Keeping Things in Perspective

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14 NIV).

Thursday, March 31, 2011, 6:13 a.m. – I woke with this song playing in my mind, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross. I got up out of bed, came out to the living room, sat down on the sofa and had my quiet time with the Lord in prayer and in the reading of his word. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and then I read I Timothy 1:12-20:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

My Understanding: These three paragraphs in this passage of scripture provide us with three distinct thoughts presented here by Paul, in the power of Christ within him:

I thank Jesus Christ our Lord

First of all, Paul thanked Christ Jesus our Lord. So, here he was establishing the Lordship of Jesus Christ, i.e. that Jesus is to be our master and we are to be his slaves of righteousness. When we trust Jesus Christ as Savior, we are also inviting him into our lives to be our Lord, as the old sinful nature with its fleshly desires is crucified, and we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and the new man, created to be like Christ Jesus. Sin is, thus, no longer our master, but we humbly yield our lives over to obedience to Jesus Christ to serve him.

Next Paul thanked the Lord for giving him strength. The kind of strength being spoken of here has to do with enablement and empowerment, as well as courage, determination and perseverance to do what Christ Jesus had assigned Paul to do. Paul could not operate in the flesh of man or in man’s thinking and planning. To do what God/Jesus had called him to do, he would need empowerment from on high working in and through him to accomplish all that he was commissioned by God to do in service to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This next statement is interesting in light of the statement that follows it where Paul explains what he was like before Jesus Christ called him to His service. Paul thanked the Lord Jesus that he considered Paul faithful, appointing him to Christ’s service. Since Paul had not been faithful, and in fact he was guilty of persecuting and killing believers in Jesus Christ, which is why he called himself the worst of sinners, it is no wonder that he was so thankful that Jesus Christ considered him faithful by appointing him to Christ’s service.

What this says is that God can see, even when we are still dead in our sins, who we can become in his power at work within us, which is why he died on the cross for us so that we could be set free from the power of sin over our lives and, instead, we could now have the empowerment of God working in and through us for God’s purposes and for his glory. The fact that Jesus Christ could take someone like Paul, who was opposing Christ in the worst possible way, and then turn him completely around for the Lord’s service, is an example to all of us of Christ’s mercy and grace to change lives and to make us into people who can be used of God to impact this world of ours for Jesus Christ, no matter where we were before God called us, because we don’t serve the Lord out of our own goodness, but in his strength and power at work within us in saving us and then in making us into the people of God that he wants us to be. He even gives us the faith to believe and to act upon that faith.

Here is a trustworthy saying

Now Paul moved from his expressions of thanksgiving - though I believe even in this section he is still thanking and praising the Lord - to giving a teaching from the Lord Jesus, which is why he said that it was trustworthy and deserved full acceptance. In other words, Paul was teaching doctrine here that we are to believe and to follow. And, he began with the gospel message - Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. I Timothy 1:17, John 1, Colossians 1, and Philippians 2 teach us this about Jesus Christ and who he was and is:

• He was with God in the beginning and he was/is God – He was/is fully God
• He is equal with God
• He was/is the creator of all things – nothing was made without him – all things were created by him and for him
• He was before all things and in him all things hold together
• He is the Light of the world that shines in darkness, i.e. he is truth, righteousness, sinlessness, life and hope vs. lies, evil, sin, death and hopelessness
• He made himself nothing; he took on himself the nature of a servant; He became flesh and lived among us; he was made in human likeness
• We have seen his glory – the glory of the One and Only God
• He came from the Father
• He is the One and Only God
• He is at the Father’s (God’s) side making God known to the people
• He is the exact representation; the image of God; all the fullness of God dwells in him
• He is supreme over all things
• He was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrected body that never died again
• Through him all things were reconciled to God – by making peace with God through his blood, shed on the cross
• He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross
• God (Father) exalted him to the highest place
• God gave him the name that is above of every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
• He is the immortal King, invisible, the only God to whom belongs all glory and honor

Then Paul stated that the fact that Jesus came into the world to save sinners was evidenced by Christ’s mercy on him in saving him and in making an example of him as to God’s patience in not being willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Paul’s testimony of God’s amazing grace to him in saving him was also an example of the power of God to completely change a life and to turn one from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that he might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are being sanctified in Christ Jesus. So, if we ever think that we are too horrible for God to love us and to save us and to use us for his purposes and for his glory, think again. I am living proof that God can take the life of one who was at rock bottom and can transform such a one to be a servant and a witness for Jesus Christ as to his saving and transforming power in a life that was once given over to sin and the flesh and to Satan.

I give you this instruction

Lastly, in this passage of scripture, Paul gave Timothy instructions that were in keeping with the prophecies once made about him. In other words, Paul’s instructions to Timothy were in keeping with the calling of God that Paul knew God had placed upon Timothy’s life. He instructed him first of all to follow what he knew God/Jesus Christ had called him to do and to be. God has a calling upon each one of our lives, who belong to him, and he wants us, as well, to be faithful to that calling. We are all called to be servants and witnesses. We are all called to faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. We are all called to holiness. And, yet, God has a specific and unique calling for us, too, and so we need to find out what that is and then to be who he has called us to be and to do what he has commissioned us to do.

Paul told Timothy that by following the calling of God on his life that he could fight the good fight. We, who believe in Jesus Christ, are all in a spiritual battle and our enemy is Satan and his evil forces in the spiritual realm. Satan once had us in his grip, but when we give our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, now Jesus is our Lord and Master. Satan does not like that, so he will fight against us, so following the Lord Jesus in full obedience to his commands and to his calling upon our lives is what arms us for battle against Satan and his evil tactics that try to keep us living defeated and selfish and unproductive lives, instead of living for our Lord. The way that we fight that good fight is through holding on to our faith in Jesus Christ (the shield of faith) and a good conscience (obedience to God’s commands). We must put the word of God into practice in our daily lives, and we must daily die to our old lives of sin and rebellion against God, and we must daily take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ in all that we are and in all that we do, so we can live lives pleasing to Him.

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross / Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Meaningless Talk

Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 7:17 p.m. – The Lord has this song in my mind:

Crucified With Christ / Phillips Craig and Dean

I will glory in the power of the cross
The things I thought were gain I count as loss
And with His suffering I identify
And by His resurrection power I am alive
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live
Not I but Christ that lives within me
His Cross will never ask for more than I can give
For it’s not my strength but His
There's no greater sacrifice
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

http://www.songlyrics.com/phillips-craig-dean/crucified-with-christ-lyrics/

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Timothy 1:1-11:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers of the Law
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

My Understanding: Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, so Paul is speaking under the command of God the Father and God the Son, and with the full authority of God behind his words to Timothy. Paul, in the authority of God, thus, urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus so that he could command certain men against being false teachers. Then, he went on to describe some of the characteristic traits of these false teachers:

• Teach false doctrines – doctrines other than was taught by the apostles
• Teach a man-made gospel of human traditions and/or human philosophies
• Promote controversies, rather than God’s work, i.e. more interested in arguing
• Wandered away from having pure hearts, good consciences and sincere faith
• Not motivated by love
• They want to be teachers of the law
• Have turned to meaningless talk
• They don’t know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm

Paul said that the goal of the command he was giving to Timothy was love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith, and this should always be our goal, too, whenever we must warn against false teaching or must confront false doctrine. There is no room for pride of one man over another. There is no room for conceit or of making sure we end up as the one on top or that we conquer everyone who disagrees with us or with whom we have concern over his or her doctrine. So, we should always do an attitude check and then make sure that God is in what we are doing and that truly our goal is one of love and comes from a pure heart and a good conscience, so that we are not guilty of just blowing smoke or of just showing off how much we know.

There are all kinds of false doctrines out there, so that is why we must know the word of God so that we can correctly handle the word of truth (See 2 Timothy 2:15). We must compare anything we hear against the word of God, compare scripture with scripture, and pray for the wisdom of God to give us discerning minds and hearts to know what is true and what is false. And, we must stay away from fights and quarrels about words or getting involved in the promotion of controversies, rather than God’s work.

So many people argue over so many things that, when all is said and done, don’t really matter for eternity and often they turn people away from faith in Jesus Christ, and they occupy the arguers to the point that they are ineffective for Jesus Christ in this world that is dying without faith in the only one who can save them. We need to be about doing the work of the Lord in loving people and in sharing the gospel, calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, teaching them to obey the commands of God, nurturing them in the Lord, encouraging, strengthening, and building them up in the faith so that they can lead obedient, faithful, loving, productive lives in Jesus Christ, their Lord, and can shine as stars in the universe as they hold out the word of Life for all to see.

These men, i.e. these false teachers, want to be teachers of the law, maybe because it gives them a sense of self-importance like the Pharisees and Sadducees who were proud of their knowledge and of their keeping of the laws (Jewish laws, mainly ceremonial laws) and of their self-righteousness, but they failed to show love to God and love to their fellow man, because the letter of the law was more important to them than human lives. I am not speaking here, though, of the kind of law that points to sin, which is the law that Paul is speaking of here. The Pharisees and Sadducees were concerned over Jewish ceremonial laws and traditions that did not affect the heart. Jesus was more concerned over the hearts of men, which takes us to the law Paul is talking about here.

Paul said the law is good if one uses it properly. Obviously the Pharisees and Sadducees did not use it properly, yet the law Paul is speaking of here is the law of God that points men to the fact that they are sinners in need of salvation and to point them to Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of the law. This law shows us what sin is so that we can recognize it as sin and so that we can see, too, how utterly sinful these things really are – murdering, adultery, lust, perversion, lying, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. Jesus summed the law up into two laws –

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40 NIV).

If we truly love God like this and we truly love our neighbor like this is speaking of, then we won’t sin against God and we won’t sin against our neighbor because love does no harm to its neighbor. We do harm to ourselves and to others when self is on the throne of our lives instead of God, and when we are being driven by selfish desires that war against the Spirit of God in our hearts, if we are true believers in Jesus Christ. And, included in this sinning against our neighbor goes back to this idea of teaching false doctrine and promoting controversies and trying to “one-up” everyone else in order to make ourselves look superior in some respect. Instead, our goal in whatever we do or say should be motivated by love and with the goal of seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ and growing in their relationship with him through obedience to his commands, which are not burdensome.

I will glory in the power of the cross
The things I thought were gain I count as loss
And with His suffering I identify
And by His resurrection power I am alive
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live
Not I but Christ that lives within me
His Cross will never ask for more than I can give
For it’s not my strength but His
There's no greater sacrifice
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

If we want to be effective ministers for Jesus Christ in sharing the truths of God’s word with others that it may benefit those who listen, we need to be crucified with Christ so that “we,” i.e. our flesh and human and selfish natures, are not on the thrones of our lives, i.e. that we no longer live, but Christ lives within us, and he is truly the one on the throne as Lord and Master of our lives. Then, instead of glorying in our flesh and our knowledge that puffs up, we will glory in our crucifixion to our old lives and our death to sin and our resurrection with Christ to new lives where Christ Jesus is king and is the one who directs our steps and our words. We will count as loss, then, the things of this world that are sinful and that are prideful, which is also sinful, so that Christ can work his holiness in our lives in conforming us into his image, instead of us following our own flesh.

Lord Jesus, I pray that you will test my heart and the motivation of my heart always to see if I am being led by you, first of all, and if the goal of what I do and say is one of love and a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, so that I can be an effective minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that lives can be transformed by you working in them and through them for your purposes and for your glory. Lord, I want to be just like you. I want to be a holy example for others to see. Make me, mold me, fill me and use me, Lord, for your purposes and your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!

Master Control

Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 6:50 a.m. – I woke this morning from a dream.

THE DREAM: I invited my oldest brother and his wife over to our house on a weekday for a meal. I think I served scrambled eggs and one other food item, maybe bacon, to them. It wasn’t much. We also ended up eating in separate rooms. They were in a room north of me and I was in the room south of them. There were other people, perhaps my immediate family members, seated with me in this room to the south. I think there may have been other people seated in the room to the north with my brother and his wife. I know that I felt conscientious about the fact that my brother and I were seated in separate rooms, especially since they were our invited guests.

I believe I invited us to their house for a meal on a weekday, too, and it may have been prior to this, because I recall comparing, in my mind, the meal at their house vs. the meal at our house. I think they also served scrambled eggs, yet they accompanied the eggs with a side dish of fruit. I know that I lamented over the fact that I was not much of a cook, so my husband and I tended to eat out a lot.

Then, I was at Brown Street Church. I had not been there in a while. I went down to the basement where several of the SS classes met in various rooms. They had replaced all of the individual chairs that used to sit in rows with sofas. Every classroom was lined with sofas, and I think most, or all, of the sofas (couches; davenports) were made of leather.

My husband and I ended up sitting in one of these SS classrooms. Someone had music turned on, but the volume was up too high, so I went over to the wall by the entrance door to a control panel, and I tried adjusting the volume there, but that did not work. My husband appeared to have acquired a control device of his own, so he used that device as the master control unit to adjust the volume down. Now the volume (level; quantity) was much less. I felt as though he may have lowered the volume too much, though. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5:

Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Request for Prayer
1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

My Understanding: I read this news story: Lawmakers seek answers on Libya - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_LIBYA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-30-06-48-37.

I believe I am representing Obama, but I’m also representing the USA, as a whole. My oldest brother has often represented Bill Clinton in my dreams, so he and his wife could very well be symbolizing Bill and Hillary Clinton. Clinton is famous, not only for being a former president of the USA, but for his Global Initiative, which I believe plays into the New World Order, so he characterizes the New World Order (Global Order), I believe.

The news article mentioned the American public being divided over the war, which I saw as my brother in one room and me in another, so the true division is New World Order and US citizens/US government. That is what is truly dividing our nation and will ultimately bring it to ruin. The article suggested that Obama defended his decision to go into this war as for the prevention of a slaughter of Libyan citizens. Yet, in the dream, my “defense” for going out to eat was that I was not a very good cook, i.e. my defense for involving NATO to help me “cook” is that I was somehow lacking in my ability to get the job done alone. And, the “cooking” and the making of “scrambled eggs” has to do with this slaughtering of innocent civilians and/or Christians, as God used the term “chicks” to describe those who were his:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Then, there was reference to Obama speaking of the nation’s conscience and its common interests at the U.N., which I saw here as common interests between my family and my brother’s family, i.e. between the USA family and the New World Order family, and how I was feeling conscientious about the fact that my brother was in, not only a separate room, but a room above me and my family, i.e. I was feeling responsible for this fact, i.e. we, the American citizens, are responsible for this fact that we have allowed the New World Order to take us over and to take the world over. Not only that, but we are also responsible for the slaughter of innocent civilians and of Christians world-wide, because we are asleep as a nation and we trust our government and the news media and we, as a nation, have been deceived and have believed and have supported the lies of our government and military.

The article suggested that Obama stated that our conscience and common interests compel us to act, and the acting he was speaking of was in protecting innocent civilians. Obama, supposedly, went on to state that we have learned from previous wars, that we did not stop, that resulted in us not coming to the rescue of innocent lives, to not repeat those same mistakes. He stated that when we, as conscientious nations, don’t do anything to prevent the slaughtering of innocent lives, that evil is able to achieve victory.

Well, in the dream, I was conscientious (responsible) of the fact that my brother was eating in a separate room from me and that room was over me, and that he had cooked scrambled eggs for me and I had cooked scrambled eggs for him, i.e. he was now in power and rule over me (the USA) and that we were both involved in slaughtering innocent lives and Christians world-wide, not just in Libya, so in reality, the “acting” we are doing is in pretending that we are there to save lives but in reality we are there to kill and to slaughter innocents, i.e. we are responsible, i.e. we are the terrorists, we are the Al Qaida and the Taliban and the rebels and the Gadhafis (brutal dictators) of the world, and we are doing nothing to stop these atrocities from taking place because we believe the lies and we support the lies. So, evil is able to achieve victory, because we don’t do anything to stop them, because we don’t recognize that the true evil lives among us and is one with us.

Then, the article speaks of “closed-door, back-to-back sessions” of Congress where Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and Mike Mullen are supposedly facing questions from Congress, yet I saw Congress (Capitol Hill) as my old church, Brown Street, and that we were no longer the ones with the master control, but our allies (the New World Order/NATO) are now the ones with the master control unit, and they are the ones controlling the volume (amount of people in the world), and the numbers (volume) is decreasing, which is concerning some Americans. So, the “closed-door” actually means that we no longer are the ones in control of this nation, and the “back-to-back” means we no longer have separate seats of power, but we are all on the same sofa (power and rule of the New World Order). So, when these news articles talk about questions about the US mission in Libya or about our exit strategy, our mission and our strategy is to give and to yield and to be responsible for the takeover of our nation and the world by the New World Order, and also it is for the purpose of the slaughtering of innocent lives and Christians world-wide in order to gain control and to bring all nations under one rule of order, which leads up to the rule of the beast of Revelation.

So this supposed “democratic awakening” that is happening world-wide through all these nations going through these uprisings who are supposedly desiring to have democracies and we are supposedly the good guys helping them to achieve those goals is all a big fat lie. I do believe there is an awakening going on, though, and that is that as these judgments of God, and yes, I believe God is using the New World Order (incl. the US/NATO) as his divine instrument of judgment against the world, hit these various nations, I believe the gospel is spreading world-wide, that people are coming to Jesus and the church is being spiritually awakened while they are being slaughtered by the thousands. And, this is going to come to the USA eventually, as God will judge us, too, for our failure to listen to him, to obey him, and for our responsibility for failing to act in stopping the slaughtering of millions, because we believed the lies.

This passage of scripture is a call to us who say we believe in Jesus Christ to make sure of our salvation, to be sanctified and made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and through our faith in the truth, God’s truth. We are called to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and to obey the gospel by taking upon ourselves what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross when he died on the cross for our sins and rose again, conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, by appropriating that to our lives through faith by us allowing Jesus Christ to do his work within us in crucifying our flesh nature, making us new creatures in Christ Jesus, and raising us to walk in fellowship and obedience to him and to his desire for our lives. Then, we are to stand firm in that faith and to not let anything move us, as we hold out the truth of the gospel as a light to the world that they, too, might receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ because of God’s grace and what Jesus did for us in dying for our sins so that we could go free from the penalty of and the control of sin over our lives day-to-day.

Then, we have the prayer that the gospel would spread, as I believe it is, and as I continue to hold out hope that in all this madness world-wide that the gospel is spreading and people are being saved. We may not be delivered from wicked men in the sense of being delivered from persecution or even death, and that is ok, because the real deliverance is being freed from their controls and influence over our lives so that we no longer believe their lies, but rather we expose them, and we put our faith and trust solely in the Lord Jesus Christ for our hope and for our salvation. I pray for the persecuted church world-wide that they will be strengthened in their faith and that they will persevere and that they will stand fast and never give up hope, and that they will continue in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, even in the face of great suffering and persecution and the death of their fellow citizens in Christ.

He’s Always There / Charity St. Clair / Don Marsh

When you’re lonely and forgotten
And your life is on the edge;
When you think you’ve reached the bottom
And it seems like no one cares;
There’s a faithful God who does no wrong,
A forgiving God, a glorious crown.

He’s the Father of compassion;
He’s a refuge for the oppressed.
He’s the fortress of salvation;
He’s a Father to the fatherless.
God of glory, God of grace;
God of hope, and love, and peace.
He’s the maker of all things,
And He’s always there…

Three Alarm Fire

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 6:13 a.m. – When I woke this morning, I woke to my alarm clock going off, which was sounding like a 3-alarm fire with sirens blaring. I have no clue why it did that, but maybe I accidentally set it for radio and alarm, but it was very loud and alarming sounding, too. So, I immediately turned off the alarm and got out of bed. On my way out to the living room, this simple song was playing in my mind:

Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God.

I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” then I read 2 Thessalonians 1:

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, I heard the coffee finish percolating, so I went to pour myself a cup of coffee. The creamer I wanted to use had not yet been opened. The bottle of creamer is sealed closed at the top with an aluminum foil seal, and I always have difficulty removing those with just my fingers, so I used my teeth to help get it started, and then I finished removing it with my fingers. Just then, the Lord reminded me of a dream I had in the night.

THE DREAM: We pulled into a gas station. The sliding door on the right (east) side of the vehicle’s back passenger seat opened. Rachel reached out the door, grabbed the gas pump nozzle, and she licked the end of it. Someone who was with me expressed concern over this, but I replied that her mom let her do that all the time. I wanted to verify that what I had just stated was true, so I asked her mom, who was in the vehicle in front of our vehicle, and she confirmed what I said. I am not certain where I was seated in the van, but I think I was in the front passenger seat, though I could be mistaken about that. END

Rachel was considered to be the mother of the nation of Israel (See Matt. 2:18), but her name means “ewe or sheep.” A ewe is a female sheep. It is also a people from West Africa.

My Understanding: I believe the Lord allowed my alarm clock to make that horrible sound this morning for a reason, and that he is using that unusual alarm sound (to the best of my recollection, I never had that happen before), plus my accounting of how I used my teeth to help me remove the aluminum foil safety seal from the creamer, and the dream (all three situations from this morning) to illustrate (as an allegory) the practical application he wants me to receive from this passage of scripture as applied to our world news stories today. I also read three news stories, so I will share a link for each one and after each link I will share how I believe the Lord is connecting these three situations from this morning with these three news stories, one at a time, and my understanding of the message I believe the Lord would have me to receive and to share from each one.

Libya - I read: Libyan rebels shelled outside Gadhafi hometown - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_LIBYA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-29-06-29-01.

The Lord continues to show me that we, the USA, and we, NATO, and we, the UN, and we, the New World Order are the Gadhafi forces, the pro-Gadhafi forces, the rebels, etc. It is us against them, not us getting involved in some internal conflict within their nation as outsiders coming to the rescue of innocent civilians. I believe RACHEL is really an acronym for the countries that are the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany – Russia, America, China, Germany, England (UK), and France - i.e. it stands for the US and their allies, yet it also stands for this mandate of the UN Security Council.

We are in vehicles and we drove up to a gas station. I believe the gas station is Libya, but it is also a “Shell” station, because this is where we are “shelling” them. The gas “tanks” in our vehicles (means of accomplishing something) are literal military tanks with weapons. The rebel “assault” is this “licking” of the end of the nozzle on this hose for pumping gasoline, so this has to do with oil and us assaulting their oil supply, i.e. the end of it. We are the “ragtag army of irregulars” and we are the “world leaders.” Tank fire has to do with “Rachel” being released from a side door (an opening for the releasing of a weapon) and licking (assaulting; attacking) this end of this oil line. We are the superior firepower. And, we are the ones causing the deadly airstrikes (the licking). The mother of Rachel is the U.N., which (who) is in the front vehicle, which really represents this New World Order. She mandated (ordered) these strikes (lickings), i.e. Rachel’s mom has given her permission to do this whenever she wants, and the implication was/is that she did it whenever she wanted, too.

I believe this releasing of Rachel to lick the end of this oil line (supply) is for the purpose, or one of the purposes, of intensifying pressure on Gadhafi and Libya. The word used in the article for pressure is synonymous with “tooth” and I used my teeth to begin this process of removing a safety cap/seal from a bottle before I used my physical strength (power) with my fingers (members; branches). A deal of some kind is supposed to be coming forth from several nations, and yet the only thing I saw “coming forth” was Rachel who was licking (attacking) the end of this oil line.

Someone in my dream expressed concern about Rachel licking this end of this nozzle, and supposedly Gadhafi, Russia and other countries have expressed concern and/or criticism about these airstrikes (the lickings), that they were overstepping the bounds of the resolution (not something a mother would normally allow her child to do), but I assured the person concerned that Rachel had her mom’s (the UN’s) permission (was authorized) to do this whenever she wanted. This UN Security Council (Rachel) resolution authorized NATO to take all required actions. The article used the terminology “last defensive line” in relation to Gadhafi forces, but I believe the Lord is saying that is our (UN/US/NATO/N.W.O.) last defensive line against Libya is to lick (attack) the end of their oil line.

Japan - Then, I read: Kan: Japan on 'maximum alert' over nuke crisis - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-29-06-25-02.

The country, according to the article and according to Japan’s prime minister, was on “maximum alert” because of the need to control the nuclear crisis. I saw this “alert” as my “Three alarm fire” sound that came from my alarm clock this morning, and I saw the three alarms as the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident. The article continued by stating that the radiation spread brought about concerns, so I immediately plugged in here that there was a correlation between Rachel licking (striking) the end of this oil line in Libya and the concerns expressed over that and this spread of radiation, i.e. the licking (striking; assaulting; attacking) of the end of this nuclear power plant. Both oil and these fuel rods are fuel, so this has to do with striking sources of fuel and power in these two countries.

Then, the article spoke of not being able to handle the crisis, which brought to mind me not being able to use my fingers to remove this aluminum foil safety seal on this bottle of coffee creamer without using my teeth first to get it started, and then I brought in my fingers. They spoke of inadequate safety standards and I saw this as relative to the safety seal on my bottle that took my teeth in order to pry it loose. Then the article spoke of plutonium being discovered as being discharged from these fuel rods, which I then saw me using my teeth to remove this aluminum foil seal from the bottle of coffee creamer, i.e. we caused the earthquake and the tsunami (the teeth) to happen in order to pry loose the safety measures that were in place in this power plant as well as to remove from the fuel rods (my bottle of coffee creamer) this plutonium. The article mentioned that plutonium breaks down slowly, and it was a slow process to get this aluminum foil seal off the top of this coffee creamer, too, i.e. this plutonium needed the earthquake and tsunami (the teeth) in order to pry it loose and to release it, so this was all calculated by the UN/UNSC/NATO (the New World Order).

The USA - Finally, I read: AP IMPACT: Long blackouts pose risk to US reactors - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_JAPAN_NUCLEAR_BLACKOUTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-29-06-21-14.

What I saw here is mainly that the stage is being set for something like what happened in Japan to happen in the USA, i.e. that they are establishing the potential for a similar scenario or more than one parallel development, based upon the conditions of our own nuclear facilities here in the USA.

So, the situation in Libya is one alarm, the situation in Japan is the second alarm, and the potential of a similar situation as what is happening in Japan happening in the USA is the third alarm and the three make up the Three Alarm Fire.

The Lord gave me a simple song this morning that repeated three times, “Be still and know that I am God.” I saw this first of all as God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and second of all I saw that each “be still and know” went along with each alarm of the three alarm fire.

The Word – This passage of scripture begins with an encouragement concerning growing in faith, increasing in love, and perseverance and faith in all persecutions and trials you are enduring. The Lord has shown me many times that these battles to take over these countries and to bring all nations of the world under one rule is setting the stage for the rule of the beast of Revelation whose main goal, other than to take over the world, is the extermination of the saints of God, i.e. true believers in Jesus Christ. And, the Lord has shown me, I believe, over and over again that our NATO forces and the UN and the UN Security Council, all of which the US is part of, are doing just that world-wide. And, the USA is the “endgame” when they will come against us, too, all in God’s perfect timing.

Then the passage of scripture goes on to describe how God will pay back those who trouble and persecute us when he comes to judge the earth. The time of tribulation is a time of judgment at the end of which Jesus will come and will judge those who don’t know God and those who don’t obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, he will receive unto himself his holy people, his bride, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I believe the Lord is showing me that he is already judging the earth and that he is using the US/UN/NATO alliance as his divine instrument of judgment on the earth, but then at some point he is going to judge those he used as his divine instruments of judgment, i.e. he will pay back those who troubled and persecuted his children. I also see this “blazing fire” as related to his judgments on the earth and also in relation to this “Three alarm fire” alarm he sounded this morning, warning that this is coming, and it is coming to America as God’s judgment against her. We are the “endgame.”

Then, there is a prayer and a call for us to be counted worthy of God’s calling. This term “worthy” is not associated with works-based salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn or to merit salvation by any of our own good deeds. The “worthy” part has to do, thus, with whether or not we are found to be in Jesus Christ, having accepted his free gift of salvation that is by his grace and through our faith – faith that is proved as genuine by repentance, obedience and by bearing fruit. Some people will argue, “Oh, what you are speaking of is works-based salvation.” No, it isn’t, and I find so many people say this to excuse away sinful behavior in their own lives or in the lives of their loved ones or in the lives of people they want to have in their churches, and so they water down the gospel for them.

The Bible is filled with messages that teach us that true faith equals obedience and that true faith equals repentance and that true faith will be evidenced by what we do. We don’t do good deeds to earn salvation, but they are a byproduct of genuine faith, and they are the working of the Holy Spirit within and through us, and they are not of our own flesh. If we don’t have the actions following up our confessions of faith in Jesus Christ - to support our words of confession - then there remains the question as to whether or not we have genuine faith that is counted as “worthy” of God’s calling. True faith dies to the old life and allows the Holy Spirit of God to crucify the flesh in us and to raise us to new life in Jesus Christ where we put off the old man, where we are renewed in our minds, and where we put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (See Eph. 4; and Col. 3).

So, make sure that you have not bought into the watered down gospel message that does not require you to be found “worthy” of God’s calling, and make sure today that you are found to be in Christ Jesus, that you have crucified the sinful nature, that you have put on Christ, and that you are now walking in newness of life in the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through you for his praise and for his glory (See Gal. 2:20). Amen!

The Insane Asylum

Part One

Monday, March 28, 2011, 7:50 a.m. – I woke in the morning with the song, “There’s Within my Heart a Melody,” playing in my mind. I also woke from a dream.

THE DREAM: I was locked up in an insane asylum. Evidently I had flipped out one evening, and so I was locked up. I was fine the next day. I was out of the asylum, but someone from the asylum had asked me a series of questions in front of other people – questions that were more like statements (accusations), rather than like questions, i.e. the statements suggested numerous characteristic traits about me that just were not true, but yet they gave the impression that they were true. One of the “questions” was instructing me to take a bath, even though I bathed regularly, but it implied I did not.

I wanted to know where the questioner had obtained this set of questions, so I hunted him down in a place that looked like a department store. I ran through (around) sections (racks) of clothing to try to catch up with him. I found one of the doctor’s assistants north of me, who then led me to the doctor to the east of her, and then one of them took me to a filing cabinet in the office, and he or she retrieved for me a list of questions, which turned out to be the wrong list.

I was eager to clear my name and to restore my reputation, so I insisted on finding the list that had been presented to me out in public and that gave the people listening to the list of questions the wrong impression about me. I emphatically recounted the questions that had been asked of me, one at a time, and then I refuted each one with proof that their implications were unfounded. Yet, I felt as though my attempts to clear my name fell on deaf ears. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11:

The Coming of the Lord
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

My Understanding: This dream could be subtitled, “Lies, Lies and More Lies,” or simply, “A Pack of Lies,” because that is really the gist of what “Insane Asylum” is really about. I was locked up in the Asylum because I “flipped.” To “flip” means to “retreat; withdraw; back up; go backward; invalidate; turn around; switch; change directions; change story; and/or to change sides,” etc. The Insane Asylum appears to be the Obama Administration, i.e. the White House. I was inside “the Asylum” after I had “flipped,” but now I am back on the outside, which indicates I flipped back. While I was on the inside, I was asked a series of leading questions (more like statements or accusations against my character), and now I am trying to clear my name and reputation, i.e. to expose the lies and to tell the truth.

I read two news stories that I believe the Lord has connected with this dream: Obama to lay out his case on Libya to nation - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_LIBYA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-28-06-46-49; and Emails: Insiders worried over political 'meddling' - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FREEDOM_OF_INFORMATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-28-08-07-46

So, who am I? At first, I could see that I represented Obama, who is trying to lay out his case on Libya. In the dream, I am definitely trying to lay out my case for my own defense, so in that case, I could also represent Libya. Obama is supposedly offering tonight an accounting (detailed) of his reasoning, basis, motivation and/or foundation for the U.S. military getting involved in Libya. In the dream, I was eager to clear my name and reputation, so I emphatically recounted the questions as I remembered them (a detailed accounting) so that I could refute their implications. So, I definitely see these questions as = to the reasoning for the US in Libya, so, in essence, I am refuting the basis for the US going into Libya, i.e. I am disproving it by my answers to the original questions.

Obama is also supposed to answer the question as to what comes next. In the dream, I answered the questions publicly in order to refute each one’s implications and to show that their assumptions were unfounded. So, I see my answers to the questions that are to refute the implications of the leading questions as = to answering the question “What comes next?” which = the answer that refutes the reasoning for going into Libya. I know this discourse here sounds like a lot of double talk – it is! Bottom line is that in order to answer the question as to what comes next, truthfully, I will have to disprove the US’ reasoning for going into Libya in the first place.

I desired to clear my name and reputation and to contradict the implications of the questions (the reasoning for going into Libya) by trying to assure my listeners that what the questions (reasoning) had implied to them previously about me was not the truth about me, so again this sounds like I represent Libya. Obama desires to assure the nation that he will fulfill his promises to us, and I am trying to assure my listeners that what was said about me when I was in the “Insane Asylum”, i.e. the White House, is not true. In other words, Obama has no intentions of fulfilling his promises to the people of the USA.

Then, the article went on to talk about Obama and his top national security officials, Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates. The article described their actions as making rounds, which then brought to mind me making “rounds” through this department store, which in the next article I came to recognize as the Department of Homeland Security. So, it appears I am after Clinton and Gates, who are in the Department of Homeland Security, yet I could also represent them, as they, too, were making rounds. They are not able to say how long the U.S. will be in Libya, and in the dream they gave me the wrong list of questions (reasoning for going into Libya), so this is all about lies.

Gates supposedly indicated that what happened in Libya, i.e. the USA’s involvement there, has implications toward bringing democracy to the Middle East. Ok, we know that the questions (the reasoning for going into Libya) implied something about me (Obama/Libya) that is not true, so the indication here is that all this talk about us taking democracy to these other nations around the world is a big fat lie! What our government and media is telling us about Libya is a lie. What they are telling us about Egypt, Japan, Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Russia, China, India - and the list goes on, and on, and on - are mostly all lies with some truth mixed in so that the truth is hardly recognizable. The implications that suggest we are interested in taking democracy to these other nations are unfounded, false and misleading and again are false about me, too. So, now I am seeing that I represent Obama, Libya, and now democracy, too. And, we’re not finished. It gets better!

The article stated that Obama said that the U.S. mission in Libya was clear. I wanted to clear my name, so my name would = the U.S. mission in Libya, so now I see that I represent Obama, Libya, democracy, Clinton, Gates, and now the U.S. mission in Libya. To clear my name means to exonerate, acquit, and/or to vindicate (justify or prove) my character, so when Obama says that the mission is clear, or when Boehner asks Obama to provide a clear evaluation of the mission, he (Obama or Boehner) could be saying it is justified, or rather that he wanted to justify the mission because he knew that the reasoning for going in there was a lie, which I see by the statement made that the mission has saved lives of citizens, which I know is a lie.

Further on down in the article it said that Obama, in a conference with key members of Congress, emphasized the decreasing role of the U.S. military in Libya. In the dream, I was emphatically recounting the questions (the reasons for going into Libya) and their implications - that we are spreading democracy to other nations, that we are saving human lives, and that Obama intends to fulfill his promises to the American people, etc. - so that I could refute them one at a time. So, it appears here that the emphasis on the decreasing role of the U.S. military in Libya = my detailed accounting of our reasons for going into Libya, which I intended to refute the implications, so it would appear that our reasons for going into Libya, which is what I was emphatically accounting, is directly related to the decreasing role of the U.S. military, period, which would fit with other dreams I have had in relation to Libya that suggest that the endgame is to overtake the USA and that an 8th king will then rise out of the ashes of this takeover, which fulfills the prophecy of scripture with regard to the last days as recorded in Revelation.

Part Two

In this second news article, I learned more of how this dream relates to current news events. Here I saw the department store from my dream as the Department of Homeland Security, and me, Hillary Clinton, and Robert Gates as the “insiders” within the department. Yet, I also saw the senior Obama administration appointees as Clinton and Gates as well as I saw them as this doctor and his assistant, in my dream, who were the ones from whom I was trying to retrieve this list of questions, only they gave me the wrong list. In the news article, these appointees were delaying the release of government files, which I saw as this list I was trying to access which was in an office in a filing cabinet. These government files are supposedly being requested by citizens, journalists and watchdog groups, so now it appears that, in addition to representing Obama, Libya, democracy and the U.S. Mission in Libya, Clinton and Gates, I also represent citizens, journalists and watchdog groups who are seeking these files (I am seeking the list of questions, i.e. the reason we are in Libya).

The article stated that this process of scrutinizing of these government files is crazy, bananas, i.e. insane. So, added to my list of who I am, since I was the crazy one placed into the insane asylum since I “flipped,” is that I now also represent this scrutinizing of these government files. So, I now represent Obama, Libya, democracy, the U.S. Mission in Libya, Clinton, Gates, citizens, journalists, watchdog groups and this process of examining these government files, in which are contained these questions, which represent the reason we are in Libya. I also appear to represent Napolitano and her staff. I told you it gets better! So, basically, I am crazy (insane) to want to tell the truth or to want to let the truth out and to disprove the reason we say we are in Libya, and in the rest of the world, for that matter.

Ok, next I saw that concerns from an official are the same as these questions, and that the official thus represents the questioner, and the questioner is the one submitting the questions to the filing cabinet, i.e. to the political staff of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. A cabinet is “a group of senior officials appointed by a president, prime minister, or other government leader to advise on policy” (Encarta). So, there seems to be some overlap here between the president’s cabinet and the political staff of Janet Napolitano, i.e. they appear to be one and the same. The files were for secretive reviews, and the files represent these questions, and the questions represent the real reason we are in Libya. So, now it appears I represent Obama, Libya, democracy, the U.S. Mission in Libya, Clinton, Gates, citizens, journalists, watchdog groups and this process of examining these government files, in which are contained these questions, which represent the reason we are in Libya. In addition, I also represent Napolitano and her staff.

The questioner appears to be Mary Callahan, an appointee of Napolitano, who wanted to change the process of “political vetting,” which usually is associated with the selection process of political candidates, I thought, yet it appears to be used here in the context of this process of trying to obtain these government files under the Freedom of Information Act, and the delay tactics being used by government officials to try to keep the files from reaching the public. So, these political reviews are causing delays in the release of these files, and it was the doctor and his assistant who gave me the wrong list of questions (the wrong reason we are in Libya) - and they represent Clinton and Gates - which then delayed me getting the right list (the right reasons), so these political reviews are, thus, what is keeping us from getting at the real reason we are in Libya, yet this is about more than just Libya since I appear to represent so many things and since my character, in the dream, appeared to be in question, and my goal in obtaining these questions contained in these files was so I could refute the contents. Yet, I also appear to represent those who are blocking me from getting the files (questions), and I represent the political reviews as well as I represent Mary Callahan who wants to change the political vetting process.

Callahan called the level of attention of these political reviews “crazy,” which is the same as “insane” and I was the one in the “insane asylum,” and, I was the one who “flipped,” i.e. changed, so I am also now representing the level of attention being given to these political reviews, it appears, yet I am also the one who is wanting to disprove the USA’s reasoning or justification for going into Libya, yet I also represent change in the political vetting process. If the Insane Asylum is the White House and I am Obama and I flipped, i.e. I changed, and this also has to do with changes in the political vetting process, and this change is what got me into the White House, but now I am on the outside, i.e. I changed back, then this sounds as though this is about Obama getting into the White House under false pretenses and that these government files tell more than just about why we are in Libya, because the questions (files) also are telling something about me that is not true and I want to tell the truth about myself, it appears, i.e. about this political vetting process and what got me into the White House and why I am now on the outside, but I need the original questions, which is why I am one who is trying to get files under the Freedom of Information Act, yet I am the one blocking the files, too.

The article continues with a statement that, in combination with this dream, suggests that the truth, that I am trying to get at by finding these original questions that were asked of me, is that the White House/Department of Homeland Security doesn’t like to abide by the law, as well as they don’t want to be retold that they are guilty of violating the law. So, it appears that this vetting process with Obama that got him into the White House had breaking the law involved in it, as well as our going into Libya, and this whole idea of spreading democracy world-wide, etc. In other words, we cannot believe anything we read, see, or hear on the news regarding our government and what they are doing or regarding our nation and it being a democratic nation, because I think those days are long gone and that the laws we think we live under are really not what rules our nation.

So, this whole idea of government transparency is a lie, and in the dream I was trying to be “transparent” by telling the truth, so I also represent this government transparency, which is a lie. I seem to be representing the Freedom of Information Act as well as I am representing those people asking for the records and I represent political staffers and the political reviews, and Obama’s staff and Napolitano’s staff, as well as that whole list of items, people, etc. that has already been listed. Those asking the questions are the same as those answering the questions are the same as the information being sought, i.e. we can’t trust anything we read in these news articles.

Conclusion

We can’t trust our president, Obama, Libya, democracy, the U.S. Mission in Libya, citizens, journalists, watchdog groups, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, and this process of examining these government files, in which are contained these questions, which represent the reason we are in Libya. In addition we can’t trust Napolitano or her staff, Obama’s senior staff, i.e. his cabinet, insiders inside the Dept. of Homeland Security, the political vetting process of selecting candidates for public office, the Freedom of Information Act, political reviews, Mary Callahan, the level of attention being given the political reviews, the people blocking the files, government transparency, Congress, NATO, etc., because of so many, many lies and because most really have no issues with breaking the law to get what they want.

So, our concept of America is even a lie that has been told us. Yet, in all this craziness, i.e. this “Insane Asylum” called America the Great, and the government of the USA, there is someone we can trust, and that is God – Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. We can trust in the word of the Lord, though we can’t trust in man or in his words. We can trust that what Jesus told us and the prophets told us is true about these last days, about a time of judgment and tribulation, and about the Lord’s return. We can trust that while people are saying “peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, and they will not escape. In other words, God is reserving a day of judgment for America.

The call here is for us to not be asleep, and this refers to more than just not being asleep spiritually, but to not turning a deaf ear and blind eyes to the truth of what is going on in our nation and outside our nation at the hands of our leaders. We need to be awake and alert to what is going on in the world and to ask the Lord to help us to see our current events and our nation through his eyes, because I guarantee when you see through God’s eyes, you won’t ever be able to see America ever the same again.

We need to not be deceived by all these lies, but we need to hold on to the truth of God’s word and we need to be obeying the truth and be watching for our Lord’s return. We need to be strong in our faith and in the Lord, because the days of evil are ever present with us and around us. God does not want anyone to suffer his wrath, so that is why it is so important that we are truly in Jesus Christ and that our hope of salvation has a firm foundation and that we are not really among those who are spiritually asleep, yet have been deceived into thinking they are awake via a false gospel. So, if you have been riding the fence, spiritually speaking, or you have been waiting until later to get your heart right with God, don’t wait any longer, because judgment is coming to America. We can be sure of that. Get right with God today!

Ireland

When I read about Kennedy being of Irish roots and Obama claiming he is also of Irish roots and I read of his trip planned in May to Ireland to discover those roots, it brought to mind that the Lord had given me several dreams with the name "Erin" which means Ireland. I believe this dream, Schmale, the dream, Memories, and the dream, A Holy Example, are all tied in together, which I will comment on later. Here is one of the dreams containing Ireland:

Schmale

Sunday, September 05, 2010, 9:35 a.m. – I woke this morning with a horrible headache that I actually had all day yesterday and all night last night, and it is still not gone. So, I was nursing my headache and was inquiring of the Lord if he would have me just rest today or if he had something he wanted me to do today. Then, the name of one of my daughters-in-law came to mind, so I prayed for her. As soon as I did, I received this vision.

THE VISION: I saw a bird’s beak coming from the west but facing the east and engulfing in its beak (mouth) the head of this person for whom I was in prayer. I inquired of the Lord if the name of this person meant something. I heard in my mind, “Yes, the flesh of man”. Her name is Erin. Then, I continued to see this bird beak from the west and facing the east with mouth wide open as if to conquer or to devour its prey. The beak was facing to the east.

After this, I saw coming out from this bird beak what appeared to be a cork screw. The cork screw was inserted into the top of this person’s head and it was screwed down inside the head.

Then, I saw to the west, where the bird beak was located, what appeared to be a large, white chef’s hat, or it looked like a large plume of smoke.

Following this, I saw the face of a man (from previous dreams and visions) whose name means “gorge, dell, valley, glen, gulf, vale or dale.” Then, I heard in my mind, “Dale, schmale.” Then, the man had a snarl (scowl; grimace; contortion) on his face. END

I looked up the word “schmale.” It is German for “narrow.” So, this could be referring to “a narrow valley” or a narrow gulf or glen. Interestingly enough, this man keeps showing up in my dreams and visions in relation to the last days (the time of tribulation as a valley), as well as he nearly always appears as German.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Ezekiel 15:

Jerusalem, A Useless Vine
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

6 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD."

My Understanding: I looked up “Erin” and found the meaning of the name to be Ireland. So, I looked up “Aaron”, a Biblical name and a same-sounding name as “Erin”, and that brought up the meaning: “mountain of strength, illuminator” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). Aaron was born in Egypt and was the older brother of Moses. “Illuminator” means “to provide somebody with knowledge or with intellectual or spiritual enlightenment” (Encarta). On the other hand, the name “Erin” made me think of “Eros”, which is sensual, fleshly, and based on desire. I believe these people in this vision are being used for the meaning of their names.

On the thought of Erin being another name for Ireland, I sensed I should pursue that idea further and see what the meaning of the name “Ireland” entailed. I learned this:

“In Irish mythology, Ériu (Irish pronunciation: [ˈeːrʲu]; modern Irish Éire), daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. Her husband was Mac Gréine (‘Son of the Sun’). The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic (Old Norse or Old English) word land. The fact that Ériu is represented as goddess of Ireland, she is often interpreted as a modern day personification of Ireland, although since the name "Ériu" is the older Irish form of the word Ireland, her modern name is often modified to "Éire" or "Erin" to suit a modern form.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89riu

Ok, so “Erin” is a matron goddess who is married to the Son of the Sun god, so I looked up “matron goddess” and it led me to this Wikipedia article on Discordianism: “…Discordianism recognizes chaos, discord, and dissent as valid and desirable qualities, in contrast with most religions, which idealize harmony and order. Eris, the Greek mythological goddess of discord, has also become the matron deity of the religion Discordianism…”

I believe the Lord is combining the two definitions of “Erin” and “Aaron” together to give the picture that is described in this passage of scripture. First of all, as I thought about this meaning of the name “Aaron” as a “mountain of strength” and as “illuminator,” what came to mind was this passage of scripture in Jesus’ sermon on the mount taken from Matthew 5:14-16:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

This “City on a hill” is speaking of Jesus’ true disciples; his church; his bride; his true witnesses. So, “mountain of strength” = “City on a hill” = the true saints of Almighty God = true believers in Jesus Christ. And, “Illuminator” = the light of the world that we, as true believers in Jesus Christ, are supposed to let shine before men. The light is not to be hidden. Jesus is the true light; his Word is light – we are to reflect that light to the world.

In contrast to this “Aaron” (City on a hill) is “Erin” which represents idolatry. This “Erin” is married to the Son of the Sun god. In real life, my Erin is married to my son, David. David is often a representative either of earthly kings or kingdoms, Israel, or he represents Jesus Christ as the Son of David. The true church (Aaron) is married to Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of the only true God. The false (or apostate) church is married to the Son of the sun god. Thinking of “sun god” then led me to thinking of the “obelisk.” The Washington monument in Washington, D.C. is in the form of an obelisk.

“Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word "obelisk" as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, the Greek traveller, was one of the first classical writers to describe the objects… The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the brief religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten, the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure…” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk

The Son of this “Sun god” would thus be the U.S. government and/or the office of the presidency presently being occupied by Barack Obama. Interestingly enough, this obelisk (the Washington monument) stands due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. And, the Lincoln memorial is patterned directly after the Greek temple of Zeus with Zeus sitting on his throne (Lincoln on his throne being a copy). So, this obelisk sits at the entrance of this temple of Zeus in which sits the statue of Abraham Lincoln. And, the Lord has often shown me Obama as a clone (copy; replica) of Lincoln. Interesting!

So, the “David” that this “Erin” is married to is the government the USA in Washington, D.C. This is speaking, thus, of the institutional church. So, the Lord is paralleling this passage in Ezekiel about physical Israel to true Israel (the church), and is showing how he views today’s institutional church here in the USA that is married to the government (her head). The top of her head would thus be the president and/or the White House.

This bird, thus, that is coming from the west and is devouring the head (Son of the sun god – government of the USA) of Erin (institutional church) is either Washington D.C. devouring itself (inside job) and/or it is the New World Order that is engulfing (overwhelming; overcoming; submerging; consuming) the institutional church and its head (government). I believe the Lord has been showing me that many of our government heads are now out west and have set up New World Order headquarters, perhaps in Denver, CO, and that Washington, D.C. is now being run by a “shadow government” which I have seen as military run in previous dreams or visions or as like a skeleton crew and that Obama is really part of the “bird” that is in the west that is working to consume the head (US government) in the east in order to bring it completely underneath the One World Order, just like we are doing in the east in other countries in bringing those governments under the NWO headship.

As I considered prayerfully this passage of scripture in relation to this vision, I realized how the “cork screw” applied to the passage. A cork screw is used as an instrument that is screwed inside a cork, and a cork is usually placed in a bottle of wine to keep the contents of the wine inside the bottle. The cork-screw removes the cork from the top of the bottle so that the wine can be smelled (the aroma) and can be poured into a glass to be seen and can be tasted. The wine is of no value if it stays inside the bottle and never comes out, just like the light of the gospel is of no value to anyone if we keep it hidden inside ourselves and never let the light shine. This is what this passage of scripture is about.

In the NT, the wine represented Jesus’ blood which was poured out for us. If his blood had not been poured out for us, then we could not have salvation. And, if we do not “pour out” this message of the gospel (the whole counsel of God, not just in part), then it is of no use to anyone because they are not able to smell it (take in its aroma), see it (grasp or comprehend its truth) or to taste or drink it (accept; believe in Jesus Christ).

The Israelites of Jerusalem and Judah in Ezekiel’s day believed they were God’s “choice vine,” and they did not believe that God’s judgments would destroy their land. That sounds a whole lot like the institutional church here in America. God gives a parable to Ezekiel to give to the people, which describes the worthlessness of the vine except for bearing fruit (the wine). My commentary states that “the wood was too soft and weak for building.” I thought of this cork and how it is soft and weak and can be easily dismantled by a cork-screw inserted inside. God was comparing this vine to Israel. True Israel is the church. I believe God is specifically speaking here to the institutional church (Erin) here in America who is married to the government (David) of the USA, which is her head (cork). And, this “cork” is facilitating the keeping of the wine (the gospel) down inside (hidden in the bottle).

So, God is going to have to come against the institutional church and its head (the US government) in the USA in judgment. I believe he has done this before, specifically he allowed the events of 9/11/01 at the hands of our government (inside job) that involved a large plume of smoke that our government (the chefs in the White House with the white hats) cooked up for the American people along with the lies that followed as cover-up. Just as Israel, in this passage of scripture, had experienced the fires of God’s judgment without it resulting in repentance and revival, and God had to return to her with the fire of his discipline and allowed her to be devoured (like this bird beak was devouring this head in his mouth), so the Lord is going to revisit, I believe, America in judgment, and in particularly our government (the head/the cork) with a cork-screw (divine instrument of judgment).

And, just as the purpose of this judgment for idolatrous and unfaithful Israel, who had failed to be that light to the world in Ezekiel’s time, was to cause them to return to God and so that they would know that He was their ever-present God and so that they would be fruitful for His Kingdom instead of unproductive, so God will discipline the institutional church here in the USA via a cork-screw (divine instrument of judgment) through the head (government) in order to bring revival to our hearts and so that the sweet aroma of the wine (Jesus’ blood shed for us on the cross, i.e. the gospel message) can flow freely through us and our light can shine to the world instead of being trapped inside the bottle whose “cap” is the US government.

This judgment will come in the form of a valley (dale, glen, gorge) that will be of German origin, i.e. I believe this is this revival of a Hitler-like regime, and it will consume the world and will rule the world (the Beast), will kill all those who do not bow to the beast and its image, will persecute and kill true believers (saints) in Jesus Christ, and this “Dale, schmale”, i.e. this narrow valley is to be attributed, I believe, to this time of tribulation that is to come upon the earth. Yet, for those of us in Christ Jesus, we must know that whatever storms or valleys come, we don’t have to be afraid of the dark. We have the promise of our hope of eternity in heaven with God. So, we can keep going forward in our faith and in keeping the light of the gospel (our witness) shining and not hidden, because of that hope and because we know that we are never alone. Jesus is always with us. We’ll never walk alone!

This song was going through my mind during or right after the vision:

You’ll Never Walk Alone / Rodgers & Hammerstein / From Carousel

When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.

A Model to All

Sunday, March 27, 2011, 7:44 a.m. – When I woke this morning, this song was playing in my mind:

Abide With Me / Henry F. Lyte / William H. Monk

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Thessalonians 1-2:16:

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica
1 You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

My Understanding: As I prayerfully considered this passage of scripture before the Lord Jesus in prayer, I realized that, combined with the words to this song, the Lord was offering me (and us) three models for living the Christian life in difficult circumstances and times.

The Model of the Song

We are presented in this song with many difficulties. Evening or night (a time that is opposite of light and day) is about to fall. Darkness (evil) is deepening (intensifying). We can see this in our daily news stories. Our friends, co-workers, neighbors and/or family members are failing us, and so we are not comforted in their love. The joys we have experienced in this life are growing dim (not easy to see). Life’s changes are hitting us hard – aging, death of loved ones, children growing up and becoming more independent, health issues, job changes, moves, sorrow, mourning, etc. Decay (decline, deterioration, rot, corrosion, destruction and devastation) can be seen everywhere. Clouds (confusion, complications, puzzles and the perplexities) of life are ever present. And, foes (adversaries; enemies; opponents) assail us, though we must be reminded here that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the forces and powers of evil in the spiritual realm.

In all of this, the model here for us to follow is for us to have Christ abiding with us and for us to abide with him, i.e. this has to do first of all with us being in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through genuine faith in him, and then it has to do with us spending time with Jesus each day at his feet, learning from him, listening to what he has to teach us, and then obeying daily what he shows us. This is modeled for us in John 15 in Jesus’ words to us, his disciples. V. 4 says: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” To remain means to “continue, endure, persist, keep on, stay, and/or hang around,” which is synonymous with “abide”, which means to “reside, dwell, wait, and/or endure.”

This is not something we can do for 5 minutes a day and then spend the rest of the day doing what we want. This is not something we can do one hour a week during a “worship” service, either, thinking we have met our weekly obligation to God. Jesus Christ must be abiding in us and us abiding in him moment by moment and day by day. This is constantly abiding! When we do that, we will come to know intimately the one who changes not, we will experience his continual presence with us, we will know and will participate in his grace that can thwart the tempter’s (Satan’s) power over our lives, and we will receive into our lives with great enthusiasm his guidance, his blessings on our lives, freedom from fear, his yoke that is easy and his burden that is light, and his triumph over death, hell, Satan and sin so that we can go free from the penalty, control of and power of sin over our lives.

The Model of the Church

This local church in Thessalonica is another role model for us in difficult times, because they were going through a time of severe suffering. They suffered from their own countrymen the same things that other church fellowships had suffered at the hands of those who killed Jesus Christ, who killed the prophets, and who had driven out the apostles. In other words, they were rejected and persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ just like other believers had suffered. This brings to mind how the church outside the USA has often had to undergo severe suffering for their faith and testimony for Jesus Christ, yet how we, in America, have yet to suffer in that same way. And yet, I believe, our time is coming, which is why the Lord is giving us these models to follow when the darkness intensifies around us, as well. The Thessalonian church also suffered from those who displease God, who heap up their sins to the limit, and who are hostile toward God and toward followers of Christ. These opponents are hostile by their efforts at trying to keep the church people from sharing the gospel so that others can be saved. We will face those kinds of people, too, if we have not already.

Yet, the believers in Thessalonica persevered in their faith in Jesus Christ, as was evidenced by what they did, i.e. by their labors of love. They accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, not as the words of men, but as the words of God. As well, they received and welcomed the message of the gospel with great joy and with the power and working of the Holy Spirit in their lives and with great conviction. Their faith was not a casual belief in Jesus Christ. It was powerful and passionate faith in Jesus. They became imitators of Christ, i.e. they were his followers and they became Christ-like in their attitudes and behaviors, following the model that Christ Jesus set for us by words and example. In addition to all of this, they were also witnesses for Jesus Christ as they shared the gospel message by word and by example, so that the testimony of their faith became known everywhere. These believers in Jesus Christ had a radical, transformational, powerful and effective faith in Jesus Christ that rocked their world for Jesus Christ! Oh, that we, too, would have that kind of faith.

The Model of the Apostles – Harper’s Bible Dictionary gives this definition of an apostle – “the English transliteration of a Greek word meaning ‘one who is sent out.’ An apostle is a personal messenger or envoy, commissioned to transmit the message or otherwise carry out the instructions of the commissioning agent.” In this case, we should all be apostles because we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have all been commissioned by God (the commissioning agent) to be witnesses throughout the world and to go and to make disciples of all nations and to teach them all the things Jesus taught us. This example was modeled to us by the first apostles, and as Jesus’ “sent out ones,” it is a model that we, too, should follow:

• Having suffered and been insulted previously, with the help of God, persevered in sharing the gospel elsewhere in spite of strong opposition

• Shared the gospel message (the appeal of God made through us), yet this appeal did not spring from error or impure motives, trickery, flattery or manipulation

• Spoke as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel

• Did not try to please men but God; not looking for praise from men; not watering down the gospel message to make it palatable to the flesh of man as some do

• Did not put on a mask (disguise; façade) to cover-up greed

• Were gentle among the people, like a mother caring for her children

• Dealt with each of the believers as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging them to live lives worthy of and pleasing to God

• Loved the church so much that they delighted to share with them not only the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they gave of their time, energies, resources, etc., as well as they sacrificed their own desires, wants and reputations for the people and the gospel

• Lived holy, righteous and blameless lives among those who believed – certain this did not mean sinless, but rather they dealt with sin immediately through confession and then by turning from the sin and continuing to follow the Lord in obedience

The Bible tells us about a time of severe trial and persecution to come upon the world and upon believers in Jesus Christ, which we know as the time of tribulation spoken about in the book of Revelation, Daniel and the other prophets (OT and NT). Many Christians in America believe we will be spared this time, and yet other believers throughout the world have already gone through and are presently experiencing this kind of testing, persecution, etc., as is described in the words of this song and in the words in this passage of scripture. So, why should we think we, in America, should be spared?

The church in America, overall, fits well the description of the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3) which was neither hot nor cold in relation to God, but was lukewarm. I believe that is why the Lord is giving us these models of hot, passionate, determined, genuine, and persistent faith and practice to follow, because our time of severe trial and persecution is soon upon us, and we need to be standing out in this world in stark contrast to the pattern of the world and as shining lights for Jesus Christ, as is modeled for us in these three examples provided for us here. We need to stop living lukewarm, selfish and worldly lives, and we need to be passionate about Jesus. Time is short. We don’t know if we have tomorrow. So many people need to know Jesus Christ and to have salvation from their sins. We need to be sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only by our words, but by our very lives, because actions speak louder than words. May we (I) take to heart these three examples (models) today, and get passionate about Jesus, because time is running out.

Our Minds Set

Saturday, March 26, 2011, 8:31 p.m. – This song is playing in my mind:

He’s Always There / Charity St. Clair / Don Marsh

He’s the Father of compassion;
He’s a refuge for the oppressed.
He’s the fortress of salvation;
He’s a Father to the fatherless.
God of glory, God of grace;
God of hope, and love, and peace.
He’s the maker of all things,
And He’s always there.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Rebuke, convict, correct, instruct, encourage and train me in righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray these things, amen. I read Col. 3:1-17:

Rules for Holy Living
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My Understanding: Paul began the third chapter with the words “since then,” which means “because” or “in view of the fact.” So, another way of wording this could be, “In view of the fact that” (fill in the blank), then this should be true (the following), i.e. one should naturally follow the other. As I read through this chapter, I realized there were several sets of these “In view of the fact that… then this should be true,” so I’m going to examine those.

In view of the fact that

You are dead to your old life of sin – When we make the decision to say “Yes” to Jesus Christ, and to invite him into our lives to be our Savior and Lord, we agree with God that we are sinners in need of a Savior, we humble ourselves before God in confession and repentance, i.e. in turning from our sinful lifestyles and in turning toward Jesus Christ in faith and obedience, and we surrender ourselves to God for him to change us, to cleanse us from sin, and to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is a spiritual transformation done by Jesus Christ and God’s Spirit within us in crucifying our old lives of sin, cleansing and forgiving us from sin, and then giving us new lives in Jesus Christ. We cannot do this by good works, nor can we initiate it ourselves. God the Father must first draw us to Jesus Christ, and then he gives us the faith to believe, if we are willing to cooperate with him, as well as he gives us the gift of his grace by setting us free, not only from the penalty of sin, but the control of and the bondage to sin. And, now we are in Christ Jesus.

You have been raised with Christ – When Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin, he took upon himself the sin of the entire world - past, present and future, and he nailed our sin to the cross, then he was buried and our sin was buried with him in the grave, yet he rose triumphantly over death, hell, Satan and sin, leaving our sin behind. When we come to Jesus Christ we, thus, are crucified with Christ to our old sinful natures, we are buried with him in putting our sin to death and burying it in the grave, and we are raised with him to newness of life, leaving our sin behind, and then going in the opposite direction as we follow Jesus Christ in full faith and obedience. It does not mean we will never sin again, yet it is a conscious choice of the will to surrender all to Jesus, to leave our sin behind, and to walk with him in a brand new life that is committed to following him and to obeying him in all things. This is symbolized in physical baptism. In other words, our lives should radically be transformed by this regeneration of our lives so that it is like we were physically dead and someone brought us back to life literally and breathed the breath of life into us once again.

Christ is your life – “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will appear with him in glory” (v. 4). If something or someone is “my life,” then everything about my life should be about that someone or something, should it not? Life means “existence; being; energy; excitement; get-up-and-go”; etc. Life has to do with eating, breathing, growing, reproducing, etc. So, if Jesus Christ is my life, then I feed on him daily, and I grow in him and in the knowledge and understanding of his word and in his image, i.e. his likeness. He is the reason I exist, so I exist for him and to praise him, serve him, love him and obey him in all things. His nature and his character are essential elements within me and as lived out through me. He is my joy, my excitement for living, and the reason I get up in the mornings (and sometimes in the middle of the night). He is so much a part of me that I sense his presence, his words speaking to my heart, and his love and compassion like I breathe in and out each day in order to live and to survive. He is what makes me grow. He is what motivates me and what gives me purpose and longing to know him and to obey him more.

If he is our lives, if we have died to our old lives of sin, and if we have been raised with Christ to newness of life…

Then this should be true

We set our hearts and minds on things above – To set something, in this context, means to establish, fix, be firm on, be immovable, stationary, etc., i.e. not going back and forth and wavering from one thing to another. It means to be resolute – determined, definite, steadfast and persevering in setting our hearts and minds on things above. Our hearts are the center of our emotional lives, yet they are also the center of our character, our spirit, and the essence of who we are and what we believe and what we do. Our minds are where we think, make decisions, have ideas, store knowledge, gain understanding, etc. These are to be firmly established toward things that are of God, such as his character, his will for our lives, his love as lived out through us, etc. And, the way we set our minds and hearts on things above is by spending time at Jesus’ feet each and every day, hearing from him, listening to what he says, and then going forth and obeying what he tells us.

The other half of this says, “…not on earthly things.” “Earthly,” in this sense, is not talking about eating, working, exercising, clothing ourselves, finding a place to live, getting an education, having a family, etc., though if these things become our gods and they are what we live for and are what our lives are all about, then they would fall into the category of “earthly” things. Yet, in this context, Paul is speaking of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, lies, etc. We are not to have our minds and hearts set on these things. I believe that one of the biggest culprits in keeping believers’ minds and hearts set on earthly things today is the media, i.e. TV, movies, the Internet, video games, music, etc. When we take these things into our minds via the media, in a way in which these sins are being glorified, laughed at, are entertaining us, etc., we run the risk of desensitizing ourselves to their influences in our lives. This can result in us adopting these sinful lifestyles into our hearts through us becoming emotionally involved in what we see and hear, and thus we would be guilty of taking pleasure in the sins of others, rather than weeping and mourning over the sins of the world. As well, these influences could lead us to adopt some of these sinful lifestyles into our own lives. This is not to exclude other influences, yet I do believe these are some of the most powerful at work today.

We put to death our earthly nature – Just because we have been born again of the Spirit of God does not mean we will never be tempted to sin nor does it mean we will never sin again. We will. We must die daily to our flesh and our fleshly and sinful appetites that wage war against us on a regular and consistent basis. We do this by putting off our old selves with its sinful practices and we put on our new selves, which are being made new in Christ Jesus. If we don’t put on something new in place of the old, then we haven’t really changed. We are just like a thief who is in-between jobs. So, if we have been lying, then we need to begin telling the truth. If we have been unfaithful, then we need to work at restoring trust by being completely faithful. We need to not go back to living like we did before we believed in Jesus Christ. Where there has been unforgiveness, we need to forgive. Where we have lacked compassion, we need to show compassion. Where we have not loved others as Jesus loves us, we need to love others with Jesus’ love flowing out to others from within Christ in us. If we have been prideful, we need to put on humility. If we have been unkind, we need to put on kindness. And, where we have been critical, we need to encourage. For every sin that we must put off, there is a righteous and godly character to put on in place of it. In other words, we need to become someone else.

We let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts – The opposite of peace is upheaval, turbulence and/or tumult within our hearts, and this comes through giving way to fear in our circumstances, which is the opposite of faith, so here we must put off worry and we must put on faith, and trust in Jesus Christ in all things. The Word of Christ should well up in our hearts like a fresh spring of water as we teach (instruct; impart knowledge; and/or explain God’s word in such a way that is practical, understandable and applicable to our daily lives) and admonish (warn; caution) one another with all wisdom. Christ’s Word should be alive and active within us as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. And whatever we do, whether in word or deed, it should all be done in the name (character; and approval) of the Lord (master) Jesus, with thankfulness in our hearts and on our lips, as we give God the Father all our praise, honor, awe and obedience.

Lord Jesus, I pray you would reveal to me any sin areas in my life that need to be cleansed and where I need to put off the flesh and to put on your character. In Jesus’ name, amen.