The Days of Noah and Lot

This morning as I was in prayer, I asked the Lord if I could write on the days of Noah and Lot and I have been granted permission to do so. Let us refresh our memory:

22Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24For the Son of Man in his dayc will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.d”
37“Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Some key words to notice there are: the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all....

The day Noah went into the ark...the day Lot left Sodom....then destruction came. I have a heavy heart this morning about the future. Asking the Lord about this the answer was this:

Our solutions and answers do not lie in the problems...the solution and answers we need are "in Christ." We are quickly approaching Sept 19, 2009, which once again marks out the Feast of Trumpets for us. Of all the days on the calendar, that day each year should have a big glowing neon sign hanging on it that says ESCAPE FROM ALL. Could the escape from all, rapture of the church occur this year on the feast of trumpets? It is very possible. This is the time of year every year that we should be especially watchful for the Lord's end time activity. Why? It is the FALL FEASTS that have yet to be fulfilled prophetically and guess what time we are quickly approaching? FALL....

Just as I said last year, I am not predicting anything. The probability is low that anything will happen, but the probability will always be low that the escape from all or beginning of Jacob's troubles will start, but one day they will happen, there is a 100% guarantee they will happen. All outward appearances point to tragic events coming to this world. I do not believe our Lord wants our focus there. He wants our focus on him.

For the first time in many years, going into the fall of the year, the Lord has not had me writing about the escape from all/rapture/beginning of Jacob's troubles. That in itself is a marker or signpost that we should be especially aware this year. His focus over the last 2-3 months has been on one thing really, separation from the world and complete unity with him and focus on him. Why would the Lord be on that topic so heavily for the past 2-3 months? Has he been sending out a signal to anyone who would listen that he is coming back for a holy people, a spotless bride? That he is coming back soon are the key words in there.

The Lord always warns first and he has warned the people of this earth now for many years in many different ways. Lately, the warning bells have gone silent and a loving, grace filled message of encouragement and comfort has taken its place. What does all this amount to?

When I think of Noah loading the ark, and Lot being led out of Sodom, I see a parallel with what I am hearing from the Spirit today. I see the Lord holding our hands as a loving father and leading us out of the world, first in heart mind and spirit, then bodily......The unseen always takes precedence. Spirit, heart mind leave first, then the body. Remember this: 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. When your spirit heart and mind have already been "lost" to this world, you have "lost your life" to the world. Only those who "lose their life" will preserve it.

I believe the Holy Spirit's message to me over the past 2-3 months have been an ongoing process of "losing our life" to the world and diving deeper and deeper "in Christ" in preparation for something....The Spirit's message to you and me this morning is grace and peace to all who are far and near. Find rest for our souls "in Christ." Separate ourselves from the world, not conforming to its patterns or thoughts in any way. We are in the world but we are not of it.

I cannot be sure that the Lord is going to do anything as magnificent as the escape from all (Luke 21:36) or the beginning of Jacob's troubles this fall. What I am sure of is that we are being called away from the world and deeper into Jesus. To those being saved, we are the fragrance of life and to those perishing we are the smell of death:

2 Corinthians 2 :14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

I believe the Lord's hand is outstretched right now in grace, tenderness and mercy to this world. I am hearing words of encouragement and grace from him today. Who knows how much longer the Lord's mercy will extend to this world? Know that we who are "in Christ" are dearly loved.

grace and peace