Power Over All Flesh

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:1-3)

Jesus states His purpose and reason for being on this planet. When all things are said and done, His one function was to glorify God. He did this by doing what He was sent to do; “give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him”. I believe we all need to refocus our purpose and align it back to glorifying God.

And notice, as in everything associated with God, that there is not only a reason for Him, but a season for the reason. “The hour is come”. God sets the stage to do His will when it is time. Sometimes the stage set is conducive to do His bidding. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite!

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh”. “Exousia” is the Greek word that was transliterated to the English word “power”. It is often transliterated as “authority”. The etymology of the root word for exousia means, “to be lawful”. All three, power, authority and being lawful have equal application and relevance within the context of this passage.

Christ had to have power over all flesh to be able to reconcile it at the cross.

“As many as thou hast given him”. God gave people to Jesus to save. Think about this for a moment. God was the instigating factor, the motivation, and cause that inspired people to come to Jesus. Jesus spoke the things that God told Him to speak. Christ’s word went out and God quickened the spirit of His elect with the Holy Ghost. It is when the eyes of God’s people are opened to Jesus Christ with the word of God that they were drawn to Christ.

The purpose of this union was to give eternal life to whomever God brought to Jesus. God does not quicken every spirit.

Eternal life is in the knowledge of God, not just believing in God. James taught that “the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19). So what’s the difference between belief and knowledge?

Belief deals primarily with the external. It is confidence in something or someone’s ability to act and do in a certain manner, and/or at a certain time.

Knowledge is internal. It is the comprehension and understanding of the who, what, why, when, where and how of someone or something. This knowledge is familiar and familial.

The devils can believe in God, but only a family member can truly know Him.

Bill Hitchcock

Harbingers and Heralds of the Lord

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” (Psalm 89:14-15)

How grand! God’s mercy and truth go before His justice and judgment. Happy we should all be that judgment and justice don’t lead.  Imagine standing at the great white throne of judgment and the Book of Life being opened without first the mercy and truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Mercy and truth-Without truth, we would never know or understand why we needed God’s mercy or that mercy is an unwarranted, unmerited gift of God.

And yet, after all of His mercy, truth, justice and judgment, what do the children of God do? Sit? Retire? Lounge? No, we walk “in” the light of His countenance. There’s so much here. We know to walk in His light of mercy, truth, justice and judgment. We chose it! It inspires and motivates us because God’s light excites our spirit. Finally mind, body, spirit, and soul are all one in concert! The excited spirit activates the body. We must move and move in His light! God is forward progress and we are joined in it once we know His joyful sound and walk in the light of His countenance!
- Bill Hitchcock

“Truth requires righteousness; mercy calls for peace.”
– Adam Clarke

Justice and judgment are the, “basis of the divine government, the sphere within which his sovereignty moves. God as a sovereign is never unjust or unwise. He is too holy to be unrighteous, too wise to be mistaken; this is constant matter for joy to the upright in heart…..Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. They are the harbingers and heralds of the Lord”
- Charles Spurgeon

“These encomiums serve more effectually to confirm the hope of true believers than if the Divine power alone had been presented to our view. Whenever mention is made of God, it behoves us to apply our minds principally to those attributes of his nature which are specially fitted for establishing our faith, that we may not lose ourselves by vainly indulging in subtile speculations, by which foolish men, although they may minister to their own mental recreation, make no advances to the right understanding of what God really is.”
– John Calvin

An Awesome Trust

“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

“But as we were allowed of God”. All things are by permission of God. Nothing is done, thought or willed without God’s involvement. How then, can man boast of anything with this knowledge? How then, can man deny God of anything with this knowledge?

God has allowed us, He has permitted us the trust of His gospel. It is His will.

“To be put in trust with the gospel”. This “trust” needs to be thought of in two different ways.

First of all, God has confidence in us with His word. God relies on our abilities to spread His word, seasoned with the salt of our experiences added to it. This enables us to touch lives and quicken spirits with the truth of our Lord.

Secondly, we are God’s trustee of His word. We are “nominal owners” of His gospel for the good of all of God’s beneficiaries, the elect. This is an awesome responsibility of entrustment and surety that God has given us.   

“Not as pleasing men, but God”. Do you realize that in a literal sense, the Garden of Eden would return, we would have a heaven on earth IF we all did as was pleasing to God? Yes, it’s that simple.

“But God, which trieth our hearts”. Why do you think that is? Why do you think God tests and tries the spirit within us? It isn’t because God is ignorant of who we are and what we do. He knows. Trials and tribulations are for the benefit of His elect. Often times we are not aware of the sin within. Often times we suppress and deny it. God is the potter and we are His clay. Trials and tribulations are the molding process.

Some think of life’s problems as the crashing waves and abrasive sand crystals that smooth the shards of glass, broken shells and rough corals of our life. That’s just the fine tuning of our personalities.

Life’s trials and tribulations mold us into who we are, and it hurts. They establish firm our beliefs, principles, and precepts. Trials and tribulations strike at our very foundation of being.

Difficulties in life can be cathartic, dramatic, severe, and most definitely life-altering. But they are always for the “good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

The elect are called by God, according to His purpose and entrusted with His word and His way. This is by the grace of God, and as is with all of His graces, is intended for us to, in turn, give to others and give so freely.

Before time began God had this trust in us. We were predestined to suit His purpose and to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). This is what it is all about. God didn’t make just one Jesus. He made us all a Jesus type, entrusted with His same purpose, to do the bidding of the Father. We are to spread His word and “not of myself” but of the “Father which sent me” (John 12:49).

It is an awesome trust God has in us!

Bill Hitchcock

Mercy

“Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied” (Jude 2)

God gave us mercy so we could be merciful. He gave us peace so we could be peaceful. God loved us so we could love. And finally, our Lord gifted these things to us so that when we gave of the same, the benefit and effect would increase for us ingratiate these gifts to others.

We struggle to establish our relationship with God. We search our soul, uncover our innermost self and endeavor to comprehend the wisdom and knowledge that is God! We discover how unsearchable his judgments and his ways past finding out!

We glimpse God and in so doing receive His power and grace, love, hope and desires He has in store for us. We love Him because he first loved us. Unfortunately, we as Christians tend to stop here and rest in the light of God, not realizing that when we are illuminated, we, in turn, are to become a light unto someone else’s path. We must shine forth as the light and not think it robbery to have the mind and presence of the Son as it relates to others.

But instead of being a light we become a shadow unto man. Our time and attention are diverted to the gaze upon God and not the love and care of others. We divest our friends, family, and sphere of influence of God for we have only learned half of the great command.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30).

God and our self have become one. It is here where we have closed the gate and established a one on one, inner circle relationship. Other people are more of an intrusion than an integral part of the divine dynamic.

“And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31).

God had mercy on us. Through this mercy came His grace which afforded the peace and love we experience with Him. If we don’t reciprocate with this love, this light, if we don’t emulate Him onto others then this light and love cannot and will not be multiplied. It will grow old and cold and soon the illuminated becomes the ill-begotten.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the God of love and the Father of lights. If we are not shining His light and projecting His love then we are darkening His path for others.

“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79).

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5: 14-16).

The word of God is the lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. What are we to others? The light, the love that is multiplied? Or are we the long tall shadow of obstruction, extinguishing the fire and flame? If we only love God and not our neighbor then we truly only love our self.

Where does your light shine? Is it only forward as it is received of God? Or is it shone through you to all, multiplied in mercy and grace to the consolation of all mankind? One is selfish, the other is love. Which?

Post your comments below about “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied”. 

Bill Hitchcock
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Catholicism and Islam. When Two Become One

On Feb. 4 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, signed a declaration titled, “The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together". The authors of the declaration hope it will be a “sign of the closeness between East and West, between North and South, and between all who believe that God has created us to understand one another, cooperate with one another and live as brothers and sisters who love one another”.

The goal of this document is to unite in peace the 1.2 billion Catholics and the 1.8 billion Muslims from around the world. This is no small feat, especially considering their some 1,000 year storied past. The crusades, for example, was a war between these two religions.

But this document between Catholics and Muslims is more than an attempt at peaceful coexistence. The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together is an attempt to meld and mold two distinctly different religions together so as to, theologically speaking, harmonize. But how is this possible when the core beliefs of each are diametrically opposed to each other?

Before we proceed, I think it prudent that we draw a very clear line of distinction. The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together is a document between the Catholic Church and Islam, if not more specifically between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr. Ahmed At-Tayyeb. This document is not between Christianity and Islam. Catholicism is a particular system of faith and worship within Christianity. Jesus Christ is central to the Catholic belief, as it is with all Christian religions. But, the Catholic Church adheres to specific beliefs, precepts, principles, and practices that are unique to that religion.

The stated goal for peace and harmonious living between Catholics and Muslims comes at a theological price that is impossible to pay. Many see this pact as a wonderful display of coexistence, but the fact of the matter goes well beyond a collaborative effort to hug it out and not fight. The “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” is an attempt at pluralism.

Religious pluralism is the belief that no one religion or one God is the sole true religion or true God. It believes multiple religions are equally valid, true, and credible. Religious pluralism accepts various and often conflicting beliefs in doctrine, precept, principle, multiple pathways of salvation, variant Gods and heavens. There is no one true religion or one true God with religious pluralism. There are many.

Specifically, the Document on Human Fraternity reads, “Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action. The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. This divine wisdom is the source from which the right to freedom of belief and the freedom to be different derives. Therefore, the fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept”

Here’s the heart of the problem, “The pluralism and the diversity of religions…. Are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings”.

There is no plurality or multiplicity in the Christian religion. God did not “will” diversity of religion. God makes the opposite of pluralism quite clear. Religious pluralism is heresy.

Religious pluralism breaks the first commandment of God.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:3-5).

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6). Plurality does not exist.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). There is only one way to God and heaven and that is through Christ.

“That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is none else” (1 Kings 8:60). This is self-explanatory. There is but one God, not multiple Gods and not the God of Islam.

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:21-23).

The only diversity, in the Christian religion, comes in the form of its people, the adherents. Christ accepts all that accept him. There are no requirements such as race, creed, color, gender, place of birth or any other worldly definable attribute. Jesus Christ accepts all that believe and confess in Him. This includes the worst sinner to the best saint and everything in-between.

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28)

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

There is but one God.

“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”(Isaiah 45:5-7).

There is only one way to get to that one God.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:7).

Why then, would the Pope and the Catholic religion and the Grand Imam with the Muslim faith advocate pluralism when it is so clear that the idea is heresy?

It’s simple. If both religions adhered to their respective religions then there could be no comingling, only at best peaceful coexistence. Pluralism allows for the differences. It’s the mindset of, “you do your thing” and “I’ll do my thing” because we are all going to go to the same place anyway.  

This document is not about a peaceful coexistence between two separate religions. This document tries to make religion and God the same for both the Catholic and the Muslim. They are trying to make one religion out of different religions by explaining that there are multiple paths to God. This is heresy.

The foundation and cornerstone of Christianity is Christ. Jesus Christ is our religion. Muslims believe Jesus was just a man and a prophet. They do not believe He is the Son of God.

Muslims reject the whole truth of Jesus as the Christ, His crucifixion, His death and resurrection. Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and do not believe that the only way to God is through Christ. In short, everything that makes a Christian a Christian, which is Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Muslim unequivocally and unilaterally reject.

We have been warned that this would happen.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4:1-3).

Paul warned us that certain Christians would fall for a false gospel, would receive a false spirit and accept a false Christ.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).

Paul was amazed by how quickly Christians would fall for a false gospel and made it clear that those that do are accursed.

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

There is no plurality in Christianity. It is heresy to think otherwise.

The only logical reason as to why the Pope and the Grand Imam have come together to promote pluralism as true and valid is to unite the two religions together, and other religions in the future, into one world religion. The pretext is peace and harmony. The reality is that this is theologically impossible. It goes against the expressed will and wish of God and should be recognized as such.

Catholicism and Islam are both monotheistic religions. They both define a unique, individual and separate God. Both have unique and individual theology and ideology. It is impossible for the two religions to co-mingle for their very core principles and foundations are diametrically opposed to each other. One is founded on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The other denies Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Pope and the Grand Imam are proposing a temporal peace and appeasement at the price of divine justice, righteousness, and judgment. Because their peace is temporal, it is worldly and temporary. It isn’t heavenly and eternal.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

As Christ said, God’s peace is not as this world gives you. Friendship with this world is hatred with God. (James 4:4)

The Pope and the Grand iImamare offering a worldly peace. 

Yes, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). But you can’t have true and everlasting peace when you turn against the word of God.

Bill Hitchcock 

I Love Them That Love Me

“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

It is God that inspires that love. It is God that motivates us to seek Him. This love and yearning are His gifts to us.

God moves the spirit within the elect and predestined. Yes, we have free will. But God inspires our mind and spirit to the truth and glory of Him. He has to for man is fallen. Man’s current default state of being is sin-soaked and laden in unrighteousness. Without Gods inspiration, man will follow one course. Consciously or not, intentionally or not, man will fail God and pursue sin.

Man has free will and choice. But the playing field isn’t level due to the inherent sin in the skin and its unrighteous influence it has over us. God levels the field by quickening our spirit to righteousness and truth.

Bill Hitchcock

Tax Deductions Are Not Evil Or Underhanded

(What Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and the Leftist Sect don’t want you to understand.)

Do folks understand what corporate tax deductions are? The left erroneously calls tax deductions “loopholes” and tax “breaks” in an attempt to color tax deductions as nefarious and underhanded. They aren't.

First of all, it is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that creates the tax deduction. Corporations, as well as individuals, just take advantage of what the IRS has created and allows. Tax deductions in of themselves are not illegal or underhanded. There is a reason for deductions as you will find out.

Secondly and more importantly, a tax deduction is not a refund. For example, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was complaining that “Amazon was to receive nearly $3 billion in tax breaks, abatements, and grants”.

Let’s say the $3 billion was all in tax deductions. What this would have meant is that Amazon would not have paid taxes on that amount. It does not mean Amazon would have gotten $3 billion.

Tax deductions are often used as incentives to attract industry. Industry means jobs. AOC was so concerned over Amazon’s short term deductions, that she single handed lost New York 25,000 to 40,000 high paying jobs. 25,000 to 40,000 jobs with incomes and benefits around $150,000.00 walked away because of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. She considered it a victory.

Something else that must be understood. Corporations don’t just collect profits and sit on them. They can’t because the federal government will tax it away. For example, if one year Amazon, due to tax deductions, found itself sitting on big profits, it has to turn right around and re-invest/spend that money or the government will tax it away. This system motivates corporations to not sit on and amass money, but rather keep the money in the economy by forcing the corporation to spend it. When a company reinvests its profits back into the economy, each dollar “rolls over” 10-14 times. What this means is that each dollar of profit the corporation spends, it gets re-spent approximately a dozen times.

For example, Amazon needs cardboard boxes. They spend money in purchasing them, which in turn means the trucking company gets paid, the paper company that makes the boxes gets paid, the recycling center gets paid, the printing company that labels the boxes gets paid and so on and so.

Corporate tax deductions and what they can deduct and how they deduct changes from year to year. A company could have generated the same income from one year to the next, but due to the nature of taxation, could have turned a profit or a loss. Same income. Same outgo, but the tax deductions varied.

If anything, please understand that tax deductions are not illegal, evil or underhanded. They are created by the government. Both corporations and individuals take advantage of them. Deductions encourage spending which in turn boosts the economy. Also understand that the dollar amount of deductions mentioned is not a refund, but rather the amount that federal taxes will not be applied to.

Bill Hitchcock

If I Be Wicked

“If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?” (Job 9:29)

Excellent question!

The word “wicked” used here means not only to act in a vile and unseemly manner but to actually be as one so seems. There is no façade, you act wickedly because you are in fact, wicked.

To “labour” is to be weighted by a toilsome burden.

And finally, “in vain”.  A literal transliteration of vain is “vapor” or “breath”. Like a cloud without water, the end product of your toilsome labors is vapor, its mist. Empty, very temporal, it is here, then gone. Captured only in a brief moment of time.

So Job asks, if I am by all accounts, “wicked”, why then do I subject myself to the drudgery, pain and moil of righteousness?

We are all wicked. We are all born of sin. That is not the issue.

First of all, the elect of God are called. They are predestined to salvation. This calling is a process. Predestination is not only an end, but is also a means, a way to that end. Moving to God in the way of God is a process of predestination. It’s growth. Like a seed ridding itself of the husk, we must consciously rid ourselves of sin to be able to grow in His image.

Jesus warned us that we would have troubles and tribulations in this life (John 16:33), so why be surprised when they occur?

Friction occurs where opposing forces meet. The righteous, those with the spirit of God within, live in an unrighteous world. Expect friction. If not, then you need to check to see how much of the world is in you.

Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and being washed clean of sin through His blood is part of the predestination process. But during our earthly journey, the clean will encounter the dirt and dust of this world.

“Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all” (John 13:10).

Getting a little dirty as we journey through this earthly domain is to be expected and does not mean we are some lost cause sinner or that we need to be baptized again. Nothing makes baptism and our commitment to Christ null and void, so there is never a need to re-baptize.

Repentance, like baptism, is part of the predestination process. Although we are baptized once, we must continuously search, discover, and repent of our sins. Part of repenting is realizing the dirt (sin) we have accumulated while being engaged in the world. (For this reason, Jesus warns us to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” as we endeavor to be citizens of this domain.)

We’ve been washed clean, but we still have the need to wash our feet from our earthly travels.

 “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:13-15).

Sometimes we are fully aware of the sinful environment we are in. Sometimes we are well aware of our participation in it. Shake it off and continue moving forward in Christ.

Job asked, “If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?” Job had lost everything and everyone in his life, was sick with disgusting sores covering from head to toe when he asked that question. Pain and misery let loose will always paint an exaggerated picture of itself. Now add the element of time and that exaggerated picture of pain and misery becomes grossly distorted. Job was on the edge of hope and ruination. There is no man when there is no hope. Why put yourself through the struggle to escape ruination if there is no hope to escape to. Let go. Who needs the pain of the fight if there never can be a victory in the fight.

Right? Wrong!

Wickedness abounds in this earth. We will be battling it every moment of our lives while here. The devil wants you to think that you are wicked. He proves to you that you are wicked by reminding you of all the things you have done. The devil shows you no hope by focusing on today, looking backward. You have no hope in the past because you can’t change the past. Hope is a held belief in a future event.

God is nothing but forward motion. Your past sins are washed clean through Jesus Christ. This secures your hope in tomorrow.

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Why hold onto what you’ve been washed clean of? “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Don't let past sins become a stumblingblock. Realize that as a child of God who is active in the way of God that you are covered by the blood of Christ and can sin no more.

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways” (Psalm 119:1-3)

Past and present sins are gone and forgiven. Focus on Christ and move forward in Him.

Bill Hitchcock

Our Future Lot Is Presently Evident

Predestination, as spoken of in the Bible, is not some future event. God knew us before the beginning of the world. Predestination has already been, to those it is reserved for. Evidence of the future are seen in the present thoughts and actions of the predestined.

Predestination is not only reserved for the saint, but for the sinner too.

And finally, foreknowledge and predestination are not necessarily the same thing. God knows the future of everything, but everything is not of the elect, the chosen, the predestined.

Notice in the following passage the love that God bestows upon His elect and the predestination of becoming His son. Also, notice the evidence of our future lot displayed in who we are and what we do.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” 

(1 John 3:1-10)

Predestination will manifest in our daily thoughts and actions.

“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” 

(James 3:11-12)

Our future lot is presently evident.

Bill Hitchcock 

The Never Ending Story

I only have to go back one generation to find a family member that was attacked by Adolph Hitler and the Nazi’s. My Dad is from Great Britain. He was in London during the German Blitz. My wife and all of her family are from Poland. They were there when the Germans crossed the border and invaded their homeland.

Folks, this is just one generation ago. This happened to me and my wife’s parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

I see the same spirit rising again. No, not in ancient history and not in some far off land. Here. Now.

How? Division. It’s always through the division of self. Instead of making the enemy from without, they have made the enemy from within. The division s according to skin color, gender, income, sexual proclivities, national origin, religion, and demographics. The objective is to persecute and convict the dominant. Once that’s accomplished then all actions against the dominant are justified.

The division is stoked by pride and envy that drive the lust for revenge and compensation.

Fact, reality, and truth are not the objective. Advantage, gain, power, and money are. Remember that as you witness the Leftist sect’s takeover and try to apply sound thinking to what is going on.

One generation ago saw Adolph Hitler and his Nazi’s attempting to take over the world. His first step was to take over his own country. This generation is seeing history repeat itself. The speed and frequency of attempted world domination should not be a surprise. There were only 20 years between the end of WWI and the beginning of WWII.

The driving force behind it all is the spirit within the person. Intellect, reason, will, and righteousness-All fall under the domain of the spirit. A spirit of God will do Godly things, think Godly things, reason and will Godly things. The spirit of antichrist will do the exact opposite.

We really need to pray and get right with God.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).

Bill Hitchcock

The Problem With Term Limits

US Senator Ted Cruz recently introduced a term limit bill that would restrict Senators to two terms and House Reps. to just three. But there’s one chink in the armor, the Achilles' heel if you will, with thinking term limits will bring about nothing but good.

The most dangerous politician is the one who knows he will not be returning. He is not under the microscope of re-election and doesn’t have to please, appease or satisfy anyone. This person pretty much has free reign of the hen house. It doesn’t matter if he breaks a few eggs or turns the coop upside down. They are a short timer with nothing to lose. If term limits were put into place, then every 6 years the House and every 12 years the Senate would have a bunch of loose cannons roaming the halls of Congress, doing as the so please to whom it pleases to do it to.

Now imagine 2, 3, 4 or more, let’s say, US Senators from the same party find themselves in the position of un-re-electability. Imagine the havoc they could wreak.  

Anyone seeking re-election will mind their P’s & Q’s. The un-re-electable will throw caution to the wind and go out with a bang.

Bill Hitchcock

Moral Authority

The Leftist sect once again shows its hand as a creature above us mere mortal humans. Former Vice President and probable presidential candidate Joe Biden recently dismissed fellow Democrat, Virginia Governor Northam, as losing “all moral authority”

“There is no place for racism in America. Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately, Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now.”
- Tweet by Joe Biden

What “moral authority”? No one has moral authority over another in any form, fashion or context. How can someone have power and dominion (authority) in regards to morals over other human beings? What royal scepter of moral superiority do the left proclaim to possess? And why does Joe Biden think that he has the power and authority to step in and dictate/mandate the morality and actions of another?

The point of points is that all morality comes from God and none from man. All morality is rooted and founded in the Ten Commandments. Joe Biden’s far out idea that authority 1. Comes from man and that 2. Someone has superiority and control over others with this morality is simply outrageous.

The disaster that is Virginia politics right now should drive home one very specific moral point. 

While the Virginia Governor has been found in moral indiscretion and those investigating him are being discovered to have sinned the same sin, we cannot judge another of a sin that we ourself are embroiled in. Now would be a good time to re-examine one of Christ’s message from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?”
(Matthew 7:2-4).

If you are going to judge another of a sin you yourself possess, you better repent of that sin first and wash clean of it before you proceed with your “help” with another. A useful sinner to other sinners of similar ilk is a reformed, recovered and repentant sinner. No one can minister better!

Virginia’s Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General as well as the Democratic Party are all investigating each other and attempting to replace each other of crimes each have been involved with themselves.

Joe Biden, the only moral authority anyone could possibly possess would be a vain and false facade of morality, made authoritative only through the guilty allowing their guilt to overtake and rule them. Jesus called these people of “moral authority” hypocrites. Their power is derived by the guilt they inspire, provoke and incite in others. Where no guilt exists, there is no moral authority for the hypocrite. Jesus saw through the façade of these types. Moral authority is a mask. The only true moral authority is the word of God. 

Joe Biden’s idea that the Virginia Governor “has lost all moral authority” is nothing more than a card reveal. Biden tipped his cards so we can see what he and the Left really believe. It is a disturbing reality that the left believes they hold moral and intellectual superiority over the rest of the world. This is why Trump, the middle class and heartland USA are so confusing and aggravating to the Leftist sect.

Moral authority is of God. Man can’t lose it because we never possessed it. We can demonstrate our love towards God by being obedient to God’s will and way. That’s morality and its author and authority are God.

Bill Hitchcock 

Divers Weights and a Bear

“Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.” (Proverbs 10:20)

When standards for entry or acceptance vary depending upon things such as race or gender, are we not playing with divers weights and divers measures? And yet, this is what affirmative action does.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” And yet, with affirmative action their entire criteria is based on the color of your skin.

James Thurber was an American cartoonist and humorist. He was famous some 80-100 years ago for his short stories.

“The Bear Who Let It Alone” was such a short story that told of a bear that would regularly get drunk. The bear would, “reel home at night, kick over the umbrella stand, knock down the bridge lamps, and ram his elbows through the windows. Then he would collapse on the floor and lie there until he went to sleep. His wife was greatly distressed and his children were very frightened.”

The bear saw the error of his was, reformed, and became a “famous teetotaler and a persistent temperance lecturer”.

Whenever anyone came to his house, the bear would demonstrate his sobriety and new found vitality by standing, “on his head and on his hands and he would turn cartwheels in the house, kicking over the umbrella stand, knocking down the bridge lamps, and ramming his elbows through the windows. Then he would lie down on the floor, tired by his healthful exercise, and go to sleep. His wife was greatly distressed and his children were very frightened.”

Thurber concludes his short story with a moral.

Moral: “You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.” -James Thurber

Affirmative action and all that falls under the Politically Correct realm is nothing more than divers weights and measures. It is judging by the color of the skin and not the content of the character. It is kicking over the umbrella stand, knocking down the bridge lamps, and ramming elbows through the windows and yet still falling flat on your face.

If you 1) first see race or gender in a person and it causes you to 2) react solely on the basis of that race or gender, then you are a bigot. You are a racist and suffer from either misogyny or its counterpart misandry.

Affirmative action and all that falls under the Politically Correct realm were founded and funded in support of separating race and gender so as to target and treat a specific subset with a different standard of care and opportunity. They reward your skin color and gender, if it is the approved skin color and gender and turn away any skin color or gender deemed inappropriate.

It is bigotry, racism, and hatred on full display. The only difference is that this is government sponsored and mandated.

Bill Hitchcock

State Of The Union Address And Healthcare

President Trump said the sweetest two words regarding healthcare during the State Of The Union address and everyone missed it. Trump stated the solution to the healthcare problem that is so good that it will completely cure us of not only high medical costs but Obamacare and the many ill side effects of it.

But what is the problem with healthcare? What was the reasoning behind Obamacare? Was it quality of care? Nope. Availability of care? Nope. The problem with healthcare has been cost. Nancy Pelosi would have never said we need to pass the healthcare bill to see what’s inside of it and Obamacare would have never been birthed if healthcare cost had been kept down to a manageable level.

So if the issue was cost, why then, did we have to suffer all those years with the painful process of creating socialized medicine? Why were we so eager to turn our healthcare and medicinal needs over to the federal government? Why didn’t we just take the direct approach and address the actual problem of the cost?

During the State Of The Union (SOTU) address, President Trump did just that!

President Trump:

“The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, and to protect patients with preexisting conditions.” 

(Applause.)

“Already, as a result of my administration’s efforts, in 2018, drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.” 

(Applause.)

“But we must do more.  It’s unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place.  This is wrong, this is unfair, and together we will stop it — and we’ll stop it fast.” 

(Applause.)

“I am asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients, finally.” 

(Applause.)

“We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs way down.” 

(Applause.)

Hallelujah! Thank you Dear Lord! Finally a common sense direct approach to lowering healthcare cost that doesn’t turn one-sixth of the nation’s economy over to the federal government. No new, massive and grossly inefficient bureaucracy to have to struggle with.

“Fostering competition” should be the sweetest two words the consumer and the patient could ever hear. Lack of competition or the lack of the need for competition is a primary reason why healthcare costs are so high. Create competition so that the pharmaceutical companies have to vie for our business, not only in price but in quality of product and service.

What the president proposed during the SOTU address, fostering competition, is nothing new, it’s always been known and is the answer to reigning in cost. Now all that has to be done is to just do it!

Bill Hitchcock

Harbingers of Things to Come

Over the past couple of days, there have been two people that have stirred great hope within my Politically Correct/Social Justice Warrior/Socialist beat up and wearied bones. The first was Gladys Knight. Her performance of our National Anthem at the Super Bowl was stellar. Miss Knight’s response to Don Lemmon in a CNN post-Super Bowl interview absolutely hit the bullseye of American point, purpose, and ideology.

The other person that gave cause for great hope was President Trump and his State Of The Union address. I beg of you, read the transcript. No, don’t read a New York Times “news report” or an NPR editorial. Don’t watch MSNBC or Russian Television. Don’t clamor to the spew of Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Corey Booker, AOC, or anyone else associated with the Leftist sect. 

Read the transcript. Get the facts. Learn and understand what the President said. Don't allow distractions. Don’t let the Leftist sect rewrite his address, alter history or "interpret" what the President said.

I am praying to God that Miss Knight and President Trump are harbingers of things to come. I believe they are! They represented American idealism, American exceptionalism and above all, these two reestablished that America is one nation, under one God striving for and desiring truth, freedom, liberty, justice for all. If any of this bothers you, then I do believe we’ve just uncovered where the problem lays.

Bill Hitchcock 

Never Sacrifice The Truth For Peace

"Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace."

- J. C. Ryle

I was just in this situation where the truth was not heard, no matter how often it was said or repeated. I was then accused of, as I'll call it, "non-truth's".

But here's what I noticed during this particular Facebook encounter. The other side was on a mission to prove me wrong. It didn’t matter what I said, how many times I said it, the opposition would respond with something, related to the discussion or not, in an attempt to somehow box me in, so as to score some Holy victory, some divine, "win".

I recognized what was going on almost immediately. All they wanted to do is persecute and convict. All they wanted to be was the Judge and Executioner.

I have a policy of “Do Not Engage” whenever I discover myself in such situations (Judge and Executioner)   and tend to make a quick exit away from them. Why? Because I am a firm believer of the following:

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:14-18).

Pride and ego often times convince us to stay and battle it out when engaging someone with an agenda or someone who is on some type of a mission. These folks are easily spotted because nothing will alter their course or cause of persecution, not even the truth. Why? Their goal isn’t the truth. Their goal is persecution and conviction.

As C.S. Lewis so wisely stated, "Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst."

I continued the exchange for a couple of posts longer than I normally would for the sole benefit of the reader, the non-participant of the discussion, the followers of the thread.

The purpose of me telling you all of this is to never sacrifice truth for peace. Talking with someone on a mission is an exercise in futility. All they want to do is persecute and convict. All they want to be is the Judge and Executioner. This leaves us with one option, the Godly option when we encounter the “Judge”. That option is to, “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away”.

As I said earlier, pride and ego will keep us in the fight and make it a fight to the death, (figuratively speaking of course). Too many religious people think they’re in a Holy War when in fact, all they are doing is creating a Holy mess. Don’t do that. Don’t exacerbate the problem. Do what the word of God says to do and bail. This maintains your integrity, the integrity of the word and is the only way to guarantee peace.

Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. The sooner the better.

Bill Hitchcock

ALL NEWS

President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address

Issued on: February 5, 2019

(Full Transcript located beneath the video)

Remarks as prepared for delivery

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:

We meet tonight at a moment of unlimited potential.  As we begin a new Congress, I stand here ready to work with you to achieve historic breakthroughs for all Americans.

Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now, gathered in this great chamber, hoping that we will govern not as two parties but as one Nation.

The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda.  It is the agenda of the American people.

Many of us campaigned on the same core promises:  to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers; to rebuild and revitalize our Nation’s infrastructure; to reduce the price of healthcare and prescription drugs; to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern and secure; and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America’s interests first.

There is a new opportunity in American politics, if only we have the courage to seize it.  Victory is not winning for our party.  Victory is winning for our country.

This year, America will recognize two important anniversaries that show us the majesty of America’s mission, and the power of American pride.

In June, we mark 75 years since the start of what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the Great Crusade — the Allied liberation of Europe in World War II.  On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 young American men jumped from the sky, and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea, to save our civilization from tyranny.  Here with us tonight are three of those heroes:  Private First Class Joseph Reilly, Staff Sergeant Irving Locker, and Sergeant Herman Zeitchik.  Gentlemen, we salute you.

In 2019, we also celebrate 50 years since brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon.  Half a century later, we are joined by one of the Apollo 11 astronauts who planted that flag:  Buzz Aldrin.  This year, American astronauts will go back to space on American rockets.

In the 20th century, America saved freedom, transformed science, and redefined the middle class standard of living for the entire world to see.  Now, we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure, and we must create a new standard of living for the 21st century.  An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within our reach.

We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before.

But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution — and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.

Together, we can break decades of political stalemate.  We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future.  The decision is ours to make.

We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.

Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness.

Over the last 2 years, my Administration has moved with urgency and historic speed to confront problems neglected by leaders of both parties over many decades.

In just over 2 years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom — a boom that has rarely been seen before.  We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs — something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started.

Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else.  Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps.  The United States economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.  Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in half a century. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all-time low.  More people are working now than at any time in our history –- 157 million.

We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit.

We virtually ended the estate, or death, tax on small businesses, ranches, and family farms.

We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty — and to give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures, we passed right to try.

My Administration has cut more regulations in a short time than any other administration during its entire tenure.  Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to historic reductions in taxes and regulations.

We have unleashed a revolution in American energy — the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.  And now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.

After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, and America is winning each and every day.   Members of Congress:  the State of our Union is strong.  Our country is vibrant and our economy is thriving like never before.

On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone — almost double what was expected.  An economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.

If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation.  It just doesn’t work that way!

We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad.

This new era of cooperation can start with finally confirming the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are still stuck in the Senate – some after years of waiting.  The Senate has failed to act on these nominations, which is unfair to the nominees and to our country.

Now is the time for bipartisan action.  Believe it or not, we have already proven that it is possible.

In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new Farm Bill, historic VA reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA Accountability so we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans.

And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking criminal justice reform.  Last year, I heard through friends the story of Alice Johnson.  I was deeply moved.  In 1997, Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time non-violent drug offender.  Over the next two decades, she became a prison minister, inspiring others to choose a better path.  She had a big impact on that prison population — and far beyond.

Alice’s story underscores the disparities and unfairness that can exist in criminal sentencing — and the need to remedy this injustice.  She served almost 22 years and had expected to be in prison for the rest of her life.

In June, I commuted Alice’s sentence — and she is here with us tonight.  Alice, thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny.

When I saw Alice’s beautiful family greet her at the prison gates, hugging and kissing and crying and laughing, I knew I did the right thing.

Inspired by stories like Alice’s, my Administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the First Step Act into law.  This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community.  The First Step Act gives non-violent offenders the chance to re-enter society as productive, law-abiding citizens. Now, States across the country are following our lead.  America is a Nation that believes in redemption.

We are also joined tonight by Matthew Charles from Tennessee.  In 1996, at age 30, Matthew was sentenced to 35 years for selling drugs and related offenses.  Over the next two decades, he completed more than 30 Bible studies, became a law clerk, and mentored fellow inmates.  Now, Matthew is the very first person to be released from prison under the First Step Act.  Matthew, on behalf of all Americans:  welcome home.

As we have seen, when we are united, we can make astonishing strides for our country.  Now, Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis.

The Congress has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund our Government, protect our homeland, and secure our southern border.

Now is the time for the Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business.

As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States.  We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection.  I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for the tremendous onslaught.

This is a moral issue.  The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well‑being of all Americans.  We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens.  This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today, who followed the rules and respected our laws.  Legal immigrants enrich our Nation and strengthen our society in countless ways.  I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally.

Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country.

No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration.  Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.

Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal migration — reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools and hospitals, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net.

Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate — it is cruel.  One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north.  Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country.

Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery.

Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities — including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

The savage gang, MS-13, now operates in 20 different American States, and they almost all come through our southern border.  Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City.  We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border they’re going to keep streaming back in.

Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens.

I’ve gotten to know many wonderful Angel Moms, Dads, and families – no one should ever have to suffer the horrible heartache they have endured.

Here tonight is Debra Bissell.  Just three weeks ago, Debra’s parents, Gerald and Sharon, were burglarized and shot to death in their Reno, Nevada, home by an illegal alien.  They were in their eighties and are survived by four children, 11 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren.  Also here tonight are Gerald and Sharon’s granddaughter, Heather, and great‑granddaughter, Madison.

To Debra, Heather, Madison, please stand:  few can understand your pain.  But I will never forget, and I will fight for the memory of Gerald and Sharon, that it should never happen again.

Not one more American life should be lost because our Nation failed to control its very dangerous border.

In the last 2 years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings.

We are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes:  ICE Special Agent Elvin Hernandez.  When Elvin was a boy, he and his family legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic.  At the age of eight, Elvin told his dad he wanted to become a Special Agent.  Today, he leads investigations into the scourge of international sex trafficking.  Elvin says:  “If I can make sure these young girls get their justice, I’ve done my job.”  Thanks to his work and that of his colleagues, more than 300 women and girls have been rescued from horror and more than 1,500 sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars in the last year.

Special Agent Hernandez, please stand:  We will always support the brave men and women of Law Enforcement — and I pledge to you tonight that we will never abolish our heroes from ICE.

My Administration has sent to the Congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on our southern border.

It includes humanitarian assistance, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier, or wall, to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry.  In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall — but the proper wall never got built.  I’ll get it built.

This is a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier — not just a simple concrete wall.  It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and as these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way down.

San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in the country.  In response, and at the request of San Diego residents and political leaders, a strong security wall was put in place.  This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings.

The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our Nation’s most dangerous cities.  Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities.

Simply put, walls work and walls save lives.  So let’s work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.

As we work to defend our people’s safety, we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace.

No one has benefitted more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year.  All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before — and exactly one century after the Congress passed the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than ever before.

As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever Government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries.

To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount — reversing decades of calamitous trade policies.

We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries, and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end.

Therefore, we recently imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods — and now our Treasury is receiving billions of dollars a month from a country that never gave us a dime.  But I don’t blame China for taking advantage of us — I blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen.  I have great respect for President Xi, and we are now working on a new trade deal with China.  But it must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs.

Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA.

I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other States whose dreams were shattered by NAFTA.  For years, politicians promised them they would negotiate for a better deal.  But no one ever tried — until now.

Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — or USMCA — will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers:  bringing back our manufacturing jobs, expanding American agriculture, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring that more cars are proudly stamped with four beautiful words:  made in the USA.

Tonight, I am also asking you to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the same product that they sell to us.

Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure.

I know that the Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill — and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future.  This is not an option.  This is a necessity.

The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs — and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions.

Already, as a result of my Administration’s efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.

But we must do more.  It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place.  This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.

I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients.  We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down.

No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom.  In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS.  Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach.  My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.  Together, we will defeat AIDS in America.

Tonight, I am also asking you to join me in another fight that all Americans can get behind:  the fight against childhood cancer.

Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10-year-old girl, Grace Eline.  Every birthday since she was 4, Grace asked her friends to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself.  Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer.  Immediately, she began radiation treatment.  At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer.  When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read:  “Last Day of Chemo.”  Grace — you are an inspiration to us all.

Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades.  My budget will ask the Congress for $500 million over the next 10 years to fund this critical life-saving research.

To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America’s children.  I am also proud to be the first President to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave — so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.

There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days.  Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.  These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world.  And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.

To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.

Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.  And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth:  all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.

The final part of my agenda is to protect America’s National Security.

Over the last 2 years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States Military — with $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year.  We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share.  For years, the United States was being treated very unfairly by NATO — but now we have secured a $100 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies.

As part of our military build-up, the United States is developing a state-of-the-art Missile Defense System.

Under my Administration, we will never apologize for advancing America’s interests.

For example, decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capabilities.  While we followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms.  That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty.

Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can’t –- in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.

As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula.  Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months.  If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed.  Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one.  And Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam.

Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaido.

We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.

Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country.  America was founded on liberty and independence –- not government coercion, domination, and control.  We are born free, and we will stay free.  Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.

One of the most complex set of challenges we face is in the Middle East.

Our approach is based on principled realism — not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress.  For this reason, my Administration recognized the true capital of Israel — and proudly opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem.

Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years.  In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives.  More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded.  We have spent more than $7 trillion in the Middle East.

As a candidate for President, I pledged a new approach.  Great nations do not fight endless wars.

When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria.  Today, we have liberated virtually all of that territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty killers.

Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.

I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan.  Our troops have fought with unmatched valor — and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a political solution to this long and bloody conflict.

In Afghanistan, my Administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban.  As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism.  We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement — but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace.

Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this Nation’s power and will to defend our people.  Eighteen years ago, terrorists attacked the USS Cole — and last month American forces killed one of the leaders of the attack.

We are honored to be joined tonight by Tom Wibberley, whose son, Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, was one of the 17 sailors we tragically lost.  Tom:  we vow to always remember the heroes of the USS Cole.

My Administration has acted decisively to confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regime in Iran.

To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal.  And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country.

We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.  We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed.  With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs.

Just months ago, 11 Jewish-Americans were viciously murdered in an anti-semitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  SWAT Officer Timothy Matson raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times chasing down the killer.  Timothy has just had his 12th surgery — but he made the trip to be here with us tonight.  Officer Matson:  we are forever grateful for your courage in the face of evil.

Tonight, we are also joined by Pittsburgh survivor Judah Samet.  He arrived at the synagogue as the massacre began.  But not only did Judah narrowly escape death last fall — more than seven decades ago, he narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps.  Today is Judah’s 81st birthday.  Judah says he can still remember the exact moment, nearly 75 years ago, after 10 months in a concentration camp, when he and his family were put on a train, and told they were going to another camp.  Suddenly the train screeched to a halt.  A soldier appeared.  Judah’s family braced for the worst.  Then, his father cried out with joy:  “It’s the Americans.”

A second Holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau Concentration Camp. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks.  “To me,” Joshua recalls, “the American soldiers were proof that God exists, and they came down from the sky.”

I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on D-Day in the Second World War. One of them was Herman Zeitchik.  But there is more to Herman’s story.  A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of those American soldiers who helped liberate Dachau.  He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on earth.  Almost 75 years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight — seated side-by-side, here in the home of American freedom.  Herman and Joshua:  your presence this evening honors and uplifts our entire Nation.

When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war.

They did not know if they would survive the hour.  They did not know if they would grow old.  But they knew that America had to prevail.  Their cause was this Nation, and generations yet unborn.

Why did they do it?  They did it for America — they did it for us.

Everything that has come since — our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress toward equality and justice — all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.

Think of this Capitol — think of this very chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, to defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, to face down an evil empire.

Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic.  You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California.  Together, we represent the most extraordinary Nation in all of history.

What will we do with this moment?  How will we be remembered?

I ask the men and women of this Congress:  Look at the opportunities before us!  Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead.  Our most exciting journeys still await.  Our biggest victories are still to come.  We have not yet begun to dream.

We must choose whether we are defined by our differences — or whether we dare to transcend them.

We must choose whether we will squander our inheritance — or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans.  We do the incredible.  We defy the impossible.  We conquer the unknown.

This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination.  This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star.  This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots.

This is our future — our fate — and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness.

No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.

We must keep America first in our hearts.  We must keep freedom alive in our souls.  And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny — that one Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world!

Thank you.  God Bless You, God Bless America, and good night!