

### 2017 Journal of Ministry Messages

This Year's Collection of Words of Life Shared in My Daily Time Alone with God

By Gerald L. Prater

Copyright 2018 Gerald Prater

Smashwords Edition

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

# Foreword

I want to thank and acknowledge an old Air Force colleague of mine, Rodney Irons, who was the catalyst of getting me to refocus on getting these books finalized in October 2018. He contacted me and asked for access to some of my writings and I realized that my work efforts on the book had become stagnant. So I kicked it into high gear, learned a lot about e-books and general publishing details, and developed a draft. Thank you for giving me the incentive Rodney. God bless you brother.

Thank you to all who have prayed for and encouraged me throughout this journey. There is a special reward waiting for you in heaven.

Most of all, thank You Lord Jesus for all of the ways that You have gone out of Your way to bless me (even through pain) so that I could truly be blessed beyond measure by being able to be a blessing to others. My Lord is the ultimate inspiration and source of this volume and the entire series. That blessing and ultimately You, Lord, are and has always been what sustains me. I humbly surrender at Your feet.

Your servant

# Table of Contents

Foreword

Table of Contents

Introduction

January

1/7/17 – A Stubborn and Rebellious People

1/7/17 – Romans 8:28

1/17/17 – Word of God Speak... Through Your Servants

March

3/4/17 – Just Like You

3/18/17 – Even If – My First View

April

4/13/17 – More on Even If

4/16/17 – The Great I Am

4/27/17 – Birthday

4/29/17 – Unlike Any Other Book

May

5/11/17 – The Day the Lord Has Made

5/12/17 – Who Is My Shield?

5/22/17 – Even If – Behind the Story – My Story

5/31/17 – Glory Awaits

June

6/3/17 – What Do We Do When God Says No?

6/5/17 – Your Latter

6/8/17 – Problems Can Be Good

6/12/17 – Worship In Spirit and In Truth

6/12/17 – The Will of the Father

6/13/17 – Praise As a Way of Life

6/15/17 – Undisputable Evidence

July

7/15/17 – Kicking Against the Pricks

7/17/17 – Just Being Held is Very Personal

7/18/17 – My Testimony

7/18/17 – Even So Come Lord Jesus

7/22/17 – Struggles and the Blame Game

7/26/17 – The Power Within Us

7/27/17 – Anger and Emotion

7/28/17 – Power and Control

7/31/17 – The Blessing of Recognizing Your Need

August

8/1/17 – The Elephant in the Room

8/3/17 – Live Like You Mean It!

8/11/17 – Stephen and An Eternal Perspective

8/12/17 – All of Creation Is Screaming "I Was Designed!"

8/31/17 – Thankful for Problems?

September

9/1/17 – It Is Well...

9/1/17 – Perspective

9/3/17 – Job's Story

9/3/17 – The Reality of the Enemy

9/4/17 – Give Me Ears to Hear

9/5/17 – 'Enough said...

9/7/17 – God's Promises – Words to Live By

9/9/17 – Worship Is About Priorities

9/9/17 – More on Worship

9/11/17 – God's Promises When He Seems Absent

9/13/17 – God's Presence When He Seems Absent

October

10/2/17 – In The Father's Hand

10/5/17 – No Going Back

10/11/17 – Surrender

10/14/17 – Cell Phone vs Bible

10/22/17 – A Prayer for Healing, Comfort, and Encouragement

10/23/17 – Come!

10/26/17 – Lord I Need You!

10/27/17 – Even If

10/30/17 – El Amor para la Gente

November

11/1/17 – The Best/Only Healer

11/2/17 – Mighty To Save

11/3/17 – NOTE: A Study of Revelation

11/15/17 – NOTE: The Real Battle

11/16/17 – Life Transformation Intro

11/16/17 – NOTE: Life Transformation

11/20/17 – Praise Report

11/22/17 – Medical Appointment

11/22/17 – NOTE: Overview of the Bible

11/24/17 – Bible Overview Promo and Background

11/24/17 – Looking Back When My Calling Was Confirmed for Me

11/28/17 – NOTE: What is the Mark of the Beast?

11/28/17 – My Struggles

December

12/4/17 – The Praise of a Servant

12/5/17 – Praise from the Valleys

12/6/17 – We Serve a Jealous God – This is Good for Us

12/8/17 – Grace and Mercy

12/8/17 – Struggles and The Motions

12/11/17 – Darse por Vencido

12/11/17 – NOTE: Priorities

12/15/17 – NOTE: A Study of Jeremiah

12/16/17 – Hopeful Even In Weakness

12/17/17 – Refreshing Hope

12/19/17 – Heart conditions and promises

12/19/17 – Praise for a Good Doctor's Report

12/20/17 – Saving Faith – Faith that Listens

12/26/17 – Hope That Heals

12/29/17 – This is Amazing Grace

12/31/17 – My Publication Update and Psalms 19

References

Alphabetical List of Hyperlinks

About the Author

# Introduction

This volume of my book series contains my journal entries and ministry messages from the year 2017. The year started out with comparatively light message activity because I was spending a lot of time in deep bible study, research and reflection. In particular, I was studying a lot of the Old Testament. Also this year was marked by a lot of struggles for me with my personal health and other life situations. This was the third year since I had started to suffer from occasional seizures and this caused a tremendous amount of emotional stress and pressure on my confidence in several areas. Of these affected areas, one of them included questioning the validity and purpose of my calling into ministry. After I looked back on it after a lot of prayer, the Lord helped me to see and understand the source of it as being spiritual attacks by our enemy in strong attempts to get me to be quiet.

Although the year's journal entries and messages started out very sparse, 2017 ended with a flurry of detailed and in-depth messages and notes outlining a lot of what I had been studying and researching earlier in the year (getting a "big-picture view" of the bible and its message. Don't miss the entries in the last few months of the year that are labeled "NOTE:" These contain many of those detailed explorations and discussions of biblical topics and some of the major books.

When you look through the table of contents, you will see that the book is arranged in chronological order throughout the year. Each daily message is identified by a chapter heading consisting of the date of the message followed by a general title that describes the theme of the message. With that in mind, you can peruse in order by date or search topically through the titles.

My objective with my books and my journal entries over the years is to give you a view into my spiritual journey and show you what the Holy Spirit is and was saying to me through the scriptures. It is very transparent and presented just as it was given to me in the moments. My ultimate objective is always to get you to have an interest or hunger to go and read the bible passages for yourself and see if it says the same to you (always with the help of prayer and the Holy Spirit). Don't just take my word (or anyone's word) for what it says, but read and search for yourselves as well to see if these things are true. Follow the example of the Bereans (Acts chapter 17) when the Apostle Paul taught and preached to them.

As I stated in the forward of my initial volume, this is not a typical book that you might sit and read end to end. When complete, this collection of books will consolidate and chronicle all of my spiritual writing and posts on Face Book since my spiritual journey started in 2007. In this book you will see journal entries at the end of the year in December when some friends first gave me the idea of going back and consolidating all of these messages into a book. Those entries documented the start of this effort and here, one year later, I am finally publishing the first two volumes of the series.

If you would like to see a brief introduction to the author, please don't overlook the Reference section at the end of the book and the "About the Author" page.

More Overview of the Book Series

After beginning this effort to consolidate and edit these writings from the past decade, I determined that it was best to break them up into 1-year books due to the size of the materials. Also, I decided to start with this year (2018) as the first volume and then go backward in the journey with subsequent volumes. My reasoning for this was two-fold:

1) The materials and messages from this year (2018) were very powerful and had a sense of urgency that the spirit showed me should not be put off and given a lower priority in this publishing effort. If done at the end of the series, these points could be lost in the details or overlooked completely.

2) As we are doing in my current study of the Old Testament at the Reveal Resource Center (food bank), I think there is great value and insight into going backward into the story and seeing how it developed while already knowing what was coming. When I started this Old Testament study at the food bank, I termed it "Backing Into the Old Testament" as we began with the last book of Malachi.

# January

## 1/7/17 – A Stubborn and Rebellious People

I was reminded this morning of this note that I posted 7 years ago that is speaking so very clearly to us today as we embark on this new year. It is in our nature to be rebellious and to shake our fists at God. But His grace is more than sufficient for our needs and He loves us in spite of our weaknesses, short comings, and how we respond.

I am particularly touched again by these words in light of a current small-group bible study we are doing on the book of Revelation and how even when judgment comes in the end times, people will have a tendency to remain self-centered, rebellious, and to shake their fists at God. Thank You for Your love for us (Your bride) in spite of ourselves.

Be blessed today. LORD, have Your way!!

GERALD PUBLISHED A NOTE ON MARCH 22, 2010

Lessons the Book of Numbers and the Manna and the Quail

A careful study of the entire book of Numbers, in context with the other books of the first five books of the bible, revealed to me many very interesting insights. These eye-opening insights provide a picture of what God's desire was for the newly liberated nation of Israel. In spite of what God had promised Israel, their own struggles with lack of trust and rebelliousness only served to delay by far the delivery of the promises of God. I write this and share it with you today because, just like the rest of God's word, I think there are many things that we can glean today from Israel's struggles with God, learning from their mistakes and understanding the nature of our Heavenly Father and the great promises and plan He has for us.

Don't miss this point – When God brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt (Exodus), they were only supposed to be in the wilderness for a short time of preparation. Three months after leaving Egypt, God brought them to that place in the wilderness at Sinai where He prepared them to receive their inheritance—the promised land that was flowing with milk and honey. Among these preparations, He gave them His law (Exodus 20) and set up community standards and procedures (Leviticus) to show them how to love and serve Him and each other. It took about 2 years to do this and I like to think of it as His process of sanctifying them. At the conclusion of this process, they were only 3 weeks away from entering the promise land. God told them that He had already given the land to them and that all they had to do was to go and take possession of it.

Note that after God had supernaturally borne them on eagle's wings and brought them out of bondage in Egypt into the wilderness for this process, He also supernaturally provided for all of their needs, feeding them with manna which fell from heaven and providing the whole nation with water from a rock. Even their spiritual needs He provided as He dwelled with them through His tabernacle and gave them His word through Moses. He truly provided for all of their needs and they lacked nothing.

### Rebellion and Doubt

Rejecting God's Provision – While God had brought His people out of Egypt, unfortunately Egypt was still not out of the people (and Egypt represents bondage to sin and the world system). Even though God had sustained them, providing for all of their needs, the people murmured and complained. They remembered what they had in Egypt (the world) and their bodies lusted after the things they used to have like flesh and olives. They accused Moses and God of taking them away from the good life to bring them out into the desert to die. You see, they grew tired of God's provision and viewed it as inadequate. When I think about their reason for thinking this (and how we can fall into it today), it perplexes me. When you think about who the God is that provided for them (how He created them, knew all about them, and knew what their bodies needed), you come to the conclusion that all they had to do was to trust Him and know that He was responsible to provide for them and bring them into that promise land. In the New Testament book of 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul wrote "Godliness with contentment is great gain." For the nation of Israel in the desert of Sinai, this lesson could have helped them avoid a 40-year detour that delayed God's promises for them. In the end of their murmuring for flesh, God gave them what they asked for with quail but He was very displeased with them for their lack of faith in Him and gratitude for what He was doing for them. Although they got the quail, it was in reality a precursor to a punishment for them.

Denying God's Power – As God brought the nation to the plains of Moab just east of the Jordan river, He has already told them to go into the land and take possession of their inheritance (for He had already given it to them). But in Numbers 13, the people didn't trust or believe what God had said and sent 12 spies into the land to survey the land for themselves. Of course, 10 of the 12 spies brought back evil reports that essentially said "we don't believe God." This, in close proximity to the quail incident led to their punishment as follows.

### The Punishment

God's anger with the nation was kindled and He determined that none of that adult generation would ever see the promise land. Instead of taking them across the Jordan right where they were prepared to go, God turned them around and led them on an almost 40-year march through the wilderness while that adult generation died off. To me, one of the primary meanings of the book of Numbers has come to be the chronicle of how 40 years passed while a generation of rebellious, unbelieving and stiff-necked people wandered through the wilderness and died off so that God could take the nation into the promise land. Notice if you will when you read and study the book for yourself how Numbers starts off in chapters 1-4 with a census of the nation in the desert at Sinai and in the latter chapters of the book, there is another census. The second census in Numbers chapter 26 is taken in the plains of Moab 40 years later as God is preparing to take His people into the promise land. Notice how in Numbers 26:64-65, God compares this second census with the first by saying there was not a man present in that second census (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb because they believed God) who had been numbered in the first census in Sinai (that generation had all died in the wilderness).

I believe that in our lives today, there are many examples of where God is still asking us to trust Him and to know that He has a plan to prosper us as He stated through His prophet in Jeremiah 29:11. As you read Numbers and the history of the early years of Israel in the first five books, is there something that you can relate to or learn from their experiences? Are you still trying to hold onto something from Egypt and not being able to see or comprehend the more excellent thing that God has in store for you? David wrote in Psalms 23, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me."

Just as He was always with the Israelites in the desert, God is always with you and me today and He whispers to us saying "trust me my child... you are closer than you know to my promised inheritance... I know this wilderness may be difficult, but I am with you and will sustain you... forget about where I brought you from and dwell on where I am taking you."

Maranatha!!

## 1/7/17 – Romans 8:28

In this moment Heaven (God the Father) is working all things for your good.

## 1/17/17 – Word of God Speak... Through Your Servants

This morning while I was serving at the Reveal Ministries Food Bank, a beloved sister in Christ came up to me and handed me this note that she said was just for me. It had written the following:

"Isaiah 50:4 – The sovereign LORD has given me a well instructed tongue to know the Word that sustains the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed."

This has been ringing in my spirit all day because it spoke in such a very personal way to me (like a reminding word of encouragement saying "Yes my son, I am indeed with you always." It's VERY personal. Have Your way LORD.

And to the person who handed me the note, thank you for being a willing vessel to be used by Him.

# March

## 3/4/17 – Just Like You

This song has been heavy on my spirit since an early morning men's bible study. I had never really listened closely to it, but after I watched the You Tube video and closely listened to the words, and contemplated it, it had me in tears at home this morning. Guys, give a listen. What's at stake is so very important. Man up!

 Just Like You - Lecrae

## 3/18/17 – Even If – My First View

As we were driving home earlier today from Dallas, I heard this song on the radio and it really ministered to me. So much so that when we arrived at home, I went online to research it with the ultimate intention of buying it. I watched the video and read along with the lyrics and almost fell to the floor... In so many ways and on so many levels, this song is my testimony.

If you can spare the 4 minutes and 19 seconds, it is well worth watching (in my humble opinion).

Be blessed!

 Even If - MercyMe

# April

## 4/13/17 – More on Even If

Several weeks ago, I posted the link to this song (see previous post) because it ministered to me so powerfully (every day is not always pain-free). Well, today as I was serving at my kids' elementary school and heard it, it once again ministered to me powerfully... this time on behalf of my beloved wife Lynita. She broke a bone in her wrist a few weeks ago and didn't find out it was broken until a few days ago. She is being treated by doctors but in the mean time is in a pretty good amount of pain and discomfort. As a loved one, I would do anything I can to take that pain away. THAT'S WHEN this song ministered to me today on her behalf. I know that HE can take it away with just a word, but even if He doesn't, our hope is in Him (Jesus, our LORD) alone. There is a divine purpose for all of this... even if we would not have chosen to endure it. Just as it was for Him so long ago this week on that cross when He prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." - Matthew 26:39.

Yes LORD, our hope is in You always. Have Your way as You keep Your loving arms around my precious beloved. It is indeed well with our souls. AMEN.

## 4/16/17 – The Great I Am

This is a very powerful song that brings tears to my eyes on this resurrection Sunday. Passion!! His for me!!

 The Great I Am - New Life Worship

## 4/27/17 – Birthday

I woke up early this morning praising the LORD for this special day. For it was on this day 10 years ago (April 27, 2007) that the LORD got my attention with that brain tumor diagnosis in a real way that changed my life forever. From that day forward I have taken Him seriously everyday. If you have never read the story of this awakening and miracle, it is still available at Gerald Medical Miracle. Glory to God forever!!

## 4/29/17 – Unlike Any Other Book

Hebrews 4:12 says:

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

This is such a powerful and true word that has been ministering to me in a profound way today. I have found myself wanting to get offended, to get angry, to feel neglected and to wonder "why is all of this happening to me?"

In the middle of it, God's Holy Spirit gently whispered a familiar word to me... "Count it all joy." I went and looked it up and read all of James chapter 1 and on so many levels it spoke to me RIGHT WHERE I WAS. It reminded me that I should indeed be quick to listen and slow to speak and become angry. God is ALWAYS in control. And it's not enough to be a hearer of what He says, but to be a DOER. This is what grows us everyday in our faith and allows God to boast in us. So that when the enemy comes to tempt us (as he did with Job in chapter 1), the LORD is using those situations to demonstrate and prove something to the enemy and to us (His strong soldiers).

He is always in control. This has been ministering in a powerful way in my spirit all day today. Yes LORD, have Your way!! In me, to me, and through me.

# May

## 5/11/17 – The Day the Lord Has Made

I woke up this morning with praise and excitement. "This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalms 118:24

Yes LORD, have Your way!!

## 5/12/17 – Who Is My Shield?

"The Lord is my light and the One Who saves me. Whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom should I be afraid? 2 When sinful men, and all who hated me, came against me to destroy my flesh, they tripped and fell. 3 Even if an army gathers against me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if war rises against me, I will be sure of You." - Psalm 27:1-3

No matter what situation, circumstance, or enemy comes up against me, I will not be afraid... because YOU are always with me. Speak LORD, your servant is listening.

 Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] - Chris Tomlin

## 5/22/17 – Even If – Behind the Story – My Story

I posted this tonight because I can so very much relate to what Bart is saying here and as well as to what he is singing in this powerful song. YES LORD, HAVE YOUR WAY!!

 Detailed story behind the song Even If - MercyMe

 Even If - MercyMe in Amarillo, TX

## 5/31/17 – Glory Awaits

This song speaks to me on a deeply spiritual and emotional level. I love it when it comes up in our worship mix. Notice the words.

 Glory Awaits - Sovereign Grace Music

# June

## 6/3/17 – What Do We Do When God Says No?

This is a powerful word that has been ministering to my spirit from my prayer and devotional time this week and again in the early hours of this morning. Out of His immense love for me (all of His children), sometimes God says no. Hope, trust in, wait on... all mean the same thing. Have Your way LORD.

From the biblical psalmist:

"18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,  
On those who hope in His mercy,  
19 To deliver their soul from death,  
And to keep them alive in famine.  
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;  
He is our help and our shield.  
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,  
Because we have trusted in His holy name.  
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,  
Just as we hope in You." - Psalms 33:18-22

"3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;  
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.  
4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,  
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.  
5 For His anger is but for a moment,  
His favor is for life;  
Weeping may endure for a night,  
But joy comes in the morning." - Psalms 30:3-5

From a modern psalmist:  
"I know You're able, and I know You can save through the fire with Your mighty hand. But even if you don't, my hope's in You alone.  
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt would all go away if You just said the word. But even if You don't, my hope's in You alone." \- Mercy Me

## 6/5/17 – Your Latter

Yes LORD, I declare it this morning! This was my early morning worship and had me in tears by the end. A song I had never heard before. The end is worth the wait (trust me)

 Your Latter Will Be Greater - Israel & New Breed

## 6/8/17 – Problems Can Be Good

Looking back on the events from the last week or so, this is the word that the Spirit of the LORD placed so heavily on my spirit this morning. It's from James 1:2 where he says

"Count it all joy when you enter into diverse temptations..."

It shows that it is evidence that one is having an impact on the spiritual war and taking ground from the enemy. LORD, BE MY STRENGTH today in such a way that the enemy's response is "Oh crap, he's awake again!!"

This song of worship has been so heavy in my spirit of worship all week this week. It is in both English and Spanish. Enjoy and God bless.

 Señor Eres Fiel - Marcos Barrientos

## 6/12/17 – Worship In Spirit and In Truth

This is a powerful word of the LORD and reminder from our devotional time this morning from Psalms 22:25-26 about how we are to praise and worship.

"25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;  
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.  
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;  
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.  
Let your heart live forever!"

This reminded me once again of this song that has been so strong on my spirit. Notice the words. For my Spanish speaking friends "Señor eres fiel y tu misericordia eterna!" - see below.

 You Are Good (The Original) - Israel & New Breed

## 6/12/17 – The Will of the Father

So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:17-21

## 6/13/17 – Praise As a Way of Life

I will bless the Lord at all times today. His praises shall continually be in my mouth. They will also be in my actions and the way I respond to the stresses and temptations of the enemy. This is my sincere desire but I can not do it without You. Have Your way Holy Spirit!!

## 6/15/17 – Undisputable Evidence

Family, friends, brothers and sisters, please take time sometime in the very near future to watch this video. It is based on a true story about the life of Lee Strobel, a former devout atheist who shows here how God showed him with undisputable historical evidence that Jesus is in fact God, died on the cross, and rose again 3 days later (just like He did with Saul of Tarsus). I just sat here and watched it after a brief Google search based on a Starbucks meeting and discussion I had with a dear friend just this morning (thank you Jeff). As I watched it, it brought me to tears because it explains so much to me about recent struggles I have been dealing with. God is in fact real and so is the enemy and his attacks on those who are impacting his territory (James 1:2). The video is 46 minutes long but well worth every minute. Thank you to all of the brothers who have prayed for me over the past several days.

Yes I believe in the cross and the resurrected Jesus. God bless.

When I look back at the evidence of what God has done in, to, through, and for me and my family over these past 10 years since this brain tumor was found, the evidence is undeniable.

 The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel

# July

## 7/15/17 – Kicking Against the Pricks

This is the third night in a row that I have been up late and into the early morning hours praying and talking to my Father in heaven. I woke up this morning with a heart to share with you some of what we discussed last night (some not all, because I could really write a book).

He showed me how in Acts 9:5 when Saul was on the road to Damascus, the Lord told him "it was hard for him to kick against the pricks". During my prayer, He showed me that we all have a season of kicking against the pricks. He showed me how in the well-known passage Romans 1:20, this same guy (now Paul) tells the Roman people that from the beginning of time, even though He is invisible to the natural eye, He has made it obvious through what He has displayed in creation that He is here. But because of our sinful nature and our desire to do what we want to do and not submit to Him, we ignore what is obvious. Just as Saul did on the road to Damascus, we all need something to happen so that God "gets our attention" to see what deep down inside we already know. Notice how in Romans 1:20, when the shining light appeared and the crucified Jesus spoke to Saul, he instantly knew right away it was the Lord and humbled himself.

He showed me how for the first 46 years of my life I refused to see what was obviously being shown to me. Even though I was in church and saying all of the right things, deep down inside I was still just doing what I wanted to do (arrogance that originated in Genesis 3) and saying what I wanted to say. Once He got my attention on that day in 2007 (April 27th), everything changed and I took Him seriously. Was I instantly perfect? Not at all. Am I perfect today? No way. But I am growing day by day. I am still growing until that day when I stand before Him in my glorified body when I will be just like Him.

Here is more on paying attention. There have been some recent events in my life that have made it crystal clear to me that I am here for a purpose that has nothing to do with my previous life. Looking back at the evidence of what He has shown me, I now know that I am here for ministry and helping to get others attention to also have eyes to see what God's Spirit and creation is making obvious to them as well.

Finally, we talked about my recent hiatus from Face Book. To be honest and transparent with you, I took a few weeks off of Face Book because I felt that people (including many who are the closest to me) were not taking my posts seriously and not responding. He showed me that it didn't matter if anyone responded, commented, or liked what I wrote. That when I thought like that I was making this ministry He has given me about me. He showed me to just write what He leads me to write and He will do the rest in people will see it even if they don't respond. And in the intermittent time while I was off, He did some recent big things that further showed me that He is hear very close and that this has been my purpose from the beginning (when I was born) even though I essentially ignored Him for those first 46 years.

This essentially was part of my discussion with my Father through most of the night last night. There is more (I told you I could write a book).

To God be the glory!!!!!

## 7/17/17 – Just Being Held is Very Personal

Last weekend as I was sitting on the couch practicing singing this song with my 7-year-old daughter sitting next to me, she tapped me on my arm and asked me "daddy, why are you crying?" Then I realized it was because this song is so personal to me. It truly tells my story in Christ in a way that is very accurate. Note the lyrics closely.

Just Be Held - Casting Crowns

## 7/18/17 – My Testimony

I mentioned in my post this past Saturday that I could write a book and that there was much more about my late night prayer/discussion session with the Lord. Well here is the next best thing. This past weekend while we were up in the Dallas area for a family reunion for Lynita's family, Pastor Billy Grate from our former South Dallas area church asked me to come and speak to his church for the Sunday service giving them an updated presentation of my testimony. This video is the result and is an expanded version of what I described in that post this past Saturday with an up-to-the minute statement of what God has been showing me and doing in and through me.

One point of correction: when I mention my eye exam in Little Elm, TX with my eye doctor (Bert Bubela), when he dilated my pupils and examined me, he was concerned and consulted with one of his colleagues who was very knowledgeable about this area and he told Bert that this was serious and that I needed to go to the nearest emergency room ASAP. When I went there, they examined me and sent me down to Parkland/UT Southwestern where they prepared to perform surgery. Hey, it has been 10 years and my memory is starting to slip on these details. The whole story in detail as documented by my professional journalist sister Connie Prater) is still on my website at <http://www.geraldmedicalmiracle.com/> but this video is a quicker way to get the highlights and the latest updates of this story. God bless and glory to God forever!! My opening scripture reading and prayer didn't get captured on the video but in it I said that I will use the words "I" and "me" a lot in this testimony but it is ultimately all about Him and what He is doing. "This is my story..."

Gerald's Testimony

## 7/18/17 – Even So Come Lord Jesus

This morning in my English/Spanish bible study at the Reveal Resource Center, we studied Mark 10:46-52 and the story of blind Bartimeus (a beggar) who when he heard that Jesus was coming, could stop crying out loudly to Him to come and have mercy on him. In preparing for this lesson and all morning after it, this song has been ringing in my spirit. I was singing it under my voice at my position between serving clients. This should be our cry today... "Even so come, Lord Jesus come!!"

 Even So Come - Passion

## 7/22/17 – Struggles and the Blame Game

Brothers and sisters, this has been another all-nighter of struggle with my flesh and what I know what the will of God is in my life. This struggle with the flesh is something that I easily recognize as an attack by the enemy. Early this morning before dawn, I received at text from two men which is not typical at that time. In fact if I had not been awake, I would not have seen them (my phone is set to not ring or notify me at all during late night hours). I asked them both to pray for me.

This morning as I woke up for breakfast, the Lord reminded me of a well-known scripture from the first 3 chapters of Genesis and a sermon I heard about it years ago. In the first two chapters, God created everything and put man in charge of the garden and then gave him a helper so that he wouldn't be alone. God said it was good (He loved us, we loved Him, and we loved each other). Then in chapter 3, the wheels fell off when the serpent entered the scene. He deceived the woman into not trusting God and she got the man (her husband) to eat of the fruit from that one forbidden tree. This is where the wheels really fall off.

When God asked the man what he had done, he cast blame on others. He said it was the fault of the woman that God had given him. Essentially saying this was the woman's fault and also God's fault... casting blame on everyone but himself. When the serpent tempted Eve with the story about God was holding out on them, where was Adam? He was standing there in the garden being passive (a flaw that still pervades in many of us today). If Adam was the half leader that God placed him in that garden to be, when that snake started to talk to his wife, he would have recognized who he was and what was happening and immediately picked up his hoe and cut that snake's head off.

God has given us men that authority and spiritual leadership to not be passive even today. Now if you will excuse me, I have a spiritual snake (not my wife) to deal with.

Amen.

## 7/26/17 – The Power Within Us

This was a powerful word this morning for all of God's children. It is a reminder that sickness and death only entered into the world AFTER the fall in Genesis 3. But Jesus died and rose again 3 days later to give us New Life. When we fully understand this it should make us want to shout regardless of whatever we are going through. The same Power that conquered the grave lives in me! Think about it!! Sickness and death have no power over us. Now unto Him who is able to keep us be all glory and power forever... (Jude 24). There is still more to come. I have to get my family to Disney World but I am about to explode about this!!

## 7/27/17 – Anger and Emotion

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."

Proverbs 29:11

## 7/28/17 – Power and Control

This is the continuation of the message that I started this past Wednesday morning, July 26th... the word that I was so excited about. By the time we returned to the hotel, I was very discouraged and didn't feel qualified in any way to speak about revelation of the word of God. Brad Jackson, your comment about grace and patience was prophetic. You see, at the end of the day, I blew up in anger at my wife Lynita (almost out of nowhere). I later apologized but went home feeling defeated and in no way qualified to represent to anyone the word of God.

Then the excitement slowly returned as I reflected back on the words that the Lord had spoken to me during my prayer time and others around me. Here is the Summary.

Jude 24 - "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling..." read it yourself. The fight that we are in has already been won. The fact that we are still in a fight is evidence that we are a threat to the enemy. Glory to God because we need Him every hour of every day.

1 Peter 4:12-13 - "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you..." Do not be surprised when temptations come that you know are not of God. But rejoice because you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. In the end, these attacks only serve to draw you closer to the Lord. What the enemy is intending for evil, God is turning around for good.

Acts 1:8 and Acts 8:1 - In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells His disciples they will receive power and will be sent to be His witnesses in both Jerusalem, and in all of Judea, and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Then in Acts 8:1 that's exactly where they were scattered as a result of Saul's persecution. Once again reassurance that God is on the throne and working all of this for good according to His plan for those who love Him.

Romans 7:13-25 - This revelation and understanding got me excited today during our drive returning to Texas. READ IT!!! It talks about the apostle Paul and the struggle he had with his flesh. The good he knew he should do he didn't always do. And the evil he knew he shouldn't do he sometimes did (a daily struggle). Yes Lord, give me revelation. Now make no mistake... this by no means gives God's people an excuse to do evil (whatever they want), but it does explain why we often have this struggle when we know (according to God's word and the leading of the Holy Spirit) what we should do.

This evening it also occurred to me that this may have been what Paul was referring to when he said he had been given a thorn in his flesh to buffet him so that he didn't become conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God's response after Paul prayed 3 times to have it removed? My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. (think about this... we need to depend on His grace and His power in this struggle).

Remember that the fight we're in has already been won. Arise! Keep your eyes on the cross, not the enemy and his storms.

In the end, I am going to bed tonight with renewed excitement and confidence determined to not shut up as much as the enemy would like me to. With every passing day I know that this is why I am here.

God bless you all and thank you for your prayers.

 Arise - Hillsong United

## 7/31/17 – The Blessing of Recognizing Your Need

"from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

Psalm 61:2

This is a prayer of a desperate soul who needs Him every hour of every day. Humble submission is the key. He who has ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Not my will but Your will be done in me, to me, and through me... Amen.

# August

## 8/1/17 – The Elephant in the Room

This is a summary of a word that the Lord ministered to my spirit yesterday afternoon as I was doing some work in my back yard. The central theme is called the Elephant in the Room and it is a description of the contrast between the lives and responses of people who have been saved and born again through the blood of Jesus and those who have not. It describes how the Spirit of the Lord helps us to love each other when we can not do it on our own.

The basic premise is that once we have been born again, we become a work in progress being changed from the inside out. We are by no means perfect (none of us) and still have a sinful nature. Based on what we know from a steady spiritual diet of the Word of God, we know in our minds what it says we should do, but our hearts don't always do that. We have a sinful nature that is ingrained into our flesh. The bible describes this when it says about man that there is none righteous, not one and that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The difference for those who are born again and the Holy Spirit (the helper) comes to dwell inside of them is that when (not if) they sin, they feel convicted by the Spirit of God as He reminds them of what they know about the Word of God and there appears an ELEPHANT in the room with them that can not possibly be missed. This ELEPHANT causes them to drop to their knees in sincere repentance asking for forgiveness and help from the Lord to not do this anymore. For the person who has not been reborn, there is no elephant and therefore no regret or repentance. They go forward thinking they were right in what they did no matter who it hurt. They can only see their position and can therefore not love the way God calls us to love.

In the end, the difference is 18 inches, from the head to the heart.

Selah

 Head to the Heart - United Pursuit

## 8/3/17 – Live Like You Mean It!

I woke up early this morning with this old (8 years ago) song on my heart. If we truly understand the gift we have been given, there should be an excitement in us that we can't control to share it with others around us (selah).

This is a very up-beat, loud and exciting song that is best listened to on an in-room stereo system. But if all you have available is those ear buds, crank it up!!

 Live Out Loud - Steven Curtis Chapman

## 8/11/17 – Stephen and An Eternal Perspective

I had great moments of revelation late last night and early this morning as I studied, meditated, and prayed on Acts 6 and 7 and the story of Stephen. Several key points jumped out to me that spoke to where we are today...

1) Stephen was an important part of the plan. All of God's children are important and play an integral part in the Body of Christ. Stephen was one of several who the 12 disciples chose by lot to take care of food and other needs because they wanted to focus their efforts on prayer and preaching the word (they didn't have time to worry about such trivial matters). But Stephen was said to be a man of prayer who was filled with (in connection with and submitted to) the Holy Spirit and who did signs and wonders as well. Even though he wasn't "out front" so to speak, he played a key part in the overall Acts of the Apostles. Friends, as parts of the Body of Christ, we all play an integral role in carrying out the plan of God here on earth. Whether it be waiting on tables, taking out the trash, or whatever, when done for the Lord and in submission to the Holy Spirit, IT IS ALL IMPORTANT.

2) Stephen was a man of prayer with a steady diet of the Word of God who was always ready to give an account for the hope that lied within him. When falsely accused and brought before the council of elders, he was able to walk them through what the Word said about the history of God's people from the days of Abraham all the way to the current days of this council, showing how the Old Testament was Jesus concealed and the recent events were Jesus revealed. He explained how most of God's people had always been hard-hearted and refused to see or listen to what He was saying so clearly through His prophets about His plan for deliverance. Because he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and was able to rightly divide the word of truth, the table waiter Stephen was able to see and understand what the Jewish leaders refused to see or comprehend. Knowledge is available and God has always been making it obvious to us all.

3) Stephen had an eternal perspective. At the end before he was martyred, Stephen looked up into heaven and was able to see Jesus sitting in the place of honor at the right hand of God. When he said this, his accusers covered their ears, accused him of blasphemy, and had him stoned. Even in the middle of this, Stephen was able to keep an eternal perspective on things, knowing that just as it was with Jesus' death; this was not the end for him and was all part of God's plan. That's why he was able to pray for his killers (as Jesus did) asking God to forgive them (for they knew not what they were doing or to whom they were doing it).

I woke up this morning thinking that Stephen was also an excellent example for us to follow on so many levels. This is particularly true today in these times. We (believers of Christ) should have an eternal perspective which should drive us to want to help others to see it no matter what the cost. Also, just as Stephen did, we should always be ready to give an account, rightly dividing the word of truth and pointing out what it says about what has happened and how it points to where we are today in these times. It is so very important for all of us (from the least to the greatest).

God bless.

Even so come Lord Jesus, come!!

 Fix My Eyes - for King & Country

## 8/12/17 – All of Creation Is Screaming "I Was Designed!"

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge." - Psalms 19:1-2

Just coincidence... Uh, yeah, right. Thanks brother Mike for sharing.

DIVINE HANDPRINT Video from CBN News

## 8/31/17 – Thankful for Problems?

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

# September

## 9/1/17 – It Is Well...

I was up early this morning giving thanks to the One on the throne... with this verse was ringing in my spirit. It shouts at me from the King James version!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalms 23

Thank you all for your prayers and love. I can sing this morning another psalm... "It is well..."

## 9/1/17 – Perspective

I'd like to share this postcard that I created this week during a therapy session while I was in the hospital... It's very personal.

## 9/3/17 – Job's Story

Tonight I was pondering the deep words of Job in response to the council of his friend Bildad in Job 19:17-29. Such pain from his perspective but little did he know that the LORD was telling a powerful story through his suffering. I know my redeemer lives!! The fear of the LORD is true wisdom.

17 My breath is offensive to my wife;  
I am loathsome to my own family.  
18 Even the little boys scorn me;  
when I appear, they ridicule me.  
19 All my intimate friends detest me;  
those I love have turned against me.  
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;  
I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.  
21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,  
for the hand of God has struck me.  
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?  
Will you never get enough of my flesh?  
23 "Oh, that my words were recorded,  
that they were written on a scroll,  
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,  
or engraved in rock forever!  
25 I know that my redeemer lives,  
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.  
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,  
yet in my flesh I will see God;  
27 I myself will see him  
with my own eyes—I, and not another.  
How my heart yearns within me!  
28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him,  
since the root of the trouble lies in him,'  
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;  
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,  
and then you will know that there is judgment.

## 9/3/17 – The Reality of the Enemy

Yes, it is important for us all to know that the enemy is indeed real and walking about seeking whom to destroy. But we (the children of the most high God) are here to proclaim life. The enemy is indeed real but our God is greater and I want to LIVE OUT LOUD so that the whole world will hear. Thanks Connie.

A disciple of Christ.

## 9/4/17 – Give Me Ears to Hear

I was up early this morning and received this word during my personal devotional...

"16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Avoid Worldly Wisdom

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; 20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

We often pray asking the Lord to speak to us. But the truth is that He is speaking all the time but we simply choose not to listen.

My prayer this morning for all of us is "Lord give us eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches... so that we may become wise (not as the world sees wisdom)."

Have Your way. Selah

## 9/5/17 – 'Enough said...

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

## 9/7/17 – God's Promises – Words to Live By

I am now getting settled back in at home after a day-trip up to Dallas to see my neurologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Here is the update on my medical condition with the seizures.

1) They are going to keep me on my currently reduced dosage of anti-seizure medication and continue to monitor me over the next 3 months. They have reduced it significantly over the past 2 weeks and want to monitor it to see if the seizures return.

2) They want to examine my next MRI scan in December to see how things look inside my brain to determine if further brain surgery is plausible specifically to address the seizures.

3) Unless some type of additional corrective surgery is successfully done to repair the brain damage that is causing the seizures, I will have to be on seizure medication for the rest of my life (diagnosed with epilepsy).

4) I still can't drive for at least the next 3 additional months while they evaluate the effectiveness of the new dosage of medication. :(

In light of all of this, you might think that I would be a little down tonight. I was very much looking to be able to drive again and to get completely off of this medication. But in spite of it all, I remain encouraged as my Father's plan for me continues to unfold. I listened to this song early this morning before we left and again this evening during the drive back. It powerfully expresses what I feel in my spirit right now.

Thank you all for your prayers. God bless.

 Your Promises - Elevation Worship

## 9/9/17 – Worship Is About Priorities

I was up very early this morning doing what we were created to do... praising God because we were all created to worship. I know I was.

I was awoken in the middle of my sleep and reminded of a sermon I heard many, many years ago about putting first things first. Whatever we put first in our lives is what we worship by definition. If that thing is not God in heaven, it is idolatry.

Moses taught the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 what Jesus later called the greatest commandment - "That you should love the LORD your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. God should be the number one priority in our lives.

I was recently accused by seemingly well-intended and well-educated people of being too fixated on the bible and religion.

Well, if that is the case, I thankfully take that as a badge of honor that is recognized by other neutral persons who carefully observe and examine my life.

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I WAS MADE TO DO!! I COUNT IT ALL JOY!! To ask me to do otherwise would be like asking me not to breathe.

This is my old-school praise (I told you He woke me up and showed me things from many, many years ago).

 For Every Mountain - Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

## 9/9/17 – More on Worship

Hey, I'm sorry for be lingering the point but I was created to worship.

That worship song that I posted early this morning continues to resound so strongly in my spirit. It is so very personal for me and brings me to tears. If you haven't watched it or don't get all of the words, here they are. Have Your way LORD.

For Every Mountain

"I've got so much to thank God for...  
So many wonderful blessings, and so many open doors...  
A brand new mercy along with each new day...  
That's why I praise You, and for this I give You Praise!!

For waking me up this morning (that's why I praise You)...  
For sending me on my way (that's why I praise You)...  
For letting me see the sunshine (that's why I praise You)...  
of a brand new day (ooh, that's why I praise You)...  
For brand new mercies (that's why I praise You)...  
along with each new day (that's why I praise You).

FOR THIS I GIVE YOU PRAISE!!

You're Jehovah Jireh (that's why I praise You)...  
You've been my provider (that's why I praise You)...  
So many times You've met my needs (that's why I praise You)...  
So many times You've rescued me (ooh, that's why I praise You)...  
I want to thank You Father when I sing (that's why I praise You)...  
You give to me each day (that's why I praise You)!

FOR THIS I GIVE YOU PRAISE!!

For every mountain You've brought me over...  
For every trial You've seen me through...  
For every blessing, hallelujah!!

FOR THIS I GIVE YOU PRAISE!!!!!!" (with emotion)

## 9/11/17 – God's Promises When He Seems Absent

The message for today is about God's promises. When He seems absent and far away from His people, does it mean that He has abandoned His promises? Even in the middle of our brokenness, rebellion, and hard-hardheartedness?

No!!

God can and does work in the mess that His children creates (have always created) due to our heart conditions. He uses the faith of even broken people to accomplish His purpose and carry out His plan of redemption (ultimate healing... a new and flawless heart).

His plan for you and I (His children) has always been perfect even when we don't understand or aren't aware of what He is doing.

If you don't understand, are curious, or are unsure about the importance of His adoption, please reach out. Redemption draws near.

## 9/13/17 – God's Presence When He Seems Absent

I woke up today once again encouraged and excited with a word to share from my personal study time this week. Earlier this week the word was about God's promises. Today, it is about His providence (or constant presence). These words shouted at me as I closely studied and contemplated three of God's old-testament books, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Esther.

I take encouragement from Job because in the beginning of the book, God starts off bragging about how Job is among His best servants, and to prove it, He allows Satan to severely afflict him (you know the story). Job insists that he has done nothing wrong but his well-meaning friends insist that he must have sinned to bring all of this "punishment" upon him. Eventually Job gives up on life and wishes he had never been born. He demands that God explain to him why this had all happened. What was God's response to Job? He told Job that he was not able to begin to understand the great complexities of the universe and God's creation and how God is precisely managing ALL OF IT according His plan. That Job should just trust Him and believe that God knows what He is doing. In the end, Job repented for ever questioning God and was elevated and restored (his latter was much greater than his past). This is a beautiful picture of encouragement for all of us (I know it is for me). Our Father knows what He is doing.

The book of Ecclesiastes has a recurring theme or phrase that says "life is meaningless." On closer examination, the book's use of this phrase does not mean what we think it does on the surface. The real understanding of this phrase is that life is "incomprehensible" by us. This is true especially when we try to make sense of it apart from God. "Remember Job and God's rebuke of him at the end of the book... you can not even begin to understand all of the intricacies of life and how God is working through it all. The book explains that once again, we should just relax, have faith, and trust that God is indeed on His throne and working ALL of this mess out even when we don't understand it or would never choose to have it happen. I am a living witness of this my beloved brothers and sisters as this has been a significant part of my testimony over the years up to and including the past few weeks. Take heart!!

Finally in today's teaching, I studied the book of Esther and once again found this same recurring theme and encouragement. It is the story of Mordecai the Jew and his cousin Esther who is elevated to be queen of Persia and as a result is able to save her cousin Mordecai along with all of the Jews in Persia from death. The book is full of quote-unquote "coincidences" as the ironic story develops. One very important thing to note about the book of Esther is that although it's in the bible, God is not once mentioned anywhere in this book. Yet His hand at work can been seen so clearly throughout ALL OF IT in these so called "coincidences" that take place (it's only 9 chapters, read it yourself and you'll see). For example, it just so happened that the king of Persia decides to get rid of his beautiful wife (queen Vashti) and finds and falls for young Esther to be his new queen. Mordecai just happens to hear two palace guards plotting to kill the king so he tells Esther and she tells the king whose life is saved. Later, after Haman (the enemy of the Jews) wants to kill Mordecai and all of the Jews, the king couldn't sleep that night and has some read the royal scrolls to him where he was reminded of what Mordecai did to save the king's life. In the end there are so many ironic twists and "coincidences" that drive this story to be a beautiful picture of God saving His people by using HIS people from behind the scenes when He is not even mentioned. But later after a close examination, we can see that He has been there and so very close all along the way.

This again gives me great hope today and excitement to see a new day, with new opportunities to see His hand at work in and through me and through those He has placed around me (each of you).

Be blessed today my beloved brothers and sisters. Trust and know that our Father is on His throne and as Paul said in the book of Romans "is working all of this for good."

We need each other.

 I Surrender - Hillsong Live

# October

## 10/2/17 – In The Father's Hand

This is understanding... that I can't do this alone or keep myself. Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving kindness as a flood.

Based on what You have already done Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your restoring power faithfully at work even today. Even so come.

## 10/5/17 – No Going Back

I woke up this morning with the words that Peter said to Jesus in John 6:68. After difficulties had come in many of his followers had left him, Jesus asked his disciples will you also leave me. But Peter answered "where shall we go?"

In Matthew 19:27 this same Peter says "we have forsaken all and followed You. What else do we have?"

There is no going back.

Yes Lord where shall we go? You have the words to eternal life. Let your will be done with power in each of our lives today. Amen.

 Never Going Back - United Pursuit

## 10/11/17 – Surrender

I am up late tonight with these worship lyrics resounding in my spirit with excitement (I'm NOT a late-night person):

"Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathe within... Lord have Your way, Lord have Your way in me!!!

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul... Lord have Your way, Lord have Your way in me!!!!!

I surrender... I want to know you more."

Hey, it's one of my favorite worship songs today.

 I Surrender - Hillsong Live

## 10/14/17 – Cell Phone vs Bible

I shared the following note that one of my old friends found and posted 8 years prior. What was my response after reading it? Hmmmmm.

UNKNOWN AUTHOR POSTED THIS NOTE ON OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cell phone vs Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing...  
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities?' And no dropped calls!

## 10/22/17 – A Prayer for Healing, Comfort, and Encouragement

Beloved brothers and sisters, I have a very special prayer request for you today. One of my uncles in Miami Florida (Sammy-Lee Prater, the youngest of my aunts and uncles) was diagnosed this past week with several tumors in his body, including at least two in his brain. He has already started going through radiation treatments to halt their progress. I can so relate to what he is going through and he has been so heavy on my heart and in my prayers these past few days. When I was a kid, my extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins was so very close in Miami.

Yesterday in my personal prayer time, the Lord put it on my spirit to not just pray for him in my quiet time, but to also reach out to him and pray with him and over him. This morning I sent him a message asking him if I could call and pray with him. He immediately responded ABSOLUTELY, anytime!! I am going to be calling him this morning at 11:30 AM central standard time and ask for your prayers of support, encouragement, and discernment to pray with boldness in the Father's will. Use me as Your instrument Lord to share Your good news of love and ultimate healing as only You can do. Give Your servant the words to say oh Lord.

For a LONG time, this has been a worship song that has ministered to me on a deep level. It has a story behind it of very deep brokenness that goes way beyond physical illness. But even in that brokenness, God's healing power is at work so vividly all around us. Be blessed today my beloved.

 Healer - Hillsong Worship

## 10/23/17 – Come!

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. Let him who heareth say, Come. And let him who is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.

Even so come Lord Jesus.

From the last few phrases of John's revelation.

I was up at 4:30 this morning for another end-to-end reading of Revelation. Speak Lord...

## 10/26/17 – Lord I Need You!

I woke up this morning with a strong reminder of how desperately I need His love. Indeed Lord, all I want is more of You!!

You reminded me how in Philippians 4:13 You said through Paul that "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Also, You taught us in John 15:5 that You are the vine and apart from you, we can do nothing. I also saw how apart from You, there is no telling what I could do (there is no limit to the depth of depravity to which I can fall or the amount of irreparable harm I can inflict on others). So with all of this in mind, I know that all I want is more of You Lord!!

## 10/27/17 – Even If

Those of you who know me closest know why I am sitting here right now on this Friday afternoon in tears. Once again a very timely word through a worship song that He put into my ears to get my attention and whisper "I know what I'm doing son." I need a tissue.

Have a blessed weekend.

 Even If - Kutless

## 10/30/17 – El Amor para la Gente

Esto es un mensaje especial y personal para mis amigos latinos. No tengo entrenamiento formal en ministerio pero ya tengo por poco 10 años trabajando en el todo el tiempo como un pastor profesional (sin salario o posición formal). Esta mañana cuando estaba meditando, El Señor me enseñó este mensaje muy, pero muy significante para el ministerio...

A la gente, no les importa lo que sabes de las cosas de la Biblia hasta que ellos SEPAN que a ti te importa la bien estar de ellos.

Contemplando nuestra historia como una iglesia y como una gente, considero este mensaje muy profundo para mi mientras estar navegando la vida hoy día. Dios les bendiga.

# November

## 11/1/17 – The Best/Only Healer

I am feeling truly blessed and praising God this afternoon. I wasn't going to mention this but today during lunch He nudged me and said tell it. For pretty much the past week solid I have been suffering from a constant nasal drip (day and night). When it first started, I assumed it was because of the changing weather or maybe something in the air (although I have never suffered with allergies). It was a clear fluid that no matter how much I blew my nose would come back within a minute or two. It was very annoying but I just got used to always having a tissue or towel near by. Those of you who have been following my medical case for the last decade might remember a few years ago when I developed a brain fluid leak (CSF) because of some of the scarring from the tumor surgeries. By the beginning of this week I was about 90 percent convinced that what had been happening was another CSF leak and that I would have to contact my neurosurgeons in Dallas again for corrective action. As I went to bed Monday night, I was thinking how was I going to be able to make it through facilitating a Spanish bible study Tuesday morning at a local food bank ministry where I volunteer. I was prepared to present a great study lesson about Jesus' suffering in the garden of Gethsemane from Mark 14 but couldn't imagine doing it and having to stop every minute or so to blow my nose. Well, behold the power of God in heaven and join me in praising. Tuesday morning I woke up early, joined my daily prayer call, got dressed, was picked up and taken to the food bank, conducted the bible study, served clients until the afternoon, and NEVER HAD A DROP FALL FROM MY NOSE!!! In fact, today (Wednesday) at lunch, I realized there has still been no drainage in going on two days. Praise the Lord!!

Before you begin to worry about my health, I am going back up to see my doctors in a couple of weeks and will have another MRI scan to look inside next month. So they will be able to do their thorough yearly evaluation. But as I reflect back on this past week, I rejoice because I can clearly see that I am in the hands of the best healer there is. Yes Lord, You are my Healer and I will glorify you with every breath.

Be blessed today.

## 11/2/17 – Mighty To Save

From our early morning devotional this morning, Zephaniah 3:17 - "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

Yes He is and yes He does!!

 Mighty To Save - Hillsong United

## 11/3/17 – NOTE: A Study of Revelation

GERALD PRATER PUBLISHED A NOTE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3 2017

### Introduction

This note is a compilation of several messages that I posted throughout the month of October 2017. The study and writing of this message was a month-long work of passion for me. The dates when I studied each portion are included in the sections of the narrative. In these messages I chronicled my in-depth study through the book of Revelation. What you will read in the following pages will describe how this book spoke to me and hopefully provides you with some insights into how to approach and study this book on your own. The ultimate goal of any bible study is for the reader to approach it with an open and prayerful heart asking the Lord to give them understanding of what He is saying to His people in His word. Before doing this study, I honestly viewed this book like most people probably picture it... as that book at the end of the bible where all of those bad things happen. I thought of it as that book that describes how an angry God poured out His fury to punish a sinful and rebellious world. After all, throughout all but the first two chapters of the bible that's what this world (and all of us fallen people) has been, right? Well, if that is how you regard this book, I invite you to read and consider my points, pray for the Spirit's discernment and guidance, and then read the book of Revelation again on your own.

### Nuggets from my In-depth Study of The Book of Revelation - The Ultimate Love Letter

John turned, looked and he saw...

October 9, 2017

### "Praise the Lord"

I've been studying Jude and Revelation in my personal time these past few days. It is so very deep, but here is a nugget. The last two verses of the Holy Bible read:

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen, come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. - Revelation 22:20-21.

And that's how the Holy Bible closes. I do believe that the Lord is soon to come and when He does, will He find us praising Him even in the middle of so many storms and difficulties? As one of my old pastors used to say, "Praise Him anyhow!!" Praise Him unconditionally knowing that He is always with us.

Yes LORD, HALLELUJAH!!! (Literally PRAISE YAWEH with rejoicing!!)

October 12, 2017

### "Praise ONLY The Lord"

Here I am up early again praising and glorifying God in heaven. I came this morning with another brief word that's been heavy on my heart from my recent deep personal studies through the book of Revelation. It is such a powerful, powerful love story (there is more to come).

He has shown me how we are to always worship and glorify God for all that He's doing in and through us. In chapter 22 verse 8 after John had been seeing all of these great revelations and these great pictures of the new Jerusalem, he turned and bowed down to worship the angel that had been showing him these things. And the angel rebuked him and said "see thou do it not. I am also your fellow servant as with the other prophets. Worship God!"

As I contemplated this point, I noted that this had been the second time that this had happened where John had worshiped an angel that had given him a message and the angel told him don't do that, worship God give glory and honor to Him alone. It is a very powerful reminder to me that even in the middle of all the difficulties that we go through and all the things that God is doing in and through us, we can fall to the temptation to allow that to become "look at me, look at what I'VE done." As the angel exclaimed, I have done nothing except be available as a vessel to be used by God. When people examine my life, they should always see me pointing with reverence and honor to Him who sits on the throne.

Let he who has ears hear what the spirit says to the churches!

October 20, 2017

### "Understand the Real Enemy and the Nature of the Battle"

This is another nugget that I have gleaned from my recent in-depth study of the book of Revelation and from recent life experiences.

Michael the arch-angel casts Satan out of heaven with a third of the angels

It is SO vitally important for us to always remember who the real enemy is in this life journey. In Revelation 12: 3, John's vision introduces us to the REAL enemy of this struggle that has transcended time... that fiery red dragon that drew a third of the angels of heaven with him when he fell. He has always been (and still is) the real enemy. It was never the government (pagans such as the Babylonians or Assyrians, or Romans), it's not racism, or discrimination, or even that person we feel treats us with contempt, betrayal, or disrespect. The real enemy has always been Satan and he and his angels are very much real and right here among us.

When Jesus was enduring his passion before his death, the dragon was right there with Him doing what he always does. However, as an example for all of us, even in the middle of His anguish and pain, Jesus looked at the enemy and countered his attacks and temptations with the same warfare that we should use (the Word of God). That's why these studies are so vital.

This is easy to say in our minds but deep down inside, we all have a tendency to forget who the enemy really is and respond in ways that are carnal. Remember when Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the garden? Peter's natural and instinctive response was to react with weapons of warfare of this world (fighting with his fists and sword and cutting off the Roman soldier's ear). Jesus stopped him and healed the soldier's ear because the soldier was not the real adversary. Neither were the scribes, Pharisees or Sadducees.

This is a lesson for all of us that when taken to heart moment by moment will allow us (in our weakness and God's strength) to see those moments when this warfare is happening, identify and understand who the REAL enemy is, and laugh at and rebuke him (not responding in the way that comes naturally to us like it did to Peter).

The key point to this nugget is that throughout history, our struggle and battle has always been with the enemy. From that day in the garden in Genesis 3 until today we have had the same adversary... the same problem. When I understand my natural tendencies, my prayer will be the same as Jesus'... "Not my will but Yours be done!!" Remember for Whom you are doing whatever you do.

Shalom and be blessed in your journey from one who has his own struggles with these areas.

The fight we're in has already been won... Arise!! For the Kingdom is come (right here in us)

 Arise - Hillsong United

When He was being beaten and scourged, as almighty God He had the power to speak a single word and put an end to the conflict and his tormentors. But as a show of strength, He chose not to. Instead He chose to love on and to bless them. I want that kind of manly strength.

October 23, 2017

### "Love that Transcends Time - Amazing Grace"

And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who heareth say, "Come!" And let him who is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. - Revelation 22:17. Even so come Lord Jesus.

This is from the last few phrases of John's revelation. I was up at 4:30 this morning for another end-to-end reading of Revelation. Speak Lord...

This is my latest nugget from my recent in-depth personal study in the book of Revelation. This study has been going on now in earnest for the past several weeks. There is a very interesting story behind how I was prompted to start this study, but that is for another day when I know you better.

The key point today is that to study and fully understand this book, we have to understand that the events that God shows John in his vision are not all future events, nor are they in linear time-sequence. In this book, God is telling a story that transcends time with elements from before creation up to and including the restored kingdom. I think it is a pretty neat feature the way the bible is laid out and structured so that in the first two chapters (Genesis 1&2) everything was perfect. Then in the last two chapters (Revelation 21&22) God gives a pretty detailed description of that perfect creation after it had been restored. The point of this beautiful ending of the book is to carry on a central theme that has permeated the whole book of Revelation (indeed the whole bible)... to get peoples' attention. To encourage His children that although this may be difficult and we may at times be persecuted or stumble, in the end it is more than worth it. We are more than overcomers (conquerors) through Him!! Likewise, to get the attention of those who are not yet His children (still in rebellion with Satan), that it is not too late to turn.

The first three chapters are letters of encouragement to His seven churches in Asia. As you read through the letters, you will note that each of His churches is in varying stages of growth and spiritual development. And none are perfect; all require varying degrees of encouragement. In reading these letters, I can see many, many cases where these admonishments can be applied to my spiritual journey as well. Read them, pray, and read them multiple times and you'll see what I mean. Note that while none of them are perfect, they are still HIS churches and He loves on them with encouragement.

That's where I will end this nugget today, with the theme of love. As I have read, prayed, and re-read this book over the past weeks, I have come to see it not as the dooms-day book that we tend to think of it. Rather I have found it to be a profound love story of God doing all that He can to shower His love on all of us to help us make good choices but ultimately to give us what we want. If He forced us to choose Him and His kingdom, that wouldn't really be love. And THAT has been the story all throughout the bible since we chose poorly in Genesis 3. God didn't create us to be robots but to be able to choose to love Him (or not if that is our desire).

In this next session, I'll discuss more on the timing of the events in the book of Revelation.

October 31, 2017

### "Revelation from God's Perspective - All Time"

This is my latest nugget from my recent personal study of the book of Revelation. Last week I said I would delve into the timing of the events described in this book. After careful study, prayer, and reflection, the overall point is this...

(1) The book of Revelation covers a period of time that spans all time from before creation until the restoration of God's perfect kingdom as described in chapters 21 & 22.

(2) There is no secret code that shows when future events will precisely occur.

On the first point, note in the book's introduction in chapter 1 that John is writing this to the seven churches which were in Asia (they are listed). This is during the time after Jesus' death and the scattering abroad of His disciples as He foretold in Matthew 26:31. According to Jewish tradition, all of the other 12 disciples were martyred for their faith and only John remained in exile on the Isle of Patmos where he is told by an angel of the Lord to write this to these 12 churches that had been previously established. In verse 1:19, while he is in the Spirit, Jesus tells John to "Write the things you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."

24 Elders and Heavenly Host worshipping He Who sits on the throne

After the seven letters warning the seven churches in Asia, starting in chapter four John turns and sees the vision of a detailed description of the throne room in heaven and all of the worshiping of "He who sits on the throne" (God the Father).

Chapter five goes into the scroll that is in the Father's hand with the seven seals that no one is worthy to open. One of the 24 elders directs John's attention to the ONE who was able to open the scroll, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When John looked, he saw Him in the form of a Lamb that had been slain (soaked in His own blood). He approached the Father, took the scroll from His hand, and began to open the seven seals amidst a loud proclamation of praise (5:7-14).

PAY ATTENTION!! In chapter six we see the first six seals opened by the Lamb. When the first seal is opened, John begins to see images of things that had happened. I believe the rider of the first while horse represented previous military conquests (nation against nation) that had been happening all throughout history (and still continues today in our time). In many cases, these nations had been used as instruments in the hands of God to get the attention of His people (e.g. the Babylonian conquest of Israel and the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.) This was never part of God's original design, but He has used this fallen nature for good.

The opening of the second seal showed John a rider on a fiery red horse which represented the ever-present tendency for conflict between nations (indeed between even people) throughout historical ages. Look around not just nations, but cities, neighborhoods, indeed everywhere and you can see that rider on that red horse. This was never God's plan.

With the opening of the third seal, John saw a rider on a black horse representing widespread famine and scarcity throughout the ages. There was never supposed to be times of drought and lack of provision, but because of the fall of man, this has been a recurring reality throughout all of time. But this was not supposed to be.

With the opening of the fourth seal, John saw a rider on a pale horse representing widespread death throughout the ages. You know what comes next... this was never part of God's original design. Death and sickness entered the world in Genesis 3 and it as been downhill from there.

On the theme of death, when the fifth seal was opened, John saw under the alter the souls of those who had been martyred (killed) for the word of God and for their testimony as they cried how long LORD before you make this all right so that we know we didn't die for nothing (my personal paraphrase). Again, pointing to something that has been happening through time and still continues but was never supposed to be.

The opening of the sixth seal is a view into THAT day in the future when the Father and Son finally shake this place with wrath to purge out all of the evil (ultimately giving the evil what they want) and preparing to restore His kingdom to His original design. This ends chapter six and there is a pause until we come back to the 7th seal. Chapter 7 shows how all of God's chosen are sealed with a mark on their heads (the blood of the Lamb just like in Passover). John heard 144,000 (12,000 from each of the 12 tribes). But when he looked, he saw a number of people too large to count from all around the world who had been marked. This represents you and me and everyone from all nations and tongues who has been marked with the blood of the Lamb since Jesus' ultimate sacrifice. Marked throughout time and waiting to be taken out of here (even if taken by the "first" death – for death has no power over His chosen).

After the 7th seal was opened, then John says there was a short silence (pause) in heaven. Notice that after the seven seals are opened, the scroll and its contents are not mentioned again until chapter 10 when an angel appears standing on (straddling) the land and on the sea holding the scroll (10:2). John was told to eat the scroll and then to prophesy. What John says from there on (chapters 11-14) shows an overview of the history of the church (the woman bearing a child and the two witnesses) including the story of the dragon (Satan) and how he was kicked out of heaven down to earth (12:7) and took a third of the angels with him (this is before God created man). As you read these chapters, you can see how Satan and his beast and the antichrist have always persecuted and tormented the church. He has always tried to imitate God the Father including his evil triad and duplicate evil mark for the people (13:16).

In closing, as you read it, you will see how this book (a letter to the seven churches) is really a prophesy (wrap-up) about things that had been, was currently happening, and was yet to come. However, there is nowhere to be found any precise date when any of the future events would take place. Note if you will in verse 10:4 when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I believe that what they were saying in the prophetic was something related to the timing of the end times because as John was about to write what they said, he was told NOT to write it down (the only time I could find where he was told not to write something he was experiencing in his vision). Also, from Jesus' own words when He was here (Mark 13:32), He even told His disciples that no one on earth or in heaven knows the exact hour, only His Father. So try as you might, there is no secret code to be found. Again, from Jesus' words we should always be prepared for that day.

Note, there are several references to time spans such as 3-½ weeks, different forms of 3-½ years (1280 days) and 1,000 years (time for the dragon to be bound), but I believe they are all figurative and not literal.

God bless and thanks for enduring this. I encourage you to read through it for yourself to see how it speaks to you.

To close out my study, my next post with briefly overview why I say this book is the ultimate love letter or love story even as God pours out those final 7 bowls of judgment (wrath) that makes this book seem so scary.

November 2, 2017

### "The Climax of the Ultimate Love Letter"

When we left off in the last session, the seven seals of the scroll had been opened by the Lamb and the chosen of God had been marked by His seal (those who had chosen to receive His free gift of salvation through the ultimate atoning sacrifice). Now things will start to intensify on earth as the seven angels with the seven trumpets begin to sound (chapter 8). This is where God really begins to shake the earth in an attempt to get the attention of people as time draws near for His ultimate judgment. I earnestly believe that we are living in these times today (granted that's only my opinion but to me it is obvious).

### "The Three Woes"

As the seven trumpets are sounded, things begin to escalate with signs all around affecting the natural environment. Then starts the first of the 3 woes (when things escalate even more in an attempt again to get people's attention). The fifth trumpet (the 1st woe) will see a noisome pestilence that will attack and torment only those who have not yet received God's mark of protection (like the Passover from Exodus).

With the sixth trumpet comes plagues that will kill a third of the people on the earth (those who have not received God's mark) again to get people's attention. Unfortunately, just as it was with the Pharaoh of Egypt in Exodus, the people's hearts were hardened and they refuse to repent and continued to refuse efforts by God's church to evangelize and offer them God's salvation. They insist on holding on to worship of Satan's beast (things of this fallen world) and false idols. Things are still getting worse by the minute.

The seventh trumpet marks the beginning of the end when the angels in heaven announce the arrival of God's kingdom (The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever!). This marks the beginning of the third woe and a major turning point in the story.

This is where the Lord will come back for His church to take us out of here (as described in 14:14) before this third woe starts leading to ultimate judgment. That third woe can be seen in vivid detail in chapter 16 when the angels pour out the seven bowls of wrath on the remaining inhabitants of the earth. The effects of these seven bowls of wrath are pretty gory and what we tend to associate the book of Revelation with. But here is one of the major points that jump out to me about this section as a central point around this whole book (indeed the whole bible): It's an ultimate love story of a God who is going to the ends of the earth trying to get our attention to help us make a wise choice (choose life not death).

The ironic part about these bowls of judgment is that in these cases notice how the people shake their fists at God (16:9, 11, 21b). Here, they clearly saw that it was God in heaven who had the real power of God and was doing this and yet they still refused to repent and give up their worship of Satan and his beasts. So, in the end, out of love for them, God gives them what they had set in their hearts that they really wanted. Unfortunately, in this case it is a trip into that lake of fire with Satan.

God gives us all what we deeply desire in our hearts because anything else would not be love. He created us to choose to love and worship Him... not to be robots.

### The Fall of Babylon

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." - Revelation 18:1-2

I believe the reference to the fall of Babylon is another reference that transcends time. It is a reference that also points at the beast (and the kings of the earth) that got people to drink the wine of her fornication (14:8, 17:2, 18:3) and demanded everyone receive that mark of a man (19:20). This beast refers to world nations that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. And eventually all nations do. Babylon here is a type of metaphor for all nations. Even the nation of Israel herself at one point among many had adopted the practices of the pagan nations and (hold on to your seats) was sacrificing their kids (2 Kings 16 & 17 among others). The term "such-and-such king did evil in the sight of the Lord" is used over and over and is a recurring theme of Babylon throughout time. Yet the Lord continued to love them (us) and continued trying to get their attention.

### The Final Battle

Notice the final battle in chapter 19 verse 11 when Jesus appears on a white horse with His army behind him also on white horses. I love the way the bible points out how He is fighting the way He has ALWAYS fought battles. His only weapon is the two-edged sword that comes from His mouth (the Word of God) and His white robe is dipped in blood... His own blood. Even at the final conflict, defeating evil with love as an example to you and me.

### The book of Revelation... the ultimate love story.

Epilogue – I wrote this overview extemporaneously as my three-week personal study of Revelation progressed. This process included reading it through, praying and meditating on what I read, and reading it through again several times. I have to acknowledge also the contributions of several previous pastors who have presented sermons and series on this book.

## 11/15/17 – NOTE: The Real Battle

GERALD PRATER·PUBLISHED A NOTE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

This is a word that the Spirit of the Lord gave me so very powerfully this afternoon as an addendum to a previous word. Two weeks ago on November 3rd I posted a Face Book note with a comprehensive overview of the book of Revelation where I described it as the ultimate love letter. One of the key points in that note was the importance for each one of us to fully understand who the REAL enemy is when we have conflicts with people.

### In The Moment

Today He showed me also how important it is for each of us to always understand the nature of the REAL battle when we have contentions. And here it is... The battle for Christians is in the MOMENT when (not if) we are going to feel insulted, disrespected, unappreciated, or unloved (add to this list as you will) by those around us. In those moments, the battle is the internal struggle behind doing what our feelings (the flesh) tell us to do or responding the way the Holy Spirit and God's word tells us to. The real battle is in that moment, how will I respond? This is the ultimate Godly strength of His soldiers. Will I give that person the response they truly deserve? Or will I follow the example of Jesus and attack (overcome) my enemies by loving on them? Hey, in the moment when it happens it is a true struggle for all of us who profess to be Christ followers. Anyone who says it is not is deceiving themselves. And for the non-believer, there is no struggle or battle at all.

### Growing in Grace

Again, as a word of encouragement, I look to the words of James when he opens his epistle with the well-known words from the quote below. Do not be surprised when these types of battles happen because the Lord is using them to make us stronger, day by day growing closer to His image. Growing to that point where our constant fellowship and conversation with Him is able to override our fleshly response. In the mean time, we are growing in His grace... for none of us are perfect.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." - James 1:2-3

### The Fight You're In Has Already Been Won

Imagine how the scene would have been when Jesus faced His accusers, attackers, and betrayers (not just Judas) by giving them what they deserve... It would not have been a pretty picture. Not for them back in Jesus' day and not for us today. But following His example, with the help of the Holy Spirit and with support and encouragement from fellow believers, you and I can have the strength to win this battle overall. Are there going to be occasional failures? Absolutely. But the good news is that "the fight you're in has already been won."

 Arise - Hillsong United

Scriptural references that I have been studying lately that influenced this note are the following: (read them yourself and look for examples of the battle and the Godly response)

1 Peter 3 (the entire chapter)

Luke 6:20-49

## 11/16/17 – Life Transformation Intro

I was up again very early this morning talking to my Father and receiving revelation, understanding and powerful clarification about the power of transformation and life change that has always been His plan for His children. This is the REAL good news. There is a lot more to come in the next section as I get into this glorious day.

## 11/16/17 – NOTE: Life Transformation

GERALD PRATER·PUBLISHED A NOTE ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

### Significance of The Great I AM

### Origin of this message

I was up early this morning at around 4 a.m. and I found myself fully awake laying there praying to my Father for a friend of a friend who is battling terminal cancer. As that conversation went on, He directed me back to a discussion I had just had the previous morning in one of my Wednesday morning men's bible studies. I had discussed with my study group friends the meaning of the term "I AM" as the personal name of God. My Father and I then began a long discussion that was the genesis of this message. I woke up excited to compose and to share it.

### The One Who Was and Is and Is to Come

This was part of the basic and foundational points of our conversation... He is, always has been, and always will be the same God. He indeed does not change (changes not). That same God that we read about back in the days of the children of Israel (and before) is the same God that came and dwelled among us (Jesus) and worked mightily through His disciples and is still here working with His people today. He is indeed near and not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27). Speaking of us, unlike God who has always been, we are in a constant state of change which in a way is a great blessing. See the section below on the blessing of transformation.

We are first introduced to this personal name (I Am) in Exodus 3:14 when God tell Moses from the burning bush to tell the children this was His personal name, that He was sending for them, and that He IS the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob (who had been dead at least 400 years by then). Later Jesus reinforced the idea that God is eternal as are His children when in Mark 12:27 He referenced the burning-bush conversation and told the Sadducees and Pharisees that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. That same God that was with Abraham was with the Sadducees and Pharisees and is the same God that is with us today. This is a very important point to understand and when fully comprehended will rock your world.

### Life Change - The Blessing of Transformation

While God does not change, the same cannot be said of you and me. We are in a constant state of change and therefore cannot ever refer to ourselves as "I Am" but rather "I am becoming..." We are constantly becoming something, being changed day by day... hopefully for the better, but sometimes for the worse. As God has always been close to all of us, His desire has always been to help us move from the broken state in which we were born in this world back to the perfect state in which we were first created (Genesis 1 & 2).

So the gift of Jesus coming here to give His life and die as a payment (atonement) for our sins is precious and invaluable. But it is the beginning of the larger blessing... the blessing of life-change and being transformed from the inside out so that we can be more like Him.

"It does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him. For we will see Him as He Is." (I Am) - 1 John 3:2

We are in a process of being transformed from the descriptions in the first column to those in the second column:

This list can go on for pages, but in the end, we are in the process of being transformed into His image as it said in 1 John 3:2. And when I stop and fully absorb this together with God's unchanging nature, I see it as a HUGE blessing that is played out through the entire bible. God is committed to transforming His children for good in spite of their flaws and weaknesses. Look in the old testament at the number of times the children of Israel rebelled and disobeyed God (too many to count) and yet He was infinitely patient and consistent in His loving efforts to move them along. This same God demonstrated the same patience and grace with the flawed and messed up children in Jesus' time. He is still the same God that is here with and among us today doing what he has always done (never forcing anyone to make a choice they truly don't want). This leads me to the final point for today's discussion... God's law and transformation.

### Moses and the Law

When we think of the Law of Moses, our initial reaction is typically that it is all about restrictions. "Thou shalt not" do this and that... these all representing restrictions for God's people to take away their fun. But when you look at the law from God's perspective (with the help of the Holy Spirit of course), His law initially is not at all restrictive but rather liberating. His law does not stop at "you shall not", but concludes with "you shall not hurt yourself." A better way to view this phrase is "you shall not want to" as He helps us to change our desires. God's law was written by a loving Father to keep His children from doing things that cause harm to themselves, leading them away from being in His perfect image to those characteristics from column 1 above.

Blessing continues – Initially we view the law (and all of God's word) just as little children, as something we have to do because we are forced to (because Father said so). And that's okay because obedience is good and a demonstration of love and where your heart is (If you love Me, you will obey Me and keep My commandments). But as true life-change and transformation occurs, we gradually grow to that point where we do God's will and keep that law because we want to (true heart change). This is the roll of the Helper that Jesus promised to send to us after He was gone... the Holy Spirit to live inside of us to start the process of that ultimate blessing of changing us from the inside out so that we do God's will not begrudgingly or reluctantly.

This same God who was and is and is to come (The Great I AM) has always dwelled close to His people and taken a great interest in all of our struggles and taken active involvement in demonstrating His presence and intervention. Psalm 19 says everything around us has always been demonstrating that so we are without excuse. Just as He spoke to all of the patriarchs and prophets in the old testament and the disciples and apostles in the new testament, He is still speaking today. The question is are we listening or do we have our eyes closed and our ears plugged?

Word of God speak. God bless us all.

Addendum

I would like to point out one other topic in this note which is something that God has been showing me for several weeks now. When you look throughout the whole bible, you see time and time again how God has used some pretty messed up people to do great things and carry out His purpose. In fact, a close study will reveal that even among the greatest of the bible heroes, none of them were without flaws. In fact they were all pretty messed up people (bar none). Those of you who know me personally today know that in spite of these words that I share, I am pretty messed up myself. But I now know with a passion that I am here for a special purpose in spite of my brokenness and flaws in that first column above. Here for a special purpose for a special God. Yahweh Yahweh!!

Addendum to the addendum

I know, some of you are asking "where is the song link he always gives?" If I were giving this as a sermon, these would be the two worship songs I would use to close out this message:

The Great I Am - Phillips, Craig & Dean

From The Inside Out - Hillsong

## 11/20/17 – Praise Report

Praise report!! Read to the end, it is worth it!!

I am excited and praising for yet another day of His confirmation of His presence right here among us (just as He has always been). Today I am praising Him yet again as my Jehovah Jireh (The LORD my Provider). You see, last week I discovered the front driver-side tire on our car was flat. Later that evening when I changed it, I noticed that the inside edge of the tire had metal tread showing and the tire had come apart. First off, this could have been much more tragic if this tire had blown out while my wife was driving it or if we were on a trip. Thank You Jesus for Your hand of protection!! Now our car is a BMW 5-series (from my old days working in corporate America). The tires on it are not at all cheap so I analyzed our budget and set aside money to buy two new tires for the front of the car and made an appointment with our local Discount Tire here in Leander to have the front tires replaced this morning at 8:30 AM.

When Lynita and I arrived for my appointment, I showed the salesperson the car and explained what had happened with the front tire, that the blown out tire was in the trunk, and that I needed to have the front two tires repaired and the full-sized spare from the front placed back into the trunk (so I would once again have a good spare). After the servicemen started working on my car, I noticed that they took off all of the tires to check them but never looked in the trunk at the blown out tire. I became concerned that they wouldn't fix it and would leave me without a spare. A salesman paged me and told me that they were going to replace both BACK tires because they were worse than the front. I objected and said that I had a blown out tire in the trunk that was clearly the worse and needed to be replaced and that the others would at least hold air. They said that all four of the tires on the car were badly worn and needed to be replaced. I only had money to buy two new tires right now (remember, these BMW sport tires are expensive). Now watch how the LORD provides.

The salesmen and techs at the Leander Discount tire had compassion on me and replaced all four tires for just a nominal additional fee. So we came home with the good full-sized spare back in the trunk AND FOUR NEW TIRES mounted, and me Praising God with all of my energy!! HALLELUJAH!!

I want to thank the Monday morning crew at Leander Discount Tire for being available to be vessels to bless one of God's anointed servants. If you have any work that needs to be done, please go by there. And tell them Mr. Prater with the white BMW says THANK YOU!!

## 11/22/17 – Medical Appointment

I have been up several hours now studying and pondering God's word and praising Him in advance for His presence and blessing which are already in place at my doctor's office. We are in Dallas preparing for an 8:30 am appointment with my neurologist. Please join us in praising God in advance for His blessings and promises regardless of today's medical update. Have Your way Lord Jesus. Let Your light shine and Your glory be revealed in me, to me, and through me. AMEN!!

Later that morning the report was:

Good checkup. No changes. Thank you for your prayers.

## 11/22/17 – NOTE: Overview of the Bible

GERALD PRATER·PUBLISHED A NOTE ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017

### The Bible, A Brief Overview

### Introduction

Greetings and blessings to you my beloved family and friends. The purpose of this note is to provide others who study the word with my perspective of a high-level overview of the bible. This is to facilitate your understanding and ability to put things into perspective with the overall story line of the bible as you study individual books. This was a burden that the Lord placed on my heart earlier this summer in 2017 (a story for another post).

Let me disclose up front that I am not formally trained in ministry (I have never been to seminary or any formal college/training in religion). However for the past 10 years I have been dedicating myself full-time (literally) to the study of God's word and pursuit of knowing Him better. This happened after He got my attention through a painful event that helped open my eyes to see the reality of what He has always been doing and continues to do all around us. I say this in the introduction not as a plug for my testimony but because it is one of the central themes that is woven all throughout the story of the bible (God trying to get the attention of His people).

This overview is designed not to completely explain every detail of every book but to give you a desire to delve into areas and read for yourself to see how this love story is so intricately and precisely woven. Here is one last point – you can easily Google "bible overview" and get lots of results where others provide similar summaries. This one is simply my personal perspective based on my studies and spiritual life experiences. I have designed a picture (above) that shows the bible timeline with some key points of reference. As you read, I will be making references to that timeline. So let's dive in at the beginning.

### The Old Testament - In the Beginning

From a timeline perspective, Genesis is by far the book that covers the longest timeline. We tend to naturally separate the bible in two based on the Old versus the New Testament (see the big red star on the picture). However, after years of study, I personally have come to separate it based on the first two chapters (Genesis 1&2 – see the small star) and the rest (Genesis 3 until the end – the last two chapters of the bible). For in Genesis 1&2, God's creation was perfect with no sickness, death, wars, hatred, or brokenness in any way. We lived in a perfect paradise where God loved us, we loved Him, and we loved each other. UNTIL chapter 3 when that snake entered the scene and the wheels fell off. From that point on in the bible, we have been trying desperately (and futilely) to get back to that place of joy and God has been lovingly encouraging us to choose wisely and to not hurt ourselves.

After Adam and Eve fell in chapter 3 and sin entered the world, things went downhill fast in the following early chapters of Genesis. Starting with their son Cain killing his brother, things quickly spiraled downward to the point where God decided it best to just start over (Noah and the flood). In the beginning, the lifespan of people was very long (typically around 900 years). This is why Genesis covers so much space compared to the other books on the timeline above. Also there are many epic stories in Genesis that are important foundational points in the overall bible story.

Several generations after Noah, God spoke to Abram (Abraham) and he heard and talked with God. Think about the fact that at this time there was no bible or any other written scripture. This is really profound indeed when you take pause and think about it. They developed and intimate and lengthy relationship which was a pivotal and key point in the overall bible storyline.

Abram was older and had not been blessed to have a large family. His wife Sara had not been blessed with any kids and was barren. He only had one remaining family member, a nephew (the son of his deceased brother) named Lot who chose to take his provision of God's blessings and to move to the big (worldly and good looking) city in the plains of Sodom. That didn't go well but was an excellent demonstration of why we should not depend on this world system as our source. It also shows the efforts to which God will go to punish the wicked yet save His children. Read about it in chapter 13.

Even though Abram was childless, God made a promise to him in the beginning of their relationship. This promise was that he would bless Abram with many descendants and through them He would bless the world. God made this initial promise in chapter 12.

After years of this relationship developing, in chapter 16 God again formalized that promise (covenant) with Abram, who He later renamed Abraham (the father of many nations). Although Abram was still without child, God reminded him that He was going to multiply his descendents to be too numerous to count and that through him, God was going to bless all the nations of the world. Abraham first thought this was not possible because he was so old and his wife Sara was way past child bearing years. Initially Abram believed God would do it but as the years passed by with still no child, he and Sara grew impatient. They tried to bring this promised child about using their own understanding and methods (Sara's servant girl Tamar – read it). That didn't go well and ultimately God's promise was fulfilled through Sara's child as He had said. This is a good lesson for you and me today about trusting and waiting on God's promises.

So Abraham and Sara indeed had a son (Isaac), who later had twin sons, Esau the oldest and then Jacob. Esau should have been the line that carried on the blessing of the birth right (first born) but he failed to see the value in it and gave it up to Jacob through deception (the name Jacob means "deceiver".) An interesting point to note is that Esau later moved away and his descendants became the nation of the Edomites who would later be a heathen nation and enemy of Israel.

Jacob was renamed Israel and had 12 sons (the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel). Three of the sons, Levi, Judah, and Joseph are important to highlight. This is because Levi would be later designated the tribe of the priests (Levitical), Judah would be the tribe of the kings, and Joseph would be betrayed by his own brothers yet save his whole family and more (a picture of Jesus). In Joseph's own words later to his brothers who betrayed him, "what you meant for evil, God turned it around for good so that many might be saved." After Joseph brought all of his brothers and his whole family to Egypt to escape the famine from Canaan (the land that God had given to Abraham), the Israelites began to procreate and multiply greatly. This represented a threat to the new Pharaoh of Egypt so he enslaved them and later began to kill all of their sons that were born to control their population. This is when God raised a deliverer from within the Israelites – Moses.

### Exodus

The story is very famous of how Moses confronted the Pharaoh of Egypt and demanded that he release the children of Israel after 400 years of slavery. It tells how he demonstrated before everyone without a doubt the awesome power of the hand of God to part the Red Sea and to deliver His people from bondage. I want to highlight two key points from this well-known story:

1. God was fulfilling His promise to Abraham that He would take his people to the "promise land." (His faithfulness)

2. God was demonstrating His power to deliver His people from bondage when the situation seemed hopeless and they were unable to help themselves. (His power to save)

These key points, along with a few more, are points that recur all throughout the entire story of the bible (as well as with us still today).

It is well known that after the exodus from Egypt, God provided for all of the needs of the Israeli people as they traveled through the wilderness. Yet many doubted, rebelled and complained wishing they were back in Egypt where they "had it good" (or so they said). So you know what happened. A journey back to Canaan that should have only taken a few weeks wound up taking 40 years while this generation of complainers died off (a powerful lesson for us today about being thankful as opposed to complainers).

### Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

This is the time period that is covered by the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. During this time in the wilderness, God gives the people the law, directions on how to design and build the tabernacle where they would worship Him, and specific procedures for how to worship Him. Aaron from the tribe of Levi was the initial priest. God also has several censuses taken that show how much the nation grew between the times they entered the wilderness and when they entered the promise land at the beginning of Joshua (reference back to God's promise to Abraham about his descendants).

### Joshua

At the end of the book of the exodus (the end of the book of Deuteronomy), Moses was allowed to see the promise land but not go in. I think this is because Moses was somewhat of an arc type of the law and try as we might, just trying to keep the law will never get us into the Promised Land (heaven). As the book of Joshua starts, Joshua takes over and the Israeli people are told to go into the promise land (Canaan) and conquer it, getting rid of all of the heathen nations that inhabited it.

God assured Joshua and His people that He would always be with them and would fight for them just as He had done against the Egyptian army. He gave them explicit instructions to go in and occupy the land and drive off (kill) all of the local inhabitants. This sounds rather cruel initially but it was for the good of the children of Israel. You see these other nations represented the world and practiced idolatry (worshipping false gods) and other evil practices such as child sacrifice. Because of His holiness and just nature, God always deals with evil. He knew that if the children of Israel were not aggressive about eliminating evil, they would eventually adopt those same evil practices of the worldly nations and forget/forsake what they knew and had experienced with God. And without spoiling the story, that is precisely what happened time and time again throughout the history of the nation of Israel.

Joshua led the nation into the promise land and came to the first city of Jericho where God fought mightily for them but they failed to do the simple thing He told them to do (kind of like that one fruit tree in the garden in Genesis 3).

### Judges

After Joshua was gone from the scene, God raised and used Judges to lead the people in the fight against the surrounding nations which were enemies of Israel (who should not have even been there if the children of Israel would have done as God had instructed). Now, these judges were not exactly the ideal righteous people and none were without flaws. In fact they were pretty messed up people. But God used what He had to work with to carry His people forward.

After Judges, the book of Ruth is a nice story that tells the story of the family history of David, one of Israel's great kings.

### 1 &2 Samuel

After the time of the judges, God raised and spoke through a prophet from the Levite tribe named Samuel to guide the people. But the people looked around at the other worldly nations and noted that they all had kings. They told Samuel to ask God if they could also have a King so they could "be like the world." Samuel thought it was a terrible idea and God knew that in their current spiritual state, that wouldn't be good for them. But He told Samuel to give them a king anyway (knowing that He was ultimately going to bring His kingdom and give them the ultimate King).

The books of 1&2 Samuel tell of the rise and fall of the first king (Saul – 1 Samuel) and also of King David (2 Samuel). The people chose Saul to be the first king based on worldly criteria (he was tall, good looking and appeared on the outside to be a good strong leader). God chose David to be the next king based on what He knew about his heart. Don't get me wrong, King David was not without his serious flaws (indeed none of us are except Jesus was), but when David was initially chosen, God described him as a man after His own heart. In fact, God eventually promised David that He would bring His Messianic Kingdom to this world as a King from one of David's descendants. Through him, He would establish the ultimate kingdom (the Kingdom of God) to rule this world.

This is another key point in the bible story line (another one of God's key promises) that the Messianic King would be called the King of David. It is also powerful when you consider that when God made this promise to David, He already knew how badly David was going to mess up after he reached the pinnacle of success as Israel's king.

David was very successful in leading his army to many victories, retaking the promise land, defeating enemy nations and establishing the capital city of Jerusalem which he called "Zion." BUT, at the height of his military success and victories when he should have been off fighting the (spiritual) battles and wars with the men of his army, David stayed behind at home, got distracted, took his eyes off of God, His Torah (teachings), committed unspeakable sin and began a spiraling downfall. The key difference though between David and Saul, was that David had a heart that was tender to God and was repentant. After he failed, he sincerely and greatly lamented what he had done and humbly came to God asking for forgiveness.

That attitude is important as an example for all of us today. When (not if) we sin, will our hearts be filled with lament and regret (like David) or will they be stony, stubborn, arrogant and proud (like Saul)? This is a powerful point to ponder and a very real part of our spiritual walk even today.

### 1&2 Kings

The books of 1&2 Kings tells the stories of all of the kings following the line of David (starting with his son Solomon) and all of the ways that they struggled and failed with ups and downs as they tried to lead the nation of Israel to win battles, defeat their enemies and establish the promised Messianic Kingdom that God had promised. But when you read through the books of the kings, this never happened because of several reasons. The people of Israel suffered from:

Sinfulness and rebellion in their hearts

Their failure to obey and follow God's Torah, teaching them to live godly and wisely

Contamination in God's people of the world systems – Idolatry and other blatantly evil practices (refer back to when God told the people to drive out all of the people as they took possession of the promise land)

Tendencies by the kings and leaders to rely on worldly tactics like alliances and political maneuvering with worldly nations to achieve their needs (as opposed to relying on God)

Corruption by the priests in many ways such as neglecting the poor, taking bribes for blessings, and allowing idol worship (like the pagan nations did) to take place (even in God's holy temple)

This list could go on and on but this was a continuing downward spiral of disobedience, rebellion and sin by God's chosen people that continued all throughout the rest of the Old Testament.

The books of the Kings describe how this strife and political maneuvering got so bad that under King Rehoboam (David's grandson, the son of King Solomon) the nation of Israel had tremendous internal strife that led it to split into two nations, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Rehoboam continued to rule in Judah in the south and although they had some bright moments, they were still riddled with problems. The northern kingdom of Israel (capital city of Samaria) was initially led by King Jeroboam (one of Solomon's soldiers) followed by a line of successive kings. The northern kings pretty much had no redeeming points and were just bad (think King Ahab). So much so, that God as judgment eventually allowed the enemy nation of Assyria to invade from the north and conquer them. Down in Judah in the south, things were better but still not good, so God eventually allowed the very, very evil nation of Babylon to first besiege and later conquer and destroy (burn) the capital Jerusalem and the temple and take most of its people away into captivity.

### 1&2 Chronicles

This is a very high-level view of the story of the books of Kings in the timeline. Speaking of the timeline, the next two books (1&2 Chronicles) are a summary of the years of the kings going back to King David and going forward to the destruction of Jerusalem and later the return of the Israelites from exile. Chronicles is an excellent retelling of the stories of 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings with several key enhancements:

David is portrayed for his positive values and shown to be a leader in the image like the coming Messianic King who would establish God's kingdom. None of David's failures are discussed in Chronicles).

It covers all of the successive kings of Israel that followed David's kingly line highlighting how they struggled with ups and downs, victories and failures.

It highlights how in spite of their failures, God continually tried to get their attention so that they would turn back from their evil ways and always warning of coming judgment for their sins. God's nature is just and holy and sin must always be dealt with (these warnings are a key point in the next section of books, the prophets).

It highlights a continuing spirit of hope that God's love was more powerful than their sin and that He would keep His promises to Abraham and David. He would not give up on them even though their sin was so grievous.

The books of the Chronicles were written from the perspective of someone looking back at the years of the kings and noting how despite God's warnings of coming judgment and promises of hope for His coming Messianic kingdom, the Israelites continually failed. Try as they might, they could not keep God's Torah and avoid sinning like the pagan nations of the world. They looked just like those idolatrous nations.

### The Prophets

The books of the prophets highlight God's attempts to get the attention of His people during the years of the kings to get them to repent and turn from their evil ways so that He could bless them. The major prophets (i.e. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) were ones that God sent to the people during the years of the kings to remind them to remember the Torah and to warn them of coming judgment if they continued in their sin. The efforts did not work as His people generally rejected the prophets. So God's judgment came in the form of the Babylonian invasion, destruction of Jerusalem and the taking of the people into exile.

God's justice - An important note to remember about this period of the Babylonian captivity is the demonstration of God's justice. You see, even though He allowed the evil Babylonian empire to invade and destroy Jerusalem and take the people into exile, He subsequently punished the sins of Babylon by allowing Persia to invade and destroy them.

After at least 70 years in exile, God spoke to the then king of Persia and persuaded him to let the Israeli people return home. Many did return to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple (see Ezra and Nehemiah) and the same problems with sin persisted that were there before with the people. Many of God's people thought He had given up on them but he continued to speak to them through new minor prophets. He even spoke through some of the words of hope that His earlier prophets had spoken many years ago before the exile (i.e. Isaiah 55:11). Still nothing changed because it was not in the nature of the people to do good. They had a heart problem (stony hearts) that needed to be dealt with. God said again through His prophet Isaiah (43:19) that He was going to do a new thing (basically addressing this heart problem).

Right before He begins a 400-year silence where He doesn't say anything else to His people, God announces through Malachi (3:1) the coming of a new prophet, a messenger who shall prepare the way for the coming Messiah. After this last dialogue with the people through Malachi (the last of the old testament prophets), God goes silent until the birth of John the Baptist in the New Testament.

### The books of Wisdom and Poetic Themes

There were a few books right in the center of the Old Testament that I did not cover in any of the categories above. These are books of poetry and wisdom, including Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. In most cases these books are not explicitly tied to the story of the timeline but provide wisdom and insight about God apart from the story line. Here are a few interesting facts about a few of these books.

Esther tells a story that is easily tied to the timeline above. You see, the story takes place during the end of Jewish exile when some (like Esther and her cousin Mordecai) remained in Persia. A short book, it tells a very interesting story of how Esther was elevated to become queen of Persia and save the Jews there from destruction. A very interesting point in this book is that God is never mentioned (not even once) and yet His hand can be seen at work in the background behind everything that happens. It is an excellent picture of God's sovereignty and work even in our brokenness (there are no coincidences).

The book of Job is not on the timeline because it is never stated when this story takes place. Job and his 3 friends are not even Jewish. There are some bible scholars who think that Job is one of the oldest books in the bible. Its central theme is that God's ways are so very much higher than our own ways.

### The New Testament

The New Testament starts off with the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are called gospels because gospel means the "good news" of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Even though they are written about the same event (the life of Jesus), they are told from four different perspectives and were actually written at different times.

### Matthew

This gospel tells the story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of the Jews. A central point in this gospel is to show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the promised one that God spoke of and that all of the Old Testament generations waited for. Matthew shows how Jesus is the son of Abraham and of David fulfilling those key promises from the Old Testament. He does this by opening the book in the first chapter with a genealogy that traces the ancestors of Jesus back to King David and then further back to Abraham. To the Jewish audience who had long been waiting for the promised Messianic King and wondering if God had forsaken them, this was very significant. This gospel drives that point home very clearly while telling the story of Jesus. One final point of interest: Matthew was a tax collector, not a member of the clergy. Tax collectors were considered to be worse than sinners and the last that anyone would expect to be a follower of the Christ when He came.

### Mark

This gospel is unique to the others in that it is written to focus only on the details of the adult life of Jesus immediately after He was baptized by John and started His ministry. The opening chapter links John the Baptist to the messenger that God spoke of through Malachi in 3:1... the one who would prepare the way of the LORD. That's where the book starts as Jesus is immediately tempted by Satan and then starts calling His disciples. Mark focuses a lot on Jesus' teachings and development of His disciples and the miracles He performed.

### Luke

Luke documented his gospel as somewhat of a historical documentary or research paper. Luke was not present at all of the events described in his gospel (obviously not as you'll see in a moment), but did research and conducted interviews to compile a biography of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Luke conducted research of historical documents and scrolls and also performed a genealogy like Matthew, only taking it one step more. In chapter 3:23-38, Luke presents Jesus' genealogy back to Adam (an event where Luke was clearly not present). So I like to think of the gospel of Luke as a comprehensive, independent and non-biased research paper or news article about the history, life, and legacy of Jesus. An interesting point is that Luke, a physician was a gentile (not Jewish) who was a companion of Paul. He also wrote the book of Acts.

### John

This gospel focuses in on the whole life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with an emphasis on Him being the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord and Savior. God's son who though He was perfect and without sin, came to die and be the payment for our sins so that we could be restored with God and have new life (just as He was resurrected three days later).

One key point to note about these four gospels is that they are not identical in every little detail that they describe. This is important because in itself they help to lend credibility to their authenticity. Remember that they were written based on the perspectives of the same events from four different people written at four different times. If they were all identical in every little detail, most modern lawyers and investigators would conclude that this is evidence of collusion that would discredit the authenticity and reliability of the documents. This is an interesting point to note.

### The Acts of the Apostles

This book (written by Luke) is a detailed historical depiction of the things that the apostles of Jesus did after His death, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven. It shows how they received Jesus' promise of the Helper (the Holy Spirit) and continued Jesus' ministry by sharing the good news of who Jesus was and what He had done for them, preaching, teaching, making more disciples and encouraging them to do the same. This started off in the regions of Israel and then spread to other surrounding gentile nations, again fulfilling that great promise that God made to Abraham back in Genesis 12 and 16.

The Apostle Paul was one of those apostles who were key to getting that word out to the gentiles of the surrounding nations (which eventually reached you and me). When Jesus was alive, Paul was a blinded religious zealot who didn't recognize who Jesus was and made it his life to stop Him and His followers. It wasn't until an encounter with the resurrected Jesus in this book opened Paul's eyes and made him one of the most prolific disciples of Christ and apostles. In fact, as you continue to read the remaining letters of the New Testament, you will note that Paul wrote 2/3 of them.

### The Epistles

The rest of the books of the New Testament (except the last book of Revelation) are called epistles or letters to the churches. They are letters written by Jesus' disciples to the various churches of Jesus believers they had established. This includes both churches in the gentile nations as well as among the Jews. The purpose of these epistles was to continue to remind the churches of the teachings and lessons about God's attributes and presence, give instruction to help with daily life along with insight into the life of a reborn believer in Christ, and to encourage them (and us today) in the face of the difficulties they were certain to face. The first of these epistles is the book of Romans, written by Paul to the gentile church in Rome, Italy which he planted.

The last of the epistles is the book of Jude, written by Jude who was a half-brother of Jesus and grew up not believing He was the son of God. Jude later on after Jesus' death and resurrection became one of His most fervent disciples. So much so that he was eventually martyred for his belief in Christ and his work as a disciple. Before you criticize Jude for growing up not believing his older brother was the Son of God, just imagine what it would have taken for you to believe as a kid your sibling was the son of God.

### Revelation

The final book is a vision of the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to bring His Messianic King and establish His kingdom here on earth. It is a picture of His plan to finally get rid of evil, sickness, death, hate and all depravity here in the world. In the end, that is exactly what happens when in the last two chapters (21 & 22) He reestablishes His kingdom here on earth with men. It can be a pretty scary and intimidating book when you read of all of the judgments (disasters, plagues and stuff), but even through them, just as He has been doing all throughout the story of the bible, God was still trying to get people's attention. In the end of this ultimate love story, everybody gets what they want deep down inside. No one will be forced to make a choice they don't really want. There will be no one in heaven (in God's glorious kingdom) who doesn't really want to be there.

### Summary

This has been a very high level summary or overview of the bible. My intention was to share with you my perspective of the story line to give understanding of the broader perspective. It is not meant to be a comprehensive teaching, but will hopefully spark an interest in some to delve deeper and read the details of some (if not all) areas to see how God speaks to you through them. Each of these books, chapters, and even some verses could be the subject of a much deeper discussion. For example, for a much more detailed discussion of the book of Revelation, see my separate chapter (note) here on in this book that discusses that book.

For me, the overall story of the bible is a profound love story where God is faithful and loving at going after His bride. His love is never-ending for pursuing her to ensure she gets the absolute best. In the end, His love wins. We win.

End of story. God bless. Selah.

### Addendum

This is another addendum to my recent note titled "The Bible, A Brief Overview." As I continue to ponder, pray, meditate and listen to what the Spirit says about the overall intent of this note (for sure, the overall intention of the message in the bible), LOVE is a resounding message, like a continuous pounding heart beat through loud concert speakers.

What is love? Several points jump out that I want to cover today.

God is Love.

The all-powerful God, the creator of all the heavens and the universe, the one who holds it all together in perfect synchronization, this same God loves you and me personally and intimately and would do anything for us. This is indeed very personal and intimate. Even in the midst of our extreme mess, our issues, our rebellion and stubbornness (our brokenness), God loves us anyway in a way that is everlasting (see Jeremiah 31:3).

It is in His nature to love in all that He does. Does God do evil? Perish the thought. (James 1:13 and Job 34:12). Evil is not in or part of His nature in any way. However, because He is Love, He allows evil to exist because it is part of the definition of love... choice.

Love Requires Choice

Without the ability to choose, it is not possible to love. This thought came to my mind... Did the all-knowing God who transcends all time not create all things? Even Satan? When God was creating a perfect world and knowing what kind of chaos Satan was going to bring, why did He not just decide to leave this bad seed out? As difficult as this may be for some, I believe He left Satan in as a demonstration of His Love and to give all of us who truly love Him the ability to choose Him. As the Word says, God does not temp or do evil (it is truly not in His nature). He just allows man to do what is truly in his nature through Satan as a result of that fall in Genesis 3. This is what killed Jesus, what puts God's children through lives that often have difficulties, temptations, and sickness. These things are all a result of the fall and the continuous work of Satan to do what he is good at (kill, steel, and destroy). BUT, God's Love is infinitely more powerful than all of that. In the end, He wins!!

The importance of choice – Love without choice is not love at all. In the end, there will be no one in heaven who was forced against their will to be there. The same applies to hell and the lake of fire, those who will be there will be there because that's what they desperately desired (separation from God). After a lifetime of coaching and help by our Father to His children to "choose wisely," everyone gets what they want.

So here is one last point on God and evil. Although God created Satan and allows him and his effects to exist today, we know that God is also omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (in all places), omnipotent (all-powerful) and sovereign (on His throne and in control). While He does not do evil or cause bad things to happen, He allows Satan and mans fallen nature to do things that cause harm and pain. However, as the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and sovereign God of all creation, He is using all of these things to demonstrate His love, get the attention of His beloved children, and help show them how to want to make good choices. Romans 8:28 is one of my absolute favorite bible verses, the reference scripture for this last point, and my personal testimony and reason I still go forward each day with excitement.

Do I believe that God caused this massive tumor to appear in my brain 10 years ago? Or that He caused my right eye to get infected by the tumor and have to be removed 5 years ago? NO!! Not at all. All He had to do was withdraw His hands of protection and let things progress the way they always do in this fallen and dying world. However, as my favorite verse says above, although He allowed these bad things to happen, He used them in a powerful way for good, getting my attention in a way that was real and allowing me to see (with one eye) the things that are really important. And in the end, it has been helping me to choose wisely each day.

God bless each of you my everlasting brothers and sisters. Even so come, Lord Jesus COME!!

## 11/24/17 – Bible Overview Promo and Background

This is a plug about a Face Book note that I just published with a high-level overview of the story-line of the Bible. It has been a labor of love for the past week to get it formalized as a well-put-together document and published.

The actual origins of the idea go back to a difficult time that I had earlier this past summer when out of nowhere God put this idea on my spirit to do in a moment from memory. Please take a look if you have a chance. If you do not see it on my timeline, look in my Face Book notes section.

Finally I want to thank the people who over the past few days have been encouraging and helping me to refine, edit, finalize and publish this latest note. In particular, my sister-in-law Carol Evans.

God bless.

## 11/24/17 – Looking Back When My Calling Was Confirmed for Me

Looking back on the Calling

On this day 8 years ago, Wendy (a colleague that I used to work with in corporate audit) sent me this post that confirmed something that God had been gently speaking to me in my prayer time in those days. 'He confirmed that He was closing one door and opening another. Thank you Wendy for your faithfulness and availability to be used as an instrument in my Father's hand.

Looking back, it has been a very interesting journey in which He has continued in so many ways to confirm what He promised me and confirmed through Wendy and in other ways. I know with everything in me today that I am here today (and have always been) for a very special heavenly purpose. It's like God said to another one of His servants, the prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)

I now know that this is why I was born 56 years ago (even though I ignored Him for 46 of those years). His love for me was relentless and patient in carrying out His plan for me. To the point now that I can say with complete transparency that getting that tumor and subsequently losing my eye was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because it allowed me to truly see what is important.

As I look back over this past decade, the evidence of His hand at work is truly staggering. I could not make this stuff up. From the material things where His hand has supported my family always right on time after He brought me from a six-figure (and climbing) corporate job to working for Him in full-time ministry... as I said I couldn't make this stuff up. Two years ago when things started to get a little thin financially and I started to contemplate the need to go back to work to support my family, once again right on time He confirmed for me that He had closed that door (placing me on disability and starting a financial source that now appears to be permanent. Yes, confirmation LORD, I understand that You are my shield. I will not worry.

When I look back over the past 10 years at the writings that He has prompted me to write, it is again truly staggering. Just a few weeks ago, I was reading something that I wrote back in 2011 that so powerfully ministered to me in the moment. I thought "I wrote that all those years ago to minister to me today??" There has been a large collection of writings documented (99% right here on my Face book wall). So many that if consolidated and assembled, I could write a book. As they are now, they are a little hard to find because they are scattered throughout years of Face book posts. But I am engaged in an effort to consolidate them for much easier access. ( _this is the book you are reading right now_.)

I have also come to be able to see that NOTHING that happens in my life is circumstantial or without purpose. Even things that look distressing or unfortunate. God is speaking, teaching and refining through all of it. He has consoled and told me lately that just as it was with Jesus' disciples and even the Lord Himself, there will be many who won't understand. Some of the closest people around me think that I am suffering from brain damage from the tumor or effects from anti-seizure medication. But I know today with all certainty that there is much, much more at work here than it appears on the surface. Again, that tumor has given me the ability to see things that many won't be able to see.

Continue to have Your way in me LORD. And thank you to all of those you have placed around me who encourage and spur me on (you clearly know who you are).

And thank you again Wendy for being available to help confirm this journey 8 years ago today.

God bless - One of His anointed servants.

‎

quote

Wendy Perez‎ to Gerald Prater

November 24, 2009 · 8:09am

Hi Gerald. How are you brother? Praying to our God of miracles for your life. While meditating on that the following came: ministry. Ministering the word of God and what He has done in your life to the non believer, but not in the way you have been doing it, but in a more full time basis. Meditate on that my brother. Listen to His directions. Sometimes He has to close some doors to open some others. Amen

Gerald Prater - Thank you Wendy. Your words are very powerful and confirm a conversation I had this very morning.

November 24, 2009 at 9:30am · Like

Gerald Prater - More to come soon...

November 24, 2009 at 9:30am · Like

unquote

## 11/28/17 – NOTE: What is the Mark of the Beast?

GERALD PRATER·PUBLISHED A NOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017

### What is the Mark of the Beast?

### Introduction - A word for these special times in which we live

This is a word that was placed on my spirit and on which I have been praying and contemplating for the past week or two in the wake of my recent note covering the book of Revelation.

In chapter 13:1 we see the first beast with seven heads and ten horns rising out of the sea. In verse 4 it says the world worshiped the dragon (Satan) which gave power to this beast. The appearance of the beast in chapter 13 is historical, looking back and showing that it has been around for a long time (*this is a key point to be followed up*). In verse 11 the second beast appears and causes those who dwell on the earth to worship the first beast.

Later in chapter 17 verse 3 when God prepares to pour out the seven bowls of judgment, we once again see reference to this first beast with seven heads and ten horns with the woman riding on its back. This sinful woman had been responsible for the blood of many saints and of the martyr of Jesus.

I say all of this to lay a foundation for a key point for us to understand. The bible describes the ten horns as representing ten kings (or this world system). Back in Revelation 13:16, we see that famous line where the second beast causes all to receive the mark of the beast on their right hand or on their forehead. This is the point of this word that has been given to me as a burden... "What could this mark represent?"

I know there have been many commentaries over the years that this mark could be things like chips planted under the skin, bar codes or tattoos and the like. Based on my prayer, study, and meditation time, this is my perspective of what this mark could represent.

### Reliance on World Systems and Power

There is a history throughout the old testament of warnings and consequences of people (particularly leaders of Israel) relying on political maneuvering and alliances with world systems instead of relying on God for support and ultimate deliverance. This type of maneuvering is actually forbidden in the law that God gave Moses in Exodus 23:32-33 (You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods - speaking of the nations). Yet, on many occasions, the kings of Israel did just this very thing for support through political maneuvering. King David did it several times, but not nearly as much as his son King Solomon did. All of his (Solomon's) wives were from pagan nations and typically for political purposes (as opposed to relying on God to be his source and shield).

This type of maneuvering clearly didn't stop with David and Solomon but got arguably much worse as the line of kings continued. We find that king Asa made some very serious mistakes in 1 Kings 15:16-22. What happened? There was war between Asa and Baasha, who was fortifying Ramah to embargo Judah. So in an attempt to protect his kingdom he "took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 'Let there be a treaty between you and me..." (verses 18-19). King Asa trusted in political alliances for defense rather than in God. We must never rely solely upon political methods in our fight for the faith because "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Claiming to defend the truth, some resort to character assassination, smear campaigns, name-calling, and other dirty tactics which are of the world rather than of Christ. Instead, we should use the only offensive weapon that God gave us, and that is love and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

### Words for Us Today - The Mark

This is precisely the same trap that we can fall into today and one that I think is the true definition of what it means to receive the mark of the beast. When one places all of their trust in world systems, their actions demonstrate where their faith really lies. Back in Revelation 13:17 when the second beast said that "no man might buy or sell unless he had the mark or the name", I believe the mark represents the true evidence in our lives of where we place our trust when we are against the wall and things get desperate. Do we go to the Lord as our support and shield or do we rely on the systems of this world to make maneuvers?

Don't misunderstand me... I'm by no means saying that we should or can divorce or alienate ourselves from the world systems. We are here and are called to be His light while we are here. Also, the Lord has placed many strong Christians in places of leadership at various levels and is using them in a powerful way. I am personally blessed to know several closely and we as a community are very blessed as a result.

### Summation

When the Lord returns to get His children, where will He find you placing your trust as evidenced by the fruit of your life?

### Related Words from God's Prophet

Isaiah 31:1 - Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!

## 11/28/17 – My Struggles

This song came up on my play list today and just about had me in tears. You see, it has been a very difficult time of struggle and attacks that had me beginning to question this spiritual journey that I have been on for the past decade. It is so very real to me but based on some recent encounters I had begun to question if I had just been deceiving myself and making this all up over the years. THEN out of the blue (yeah, right), this afternoon I received a text and then spoke on the phone with a local brother that was an answer to prayer and encouragement to go on. I have had this recent note about the mark of the beast on my spirit for the past week or so and over the past day or two, I considered just stopping and not posting any more at all just withdrawing into silence). I prayed and asked my father if that was what He wanted and then got this phone call. And after that, this song came up in my play list and I had no further words to say.

One more thing... if you could, please don't feel obligated to respond to this or any of my other posts inn any way. I have to feel that I am doing what I do in response to what my Father is telling me and not just to hear myself talk or to get recognition. Have Your way Lord.

This is my testimony!!

 Came to My Rescue - Hillsong

# December

## 12/4/17 – The Praise of a Servant

I woke up this morning praising an awesome and all-powerful God who could simply speak a word and fix this fallen world. But He chooses to use you and me in the middle of our brokenness and mess to heal the world. He is determined to seek and heal the world through us, His children. This is truly humbling. 2 Chronicles 7:14. Have Your way Lord Jesus, in me, to me, and through me. Hallelujah!!

## 12/5/17 – Praise from the Valleys

For my light and momentary afflictions are just for a moment, but they are achieving in me (indeed in ALL of God's children) an eternal weight of glory! - 2 Corinthians 4:17. Word of God speak! It's worth it, I'm a living witness. It's very personal. Have Your way!

## 12/6/17 – We Serve a Jealous God – This is Good for Us

I was up early this morning in a men's bible study and accountability group discussing Acts 12:20-25 where King Herod is struck dead by the angel of the LORD because when the people praised him as God, he did not give glory to God but instead sat upon his throne and received the praise. We had a great discussion about this and how we all have a tendency to do this because of our fallen and sinful nature. We all have a tendency when people praise and glorify us to say "Yeah, look at me, look at what I have done"... especially those of us in ministry.

This is why I think the Apostle Paul was given the "thorn" in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. I don't think it was an actual physical thorn, but was something to remind him of his utter weakness without the ever-present help of God. This was done out of mercy from God so that Paul (we) would not become overly conceited by the works that God does through us and begin to say "Yeah, look at what "I" did."

Therefore, to avoid the fate of king Herod and to follow the example of Paul, I will boast in my weakness, sickness, difficulties, and struggles for the sake of Christ (so that His awesome power might be revealed in and through me). For He is indeed working ALL THINGS for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Amen and Amen!! Thank you Father.

## 12/8/17 – Grace and Mercy

I woke up this morning with a reminder during this season of Jesus' example of true love. He paid a debt He didn't owe so that we could lose a debt we couldn't pay. This is amazing grace and an example to me. Lord have Your way.

## 12/8/17 – Struggles and The Motions

Those who I have been blessed to have in my inner circle know that this old Matthew West song from 2009 is my testimony and passion as well. I have posted this video before years ago and here it comes up in my play list at a time of extreme difficulty as a reminder for me. Another little fact about this video is that Matthew West experienced this attention-getting moment in May 2007, only a few weeks after my awakening (the brain tumor) when EVERYTHING changed. Speak LORD, Your servant is listening!!!

 The Motions - Matthew West

## 12/11/17 – Darse por Vencido

Querido Señor en el cielo, yo me doy por vencido de mis maneras y me entrego a ti. Me he dado cuenta en esta vida que no puedo seguir adelante en mis maneras que lleguen en fracaso y desastre. Quiero conocerte más para llegar en el destino de la vida eterna. No mis maneras, pero que tus maneras sean realizados en mi y a mi vida. Lo recibo ya en el nombre de Jesús, mi Señor y Salvador. Amen.

## 12/11/17 – NOTE: Priorities

GERALD PRATER·CREATED A NOTE ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2017

### Priorities in the Life of a Christian

I was up again early this morning thinking about all of the countless ways that the LORD has demonstrated and shown His powerful hand of protection and provision in my life. He has done this in especially undeniable ways since my awakening after the tumor discovery 10 years ago. As I lay there and reflected, these words about priorities came into my spirit with excitement.

In Matthew 22:36-38, when Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, a section of the Torah called the Shema (a common Jewish prayer). This well-known prayer is one that established priorities for the Jewish people back in the Old Testament and is one that is a great reminder and example for you and me today. Let's consider what it says about what our priorities should look like.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

First, verse 4 leads off reminding us of the exclusivity of the LORD our God. He is the only one, true, and living God, there is no other. These words ring familiar, but in this life, it is easy for us to make gods out of other things and give them priority for attention, money and time in our life. You and I were made to worship and all of us will in fact do that (worship something). People have been called idol factories. The question is what will we worship? By definition, whatever we place as the top priority in our life (the things we give the most of our attention and resources to) is what we worship.

On the surface, many of these things can seem to be good things (family, jobs, work in our community, etc.). They can also easily be worldly things such as stocks and investments, sports and leisure, and gaining material possessions. It could be hunting, video games, television, even going to church for the sake of the activity and not to know God further. But ANYTHING that we give more importance and thought to than God, is by definition an idol.

How do we keep God as the top priority in our lives and avoid idolatry? We must release (surrender) ourselves to God completely. We must give up control of our lives completely to Him. Verse 5 says that we should "love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength" (the verse that Jesus quoted as being the greatest commandment). But how do we put feet to the street (or pen to paper) in making this work?

Loving God this way means acknowledging that He is always with us in every situation, decision and action that we take. If we truly believe that, then we understand that whatever we do, say, or wherever we go we force Him to do, hear, or experience that with us. And a true understanding of this changes everything for the Christian believer.

If He (God) is the priority of our lives, then we should not start a day without talking to Him first. Our priority in the morning should be "seeing what His Word says" before "seeing what the newspaper says."

We should also remember God constantly. He should be at the center of everything that we do in every situation. Deuteronomy 6 goes on to say that this understanding (these commandments) should be on our hearts all day and that we should tie them to our foreheads and talk about them with our children. In other words, we should live lives that are a walking breathing testimony that God is our top priority even in the midst of all of the other important things in this life. Does this mean that you and I should forsake everything else that is also important? Absolutely not!! He also cares about these other important things and as we follow Him, He will guide (and when needed, correct) us as we navigate this life caring for others around us (remember the second greatest commandment that Jesus quoted).

In the end, if we remember where our number one priority should be and focus there, He will guide us to care for all of the other areas and carry out His perfect plan for all of us. If God is not the first priority in your life, you need to take action to rearrange your priorities and place Him as first. Then watch and see how He moves and what happens.

LORD have Your way in us. You are our first priority, not because we chose You, but because You chose us first!! Here I am, send me!!

Here I Am - Down Here

## 12/15/17 – NOTE: A Study of Jeremiah

GERALD PRATER·POSTED A NOTE ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017

### Overview of the Book of the prophet Jeremiah

An overview and demonstration of how the Word of God is alive and quick and sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12)

### Background

The writing of this overview came to me as a heavy burden of the Lord about a week ago during a late night time of prayer and meditation. I was contemplating my upcoming appointment with my neurosurgeons on December 19, 2017 and how much I so desperately wanted to go up there and have them tell me that I could drive again (after almost 3 years). Then the LORD gently whispered this into my spirit... "What if it is my plan for you that you will never drive again? How would you be with that?" My response was that if this was His plan, I trusted Him and prayed for Him to have His way. Then He pointed me to this very well-known scripture that He spoke through Jeremiah, "I know the thoughts (plans) I have for you declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil" (29-11). I then again acknowledged that He knows what He is doing even when we (His people) don't understand. He then commissioned me to write this overview of the entire book of Jeremiah to put that verse into perspective. The results have been powerful, eye-opening, and so very personal. That is the background of how this writing came to be.

### Jeremiah overview

The book of Jeremiah can be very difficult to read and stick to if undertaken as a start-to-finish read. We really need to understand the book's background and structure in order to make it through without becoming bored, overwhelmed with seemingly detailed repetition, and then frustration which leads us to move on to another book. There are several very famous verses from Jeremiah that most people know. Hopefully this writing will help put those verses into perspective with the whole book of Jeremiah and also with the overall timeline of the story of the bible.

Understand this from the beginning – this book was not written at one time as a structured narrative telling a story. It is a collection of individual writings that the LORD gave Jeremiah over a period of several decades leading up to and including the capture of the nation of Judah by the Babylonian empire. In the 36th chapter, it shows how God told Jeremiah to go back and write down on scrolls all of the words that He (God) had given him over the previous years. So Jeremiah got the help of a colleague named Baruch to help him write it all down. Jeremiah then gave the scroll to the nation's leaders as a way to refresh them on how God had been warning them throughout the years to stop their evil deeds and then about what was going to happen if they didn't (see below). Unfortunately they rejected His warnings. In fact, Jeremiah had to have Baruch write the scroll a second time because king Jehoiakim had the original scroll burned in the fire after having it read to him and then rejecting it.

### The Beginning

The first chapter describes how God called Jeremiah when he was still a young man (1:6) and the LORD told him that He had chosen and separated Jeremiah since before he was even born. God had always known even before Jeremiah was born that He would use him to be a prophet not just to the Jews, but to the nations. And from that day, God touched Jeremiah's mouth and started to give him words to say to His people.

Here is a quick personal note – This is very personal to be because as many of you know, I have been for several years working in full-time ministry and boldly proclaiming that the LORD has placed me here for this purpose (that He closed the doors that I was previously pursuing in corporate America and opened the door to full-time ministry). In recent months, He has shown me that this is ultimately the reason why I was born, that He knew me before I was in my mother's (affectionately Momma's) womb. Even though I ignored Him for the first 46 years of my life, this has always been His plan for me.

### Place in the Timeline

As stated in the introduction above, the book of Jeremiah is a collection of words or essays (mini sermons) that the LORD had placed on Jeremiah as a burden to say to His people in the southern kingdom of Judah (capital of Jerusalem) over the years leading up to the siege and exile to Babylon.

The story takes place during the bible timeline after the nation of Israel had split into the northern (Israel, capital Samaria) and southern (Judah) kingdoms (1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10). Israel in the north had no good kings and pretty much always did evil in the sight of the LORD and had already been conquered by the Assyrians. Although the southern kingdom of Judah was not as apostate as the northern kingdom, Judah still had many problems with idolatry and adopting the evil practices of the heathen nations that surrounded them. This had been a repeating theme throughout their forefathers dating all the way back to when God brought them out of Egypt and brought them into the promised land (see my note on the overview of the bible). Jeremiah had grown up and lived almost his whole life right there in Judah when all of this apostasy was going on. This is why God placed him there at that particular time – to warn the people of Judah to turn back from their wicked and worldly ways and come back to Him, the God who had always loved, protected and provided for them.

### The First 24 chapters

### A collection of writings and sermons warning the people to repent and of the upcoming Babylonian invasion

After years of warning the people through Jeremiah to stop idolatry, God began to have Jeremiah tell them about how He (God) was going use the evil Babylonian kingdom from up north to come invade Judah and take it into captivity as punishment for their evil (but ultimately to get their attention so that they would come back to Him). An important point to understand here is that most Jews at the time thought it unthinkable that God would allow the most evil nation on the planet to invade and destroy His nation. The Babylonians were known for their savage and ruthless nature. So, based on what they understood, most Jews thought this would never happen and were prepared to resist. They were also blind to be able to see that God was using this as punishment for the sins that His own people were obviously committing even in and around His holy temple. In their minds, they viewed their trips to the temple as authentic worship, but because they were also worshipping other false gods, God viewed their worship as detestable and promiscuous.

### Adultery

There are several places throughout the first half of the book where God refers to what Judah has long been doing as adultery. He makes several references back to the exodus when He delivered them from bondage in Egypt (also referring to this delivery from Babylon as another example of Him bringing them back from captivity). Even though they saw God's mighty hand as He brought them out, they almost immediately and consistently committed adultery with these other false gods who could not deliver them or profit them in any way. The ridiculousness of this act is pointed out several times in Jeremiah's writings in the first half of the book.

Through Jeremiah, God told the people that they would be in captivity for 70 years in this evil land that that Jerusalem and that the temple would be completely destroyed. Other people passing by would be amazed at how this once thriving nation and city was not in such utter ruin. This message was not at all received well by the kings, religious leaders, and people of Judah. In fact, other prophets who were false (not at all hearing the word from God but devising the word based on their own evil and selfish motivations) told the people that this evil nation would never capture God's people... perish the thought. These false prophets contradicted Jeremiah and convinced many of the leaders and people of Judah to take up arms and resist the Babylonians and other nations when they came to besiege and invade. Again through Jeremiah, God warned His people that this was by definition resisting Him (God) and an act of rebellion that He would deal with harshly. Some false prophets even gave other more subtle false words that they claimed to be from God stating that while the city would be taken into exile, it would only last two years at the maximum.

In the end, God dealt very, very severely with those false prophets who claimed to be speaking for Him but instead got the people to believe in a lie. This was another very personal point to me that these matters (claiming to speak for God when you are actually only speaking your own evil heart's thoughts) are not to be played with but taken very seriously. Speak LORD, Your servant is listening. An interesting point about this is stated in a well-known verse in 17:9-10 which says "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings."

In a likewise manner, Jeremiah even told the people how to discern the true from the false prophets. He said look at what they say and the evidence that surrounds it and you will know who truly speaks for God. God will make it obvious. Nevertheless, many people and leaders rejected Jeremiah's notion that this evil kingdom (arguably one of the worst in the world) would take Judah into captivity. So as a result, Jeremiah suffered pretty severe persecution, imprisonment, and even threats of death. BUT, at the beginning of his calling, God prepared Jeremiah, warning him of the people and telling him to not be afraid of them and their reactions because He (God) would always be with him (sounds like Joshua 1:9, doesn't it) and be his shield no matter what evil came his way. In the end, Jeremiah lived to see God's plan carried out through the invasion and exile.

### God's Plan

As the famous chapter 29:11 word of encouragement comes up, God is encouraging His people who were obedient to His word and submitted to the Babylonian capture that He had not given up on them and that His plan for them was good (in spite of how the current situation might appear). Even though they were for a season captives in this wicked nation, He was still with them and would remember His promise to them through Abraham. God told them to marry, have children, give their children in marriage, and to increase and prosper there, praying for peace for that nation (Babylon). He would not let their previous sin have the last word. He simply asked them to trust Him and to not be afraid (as He does us today, again Joshua 1:9). He promised them still that He would bring them back to that Promised Land (He had not forgotten his promise). This reassured them and it does us today that our hope is founded on a solid platform when it is in Him, no matter what the situation looks like.

The people who rebelled and resisted the Babylonians (resisted God's plan) got a very different response. Through Jeremiah, He told the people who resisted the invasion and either refused to leave Judah or who would flee to Egypt that they would surely die. This was a stark contrast to the comforting counsel that He gave the obedient ones who were in Babylon. The ones who rebelled were told to be VERY afraid. Again, it is a very serious thing to rebel and resist the LORD and His plan. He knows what He is doing. A great place to see this contrast is in the 10 verses of chapter 24 where God compares the two groups to figs, good and bad. He describes explicitly what will happen to each group.

Another very interesting, yet understandable contrast in the book of Jeremiah is in chapter 16. In contrast to telling the exiles in Babylon to marry, and have children and expand in 29:11, God tells Jeremiah in chapter 16 NOT to marry or have children because he was still in Judah among the Jews who refused to be carried away. He said that all who remained there and who fled to other nations in rebellion would perish along with all of their children. So Jeremiah had God's hand of protection on him while he remained most of his life in Judah (he was very much a celibate giving his life in ministry for God).

### Judgment for the Nations

In the end as the book ends, the LORD speaks through Jeremiah telling how He will not ever leave evil unpunished (no matter who does it). Although Babylon was used to bring about judgment on Judah, the fact still remained that Babylon and many of the other nations surrounding Judah were also evil nations and due for judgment. The book of Jeremiah closes out as God pronounces how He is going to do the same thing to Babylon that they did to Judah (utter destruction by a nation from the north that we know will be Persia). God is a just God and He will never let evil and sin go unpunished.

### One closing point and illustration of God's commitment to His promise

As the book of Jeremiah closes, there is an interesting closing point that is illustrated about God's faithfulness to His promise. In 55:31-34, during the 37th year of the Babylonian captivity on the 25th day of the 12th month (sound familiar?), the newly appointed king of Babylon, Evilmerodach, had compassion for Jehoiachin (the king of Judah) and had him released from prison, cleaned him up and began to fellowship and eat great meals with the Babylonian king everyday for the rest of his (king Jehoiachin's) life. And that's how the book of Jeremiah ends (kind of open-ended). It is an interesting point about God's faithfulness when you understand who Jehoiachin is. He is one of the king's in the line of David and one of the fathers of Jesus Christ. There he is at the end of the book carrying on God's promised line and finding favor even in the middle of the Babylonian captivity. Hope is indeed alive. Hallelujah!!

### Summation

One of the key points for me in this book is that we as God's children should always remember that He has a plan for all of us. And knowing that, we should trust Him and know that He is indeed working all things for good (Romans 8:28). He is also faithful to keep His promises even when the situation looks dire or incomprehensible from our perspective. We should all place our trust in Him and Him alone. Not in what we understand or even what others think. It is my desire in writing these notes to not make you fully understand (placing your hope in me) but to give you a desire to now go and read the book to explore and see how the Holy Spirit speaks to you personally`... placing your hope in Him and drawing closer to Him in intimacy.

He is also a God of justice who will not leave sin unpunished. Fortunately for those of us who have received His gift of salvation and new life, our sins have already been paid (atoned) for on the cross at Calvary.

With that summation stated, this is a song that has so very deeply been speaking to my soul as I have been writing this note and reflecting again all of the similarities in my current life and overall calling and walk with the LORD. If I were writing this as a sermon (yeah, right), this would be the exclamation point worship song at the end. It is very personal. Please enjoy and be blessed in the LORD.

Your Promises - Elevation Worship

## 12/16/17 – Hopeful Even In Weakness

I am up early this morning thanking and praising God for His faithfulness even in times of difficulties. It's a new day with new blessings. Thank you to all of you for your prayers and outpouring of love and support yesterday. It really touched me deeply in my soul. That combined with a special word that the Lord has me to write in the very middle of that pain yesterday has given me renewed hope and confidence for a new day. The Lord is not done with His servant yet in spite of my weaknesses. I love you all. God bless.

## 12/17/17 – Refreshing Hope

I am up again early this morning giving thanks to my Father for giving me understanding to walk by faith and not by sight. I am understanding that EVERYTHING that has been happening over the past few days has been for a purpose... just as it was with the Babylonians during Jeremiah's time. Every word has been significant and some will see it and some will not (some can not). But everything is important. For sure these are very special times. LORD have Your way!! You are the REAL THING!!!

Just as You were doing through Jeremiah, You are simply trying to get the attention of Your people. Give us ears to hear. For it is indeed very real what You are doing. Hallelujah!!

## 12/19/17 – Heart conditions and promises

In my private time at 3 am this morning after I praised the Lord for His presence with me today, He went on over the next several hours to talk to me and give me these important words to speak as I awoke from bed. He showed me that on the heals of that post that I shared twice yesterday from Jose about the people who thought they were Christians and were deceiving themselves, He reminded me about more familiar words from the book of Jeremiah about heart conditions. Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can understand it? He showed me that it is easy to think of this verse as talking about those people around us who are doing evil things against innocent people, children, evil nations, etc. But in reality, the people with the heart problems are all of us. They are those of you who support and encourage me in my spiritual calling and journey (wicked hearts), those who spurn my writings and say will you stop these posts (desperately wicked), our church leaders, and even me (who can understand it how wicked). The truth is we are all with this desperate heart condition and can not on our own make good choices. Right before this famous verse, Jeremiah 17:7-8 describes a contrast of two men... one who puts their trust in man and is led to utter destruction and calamity. And then a man who places his trust in God who is like a tree planted by living waters and produces fruit continually. He showed me how important this is for ALL OF US especially today. Not to place our trust in any man to make us understand (deceitful). Not even in reading and knowing what the bible says (simply head knowledge will not save us and can be highly deceitful). A prophet, evangelist, or apostle can not save us. It is only the saving knowledge of an intimate presence of the living God with us that can save. And we can not get that from our efforts to get head knowledge.

The good news – Knowing that we have always had this problem, God provided a way and made us a promise (He is a faithful God) in Jeremiah 31:33 when He promised He would solve our heart problem by giving us in the future a new heart (not written on stones). Giving us that power that comes only from Him to live inside of us and dwell with us.

As a prophet and anointed servant, it is not my place to teach anyone or to instruct or be an example, but to simply point each of you to that intimate knowledge of Him.

God bless and keep each of us today.

## 12/19/17 – Praise for a Good Doctor's Report

Hey everyone, I just arrived safely back at home after my day-long trip up to see my doctors in Dallas and want to thank you all for your powerful prayers and support. Overall, the news was EXCITING and GOOD. After a 45-minute stay in a tube for my MRI scan, I went over to see my Neurosurgeon, Dr Timmerman at the UT Southwestern Health Science Center to review the MRI results and talk about next steps. The news was phenomenal. There has been absolutely no returned tumor growth and everything looks great inside my head. He says there is no need to do any further surgery and they can just wait to see me again next year in December for another annual follow-up. This was tremendous news indeed, but it still gets better. After seeing him, I went to see my seizure doctor to review my progress on the medication and also talk about next steps. She said that for now they would keep me on the same dosage because everything looked pretty stable and because the MRI scan turned out so good. Also, she agreed that I could GRADUALLY START DRIVING AGAIN!! So I came home with approval to ease back into driving in less-stressful and low-risk situations.

If there was some bad news (if there is any such thing with God's children), it was this. I had been hoping to eventually be able to wean completely off of this seizure medication. After talking to both my neurosurgeon and the seizure doctors about this today, they both confirmed that because of the damage that had been caused to my brain by the tumor, I would most likely have to be on medication for the rest of my life. If you are waiting for a complaint from me, I'm sorry, it isn't coming.

Overall, this was an EXCELLENT day and I want to again thank all of you for your prayers and support.

I also want to thank a special bible-study and accountability brother of mine, Vince Yates. You see, although Vince is himself recovering from recent shoulder surgery and is still in some degree of discomfort, he sacrificially offered to drive me up to Dallas for all of my appointments and drive back. We left home at 7:30 this morning and arrived back at 9:40 tonight. Plus, it rained all the way up there and 75% of the way back and Vince drove the whole way to complete a long day of demonstrating sacrificial brotherly love for me. I love you brother.

Now it's time for this one to go to bed. God bless and keep you all.

## 12/20/17 – Saving Faith – Faith that Listens

I woke up this morning with a word on my heart about faith in light of yesterday's events and discussions I had with Vince during the trip. True faith (that saves) is NOT asking God to do something that we want and then believing really, really hard that we will receive it. That is by definition presumption (self-centered based on the desires of our own evil hearts).

True faith is believing that God will do what He has promised He will do and trusting in it. This requires an intimate relationship with Him and a two--way conversation. Selah (think about it)

The all-important ability to listen and not just speak - see James 1:19

## 12/26/17 – Hope That Heals

I am celebrating and praising God this morning for His faithfulness and justice, He will not tolerate sin and is powerful to heal physically, emotionally, spiritually no matter how hopeless it may appear. Yesterday we celebrated His gift of the initiation of the ultimate healing for a situation that appeared hopeless. This is a never-ending story throughout the story of the bible. He is truly the same God yesterday, today and forever. Believe, trust and praise Him no matter how the situation appears. HIS PLAN IS PERFECT!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

## 12/29/17 – This is Amazing Grace

This is a word that the Lord has been ministering to me over the past week or so. It was initiated with a discussion I had with a friend of our family who stayed in our home for the Christmas holiday. During his stay, I had several discussions with him about theological matters. When discussing the bible timeline, we came to somewhat of a disagreement about the way things ended in the book of Revelation. The disagreement was about the people at the end who shook their fists at God as He poured out the cups of wrath in judgment. The discussion was about whether those people had been pre-destined to go into the lake of fire with the dragon.

As I reflected back on the discussion, it was a disagreement about the theory of predestination. Are any people predestined to go to hell? My position was no. But the counter point that he offered was that God already knew those people who would ultimately reject Him even when they knew it was Him they were rejecting. I agreed that God is omniscient and already knows who will receive His gift of salvation and who will reject it out of hand. But even knowing this, He still reaches out to and loves on them. And as I pondered this point, I arrived at the topic of this note – God's Amazing Grace and how very difficult it is for us to fully comprehend or live it.

Yes, God already knew who would reject Him and yet He reached out to them ANYWAY. In the book of Revelation, even though He knew they would know exactly who He was and that it was Him who was doing this (pouring out bowls of wrath on them) to get their attention; they would still say "NO, WE DON'T WANT YOU!!" Yet even in the end, He reached out anyway. That's amazing grace and an example to us.

Another well-known example of this type of grace is in the betrayal of Judas Iscariot. Jesus already knew that Judas would betray Him to be put to death, yet I challenge anyone to find one instance in the scriptures where Jesus belittled or treated Judas worse than His other disciples. On the night of His betrayal, John 13:1-17 tells the story of how Jesus washed His disciples' feet. I would argue that a careful reading of this scripture would show that Judas got his feet washed by Jesus that night. Is that a kind of grace that you and I could muster up if we were in that situation and if we knew about Judas what Jesus knew?

Amazing grace – The scriptures describe how Judas took it upon himself to go out and hang himself after the betrayal. I would argue that God's amazing grace was available even for Judas as Jesus was dying on that cross as atonement for ALL sins (even those of Judas if he repented and asked for forgiveness). Judas hadn't done anything that was worse than what you and I have done or anything that made him into someone who was not worth dying for to Jesus.

Lord, truly I can not live and love like that on my own. Help me to follow Your example of amazing grace and to love even those who hurt me. Help me to love like that. Let Your perfect will be done in me, to me, and through me.

For the record, I do not believe in predestination.

Now get out your tissues for this worship song.

 Someone Worth Dying For - Mikes Chair

## 12/31/17 – My Publication Update and Psalms 19

I am preparing to call it a night after I celebrated new year's eve with a great movie about Psalms 19 and how the Heavens Declare the Glory of God. I'll come back to that in a moment.

I wanted to also give you guys a quick update on my ongoing efforts to consolidate my ministry writings on Face Book from the past decade into a book. I started documenting and posting words in earnest at the end of 2009 after several signs and messages that God wanted me to treat this as more of a full-time ministry. I have separated the writing by calendar year to divide it into manageable chunks. So far I have done all of 2011 and it turned out to be 45 pages alone when consolidated into one document. Next I will go back and do 2010 followed by all of the other years and then do some formatting, graphics here and there and smoothing/transitions. I have investigated a few options for publishing (free) including e-books as well as low-cost printed. We'll see as this progresses.

Now, let's go back to the movie about Psalms 19. It was a video that I had watched and posted years ago (see the link below) about the earth called "The Privileged Planet." It's a great 1-1/2 hour documentary with scientists who didn't start from a spiritual or theological standpoint and after studying the universe and earth determined that this is all an incredible design that shows undeniable signs of a creator (God) who is bigger than it all. Romans 1:19-20 says we have no excuse for unbelief because God is making it obvious. Their conclusions remind me of an old saying that it takes more faith to be an atheist (or believe in evolution) than it takes to believe in God. This was my New Year's eve celebration and if you can spare the 90 minutes, it comes highly rated from me. FYI, the best part of the film (IMHO) is the interview comments by the scientist after the main feature ends during the final 30 minutes. Don't stop it when it seems to be over because it is then just about to get really good.

Happy and blessed New Year to you all!! I can't wait.

# References

## Alphabetical List of Hyperlinks

 Arise - Hillsong United  
 DIVINE HANDPRINT Video from CBN News  
 Even If - Kutless  
 Even If - MercyMe  
 Even If - MercyMe - Detailed story behind the song  
 Even If - MercyMe Live in Amarillo, TX  
 Even So Come - Passion  
 Fix My Eyes - for King & Country  
 For Every Mountain - Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir  
Gerald's Video Testimony  
 Glory Awaits - Sovereign Grace Music  
 Head to the Heart - United Pursuit  
 Healer - Hillsong Worship  
 I Surrender - Hillsong Live  
Just Be Held - Casting Crowns  
 Just Like You - Lecrae  
 Live Out Loud - Steven Curtis Chapman  
 Mighty To Save - Hillsong United  
 Never Going Back - United Pursuit  
 Señor Eres Fiel - Marcos Barrientos  
 The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel  
 The Great I Am - New Life Worship  
 Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] - Chris Tomlin  
 You Are Good (The Original) - Israel & New Breed  
 Your Latter Will Be Greater - Israel & New Breed  
 Your Promises - Elevation Worship

##  About the Author

The purpose of this section of the book is to provide you, the reader of this book, with a brief introduction to the author. Through this mini bio you will be able to gain insight and evaluate his qualifications to be able to write a book with contents such as this.

Gerald L. Prater is a retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant. He spent 20 years serving after enlisting at the age of 17 years after graduating high school in Miami, FL. He spent his entire 20 years serving in the Military Intelligence career field as a Spanish Cryptologic Linguist. After basic military training and technical training in Spanish at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA and Goodfellow Air Force Base (AFB) in San Angelo, TX, he served tours of duty at Key West Naval Air Station, FL, Kelly AFB in San Antonio, TX, and Howard AFB in the People's Republic of Panama. While he was on active duty, he took advantage of military sponsored education benefits to obtain three college degrees:

1) An Associates of Applied Science degree in communications from the Community College of the Air Force  
2) A Bachelors of Science degree in Management of Computer Information Systems from Park University in Parkville, Missouri  
3) A Masters of Business Administration degree with an Information Systems concentration from the University of Texas at San Antonio in San Antonio, TX

After retiring from the Air Force, he started an 11-year career in information systems and corporate auditing. He worked initially for TRW, a defense contractor serving as a staff Software Engineer. Next he worked for the telephone company GTE as a corporate staff Information Systems Auditor. His corporate auditing career progressed until he was promoted to the position of corporate IT and Network Systems Audit Manager finally working in that role in Austin Texas at Applied Materials, a major nano-manufacturing firm. It was from this position at Applied Materials where God called him into full-time volunteer ministry in November 2009 (see the story written up in the 11/24/17 chapter entry in this book series.

Gerald does not align or associate himself with any particular religious group or denomination. He is a non-denominational follower of Jesus Christ, believes in the triune God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), that Jesus came here and lived a perfect life among us, died for our sins, rose again from the grave three days later to give us new life, and now dwells among and in us through the Holy Spirit.

Since November 2009, he has maintained a full-time vocation of ministry as lead by the Spirit of the Lord. He has never had any formal seminary training. However, during the years since 2009 he has engaged in detailed personal study of bible and theology. This has included not only in-depth study of the bible by exegesis (line-by-line), but also studying the teachings and university curriculums of several recognized professors of theology at the graduate school level. One such professor who has had a significant impact on his studies is Ravi Zacharias and his team at RZIM (Let My People Think). The perimeter around all of these areas of study has always been (since his awakening by the Lord Jesus) with help to discern and understand from the Holy Spirit. All of the areas of spiritual insight, biblical study and commentary in this book are all led by the Holy Spirit. One thing that has made Gerald unique in these studies is his calling by the Lord to pursue these studies and vocation on a full-time basis with equal if not greater vigor than he used before in his prior corporate career. Using this vigor, he has found that studying and understanding the bible is actually quite easy. This is because when studied in earnest, it is easy to understand in total because the overall story is so simple and consistent. This is one of the reasons he finds it so easy to explain many fundamentals of the bible in written and spoken forms.

Using his prior experience with governmental and corporate research and analysis together with effective university graduate studies, his studies of theology over the past decade could be considered an equivalent of honorary post-graduate studies in theology. After 10 years of this type of study, he could (only if lead by the Lord of course) take actions to pursue an honorary PhD in theology.

Gerald at Olinda Elementary School, Miami, FL

Connect with Me:

email me: glprater@netzero.com

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