Sunday, March 27, 2011

3/27/2011

What is the Lord saying to us today? That is the question on this writer's mind. If you wonder why this writer does not post more, its because he is waiting on the Lord. You and I do not need more opinions of men, what we need is the voice of the Lord. This writer does not want to blow his own hot air back at himself, what good does that serve?

So what is the Lord saying to us today? Japan is in the midst of nuclear meltdown, the entire face of the middle east has been overturned in 3 months and its not finished yet, gas prices at close to $4 per gallon, floods all over, food prices rising etc. With this kind of world news, it would be nice to hear what the Lord has to say about it all don't you think?

In spite of all thats going on in the world, the Lord has been quiet. This writer believes that it is possible that the quiet from the Lord could be part of the "final exam" testing before we are called home to be with the Lord forever. When all hell is breaking loose on earth, and the Lords voice becomes quiet, do we still believe? Will we hang onto the Word of God in spite of the earths turmoil and our God who watches in apparent silence to test us?

The Lord has been relatively silent with this writer compared to how He has dealt with this servant in the past. The Lord has not stopped answering prayers. In fact, the answers to prayer are rolling in like a river. All this adds up to a faithful, loving God doing exactly what He said He would do in His Word. The church is being tested right now. The church has been tested for thousands of years. The church has no need of 7 years of testing during the time of Jacob's trouble. All this is further proof of the reality of the escape from all/harpazo return of the bridegroom for His bride.

If we are indeed being tested today, then lets pray for strength to pass the test placed before us. We were promised that we would never be left or forsaken:

Hebrews 13:5

... Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have,
for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Speaking of the escape from all/harpazo, the Lord brought something to this writer's attention recently about Rev 3:10:

Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Have you ever wondered what it meant to "keep the word of My perseverance" as our Lord says in Rev 3:10? What does that mean? Looking this passage up in the lexicon yields some interesting results. What that literally says in the Greek is "because you have watched over/guarded my word with perseverance...."

The word that so many bible translations tell us is "keep"
ἐτήρησαςetērēsas

literally means to watch over, or guard.

So what the Lord is literally saying is since you watched over and guarded my Word, you will be kept from the hour of trial thats coming on the entire world. We are "watchmen." We are "guardians" or guards. In fact, instead of the CEO style religious corporatists that call themselves "pastors" in todays churches, "pastors" which are really supposed to be shepherds, that guard both the Word and the sheep. What did shepherds do? They fed (literally) and guarded the sheep. Guard the sheep from what? From attack. Are the sheep under attack today? From every possible angle possible they are under attack, and who is letting the attacks in the front door? The corporate christianity CEO's that call themselves "pastors" today.

Why did these church CEO's pick one of the least defined Words in the bible (pastor: a word used ONE TIME in the New Testament) as their mantle? Why else, so they could define it themselves.....You can find this topic (on "pastors") covered in detail in articles listed on the right hand side of this blog.

Next topic? Double meanings in the bible. This cannot be covered in detail right now but the Lord has confirmed absolutely the double meanings laced throughout the bible that confirm that the bible was written by God, and again prove many points written about here over the years. For example. Shepherds are supposed to feed the sheep. That is both a literal command, and it has a spiritual meaning. Do today's "pastors" literally "feed the sheep" or are the sheep literally feeding the pastors? If the sheep are literally feeding the pastors but the pastors are not literally feeding the sheep then isnt there something wrong with that picture?

One of many proofs for double meanings in the bible that has been discussed in previous posts here is this:

Job 11:6
... that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know
therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

What is "true wisdom?" Wisdom that comes from the Lord. This is another stamp of authenticity that our Lord puts on His Word. There are multiple meanings, all of which are true that interlock throughout the bible. As you look deeply at some of the apparent contradictions in the bible, you will see with diligent study that you weren't looking hard enough to solve the Lord's riddles. Multiple meanings that all have to "fit" within the greater context are the answer.

I don't have time to go in detail on this right now, we'll do that later. None of this means that brother D has gone off the deep end here, and no there are no individual special interpretations. All this means is that the bible is a deep treasure with "God stamps" all over it proving that it is what He said it is: the Word of God.

More later...grace and peace