[A friend] wrote to me the other day that she was concerned about [the financial crisis’ – both because of the matter of yet further diminishing sovereign state sovereignty, but even more because of the old adage that 'whoever controls the debt controls the debtor'. There is no doubt at all that the heads of the EU are seriously concerned about the possibility of the Euro collapsing. The consequences on individual nations are likely to be huge. Greece for example has now been downgraded to little more than a 'protectorate' since receiving its bailout. The influential German magazine Der Spiegel has this to say about the situation there:
An EU Protectorate the Greek parliament and government are now virtually stripped of power. They're not allowed to decide on any new expenditures without EU approval. Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou is required to report every four weeks on progress made in budget restructuring. Brussels, not Athens, now controls whether and how the austerity program takes effect. If "detailed and ongoing inspection" shows that the actual results fall short of those predicted, Almunia says, then Brussels' watchdogs will demand additional measures. There have even been calls at the European Parliament to send a special EU representative with extensive authority to Greece. The small country has become little more than an EU protectorate.
[The Lord] is warning, to use the concept He expressed through the prophet Jeremiah, that the work of refining has not been sufficiently responded to in order to avoid immense consequences.
The Lord is also stressing the importance of our friendship with Him. He truly does want us to take Malachi 3:16 to heart:
Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured His name. "They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession.
Cultivating and strengthening strong ties with our fellow believers is always crucial, and never more so than in the days we are moving into. We are certainly experiencing this here as the Lord continues to 'wrap' a new framework around existing relationships.
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