Hindrances to our Faith

Saturday, November 20, 2010, 5:31 a.m. – I woke this morning to the words of this song playing in my mind:

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Thee!
How I’ve proved Thee o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Thee more!

I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, I read Matthew 27-28: (quoting chapter 28):

The Resurrection
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

My Understanding: As I read these chapters in Matthew, I prayed for the understanding that the Lord would want me to receive from them today. I knew, by the words to the song, that the Lord wanted me to focus on the subject of trust/faith and the need to trust Jesus more. So, I read chapter 28 again, and the Lord began to open my eyes to see the message he had for me today. I sought the Lord concerning the approach he wanted me to take with this, and then he gave me the title, “Hindrances to our Faith,” so I pray the Lord would open my mind and heart to hear from Him and His Word today the message he wants me to receive from Him and to share. These are the hindrances that I believe He is showing me:

Hindrances to our Faith:

Death of a Dream

Jesus had his ministry on the earth for 3+ years. He had walked and talked with, and had taught his disciples daily for that period of time. They expected him to rescue them and to set up his kingdom on the earth and to be their king, so when he died, their world fell apart. Their hopes were dashed! Where would they go from here? They had given their lives to follow him. The reason they were so disillusioned is that they didn’t truly get what Jesus had been telling them about who He is, what He was about, what He came to do and ultimately where all that would lead, even though he had told them time and time again. They had their own concept of Jesus and his mission, and it was that dream that had died.

So, when the two Marys went to the tomb, they were not expecting him to be risen, even though he had told them ahead of time that he was going to rise from the dead. So, they needed a revelation from God, i.e. they needed to be awakened and to have their eyes opened to the truth of who Jesus is/was. So, when I read that “an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it,” I immediately thought about how that stone not only represented death to a dream but how it represented the blinding of eyes to the knowledge of the truth. So, when the angel rolled back the stone, he was revealing the truth to the women of who Jesus truly was/is, i.e. that he was/is God and that he was/is alive, not dead.

I think a lot of times that we get false ideas fixed in our minds of who Jesus is and so we expect the Jesus we have created (or others have created for us) to act like we imagine, and when he doesn’t, then we get disillusioned, not because Jesus is false or that faith in Jesus Christ is false, but that our concept of him is not true (or partially not true). That is why people will sometimes get angry with God when he doesn’t act like they expect him to act, because they misunderstand who He truly is. So, false concepts of who Jesus/God is can lead to death of a dream when God/Jesus does not act like we think he should, and thus our false belief systems can lead to our dreams dying and can be hindrances to our faith.

Fear of the Unknown

When the women went to the tomb, there was a violent earthquake and the stone was rolled back and an angel of God sat on the stone. The guards were afraid. The angel told the women not to be afraid, so perhaps they were also gripped with fear. Then the angel told the women the good news that Jesus had risen from the dead and he instructed them that they were to go tell his disciples that he had risen from the dead and that he was going ahead of them into Galilee and that they would see him there.

There were several “unknowns” here: 1) A stone to a tomb (grave) rolled back and an angel sitting on the stone, 2) An empty tomb and a risen Lord, and 3) Instructions to go tell the good news and insecurity, perhaps, concerning what kind of a response the women would get. The scripture says that the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Immediately what came to my mind was “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,” a secular book I read several years ago when I was going through a particularly difficult and fearful time in my life. The feeling of fear did not hinder these women from going. The unknown did not keep them from going. They went “with joy.”

I think sometimes that the fear of the unknown hinders us in our faith. We, like Thomas, want to see the nail prints in Jesus’ hands before we will believe. We forget that the Bible says that faith that is seen is not faith at all but if we hope for what we do not see, that is true faith. We oftentimes allow our circumstances or the fear of how people will respond to us to keep us from obeying the Lord. We are afraid to step out in faith because we fear that we will look foolish or that people might reject our message or we fear that maybe we didn’t really see what we saw because it was something outside the norm and so we self-doubt our way into unbelief through intellectual discourse over what we saw.

The women saw Jesus when they were on their way, and Jesus will often reveal himself to us while we are “on our way,” as well, i.e. as we step out in faith and we trust the Lord and we do what he says even in the face of fear, he will reveal himself to us and he will encourage us to not fear and will reinforce our call to “go and tell” the Good News. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have sat down to write with a pounding headache or with a foggy brain or with fears and doubts fighting against me or even lack of desire to write warring against me, and as I went, i.e. as I stepped out in faith and obeyed the Lord, the headaches disappeared, the doubts dissipated, and the fears diminished, and instead the Lord took over and he filled me with His joy and His strength.

Opposition and False Reports

The scripture says that “While the women were on their way…” and then it tells us how the guards reported what had happened and how the priests and elders had devised a plan to pay the soldiers to tell a lie and to spread a false story to counteract the truth of the gospel. And this will happen to us, as well. When we step out in faith and obedience to our Lord, we should expect opposition. We should expect that there will be people along the way who will try to discredit Jesus and our faith in Him and they will make up lies or they will repeat lies they have heard in order to try to discourage us and to get us to not believe or to not go and tell others. So, opposition and false reports about Jesus and about faith in Jesus Christ can lead to our faith being hindered, to self-doubt and to discouragement. We must, like the women, go and tell the Good News – “afraid, yet filled with joy!”

Our own Doubts

This passage of scripture says that Jesus met his disciples in Galilee, at the mountain where he had told them to go. It says that “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” So, even though they saw Jesus face to face, still some of them doubted that he had risen from the dead. We may find this hard to believe, but I think that often we do the same thing. Jesus gives us assurance after assurance of who He is, of his working in and through our lives, of his miracles of love and grace, and yet when we are faced with difficult situations, we will revert right back to doubting again. So, sometimes our own worst enemy can be ourselves and our own self-doubts. Jesus’ disciples often saw him work great miracles and then turned right around and doubted or lacked faith again. And, we do that, too.

Yet, it is not in our own power or in our own strength that we “go and tell” the Good News, that we make disciples, and that we teach obedience to our Lord. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing… and teaching them to obey everything I commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We go in the authority of the name of Jesus, in the authority of His Word, in his power, in his strength and with his abiding presence with us always. That is how we combat these hindrances to our faith.

Overwhelmed with Sorrow

Friday, November 19, 2010, 1:38 a.m. – I woke and could not fall back asleep. These words (stanza) to this song kept playing over and over again in my mind:

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing / Charles Wesley

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

On Wednesday, this same song was also playing in my mind, only then it was this stanza that was playing:

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I finished reading Matthew 24 Thursday morning, so I began reading in Matthew 25 about The Parable of the Ten Virgins, The Parable of the Talents and The Judgment. Honestly, as I read these verses, I thought, “How is this about charming (or calming) our fears and bidding our sorrows cease?” In the parable about the Ten Virgins, half were prepared to meet the Lord and half were not. The Lord came and the door was shut. The virgins who were not ready then came to the door and asked to be let inside, but the Lord said, “I never knew you.” Then, a warning was issued that said that we need to “keep watch,” because we don’t know the day or hour when the Lord will come.

Next was the Parable of the Talents (Gold). The master gave 5 to one servant, 2 to another and 1 to another. The one given five doubled his, the one with two doubled his, but the one with only one buried his. When the master returned, he rewarded the servants who had doubled what they had been given, but to the one who had buried his, his master took what he had away from him and gave it to the one with the ten (5+5). And, then he instructed that the “worthless” servant who had buried his talent (gold) should be thrown into the darkness where there shall be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Lastly, in chapter 25, is the judgment where Jesus separates those who were genuine in their faith as evidenced by their actions from those who did not have real faith that lived itself out in their daily lives. For those who had been faithful, a reward of eternity in heaven with our Lord awaits them, but for those giving just lip service but are not really in a true, vital and active relationship with Jesus Christ, they will go to eternal punishment. So, this whole chapter is really about separating those who are ready from those who are not, those who produced fruit in keeping with repentance (Mtt. 3:8) from those who buried what they were given, and those who lived out their faith by what they did from those who did not.

I finished reading Matthew 25 with the feeling, thus, that there must be a message here of hope and encouragement because of the words to the song that were playing in my mind which were about calming fears and sorrows ceasing. The song said that it is the name of Jesus that calms (charms) our fears and bids our sorrows cease and that it is music in the sinner’s ear and brings life, health and peace.

I don’t know about you, but when I read about people not being ready to meet Jesus, having the door shut and them being told by God, “I never knew you,” it brings sorrow to my heart. When I read about a servant who buried his gift from God and did not produce fruit in keeping with repentance and thus is thrown out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, I feel much sadness. And, when I read about those who did not live out their faith in their daily lives being separated from those who did, and me knowing that many will be separated from God in eternal punishment forever and ever, it breaks my heart. So, again I thought, “How can this be about calming fears and bidding our sorrows cease?”

Then, I read Matthew 26 and these verses stood out to me (vv. 36-45):

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

When they arrested Jesus and one of his companions tried to stop it from happening by cutting off the ear of a guard, Jesus told him to put his sword away. He told them that he could call His Father and that he could put at his disposal 12 legions of angels to come to his rescue but that the things that were to take place had to happen in order to fulfill the prophecy of scripture. Then, this passage of scripture tells us that Jesus’ friends deserted him and fled and that Peter denied him 3 times, and this was after Judas had betrayed him and had handed him over to be arrested. By human standards, we would have to say that Jesus was having his worst possible day. And yet, this is what he said:

“But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Jesus had hope because he could see what they could not see. He could see beyond what was taking place in his life to the hope of what was to come. He knew that he must go to the cross to die for our sins, and he knew that he must take the sins of the world upon him. Yet, he knew that he would rise again victorious over sin, death, hell and Satan! And, because of that hope, we also have hope that we can hold on to when things get rough.

Tonight, I was reflecting back over a time in my life when I was not walking with the Lord; when I was failing him miserably, in fact, and I was overcome with sorrow just remembering that time in my life when I was walking according to the flesh instead of walking according to the Spirit. That was the most miserable time of my life ever.

Can you imagine what Jesus – one who knew no sin - must have felt to take upon himself the sins of the entire world – past, present and future? People talk about the horrible death he suffered, and yet the greatest pain of all was the pain of our sin. That is why he was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Yet, he had hope because he knew that he would conquer sin, death, hell and Satan, triumphing over them by his death on the cross and by his resurrection, and that through faith in Him we could also now be free from the ultimate penalty of sin, which is eternal punishment, and that we could be free from the control of sin and bondage to sin in our daily lives, as well. That is true hope!

The song says that it is the name of Jesus that charms (calms) our fears and bids our sorrows cease. When Jesus was overcome with sorrow due to knowing that he must take upon himself our sins, he prayed to the Father that if it were possible for this cup to pass from him, he prayed it would, and yet he said, “Not as I will, but your will be done.” So, the first thing he did was to call upon His Father, and then to surrender His will to the will of the Father. I believe that is the first step for us, too, in having our fears calmed and our sorrows ceased. There are a lot of things that are difficult for us to accept or even to understand, and yet we must, as well, surrender our will to the Father who is sovereign over all.

When his disciples kept falling asleep, he told them to “watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” I believe he was talking with them, not just about them falling asleep while praying, but he was talking to them about what they were about to face, as well. He knew they would be scattered due to persecution, that they would suffer as he suffered, and that many of them would face martyrs’ deaths for the sake of his name. His rebuke to them in asking them “Are you still sleeping?” held with it more than just a chastisement for falling asleep while praying. They were asleep because they didn’t get it. If they had, they would not have fallen asleep. They really didn’t understand what was taking place and how their lives were about to drastically change directions. And, we must also “watch and pray” so that we don’t fall into the devil’s trap, because even though we may have the best intentions, our flesh is weak.

Matthew 24 and 25 are about the end of the age when Jesus returns for his bride and when he judges the earth. Matthew 26 is about Jesus’ suffering and death for our sins so that we could go free. I believe they parallel each other and that the instructions given and the example set by Jesus then as to how to respond to these difficult days when we are or will be overcome with sorrow are that we need to wake up so that we are not caught asleep when Jesus returns and thus we are not ready to meet him; we need to take what he has given to us and multiply it instead of burying it; and we need to live our faith out daily by what we do in our obedience to our Lord. We need to have the oil in our lamps full by spending time daily with our Lord in prayer, in His Word and most of all in obedience to his commands. And, we need to surrender our will to the will of the Father even if what is coming around the corner for us may be the worst days of our entire lives. We need to say with Jesus, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” We need to understand that what is spoken of in Matthew 24 and 25 concerning these last days must be fulfilled. We can’t get out of it.

Then, we will know the calming of our fears and the ceasing of sorrow and we’ll know true life, health and peace when we say with Jesus, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

The Faithful and Wise Servant

Thursday, November 18, 2010, 6:43 a.m. – This song was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning:

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life, and rest, and joy, and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Will be with me to the end.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Thee!
How I’ve proved Thee o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Thee more!

Yesterday I read the first 14 verses of Matthew 24 about the Signs of the End of the Age. In it I learned about many of the things that are taking place and will take place in these last days before Jesus returns for his bride. The last verse in this section spoke of the gospel being spread to all nations and then the end would come. V. 15 then picks up with “the abomination that causes desolation” and on to the distress of those days. Matt 24:21-25:

For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

My Understanding: First of all, I believe the focus here is on trusting in the Lord Jesus, not just in making some one-time decision in one’s life to receive Jesus Christ and/or to believe on Him as Savior, but in producing a life-time commitment of trusting in the Lord on a day to day basis. And, the emphasis is about a relationship with Jesus Christ, like one would have with a new love - to see our trust in Him and the promises in/of His Word as “sweet.”

The third stanza of this song spells this out when it speaks of ceasing (stopping; ending) sin and self-will and instead receiving from Jesus life, rest, joy and peace. I know of no greater joy and no greater peace in life than to be fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and completely committed in mind and body to serve Him wholeheartedly and to turn from sin and self-will that had previously taken us captive, and had formerly enslaved us.

In this next to the last stanza of the song, the writer expresses how glad he is that he learned to put his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. I “amen” that one!! Jesus was not only his Savior, but he considered him his friend. That should be how it is for each and every one of us. Also, because of this trust, those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus have the continued assurance of Jesus’ abiding presence with us always! What a wonderful promise!!

So, what does it truly mean to trust in someone, especially in the Lord Jesus? MS Word Thesaurus describes trust as “faith; belief; hope; conviction; confidence; expectation,” etc. Encarta Dictionary defines trust as “confidence in and reliance on good qualities, especially fairness, truth, honor, or ability; hopeful reliance on what will happen in the future.”

Harper’s Bible Dictionary defines trust with these words:

“fidelity to God as the sign of the righteous person. God alone can be the object of trust and faithfulness because he ‘is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold’ (Ps. 18:2).” And, “For Paul the concept of faith is a dynamic one. Thus, he can refer to the ‘activity of faith’ (1 Thess. 1:23), an activity that manifests itself in love (Gal. 5:6: ‘faith working through love’). Faith involves ‘progress’ (Phil. 1:25); it is not something static, captured once for all, but involves striving (Phil. 1:27: ‘with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…’) and it increases (2 Cor. 10:15) and it is an energy at work in believers (1 Thess. 2:13). Since faith is not a static possession, Paul urges that faith be established (1 Thess. 3:2) and made firm (1 Cor. 16:13; 2 Cor. 1:24), for it is possible not only to have deficiencies in faith (1 Thess. 3:10; Rom. 14:1) but also to believe in vain (1 Cor. 15:2; Rom. 11:20). Essential for Paul’s understanding of faith is the conviction that God assigns to each the measure of faith he wishes (Rom. 12:3, 6; 1 Cor. 12:9). Yet no matter what that measure of faith is, the obedience of faith is expected from all (Rom. 1:5; 16:16).”

The book of I John makes it clear that if you say you believe or have faith then your actions should demonstrate that, i.e. if you believe, for instance, that Jesus set you free from sin, you would thus not continue in a life of sin, not that you would be perfect from that point on, but that you would make a conscious choice of the will to turn from sin and to turn to Jesus in faith and obedience. The writer of I John also stated that if we say we love God and yet hate our brother that we are liars. James, in the book of James, agrees with this concept of faith when he says that if our actions don’t match our confession, then our confession doesn’t mean anything – it is dead, in other words. Paul alludes to that idea of the necessity of faith in action when he says that it is possible to have believed in vain, if our faith is not based upon the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which requires not only that Jesus had to die for our sins in order for us to be free but that we must also die to our sins and to walk in newness of life, having crucified the flesh so that we no longer obey its lusts. Jesus said that if anyone wants to come after him that he must deny himself and take up his cross daily. He said that if we want to hold on to our old flesh-driven lives, we will lose them, but if we lose our selfish wills, then we will find true life that is free from a life of sin in Christ Jesus. This is how we prove Jesus o’er and o’er (last stanza of the song).

So, when this passage in Matthew says that we must “keep watch” and that we must “be ready” and that a “faithful and wise servant” is one who continues to do what he did at the beginning in obeying the Lord Jesus, so that Jesus finds him doing so when He returns, it is speaking of this kind of trust and faith that is active, that manifests itself in love for God and others, that is progressive, increases, is made firm, is obedient, and walks the talk. Then, we, too, can prove Jesus o’er and o’er. Lord Jesus, “O for grace to trust Thee more!”

Bank of Gordon

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 6:29 a.m. – When I woke this morning I heard in my mind, “Bank of Gordon - overflowing.” I also had this song playing in my mind. The second stanza was, in particular, standing out to me:

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing / Charles Wesley

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 24:1-14 (key vs. 14):

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

My Understanding: I read these news stories: Ireland in rescue talks as UK offers support - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101117/D9JHRGP80.html; and European officials to lift lid on Irish problem - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101117/D9JHTO500.html.

I researched the name “Gordon” in relation to the above articles, and it led me to some older articles about Gordon Brown.

“The report, prepared by the Washington-based institution for the G20 group of developed and developing nations, was seized upon by Gordon Brown as evidence that his push for an international crackdown on the banking sector was gaining support.” http://www.infowars.com/new-global-fat-tax-to-rein-in-banks/

“Rather than scowling at the new government from the Opposition benches, he is likely to look for a job befitting a man who ‘saved the world’, to use his own slip of the tongue when he meant to say he had saved the banks.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/7707911/What-will-Gordon-Brown-do-next.html

Though expressing some regret regarding the failure of his international community to work with Iraqis in the rebuilding of the country after the fact, Brown insisted Iraq's many dead and displaced was a necessary sacrifice, made to ensure the survival of a new world order the international community was attempting to construct, saying… http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/5766-iraq-and-gordon-browns-new-world-order.html

Obama often uses that phrase “international community” and the phrase “cooperation with” to speak of this same New World Order. In researching Gordon Brown, I learned that he is very heavily involved with the establishment of the New World Order and its “saving” of the world (the planet) and the need for an international crackdown on the banking sector world-wide. So, the Bank of Gordon is really an international bank of the New World Order, and the manner in which it is “overflowing” is in reigning in all the banks (major, at least) of the world and bringing them under the control of the New World Order.

Quote of the Day:

"Any informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse." -Alan Greenspan

So, when these news articles about Ireland state that Britain “stands ready to support Ireland,” the impression that I am getting here is that this is really about an international takeover of the banking system of the world country by country. The article said: “Representatives of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will travel to Ireland this week to determine what to do about the banks.” The article stated that investors were “selling the treasuries of the Eurozone’s most debt-threatened nations – Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy – in favor of the safest haven, Germany.” Hmmm. Germany seems to be coming out on top in a lot of areas. Again, I believe that the Lord has shown and is continuing to reveal to me, and to others, that this New World Order is a revival of a Hitler-like regime. Some call it the 4th Reich.

The second article on Ireland said this:

“Governments struggling with debt – built up during the recession and in some cases over years of living beyond their means – have slashed spending and raised taxes. But such austerity measures threaten to undermine desperately needed economic growth, in turn making it harder for nations to repay their debts.”

In America, I know that our leaders have been doing this on purpose, i.e. they have been spending beyond our means and have increased our national debt to a level that we will never be able to recover from because they are preparing our nation for a takeover by the New World Order, i.e. this revival of a Hitler-like regime in which everything will be controlled by the N.W.O. In the book of Revelation we read that no one will be able to buy or sell unless he or she has the “mark of the beast.” This is where this is all headed. Once everything comes under the control of this “international community” under the guise of “rescuing us” and “saving the world,” then we will all come under some sort of centralized monetary system, most likely electronic, which will require some kind of a centralized identification system and only those in the system will be able to buy or sell.

This second article about Ireland also said:

“Ireland is now engaging in an intensive, and discloses, engagement in relation to the problems in the banking sector”… “We will take whatever decisive measures that are required to stabilize our banking system as part of the stability of the wider Eurozone.”

What stood out to me here was the “decisive measures that are required,” and it took me back to Gordon Brown’s statement in which he insisted, according to the article, that Iraq's many dead and displaced was a necessary sacrifice, made to ensure the survival of a new world order the international community was attempting to construct.

I believe very much that we are seeing much “necessary sacrifice,” according to the standards of the New World Order, on a world-wide scale via war, hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, famine, plague, etc. to “ensure the survival of a new world order the international community” is succeeding in constructing. And, I believe that this New World Order will take whatever “decisive measures” it deems necessary in order to get the people and the governments and the Christian community in the world to “cooperate” with its one world government and its one world religion.

This is what this passage in Matthew 24 is all about. Though many may not actually use the term “Messiah” in order to make their claims and to deceive many, they may claim “messiah” status in other ways, such as Gordon Brown apparently said that he had “saved the world” when he was talking about saving the banks. So, many will come and will claim to be our “savior” by giving us the impression that they have the ability, the means, the knowledge, the financial backing, etc., in order to bring peace to the world, but “peace” will come with a price and the price will be loss of our freedoms and the “necessary sacrifices” of human lives to “ensure the survival of a new world order.”

This passage in Matthew 24 describes what that time will be like, much of which we have experienced and are now experiencing. Christians have been and are being persecuted, hated and put to death for their faith in Jesus Christ throughout the world. We just haven’t faced much of that on a large scale here in the United States, but it is coming to us, too. Yet, the Word of God teaches us that “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Lastly, this passage of scripture teaches us that during this time of great distress and enormous persecution upon the church (the saints of God) that “the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” And, I believe that is one of the main purposes of this judgment upon the world – the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. I also believe very much that a great revival is going to break out among the Christian world due to the enormous outbreak of persecution against true believers in Jesus Christ world-wide, which in turn, I believe, will help in the spreading of the gospel throughout the world.

When I woke in the morning, the main stanza in this song “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” that stood out to me was this second one. I believe that is God’s challenge to his church and it should be the prayer of the hearts of each one of his children. May it be the prayer of our hearts to God today.

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

One Master; One Father; One Teacher

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 8:11 a.m. – I woke this morning with this song immediately playing in my mind:

The Church’s One Foundation / Samuel Stone / Samuel Wesley

The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation, by water and the word:
From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed;
Yet saints, their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war
She waits the consummation of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God, the Three in one,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 23:1-12:

A Warning Against Hypocrisy
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

My Understanding: The Lord reminded me of a recent real life example he gave me of this.

• The pastor said that people in the congregation need to be in a position to trust that the Lord is speaking through him because of all the time he spent in sermon preparation, research, checking with the experts (scholars), and time spent in prayer.

• The pastor said that people in the congregation must not question his sermon, only to ask him for clarification of what he meant. He said people must be willing to hear from God through his sermon without questioning whether what he is saying is from the Lord or not, i.e. saying his is the only correct interpretation of the scripture.

That says to me, “I am right (absolutely) and you are wrong, I will not consider any other thoughts. You are not permitted to contend with me or to disagree with me and your role is to basically sit and just listen and to never question, challenge or disagree.”

Yet, the Bible says that we are to test everything, including ourselves – testing our own actions (Ref: II Co. 13:5; Gal. 6:4). I Thes. 5:19-22 says this: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire (or do not quench the Spirit). Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all (or test everything); hold on to what is good, reject (or avoid) every kind of evil.” I John 4:1 says: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

• The pastor said: We would ask you, and anyone else, to be willing to submit to our leadership and support the mission and vision of (the particular local body or denomination). We recognize that not everyone shares our mission and vision and that is 100% okay, and would pray for them and would help them find a community that might be a better fit.

• The pastor said: I will admit some concern that probably comes from my own ministry past that people with very strong convictions and ministries that are a little outside of the mainstream at least as far as my own experience can tend to create divisions and "camps" within a community of believers.

Yet, wasn’t Jesus “outside the mainstream”? Isn’t that why he was rejected? Didn’t he have strong convictions that people didn’t like? Another sermon really hit home on this when the pastor said that they rejected Jesus because he was different; because he did things differently than they did; because he did things that hadn’t been done that way before.

Yet, the teachings of I Corinthians 12 tell us about how the Body of Christ is supposed to function. I believe what the writer is saying in this passage of scripture is that the Body doesn’t always accept all the parts of the Body. Sometimes they say, “I don’t need you,” because they don’t accept that person’s part, or they don’t understand it, or they are afraid of it, are jealous of it, or for whatever reason, and so where the Body fails to honor all its parts, the LORD picks up the slack, i.e. he honors the parts that are lacking in honor. So, true divisions come, I believe, when all the parts of the Body are not honored like they should be and some are told, “We don’t need you” because you “don’t fit” our body. That’s what the Pharisees told Jesus, too.

This whole idea of having a vision that is particular to a particular flock is not of God if the idea is not of God. If it is of God, then it should be the view of 100% of Christians. If their thought is God’s vision for the universal church, which it should be, then it should be the model for the whole Body of Christ, as well, because we should all adhere to the Word of God and His revelation for His church. A “better fit,” by these human standards, would then be to be outside of God’s vision, which is no fit at all. There is no better fit than to be perfectly in God’s will and under his plan and goals for his Body. The Body of Christ is not to be divided; we are all one in Christ Jesus.

In this passage of scripture in Matthew 23, the Lord Jesus is addressing the crowds and his disciples. And, he is giving them instructions concerning the religious (and government) leaders of their day. He told them that they must obey what the leaders tell them, yet they were not to do what the religious leaders did, because they were hypocrites. They did not practice what they preached, in other words. And, this is so true of church leaders today, as well. Many of today’s churches have in their vision and mission statements that they love, embrace, accept, welcome, etc. all people no matter where they have come from, but in many cases that is not true. What they really mean is that they will love you and accept you as long as you adhere to their set of rules and you conform to their teachings (of man) and you submit, unquestioningly, to their human authority.

So, what does it mean to do what they say but to not do what they do? I believe Jesus and his disciples set a very good example for how this is to be applied. We are to obey the authorities over us unless they require something of us that is contrary to the teachings of scripture. The disciples told the religious leaders of their day, when they were asked to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, “We must obey God rather than man.” God’s laws and His Word and His teaching always trump man’s laws, teachings, visions, sermons, etc. So, where the leaders of our day require things of us not in contradiction to the teachings of scripture, we are required to obey. Yet, if they ask something of us that is not in accordance with the teachings of scripture, then we must respond with “We must obey God rather than man.” Jesus often told the religious leaders that mercy was more important than their set of rules and that their rules lacked love and mercy.

So, if the religious leaders of our day try to put heavy yokes on us (of man) that God does not intend us to carry (i.e. it is for freedom that Christ has set us free so do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery), then we must resist coming under those yokes of slavery again. Jesus said that we are to take HIS yoke upon us and to learn from HIM for HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden is light. If the religious leaders of our day try to get us to follow them and their teaching and their authority over and above Jesus Christ and his teaching and his authority, then we are not to adhere to what they are saying. We must obey God rather than man! If they tell us to accept whatever they say as the correct interpretation of scripture and that we are never to question or test what they say, then we are not to listen to them, because the Bible teaches us to test. We have only one Master, one Father, and one Teacher, and that is God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

So, if the religious leaders of our day tell us that we must become like them to be loved, accepted, valued, needed and wanted within the Body (their local Body) of Christ and that who we are in Christ, i.e. who God created us to be and gifted us and called us does not fit with their local Body, then we are not to become like them just to be accepted. We must remain true to our calling in Christ Jesus, provided it aligns with God’s word, as well. And, if the religious leaders of our day ask that we follow their vision and that it is ok if we don’t agree with their vision and that they would be glad to help us find some place that would be a ‘better fit’ for us, don’t listen to them. There is only One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism. There is not a vision of God for one congregation over another group of believers if the vision is truly of God. There are different gifts and different ministries, but we are all One Body and we are never to say to a member of the Body, “We don’t have need of you, so go someplace else. In fact, we will even help you find a place where you will be a ‘better fit.’” Don’t listen to that! Jesus says that if we are part of His Body that we do fit!! And, we should listen to Him.

Zondervan’s NIV Bible Commentary on Matthew 23:8-10 says this:

“Jesus thus concludes this section by declaring that he himself is the only one qualified to sit in Moses’ seat – to succeed him as authoritative Teacher of God’s will and mind. Certainly we may conclude from this that the risen Christ is as displeased with those in his church who demand unquestioning submission to themselves and their opinions…”

The church’s ONE foundation is Jesus Christ, her LORD! – One Master; One Father; One Teacher.

Upside Down Cross and Letter V

Monday, November 15, 2010, 10:30 p.m. – I woke from a dream.

THE DREAM: The letter V was in the dream. It was a prominent letter in a word like LIVE. I also remember something shaped like an upside down T that could be turned various directions. When it was a T, it reminded me of the cross of Christ Jesus. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 21:33-46:

The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

My Understanding: I looked up the letter V and the upside down T symbols:

The upside down T means Perpendicular. That means that you have two right angles back to back - In other words, a line cutting another line at a perfect 90 degree angle - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070913191233AAAGIRi.

Perpendicular means vertical; upright. Upright means righteous (MS Thesaurus).

The upside down cross symbolizes mockery and rejection of Jesus. Necklaces are worn by many Satanists. It can be seen on Rock singers and their album covers. http://www.exposingsatanism.org/signsymbols.htm

As I thought about this upside down cross as a symbol of the mockery and rejection of Jesus Christ and the upside down T representing two right angles back to back, vertical, uprightness, and righteousness, I realized that the Lord was using these two symbols in combination with each other to represent Jesus as the cornerstone the builders rejected. A cornerstone of a building would be a right angle, as well as Jesus is righteousness.

There are two sides to this upside down T, so there are two right angles side-by-side sharing a common vertical line. I believe this is a picture of Jesus and his followers. We are only righteous because of his righteousness. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we are joined with him, i.e. we are crucified with him and we share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. And, we, as well, will suffer the same mockery and rejection that Jesus faced if we are truly in Christ Jesus and he is in us.

This link combines the V and the upside down cross together –

The peace symbol (also called the "broken cross," "crow's foot," "witch's foot," "Nero Cross," "sign of the 'broken Jew,'" and the "symbol of the 'anti-Christ''') is actually a cross with the arms broken. It also signifies the "gesture of despair," and the "death of man.'' http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/peace_sign.htm.

The V is also the Roman numeral for the number 5, and the number 5 is the number of death in the Illuminati and occult. Yet, V can also be a symbol of victory. And, we can be victorious in death when we stand firm in our faith in Jesus Christ and in the gospel and we are willing to die for that faith.

In this parable in Matthew, God is the vineyard owner and his Son is Jesus Christ. The vineyard represents Israel. Today Israel is true believers in Jesus Christ, for only true believers in Jesus are now God’s people. Yet, God left his people (his sheep) in the care of farmers (shepherds of the sheep, i.e. religious leaders) and they were supposed to care for the vineyard. God sent his servants (prophets, disciples, his witnesses) to gather the fruit for the harvest, but the tenants stoned, beat and killed them. Then, God sent his Son and they killed Him, too. Historically, this was about the leaders of the nation of Israel who killed Jesus Christ, yet today many believers in Jesus Christ are being executed for their faith in Jesus and some of these executions are at the hands of those who claim to be Christians. This also parallels over to our nation, the USA, which calls itself a Christian nation. God has placed us in the hands of government leaders who are now killing true believers in Jesus.

I read this story: Scanners and pat-downs upset airline passengers - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101116/D9JGV38G1.html

“After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, pilot unions were shown an off-the-shelf biometric identification system that was ready to go by government officials, said Sam Mayer, a Boeing 767 captain and a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents pilots at American Airlines. The system would have made screening pilots unnecessary, he said.

“Nine years later, pilots still don't have biometric identification cards because the government and airlines have been quarreling over who should pay for the machines that can read biometric information like fingerprints and iris scans, Mayer said.”

The Lord has shown me many times over, and there is, as well, much documentation showing that the events of 9/11 were not what our government and media have promoted them to be. This was an inside job and the US government was party to the deaths of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day. 9/11 happened for many reasons, one of which was to have an excuse to go into Iraq and Afghanistan. Our government has continued to create “terrorist” threats in order to keep the people of the USA compliant with the government’s evil plans. These airport scanners and pat-downs are part of that plan. It appears to me that this is for the very purpose of inciting anger and rebellion so that the government will have no recourse but to force something like this biometric identification system. This is a set-up. The people will be so angry that they will be willing to accept what they consider the “lesser of two evils” in order to not have to go through these scanners and pat-downs. This is definitely leading up to something. They knew this was going to be the people’s reaction.

I believe that all this is leading up to the rule of the Beast and to the mark of the beast and to the rule of the antichrist. The peace symbol, which combines the V and the upside down cross together, is a symbol for the antichrist, who will kill believers in Jesus Christ. I believe this time is near and that the Lord is warning his children that it is near. I believe God is preparing them (us) for what is coming. He is letting us know that our own people will turn against us (like on 9/11) and that we are going to suffer persecution and death for our faith in Jesus Christ. Yet we can be victorious in death through our unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and our death for Jesus will actually mean our life with Him forever.

When I woke up from sleep, this song was playing in my mind:

Soldiers of Christ Arise / Charles Wesley

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies, through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on; wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day.

Like the Wings of an Angel

Sunday, November 14, 2010, 10:27 p.m. – I lay in bed praying when I had a vision.

THE VISION: I saw the face of a black man. The man was facing west. His face evolved into the face of Obama, and then Obama’s face evolved into several other faces of black men. Then, I saw an angry face of a man facing forward (or south). This man was wearing a football helmet, and his face evolved into several other angry faces. Then, the football helmet changed into a soldier’s combat helmet, and that face also had various transitions.

Then, to the east I saw soldiers without helmets or hats. The soldiers were facing east. One by one I saw each soldier either praying or reading the Bible and then immediately the soldier was shot in the head and fell, it appeared to his death. Some fell into a hole in the ground (like a fox hole), and another soldier fell into the arms of a fellow soldier. I saw wings, like the wings of an angel after one of them was shot. [In here somewhere I saw a woman standing and speaking and I saw what looked like angel’s wings after I saw her, too.] I then saw one or more of the soldiers crying out to God. I heard in my mind the words to this song:

Mystery of Mercy / Caedmon’s Call

I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot
I am the scattered seed that fell along the path
I am the son that ran away
And I am the bitter son that stayed

I am the angry man who came to stone the lover
I am the woman there ashamed before the crowd
I am the leper that gave thanks
But I am the nine that never came

You made the seed that made the tree
That made the cross that saved me
You gave me hope when there was none
You gave me your only Son

My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?

My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing

My God, Lord you are
My God, my God, Lord you are

Following this I saw the face of a small bird. It might have been a crow or a blackbird. The bird was facing east. Then I saw a bird in the east with its mouth open upward and someone or something was continuously feeding (dropping from above) something into the bird’s mouth. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 18:1-14:

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Footnote on v. 11 - Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke 19:10.

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

My Understanding: I read these news stories: NATO: 5 service members killed in Afghanistan - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101114/D9JG2I5G0.html; and After 388 days, Somali pirates free British couple - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101114/D9JG5KS02.html.

The vision began with the face of a black man that evolved into the face of Barack Obama. This second article is about Somalia pirates. Obama’s father was from Kenya, S. Africa which is right next to Somalia, in Africa. I believe the picture the Lord is giving me here is that Obama came from an African father in the same area as Africa where these pirates are from and that there is some connection between Obama and these pirates.

In 2008 and 2009 the Lord gave me a series of dreams and visions about these pirate attacks that seemed to indicate that these pirates were not operating on their own, that there was some kind of a conspiracy, and that they were connected to “a fierce king”. Also, the nursery rhyme, “Sing a song of Sixpence” came into play in one of these dreams/visions in which a blackbird came down and snapped off the nose of the maid. The song, apparently, was a coded message to let seamen know that Blackbird was hiring pirates for a job. The blackbirds in the pie had to do with pirates dressed in black concealed on a ship that would pretend to be in distress and when another ship came alongside to help, the blackbirds (pirates) would come out of the pie (ship) and would attack the ship that had come to help. The counting out of the money was code to let the seamen know that the king had the money to pay a crew. The maid hanging out the clothes had to do with the location of a specific target that was ready. Ref: http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.asp

In the news article about the Somali pirates freeing the British couple, these phrases or words stood out to me:

• Somali pirates
• Huge ransom
• East Africa
• Pirate attacks that have spiked the last several years
• Pirates continue to prowl the Indian Ocean seemingly at will
• Multimillion-dollar ransoms
• Pirates have made tens of millions of dollars… fueling a building boom in Nairobi
• Roughly $450,000 was dropped from a plane to free the couple… the effort fell through
• Piracy offers Somalis high pay in a country where few economic opportunities exist
• Vessels (to stop pirates) often employ armed, private security on board

I believe the Lord has shown me previously that there is a connection among these pirates, our government and NATO, and these private security forces, and that these pirates are merely men for hire, and the ones hiring them are much higher up in the food chain (a king). So, the “black men” evolving from Obama’s face (façade) can be actual Somalians turned pirates and/or they can be a reference to men in black (the blackbirds) who serve as private police/army for the people wearing the football helmet (the New World Order), which is why the football helmet then evolved into a combat helmet. Or, it could be that this piracy and these ransoms are what actually fund the private security forces hired by the N.W.O. The article, thus, serves as the nursery rhyme letting the private police know that the king has the money to hire. And, this fits with what the Lord has shown me previously, as well, about a revival of a Hitler-like SS and/or Wehrmacht, which were also pictured as men in black.

Ok, then I saw, in the vision, soldiers who looked American or European who were praying or reading the Bible and being shot, execution style, in the head. That takes me to the news article about the 5 service members killed in Afghanistan. The article stated that “insurgent attacks” killed 11 people, “including five NATO service members…” The article spoke of a “surge of U.S. troops and firepower.” The article mentioned a former Afghan ambassador to Pakistan who had been seized by gunmen two years ago now being freed, but said that “no details” were given on how he was freed. Then, the article stated that “three coalition service members were killed in an insurgent attack on eastern Afghanistan.” No further details were provided concerning their deaths, according to the article. The article said that “Sunday’s deaths brought to 31 the number of coalition service members who have died in Afghanistan so far this month.” The article continued: “Tens of thousands of Afghan and coalition troops are pressing insurgents…” Lastly, the article mentioned children who were caught in the fire “when Afghan and coalition forces shot back after coming under fire from insurgents…”

The Lord has shown me over and over again that the NATO/US troops are the true “insurgents” and “terrorists” in Afghanistan (and other parts of the world, as well), and that the U.S. government funds AlQaida and that the U.S. military is the Taliban, in reality. So, who are we really fighting over there if we are the insurgents and we fund the terrorists? I see two scenarios often via dreams and visions, scripture and news articles, and that is that we are there to go after governments of nations and to take them over and we are there to kill true believers in Jesus Christ. The Lord is showing me more and more how we are a force that is going against true believers in Jesus who will not deny their faith in Jesus Christ as the one and only Messiah, Lord of all, and only Savior of the world and only path to God Almighty and to eternity in heaven and peace with God. And, we are killing our own.

So, I see this “surge of U.S. troops and firepower” as this football helmet (see “The Two-Sided Football Helmet” – a previous dream/vision) turned combat helmet. I see the dead service members mentioned in this news article as directly related to these soldiers in this vision who were being killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. And, I saw the “tens of thousands of Afghan and coalition troops” that are “pressing insurgents” as really these soldiers under the authority of this football helmet/combat helmet who are killing Christians who hold to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, I see these children who were killed or wounded in the story as not only actual children but as babes in Christ who are being “shot” after the Christians were praying and were reading their Bibles.

In the vision I saw a blackbird facing east. Since Obama was mentioned in this series of men in black and a “fierce king” was previously mentioned as the king of pirates, i.e. Blackbird, I get the sense that he is the blackbird from the west facing the east. The “bird” I saw in the east, thus, with its mouth open, is a reference to these “hired men,” i.e. these pirates and/or private police force that this money (ransom) is being dropped into their mouths for doing the job for which they were hired. It reminded me of baby birds in a nest and the mother bird flying overhead and dropping food into the mouths of the baby birds whose mouths are open and waiting to be fed just like this bird in this vision, only the “food” here is this ransom money that is funding, it appears, these pirates and/or private police (the men in black).

In this passage of scripture, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus answered by showing them a child and by telling them that unless they change (from wanting to be the greatest) and become like little children (innocent; trusting; child-like faith; new babes in Christ), they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. He said that whoever takes the “lowly position” of this child is the greatest.

Here I saw these soldiers with their military hats off and their heads bowed (humbled) in prayer, in confession of sin, in adoration of God, in appreciation for Jesus’ mercy (see the words to the song above), in the reading of the word of God, being willing to die for their faith in Jesus Christ rather than to denounce Jesus. This is a “lowly position” for sure. Jesus humbled himself unto death on a cross and he asks that we take up our cross daily and follow Him, that we be willing to suffer for the sake of His name and to share in the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming like him in His death so that we can attain the resurrection of the dead and be with our Lord for eternity.

Then, the scripture speaks of those who cause these little ones to stumble. I believe that the N.W.O./U.S./NATO are going throughout the world “seeking whom they may devour” and that one of their goals is to cause Christians to stumble, because their ultimate ruler is Satan and his goal is to get Christians to lose their testimony for Jesus and to not be willing to die for their faith in Christ but to go along with the crowd and to save their own skins rather than to remain true to their faith in Christ. The scripture says that “such things must come,” i.e. that there will be people who will try to trip up Christians in order to make them fall, yet that is where God’s grace comes into play (again, see the words to the song).

The passage speaks of these little ones as having “angels in heaven” who always see the face of the Father in heaven. I don’t usually dream about angels and was thus wondering why I was seeing what appeared to be angels surrounding the deaths of these soldiers, yet when I read this passage of scripture and I realized that it was speaking of real angels, then I knew that what the Lord was showing me in this vision about these soldiers dying is that these were people who were among God’s “little ones,” i.e. those who are his children.

I also see one other element here and that is that this scripture speaks of our Father in heaven not willing that any of these “little ones” should perish and so, if even one of his sheep wanders off, he goes after that sheep. This also fits with this song which speaks of the ones that God/Jesus went after – the woman at the well, the harlot, the prodigal son, the bitter, the angry, the immoral, the leper who gave thanks, the unthankful, etc. And, sometimes God sends storms, enemies against us, etc. as his mercy coming running to us in order to bring us back into his fold, like the owner of the sheep going after the one who had strayed. Even though we turn from our Lord and go our own way, he loves us so much that he comes looking for us in order to bring us back.

My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?

My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing

My God, Lord you are
My God, my God, Lord you are