Theories
As the news of the day unfolds, many theories abound. Conspiracy theories, economic theories, political theories. The asteroid that struck Russia last week has now resulted in millions being allocated by NASA, the UN, and other governing bodies to watch the sky for more asteroids. Revelation 6:13 says that someday soon, asteroids like the one that exploded in Russia, will "fall like figs that drop from a tree when it is shaken by a mighty wind." We don't need to spend millions watching for something God promises is going to happen! We need to find out what He says will protect us!
This is man's wisdom. What God allows to wake us up, to turn our hearts to Him, man demands a man-made solution for. This was our same response to 911, the economic crisis, Katrina, Sandy, Sandy Hook...
As Jesus slowly lifts His hand of restraint, allowing small tastes of what is to come...what is written to come....rather than respond in the way guaranteed to bring blessing, looking to God, mankind typically responds in way guaranteed to bring more judgment. We don't understand the source of the problem, or the response that will rectify it. This was the story in ancient Israel, and this is shaping up, by and large, to be the story of America.
Gun control isn't what we lack, self control is. Governmental response isn't what we lack, personal response to God is. We don't need a global financial solution when we have a global spiritual problem. We don't need a new man to save the day, on one day the man Christ Jesus literally saved the day for everyone who would respond...but so few do. A real response is required.
This is the great dilemma of our generation: how will we respond to increasing intensity that is beyond our control...beyond the reach of a new law, or a new telescope? Will we continue to look to a man, or will we look to the One who owns it all? ...the One who for thousands of years said this day would come? God has described this time in great detail so we would know who He is, but a response IS required:
Isaiah 42:8-11 I am the Lord , that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
The "new song" is evidence of the response of my heart. Spending my strength on trusting God is evidence of what I really believe. The phrase "new song" is very specific in the Bible. Every time you see the words "new song," shortly after, you will see words describing the end-time judgment....words that describe the valley of decision. The consequences of trusting in God contrasted with the consequences of trusting in myself or another man. The new song is the end-time response of Jesus' church to the coming judgment. It IS night and day worship...the new song rises out of a love-sick heart...a heart like David's:
Psalms 33:3-10 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord . By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord ; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
David coined the phrase new song. The night and day singers of his generation sang about it releasing judgment. Isaiah later wrote of it, and then we see John, the disciple Jesus loved, tie it all together for us:
Revelation 5:8-9 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
The scroll is God's plan to judge the earth. The new song David and the other night and day singers of His generation took shifts singing about agreed with the new songs being sung around God's throne from eternity and to eternity. Declarations of God's power, wisdom, and love continually emanate from God's throne, and a similar response on earth is what pleases God. Trusting that the invisible God is "really able" is the correct response. It is one thing for me to go to church on Sunday morning and say it when everyone else does, and quite another to actually make decisions that reflect this reality.
Am I willing to spend my time, money, and emotion in a way that declares this truth as the most important principle of my life...my "one thing"? If I don't believe in Jesus, of course not...but if I am like most american christians..."probably not "is the most likely answer. When it comes to writing the check that actually is a risk, or committing to anything that requires more than a casual connection...this is when I see what my heart really stands on. Often my heart stands on straw and sand.
If my plan for weathering the coming storm is saving up as much cash, food, or guns as possible, I have put my faith in straw. If my plan is to be on fire, like the coming fire, then what I spend on will not be consumed.
There is a fire coming that will burn up everything that doesn't agree with Jesus. Money will soon be worthless, and no man is going to have enough food or guns to withstand what Jesus releases. Combustible "stuff" will not pass through the fire. God promises by the end that people will be more rare than fine gold!:
Luke 12:49-51 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
Isaiah 13:12-13 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
This is the valley of decision...the valley of division. Will I handle it like a good american and hope my IRA holds out, my ammunition supply is enough, and the food stash doesn't spoil before it all goes down? Will I trust fate and luck? Or will I spend it all... my time, money, and emotion... on the invisible Jesus? Will I give God what I have leftover, or will I give like Mary of Bethany, pouring it all out on Jesus' feet. Will I be like the widow who gave all she had to live on? What I stand on...what I spend on...is really what I believe. What have I made my strength?
In this last passage "Gad" and "Meni" are the gods of "Fate" and "luck." The truth is, the most common approach to the coming storm is a lukewarm one. Many say "it will all work out", so lets focus on something more positive! But God says "how will it work out for you?" A response is actually required:
Isaiah 65:8-16 Thus says the Lord : “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.
“But you are those who forsake the Lord , Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God : “Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed; Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit. You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; For the Lord God will slay you, And call His servants by another name; So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.
This is man's wisdom. What God allows to wake us up, to turn our hearts to Him, man demands a man-made solution for. This was our same response to 911, the economic crisis, Katrina, Sandy, Sandy Hook...
As Jesus slowly lifts His hand of restraint, allowing small tastes of what is to come...what is written to come....rather than respond in the way guaranteed to bring blessing, looking to God, mankind typically responds in way guaranteed to bring more judgment. We don't understand the source of the problem, or the response that will rectify it. This was the story in ancient Israel, and this is shaping up, by and large, to be the story of America.
Gun control isn't what we lack, self control is. Governmental response isn't what we lack, personal response to God is. We don't need a global financial solution when we have a global spiritual problem. We don't need a new man to save the day, on one day the man Christ Jesus literally saved the day for everyone who would respond...but so few do. A real response is required.
This is the great dilemma of our generation: how will we respond to increasing intensity that is beyond our control...beyond the reach of a new law, or a new telescope? Will we continue to look to a man, or will we look to the One who owns it all? ...the One who for thousands of years said this day would come? God has described this time in great detail so we would know who He is, but a response IS required:
Isaiah 42:8-11 I am the Lord , that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
The "new song" is evidence of the response of my heart. Spending my strength on trusting God is evidence of what I really believe. The phrase "new song" is very specific in the Bible. Every time you see the words "new song," shortly after, you will see words describing the end-time judgment....words that describe the valley of decision. The consequences of trusting in God contrasted with the consequences of trusting in myself or another man. The new song is the end-time response of Jesus' church to the coming judgment. It IS night and day worship...the new song rises out of a love-sick heart...a heart like David's:
Psalms 33:3-10 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord . By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord ; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
David coined the phrase new song. The night and day singers of his generation sang about it releasing judgment. Isaiah later wrote of it, and then we see John, the disciple Jesus loved, tie it all together for us:
Revelation 5:8-9 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
The scroll is God's plan to judge the earth. The new song David and the other night and day singers of His generation took shifts singing about agreed with the new songs being sung around God's throne from eternity and to eternity. Declarations of God's power, wisdom, and love continually emanate from God's throne, and a similar response on earth is what pleases God. Trusting that the invisible God is "really able" is the correct response. It is one thing for me to go to church on Sunday morning and say it when everyone else does, and quite another to actually make decisions that reflect this reality.
Am I willing to spend my time, money, and emotion in a way that declares this truth as the most important principle of my life...my "one thing"? If I don't believe in Jesus, of course not...but if I am like most american christians..."probably not "is the most likely answer. When it comes to writing the check that actually is a risk, or committing to anything that requires more than a casual connection...this is when I see what my heart really stands on. Often my heart stands on straw and sand.
If my plan for weathering the coming storm is saving up as much cash, food, or guns as possible, I have put my faith in straw. If my plan is to be on fire, like the coming fire, then what I spend on will not be consumed.
There is a fire coming that will burn up everything that doesn't agree with Jesus. Money will soon be worthless, and no man is going to have enough food or guns to withstand what Jesus releases. Combustible "stuff" will not pass through the fire. God promises by the end that people will be more rare than fine gold!:
Luke 12:49-51 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
Isaiah 13:12-13 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
This is the valley of decision...the valley of division. Will I handle it like a good american and hope my IRA holds out, my ammunition supply is enough, and the food stash doesn't spoil before it all goes down? Will I trust fate and luck? Or will I spend it all... my time, money, and emotion... on the invisible Jesus? Will I give God what I have leftover, or will I give like Mary of Bethany, pouring it all out on Jesus' feet. Will I be like the widow who gave all she had to live on? What I stand on...what I spend on...is really what I believe. What have I made my strength?
In this last passage "Gad" and "Meni" are the gods of "Fate" and "luck." The truth is, the most common approach to the coming storm is a lukewarm one. Many say "it will all work out", so lets focus on something more positive! But God says "how will it work out for you?" A response is actually required:
Isaiah 65:8-16 Thus says the Lord : “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.
“But you are those who forsake the Lord , Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God : “Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed; Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit. You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; For the Lord God will slay you, And call His servants by another name; So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.
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