learning...

“Behold the days of Elijah! Behold the days of the coming of the Son of Man! Let there be fire from heaven! Let judgment begin!” And just like that the Lord rebuked the sons of thunder...

Sometimes, I struggle with what to share and write down. I go through the events and weigh them according to my understanding. Often enough, if you are around me, you’ll get blitzed with different things that I’m seeing and coming to grasp with. When something is triggered and it lingers but isn’t quite complete, I’ll write it down on my white board. There it stays until it is matured, distilled, and refined. It has to be completed or proportionally ready to go before I write it down and share the lesson(s) or word.

For instance, when I wrote a series on faith, I had not completed the entire set of journal entries, but after the first several were finished and I was well along the path to completion, the initial entry was released. I do this as a measure of correction and guidance. I wait until it is ready to go. Often, most entries have lingered for a period of time and have gone through a few rewrites along the way. Then, in faith and prayer, the notes are shared.

Today, there is much chatter on the things of God and the things of man. What is right and what is wrong. What is true and what is false. Times have become murky for many people and that is not a good place to be. Paul said we see in part and know in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will disappear as fulfillment has come (I Corinthians 13: 9-12).

Yet, we still find many people lost and in disarray filled with doubt and confusion. Doubt is the enemy of faith. Jesus told us, the Spirit of Truth will lead us into all of His Truth (John 16: 13). So, we must find a way to lean on Him in troublesome times. We need the Spirit of Jesus, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth.

Faith is needed. Hope is needed. Love is needed. No matter what side of the fence I am on or you, know that what moves us is what is rooted in us. If anger is stirred, what set it off? Love or hatred? If actions are troublesome how do you respond? Are you understanding and correcting, or calling for heaven’s fire? If doubt is lingering, what scripture do you use to stir your faith?

Over the past decade, we have seen crowds arise and fall. We have seen the whole gambit of storming capitals to shredding the streets and businesses of people's livelihoods. We have seen love and hatred spill over on the news, in social media, at work, schools, and homes. We have seen families split apart because of ideology. We have seen much and what are we to believe?

In 1861, the United States had a great divide. It caused a split in the country, literally. You were on one side or the other, called the North or South. It was a lingering frustration that hadn’t been dealt with completely and it led to an uncoupling of the union for a while. Isaiah wrote of it in regards to Egypt’s land, but we can see what transpired in America was very much the same thing: “I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city (19: 2)...” Yes, the lot had been divided and a time of 2 presidents was at hand. An idol existed at the time, one called slavery. It was bitter and abusive, but it was what produced much of the commerce for the southern states. Cheap labor. Oppressive. Vile. Uncharitable.

A spirit of confusion entered and many were devastated, but God did not leave the country in disrepair. He brought back healing to the land and its people. Many erected monuments to display and tell of the battles they fought. To remember their fallen brothers, friends, and neighbors. At the 50th anniversary of Pickett’s charge in Gettysburg Pennsylvania, the men who were able to make it, reenacted the battle one last time. But instead of firing guns and cannons, fixing bayonets, and grappling each other, they tossed their weapons aside and embraced one another as brothers once again. Charity had returned.

The LORD had struck but He also healed (Isaiah 19: 22). America returned to the Lord and pursued a better path forward. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen and is still occurring. It is left to every generation to seek their path forward. Pulling and learning from the stories of yesterday, forging a future of a better tomorrow. Many lessons are to be learned and told from our histories, it’s one reason why we shouldn’t erase them from our presence. As I stated in a letter previously, “even the south had chaplains.”

The line in the sand.

Prophecies have become a part of the church culture. They have been received, rejected, and received again. Parts in parts. Limits on limits. Urgency upon urgency. Precept upon precept and line upon line (Isaiah 28: 13). It is what it is. To receive a word is up to you. It goes in part to your perspective and understanding. If you asked Forrest Gump what he thought of life, he would've told you it was like a box of chocolates.

Don’t be hasty in casting off Words of the Lord. If Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8), then He still speaks to us in similar fashions. Yes, we have Holy Spirit in all who have received Him and been received in Him. We all listen in part and are known in part as was written earlier. So don’t be quick to dismiss things because of the box of understanding that we have of God. He really is bigger than any box we come up with.

Ezekiel said the time was being hastened and the old proverb of “that ain’t happening here and now because we haven’t seen it yet” is over. God says it is coming to pass and it is coming to pass. Those days are done! The false words will be exposed, but the Words of the Lord are upon us (Ezekiel 12: 22-25). Let us continue to spend time with the Lord in song, prayer, listening and reading God’s Word. Revival is coming! Is it here?

Godspeed, The JourneyMan

Ps. Today’s entry is for learning and not canceling things. Let us start the new year with a verse from the 27th Psalm, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (14)!” May our faith state the same!

Psalm 27: 14 ESV “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”

Isaiah 19: 1-2 ESV “Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;”

Isaiah 19: 14-15 ESV “The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.”

Isaiah 19: 22 ESV “And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and the will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.”

Isaiah 28: 13 ESV “And the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”

Ezekiel 12: 22-24 ESV “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing?’ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.”

Ezekiel 12: 25 ESV “For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”

John 16: 13 ESV “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

I Corinthians 13: 9-12 ESV “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gaveup childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Hebrews 13: 8 ESV “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”