prophecy about his grandchildren. Notice what Israel says in Genesis 48:19: "'He [Manasseh, the firstborn brother] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.' "

Based on this verse, we can begin to identify Ephraim as the British Commonwealth ("a multitude of nations") and Manasseh as the United States of America (a "great" people). For an in-depth look at the connection between these modern nations and ancient families, please consider reading The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy, one of our free study aids.

Upon reflection, I'm sure you can see many ways in which God has blessed the United States, and how America has in turn benefited the world. But what does the future hold for the modern descendants of Manasseh?

A problem and a promise

The prophet Micah spoke of Manasseh's future in Micah 5:9: "Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off." This mark of military success and preeminence is something the United States still currently enjoys. But a dramatic change is coming.

"'And it shall be in that day,' says the LORD, 'that I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds' " (Micah 5:10-11). God will revoke the blessing of His protection from America, and the United States will suffer unprecedented defeat--even captivity--at the hands of its enemies. "'Thus I will destroy your cities' " (Micah 5:14).

National security is a blessing that God grants for obedience (Leviticus 26:1-8). When nations are sinful, however, God's face is against them and they endure defeat at their enemies' hands (Leviticus 26:14-17). Even your seemingly tiny, individual sins contribute to this catastrophe.

The problem is sin--and the solution to that problem is repentance. "Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away" (Acts 3:19; NLT). If America as a nation repents and turns to God, He will remember His blessings for obedience and grant them further to the United States. Unfortunately, this is unlikely.

Despite this apparent disaster, there is a final promise to all people everywhere: the Kingdom of God. Although great trouble is prophesied to come before Jesus' return (Matthew 24:21), He will save the peoples of the earth. He will bring Israel back to the land He originally intended for them to have. God will teach them His law and grant them His Spirit so they can better understand and live out this law. "You shall be My people, and I will be your God" (Ezekiel 36:24-28).

July 4th is a day of physical deliverance, but God's Kingdom will bring greater, spiritual deliverance to all people. The people of America will finally be dependent on God as He intended, and they will be free from the dark grasp of sin. Imagine the wonderful celebrations that this future Independence Day will bring.    From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/blogs/independence-day-the-origins-of-america

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What Can We Learn From the Surfside Condominium Collapse?

“Tragedy struck Florida last week when a large condo building unexpectedly collapsed in the middle of the night. What lessons should we learn from this disaster?

The Champlain Towers condominium buildings are a complex of three buildings in Surfside, Florida, with a beautiful view of the ocean. However, on Thursday, June 24, at about 1:30 in the morning, tragedy struck.

In the middle of the night the 12-story south tower, which had 136 condominium units, collapsed without warning. Chilling video captured by a nearby security camera revealed that it took only seconds for a major portion of the south tower to become a pile of rubble. In the aftermath of the collapse, the scene looked as if the building had been destroyed by a powerful bomb.

As of the time of the time of publishing, 16 people have been confirmed dead in the collapse. However, there are still over 140 people unaccounted for. Search and rescue teams are tirelessly combing through the rubble as quickly as they can, battling the heat and dangerous conditions, but the odds of finding more survivors grows dimmer by the hour. Our prayers are with the families who wait with hope against hope to receive positive news of their loved ones.

The investigations, accusations and recriminations will likely go on for months and years. No one yet knows the exact cause of the collapse. Perhaps it was negligence, inadequate maintenance, or even a sinkhole or unexpected subsurface shifting that caused the building to fall.

Whatever the cause, it doesn’t change the sudden and unexpected outcome for the victims. In the blink of an eye, their hopes and dreams and plans for the future came to an abrupt end.

What did Jesus say about tragedies?

In Luke 13:4 Jesus made a statement about a tragedy that was very similar to what happened in Florida. During His time, a tower in a Jerusalem neighborhood called Siloam collapsed and killed 18 people. Some scholars believe this was a tower built by the pool of Siloam for men who were going through the process of ritual purification. If this is true, these 18 men may have been in that area to perform a religious ceremony, but suddenly had their lives cut short when the tower collapsed on top of them.

Jesus was using the tragedy to highlight the necessity of personal repentance.Here are Christ’s words about the tragedy: “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (verses 4-5).

Jesus’ point was clear. When these kinds of tragedies occur, it is not because God specifically targeted the victims for somehow being worse than everyone else who survived. There is an element of time and chance at work in our world. The point is that we all equally need to repent, or we will perish. Jesus was using the tragedy to highlight the necessity of personal repentance.

In the aftermath of this current tragedy in Florida, we can reflect on the same lesson that Jesus asked His audience to think about 2,000 years ago. We can put a renewed focus on repenting of our sins. To do that, we must identify what our sins are, ask for God’s forgiveness and strive to change. To learn more about this crucial subject, read our article “What Is Repentance?”

Life is frail and uncertain

Another lesson we should learn from the Florida tragedy is the frailty and uncertainty of life.

Notice these words penned by King David: “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You” (Psalm 39:4-7).

When we see how quickly and easily our lives can end, it should inspire us to look to our Creator for meaning and purpose.  Tragedies can help remind us of the truth of these words. It’s easy to become arrogant or comfortable. We can look to ourselves and our accomplishments for meaning. But we need to temper our thoughts with the truth that our lives are like vapor in the grand scheme of things. We are here for a little bit and then gone. All it takes is a random tragedy to end our lives at any moment.

James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, was inspired to write something very similar: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16).

When we see how quickly and easily our lives can end, it should inspire us to look to our Creator for meaning and purpose. We can build an appropriate kind of confidence when we live our lives in a manner that pleases our Father in heaven. When we live that way, we can faithfully place our lives in His hands and trust His will for our lives.

For the residents of the Champlain Towers South and their families, a few seconds in the dark of the night changed everything.  Will we heed the lessons God wants us to learn from such tragedies?"  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/what-can-we-learn-from-the-surfside-condominium-collapse/?

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Your Doctor Is Wrong About Insulin Resistance

"Isn't it CRAZY when something is super important and yet everything you're told about it is wrong. Your doctor will tell you tell you year after year that you're is fine, but then suddenly you have a disease? When they focus on the wrong thing, you waste decades of precious time. Find out why Your Doctor Is Wrong About Insulin Resistance."

See YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BI-rlA6TBQ

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