|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

God is shaking everything that can be shaken: Haggai 2:6-7 NKJV — “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. One way to look at this passage prophetically (by the Spirit) is to see it in light of Revelation 13. The beast comes out of the sea and the false prophet comes out of the land: Revelation 13:1 NKJV — Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Revelation 13:11 NKJV — Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. The sea in this allegory is the shifting power of the political realm. The land is the seemingly more stable religious realm. Jesus is a priest (l...

The flesh and the Spirit see the world around us differently. It is easy to take something God gives and turn it into something God never intended at all. Jesus wrote the letters to the church in Revelation 2 and 3 so we could know how to give the church back to God in the pressure of the last days. Local church, or a local assembly of believers, can easily become something flesh-led instead of Spirit-led. Humans naturally try to maintain results in organizations. We like to keep things looking right, feeling right, and functioning. This is how good organizations are run. Real church is different than human organizations. The church isn't like any other organization. The church is actually intended to be a training camp for heaven. If you don't keep signing up to learn to love God with everything in a way that overflows into loving others trying to do the same, you are not ready for heaven. God designed the church as a place to practice loving God with others. Training can be...

Fighting against people is NOT fighting the devil. It's fighting for the devil. It really is. Ephesians 6:12 NKJV — For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 1 John 4:17-21 NKJV — Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. If you think someone is held captive by lies, attacking them is what Satan does. He is ...

Samantha Stolz and I generally walk the Temple Mount each day we can (Sun-Thurs). We ask God what to (quietly and respectfully) ask him for each day. Yesterday, the Lord told us to ask for "blind eyes to be opened and prisoners set free." We decided to walk a new way through the olive groves and onto the upper courtyard from the north. I caught a new view of something we've seen 30-40 times in the last few months. There is always something new to see if I am willing to approach it in a new way. One thing you might not know: of all the religious sites in Jerusalem, there are a couple we consistently feel the presence of the Lord at. This is one of them. Despite all of the conflict, machine guns, and anger you can encounter here (and we have encountered them all), it is truly one of the most peaceful places I've ever walked. The Lord is there. It doesn't belong to anyone else. He is simply waiting for the people on earth to agree that this is the place His Son...

A lack of teachability is the greatest threat to the Church. Love is growing cold because hearts are growing hard. Your heart is your mind, will, and emotions. For anything to come in and soften your heart, you must be willing to move, add to, or yield whatever is already there. As arrogance increases, teachability decreases. Because so much information is available... Literally, you can find someone saying whatever it is you already believe... Very little truth is embraced. This is a promised aspect of our days: 2 Timothy 4:1-5 NKJV — I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their e...

The Lord is raising up witnesses right now to go ahead of the church and not turn around. Remember Lot's wife. She wanted to save her world. There are many reasons to turn around instead of go forward: 1. Fear that others won't escape 2. Fear of missing out and getting "radical" about Jesus' return to soon 3. Fear of running out of steam 4. Fear of tribulation Sanctification is the ONLY way to drive out fear. Perfect love casts out fear. If you want victory in the unseen coming of Yeshua through great trouble, get into night and day prayer.... Not for the world, for you. The closer you get to God, the more you will pray His will for YOUR world. Because Jesus' Kingdom is a Shepherded one, you escaping the world is the best way to show others how to escape. If a plane is going down and the masks come down, you put yours on first to give your child the best chance of help. It isn't selfish, it's just the practical way that situation works. Jesus told His...

The WHO of faith is what matters.   God is rebirthing us to stop trying to figure out how we will have what we need and instead connect us to the "who" we need. Adam and Eve lost the complete confidence in who, and the whole world changed. The "who" of faith determines the source of our leadership. God has always made a way for the how. Genesis 3:11 And He said, " Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" God's word reassures me of all the things I am tempted to worry about how.   Matthew 6:30-34 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all ...

Pay attention to the spirit/Spirit. Whatever spirit is fueling a person will be seen in their spirit. The Holy Spirit is unique. No one can mimic Him. People can mimic people who are in the Spirit of God, but it won't produce the fruit of the Spirit. You test the spirit, not the heart: 1 John 4:1 NKJV — Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. The heart is the mind, will, and emotion. The heart is well intentioned, knows the right things to say, and can easily duplicate the behavior of a sincere follower of Jesus. If you test the heart... Someone's doctrine, their claimed love for people or God, or their desire to see God's kingdom come... You won't be able to discern the spirit. You have to test the spirit. HOW ... What way... Do they want to see Jesus' kingdom come? And what way does the thing you are following lead YOU to want the Kingdom to manifest? The Holy ...