Thursday, June 19,
2014, 6:45 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “He Lifted Our Burdens.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Revelation 12 (NIV).
A Woman
A
great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and
cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in
heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns
on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them
to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth,
so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a
son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And
her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the
wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of
for 1,260 days.
I am not a gifted theologian. I have never been to Bible College.
Yet, I am a student of the word of God, and I do sit daily at my Lord’s feet to
hear from him. Still, I do not understand all of these symbols and their
meanings. Yet, I do believe the woman is a figure of Israel, not physical
Israel, but spiritual Israel, the children of promise. Jesus Christ did come
from Israel. He was/is the promised seed of Abraham, and he is the one who will
rule all the nations with an iron scepter, yet we who are in Christ will rule
and will reign with him.
Satan tried to destroy Jesus Christ, but he was not
successful. Jesus Christ conquered him, instead. First he tried to have him
killed when he was still a small child. Eventually he incited the religious
leaders of his day to incite a riot of people to demand that Jesus be
crucified. And, they did hang him on a cross to die. Yet he was resurrected from
the dead, and in his death and resurrection he was victorious over sin, hell,
Satan and death. Then, he ascended back to heaven where he is seated at the
right hand of God the Father until the time when he comes back to judge, to
receive his own, and to rule and to reign on the earth. After he left the
earth, he sent his promised Holy Spirit to indwell and to empower all of us who
have believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives.
You see, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, it was not
according to the will of man that he was crucified. This was in God’s plan for
his life, as well as for the lives of all humankind. When Jesus died, he took
upon himself the sins of the entire world so that our sins were crucified and
buried with him. And, he rose from the dead triumphant over our sins, too, so
that we could be set free from the penalty of sin (eternal damnation), and free
from the control of sin over our lives on a daily basis. He died so that we who
live would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us
(See 2 Co. 5:15). He died, too, so that we would be crucified with him to our
old lives of sin, and so that we could walk in the Spirit of God, in the power
of the Spirit within us, and in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, no longer
living to please ourselves, but living to please him who saved us by his grace
(See Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14 & 1 Jn.
1-5, et al).
So, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we die with
Christ to our old lives of sin, we are transformed of the Spirit of God in
heart and mind away from sin and to God, and we are given new lives in Christ
Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See Eph. 4:24).
We are thus made holy in Christ, which means we are now set apart from the
world of sin, and we are set apart to Christ and to his service. “For to me to
live is Christ, but to die is gain” (See Phil. 1:21). My life is no longer my
own to live how I want. I was bought with the blood of Christ. Now I am to
honor God with my life.
In Pursuit
Then
war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and
the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they
lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient
serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was
hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then
I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now
have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For
the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and
night,
has been hurled down.
They
triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they
did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore
rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But
woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He
is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
When
the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who
had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great
eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness,
where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the
serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to
overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped
the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had
spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off
to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and
hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
Satan was once a beautiful angel in heaven. But he wanted to
be God, so he rebelled against God, along with many of the angels in heaven. They
were cast from God’s heaven. And, now Satan is the prince of the earth. He roams
the earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is at war still with
God, and he is still trying to destroy Jesus Christ, only now he is trying to
do it by killing Christ’s servants, or by trying to kill their testimonies for
Christ, or through deception within the church to try to destroy the truth of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, although he will be allowed to pursue the
children of promise for a time, and he will be allowed to tempt them, to try to
discourage them, to deceive them or destroy them and their testimonies for
Christ, and/or to physically put them to death, the saints of God will triumph
over him by the word of their testimony, and because they are willing to die,
if need be, for their faith and witness for Jesus Christ and for the gospel.
I believe the Lord Jesus has given me a picture of where we
are right now, as the world, and as the people of God, in relation to all of
this, though I certainly do not know the timing of all these events which will soon
take place, or that have already taken place, perhaps.
In America, for one, much of the church is like the church
in Laodicea – neither completely on fire for the Lord nor completely
disinterested, but just kind of lukewarm or middle-of-the-road, i.e. avoiding
the extremes of hot and cold and thus taking a position somewhere in the middle
as a “moderate” Christian – not too radical, and not totally turned off to
Christ and the gospel. Yet, this “moderate” position on Christianity is not
confined only to America, but is global, and its purpose, ultimately, is to
blend all religions into one.
The point or the goal of this global effort is to bring
about the intersection (joining) of this “moderate” approach to faith, with the
true path of salvation, of godliness, holiness, and righteousness in Christ
Jesus, so that this “middle-of-the-road” approach to faith overlaps and covers
over certain parts of the gospel to make it more agreeable to all. These are
the parts which tell us we must be crucified with Christ, and we must die to
sin and self; that we must say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled and upright lives in this present age, and that God’s
grace is not a free license to continue in sin.
We are nearing the time, or else that time is now upon us
when the people of the world, and of God, will be forced into a cataclysmic decision
of having to choose what path they will follow, and whether or not they will
compromise their faith and witness for Christ by going with the “moderate” position
of faith, i.e. the path of least resistance. We will then have to choose
whether or not we will stand strong in our faith, remain on the path of “crowning”
achievement (See 2 Ti. 4:6-8; Jas. 1:12), and whether or not we will keep God’s commands and hold fast our
testimony about Jesus, knowing full well that it will most likely cost us
our lives. I believe many followers of Christ are at that place right now all
across the world, where the enemy is trying to convince them to compromise and
to find that “middle ground” that will be acceptable to all the religions of
the world so that we can all live together in “peace” and “harmony.”
When this time comes for us, and it will, we must know that
the only way we will be able to stand our ground, to hold fast to our testimony
about Jesus, and to keep God’s commands, is in the power of the Holy Spirit
within us, as we learn to completely yield to our Lord’s leadership in our
lives, to rest in his love, to rely on his strength, and to trust in God’s
sovereign will for our lives. Yet, this is our hope:
For
I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure
is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for
his appearing. ~ 2 Tim. 4:6-8
Blessed
is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that
person will receive the crown of life
that the Lord has promised to those who love him. ~ Jas. 1:12
Wait! / An
Original Work / February 8, 2014
Wait for your Lord. Be
of courage.
Be strong, and take
heart today.
God is always watching
o’er you.
Trust Him with your
life always.
Sing of your Lord.
Praise His blessings.
Believe in His
sovereignty.
He delivered you from
your sin;
Gave you life
eternally.
Rest in your Lord.
Know His promise.
Beneath His wings rest
secure.
Your God has a plan
and purpose.
Let your faith in Him
endure.
Trust in your Lord.
He’ll not leave you,
Because He is
faithfulness.
He will lead and
guide; protect you.
In His love you can
find rest.
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