The Time is Near - March 7, 2014

Scripture: Revelations 1-6

3 Blessed are the reader and hearers of the words of this prophecy, provided they obey the things written in it! For the time is near! - Rev 1
26 To him who wins the victory and does what I want until the goal is reached, I will give him authority over the nations; 27 he will rule them with a staff of iron and dash them to pieces like pottery, 28 just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. 29 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’ - Rev 2

8 “I know what you are doing. Look, I have put in front of you an open door, and no one can shut it. I know that you have but little power, yet you have obeyed my message and have not disowned me.
9 Here, I will give you some from the synagogue of the Adversary, those who call themselves Jews but aren’t — on the contrary, they are lying — see, I will cause them to come and prostrate themselves at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 10 Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test. 11 I am coming soon; hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 

12 I will make him who wins the victory a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he will never leave it. - Rev 3

Message:
For the time is near and GOD is coming!

Observation/Promise:

We are here on earth for a purpose. We have a purpose and destiny ordained by GOD, are we serving and living that purpose? Our time on earth thought it seems many, will soon pass away, and afterwards we will be judged according to our works. The Lord is coming soon, what are we doing with our lives? Have we lived for Him or only for ourselves? The Bible writes everything GOD has instructed us to do while we are on earth, did we obey, did we even listen or read words of His truth? What we have now is temporary. What we do in the temporary will determine what we will do in the eternal. If we are living for GOD, He will crown us and many rewards await us. 

Command/Application:

Read the Word of GOD, listen to His voice, Obey His will. GOD has created us for a purpose and we need to do and follow what HE has created us for. When HE comes will He find us faithful? Let us hold on to what we have, stay faithful in GOD let no one take away our faith and the promises that GOD has for us. 

The Right Time

5 5 Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens
or speak with such arrogance.’”
6 For no one on earth—from east or west,
or even from the wilderness— should raise a defiant fist.

7 It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall.9 But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 For God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked,
but I will increase the power of the godly.”

- Psalm 75

It is easy to be angry and get back at the people who have wronged us or hurt us. We decide what we should do to pay back our enemies for what they've done but it is not right to take vengeance into our own hands or raise our fist in defiance to anyone. Just because we think we have power to hurt the ones who hurt us does not mean we should do so because there is a JUDGE and HE is ever present, ever living, ever seeing and HE alone can rightfully take matters into His own Hands. No one on earth should raise a defiant fist - this is what Psalm says. Anyone who does so is proud and is also bound to be judged by GOD.

Taking vengeance on our own behalf only shows that we do not respect that there is a GOD who sees everything and that HE is a great Judge who will never fail to do His part. HE will judge and HE is judging us even now. If you belong to GOD, then HIS ways to you as His child is different, HE disciplines those HE loves. But to those that do not belong to HIM, HE pronounces judgement. As a child of GOD, if you feel like you are oppressed under a mighty power and you cannot break through even when you are crying out to GOD wondering why He hasn't done anything. Well, He hasn't done anything just yet but rest assured that He is not sleeping nor is HE powerless to do what HE is. He is waiting for the right time because He is not only doing something to rescue you, HE is also doing something in your character. So do not lose heart, keep your faith in HIM, and remember what HE has done, because GOD will break the strength of the wicked at just the right time. 

Hard Hearted

19 “Listen, you remnant of Judah. The Lord has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today. 20 For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’

- Jeremiah 42

1 When Jeremiah had finished giving this message from the Lord their God to all the people, 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other proud men said to Jeremiah, “You lie! The Lord our God hasn’t forbidden us to go to Egypt! 3 Baruch son of Neriah has convinced you to say this, because he wants us to stay here and be killed by the Babylonians or be carried off into exile.”

4 So Johanan and the other guerrilla leaders and all the people refused to obey the Lord’s command to stay in Judah.

- Jeremiah 43

Is there something that GOD is telling you not to do, so clearly you know deep down in your heart that you are not supposed to do it. But then your will is really strong within you to do what is opposite from that which GOD wants. You will know when it is not right because there will be no peace within you. But it is so strange how strong human will is. What made the Israelites disobey GOD? It is only logical to think that we need to run away from our enemies. Yet GOD is telling them to submit to them. This is very difficult to do because they fear that their enemies will surely end their lives. But GOD told them a very wild thing that surely most of them think it would be suicide to submit to their enemy the Babylonians, but this is exactly what GOD is telling them to do. 

There's only two responses to this: Trust GOD or Trust their instinct. Sadly they trusted their own reasoning and instincts that they went their way to Egypt, where GOD told them not to go. What made them hard headed and stubborn? GOD had told them no, yet they go their way anyway. What had caused them to be calloused in their hearts? Before the threats, they have already been disobeying GOD by burning incense to their idols. This was the beginning of their rebellion. But in GOD's mercy, He still warned them for the last time to not do what they are thinking in their hearts to do. Maybe GOD was hoping that they would somehow change their minds. A lot of them may have been afraid of GOD's warning but their hearts are already bound to the gods of Egypt that they chose to go the place where all the idolatry had begun. Hard heartedness does not happen overnight. Hearts are hardened by the little things we do everyday that hurt GOD. Check your heart. Do not be like the remnants of Judah. Which god do you spend most of your time with? It doesn't have to be a literal idol, it can be a hobby, work, a dream or a person. For what we devote most of our time to everyday is what our heart secretly worships.

Prayer and Fasting

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:“Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spiritcried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

- Mark 9

When we ask things from GOD, we have to believe they will happen so that we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. There are also prayers by which when we pray, instead of receiving what we ask for, our hearts are changed to accept and embrace whatever is happening. There are 3 ways GOD answers prayers: A Yes, A No and A Wait. So when we pray, we have to make sure in the first place that our prayers are aligned with GOD's will because when it is, our prayers will be answered for certain. When we know that our prayers are in alignment to His will, we should persistently pray for that one thing we believe will happen until we receive it.

When we pray and knock on heaven's doors with all our might but when it feels like nothing is happening, we should come to GOD and ask, what do I need to do? The disciples in this story were doing what they know is in line with GOD's will: they were casting out evil from a boy who was deaf and mute. It is GOD's will that everyone will be free from any evil spirit but why couldn't they take that evil spirit out? Yeshua privately revealed later to his disciples that this "kind" could be done only through prayer and fasting. When we ask things from GOD, some things really need time for more prayer and the harder things need to be fasted on so that when we pray we move the heart of GOD to answer our pleading. GOD will do His part if we do our part as well. 

Time Spent Wisely

4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
6 We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.
7 And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.

- Psalm 39

It is wise to ask GOD for wisdom like King Solomon did. His request pleased GOD so much that the LORD not only gave him what he asked for - wisdom, but also gave to him, fame, riches and health. But King David in this verse asked for a very important thing too. To know how short his time is, so that he can make the most of his time on earth which the LORD has given him. Yes it may seem that we have all the time in this world, but we can actually waste our time with unnecessary things if we do not make use of it wisely. We can never know what we are supposed to do each day unless we inquire of GOD and acknowledge Him.

We can also spend our days working hard to get money, when in fact, GOD has already provided these things for us because His love and faithfulness is unchanging. We may not understand that the time we spend on working might not be the best time on Saturdays because it is best to spend time with your young children on Saturdays while they are young. And you will never know these things until one day, you may have all the wealth and money in this world, but you don't have anyone to share it with. Not even your children are there because they've grown up so fast and now are living their lives. Don't wait until it's too late, ask the LORD what to do with your time, even with your gifts and hope in Him alone. But it is constant that time spent with GOD in His word, in His presence, is time spent wisely.

Make Time

“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.
But they follow their own evil paths
and their own crooked schemes.
3 All day long they insult me to my face
by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
They burn incense on pagan altars.

- Isaiah 65

GOD is always there, watching our every move, hearing every word we have spoken and listening to the thoughts of our hearts. HE is awaiting our call to Him, when will we utter His name in our hearts? When we are in trouble, GOD is ever present to help, but is He the first one we think of when we need someone? Many times we do things our own way, thinking we can depend on ourselves to get out of trouble, we have to find our own way because we need to be able to take care of ourselves. But don't you know that GOD takes care of us better than we can look after ourselves and even our children?

Do not forget the LORD and all He is. But the only way to remember Him is to allocate time every day with Him, to read His word and reflect on what He has done. We forget GOD when we live our lives casually as if it everything that will happen in our lives is dependent on us and our actions. But GOD does greater things far more than you can imagine, He was the One who created you. All day long GOD waits for you, because His time is infinite and His love is unfailing. All day long, what are you doing? Is there any time of the day you can give to Him? Make time because it takes time to grow in the faith and knowledge of GOD. It takes time for finite humans like us to understand and love a most wonderful GOD that He is.

Working Out

37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.
- Genesis 41

For 13 years, Joseph was in prison for something he did not do. It would have been so bitter to be in prison when you were accused falsely. But Joseph's character developed in prison making him a more humble man. GOD has appointed time for each one of us and we seem to be stuck where we don't want to be, and this is exactly what happened to Joseph. We didn't chose to be where we are but here we are! But when the time came for GOD to take Joseph out in prison, GOD did it in a snap and not only that, the LORD gave Jospeh favor in Pharoah's eyes and made him the second in command of Pharoah in the entire land of Egypt. Who would have done such a great and mighty thing except GOD?

Do you feel like you are stuck where you are for a long time already? Does it seem like you can't get out of where you are? Look to GOD and have hope, because GOD will never leave you to rot anywhere in this world. He is faithful to Joseph who was stuck in prison for 13 years, He will be faithful to you even when you don't see it GOD is always moving behind everything, making everything work out according to HIS purpose and will. One day after GOD's work in you is done in a certain place, HE will take you to a better place for in GOD we can only be in from glory to glory. 

Time to Act

12 Upon being told what Ester had said, Mordekhai 13 asked them to give Ester this answer: “Don’t suppose that merely because you happen to be in the royal palace you will escape any more than the other Jews. 14 For if you fail to speak up now, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from a different direction; but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows whether you didn’t come into your royal position precisely for such a time as this.”

Esther 4:12-14

There is a time for everything. But it seems too long when the time we have now is to wait. Waiting on GOD is needed to be learned by every follower of Yeshua to develop a character of trust and perseverance. The days Esther was Queen in Susa were filled with much redunduncy and ordinary. But there was a time in her rulership where she was called to act with all her might, challenging her faith, testing her position as queen and that time really required much of her risking her life for the salvation of her people the jews in the land of Persia where they were set to be slaugtered at a certain day. She was not just called by GOD to act in behalf of her people, she didn't receive a vision or hear GOD's voice. She received bad news from her Uncle who had raised her since her parents had died. It was Mordecai who challenged her to do something, and his words did put pressure on her to decide to act at a distressful time in a jewish person's life. 

Mordecai has been a good father to Esther and even during this time that he seemed to pressure her to do something, he was still being a responsible father challenging her to do what is right, given the power and position she had in the Kingdom. Mordecai was also a dedicated jew who was concerned for his fellow jewish people. But not every man has the conviction to do what is right, to the point of even putting his own family at stake. He was a man who feared GOD and his laws and understood the burden that GOD has placed in his life as an intercessor and catalyst for the salvation of the entire jews residing in Persia. It was a difficult time, for both Mordecai and Esther, but in the end they were favored and used by GOD mightily for such a time in their lives because they acted when they responded to the convictions of GOD. Are you supposed to be doing something now that you have not done? Do you know what you are supposed to do in this season of your life in the first place? Seek GOD and find out, do not waste your time doing something you think is right, when GOD wants you to do something else. Seek out and know GOD's leading in your life, recognize His leading and respond when it is time to act

Take the time

As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. 2 Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.
- Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

11 The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?
- Ecclesiastes 6:11

The house of GOD doesn't necessarily mean the church or a certain place where GOD is. For GOD is omni present meaning HE is everywhere. Entering His house is entering His presence. When you are in His presence, your focus is on the Most High Being. You enter His presence when you are aware of Him that He is there. Many of us live life without blinking, we do this and that and go through our everyday routine. Without a pause, we like the fast paced life because sometimes we are just scared to stop and think. But King Solomon's advice to enter GOD's presence is a wise thing. Everyday, not just on certain rest days where we go to church or synagogue, we enter into GOD's house. We enter when we begin to think about Him and focus all our attention on a Great GOD. We usually come to him with many words through prayers. But Solomon says to be silent when we enter and to just take the time to be still. Be still, GOD has a lot more to say to you than you have to Him. It is better to listen than to speak. 

Take the time to quiet your heart, enter into GOD's presence remembering that GOD is constantly the same. HIS love is permanent and always there waiting for you. When we have so many concerns and worries, most of the time we come to GOD with a lot of requests and petitions. When the right thing to do is to be still and listen to GOD's voice because before you know it, GOD wants to instruct you what to do with your situation so that everything will be well for you. One of GOD's greatest gift to mankind is the gift of peace that cannot be attained by any wealth or stability we may acquire. GOD's gift of peace is available when we take the time to be still and know that HE is GOD. We have to remember HIS greatness and sovereignity in order for us to get into HIS presence and understand that HE is in control and HE allows things to happen even the bad ones. We have to see through GOD's perspective and we cannot be able to see through HIS eyes when we do not climb up from where we are to where HE is. GOD's perspective is higher than what we can ever know or understand. HIS perspective is the very beginning until the very end. Our minds cannot fanthom even a the slightest plan when we do not understand HIS character. HE reveals Himself through the stories of the Bible. We have to know HIM because HE is a person that wants to be known. Yes, we still have all those problems or worries that bother us from day to day but GOD has the answers, so take the time to enter into HIS presence and dwell in under the shelter of His love where you will find peace. Take the time to be with GOD, just be aware that HE is there and take the time... 

Time

22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. 23 At the command of the Lordthey remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

- Numbers 9

Most of us value our time and we want to do as much as we can for the time that GOD has given to us here on earth. But GOD's time is mostly not the same with our own. We have plans and we want those plans exectued as we had thought it should be but there are just times that things do not go the way we have planned. Most of the time, things do get out of hand, the unexpected happen and we need to change what we have been used to doing. GOD usually leads us to a time of waiting. A time of waiting can be a painful thing, whether we are waiting for answers or waiting for the next move that GOD wants us to make, waiting is never an easy task. A lot of us would rather have it the quick and easy way. But GOD's time is never late or never too early. His time is always perfect. 

The cloud that the Israelites followed was actually GOD's hand leading them where to go. They would stay in one place for a short time, and some places they stayed longer. It is hard when we are used to the routine of our lives and suddenly we need to change all that we are used to because of something that has happened in our lives or when GOD tells us to pick up our bags and move along. But if we trust the GOD of righteousness, we would not complain or grow tired of ever following Him till the day of HIS return. For it is in following Him that we can truly live a life of fulfillment, it is in trusting that we learn to persevere to go through the tough times that GOD allows in our lives. If you belong to GOD, and you know for sure that you are HIS child, then you can be confident that not a single moment of your life is ever a waste. Even when things do not go the way you have planned, you can be assured that it will be okay, all is well because GOD is Sovereign. He allow things that we may not want to happen but it is always for a good purpose. Proverbs 19:21 says "You can make many plans but the LORD's purpose will prevail." So the next time you plan, plan your best but you have to consider that GOD can always change and alter our plans. And when things go well you have to remember that it is the LORD that establishes your steps (Proverbs 16:9) You didn't make yourself successful, HE did! Daniel 4: 35 "All the people of the earth are nothing compared to Him. He does as He pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth." 

Whatever time you are in right now, be it a time of sowing, a time of waiting or a time of reaping great things, know this: your time is in GOD's hands, surrender and rest in it. 

- inspired by today's teaching by Johnny Khouri