As you see disasters, wars,
and wickedness increasing,
there are many among you
who believe that you must
turn to the tablets of stone—
the Old Covenant Law.
But I have told you that
the law of the Old Covenant
is fading and obsolete,
for it was the ministry of death
which brought condemnation,
and so with death it will pass away.
The Old Covenant Law
has never been able to offer
protection, shelter, salvation,
healing, life, or righteousness
in the midst of the world's travail
in the past, today, or in the end.
But life, healing, rest,
righteousness, shelter
and protection are found
in the love I gave you on the Cross.
Your shelter in the last days
is in living in the commands
of agape love I have given you,
in the ministry of My Spirit,
which brings life and righteousness.
Do not look to Sinai in the last days;
look instead to the Cross alone!"
Remember there are "two sides"
Remember that so that you
can ignore the suffering of this side
And sound "fair and balanced"
Definitely don't pity their children
Write their suffering off
as "just what happens in war"
Look for "balance" so you can forget
Don't look as they are pelted
with stones by settlers
Don't look at their bruises
Don't look at their scars
Don't pay attention or care
when they are tear-gassed
on their way to school
or huddling at home with family
Don't think about their inner wounds
and the post-traumatic stress from
growing up under military occupation
and the attacks of settlers they protect
Don't think about families
whose homes have been sealed off
or fenced off or taken over
by settlers "possessing the land"
Don't think about farmers
who awake to find that their crops
of olive trees have been uprooted
by militant settlers during the night
Don't imagine what it would be like
if this happened to your children
if "settlers" invaded your homes
and an army protected them
Write it off as a never-ending conflict
that has been going on for centuries
Don't research to see if that's true
or let history challenge your assumptions
Justify, sanctify, and excuse
by using your religion to dismiss
the suffering of these children
Say that it's part of "prophecy"
Don't call peacemakers blessed
But accuse them of anti-semitism
And twist scriptures to show
that they are tools of the antichrist
Preach it to yourself and to others
that Israel needs to have the land
so that Jesus will be able to return
And these children are in the way
Forget the teaching of Jesus
These aren't "the least of these"
He doesn't love these children
He wants Israel to have the land
Convince your conscience
that the situation can't be helped
Vote for "godly leaders" who support
the occupation with your tax dollars
Change the channel if the news
shows the suffering of Palestinians
Hide articles from your newsfeed
Tell yourself it's just propaganda
Turn off sympathy and empathy
Don't imagine yourself in their place
Ignore the cries of their children
Don't look at them as human.
"I am He who keeps
My servants together,
whether you are close together
or far apart from each other.
I am the bond between you.
I am He who holds you
close to each other in My Spirit.
Although there may be great
distance and time between you,
you are together in spirit
because I am between you.
In Me you are never far from one another.
I am He who preserves your unity
and your love for each other.
And I am He who will reunite you
in My perfect time."
"Woe to those
who encircle a people
with walls and oppression,
who light a fire beneath them
to incite them to violence
in order to justify further oppression!
Woe to those
who mistreat a people,
evict them from their homes
and push them off of their land
in order to confiscate the land
that their hearts desire!
Woe to those
who have used their own suffering
as propaganda and as a pretext
for ignoring their misdeeds
in order to commit injustice
against another people!
Woe to those
who have made Palestinians
to be 'flesh in the pot'
and have slain them
in order to destroy them
so that Israel may have more land!
Does the Lord not see?
Cannot I see the hearts of all?
Will I not repay those
who have worked injustice?
Will I not punish those
who incite the oppressed to violence?
Repent, Israel!
Repent, you who call yourselves
'Friends of israel',
for I will not hold you guiltless
for shielding her
and partaking in her crimes!
Repent and seek peace,
justice and reconciliation!"
"I know that much
of the behavior of those
who profess My name
does not reflect My teachings.
I know that many have used
the words of scripture
to support their agendas
and unloving actions.
I know that many have twisted
prophecies in scripture
that justify their disregard
of My teaching and commands.
Because of these things
many of you who hold
to My teachings and commands
have questioned, re-interpreted
and sometimes cast off belief
in the words I have spoken
through prophets in scripture.
Yet by holding onto
My teachings and commands
and by walking in My love,
you have held onto that
which is most important.
But the words I have spoken
through prophets in scripture l
are also true and did not come
by any prophet's own interpretation.
Those whose agape love
has grown cold and who
have forsaken My commands
are fulfilling the words I spoke
in the prophecies of Paul
and the book of Revelation.
They have become unthinking
and unfeeling as the brute beasts
of Revelation and have taught
rebellion and apostasy in My temple.
Death, war, exploitation
and destruction follow in their wake
as they ride out of My presence
like conquerors bent on conquest.
They have made an idol of Israel
and called all people to worship it,
blessing those who do
and cursing those who do not.
Those who cling to My ways of love
will not be deceived,
but those who forsake My commands
ignore the warnings of prophecy.
Do not forsake My love and My commands.
Keep faith in what I did
for you on the Cross,
and do not despise prophecies.
I will be with you until the very end."
As night falls upon the world
I am calling you to walk a path:
I am calling you to carry the cross
through the midst of Babylon.
I am calling you to testify
because the city has been built
upon bloodshed and violence.
Many who have claimed My name
have rejected My teaching
and rebelled against My ways.
The offense they have caused
will bring persecution upon them
and upon all who bear My name—
both the innocent and the guilty.
Just as I was crucified between rebels
the innocent will suffer with the guilty.
I am calling you to walk
in the way of the gospel of peace,
testifying against the rebellion of Babylon
and calling My people to repentance.
The words I give you to speak
will be offensive to the violent
and those whose hearts cling
to the ways of rebellion.
Do not be afraid to follow Me,
for the faith to walk path of the cross
though it leads through suffering
is of greater worth than gold.
Walk in the path I have called you to
and follow in My footsteps.
As you join Me in My suffering
you will know I am with you."
"Do you see your enemies as human?
As children whom I love?
As the ones I died for?
As the ones I want for My bride?
As those I want to spend eternity with?
My beloved, I am not pleased
when any of My children
dehumanize their enemies.
I do not want you to take part
in demonizing those for whom I died.
I want you to stand up against
dehumanizing your enemies.
You cannot claim My cross for yourselves
if you deny My sacrifice for your enemies.
"I am calling My people to repent
of their idolatry of Israel.
I have called them to follow Me,
but they have chosen instead
to follow their own interpretations
about the end times.
I have set My Son and His ways
before them as a stumbling stone—
will they follow the ways of Israel
or will they follow My Son?
Will they follow the Son of David
or will they follow the Star of David?
The time is here of rebellion
and apostasy in My temple.
The time is here when those
who once followed My Son
leave the faith to worship
their image of Israel.
The time is here when
many of My people have
become unthinking and unfeeling,
like brute beasts following
the leading of another beast
and its beastly ways.
Will you turn from your ways
back to the ways of My Son,
or will you choose the ways
and the worship of the beast?"
I am sending you
to deliver My word
in a time of darkness.
Some will recognize you
as My messengers,
but most will not.
My word will speak to those
whose hearts have been
prepared by My Spirit,
but those who only look on
the appearance of the bearer
will reject My word.
Most of you will not come
with the 'official' status or office
that they look for and require,
but you will be My messengers
whether they recognize you or not.
The word I give you to speak
will not be the word which
they want to listen to:
they desire to hear the patriotism
and the nationalism they love—
the glory of Israel and America.
You will be rejected and accused,
but when you speak My words
it will not be you, but instead Me
whom they reject and accuse.
I will send you to many
who have turned away from Me,
and to other places you do not expect.
You will not know where
the wind will take you,
but I will carry you.
"Why are many of My people
looking to Israel as if it is the
center of the book of Revelation?
Why are many marginalizing the Cross
and setting aside My command
to carry the cross?
The end times will be
like the days before
the fall of Jerusalem:
As I was in the world,
so My disciples will be
a stumbling stone to the world
because they follow Me
and obey My command to love.
As the nations rage against each other
My disciples will be accused of treason
because they obey My law of love.
They will be put out of the synagogue
—they will be put out of churches—
because they do not follow
the zealotry of those
who put nation and place
above Me and My commands.
Do not be led astray from My commands
by false teachers and false prophets.
Those who marginalize Me
with their interpretation of Revelation
and urge My people to forsake their cross
are false teachers and false prophets.
Do not follow them!
Lord, this is so hard to watch. Your people are so devoted to "standing with Israel" that they've set Your Son and His teachings aside. "Israel" comes first for them instead of being known by Your agape love.
I don't know what to say. I know this is like what Paul said in 2nd Corinthians that there is a veil when people read the Old Covenant— I know that doesn't mean merely reading it, but rather giving it precedence above Christ.
*sigh*
Passions are rising because of Netanyahu's speech now. I'm grieved and Your Spirit in me is groaning.
I've complained to You at times because the paintings You give me to paint and the words You give me to write are not the kinds of things that I think are going to "persuade" Christian Zionists. Instead it seems the paintings and words just offend them and they become more hardened. Which of course isn't what I want, and I don't believe it's what You want either.
I think Jeremiah felt grief in the same way— "Why do You give me these things to say, Lord, if they won't listen?"
I know some will be helped, and I can't discount them. But it seems like throughout Scripture one of the purposes of Your word was to witness to those who will not listen. What You spoke was a testimony and a stumbling block... and still is.
I don't like that, Lord.
But I trust You, and somehow I realize that it's how we sinful humans are. Our pride rises up. As one friend says, "The same sun that melts wax also hardens clay."
God, I feel only a fraction of what You do... Your grief, but also the mystery of Your joy and the smile You have even now because You see and know the outcome of all these grievous things. What looked like defeat for You in dying on the Cross was just the birth pains for resurrection.
Strengthen Your witnesses, Lord, in Your love for everyone— for the innocents in Palestine and Muslims around the world who don't know any better, but especially strengthen us in Your love for Zionists and Christian Zionists. Give us Your heart for them. Help us to pray and hear You for when to speak, when to share, and when to be silent and let it go. Use what we do in You to plant seeds that will speak to people and unharden hearts in Your perfect timing.
Help us to choose to forgive them, bless them, love them, be patient with them, and more... just like You loved us while we were Your enemies. We've all rejected You. We all need Your grace and the healing of Your love. Help us witness of Your love to them more than anything else, in Jesus' name.
"Are you willing to be called
a 'false prophet' for My sake?
Will you declare My word
and speak My heart
even if others call you this?
Are you willing to be called
rebellious, a deceiver, a divider,
and an apostate for My sake?
Will you testify as I command
even if you are labeled this way?
Are you willing to be shunned,
spoken against, warned about,
and denounced for My sake?
Will you obey My Spirit
even if you are treated this way?
I am calling you
to declare My word,
to speak My heart,
to testify as I command,
and to obey My Spirit.
I have promised that
I will never leave you
and I will never forsake you.
My prophets have always
been treated this way:
The world has always hated them,
mistreated them and denounced them;
and I have always been with them,
I have always suffered with them
and I have always sustained them.
I am with you.
As you carry My heart,
I will carry you."
"When My people declare
another 'way' to earn My blessings
aren't they setting aside
My Son's sacrifice,
the offense of the Cross,
and proclaiming that He is not The Way?
When My people declare
that the way to gain My favor
comes through devotion
to the circumcision,
aren't they declaring that My Son's
flesh and blood are not enough?
When My people declare
that My blessings come
through the circumcision
aren't they declaring that My Son
is not the Seed of Abraham
who is the fulfillment of My promises?
When My people declare
that My will is for them
to 'stand with Israel'
before they apply and follow
My Son's teachings and commands
aren't they preaching lawlessness?
When My people declare another way,
another flesh and another law,
is this not rebellion in My temple?
Is this not denying My Son in the flesh?
Is this not the great apostasy?
Is this not the spirit of antichrist?"
"My people have fallen
for another lover!
My people have given
their hearts to 'Israel'
and have become
his disciples.
They have left My teachings
and sit at the feet of a new master.
His word is gospel to them,
while My word is negotiable
and can be re-interpreted
to conform to the will of 'Israel.'
Woe! They have replaced
the Cross with the Star of David!
Woe! They have embraced rebellion
and the ways of Barabbas!
Who can see clearly
with such veiled hearts and eyes?
I am sending My prophets
to call My rebellious people
back to My commands,
for the world knows them now
as disciples of 'Israel'
instead of by My agape love.
But just as Jeremiah was rebuked
for prophesying against Jerusalem,
so many of My rebellious people
will condemn My prophets."
I told you to always be ready to give
an answer to anyone who asks you
about the hope I have given you.
I did not tell you to use My word
for attacking the beliefs of others
or for 'taking the land' in My name.
Do not seek combat with
your brothers and sisters,
but clothe yourselves with love.
Your war is not against the beliefs of others,
but against the spiritual darkness
in your own hearts— pride, greed,
and the desire for power and control.
As you conquer these
and give to the world
the love I gave to you,
all people will know
that you are My disciples.
Do not use My word apart from My spirit—
apart from My love.
Do not be foolish virgins."
"These are the days
of increasing wickedness.
These are the days
of the love of most growing cold.
These are the days
of rebellion against the law of Christ.
These are the days
of the great apostasy in God's temple.
These are the days
of many following the antichrist spirit.
These are the days
of many not holding to Christ's commands.
These are the days
of only a remnant holding to the faith.
These are the days
of the two witnesses prophesying in sackcloth.
These are the days
of them wearing the garment of repentance.
These are the days
of their testimony to the nations.
These are the days
of the synagogue (churches) putting them out.
These are the days
that My Son told you would come.
These are the days
of the earth's birth pains.
These are the days
of the great tribulation.
These are the days
I will carry My faithful witnesses through.
These are the days
when they will overcome
by the blood of the Lamb,
the word of their testimony,
and by not loving their lives to the death.
These are the days
when many will be martyred
like sheep led to the slaughter
but will never be separated
from Me and from My love.
These are the days
to hold onto faith in My Son
and the His commands.
These are the days
to let nothing move you
to forsake His law.
These are the days
to stay founded on the Rock!"
You venerate the martyrs
and commend their faith,
for they died because
they bore My name
and they bore My cross.
You claim them
and claim the same faith
in Me and My cross—
but are you willing
to follow them
to the same cross?
Are you willing
to follow Me
to the cross as they did?
My people,
You cannot carry the cross
and the sword at the same time.
You cannot claim the same
faith of the martyrs
who died for the cross
if you kill for the cross.
You must choose whether
you will be members
of the apostolic church
—the church of martyrs—
or the church of Constantine
warring for the cross.
Which master will you serve?
Which master will you die for—
the One who died on the cross
or the one who painted
a cross on his war devices?
"Pay attention, My people!
Pay attention to the commands
My Son gave you which
you have ignored!
My Son spoke no idle words
and gave you no commands
which would work against My purposes.
Many have declared My Son's commands
to be unrealistic, impractical,
merely idealistic, and even foolish.
They have refused to take up the cross
and have created a 'Christ'
in their own image.
You have been called to follow My Son—
not to pick and choose whichever
of His teachings you think
are realistic or not.
If you do not follow His commands
then He is not your Lord.
If you follow ways that are
against His commands
then you are following
the spirit of the antichrist.
My Son is coming
to raise up every valley
and bring low every high place.
Will you humble yourselves
or will My Son's appearance
catch you by surprise?"
"I have promised that I will never
leave nor forsake you,
and I have taught you that
all who desire to follow Me
will suffer for My sake.
But many of My people do not
want to risk suffering for My sake.
Instead they are fighting for
political power, military dominance,
economic advantage and profit.
They are fighting for their system
of government and trade
instead of living in My kingdom!
They are expending themselves
for the treasures of the world
instead of the treasures of heaven!
Listen, My beloved children:
Why spend your lives
for what will not last,
for what will not satisfy,
for what will not heal,
and for what will not
profit you in eternity?
Put your trust in My ways
and treasure what I treasure!
Follow My commands
and obey My teachings
and you will find everlasting peace
that neither army, nor terrorist,
nor poverty, nor politician
can every take away!
"Many of My people have become afraid
of being killed by terrorists.
Fear instead of faith
is increasing in their hearts,
and their devotion to My commands
is being set aside in favor of
meeting violence with more violence.
Their love is growing cold!
But I did not say that My command
to love your enemies hinged
on how horrible their crimes are.
Do not be deceived by fear, My people!
Do not stray from My commands!
I am He who died on the Cross
and who called you follow Me
and take up your own cross.
Trust in Me and My commands.
I told you that tribulation would come,
and that I have already overcome the world.
Have faith and be courageous."
.jpg "First Honor")
