Let Your Spirit Hear: There Is A Way That Leads to Destruction!

There is so much on my mind these days, and so many promptings in my spirit to share, so I've been trying to organize it all in a cohesive manner that will make logical sense to the Christian mind. First of all, let me say that I take the whole counsel of God into consideration, and that includes the entire Bible and its history, teachings, and revelations. But I also highly value my spiritual relationship with God, the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There are many, many times I hear from them independently of the Word [although I always test what I hear with the truth of the Word]. So, as you can imagine, I often hear differently than my fellow Christians, and it doesn't always coincide with what our 21st Century Christian culture might believe.

Lately, my spirit has been experiencing a heightened sense of forewarning, and I am being drawn to the Bible's prophecies of what leads to destruction among the world's population; especially those who profess faith in the Most High God. This is not meant to be a doomsday post, but rather cautionary advice to pay attention to what has led to destruction among God's people in the past. Remember, He never lowers His standards for righteousness, and what warrants His judgment is still the same. So, let me share just a couple of observations that my spirit is discerning in the here and now...

We have an identity crisis in this nation and it has led to confusion about who we are in Jesus Christ. The author of the confusion is Satan, and it is his job to rob us of our identity so that we never discover who Jesus made us to be or our purpose here on earth. The Greek word for confusion means instability, a disturbance, a state of disorder; and we see that in the huge controversy over transgenderism that is permeating our national conscience. But this confusion is at a deeper level than just how one identifies his or her biological gender. It is a deliberate attempt by our Enemy to change the way you think about yourself, and about the Creator who made you.

If your thinking is corrupted by lies that lead to confusion, you can be in danger of misunderstanding or misinterpreting God's Word, thereby finding yourself outside the will of God and His approval. And if the results of your wrong thinking are unpleasant or devastating, then how long before you no longer believe in His Word [as Truth] and discard it altogether in favor of a sinful and immoral path? It can lead to anger against God and outright rebellion, which can leave you unstable and vulnerable to Satan's agenda, which is to make you a willing participant in his schemes to discredit the authority and power of Jesus Christ in our lives. And what is especially sad to me is that people will lay at the feet of Jesus what Satan has done. Too often Jesus or God is blamed for the free will choices we make because we become confused by the lies of Satan. We must never lose sight of this Biblical truth, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, is a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. Don't let Confusion lead you on a path to destruction!

My spirit has also become sensitive to the increase in wickedness in our nation. We Christians always hold Sodom and Gomorrah up as the epitome of sexual wickedness and evil. But, haven't we surpassed even their sinful standard? In the Scripture, the men of Sodom begged Abraham's nephew, Lot, to turn his angelic visitors over to them that "we might know them [intimately]". Sadly, we have eclipsed even that unholiness, and now traffic in the sexual perversion against our own children and the children of sojourners in our country [whether legal or illegal]. Sex trafficking and pornography have become a big business in our nation and we are exporting it to the world. God brought severe judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah for far less. Do we really think we deserve less for sanctifying this evil at the altar of Satan in our own midst? How can we call ourselves a Christian nation, if it continues to flourish? Turning a blind eye to it because it is all cloaked in Satan's  darkness doesn't give us an excuse. And singing our worship songs in our sanctuaries every Sunday does not eradicate this abomination from our nation's soul. We must all seek the face of the Lord for what part we can play in setting the captives free. Don't let apathy or indifference lead us on a path to destruction!

And the last spiritual issue that I want to discuss today (there will be more in the coming days) is that of how we each discern the implications of a Rapture event. As I have grown in my faith and understanding of God's heart, my position on the Rapture has grown, as well. And my thoughts on how we should live our lives as we await a Rapture (whenever you think it will occur) can be best defined by a comment from my good friend and disciple of Jesus, Steve Harmon, on his Facebook page. In his latest post, Steve wrote: "If you want to believe in the [Pre-Tribulation] rapture, that's fine. Just don't live it". By that he explained that it can produce a quitting and escape mentality in the Believer that the demonic just salivates over, because it results in Christians who sit around, doing nothing and waiting for Jesus to take them to Heaven. It doesn't produce fruit for the Kingdom and teaches Christians to just wait til the time Jesus comes down to take them away from this evil world. So believe in this particular theory, if that is where you feel led; just don't live it. 

I'm in total agreement with Steve, and with a little different addendum to my position. I believe that the Pre-Trib rapture theology doesn't prepare the Body of Christ for the work that Jesus will need us to do when the persecution of the Tribulation begins and we're still here. He will need us to witness and encourage those who are still lost. Remember, the Father desires that no one perish. So, I think we need to be here to make sure that every last person we can influence has the opportunity to hear the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Also, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 tells us, Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed], who opposes and exalts himself [so proudly and so insolently] above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he [actually enters and] takes his seat in the temple of God, publicly proclaiming that he himself is God.

None of that has happened yet -- although I do not deny that all signs point to the possibility that we are fast approaching these events. But I believe that there will be an important assignment for the remnant of Jesus's true believers, and we will be needed to encourage those who fall away from their faith when they realize that the Man of Lawlessness is here and destroying mankind, and they were not raptured out of here. Just think of the fear and despair and hopelessness that will sweep through the Christian community! There will need to be a faithful remnant to help restore their faith and reveal the Sovereign purpose and power of God in those tumultuous times. We must not let fear and despair leave us surrendered to evil, nor lead us to a path of our own destruction!

In summary, I refuse to be convicted of negativity or not recognizing the hope and possibilities of miracles that are ours in the Lord. I write out of love and the desire to empower my fellow believers to identify the false hope and deception that come with the promises of deliverance from any suffering or times of trouble and sorrow. I believe that we are not subject to God's wrath, which will occur on the Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns to wipe out the evil on the earth. And I also believe that when we will seek Him with all of our heart, we will be given the power to overcome the waves of destruction coming against  us, and we will be hidden in Him and protected. He will know us as His own, and He will be in the midst of the conflagration with us. 

Yes, I believe there is a path that leads to destruction, and the choice belongs to all mankind; to individuals and to nations. While we may find ourselves surrounded by the wickedness, we do not lose sight of the One who has defeated death for our sake. I refuse to take the path that leads to destruction, and I choose the narrow gate that leads to redemption and my eternal home in the House of the Lord. All Glory belongs to the King of the Universe!

#endtimes #rapturetheology #pretribulationrapture #confusionofthedevil #identityinjesus

1 Thessalonians 5:14.    We [earnestly] urge you, believers, admonish those who are out of line [the undisciplined, the unruly, the disorderly], encourage the timid [who lack spiritual courage], help the [spiritually] weak, be very patient with everyone. 

Man's Inhumanity to Man; God Will Require A Reckoning

 

 

 

I cannot believe that there is a man, woman, or child that is not deeply disturbed by the violent death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee. I don’t need to review the brutal images we have seen played out on our TV screens over the last few days. They tell a story that will be extremely difficult for me to ever forget. And frankly, I’m not sure I want to. It is time for us, as the human race, to confront this image of man’s inhumanity to man if we ever hope to escape God’s judgment of us.

 

That phrase … man’s inhumanity to man … has been used by many notable people seeking to change our societal culture from one of indifference towards our fellow man to a culture that honors our shared membership in the human race; all created in the image of our Creator God. [Martin Luther King comes to mind in his 1967 speech at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C.]. But I was intrigued to find that this phrase originated with Scottish poet Robert Burns in his 1784 poem, titled “Man Was Made To Mourn”. I’d like to share the particular verse in which it appears:

 

Many and sharp the num’rous ills

Inwoven with our frame!

More pointed still, we make ourselves

Regret, remorse and shame!

And man, whose heav’n-erected face

The smiles of love adorn –

Man’s inhumanity to man

Makes countless thousands mourn!

 

Nothing is truer today than this beautifully written prose. There are millions who are mourning what we have witnessed in the inhumanity heaped upon Tyre Nichols by his fellow man! And while others want to make this about race, all I see is a fellow human being who experienced insufferable and intolerable violence – nothing he could have done deserved that level of wickedness and evil. Instead, I revert to what God proclaims in His Word: God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” [Acts 17:26]. Note that the word “race” does not appear in this passage. Every human being in the world is classified as Homo Sapien. Even scientists agree that we are all part of one biological family called the human race. We are all related to each other, no matter our skin color or gender; we are all descended from one man and one woman, created in the image of God, Himself.  

 

Pundits will tell us that it is time that we re-examine how we treat each other; but we have had that capability since the beginning of time, and the violence against our fellow human beings just seems to keep escalating. The soul-shattering violence against Tyre Nichols has not been lost on our righteous and holy God. How much longer will He hold back the Restrainer’s hand? I imagine that His cup of wrath [against those who commit such savagery and evil against His creation] is about to overflow. 

 

And yet, in the midst of such a visible atrocity, the mother of Tyre speaks peace from the depth of her grief. She called for calm and peaceful protests; destruction and more violence would not represent her son and the man he was. She asked for peace and prayer during the difficult days to come, and her composure and heart for God brought a degree of tranquility to a nation who grieved with her for the unconscionable death of her son. My spirit recognized where her strength came from, and I couldn’t help but think she reminded me of Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the eve of the vile and shocking death of her son on the Cross. May our Father in Heaven continue to strengthen her as she goes through the process of grieving her beloved son. And may He hold in check those that would seek to capitalize upon her grief for nefarious reasons.

Tyre Nichols was described by his friends and family as “a peaceful man”; a man who loved to walk the beaches in California and watch the sun set. He had also expressed interest in becoming a police officer to “help change the culture”. Our culture as a society [and the human race] certainly needs changing when such violence can be perpetrated without intervention by our fellow man. God will demand a reckoning regarding how we are treating each other! It’s the condition of our hearts that needs to be fixed. It cannot be legislated, and more police training is not the answer. We must recognize that each of us – all of us – are members of one human family, and it is only a positive response to an invitation from Jesus to change our hearts that will accomplish that transformation.

 

The only solace that my soul and spirit find in this tragic incident comes from what I have witnessed in the midst of our Inner Healing Ministry sessions. So many people, when seeking a spiritual encounter with Jesus to be set free from trauma and devastating events in their lives, find that He shows them He was there experiencing the pain and trauma with them. So, I think upon those lonely and agonizing 20 minutes Tyre spent until Emergency personnel appeared on the scene to transport him to the hospital. And because I've seen Him do it in others lives, I believe that Jesus was there with Tyre, cradling his spirit, encouraging him, and telling him that if our society will let Him, He will use Tyre's life for His greater glory to purge the darkness the Enemy has brought to the heart of mankind.

 

So, Lord, do not let Tyre's death be a sacrifice on Satan's altar of man's inhumanity to man. Intervene on our behalf, Lord Jesus, and cause a transformation in the family of man! Cleanse and purify our dark hearts so that the springs of Life flow from them! We desperately need it before we destroy each other even more!

 

#jesuswept #tyrenichols #godsjudgment #godsreckoning #godsjustice #mansinhumanitytoman

Psalm 11:5   The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.