Team Jesus, be in prayer for the safety of all.
US states declare state of emergency due to winter storm
Significant winter storm shutters the South and cancels more than 3,000 US flights
Delta passengers evacuate flight on emergency slides during aborted takeoff
California State Park Peace Officers Arrest Arson Suspect Near Leo Carrillo State Park
AccuWeather
It has been one of the snowiest weeks in years across the southern United States as a winter storm spreads accumulating snow, sleet and freezing rain across more than a dozen states.
People stormed local stores ahead of the wintry weather to stock up on food and other essentials, with stores in Atlanta sold out of bread, milk, water, meat and soup. School districts across the region also shuttered at the end of the week due to the risk of dangerous travel amid the wintry weather. More Here
Additional strong Santa Ana winds brewing for Southern California
As I sit in my home, nearly an hour away from these devastating fires of Southern California, I see clear blue skies, and calm breezes. It makes it hard to visualize that there is a blazing hell sweeping through cities not far from where I am. The figures and calculations of the active fires that I share in this writing are changing with each key stroke I make. It is difficult to fathom that anyone can take or maintain an accurate count of all this destruction, so please understand any results that I share here will change quickly until all these fires are contained.
At least 10 people are dead (that have been discovered).
Pacific Palisades—Destroyed.
Topanga Beach—Destroyed.
Will Rogers Park (home and ranch)—Destroyed.
South Malibu—Destroyed.
Las Tunas Beach—Destroyed.
Altadena—approximately 2/3 Destroyed.
North Pasadena—approximately 1/3 Destroyed.
The following locations are suffering major damage, but no assessments are listed at this point. This information will come out at a later point.
La Canada, North Arcadia, Monrovia, West Hollywood/Hollywood, Sylmar, West Hills, Studio City, Calabasas.
More than 220,000 people evacuated and displaced from work and homes. At least 12,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed.
Palisades Fire—20,438.2 Acres; 6% contained.
Eaton Fire—13,956.3 Acres; 0% contained.
Several other smaller fires are slowly moving toward containment.
Also, another major factor, Southern California Edison has been having planned power outages during the high winds we have been experiencing in the hopes that any damaged powerlines from the winds will not add to the fire problems. More than 400,000 customers have had to deal with a loss of power, which means for many homes a lack of heat and light.
Residents are demanding to know how each of these fires started. Most likely it is too soon to know all the causes. Many are in an uproar when political excuses are suggested, so I will not mention the realities of poor water management in California for many years. Neither will I suggest that Cal Fire, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has suffered from mismanagement for decades.
So, since I should not lay any blame upon political standards and shortfalls, I have only one recourse to consider, that being the spiritual state of the American people as a nation.
America was founded on Christian foundations. Her Constitution was carefully planned and worded through much Biblical counsel. According to the Bible, when nations repeatedly reject God and turn away from His Word/Commandments, in a sense, it can be said of Him that He turns away from those nations. That is, essentially, He removes His favor and protection and will allow them to suffer the consequences of their deliberate and inappropriate actions against the Almighty, Holy, Righteous, Just, Creator God.
This does not actually mean that God leaves those people. God is everywhere present at once. He is not abandoning people. But He will allow the natural consequences of their sin against God come without His interference.
The Old Testament has examples of when God allowed hardship and even exile come to His own chosen people, Israel, because of their repeated idolatry and disobedience to His Holy Word. And even though God may allow an entire nation to suffer consequences for collective sin, persons, individuals, can still choose to follow God and even experience His mercy and His grace amid the struggles as a nation. There’s room for multitudes to be saved while in hard times as a nation.
What kinds of things have we as a nation done against our Holy God? There is more than I care to list, but I will mention a few: Greed. Selfishness. Pride. Hatred. Stealing. Racism. Controlling others. Murder. Idolatry. False gods. Abortion. Homosexuality/Sexual Perversions of every kind. Sleeping churches. Speaking out against God and His Word. We have had a rash number of celebrities publicly speaking horrendous things against our God.
Yes, God would be justified to bring judgment against America, but even that possibility causes me to pray for all the precious ones who are being afflicted by the destruction of these fires. I pray for God’s mercy to be released on all in despair. I pray for His provision in their season of losses. I pray for the elderly to be protected and cared for; to be fed and sheltered. I pray for all who are fighting in numerous ways to defeat these powerful blazes in all these heavily populated areas. I pray for all government agencies to bring physical resources and personnel that can be of help. I pray for God to awaken all of His churches in America to pay heed to their responsibility noted in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people, who are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
This verse is about repentance and turning away from sin. True repentance must be a change of heart and action, it must involve a turning away from sinful behaviors and back towards God and His righteousness. It means God’s people must seek God’s character, truth, and presence.
I believe God is calling His Church across America to declare 2025 to be the year of effectual prayer. I believe that God finally wants to be able to call His Church His House of Prayer because it finally is. I believe God is seek those who would seek His face through Daniel 9:3-19 type of praying so that He and He alone has the right to say He is making America Great Again!
Beloved Church, America needs us to be all that God says we are to be! And we need to be this because we want to be His cherished Bride at last! Pray On!
