What's Happening in the World Today...

I've been starting to stress a bit about getting a new post put up but I don't want to write for the sake of writing. I want to have something that I feel the Lord would like me to put up here. Not just empty words.
I feel the Lord laid something on my heart yesterday while I was at work. So, here it goes....
I feel that I should make a comment on what has been going on with earthquakes and such over the last little while... New Zealand and Japan, being the latest hit.

Here's the 24th chapter of the book of Matthew.

¹ As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. ² But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

 ³ Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?^[a]”

 ⁴ Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, ⁵ for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. ⁷ Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. ⁸ But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

 ⁹ “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.^[b] 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. ¹¹ And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. ¹² Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations^[c] will hear it; and then the end will come.

 ¹⁵ “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration^[d] standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) ¹⁶ “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. ¹⁷ A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. ¹⁸ A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. ¹⁹How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. ²⁰ And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. ²² In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

 ²³ “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²⁵ See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.

 ²⁶ “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! ²⁷ For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man^[e]comes. ²⁸ Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.^[f]

 ²⁹ “Immediately after the anguish of those days,

   the sun will be darkened,
      the moon will give no light,
   the stars will fall from the sky,
      and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.^[g]

 ³⁰ And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.^[h] 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world^[i]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

 ³² “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. ³⁴ I tell you the truth, this generation^[j] will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

 ³⁶ “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.^[k] Only the Father knows.

 ³⁷ “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. ³⁸ In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. ³⁹ People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

 ⁴⁰ “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.

 ⁴² “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

 ⁴⁵ “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. ⁴⁶ If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. ⁴⁸ But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? ⁵⁰ The master will return unannounced and unexpected, ⁵¹ and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this passage of Scripture Jesus tells us what it will look like in the times before His second coming. I can promise you one thing... it will happen exactly the way He said that it will. I know many in pentecostal/charismatic traditions who, when they hear of economic upheaval or the world turning upside down respond by saying that they don't believe those things. They say that God, being a good God (and He is, make no doubt, however as good as He is, He is equally Holy), would never allow such a thing, only blessing all the time. 

Don't be mislead. Jesus' return will happen just the way He said it would... and every day leads us closer, now.

Are these earthquakes and disasters God's judgement?

First of all, God is not particularly angry at Japan or New Zealand. However, imagine for a moment that you gave you child an expensive gift for Christmas or for their birthday. As soon as they freed it from the wrapping paper they threw it on the floor and shattered it into a thousand pieces without taking a second to so much as say, thank you. Would you be upset?  

In the book of Genesis we see God creating all... the earth, the creatures of the sea land and sky... everything! Then he gave dominion to man. In other words He told man to rule here for Him... as representatives of Heaven... like ambassadors or governors. Then we plunged it all into sin.

Since that day all our ingenuity has been used to rob, pillage and plunder God's creation in a fruitless effort to satisfy our greed and lust. So, many of our inventions are eventually used to kill one another or to profit a tiny handful at the expense of the masses.

The laws, principals and precepts that God has given to us through His Word (the Bible) are not given to spoil our fun. Laws concerning generosity and showing love to one another (for example) are laws that, not only bless us by making our lives richer, but also maintain the fabric of creation.

In Romans 8:18-20 it says," ¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."

This passage says that Adam subjected all of creation under the law of sin when he rebelled against God. Now all of creation waits, groaning under the burden of the law of sin until God restores all things.

Creation is groaning under the load of our rebellion. By living for ourselves and rejecting God's way of doing things we are tearing at the fabric of creation.

The Bible says that the last days before the second coming of Jesus the world would be as it was in the days of Noah. The story of Noah's day tell of how lawless the people were and finally they were destroyed in a flood that covered the whole earth. Today lawlessness is running rampant in the world. We live for ourselves, driven by greed and lust for power... for whatever reason mankind seems driven to have control over one another. Now, just as in Noah's day, when the sin of mankind tore at the fabric of creation until it all came crashing in, our sin is tearing at creation and things like the earthquakes we have been witnessing are but one result.

Just as it says in Matthew chapter 24 it will get worse rather then better until Jesus returns. Things are going to continue to happen in areas all over the world, earthquakes, storms, droughts all resulting in economic upheaval and eventual collapse (the systems that are now in place have to be removed so that the end time system the Bible foretells, one world government, economic system and religion, can take its place).

However, God will take care of His people. Just like He had a place for Elijah to retreat to during the years of drought in Israel, where He provided food and water for him. So, will He have places of retreat for His people all over the world. There He will provide for them... So, don't live in fear of the things that are happening or of the things to come. Remember the message that the Spirit of God was sending out before the coming of Jesus through John the Baptist, "... Repent, for the Kingdom of God is drawing near!"  

This is the same message that the Spirit of God has begun to deliver in our day as Jesus is preparing to return. Repent! We can no longer live for ourselves. We can no longer get by living for earthly gain and living out the plans that we have designed for ourselves, thinking that these things will be the things that will bring us happiness and fulfillment. 

We must draw nearer to the Lord than ever, and set ourselves in pursuit of His plans and His way of doing things. If we do He will lead us to a place of refuge where He will take care of us through the coming times.

Understand that if we choose not to, it wont be as though He will send judgement out to get us. But we will be choosing to be out in the world where everything will be coming apart. We will have, in effect, chosen to be out in the storm rather then coming in under His protective presence. Our lives will come apart and we wont be able to rightly blame Him. It will be because we chose it.

Is judgement coming upon the earth... Yes, and it has already begun. 

Is it happening in specific areas because God is particularly angry with those people... No. At this point its happening here and there but it will cover the whole world.

Now, is the time to draw near to Him, so that we can live in confidence and not fear. He is faithful to take care of His people!!

What its for...

Up until now I've talked about the super-natural and how we should see more of it in our lives as Believers. I've also made warrior type references and I'd like to explain a little bit what I mean by those references. 
First of all, as we've discussed, the super-natural is an encouragement to Believers but the purpose of it is as a witness to the world. The Bible says that signs and wonders would follow in confirmation of the message of the Gospel.
There is also the fact that many of us are in need of healing and other touches from the Lord. I don't know why everyone isn't healed. I know that many have sought the Lord for healing for long periods of time... all I know is that He promised it. So, don't give up (if we suffer from something or even if we die, let's do so believing). However, this is what I believe. I believe that as we (the Body of Christ/the True Church) go through "The Door" (the cross- as discussed in a previous post Galatians 2:20) and die to ourselves a whole new world is going to be opened up to us (Corinthians 15:50). A place in our relationship with the Lord where we will be healed and blessed, just as He promised, but as we have died to ourselves we come to a place where it really doesn't matter to us much anymore. Not out of despair. Like when we go numb after fighting for something for so long (yes, I know what its like:)), but rather, like in the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:20b-24, "... I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So, I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live..." 
Its this attitude that needs to begin to prevail in our lives whether we're talking about living or dying, or becoming rich or being poor, or being healed of some affliction or living on in spite of it, all the while, keeping in mind what He has promised. Perhaps it sounds a bit like a contradiction but its really just coming to a place of balance and maturity.
Secondly, this issue of militance. When we are born into this world we are born into a war, whether we like it or not. We either learn to fight it or we will live out our lives in defeat, simply running this way and that, seeking the path of least resistance (which, sadly, is what many, at least in western culture, are doing). In Matthew 11:7 it says that the kingdom of heaven allows violence and the violent take it by force. Wait a minute... what kind of violence are we talking about here? Isn't our world being turned upside down by religious violence? Yes, it is and that kind of violence is NOT what we're talking about here.
The Bible says that we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
This was Jesus' purpose (1 John 3:8b), "... For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."
This violence that the kingdom of heaven allows, then, is not a physical violence but a spiritual violence. I want to show you a perfect example of what I mean.
In the book of Matthew 14:1-14 we're told of the story of when John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) was executed by King Herod. 
During King Herod's birthday party Herod's wife's daughter (actually, Herod's niece) danced for Herod. She pleased him greatly with her dancing and he promised, with a vow, that she could have anything she wanted. At her mother's urging she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a plater, because her mother hated him. Herod regretted what he had done but brought John from prison and beheaded him, giving his head on a plater to the girl and her mother.
Remember that John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin and as soon as Jesus heard the news, "... He left in a boat to a remote area to be alone..." (Matthew 14 13). But people heard of where He was headed and they travelled on foot from many different towns and met Him there. As Jesus got out of the boat He had compassion on them and He healed their sick.
Here's my point. Jesus' cousin is murdered and Jesus is hurt by this event so He goes away and starts healing people. Jesus discerns where this attack has come from... the devil. He then retaliates against the devil, not "flesh-and-blood" (in this case Herod), and his works by lifting the sicknesses off of the people that the devil is using to try to destroy them. In other words Jesus understands that the attack against his cousin has come from a spiritual source, the devil, and He keeps the fight spiritual by attacking the devil's works.
This is the spiritual kind of violence that the kingdom of heaven allows. To destroy the works of the devil, as we follow in Jesus' footsteps... being imitators of God as dear children (Ephesians 5:1).
We don't have to wait until the devil has struck us before we attack his kingdom. We can intercede on behalf of our communities and loved ones. We can pray for the sick. We can be a friend to someone. We can support ministries that are doing what the Lord would have them do. Whether healing or deliverance ministries or practical ministries of feeding the hungry, providing safe drinking water or housing projects but, above all, reaching out to save the lost. There is no treasure so sought after and valued as the eternal soul of a human being. People are the treasure being fought over between the forces of spiritual darkness and the forces of spiritual light. The devil can suffer no greater loss then to lose a soul that he thinks he's stolen from God.
The next time you feel down hearted or the devil attacks you on some level. Go lead someone to a relationship with Jesus... or at least sow a seed in their hearts. You'll be giving the devil a black eye... and more importantly, you'll be following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Hang In There...

I know that people from all over the world are stopping by and some are even staying and reading for a while. It is a huge encouragement to me to know that, and I pray that some are being touched and finding hope or a reason for why they might be going through stuff. 
I want to remind you that God has not forgotten you. Remember all those promises. Remember all the times He spoke to your heart or had someone give you a message about your future. Promises of blessing... promises of hope, wholeness and healing... promises of power and anointing... promises of joy and well being... promises that through YOU He would touch your world... AND THEN...
Then it seemed as though your life went in the opposite direction... God has not forgotten you! 
Have you lost your job?... God has not forgotten you!
Has your spouse left you?... God has not forgotten you!
Has your joy left you and you feel swallowed up by depression and defeat?... God has not forgotten you!
Has the bank foreclosed?... God has not forgotten you!
Have your friends rejected you?... God has not forgotten you!
Do you feel like Job, sitting on the ashes of what was once your life?... God has not forgotten you!!!
REMEMBER THE PROMISES!!... He's taking you there... and when you get there it will all be yours... Because it says in the Bible that God WILL NOT... NO, NOT EVER... go back on His Word. It says that He holds His word above His own Name, because there is nothing higher than His Name, that He can swear by.
Remember, Shammah. He was the guy that stood in the middle of a patch of peas and defeated the Philistines.
I'm going to take some artistic license and tell Shammah's story... at least the way I see it... then I'll confirm the principal with some Bible, ok.
Throughout the time of King Saul and much of King David's reign there was war with the Philistines. There was no welfare system like we have today in the western world. Philistine raiders and armies would move in around harvest time and destroy the harvest before it could be taken in, in an effort to cripple the nation of Israel's will to fight. People suffered and starvation was a constant foe. 
I see Shammah, a husband, a father, a farmer, working out in his field with a hoe in his hands. By the sweat of his brow, the strength in his back and the blisters on his hands he raised crops to feed his family and pay his bills. Yet, for how many years in a row, now, did he see the raiders come. How many times did he see the amber fields of hope laid black and low as the clods of the soil. How many times did he walk home with hot tears streaking through the ash on his face not sure if he could find the strength to look into the hungry faces of his children and say there would be not crops again this year.
"I'm just a farmer", he would say, "all I have is this hoe in my hands".
"God, why wont You do something!"
"Don't You see how we're suffering!"
"Don't You even care!"
Yet, another year comes and Shammah struggles to trust a hope. Green gives way to amber in his fields... then... over the bluff the raiders come. There, to the west, where the dust and smoke are rising. A larger party then the years before, and his friends begin to mutter. 
"A few hundred more, I would say", he said and turns to see his friends sprinting for the cover of the rocks.
He runs three full strides of his own before a picture in his mind stops him in his tracks. A picture of his wife, who has stood by him, and their children, who have trusted him with their lives. A still, small voice thunders in his chest," STAND... FIGHT!"
With a sense of God's Presence, he turns to face his attackers and raises his hoe to the ready. The Philistine warriors are baring down and Shammah begins to swing his hoe with all his might. The soldiers begin to fall. It could have been moments or maybe days. Time just stood still. When all fell silent, save for the beating of his heart in his ears, the enemy lay there in heaps on the ground.
.... only a farmer.... only a hoe... we remember him today for the deed he did that day and all shame is gone from him, forever.
In Exodus 4:2 the Lord asks Moses," What is that in your hand?"
"a shepherd's staff," Moses replied.
With that shepherd's staff God lead Moses to confront Pharaoh. When he laid it on the ground it became a snake. When he touched it to the water of the Nile the water became blood. When he held it over the sea it parted and let the people of God cross on dry ground.
Just a farmer...
Just a shepherd...
Just a hoe...
Just a stick...
Who are you and what has God put in your hands?
Don't underestimate who you are. Don't despise what God has put in your hands. Though, today it may seem unbecoming, awkward and out of place "a moment" is coming that will make all that He's invested in you and all that you've endured have meaning and all this shame will be gone from you forever.
He's there, right beside you. No matter what you may be going through. Remember His promises... He's taking you there.