Last year, in 2020,
the Lord showed me Luke 12 as the scripture for this time. It was overwhelming! Without foreknowledge, the Holy Spirit directed me to Luke 12:4-59, and illuminated my mind. Today, while reading Matthew 16, He reminded me of the passage again, This is the light that He continues to shed. In Luke 12, Jesus said, “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.” “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against - or two in favor and three against. Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” “Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times. “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?” Luke 12:49-57 Jesus was talking about their lack of having a spiritual barometer - their lack of knowledge and understanding regarding what God has said, and acknowledgement of Jesus the Christ. Then, in Matthew 16, I saw it again. The scripture says, “One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.” Matthew 16:1-4 You see, every day before getting out of bed. I break my fast and have a gourmet, spirit-filled breakfast with the Holy Spirit. I grab my Bible, journal and pen, or I use the Bible and Notes app on my phone, and begin eating from the Word of the Lord. It’s always filling and brings me great satisfaction - even when the words are hard. You see, God in the flesh was standing right in front of the the religious leaders - and yet they could not see Him. They did not have revelation. They knew the written Word of God like the back of their hand, and yet, they did not understand it. They didn’t see what was predicted by the Old Testament Prophets. If they had, they would have seen the Passover Lamb, the Suffering Servant, the Faithful Witness, the Righteous Branch. They would have acknowledged the High Priest, the Righteous King and the Almighty Prophet. They would have recognized Jesus as Lord and they would have heard the Voice of God call Jesus His beloved Son, when He was being baptized by his cousin, John. They would have noticed the changes and transformations that were taking place in people’s lives all around them. They would have known He was healing people and casting out demons - all in the Name of Almighty God. But they didn’t. They could not see it because Jesus did not match their expectations! Jesus was NOT who the religious leaders predicted. He was not the kind of king they wanted. He was not domineering and wealthy, nor pompous and self-centered. Rather He was about love and compassion, and the reconciliation of all people. Somewhere along the line, humans changed the rules. Many people abandon God and His Words, long before He leaves us alone and stops knocking at our door. If you don’t believe that God will turn away from you, then go and read Romans Chapter 1. It’s all there! So now, let me ask you a question. Do you believe that Jesus came to divide men into those going to Heaven and those going to Hell? Do you believe that He had to suffer a terrible baptism by blood just so that He could save you from complete doom? Do you understand that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to return to Him in repentance? Do you know there is a permanent separation between Heaven and Hell? If you don’t, then let me spell it out - Jesus said, “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.” Luke 12:4-5 Isn't it crazy how humans have twisted the truth! So many Christians today believe that since God is good, everyone goes to Heaven. But that is NOT what Jesus said! Don’t we get it? Our own religious leaders, and so called “Christians” have hearts bent on evil intent because like the Pharisees- they focus on the self, rather than what the Word of God says. Can you imagine being so focused on your own truth, that you spit in the face of God? Can you imagine how that makes the Father feel? To know that He sacrificed His beloved Son to redeem you, and you say that his blood was never needed! Well, that is exactly what happens when people try to be God - just like Eve and Adam. Let me skip ahead to Luke Chapter 16 to provide some scriptural evidence for this poetic sermon. Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.” “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet.” “The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.” “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames. But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’ “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” Luke 16:19-31 You see, God is so good that He put His Word into the mouths of many humans! He created prophets to speak and write about His past, present and future time events. This way people would have a way to pay attention to the changing patterns of the wind. The truth is every believer who has the Holy Spirit living inside of them, has the ability to do this. But, many don’t. The question I pose to you is “why not?” Well, that’s a deep subject! Perhaps we should take a deep dive into the heart.
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