Author: Jacinta da Cruz Rodgers

I have been committed to teaching the truth of the Word of God beginning with Trans World Radio on Bonaire, N.A and Swaziland, Africa (1969-1980), then through churches in the United States in both English and Portuguese and then through ministry in Israel (2005-2006). This ministry continues through local Bible studies and outreach to the world via the internet. I have written a book about my life from that of an orphan in Brazil to missionary in 5 countries. You can find out more on the "Book" page of our blog site.

Birth Pains

(John 16:21; Matthews 24)

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that you shall weep and grieve, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy, a woman, when she gives birth to a child, has grief because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers her pain, because she is so glad that a man has been born into the world (John 16:20-21).

YAHSHUA’S analogy is well fitted to the subject of end times. There are no pains worth going through that do not produce a result and relief. When Eve sinned, God punished her with pain in childbirth (Gen. 3:16) He said to the woman, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children…. A woman’s labor pain is caused by contractions of the uterus’ muscles and by pressure on the cervix. It affects several parts of the body, for the entire body has to accommodate to the change that is happening for the sake of giving birth. Labor contractions are necessary for the body to push the baby out. They grow in intensity and constant as the baby nears the birth canal. But the woman is relieved after it is all over. She rejoices when she hears her baby crying, which is a sign of life. And as YAHSHUA said, she no longer remembers her pain because joy floods her soul with the thought of have given birth to a child. So the end time or the end of ages pains are compared to birth pain, because it gives birth to the fulfillment of prophecy of the Scriptures. YAHSHUA advised us to look up when we see those things are happening, because our redemption is on its way.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Persecuted Bride

        (A tribute)

Walking day and night

Hidden from human eyes

Eyes of hate and despair

Against God, against her faith

She lives holding unto

The strength of Him whose

Strength is all sufficient to

Carry on her journey heaven bound

History untold holds

The windows closed

For the world not to see

Her suffering beyond human mind

Buried and burned alive

Forsaken and raped 

For the cause

Many dare not to die!

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Middle Man

And Israel said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die… And the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 20:18-24).

When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid themselves from the presence of God, at the sound of His voice while walking through the garden (Gen.3:8).  A routine of the day when God would come to commune with them in the cool of the day, became a fearful experience. Peace was replaced by fear and guilt, when they made the decision to believe the serpent, instead. Sin had taken them away from the presence of God and robbed them of their relationship with Him. No longer could they feel comfortable in the presence of the holy God. What was so important to them, they lost in the decision they had made. Now, instead of welcoming God in their midst, they hid from Him as if to tell Him, leave us alone. When Israel experienced the holiness of God marked by thunders, smoking mountain, lightning, they feared Him and begged Moses to speak to them, instead. It had been three months since Israel had left Egypt in a supernatural and powerful way, when God expressed His love, His faithfulness through miracles and signs, when He walked ahead of them providing shelter from the sun and light for the night through a pillar of clouds and fire, when He opened the Red Sea and guided them through it in dry land and at the same time killing their enemies. But seemly, Israel lacked God’s holiness, and in their sinful condition, they acted like Adam and Eve – fearful.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

One Out of Ten

(Luke 17:15-19)

As He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers…and they raised up their voices and called, YAHSHUA, Master, take pity and have mercy on us! Vs.12-13. That was a cry that came deeply from the hearts of those ten lepers. Leprosy is an infection caused by the bacteria called, myocardium leprae. This bacterium causes damage to the nerves, respiratory tract and to the eyes. It is a slow, and progressive disease. Leprosy overshadows their victims for long period of time, depraving them from the joys and normality of life. They have no life at all; their isolated life defines them as rejected and forsaken by society and the world. Away from family, friends and society, they live in caves, while they watch their bodies deteriorate one limb at a time. Every morning they wake up to a hopeless day. These lepers were in desperate need of the Lord’s touch. A day had finally come for these ten lepers with shinning hope; hope found only in the One Who could heal them. These lepers were in desperate need of the Lord’s touch. However, their pain was not hidden from YAHSHUA, Who on His way to Jerusalem, He took the route that would lead to them, which was through the border between Samaria and Galilee.  Going to a certain village, YAHSHUA was met by these ten lepers. Not being able to approach Him, they cried loudly in desperation, YAHSHUA, Master, take pity and have mercy on us! The cry of these ten lepers echoing through the waves of time, with just a few words, was heard in heaven, as they directed it to YAHSHUA, Master. That was the most important prayer of their lives in connection with their health situation. That reminds me of another cry and this time from a blind man when he heard that YAHSHUA was nearby. Although censured and reproved, he kept on shouting out all the more, You Son of David, have pity and mercy on me! (Mark 10: 46-52) In his cry this blind man proclaimed YAHSHUA to be the Messiah when he shouted, “Son of David!” It was Amazing! This blind man was physically blind, but he could see beyond with his spiritual eyes. His faith sparkled brilliantly when He announced YAHSHUA to be “Son of David.” At that, the crowd rebuked him, but he would not stop shouting the tittle, “Son of David” have pity and mercy on me!

When YAHSHUA saw the ten lepers, He said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean (Luke 17:14). At YAHSHUA’S command, Go, they went. That was the step they had to take to receive their healing. No hesitation, no doubt and then they were clean!  Something was missing in their lives however, when they did not return to thank YAHSHUA, except one, who upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud  voice; and falling prostrate at YAHSHUA’S feet, thanked Him and he was a Samaritan (Luke 17:15-16). Interesting observation YAHSHUA made, when He asked the question, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was there no one found to return and to recognize and give thanks and praise God except this alien? That was a rebuke to the Jewish nation, represented by those nine lepers. Out of ten, only a Samaritan turned around to acknowledge his healing; praise and thank the Lord.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Union

(Ruth)

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, his wife, and his two sons. But Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and so did her two sons.

In this apparent voided of happiness story there is a prophetic and beautiful end. We see in this story not only the picture of God’s love embedded in His plan for the Gentile nations, but also Ruth as a type of the gentile bride of Christ.  Call me not Naomi, she said, call me Mara [bitter]. While Naomi was drained in her unhappiness, God had a beautiful future for her life; one that would make her forget all her past losses. It all started when her family moved from Bethlehem duo to a famine. There, she lost her husband and her two sons. After she had lived in Moab ten years, she decided to go back home. Apparently, she had had enough However, both her daughters-in-law showed the desire to follow her to Bethlehem, but when she persistently refused the idea, one of them left her and went back home. Ruth however, firmly said, “urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, and where you lodge will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God,” Naomi finally agreed to let Ruth go with her. In her words “Your people shall be my people,” Ruth showed great faith. There was more to her words than she realized. There was a prophetic meaning by being part of the nation of Israel she could never fathom. That would be a beautiful plan God had for her life. So, what compelled a young woman to give up her family, culture, and religion to follow her Mother-in-law, whose culture and religion were different from hers?  Perhaps Naomi, as her mother-in-law had a good influenced in her life, and as a result, a good relationship between them to compel Ruth to leave all behind to follow Naomi. But beyond the tangible, God was working His plan through Ruth’s life, to bring His Son into the world many years to come.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Expression

Love, I saw your appearance

You were so disfigured

In an expression so deep

Beyond comprehension

Of a human mind

Love, you touched me

Penetrating my inmost being

I noticed your suffering

And not knowing what to say

I cried my God!

The crown of thorns piercing

Through your head

Causing your blood to flow

Your eyes speaking to me

In an expression so deep

Embracing me, I heard you

Say, Father forgive her

In an expression so deep

I bowed down, touching your feet

Wanting to understand such love

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Man from Gennesaret

His name, I don’t know

But this thing I know

That for a long time

He was in bondage

To demons, I mean

Naked and destitute

From society and family

He lived in tombs

Fear ran over the town

His life a scary thought

To those all around

Until one day Someone

Greater than the demons

Within him came and

Touched his life

With love and freed him

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Last Trump

(I Corinthians 15: 52; I Thessalonians 4:16)

The trumpet is an instrument of great significance in the Bible. It served Israel when in their pilgrimage through the desert: to call to assemble, to move on, to announce the new year, to call to war, and to proclaim victory, and more. Of all the instruments, God chose the trumpet to establish order, warnings in many aspects in the lives of the Jewish people. God also established the Feast of Trumpets for the nation to carry on the tradition He established for them. We read it in Leviticus 23:24: Say to Israelites, On the first day of the seventh month (almost October), you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial day announced by the blowing of trumpets, a holy assembly. When God descended to Mount Sinai to covenant with Israel, at the beginning of their journey, He expressed Himself to them through a loud trumpet sound. That was not a sound the people enjoyed, but a sound that caused them fear to the point of asking Moses to speak to them instead of God. That was a sound that echoed God’s holiness, purity and judgment, as Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Exo. 19:18-19). That was also the symbolic sound of the tribulation’s trumpets bringing judgements upon the earth for its wickedness.

At Mount Sinai, a trumpet sound sealed the covenant between God and Israel, and God’s trumpet future sounding will finalize His promise of redemption for His church. We also see in this chapter of Exodus the picture of the bride of Christ being taken away in verses 13 and 19 which reads, When  the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain; as the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice; the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. Let’s compare this passage with the one in I Thessalonians 4:16: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud summons, with the shout of an archangel and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first; then we, the living ones who remain, shall simultaneously be caught up along in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always we shall be with the Lord! A cry of summons, a shout and a trumpet and this time, the trumpet of God, will resonate for the rapture of the church of Christ, the one whose Chief Cornerstone is YAHSHUA her Lord.  The trumpet of God is a specific trumpet to be used to call His bride home, as opposed to the seventh trumpet of Revelation which will be used to bring judgment upon the earth. This is the reason why the need for the bride of Christ to be removed from earth.  The rapture is the means by which God will use to save the Bride of Christ before His wrath is poured on earth, just as He did for the righteous Noah before the flood and Lot before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There would not have been a reason for the rapture of His bride, if there would not be a world-wide tribulation, or God’s wrath to punish the wicked people of this earth.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2