August 2011 - Blessings of Divine Guidance

I am always very interested in God’s time table and His timing. As I sit quietly and meditate on the major events that have been and are happening around the world, I would very much like to know the time we are in, and of course only God knows :).

[Matt. 24:1-35] provided a lot of the Signs of the End of the Ages, which we are witnessing them happening right now.

Whilst the Old Testament is the forerunner of the New Testament,

the Old Testament Feasts are symbolic of the New Testament events,

events after the birth of Jesus Christ.

The first 4 feasts have been fulfilled in the New Testament time. Believers are eagerly waiting for the trumpet call that signals the 2nd coming of the Lord in glory and power.

The question every believer is asking is - When will this happen?

Jesus’ 2nd coming will be a repeat of the Day of Noah. Noah became the father of Shem, Ham & Japheth after the age of 500 [Gen. 5:22] and the flood came when Noah turned 600. So the ark probably took Noah and his 3 sons a good 50 years to build. But during this time, people took no interest in what Noah was doing or simply ignored Noah’s warning of the flood.

Then God says in the verses following the Signs of the End of the Age in [Matt 24:36-39]:

“No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Today, people in the world are showing a lot of interest in eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, despite of the many Signs of the End of the Age - “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places”!

Here are a few scriptures to encourage all Christ followers to be alert and ready for Jesus’ 2nd coming as if He will return tomorrow:

[Rev 19:7] Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

[Rev 21:2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

[Eph 5:25-27] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

[1 Thess 5:1-6] Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety", destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

The Church of Jesus Christ – the Bride – should be alert

and ready for the 2nd coming of the Lord.

Besides the Bride (a lover of Jesus), there will be 2 other groups of believers at the wedding – the Bridesmaids and the Guests.

If you are a bridesmaid (a very good friend of Jesus),

make sure that your lamp is full of oil (the Holy Spirit)

and you are not sleeping (alert).

[Matt 25:1-5] "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

If you are a Guest of the Groom (an acquaintance of Jesus),

make sure you wear wedding clothes at the wedding (truly born again & walking with God).

[Matt 22:11-13] "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

The best way of staying alert and being ready is to practice the 3Ss:

1) Stay close to God through (understanding) His Word and (walking in) His Spirit and living in His presence (in prayers),

2) Strive for holiness, and.

3) Serve God

This is a good prayer to pray at this time – “Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth…..come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved….O LORD God Almighty…....Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. …..Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted…….Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” [Ps 80:1-7,14,15,19 NIV]

If anyone doubts the love of God, he or she should observe the faithfulness of God towards a rebellious people Israel. "'…This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel……..all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD…….I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him……..And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.' [Ezek 38:17-23 NIV]

We are living in a time of great deception. “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. [Col 2:8-15 NIV]

These are some of God’s promises who choose to walk in righteousness. “A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted……Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm……The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes……..An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble……..No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.” [Prov 12:3,5,7,10,12,13,21,26,28 NIV]

Amen and amen!