There are times in our lives when all the odds seem in the enemy's favour and in fact the enemy creates such destruction and damage that he either appears as though he will win in the future, or that he already has won in whatever he is attempting to do. In these times, the work of the enemy is seen particularly clearly and it is obvious that he is 'going for the spiritual jugular' and even appears as though he is attempting to destroy us practically and physically. In these times it seems as though the presence and power of God is small (i.e the baby Jesus), or mostly ineffective and inconsequential (2 Cor 4v8, Luke 22v53, Matt 11v12).
When Jesus was born, the enemy put forth all his anger, malice and power in his attempt to destroy Him and frustrate the plans of God in this fashion, and from an earthly viewpoint it seems as though he nearly did. An evil king Herod is in power when Jesus is born, and his strategy was a clever one; send three wise men under the cover of a welcome, to in fact find out where the Saviour was being born in order to be able to murder Him (the Saviour's rule in our lives is always a threat to the temporary rule that the enemy has been given (Matt 4v9) over the earth and the one he is attempting to gain over the lives of Christians (he even tried to gain it over Jesus Himself! Matt 4v9). Upon this strategy failing, the enemy uses Herod to destroy all the firstborn in the land, in order to destroy Jesus and the main work of God itself. It takes a few dreams, a couple of angels and a whole lot of moving around and even waiting for Joseph and Mary in order for God to keep them safe, and even then, the results of the enemy's wrath are clearly seen and are extremely destructive; many people die and incredible sorrow ensues. From a worldly standpoint it would have seemed as if the Kingdom of God, God Himself and His people were weak and their lives and calling, useless.
In this world, Jesus said, 'Ye shall have tribulation.' It is a fact that we will encounter times where the enemy seems to win in the world and in our lives, just as it must've seemed to the Mary and Joseph when it seemed as though all their lives had been reduced to was fleeing, waiting and fearing the worst (after all, how scary it must've seemed to them to be two against Herod and all the power at his command!). Similarly, how must it have been for the disciples when they thought that their Saviour, and thus their hope, had been killed and therefore taken from them forever? They must've felt forsaken, lonely and desperate; where and what now for their lives? What would guide and be guided by in their lives? What would be the point of their existence now? The enemy had killed the joy and meaning of their lives and the one they loved the most; they had been robbed it seemed, and their almighty God had seemed completely inefficient and ineffective to defend Himself and fulfil the call that they assumed He had come for (setting up the Kingdom on the earth). There are times when the plans of God seem to fail, and His sovereignty appears less powerful and less impressive than it once did, or less than the moral perfection we once thought it to be (according to our reasoning) precisely because of the work and power of the enemy. While the enemy seems to win his own victories when the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence Matt 11v…12, and when we see the effects of what He does on those in the world itself, the most important victory and the one upon which our very spiritual life hinges, will always remain intact; even if only in seed, or baby form (i.e the baby Jesus). God has deemed that in this life, His greatest strength and His mightiest power will be seen in that which appears and may be, of itself, the weakest and most unimpressive thing. We are sinners and we are clay and we, His people, often quite unimpressive to the world (and often even to ourselves), but God has made this so, so that His power and glory will be revealed in the best way, both now, and most perfectly in the time to come.
The enemy is allowed to win to a point, but only within the parameters of the sovereignty of the Lord, according to His own wisdom and character. God will not allow the single most important design of His will to be changed in any way. God planned that His Son die for the sins of the world, to provide an everlasting salvation, and it was so. Similarly, with us, God has planned for our lives to fulfil a specific purpose, and by His grace, that purpose will be fulfilled. The enemy may try all he wants, but that single purpose of God's, the most important one, the one upon which all other purposes that He has for our lives hinge, will be fulfilled: Phil 1v 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
-Psalm 138v8
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Saturday, 28 December 2013
BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND
There are times in life when things simply do not add up. Logic and reasoning, either by ourselves or anyone else completely fails to comfort us, or to make head or tail of what we are going through. Rationalising everything also doesn't help, neither do the sometimes strange and humanistic reasonings or solutions that well-meaning Christians try to offer us. Neither for that matter does a worldly view of things which even though may sound pleasant, is either shallow, unfruitful or plain immoral. It is these times that the words of Hebrews, taken in their intended form, provide the most comfort for those that are downcast, sad and confused: 'By faith we understand...' The world will tell you that by logic, sense and experience we will rightly understand the world and our lives, but the Word says the opposite.
The Word encourages us as Christians to understand not only the history of the earth and its creation by faith, but our own lives (Heb 11). When we live our lives in this manner, we'll see the fruit of it too, which will confirm the value and strength (and existence) of the faith that has been given to us as a gift. Yes, we as humans doubt, fail and still sin in this regard, not believing as we should, as the flesh and the world still screams at us to doubt and to leave the Lord for what it offers, but ultimately the gift Jesus has given us is not based on any strength we possess, and His Holy Spirit never runs out of power that is needed to believe. He and the gift of faith remains in us even in our weakest of times, and supports us and offers support to us. It is not by anything in us that we must understand our lives and our trials other than by faith.
We have a great encouragement of lives lived in faith in the Word, the fruit of that faith and the sure hope and promise of the Kingdom and final fruit of redemption to come because of that gift of faith. It is hard to believe and it is a fight, one that is beyond all of us, but we don't need to despair, Christ was found worthy and so chose to impart to us what we couldn't to ourselves. By faith we understand everything that is going on in our lives, and every trial and every experience. Lord, we believe, help our unbelief! (Mark 9v29)
THE TIMES WHEN WE DON'T GET WHAT WE WANT
Heb: 11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
There are times in our lives when we will not receive what we desire and hope for. Of course at times we will receive what we ask for, but even those gifts will not fully fulfil the perfection that our spirit desires, as we have been made eternal beings, and so the eternity in us will always cry out for more:
Ecc 3v11: 'He has also set eternity in the human heart...' and 2 Cor 5v2 'For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.'
Mortality brings with it sin and death, not in a fatal sense, due to salvation, but in the sense that we will all still face the sorrow that a measure of these things bring while in this world (Jesus: 'in this life you will have tribulation'). We all long for these things to leave us, and in desiring certain things we show that, to some degree at least, we believe that such sorrow will be lessened by the joy that we long via good desires. To some extent this is true, and yet we obviously cannot avoid life, and we cannot avoid the work that Christ wants to do in and through us in this life. For this reason, and others that are not known to us (Paul: 'perplexed, but not in despair') there are times when He will not give us what we desire. Instead, He reminds us of our eternal hope; a home with Him, and a perfection that does not depend on our definition of what we want or need, but upon the total life that is in, and will be given by, Christ when we go to heaven.
Many Churches and preachers get popular because they say that Jesus will give us everything we want. Unfortunately, in a earthly sense of looking at things, this is not true. Even a brief look at Hebrews 11, and any part of the Bible itself show that this isn't the case, whether we look at the lives of the Apostles, who lost much (even though they welcomed such loss for the sake of Christ), Israel in the Old Testament, who weren't fed with what they desired in the wilderness or any of the other countless stories in the Word. Fortunately the earthly sense is completely wrong and sinful, so we can rest assured that even in losing, we will gain in the way God intended. Hebrews 11 shows us that, one of the primary reasons God doesn't give us what we want at times is because He is concerned with us gaining a good testimony for the sake of His grace, power, wisdom, life and glory; all those things that He is and that He dispenses. God shows that, through both the triumphs and failings of His people, His will is worked out (not that sin is ok, but that God is gracious to us, seen in the example of Sarah and Abraham, and how God chose to characterise their testimony in a positive way- Heb 11v11+12- despite their not always obeying His will in the process but doing what they wanted), and a good testimony to His faithfulness, mercy, grace and power is displayed in our lives: Heb 11v2: 'For by it the elders obtained a good testimony'.
Amazingly, Hebrews 11 also reveals that even those who did attain some type of promise in fact 'did not receive the promise or the promises' (v13+v39). Read Heb 1v4-11, then note verse 13. There are times when we will receives things we didn't expect, and there are times when we won't receive anything at all that we desired, but we will obtain a good testimony. God has and will forgive our sins, just like He forgave the sin of Abraham and Sarah, and will turn our lives into a monument of His grace, and give a good report about us, soley because of the righteousness of Jesus that He imputed and does impute to us (when God looks at us, He sees us through the lense of Jesus Christ, because of the blood of Christ).
Even when you do receive a promise from God, realise that it will not bring us the ultimate perfection our sole cries out for. It is good for our sole to cry out for perfection, for it cries out for that very thing God has designed us for: 2 Cor 5v5 'Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God...' But we must realise the testimony that God is concerned with creating out of us, and also that the perfection we desire can only be found in Christ, the homeland (Heb 11v14) He has prepared for us and in the final bringing together of the family of God, in perfect union (Heb 11v40).
God wants us to hope for the future, and He wants us to be expectant, for this is how we, like Enoch, are drawn to come close to God, and are drawn to follow Him and His will, despite not knowing so much about why sometimes. God desires that we seek Him and find him, all other things being secondly, and He wants us to be able to sacrifice other things we may want. Easier said than done, but He keeps us through our weakness and our failings. Those He chose He predestined, so He knows how He'll keep us (Rom 8v29).
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
There are times in our lives when we will not receive what we desire and hope for. Of course at times we will receive what we ask for, but even those gifts will not fully fulfil the perfection that our spirit desires, as we have been made eternal beings, and so the eternity in us will always cry out for more:
Ecc 3v11: 'He has also set eternity in the human heart...' and 2 Cor 5v2 'For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.'
Mortality brings with it sin and death, not in a fatal sense, due to salvation, but in the sense that we will all still face the sorrow that a measure of these things bring while in this world (Jesus: 'in this life you will have tribulation'). We all long for these things to leave us, and in desiring certain things we show that, to some degree at least, we believe that such sorrow will be lessened by the joy that we long via good desires. To some extent this is true, and yet we obviously cannot avoid life, and we cannot avoid the work that Christ wants to do in and through us in this life. For this reason, and others that are not known to us (Paul: 'perplexed, but not in despair') there are times when He will not give us what we desire. Instead, He reminds us of our eternal hope; a home with Him, and a perfection that does not depend on our definition of what we want or need, but upon the total life that is in, and will be given by, Christ when we go to heaven.
Many Churches and preachers get popular because they say that Jesus will give us everything we want. Unfortunately, in a earthly sense of looking at things, this is not true. Even a brief look at Hebrews 11, and any part of the Bible itself show that this isn't the case, whether we look at the lives of the Apostles, who lost much (even though they welcomed such loss for the sake of Christ), Israel in the Old Testament, who weren't fed with what they desired in the wilderness or any of the other countless stories in the Word. Fortunately the earthly sense is completely wrong and sinful, so we can rest assured that even in losing, we will gain in the way God intended. Hebrews 11 shows us that, one of the primary reasons God doesn't give us what we want at times is because He is concerned with us gaining a good testimony for the sake of His grace, power, wisdom, life and glory; all those things that He is and that He dispenses. God shows that, through both the triumphs and failings of His people, His will is worked out (not that sin is ok, but that God is gracious to us, seen in the example of Sarah and Abraham, and how God chose to characterise their testimony in a positive way- Heb 11v11+12- despite their not always obeying His will in the process but doing what they wanted), and a good testimony to His faithfulness, mercy, grace and power is displayed in our lives: Heb 11v2: 'For by it the elders obtained a good testimony'.
Amazingly, Hebrews 11 also reveals that even those who did attain some type of promise in fact 'did not receive the promise or the promises' (v13+v39). Read Heb 1v4-11, then note verse 13. There are times when we will receives things we didn't expect, and there are times when we won't receive anything at all that we desired, but we will obtain a good testimony. God has and will forgive our sins, just like He forgave the sin of Abraham and Sarah, and will turn our lives into a monument of His grace, and give a good report about us, soley because of the righteousness of Jesus that He imputed and does impute to us (when God looks at us, He sees us through the lense of Jesus Christ, because of the blood of Christ).
Even when you do receive a promise from God, realise that it will not bring us the ultimate perfection our sole cries out for. It is good for our sole to cry out for perfection, for it cries out for that very thing God has designed us for: 2 Cor 5v5 'Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God...' But we must realise the testimony that God is concerned with creating out of us, and also that the perfection we desire can only be found in Christ, the homeland (Heb 11v14) He has prepared for us and in the final bringing together of the family of God, in perfect union (Heb 11v40).
God wants us to hope for the future, and He wants us to be expectant, for this is how we, like Enoch, are drawn to come close to God, and are drawn to follow Him and His will, despite not knowing so much about why sometimes. God desires that we seek Him and find him, all other things being secondly, and He wants us to be able to sacrifice other things we may want. Easier said than done, but He keeps us through our weakness and our failings. Those He chose He predestined, so He knows how He'll keep us (Rom 8v29).
Monday, 28 October 2013
Prophecy Fulfilled: The Lord's love and outstretched arm
A while ago I posted a vision and a dream about the fires that were to come to Australia. You can find the vision and dream on my blog. In a vision, I clearly saw, right in front of my eyes, a blazing red fire, with smoke coming from it (as though it was right in my room). Then, a while after, I had a dream of a Birds-eye map of Australia, where I saw fires and bad storms along the East Coast of Australia. I shared both dreams, trying to warn according to what the Lord had shown me. Hopefully it did some good.. hopefully it saved some people some pain.. I also another dream where I stood outside a house and looked out to a vista where, on the horizon, I saw a great wall of fire and smoke, which seemed to be very near to the house. Recently that image seemed to often repeated on the news. The Lord is so loving to want to warn and prepare the world and His people, and He is very faithful to do both.
Since these dreams and vision, Australia has experienced two of the worst times of fire in a very long time. One saw great destruction across the whole nation, and even saw a record temperature being recorded in the heartland of Australia. The one most recently, saw upwards of 66 fires in NSW and around Australia, in what news networks called the worst fires Australia has seen in a decade. In affect, the prophecies I received were fulfilled, proving that they were from the Lord, and these may even have a future fulfilment. We have also seen destructive storms and a few months ago on the Coast there were even reports of a tornado that formed.
All this to say- please remain vigilant in the future. The Lord shows these things, not to frighten in a wrong way, but to warn and to prepare people that He loves and people that He longs to accept His grace and His salvation. As a faithful shepherd, the Lord continues to reveal His grace to us, and through prophecy at that, just like with all the other gifts.
Since these dreams and vision, Australia has experienced two of the worst times of fire in a very long time. One saw great destruction across the whole nation, and even saw a record temperature being recorded in the heartland of Australia. The one most recently, saw upwards of 66 fires in NSW and around Australia, in what news networks called the worst fires Australia has seen in a decade. In affect, the prophecies I received were fulfilled, proving that they were from the Lord, and these may even have a future fulfilment. We have also seen destructive storms and a few months ago on the Coast there were even reports of a tornado that formed.
All this to say- please remain vigilant in the future. The Lord shows these things, not to frighten in a wrong way, but to warn and to prepare people that He loves and people that He longs to accept His grace and His salvation. As a faithful shepherd, the Lord continues to reveal His grace to us, and through prophecy at that, just like with all the other gifts.
Saturday, 12 October 2013
SENSATIONALISM
There is a danger in Christianity to sensationalise our walk with the Lord in a predominantly earthly sense. We tend to believe at times that future perfections should be present realities, and that what is being prepared for us for another day, should be owned by us today. The New Testament, however, gives us a primarily different take on what we can expect in this life if we choose to follow the Lord. Although through the gospels, epistles and the book of Revelation, we see that while God provides for His people, gives them spiritual gifts and provides families and relations, these things are given in a context of suffering, service and a call to selflessness and sacrifice. Yes, God has given us, 'all things richly to enjoy,' but the formerly stated context will always be the setting by which these things will be enjoyed, and primarily this enjoyment will be spiritual.
Riches, the Apostle Paul says, often takes wings and flies away, and God allows such things so that our heart will always be for the heavenly Kingdom, over our earthly habitations, relationships and possessions. While many Churches now and many Christians try to define our walk with the Lord as being one of excitement, heroic glory, ease and total satisfaction, via a back-drop of production, hype and the marketing mechanisms and ideologies of the world, the true sense and substance of the Church has been and always will be a Church and a people that walk out their walk in a simple and straightforward sense, uncluttered, unburdened and unhindered by the deceitful trappings of sensationalism, sense and emotional hype.
Sensationalism has the goal of making Christianity appealing by way of human desires and a human understanding of what we should seek, desire, strive for and expect. True spirituality realises that everything we have is a gift given by God, and that all such things need to be used for His Kingdom and continually given back to Him. Not only this, but true spirituality realises that at any time, much or all of what we own could be justly taken from us; 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord'. Only in this way will His people, when the storms and tribulations of life come, be able to continue to walk with the Lord. Otherwise our hearts quickly become doubtful and even angry at the Lord, believing that we were called to something other than what is clearly laid out in the Word. Therefore, the test of true religion is this; would we still follow God if we lost everything? (i.e a Job like experience).
Sensationalism in the Church and amongst His people, is not just unprofitable, but down right dangerous and in some cases lethal to undermining the work of faith that God is seeking to build in His people. For we walk by faith, not by sight. God seeks to mature, grow and benefit His people via faith, and this is often completely contrary to the false promises leaders and proponents of sensationalism offer. Faith involves suffering and perplexity, and it calls on the follower of God to follow the Lord despite all evidences of what the senses tell the Christian. There are times when sense needs, not only to be resisted, but to be put to death via the Holy Spirit. Not only should we not be accepting a Christianity of sensationalism, but we should be actively seeking to reveal its wrong, deceitful and harmful substance and its subsequent effects.
Riches, the Apostle Paul says, often takes wings and flies away, and God allows such things so that our heart will always be for the heavenly Kingdom, over our earthly habitations, relationships and possessions. While many Churches now and many Christians try to define our walk with the Lord as being one of excitement, heroic glory, ease and total satisfaction, via a back-drop of production, hype and the marketing mechanisms and ideologies of the world, the true sense and substance of the Church has been and always will be a Church and a people that walk out their walk in a simple and straightforward sense, uncluttered, unburdened and unhindered by the deceitful trappings of sensationalism, sense and emotional hype.
Sensationalism has the goal of making Christianity appealing by way of human desires and a human understanding of what we should seek, desire, strive for and expect. True spirituality realises that everything we have is a gift given by God, and that all such things need to be used for His Kingdom and continually given back to Him. Not only this, but true spirituality realises that at any time, much or all of what we own could be justly taken from us; 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord'. Only in this way will His people, when the storms and tribulations of life come, be able to continue to walk with the Lord. Otherwise our hearts quickly become doubtful and even angry at the Lord, believing that we were called to something other than what is clearly laid out in the Word. Therefore, the test of true religion is this; would we still follow God if we lost everything? (i.e a Job like experience).
Sensationalism in the Church and amongst His people, is not just unprofitable, but down right dangerous and in some cases lethal to undermining the work of faith that God is seeking to build in His people. For we walk by faith, not by sight. God seeks to mature, grow and benefit His people via faith, and this is often completely contrary to the false promises leaders and proponents of sensationalism offer. Faith involves suffering and perplexity, and it calls on the follower of God to follow the Lord despite all evidences of what the senses tell the Christian. There are times when sense needs, not only to be resisted, but to be put to death via the Holy Spirit. Not only should we not be accepting a Christianity of sensationalism, but we should be actively seeking to reveal its wrong, deceitful and harmful substance and its subsequent effects.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
BAD COMPANY
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Cor 15v33
Has anyone else noticed how bad TV is becoming in the last few years? That which was once 'rude' and 'vulgar' 10 years ago, is now accepted as quite normal. The TV shows that are coming out, and that are most popular, seem now to be those that CHAMPION and laud evil as heroic, and somehow twist what is vile to appear as though it is good. God clearly warns us against accepting this-
Isaiah 5:
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
But society has done this because of what Satan has always used as a weapon to deceive us:
'And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.' (2 Cor 11v14
The enemy is very clever when it comes to deceiving people to believe that what they think, believe and love, is actually pure, upright and beneficial, when it is actually anything but! Think about how much TV comedy today centre's around sexual joking! Those topics which should be things which exist in the privacy and sanctity of marriage, are bandied about as though they are common and dirty things and things which should be the target of ridicule and lewdness, and things which should only be for pleasure, without there being any kind of actual true love and devotion. These things should not be made into rudeness, lewdness and jokes that centre around perversity, for these are the very things which God made private in the beginning, because sin entered the world, and God COVERED UP Adam and Eve, and determined that such a relationship between a man and a wife be exactly that; something that is between a man and a wife and that is private. What God has sanctified, made Holy and made private, no Christian or the world for that matter should be making into an unholy and common thing.
Not only this, but it seems that not many people even realise this is happening. Many comedy shows now are simply blatantly rude, blatantly sexually rude, include illicit language and are constantly vulgar. Sin and sinful ways are being exalted as being 'ground-breaking' and 'cutting-edge' and are really just glorifying the perverse and every sin mentioned and warned against in the Bible (and particularly those sins that are especially warned against). The devil comes as an angel of light to deceive, and men have listened, not only to him, but to their own hearts in making much of what now exists.
Ten years ago I remember what was on TV as being a whole lot different, even in terms of comedy shows. Those shows that were once 'mostly' innocent in nature, are now blatantly perverse and make jokes out of that which is sexual, rude and just down right dirty and degrading. It's so disappointing, discouraging and just outrageous what our society is doing now, but it is going down the way they have chosen.
I speak to myself first and foremostly here in waking up to this fact, but what was once easier to doge with a flick of a remote, now I find becoming increasingly hard, if not impossible to avoid without just shutting down a certain show completely. No one is perfect here, and our own sinful weakness makes us willingly stumble at times, but all of us need to be aware of just how bad TV is getting. If we don't realise, we'll slowly just become more and more corrupted until we wonder how we got to a certain point of sinful acceptance of what we watch so quickly. Taking a stand for righteousness isn't just about what we say or do, but what we accept into our lives and what we choose to focus on and love. Conscience, plus the Word, plus the Spirit need to be our guides here, and we all need be very aware of what God desires- not just in terms of avoiding what is immoral, but going the other way in embracing what is moral and what is good. The Bible encourages us to think on those things which good and upright, and that should be our goal and our compass:
Phil 4v8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Just like friends rub off on us the more we hang around them (at least to some extent); thinking like them, speaking like them, imitating them, believing what they believe etc (by watching them, hearing them, hanging out with them and interacting with them), so the more we hang out with the company of shows we surround ourselves, the more we'll take to ourselves those things we watch and become like them in some ways. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and what we watch will end up inside of us, and then end up coming out of us (because the Bible says that out of the heart come the issues of life).
The Bible says that while we are free, let us not use that freedom for the flesh, but use it for the Spirit. So lets all ask ourselves, what is beneficial for us? and what isn't? What will help us spiritually? And what won't? And what has God clearly warned us against and forbidden as being directly contrary to what is good and to what He wants for us?
Has anyone else noticed how bad TV is becoming in the last few years? That which was once 'rude' and 'vulgar' 10 years ago, is now accepted as quite normal. The TV shows that are coming out, and that are most popular, seem now to be those that CHAMPION and laud evil as heroic, and somehow twist what is vile to appear as though it is good. God clearly warns us against accepting this-
Isaiah 5:
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
But society has done this because of what Satan has always used as a weapon to deceive us:
'And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.' (2 Cor 11v14
The enemy is very clever when it comes to deceiving people to believe that what they think, believe and love, is actually pure, upright and beneficial, when it is actually anything but! Think about how much TV comedy today centre's around sexual joking! Those topics which should be things which exist in the privacy and sanctity of marriage, are bandied about as though they are common and dirty things and things which should be the target of ridicule and lewdness, and things which should only be for pleasure, without there being any kind of actual true love and devotion. These things should not be made into rudeness, lewdness and jokes that centre around perversity, for these are the very things which God made private in the beginning, because sin entered the world, and God COVERED UP Adam and Eve, and determined that such a relationship between a man and a wife be exactly that; something that is between a man and a wife and that is private. What God has sanctified, made Holy and made private, no Christian or the world for that matter should be making into an unholy and common thing.
Not only this, but it seems that not many people even realise this is happening. Many comedy shows now are simply blatantly rude, blatantly sexually rude, include illicit language and are constantly vulgar. Sin and sinful ways are being exalted as being 'ground-breaking' and 'cutting-edge' and are really just glorifying the perverse and every sin mentioned and warned against in the Bible (and particularly those sins that are especially warned against). The devil comes as an angel of light to deceive, and men have listened, not only to him, but to their own hearts in making much of what now exists.
Ten years ago I remember what was on TV as being a whole lot different, even in terms of comedy shows. Those shows that were once 'mostly' innocent in nature, are now blatantly perverse and make jokes out of that which is sexual, rude and just down right dirty and degrading. It's so disappointing, discouraging and just outrageous what our society is doing now, but it is going down the way they have chosen.
I speak to myself first and foremostly here in waking up to this fact, but what was once easier to doge with a flick of a remote, now I find becoming increasingly hard, if not impossible to avoid without just shutting down a certain show completely. No one is perfect here, and our own sinful weakness makes us willingly stumble at times, but all of us need to be aware of just how bad TV is getting. If we don't realise, we'll slowly just become more and more corrupted until we wonder how we got to a certain point of sinful acceptance of what we watch so quickly. Taking a stand for righteousness isn't just about what we say or do, but what we accept into our lives and what we choose to focus on and love. Conscience, plus the Word, plus the Spirit need to be our guides here, and we all need be very aware of what God desires- not just in terms of avoiding what is immoral, but going the other way in embracing what is moral and what is good. The Bible encourages us to think on those things which good and upright, and that should be our goal and our compass:
Phil 4v8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Just like friends rub off on us the more we hang around them (at least to some extent); thinking like them, speaking like them, imitating them, believing what they believe etc (by watching them, hearing them, hanging out with them and interacting with them), so the more we hang out with the company of shows we surround ourselves, the more we'll take to ourselves those things we watch and become like them in some ways. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and what we watch will end up inside of us, and then end up coming out of us (because the Bible says that out of the heart come the issues of life).
The Bible says that while we are free, let us not use that freedom for the flesh, but use it for the Spirit. So lets all ask ourselves, what is beneficial for us? and what isn't? What will help us spiritually? And what won't? And what has God clearly warned us against and forbidden as being directly contrary to what is good and to what He wants for us?
Thursday, 3 October 2013
SUDDEN & VIOLENT TRIBULATION
There are times, simply put, when tribulation hits us like a ton of bricks, and there is nothing we can do about it but take what comes to us. So often though, we are caught completely off guard when the trouble hits, as though we believed, whether consciously or not, that such sufferings are for others but not us and for other places, other times and for those in circumstances we could not even begin to imagine, relate to, or empathise with, but then they happen nevertheless. We are warned clearly by the Word, and often by revelation, even as Paul was once warned by a prophet, and yet we forget, or try to forget, that this is indeed the reality we must face in life and will face if we go on walking in the Kingdom of God:
1 Pet 4:12-13 (NIV) Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Pet 2:19-23 (Phi) A man does a fine thing when he endures pain, with a clear conscience towards God, though he knows he is suffering unjustly. After all, it is no credit to you if you are patient in bearing a punishment which you have richly deserved! But if you do your duty and are punished for it and can still accept it patiently, you are doing something worthwhile in God's sight. Indeed this is your calling. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, so that you might follow in his footsteps.
1 Thes 3:3 (NIV) so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know that we were destined for them.
1 Pet 1:6-7 (Phi) This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident--it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire.
In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabus, while in Iconium, were preaching the gospel. After having a time of success, the city was divided about what they thought of them, so much so that the Jews, Gentiles and rulers of Iconium made a violent attempt to stone the pair. Paul and Barnabus, becoming aware of the plot, fled to Lystra where they continued to preach the Gospel. While they were there, God used Paul to heal a man crippled from birth. So amazed were the people of Lystra, that they tried to sacrifice to both of them, thinking they were gods. Paul and Barnabus could scarcely stop them from sacrificing to them. Then Jews came and persuaded the people against them, so that, in the next moment, they turned against Paul and Barnabus, and ended up stoning Paul. Supposing him to be dead, they dragged him outside the city. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back INTO the city. The next day he left with Barnabus to Derbe:
Acts 14v21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Here, what happened to Paul, and did not shake him, if it had happened to us, I think very few would've kept going with the work of the Lord. And I think most of us would've started to question where God was in our lives! I think most of us would've said, "Where was our God when we needed protection?" "Where was His power when we needed it?" "We were doing His work, so why didn't He stop those that came against us?" But both Paul and Silas were, it seems fairly obviously, ready for extreme and violent tribulation; to the extent that they knew that severe suffering and death could very well be waiting for them around the next corner of life, all for the sake of serving Him, and walking according to His will, and according to the Kingdom of God. Paul's mindset was such that, even after having gone through what must have been the shock of being liked to the point of nearly being worshipped, to being hated to the point of people trying to kill him, he didn't freak out, he didn't get mad at God, he didn't stop following or serving, and didn't even stop to rest or wait for a while, just to make sure God was with him! Amazing, incredible, what we would even call heroic in Christian circles these days, and yet to him, and to Barnabus, this was sudden and violent tribulation that didn't surprise, upset, daunt, slow or stop them in any way. It didn't lead them to a crisis of confidence, and it didn't get them to question their God or their doctrine or faith, because both were founded and found in, what was true; not halve truths, not shallow sayings of men and not from opinions and from fleshly mixtures of what many called truth. Far from it, their faith, confidence, strength and hope was founded upon the Word of God, and upon a solid understanding of God and of the way of God because of it. An experience that would've flawed most of us, DIDN'T EVEN SHAKE THEIR FAITH, rather they ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO CONTINUE IN THEIR FAITH: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14v22). Not only that, but they looked at the positive side of things; "...they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." God had done a miraculous work with them, and a work that we are told in Chapter 14 that had included God doing signs and wonders via their hands, to confirm the Word of His Grace (14v3).
We as Christians are living in a society today that, whether we know it or not, has done a very good job of indoctrinating us to believe that all suffering is evil, and is to be avoided at all costs. Society today believes that most suffering can either be avoided or cured in some way, if we work hard enough at it. Whether this is by thinking it away, through positivity or the worldly belief that we can be masters of our own fate, or by popping a pill, or by wealth and a wealth of experiences, society implores us to believe that we can have it all, and that whatever we suffer can be stopped or assuaged in some way, and that we must do all we can to make this happen. Not only does society believe this, but much of the Church now believes it, and preaches it in ways that are subtle and that use scripture in order to prove their mistaken beliefs. Whether by intentional or unintentional deception, a lack of true understanding of the Word, a greed for gain, or a simple case of being influenced and corrupted by the very culture they seek to save, Churches are increasingly preaching prosperity and an idolatry of self, which fails to recognise the ultimate truth that believers of God must embrace if they are to continue following Christ: Christians must take up the cross to follow Him, deny themselves and must, not only the world to hate them and to come against them, but also many tribulations and many trials. Not only this, but we must expect sudden and violent tribulations, just like Paul and Barnabas faced, and therefore we must take to us the same mindset that they had, in preparation for such things, lest they derail us from the faith we believe we are so secure in: 1 Cor 10v12: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
As we are children of God, sudden and violent tribulations will have already happened to most of us, and if not, they will, as the Bible says that 'we were destined for them' (1 Thess 3v3). However, the kind of trials that we have faced, in comparison to what Paul faced, and in comparison to what is to come in the future of our world, do not compare to what has been. We too, along with Paul, will face sudden and violent tribulation, the likes of which will make many us experience what Paul did in terms of his reaction to them:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The trial that is coming to the world is unlike what many of us have ever experienced. War will come to America and Australia will be involved. Asteroids will hit the earth and terrorism will take place around the world. Fires and storms have already ravaged Australia, and for all we know, the worst may still be yet to come. Great destruction is coming to Sydney and Hillsong will experience a terrorist attack. A nuclear bomb will detonate out to sea from the East Coast of Australia around the area of the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads (all these things the Lord has shown me in dreams and visions. Already great fires and storms have hit Australia, and already terrorist attacks have hit the world, even in recent days, including the first one in America since 9/11 since I released the fact that the Lord had shown me these things were coming in dreams). Sudden and violent tribulations are coming, and we must begin to take the same mindset that Paul and Barnabus had in not only following the Lord, but in serving Him as well. When these things happen we must not be shaken in our faith, and we must not waver. We must not go back and we must not doubt the Lord who saved us, but believe in Him and believe in His Word (not a shallow and fleshly version of it, but the Word as it is). The Word clearly warns us that we are destined for tribulations, so this shouldn't shock or surprise us. The Word clearly tells us that we will suffer, so we must prepare ourselves accordingly. The Lord has not only been faithful to us in warning us in His Word, but warning us by revelation and by the revelations of His Spirit, and so we must recognise this, and take heed accordingly- the Lord does not warn for no reason, and He reveals the future that we might be prepared and that His children's faith and spiritual life might be protected at all costs. We must take unto ourselves the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation and we must take unto ourselves the sword of the Spirit and shod our feet with the Good News. We must be ready in season and out of season, for out of season is coming, and it is an incredibly dark and stormy time. We must cast aside the shallow preachings and doctrines of deceitful and deceived men, and cast aside notions that we are only destined for prosperity and protection, we are destined for great sufferings. Yes, these sufferings may also include many deliverances, even as the Apostles experienced, but these deliverances did not make the journey easy, or their pains often any less. They were delivered in order that they might continue to follow Christ and continue to serve Him, and to encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. Rest will come when we enter the Kingdom, and ultimate deliverance when we stand face to face with our Lord and Saviour. Until then we must recognise that our true identity is found in the reality that we are soldiers for the Kingdom, and that we must fight the good fight of faith. Our lives were never meant to be lived for us, but lived for Him, and this means that we must lay down what is most precious to us, for He bought what was already His, and so we are not our own: 2 Cor 5v15: 'And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.'
1 Pet 4:12-13 (NIV) Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Pet 2:19-23 (Phi) A man does a fine thing when he endures pain, with a clear conscience towards God, though he knows he is suffering unjustly. After all, it is no credit to you if you are patient in bearing a punishment which you have richly deserved! But if you do your duty and are punished for it and can still accept it patiently, you are doing something worthwhile in God's sight. Indeed this is your calling. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, so that you might follow in his footsteps.
1 Thes 3:3 (NIV) so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know that we were destined for them.
1 Pet 1:6-7 (Phi) This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident--it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire.
In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabus, while in Iconium, were preaching the gospel. After having a time of success, the city was divided about what they thought of them, so much so that the Jews, Gentiles and rulers of Iconium made a violent attempt to stone the pair. Paul and Barnabus, becoming aware of the plot, fled to Lystra where they continued to preach the Gospel. While they were there, God used Paul to heal a man crippled from birth. So amazed were the people of Lystra, that they tried to sacrifice to both of them, thinking they were gods. Paul and Barnabus could scarcely stop them from sacrificing to them. Then Jews came and persuaded the people against them, so that, in the next moment, they turned against Paul and Barnabus, and ended up stoning Paul. Supposing him to be dead, they dragged him outside the city. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back INTO the city. The next day he left with Barnabus to Derbe:
Acts 14v21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Here, what happened to Paul, and did not shake him, if it had happened to us, I think very few would've kept going with the work of the Lord. And I think most of us would've started to question where God was in our lives! I think most of us would've said, "Where was our God when we needed protection?" "Where was His power when we needed it?" "We were doing His work, so why didn't He stop those that came against us?" But both Paul and Silas were, it seems fairly obviously, ready for extreme and violent tribulation; to the extent that they knew that severe suffering and death could very well be waiting for them around the next corner of life, all for the sake of serving Him, and walking according to His will, and according to the Kingdom of God. Paul's mindset was such that, even after having gone through what must have been the shock of being liked to the point of nearly being worshipped, to being hated to the point of people trying to kill him, he didn't freak out, he didn't get mad at God, he didn't stop following or serving, and didn't even stop to rest or wait for a while, just to make sure God was with him! Amazing, incredible, what we would even call heroic in Christian circles these days, and yet to him, and to Barnabus, this was sudden and violent tribulation that didn't surprise, upset, daunt, slow or stop them in any way. It didn't lead them to a crisis of confidence, and it didn't get them to question their God or their doctrine or faith, because both were founded and found in, what was true; not halve truths, not shallow sayings of men and not from opinions and from fleshly mixtures of what many called truth. Far from it, their faith, confidence, strength and hope was founded upon the Word of God, and upon a solid understanding of God and of the way of God because of it. An experience that would've flawed most of us, DIDN'T EVEN SHAKE THEIR FAITH, rather they ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO CONTINUE IN THEIR FAITH: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14v22). Not only that, but they looked at the positive side of things; "...they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." God had done a miraculous work with them, and a work that we are told in Chapter 14 that had included God doing signs and wonders via their hands, to confirm the Word of His Grace (14v3).
We as Christians are living in a society today that, whether we know it or not, has done a very good job of indoctrinating us to believe that all suffering is evil, and is to be avoided at all costs. Society today believes that most suffering can either be avoided or cured in some way, if we work hard enough at it. Whether this is by thinking it away, through positivity or the worldly belief that we can be masters of our own fate, or by popping a pill, or by wealth and a wealth of experiences, society implores us to believe that we can have it all, and that whatever we suffer can be stopped or assuaged in some way, and that we must do all we can to make this happen. Not only does society believe this, but much of the Church now believes it, and preaches it in ways that are subtle and that use scripture in order to prove their mistaken beliefs. Whether by intentional or unintentional deception, a lack of true understanding of the Word, a greed for gain, or a simple case of being influenced and corrupted by the very culture they seek to save, Churches are increasingly preaching prosperity and an idolatry of self, which fails to recognise the ultimate truth that believers of God must embrace if they are to continue following Christ: Christians must take up the cross to follow Him, deny themselves and must, not only the world to hate them and to come against them, but also many tribulations and many trials. Not only this, but we must expect sudden and violent tribulations, just like Paul and Barnabas faced, and therefore we must take to us the same mindset that they had, in preparation for such things, lest they derail us from the faith we believe we are so secure in: 1 Cor 10v12: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
As we are children of God, sudden and violent tribulations will have already happened to most of us, and if not, they will, as the Bible says that 'we were destined for them' (1 Thess 3v3). However, the kind of trials that we have faced, in comparison to what Paul faced, and in comparison to what is to come in the future of our world, do not compare to what has been. We too, along with Paul, will face sudden and violent tribulation, the likes of which will make many us experience what Paul did in terms of his reaction to them:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The trial that is coming to the world is unlike what many of us have ever experienced. War will come to America and Australia will be involved. Asteroids will hit the earth and terrorism will take place around the world. Fires and storms have already ravaged Australia, and for all we know, the worst may still be yet to come. Great destruction is coming to Sydney and Hillsong will experience a terrorist attack. A nuclear bomb will detonate out to sea from the East Coast of Australia around the area of the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads (all these things the Lord has shown me in dreams and visions. Already great fires and storms have hit Australia, and already terrorist attacks have hit the world, even in recent days, including the first one in America since 9/11 since I released the fact that the Lord had shown me these things were coming in dreams). Sudden and violent tribulations are coming, and we must begin to take the same mindset that Paul and Barnabus had in not only following the Lord, but in serving Him as well. When these things happen we must not be shaken in our faith, and we must not waver. We must not go back and we must not doubt the Lord who saved us, but believe in Him and believe in His Word (not a shallow and fleshly version of it, but the Word as it is). The Word clearly warns us that we are destined for tribulations, so this shouldn't shock or surprise us. The Word clearly tells us that we will suffer, so we must prepare ourselves accordingly. The Lord has not only been faithful to us in warning us in His Word, but warning us by revelation and by the revelations of His Spirit, and so we must recognise this, and take heed accordingly- the Lord does not warn for no reason, and He reveals the future that we might be prepared and that His children's faith and spiritual life might be protected at all costs. We must take unto ourselves the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation and we must take unto ourselves the sword of the Spirit and shod our feet with the Good News. We must be ready in season and out of season, for out of season is coming, and it is an incredibly dark and stormy time. We must cast aside the shallow preachings and doctrines of deceitful and deceived men, and cast aside notions that we are only destined for prosperity and protection, we are destined for great sufferings. Yes, these sufferings may also include many deliverances, even as the Apostles experienced, but these deliverances did not make the journey easy, or their pains often any less. They were delivered in order that they might continue to follow Christ and continue to serve Him, and to encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. Rest will come when we enter the Kingdom, and ultimate deliverance when we stand face to face with our Lord and Saviour. Until then we must recognise that our true identity is found in the reality that we are soldiers for the Kingdom, and that we must fight the good fight of faith. Our lives were never meant to be lived for us, but lived for Him, and this means that we must lay down what is most precious to us, for He bought what was already His, and so we are not our own: 2 Cor 5v15: 'And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.'
Friday, 6 September 2013
'WHERE' MATTERS
John 3v6:
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless we are consistently in the Word of God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our thinking so that we view all things from a spiritual perspective, we will constantly have trouble accepting the Word of God and the revelations the Lord gives. Not only this, but we will unwittingly start to worship, serve and obey according to the way that seems best to us (and even start to call it what the Lord wants!). The spiritual is so far apart from the fleshly, that the spiritual way of viewing life and all its important decisions it will always APPEAR WRONG to our flesh, and unless we can discern the distinction between both, we’ll frequently fall prey to those ways that are purely earthly. At the heart of it, the fleshly perspective always is selfish and self-seeking, and has at its centre man, while the spiritual understanding is always selfless and self-sacrificing, and has at its centre, Jesus. While the fleshly understanding consults only its own conscience and its own logic and wisdom, the spiritual understanding always consults the Word of God, through prayer, and submits itself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of the Godly.
So often we hold beliefs that are simply held because they SEEM right to us, and right to the majority of those we hold with high esteem. If the majority believes it, whether those of the world or those of Christendom, it must be right! If the minority believes something different, it must be wrong! In the Old Testament, God’s people, the Jews, started to worship AT A DIFFERENT PLACE than where they had been instructed to. These places were called ‘high places.’ It didn’t seem any big deal to them not to worship at the place the Lord wanted them to worship at, after all, ‘what’s the difference?’ you could very well imagine them saying- ‘The manner of worship doesn’t matter, only the substance matters.’ But God was extremely concerned with both, for He knew that one intimately related to the other (as does the root of a plant and its fruit), and both are inextricably linked to the other (because the act doesn’t exist without the belief and vice versa). Not only does it matter that we worship with SINCERITY (the manner with which we worship), but it also matters WHERE we worship- IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. ‘Our’ way of worship, based off of what seems right to us, is nothing more than a deception and a deceptive fruit- the same fruit the enemy used to deceive Adam and Eve. When we eat of our own understanding, we believe that our eyes are ‘opened’ (and we rejoice in the NEW way of seeing things that we have found- be wary of NEW doctrines- all doctrine can be found in the Word, and no part of the Word will contradict another part) and that we now know the difference between good and evil. But if we believe this way, we are greatly deceived, for the Bible is very clear about how we are to learn to discern what is good, and what is evil:
Heb 5v 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
This is why it seems as though many Christians simply disengage from hearing (‘ears to hear’) and from loving and immersing themselves in the things of the Word, and instead become immersed in the love of the things of the world (and so become entangled in them, whether they know it or not). They would rather not have to bother with, and the hassle of, engaging, learning and growing, and instead remain ‘blissfully’ (although really it is ‘miserably’) ignorant, unaware and uninterested in the deeper things of God. Some choose to knowingly remain children, thinking to avoid the sorrows they believe those more mature in the faith receive because of their being ready to face greater trial and greater testing from the Lord. All they while they forget that in growing in the Christian faith, we come to know more and more of the glory and goodness of our Lord and King, in all the colours of His grace that attend such a magnificent, perfect and all-powerful person, Saviour, God and King. And contrary to their belief, such children of the faith (in maturity) may very well be in for greater sorrow than they can possibly comprehend, just as a child who loses much cannot cope with great loss (nor understand or even begin to comprehend it), so how will the children of the faith cope with great storms, sorrows and loss when they have no doctrine to support such things? How will they bear crosses they don’t believe they should have to carry? How will they trust a God who slays them? Conversely, how will they be used in more mighty ways? How will they be able to grasp the experience and knowledge of the facets of the glory of God? How will they understand greater revelations of His voice and power? And so we have all failed here, and yet His grace has remained, so much so that He even gives time for us to change our ways, so that we’ll not repeat such mistakes in the future.
So where do we worship from? Where do we serve from? And where do we follow from? If we love and learn of the Word, it is highly likely that we’ll do these things from the place of Spirit and Truth. If we don’t really know the Word well, then it is very likely that we’ll worship from the place of the flesh, even though we ourselves are spiritual beings. We will in effect contaminate the worship of God and not even know it. And many of these things the modern Church has already done, and we ourselves have done, so we must be on our guard. Jesus often looked strange and unlovely to those that tried to understand His Word and His ways according to how they saw life, and according to what they saw as right. Do we as Christians struggle with the same thing? This is evidence that we may be more of this world than we think, and it may be time to take drastic measures to extricate ourselves, so that we can be sure we follow Christ, and not an idol of our own making, being ourselves.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless we are consistently in the Word of God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our thinking so that we view all things from a spiritual perspective, we will constantly have trouble accepting the Word of God and the revelations the Lord gives. Not only this, but we will unwittingly start to worship, serve and obey according to the way that seems best to us (and even start to call it what the Lord wants!). The spiritual is so far apart from the fleshly, that the spiritual way of viewing life and all its important decisions it will always APPEAR WRONG to our flesh, and unless we can discern the distinction between both, we’ll frequently fall prey to those ways that are purely earthly. At the heart of it, the fleshly perspective always is selfish and self-seeking, and has at its centre man, while the spiritual understanding is always selfless and self-sacrificing, and has at its centre, Jesus. While the fleshly understanding consults only its own conscience and its own logic and wisdom, the spiritual understanding always consults the Word of God, through prayer, and submits itself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of the Godly.
So often we hold beliefs that are simply held because they SEEM right to us, and right to the majority of those we hold with high esteem. If the majority believes it, whether those of the world or those of Christendom, it must be right! If the minority believes something different, it must be wrong! In the Old Testament, God’s people, the Jews, started to worship AT A DIFFERENT PLACE than where they had been instructed to. These places were called ‘high places.’ It didn’t seem any big deal to them not to worship at the place the Lord wanted them to worship at, after all, ‘what’s the difference?’ you could very well imagine them saying- ‘The manner of worship doesn’t matter, only the substance matters.’ But God was extremely concerned with both, for He knew that one intimately related to the other (as does the root of a plant and its fruit), and both are inextricably linked to the other (because the act doesn’t exist without the belief and vice versa). Not only does it matter that we worship with SINCERITY (the manner with which we worship), but it also matters WHERE we worship- IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. ‘Our’ way of worship, based off of what seems right to us, is nothing more than a deception and a deceptive fruit- the same fruit the enemy used to deceive Adam and Eve. When we eat of our own understanding, we believe that our eyes are ‘opened’ (and we rejoice in the NEW way of seeing things that we have found- be wary of NEW doctrines- all doctrine can be found in the Word, and no part of the Word will contradict another part) and that we now know the difference between good and evil. But if we believe this way, we are greatly deceived, for the Bible is very clear about how we are to learn to discern what is good, and what is evil:
Heb 5v 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
This is why it seems as though many Christians simply disengage from hearing (‘ears to hear’) and from loving and immersing themselves in the things of the Word, and instead become immersed in the love of the things of the world (and so become entangled in them, whether they know it or not). They would rather not have to bother with, and the hassle of, engaging, learning and growing, and instead remain ‘blissfully’ (although really it is ‘miserably’) ignorant, unaware and uninterested in the deeper things of God. Some choose to knowingly remain children, thinking to avoid the sorrows they believe those more mature in the faith receive because of their being ready to face greater trial and greater testing from the Lord. All they while they forget that in growing in the Christian faith, we come to know more and more of the glory and goodness of our Lord and King, in all the colours of His grace that attend such a magnificent, perfect and all-powerful person, Saviour, God and King. And contrary to their belief, such children of the faith (in maturity) may very well be in for greater sorrow than they can possibly comprehend, just as a child who loses much cannot cope with great loss (nor understand or even begin to comprehend it), so how will the children of the faith cope with great storms, sorrows and loss when they have no doctrine to support such things? How will they bear crosses they don’t believe they should have to carry? How will they trust a God who slays them? Conversely, how will they be used in more mighty ways? How will they be able to grasp the experience and knowledge of the facets of the glory of God? How will they understand greater revelations of His voice and power? And so we have all failed here, and yet His grace has remained, so much so that He even gives time for us to change our ways, so that we’ll not repeat such mistakes in the future.
So where do we worship from? Where do we serve from? And where do we follow from? If we love and learn of the Word, it is highly likely that we’ll do these things from the place of Spirit and Truth. If we don’t really know the Word well, then it is very likely that we’ll worship from the place of the flesh, even though we ourselves are spiritual beings. We will in effect contaminate the worship of God and not even know it. And many of these things the modern Church has already done, and we ourselves have done, so we must be on our guard. Jesus often looked strange and unlovely to those that tried to understand His Word and His ways according to how they saw life, and according to what they saw as right. Do we as Christians struggle with the same thing? This is evidence that we may be more of this world than we think, and it may be time to take drastic measures to extricate ourselves, so that we can be sure we follow Christ, and not an idol of our own making, being ourselves.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
HOW TO RECOGNISE TRUTH
John 3v30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
The test for determining whether what we hear is truth is quite simple- is the teaching we hear based on and centred around how our lives can become better or is it based on and centred around the Lord Jesus, and how we can serve Him? If it is based around the later, then whatever comes from it, including the subject of our lives and God's love and care for us, then we can trust that it is ok, as long as it is based on scripture. If, however, it is based around the former, then whatever comes from it, will be poisoned, and is dangerous for consumption, and in short, is not truth. Jesus did not preach from man's perspective or from His point of view, but preached from the basis of the will of God, and in accordance with obeying that will and laying down our lives for the ruler of that will- the Father. Jesus even went so far as to say that He didn't say anything or do anything unless He heard it from His Father, or saw His Father do it. And yet what great liberties men take today in shepherding and serving His people! They think of a way of doing Church, and they presume it is ok, as long as they can twist the scriptures to support their way of doing it. If there comes a passage they don't like because it doesn't support their way or their preaching, they dismiss it as irrelevant, or as doctrinally outdated, or they simply choose not to respond to it in any way. Men buy and sell in His Church, and yet Jesus drove the buyers and sellers out- calling them thieves! Men preach certain sections of the Word and leave massive portions out, and yet the Word says that we must love and accept the whole counsel of God (and they call their choosing of what to preach led by the Holy Spirit! God said all of His Word is LIVING AND ACTIVE, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO EDGED SWORD). Jesus said that the worship of God wasn't about a place, but about worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, and yet men have made worshipping at their places of worship and Church buildings, an idol unto themselves (benefitting themselves, their lusts, pride and their pursuits much more than the desires of God). Jesus said that we should seek the honour that comes from God, and yet men have loved to honour themselves and make themselves seen and heard, and take great titles to themselves, and to say whatever will endear themselves to others at the great expense of truth, and the honour of God and His benefit. Jesus preached a Word that was always hard for the flesh to hear, and yet words are now preached that men lap up and that cause no offence to the flesh. Jesus came to lead men to God, but now men lead people to themselves, and call it honouring to God. Jesus came to teach men that we should hide ourselves and yet glorify God, and yet men strut around with their personalities as though the whole world should stand amazed at their grand and awesome personalities and their amazing gifts and abilities. Jesus came to show men that in this life, ultimately we are called to die to ourselves, and to live for God, but now men are taught that we must save our lives at any cost, and follow God in order to enrich our lives at any cost. Jesus came to give life through the Spirit, and now men try to give life through places of worship that are more akin to nightclubs (and the values of nightclubs), now men try to gain life through everything but God, and through all the things the world has to offer. Jesus came to give the Word, but men now come to give their own word.
All too easily much of the Church has now swapped the glory of God, for the glory of this world- a glory that is false and quickly fading. When the storm comes, the glory of this world will falter and will be proved false, and everything built on that foundation will fall and fail. Men will be severely shocked and alarmed to realise that what they so readily relied upon will so easily be swept away. The shallowness of what the Church loves will fail to provide in that day, and will offer no protection and will offer no solutions to the problems that arise. The glitz, glamour and fun that the Church has relied upon to prop up its services and bring the world to its doors will be revealed as a lying friend and a traitor to the sober, serious and important doctrines and pure truths of His Word. Jesus did not come to set up a Kingdom of men in the world, but He came to set up a Kingdom, and a highway for that Kingdom, in the hearts and lives of men, so that whatever may come in this present world, might not shake people from their following and service of Him. Much of the Church and leaders of it have deceived the people of God in the grossest manner, and they shall themselves realise the deception they accepted and promoted in that day when the storm arrives. They shall realise that all the doctrines and truth they hid from Christians and ignored in the Word because they considered them too hard and unnecessary for people to hear, were actually those very things that above all (apart from salvation itself) where vital for His people and vital for themselves in order to be prepared and in order to be given the courage, conviction and the strength of His grace that will be needed to see those times through. The people of God will themselves realise how much deception they swallowed in the name of God in that day, and they shall very much regret it. They shall realise their own grace error, and the errors of their 'leaders' in that day, and only the grace and mercy of God will be able to step in, in order to see them through in that time.
The House of God and the following of God will always be called something that is according to the Word, to prayer, to obedience to that Word, to grace through faith, and nothing more. Everything else that is built upon it will fall, either in this life, or the next. How much will fall will depend entirely on how much we decided to build on it that is of our own ways (earthly), devices, imaginations, ill-gotten and deceived perceptions of His Word and all the justifications therein (motivated by our desires and lusts)- things that have absolutely nothing to do with the worship of God, but only the worship of humanity and the worship of ourselves.
The test for determining whether what we hear is truth is quite simple- is the teaching we hear based on and centred around how our lives can become better or is it based on and centred around the Lord Jesus, and how we can serve Him? If it is based around the later, then whatever comes from it, including the subject of our lives and God's love and care for us, then we can trust that it is ok, as long as it is based on scripture. If, however, it is based around the former, then whatever comes from it, will be poisoned, and is dangerous for consumption, and in short, is not truth. Jesus did not preach from man's perspective or from His point of view, but preached from the basis of the will of God, and in accordance with obeying that will and laying down our lives for the ruler of that will- the Father. Jesus even went so far as to say that He didn't say anything or do anything unless He heard it from His Father, or saw His Father do it. And yet what great liberties men take today in shepherding and serving His people! They think of a way of doing Church, and they presume it is ok, as long as they can twist the scriptures to support their way of doing it. If there comes a passage they don't like because it doesn't support their way or their preaching, they dismiss it as irrelevant, or as doctrinally outdated, or they simply choose not to respond to it in any way. Men buy and sell in His Church, and yet Jesus drove the buyers and sellers out- calling them thieves! Men preach certain sections of the Word and leave massive portions out, and yet the Word says that we must love and accept the whole counsel of God (and they call their choosing of what to preach led by the Holy Spirit! God said all of His Word is LIVING AND ACTIVE, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO EDGED SWORD). Jesus said that the worship of God wasn't about a place, but about worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, and yet men have made worshipping at their places of worship and Church buildings, an idol unto themselves (benefitting themselves, their lusts, pride and their pursuits much more than the desires of God). Jesus said that we should seek the honour that comes from God, and yet men have loved to honour themselves and make themselves seen and heard, and take great titles to themselves, and to say whatever will endear themselves to others at the great expense of truth, and the honour of God and His benefit. Jesus preached a Word that was always hard for the flesh to hear, and yet words are now preached that men lap up and that cause no offence to the flesh. Jesus came to lead men to God, but now men lead people to themselves, and call it honouring to God. Jesus came to teach men that we should hide ourselves and yet glorify God, and yet men strut around with their personalities as though the whole world should stand amazed at their grand and awesome personalities and their amazing gifts and abilities. Jesus came to show men that in this life, ultimately we are called to die to ourselves, and to live for God, but now men are taught that we must save our lives at any cost, and follow God in order to enrich our lives at any cost. Jesus came to give life through the Spirit, and now men try to give life through places of worship that are more akin to nightclubs (and the values of nightclubs), now men try to gain life through everything but God, and through all the things the world has to offer. Jesus came to give the Word, but men now come to give their own word.
All too easily much of the Church has now swapped the glory of God, for the glory of this world- a glory that is false and quickly fading. When the storm comes, the glory of this world will falter and will be proved false, and everything built on that foundation will fall and fail. Men will be severely shocked and alarmed to realise that what they so readily relied upon will so easily be swept away. The shallowness of what the Church loves will fail to provide in that day, and will offer no protection and will offer no solutions to the problems that arise. The glitz, glamour and fun that the Church has relied upon to prop up its services and bring the world to its doors will be revealed as a lying friend and a traitor to the sober, serious and important doctrines and pure truths of His Word. Jesus did not come to set up a Kingdom of men in the world, but He came to set up a Kingdom, and a highway for that Kingdom, in the hearts and lives of men, so that whatever may come in this present world, might not shake people from their following and service of Him. Much of the Church and leaders of it have deceived the people of God in the grossest manner, and they shall themselves realise the deception they accepted and promoted in that day when the storm arrives. They shall realise that all the doctrines and truth they hid from Christians and ignored in the Word because they considered them too hard and unnecessary for people to hear, were actually those very things that above all (apart from salvation itself) where vital for His people and vital for themselves in order to be prepared and in order to be given the courage, conviction and the strength of His grace that will be needed to see those times through. The people of God will themselves realise how much deception they swallowed in the name of God in that day, and they shall very much regret it. They shall realise their own grace error, and the errors of their 'leaders' in that day, and only the grace and mercy of God will be able to step in, in order to see them through in that time.
The House of God and the following of God will always be called something that is according to the Word, to prayer, to obedience to that Word, to grace through faith, and nothing more. Everything else that is built upon it will fall, either in this life, or the next. How much will fall will depend entirely on how much we decided to build on it that is of our own ways (earthly), devices, imaginations, ill-gotten and deceived perceptions of His Word and all the justifications therein (motivated by our desires and lusts)- things that have absolutely nothing to do with the worship of God, but only the worship of humanity and the worship of ourselves.
Saturday, 31 August 2013
ZEALOUS FOR ALL OF HIS WAYS
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
-John 2v17
Today we as Christians are very zealous for good things; we are zealous for love, for grace, for gentleness, humility, patience and giving- all amazingly good things! But are we zealous for knowing the Lord's judgments? Are we zealous for knowing His justice and His righteousness? The only thing the Bible ever says Jesus was zealous for was for an act of judgement through which His temple was completely cleared of those that had made His House into a place of merchandise and the merchandise itself. The Lord, in that one act, forever set the standard by which the Church would be accountable to, and forever in that one act did Jesus ensure His people knew exactly where His heart was at when it came to the worship of the Lord, and the honour that attends, and should attend, that name.
Are we zealous for the Lord's judgments in the same way, even as King David was?
Psalm 119v7 ...'When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes...'
13 With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
20 My soul breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right...
137 Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
160 The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
(And the scriptures above are just from 1 Psalm!)
Or do we shy away from judgment because we do not understand it? If we don't understand it, we need to search the Word to find out exactly what it is, and how He works such things. Whether in the Old or New Testament, His judgments are there, and the Lord has not stopped working according to His character, whether in either testament. Though there is grace now because of the cross, still His judgment lingers over those that haven't been washed in it (Rom 1v18 + John 3v18). And though His grace covers and washes all the sins of His people, still He reserves the right to discipline us with acts of judgment according to His good and gracious wisdom (1 Peter 4v17-19) to grow us and to keep our hearts and lives following His path.
There are so many things that are wonderful about the judgements of God. Through His judgment He purifies and renews, revives and refreshes. Through such things the world of old during Noah's time was set free, in a major sense, of a load of corrupting and polluting sin, unrighteous and all its deadly effects and consequences. Through judgments the Lord stems the tide of evil, removes and replaces rulers, renews vision, replaces hardened hearts, reminds us of His power, reveals His wisdom, sets His people free, saves the unsaved, testifies to His truth and the Word of God, reminds the world of judgment and sin, and the judgment and grace to come, and orders all things according to His good and wise will. We must also remind ourselves that BECAUSE OF JUDGMENT, grace was enabled to fully be given to us and a needy world in the first place, and that because Jesus was judged in our place, all of us that believe may go free! From this we see that judgment is often used by the Lord to set new paths and highways for His Spirit to tread, both into the inroads of our hearts and the hearts of both the great and small within nations. Judgments often bring in the greatest moves of God, and the greatest times of revival for the people of God. Judgment kept the Church practically Holy in Paul's day (1 Cor 11v30) and at it's beginning after the cross (Acts 5). And finally it is with judgment that God will usher in the end of all sin, and thus a new heaven and earth, and the permanent and visible Kingdom of God.
Yes, when learning of the judgements of God there are hard things to encounter, and sorrowful things to understand and bear also; things that bring perplexity to our mortal minds and our limited understanding, and that often offend the fleshly part of us that still tries to rise up (and our sensibilities which are so often unknowingly influenced by the dictates, fashions and reasonings of the world around us) but we shouldn't allow these things to bar the way to us understanding that in the midst of all, He is Sovereign, Just, Wise and Good; and that whatever He does via judgment, He does according to such a criteria. And so we must remind ourselves that all His acts are GOOD, HOLY, WISE, BENEFICIAL AND JUST, not just those acts that we can understand, and that we find easy to identify with and to uphold and promote. Understanding His judgment means that we will, all the more, understand just how valuable His love and His grace really is, for it is by one, that we can understand the other. We will also understand that in judging, God is still gracious, and that in being gracious, God is still just.
Lastly, it is of paramount importance that we come to, not only understand judgment, but to love it. Not because judgment often brings destruction, but because the God who judges is Just and Good, and when He judges, it is needful and beneficial, no matter the cost. We are living in a day today when the time is soon approaching where the judgments of God will be made more particularly manifest, and to a time when God will choose to judge in a more severe and particular manner than what we have known in recent times. To know why, all we have to do is to look at the society around us. If we still do not understand why, surely we are in some kind of trouble, to not recognise what sin is around us, and the awful affect it is having on the minds and hearts our nation and the nations around the world. God is coming to judge for these things, and He is righteous in doing so. When we understand judgment, and the God who judges, we too shall be able to firmly stick by our Lord and stick close to His banner, though all the world may rally to hate both Him and us, for doing such a thing. The time is coming where many, even unknowingly to themselves, will have to choose between a God who is truly loving and just, and a world that professes such a thing, and yet is so far from it. Today, our world tells us to bow to the god of tolerance, in the name of their so called 'love'. If we don't, there will soon be consequences for it, and though that is just my opinion, that much should be easy enough for any Christian to see. The time is coming where we must stick by our God, though to all the world He looks as though He is someone who hates and who doesn't accept according to their rules. And we will only be able to do that if we fully understand just how Just God's judgment is, and just how GOOD it is too. Yes, we may not be able to understand all of it, after all, His ways are so high above ours, that there will always be things that we don't understand. And yet, if we are diligent to understand what we can, the Holy Spirit will reveal just how just and good our God is, in all His judgments, and in all His ways.
God bless!
Friday, 30 August 2013
THEN THEY BELIEVED
John 2v27: 'Then they believed the Scripture and the words which Jesus had spoken.'
You would think that these disciples would've believed the Word and Jesus Himself at this time because of some incredible miracle He would've just performed before these words, or through Him giving them a glimpse of His glory or love in a form of being fed in some way (i.e multiplying loaves and fishes), but it was far from such a thing which Jesus had just done:
John 2v14: 'In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. to those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
The disciples believed in the Scripture, and the words Jesus had spoken, because of this act of JUDGMENT (not an act of love, not an act of grace or mercy, not an act of glory or patience- although all these things are always present in whatever He does, as He does not divide His character). The disciples saw who was in charge, they saw who Had authority to decide what His house was and what it did; what its purpose would be, and all its focus and activity (Luke 19v46), through an act of wise judgment. Jesus came to HIS house (we'd do well to linger on that point), and drove out ALL of those that had made it into a house of MERCHANDISE, and the merchandise itself. The time of BUYING and SELLING the things of God (John 2v14+16), in the house of God, had officially come to and end, in a spectacular, sudden and final fashion, through a direct and obvious act of the Lord. The thieves that had been making a profit out of the people of God (and thus robbing God) were no longer welcome (the world can do what it wants, but not the Church of God!) The Lord said- "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (Luke 19v46). Christians often reveal a zeal for many things (and praise God for it!), but the ONLY thing the Word ever said Jesus was zealous for was to do with an ACT OF JUDGMENT, and look what good came from it: John 2v27: 'Then they believed the Scripture and the words which Jesus had spoken.'
The Lord didn't destroy men here, His act of judgment to CLEAN OUT His house which had become a place of merchandise, of buying and selling and of thieves, was against the acts of these men, and the merchandise itself. And yes, because these men identified themselves with such things and were themselves buyers and sellers, they were driven out too, but no doubt the opportunity for them to return would've been open to them if they RETURNED IN THE RIGHT WAY. Make no mistake about it, the Lord doesn't love what is going on in much of His Church at the moment when it comes to what kind of market His people have made of the Spirit of God and HIS gifts which He has FREELY GIVEN (Matt 10v8). In fact, He hates that such buying and selling is going on, when the sole foundation and purpose of HIS CHURCH He gave to be grace (always being given what we cannot give ourselves) and prayer. Why? Because He builds through His Spirit, builds freely, and builds not through men's machinations. Yes, the Spirit will give structure where necessary, for God is a God of order, not confusion, but this structure is according to everything being done decently and in order, and according to the working of His Spirit through the gifts He has given. And they must be free from any urge or inclination to set up man's Kingdom, or to buy and sell to create a machine coming from the imagination of men's hearts, or according to the pattern and desires of this world. If we think that Jesus doesn't care about this, we are dead wrong. This was and still is one of the most important priorities He has for His people, and for the place where His people declare His name. Then shall men believe the Scripture, and the Word which He has spoken, for He is the one that is the light of the world. Men will believe the Word when we are a temple of the Holy Spirt, not a temple in which we build high places of our own design, and after the fashion of our own fleshly hearts. For why would men believe in something in the Church of God, that they can have freely in the world by following their own hearts? If the Church tries to compete with the world according to its own terms, it will lose every time.
Make no mistake about it, the Lord will not stand forever idly by while men make a mockery out of the house of God by its being made into a den of thieves, and merchandise out of the people He has bought with His own blood. If we doubt this, all we need remember are the words that Jesus spoke above; John 2v16: "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" He is the Great Shepherd and the master of His House, and He still reserves the right to overturn the tables, and to violently clear out all those things that turn His House into a place of merchandise, instead of a house of prayer. And He will not allow a mixture forever! There is a space for mercy, and a time for grace, but whether now, or in a future day, all those things that offend will be put through the fire of His judgment. Only those things built by the Holy Spirit will be left standing. A sobering and yet incredibly joyous thought. For when His House is as it should be, it is a glorious thing to be a part of, for then love, mercy, goodness, glory, patience and all similar wonderful things have the place they deserve to have and room to operate free from fleshly interference. And all those places that put such things at the centre of their hearts, will benefit by them the fruit that comes with these amazing things. A glorious thought!
God bless!
Thursday, 29 August 2013
THE STORMY FUTURE, AND THE DOCTRINES NECESSARY FOR PREPARATION
'The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present'
-Abraham Lincoln
There is coming a time when the doctrines of the past, the doctrines that rightly have been loved and preached so much by the present Church; of grace, gracious salvation, provision, sovereign care, spiritual gifts, promises, God's guidance etc- will all need to be given those doctrines that provide proper context and great encouragement by those same ministers of His Word that was always intended to be given; of crosses to bear, sorrow, loss, perplexity, weakness, a daily dying to self, God's judgment, wrath, justice, vengeance, prophecy, self-sacrifice, service and many more.
While the first set of doctrines that were mentioned above were all good, blessed and obviously necessary and beneficial, most only benefit in a day of peaceful seas, and blessed times. It is easy to believe and uphold those doctrines and count men blessed and honoured that do so when their worth is obviously apparent. It is easy to see their worth in a good day and a good season, for no one will deny their truth, and no one will question their validity. Similarly then, in apparent and obvious times of goodness and blessing, few will tout the necessity and blessing of the second set of doctrines mentioned, for few will see their worth. Why, in a day of blessing and relative ease, would one need a doctrine of 'dying to self'? Why, in a day where the sun shines, and many go about happy and healthy, and much of the Church says it has 'need of nothing,' would we need to hear about crosses to bear? (although we should always need it). Why hear about loss when we are forced to lose nothing? Why about God's judgment when it appears He does not judge His people and will forever excuse the wicked? Why prophecy when we don't believe there will be another day or season and that nothing will change? The flaw in the logic of this reasoning should be obvious to us all.
If Noah had never believed that God judged sin, where would he and his family ended up? He would never have believed the warning, never been moved to any action in a time when the world was so at peace and so prosperous. He would've given up building when the mockers came, and quit when the work became too tiresome. To learn about the harder doctrines is, lets be honest- hard for our flesh, and often just hard in general. Human beings don't naturally respond to those things which are against our old nature, but when we truly see the benefit of them, we'll pick up the tools truth, and never quit till we're satisfied we've obeyed God as we should. Noah believed the prophecy he was given, he believed the warning, he believed in the judgement and wrath of God, and even accepted the great pain and suffering to come, and what did he do? He accepted it all, as from a just, loving and faithful creator. Because he did, he saved, not only himself, but his family, and an entire world of humanity and history to come! Never underestimate the importance of those doctrines that the Church nowadays seems to so easily, ignorantly, carelessly, willingly and seemingly even without conviction glide over, ignore and even often cover up for their own benefit. Those things we seemingly seem to so often think are of no consequence now, will be absolutely and totally indispensable in the day and season to come.
There is coming a day when, if we do not know these doctrines well, and do not know this side of our Lord, that His people will become greatly offended at Him, and if it were possible (and from the Word it seems as though it certainly is), many will even reject faith in Christ and even become His enemy.
The Lord has showed me dreams of this coming storm. He has shown me a great storm on the horizon and dark clouds gathering overhead. Does anyone out there seek the Lord about these things? Does anyone believe that this is the case? I certainly hope so, for forewarned is forearmed, and the Lord's intention with such prophecy is to encourage our hearts to walk with Him now, so that we'll be prepared to walk with Him in that future day.
It is not good enough to leave learning about those second set of doctrines for the day and season to come. By then it could well be too late. Such things take time to learn, to understand and to work through. The armour of God is many things, not just one thing, and so the truth is not just a few scriptures here and there, and a few doctrines here and there, but the Apostle Paul called it the 'whole counsel of God.' God has a counsel for us to sit at today, in preparation, yes for today, but also for tomorrow. God has a teacher for us to listen to, and His name is Christ, so will we be willing to hear His voice and understand ALL that He says and reveals to us? God's intention is to benefit, direct, equip us, strengthen, change and enlighten us. Do we fail to recognise and often co-operate with His will in this way? Yes we certainly do! We are weak and often dull sheep, often going astray. No one is perfect here, myself first and foremost, but His righteousness freely qualifies and forgives us, despite us being the sinners we are, and He continues to give us mercy, grace and power.
God bless!
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
JESUS' EAGERNESS TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS
John 2v3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
So often we believe that Jesus is nowhere near as eager to answer our prayers as we are to ask Him for those things that burn in our heart. We take his silence for rejection, and the waiting we have to endure, for the Lord giving us the cold shoulder. Both of these things are not evidence of the Lord's will not to listen to us or give us what we desire, but His testing of our eagerness to receive what He is so eager to give. To the woman who petitioned him for wine for those at the wedding, how did it seem that He responded? We must be honest, it sounded like He didn't want to not only give her what she desired, but even that it wasn't His will; 'Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.' However, instead of give up, what does the woman do? She says, "Whatever He says to you, do it." The woman knew that the Lord is always willing to respond to prayer, and will always respond to it, all it takes is for us to continue to offer up our requests to God:
Heb 11v6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Matt 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Ask for whatever it may be that may benefit His Kingdom, His people, bring glory to Him and help bring people and even ourselves closer to Jesus, and you may be sure that He will answer and usually give us what we desire, even though it may be in a different way and manner than we imagine:
Eph 3v20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
And even if the answer be no, like Paul once received so that his thorn would be taken from him, you can be sure that He will give an answer. He is faithful to fulfill His Word!
God bless!
Sunday, 25 August 2013
DREAM: NUCLEAR EXPLOSION OFF THE COAST OF AUSTRALIA
I have never said this before, but it is incredibly important that you read this post. I would even resort to begging you all here. If you live on the Gold Coast, or anywhere along the East Coast of Australia, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this dream I had from the Lord a few days ago. If you live along the East Coast of Australia, reading it could very well save your life one day, and in no way am I exaggerating.
Before I share the following dream that I received from the Lord a few days ago on Thursday, I'd just like to say that I know nearly everyone out there will find this incredibly hard to believe. Believe me, the natural part of me finds it just as hard to believe, but we're told to continually put to death that fleshly part of us that would rise up to deny the voice of the Lord. The Word says that the natural man finds the things of God to be 'foolishness,' so we must constantly be weary of that old nature in us that wants to block us from receiving the things of the Holy Spirit, just because they don't necessarily make sense to our natural understanding of things. . Before receiving this dream, the Lord had put on my heart for the last couple of weeks at least to pray and ask Him to reveal to me in dreams or visions His judgments that are coming to America and Australia. Before receiving the dream below, I had another one also which was about Australia's future that I may share in the future when I have a clearer and more sure understanding about its interpretation. There can be very little doubt, however, about the interpretation of the dream that I've written about below. Yes, as the Word says, we must 'test all things,' so please test this dream by prayer and by the Word of God, but please be open to the Lord confirming it to you if He does so, because we must 'hold fast those things which are good.'
I dreamt that I was running somewhere along the beach on the Gold Coast or relatively near it (could have been anywhere along the vicinity from Surfers Paradise to Tweed Heads). I was running with my sister at the time, when all of a sudden, I looked up and out towards the ocean and its horizon to see what looked to me to be the plume cloud and explosion from a nuclear bomb. I watched it very intently, as I wanted to be certain that it was the explosion and cloud of a nuclear bomb, and not just a large bomb of some kind. My sister didn't know what I was doing, so I told her I was trying to figure out if it was a nuclear bomb or not. She laughed because she couldn't figure out how I'd be able to tell such a thing from just looking at it, but I told her that I would be able to tell by looking at the shape of the cloud that rose up from the explosion. From the shape of the cloud (mushroom type cloud that rose extremely high into the air) I just knew it was a nuclear bomb, not just a large bomb of some kind. As soon as I knew this, I told my sister as much, and told her to run with me to the other side of the street and into a building I had seen. We quickly ran to the building and went inside it. It was very dark in this building, but we started to descend a fairly long flight of stairs (and it was nearly pitch black as we went down them). As we did so I told Amy that if it really was a nuclear bomb, it probably wouldn't matter that we were hiding in a building, because whether we were inside or outside, we'd be injured or killed either way.
When we went down into the building it turned into a house. My sister was in a larger room, but I went to go into a smaller room, because I thought it would be more secure for some reason (I also heard a name at this time that indicated that the Lord will be gracious to Australians at this time, which could possibly indicate that He will provide protection to its citizens- but this is just my interpretation). I told her to follow me into the room I went into because I thought it would be safer, and she did. When we were both in the room together, I looked out of the window and saw that the effects of the bomb had reached us. Outside the window, I could roughly tell that the fallout and intense heat from the explosion had reached us, and I could just make out fire and a red glowing (to indicate intense heat). It was at this point that the ground underneath my sister and I started to heat up and so I started kind of jumping or jogging up and down on the spot so that my feet wouldn't get burnt. I told my sister to do the same thing so that her feet wouldn't get burnt too.
The scene then changed to where I was looking at Karl Stefanovic reporting on the nuclear bomb's explosion. He was in front of a map of Australia and was pointing to the place where the bomb had exploded. The explosion was represented on the map by what looked like a great big grey cloud. It seemed that Karl was reporting on where the fallout from the explosion would drift, and he motioned with his hand in a Northerly direction. I fully expected him to point West too (directly inland from the Gold Coast), but he didn't (which upon reflecting on the dream after I woke up, I was quite surprised about, and do think this is significant as it MAY indicate that the fallout will only travel in a Northerly direction, or it MAY indicate that most of the fallout will travel this way. It is also possible that it will travel West as well, as I was expecting for Karl to point in that direction as well).
The scene then switched again, as I was intent on finding out who was responsible for what I believed to be a country attacking Australia. I went to an online CNN news website but there was absolutely no news of the event (this may indicate that news networks will have no idea that something like this is coming). I was incredibly shocked at this, in fact I just couldn't believe, after all, how could CNN not report an event of this significance? It was then, however, that I found out the name of a man who was responsible for the attack. Although a first name was given in the dream, I can't remember it now. I do, however, remember the last name that was given, which was 'Baratov' (upon waking from the dream I did an online search of the name and found out that there was a man name Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov who was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War.). In the dream I was surprised that it wasn't a nation that had attacked America, but a man instead.
Although there are parts of the above dream that can be interpreted in a few different ways, the main interpretation, to me at least, seems quite clear. Australia shall witness a nuclear bomb (make no mistake about it, it won't just be a big bomb of some kind, it will definitely be nuclear) being exploded just out to sea from the Gold Coast (or near abouts). The distance out to sea I cannot be sure of, and can only speculate on from what I saw of where it hit in the ocean just off the Coast (or near the Gold Coast). From looking at a map and a scale of distance, to me it looked as though the nuclear bomb explodes around 300km's out to sea (directly from the Gold Coast or near abouts). However, it could be a lot closer, 200km's or so, it is very hard to tell. Again this estimation of the distance is only my opinion, the Lord didn't reveal to me the exact distance in the dream itself. It could even be closer than 200km's, or farther than 300kms out to sea.
If you witness a massive burst of light, this is an instant effect of a nuclear bomb when it first explodes and you must close your eyes immediately and cover them with your hands (otherwise exposure to the light will mean that blindness for a short or permanent time is a real danger of happening to you). After the light, run to the nearest house or building and enter it immediately because you would only have a few seconds to make it to safety, so don't make the mistake of watching the cloud that comes from the explosion! A shockwave also comes from a nuclear explosion, so it is imperative that you get inside a building as quickly as possible in order to let whatever force that comes from the explosion hit the building itself and not you. In the dream itself, I told my sister that it probably wouldn't matter whether we were inside or outside of a building if it was a nuclear bomb, because we'd probably be injured or killed either way, but I was wrong. It seemed that because we were inside and had gone to the room that was the most secure, we were kept safe (this also means that the nuclear explosion is far enough away from land that it does not simply incinerate and destroy everything on the Coast or near abouts). Find the room in your house or building that has the most mass around it (so it absorbs the impact), and also is the smallest (which should be stronger).
Only remnants of nuclear fallout reached outside the house, along with intense heat and fire. The ground underneath us started to heat up, so we had to jog or jump up and down on the sport to keep from getting our feet burnt. This indicates that when you are inside a building or house after the explosion of the bomb, you must get off the floor because it will heat up due to the intense heat outside the building. This is a real effect of a nuclear explosion (something I had no idea about till I researched about nuclear explosion effects online!). Or, as weird and simplistic as it sounds, it might just be a matter of jogging on the spot for a few minutes (because if the heat outside heats up the ground, it may heat up the objects in the house along with it). Also its important to note that my sister and I travelled down a flight of stairs, which may indicated that if possible, it will be prudent to try and get underground if this is possible at the time (if not, then a house with a small and strong room is the next best thing).
The dream also seems to indicate that the fallout will travel North up alongside (and most likely on) the Coast of Australia. This may mean that the majority of the fallout will travel North, or all of it (may be because of the direction of the wind at the time). But it is possible that the fallout will also head West, but I can’t be sure about this, and it’s only my opinion. Therefore, it SEEMS that the best direction to travel away from the fallout of the explosion will be to travel South (or West, if West does end up not receiving fallout from the bomb). The fallout from a nuclear bomb is extremely deadly, and it seems as though it will be crucial to travel away from it when it is safe to do so.
The dream also revealed a name in the dream (that I’ve mentioned above), that seems to indicate that the person responsible for the nuclear explosion will come from Russia. The dream seems to indicate that a nation won’t be responsible for the attacked, but just a man from the nation of Russia, which may indicate that it is a terrorist attack (but again this is just my opinion).
*If you do a little research online, you will find out that Russia has nuclear bombs and even it is claimed that they have suitcase nuclear bombs, some of which went missing some years ago, and they have never been accounted for since.
The dream also seemed to indicate that news networks won’t have any idea that something like this is coming. So it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to predict when this event will occur. Our information and news will have to come directly from the Lord!
I in no way share this dream to scare people or make them afraid, but I can only share what I’ve been given. The Lord directed Joseph to safety in a time of severe danger on numerous occasions by using dreams in Matthew 2, and He still does those kind of things today. He still warns and directs by using dreams, He still reveals the future ‘in part’, and He still watches over His children to take care of them in the best way He sees fit. The Word says in Amos 3v7: ‘Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.’ I don’t claim to be anything but a sinner saved by grace, but it is still encouraging to know that the Lord loves us so much that He wants to give us warning of these things, and to prepare us by encouraging us to trust Him even when this event takes places- John 13v19: "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. God wants to encourage and strengthen His people with all prophecy that He gives: 1 Cor 14v3: ‘But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.’
In no way am I saying that the Lord wants anyone to move away from the Coast or that He wants anyone to stay. We each have to get our directions from the Lord, and if He reveals that He wants us to stay, then stay, but if He wants you to go, then go. We must each hear from the Lord about this, and seek His will and direction for us. The dream does reveal a few things we can do at the time if we are on the Coast at the time, but more than that, we’ll have to seek Him about.
Although this event to come is obviously a disaster, and no one in their right mind wants to see something like this occur, we must remind ourselves that God is sovereign over these things, and He has His way even in the whirlwind and the storm- Nahum 1v3: ‘His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.’ We must also remind ourselves that God’s judgments on this world and even amongst His people are just. While we and this world experience His grace continually, Romans remind us that His wrath is also revealed from heaven against the wicked (the unsaved) (Nahum 1v3), and there seems to be particular times where this seems to happen in a particularly intense manner (or it is just more visible to us). God is righteous in judging the wicked if He so desires. He is also righteous in allowing Christians to experience His judgment as well, in disciplining them and even in taking their life if He sees fit (ie Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and the Corinthian believers in 1 Cor 11v30). For this reason, though we are all sinners, we are reminded of our need to remain abiding in His grace (a heart and life that is willing to continue with Him, no matter how much we may fail in the process).
Above all, our main concern about this should be to pray about it. The Word says that we must not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Even though the dream reveals a few directions we should listen to in order to be safe when that event happens, we obviously need to rely on the Lord for our safety and for our direction and instructions. Instructions and directions given by revelation for safety are only any good as long as they are grounded in prayer and in trust in the Lord. The Lord is the one who will guide and protect His people in that day, so revelation, prayer and trust must go hand in hand. If we think about it, every day we trust the Lord to keep us safe, and to keep us in His will, and He has always been faithful. So whether we are in a day of peace, or great destruction and danger, the Lord will remain faithful and as powerful as He has ever been. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that there was no fire, no matter how hot, that man could create that could hurt them if God was watching over them. They also owned that even if the fire destroyed them, they would still not turn from God, but would trust Him no matter what:
Dan 3v15: But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”[a]
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel[b] and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”
God is the one who watches over His people!
Psalm 33v16-19:
V16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 46v1-3:
46 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
Before I share the following dream that I received from the Lord a few days ago on Thursday, I'd just like to say that I know nearly everyone out there will find this incredibly hard to believe. Believe me, the natural part of me finds it just as hard to believe, but we're told to continually put to death that fleshly part of us that would rise up to deny the voice of the Lord. The Word says that the natural man finds the things of God to be 'foolishness,' so we must constantly be weary of that old nature in us that wants to block us from receiving the things of the Holy Spirit, just because they don't necessarily make sense to our natural understanding of things. . Before receiving this dream, the Lord had put on my heart for the last couple of weeks at least to pray and ask Him to reveal to me in dreams or visions His judgments that are coming to America and Australia. Before receiving the dream below, I had another one also which was about Australia's future that I may share in the future when I have a clearer and more sure understanding about its interpretation. There can be very little doubt, however, about the interpretation of the dream that I've written about below. Yes, as the Word says, we must 'test all things,' so please test this dream by prayer and by the Word of God, but please be open to the Lord confirming it to you if He does so, because we must 'hold fast those things which are good.'
I dreamt that I was running somewhere along the beach on the Gold Coast or relatively near it (could have been anywhere along the vicinity from Surfers Paradise to Tweed Heads). I was running with my sister at the time, when all of a sudden, I looked up and out towards the ocean and its horizon to see what looked to me to be the plume cloud and explosion from a nuclear bomb. I watched it very intently, as I wanted to be certain that it was the explosion and cloud of a nuclear bomb, and not just a large bomb of some kind. My sister didn't know what I was doing, so I told her I was trying to figure out if it was a nuclear bomb or not. She laughed because she couldn't figure out how I'd be able to tell such a thing from just looking at it, but I told her that I would be able to tell by looking at the shape of the cloud that rose up from the explosion. From the shape of the cloud (mushroom type cloud that rose extremely high into the air) I just knew it was a nuclear bomb, not just a large bomb of some kind. As soon as I knew this, I told my sister as much, and told her to run with me to the other side of the street and into a building I had seen. We quickly ran to the building and went inside it. It was very dark in this building, but we started to descend a fairly long flight of stairs (and it was nearly pitch black as we went down them). As we did so I told Amy that if it really was a nuclear bomb, it probably wouldn't matter that we were hiding in a building, because whether we were inside or outside, we'd be injured or killed either way.
When we went down into the building it turned into a house. My sister was in a larger room, but I went to go into a smaller room, because I thought it would be more secure for some reason (I also heard a name at this time that indicated that the Lord will be gracious to Australians at this time, which could possibly indicate that He will provide protection to its citizens- but this is just my interpretation). I told her to follow me into the room I went into because I thought it would be safer, and she did. When we were both in the room together, I looked out of the window and saw that the effects of the bomb had reached us. Outside the window, I could roughly tell that the fallout and intense heat from the explosion had reached us, and I could just make out fire and a red glowing (to indicate intense heat). It was at this point that the ground underneath my sister and I started to heat up and so I started kind of jumping or jogging up and down on the spot so that my feet wouldn't get burnt. I told my sister to do the same thing so that her feet wouldn't get burnt too.
The scene then changed to where I was looking at Karl Stefanovic reporting on the nuclear bomb's explosion. He was in front of a map of Australia and was pointing to the place where the bomb had exploded. The explosion was represented on the map by what looked like a great big grey cloud. It seemed that Karl was reporting on where the fallout from the explosion would drift, and he motioned with his hand in a Northerly direction. I fully expected him to point West too (directly inland from the Gold Coast), but he didn't (which upon reflecting on the dream after I woke up, I was quite surprised about, and do think this is significant as it MAY indicate that the fallout will only travel in a Northerly direction, or it MAY indicate that most of the fallout will travel this way. It is also possible that it will travel West as well, as I was expecting for Karl to point in that direction as well).
The scene then switched again, as I was intent on finding out who was responsible for what I believed to be a country attacking Australia. I went to an online CNN news website but there was absolutely no news of the event (this may indicate that news networks will have no idea that something like this is coming). I was incredibly shocked at this, in fact I just couldn't believe, after all, how could CNN not report an event of this significance? It was then, however, that I found out the name of a man who was responsible for the attack. Although a first name was given in the dream, I can't remember it now. I do, however, remember the last name that was given, which was 'Baratov' (upon waking from the dream I did an online search of the name and found out that there was a man name Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov who was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War.). In the dream I was surprised that it wasn't a nation that had attacked America, but a man instead.
Although there are parts of the above dream that can be interpreted in a few different ways, the main interpretation, to me at least, seems quite clear. Australia shall witness a nuclear bomb (make no mistake about it, it won't just be a big bomb of some kind, it will definitely be nuclear) being exploded just out to sea from the Gold Coast (or near abouts). The distance out to sea I cannot be sure of, and can only speculate on from what I saw of where it hit in the ocean just off the Coast (or near the Gold Coast). From looking at a map and a scale of distance, to me it looked as though the nuclear bomb explodes around 300km's out to sea (directly from the Gold Coast or near abouts). However, it could be a lot closer, 200km's or so, it is very hard to tell. Again this estimation of the distance is only my opinion, the Lord didn't reveal to me the exact distance in the dream itself. It could even be closer than 200km's, or farther than 300kms out to sea.
If you witness a massive burst of light, this is an instant effect of a nuclear bomb when it first explodes and you must close your eyes immediately and cover them with your hands (otherwise exposure to the light will mean that blindness for a short or permanent time is a real danger of happening to you). After the light, run to the nearest house or building and enter it immediately because you would only have a few seconds to make it to safety, so don't make the mistake of watching the cloud that comes from the explosion! A shockwave also comes from a nuclear explosion, so it is imperative that you get inside a building as quickly as possible in order to let whatever force that comes from the explosion hit the building itself and not you. In the dream itself, I told my sister that it probably wouldn't matter whether we were inside or outside of a building if it was a nuclear bomb, because we'd probably be injured or killed either way, but I was wrong. It seemed that because we were inside and had gone to the room that was the most secure, we were kept safe (this also means that the nuclear explosion is far enough away from land that it does not simply incinerate and destroy everything on the Coast or near abouts). Find the room in your house or building that has the most mass around it (so it absorbs the impact), and also is the smallest (which should be stronger).
Only remnants of nuclear fallout reached outside the house, along with intense heat and fire. The ground underneath us started to heat up, so we had to jog or jump up and down on the sport to keep from getting our feet burnt. This indicates that when you are inside a building or house after the explosion of the bomb, you must get off the floor because it will heat up due to the intense heat outside the building. This is a real effect of a nuclear explosion (something I had no idea about till I researched about nuclear explosion effects online!). Or, as weird and simplistic as it sounds, it might just be a matter of jogging on the spot for a few minutes (because if the heat outside heats up the ground, it may heat up the objects in the house along with it). Also its important to note that my sister and I travelled down a flight of stairs, which may indicated that if possible, it will be prudent to try and get underground if this is possible at the time (if not, then a house with a small and strong room is the next best thing).
The dream also seems to indicate that the fallout will travel North up alongside (and most likely on) the Coast of Australia. This may mean that the majority of the fallout will travel North, or all of it (may be because of the direction of the wind at the time). But it is possible that the fallout will also head West, but I can’t be sure about this, and it’s only my opinion. Therefore, it SEEMS that the best direction to travel away from the fallout of the explosion will be to travel South (or West, if West does end up not receiving fallout from the bomb). The fallout from a nuclear bomb is extremely deadly, and it seems as though it will be crucial to travel away from it when it is safe to do so.
The dream also revealed a name in the dream (that I’ve mentioned above), that seems to indicate that the person responsible for the nuclear explosion will come from Russia. The dream seems to indicate that a nation won’t be responsible for the attacked, but just a man from the nation of Russia, which may indicate that it is a terrorist attack (but again this is just my opinion).
*If you do a little research online, you will find out that Russia has nuclear bombs and even it is claimed that they have suitcase nuclear bombs, some of which went missing some years ago, and they have never been accounted for since.
The dream also seemed to indicate that news networks won’t have any idea that something like this is coming. So it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to predict when this event will occur. Our information and news will have to come directly from the Lord!
I in no way share this dream to scare people or make them afraid, but I can only share what I’ve been given. The Lord directed Joseph to safety in a time of severe danger on numerous occasions by using dreams in Matthew 2, and He still does those kind of things today. He still warns and directs by using dreams, He still reveals the future ‘in part’, and He still watches over His children to take care of them in the best way He sees fit. The Word says in Amos 3v7: ‘Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.’ I don’t claim to be anything but a sinner saved by grace, but it is still encouraging to know that the Lord loves us so much that He wants to give us warning of these things, and to prepare us by encouraging us to trust Him even when this event takes places- John 13v19: "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. God wants to encourage and strengthen His people with all prophecy that He gives: 1 Cor 14v3: ‘But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.’
In no way am I saying that the Lord wants anyone to move away from the Coast or that He wants anyone to stay. We each have to get our directions from the Lord, and if He reveals that He wants us to stay, then stay, but if He wants you to go, then go. We must each hear from the Lord about this, and seek His will and direction for us. The dream does reveal a few things we can do at the time if we are on the Coast at the time, but more than that, we’ll have to seek Him about.
Although this event to come is obviously a disaster, and no one in their right mind wants to see something like this occur, we must remind ourselves that God is sovereign over these things, and He has His way even in the whirlwind and the storm- Nahum 1v3: ‘His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.’ We must also remind ourselves that God’s judgments on this world and even amongst His people are just. While we and this world experience His grace continually, Romans remind us that His wrath is also revealed from heaven against the wicked (the unsaved) (Nahum 1v3), and there seems to be particular times where this seems to happen in a particularly intense manner (or it is just more visible to us). God is righteous in judging the wicked if He so desires. He is also righteous in allowing Christians to experience His judgment as well, in disciplining them and even in taking their life if He sees fit (ie Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and the Corinthian believers in 1 Cor 11v30). For this reason, though we are all sinners, we are reminded of our need to remain abiding in His grace (a heart and life that is willing to continue with Him, no matter how much we may fail in the process).
Above all, our main concern about this should be to pray about it. The Word says that we must not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Even though the dream reveals a few directions we should listen to in order to be safe when that event happens, we obviously need to rely on the Lord for our safety and for our direction and instructions. Instructions and directions given by revelation for safety are only any good as long as they are grounded in prayer and in trust in the Lord. The Lord is the one who will guide and protect His people in that day, so revelation, prayer and trust must go hand in hand. If we think about it, every day we trust the Lord to keep us safe, and to keep us in His will, and He has always been faithful. So whether we are in a day of peace, or great destruction and danger, the Lord will remain faithful and as powerful as He has ever been. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that there was no fire, no matter how hot, that man could create that could hurt them if God was watching over them. They also owned that even if the fire destroyed them, they would still not turn from God, but would trust Him no matter what:
Dan 3v15: But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”[a]
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel[b] and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”
God is the one who watches over His people!
Psalm 33v16-19:
V16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 46v1-3:
46 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
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