Are You a Son of Issachar?

Are you a Son of Issachar?
1 Chronicles 12:32a "...the sons of Issachar had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do..."

Many years ago, the Lord told me to "pay attention" to what is going on in the world. I wasn’t to do anything about it necessarily, but to be aware. Then I heard about the Sons of Issachar who knew the signs of the times and understood what needed to be done. I prayed to be like them.

 
As Christians, we are to be aware of things that most people ignore. Jesus said we are to "Watch and Pray". Look for what God might be doing in a situation instead of buying hook, line and sinker what the media wants you to believe.

We have gone a long way from the morality and values that have blessed our lives. Yet we are surprised that there is so much evil in the world. We have closed God out of our lives and substituted Him with "political correctness" and being “loving", because we are afraid to stand for truth. The church has become silent, and taken up the causes of the world instead of the Gospel of Peace.

Jesus said that in the last days men would call good evil, and evil good. When Michael Jackson's song "Bad" came out, I was stunned that this was a literal fulfillment of this scripture! Now, when someone said you were “bad”, that was a good thing! "You're bad man!" meant you were really cool! Not that we can’t have slang and use expressions for things, but it was exactly what scripture said.

Is 5:20-23 (KJV)
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;        
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;…
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!…
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!

The Sons of Issachar knew what was going on. They also knew how to correct things and bring them back to centre. They knew the Word and the commandments of God, and called things for what they were.

I am very saddened by how 2 Tim 3 is such a reflection of our way of life today:

2 Timothy 3 (KJV)
1 … in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away… 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth…
So many people today have been brought up without any knowledge of scripture and the love of the Father. Let us walk in the ways of God, showing the way, and teaching our children scripture, which is able to make them wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus.

It’s time to pay attention to the signs of the times, and realign our lives with Jesus.

Run the Race

Run the Race                                                 
They said Secretariat was a horse “built by God”.  Physically, Secretariat was built perfectly to run. His heart was twice as big as any other horse but he also had endurance, a rare combination. He seemed to take pleasure in starting out in last place, just to pass everyone on his way to a new track or race record. But when Secretariat ran the 3rd race in the Triple Crown in 1973, he started out first and kept on going! By the time he finished, he was a full 31 lengths ahead of Sham who ran the race of his life, only to come in a distant second.

In the 2010 movie “Secretariat”, the groom played Gospel music when he was grooming Secretariat and it was like the horse knew he had been created to run for God's pleasure, and to win. When he didn't win, he would go to the back of his stall and "think" about it. The next race, he would win with a new record! 

As I watched this movie, I understood life in a new way. God takes pleasure in hiding treasure so that man has the pleasure of discovering it. God doesn't withhold things from us, He invites, challenges, and cajoles us into really pursuing something! He invites us to allow the Holy Spirit to put wings on our feet and the wind at our back and do what we were built to do!

There have been many things in my heart over the years: writing books, doing concerts, seeing whole communities live for God, seeing nations come to the Lord in a day… I have seen partial fulfillment of some of these things, but I want to be more like Jesus and Paul, who seeing the prize set before them, ran their races and did not falter or give up when things got tough.

The Race of Faith  Hebrews 12:1b-2  (NKJV)

12 1…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Please, Jesus, help me to push past the things that would distract or hinder me. Let me become stronger in the process, and if I don't get it the first time, give me the strength to get up and go at it again until I get it right!

Thank You, Jesus, for the example of Secretariat. Thank You that You have built me to run the race that is set before me. Let me leave the devil in the dust, a full 31 lengths behind me.  Thanks!

- HMR <><

Love Your Enemies Pt 1

We are called as the Church to bring GOOD NEWS to the world that is lost and hopeless and hurting. Many are willing to speak the truth, but it is often used as a weapon, “Well, I was just being honest!” But if we speak the truth in LOVE we dispel the darkness and lies of the enemy.

Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you." What do you pray for someone who despitefully uses you? That they will come to know the truth and be set free from the lies that make them think they are doing good.

How did Germany get to a place where a Holocaust of millions of Jews could happen? People were lulled into it and didn't pay attention to the signs of the times. The Church was silent and then it was too late.

It seems impossible for us to think that could take place today, and yet, the same scenario is lining up, and again, we are asleep at the wheel. The Church needs to rise up, not in fear or compromise, but in LOVE and speak Jesus' TRUTH.

If we are only speaking the truth of "civil rights", we fool ourselves if we think that is how "We shall overcome." We will not overcome without Jesus. The Church, has the key - The Good News of the Prince of Peace. We need to tell people how much God LOVES them and has sent Jesus to die that we might not live under the tyranny of religion and rules that put individuals and whole people groups in bondage. He died that we might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY. People need to know this truth! God is FOR them, not against them. But if we are asleep or fearful of sharing, we are going to end up in a world that was like Nazi Germany all over again.

This is not a time to complain and gripe and bad-mouth people for things we disagree about. This is a time to pray for peace on earth and become part of the solution.

WE have the GOOD NEWS. Jesus left us with one commandment - “Go and preach the Gospel to every nation. Teach them to observe everything I have taught you.” He taught Truth in Love - not condemnation, not judgement, not compromising the truth to make people feel better about their sin, but speaking the truth that can set people free.  ONLY the truth will set you free, and Jesus is the Truth.

Through The Door

THROUGH THE DOOR -  2017.01
                                      

Most of my life I have struggled to understand my purpose and place in this world. I have been in a hurry to “get to reach my destiny” and understand all that the Lord has been doing in my life.

Brought up a Baptist, I was taken to a Roman Catholic church with my grandmother. I was “adopted” into a Plymouth Brethren family which is as opposite as you can get from both, and ended up married to an Anglican priest!

Born on  Canada's east coast, I ended up living on the west coast where I thought Vancouver was Heaven on Earth, only to be called to Seattle, WA (really Lord??!!!). That became home like no other place I’d been.

Called to ministry as a teen, I ended up being in the shadows of my husband who was the “real” minister (paid and everything!!) and found that I was an artist - in three genres! (Music, writing and painting).

I have never really felt like I belonged anywhere, but rather “homeless” 5 times in my life, and at present, we are not settled anywhere. I have been “through with doors” for a long time!

But finally, I am coming to grips with what my spirit seems to have known in 2004 when I wrote this poem. I didn’t want to go through doors, I just wanted to be finished with them! But Jesus is patient (Thank You Jesus!).

Jesus has been teaching me that it is not the destination He’s interested in because He’s able to keep me from falling, and to present me faultless before the presence of His glory (Jude 24). And I am confident that He who has begun this good work in me will carry it on to completion. (Phil 1:6) He can do that!

No, Jesus is more interested in what I do with what’s through the door than in getting to the door. Will I embrace what He sets before me and realize that He is helping me develop character and fruit that will last? Will I recognize that what I encounter through the door are opportunities to behave and respond like Jesus, and thereby become more like Him? I have to embrace my life. It doesn’t do me any good to wish it would just go away or be what it isn’t.

I have to embrace the door; see it, touch it, feel it, listen to what it has to tell me, and taste and see that the Lord is good. After 6 years of ignoring the door before me, I think I am FINALLY ready to experience the adventure that awaits me Through the Door.

Peace & Love to you as you journey through your doors.

- Holly M. <><