Pressure
I hear the Lord saying that many are looking for a calming down... a break in the intensity. There is intensity on many levels...internal restlessness, family and work pressure, relational pressures at church and school, and the obvious pressure in the world. the Lord says the pressure is increasing not decreasing. You have to understand the plans of the Lord in order to rightly set your expectations.
Many are "holding their breath" waiting for things to go back to normal. You will not be able to hold your breath long enough. You need to learn to breath...to have joy IN the sober truth... in this hour.
The season we are in is one of increasing intensity. It is actually the dawning of the return of Jesus. The light increasing in the darkness makes the dark elements of creation VERY uncomfortable. The answer is to separate from any darkness. Holiness is a pursuit of peace in this hour.
Jesus' return is much like the dawning of a day. It is a process that takes 7 Jewish years, and we are about 10 months into it. Like a runner who is going a long distance, setting your expectation rightly and pacing yourself for a long run is what will help you finish the race:
Matthew 24:9-14 “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. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Endurance is what you need. Restlessness is designed to sap your vision and your endurance. The intensity is just beginning, not reaching a crescendo...not even close. This is very important to understand. That is why "watching" is such an important component of the end times. Every time Jesus mentioned His return, He said "watch."
To watch is to connect the Bible and the news as a way of measuring where we are at. A good runner has a watch and knows the course, so they can measure where they are and make the right movements at the right time.
There is proper food...that is truth of God's word... that must be eaten...understood... at the "proper time." You really need to know and understand the simple and straightforward end time plan in the Bible. I call it the Joel 2 harvest pattern. Understanding this simple plan unlocks an understanding of the Revelation events that will excite you, sober you, and make you confident that you live in the greatest hour earth will ever see before Jesus returns. It truly is the most blessed generation... the most intense? Yes. The most terrible to be out of agreement with Jesus? Absolutely. But, the greatest time to be in agreement with Jesus? For sure. To be in agreement with Him, you must know the truth and the time...you must watch:
Matthew 24:37-39, 44-51 NKJV
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....
... Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus isn't warning alcoholics and overweight people. Don't let yourself off the hook just because you aren't drunk right now. Jesus is saying to His disciples "you need to understand what is happening so you don't fall in to the pattern of the world."
This is an extraordinary time and calls for extraordinary living. If you don't respond you will be "cut in two and appointed a portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This isn't a punishment for those not saved, it will be a reality of the choice to not get ready. Many will fall away as they tire out from waiting for a rescue that isn't coming.
The falling away of the church is a huge promised component of the end time plan. It is part of the sifting...the shaking. The church is being sifted even right now. If they don't set their expectations rightly, great disappointment will lead to great fear. Death is promised to people who say "no trouble will touch us" in the end times:
Amos 9:9-10 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
That is what we are witnessing in the earth right now. Tribulation is touching large parts of the Church in Asia and the Middle East BECAUSE Israel is being sifted (shaking is a harvest analogy) among the nations. All the nations are being sifted with her. Right now, the earth is witnessing tribulation touch Smyrna, the church that was ready. Soon tribulation will touch the unready churches. This will result in much different news. Fear, betrayal, love growing cold...these are things Jesus warned believers about.
Saying "no trouble will touch you" sets the wrong expectation, you don't get ready, and the Bible promises that is a recipe for death... by sword... not good.
I believe firmly the tribulation began in December 2013. I have Bible verses and news stories that back that up ten fold. The tribulation increased dramatically with the Passover blood moon...what followed was the USA bringing Hamas into the negotiations with Israel. Next came the Pentecost 2014 prayer meeting at the Vatican with a Christian leader, a Muslim leader, and a Jewish leader... who were they praying to? What followed was a 50 days war between Israel and Hamas, and the coming out of a major Caliphate in the middle east... and a massive ramping up of Christian persecution. Next week comes the next big increase in intensity...a next blood moon on October 8, which marks the last of the three connected Jewish feasts: Sukkot. Passover, Pentecost, and Sukkot are all related.
The intensity is not going to die down until Jesus returns. Right now is the time to lay down tradition, lay down the stories you have heard that offered false comfort in the past, lay down false expectation, and pick up the story Jesus is telling: a victorious Bride gathering in an end time harvest in great power as the intensity of the earth increases. This is the same story of those first disciples. The Book of Acts is the glorious story of lives lived all in for Jesus. Paul still made tents, but His life goal was all about increasing the harvest at any cost, and telling the truth no matter who told Him to quiet down.
We are entering the time Jesus prayed for:
John 17:15-21 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The unity of the Bride by sanctification...which is division... loyalty to Jesus which produces love for eachother without compromising any of the intense truth of the word. Unity by watering down the intense truth of the Bible's end time story, or hiding the presence of the Spirit, will not endure this hour.
II Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
In the earth, it must get much darker before the dawn, but in the Spirit, the glory of the Lord is rising. The trick is to live more and more in agreement with the dawning of the light. Keeping a foot in the darkness of the hope the world is clinging to is a recipe for feeling the shaking. The rising light of Jesus' returning is already causing tribulation in the darkness, but it is producing life for those getting their eyes adjusted. Right expectations now will result in great victory. Wrong expectations now will result in great weariness and much falling away.
Watch. Pray. Be ready.
Many are "holding their breath" waiting for things to go back to normal. You will not be able to hold your breath long enough. You need to learn to breath...to have joy IN the sober truth... in this hour.
The season we are in is one of increasing intensity. It is actually the dawning of the return of Jesus. The light increasing in the darkness makes the dark elements of creation VERY uncomfortable. The answer is to separate from any darkness. Holiness is a pursuit of peace in this hour.
Jesus' return is much like the dawning of a day. It is a process that takes 7 Jewish years, and we are about 10 months into it. Like a runner who is going a long distance, setting your expectation rightly and pacing yourself for a long run is what will help you finish the race:
Matthew 24:9-14 “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. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Endurance is what you need. Restlessness is designed to sap your vision and your endurance. The intensity is just beginning, not reaching a crescendo...not even close. This is very important to understand. That is why "watching" is such an important component of the end times. Every time Jesus mentioned His return, He said "watch."
To watch is to connect the Bible and the news as a way of measuring where we are at. A good runner has a watch and knows the course, so they can measure where they are and make the right movements at the right time.
There is proper food...that is truth of God's word... that must be eaten...understood... at the "proper time." You really need to know and understand the simple and straightforward end time plan in the Bible. I call it the Joel 2 harvest pattern. Understanding this simple plan unlocks an understanding of the Revelation events that will excite you, sober you, and make you confident that you live in the greatest hour earth will ever see before Jesus returns. It truly is the most blessed generation... the most intense? Yes. The most terrible to be out of agreement with Jesus? Absolutely. But, the greatest time to be in agreement with Jesus? For sure. To be in agreement with Him, you must know the truth and the time...you must watch:
Matthew 24:37-39, 44-51 NKJV
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....
... Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus isn't warning alcoholics and overweight people. Don't let yourself off the hook just because you aren't drunk right now. Jesus is saying to His disciples "you need to understand what is happening so you don't fall in to the pattern of the world."
This is an extraordinary time and calls for extraordinary living. If you don't respond you will be "cut in two and appointed a portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This isn't a punishment for those not saved, it will be a reality of the choice to not get ready. Many will fall away as they tire out from waiting for a rescue that isn't coming.
The falling away of the church is a huge promised component of the end time plan. It is part of the sifting...the shaking. The church is being sifted even right now. If they don't set their expectations rightly, great disappointment will lead to great fear. Death is promised to people who say "no trouble will touch us" in the end times:
Amos 9:9-10 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
That is what we are witnessing in the earth right now. Tribulation is touching large parts of the Church in Asia and the Middle East BECAUSE Israel is being sifted (shaking is a harvest analogy) among the nations. All the nations are being sifted with her. Right now, the earth is witnessing tribulation touch Smyrna, the church that was ready. Soon tribulation will touch the unready churches. This will result in much different news. Fear, betrayal, love growing cold...these are things Jesus warned believers about.
Saying "no trouble will touch you" sets the wrong expectation, you don't get ready, and the Bible promises that is a recipe for death... by sword... not good.
I believe firmly the tribulation began in December 2013. I have Bible verses and news stories that back that up ten fold. The tribulation increased dramatically with the Passover blood moon...what followed was the USA bringing Hamas into the negotiations with Israel. Next came the Pentecost 2014 prayer meeting at the Vatican with a Christian leader, a Muslim leader, and a Jewish leader... who were they praying to? What followed was a 50 days war between Israel and Hamas, and the coming out of a major Caliphate in the middle east... and a massive ramping up of Christian persecution. Next week comes the next big increase in intensity...a next blood moon on October 8, which marks the last of the three connected Jewish feasts: Sukkot. Passover, Pentecost, and Sukkot are all related.
The intensity is not going to die down until Jesus returns. Right now is the time to lay down tradition, lay down the stories you have heard that offered false comfort in the past, lay down false expectation, and pick up the story Jesus is telling: a victorious Bride gathering in an end time harvest in great power as the intensity of the earth increases. This is the same story of those first disciples. The Book of Acts is the glorious story of lives lived all in for Jesus. Paul still made tents, but His life goal was all about increasing the harvest at any cost, and telling the truth no matter who told Him to quiet down.
We are entering the time Jesus prayed for:
John 17:15-21 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The unity of the Bride by sanctification...which is division... loyalty to Jesus which produces love for eachother without compromising any of the intense truth of the word. Unity by watering down the intense truth of the Bible's end time story, or hiding the presence of the Spirit, will not endure this hour.
II Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
In the earth, it must get much darker before the dawn, but in the Spirit, the glory of the Lord is rising. The trick is to live more and more in agreement with the dawning of the light. Keeping a foot in the darkness of the hope the world is clinging to is a recipe for feeling the shaking. The rising light of Jesus' returning is already causing tribulation in the darkness, but it is producing life for those getting their eyes adjusted. Right expectations now will result in great victory. Wrong expectations now will result in great weariness and much falling away.
Watch. Pray. Be ready.
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