THREE BULLETS FOR 2-0-1-4

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner. As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it. The rabbit ran away. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree. As he went further, he saw a large wild 'Tom' turkey in the tree, but he had only one bullet remaining. A voice spoke to him and said, 'Pray first, aim high and stay focused.

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill.  He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still, the voice said again to him, 'I said 'Pray, Aim high and Stay focused.'

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice.

He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Moral of the story:

Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God.  Never let others discourage you concerning your past. The past is exactly that, 'the past.'  Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our future and that he will not, put you through any more than  you can bear.

Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors that only He has prepared in advance for you in your favor.

Wait, be still and patient: keep God first and everything else will follow.

Don't worry about tomorrow, God is already there!!!

A Prayer Summons To American Christians! By Sarah Foulkes Moore (1890-1973)

America stands at the crossroads! It is either revival or the dissolving of the church, the home and the
government.
History records that in time of crisis in America in the past, God has moved to avert catastrophe overtaking
His people. In such crises hours, He has found some who would work with Him in bringing new mercies to His
people. In every national crisis in the past God has found some who would stand in the gap and make up the
hedge against the adversary. Upon them God has moved by arousing them to a deep sense of need, which in
turn has moved them to intercede for His intervention.
The world and the Church are in a mighty conflict. The spiritual warfare is intensifying. The powers of
darkness are massing for the last awful struggle. The church has a powerful weapon with which to fight. If she
will but take to her knees she will be victorious.
The need is for godly intercessors in every church and in every American home and community. More than
any other need is that for men and women of prayer and faith who will stand in the gap and stay the frightful
spirits of lawlessness, immorality, infidelity and corruption which are swarming over the land.
"I sought for a man among them, that should stand in the gap before Me, for the land, that I should not
destroy it," declares the Lord to Ezekiel, "but I found none" (Ezekiel 22:30).
This was the pitiful condition in Israel. No one could be found to stand in the gap for the land, hence it was
destroyed. Can it be in this hour of chaos and crisis more dire, that there is no man or woman in your
community or in your church who will stand in the gap? Is there no man or women who, seeing the peril, will
give himself or herself continually to wrestling by prayer against principalities, against the rulers of darkness,
against spiritual wickedness in high places? (Ephesians 6:12).
The greatest need in every church, in every community, and in every home, is for a prayer leadership that will
stir the people of God to prayer. Talking about the conditions, bewailing the need of America for a spiritual
awakening is not enough. The most difficult thing to do is to get men and women to pray. This is not a day
when people readily pray. Few men and women will actually pray. The greatest spiritual need in America is for a
praying leadership who will bring the preachers and the Church back to prayer.
True Prayer Is Warfare!
True prayer means the expenditures of serious devotion of time, heart, and soul that the flesh does not like.
To get under the burden of prayer is too strenuous a labor for our present-day, pleasure-loving, ease-indulging
membership and ministry. Too much hardship is involved. The children of Zion today do not like the "solemn
feast garments" of weeping, mourning and fasting that enables Zion to bring forth.
"Woe," pronounced the prophet, "to them that are at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1).
God help Zion to travail at this crisis end-of-the-age hour! God help us to see the need and necessity of
prayer and God help us to meet conditions! The all-important need is for men and women whose hearts are
right with God to make prayer a supreme passion of the hour--men and women whose supreme labor for God
and country is to cry, "Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen
should rule over them" (Joel 2:17).
Summon The Prayer Forces!
To pray is the greatest thing we can do to save America and avert national chaos and crisis. There are plenty
of preachers and writers who deal eloquently with the need of revival, but not many there are who will at this
catastrophic hour give themselves to the necessity of prayer. There is one chief battle ground in the nation
today, and that is the battleground of prayer. The prayer forces must be summoned. The Church must mobilize
on her knees. Christians everywhere must be put to praying.
Revival comes in answer to the heart cries of God’s people. The most insistent and urgent pleas, the most
fervent exhortations need be sounded forth at this hour to put the saints everywhere to praying.
"Sound an alarm in my holy mountain...for the day of the Lord cometh...Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation, assemble the elders...Let the ministers of the Lord weep...then will the Lord pity His people...And
He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former and the latter rain in the first month, and the floors shall
be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil, and I will restore...I will pour My Spirit on all
flesh...whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved" (Joel 2:1-32).

THE TYPICAL STORY WE HEAR IS........................................

"It's about 2013 years ago, the evening of December 25. Mary rides into Bethlehem on a donkey, urgently needing to deliver her baby. Although it's an emergency, all the innkeepers turn them away. So they deliver baby Jesus in a stable. Then angels sing to the shepherds. Afterwards, they all join three kings with camels in worshipping the quiet, newborn."

The problem is, this story may be almost entirely wrong. The events surrounding the birth have been retold so many times and in so many ways -- in plays, poetry, books and movies -- that most people have a distorted view of the true events. The only accurate record is found in the Holy Bible, God's Word.

                      

                     Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem? Perhaps, but there are various other possibilities. The Bible doesn't say how she got to Bethlehem. It only says that she came with Joseph.

                     Did Mary arrive in Bethlehem the night she gave birth? The Bible does not suggest this. They could have arrived weeks earlier. God's Word simply states, "while they were there [in Bethlehem], the days were accomplished that she should be delivered" (Luke 2:6). Arriving in town well before her due date would make more sense.

                     Did Joseph or Mary talk to any innkeepers? Perhaps, but there is no solid, biblical reason to believe that they did. Although innkeepers play a prominent part in many Christmas plays, no innkeeper is actually mentioned in the biblical record of Christ's birth. Furthermore, it is likely that Mary and Joseph actually stayed in a house with relatives, not behind some kind of Bible-times hotel. (See below)

                     Was Jesus born in a stable? Or a barn? Or a cave? The Bible does not mention any of these three places in connection with Christ's birth, only a manger. Scripture simply reports that they laid Jesus in a manger because there was no room for him in the guest room. The Greek word used in Scripture is kataluma, and can mean guest chamber, lodging place or inn. The only other time this word was used in the New Testament, it means a furnished, large, upper story room within a private house. It is translated guest chamber, not inn (Mark 14:14-15). According to our Bible archaeology experts, Jesus was probably born in the house of relatives, but outside (under) the normal living and guest quarters. (Learn more: Was Jesus born in a stable? / What is a manger? / What is an inn?

                     "Away in a manger the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." Although this is part of a beautiful song, we cannot be sure that Jesus did not cry. The Bible does not report this.

                     Did angels sing to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem? Perhaps, but the Bible doesn't specifically say that the angels sang. It says that first an angel appeared and spoke, and then appeared "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God" (Luke 2:13).

                    

                     Were angels present at the birth? It seems logical to assume that they were, however, Scripture does not report it, and there is no evidence that angels were visible to Mary and Joseph at this time.

                     Did three kings riding camels come to Jesus' birth? The Bible does not say that any kings or camels visited young Jesus.

                     It does report wise men ("magi") came, but it does not say how many. None of the early Church Fathers, suggested the magi were kings. Since the word "magi" used in the Bible is plural, there were apparently at least two, and there could have been more -- even several more. The Bible simply mentions three costly gifts they presented -- gold, frankincenseand myrrh, but this does not necessarily indicate the number of magi. There is also no proof of what country these men came from.

                     Also, the wise men clearly did not visit Jesus when he was still lying in the manger, as is commonly shown on greeting cards and in plays. The magi did not arrive until sometime after Christ's presentation in the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:22-39).

                     At this time, Scripture calls Jesus a "child," not a "baby." It is possible that little Jesus was walking and talking by then. Based on the calculations of King Herod and the magi (Matthew 2:16), Jesus could been two years old or under. [Learn more: About the "wise men" (magi)]

                     Was Jesus born on December 25, or in December at all? Although it's not impossible, it seems unlikely. The Bible does not specify a date or month. One problem with December is that it would be unusual for shepherds to be "abiding in the field" at this cold time of year when fields were unproductive. The normal practice was to keep the flocks in the fields from Spring to Autumn. Also, winter would likely be an especially difficult time for pregnant Mary to travel the long distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem (70 miles).

"A more probable time would be late September, the time of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, when such travel was commonly accepted. Thus, it is rather commonly believed (though not certain) that Jesus' birth was around the last of September. The conception of Christ, however, may have taken place in late December of the previous year. Our Christmas celebration may well be recognized as an honored observation of the incarnation of 'the Word made flesh' (John 1:14).

…The probability is that this mighty angel, leading the heavenly host in their praises, was Michael the archangel; this occasion was later commemorated by the early church as Michaelmas ('Michael sent'), on September 29, the same as the date of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It would have at least been appropriate for Christ to have been born on such a date, for it was at His birth that 'the Word was made flesh and dwelt (literally tabernacled) among us' (John 1:14).

This would mean, then, that His conception took place in late December. Thus, it might well be that when we today celebrate Christ's birth at what we call Christmas (i.e., 'Christ sent'), we are actually celebrating His miraculous conception, the time when the Father sent the Son into the world, in the virgin's womb. This darkest time of the year--the time of the pagan Saturnalia, and the time when the sun (the physical 'light of the world') is at its greatest distance from the Holy Land--would surely be an appropriate time for God to send the spiritual 'light of the world' into the world as the 'Savior, which is Christ the Lord' (Luke 2:11)" [Dr. Henry M. Morris, The Defender's Study Bible (notes for Luke 2:8,13)].