Days of Noah
Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
In the days of Noah, one family built an ark and lived, and other families kept going on about their business assuming nothing extraordinary would happen. Noah and his sons built a boat where there was no water and where no rain had ever fallen. There would seem to be no reason for all the extravagant effort and expense UNTIL the time Noah knew of actually came.
The same judgment...40 days and nights of rain...something brand new...hit both types of people: ready and unready. The judgment had two different effects depending on the PREVIOUS response to God. The rain raised up the ready people and drowned those who did nothing to respond to God.
Judgment is coming. It is the great AND terrible day of the Lord. Great for those who HUMBLE themselves and get ready. Terrible for those who claim to know what is going to happen and do not get ready.
I haven't always been a "post trib" guy. I haven't always been an end time guy. I haven't always believed night and day prayer would build an ark in a city for end time judgment. In fact, a few years ago, I didn't believe any of these things! What I was willing to do was the one thing that is required in a time of impending judgment: humble myself and assume maybe I didn't already know everything...maybe someone else who had actually made a large portion of their life about finding out what God was saying in this area might know something I didn't.
Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Many whisper about my motives and agenda. Let me tell you myself: I have only one agenda and it is to be FAITHFUL.
I want to know God. If the one I love tells me something, I am going to say it when and where He tells me to, no matter what anyone else says. It isn't that I don't respect those who get annoyed about it, it is that I respect God more. It is that simple.
Saying the things I say costs me...sometimes a little...sometimes more. (nothing compared to the cost many in the actual persecuted church are paying for standing on truth, even today)
Standing firm on the unique aspects of the end time message I believe God has given me has gotten me excluded from many places, places I care deeply about. At first, it was even offensive to my extended family. But they know me. Once they got past the initial shock, fear, and irritation, they considered the Bible verses and many began to see what I had started to see. They began to see that there is no other reason for me to do this other than that I believe it.
If you don't want to suffer the same fate as the world, at some point you are going to have to humble yourself and learn from other people who God is telling stuff to. We all need to. Jesus has a body for a reason. We all have something to offer.
I humbled myself, considered the information someone else had that disagreed with the information I had, and saw it was true. That is costly in, and of, itself.
Truth is expensive, but it sets you free. Saying the truth is even more costly than believing it. It costs me relationships. It costs me money. It costs me time, and it costs me my reputation in many ways. I don't get paid to say these things. I don't get popular by saying these things...
So why do I say them? Who does it help? It helps me! It also helps anyone humble enough to consider that maybe I see something they don't yet.
Luke 6:22-27 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets. “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Everyone needs to be building the last ark right now, according to Jesus. A big part of that is night and day prayer loyal to the end time truths...just praying isn't enough...praying in agreement with what heaven is doing is what is required. Being a faithful servant in this hour REQUIRES feeding the other servants the small part of the truth entrusted to you, as well as being willing to eat the small part of truth entrusted to others. Jesus told saved people to be ready, and this was a big part of it:
Luke 12:40-51 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people? ” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. “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.
In the days of Noah, one family built an ark and lived, and other families kept going on about their business assuming nothing extraordinary would happen. Noah and his sons built a boat where there was no water and where no rain had ever fallen. There would seem to be no reason for all the extravagant effort and expense UNTIL the time Noah knew of actually came.
The same judgment...40 days and nights of rain...something brand new...hit both types of people: ready and unready. The judgment had two different effects depending on the PREVIOUS response to God. The rain raised up the ready people and drowned those who did nothing to respond to God.
Judgment is coming. It is the great AND terrible day of the Lord. Great for those who HUMBLE themselves and get ready. Terrible for those who claim to know what is going to happen and do not get ready.
I haven't always been a "post trib" guy. I haven't always been an end time guy. I haven't always believed night and day prayer would build an ark in a city for end time judgment. In fact, a few years ago, I didn't believe any of these things! What I was willing to do was the one thing that is required in a time of impending judgment: humble myself and assume maybe I didn't already know everything...maybe someone else who had actually made a large portion of their life about finding out what God was saying in this area might know something I didn't.
Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Many whisper about my motives and agenda. Let me tell you myself: I have only one agenda and it is to be FAITHFUL.
I want to know God. If the one I love tells me something, I am going to say it when and where He tells me to, no matter what anyone else says. It isn't that I don't respect those who get annoyed about it, it is that I respect God more. It is that simple.
Saying the things I say costs me...sometimes a little...sometimes more. (nothing compared to the cost many in the actual persecuted church are paying for standing on truth, even today)
Standing firm on the unique aspects of the end time message I believe God has given me has gotten me excluded from many places, places I care deeply about. At first, it was even offensive to my extended family. But they know me. Once they got past the initial shock, fear, and irritation, they considered the Bible verses and many began to see what I had started to see. They began to see that there is no other reason for me to do this other than that I believe it.
If you don't want to suffer the same fate as the world, at some point you are going to have to humble yourself and learn from other people who God is telling stuff to. We all need to. Jesus has a body for a reason. We all have something to offer.
I humbled myself, considered the information someone else had that disagreed with the information I had, and saw it was true. That is costly in, and of, itself.
Truth is expensive, but it sets you free. Saying the truth is even more costly than believing it. It costs me relationships. It costs me money. It costs me time, and it costs me my reputation in many ways. I don't get paid to say these things. I don't get popular by saying these things...
So why do I say them? Who does it help? It helps me! It also helps anyone humble enough to consider that maybe I see something they don't yet.
Luke 6:22-27 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets. “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Everyone needs to be building the last ark right now, according to Jesus. A big part of that is night and day prayer loyal to the end time truths...just praying isn't enough...praying in agreement with what heaven is doing is what is required. Being a faithful servant in this hour REQUIRES feeding the other servants the small part of the truth entrusted to you, as well as being willing to eat the small part of truth entrusted to others. Jesus told saved people to be ready, and this was a big part of it:
Luke 12:40-51 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people? ” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. “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.
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