Category Archives: Prophecy

September 21, 2019 · 7:44 am

Will We End Up Being A Part of the Great Falling Away? (Part 6)

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs was written by John Foxe in 1563. It details the deaths and sufferings of the early apostles and other Christians up through the inquisition and the medieval church.

It’s been nearly thirty years since I read the book as a young Christian but I still remember how it jarred my heart. In fact,  I muttered aloud a short prayer. “Lord, if You want me to be a martyr for You, that’s okay with me. I can probably handle crucifixion, firing squad, hanging or being beheaded, but please don’t let me be burned at the stake. I’m not sure I will be a good witness for You if I die that way.”

At the time, I worked at a motel-restaurant and drove a catering van, delivering meals to senior citizens.

One day, I was running behind schedule and in a hurry. Using only pot holders, I removed a large pan of roast beef from an oven. My hand slipped and the pan’s liquid drenched over my hand. 170° of scalding juice.

I quickly set the pan down and looked at my hand. It was red, there was pain on the surface of my skin, but no inner pain. It did not bother me in the least.

Two cooks rushed over and wanted to rush me off to the hospital. I shook my head and put it under a cold water faucet. No problems.

That experience and the following testimony by Corrie Ten Boom has kept my heart open to the possibility of being a witness until death (martyr) for Jesus:

When I was a little girl, I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.”

“Tell me,” said Father. “When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?”

“No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.”

“That is right,” my father said, “and so it is with God’s strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need – just in time…” (Tramp for the Lord)

So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

The fourth reason for becoming a part of the Great Falling Away – now or in the future – will be fear that God’s grace cannot help us in our suffering.

(Continued in Part 7…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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September 19, 2019 · 4:02 pm

Will We End Up Being A Part of the Great Falling Away? (Part 5)

Recently, I talked with a youth pastor of a large denomination. “What are you reading right now?” I asked.

She mentioned the name of a book.

“Oh, is that a book on inner healing?” I replied.

“Yes,” she said, ” and it’s very good.”

“I struggle with inner healing. Every book on inner healing that I’ve ever seen is a takeoff on John and Mark Sandford’s book, one that I don’t recommend to anyone.”

“Well, a pastor in our denomination recently committed suicide. So our pastor wants to be proactive and help our staff handle the everyday stress of working with our church’s members. Plus, a counselor meets with each of us every week to help us.”

“Oh dear, I struggle with counselors, too.”

Thank God, the conversation died without me putting both of my feet in my mouth.

I understand there are numerous mental problems, such as bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and others, where we believers can’t heal the person by simply speaking in faith and saying, “Go, in Jesus’ name.” We just aren’t there yet! Maybe soon though!

But this was not a case of handling severe mental disorders, this was a pastor trying to protect his staff from stress and emotional strain. And what does he do? He reaches for what the world considers its best answer for these problems: psychology.

Although considered a science, psychology is anything but that. There are hundreds of different methods for every problem. Most of them backed by the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Both were ungodly men!

So, why not fast and pray and trust the Lord? Isn’t He more than able to protect a church’s staff?

I assume this same pastor preaches a sermon each Sunday telling the congregation to trust in Jesus, right? But shouldn’t the pastor be honest enough to declare his staff’s lack of faith in Jesus?

How would that play out? Probably not well.

Can you imagine telling Christians in North Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan and other nations where Christians are tortured and killed for their beliefs that they also need psychologists to help them handle their stress and anxiety? They’d laugh at our weak faith!

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]. (Matthew 6:24 AMP)

The number three reason for becoming a part of the Great Falling Away – now or in the future – will be trusting in the world system more than in Christ and His ways.

(Continued in Part 6…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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September 18, 2019 · 9:33 am

Will we End up Being a Part of the Great Falling Away? (Part 4)

I am seventy-three years old.

You can call it pride or whatever, but I have always wanted to see the Lord return in my lifetime. That is until recently when I felt the Lord speak to my heart, “I am not returning in your lifetime. Help prepare your children and grandchildren for the End-Times.”

Whatever disappointment I might have felt at the time was erased by the urgency of His words.

Many preachers talk about the “great falling away” as if it will be just a slight bump in the road for the American church. After all, America has the greatest concentration of Christians within its borders of any nation in the world. 80 to 90 million Evangelical or born again Christians by many estimates.

Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed] (2 Thessalonians 2:3 AMP)

Do you actually believe the Apostle Paul was talking about a slight bump in the road when he wrote about the “great falling away?”

I don’t.

It’s my belief that if we don’t take drastic steps that 50 to 75% or more of America’s Christians will abandon their faith during the soon coming End-Times period. That’s forty to seventy million believers!

Why such a large number?

Corrie Ten Boom’s 1974 letter about the Rapture explains most of my reasoning:

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days.

In China, the Christians were told, “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured.” Then came a terrible persecution.  Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, “We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when tribulation comes — to stand and not faint.”

Somehow, most American believers have swallowed the same poisonous Pre-Trib Rapture doctrine and believe we won’t suffer even though Jesus said –

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. See, I have told you beforehand. (Matthew 24:21-22, 25)

We believers are the elect and He is warning us to prepare ourselves ahead of time.

The number two reason for being a part of the Great Falling Away – now or in the future – will be holding onto bad teaching not supported by scripture.

(Continued in Part 5…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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September 15, 2019 · 3:43 am

Inside Israel

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is —

Very warm greetings with love, in the name of Yeshua.  All honor and glory to Him, but oh how He loves His own and it is an honor to write to you and to ask that He would bless and encourage each one of you.  May He Alone be glorified and blessed.

Shalom!  He really paused me and had me think of each one of you, not of what I am writing, but of you who are being written to. And yes, it stopped me in my tracks to worship Him. Truly may He be glorified.

It is the month of Elul and in the morning I hear the shofarim(rams horn) being blown both is synagogues and homes. The call to heshbone nefeshor taking an account of one’s soul, the month of searching.  We as believers, are blessed to pray daily with The Lord:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:22-24)

But my people do things according to set times and cycles, and this month of Elul is a month for laying the soul bare before The Lord.  On the train and on the bus each morning I watch many praying through Psalms or a sidur(prayer book for the season) with the intensity that says Elul is here.

Along the street that leads to my work, the pomegranates (rimonim), grapes (anavim), and figs (tenimim) are ripening quickly.  It dazzles my eyes so I begin to count for you: bay leaves, olive trees, rosemary, almond trees, mulberry trees, banana and date, olive and lemon trees, flowering trees all around, wild parrots flying above. I can barely take it in on this one street.   The streets of Jerusalem, my home, am I dreaming?  Morning by morning I re-read the prophecies and see them fulfilled with my eyes and understand that it is a deposit and that ALL of The Word will indeed be fulfilled because He IS Faithful.

The shuk is loaded with colorful fruits, spices, vegetables and nuts. Holiday wares are making their way onto tables. New table cloths, all sorts of special gifts.  The aroma is sweet and spicy and the colors are beyond description.  In my own preparations I am trying to carefully pace myself and plan ahead and pray. There will be many festive meals, guests, gifts to give, all while working, and my energy levels are older.  It is a wonderful, hectic time.  It is an ancient time. I am enclosing a partial list of scriptures that both command and speak about these 3 fall feasts: rosh h’shanna(trumpets), yom kippur (atonement) and sukkot (tabernacles) at the end of the letter.  It is worth reading through, pondering and praying and wondering how a people, EVEN AFTER A 2,000 YEAR DISPERSION, can yet keep these.  Surely The Lord is displaying part of His secret things.

 

He is faithful even when we stand before impossible elections again.  This coming Tuesday, the 17th, Israel votes again.  I don’t need to tell you how upside down the world is.  It is evident.  I have NO idea what will be EXCEPT GOD WILL HAVE HIS WAY.  And in THAT fact we must find Him and His rest as you in the midst of your respective country’s crisis.

When the store across the street from us went bankrupt,  no one knew what would happen. Thankfully a chain from the Be’er Shevaregion in the south of the country, took it over and we have been enjoying the change, watching carefully.  We are here now 25 years and this is the FIRST TIME that I have met an English-speaking cashier and she is a curiosity to the industry and a delight to me.

“We have just started amazing one day discounts if you join the new store club,” Yehudit announced last week.

When we first came and I understood NOTHING, I lost out on a lot of sales by NOT joining (free by the way) the last store.  You just wrote your name down and got a card and wham bang – discounts were yours.  I lost out on that one.

“GREAT,”I told Yehudit. “I won’t miss out this time, sign me up.”

She turned to the cash register and said, “Give me your phone number.”  Which I did and which she inserted.  With the press of a button she sent me a registered message and then said, “Now follow the link and insert the free app.”

UH, that’s where I looked at her.  No paper in the mail and no card.  I held up my old, simple, Nokia phone for her to see. “No smart phone,”I sighed.

She literally looked astonished. “Well you need to get one.”

She joined the choir of voices informing me that I was NOT being plugged in.

“SOON YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO BUY GROCERIES HERE WITHOUT ONE,” she informed me.  “Soon it will all be automatic check out only with a smart phone.”

Silently I thought, “Only until the system collapses and the mark comes in the midst of the anarchy, chaos and confusion.”

 

I’ve asked myself if I’m getting too weird, a bit extreme, paranoid. You know roll your eyes.

No, I don’t have a smart phone that can leave the house. I have one for photos and yes I have what’s up and instagram because I get photos but only in the house. It doesn’t have an internal internet hook up and to be totally honest. I could EASILY love it and maybe I do.

And no, I don’t have a credit card either, other than a gift card that was given to me which I buy groceries with and am forever grateful for.  I am a nut.  But I know me.  I’m easily deceived. I have an addictive personality. I WANT The Holy Spirit to give me all of the discipline and leading that I need to be master over these things, but part of that has been His wisdom over my  VERY WEAK AND FOOLISH FLESH to help me out by just abstaining.

I know I’m weird.  I don’t deny it and it is CERTAINALLY NOT for EVERYONE and I am NOT saying “don’t have a smart phone or credit card.” I even occasionally borrow use of one from those whom I love.

And that is what they said at the bank AGAIN this week. “You NEED a smart phone.”

Here, by law, our pay checks MUST be deposited in the bank and then we can withdraw them.  It really used to be easy. My pay check, which I earned, recorded in the bank for tax purposes, but none the less, mine to take out (plus a few fees).  You would go to a teller with your bank card and receive your cash.  Simple!

Then the machines came in.  Recently the tellers were gone, no more tellers.  A technical bank support person roams the area to see which inept person can’t maneuver the machine.  The Lord has apparently volunteered me for that role (the inept person).

Once again, I typed in the amount that I needed to take out to pay the rent and the machine informed me that less than half of that amount was available for me to take out.  Up came the “technical assistant.”

She asked me for my smart phone so she could make an appointment to enter the bank.  I handed her my trusty Nokia. Many maneuvers later she returned with a number and told me that I would have to wait for about an hour (penalty for not making appointment via the app.)

I had a book. When my turn finally came the nice lady told me that I only had a small amount in the bank and that the automatic withdrawal had taken place this morning.

“Hold it!  I don’t HAVE any automatic withdrawals!”

She rolled her eyes.  It took me awhile to figure out that she (with all of this technology) had opened my husband’s work account by mistake. She couldn’t tell me WHY I couldn’t have my money, but she would issue me a specialishure  (certificate of approval) and the technical assistant would put it into the machine for me.

MEANWHILE, I got the talk that soon there would be no money and if I did not have a smart phone I couldn’t pay bills, buy food etc etc etc.  I got the message, thank you.

I got it again at the post office today while I watched all of the smart phone people swipe their phones to record the appointment that they had made on line while I waited with my embarrassing paper number.  Plus my paper book.

I don’t know about your country.

Our country is high tech, intense and tiny, so that with a very small population policies can be very quickly be enforced.  I KNOW that smart phones are incredibly helpful.  I am not sure WHY I have resisted this so firmly, but the fact that I DON’T have one to use means that I can see daily and up close what I can no longer do. To park a car here, you must use one of the “smart park” methods.  To buy tickets, make appointments at post office or hospital or phone company or doctor, you name it, smart phone app.

I honestly think that I have inadvertently taken a position that I didn’t anticipate:  I am a person without a smart phone in a perhaps – experimental country.  Are we here part of an experiment?

I don’t expect that a country as large as the US could as quickly bring the entire population in line with such massive changes. Our country is used to suddenlies.   When there is a crisis, there is no TIME to sit down and discuss all of the innuendoes of what a change will mean, you just do it.  We have become used to living that way.

I had the privilege of living in a microcosm society before and it impacted me then.  In our tiny remote Alaskan village where we raised our family, there were only about 50 year-round families.  From that small population group we had a school with teachers, a government, a policeman, a court etc.  Every able minded adult had to take on some real responsibility that had repercussions.  I had been born and raised in NYC and it is NOT like that in a large population area. The effects of policies made took far longer to have any real impact, and the ability to avoid the impact was always an option.

 

A dear sister approached me at kehila(our fellowship) on Shabbat and said with a sigh, “Well, it doesn’t feel as if things are ‘back to normal’ yet.”

What came out of my mouth surprised me when I said, “It WON’T get back to normal and it isn’t supposed to!  The Lord spilt His very precious seeds into the ground for a dear purpose and He does not want us to continue just as we were.  We MUST be changed.  The cost has been too great.”

THANKFULLY she is a mature sister and wasn’t offended by my too-passionate outburst.  She said, “Wow!  You are right.I didn’t think of it that way.”

As I continue to pray and wonder at the taking of these 3 truly golden vessels for The Lord, and a tiny new one, it was my lot this week to offer translation equipment to those who need translation from Hebrew.  A couple whom I hadn’t seen before needed translation and as I spoke with them I explained to them that our fellowship had been through the traumatic loss of 4 of our members very recently and that our pastor was away as well, sort of apologizing that “things were a bit ‘different.”

The man said, “We have lost two children…”

I was stunned.  “Was it recent?” I asked as I reached for the woman, who began to weep.

“One was 12 years ago…” he hesitated,  “and one just now. They were both accidents.”

It knocked the breath out of me. “I see He has brought you.”And indeed He had.

They had been just walking around as tourists in Jerusalem and so lonely for believes.  They sat over coffee to pray and a dear sister from the congregation approached them and began to chat (you can almost always tell a tourist, but she was led of The Spirit).  She was an answer to their prayer and directed them to the fellowship where God is teaching us something of grieving that we don’t yet fully know.

I am so impressed that God is Able, Willing and Faithful

He has been always over all of these centuries through it all.

 It is time to go and begin dinner, but I send you my love and pray that God will be glorified in you and in me… and that all of Israel will indeed soon be saved.

Lovingly,

your sis J

I hope that some of the verses below might inspire some of you and maybe be a refreshing to those of you who are well versed in the holidays (hagim) that The Lord has given. 

ROSH H’SHANA:

Numbers 10:1-10

Numbers 29:1

Psalm 81:3-4

Levit 23:24

(trumpets not rosh h’shana)

bear with us as I KNOW that Passover SHOULD

BE the ‘beginning of the year’ (or ‘rosh h shana).

But as it stands today, Trumpets is… He can and will set it right)

 

YOM KIPPUR:

Levit 16:29

Levit 23:26

Zech 8:18

Hebrews 9

 

SUKKOT:

Deut 31:10-14

Levit 23:37-43

Zech 14:16

Neh 8:13

Jn7:2-37

Deut 16:13

Deut 32:10

1 Kings 8:2

2 Chron 5:3

Ezra 3:1-4

 

 

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August 29, 2019 · 7:55 am

Hey Senior Citizens! The American Church Needs New Leaders, Why Not You? (Part 4)

A few days ago, another believer asked, “Larry, why are you so passionate? Why not just slow down and enjoy the last days of your life?”

“Because I will soon appear before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ and I fear that day,” I replied.

“What? Nobody thinks like that!”

“Well, I do and they should feel the same way,” I said.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others… (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

Not long ago, I started a longterm vacation from Facebook and other social media outlets. Plus, I cut back following sports, watching TV, reading mystery novels and most other hobbies.

Why?

For some reason or another, I recently checked the Social Security Actuarial Life Tables and looked up what the life expectancy was for a man who is 73 years old. It turns out that on the average, I can expect to live 12.43 more years. Now, what this really means is that fifty percent of the men my age will be dead in 12.43 years.

Yes, I could live a lot longer, but the opposite is also true, I could live a lot less.

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming novel:

A terrifying vision awakened me out of my spiritual slumber.

In it, I stood before the Judgment Seat of Christ. I wasn’t alone because hundreds of other believers stood there in numerous rows, waiting for the Judge − Jesus − to appear in front of us. I watched Him off to my left walking down my row with a torch in His right hand. He stopped in front of each believer, looked down and lit piles of what looked like grass and sticks at the feet of each person with His torch. The piles burst into flames. The piles quickly burnt out to reveal gold, silver, precious stones or nothing but scorch marks on the ground. Those who had precious metals and stones bowed down and worshipped the Lord. Those who had scorch marks wailed and screamed like they were in hell, even though they were in heaven.

I looked down at my feet and saw a puny pile. I knew this small heap represented all of my works done on earth for the Lord. Not much for a whole lifetime, I thought. A holy fear enveloped me.

I turned and looked at the person next to me and realized he was a successful Christian businessman, whom I greatly admired. He was an elder at Jedidiah Smith Community Church, Sunday school teacher, weekend street evangelist and well-known benefactor. The newspapers were always reporting on his philanthropy and many works.

I watched Judge Jesus bend over and light the businessman’s pile with His torch. The pile quickly burnt out to reveal nothing but scorch marks on the ground. The businessman fell to the ground and wailed at the top of his lungs. His screams echoed through my mind.

Oh no, I thought. If this businessman’s life did not please the Lord, how will mine be any better?

The Lord stood in front of me.

I looked into His eyes and knew His love was not on trial, but mine was at that moment. He bent over, ready to touch my puny pile with His torch.

“Lord, give me a second chance,” I pleaded.

He looked at me without straightening up. His torch remained close to my pile. “And what would you do differently?”

“I will serve you night and day without complaining. If need be, I will crawl on my knees across San Francisco on streets covered with broken glass to be Your ambassador. I will gladly carry cups of cold water to people, minister to them as Your servant and if you need a martyr for Your kingdom purposes, I volunteer myself for that assignment.”

He straightened up and looked me squarely in the eyes. His love melted every hindrance in my heart. “Remember to do your works to please Me, not to please other people like this businessman did during his life. He received his reward on earth. Go and be My servant.” (From upcoming novel, Still in the Fight)

(Continued in Part 5…but if you want to check out the whole series to date, click here.)

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August 25, 2019 · 3:49 am

Inside Israel

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is —

“And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” (Luke 19:13)

Greetings DEAR brothers and sisters, in The precious Name of Yeshua h’meshiach – Jesus The Messiah.  May HE be blessed and glorified, and may you each be deeply grounded, encouraged and blessed.

At this moment, while I am here in the middle of Jerusalem, I could not stretch my strength further today and travel to Modein tonight to join with brothers and sisters together at the grave of our dear sister and brothers, Sophi, Rodrigo and baby Itai.  It is the shloshim or 30 days and a time for closing of the early days of grieving. Many believers (and many air force soldiers) are  gathering together  as I write, to strengthen the family at the grave site.  I am there in heart.  It was also Rodrigo’s birthday…

At the same time, while I am here in the middle of Jerusalem, huge fires are raging in both parts of Alaska that were my home.  In the Valley area and also in Bristol Bay.  The village that my husband was born in, a remote village of some 65 people, is on fire and in danger of being completely destroyed.  It is so remote that there are no fire fighting facilities and residents are attempting to beat it back….

At the same time, while I am here in the middle of Jerusalem, my boss of 21 years had a heart attack today.  Thankfully it was a light one and he has already had catheterization, but it was emotionally intense and puts the future of the Doctor’s office where I work in question.

And that was just today.

There is a temptation to be thrown off kilter ( or at least, it is for me) and try to do more than observe all of this and pray. I want to become fully involved with every cell of my being.

It got me thinking about the Indonesian tsunami that happened in 2004 which killed some 230,000 people. What I remember about the calamity was being stunned by a report that the power of the massive movement of all of that water had shifted the earth on its axis.  If you are interested, there is much scientific data.  A cursory google search just now turned up this rather easily read report —

“The devastating earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean on 26 December was so powerful that it has accelerated the Earth’s rotation, geophysicists have declared. They estimate that the shockwave shortened the period of our planet’s rotation by some three microseconds.

The change was caused by a shift of mass towards the planet’s centre, as the Indian Ocean’s heavy tectonic plate lurched underneath Indonesia’s one, say researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This caused the globe to rotate faster, in the same way that a spinning figure-skater accelerates by tucking in her arms.

The blast literally rocked the world on its axis, add Richard Gross and his NASA colleagues. They estimate that Earth now tilts by an extra 2.5 centimetres in the wake of the jolt.

The shortening of Earth’s day is no cause for consternation, particularly in light of the huge humanitarian crisis sparked by Sunday’s events. The death toll from the tsunami that lashed coasts across the Indian Ocean has now passed 100,000.

“I would be stunned if there was any change in the rotation rate that would necessitate addition or subtraction of a leap second.”

But the change will nonetheless be relevant to physicists charged with keeping the world’s official time, which since 1967 has been based on a battery of around 250 highly accurate atomic clocks in 60 labs throughout the world. These labs report to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris, which sets the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).”

 

So, those of you who have been commenting on ‘time speeding up’ are scientifically correct. 

But back to “the temptation.”  It seems to me that the temptation is to spin off center.  To be caught up in the intensity of all of this emotion.  Surely Jesus wept!  I am DEFINITELY NOT saying not to be emotionally involved since it is The Lord Who gave us compassion and emotions.  But the same Lord gave us balance and COMMANDED us to follow HIM.  I can’t follow Him very well if my eyes are elsewhere, even on the waves that are about to encompass me.

With this thought in mind, I found myself laughing about this on the train today.

The Jerusalem bus drivers are notorious for using passengers like bowling balls. You know: look in your mirror and there they are!  Passengers!  Lined up for a perfect STRIKE! Step on the brakes and swerve quickly, how many can be knocked over at once?

  Yes, I am exaggerating for humor’s sake, but it really feels as if we are bowling balls sometimes.  Today the train played a similar trick.  Usually the drivers brake slowly but perhaps the brakes were sticky today and WHAM!  Every time there was occasion to brake, we all went flying.   Keeping babies, packages and old people balanced was a challenge.

Physically, I lose my balance more easily these days, and I DON’T want to lose SPIRITUAL balance, too.

“Occupy till I come.” 

The Lord admonished us in the parable in Luke 19.

In John 15-17 and SO many other places He tells us that we are IN the world but not OF the world, and that was spoken in Israel, to Israelis first. So, HOW AM I TO WALK in the streets of Jerusalem when my own personal world is turning upside down? Experiencing an axis-tipping tsunami and my country at the same time is actively fighting wars on each border. Plus, NASTY FILTHY elections taking place AGAIN. I see the streets filthy and people worn with fatigue and cares of this world…

 “Occupy till I come.”

It’s that old Israeli army saying again about standing on your spot and guarding that ONE SPOT assigned to you: h’a’zek b’ma’amad. Hold on!  Stand your ground! Hold on to The Lord AND hold on to the vision. This is what He wants me to do at any given moment.

You are probably rolling your eyes and saying, “Well, duh!  OF COURSE!”

But it hasn’t been that easy, and yet I see that it really IS what He is calling me to do.  He keeps telling me to “Walk past the graves…even as HE DID!’  He walked right OUT of them.  His eyes were on His Father and HE AROSE TO GIVE US ETERNAL SALVATION WITH VICTORY.

Keep my eyes on Him when people look at me and ask me about what we believe or reject me and get angry for the same.  Keep my eyes on Him when my boss has a heart attack. The 21 years of work may just be over NOW, BUT I have committed my care and feeding to Him and that is settled.  My eyes on HIM.

To keep my eyes on Him when the tiny remote village so key in my family history just might fade into the past before my eyes. MY EYES ON HIM.  When the bank tells me that if I don’t make an appointment via an “app.” (Sorry guys, but I’m in technological rebellion perhaps.)

I can not cash my paycheck (deposited by law) or do any other banking business. The world is changing SO QUICKLY and yet He is giving me NO SLACK to fret or become indignant or to go anywhere for help but to HIM.

The changes aren’t letting me catch my breath. And here is a good one … make that two:

One thing that I have lacked for so long has been a steady prayer partner.  I am all for closet prayer and enjoy it daily, but I have been unable to get out at night when our prayer meetings take place aside from on Friday morning. Then I am there for such a short time.  The Lord has brought a DEAR close friend to stay with us for awhile and we have been able to pray DAILY together.  It made me realize how I was starved for a prayer partner, true fellowship before the throne.  THANK  YOU LORD!

 Thank you for praying for my trip to England and my time of sharing my testimony with my family.

My 15 year old Grandson, our oldest Grandchild, had been to a Bible camp in California while they lived there. This year, he chose to go back to the camp. This time, he gave his heart to The Lord. I have received a few messages from him and of course am praying for him to be ROOTED, GROUNDED, FRUIT BEARING, SUBMITTING TO GOD AND RESISTING THE DEVIL, LOVING THE WORD AND RIGHTLY DIVIDING IT AS THE WORD OF TRUTH AND NOT BEING DECEIVED OR TURNED ASIDE.  I believe, that HE Who has begun a good work in Noah, will perform it until that last day.  And even in THIS I must keep my balance.

Thank you for your prayers for me, my family,  and for this country, which IS  central in the Heart of God and pivotal in the last days, as from the beginning. May The Lord be blessed and Alone may He be glorified and adored.  May you be encouraged and blessed.

Lovingly,

Your sister J

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July 18, 2019 · 3:16 am

Prayers for American Church System (7/18/2019)

Christ Church Stellarton

Photograph of Christ Anglican Church, Stellarton, NS. Taken the morning of October 28, 2005

We can learn much about the Kingdom of God and also the Church by looking at God’s first kingdom venture on earth (after the fall): Israel.

God’s desire for Israel was that the nation would have no king and no standing army. God would be the Israelites’ King and their defense. Israel was divided up into twelve parcels, one for each tribe. The leaders for each tribe would be elders, heads of families and families. Israel was set up to be a loosely governed confederation of tribes and families, unlike any other nation at the time.

In approximately 1043 BC, the elders came to Samuel the prophet and said, “Samuel, you are old. Now make for us a king to rule over us like all of the other nations.”

Samuel felt bad, but God told him, “Listen to the people. They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should no longer reign over them.”

God warned Israel, telling them all that the kings would do to abuse their authority over Israel. Yet, the people of Israel still said, “We want a king so we are like the other nations.”

From 1043 BC with King Saul until the fall of Jerusalem under King Zedekiah in 586 BC, Israel and Judah had a government headed by a king. They were like the other nations with a hierarchal governmental system. It was a total failure.

Why?

God said it would fail and it did.

Okay, now let’s look at the American Church system.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Thousands of American believers are praying for revival, which they hope will bring a move of the Spirit to America’s churches and change our nation. Hey, if it happens, I will join my brothers and sisters in celebration.

But…I don’t believe it will happen.

Most of America’s churches resemble Israel with a hierarchal government reigning over them. The New Testament name – pastor – sounds better than king, but make no doubt about it, the American pastor is generally an overlord in charge of the membership. He’s the CEO! This type of church system has been in place since Martin Luther reformed the church in 1517. Five hundred years!

Now, many will say that God has often revived the Church in times past. And yes, He has, but He also sent some good kings to Israel and Judah until He didn’t send them anymore. Maybe the American church system is in the same season that Israel was when its hierarchal government failed.

So don’t stay with the same-o same-o attitude about traditional churches just because God has not reformed the wineskin in times past. Seek the Lord.

I believe God will totally reform the church, preparing it for the End Times.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us American believers not to be conformed to this age and its traditions, but to be transformed and changed by the entire renewal of our minds and attitudes so that we may know what is Your good and perfect will for Your Church. (Based on Romans 12:2)

Join with me to fast and pray for America’s churches.

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June 6, 2019 · 3:06 am

Prayers for Senior Citizens (6/6/2019)

 

One of the greatest geezer preachers of all time was Smith Wigglesworth (1859-1947).

Wigglesworth was born in 1859 in Yorkshire, England. His parents were so poor that Smith had to miss school as a child and work to help support his family. Even so he became born again when he was eight years old. Later, he became an apprentice and then a plumber.

He married his wife Polly in 1882. She taught him how to read and encouraged him to preach, but he was tongue-tied and couldn’t speak in front of crowds. So, his wife was the anointed preacher until her death in 1913.

When Polly died, he was so grief-stricken that he commanded death to leave her. She came back to life, opened her eyes and said, “Smith, the Lord wants me. It’s your season now.”

Smith looked into her eyes. “If the Lord wants you, I will not hold you,” he replied.

The day after the funeral, Smith Wigglesworth threw himself on his wife’s grave and wept. The Holy Spirit spoke: “Smith, get up. It’s time for you to travel the world and preach the gospel.”

Then, an argument followed between the Holy Spirit and Wigglesworth. He refused to get off the grave because he was too heart-broken and didn’t want to minister without his wife.

Finally, Wigglesworth said, “Lord, I’ll get up and go to the world, if You’ll give me her anointing, too.”

That day, Smith Wigglesworth, fifty-four years of age, began his ministry to the world and continued until he died at eighty-eight years of age.

Because of Wigglesworth’s lack of schooling, he normally spoke with a working-class cockney accent, hard to understand. But when he preached and ministered, he talked like an Oxford professor. Perfect English.

There has never been a man like Smith Wigglesworth. As many as nineteen people (some say only twelve) were raised from the dead through his ministry. Tens of thousands were healed and saved in his meetings.

And he did all this while he was a senior citizen.

What’s our excuse, right?

My prayer today:

Lord, Your word states that You do not show favoritism toward one person over another. So, I ask You to move on the senior citizens here in American and raise up dozens of people who will walk in the same anointing that You gave to Smith Wigglesworth. (Based on Acts 10:34)

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for Christian Senior Citizens in America.

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June 5, 2019 · 10:53 am

Will We End Up Being A Part of the Great Falling Away? (Part 2)

In His second year of ministry, Jesus taught His most important parable – the Parable of the Sower – to the multitudes. Afterward, when they were alone, His twelve disciples asked Him the meaning of the parable.

Jesus explained to them the various soils in the parable, especially the third one:

Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)

Now, by this time, Judas Iscariot was the treasurer of the group and was siphoning off funds for his own use. He was a thief!

Since all of the twelve disciples inquired about the parable, what was going through Judas’ mind when he heard Jesus explain about the deceitfulness of riches?

Or maybe Judas’ heart was so filled with trampled down, footpath soil that Satan was able to easily remove all of Jesus’ words about this parable? 

As we all know, Judas eventually went to the chief priests and negotiated a sum of thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

Let’s be honest, okay?

None of us think we would ever be guilty of falling away from the faith. Why – we attend church, have Bible apps on our phones, listen to all of the latest worship songs – so this can’t possibly refer to any of us, right?

But remember this: Judas traveled with Jesus for three years, fellowshipped with Him, saw His miracles and heard His words, yet Judas was never delivered from the deceitfulness of riches.

Paul’s prophecy about the great falling away will be fulfilled by some of us. It’s going to happen! Even though I have walked with the Lord for 34 years, I don’t lightly skip over the prophecy. I have a reverent fear of the Lord about it.

So, what can we do to prepare ourselves ahead of time?

(Continued in Part 3…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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June 3, 2019 · 6:46 am

Hey Senior Citizens! The American Church Needs New Leaders, Why Not You? (Part 3)

 

When I turned fifty years of age, I wrote down as many of the dreams and prophecies for my life as I could remember. Then, I wrote down how many of them had been fulfilled up to that date. This part only took seconds because none of them had been fulfilled.

At seventy-three years of age, I could do the same thing today. The only difference is that I would be able to check off one from my list: marriage to a godly woman. That’s it! All of the rest have not been fulfilled as yet.

Oh dear, right?

At this moment, I work as a delivery driver for Panera Bread in Tempe, Arizona, which is about as far from my dreams and prophetic words for my life as possible. So, why would I invest my small amount of remaining time in a job like this?

On April 6, I met a prophetic friend for breakfast in Chandler, Arizona. We enjoyed fellowshipping with each other for a couple of hours. During this time, he said to me, “I see you delivering products mainly to businesses. Seek the Lord about this.”

I sought the Lord and ended up delivering Panera menu items mainly to workers at businesses and schools.

Am I any closer to fulfilling the callings on my life?

Of course, I am.

You see, I can’t fulfill any of the promises for my life apart from the Lord’s help. It’s futile to even attempt to do so. Thus, if the Lord wants me to deliver Panera products, I’m all-in!

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

If you’re a senior citizen and you’re seeking the Lord on unfulfilled prophetic promises for your life, don’t give up. He who called you is faithful. You can trust Him to do what He said He would do in your life. Be all-in!

(Continued in Part 4…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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