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Will You Be Part of His Plan??

 

This needs to be heard and understood. The Lord is preparing a great move of His Word, His Spirit and His Gospel, but so many in the church are still distracted and surprised by world events, or more accurately , politics and upheaval.

We have to stop acting like we were not clearly told, warned and comforted about these days of trouble and the speeding up toward the Day Of The Lord. The entire Bible tells us of this time.

The World is going to find out where all of Gods Anger has been stored up in during this age of grace. He isn't blind to every evil act committed, and every horrible thing done. Every act of violence against a child, every unspeakable act done on the planet has caused anger in The Godhead.

There is judgement that is being stored, in a very real way. His wrath is being stored in a mysterious way that the bible calls The Bowls of The Wrath of God. His Judgement has been sealed and can only be opened by Jesus in thier time. (Read The Book of Revelation)

Believers today think we will escape all of the tribulation of the last days. Not so sure about that. Ask the believers in persecuted nations about that idea. The early church suffered horribly. They were burned at the stake, cut in half, be-headed.

We will escape the full wrath of God, but not so sure about the wrath of The Beast as he rises to power. Millions of believers have been and are being persecuted and killed by his spirit (spirit of anti-Christ)

I don't say this to enlist fear. Quite the opposite, we only fear what we don't understand or are surprised by. When we expect what The Word says to actually occur, which every believer should, we can stand with a confident hope.

We can face that darkness knowing God has prepared something much greater, and even as darkness falls upon the earth, He will cause light to shine upon and through His people.

What does that light look like in darkness??

Read The Gospels and pay attention to the ministry of Jesus. Read The Book of ACTS and pay attention to how believers continued The Ministry of Jesus. It describes The Light (Jesus) coming into the the darkness (the world system and the enemies kingdom) .

The Lord has plans for His Church in the days ahead. There is a HUGE HARVEST He plans on bringing in. He will do it. Will you be part of it, or will you be protesting and carrying your gun with your 2nd amendment shirt on? Will you be part of His plan or will you be so caught up in politics and the noise of nationalism, you cant even see The Kingdom Of God being reveled on earth?

Will you be like the zealots that mocked Jesus and discounted Him because He came with a message of love, forgiveness and healing, instead of nationalistic power to kick the Romans out of Israel?

Will you be like them that had miracles, signs wonders and power operating right in front of them, but they were so blinded by carnal things, they had no place nor part in it, except as a tool to bring persecution to believers by stirring up hatred toward them.

Eye hasn't seen , not ear heard what God has planned in the final days of His Church on earth in this age. Don't fear, it will be good, very, very good. When you see the storms, pray for protection and seek Gods plan for you to bring peace in it.

When you see pestilence, disease, shaking, darkness. Don't get in fear and look for somebody to blame. Seek God, be at peace and get instructions of what your part is to bring His Light to it.

Yes, weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Be sober minded and focused. Like a warhorse honor your Master Jesus and press on as He steers the reigns of your heart. Be gentle, but strong , kind but resolute. Protect the weak , guard the feeble, turn the other cheek, but be bold and courageous in persecutions and successes.

Check Your Fears

Vigil for Buffalo New York Mass Shooting Victims

The Tree and The Word

How did listening to this book cause me to see this tree in a whole new light? I am still processing the views and truths I have received from the book. I highly recommend it, even though I am not sure if I totally embrace everything taught in it.  I can say that everything taught in it is worth considering and praying over to see where we can understand Gods Ways and Word better by laying aside our own bias and Western thinking minds. 

I have been admiring this tree in my front yard for over a week now. Each day it seem to bloom brighter and grow more beautiful.  The picture really doesn't do it justice . It has opened up in a spectacular way this year. My wife and I both commented to each other how we cant believe how full and dense the blooms are, especially since last year there were hardly any blooms and what did bloom was short lasting and unimpressive.  

 One day , shortly after reading the above book, my attention was drawn to this flowering crabapple tree blooming brightly outside my window. I stirred up my spirit and and began to consider how this could be made into a parable about God's Plans. I was going to cut this tree down a few times over the past few years because it wasn't much of a tree most of the time. 

 I believe prayer sometimes is in our seeking. God answers us and communes with us in our own internal conversations and we seek wisdom from the world around us. (I believe this is one way God gave Solomon such wisdom) This is how my internal conversation went and the outcome of it. 

Wow that tree is amazing this year. I am so glad I didn't cut it down. Could it be a prophetic example of God's faithfulness to bring harvest into our lives? To renew what was thought dying or lost? Could it be that the blooms of this year, and what is sure to be an abundance of apples in the fall, is a sign of a coming rich harvest in our lives? 

Hmmm, I wonder. But, this is, although beautiful, just a crab apple tree. There may be an abundant harvest of apples, but they are tiny inedible apples, that really just hang on the branches until they finally rot off in the mid winter. Well, that doesn't sound much like an exciting parable. Yeah, it is pretty now, but soon will be just a crab apple tree with a lot of useless fruit on it. 

Then some of the truths of the book above came up in my heart. Am I thinking about this entirely the wrong way? Am I discounting something God is trying to show me, just because I will not personally eat the fruit of this tree? Am I just thinking about me, my needs and what this tree provides for me? 

Look at all the bumble bees in this tree. I have never seen so many bumble bees around here. They are acting like they found a treasure chest. It is almost like they have sent out the call that a major reserve of their precious pollen has been found.  What impact on the ecosystem will this treasure trove of  bumble bee gold be? Our little tree here is a precious recourse to not only these bees but every part of the area eco-system will benefit from these amazing blooms. 

When the blooms turn to tiny apples, the neighborhood deer come along and eat the ones they can reach, and the bunnies, squirrels and other critters, snag the ones that fall. 

This years spectacular blooms are not just so I can enjoy its beauty for a short period of time , but they will bless so many things, for an unknown amount of time, that go far beyond this time of spring renewal.  Those bumble bees seem to know that. They are hard at work, in a harvest field that is greater than they can possibly deplete. They seem to know this is a special harvest season. Could they know?? Those bees, those amazing bees. 

 

 

 

Matthew McConaughey University of Houston Speech