Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Friday, October 21, 2016

Hear My Voice, Lord

Friday, October 21, 2016, 2:35 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Hear My Voice.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 64 (ESV).

Their Evil Purpose (vv. 1-6)

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
    preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
    from the throng of evildoers,
who whet their tongues like swords,
    who aim bitter words like arrows,
shooting from ambush at the blameless,
    shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
They hold fast to their evil purpose;
    they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
    They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
    For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

The Lord is helping me to somewhat relate to what people throughout the world are going through who truly are under attack from physical enemies. Although I understand abandonment, abuse, neglect, persecution, rejection, false accusations, and betrayal, etc., from personal experience, I have known little in the way of physical enemies coming against me in violence, though I have had some experience with that, too, from early on.

Yet, through this present trial with this bed bug infestation in our apartment, I can relate to this passage of scripture. Bed bugs are like little armies that hide in secret and that come out from hiding at night to harm us, i.e. to suck our blood, and then they go back into hiding, and it is very difficult to find their hiding places, because they are good hiders. Because they hide so well, it is very difficult to kill them, too, and they multiply rapidly.

Not everyone has a physical reaction to their bites, but I am one of those who does have an allergic reaction to what they inject inside me, which is a kind of anesthesia, so that I don’t feel the bite when it happens. So, I can’t be sure exactly where they were located when they bit me or even at what time I was bit. I only know that I was bit when the bite area swells up, itches, stings and burns, unless, of course, I do see the bugs bite me.

I believe the Lord is making parallels between these bloodsucking parasites I am experiencing in my life and that of secret military operatives of the Beast New World Order, who are also bloodsucking parasites going throughout the world killing, raping, stealing, pillaging, causing chaos and deceiving, etc. Yet, not all these bloodsucking parasites stay hidden from view. Many of them are our leaders, our politicians, and even some of our preachers. They do their evil deeds in secret, and in secret they plot evil against us, and then in front of us they act as if they are our best friends and that we should trust them and believe what they tell us. And, then they take pride in their ability to deceive, manipulate, and to hornswoggle the people of the world.

As I contemplated what parallel there might be with how my body reacts to these bug bites, and how it is a delayed reaction, and I, therefore, can’t be sure when exactly I was bit or at what location, I believe the Lord showed me this scenario. I believe this can be compared to the hypnotic powers of television. People watch TV, and they see and hear things, but they are not always consciously aware of all that is being said or of the subliminal messages they are taking in every day via TV. They are “bit” without realizing it, in other words, and their reaction is what was preprogrammed into the manipulative forces of TV, but they are not aware that TV is the culprit, or of when they took in these subliminal messages, because they came in through the subconscious mind, rather than the conscious. And, these messages affect people’s beliefs and perceptions of truth or lies.

The only way we can be protected from these subliminal and hypnotic messages, I believe, is to stop watching TV and to spend more time in prayer and in God’s word praying for discerning spirits to know truth from lies. We also have to test everything we see and hear against the Word of Truth, and against what we know of God’s divine character and will, and stop believing everything we see and hear, because anything can be faked.

The only way we can be protected from physical enemies is also through prayer and through spending much time with God in his Word, so we know the truth, and so we know how to fight the spiritual battle we are in with the spiritual weapons of warfare he has given us to defeat our enemy, Satan.

God may not protect us, though, from the onslaught of physical enemies. He didn’t promise us that we would be free from persecution, war, or physical attacks against us. In fact, he said we would be persecuted, beaten, imprisoned and killed for our testimonies for Jesus Christ. And, he has not promised me that I am going to be delivered from these bed bugs, either. But, what he has promised is to be with me, to strengthen me, to help me, and to guide me through this. And, what he has asked of me is that I trust him, that I rest in him, that I not fear the enemies’ attacks against me, and that I listen and learn what he wants to teach me through this trial.

But God Shoots (vv. 7-9)

But God shoots his arrow at them;
    they are wounded suddenly.
They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
    all who see them will wag their heads.
Then all mankind fears;
    they tell what God has brought about
    and ponder what he has done.

Our only hope for deliverance is through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our deliverer, and in him only should we trust to be physically rescued from our enemies. Yet, we may have to suffer for a while first, before the deliverance comes, and the deliverance may only come through death or through our Lord’s return.

One day he will judge our enemies. He will come against them and pay them back for what they have done. We may see this immediately, or in the near future, or we may not live to see this happen at all. And, we have to be ok with that, i.e. we have to trust God that he knows best, and that he has a plan and a purpose for it all, and that he will carry us through these tough times until he takes us home to be with him forever. And, we have to rest in him, even while we are under attack, and we have to not be afraid. We can’t let our troubles get us down or defeat us, but we must rise above them in the strength and power of God at work in our lives.

I do believe that, when God does judge our enemies and their evil deeds, if some of that happens in this life, which I believe it will, that it will bring the fear of God into the lives of many people, and people will give testimony to the power of God to defeat our enemies and to rescue us, and they will praise him for that deliverance. Yet, I don’t see Biblically that things are going to truly or fully get better for us this side of heaven, but that our true deliverance is going to be either through death or through Christ’s return. So, we must look to God to deliver us through teaching us to trust him, to rest in him, to not fear what man might do to us, to believe in his promises to us, and to not give up hope that one day we will be delivered.

Rejoice in the Lord (v. 10)

Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
    and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!

The Lord has been working on me in this area for a long time, not that I resisted the idea, by any means, but that I would sometimes forget, while in the midst of life’s difficulties, that I should give the Lord praise, and that I should rejoice in my difficult circumstances. I would cry, and I would pray, and I would call out to God in my troubles, and would pray for relief, and for wisdom and discernment, and I would take refuge in him alone, but I would sometimes forget that I was to rejoice, too. It is amazing what a conscious choice to rejoice and to sing during troubled times will do for one’s spirit. So, he is helping me in this area to keep singing, and to keep resting in him, and to not be afraid to suffer. So, that is where I am. How about you?

Hear my Voice / An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.
He’s the stronghold of my life.
When my enemies attack me,
My heart will not fear at all.
Though a war break out against me,
Confident in Christ I’ll be.
Of the Lord, I ask that I may
Live with Him eternally.

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.
Merciful to me You’ll be.
Though my relatives forsake me,
My Lord God will receive me.
Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
I will sacrifice to my Lord.
I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will
See the goodness of the Lord.
All the richness of His blessings,
My Lord has for me in store.
He asks me to be of courage;
To be strong and to take heart,
Patiently as I wait for Him,
And from Him to ne’er depart.



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