Some critics began throwing stones on the 10th day, some even earlier, actually. And, so it must be. 1 Corinthians 4 is a text for the mature and I will probably have no other response for critics. I'm willing to be a fool. I trust that the Lord is good. “Not my will but Thine be done, Lord. May it be unto me according to Your good pleasure.” For Aaron and I, this is our profession.
So, what now? We persist, forsaking nothing, watching soberly and on high alert, because this is the season where faith fails. What is this unfailing faith based on? Patience, a refusal to judge before it's time because appearances are deceiving. Is this simply a stubborn denial of reality, Pollyanna-ism or blind optimism? Are we channeling Annie: “The sun'll come out tomorrow”? Are we just trying to save face? Hardly. This is not my first rodeo, so to speak. I've been bucked off and crushed into the dirt before. I endured, with much mercy learning some valuable lessons along the way. Aaron has not been seasoned through those same seasons of experience, but he has been strengthened through seasons of severe trial to be able to endure, and our present situation suggests why the rigorous endurance training has been necessary.
This post is not our version of a pep rally, but we hope you are encouraged, having genuinely sought the Lord and received His comforting touch and embrace, as we ourselves have. Aaron and I saw signs while on watch yesterday that spoke loudly to us as models of the revealing. Right after Noon (Pittsburgh time, when sunset ended the day in Israel), Aaron prayed, and then, beginning to reflect on the day, he received a revelation insight - and immediately we witnessed what could only be interpreted as a confirming sign that the model was masked in an elaborate way. I noted the time, 12:21. The mirrored time numbers. The same numbers we had been seeing stamped on almost everything.
If this watching was easy, or, if everything relevant could be casually marked on the calendar and then ignored until the time came, we would not be directed as we are in Matthew 24. Some will know when the Lord comes, like Noah knew when the flood would come. It was 7 days in advance when he got the certain word. He never abandoned the work. Even knowing what we have learned about the times and epochs, we are instructed to maintain vigilance. The Lord has made it obscure to prove us.
“For this reason you also must be ready.” If Aaron and I have served food at the proper time, receive this also. Stay on the alert. Hold fast to what you have been given. In due time, you will receive your reward. Those who endure to the end will be saved.
Based on some previous modeling, which hasn't been made public but that we've been reflecting on regularly since it happened, we're anticipating confirmation on the 15th day. That model happened when Aaron was hospitalized in January, and that stay was markedly different from all the other times he's been hospitalized in recent years. The 15th day also happens to be on the Pesah pattern, and Noah pattern, 1 week before the 21st.
This is a prophecy of our time, where the Bride is being modeled by the only one who can stay awake.
Are you tempted to sleep from sorrow?
We watch, patiently, enduring. The Lord is faithful, who has promised. Let us pray for each other.
Eph. 6
ReplyDelete10 Finally, my brethren, be strong (be empowered, be invigorated)
· in the Lord,
· and in the power [kratos] of his might [ischuos]. This means "in the muscle-power strength of His Government.")
11 Put on the whole armour of God (like the full heavy armour worn into the thickest battle),
that ye may be able (empowered)
to stand against the wiles of the devil (the methodical and cunning devices he has plotted for your defeat).
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
· but against principalities (pros tas archas, —face to face with the principle spiritual forces that rule in areas of assigned government),
· against powers (pros tas exousias, —face to face with spirit forces placed in authority under the principalities, like those that rule institutions, corporations, movements, etc.),
· against the rulers of the darkness of this world, (pros tour kosmokratoras tou toutous tou aionos toutou, —face to face with the spiritual forces that hold this present world system captive in its darkness),
· against spiritual wickedness in high places (pros ta pneumatika tes ponerias en tois epouraniois, —face to face with the wicked spirits that come with all their restless activity from the heavenly regions and seek individuals whom they can oppress, suppress, depress, or possess.)
13 Wherefore · take unto you the whole armour of God,
· that ye may be able to withstand · in the evil day, and having done all,
· to stand.
Thanks and blessings, Mark.
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