Edition 350:  8^th February 2017

How to be ready for what lies ahead:

How to be ready for what lies ahead:

Introduction:

We always need to be looking ahead. If we only see and live in the here and now, we’ll not be complete as believers. We need to know and see what lies ahead for us, but we also need to see and know the obstacles to us moving forward with our Lord.

There is an ongoing battle in the spirit realm for our souls.

Fulfilling God’s call is most satisfying! It is music to our ears and to God’s ears. As we become valuable and precious diamonds in His hands.

What is your life? If your life is connected to the world and its worldliness, it’s going to be rocked and shaken. If your life is consumed “in Him” it is safe and secure.

The empty and the half-baked:

When there’s nothing inside, people must show and express the outside. Pride of life takes over. Today’s empty world is centred on the exterior, on the flesh, and materialism – it’s their god.

Today most people are universally shallow spiritually. Very rarely do you find totally committed, diligent and radical believers.

Hosea 7:8-9 “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; he is a cake unturned (half-baked). Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it.”

If ever there is a verse describing the condition of most of the church today – this is it. It is all mixed up with worldliness, the traditions of Babylon, the witchcraft of the mass-media, and the opinions of man. A half-baked cake is cooked on one side only...Wrong!

This is just like the lukewarm believers of Laodicea, they are half-baked in their love for the Lord, their knowledge of God’s word and the application of their spiritual gifts.

Why is it that so many people blindly and without question accept the traditions of the world? It is because the world creates comfort zones. People often need to be severely shaken before they look around for the truth.

Many people are simply ignorant or arrogant or both, which is a sure way to be blinded by God. Another huge reason is because so few are equipped with God’s freely promised gifts of the Spirit, to see and deal with these things. There is a very strong power behind the things of the world.

The world has been on a slippery slope for ages. Most are totally, ignorant of it. Morals have been declining along with values and virtues. Most of the church is on the same slippery slope. The reason is because far too many are spiritual slobs. This is why deception is the greatest end-time sign.

The way to peace is the way of the destruction of the enemies of peace in your own life, through God’s ways and methods.

Living for self is an ever downward-winding spiral into darkness and death, while living for our Lord with self crucified is an ever upward-winding spiral into glorious light and life. Both ways are full of fruits which soon become evident.

The way of the Lord is to come to Him in full surrender, brokenness, humility and fear seeking Him, His holiness and purity.

When you come to our Lord and enter His presence, you are entering a dimension of fiery, glorious majesty and holiness.

You need to allow God to interfere in every area of your life and make you uncomfortable at first.

Know your enemy:

2 Timothy 3:13 “Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

It’s quite obvious to say that the devil is the enemy. But it’s not so obvious how he attacks.

Here’s one way that I’ll be writing a lot more on in two editions time:

Most people would not see the mass-media as their chief enemy. The media has cleverly delegitimized anyone who questions them, especially true born-again Christians. The subtle purpose of this is to elevate themselves to the position of God and destroy opposition to Satan.

On top of this the media has misrepresented the enemy, making them a peace-loving friend. The media has presented Islam as a religion of peace – that is a huge and fatal lie to believe.  The media, CNN in particular, claims that “terror doesn’t have a religion” – another huge lie.

The media refuses to report the fact that Islam’s Quran states that the Jews are the legitimate owners of the land of Israel, as will be discovered in the end-times.

The media are clever deceivers, hiding all these truths amongst their lies.

The media has a strategy not of information, but of disinformation. It is to misdirect you, to blind you to the truth, and fill you with huge lies. Their intention is not to inform you but change you into a “worshipper” of the world and its evil god.

The mass media are the world’s supreme liars and they do it again and again and again.

I have used this analogy a few times before. I’ll be using them a lot more too!

The Bible uses the word “kosomkratos” for “world-power”. The Bible says that Satan is the god of this world, this “world-power”.

In ancient Greek we have an interesting word. It is “Hoopokrites.” Obviously it’s where the word “hypocrite” comes from. But in ancient Greek theatre, the hoopokrite was the person who came onto the stage to introduce the next act. If a comedy act, he would wear a smiley mask, if a tragedy, he would wear a reverse-smile mask. We still have these two masks today representing theatre.

The big thing is that the person behind the mask is not the same as the mask he shows! Satan comes as an agent of good and evil – both of the same source.  

Satan is the world-power and hoopokrite! The masks are the mass-media!

This is the way the god of the media operates, make no mistake!

Warning:

I warn you today. Do not receive one word from the multitudes of self-proclaimed prophets, Jezebels and false teachers putting out numerous videos (and in other formats) of their proclamations, which never come to pass.

You can spot them, because they never repent.

If you declare something publically and say, “the Lord gave me this” and it does not come to pass, in Old Covenant times you were to be put to death.

Today the principle is the same. We don’t kill them now, but you must “kill” them from your life.

If you do not kill them from your life, your next deception, and those after will be deeper and deeper.

God’s Wisdom has power:

Yes Satan and his agents are the world-power and not to be underestimated. But that world-power is soon to meet its match in ultimate, total destruction.

There is another power, which is glorious, forever powerful and strong, eternal and fully available, exclusively for true believers.

1 Corinthians 1:24 “To those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Yeshua is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise...Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the wise?”

Matthew 22:29 “You are mistaken not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.”

Are you full of wise, powerful power?

Specific end-time attacks:

Today, Satan’s time is getting shorter by the day, so are his attacks. His greatest attack is on the truth. To counter this we need to have the spiritual insight to see the attacks. This comes safely through the baptism in the Spirit.

Are you offended by the truth? If you are it shows that you are living a lie! You will never be free.

Many people have wrecked their lives, missing God’s call for them.

The good news is that until the day you step into eternity, it’s not too late. If you have totally wrecked your life in sin and wickedness and living for the devil, you can redeem the time now. You can “buy back” the time the devil has stolen from you.

I’ve always been fascinated by those amazing verses saying the “first will be last and the last first.” Do you know what that means? It means that those who get saved or dedicate their lives to the Lord, last in the queue, will jump the queue right up to the front. It doesn’t mean that those who have been lifelong servants of our Lord are cast aside, at all. They will still receive all their due reward.

What I love about those verses is that it offers great encouragement to those who messed up their lives, wasting it all, and finally repent.

Living for self gives you no real purpose in life. It leaves you empty, unfulfilled with a life that is an entire waste, but thanks be to God – there is always hope, until the last minute.

I have compiled the following from numerous verses dealing with end-time attacks:

●”Test the spirits”. ●Know the “whole counsel of God.”  ●Note those who cause doctrinal division, and who are mockers and avoid them.  ●End-times will be characterised by those who won’t endure sound doctrine. ●The truth will be “cast down in the street” and many will not receive the love of the truth and God will delude them. ●Many will try to change the truth for a lie.

How to be ready:

In light of all the signs of the very soon coming of our Lord for us in a pre-tribulation rapture, we need to know how to get and be ready for Him and we need to know what to do and what not to do.

There are many voices out there today. There are multitudes of opinions and multitudes in the valley of decision. Some voices are right on the mark, and many are way off.

Once we cross the glory-line, there is no going back to fix things. In numerous previous editions I’ve highlighted many of these things, but now there is a fast-growing urgency, so, for your benefit, I would like to present you with these words to help you cross the line in victory:

The big ticket items are the following:

The devil attacks the believer in the areas of self, the world and the demonic. These are the main big areas which must be dealt with firmly and until victory is achieved.

The Bible shows that it is the power of the cross † which is the dynamite to break the attacks.

●Self: “I (self) have been crucified † with Messiah; it’s no longer I (self) that lives.”  (Galatians 2:20)

●The world: “The world has been crucified † to me and I to the world.” (Galatians6:14).

●The demonic: “(Demons), principalities and powers have been disarmed, by the nailing to the cross † all these that were contrary to us.” (Colossians 2:14)

There are many more verses dealing with these three areas of attack and the answer in the cross.

Note that in all three areas above, the application of the cross is the answer to these satanic attacks.

It’s easy to spot someone walking in the power of the cross. They are the walking dead. They have the marks of the cross all over their lives, and they are free, free, free!

The power of the cross, which is only available to those who are born-again, puts our human reasoning to death. It empowers us to die daily to these evils. It gives us power to reign over darkness even now, and in the age to come. It is the power that defeats the enemies we face.

As we embrace the cross of Messiah and take up our own cross and die, we live with a life that is more alive than ever before. As we lose our lives, we find life – real victorious, glorious life. As we die to self, the world and the demonic, we become full of wisdom – God’s wisdom!

Fear, confusion, stress, complacency and the like are not of God. Where He is at work the fruits are; comfort, assurance, confidence, calmness, peace and enlightenment, and a million more.

The measure of growth:

The biggest measure of your growth in our Lord will be seen in the fruits of the Spirit becoming more and more evident in you.

There are numerous other signs including a passionate love of the truth, knowledge of it and application of it. Another common growth-fruit is thankfulness and generosity.

A measure of growth in your life will be seen in your freedom and liberty in the Spirit. It will be seen in the fact that the pure truth will be your very shelter, protector and leader in these days.

You’ll not be subject to deception and being led astray. Isn’t it interesting that some people never get free from deception. They always fall into the traps. They have no knowledge of God, fear of God or true humility before God.

If you are growing in the Lord, you won’t be perfect in soul from the start, but you will see and embrace the words of God as words of pure gold, a treasure of truth, and jewels of eternity.

A true mark of growth in the Lord by the Spirit will be seen in how quickly and willingly you drop the error, sin, evil and general hogwash in your life. It will be seen in how quickly you become an enemy of the traditionalists.

If you are growing in the Lord you will love all of the word. You will see it as more valuable than your “necessary food”. (Job 23:12)

As you see God, you will fall in surrender and repentance and “abhor yourself.” (Job 42: 5-6)

Ezekiel 3:10 “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears (Lit=diligently, discern and perceive).”

You will embrace all of Bible prophecy, which constitutes one third of the content of the Bible.

The power of prophecy will most certainly assist you in breaking every unholy god in your life, apart from showing you what’s coming and the way ahead.

So you’re a Christian?

If you get genuinely saved and get run over by a bus the next day, you will be saved. But if you are not run over by a bus, there are many requirements.

Have you been born-again as a specific, deliberate act of choice at a point in time? ●Have you been baptised in water as an adult? (Not the occult form of infant sprinkling). ●Have you been baptised in the Spirit “since you believed”? ●Have you been taking up your cross daily? ●Have you been denying self, when required? ●Have you been cultivating the fear of God? ●Have you been cultivating the love of God? ●Have you been studying the word of God to find yourself approved by Him? ●Have you been walking in all the doctrines of Messiah? ●Have you been seeking to know your calling?

If so you are on the road to great eternal rewards!

There’s a time issue in your salvation. Make every day count. If you drift along you are wasting your eternal brightness. It’s no accident that our eternal resurrected state is compared to the brightness of the stars.

The deadly dimmer of your own eternal brightness is the love of the world and the complacency it brings. The dimmer is living for self, entertaining demons, and the sin in your life.

In a city or even suburbia, the stars are dim because of the lights all around. But if you go way off into the wild, you see the stars like never before, because there are no other lights distracting from them in brightness. I have encountered this thousands of times.

1 Corinthians 15:40-42 “There are celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies and the glory of the one is not the same as the other. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; for one differs from the other. So also will be the resurrection of the dead...”

Daniel 12:3 “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

My friends, in the resurrection we will be like those stars, each being different in brightness – forever. The eternal condition is forever! Don’t you think that alone is a good reason to get your act together?

Hebrews 12:1 “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every weight and sin that hinders us and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

If you have been in a traditional church for a fair amount of time you are largely ignorant of God’s word. The central main thing is for your own personal growth in the Lord, in His word, by His Spirit.

Doctrine doesn’t bring the presence of God into your heart.  It doesn’t kill you and raise you up again as a new person. It points the way, but don’t think a signpost can do your job! Today many churches are as dead and boring as a sign post!

What a shock when the unsaved see that born-again Christians have been judged, declared guilty of sin, and set free because Yeshua paid the price for our sin. The highest court in the universe not only set us free, but made us kings and priests, and they are left behind after the rapture to endure judgement and wrath.

They may say that they believe in Jesus. But that’s not good enough. They believe in an external, exterior, historical Jesus – another Jesus. They listened to and believed the wolves in the pulpit. The Bible says, “Even the demons believe and shudder at their future.”

►May I suggest that you go to the link at the top right on this website, called “Salvation”. Even if you have been saved for a long time, it’s good to refresh it all. Just read through the verses. You will see what salvation is and isn’t.

The way of the Lord comes to us with options. We can choose to hear and obey the truth. If not, the truth doesn’t change, but we do. We will then go the way of pain and suffering.

The importance of beauty in your life:

There is untold magnificent beauty all around us in so many different fields. People who are self-obsessed rarely see it or recognise it.

It may be beauty in art, music, nature, environment, or any such thing. Admiration for beauty gives you culture and makes you civilised. It expands your horizons. Admiration or participation in these areas of beauty always turns your focus outward, away from self-obsession.

Our life in eternity will be full of wonderful, beautiful fellowship with God, angels and fellow believers. It will be full of beauty, peace, rest and joy. It will be full of knowledge, holiness, glory and life in the supernatural. It will be beyond our imagination! (1 Corinthians 2:9)

There is a spectacular glory that will be revealed in us! (Romans 8:18).

Finally:

You can only shine God’s light out of you after it has shined into every area of your life. If you are not truly born of the Spirit of God, your light is actually darkness, no matter how bright it may appear.

The other day I was seeking some verses or “words” for 2017. These are them:

Proverbs 10:25 “When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked will be no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.” Vs 29 “The way of the Lord is strength for the upright.”

Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.”

One day driving around in the wilds, I spotted this lion on a rock under the tree.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!