The Lord has been speaking to me about Him desiring for His children to prepare themselves spiritually, building themselves up, on His Word, so that "the storm" (multi-faceted manifestation of His judgements) that is beginning to cover the earth will not overcome them in the days that lie ahead. The main Scripture that He has been highlighting for me, lately, is
2 Timothy 1:7, which says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." The word, "power", in this passage is "dunamis", in the Greek language. It means : an abundance of strength, ability, might (y) work, explosive and miraculous power, and it is the root word for "dynamite." The word, "love", is "agape", which is : a feast of charity, affection, or benevolence; unselfish, unconditional love for another. The last two words of this verse are "sound mind", which are actually one word in the Greek, and is used only one time in the entire Bible, "sophronismos", meaning: "discipline and self control."
In the days in which we live, there is a rumbling and a shaking, from the "beginning of sorrows", which means "birth pangs", which are occuring in both the natural and spiritual realms simultaneously.(Matt.24:8) Their frequency and intensity are gradually increasing, and there will one day come a point where everything and everyone (who are not in the Kingdom) will completely fall apart.(Heb.12:27) Those of us, who have ears to hear, are becoming more and more aware of the sound of this coming "storm". It is full of rage, of Divine judgement that is kindled against the ever increasing wickedness in the earth.
The word, "storm", in the Webster's New Dictionary, means: a heavy fall of rain, snow, or hail, with high wind, but it also has two other interesting definitions, : "A violent outbreak or disturbance ; A mass attack on a defended position." As I meditate on these meanings, I see images in my mind of the people running from the clouds of smoke and debris as the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, images of all sorts of increasing pestilences (locusts, mosquitos, worms that devour vegetation, killer bees, etc.) and plagues (AIDS, super-flus, West Nile Virus, etc.), the hurricanes/typhoons, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, famines, droughts, and continuous forest/property fires, the political and corporate corruption, economies on the verge of collapse, intensified and more widespread persecution against Christians and Jews, wars and rumors of wars, etc.
Gross darkness is covering the people as they give heed to the forces of darkness. The only way that we are going to (spiritually) survive, endure, and overcome, in the days ahead of us, is if we are sober and conscious of the manifesting signs all around us, and abide in Him, our secret place, being founded upon the Rock, the Word of God.
(Matthew 7:24-27) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded upon the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
This Scripture is comparable to Matthew 14: 24-31, in which, during a storm, the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, and when Jesus told Peter to "Come", Peter then stepped out on the water, walking on the power and foundation of that Word of God, that Rock, until he was distracted by the noise, the wind, and the waves of the storm and then he began to sink.
These things were written as examples to us. May we keep our focus on Jesus, on the Word/Rock during this "storm", lest we become distracted by the "noise, the wind, and the waves" that beat against our "house". In Luke 21:26, it speaks of the coming time when "men's hearts will be failing them for fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Already, we have heard reports of many people having heart attacks during earthquakes, tornados, and other natural disasters, during war-times, etc. This is just a small taste of things to come. If any of us, who are Christians, are living partly in the world's way/system and partly in the Kingdom of Christ, in this "on the fence" lifestyle, and double-mindness, we stand a great chance of being caught unaware by the snare.
(1 Thessalonians 5: 2-6, 8b, 9) "For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!", then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.....putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Luke 21:34-36) "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkeness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare to all to dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
(Hebrews 12:25-29) "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on Earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from Heaven, whose voice then shook the Earth; but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I shake not only Earth, but also heaven.' Now this 'Yet once more", indicates the removal of those things which are being shaken, as of things which are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming Fire."
(Matthew 26:41) "Watch and pray, lest you enter into tempation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
(Ephesians 6:13) "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
As I have heard from others, "the best defense is a good offense". We can no longer afford the luxury, having great ease and living in a "comfort zone", in a passive state of being, for we are being tested.
If we have no true substance within us, we will buckle under the intensifying pressure as it is applied upon us. Our God has not given us a spirit of fear, of unbelief, but the Spirit of abundant/explosive strength, energy, and ability to overcome the carnality of the fleshly
fallen-sin-nature, and the forces of darkness. He has given us the Spirit of unselfish, unconditional love for Him, and for each other, in a time where the love of many is growing cold. This agape/love casts our the spirit of fear. (1 John 4:18) "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 are also given the Spirit of a sound mind, which is disciplined, trained, and in self-control. We cannot afford to be lacking in faith, unstable, and easily manipulated by the events and distractions around us, like a wave driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).
We who desire to overcome, deliberately choose to watch and pray always, putting on the whole armor of God, and to stand in this evil day, upon the Rock of His Word and Revelation of Christ Jesus. As we do this, we will not buckle under the gusting force of the "storm" of His anger, for we are not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation. We will be spiritually delivered through and hidden from the effects of the "Storm", but there will soon come a time, even here in America, where the saints will be persecuted for the Faith, at the hands of the wicked. We would be foolish to expect that the local churches in this country will be comfort zones forever. Right now as we speak, Christians are being slaughtered by the millions in many countries such as Sudan, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, Russia, etc. In MANY places, it is a crime for Christians to proselytize, for it is considered "cultic", and "brain washing", manipulating other people's minds for control purposes. Many of the saints are being seized by the authorities, and are fined, imprisoned, and sometimes, even executed,...for simply sharing their faith with others. Just as Yeshua(Jesus) said, " If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you."(John 15:18)
I know that many of you may not want to read or hear these words, which seem negative, and "doom-and-gloom", but it cannot be ignored by the collective Church any longer. The Spirit of the Lord is not just speaking this message to the prophets, but to every saved and born-again child of God. It is due time. We can't keep putting this "on the shelf until later". I was raised being taught that we Christians will be exempt from all the bad things because Jesus is coming back. Yes, Jesus is coming back for us, but it will not be a cakewalk, or a bed of roses until then. We must occupy until He comes, not waiting with an escape mentality. We must be fierce in our Faith, no matter what, and take the Kingdom of God with a violent passion and desire. No matter what comes our way, we have a choice whether to succumb, ...or to overcome.
(Rev. 12:11) "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."
(Romans 8:35-39) "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In HIM we live, move, and have our being,
Jonathan
