Worthy News
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that a targeted airstrike in Gaza City killed senior Hamas commander Raad Saad, one of the terror group’s most influential remaining military leaders, in what Israeli officials described as a direct response to repeated ceasefire violations by Hamas.
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a sweeping executive order aimed at preventing states from regulating artificial intelligence, asserting that a fragmented regulatory landscape threatens U.S. innovation and global competitiveness—particularly against China.
A federal appeals court delivered a major victory to the Trump administration and the pro-life movement on Friday, ruling that Planned Parenthood is unlikely to succeed in its legal challenge against a key provision of President Donald Trump’s signature domestic-policy law that cuts off federal Medicaid funding to abortion providers.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 8 declined to hear the case of a California Christian baker who was prosecuted for refusing, on religious grounds, to create a custom wedding cake celebrating a same-sex marriage. The unsigned order in Miller v. Civil Rights Department came without comment or recorded dissent, leaving in place a California ruling against the baker.
Australian authorities said at least 12 people, including one suspected gunman, were killed and dozens wounded in a shooting attack linked to a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, an incident condemned by leaders in Australia, Britain, and Israel as antisemitic terrorism.
Students, staff and anxious parents faced an uncertain Sunday and several leaders urged prayers after a shooter killed at least two people and wounded nine others at Brown University in the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
German authorities have detained five men in southern Germany over an alleged plot to carry out a “possibly Islamist-motivated attack” on a Christmas market, officials confirmed late Friday.
Russia escalated its war rhetoric Friday, stating that any ceasefire with Ukraine is conditional on Kyiv’s complete withdrawal from the Donbas region, as Ukrainian forces claimed new gains near the strategic northeastern hub of Kupiansk.
Bulgaria plunged into renewed political turmoil Friday after Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned following mass protests accusing his minority government of corruption, just weeks before the Balkan nation is due to adopt the euro.
Hungary’s embattled Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, widely viewed as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally within the European Union, has accused the EU’s executive arm of “systematically raping European law” over plans to lock up Russia’s frozen assets until Moscow ends its war in Ukraine and compensates for the devastation it has inflicted.
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The word for “restitution” in this passage is the Greek word – “apokatastasis”. This is the one and only place it is found in the New Testament. The word literally means to “restore again” or “to repair”. The plan of God in sending His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was to restore that which had been broken and ruined. The Lord’s saving work is a global repair job. Each one of us has come to Him already ruined by sin. But God’s will and His promise is to restore and renew us through His Son.
These past few days, writing about the will of God, has reminded me of the prophet Jeremiah, and how the Lord knew him – even before he was in his mother’s womb, and he was sanctified by God as a prophet to the nations. A similar foreknowledge and ordination of God belongs to us who are under the New Covenant. God’s foreknowledge of His people is clearly stated in scripture. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, and created in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) unto good works which He foreordained that we walk in them.
Writing daily devotions throughout the years I’ve often been asked the question, “How do I find the will of God?” There are probably many good scriptural approaches to answering this question; but I want to offer something very basic as you think about understanding the will of God. That is, simply, that you’ll know His will when you come to know the heart of God.
For the past few days we’ve been delving into the multiple meanings of “Amen”. While “Amen” is most commonly found at the end of prayers, the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) often used it at the beginning of a statement: “Truly, truly, I say unto you …” more accurately translated, “Amen, Amen, I say unto you…”
Murmuring or complaining is one of those sins that are overlooked. Sometimes we get so focused on the “big sins” such as murder and adultery that we overlook this sin — but the Lord doesn’t give this sin a free pass — quite the opposite. It’s a hidden killer! This sin unleashed a plague that killed thousands of Israelites! [Numbers 16]
The city of Laodicea was founded nearly three centuries before the birth of Christ. Built on a trade route, Laodicea was quite prosperous. The wealth of the city was legendary, as Jews who lived there sent 9 kilograms (20 lbs) of gold to the Temple in Jerusalem on a yearly basis according to historical records.
Laodicea was an idyllic city except for its lack of a water supply. It depended on water from an external source, the city of Hierapolis was located six miles to the north, the site of mineral hot springs which were used for medicinal purposes. These steaming hot waters were piped to Laodicea, arriving there… lukewarm, hence the metaphor in Yeshua’s warning to the Laodicean church.
The church at Laodicea received a stern warning in chapter 3 of John’s Revelation. We would do well to reflect on it.
The word “Laodicea” is a compound in the Greek; “Laos” which principally means “people”, and “dike”, defined as “principle or decision”. One rendering might read, “rule of the people”, or, in modern terms, “Democracy”. In the western world, we have an affection and even a deep commitment to Democracy. Yet this form of government, “rule of the people” is fatally flawed… because we are fatally flawed by our sin nature…
As we continue to probe the lessons from the salt covenant, we now inquire into our part in the covenant.
Yeshua (Jesus) said He is the “bread of life”. It was His body that was broken on our behalf as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. Notice that He never once called us to be the “bread of life”! He is the ONLY “Bread of Life” – the true bread who came down from Heaven which anyone may eat and not die. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is His flesh, given for the life of the world.
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