Hopefully by now you have read "A Scripture for our Time?" part one. I did change the title, so don't let that throw you off, but if you didn't have a chance to read it, I hope you do. It really stresses the importance of ingraining God's word in such a way that we carry it with us 24 hours a day whether we have a Bible near us or not. It was a passage from the Word that got me really fired up to where I couldn't wait to write that last time, yet I never got around to it as my thoughts went in a different direction. Today I will finally have a chance to get to those specific verses and I will do so with great excitement.
First I want to extend a special greeting to those of you who are reading this blog from outside the United States. While I don't know your specific location, email or screen name, I can log on and see when someone from another country is here. Thank you! I want you to know that even though I don't know you, God does and I pray for you and your country often. You can see a little further down and on the right side of the post that I select a different country each week and ask everyone to pray for that country. If you get a chance, please let me know how well the language translation feature works for you. You can either email me, or send a private comment if you would like to do so.
Now finally to what has me so excited. Over the past 18 months or so there has been a lot of stirring going on with my spirit. People have often heard me say that there is a shaking going on in the earth AND there is a shaking going on in the Heavens at the same time, unlike any that this generation has experienced. I have had this sense that God has been trying to get us ready for a new saturation of His spirit. I believe He wants us to be better equipped and ready to bear witness of Him; to better minister to each other in the body of Christ. Not only that, but there are a lot of people in this world who are beginning to look for answers; who desperately are wondering what in the world is going on. It is up to the followers of Jesus to extend a hand of love and compassion like He did. Everyone sees that the earth is shaking. Devastating earthquakes which bring the threat of tsunamis have increased. Fires, tornadoes and food shortages are becoming more constant. People are scared of the next virus or flu epidemic, such as the bird and swine flues. Here in the states we experienced the oil spill and we have been feeling tremors and earthquakes in places where they were seldom if ever felt before. Now before you think that I am spilling gloom and doom all over the place, STOP that thought and stay with me.
I am not a gloom and doom guy. I am not that guy who will create panic by proclaiming, "The end is near! You better be ready because Christ is coming and the fires of judgment are upon us!"
I am so not that guy. There have been dozens of those guys for decades and I won't become one of them. I will say that I do strongly believe in my heart that we have finally reached the age to where we are seeing the BEGINNING pieces starting to fall into place that will usher in the fullness of the kingdom of God. Now....here finally is the passage of scripture that started a wild pounding in my heart. I know I had read this before, but this time it was like the first time and my spirit cried, "YES!!!!!!!"
First in the New King James from Hebrews 12:26-28:
; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." Now this, "Yet once more" indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.
And now in the New Living Translation:
.....now He makes another promise: "Once again I will shake not only the earth, but the heavens, also." This means that the things on earth will be shaken, so that only eternal things will be left. Since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe.
Now that is exactly what I believe God has been wanting me to help people understand for the last 18 months. And I'm not the only one. There are a growing number of Jesus disciples that are bearing witness that a great awakening is soon upon us and that the power of God will once again be seen like this generation has not seen. This isn't a time for gloom. This is a time to get ready for an explosive outpouring of God and this is why I am so excited. I live in the United States, so I can relate to what I see here, but I have to believe it's beginning to happen in other countries as well. Believers in many cities are beginning to awaken from a deep sleep and a false sense of security. There is a new passion for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, arising in ways that will make a good and positive impact on this nation and the world around us. This could be the finest hour for the church to awaken and present the glory of God and His kingdom like never before. The things of the kingdom remain. Unshakable; unbreakable. In this, people will not find gloom and despair, but HOPE, FAITH AND LOVE. God's grace and promises will taste as sweet, even sweeter than honey to those who experience for the first time Jesus as the Messiah. He gives peace in a way that the world never could understand. Oh how I love Zechariah 12:10 which begins, "and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication......." The excitement for our Jewish friends as one by one they experience Yeshua the Messiah. That scripture goes on to talk about the mourning that will follow because Jesus was rejected as the Messiah when He walked the earth, but oh the joy that will follow those of His chosen people, as the fullness of Christ is realized. For them God says He will, "bring that group through the fire and make them pure, just as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. Then they will call on My name and I will answer them. I will say, 'these are my people' and they will say 'the LORD is our God.'"(Zechariah 13:9)
Yes, I do believe that we are being set up to prepare for the return of the Lord. I don't believe, though, that we will see the physical return of Christ in the next one, two, or even several years. The year 2012, predicted by some to be the end, will come and go. You and I will bring in 2013 with a smile. You see, there is too much living yet to do; too much proclaiming the Gospel that needs to be done; too many people that are lost that need to be found; too many people that need to experience their first miracle; too many opportunities await us to lay hands on the sick and to meet the needs of the poor. It IS time, however, to get outside of the four walls of the church and begin to live the Gospel the way that Peter, Paul, James and John and especially Jesus intended.
This is the way to live, beginning first with understanding of "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him....."and then going to a new level in our faith by realizing that, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked." (Acts 10:38 and 1 John 2:6)
It's time to look in the mirror and see an ambassador of Christ looking back.
"YET ONCE MORE I SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO HEAVEN." (Hebrews 12:26)
Running the race with you,
Mark S.
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