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“Daniel’s Final Week” - Donna VanLiere AlongTheWay 111
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It's Russia and Iran that come up that come against us. While I was studying for that I was studying Russian warfare, Russian weapons. And at that time, they were testing and developing the hypersonic missile, which Russia claims can travel at 9000 miles per hour. And there is nothing that the United States or any other world government has that can intercept these missiles. Again, at that time, they were still in development and at the time that I was researching, and so I wrote about them that they actually used, you know, these missiles against the US. And just this week, I read that they have that hypersonic missile system on the border of Ukraine. They have it there.
John Matarazzo:Welcome to along the way. I'm John Matarazzo, your host and fellow traveler, thank you for joining me along my way is I tried to become more like Jesus every day. The goal of along the way is to identify the moments in life that Jesus really is walking with us and trying to get our attention. But just like the disciples along the way to a mess, we are missing those moments that our hearts are burning within us. I want us to be able to identify these moments, learn from others and apply those lessons to our lives so that we don't miss the blessings God has for us along the way in our life journey. In this episode Donavan Leah is back to talk about the third and final installment of her and time series. Even though Donna is best known for her Christmas novels that have turned into Hallmark movies. She loves the word of God and studies to show herself approved. She's combined her love of Scripture with an exciting, prophetic and time narrative that started with the time of Jacob's trouble. Then the day vz heals hope, and now is concluding with Daniel's final week. In the final chapters, you'll discover what God's word reveals about the glorious future that awaits you and see that things aren't spiraling downward, but are actually looking up. I'll get to our conversation in just a moment. But I want to thank you for listening to along the way. All of my episodes and social links are available on my website along the way dot media. All of the links from this episode will be in the show notes. And now here's my along the way conversation with Donna vanleer. Well, Donna van leer It is great to have you back on along the way. You're one of my one of the guests that I've had on the most I mean, we've done a full episode where a couple years ago actually got to come to your house and talk about your life. And I think that's when you first talked about this new series that you were doing because you're well known for the the Christmas books and just the tremendous creativity and the pictures and the stories that you that you paint with your words. And now you're you're spending a good bit of time talking about the end times and writing about that in the unique style that God has equipped you to do to make it so that people actually can understand and not necessarily be afraid, but be aware of what God is doing. And so we've talked about that in previous episodes as well. And we did a checkup and we just kind of keep you know, we just kind of keep on each other's radars. And it's always good to have you back. We've talked about your the time of Jacob's trouble book, and then the day of Zeke eels hope. And your latest book in this series is Daniels final week. And I'm excited to have you on here to talk about that today. So Donna, thanks so much for coming back on along the way and allowing us to just get an update on your journey with the Lord.
Donna VanLiere:Well, thanks for having me again. John. I had no idea. I was one of your most frequent guests. So honored. Thank you.
John Matarazzo:Yeah, I think I'm probably you know, adding the times that you've been on the TV show as well. But right, you're just one of those people that I enjoy the fact that God's allowed us to connect, you know, every time that you were up at the TV studio, we just always had a good time. And anytime that we've connected like this for my podcast, it's very memorable. And I've just appreciated just the wisdom that you have. And I'll never forget how you first started talking about the end times and eschatology in a way that was very accessible. And it was something that I saw you really just kind of come alive in a different way. If you if you wouldn't mind. I'd like to kind of let people know about this series that God has called you to write.
Donna VanLiere:Right and like you said, John, it is quite different from the Christmas novels because they've all been novels that I have written the Christmas Shoes, Christmas blessing, Christmas hope Christmas Town, so many others. And those are you know, those are straight fiction, their stories and I love to write stories, particularly If it's a story that is redemptive, it has hope in it. Because by the time the reader gets to that last page, I want them to know that Hope is alive, despite the circumstances, or the situations that we see or we have ourselves in. The Hope is alive. So this trilogy is still fiction, three quarters of it is each of the books is fiction. Right? It is, it is a story about what Jesus himself calls the end of the age. The End Times, it's also called the latter times in the Bible. But the last one quarter to 1/3 of the book of each book, is what I call the where in the word section, where I actually take the reader into the Bible so that they, when they close that book, they're like, Yeah, whatever, you know, it was a, it was a fiction book. Okay, I guess it was good. I'll pass it on to the library or whatever. Yeah, no, I wanted them to get into the Bible to open their Bibles and see, oh, this is what Timothy says about the end the the end times what it's going to look like what people are going to act like, it's right there. You know, God Himself says, I've told you the end, from the beginning, from the very beginning, God told us how it was all going to play out. But I wanted to take people into the word so that they would see that it wouldn't just be a fiction book, because I really wanted all the all three of these books, to be a tool where you could give it to, I'm talking about even church, people who don't know anything about the end times, and to give it to unchurched people who may not know anything about the Bible, but they see the craziness, they see the madness that's going on all around the world. And to see, oh, wow, it's right here in Scripture, God told us these things would be happening. But you know, what, he didn't tell us to be afraid. Right? And tell us to be fearful to be, you know, to, to be shrunken into a corner wringing our hands out of fear and desperation. Like what's gonna happen next. Know, Jesus Himself said, When you see these things begin to happen begin to happen. Lift up your heads look up, your exemption is near. Again, he didn't tell us to be afraid. So when we see all these things happening, John, we know that things are looking up to Christ's return.
John Matarazzo:Yeah. And, you know, it's, it's really interesting that you started this series, before COVID happened? Yes, I know. Now, it's like, it almost felt like we had a little bit of a reprieve thinking about, Oh, gosh, the end is near. And then all of a sudden, everything has been heightened up. And now it's like, Wow, alright, Lord, you really did speak to Donna to write this, you know, to start this series when she did. I know you, you felt some sort of sense of urgency to start writing this, because I could just feel that whenever we first talked about it, and it's, it's amazing to see just how fitting it is to because you know, like you said, about the last third of the book is the where and the word section. And I really appreciate that you've taken the time and effort to not just tell an amazing story that's very, that's very engaging. And it you know, just it's very compelling. You just want to keep reading it. But you've actually taken the Scripture and are teaching that because you really enjoy teaching about the end times and biblical prophecy.
Donna VanLiere:Yes, I do. Because I feel like too many churches, they don't mention it. they shy away from it. And, you know, even Hebrew, what is Hebrews 12? Or is it in Hebrews 12, where it says we are to encourage one another as we see the day approaching capital D A, why? You know, the day of Christ return, we're supposed to be encouraging one another. We're supposed to be getting out and sharing the gospel with other people, as we see the day approaching. So we're not supposed to be shying away from what the Scripture calls the end of the age. We're supposed to be. We're supposed to be all in, you know, we should be teaching right now that the return of Christ is near. No, we have no idea when we know from scripture, we're in the season of His return, right? We don't know the day we don't know the hour, not even the angels know that not even Jesus Himself knows that. Again, that's written in the Bible. Only God the Father knows the actual day of Christ's return. But we know we're in the season. We see all the signs that He gave His apostles His apostles even asked him, What are the signs of your coming? What are they end up the end of the age and he lays them out. Jesus tells them all about them in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, and Luke 21. You know, you can read through those. And you can not only read the signs, but you can understand, wow, all of these are happening. Right now. It's no longer like when I was a kid, John, you know, we could go six months between major events happening, right? It'd be, it'd be quite a stretch. But now it's literally all the time, right? Not only here in our own country, but around the world. And we see that the signs are converging. And Jesus is encouraging us, he's comforting us, and he saying, hey, these things are gonna happen. And when they do happen, look up, because my, my return is near, and that should bring us comfort, they shouldn't bring us fear, or any sort of turmoil, you know, we shouldn't feel turmoil, when we think about that, we should be comforted by that. And it should motivate us to get the word out, get the word out that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except by him.
John Matarazzo:Right. And, you know, the the book of Revelation actually talks about there being a blessing for those that that study it that are that read it that are being aware of what's happening. And the first time I read through the book of Revelation, where we think, you know, all of all of endtime stuff is in Revelation, unless your study, then you realize that it's all throughout the Bible, right? You look at Revelation, and it's like, oh, my gosh, this things that John saw, that he's writing down, are really, really scary. And you've got to keep, you know, keep in mind that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind. But also, like, we're not necessarily going to be dealing with these things that are happening that are laying out there. Because, you know, depending on what the different people's eschatological beliefs are, mean, there's the rapture could happen before the tribulation during it or after it. There's so many things that are still kind of left up to interpretation. And we'll see how it actually plays out whenever the time actually does come. But as you said, we are in the season. And if we want the blessing that God has for us, as we study this stuff that we need to actually study, and I'm so grateful that you have, you know that information in the in the back of these books. So I do want to talk about the, you know, the Daniel's final week. Okay, this this is the latest, or is this the last installment? Or is there another one coming?
Donna VanLiere:It is? It's the last one? Yes. Okay.
John Matarazzo:So it's the end of the end times, I guess, but Right. So what are some things that you would tell somebody that is debating, you know, do I really want to read this book? Like, what are some things that you're like, you have to read this because this happens in this book? I mean, it's kind of hard to ask about that for a story, because you don't want to give away too much. But like, what are some key things that people can be looking forward to in this installment.
Donna VanLiere:In this particular book Daniels final week, we see the rise of a man his name is Victor Quaid. And it obviously doesn't take too long to understand that he is what John calls the Antichrist. He goes by many names in the Bible. He's, he's the lawless one, the son of perdition. John calls him the Antichrist. And so that seems to be the name that most people are familiar with. And Vic is Victor quaids rise to power, and how people swear allegiance to him. Because they know, if they don't take his mark, and the Bible talks about that mark, it'll be on the right hand or the forehand. If they don't take that they're not going to be able to buy, they're not going to be able to sell anything, they're not going to be able to trade anything. So if you think about that, you're not going to be able people won't be able to buy groceries, they won't be able to put gas in their cars, they won't even be able to go to work, you won't be able to send your kids to school. If you don't have that mark, and think about what we've been through over the last two years, Ron, we know that it's going to be very easy for this system to come into play. Because you think, Oh, somebody's taking a mark around the world. But that's going to happen very quickly, very easily. It'll be expedited quickly, because the technology is already in place. We already see how easy it is for people who don't have a vaccine Passport right now in many, many cities, many places around the world where you can't even get in somewhere. Yeah. So it's it's already in place, these sort of systems. So to swear allegiance to the Antichrist. to take his mark, people will easily do it, right, because they're gonna say, well, I need to keep my job, I need to be able to, you know, buy food, I need to be able to buy a pair of socks when I need them. So they're going to quickly take that mark, with the exception of those who are going to be out on the street. You know, yelling and preaching for people don't take the mark, because if you do, you're eternally damned. And the Bible's very clear about that, if you take the mark, you are eternally separated from God from Jesus. So within Daniel's final week, we're going to meet a lot of those people who are going to be putting their own lives on the line, because they're going to be out in the streets, preaching to people, you know, don't take this mark, be aware of who Victor Quaid is taking people into the Bible saying this is who he is, this is what God says, This is what's happening in the world. And I've had, I've already had a few readers who've contacted me. And they said that it made the hair raise up on the back of their necks when they saw how easily, people were swearing allegiance to him and taking his mark, without even thinking of what that was going to do to their lives. And that's really what you know, these books are for is to make people think, again, to encourage them to spread the message of the gospel right now. Right? Because the time is now we've got to be spreading the gospel. And so again, that's what the the fiction part of this is all about. But we also meet we Zera and Elliot are in all three books, and they're part of the 144,000. And they are out there, missionary evangelists, from the 12 tribes of Judah who are out around the world, preaching the gospel, the The beautiful thing about God, John is that the the Bible says he never leaves himself without a witness. And then the N times there's going to be 144,000 of them. Also, Bibles are still going to be on the earth, they're still going to be, you know, Christian material that's out there. The witness of Christ is still going to be available on the earth. Absolutely. It's gonna be available for people who have ears to hear and eyes to see.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Amen. That is super encouraging. Because you know, even after the believers are raptured, or however you want to, whatever your eschatology says about that, God still loves all the people that are left behind. He usually does. And he is still sending those, those evangelists to go after them. And in my own personal life, the church that I go to here in Orlando, is visit was founded just recently by Christ for all nations. And I was like, I need to really understand more about this evangelistic ministry, which was started by Reinhardt Bonnke. So I just listened to the audio book where he actually tells his own story. And it has really built my faith, a lot more about needing to preach the gospel, and needing to preach the gospel to as many people that are willing to listen to it. And I'm just thinking, wow, with all the miracles and stuff in Christian books, and audio books and Bibles everywhere, you know, God is literally leaving a witness everywhere that we everywhere that we turn, and it's, you know, it's not limited to just the people that are alive, even, you know, Reinhardt Bonnke, passed away a couple years ago, but his life is still impacting so so many people around the world and including my own, and through many different ways. So we always are, God's always leaving a legacy. He's always leaving a way for people to to know him. Like he cares about that stuff. So so much.
Donna VanLiere:Right, right. And the Bible says, He doesn't want anyone to perish. He doesn't want anyone to perish. And in all three books, we meet a young woman by the name of Emma, and when you were talking about, you know, leaving a legacy, it reminded me of her because she is a physical therapist in New York City when, when the first book, the time of Jacob's trouble takes place. And she is working on one of her clients at the time, that Jesus ceases when he snatches away all of those who are in Christ. And of course, may him erupts not only in that physical therapy room, across New York City, across America across the world, as that happens, but Emma has the frame of mind she grabs her patient bag because she wants to give it to her family. And she grabs it discovers that even her patient's family is no longer around. And in the ensuing days of where pundants are on, the talking heads are on TV, and they're all trying to figure out what happened to the millions upon millions of people who have vanished from the earth, what has happened to them, you know, many of them saying that, well, the universe has purged itself of all the hatred, and all the darkness, you know, we'll make another one, we'll say what was the aliens who did this and of course, Emma and her friends are, are, are coming up with their own theories. Well, what has happened, why in the meantime, she has her patients bag, and she goes through it, and there's a Bible in there. And so Emma, Emma's own mother is no longer on the earth as well. She was also seized by Christ at that time, she remembers the words of her mother, the legacy of her mother's faith, you know, she remembers that. And she begins to go through her patients Bible, searching for the answers, and she finds him, she finds the answers of what has happened. And it it creates a rift between her and you know, some of her closest friends, some of those who are closest around her, but, but Emma found the truth. So again, it was that legacy of not only her mom, but of her patients that she would see every now and then, you know, this woman who had just come into the physical therapy room, who was a believer, she was in Christ. And it was the legacy of these two women that sent Emma on a search after these women were seized, and that's what the word actually means. It means that Jesus sees them, you know, like that. He stole them away, he plundered them, he plundered his own people from from the earth is what it means. So it's just a tremendous visual to think that one day John, we're going to be C's Jesus is going to seize us from from this earth.
John Matarazzo:And I look forward to that day. But I know that there's a lot that needs to happen first. And there's a lot that, you know, the Bible says, and being a former missionary with youth of the mission for many years, and you know, preaching the gospel in 15 different countries, I definitely have, you know, looked at and just this is my, this is one of the verses that I think about all the time, the Gospel sub shall be preached in all the world, and then the end shall come and that that word world is actually ethnos. So that's all the people groups, and right, we're getting close. But I just love that the gospel shall be preached like, before this, before this next chapter, in the grand scheme of things happens. God completes the Great Commission, you know, the Great Commission, that he told the church to do before he left, you know, Jesus left in x one, eight, to go preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth. And, you know, God cares about the ends of the earth so much, and all those all those areas. And right, so, you know, we're getting close with the advent of the Internet, and just the way that people were so connected all the time. I mean, even whenever I was growing up, as a kid, I heard Dr. David Jeremiah's teachings on Revelation, it scared to scared me quite a bit, because I was probably seven or eight at the time. So I understand what was going on, in bit in the Bible, when I believed it. And then I was hearing about the, I think it was the first Iraq war, or like, Desert Storm or something like that, like our country was in, you know, there was there's wars and rumors of wars. And I'm like, Oh, is this the end right now? And then you learn more about it. You're like, okay, we're not quite there yet. But we're getting closer. And now, through, you know, our cell phones, everybody is able to show everybody else in the world what's happening right now. So whenever these major events are happening, that the Bible lays out and you talk about in your books as well, it's easy for people to just pull out their phones and become instant worldwide reporters of what's actually happening here.
Donna VanLiere:Yeah, exactly. Right. And when we talk about the gospel being preached to the ends of the world, I've actually heard that the gospel has gone out to every country in the world. It may not be in the first language of that country. It might be in a second language, it might be in a third language, but the gospel has gone out to all countries of the world. And that scripture says, The Gospel shall be preached you know, to me All into the earth and then the end will come. And the 144,000 will definitely take that final message to the very ends of the earth to those, you know, few people you think, how is it possible that no one on this earth has heard the gospel message? You know, yeah, but the 144,000 will take that message. And you know, the book of Revelation actually says, there's going to be an angel that's going to be preaching the message of salvation, as well. So can you imagine how hard your heart must be? To not listen to an angel? That's fine overhead. But I mean, God, just, you know, he pulls out all the stops, and Revelation is going to be everything possible, to get people's attention to bring them to him during during that time. So again, uh, yeah, it's gonna be a frightening time for those people who are on the earth think, again, think about the last two years. Right, right. Yeah. People have gone through, well, that was a piece of cake compared to what it's going to be like, Yeah, but God is so merciful. And I'm telling you what those 144,000 the two witnesses in Jerusalem, that angel is going to be an eagle that talks in Revelation, you know, also getting the word out. So God is going to be able to be found if people want to find him during those times.
John Matarazzo:And I love that he goes, as you said, he pulls out all the stops, to show his love and to preach the gospel so that everybody can know you know, every every person will be without excuse. You know? Yes, right. You know, that gives me a lot of hope. Because, you know, like, even though the Bible says that the Lord hardens, Pharaoh hardened Pharaoh's heart, he still had a lot of opportunities before that point. And God, give people as many opportunities as possible, before the end actually must come not the beginning of the end. But the actual end of the end.
Donna VanLiere:Yes. Right. to the very end, yes, yes, the opportunity will, will be there. And you brought up revelation earlier about those who are blessed to read it. And it's also you know, to let your readers know that a lot of people believe that revelation is allegory. They believe it's just a story, which doesn't make any sense at all, that God completely changed his way of doing things on the very last book of the Bible, he threw in an allegorical work at the end. And to prove that he says seven times in Revelation that it's prophecy. And seven, seven is the number for perfection and completion. And so God reminds people seven times, this is prophecy. Yeah, these words will happen, it's going to come true. And he actually it says, at one point in Revelation, don't change the words of this prophecy, because it won't be good for you. If you do that, right. Oh, don't do it. He says. So, again, it's it's good for us to be reminded of these things, because a lot of people do say, oh, no, no, that's just that's just make believe there is no, there is no antichrist. That just means that's our sin and the fraud, the False Prophet, that's not a real person. That just means, oh, that's something else. No, they're actual people. Yeah, they are people. The Two Witnesses are people. 144,000 are people who will be spread throughout the world. So it's important for us to remember it is prophecy through and through.
John Matarazzo:Yeah. You know, Donna, I have to ask this, you know, we've talked about your previous books on this podcast and on on the TV show as well. But, you know, you wrote the first book before the pandemic started. And I think you were in the middle of writing the second one whenever it started. And so but you've kind of, you've had some time that has passed now. And has there been things that you've seen happening in the headlines now that you're like, you know, I wrote about that in this book. And can you tell me some of those things that you're just like, Yeah, you didn't see that happening that way? Or, you know, whatever. It is. Just kind of like, tell me what you've been able to, like? Almost foretell. Yeah.
Donna VanLiere:Right. Well, I actually wrote about Russia, because I say that, in, in actually, the time of Jacob's trouble, which was the first book that Russia actually, you know, they they're the ones that come against America and attack America trying to hobble America so that we're no longer on the world stage. Right. It's it's Russia and Iran that come up that come against us. And while I was studying for that, I was studying Russian warfare, Russian weapons, and at that time, they were testing and developing hypersonic, the hypersonic missile, which Russia claims can travel eight to 9000 miles per hour. And there is nothing that the United States or any other world government has that can intercept these missiles. And so again, at that time, they were still in development and at the time that I was researching, and so I wrote about them that they actually used, you know, these missiles against the the US. And just this week, I read that they have that hypersonic missile system on the border of Ukraine, oh, goodness, they have it there. It's ready. It's in place. And again, it's a warning for other countries, that, hey, we have this missile system, and you don't have anything that's going to be able to intercept it. Now, unless there's something that the United States has in secret that they've developed that can intercept it. But at that time that I was researching there, there was nothing. Also, at the time, Russia didn't have anything that could intercept us submarines. But now they do. They have that they're able to intercept us submarines, so they know where US submarines locations are. So yeah, it's interesting how, how a couple of those things are now here, they're in the news, right, right now.
John Matarazzo:Yeah. And I mean, it's, it's not like, you were having prophetic visions and things from the Lord, you're I mean, you you might have been, but you, you know, you're an author, you look for the story, you know, you're telling a good story, something that's going to be compelling and gripping. And we know that God is, is not the author of confusion, but his thought is the author of life and obviously, the author of the Bible. And so you've got a great example, to look to look towards, as you're, as you're writing your stories. So just looking at that, that that narrative of things that are kind of lining up with things that you've already things that are in the headlines that are lining up with what you've written, did you do you have any thoughts about what's going to happen next?
Donna VanLiere:Well, no, just things are looking up. I think that we can, I think, obviously, we know that Putin is on the move, he's going to continue to be on the move, you know, Iran is going to continue to be on the move. Putin, and I mean, Russia, Iran and Turkey. They they've been in talks with one another for the last several years, and we see their coalition in Ezekiel 38. We see that coalition that that takes place and comes against Israel. So we know that coalition is already in place. They already are in talks with one another. They're meeting with one another. Of course, they I'm sure they still watch one another very closely, you know, you keep your friends close your enemies closer. But the coalition is there. It's already in place to come against Israel. Russia has. They have the capability, Newsweek called Putin, the king of the Middle East. He's already he's in Syria, he's right there on the border of Israel, his his troops, Iran is in Syria as well. So I think if we, we got to continue to keep our eyes on them, because they're on the move. They're going to continue to be on the move. But they're never going to make that final move. Until the Lord says, Okay, it's time, because it's the zekiel 3038 says that it is the Lord Himself, who puts a hook in the jaw of Gog and pulls him along, you know, and puts thoughts into his head. And so all these thoughts are going to come into the leader of Russia's head at that time, and they're going to devise these plans, these schemes to come against Israel, but again, we already see this coalition's in place, right?
John Matarazzo:Yeah, so So as we said, this whole episode is that things are lining up, we need to be aware of what's happening and, you know, study to show ourselves approved. You know, Donna, in addition to studying and, you know, reading your books and reading what the Bible says about, you know, what we need to expect in this and time and time harvest, actually, that that's coming because that that will be coming as well, that we will see revival, we will see God move in tremendous ways. What can we do now, somebody that's fearful about the end times because they don't want to, they don't want to go through the Tribulation there. You know, there's, there's issues of fear, you know, we're not supposed to fear but let's be honest things that are unknown. The you know, when you see trouble coming at you, you try to figure out how can I avoid this? What advice can you give for people that are like, You know what, with all the vaccine mandates, stuff, and all these new technologies that are coming out, it seems like I won't be able to escape this. How can we just prepare ourselves physically and mentally and spiritually,
Donna VanLiere:well, stay in the word, number one, abide abide in Christ, and He will in His Word will abide in you. And so that that's my number one piece of encouragement really is stay in the word. Because when you read the word, you know, it dispels that fear. Because you see that God is in control. God does have a plan, we see the madness of the world right now. We see the craziness that's happening. But again, when you get into the Word, you discover, oh, God said this was going to take place, God said, we were going to be lovers of pleasure. Just look at your look at your social media newsfeed. And what do you see, you know, take a look at how many people are talking about what they're watching on Netflix, or Amazon Prime or on apple plus, you know, what concerts, they're going to see what, what sports they're going to see our lovers of pleasure. We're lovers of self. So we see all these characteristics of the 10 times when we read scripture, and we read the things. Dad, God did not give us a spirit of fear. That's, it's an actual spirit. It is a spirit of fear that comes now that comes against us. He didn't give us a spirit of heaviness, to spirit and actual Spirit, His spirit of heaviness. And thank John how many people have when you read the statistics of how many more people are on medications for depression, right now, and suicides have gone up in the last two years, the spirit of heaviness, the spirit of fear has has taken over the lives of many people. And God has given us His word to read and to be reminded of his presence of His promises of His provision. So get into his word, because His Word will bring life. This word brings life, it doesn't bring death. So get into his word, get get in with a great church, not a apathetic church, not a lukewarm church, get in with a great church, with great people who love the Lord. They're going to be imperfect people, they're going to be people with flaws. But But the Bible says Do not forsake the assembling together, you know, encourage one another, as you see the day approaching. And so, you know, a lot of people, they had a hard time when churches were shut down for so long. Because that's unscriptural, we're supposed to come together, we're supposed to be together. We're not supposed to be isolated, we're not supposed to be kept from one another. God actually tells us that come together, you know, fellowship with one another, break bread with one another. That's what we're supposed to be doing. So those those are my encouragement, stay in the Word. Definitely get with like minded people who love the Lord and who are seeking the Lord, because that's our greatest hope.
John Matarazzo:Absolutely. I know, anytime that I'm feeling down. Naturally, your, your flesh wants you to pull away from everybody else, right? You want to you want to pull away or run away. But those are the times where I've intentionally said, You know what, I'm going to join another small group at church on a different night, or, you know, here's an activity that I'm going to that I'm going to do. You know, for me, moving 1000 miles away from my family and friends, finding a church community has been vital for me, it's been one of the best things to help me acclimate to a new city. But that's not just because I moved, it's because that's how God designed us to be is that we need that fellowship, we need to not forsake the gathering of the brethren. You know, zoom and teleconferencing things. Like you know, I'm in Orlando, you're in Tennessee, right now as we're recording this, but you know, there's nothing that that can really replace the being in person. And those are my favorite memories with you, as whenever we've been able to be in person at the TV studio at your house. And I hope we have another chance to do that. Maybe if you come down to Disney and you know, we'll see each other at that point or something. Right. But, but, you know, we are we're called to have that community. And that helps bring peace and stability and helps us to overcome that fear. And you know, Donna, I don't want to miss this opportunity right now to ask you to just pray for listeners that would be dealing with that spirit of heaviness or that spirit of fear. Because everywhere you look right now, do you see headlines that aren't favorable? You see things that are scary? And yes, media has a tendency to blow things out of proportion. Because if it bleeds, it leads, and if it scares people, then they're going to want to find out more so that we can protect ourselves. You just laid out that the Bible and reading God's word and drawing close to him is a great defense. But right now, would you actually it's a great offense to the right now, would you pray for the people and just bless them as they're trying to take those steps of just overcoming that fear? And that burden of heaviness?
Donna VanLiere:Yeah, absolutely. Lord, John, and I come together before your throne, because you're the one who's high and lifted up, you are our Creator, and our Savior, you're our Redeemer. You're the one who pulls us up out of the pit lord. So we come to you. And we just ask because your Word says, Ask those who abide in you and your word abides. And then your Word says, Ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done to you. And the next verse said, This is for my Father's glory. So we ask these things for your glory, Lord, that You would regain the years of the Locust over the last two years, redeem what the locust has stolen from so many people, Father, for those who are dealing with that spirit of heaviness, we come against it in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And we we declare freedom for all these people dealing with the spirit of heaviness, or dealing with the spirit of fear. Because your Word says, You did not create you did not give us that spirit of fear. You gave us the power of love and joy and of a sound mind. So when the name of Jesus Christ, we command that spirit of heaviness, and that spirit of fear, to to be expelled in the name of Jesus from those who are listening, any of those who are troubled by the spirits. And Lord, we know there are so many other oppressive spirits that are trying to hold your people down. And we declare freedom in Christ. For these people, we declare that your word would come alive in them, that they would get into your word and that your word would it does bring life so we pray that life will just burst forth through all of them. And Holy Spirit, your The Word says that you are the one who raised Jesus from the dead and give life to our mortal bodies. So we pray again, Holy Spirit, you would do what only you can do in each of these listeners lives and that you would give life to them give life to their mortal bodies. And we pray this for your glory. We pray this so that we would bear much fruit in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Amen. Donna, thank you so much for taking some time with me to talk about your books and the just get having a different perspective of the end times and how it's fast approaching, but we can be ready and we don't need to be afraid. Could you just let people know how they can? How they can connect with you and get your books.
Donna VanLiere:Sure my books are on online sites, you know, like Amazon, if you do have a brick and mortar store nearby. I know those are few and far between now, but many brick and mortar stores have them. Barnes and Noble carries them. There are some Christian bookstores that are actually still left and they do carry them as well. You can find me at my website. It's Donna vanleer.com. And I'm not on a lot of social media, just because over the last two years I've gotten off of just wise. Yeah, I'm still on Facebook. I don't know how much longer I'll be on there. But right now, I am still on that. But yeah, just so appreciate you taking time to talk about the books, John and talk about how you know it does feel like things are out of control and spiraling out of control. But in actuality Things are looking up and we've just got to keep that perspective.
John Matarazzo:Amen. We do got to keep looking up. And you know, you just sent me all three books, which I appreciate greatly. And I was just looking at the spine of it and I find it interesting that harvest house your publisher has as their normal logo for the first one a time of Jacob's trouble as their their normal logo for the second one. The Davies equals hope and now for Daniel's final week. It has their harvest prophecy logo. So I think they just kind of said they just kind of finally said, You know what she's right about all this stuff. We just got to lean into it as well. So I encourage everyone to go check it out. Yeah, right.
Unknown:I noticed that it's funny that you notice that.
John Matarazzo:Yeah. If you want to know what's what you need to be prepared for, and how to be prepared, definitely get Donna's book because it's not just great storytelling as a prophetic fiction, but it also gives great insight on how you can research that in the Bible yourself. So Donna, thank you so much for being back with me on along the way. And I look forward to another opportunity to be together and talk. Oh, thank
Unknown:you, John.
John Matarazzo:I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Donna vanleer. Check out her new book, Daniel's final week. Anywhere that you get your books. I'll be providing a link to her website in the shownotes. Thank you for listening to along the way. If you've enjoyed joining me along my way, please share this with a friend who you think will be encouraged by this podcast. Also, please rate and review along the way on iTunes that helps more people discover along the way. And subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and my website along the way dot media. If you want to support me in this podcast, I have a Patreon page as well. The link to become a supporter is also in my show notes. I hope that you've enjoyed this part of my journey, and may you realize when Jesus is walking with you along your way. Along the way is honored to be part of the charisma Podcast Network. You can find tons of spirit filled content from their vast catalogue of podcasts including my Monday through Friday news stories for the charisma news podcast. Go to CBN shows to see the fullest and latest episodes
