|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

God is not looking for the strong. God is looking for the willing...for the loyal. Smallness is always a part of what God is doing. It is almost never in the "big" decisions that I am found faithful to believe and faithful to go forward in God. It's almost always in what begins seemingly small, sometimes the presumptive "no brainier" decisions that I find the greatest testing of my loyalty to the person of God. The principles of loyalty to God always bear fruit...positively or negatively. Seeds of faith and seeds of doubt both grow. The word of the Lord never returns to Him without fruit of some kind. 2018 is a year of judgment. Judgment is good. God is good, and his judgments bring life. In 2018, many doors are going to open to "say what God says, the way he says it", and to trust Him in the face of great resistance. It will start small....it will start in a manageable way....that is the test! The testing is in the fact that God lets big moments start

God is not looking for the strong. God is looking for the willing...for the loyal. Smallness is always a part of what God is doing. It is almost never in the "big" decisions that I am found faithful to believe and faithful to go forward in God. It's almost always in what begins seemingly small, sometimes the presumptive "no brainier" decisions that I find the greatest testing of my loyalty to the person of God. The principles of loyalty to God always bear fruit...positively or negatively. Seeds of faith and seeds of doubt both grow. The word of the Lord never returns to Him without fruit of some kind. 2018 is a year of judgment. Judgment is good. God is good, and his judgments bring life. In 2018, many doors are going to open to "say what God says, the way he says it", and to trust Him in the face of great resistance. It will start small....it will start in a manageable way....that is the test! The testing is in the fact that God lets big mom

Revelation 13:16It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. The word translated "receive" is the Greek word "Didomi". Didomi means to both give and to receive. This is what the word actually means in the Bible. This is how the mark of the beast is transferred. Most likely, you give the mark and receive something from it...which is an identity that allows you to buy and sell. The word Didomi is used 413 times in the Bible. 365 of those times it means to give, not to receive. Have you ever considered that the mark is something you give and that marks you? From Blue Letter Bible: "KJV Translation Count: 413x The KJV translates Strongs G1325 in the following manner: give (365x), grant (10x), put (5x), show (4x), deliver (2x), make (2x), misc (25x)."

Faith and delusion work in similar ways. Faith is confidence in the truth. Delusion is confidence in anything other than the truth. Truth occupies one singular space. If something is true, then anything else that attempts to define that space in a different way is false. Faith is narrow. Delusion is wide, is the point. There are many delusions and one true thing that requires faith. I grow in faith in the most undramatic way. Over and over, I say yes to the truth. As narrow as it is, as demanding as it is, over time, if I keep saying yes to the truth, I find my faith growing. Delusion works the same way. In millions of tiny ways, people say no to truth... I could put it off, I could ignore it, I could comfort myself that it isn't necessary right now....and over time, I would grow deeper and deeper in delusion. Everyone on the planet is growing or dying. I am either growing in faith or delusion. Growth is accelerating as the glory of Jesus is being revealed. The wheat and the tares

Revelation 13:16It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. The word translated "receive" is the Greek word "Didomi". Didomi means to both give and to receive. This is what the word actually means in the Bible. This is how the mark of the beast is transferred. Most likely, you give the mark and receive something from it...which is an identity that allows you to buy and sell. The word Didomi is used 413 times in the Bible. 365 of those times it means to give, not to receive. Have you ever considered that the mark is something you give and that marks you? From Blue Letter Bible: "KJV Translation Count: 413x The KJV translates Strongs G1325 in the following manner: give (365x), grant (10x), put (5x), show (4x), deliver (2x), make (2x), misc (25x)."

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. In the end, everyone is going to get what they want.  This is the beauty and tragedy of being loved by an eternal Father.  Love requires free will.  Free will means I get the freedom to have my own will.  Everyone will get their will empowered in the end.  For the same love that gives everyone what they want, there is a delay in the giving over to desire.  God gives us time to change our mind that we could learn to want what He wants for us....that our will could be conformed to His. Judgment...even the seals, trumpets and bowls of Revelation...are simply the giving over of mankind to what it wants, even though what it wants is not good.  It happens incrementally and in a process so that we could repent....that we could see what we want won't really satisfy, and change our minds. That's why the end time judgment comes in 21 steps. In the delay is heart-sickness or

The Test of Waiting in Belief Matthew 25:4“but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5“But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7“Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8“And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ There is in the Gospel and Epistles a promised delay in the return of Jesus. He is scheduled to return and it gets delayed. This delay is intentional. It is a test. This long-suffering is called "salvation" by Peter. This patient delay is also the source of scoffing. And scoffing, according to the Bible, will lead many astray. It is called the "error of the wicked.". The delay is used by scoffers to lead otherwise sincere believers into doubt and then falling away...even though the return of Jesus is unfolding all around them. They are being tested. The meat of th

There is a false teaching in the church that reduces the Tabernacle of David to the personal experience of the presence of God. The personal experience of God's presence is vital, but it isn't David's Tabernacle. David's Tabernacle isn't about God coming to you, it is about you coming to God. Coming in to the corporate place of His presence. A ton of verses, Old Testament and New Testament, express this. Here are a couple: Amos 9:11 "On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; In the "days of old", David spent the vast majority of his time and money establishing a community center for coming together to prophetically worship God. The point is the community aspect of it. This is the Spirit of Elijah...turning the hearts of children to fathers and fathers to children lest you be destroyed by the curse of judgment. We have to learn to

Isaiah 28:9“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” 11For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, 12To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. 13But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught. 14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made l

A prophet is honored everywhere except by those who think they know him/her and God. Mark 6:3“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. 4But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Religious people are the ones who get offended with prophets. People that don't care much about God also don't care much about prophets. The intensity in the judgments causes people to care more about God and thus, more about prophetic statements. The world in this hour is growing in religion, and thus, in division. The love of men growing cold is producing a hardness of heart at the exact same time technology is connecting people en masse. Be very careful. The people in this passage below will mostly feel that they are doing God a service, even though they want the two most clear representatives of

The kingdom comes from the inside out. Not in a way as to be seen. Luke 17:20One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 21You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” 22Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. 23People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. 24For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. 25But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation. 26“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. Tribulation is the resistance of the people of the earth and the consequences for that resistance, to the coming of the kingdom. Many are

What is Happening in the Middle East and Why it Matters Major instability has rocked the Middle East since May 22, 2017. It is easy to see the symptoms of the instability, but for many it is harder to see WHY the instability is suddenly present. If you miss the" why" you will mostly miss the prophetic implications. This is an important principle in general: the more the end time prophetic fulfillments unfold, the HARDER they will be to see. This is because delusion is being allowed into the world at an unprecedented level, as was promised: 2 Thessalonians 2:10and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, This is why Jesus comes at "midnight" in the darkest part, and seeing him requires the intentional act of "trimming a lamp.". The confusion that ensues among believers is unpr

What is Happening in the Middle East and Why it Matters Major instability has rocked the Middle East since May 22, 2017.  It is easy to see the symptoms of the instability, but for many it is harder to see WHY the instability is suddenly present.  If you miss the" why" you will mostly miss the prophetic implications.  This is an important principle in general: the more the end time prophetic fulfillments unfold, the HARDER they will be to see.  This is because delusion is being allowed into the world at an unprecedented level, as was promised: 2 Thessalonians 2:10and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, This is why Jesus comes at "midnight" in the darkest part, and seeing him requires the intentional act of "trimming a lamp.". The confusion that ensues among believe

Humility accepts God's destiny. 2 Chronicles 26:15And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong. 16But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Earthly success/acceptance is often much more dangerous than weakness/rejection. In weakness, I make God my strength. As He answers with strength on my behalf, it is easy to begin to presume I am " God's anointed" and begin to take license and liberty that is outside of His direction. Success often is actually testing my loyalty to God Himself. Jesus paid that I could be loyal to God and His value system. The heart of David is to value anointing in others, that at the right time God will raise me up forever. I don'

True five fold Ephesian 4:11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; The true fivefold is simply a reflection of maturity in agreeing with God's vision for restoration of His family. We are all made to be in direct fellowship with God, which means we are all made for revelation. Revelation produces authority. The more I see of God's kingdom, the more I know how to operate in the kingdom, and the more I can serve in the kingdom. The greatest serve the most. The ultimate expression of redemption...the story the Bible is telling is this: all of God's children walking in the confidence and relationship of Jesus, the first of many brothers. The False fivefold p