Allowing Intensity

Jesus is about to allow something very intense to happen. There is a fire He is fanning the flames of right now. A fire He kindled 2,000 years ago, that is fanning into a full blaze right before our very eyes:


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.


This fire is just beginning to mature. The wood is dry, and the heat in the center is building. Soon, as unpopular as it is to say, all the wood will be engulfed in flame:


Luke 23:30-31 Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”


The division Jesus described bringing to earth is the "valley of decision." The whole world in one generation will be given a very clear choice to make between the tangible plan of man to remake the world, or trust in the invisible Jesus, and His clearly established plan to drive evil off the planet and take back all that is His.


Many who love the name of Jesus are unaware that the world right now is being directed into a narrow place called "the valley of decision" in the Bible. The path into this narrow place is marked with sign posts...warnings called "birth pains" by Jesus:


Matthew 24:6-8 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.


We are passing these sign posts at such a rate many have stopped noticing. That is the real danger, according to Jesus. For those not watching, or those who have grown bored with watching, there is a great danger: offense. Many, the Bible says, will be offended by what Jesus allows to touch the earth. Already, many incredibly popular leaders in the Body of Christ are saying they are "unwilling to believe" that Jesus would allow anything like the "negative" aspects of His clearly written-out and detailed plan. Jesus is clear about His plan to drive evil off the planet by using progressively intense means to convince those in rebellion against Him to repent before it is too late. Like any good parent, if grounding won't get the child to obey, a more aggressive tactic must be employed, for the love of the child. This is the judgment detailed in the Book of Revelation. Many see this plan of Jesus to reveal Himself as too negative.


One stunning example of a gifted leader in the Body claiming he is unwilling to believe the Book of Revelation says what it means and means what it says is here: http://kvministries.com/…/…/01/27/eschatological-core-values


This is an incredibly dangerous mindset, based on a false "post-millennial" eschatology (believing the world is going to get better and better until Jesus returns). I don't say this lightly, and I think this man is an incredibly gifted teacher, but this is exactly the danger Jesus warned of:


Matthew 24:9-13 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.


Jesus said endurance would be required "until the end." He was talking privately to His disciples when He said these words. Offense at Jesus was something He warned about more than once:


Luke 7:23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”


Jesus said this to John the Baptist's followers, who were, in fact, offended because things were not going for John as they supposed they should. John was in prison and about to die even though he had just poured out his life preparing the way for Jesus. Jesus doesn't do things the way many suppose He should...


In His mercy, Jesus has clearly laid out the events that will mark His return. They are clearly ordered, numbered, described, backed up, prophesyed, and explained in over 150 Chapters in the Bible. Re-writing them, symbolizing them, or searching for Bible verses to put them out of mind should not be the mindset of someone loyal to Jesus. Searching them out, understanding them, and agreeing with them (keeping them - Rev 1:3) brings a blessing. Knowing the events surrounding the return of Jesus, and more importantly, the heart of love behind them, is the antidote to offense. "Watch and be ready" is what Jesus said, or that day will catch you unaware...and offend you right into defiant rebellion.


One of the most dramatic prophecies of Jesus was in Isaiah 53. Hundreds of years before the Messiah came and paid the price for sin, Isaiah prophesied it in the most dramatic way. The prophesy ended like this:


Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.


Jesus IS going to divide His inheritance with the strong and great...those who agree with Him in the risk of some suffering, and trust Him to carry them through His plans, not remove them from His plans. This has been the mark of a Christian for the last 2,000 years. Look what John opened the Book of Revelation with:


Revelation 1: 9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.


John, "the disciple Jesus loved," said that if you want to be His partner in the Kingdom of Jesus, then you are also His partner in the "patience" and the "tribulation" of that very kingdom as it is birthed. Like any family, all those who take part in the birth also take part in the inheritance of being born into the family.


After the prophecy in Isaiah 53, Isaiah 54 details the most beautiful and sweeping statements about what Jesus has planned for all those born into God's family through Him, and what they can expect. It ends like this:


Isaiah 54:15-17 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. “Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord , And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord .

Now is the time to watch and be ready. There is much to do in THIS hour...