Post Tribulation, a revealing of the heart of God.

                     I’ve studied the scriptures that pertain to the end times for years now and although there are quite a few clear scriptures that speak of the rapture being a post-trib event tied to the day of the Lord, (2^nd Thes. 2:1-4) there is an even more compelling argument from the heart of God. 

                 Jeremiah under the power of the Holy Spirit, expressing the heart of God weeps for Israel.  Daniel, carrying the burden of knowing that the 70 years of exile was coming to a close, interceded mightily for Israel.  Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit,  expressed a willingness to be “cut off” if it meant the revealing of Jesus to Israel.  John, inspired by the same Holy Spirit, speaks of a people who protect Israel during a time of great tribulation, and this people are hated by the anti-Christ.  The TenBoom family in Denmark, are an example of Christians being burdened to protect the lives of Jews from the hatred of an evil ruler, even at the cost of their lives.  This sacrificial love is truly what it means to witness, to display the heart of God through your actions.  Your humility, displayed as a willingness to lay down your life for the benefit of another is a revealing of the heart of God.  So God’s heart for His chosen people, which cannot change anymore than any other aspect of God can change, will be displayed during the tribulation through a people who love not their lives unto the death, but willingly, lovingly, display the heart of God to a people who are being, hounded, persecuted and killed by the anti-Christ.  We follow the Lamb, who died as a sacrifice for all.  He said, “Come follow Me.”  There is no compelling argument from the heart of God for a theology of escape. When the ‘church’ is truly aware of the price that was paid for its salvation, and of the blindness imposed on most of Israel by God during this time for our benefit, then we who are moved by so great a love, will be poured out as a drink offering to see Hosea and Gomer reunited.  As we are being poured out, He will be pouring into us.  What a glorious day!  The 'church' has a glorious destiny, to be a suffering servant, like her Messiah for the benefit of another, for the benefit of the ones whom Jesus calls, My brethren!

At rest, in Him

Talking with a friend today and this true statement came up.  "Most of what Satan is trying to do is to take us out of a place of rest."  Psalm 131 is a picture of that place of rest and trust in God.  It is our 'home.'  When we are not 'in' our home, we are in a place of wandering.  Wandering is the curse put on Cain.  Wandering is the state of everyone 'in Adam.'  In Christ, we have truly found our home, and in His victory, we can find rest.  We receive best when we come to God knowing that all our needs our met, (1 Cor. 1:30) and that we are just content to 'be' with Him.  It is at the place of not 'needing' to receive that we truly can receive.

To be conformed to the image of His Son

Tucked away in Romans 8:29 is God's goal for us, to "conform us to the image of His Son", and that will require extreme measures, but we come to a place of knowing His heart and trusting His hand. Our relationship with Him becomes so strong and real and secure that what we "see" with our natural eyes, becomes secondary in importance to what we "see" with the eyes of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight.  These 4 facebook posts and one email confirmed the truth that we saw in last nights Bible Study.

1)  This is Meant to Make Me Grow

“Sicknesses and losses and crosses and anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual–minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold.

They are not pleasant to flesh and blood. We do not like them and often do not see their meaning…

We shall find that all worked for our good when we reach heaven. Let these thoughts abide in our minds, if we love growth in grace. When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing. Rather let us remember that lessons are learned on such days, which would never have been learned in sunshine.
J.C. Ryle

2)  Just as God humbled Israel with manna in the desert, so He humbles us. "Give us this day our daily bread and deliver us..." The purpose of affliction is ultimately good and healing: God humbles us with manna, the "bread of affliction, so "that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut. 8:3). In other words, God uses tzuris to lead us to do teshuvah and accept the truth. We often pray that our problems be taken away, but God sometimes ordains these very problems so that we will turn and draw near to Him... We are being weaned from this present age to be made ready for heavenly glory, for things unimaginably wonderful, soon to be revealed to you. Chazak – stay strong in the Lord, friends.

3)  The fame of Christ in the nations requires, among other things, people willing to live where there are no Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or hipster cafes. Places with dodgy wifi and unreliable electricity. None of them will meet Jesus in eternity and wish they hadn't given those things up.

4)  "When life sucks –  When things don’t go my way – When the disease creeps into my body, or family members throw their darts of self-righteousness or when friends disappear, I need to see this present suffering as a chance to elevate my perspective.

Suffering is a chance to see things from another view, to elevate above the everyday world and to find a higher meaning, a purpose to all of this."  David Rupert

5)  Philippians 3:10

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"

All Christians want to know Christ.
Some Christians want to know the power of His resurrection.
Precious few look forward to joining Christ through suffering.

Yet suffering and death always precede resurrection power.  Arlyn Satanek

Lastly Romans 8:17 "and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."

God open our eyes to see that part of the suffering that Christ endures that we are given the opportunity to "join" Him in, is the knowledge the burden that so many go through life not knowing the mercy and grace available to them through Him.  Help us to be vessels of mercy!!

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How to overcome sin. Romans 6,7,8

Our overview of what Paul was stating in Romans 6,7,8 is that in 6 Paul is very aware that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ, but in 7, born again Paul stumbles because even though he is a new creation there is still "sin which dwells in me".  He is being honest and recognizing the reality of the continuing struggle/war with the flesh.  But the key that he finds is don't focus on the sin, don't focus on doing doing doing some work to be free of the sin, (setting boundaries, avoiding, changing patterns, punishing yourself for falling) focus instead on the truth of Romans 6  that you are a new creation, that there is no condemnation, that the life of the son of God flows through you by freely given adoption.  The path for the Christian out of sin is to recognize that that is not who I am anymore that is just "sin that dwells in me" but it is not my identity. My identity is "in Christ" and I begin thanking Him for all that He has done to make me a new creation and to put me under the blood of His covenant and to wash me and keep me.  1 Cor. 1:30  "30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,"  HCSB  In putting our eyes on Jesus and taking our eyes off the sin, we are truly giving Him all the glory.

Art Katz on the incarnation

Gleannings from Art's message, "The Mystery of the Incarnation part 8". 

There is a single great renunciation of everything in the earth. A committing of your life to death, trusting in the resurrection of Jesus Life. Your baptism should be that renunciation and from that all the other moment by moment deaths will follow. Paul's revelation of Christ and the sentence, “Lord, what would you have for me to do?” are his renunciation. Ananias is assured by God that God will show Paul what great things he must suffer for God's name. We do not seek God for instruction but for fellowship. Rise early and seek God for communion. The “fasting and prayer” that drives out the demon is the fellowship and communion with very God, we are not equipped with a formula, but with a reality. 

Our union with Him is deepened by a process of devotion and obedience over time. 

God speaks, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” and immediately Jesus is driven into the wilderness to face the temptation of the devil based around the question, “If You are the Son of God..?” (Do we recognize the subtle temptation to “prove” we are servants of God by 'doing'? The last of the 3 temptations was to perform a miraculous sign, in front of the people that would have proven He was the Son of God, the Messiah.)

Going down is the key to spiritual growth. Going into conditions voluntarily that are NOT conducive to our growth. (Speaking of Jesus returning to Nazareth with His parents after being found in the temple at 12 years old)

Our growth is growth in what we are by the life of Christ, not in what we will be through works."

LOVE!

So this picture captures to me the beauty of the love of the Son for the bride.

Jesus with two incredibly strong hands gently holds them on both sides of the face of the bride.

Jesus with great love looking into the eyes of the bride.

Jesus look has within it, the LOVE of the ages, sacrificial, incredibly strong LOVE.

The bride empowered, energized and enveloped in that LOVE, goes out with that LOVE

abundantly, overflowing onto those around her.

And this is a picture of the Son and the bride.

Unveiling the deceptive spirits of "mammon" and "commerce"

Deitrich Bonhoeffer said it well:

“…the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (1)

"God has no use for our flesh and its talents (see Romans 7:18). They are useless to Him. The more talented we are, the larger obstacle these talents become and the greater temptation to 'do something great for Christ' without His Spirit leading us."


"How many of us American Christians have heard the lie of Satan that we as Christians are called to live a happy, successful life in the eyes of the world as a living advertisement on why they should also be Christians? This is not the gospel of God’s kingdom, but rather a false gospel designed by Satan to keep us under his control in his kingdom."


"The flesh in man loves religion because religion gives him an opportunity to have the best of both worlds. With religion we can claim Christ as our Lord, yet remain the one in control of our lives, seeing His cross as a thing of the past and go after “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” After all, isn’t this our God-given “inalienable right”? This phrase from the Declaration of Independence is the opposite of desiring the things of our Father in heaven, yet you would think it came from the very mouth of Jesus Christ if you observe the lives and goals of American Christians. There is no life, liberty and true happiness outside of living IN Christ in obedience to and unity with the Father. We might think we are independent of Satan as we pursue the things of this world, but we are deluded and have not yet been converted in the eyes of God."


These quotes from a blogger named Michael ( https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/do-we-desire-the-kingdom-of-god-or-the-kingdoms-of-men/ )
begin to uncover something that both my wife and I are beginning to have un-veiled to us by the
Spirit of God.  Mammon and Commerce are two very deceptive spirits that have been allowed onto holy ground in the church and they are being worshipped in subtle ways that are not visible if you are still "buying into the lie" that Christ died to make us happy. 


Yesterday part 6 of the series "Good or God" by John Bevere was shown in our church and it was 98% correct.  Two statements were made that demonstrate the subtle deception that we are up against. (1) "When you seek first the kingdom of God, He will cause you to prosper materially and with that you can further the kingdom of God."  False.  God does not need our finances or our support to advance His kingdom, in fact I have a friend who visits Haiti and comes back humbled every time, by the evidence and manifestations of the kingdom of God that take place in this, "poorest nation in the western hemisphere."  (2)  "When others see your material prosperity, they will ask you about your God."  False.  What leads the Jew to jealousy and what draws other people to us, and what Jesus praises the remnant for in each 'church' in Revelation is the exact same thing.  Perseverance in the face of suffering, trial and tribulation.  Faith that is not moved by the circumstances but continues to cling to and trust in the faithful love of the Father.  Endurance not abundance is the what separates the follower of the Lamb, from the world.  He had no place to "lie His head", He knew and made known and lived the truth that suffering is the pathway to glory, ultimate glory.  Nothing that can be obtained in this life in the form of possessions is going to ultimately point to eternity.  We are called to be a people surrendered to the will of God, in Christ.  Period.  Prosperity does not advance the kingdom of God, poverty does not hinder the kingdom of God, the "one thing" is to be "in Christ."