Thursday 28 February 2013
THE COMING STORM: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
I'm afraid I won't be speaking about 'The Hobbit' here for those that are fans, but maybe I might as well be for the amount of people that think I'm speaking pure fantasy at the moment... But that's ok, we each have our own walk to tread, and only one who we need to answer to and will need to answer to one day.
The Lord has led me on an interesting revelatory journey these last few days, and it seems that it's not about to stop just yet. And when you realise that God is sending manna from heaven, you don't get picky about how it tastes or how it looks, you just eat it and know that it does you good, so here goes nothing...
Matt 4v1-2:
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
If Jesus had been anyone else, I'm sure everyone could agree that the trip to the desert would've been extremely UNEXPECTED. There are times in our lives where we all of a sudden arrive in a desert and it completely throws us; we ask ourselves, 'How did this happen?' 'Where are we going?' 'What is God doing?' 'Where is God?' 'Where is His goodness? 'Why does nothing make sense in the natural?' 'Where are the outward signs of hope and purpose?'- mainly because we haven't been aware of the Spirit's dealings with us at those times, and have been unaware that it has been God's will in leading us to those places. Those times are also times we usually fight against and try and do everything in our power to get out of. I know I'm that guy that keeps giving bad news, but unfortunately the reality is that there is a time coming where for so many of God's people what happens next will be completely unexpected. This isn't because God's Spirit hasn't been leading, or speaking or guiding, but because we have been unaware, and usually unwilling to accept His will and His leading because we don't want to suffer. And so it is now- no one wants to read or accept what God is speaking about the future, simply because people don't want to accept that it is God's will that we be led to such a place of suffering. It's God will that none of His people be unaware about what He is choosing to reveal about the coming storm, because part of how He keeps His people is to prepare them spiritually in order that they be able to face what comes.
What wasn't an unexpected journey for the Lord, would've been for most of us, but that's not where it would've ended. What happens next and will happen next will shock most of us to our core. This will be the case because it won't just be ONE trial, but MANY, VARIOUS and ONE AFTER THE OTHER. Jesus experienced three types of trials in the desert, and so will we. The first one was a trial to the stomach of the flesh (worldly loves and comforts which we feed on often). In response to Jesus' hunger in the wilderness, the enemy tempted him with providing food for himself. Jesus didn't though because to do so would've been to use His power for His own stomach, and Jesus knew that it wasn't God's will that He do so. So with us, whatever ordinary, earthly desire, strength and wisdom (which really is no wisdom at all) we have been given, we MUST NOT use in the future in order to satisfy our fleshly stomachs if it in any way means disobeying the Lord and His Word. When we are driven to tough times which really start to take a toll on the body, we must not let that drive us to gain earthly bread or comforts via means and ways which are unbiblical, rather we must trust that God will feed us with what we need. God may let us suffer in this area, so that we are deprived of what we have been used to in the past, but instead of trying to fill ourselves in a way He doesn't desire, we must run to God and feed on spiritual food: Matt 4v4: Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'
The second trial and temptation that we'll be faced with, will be the urge to live recklessly in the grace of God. Matt 4v5:
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God, he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" We must act wisely in the time to come, and although we should be trusting to His protection, we must also realise that His protection does not mean that we'll have a licence to live as though there will be no consequences and no harm come to those that are not living by THE WORD of God, both by eating it and being directed and comforted by it. We will not be able to live as though there is no enemy, for the enemy will be revealed in the days to come as 'a roaring lion,' seeking those that he desires to devour. There are times when the Lord chooses to allow the enemy to SEEMINGLY have sway over our lives and be present to confront us in a very real and immediate manner. This will also mean that who and what the enemy is in the coming time will also be made extremely plain to us, so we must continue to watch. We must be aware that such a time like this is coming, and we must be very wise in how close we are to the Word of God in that time, so that we will not think that we can simply live idly in the grace of God, not knowing the dangers that will be surrounding us. God has given His Word so that we will know how to defend ourselves in the days to come. We will not be able to live and survive in the coming time if we are not holding His Word close to us. To simply believe that God will do it all and that we'll be able to be ignorant sheep is extremely foolish, because God has called us to STAND and GIRD OURSELVES with His Word. What we may be able to get away with today, living in a time of peace and prosperity, we very likely will not be able to get away with tomorrow. Again, for many this will be extremely UNEXPECTED, but it needn't be.
This is getting very long now, so, God willing, part 2 will be coming soon.
Wednesday 27 February 2013
GOD'S PROTECTION IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE TO COME: PART 2 (UPDATED)
Well, whether anyone's listening or not, the Lord has showed me quite clearly that I'm to keep talking about the trouble to come, despite whether I'm in 'no-man's land' now or not.
So an important, but also quite easily overlooked aspect of how God will protect His people in the coming time of persecution and trouble is quite simple: He will put those capable of protecting others around each other. Obviously the baby Jesus could not receive dreams of direction at the time of His birth, so it was Joseph who was warned by God. God will use the family of God to gather around each other in the coming time, even in quite small groups, and will direct them together to escape from trouble. God will also warn those that feel that they are 'least' in the Kingdom of heaven, to help those that others may feel are more important or more advanced in the Lord (we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom!). Those that feel like they are not much use at all at protecting those of His people and His Kingdom will be used mightily to direct His people to safety (through being warned and directed by the Lord).
Another way the Lord will deliver His people from the trouble to come is again quite simple: He will have them wait out the trouble and persecution, usually in secrecy. One of the advantages of not being part of a large Church group for Mary and Joseph was the fact that they could hide from forces that sought their lives. When Herod sought their lives, God directed them to go to, of all places, Egypt; the last place Herod would look for them! In Egypt, both Joseph and Mary could simply lose themselves in a sea of people, and simply continue their life and worship of God until Herod died (Matt 2v20). Rather than have to do anything monumental, Joseph and Mary made one big move, then simply went on with their lives in complete secrecy and anonymity. The Lord will ensure that many of His people in the time to come will be able to do the same thing, praise God!
One of the circumstances of the time to come will also be characterised by the fact that God won't allow His worship to be stopped by the enemy. When the magi sought the baby Jesus to worship him (Matt 2v2), God ensured that His protection was over them so that they could fulfil their desire: Matt 2v11- On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then verse 12 explains how they were warned to not go back to Herod, lest they be ensnared by his deceit and violence. The enemy is tricky, and so will men be in their persecution of Christians in the coming time, but our God is much mightier and much greater, and He will ensure His worship continues because it is so precious to Him. When we are weak, and will be weak, He is and He will be strong!
Hope this is encouraging a few out there. If there is anyone out there at all that believes what the Lord is showing me, help a brother out and lend some strength to these hands please :) (1 Thess 5v11) Be blessed :)
GOD'S PROTECTION IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE TO COME: PART 3- DIRECTION BY FIRE
GOD'S PROTECTION IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE TO COME: PART 3- DIRECTION BY FIRE
Numbers 9v15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. 23 At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.
Luke 24v49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 2v2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
God's way of direction in our lives, in times of extreme circumstances (especially in the time of trouble to come), is and will be facilitated through us 'being on fire' for Him. In Acts, with Jesus taken from the earth, the disciples had no idea what to do next, all they had was an instruction to wait till they would be 'clothed with power from on high.' This 'power' was symbolised by 'tongues of fire' that separated (seems to imply that it was a whole fire at the start, like the fire over the tabernacle) and rested on each of them. It was from there that their direction, their 'next move' and their next assignment and service for the Lord was revealed, or to put it another way, brought to them (Acts 2v5). This underlines our need to always be in the 'upper room' with the Lord, in order, not just to be lit on fire by Jesus, but also to have it revealed to us what we are to do next, where we are to go next, and also how we are to serve next. Often as Christians we desire for God to point out the exact road we should go, but God is at all times most concerned with our hearts and minds; when these are lit by His Spirit, then whatever path He reveals and directs us too is likely to be the one we chase anyway, as our desires will already be aligned with His. This will be vitally important in the coming time of persecution against the Church, as if we as Christians are desiring earthly paths instead of heavenly, we may fail to choose God's way and so be ensnared and taken by harmful and likely deadly temptations.
There are particular times when we need the direction of God more than other times. In the time to come this will be especially relevant and pertinent. In the Old Testament, the direction by fire that the Israelites received came in the midst of extremely trying times. They had just fled Egypt, which was literally a 'fleeing for their lives' type circumstance, and only had made it out by the miraculous power of God. They were also experiencing what can only be described as 'fleshly deprivation', with what they saw at the time as only bread from heaven, and water from a rock. In short, their worldly 'comforts' had well and truly been taken away, and they were having to heavily rely on spiritual food to get them through. Similarly, now, and especially in the time to come, we will all need to get more and more used to living off of spiritual food, and spiritual fire by the Holy Spirit (the life and desires produced by the Spirit of God) in order to not only spiritually survive the journey that we will be taking, but also so that will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are being led by the Lord, and not be any stray desires in our hearts. Sometimes we do not know our own hearts until they are put to great tests, and we may, just like the Israelites of old, find that the Egypt of the world has more of a place in our hearts than we realise. For many Christians (including myself), it will be a time when, well and truly, God will take the Egypt of the world out of our hearts, praise God! God didn't give this fire to the Israelites when they were in Egypt, neither did He give them this fire when they were in the promised land, but He gave it to them in a time of severe testing and trial (particularly to the flesh), and so will it be in the time to come. Although we are always given the light of the fire of the Spirit to direct, there are times when God increases the grace of such a thing because the need of it becomes so much greater.
We see similar circumstances of His direction by fire in the New Testament. In Acts 2, the pouring out of the Spirit, symbolised by fire, was also given just after and just before a time of great trial (including persecution). A time just after trial because Jesus had just been crucified, and the disciples scattered under the threat of persecution because of association with Jesus, and a time just before great trial because after the pouring out of the Spirit in Acts 2, persecution broke out against the Church (Acts 8v1). Unfortunately we may see a similar situation in the coming time of trial; when it first comes we may see a 'great falling away', but then thanks be to God, a return of many to the faith because of God's graciousness and mercy, accompanied by a great pouring out of His Spirit, and His Spirit's fire for power and direction for the future trial to come.
For those that don't at all believe that such a time of trouble is coming, I will explain a short dream that I had in the past. In the dream it was shown to me that angels will begin to appear in Churches before this time of persecution comes (news of angels appearing in Churches was in newspapers. I was asked by someone why this was happening and I replied that it was because persecution was coming). So this will be a sign that will confirm what the Lord has revealed to me that is coming, and by that sign people will know that what I've written about concerning coming persecution to God's people is true.
Numbers 9v15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. 23 At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.
Luke 24v49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 2v2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
God's way of direction in our lives, in times of extreme circumstances (especially in the time of trouble to come), is and will be facilitated through us 'being on fire' for Him. In Acts, with Jesus taken from the earth, the disciples had no idea what to do next, all they had was an instruction to wait till they would be 'clothed with power from on high.' This 'power' was symbolised by 'tongues of fire' that separated (seems to imply that it was a whole fire at the start, like the fire over the tabernacle) and rested on each of them. It was from there that their direction, their 'next move' and their next assignment and service for the Lord was revealed, or to put it another way, brought to them (Acts 2v5). This underlines our need to always be in the 'upper room' with the Lord, in order, not just to be lit on fire by Jesus, but also to have it revealed to us what we are to do next, where we are to go next, and also how we are to serve next. Often as Christians we desire for God to point out the exact road we should go, but God is at all times most concerned with our hearts and minds; when these are lit by His Spirit, then whatever path He reveals and directs us too is likely to be the one we chase anyway, as our desires will already be aligned with His. This will be vitally important in the coming time of persecution against the Church, as if we as Christians are desiring earthly paths instead of heavenly, we may fail to choose God's way and so be ensnared and taken by harmful and likely deadly temptations.
There are particular times when we need the direction of God more than other times. In the time to come this will be especially relevant and pertinent. In the Old Testament, the direction by fire that the Israelites received came in the midst of extremely trying times. They had just fled Egypt, which was literally a 'fleeing for their lives' type circumstance, and only had made it out by the miraculous power of God. They were also experiencing what can only be described as 'fleshly deprivation', with what they saw at the time as only bread from heaven, and water from a rock. In short, their worldly 'comforts' had well and truly been taken away, and they were having to heavily rely on spiritual food to get them through. Similarly, now, and especially in the time to come, we will all need to get more and more used to living off of spiritual food, and spiritual fire by the Holy Spirit (the life and desires produced by the Spirit of God) in order to not only spiritually survive the journey that we will be taking, but also so that will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are being led by the Lord, and not be any stray desires in our hearts. Sometimes we do not know our own hearts until they are put to great tests, and we may, just like the Israelites of old, find that the Egypt of the world has more of a place in our hearts than we realise. For many Christians (including myself), it will be a time when, well and truly, God will take the Egypt of the world out of our hearts, praise God! God didn't give this fire to the Israelites when they were in Egypt, neither did He give them this fire when they were in the promised land, but He gave it to them in a time of severe testing and trial (particularly to the flesh), and so will it be in the time to come. Although we are always given the light of the fire of the Spirit to direct, there are times when God increases the grace of such a thing because the need of it becomes so much greater.
We see similar circumstances of His direction by fire in the New Testament. In Acts 2, the pouring out of the Spirit, symbolised by fire, was also given just after and just before a time of great trial (including persecution). A time just after trial because Jesus had just been crucified, and the disciples scattered under the threat of persecution because of association with Jesus, and a time just before great trial because after the pouring out of the Spirit in Acts 2, persecution broke out against the Church (Acts 8v1). Unfortunately we may see a similar situation in the coming time of trial; when it first comes we may see a 'great falling away', but then thanks be to God, a return of many to the faith because of God's graciousness and mercy, accompanied by a great pouring out of His Spirit, and His Spirit's fire for power and direction for the future trial to come.
For those that don't at all believe that such a time of trouble is coming, I will explain a short dream that I had in the past. In the dream it was shown to me that angels will begin to appear in Churches before this time of persecution comes (news of angels appearing in Churches was in newspapers. I was asked by someone why this was happening and I replied that it was because persecution was coming). So this will be a sign that will confirm what the Lord has revealed to me that is coming, and by that sign people will know that what I've written about concerning coming persecution to God's people is true.
Tuesday 26 February 2013
WHO HAS BELIEVED?
Isaiah 53v1:
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Romans 10v16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[h]17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”[i]
It is a deeply troubling thing that often the very people that should believe, that is, the chosen of God, do not believe the things that God speaks about the future. Even the good news of the coming Messiah was rejected by those that Isaiah preached to in the Old Testament (Is 53). It is likely that they rejected it because of the hardness of the message:
Is 53v...2+3: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
The messengers that God sends are likewise held in low esteem, and the message that they hold from the Lord, that offers good news of salvation if accepted, is likewise rejected because of how they and the message itself appears. 99% of the time the Bible shows us that the prophetic message is ignored and rejected:
Luke 4v24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Just as it was in the Old Testament, where just about everyone rejected Elijah's message, so is it in the New quite simply because people refuse to accept the reality of such things. There were many that would've benefited from the ministry of Elijah in his day; both hungry, starving and dying, and many that were sick, but to only two was he sent because EVERYONE ELSE rejected him (but really not him but God). So it is now. Barely anyone has read the posts I've put up, barely more than two, so it seems that nothing has changed in that regard.
In the New Testament in 1 Thess 5v9 it is written; 'Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.' But not only is prophecy held in contempt, even worse, it is ignored!
In the Romans scripture above, it says that faith comes from hearing the message of Christ. But it only comes by hearing it if you allow yourself to be open to it. The Lord is now speaking of things to come, so the question is who is hearing? Who is storing up as it were, stores of faith for the coming times? But also, how many are choosing to ignore the message of the Lord right now? It is likely that it is more than 99% of people out in facebook land are in that category. But in my heart of hearts, I really hope that's not the case. If there are those out there that are in that category, please pray and ask that the Lord would confirm these messages about the future, because He is faithful and He will confirm His Word.
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Romans 10v16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[h]17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”[i]
It is a deeply troubling thing that often the very people that should believe, that is, the chosen of God, do not believe the things that God speaks about the future. Even the good news of the coming Messiah was rejected by those that Isaiah preached to in the Old Testament (Is 53). It is likely that they rejected it because of the hardness of the message:
Is 53v...2+3: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
The messengers that God sends are likewise held in low esteem, and the message that they hold from the Lord, that offers good news of salvation if accepted, is likewise rejected because of how they and the message itself appears. 99% of the time the Bible shows us that the prophetic message is ignored and rejected:
Luke 4v24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Just as it was in the Old Testament, where just about everyone rejected Elijah's message, so is it in the New quite simply because people refuse to accept the reality of such things. There were many that would've benefited from the ministry of Elijah in his day; both hungry, starving and dying, and many that were sick, but to only two was he sent because EVERYONE ELSE rejected him (but really not him but God). So it is now. Barely anyone has read the posts I've put up, barely more than two, so it seems that nothing has changed in that regard.
In the New Testament in 1 Thess 5v9 it is written; 'Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.' But not only is prophecy held in contempt, even worse, it is ignored!
In the Romans scripture above, it says that faith comes from hearing the message of Christ. But it only comes by hearing it if you allow yourself to be open to it. The Lord is now speaking of things to come, so the question is who is hearing? Who is storing up as it were, stores of faith for the coming times? But also, how many are choosing to ignore the message of the Lord right now? It is likely that it is more than 99% of people out in facebook land are in that category. But in my heart of hearts, I really hope that's not the case. If there are those out there that are in that category, please pray and ask that the Lord would confirm these messages about the future, because He is faithful and He will confirm His Word.
Monday 25 February 2013
AGAINST ALL ODDS: GOD'S PROTECTION IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE TO COME
Seeing as trouble is already increasing in the world, and will continue till a great time of trouble, including terrorism and a great war in the future, it seems common sense to talk about the supernatural protection that God will give to His people, and what the nature of that protection will often look like and what circumstances will usually surround such protection.
In the book of Matthew, at the beginning, we see such supernatural protection of God surrounding the baby of Jesus Christ. What still stands as being so amazing is the fact that, despite what was 'conceived of the Holy Spirit' (Matt 1v20) was so small and weak in terms of the body, that body of Jesus was protected in such miraculous ways, both small and large. From the outset, Jesus was a marked man; 'When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.' However, a simple dream from God protected Jesus from the outset; v12: 'And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.' Because there will be a great outpouring of His Spirit in the days to come (revealed to me via a vision), which will mean a great display of His glory and His power, there will also be a great persecution of Christians that accompany it (Acts 5v12-20). But rather than be afraid, this will be a great opportunity for God to display His wonderful care of His people. With Jesus, a simple dream given to men of God meant that the powerful Herod could do nothing to the seemingly helpless baby Jesus. And so it will be in the time to come; God will, on-mass, protect His 'seemingly' helpless Church in supernatural and yet relatively simple ways, including through dreams and simple directions. (*Note: There will also be those that face hard persecutions and death, but God will be with them also, and will make those things possible to bare by His grace). Though the Church will seem to be much overmatched by the power of the persecutors, that will mean nothing to an all-powerful God, who will keep us despite seemingly overwhelming odds.
Secondly, the protection of God will appear to be a 'close-thing,' but it will also be constant and relentless. What is meant by this is that it will appear like God's protection will only just keep HIs peoples' lives, as they will be surrounded by trouble and threats (Psalm 23v5: 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.'), and it will seem like they only just escape trouble. It was only just before Herod gave an edict to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity (Matt 2v16), that God gave Joseph a dream in which an angel spoke to him: "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." (Matt 2v...13). The word 'escape' which means to 'break free,' reinforces the idea that there was a very fine line between the place of safety and the place of trouble, but again, God was faithful. The escape was also by night (Matt 2v14), which shows that Joseph also had to be secretive and crafty about the escape, using his own wits as well as God's direction in order to stay safe.
Verse 19-21 is also very interesting in showing just how close a thing Joseph and Mary's escape was. At first they are told to flee from Egypt to Israel by an angel in a dream, but then, because further danger arose in Judea, they were warned again in a dream (v21) to go to Galilee, in the town of Nazareth. This shows that God's people will need to be extremely sensitive to the Spirit, and the Spirit's way of talking to His people in the coming time (although it will be fairly obvious if you know the clear ways God speaks). Although these escapes from trouble will be a close thing, they will also be a divinely ordained definite thing: v23 ...'and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
More to come in part 2 God willing :)
Saturday 23 February 2013
RELEGATION AND THE COMING STORM
No doubt I've well and truly now been relegated to the 'those Christians we don't speak about' category. I've posted enough about the hard times coming to ensure that friends will always be pretty tough to find from now on (even the facebook kind ;), but funnily enough that doesn't change much, because what's going to happen is still going to happen, and the hard times that are presently starting(on a somewhat small scale) and that the Lord has been warning about for a while will be escalating more and more from now on. And more than ever I find the Lord wanting me to talk about such things, so whether I want to or not (ps I'm not looking forward to hard times either!) I am compelled to continue to talk about them, and so ensure my continued 'popularity'...cough.... But whether I am accepted or not makes no difference, the Lord is concerned for His people, and thank God that love and concern will continue!
For those that have skilfully avoided reading my posts for whatever reason, I would encourage to read about the things the Lord has revealed to me on my blog 'Making Straight His Paths.' This is not because I am anything special, on the contrary, all I am is a sinner saved by grace! but simply because they hopefully will prepare you for the days ahead, both in this country, and around the world. Before Jesus went to the cross the Word says that he 'steadfastly set his face,' and we as Christians must gain the same kind of resolve for the days ahead. Jesus gained such a resolve because He knew what He was about to face, and graciously, the Lord is revealing some of those things of the future so that we may be able to do the same in the coming times.
Though I hesitate to share the following, I feel like I must. Around a year or so ago I have received a dream which seemed to indicate that the Antichrist will make his appearance in the years to come. In one dream I saw a man with the number 666 on him, and I heard, 'say goodbye to the game of thrones.' This seemed to indicate that in the years to come, the Antichrist will do away with the game of thrones that has been going on worldwide, and we will finally see what has been prophesied in the book of Revelation come to pass. It seems like, just as Bible teachers have said, that there will be a one world government in the coming days (though the one world government is just a guess of mine)
The storms and judgments that are on their way will make the world tremble, but the people of God who are truly His people will find refuge in Him, and will do great things in His name. It is not just a time of sorrow that is coming, but a time of great revival and of seeing the great power of our God.
It is a time more than ever where the Lord is calling us to 'watch,' and He will be faithful to ensure that His people do just that.
-Tim
For those that have skilfully avoided reading my posts for whatever reason, I would encourage to read about the things the Lord has revealed to me on my blog 'Making Straight His Paths.' This is not because I am anything special, on the contrary, all I am is a sinner saved by grace! but simply because they hopefully will prepare you for the days ahead, both in this country, and around the world. Before Jesus went to the cross the Word says that he 'steadfastly set his face,' and we as Christians must gain the same kind of resolve for the days ahead. Jesus gained such a resolve because He knew what He was about to face, and graciously, the Lord is revealing some of those things of the future so that we may be able to do the same in the coming times.
Though I hesitate to share the following, I feel like I must. Around a year or so ago I have received a dream which seemed to indicate that the Antichrist will make his appearance in the years to come. In one dream I saw a man with the number 666 on him, and I heard, 'say goodbye to the game of thrones.' This seemed to indicate that in the years to come, the Antichrist will do away with the game of thrones that has been going on worldwide, and we will finally see what has been prophesied in the book of Revelation come to pass. It seems like, just as Bible teachers have said, that there will be a one world government in the coming days (though the one world government is just a guess of mine)
The storms and judgments that are on their way will make the world tremble, but the people of God who are truly His people will find refuge in Him, and will do great things in His name. It is not just a time of sorrow that is coming, but a time of great revival and of seeing the great power of our God.
It is a time more than ever where the Lord is calling us to 'watch,' and He will be faithful to ensure that His people do just that.
-Tim
Saturday 16 February 2013
IMAGE IS EVERYTHING
Our duty as individual Christians and the Church is to reflect the image of Jesus. To do this we reflect those things He desires: love, kindness, patience, justice, humility etc.. To therefore reflect Him as anything else, especially as those things the world loves: pride, appearance, gain, position, riches, is to represent Him as something He is not. The world is more and more gaining the impression that Christians are just like themselves; those that love the world and everything in it, simply because of the fact that they are building great palaces they are calling 'Churches', and are SHOWING, despite their fine sounding words, that they do love what the world loves.
Image is so important to God, and most Churches in the West are now being extremely CARELESS with what image of Christ that they are presenting to the world. God was very careful with the image of Godliness that He presented to the world, and that image was Jesus Himself. How did God present Him? Lowly and in a way that there was nothing of His outward appearance that we should desire Him. How did He present His servants? The Apostle Paul said- 'For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.' (1 Cor 4v9). As individuals and as a Church must learn and hold this lesson dear to our hearts, for in Christ and His servants we see what God desired for His Church this side of eternity- that His glory might be seen in the fruits of the Spirit and His power, and not in outward appearance. God is very interested in showing the world the DIFFERENCE between life and death, and the fact that life comes from the life within us, and not the outward life of the flesh. If God was so jealous for and protective of His image, we must be as well.
Wednesday 13 February 2013
DIE ANOTHER DAY
A title that's sure to want to make people to read, I know! haha. So if you're reading into this post this far, it may be a good indication of if you really love truth or not, no matter how intense truth gets! That being said, I feel like a word has been on my heart that is quite important in this hour we are in, and we are about to face.
Years ago I had a conversation with a man that came to fix my family's internet. I'll never forget the subject of what was said there. The conversation centred around the issue of strength and temptation, and as we were talking about scripture to do with this subject, the man said something to the effect of, 'You never know where you're truly at until you're tested with something extremely difficult. And you'll never truly know what you'd do in any situation until you experience it.' It rang so true for me personally, because the Lord had showed me my own weakness (and continued to, and has continued to to this day), and had given me my very own 'thorn in the flesh' so to speak (I daily struggle with my breathing, even to this day), to reveal just how weak I was. Before that, I was absolutely convinced that I was a strong Christian and that nothing could move me, and while I verbally said that it was the 'grace of God' that gave it to me, I think in my heart of hearts God knew that I ascribed a lot of it to myself. Thanks be to the Lord that He has been so gracious and continues to be gracious to me, and will continue to be gracious to all of us. He never expects us to be sinless, but to walk according to the grace given us. But we must be aware that we are all extremely weak without great dependance upon Him, because the times are coming when we will know this in a most extreme and acute manner.
I mention the above for the following very specific reason: God has shown me, through the Word, through dreams, visions and prophecy that EXTREMELY HARD TIMES ARE COMING. Let me repeat that by rephrasing for effect; times are coming that will make men's hearts shake for fear, and without God, men will despair in the most extreme degree. When times are easy, we all think we are very strong in the grace of God, after all, there seems very little that we have to strive for, very little we have to resist, very little we have to battle, very little we have to concern ourselves with, but when hard times come, all those things seem to be reversed, and those things we face are in times of peace and prosperity! Those things we face are in a land that at the moment welcomes us, and accepts us, a land where we are not outcast and persecuted, and a day where we experience outward prosperity in the extreme. But a time is coming when God has shown me that war is coming; America will be attacked, and Australia will go to help them in that war (the Lord has shown me this in dreams). This will not be a small war. Let me repeat, THIS WILL NOT BE A SMALL WAR. We are talking MAJOR WAR. A time of great sorrow is coming, and we must prepare ourselves; we must WATCH and PRAY lest we enter what we never thought that we would enter. Jesus knew the true strength of His disciples, and He knows our true strength is small too (in fact our strength is absolute '-100' without Him), so these must be the days where we are fully warned, and fully prepared.
If you think I'm full of it, remember that the Lord has already fulfilled the dreams and vision I received about extreme fires and storms that were to come upon Australia- and they already have. I had no idea about such things, but God knew, and He loves His people enough to warn them, and to show them that these things of prophecy are true, and that we need to pay attention to them.
War, fire and storms are not the only things that are coming. Worldwide terrorism is about to come, on a scale equal to that which happened on September 11, 2001 in America. This will not just happen in one or two countries, but many countries around the world. Sydney will experience destruction through storms and what could be tornados on a scale that will equal absolute obliteration in the city areas. Asteroids, or asteroid fragments will fall to earth in the future, and these things will be visible to the naked eye. In a dream I've seen much judgment and destruction coming to the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast region, and many types of destruction and judgment. The world is already experiencing great disturbances, destruction and judgment to a great degree, and these things will continue to intensify. Even the world knows things are getting worse and worse, and while they are trying at least to explain them, the Church in the main seems to be ignoring these things as best they can. It's human nature not to want to 'watch' what is going on, but Jesus said we must. Most people would've stopped reading this post a few lines in, for the very fact that no one really wants to give their attention to something which will make them sad and that will cause them grief. But, as we know, sadness is a reality of life and so is grief, and we must face these things we like it or not, and we each act like spiritual children to only want to know those things which make us feel good, when those things which will make us feel extremely sorrowful in the days to come will try to rob us of our faith and love of Jesus Christ.
I don't write any of these things so that anyone should fear, God is our refuge and our strength- He is our deliverer, and He is faithful, merciful and gracious- He will keep His people in His grace, even as they keep themselves by the grace given them. Glorious times are also coming; times of a great outpouring of His Spirit. I received a vision recently in which the Lord showed me that He will once again fulfil the Acts 2 scripture where it says, 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.' (Acts 2v17). I have already been blessed to witness such things through others, and soon many will see the awesome power of our Lord and Saviour in incredibly awesome ways; for His grace will abound in the days to come, and His mercy and favour will be poured out in incredible degrees.
So we come back to the title of the post: 'Die another day.' There is a type of death we must all face now; a death to self and a taking up of our cross in a day of outward prosperity and peace. But there is a another day coming where we must die to a degree and an extreme that we have never faced before. We cannot presume that we will be strong in that day, conversely that we will be extremely weak in ourselves. We must be prepared to face the reality of our spiritual situation, just as Peter had to face up to His when the time of great testing, trial and death came to him. God's grace will be there for us in that day- through triumph and failure if we do fail, but if possible, as much as we can, let us all 'watch and pray,' lest we enter the temptation of failure and allow ourselves to flee from Christ. His grace is sufficient, but it is as sufficient and needful in the time of preparation as it will be in the time of great trial and sorrow; and both seasons have their needful place in our lives, and both seasons are given their purpose by the Lord. To listen to the Lord now concerning these things is to receive a type of grace now that is intended to fortify us and strengthen us for the times to come. And all the grace, preparation and strength is very needful for what is coming.
Years ago I had a conversation with a man that came to fix my family's internet. I'll never forget the subject of what was said there. The conversation centred around the issue of strength and temptation, and as we were talking about scripture to do with this subject, the man said something to the effect of, 'You never know where you're truly at until you're tested with something extremely difficult. And you'll never truly know what you'd do in any situation until you experience it.' It rang so true for me personally, because the Lord had showed me my own weakness (and continued to, and has continued to to this day), and had given me my very own 'thorn in the flesh' so to speak (I daily struggle with my breathing, even to this day), to reveal just how weak I was. Before that, I was absolutely convinced that I was a strong Christian and that nothing could move me, and while I verbally said that it was the 'grace of God' that gave it to me, I think in my heart of hearts God knew that I ascribed a lot of it to myself. Thanks be to the Lord that He has been so gracious and continues to be gracious to me, and will continue to be gracious to all of us. He never expects us to be sinless, but to walk according to the grace given us. But we must be aware that we are all extremely weak without great dependance upon Him, because the times are coming when we will know this in a most extreme and acute manner.
I mention the above for the following very specific reason: God has shown me, through the Word, through dreams, visions and prophecy that EXTREMELY HARD TIMES ARE COMING. Let me repeat that by rephrasing for effect; times are coming that will make men's hearts shake for fear, and without God, men will despair in the most extreme degree. When times are easy, we all think we are very strong in the grace of God, after all, there seems very little that we have to strive for, very little we have to resist, very little we have to battle, very little we have to concern ourselves with, but when hard times come, all those things seem to be reversed, and those things we face are in times of peace and prosperity! Those things we face are in a land that at the moment welcomes us, and accepts us, a land where we are not outcast and persecuted, and a day where we experience outward prosperity in the extreme. But a time is coming when God has shown me that war is coming; America will be attacked, and Australia will go to help them in that war (the Lord has shown me this in dreams). This will not be a small war. Let me repeat, THIS WILL NOT BE A SMALL WAR. We are talking MAJOR WAR. A time of great sorrow is coming, and we must prepare ourselves; we must WATCH and PRAY lest we enter what we never thought that we would enter. Jesus knew the true strength of His disciples, and He knows our true strength is small too (in fact our strength is absolute '-100' without Him), so these must be the days where we are fully warned, and fully prepared.
If you think I'm full of it, remember that the Lord has already fulfilled the dreams and vision I received about extreme fires and storms that were to come upon Australia- and they already have. I had no idea about such things, but God knew, and He loves His people enough to warn them, and to show them that these things of prophecy are true, and that we need to pay attention to them.
War, fire and storms are not the only things that are coming. Worldwide terrorism is about to come, on a scale equal to that which happened on September 11, 2001 in America. This will not just happen in one or two countries, but many countries around the world. Sydney will experience destruction through storms and what could be tornados on a scale that will equal absolute obliteration in the city areas. Asteroids, or asteroid fragments will fall to earth in the future, and these things will be visible to the naked eye. In a dream I've seen much judgment and destruction coming to the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast region, and many types of destruction and judgment. The world is already experiencing great disturbances, destruction and judgment to a great degree, and these things will continue to intensify. Even the world knows things are getting worse and worse, and while they are trying at least to explain them, the Church in the main seems to be ignoring these things as best they can. It's human nature not to want to 'watch' what is going on, but Jesus said we must. Most people would've stopped reading this post a few lines in, for the very fact that no one really wants to give their attention to something which will make them sad and that will cause them grief. But, as we know, sadness is a reality of life and so is grief, and we must face these things we like it or not, and we each act like spiritual children to only want to know those things which make us feel good, when those things which will make us feel extremely sorrowful in the days to come will try to rob us of our faith and love of Jesus Christ.
I don't write any of these things so that anyone should fear, God is our refuge and our strength- He is our deliverer, and He is faithful, merciful and gracious- He will keep His people in His grace, even as they keep themselves by the grace given them. Glorious times are also coming; times of a great outpouring of His Spirit. I received a vision recently in which the Lord showed me that He will once again fulfil the Acts 2 scripture where it says, 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.' (Acts 2v17). I have already been blessed to witness such things through others, and soon many will see the awesome power of our Lord and Saviour in incredibly awesome ways; for His grace will abound in the days to come, and His mercy and favour will be poured out in incredible degrees.
So we come back to the title of the post: 'Die another day.' There is a type of death we must all face now; a death to self and a taking up of our cross in a day of outward prosperity and peace. But there is a another day coming where we must die to a degree and an extreme that we have never faced before. We cannot presume that we will be strong in that day, conversely that we will be extremely weak in ourselves. We must be prepared to face the reality of our spiritual situation, just as Peter had to face up to His when the time of great testing, trial and death came to him. God's grace will be there for us in that day- through triumph and failure if we do fail, but if possible, as much as we can, let us all 'watch and pray,' lest we enter the temptation of failure and allow ourselves to flee from Christ. His grace is sufficient, but it is as sufficient and needful in the time of preparation as it will be in the time of great trial and sorrow; and both seasons have their needful place in our lives, and both seasons are given their purpose by the Lord. To listen to the Lord now concerning these things is to receive a type of grace now that is intended to fortify us and strengthen us for the times to come. And all the grace, preparation and strength is very needful for what is coming.
Friday 8 February 2013
Give what you have
Sometimes we only think that we have a small bit of anything to give, especially spiritually. But amazingly, it seems to be that the Lord is especially interested in those that have what they see as 'tiny' and 'small' spiritually to actually give it. Those people aren't interested in themselves or being known, but they are WILLING to give if it will help others, even in the smallest of ways. However, they don't step forward because they honestly don't believe what they have can possibly be used by THE KING for good and for filling those around them; the family of God, and even those that are close to the Kingdom. This is seen in the Word in the story of the loaves and fishes:
John 6v8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
Interestingly it was one of the disciples that noticed what the boy had to offer. No matter how young someone may be, no matter how unnoticed by others, or seemingly unimportant and inconsequential, Jesus is interested in such people feeding the small group they see, so that He can feed the MASSIVE group that ONLY HE SEES. In the disciples mind and most probably in the boy's mind, what he had was only for a few, but Jesus had other ideas. Jesus isn't that interested in what you think will happen, or the fact that, in your mind, what you have is so limiting, He is interested in what He has given you being used. He loves His people being in a place where they are acutely aware that they are extremely weak and extremely unable, not to make them feel bad, but so that they'll have a front row seat to watching what Jesus does with the very small thing we have. Being willing to give is often the first step in being one that has a front row seat to the miracle working power of our Lord.
Funnily enough, when thinking about the situation that brought about such massive feeding, it probably would've been as chaotic and as seemingly random a situation as you often find on facebook. People sat everywhere that day in all different groups, families and no doubt the pattern of people on the ground was as vast and mixed up as possible. People would've been talking amongst themselves, talking to other groups, over other groups; talking to others and across others; running from one place to the other talking about Jesus, and then talking about anything and everything else under the sun. To an ignorant observer, it would've seemed the worst place for Jesus to feed men and to work a miracle, but to Him it was perfect! All Jesus ever does is come down in the midst of a hopeless, hapless, helpless and often shepherd-less generation and work His love, His giving and His leadership. In the midst of this very ordinary and chaotic setting, Jesus fed a multitude from the small piece of food that a young boy had- so how much can Jesus feed others from the seemingly insignificant small piece you have! The answer is that not only can He feed a multitude because of His Spirit and the multiplication that He gives through His power alone, but unbeknown to you there will be BASKETFULS left over that He can use as well. If a SINGLE cup of water won't lose its reward in heaven, you can be sure that the grace we have been given in what we have to give will be rewarded by the grace in rewards that is to come. All we need is a willing heart, and an obedient heart to give when the master asks us to give. He is asking now, who will answer the call?
John 6v8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
Interestingly it was one of the disciples that noticed what the boy had to offer. No matter how young someone may be, no matter how unnoticed by others, or seemingly unimportant and inconsequential, Jesus is interested in such people feeding the small group they see, so that He can feed the MASSIVE group that ONLY HE SEES. In the disciples mind and most probably in the boy's mind, what he had was only for a few, but Jesus had other ideas. Jesus isn't that interested in what you think will happen, or the fact that, in your mind, what you have is so limiting, He is interested in what He has given you being used. He loves His people being in a place where they are acutely aware that they are extremely weak and extremely unable, not to make them feel bad, but so that they'll have a front row seat to watching what Jesus does with the very small thing we have. Being willing to give is often the first step in being one that has a front row seat to the miracle working power of our Lord.
Funnily enough, when thinking about the situation that brought about such massive feeding, it probably would've been as chaotic and as seemingly random a situation as you often find on facebook. People sat everywhere that day in all different groups, families and no doubt the pattern of people on the ground was as vast and mixed up as possible. People would've been talking amongst themselves, talking to other groups, over other groups; talking to others and across others; running from one place to the other talking about Jesus, and then talking about anything and everything else under the sun. To an ignorant observer, it would've seemed the worst place for Jesus to feed men and to work a miracle, but to Him it was perfect! All Jesus ever does is come down in the midst of a hopeless, hapless, helpless and often shepherd-less generation and work His love, His giving and His leadership. In the midst of this very ordinary and chaotic setting, Jesus fed a multitude from the small piece of food that a young boy had- so how much can Jesus feed others from the seemingly insignificant small piece you have! The answer is that not only can He feed a multitude because of His Spirit and the multiplication that He gives through His power alone, but unbeknown to you there will be BASKETFULS left over that He can use as well. If a SINGLE cup of water won't lose its reward in heaven, you can be sure that the grace we have been given in what we have to give will be rewarded by the grace in rewards that is to come. All we need is a willing heart, and an obedient heart to give when the master asks us to give. He is asking now, who will answer the call?
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