“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and that hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”  Malachi 4:5-6

When I read old testament passages like this there is nothing within me that disputes this is with regard to the second coming of Jesus.  Additionally it also makes obvious the mistakes that Jewish believers have made in interpretation of the signs.  They heard this and believed that since Elijah must come before the great day of the Lord that when John the Baptist said he was not Elijah they mistakenly believed that Jesus could not be King.  They unfortunately did not correctly interpret prophets like Isaiah who spoke of the suffering savior who must absorb beatings for our iniquity.  They were unfortunately naive to the scripture identifying two separate “comings” of the messiah.  I mourn for them in their misunderstanding that the savior came and died so that we might be free and will come again to exercise judgment and to collect the faithful.

Faith in the son of God is all that it takes to escape the great day of the Lord of which so many of the prophets foretell.  Missing the entire purpose of the Son of God coming to the earth to rid the world of the sins of mankind invalidates nearly all of the importance of the Gospel message.  Without his sacrifice there is no salvation, without his resurrection there is no escape of death and no access to Glory’s Gate and without the Holy Spirit to seal each believer there is no delivery from God’s mounting wrath.  What great things He has done, but they are all just miracles and intrigue without understanding of the Plan of Grace designed to redeem us and create a new relationship with God free from the stain of original sin.  The angels see the plan and are awestricken.  The Jews don’t see the plan and for this they continue to suffer under the hand of the wicked.  But oh what a glorious God that He shall not forget or withdraw the promises that He gave to their Fathers.  The Jewish people have always been and will continue to be blessed by Almighty God for His Good Pleasure.  Woah to those who plan or execute against them for they shall meet God forthwith.

I do not know the identity of the two faithful witnesses who will come before the Great Day of the Lord our God.  I do think that it is curious that Moses and Elijah are both mentioned in the last two paragraphs of the end of the Old Testament.  Could they perhaps be the witnesses sent to declare the Gospel to a Jewish Nation?  No one knows and do not let them tell you that they do.  This I do know, the stage has been fully set and the actors are either in the wings or taking their positions.  I do not know when the Lord will come or when He plans to enact judgment, but I do know that He said that He would come and on that promise I reside earnestly waiting with my gaze heavenward for the coming of our Lord Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Amen.

He made it for us to live out to His Glory.  God breathed life into dirt and called him man.  A simple thing yet more complex than all the science, known or unknown, in the universe.  And in this man God imparted spirit and likeness, goodness, kindness, mercy and love.  Making man a custodian of creation, having grand responsibility for growth, life and charm.  God, loving this man so much, custom designed a helper from one of the man’s ribs, someone who was part of him yet had the power to rescue him from his simplicity.  Ever wonder how someone in paradise, perfectly paired, carrying on direct conversations with God could be susceptible to discontent?

Our dependence cannot be upon self or we open ourselves up the same “Garden” susceptibility.  Our free will is a gift that does not shield us from the opportunity to make disastrous choices.  We may either exercise that gift in pursuit of God and all that is holy or we may choose the things of self and man’s manufactured reality.  God permits this out of a love I still cannot fathom.  What is more He tells us in advance exactly the cost of such decision.

I do not wish to leave the Garden, I would be happy tending creation.  I do not wish to be God or rise above my perceived “station”.  Happiness in my simplicity.  That is not to say that I do not see the machinations within my own spirit yearning to express their independence.  I just choose to find shelter in God and be protected from those disastrous choices that men call “freedom”.  There is no freedom away from God only slavery to thought, lust and hunger for more.

I am happy serving God.  To many this also appears a depth to far to measure.  My freedom is perfectly exercised within the shelter of God’s sovereignty and dominion.  This is a statement that rocks reality, for they perceive surrender to God as loss of personal liberty.  The opposite is truth.  God withholds no good thing from those who walk with Him in righteousness.  It is easy to make good choices when all choices lead to goodness and righteous deed.

We have been framed by this world and its false sense of emancipation.  My lust for more will never fulfill my spirit.  Thankfully, God has provided a door, a single door, set in place to provide transliteration to a new dimension free from the mistakes and temptations which man entered by leaving God’s protection.  This door, this path, this shepherd is in the person of the Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave His life to buy back our vended future.  Again, this is the day and what lay before us another free will choice.  He lays before us this choice, out of complete love, allowing us to decide between freedom and life under the shelter of Almighty God or slavery and suffering under the fool’s gold of humanity and darkness.  Choose well, choose life and freedom.  Choose Jesus Christ the King.  Amen.

Oh wretched man as I look up to the Cross and see the pain I’ve caused Him as He shouldered my wickedness.  Something broke inside of me, cracked, irreparable by worldly surgery.  Then I was forced to look again and realized My God was no longer there, on that tree, that statue raised in remembrance of His sacrifice, His Kingship, Glory and Love.  He had born the sins of the world and taken back our future, purchasing us with His cleansing blood.  You see it is the blood that we cannot withstand, for it represents the gift of life to us and to those who cannot see it is foolishness.

My God is not there on that cross, He has gone home to prepare a place for us so that we may be with Him throughout eternity.  And while we wait we see the brutal misgivings of a world that will not accept the gift of His grace.  A world that refuses purification through repentance, belief and faith.  He is seated bearing witness to the Father, silencing the accuser about those for whom He made an impossible sacrifice.  My name has come up in that Holy place.  To think that I am known to the Maker of this and every universe shatters whatever resolve remained.  I am no longer broken, I have been made anew, built of the stuff that only gets better with age.  He is waiting up there until we are ready and have fulfilled our responsibility so that no one is left without the opportunity to hear and accept the truth.  For that is How much He loves all of us.

On the cross He paid the price, now He waits for all to come to Him.  These gifts are beyond my comprehension.  Creation, abundance, life, sacrifice and the greatest for me to understand, patience.  He waits so that eyes may be opened and hearts made free and alive.  Lord let me love them and have patience for them as You have.  Give me a vision of Your Love for us that would cause You to go to such lengths to preserve each and every one of us.  Let the healing You have done in me give me compassion and understanding for all the other broken souls I encounter on my march to that faithful day.  That faithful day when I get to fall at Your feet and tell You how much I love You.  Glory to You.  King Jesus.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/prophecy-scholar-america-at-crossroads/ At the least this requires a short read and a long thought.

How can I help Father?  What particular situation is custom designed for my testimony, my talents, my hand as it is directed by your Spirit?  Is there something that I do particularly well, that I have always been gifted through Spirit to be specifically effective in its accomplishment?  Or am I to guided to a circumstance where you will ask me to take a leap of faith to demonstrate my willingness to serve when it costs the totality of self?  I see that it is less about knowing your will then being watchful and ready to act when your plan confronts me.  Teach me to have greater discernment about your prompting.

What then shall I do in the meantime Father?  Shall I mark time marching in place wearing a path or rut beneath my feet as I wait to be deployed for action?  Shall I ponder my worth until the enemy sponsors thoughts of inadequacy leading to darkness, self-loathing and depression?  Are there actions that I may take now that would put me in a place of preparedness, readiness and position to be especially useful at a time of calling?  I see that there are always people to be fed, loved, clothed, sheltered, taught and encouraged, even when it is not the time of my greatest testing, I must remember that I am not the only saint intertwined with your Will.  Perhaps there is one person I may meet today who has either never heard of Jesus, needs a deeper understanding or is ready to make a decision for eternity.  Teach me to see that one person who may need a kind word.

Why then do we wait so long Father?  Is it so that this travesty may play itself out, consuming, losing its energy through entropy until the entire mechanism teeters to standstill?  Why does evil prevail, and how can deception have so much authority over the minds of men that they are willing to kill and die for foolishness?  How can so many defy reason to torture others in the name of some political or urban campaign?  What hope is there in such faith place in evolution and the survival of the fittest?  I see now that this is the perfect environment for people to realize that the only hope in this world is Jesus.  We have been chosen to lead them to the truth by showing them the light of the world through our own eyes, hearts, love and testimony for You Father.  Teach me shine your light in dark places.

When I begin my critique of our current representatives there is so much valid  information regarding their shortcomings that it is easy for me to justify offering them poor regard.  Then the lump in my throat fights back my words of reprimand as I recall who and how I have represented the Lord as ambassador.  I have no ground upon which to stand and chastise others for their poor service to citizen, flag, country or queen as I have repeatedly failed in a far more important duty to Christ.

Perhaps, my security may be found in statements or justifications that we have both failed therefore it is within my burden that I also point our the frailty of others.  Nope, that doesn’t fly, because the beam in my own eye still remains as I inspect the splinter or fleck in that of my Brother.  Momentarily I perceive freedom from my mental burden and shame as I see the good intent of my own heart, feeling that somehow what makes our leaders wrong is because they are filled with malcontent.  Then of course my remorse increases as I remember that it is not my place to judge the motivations of men but to love them.  And in this instance I must paste myself delinquent in telling them of coming judgment and how to find solace in the Lord.

Is there an excuse which may relieve me of this personally ascribed burden of sin matching?  Unfortunately there is, in that same forgiveness offered to all of mankind, called “grace”.  I myself may avail myself of grace, especially now that I have believed and placed my faith in Christ Jesus.  But I must face facts, whatever I do whether for self or through salvation are both in the Lord’s hands for neither may I rebuke myself for inaction or poor action nor may I reward myself for bringing glory to God through works, word and deed.  It is for Him alone to judge this world and all that is in it, including moi.  Though I think I will give my representatives a bit of a break now that I have seen my own wretched hypocrisy.  The Lord told me to love them and tell them the Gospel truth, beyond that it just isn’t in my area of authority or responsibility.  The burden of working out my own salvation with fear and trembling is more than enough for me.

Praise God in all His Glory, declaring the Mighty Name of Jesus.