Sunday, November 18, 2012

"THE TIME IS NOW!"






I awoke one morning to the Lord saying, “The time is now.” I asked, "What time is that, Lord?" but I got no answer. Two days later rockets were hitting Tel Aviv, and then, as the Sabbath began to descend fell upon Jerusalem, so did the rockets. The Lord then gave me the following message:

What has just been unleashed in Israel is the beginning of a time of Jacob’s trouble, but it is for Esau’s trouble as well. There will be no peace in the souls of those who harbor hatred and they will seek to assuage their angst and anger with more hatred. And you will see the manifestation of the the Accuser’s lies as never before, and of the ways of the Adversary (satahn in Hebrew) of God and His people in unprecedented and calculated ways. 

Now is not a time to be preoccupied with seeking to sure up what promises prosperity. There is no value in investing in this world – its time is limited. Invest in My Kingdom – in loving one another, in meeting the needs of the needy lest you find yourself one day needy and have no stored seed to your account.   Seek now the Kingdom of heaven that the integrity and purity may be manifested on earth as it is in heaven by My people. Order your priorities, people!  

Put aside preoccupation with that which is only temporary at best and seek to invest your life in relationships and that which is of eternal value.  Shift your priorities from seeking to be entertained – and by that I mean even in church when your worship is more of a party than a seeking of My holiness in reverential fear, being more aware of Me than of yourselves and your feelings. 

What some feel is My presence is not My presence. There is the joy of My presence which comes from a deep sense of love for Me, from Me, of My love for you and through you to others. Beware of the celebrations that stir you to rejoicing that is motivated by fleshly expectations, endeavors and aspirations.  Now is a time to come to Me and to allow me to separate the precious from the worthless in your lives, individually and corporately (in your churches).   

I know this is a hard word, children, but you are about to enter into hard times and those whose hope is on things in the natural, even things you have identified as being “of Me,” when they do not come to pass, or fall away from you, many will fall away from Me because their hope is anchored in what you expect I will do for you rather than in who I AM.  

I AM about to reveal Myself and My word to the world in a way that only those with ears to hear and eyes to see in the Spirit realm will recognize as being My ways. The devil will make it seem to many as if he is the one causing what it taking place in this hour but just as I let the iniquity of the Amorites be completed so that I could judge them (Gen. 15:14, 15) when Israel was in Egypt, even so it is I who is allowing satan and his demons of darkness to complete their rebellion so that sin will be put away forever. 

Look to the Passover and see the Resurrection in it and you will gain understanding for the days ahead.

Shabbat 11/17/12 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

WHAT IF THESE REALLY ARE THE LAST DAYS?



Lord, hear our prayers!

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Kingdom of God is right and true. It is invincible. It's not shaking, it's not teetering, and it's not diminished by what is happening now or will take place in the world. And neither should the people who make up the Kingdom of God!  

The Lord told me 25 years ago that the Bride He returns for will have eyes for no one and nothing (read no thing) other than Him.  Those words have stayed with me for all these years as His standard for His bride.  We are far from that; we are distracted by more things than I can number. Don't let the immediacy of the moment continue to distract you from issues of eternity.  

I'm motivated to write in response to several emails I've received lately from people being frightened or disheartened by the turn of events going on in the world. Despite being people who are exhorted by the Lord that though we are "in" the world, we are not to be "of" the world, I'm hearing some believers sounding a bit too much like their trust is in the world's system, not in King Jesus and His Kingdom.   

Do you believe we might actually be in the last days of the age?  Then why are we surprised, or frightened, or outraged when ungodly and evil things happen when Jesus told us they would?  Many Believers are taken by surprise at the way some thing appear to be going. The presidential election for some, seemed as if God wasn't answering prayer - or at least prayer the way they expected things to go. On a larger scale, most of us did not expect the spirit of anti-Christ to come from Islam but it sure does look that way. During the "cold war" years we were sure the anti-Christ would come out of Russia, because that's where our concerns were, but now we see that Biblically, the end time scenario is all about a mid-east conflict and Israel  having to deal with the same enemies she did in times past. 

All this lines up with God's warnings of the last days. Read Matthew 24 and 25, for instance. We are having to adjust to the fact that we might actually be the people who go through the last days birth pains. Many believers, especially North Americans, have expected to be "raptured" out of harms way and can't imagine they'd still be here if society as we have known it ceased to be as "comfortable" as it has been for the most part. On a number of levels - let's take morally for instance - our society has radically changed in the past decade or two. And we can't blame things on our president(s) though there are concerns. We've been frogs in a pot of increasingly heated immoral water for quite a while. 

What if we are still here, even if just for a part of the days of woe the Bible speaks of? What if you are still here? What prayers would we pray then that we so much would want God to hear and respond to? What government will you pray to be made right then? The government of the Kingdom of God, or that of the world?

What would cause each individual who is of His true church, to do away with our distractions so that we are ready for His coming?  What would it take for you to give up your distractions? The mercies of God come in very strange packages sometimes. And sometimes it's persecution that sorts out one's priorities. Perhaps, by His grace, He is giving us the opportunity now to come to Him and learn to receive His love in a greater measure so that we know how to find all we need in Him.  As we give Him our focus and trust our distractions will fall away as we come to know His great love, His care and His commitment to us in greater measure.  It doesn't take much coming to Him and being with Him for His love to capture our hearts!  it's the "gettin' about it" that's the challenge.What are you distracted by?

Jesus told someone who had been to heaven and returned with messages from Him, that His people are more interested in their security in the world and their comfort than in Him coming and so we pray against the things that must happen before He returns. Now I can understand that. We are to pray for the peace of our cities, and for peace for Jerusalem, and we all want peace for ourselves and our loved ones. But even the Comcast TV guy who came to fix something today, a believer, said to me as we discussed these things, "Jesus told us these kinds of things would have to happen."  

Jesus must let sin play out its hand just as He let the sin of the Ammorites, whatever that was, play out when the children of Israel were enslaved by Egypt.  But in the midst of the darkness over Egypt, there was sunlight in Goshen. When the plagues came to Egypt, they didn't come to Goshen until the day when God brought them out of Egypt with a strong Hand.  I see prophetic pictures in that. Both as pharaoh being a type of anti-Christ and in God's provision for His people in the midst of judgment.  Since we're born again, unlike the infant nation of Israel, we will not be slaves because He has already set us free. We will never be spiritually enslaved to anyone, no matter what happens in the natural because we are free in Him.  

Our anger then must be righteous anger and our fear must be that we would offend God by fearing the enemy which would mean that our faith is more in what the enemy could do than in what God is doing or for that matter, who He is!  I understand the feelings in the natural. I would like to flee as well from what could possibly take placet. But God responds to the prayers of His people even if they are out numbered. He may not answer in the way we requested or expected, but He will answer. Is it just possible that He is in fact answering our prayers for revival by having the election go as it did, so that we continue to look to Him for revival in our nation(s) rather than to sink into being comfortable with things in the natural?  (Selah).

While we are waiting for God's answer to our heartfelt prayers, we must give consideration to how we affect those around us, especially the young ones and those weak of spirit.  We need not to be shouting doom from the housetops but instead declaring what God is whispering to us through His word and by His Spirit.  He says to us, "Fear not, little flock. I have overcome the world." That is either true or it's not. If it is true, then we can fully depend upon it manifesting in our lives.

We MUST not loose faith in the Lord, no matter what.  Christians have been suffering for 2000 years in one place or another.  We are somewhat alarmed because we are now concerned that changes might possibly happen to us that we might be still here for. He is equal to keeping those who are His. He always has been!  We must live as those who will stand before Him one day blameless with great joy and let nothing derail us from that.   

So let us each be leaders in our own sphere of influence, holding high the standard of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, as we know. Let's none of us be that weak link that breaks or diminishes the chain of faith in God. but instead be those who strengthen the faith of others, looking to our first century brothers and sisters as models of Believers trusting God in times of difficulty and affecting the world with their faith in God.Our greatest hour is before us.

GODLY DEPENDENCE - The Low Road to the High Road



Did you ever wonder what Yeshua actually prayed after John baptized Him?  The Bible tells us, “…it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized and while he prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended….” (John 3:21, 22).  We don’t doubt that He knew exactly what His calling was and what God expected of Him.  So I wonder, was He frightened now that He was actually stepping not only into the water of mikveh (baptism) but into His profound destiny on earth?  Was He even a tiny bit overwhelmed with a sense of being fully in touch with human weakness at the magnitude of what was before Him? 

Being fully human, did He pray out of a desperate need for God’s anointing to carry this out? Or was He overjoyed at finally entering into the ministry for which He was born?  Did He know His Father would send the Holy Spirit?  I would expect so but perhaps not so visibly. Was He surprised at His Father’s Voice coming from heaven confirming how pleased He was with Yeshua and confirming Him as His Son, saying “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”   Mark says it as God saying it to Yeshua while John says as God saying it about Yeshua.  Either way, God is pleased and Yeshua receives the Holy Spirit and all the power and anointing that goes with His presence. 

Wondering about this, I asked the Lord what He was praying. (I ask Him a lot of questions. The answers, when they come, often turn into these articles.) Immediately what came to my mind was, “Dependence, and a passion for the fulfillment of God’s Word and His desire.”  I responded, “No fear, Lord?” And this is what I felt was God’s response to my question:  No, no fear. Fear of that kind is of the Fall. Dependence does not have to be based on fear – not on fear of failure, or rejection, of suffering, or of death. Dependence upon God is based on the awareness that He is “all” and “all” we ever need is found in Him.  

And just as it was God working through Yeshua by His Spirit and Grace, He will also work through us the same way to accomplish His will in our lives. Dependence is the awareness of our need of God. Our need to be dependent upon Him is a fact. He created us to live in tandem with Him this way. This kind of godly dependence is based on confidence in His love and faithfulness to enable us to follow through in all He has for us to do and to be.  We can rejoice in our dependency upon Him, in restful humility before Him, with full confidence that He is faithful and will keep us safe “in Him” and enable us to fulfill His will in our lives.

Godly dependence is based upon the character and nature of God in all His goodness, love and truth – which can be fully depended upon!  In our dependence upon Him, we can remain confident of His will being accomplished in each of our lives knowing that His will is always consistent with His goodness and grace. That’s the kind of faith God’s always been talking about!!    

Well, doesn’t that bring something into contrast?  When the devil tempted Eve, what he convinced her of was that she couldn’t really depend on God to act in her best interest.  He undermined her trust and therefore her dependency upon God.  We’re so used to having our “trusters” broken that full and entire dependence is hard for us. It may take a long time to find out that God is fully trustworthy and always there for us so that we completely depend upon Him. But it doesn’t have to. We can choose to put our trust and dependence upon Him now, today, even if it’s new to us. God created us to be dependent upon Him, to say it again. 

Godly dependence  is a Kingdom revelation and revelation bring transformation.   We receive the most help from God when we depend upon Him the most, and act accordingly, as in “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). 

Blessings come out of dependence upon Him and curses or trouble come out of independence – an “I’ll do it my way” mindset. Call it obedience or disobedience, each from the heart. This understanding has kept me pretty dependent upon Him – for everything. What a rest there is in that.  But I hadn’t thought of Yeshua having to be dependent upon Him in the same way, being sinless and all. But when God was showing me this, I saw that Yeshua, being sinless, was entirely and fully dependent upon God.  My dependence, as much as I want to give Him my full trust, is at best spotty. Every time I worry or feel rejected or want to do something to fix a relationship or situation on my own, I forget for a short while to depend upon Him for wisdom, or to do the fixin’ Himself. 

We pray for God’s will to be “done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) In heaven there is no need of anything because all is complete and perfect and entirely fulfilling in every way.  We’re told that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil.3:20).  It struck me in church this Sunday as my pastor was enthusiastically declaring the glories of God and His abounding mercies to us that I really don’t belong here. I’m not “of” here. I’m really “of” heaven.  I can declare this too as an anthem over my life: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12 – did you know it says “heavenly places” related to our lives that many times in Ephesians? Take note!). 

There’s nothing but blissful dependence upon God in heaven. No one ever works for or worries about anything. Even though we must “do” here on earth, our hearts are trusting in God in whom we depend to provide all things, even if He uses what we “do” to do it. His will is being done on earth as it is in heaven in our lives when we trust Him fully and completely.

Back to Yeshua and His dependency, if He was entirely dependent upon His Father, doesn’t that mean there was nothing of Him trying to work to gain God’s acceptance or His approval or His commitment to take care of Him? Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it, to think of Yeshua involved in ‘works’ to earn His Father’s favor?  If we are “in Him,” then the same relationship applies between us and God.  We cannot be “in” the one in Whom God was well pleased and still have to work to please Him? We’d be trying to get to where we already are. But we can depend upon God that what Yeshua did has already placed us in His favor by removing the curses of sin which previously separated us.

Let’s take this just one step further.  Yeshua in His dependence was the quintessential absolutely perfect follower of Torah. Every part of His life was aligned with the Word of God, right?  It was through His life as well as His obedient death that He fulfilled all of Torah, that is to say He filled every requirement entirely. And He did so as He lived a fully dependent life before God.  He was still a man and still had to deal with human frailties on certain levels. Torah defines just about every aspect of life. In every one of those areas, Yeshua never once violated the covenant which God gave to Israel through Moses. 

Now, consider this: If He walked out His life in perfect accord with Torah, and there were no “works” that He did in His life to gain God’s favor, doesn’t it stand to reason that Torah was not designed for mankind to work or to do to earn God's favor, but to live according to Torah in confident dependence upon Him, doing His will with joy and His grace?  A common misunderstanding of the church is that Torah is about works and the Jews were constantly trying to earn God’s favor.  Neither is the truth.  Jews were already chosen by God, they didn’t (and don’t) think they had to work to gain His favor.  The “instructions” or “teachings” of Torah (“law” is an unfortunate mistranslation) were to aid Israel to live according to the “chosenness” that was already theirs as the people of God on the earth. When Israel remained dependent upon God they enjoyed His safekeeping, prosperity and blessings. When they drifted or stampeded into independence, they came out from under the umbrella of His protection and safety.  And also with us! 

The worldly self-defined, self-sufficient, self-seeking generation in which we live detests the idea of dependence upon God. They see it as the low road, but in God, the low road is the high road. Nothing could have looked lower than Yeshua on the Cross. But it was the highest achievement of both God and one Man to lift the world high above the devastating entrapment of sin. The low road of dependence leads to the high places of joy, rest and strength for God's  people. I invite you to give much thought to this issue of dependence upon our loving all powerful God and see if there are places of independence in your life that needs to be brought under His lordship, for your good and for the good of those whom you will affect for good in your life.  There is much work to "do" before He returns.