Shaking

Isaiah 30:1, 8-10, 12-13, 15-16:


“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord , “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin;


Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the Lord ; Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.


Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.


For thus says the Lord God , the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses ”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!


This passage in Isaiah 30 was for a "time to come." It was written for now. This passage is describing the difference between faith in God in a time of pressure, and faith in man's own reason. Knowing and trusting in God's plan is essential in a time of testing. We are in such a time. The wall IS bulging:


"A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant."


In fact, many walls are bulging right now. There is unprecedented political pressure building...the very makings of world war III, as some on the news have said, are being assembled around Syria and Israel as two major world powers, the US and Russia, face off in a frigid proxy war over control of the Middle East.


There is unprecedented cultural pressure building, as the progressives and conservatives (both left and right) press each other on the values of capitalism, socialism, relative morality, abortion. There is unprecedented spiritual pressure building as murder, theft, immorality, and open occult activity are exponentially increasing...the news is full, and becoming more full daily, of random people mercilessly killing others without any discernable reason.


There is unprecedented financial pressure building. The world economy is severely manipulated by central banks, and, if you have been reading the financial news, the economic indicators aren't reacting at all like the central bankers thought they would.


This is another HUGE bubble about to burst, that I believe will make the housing bubble look tiny. This isn't completely prophetic, it is more common sense. We are literally pumping 85 billion dollars of air into our severely ruptured balloon of an economy, only to find out that when we even think about stopping the air compressor, hoping to see if she'll hold, the whole world starts to jitter with economic fear...we, in partnership with Europe and Asia have literally created a monster of a currency bubble...it is quite literally unsustainable. This has never happened before.


The financial issues are so complex, even the economists driving the policies don't get it all. But we just tune it out. We have become so numb to complex and potentially bad news we really, for the most part, have stopped processing it. We don't take the time to sift what we are hearing and discern what the newscaster is saying, let alone what the Lord is shouting, through the very real circumstances that are playing out all around us. It is easier to grasp who might win the Voice...or to imagine a new bathroom like the one the two guys are installing on HGTV...or try a new recipe...so we let our mind settle there, hoping all the rest will somehow go away. News flash: it isn't going away. The world is literally doused in kerosene, and all that is required is a match. This IS, in fact, Jesus' fire:


Luke 12:49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!


This fire is good...if you are in the right spot...if you are standing with Jesus, lamp full of oil, READY for the long dark night. Talking about this end-time generation, Jesus said this:


Matthew 25:1-4 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.


The Bible says that God is going to shake everything that can be shaken:


Haggai 2:6-7 “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.


Jesus is actually setting the stage for the shaking right now. We honestly haven't seen anything yet. The Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel literally describe the very political machinations that we see playing out on the daily newscasts. The gathering of two great coalitions of nations (this is setting the stage for the war of Gog and Magog, which will mark the start of the Great Tribulation. The Bible is specific about the actual nations involved), fervent new action in Israel for making peace (this is setting the stage for a 7 year peace covenant between Israel and the world's superpower, identified in the Bible as the end-time Babylon), a world economy literally teetering on brink of implosion (this is setting the stage for a new global currency, described in the Bible as the "mark of the beast.").


This very specific stage is being set at the same time as unprecedented natural disasters in diverse places, murder running rampant, even in rural america, a cultural media shift to a very dark place...it doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even a prophet, to see this. Just an honest assessment of the news. But the news is the thing most people have stopped watching!


When the shaking of the financial system occurs, the Bible is clear that someone is going to come in at the last minute and fix it with a "global currency." This is important, because this global currency is going to be the tool the antichrist uses to force people to align with him. At first, it will be an option. At some point in the not too distant future, it will become a requirement. I want to trust in heaven's economy, so I can not be manipulated by the enemy. Trust is a lot stronger when I have built a secret history taking risks in God's promises.


There is one sure way for me to protect my family from the promised manipulation right now: live the Sermon on the Mount when it comes to money. I want to place no trust on my income, my retirement, or my savings, however big or small they might be.


If I am anxious about money, the quickest way to kill the fear is to give a bunch of money away...enough to feel it...enough to be a real risk, so I can see God answer that risk with reward. I want to start taking risks in secret and generous giving now. This moves my heart from trusting in money to trusting in God. This will actually take my weight off of trusting the world's economy and place it squarely on God's economy, which can not be shaken. For it to mature my heart, it has to be significant, and it has to be secret. The spiritual reward I will reap is unshakeable confidence in God's ability to provide:


Matthew 6:1-4 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.


Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.


Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Revelation 3:14-22 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”