Another week has past and we are officially through the summer of 2010. Do you notice the leaves beginning to change their color and starting to fall like little paratroopers from their homes high above? The sweaters are starting to come out from the back closet and surprise, surprise; many are beginning to complain of the chill in the night air. Watch how quickly the next three months go by, as they do every year; and as the year comes to an abrupt end so we will hear these same words, where did the year go, it went by so fast.
As we naturally look ahead this time of year for Christmas to pounce on us (I know some who are already preparing for it), why not take a moment to ponder on what you did with the last two weeks? Have you taken the time over this past week or two, to begin to cultivate a heart that is able to produce a greater abundance of understanding into God’s word? I bet you thought I was asking you to recall how many year end barbeques you attended, or how many times you took the kids to the summer end fair in your area? Nope; this is not ‘the community journal’ but ‘the logos revealer.’ Maybe you took the time and prayed your heavenly Father would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you can begin to get to know him more than what you do now? We must take care of our relationship with him you know, or we will be ineffective to minister to others. Besides, who does not want to know more and more about the one they claim to love?
Do you recall me saying that spending time with Jesus like Peter, John, James and the rest did, will produce a heart of understanding of the word of the Father? If you just said, we could not forget, you have said it over and over; then I know you are reading my posts (I feel like breaking out in a chorus or two of; hallelujah, Jesus is alive…). It is just as important that your heart function in wisdom and revelation, so you may have knowledge of the Father and his plan, not only for you personally but for the Body of Christ as a whole. This is one of the problems the church faces today, many do not know God’s plan, because they really do not know him as we have been given the potential, and there are reasons for this disrespect, not excuses. Yes, there are individuals in the Body who are gradually achieving knowledge of God and his plan for the church, but Christ’s desire is that we all do. His desire is that not even one of his sheep be lacking in knowledge of his Father. God deserves that we glorify him. Do you know what glorifying God means? It means to honor, magnify and lift him up. It means to esteem his person, holding him as having great worth or value to your life. This is more then just lip service when the emotion part of your soul is stirred up, but it is going after him with all your spirit, soul and body to gain as much knowledge of his person and his desires as you possibly can. And you do this only through his word, because that is how he reveals himself to us. That is why we must receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation. It is a spirit of ignorance when a person calls on God to come down and reveal himself to us, because all the revealing he is going to do, for now, is in the Old and New Testaments.
I sure hope you are fixing your eyes on Jesus and growing in knowledge, or the mysteries of God’s word and an understanding of his plan for the ages, will be a little difficult for you to comprehend. It is so important you spend time with Jesus, reading and meditating on his word so you can hear what he is saying, and so your heart can beat like his heart (I heard a young lady pray this latter part at pre-service prayer). Do you know that if you want to make your journey prosperous and have success in your life, you need to meditate in the word day and night, and have the word in your mouth always? (See Joshua 1:8) It is likewise important to be always praying, especially in the Spirit, as we get nearer to the end of the church age (See Ephesians 6:18). You see how fast this year is slipping by and the trees are already telling us to prepare for winter. When you begin to have a greater knowledge of the Father and what he is saying, you will then realize how much nearer the church is to being taken up by the Lord.
If any born-again believer does not see or believe that the coming of the Lord is sooner then we think it is one of two things. They either have not been taught it, which is the most likely reason, because many who are suppose to be feeding God’s house this information are not doing it. (On that point let me say quickly to the kingdom officers who have been appointed this very important responsibility: You my brothers will have no excuse for not doing as the Lord has instructed. I will show you his instructions, from Scripture, what you are suppose to be feeding the house of God in this generation, in later posts). Or, the reason some born-again believers cannot see or believe that the coming of the Lord is right at the door is because they refuse to believe it. This latter reason is a very sad position to be in. This position is like the woman who is betrothed to her bridegroom and she is not looking for him anytime soon, because she is trying to hold onto the single life as long as she can. Ladies, have you ever known a woman like this? A woman who is engaged to be married but she acts like she is not. I have, and they are very irresponsible femelle (females).
Wow, that last paragraph made my forehead sweat. What about yours? Okay now, are you ready to get radical, as the saying goes? I could have said, let’s get ready to rumble, but I think that term is used to get ready to wrestle. But when I think about it, it is a fight, the good fight of faith. So I will stay with my latter analogy. Okay now, are you ready to rumble? From now on you are going to have to crank up your spiritual eyes and ears, and kick into gear your spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you can have a clear window into the revelation of God that I am going to share.
Can you remember back to my very first blog, and what I said was the primary reason for my postings? The reason is to reveal how close we are to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem Israel, and put an end to her sins, so the nation can live righteous before her God. Everyone who has been saved by the grace of God should want this passionately. Do you have a love for Israel? Israel, for the time being, is suffering a partial hardening for the Gentiles sake: “For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Yisra'el, until the fullness of the Goyim has come in” (Romans 11:25, HNV).
Yes there are many people from the tribe of Israel receiving Jesus as their Messiah from the day the church began (but not as many as I would like), that is why it is a partial hardening, or none from the tribe could be saved right now. But all Israel will be saved, as Paul preaches in verses twenty six and twenty seven of the previous text shown, but this will not happen until the second coming of Christ. This is when Israel will anoint Jesus as their Messiah King. The revelation of this is from a prophecy given to Daniel delivered by the angel Gabriel: “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy” (Daniel 9:24, HNV). Can you see why it is important to pray for the will of the Lord to quickly come to pass: “He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.” Amein! Yes, come, Lord Yeshua” (Revelation 22:20, HNV). The Apostle Paul’s desire for all Israel to be saved was so strong, but he knew that before this event could happen, the church would have to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air prior to Israel anointing Jesus. Paul made this statement in First Corinthians: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22, NKJ).
These postings will reveal through the word of God, how soon the Body of Christ is to being lifted out of this physical realm likewise the second coming. This is known as the Catching Away (rapture) of those who are abiding in Christ Jesus: “But we don't want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don't grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so those who have fallen asleep in Yeshua will God bring with him. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief angel, and with God's shofar. The dead in Messiah will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, HNV).
I know this end time doctrine is not a very popular teaching in most places of worship these days. The reason for its unpopularity can be attributed to many things, but I believe the primary reason may be is the church has stumbled along in this generation with their spiritual eyes and ears turned off, plus it has not functioned with a spirit of wisdom and revelation. When these spiritual elements are not at work the Christian has very little comprehension of the mysteries of God. They have no idea what his will is for Israel or the church of Jesus Christ. The signs Christ gave that would precede his coming to redeem Israel are sticking out like a sore thumb in this world today, but most believers cannot see them or just plain refuse to acknowledge them. This is likely one of the major reasons why so many are falling away from faith in Jesus Christ, because they are ignorant to the mysteries, therefore they have little interest in God’s plan for his new creation and his chosen Yisra'el.
It is no coincident that in this generation more are falling away from their salvation in Christ than possibly ever before. Paul wrote this to his associate in the ministry, Timothy: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2, KJV). The Greek word Paul used that most English Bibles translate ‘some’ is a pronoun indicating a number that was not precisely determined through revelation. In other words, Paul had no idea at the time of his letter to Timothy, how any would fall away from Christ in the latter times, because the Holy Spirit did not reveal a number to him. But we know that ever since Israel became a nation once again, there have been numerous fellowships, denominations and even many individuals that once served the Lord with boldness, have fallen out of the kingdom, even denying that Jesus is the only way to the Father. The phrase ‘latter times’ means the last portion of the church age, which we have been in since Israel’s rebirth.
Paul also wrote to the Thessalonians that before the coming of the Lord to gather his people to himself, there would be the same falling away: “Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3a, HNV).
My point is, that prior to the Lord coming to receive us unto himself out of this third dimension by a literal physical grabbing action, there has to be a reason why so many would depart from him. So as I said; my assumptions are that because of a lack of knowledge of the Father and his plans for the church and a simple lack of comprehension into the word of God, people hearts are just not into the Lord. The Pastor, who shepherds the Lords sheep at the place of worship where I attend, said one time a man told him that the Christian life is boring. This mans heart is surely not into the Lord (although I hope this man has repented by now) for him to make that judgment. People who fall away from the faith, is a result of a lack of dedication to the Lord. They do not bear fruit because they do not abide in him or his word (See John 15:1-8).
Beginning next week, if the Lord wills, I will start to reveal why this is the generation that Jesus will come and completely fulfill the Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy (because part of it has come to pass already), and prior to that receive his bride unto himself. This generation by the way, includes those who witnessed Israel’s rebirth way back in 1948. By generation I am not referring to a specific number of years, like twenty or forty years, that constitutes a generation. No this is not what I am referring to. But what I am referring to is a group of people who live contemporaneously, or who are living at the same point in time. And this group, or generation of people who I am referring to, are the people who witnessed the rebirth of Israel in May 1948.
