Chronicles of the End Times
Occasionally, people say, are we really in the last days? How do we know? Does it matter one way or another? We will try to answer these questions and many others in this study. But the most important question may be, how can we reach others with hope in these changing times? One part of prophecy is often emphasized over another, causing us to lose perspective and miss the blessing and beauty of prophecy in scripture. I have taken the information in this study from many authors and teachers who have their lives studying God's word. I have added some insight that the Holy Spirit taught me. With God's help, I have endeavored to keep the whole counsel of the word of God in full view to give us an accurate picture of Christ and His great love for a lost world. I pray that this will challenge you and cause you to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it has me preparing it. Let's begin!
Chronicles of the End Times
Finding Strength in God's Beauty: Psalm 27 Spiritual Warfare
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Psalm 27 offers a powerful antidote to fear when facing opposition.
This episode dives deep into finding unshakeable confidence when surrounded by enemies. We explore what happens when God is doing something special in your life and others respond with jealousy rather than celebration. The beauty of God's character becomes our meditation—His perfection, His love for the unlovable, His mercy that arrives fresh each morning like the sunrise, and His remarkable patience with a rebellious world.
What does Scripture reveal about our future resurrection bodies? Unlike the second resurrection leading to judgment, the first resurrection promises glorified existence. Your future body will need no food, water, or rest, yet can still enjoy these experiences. You'll move between dimensions without limitation, just as Jesus did after His resurrection. No blood flows through these immortal bodies—Christ's blood was fully spent for our salvation. These extraordinary bodies will perfectly match our redeemed spirits, designed for eternal fellowship with God.
When facing spiritual warfare, remember Paul's powerful words: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The creator of the universe stands beside you, fighting battles you could never win alone. His mercy is not recycled or limited—it's fresh and new specifically for your situation today. Whatever you're going through, lift your eyes to contemplate the beauty of the Lord. Your future is secured through Christ, and it's more glorious than your mind can comprehend.
Keep looking up. The King is coming.
Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo. Chronicles of the Times. I hope you're doing well today and living for the Lord, Jesus Christ.
00:30
There is much going on in this insane world that we live in Today. I thought I would read a little bit from Psalm 27. I don't know about you, but there's a lot of attacks going on, spiritual attacks. I'm sure many of you have experienced them to one degree or another. But we need to always know that God is on our side. We might say that a lot, but we need it to sink in and we need it to really lift us up. It has to become so real to us.
01:03
So, let's look at what the psalmist is saying today in Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall, I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid when evil men advance against me to devour my flesh? When my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall, though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear though war break out against me. Even then will I be confident. The one thing I ask of the Lord this is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple. That's great words, and you may feel that your enemies are coming around about you, and that could be anything. That could be spiritual enemies, and there's a lot of them out there. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are visible and some are invisible.
02:02
But we must remember that the true attributes of a follower of Jesus Christ is that we love one another, of a follower of Jesus Christ is that we love one another. And what was Jesus talking about? He was talking about a love that goes beyond anything we can understand, and it has to be inspired by Him. We can't conjure this kind of love up romantic love and all that that we see on the screen that is pretty shallow in comparison. The kind of love that really holds up is the kind of love that stands by you, or that you stand by a person in real tough times. That's when you know true love, and it can be for a friend. It doesn't have to be for a mate, it could be for anyone who's going through a tough time, and you decide to love them through it and be there for them. That's the greatest testimony of all.
02:50
There's so much we could talk about in this psalm that, no matter what comes against us, what enemy forces, we know about the spiritual forces of evil that we will not fear. Why is that? Because we don't stand alone. We don't win the battles by ourselves. Jesus Christ wins the battles for us, and I can tell you many times when Christians that I thought where my friends came after me with quite a bit of malice and mostly it was caused by what God was doing in my life, and that may sound kind of self-lifting, but it's not meant to be that way.
03:26
I'm sure some of you have had those encounters. Maybe God is doing something in your life. It doesn't have to be something world-shattering, but just something God's doing for you. Some people thank God, they'll worship God along with you and rejoice with you, but others they'll take the other road. So, when that happens, we have to know that our God is beside us at all times, whether they be flesh and blood adversaries inspired by the enemy, or they're supernatural without a form that we can see.
03:57
The psalmist says something here that I think is worth meditating on that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. That is so cool. Is our God beautiful? Yes, he is in so many ways. We can think about and meditate on the ways that God is beautiful. First of all, he's perfect. He loves the unlovable. That's why he loved me. That's why he loves most of us. When we are unlovable, God loves us. He is merciful. His mercies are new and fresh every morning. So, whatever you're going through, you may have slipped and fallen, but know this, just as the sun rises in the morning, God's mercy is new and fresh. That means it's not yesterday's mercy, it's not tomorrow's mercy, it's fresh and new just for you. Thank God for his mercy.
04:55
The Lord is kind, he is long-suffering. He puts up with so much. Just look at the world around us. God continues to put up with the atrocities that are being done all over the world. Most of them we do not see. I try to report on many, but God's the one who sees them all, in every corner of the earth. Yet he is long-suffering because he desires that none should perish, although we know the majority will perish, unfortunately. But that's not his desire. We are the crown of his creation. Therefore, we have choices, and we can make them, and many times they're not the right ones. So, when things are tough and we don't know what to do, we trust in God. But we also look upon the beauty of the Lord, and when we meditate on the beauty of Almighty God, it lifts us up because we know that he loves us with an everlasting love.
05:50
As John wrote in his letters, you have an anointing given to you by the Lord, Jesus Christ, I don't care who you are, what you're up to, if you love Jesus and you've committed your life to him. Whether you feel you have great talent or not doesn't matter. God has given you his touch, his anointing, which means his presence. So, let's think upon that when we're feeling down and know that, as Paul says, if God is for us, who can be against us? Keep in mind you are part of the first resurrection. This is not exciting. The second resurrection is a resurrection unto death, according to Revelation, chapter 20. I'm going to read a little bit of that right now because I feel like we need to focus on the future. What does God have for you? What does the future look like? The future is more than bright.
06:41
I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free. For a short time, I saw the thrones on which seated those who had been given authority to Judd, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reign with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.
07:36
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ. That's such an amazing scripture, remember. The first resurrection is a resurrection to life. It's not limited to those who came to life in a thousand years.
08:04
Jesus Christ was the first fruit of the first resurrection, and we will all follow him in that resurrection. We will receive new bodies that do not require food, but we can still eat food. They don't require water, but we can still drink. They don't require rest. They're completely different, formed after the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. Jesus had no blood. It was shed for our sins. He showed him the holes in his hands and his feet and his side, but no blood was coming out of it. There was no blood left in him that had been spilt for the world. He could move in and out of dimensions. Nothing restricted him. Yet he could make a fire on the beach and cook some fish and share it with his friends. It's going to be a completely new body, renovated and changed, a body that lasts forever to match our spirit, that Jesus Christ has cleansed. Think about those things today. God is for us, he's not against us, and what he has for us is beyond our imagination.
09:07
I'd like to take time to thank each one who is supporting the show. It is extremely important. We are moving in some new directions. Lighthouse Productions is a non-profit organization of which I am president of, and we are moving towards new fields. We've been doing shows for years, stage shows, lifting the Lord Jesus Christ, and now we're going to move into video production. So, keep us in prayer as we continue to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he is. God bless. This is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles of the End Times. Keep looking up. The King is coming.
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