The world has suffered not a few periods of what can only be described as tribulation in the last 2000 years. War, famine, tyranny, genocide, plagues. I conclude that satan has been very busy trying to destroy us for a long time. In fact, when Christ told His disciples that no one knows the hour or the day (of The End) accept the Father, not even Christ Himself, that meant that satan, who is in no way equal to God, doesn't know either.
Let that sink in - if satan doesn't know, then why would he wait 2000 years (or longer) to seek to bring about our end? He has been at it without ceasing. Only God's own timing has allowed it to continue.
So, what if...
... as part of satan's long-game playbook, false doctrines have been inserted, over eons, into what we refer to as Christianity to confuse and distract us and keep us from being able to recognize the signs we have been given in Scripture?
... we read the book of Revelation for ourselves, with an open spirit to receive, without influence of a dogma based on cobbled together verses pulled from the old and new testaments, that then created a whole new religion (that also made the authors multimillionaires)?
... as you read Revelation, you wonder about the saints the angel told John were those who refused to worship the beast or receive the mark and you want to know how they knew to refuse something they were not on earth to refuse?
... you begin to wonder if the beast of Revelation 13 might not be a man but a global system? Like a One World Order made of a cabal of huge global corporations that seeks to reduce world population into two classes, the elite who rule the servants, and replace anything Godly with all things worldly and godless?
... and the smaller beast might not be an individual man but a system of technology, (inconceivable in 90 AD), operated by individuals in league with the first beast, that makes it possible for everyone on earth to see imagery, even on handheld devices, that they can be in awe of and therefore idolize and obey without even realizing they are?
What if I am wrong about these trying times being too Biblical to ignore? The world has survived some pretty epic conflicts and challenges. At any one time it was likely easy to point to current events aligning with Scripture.
What if the book of Revelation has been unfolding for 2 millennia though?
So many questions.
But... given that one thing is absolute, the day does finally come...
What if we are way closer than ever before to the time when we have to say no even if we can neither buy nor sell, or we are outcasts from friends, family and society and cannot live normally, cannot leave our homes lest we be harassed and arrested by agents of the ruling government... or be incarcerated or even lose our lives for saying no to the mandatory shutting down of society and an experimental vaccine?
Would that not then be a strong confirmation that we chose correctly?
What if God decides to honor the prayers of the saints and give us more time? Would we recognize this, repent and actively change our wayward civilization?
Or... what if there is a point of no return when lawlessness, depravity, greed and the worship of all things godless cannot be reversed? Can we stop pedophilia, abortion or sex slavery?
So, what if this really is it then and we are indeed in the edges of the final countdown? I can't even begin to claim to know or even guess how long it will take or even how to determine what exactly to say no to. Is it a thing like an implanted chip, a false religion, edicts by political tyrants that demand I obey the god of 'SAFETY' instead of trusting my own faith? Whose mandates obliterate constitutionally guaranteed personal freedom of individual, health, speech and worship?
Maybe all of the above? A package deal then? Is the long game a sum total of centuries of slow mind and soul control? Not just a few things that align with ancient prophecy but a long list of things that have come together like the perfect storm?
I'm not inclined to tell anyone else what to do or believe. All I can do is listen to the still small voice, obey and trust. I may have to live in this world but I do not have to be of this world... even if I die for choosing thusly.
What if I simply choose to die standing... for Him... no matter the outcome or cost?
Meema
John was seeing things in his revelatory vision of the future that he had no words for. Just as we do, he most likely had to draw on what he did know - the Old Testament teachings. Daniel 2. Daniel described an “image” that was explained to be 4 kingdoms. It is surely a possibility that the end time ‘image’ is also some sort of ‘kingdom.’
ReplyDeleteSo - what kingdom do we choose? King Jesus and His Kingdom? Or the other one?
James 4 in Scripture has lots of wisdom. For example in verse 17 - So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - To my understanding, if we resist the followers of the devil, they also must flee. Sounds like a plan.
How? "Submit yourselves therefore to God." Follow King Jesus.
Think of Robin Hood and his people. They lived as outcasts INSTEAD OF bowing to the usurper king. They took a stand. The REAL king was delayed but will return - and that group chose to remain faithful to the real king. They would not submit to the liar.
Solomon was crowned the real king - in 1 Kings, Adonijah briefly proclaimed himself king of Israel during the terminal illness of his father. There is nothing new under the sun. :(
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. --- Sounds like they were certain what King they served and what Kingdom they belonged to!
Choose you this day - as for me, I choose the King of kings. I also choose to show Him I am serious about that by acting like it now. The daughter of the true King acts on the true law - not the lies made up and being changed on whims.
I can't disagree with a single word. :-)
DeletePhilippians 3:13-14
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.