83 days of prayer, 83 days of fasting, 83 days of searching the Word of God for encouragement and inspiration. This is the Lord's will for us as far as this servant can discern. The problem, or what got us into this mess was the opposite-it was not enough prayer, fasting and the Word of God. That combined with apathy and complacency.
We spent enough time on problem identification in the past, now it is time for solutions. The solution is Jesus Christ, His presence, His power, His Spirit. Whether this world realizes it or not every living breathing soul on this earth is on a collision course with the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phil 2
1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,a 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,b 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,c being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How we "feel" doesn't matter. What matters is our faith, what do we believe? We get to decide what we believe. What does decide mean? It means to cut off from other possibilities. We cut off other possibilities and dwell in and on our faith. Because of this, we are pregnant with hope. We are carrying within us a hope baby that must be delivered in perfect health. We feed and nurture this baby with our prayers, fasting, and the Word of God from which we gain encouragement.
All of our hope is in Christ. It will be the Lord God alone who will get the glory when the hand of tyranny and oppression is lifted from us for a season. We must not forget. Which leads us to this question why give us another season? This is important. We are not being offered another season without the yoke of tyranny and oppression so everyone can go back to apathetic and complacent "lay person" Christianity. And we must understand man cannot game God. That means that saying things with our mouth while holding secrets contrary to our mouth in our heart is not going to work. Mankind can lie to mankind but the Lord God sees and knows everything.
Either we go into this with our whole heart or the Lord can and will pull the plug. He can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants-He is God...So, once again why another season? To get done things that have not been done up to this point. The Lord God is calling us to push ourselves to become the best versions of ourselves we can be. That is going to be a full time job in itself. Why the best version of ourselves? Because it is directly tied to our mission accomplishment. We will accomplish our Divine mission in direct proportion to the the "level" of ourselves we achieve. Each of us has a best and worst self and lots of room in between. This brings us back to the parable of the talents in Matt 25. We are expected to use our talents, skills and abilities for the Kingdom.
What else? The clock has run out (or close to it). Look around, the stage has been set. Very little is required to push this world over into the time of Jacob's trouble. The Lord in His mercy has granted us both a warning and an opportunity to make things right before the plug gets pulled on this world. We have been warned for years and now we are being given an opportunity to finish the race strong.
1 Cor 9
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control,b lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
However much time we are granted moving forward, regardless of what happens in 83 or so days-it is for this purpose. The Lord God is giving us the opportunity through the current adversity, tyranny and oppression to make things right, to perfect our walk.
And speaking of pulling the plug, it is interesting to note when the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah falls in 2024-it begins on 10/2 and ends on 10/4. Election day is 11/5 a month and a day away. Should we be on high alert for the catching away/rapture this year? You bet. In the meantime however, we who serve the Most High God should be focused on bringing our A game with the remaining days we have on this earth.
The clock is ticking, there is not a whole lot of time left. The Lord has made us participants in many things because it pleases Him to do it that way. The current situation is no different. We have a say in how much time is left just like Niveveh did. They repented and time was added to their calendar. Eventually it all fall apart but they were granted an additional season of time before judgement fell. We know what happens in Revelation but the key here is when it happens...
This servant is believing that we who are alive in Christ on the earth right now will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living:
PS 27
4One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquirec in his temple.
5For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
13I believe that I shall lookf upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
We are going to stand on what we are asking for and stand on the promises. The enemy will try to throw a distraction circus at us to get our eyes off the solution and back onto the problems but we will not do that. It is time to bring to bear all of the spiritual tools at our disposal. It is time to bring to bear personal discipline, faith and courage to stand and pray with boldness in this season. We were put here in this season for a reason. Look around-the mess you see is why you are here. You are part of the solution. Each one of us makes up a part of the light that the Lord intends to shine in this world. We turn those lights on one individual, one believer at a time.
Over the next 83 or so days, be clear about what you are asking the Lord for then stand in faith on it and do not move. We are standing by faith on the promises:
Matt 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 6
12so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Isa 7:9
The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’”
Continue to stand on your faith and the promises. Continue to believe and continue to receive. We will let our faith and patience do its work.
Glory to God
grace and peace
