What are we waiting for?

Today is the final day to discuss the end of the following message that I believe I received from the Lord several days ago (see highlight).  

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle. Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf. You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement. I will smite the nations that do not honor Me. But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament. Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away. Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you.  

Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you.  

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:37-44 NIV

I have always believed that this passage Jesus referred to has to do with the Rapture of the Church and not the Second Coming (which I believe occurs AFTER the 7 Years Tribulation). At the Second Coming, people may be surprised, but they will expect Him if they have been reading and understanding Bible Prophecy and obviously living through the tribulation (Christians left behind especially will know it is the anti-Christ and recognize the mark of the Beast!). But, whenever the time period, the main message of the above Scripture is that Jesus is coming at an hour that could take us all by surprise and it could happen at any moment. (Note: An excellent movie about the Rapture and end times is Left Behind. You can watch the whole thing on You Tube.)  

I highlighted part of the Scripture because I find it interesting that it says he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. I find it puzzling in a way, that the Lord compares his coming to a thief breaking into a house unexpectedly. Another time when I read this part of the passage, the first thought I had was that it is more important than ever to stay tuned into God’s timetable of end time events by keeping a vigilant habit of prayer. In other words, if we pray AND listen to His specific instructions to us, we won’t be caught unaware when He does come for us.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. I Thess. 5:2-6 NIV

Before the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, life was going on pretty normal for me. I wasn’t thinking about end times, the Rapture or that the coming of the Lord is very very soon. I was busy going about my business working on the usual (my artworks business) and plugging through the day to day of this long cold winter. I was watching Christian programming (The Miracle Chanel, Vision and sometimes Grace TV), and sometimes a guest would mention the end times. But after the disaster in Japan, I couldn’t believe the destruction that was happening there. I became worried because I have friends that live there (although not in the part that was most affected). And I was astounded to see how their disaster never really ended, since they are still trying to fix the nuclear reactors that were affected by the earthquake. And even helicopters that were sent to help before they realized the gravity of the nuclear reactors breaking down, had to turn back for fear of radiation poisoning! And then I thought about how their economic situation affects the west in terms of vehicles and electronics and numerous other exports. Wasn’t the yen one of the strongest monetary systems in the world? Their bank had to pour billions of dollars into the economy to prevent a collapse. The food shelves in the stores were empty and people had to stay inside. This is on top of losing their homes, entire villages, loved ones, neighbours and friends. How much more will they have to take?  

So after this, I noticed that some of the programming on the Christian stations were not talking about the disaster in Japan, but that we are living in the last days or the end times. I don’t think all of the programs were airing these programs dealing with end times because of the Japan disaster. I just think it was the timing of the Lord urging some of these programs to remind us that we are indeed in a time like no other! The general message is that the Church age is coming to a close and Jesus is coming back soon. It’s really a glorious time for every believer in Christ, but a terrible time for those who refuse to believe and get left behind, for they haven’t even begun to see the destruction that is yet to come. (And we’ve already been warned in the message that we’re currently discussing that the nations will be judged!) So for me, my current wake-up call was to write this blog and connect people to my web-site which offers some of the books I’ve written (as a free read) that I also felt I should write and complete. I began writing the books in earnest in 2001 and began publishing them myself in 2006.  

It’s almost been 10 years since the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, September 11, 2001. I remember that day my world changed, and not just because of anything the newscasters said about it threatening our free democratic society and the way air travel would become such a pain with heightened security (which should have been there anyways). But it was really the first time that I can remember feeling such a strong calling and pull to write the books I had felt inspired to write forever so long. So rather than toying with the idea, I started writing them in earnest and since then have written 14 inspirational non-fiction books, one art book, two full-length fiction, plus three complete manuals for creative writing courses (and add to this six chapbooks of poetry). One of the books is a complete family history of my mother’s side and I also did another complete family history on my father’s side. I have about three more books forth-coming, but not as urgent as some of the non-fictional inspirational that I knew I had to complete and publish. In addition to the strong call to write these books, I believe that the Lord asked me to put aside my personal goals and dreams (mostly traveling) because He is going to come soon and I had a lot of work to do and still do!  

But do I feel ready for the Lord’s return? Far from it. It still feels like there’s so much work yet to be done. I don’t mean just writing the books; I mean that every time I step outside the door, there is someone in need in one way or the other. I try to pray for at least one stranger a day and try to make a difference, even in the smallest ways (although I must admit I often fall short). So how do we get ready? Once again, I believe that we must keep in touch with the only One, the Lord Jesus, who knows all things and He will speak to us about how we need to get ready and what more we need to do.  

Thank you for reading and may God bless your day!

What in the World?

Now we are nearing the end of the discussion on this very important message I believe that I received from the Lord several days ago.  So today’s topic is about our involvement with the world (see highlight below). 

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you. 

Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.

I remember after returning home from a life-changing year at Bible school that I was really curious to know and very concerned about how to live in the world (system) and yet not become part of it.  Prior to going to Bible School, I had lived a lifestyle that had started out as fun, but ended up binding me in chains.  I certainly didn’t want to return to that!  So I began to search the Scripture to see what I could find about how to live in the world and not get caught up in its many pleasures and enticements like I had done before.  What resulted was a thorough study of the world in which we live (a world system that is mostly ungodly), from a Biblical perspective.  One of my papers got published, entitled “No Compromise.”  And then I spent about 25 years researching the topic of backsliding (you’ll find this word in the book of Jeremiah) and I wrote it a few times before I published it.   

In my research on backsliding, I uncovered three major things that contribute to our own backsliding (which means to turn away from God).  They are the world, the flesh (our own selves and the choices we make), and the devil, or Satan.  Most of the cause, I discovered, was the world in which we live and how we choose to respond to what’s out there.  I also discovered that I wouldn’t need too many outside sources to write the book because the Bible was absolutely filled with accounts of how people faltered in their faith because they allowed the world in which they lived to influence them and pull them away from the things of God.  Most notably, I spent a great deal of time reading about the Children of Israel and their journey through the wilderness.  I just couldn’t understand how they could continue to turn away from God even though He had miraculously freed them from slavery under cruel taskmasters back in Egypt.  What was going on anyway?  God was with them (by cloud and fire), was providing for all of their needs and they were going to a wondrous place – the Promised Land that God had promised Abraham hundreds of years before (the account of their journey is found in Exodus). 

After careful study, I started to figure out what was happening and it all had to do with the world they had left behind.  It wasn’t too far into the journey and they wanted to turn back and return to Egypt.  Why?  Hadn’t they been freed as slaves?  Wasn’t God providing for their needs?  When I came to the part where they asked Aaron to build a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, it became clearer what was happening to them (see Exodus 32:1).  Have you ever wondered where they got the gold to build the golden calf?  It was from the gold they had pillaged on their way out of Egypt!  So even though they had been freed from the slavery in Egypt, their hearts had never changed.  They begrudgingly followed Moses, but wanted the life they had left behind.  Idolatry was their undoing and many people died that very day because of it. 

So I made another connection – if we continue to love the things of the world, our hearts will not belong exclusively to God (1 John 2:15  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. NIV).  Is this asking a lot?  As soon as we make a choice to follow Jesus, we are choosing to give Him our all.  This is the very least we can give Him since He gave up His life for us. 

In the opening message we see the word entanglements.  Yesterday I talked about us being in a battle.  Let’s look at the following verse:

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.  2 Timothy 2:4    

Have you ever felt like a soldier in God’s army?  I have, but probably not nearly as much as I know I should.  How easy it is to get led astray.  When I’m writing my books, my body becomes weary and my mind sometimes wanders.  I’d rather take the easy way out and go and watch some TV or go shopping.  In fact, there are times, I’ve shut off the computer and left my writing for months at a time, hardly the picture of a good soldier (I should explain that writing my articles and books is, I think, one of my life’s callings and ministries. I’ve been compelled to write inspirational material for most of my life.)  And when I am writing, sometimes I’ve taken a break to play spider solitaire or some other addicting and mindless computer game.  So time drifts by until I get some kind of a wake-up call to get busy and get back to my writing.  I’ve had to learn to discipline myself and it hasn’t been easy.  I know there are much worse distractions (entanglements) than the ones I’ve mentioned, but a distraction is a distraction, no matter what it is.  Even researching the internet can become a huge distraction.  Sometimes I’ve been looking up new card, sewing or jewelry design ideas and have killed hour after hour just surfing and going off on all sorts of tangents that had nothing to do with my original search.  Now it’s texting too.  Are we entangled in the net and can’t get out? 

Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away. 

Time.  It always comes down to time.  Whenever I attend a funeral, I am reminded of time as foe.  Time doesn’t wait for anybody, but rages on like a flood of water cascading over the falls.  Do we have projects we need to finish, or people we need to love and/or people we need to forgive?  Is there a friend we promised we’d call and didn’t?  Have we been putting off that really time-intensive and difficult task that we put on the shelf over a year or two ago?  I know I have.  And most important, are we ready to say goodbye to the things of this world and move forward to the next level of our spiritual life? As good and faithful stewards of the life we have been given, may we strive to keep our focus on the things that really matter, and leave behind the things that don’t. 

Thank you for reading and please join me on the next blog for the last part of the opening message.

  

Embracing the Truth

Once again, here is the message that I received several days ago, that I believe the Lord gave me to share:

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you.

In yesterday’s blog “A Right to Judge?” we discussed the line before:  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  And so today we’ll discuss: But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament. 

For most of this day I have been praying and pondering over this line and what it means.  In fact, what you are reading now is my third attempt at searching for the meaning that I believe God wants to reveal.  I feel very humbled already even to think that He has given us something incredibly Holy and powerful and that He has allowed all humankind access (except in some restricted countries) to His Holy Word, the Word of Truth, the Holy Bible.  In the Bible He has revealed Himself, the God of the whole universe, of the earth, of us and of all things “created.”  He didn’t have to give us the Bible and tell us anything at all about Himself.  He didn’t have to give us a tried and true Guideline for living that would bring us life (abundant life), give us hope, and promise us success if we apply His principles, not to mention a roadmap to the hereafter.  But He did.  I have found that the Bible is a treasure like none other. 

But what happens when we neglect to read and study the Bible?  There is a very good chance that we will leave ourselves open to being led astray.  We’re exhorted in the following: 

Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.  2 Timothy 2:14-18  NIV 

When we neglect the Word of God, I believe we walk away from our Lord, although perhaps not intentionally.  I’d like to share a personal story of what happened to me (spiritually) when I started to neglect the Bible.  I have a degree in Arts and I majored in English Literature and Political Studies (and later History).  What a grand time I had!  I read many of the classics (English, Canadian, American, Italian, etc.), and then studied books on socialism, naturalism, universalism and about as many “isms” as you can name.  Part of my studies included philosophy, so I read Plato and other great philosophers.  I absolutely loved it all – it stretched my thinking and I became a “critical” thinker since I had to reference many different sources when I wrote my research essays.  You might ask, “So what is wrong with that?” 

Well, in the process of immersing myself in all these wonderful books (I love reading and still do!), my mind was changing – it was so tuned into the thoughts and philosophies of and from (many) godless men (certainly not all), that I started to become dull to the thoughts, intents and purposes of God.  Don’t get me wrong, I still read the Bible and went to church, but my thoughts were predominantly on what I was studying in university at the time.  In some of my essays I made connections to the Bible, and I would defend a Biblical position in front of the whole class including the Professor (whom in one class was a professing atheist/communist) but I was no longer “on fire” with the Word of God.  After I graduated (after six years of night school and working full time) I now had time to go back to my routine of reading and studying the Bible, and it was time to really start researching and writing my book about backsliding.  Well, sad to say, when I went to read and research the precious Word of God that had brought me so much life and joy and continued revelation of my Lord and Savior, Jesus, it felt like I was reading a foreign language!  There was no life or understanding for me although it had been there consistently before and for several years. 

So I panicked, “What has happened to me?” and then I cried.  I begged God to reveal His Word to me again, like He did before.  I believe what I was really missing was Him.  But Jesus is such a gentleman and He’s so patient.  He waits for us to be ready.  So I had to wait.  During that time of waiting and continuing to read the Bible and other wholesome Christian literature, I felt like I had been brainwashed and was now going through the slow and painful process of detoxifying (getting rid of the world’s anti-godly philosophies that had taken hold in my mind and heart).  Wow!  I never knew that this would ever happen to me, ever, that I could be that easily led astray.  It all sounded so good, but isn’t this what the very pavement to hell is made of?  It’s so easy to get drawn in and it sounds so good. 

Now I am in no way against secular education.  I have two degrees from a secular university.  I love reading, and learning, researching and teaching.  I thank God for the many wonderful books out there that I’ve been privileged enough to read.  But in my own life I’ve learned this – I have to love God’s Word more than any other book, especially if I say I love God.  The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119 (worth reading the entire chapter beyond what I’ve shared here): 

Psa 119:1  ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

Psa 119:2  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Psa 119:3  They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Psa 119:4  Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

Psa 119:5  O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

Psa 119:6  Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

Psa 119:7  I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

Psa 119:8  I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Psa 119:9  BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Psa 119:10  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Psa 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psa 119:12  Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

Psa 119:13  With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

Psa 119:14  I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

Psa 119:15  I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

Psa 119:16  I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Psa 119:17  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

Psa 119:18  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Psa 119:19  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

Psa 119:20  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.  

If you really want to get into the Word of God, give yourself an assignment.  Pick a topic that really interests you (let’s say it might be on the word love), download e-sword (it’s a free download of the entire Bible), and do a search under the Bible menu.  Start reading all the verses you can find in the Bible on that one word and you will start not only reading the Bible, but “researching” the Bible.  You will be blessed indeed, and if you write out your thoughts or questions about it, then you will now be “studying” the Bible.  Perhaps this is something you already do.  

So back to the beginning line of the message: But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament. 

My father was a brave soldier who fought on the front lines in Italy during World War II.  He was later told that he had been in one of the bloodiest and most intensive battles of the entire war, and he himself was shot.  Many of his friends died in that battle.  My father shared his entire war experience with me and some of his story is published.  I often think about him running out on that field amongst army tanks and men shooting with rifles, the smell of the gun powder and the terrible sound of the shells dropping, the men around him dying and some in pain.  He said it was terrifying and so confusing that at times, he didn’t know the enemy from a fellow soldier.  How do you go into a battle field?  You have to be prepared.  So much of my dad’s story was about the years of preparation for those few horrible days on the front lines.  He went in prepared.  He was physically and mentally trained and he was equipped.  He knew what to do, how to fight and how to defend himself.  The battle of the Christian is the same.  We have to be prepared and equipped with the truth of God’s Word against all the untruth that’s out there that tries to pull us in and away from the things of God.  After all, we’re on the winning side and God has given us what it takes to be victorious (His Spirit and His Word), one battle after another. 

Thank you for reading and I encourage you to enjoy the gift of God’s Word today.

A Right to Judge?

Today we come to the next part of the message that I believe I received from the Lord about a week ago.  

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you. 

I will smite the nations that do not honor Me. 

This past weekend, I read a book entitled, 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese.  This book is a MUST READ for every single living human being on this planet.  Christians, you must read this book, it’s a page turner.  It will literally change your life and how you view people that are lost.  You will instantly become an evangelist.  You will never forget the horrific graphic images that Bill Wiese shares from his own experience in hell (horror movies pale to the terror of hell – at least the suffering on earth ends, in hell it is ongoing).  Bill Wiese makes many references to the existence of hell that are mentioned in the Bible and he also mentions well-respected Christian authors in the references and appendixes.  So I purchased another book he references entitled, One Minute After You Die, by Erwin Lutzer.  Erwin Lutzer is the senior pastor of the Moody Church, an affiliation with Moody Bible Institute, a good sound Bible College.  I am almost through reading his book, another page turner.  For the first time, death, heaven and hell are explained clearly and I now understand more than ever before, the great price Jesus paid to save me from my sins and that I am utterly and completely undeserving (we all are) of His forgiveness and the heaven that awaits me.  Wow, what a powerful book.  

I mention these two books for a few reasons.  The message above in quotations is talking about God’s judgement.  Now in our age of grace and talk of God’s love, when we hear the words (God’s) “judgement,” we may start to feel really uncomfortable.  It’s just not something we want to talk about or think about because it’s not exactly the most uplifting thought for a Monday morning, is it?  But if you feel uncomfortable at this part of the message, please, I urge you to read the above two books.  If you have an e-reader, it will download in a second or less.  I’ve linked their books to their own sites, but you can also find these on Amazon. The reason I urge you to read these two books, is because once you read about the realities of hell, God’s judgement on the earth will seem a kindness.  Also, I believe we need to pray more.  When we are warned of impending judgement, we need to get into our prayer closet and pray like never before.  We need to pray on behalf of the nations that are about to be judged. 

An interesting verse came to me this weekend: 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  2 Chron. 7:14   

This is a promise!  God honors our prayers. We can pray on behalf of the nations about to be judged and, I believe, God will honor our request.  Let’s take this love we keep talking about and put it to good use in our prayers.   

Does God have a right to judge?  This is an interesting question.  First of all, the word “judge” is mentioned 170 times in the King Version of the Bible (not all in reference to God as judge).  The comforting fact of God is that He is an exact “righteous” judge, and He judges exactly right (i.e. according to His own standard of righteousness).   

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.  2 Tim. 4:8  

If we really get a glimpse into the character of God, and we can only do this by reading the Bible where He reveals Himself, it doesn’t take long before we discover His desire to have fellowship with us (His love), and also to discover His complete intolerance for sin (His wrath).  It all starts in Genesis 3.  Every living thing is cursed until the end of time, and every person is eternally lost without God unless they receive God’s only great provision -- His Son Jesus Christ whom He sends thousands of years later (see Matthew 1 and 2).  There are two notable incidents (although there are others) of God’s judgement in the Old Testament.  The first is the world-wide flood, which occurs only two chapters after the record of the fall of Adam and Eve:

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  Genesis 6:5-7 

But Noah and his family were spared (see verse 8).  He rewards righteousness (HIS righteousness only, not our own idea) and He punishes sin.  The next notable incident is when God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 and 19.  Once again, God spares the righteous and destroys the unrepentant sinners. 

As for the nations, they are nothing to God in terms of their own conceived power (e.g. they may be wealthy and influential to other nations).  This is how God sees them: 

All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.  To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?  The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.  Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?  It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.  Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.   To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.  Isaiah 40:17-26 

In order to know God more fully (although we will never know everything about Him), and not just His incredible love for us, we must also know the side of Him as Judge and Ruler of all the heavens and earth.  The more we know about God, the more we will reverence Him and the less tolerant we will be of sin, our own and the sin we see all around us.  If He loves righteousness and hates sin, so must we.   

Does God have a right to judge?  Everything is His to begin with, so of course He does.  We are simply guests on this earth, passing through and on our way to an eternal home where we will dwell with God forever (heaven being reserved only for those who have committed their heart and life to Jesus, but all are welcome who do so before they die). 

Thank you for reading and I wish you every blessing.

What Kind of Love?

After writing yesterday’s blog, Is Love Enough? someone challenged me to re-think this idea of reaching out to others in love in a way that is not offensive.  So this caused me to dig ever deeper into God’s Word and my own experience with God’s love to really try and understand what it means to love others in a right and meaningful way, and not in a way that would turn them off.

I had to look honestly at myself and ask myself, “Do I really love people with God’s love, or am I just simply doing good works because it’s the right thing to do?”  If it is just an expression of good works, but my heart is hard, can I really say that I am loving people with God’s love?  And what are people seeing in me anyway?  Do they see me (she’s a nice but very flawed religious person) or do they see the love of God in me and are drawn to Jesus and want to know Him?  If what I am doing is just simply good works, then how am I any different than countless others who do good works, but are spiritually lost without God?  In fact, in some religions, if you fail to do good works, they will tell you that you’ll never please God or make it into heaven.  Their salvation is based on good works and not on the finished work of Christ on the cross (He died on the cross taking away the sins of the whole world and declared us righteous if we believe in Him, repent and receive Him – I John 2:2).  

So in thinking about this, an interesting word came to my mind – the word “anointing.”  What does it mean to be anointed?  The dictionary describes it as rubbing oil or ointment on someone.  When I looked up the word “anointed” in the Bible (King James version), the word appeared 96 times (interesting), and the word “anointing” appeared 26 times and the word “anoint” 33 times.  Who was anointed?  Mainly priests and kings in the Old Testament.

Lev. 8 – Aaron was anointed as a high priest.

I Samuel 16 – David is anointed to be king of Israel.

Jesus’ was anointed.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (ibid Luke 4:18 in Jesus own words).

 In the New Testament people were anointed with oil for the purpose of physical healing (see James 5:14-15) and to bless someone (Mary anointing Jesus' feet – Mark 14:3-9).

I’d like to share a personal experience of what happened to me re: being anointed with oil.  When I was in Bible School, we were encouraged to seek the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we would receive the power of the Holy Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in an unknown language [tongues]).  Now we were taught implicitly that this is NOT the same as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (which every believer has).  The outpouring is similar to the anointing which enables you and empowers you to minister to others and do battle against Satan with much greater supernatural power than you could do otherwise (similar to the anointing that the priests and kings received in the Old Testament).  For the full account of this “outpouring” experience, read Acts 2 and keep in mind that Jesus had instructed the disciples to wait for this gift (Luke 24:49).  Here was His promise found in Act 1:8:  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.) 

Notice the word “upon” -- this is NOT the same as the indwelling which happens to all believers in Christ, but this is an experience where the Spirit comes “upon” you (like the anointing of oil).

Back to my experience in Bible School.  Now back then I was not by nature a very loving person.  I naturally loved my family and my friends and I liked people, but I can’t say I loved strangers.  It would take me a long time to even warm up to them and learn to trust them enough to even like them, let alone love them.  I was probably more afraid of people than anything, so I was a loner.  But one day all of that changed.  I was getting to know Jesus and He had already revealed His love to me (read my story in my book When Love is All There Is).  But I wanted to experience this “upon” relationship that others had experienced and they kept talking about according to Acts 2.  I was still afraid because I really didn’t know what would happen, if anything, so I threw caution to the wind, and asked a group of friends to pray over me to receive this “upon” experience.  Nothing happened until later that evening when I went for a walk alone and I was talking to the Lord and thanking Him and praising Him for all He had done for me.  As I was praising Him, suddenly I could feel His Spirit literally come upon me (like a warm pouring of oil) and I had an Acts 2 experience.  He was performing a miracle when I could feel my physical tongue loosen (as if a knot had been untied) and from the depths of my soul, I started speaking another language, a heavenly language.  Was I afraid?  Not a bit.  I was filled with a joy that I had never felt before.  I remember literally running back to the Bible School and telling the people who had prayed over me that I had experienced the “upon” relationship.  After I told everyone who rejoiced with me, I went to my dorm room and started to journal my experience.  Then I felt inspired to write a poem.  Well I had written lots of poems before, but nothing like this!  This one was anointed!  I read it over and over again because it was so encouraging and I shared it with many others!  I could never have written a poem like that before I had this experience!  All the praise went to Jesus because He was now participating with me (or was I participating with Him?) in the creation of my writing.  And so my life changed and my ministry (mostly a writing ministry) changed after that.

I want to say that this was not wholly an “emotional” experience.  This was a spiritual experience that deeply touched my emotions and every area of my life.  I was already committed to Jesus, but I wanted this special experience even though I was initially cautious, and Jesus surprised me and honored my request.  I’m so glad He did!  I have since talked to many other Bible-believing and professing Christians who have also had this same joyful experience.

Now I would never say to anyone that they had to have this experience in order to love people.  Love is a command regardless of our personal feelings or experiences (see Matt. 22:36-39).  But for me, my ministry changed and became much more “strategic” and power-packed.  I was no longer struggling along trying to do my ministry alone in a hit and miss fashion – I knew I was being led by the Holy Spirit and watching Him work in my life and the lives of others He put in my path.  And remember, that when God is at work, He will confirm what He is doing and saying in His Word, our ultimate authority.  We must never rely on our feelings!  And on the opposite side of the scale, we must be careful not to love people out of dead and dry “obligation” which becomes a form of misdirected good works (i.e.: do I really have to do this?). 

I love the fact that our God is a God of order.  Even the spiritual gifts must be administered in a state of order (see I Cor. 14:40 and read the entire chapter to see how spiritual gifts are to operate in the Church).  Also, I encourage you to read all of I Cor. 12 for a fascinating description of all the gifts of the Spirit and how they all work together.  Perhaps we’re not even aware that God hands out special gifts to us.  I believe we need to ask Him for these gifts and to reveal what our gifts are.  

A final word about loving people -- all it takes is each one of us talking to and perhaps befriending only one lost person that the Lord has laid on our heart.  Perhaps this one person is being primed to be the next Billy Graham and will reach thousands and even millions for the cause of Christ.  Or perhaps our one special lost person will receive Jesus and be spared from a hopeless eternity without Him.  What a triumph to see this happen!

Thank you once again for reading.  I pray you will be filled with God’s love and find your one special lost person that you can befriend today.

Is Love Enough?

If you have been following my blog, you will know that we are discussing the following prophetic message that was given to me awhile ago.   

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you. 

Now we come to the next part of the message: 

You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.   

You are now living in the world’s darkest hour … 

Darkness means the absence of light.  Remember the world, or world system, is already and has always been a dark place because people do not know God and because Satan and his demons are allowed free reign (but are still subject to God’s permissions).  If you are a Christian, you are living in the world, but you are not of the world, so this darkness is the result of the world that continues to deny and ignore God.  In the following, John introduces Jesus as the Light of men: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  John 1:1-5 

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  John 3:19   

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12  

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.  John 12:46   

We can be assured that we have nothing to fear from anything that will happen in this world.  But this is not a time to be complacent.  I believe that if we are true believers and worshippers of Jesus, then we must shine our light brighter than ever to a lost world in this present darkness.  And if the world is already dark, this message is saying it is not only getting darker, but is at its darkest hour. 

(You are now living in the world’s darkest hour) and just before I raise My hand in judgement.   

Something is about to happen that man or Satan has no control over.  God is going to raise His hand in judgement.  Judgement isn’t something we want to think about because it seems so harsh.  But believe me, it is far better than hell, a real place that is unimaginably filled with eternal terror and torment and it is far better to endure the judgements of God on this earth and still have hope, than to end up in hell where there is no hope (please read my account of hell http://www.creativefocus.ca/HellisReal.html).  So we talk about God’s love and loving people, and fail to give them the truth of what awaits them if they do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior (the only way to escape eternal hell).   

But today there is a great misconception about love.  No one really wants to share the hard truth about man’s eternal destiny.  So we shy away from talking about things like God’s judgement and the condemnation that rests on every unbeliever until they accept Jesus into their heart and life (see John 3:18-19).  We are afraid of offending people.   But if you read the Bible, you’ll find that the prophets and apostles may have loved people, but they also offended people and they were martyred for giving them the truth.  They gave up their own lives.  Many missionaries right now are risking their lives every day to bring Jesus love and Truth into the darkness!  So you can be as loving as you like, but remember you are entering into darkness, the darkness of a soul that is not only deceived, but probably loves their sin.  Be careful that your love isn’t void of the truth.  Let your light shine, but don’t forget your salt! 

So breaking this down practically, how do we share the Gospel message and doing so “in love” and still give them the hard truths (they are lost and condemned, dead in their sins without Jesus) – do we break it to them gently?  One of the best ways to begin to share the Gospel I’ve found is by personal testimony.  How did you get saved?  Share your own testimony and do it with the greatest conviction and also enthusiasm and people will want to listen to you.  Share the greatest conviction of your heart because your message will then be heartfelt and sincere and once you’ve got their attention, continue to pull out Bible truths that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind and He’ll lead you from there. 

If ever I feel afraid and self-conscious to spread the Good News, I remember the vision I had of the man who wasn’t ready to meet Jesus before His return, looked at me and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”  He didn’t say, “Why didn’t you love me enough to tell me?”  Or worse still, I remember my vision of hell.  If we really care about people and want to "love" them, we must share the SAME message of our Lord -- not only that He loves them, but loves them enough to warn them that they are lost forever without Him. 

Have a great day and God Bless You as you journey through this dark world that is looking for and needs your light.

What Have We Got To Lose?

In my blog, The Time is Very Very Short, I was given a message that I believe was from the Lord and in the next blog The World, The Cross, & The Battle, I began to discuss it.  Now I’d like to talk about the second line of that message which I‘ve highlighted below.  

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you. 

Bring nothing with you … 

In any natural disaster, you have to be prepared.  Most cities and towns have an emergency plan.  Yesterday I was watching the Weather News and they were talking about the possibility of a tsunami hitting a coastal town on Vancouver Island (it was previously struck with one in the 1960s).  The spokesman said the residents would have half an hour to vacate their residence and get to higher ground.  He seemed confident that their emergency plan would be effective.  But have you ever thought about (heaven forbid) what you would grab if suddenly you had to leave your house because of a fire or some other life-threatening issue?  Of course you would do everything possible to make sure everyone and even your pets would make it out safely.  Suddenly all the “stuff” and material things would be completely meaningless at that point.  You always save lives first.  

In the following passage of Scripture, Jesus commands His disciples to go out and minister to people and only take a walking stick with them, and nothing else.   

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;  And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:  But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.  And they went out, and preached that men should repent.  And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.   Mark 6:7-13 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus commanded His disciples to take nothing with them?  Anything else would have been a hindrance to their ministry.  They had to be single-minded and focus on the things of God.  I wonder at times, if our focus in going out to minister to people has too many bells and whistles.  Do we need a degree in Theology to bring the Gospel message to those that are lost?  Do we really need to keep finding more and better ways to “attract” people to come to our church?  Do we need a lot of money to bring a soul to Christ?   

(Bring nothing with you), for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.   

What is the mighty army that will fight for us?   

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.  Zec. 4:6   

The Lord doesn’t need our resources; He has prepared His own army much stronger and infinitely more capable than anything we can even imagine.  I wonder if pride sometimes gets in the way of our victory.  We want to do things ourselves and in our own way.  But we are unable to save ourselves in the first place (Eph. 2:1-5 – we were dead in our sins and He made us alive … by grace we are saved).  Our need for Him never lessens, although we foolishly might think it does especially when things are going well. I have found in my own life a constant need to commune with Jesus, for out of my weakness He reveals His great love for me.  And when I want to run off on a tangent, He lovingly draws me back.  Why does He do this?  Because I believe He wants a close relationship with me and one that is all based on trust.  After all, He paid a price for me with His own blood and I no longer belong to myself, but I belong to Him (I Cor. 6:20).    

Perhaps in these days of material prosperity (relatively speaking), we need to make every effort to discard some distractions; you know what they are, the things we really don’t need that can weigh us down.  What do soldiers take when they go into battle?  They take a lot of nerve, that’s what.  And they are single-minded so that they don’t get themselves killed.  What do we take into this spiritual battle?  Nothing of our own resources, but instead a Mighty Omniscient Power, the One who loves us and gave His life for us. 

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?   He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  Romans 8:31-32   

Thanks for reading and may you experience victory in every area of your life.  God Bless You.