1. How the Lord leads us
2. The next 3 months
1. How the Lords leads us
This morning I was having a conversation with the Lord and a part of it I believe needs to be shared with you. The Lord started the topic with the idea of preparatory prayer. What is preparatory prayer? Its when you pray for the things you will need ahead of time so the Lord goes out before you to prepare the way. We do not know all the things we will need in the future so we can pray generally that the Lord go before us and prepare the way for us. We can pray that He take care of all the million and one details that need to be in place for things to work out for us the way they should.
Where do we see this in the bible? Exodus13:21By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
The Lord led them, He went before them to lead the way. Today the Lord does not appear to us as a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire. Our king is inside of us, leading from inside our hearts and spirits. How so you ask? Luke 17:20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is withinb you.”
Where is our King? In His kingdom. Where is His kingdom? Inside of you...
Still asking "so what?" It is important today and it will be more important tomorrow and in the days ahead that you are led moment by moment, hour to hour and day to day by the Spirit of God just like the Israelites were when they followed the pillar of cloud and fire. Romans 8:14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
2. The next 3 months
And speaking of the days ahead...things have been relatively quiet in the world. Perhaps this is the calm before the storm. The comets are inbound to the earth right now. The first, comet Honda achieves perigee around August 15, Ele-nin achieves perehelion (closest to the sun) almost exactly on the Feast of Trumpets (Sept 26th or so). In October ELE-nin will be at its perigee with the earth. In Jan 2012 comet Levy shows up.
Is it possible that nothing except the usual chaos and record setting earth changes take place during this window of time? Sure. Question is, whats causing all this record setting earth destruction (floods, earthquakes, tornadoes)? Man made weather weapons may account for some of it, but certainly not all of it. What else might happen over the next 3 months? The Feast of Trumpets is an unfulfilled prophetic feast that has the word "rapture" written all over it. Could the pre-tribulation rapture of the church occur this year? Its possible. Is it probable? No. It will never be "probable." The escape will happen at a very improbable time. Nobody knows what day and hour the Lord will call us up into the air with Him. But it is always possible and this writer takes special note of the Feast of Trumpets every year because we know for a fact that this feast will be prophetically fulfilled sometime in our future. And the next Feast of Trumpets is 2 months away.
So, this calls for patience, watching and waiting. Every person that has ever set a date for the Lords return has been wrong. If you pin your hopes on a certain day you are almost sure to be disappointed and lose your hope. The Lord's promises are sure. What He said He would do, He most certainly will do just exactly as He said He would. But we have to be patient, faithful, watching and ready. For how long do we have to be patient? Until the Lord shows up for us. That might be 20 years from now or it might be tonight. We must be ready to wait and ready to go.
This, by the way, is also where the "pre-wrath" and "post-trib" teachers and preachers show they lack any understanding of the pre-tribulation rapture. These people say "you'll lose your faith if the Lord doesn't show up before the tribulation starts." What part of "we expect the Lord any day" do these people not understand? We are watching for the Lord EVERY DAY, whereas they in direct disobedience to the scriptures are NOT loooking for the Lord to arrive today. We are watching every day which means today, tomorrow, the next day, the next day, the next day etc until the Lord calls for us. If the Lord calls for us after the tribulation we will be ready. If the Lord calls for us mid-tribulation we will be ready. If the Lord calls for us pre-tribulation we will be ready. We, the pre-tribulationalists are ALWAYS watching and ready for the Lord's return. The "pre-wrath" and "post-trib" crowd are the foolish virgins who will suprised when the Lord comes and leaves with His Bride. They will come and knock on the door and say Lord, let us in at which time He tells them He never knew them (Matt 25-parable of the virgins).
The Lord is coming at a time we do not expect so we MUST be watching and ready every day. Those who are not watching and ready every day are fools. I'm not calling people names, the Lord is the one who called these people "foolish" virgins, not me. We are the Bride of Christ. That is a fact. It is a fact that the Bridegroom goes to His Fathers house to prepare a place for the bride then He comes back unexpected to call her to her wedding and new home. These are facts. What would happen to the bride that was not watching and ready for the Bridegroom, if He showed up for her and she was not ready? We know what happens because the Lord tells us what happens in Matt 25.
We might see the next 3 months as business as usual record setting weather events and other stuff in this world. We might see the next 3 months as the rapture of the church and extinction level events on this earth. Remember, there will be no warning when all hell breaks loose. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had no warning before they were destroyed. The people outside the ark in Noahs day had no warning of when the rain would start. Unlike the people of those days, this world has been warned...for years. This writer has lost count of all the warnings this world has received, yet it refuses to repent. There will be no warning of the day destruction begins, but there has been plenty of warning that destruction as a result of sin is coming. Read the book of Revelation for the details.
Be watching and ready for the Bridegroom to return. Do not forget to be patient and persevere in your watching and readiness. We may be waiting for a long time. Who knows? Don't let your guard down. Remember to love. Keep your hearts tender and full of mercy and compassion during this time that the world is being hardened for its destruction.
These are the things this writer hears the Lord saying today.
grace and peace
