A warning of the times

I was seeking God today, and and he gave me this vision: it was of a tree by the river.  The tree itself still looked okay, but the leaves were all brown and withering – cruchy looking and falling to the ground.

Then I found Isaiah 1:30  “You’ll end up like an oak tree  with all its leaves falling off, like an unwatered garden, withered and brown.  The strongest among you will disappear like straw their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire. They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire.”

When I asked God what this all means, I felt Him say “the end is coming. Tell the church to be ready”.

Turn to God now.  Prepare yourself while you still have a choice to trust in God.  Get rid of all your “plan B’s” and learn to trust in the Lord, for a time is coming where these things will happen and if you are not prepared (good foundations and absolute trust in the Lord), your house may fall.

If someone steals your coat…

Luke 6:29: “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

I often battled with this verse, given my discovery that I had been controlled by many things most of my life (angry people, what other people expect me to be or do etc) – how then can I be expected to give my coat to someone who is controlling me and manipulating me?  How does this help me be free of the things that are holding me down?  It would surely just lead to a downward spiral if I let people walk all over me and gave them everything whenever they sinned against me!

But then God showed me it is actually a sin to allow someone to control you (read about Jezebel and Ahab in the books of Kings and then what God says in Rev 2:20 about this type of spirited person), because to allow someone to control you like that (in my case) was caused by an insecurity in my identity, and the sin of people pleasing.  So to let fear of man rule me would be a sin.

So the revelation God gave me is that it’s WHERE the glory goes.  By giving the person my shirt as well (per the above scripture) when I had a fear of man, would actually be a sin, because I would be glorifying Satan.  Where as if there was no fear there, there would be no control – and I could still be robbed, but this time I can also give them my shirt, because then the glory goes to God.  It’s all about where the glory goes!! Is it to Satan through fear, or God through obedience to His Word.

Be aware of the enemies tricks

One of the tricks that the enemy has used against me in my journey, is to give me dreams of me doing the very thing I have repented of or am being delivered of, so that I think to myself “well, I made the wrong choice in my dream, so I may as well just do it in the natural as well”.  It’s a way to defeat us, and make us want to give up.

While I believe that God does test us in our sleep (Psalm 17:3), Satan uses the bit of ground he is losing to trick us into giving it back to him.

2 Cor 2:11 “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes”

Because Satan is a legalist (and because the consequences of the law still apply today), he looks for any ground that we give him to maintain or gain ground in our lives.

Let us be aware of the enemies tricks and not become a victim to them!

We are sanctified by faith

Do you really believe that you will be free of the things that hold you back?  Is there a llingering doubt that Jesus will heal others, but not heal (sanctify) you?

I used to think this, but then God showed me that it is actually by faith, that we are sanctified.

Jesus says in Acts 26:18 “…to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”