Thursday, January 06, 2022

More on the Year Ahead: 2022

 This writer woke on new years day morning with 11:11 staring him in the face.  In his minds eye he could see 11:11 written on a paper then the paper folded over onto itself and intuitively he knew this meant 11+11=22.  The next two or three hours from wake up it was a non-stop barrage of 11:11s and 22s.  It was as if someone was trying to club him over the head with these numbers.

So your servant, this writer inquired of the Lord:  Lord?  11:11?  22?  Apart from the obvious it was new years day morning of 2022...After some prayer, thought and reflection it was obvious something needed to be said about this which was the reason your servant was clubbed over the head with it.  There is something special about the year of our Lord 2022.  Its as if the Lord has brought out His giant yellow/lemon lime colored neon highlighter and circled this year on the calendar.

So your brother was not going to write anything about this because what do you do with "this year has been highlighted by the Lord?"  The answer is:  1.  True there is alot that has not been given/is being withheld about the upcoming year but we have not been asked to act on things we do not know about which leads us to 2.  If we know this year has been highlighted by the Lord and we also know He has been banging on the desk about using our talents and abilities going on yearS with an emphasis on the plural there, now we have something to work with.

An additional insight given to your servant by the Spirit of the Lord is that each one of us should be a "Tom Brady" of our given talents/abilities.  If you dont know who Tom Brady is, he is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.  If you know Tom Brady but dont like him then insert another name of somebody who is legendary at what they do.  What specifically the Spirit said into your servant's spirit is "you need to plumb the depths of the talents and abilities that have been deposited in you."  We can gain some insight by re-reading the parable:

Matt 25:

14“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servantsc and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents,d to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.e You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We can see from the parable above that to him that was given much much would be required but the same "relatively speaking" was required from him who was given little, 5 added to 5 is a 100% return on investment, so is 2 added to 2.....We get the idea but what the Lord did not write is some will multiply returns well beyond 100%.  This is where the "plumb the depths of the talents and abilities given to you" come in.  

There are many things we do not know and will not know about the future.  The Lord has made it clear we are to be perfectly comfortable being uncomfortable about that.  This has been His way for generations:

1When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3He told them: Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

With all that we do not know there is plenty we do know and we are to act according to these things.  We have all of the prophets and the promises and we have areas of scripture that have been highlighted by the Spirit of the Lord.  If you are reading these words then the parable of the talents is being highlighted for you.  

There is also the World War 2 analogy this servant believes the Lord has brought forth to be considered.  How interesting that a generation ago our fathers and grandfathers were fighting Nazis in the west and Communists in the east and here we are all these years later and nothing has changed.  The Nazis are in charge in the west and the Communists in the east, there is nothing new under the sun.  In a world run either by Nazis or Communists we are looking for hope in a Kingdom that is not of this world, the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Meanwhile here, on earth this servant believes the Nazis are once again in trouble in 2022 just as they were in 1942.  In 1942 they had their Fuhrer in Adolf but in 2022 the new nazi party is still waiting for theirs (anti-Christ).  The fact that now satanic signs and wonders are even remotely evident anywhere in the world tells us the anti-Christ has not arrived and is not in the process of arriving which be extension also means this is not "the" tribulation which also means the vaccine is not the mark of the beast (no beast means no mark of the beast).  Now, with all that said "they" are certainly pushing with all their might in that direction however they have a very very big problem standing in their way presently and His name is "Restrainer."

2 Thess 2:7

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

from 2 Thess 2 which includes the sources of the claims made above:

1Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,a 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessnessb is revealed, the son of destruction,c 4who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This is very clear and we thank the Lord God for His Word which lights the path ahead for us.  We know with certainty that we need to see an impressive display of satanic power, false signs and wonders to precede the coming of the lawless one.  Considering all the special effects in movies and all that we have been exposed to through the computing power of our age, these "signs and wonders" are going to have to be fairly spectacular to get people's attention (and they will be).  For now what we are witnessing is "just" another world war by the Nazi's and Communists who have joined forces to wage war upon the people of the earth.

Without their commander in chief they will more likely than not fail again.  The problem is, time does not turn backwards and with each war "they" progress their agenda until it actually is their time for 7 years of hell on earth (their nirvana).  As of today the Restrainer is still at work doing what He does and we have a job to do.  We are to reach deep into whatever gift/talent/ability the Lord has given us and maximize its use.  We must have something to show the day our Lord has determined to settle accounts with us.  Perhaps this was the point all along with the giant neon highlighter on 2022.  Time is running out, we must redeem the time that remains.

grace and peace

Glory to God