Winning with the Word is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

NOTE: Winning with the Word will cease publication as of this post.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to the final episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, September 25, 2023, and this is Episode #37 of Series 2023. This episode is titled “No Middle Ground."

It seems fitting that I should be writing my last blog post when the Rapture seems so imminent. Regardless of whether it is or not, God has a purpose in His timing. And because I love and revere Him, I yield to that purpose.

So, as I craft this final message, I would like to leave you with a word of encouragement. And that word is to cling to the Word of God. It alone is Truth. It alone will save you. It alone will set you free.

And it alone will cause you to win at life!

Jesus warned us in Matthew chapter 24 that deception would run rampant in the last days. All we have to do is look around us to find a world gone mad. A world that no longer thinks straight. A world on its way to hell.

It has been said that when we reject Truth, only the Lie remains. Such is the case with the world today. It has rejected Truth. Jesus Christ is Truth. In rejecting Jesus Christ, the world has rejected Truth. Jesus Himself said this in Matthew 12: 30: "He who is not with Me is against Me."  If we are not on the side of Christ—the side of Truth—we are by default on the side of the Lie.

My heart's desire over the past several years that I have been writing this blog has been to point you to Jesus Christ by exploring His Word. Obeying His Word is the key to winning not only in this life but also in the life beyond. The Word is the Bible. The Word is Jesus. The Word is the center of everything. All of life—its beginning, its middle, and its end—points to Jesus Christ. All things begin and end in Him. He is the focal point of life.

As our time together comes to a close, I want to thank you for being a faithful follower of Winning with the Word. You can access our archives at maryanndiorio.com. Click on the Blog tab and then click on Winning with the Word Archives.

I also want to implore you to stay close to Jesus. Let every thought you think, every word you speak, and every thing you do be motivated by your love for Him and your desire to glorify Him. And if you do not yet know Him as your Savior, I urge you to receive Him now. He longs to have a personal relationship with you. He longs to be your Savior, Your Healer, Your Provider, and Your Friend.

Won't you pray this simple prayer with me now?

Lord Jesus, I don’t want to go to Hell when I die. I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. You are the Truth. You are the only One Who can save me. I receive You now as my personal Savior and as the Lord of my life. Make of me what You created me to be. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, you are now a child of God. Write to me at [email protected] and I will send you a free e-booklet titled After You’re Born Again to help you in your walk with Jesus.

Finally, I invite you to stay in touch with me by subscribing to my author newsletter at this link: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/x5i2r2

Again, thank you for your faithful support over the years. As I bid you farewell, please remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are, and that He will always help you to keep on winning with the Word!

___________________________________________________Copyright 2023 by Mar...

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, August 14, 2023, and this is Episode #32 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "5 Signs That the End is Here!"

 

One has to be blind not to notice the radical changes that are occurring in our world. From the rise of the New World Order with its digital currency, the increasing use of microchips, iris scanning, and other surveillance techniques, to unprecedented, apocalyptic superstorms, outrageous inflation, and the recurrence of rare diseases, like leprosy—long thought to be eradicated—we have without question entered the period of history that the Bible describes as the end times. As some Bible experts are saying, "The end is not near; the end is here!"

I would like to share with you five signs that the end is not near but already here:

Sign #1. This sign is found in Daniel 9: 27 GNT - "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease . . . ."

This verse is talking about the AntiChrist and it tells us that he will confirm, or make sure, a covenant with many. The covenant will be for one week, which, in Biblical terms, means seven years. Interestingly, next month, on September 18th and 19th, the United Nations will confirm a covenant that was made with its many member nations back in 2015. Specifically, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has requested that the original signers of this covenant confirm it for another seven years. If that doesn't grab your attention, I don't know what does.

Sign #2. The plans of the World Economic Forum to have the entire world population microchipped by 2026. 

In a 2016 interview with Swiss Radio Television, World Economic Forum founder and leader, Klaus Schwab, asserted that humans will have microchips implanted in their brains, and under their skin, by 2026. When asked back in the 2016 interview regarding when microchip implantations would begin to be used in the human body, Schwab said this:

“Certainly in the next ten years, and at first we will implant them in our clothes....And then we could imagine that we will implant them in our brains or in our skin, and, in the end, maybe, there will be a direct communication between our brain and the digital world. What we see is a kind of fusion of the physical, digital, and biological world."

(https://wide-awake-media.com/klaus-schwab-humans-will-have-microchip-implants-by-2026/)

Already we are seeing signs of chip implantations, especially with the FDA's recent approval of Elon Musk's brain chip, called Neuralink. We are there, my friends. The end is here.

Sign #3. The fulfillment of the Fig Tree Generation. Matthew 24: 34 says this: "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened." The generation in which we are living is called "the fig tree generation." It began back in 1948 when Israel, which the Bible refers to as "the fig tree" became a nation in a single day. So these words of Jesus mean that the generation that saw the birth of Israel as a nation will not end until all of the signs of the end times as described in Matthew...

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, August 7, 2023, and this is Episode #31 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "Why You Need to Be Born Again."

One of Satan's tactics to thwart God's plan and a person's destiny is to cast aspersions on Biblical principles and terms. Chief among these, in my opinion, is the term "born again." For various reasons, and sad to say, the term "born again" has acquired a negative connotation for many people. 

So in this week's message, I would like to set the record straight and explain exactly what "born again" means and why you need to be born again.

The term "born again" originates with Jesus Christ Himself. He was the first to "coin" the expression, so to speak, in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 3 where He said this: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (NKJV).

Let's look at these words of Christ one by one in order to grasp their meaning.

First, Jesus used the words most assuredly. Why did He use these specific words? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines assuredly as meaning certainly or without a doubt [whatsoever][Brackets mine]. Most assuredly, then, means most certainly. So Jesus is saying here that most certainly you need to be born again. In other words, there is absolutely no doubt that you need to be born again. 

So, the next question becomes, what does it mean to be born again?

Simply put, to be born again means to be reconnected to God by receiving a new nature, a nature compatible with God's holy nature. When we are born physically into this world, we are born with a sin nature, a nature that has been corrupted by sin. Some people call this "original sin" because we received this sin nature by default from our original parents, Adam and Eve. When they rebelled against God, Papa Adam and Mama Eve lost their holy nature and got a sin nature instead. This sin nature, therefore, was the only nature they could pass on to their descendants.

And that's exactly what they did. All the way down to you and me.

Since a sin nature is not compatible with God's holy nature, there can be no spiritual connection between God and us. And since we were created to have a spiritual connection with God, we soon discover, to our great dismay, that we face a huge dilemma. We have a sin nature but we need a holy nature. But we can't acquire a holy nature on our own. We need help. We need a Savior. Someone who can take away our sin nature and give us a holy nature in its place.

So the next question becomes, why do we need a holy nature? That is, why do we need to be born again? 

Jesus gives us the reason in the second part of the verse. He explains that we need to be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God. Jesus lives in the Kingdom of God. So, if we want to see Jesus and to reconnect with Him, we need to be born again. We need a holy nature. 

Okay, but what is this Kingdom of God that Jesus wants us to see?

The Kingdom of God is where Jesus lives. We normally call it Heaven. It is the place of eternal life,

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 31, 2023, and this is Episode #30 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "Is Daniel 9: 27 About to Be Fulfilled?"

Bible prophecy is being fulfilled at astounding speed right before our very eyes. In this week's message, I would like to bring to your attention the significance from a prophetic standpoint of the upcoming United Nations Summit meeting to be held in New York City on September 18-19 of this year. Please check all sources cited at the end of this post. (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/category/sustainable-development-summit/)

First, a little background. Back in 2015, UN member nations signed an agreement to implement 17 Sustainable Development Goals, also known as SDGs, as part of their agenda to control the world. Of course, the UN did not say that the ultimate purpose of this agenda was to control the world. Instead, they called the agenda a (quote) "Agenda for Sustainable Development" (end of quote). Its express purpose was to implement 17 goals that the UN thinks will make this world a much better place for everyone. Following are the 17 goals:

Goal #1: No poverty.

Goal #2: Zero Hunger

Goal #3: Good Health & Well-Being

Goal #4: Quality Education

Goal #5: Gender Equality

Goal #6: Clean Water & Sanitation

Goal #7: Affordable & Clean Energy

Goal #8: Decent Work & Economic Growth

Goal #9: Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure

Goal #10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal #11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

Goal #12: Responsible Consumption & Production

Goal #13: Climate Action

Goal #14: Life below Water

Goal #15: Life on Land

Goal #16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

Goal #17: Partnerships

This all sounds very good, but in truth, it is a coverup for the real agenda which is to depopulate the world and to subjugate humanity under a one-world government called 'the New World Order."

This UN agreement signed back in 2015 launched a 15-year plan for achieving their 17 goals to make the world more "sustainable."  Here is a statement about these 17 SDGs taken directly from the United Nations website. And I quote:

"The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030." (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/)

As time went by, the name of the UN Agenda became Agenda 2030. In other words, as mentioned in its official statement, the United Nations determined to achieve its 17 sustainable goals by the year 2030.

Well, progress on the goals has fallen far below what the UN had hoped to achieve by this point. So, UN Secretary Antònio Guterres recently sent out a special edition report to the member nations urging them to reconfirm their original agreement for another seve...

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 24, 2023, and this is Episode #29 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "They're Coming for Your Children!"

Communism has always had on its agenda the complete control of our children in order to indoctrinate them in the ways of Satan with the ultimate purpose of subjugating nations. Vladimir Lenin once said, "Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever."

Lenin's philosophy is alive and well today, right here in America. It is being implemented through our educational system that is no longer focusing on teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic but, rather, on teaching a socialist philosophy that deifies the government as the supplier of every need.

Most Americans now look to the government to supply them with income, healthcare, and direction. We have become a culture of dependent, fear-ridden puppets who, when the government tells us to jump, we ask "how high?"  We wear muzzles—I mean, masks—when we are told to wear them. We allow security cameras to scan our faces and record our location. We freely give out our personal information without batting an eye. 

All in the name of safety and convenience.

As if this weren't bad enough, the culture is now coming after our children. This pursuit has taken the form of horrific pedophilia—the bold and brazen sexual exploitation of our children in the form of child trafficking, the promiscuous promotion of pornography in the classroom, and the raping of our children's innocence in the name of progress. 

Make no mistake about it. God is not pleased. In fact, as far as God is concerned, this wicked pursuit of our children is the straw that will break the camel's back for God. In Luke 17: 2, Jesus said this about those who harm children by robbing them of their innocence: "It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin."

So, how are the wicked coming after our children?

They are doing it deliberately, intentionally, and openly. Through educational materials in our classrooms, materials that promote the globalist agenda to capture the minds and hearts of our children. Through drag queen appearances and performances at our local libraries. Through online chat rooms for children to discuss their sexual identity. Through books, movies, and cartoons that promote the lies of transgenderism, homosexuality, and pornography. Through the insane advocacy for cross-sex medical interventions for children supposedly confused about their gender. And implementing such advocacy without the knowledge or the consent of the parents. And, unbelievably, through churches that have strayed so far from the Bible that they can no longer be associated with Jesus Christ.

All this in the name of wokism.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 17, 2023, and this is Episode #28 of Series 2023. This episode is a replay of a post from October 3, 2016, titled "How to Stop Being Too Busy to Live". It is just as relevant today as it was back then, perhaps even more so. Read or listen, and be blessed.

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“Busy” has become today’s buzzword.

Have you noticed that when you ask people how they are, the first words that usually come out of their mouths are, “I’m so busy.”  Not only is “busy” a buzzword, it has also become a badge of honor. The busier one is, the more important one is.

But, the busyness lie has a way of finding us out. Sooner or later, our busyness will catch up with us and expose the truth that we are too busy mostly about nothing.

This happened to me when my children were small many years ago. I was complaining to the Lord one day that I did not have enough time to do everything I had to do. Expecting a little sympathy from the Lord, I was taken aback when He said to me, lovingly but firmly, “MaryAnn, you always have enough time to do what I have called you to do.”

Whoa!

“O-O-O-kay,  Lord,” I replied. “Either I’m totally disorganized, or I’m doing some things You have not called me to do.”  In my case, it was the latter, as I am an organized person by nature.

As I asked the Lord what I was doing that He had not called me to do, I was surprised when He pointed out several church ministries in which I was involved at the time. Good things.

But not good for me.

Besides, other church members were called to those ministries, and I was effectively robbing them of their ministries.

A bad thing!

So, I gave up those ministries and began earnestly to seek God as to what He had called me to do. As I let go of what I wanted, God gave me what I needed. A writing ministry to glorify Him, to get to know Him more intimately, and to teach me His ways in the process.

One of the biggest bonuses I received from stopping the aimless busyness was that I finally started to live. No longer was I barely keeping my head above water and merely surviving. I started to enjoy my life. I started to smell the roses and to seize the precious moments of life as they presented themselves in quiet, subtle ways. 

In short, I began experiencing the abundant life Jesus died to give me (John 10: 10).

How? By making my time with Jesus the most important priority in my life. By sitting continually at His feet. By refusing to take a step without first seeking Holy Spirit’s direction.

In Luke 10: 41-42, Jesus is having a conversation with Martha. Martha, you may recall, was the sister in the Mary-Martha duo who was constantly busy. Her busyness kept her in a continual state of anxiety, worry, and stress. Sound familiar?

In talking to Martha one day while she was busy, busy, busy, Jesus said this: “Martha,

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 10, 2023, and this is Episode #27 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "Signs & Seasons of Christ's Return".

There is a very interesting Scripture passage in Mark 13: 28-29 that says this: “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that His [Jesus Christ's] return is very near, right at the door." (Brackets mine.)

Prophecy expert and teacher T.W. Tramm has pointed out that summer as used in this Scripture is a metaphor for the end times. Keeping this in mind, Tram discusses five signs of summer that indicate that our Lord Jesus is coming soon to take us home in the Rapture. Let's take a look at these five signs.

1. The 8th Anniversary of the Appearance of the Star of Bethlehem in 2015.

July 1st of this year marked eight years since the Jupiter-Venus conjunction, referred to as the Star of Bethlehem, reappeared in 2015. While this recurrent conjunction is not necessarily rare, as Tramm points out, the one that occurred in 2015 was unique in that it occurred on the Jewish fall feasts of harvest. Also, like the original Star of Bethlehem that appeared around 2 B.C., this 2015 Bethlehem Star was a rare triple conjunction that occurred in the constellation Leo, or the Lion. It is this constellation that represents Jesus as the Lion of Judah, as we read in Revelation 5: 5, where John writes: "But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, 'Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.'”

Also, the appearance of the Bethlehem Star in 2015 occurred in a sabbatical year, just as did the original Bethlehem Star. The sabbatical year is the seventh of seven years during which the Israelites are not to plant crops but to let the ground rest for a year.

This command is found in Leviticus 25: 3-5:  "For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.”

So every seventh year, there was to be no planting or pruning of crops. The land was to rest. It is possible, as Tramm points out, that the Bethlehem Star and eclipses of 2015 were a seven-year warning about the Sabbatical week that will begin in September of this year on Rosh Hashanah, September 15-17. 

2. The Full Moon.

On July 3rd of this year, the first full moon of summer appeared. This moon was a super moon and indicates the type of moon that will usher in the return of the "goodman" of the house—namely,

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“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

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If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you!

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 3, 2023, and this is Episode #26 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "The Lunatic Age".

Those who are honest among us–and who still can think straight—will not be afraid to acknowledge that we are living in an age of utter lunacy, an age when logical thinking has gone out the window and has been replaced by insanity, idiocy, and every form of stupidity possible to human beings. If my parents were alive today, they would not recognize the world in which we live.

So, you may be wondering, like a lot of people, how did we get here?

The answer is very simple. We got here by turning away from God and, thereby, turning away from Truth, because God is Truth. The Bible is very clear that if we turn away from God, He will turn away from us. And when God, Who is Truth, turns away, we have no Truth left on which to base our thinking.

Romans 1: 28 says this: "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done."  In other words, when we choose not to honor and reverence God and to obey His commands, then He will leave us to our own devices. He will turn away from us and leave us to fend for ourselves without the benefit of Truth. All we have to do is to look around us to see what happens to people who lead lives without truth. They become lunatics.

A life without truth is a life of deception. A life of lies. Our culture has abandoned God. He has said, "Enough! Do what you want, and see what happens."

Well, we are seeing what happens. Some men think they are women. Some women think they are men. Some people think they are cats. Drag queens lead story hour at our public libraries. So-called churches have transgenders as pastors. If this is not lunacy, I do not know what is. 

Lunacy is what happens when people turn away from God. They become their own god, and they surely make a mess of their lives as a result. 

God will not strive with man forever. In other words, God will not go chasing man down forever. God gives us many chances, but at some point, we run out of chances. That is what has happened to our world today. It has run out of chances because it has scorned God's continual calls to repentance.

If God has turned you over to a reprobate mind, then you can no longer think logically. Why? Because logical thinking is founded on Truth. When one strays from Truth, one automatically strays from logical thinking. 

We have no excuses. We are getting what we deserve. And things will only get worse for those who persist in their rebellion. While they may think they are living the good life, they will soon find out that it leads to Hell.

So, is there any hope for a reprobate mind to be restored to sanity?

Yes. But it will require a fierce commitment to the following:

1. Sincere repentance.

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

An invitation for you:

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If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you!

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, June 26, 2023, and this is Episode #25 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "Are We in the Last Hour of Human History?"

If you're like many people, you may be taking a look at the culture around you and wondering if we are near the end of the world. Well, I for one, think we are. Very near.

What reasons do I have for thinking that we are in the last hour of human history?

To answer that question, join me in exploring an eye-opening Scripture passage about the times in which we live. This passage is in 1 John 2: 18-20: 

"Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the AntiChrist is coming, and already many such antiChrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth."

This passage provides three significant reasons that reveal we are in the final hours of human history. Let's take a look at each reason:

1) The rise of many anti-Christs, leading to the rise of THE AntiChrist. Verse 18 says this. "You have heard that the AntiChrist is coming, and already many such antiChrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come."

An antiChrist is not only a person who opposes Christ, but also a person who attempts to supplant Christ. Today, we have the majority of the world population openly opposing Christ by deliberately mocking Him and any one who loves and follows Him. We also have millions of people who brazenly disobey God's commandments and live in utter rebellion to His ways.

The rise of many antiChrists is a sign of the imminent rise of THE AntiChrist, the global dictator who will soon dominate the world through the use of terror tactics toward all those who do not comply with his agenda. I believe that the AntiChrist is already alive and waiting in the wings to emerge. His appearance will be revealed through the confirming or expansion or strengthening of a covenant or agreement that will already be in place at the time of his arrival.  I believe that the current Abrahamic  Accords agreement is that very covenant. Already there is talk of adding more nations to the Abrahamic Accords, what could be considered a "strengthening" of that agreement. 

What we do know for sure is that the confirming of this major agreement--whatever it is--will mark the beginning of the horrific seven-year period known as the Tribulation. At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to judge the world, to separate the just from the wicked, and to begin His 1000-year reign of peace known as the Millennium. 

2) The great apostasy or falling away from God.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, June 19, 2023, and this is Episode #24 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "Are You a Laodicean?"

So, what is a Laodicean?

To understand what a Laodicean is, we need to go back to the Book of Revelation 3: 14-22: Here Jesus is speaking to the Apostle John: Let's take a look at that passage now:

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation: 'I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, "I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!" And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.'”

Laodicea was a city in what is now modern-day Turkey. It was a wealthy city situated in the valley of the Lycos River. Laodicea was founded about 260 B.C. by King Antiochus II, a king of Syria, and it was named after his wife Laodice. 

The city lay not far from two other cities, Hierapolis and Colossae. Both Hierapolis and Colossae provided water to Laodicea from their springs. Hierapolis had hot springs where people would go for physical therapy for their aches and pains. Colossae had cold springs that were clean and perfect for drinking.

Laodicea's water supply came from the merging of these two springs into an aqueduct located six miles south of the city. But the problem was that the hot and cold water mingled in the aqueduct so that by the time it reached Laodicea, it was unfit for drinking. In other words, it was useless.

The water contained inedible minerals from the hot springs of Hierapolis, blended with the clean water from the cold springs of Colossae. By the time the water reached Laodicea, it was lukewarm, unclean, and undrinkable. It made the people sick. Sick enough to vomit it out of their mouths.

Jesus used this metaphor to describe the condition of the church at Laodicea. Prior to addressing this church, Jesus had already addressed six other churches. But, Laodicea was the only church about which Jesus h...