Eternal Hope and Peace...

I needed to break out of a slump that has been going on for a while.

Hey, it happens to the best of us, so it surely happens to the least, a group in which I find myself a member of.

After resting and strengthening myself in the word, I was moved to speak the following. This is as much for me as it is for you.

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In this season, many celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus by tradition.

For some it is ritual and tradition only, enjoying the contact and friendship of family, meals, presents , etc., in an attempt at unity and peace and compassion from a worldly point of view and from personal and internal strength in the flesh.

For others, it takes on a spiritual recognition and representation of that which God would put into action from the very beginning. To bring man back to God in fellowship, and out of darkness and despair and endless destruction. Men and women buried under the terminal weight of sin at birth with no hope of overcoming the verdict of death, and no way out of the deep well we have fallen into, now have an escape! The death penalty has been paid on our behalf.

Mature Christians understand the wealth of hope and freedom, given freely by Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, and much more beyond that death, by His resurrection and triumph, in which we also are victorious, by accepting the simple gift of His Salvation by His Grace, in it's simplicity, an act of believing and confessing Christ, and following Him.

This is the Gospel, the Good News!

For the true believer, the comprehension of this at times, is so profound that it makes you cry, not tears of pain or hurt, but of joy!

There's more. His promise to His own, is to return at an appointed time in our future, to resurrect those who have died in Christ, and to transform those still alive in Him. To forever be with Him, eternal in nature, clothed in uncorrupted spiritual glory, just as He is even now after His resurrection. This is known as the Resurrection and Rapture.

All of this for the taking, simply by believing in the Son, and accepting His gift.

The worldly rational mind can't cope with the simplicity. The fallen pride nature within us says we must do something to deserve or earn it, and worse, do something to maintain it.

Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

That's it! Believe it, and speak it! And Paul would also say in Ephesians that it is a gift and not of works.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

A gift is received, not earned.

If it is earned, it is a wage paid, and one that can not settle the overwhelming debt required.

Neither can you add to His already Finished work, for then Grace is made to no avail, and becomes works of the law which are not enough. We bring nothing to the table of salvation but our faith in Him.

This salvation is a process, yes, but the first step of "Justification" is finished by His sacrifice and resurrection. His blood, paid our blood debt, and set us free of the penalty of sin, our death sentence.

There are 3 phases to our Salvation:

• [Past / Justified] - At our salvation, we changed our mind, our direction, and were Justified! Washed fully of our sin. We were saved from the Penalty of sin.

• [Present / Sanctification] - We are being Sanctified! We are being saved from the Power of sin.

• [Future / Glorification] - At our completion we will be Glorified, and saved from the Presence of sin altogether.

As I said, "Justification" is immediate and eternal, you are eternally secure and saved.

You now belong to Christ permanently, and for the rest of your mortal life, will be sanctified by Christ throughout your years, growing in maturity and more like Christ, until death and resurrection, or Rapture.

Your best days and opportunities will be those during life when you allowed His will to reign in your life and allowed Him to do His work through you.

Any and all things done in self-will and self-glory will be burned up in the Fire of testing, but eternal life is already yours and can not be lost.

Your eternal security is biblical and can be said based upon Jesus's own words in John chapter 10:

John 10:27-30 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

When Jesus reiterates twice that "NO ONE CAN SNATCH THEM OUT OF HIS HANDS", it literally means NO ONE, which includes yourself.

So, let's take a moment to understand why this is. You see, Salvation from God when accepted, is a binding permanent covenant between you and God, and His promise to us as believers (that He must deliver on to remain God, one He can not nor would He go back on), it requires nothing from us but our faith (to believe on the Son and confess Him as Lord). No works on our behalf, no prerequisites of cleaning ourselves up before hand, come as you are and say simply yes to His offer for your life eternal.

You simply can't break this covenant that relies solely on His fulfillment of the terms of the covenant. Nothing we do or say can break it now, because we have now been given His Spirit and made New Creations, with a sinless spirit, which inevitably will inhabit a sinless new body.

This is why it is considered a marriage covenant, as the two become one by His Spirit, which is why we always move forward towards Him rather than slipping back toward the old nature we were dominated by, before our salvation.

Often, sadly, when discussing these topics we get the vocal objections of some who feel they are inadequate in Christ and must help Him out a bit.

Sometimes very vicious in accusation and judgment.

There is something so insidious about those who would try to judge your salvation between you and Christ... as if they could.

And then claim that the Promises to the True Believer written in scripture are "Doctrines of demons".

It is incredibly rude and hateful to say to another brother or sister that they are preaching doctrine of demons. How insulting to Christ Jesus, even more so, than to ourselves.

I remember in scripture how Pharisees claimed that Jesus healed by Beelzebub. Very dangerous territory.

I have to ask both :

What Jesus is it that you preach? ... and... What then is your hope and your peace?

• If Eternal Salvation can be lost, then it is not eternal.

• If you could lose salvation, then you would.

• If Grace depends on our cooperation, then it is no longer Grace.

• Grace and Works are mutually exclusive, they can not exist in the same binding.

It is sad that so many are being sucked into legalism, and works based stuff these days. It simply is not the way.

There is nothing we bring to the table of salvation but our hearts and willingness to accept His gift based on His righteousness.

Our salvation does not depend on the opinions of men (or women). Can you imagine if it did? 😬

Romans 14:4 Why do you judge your brother. To one's own master does he stand or fall. And HE WILL STAND, for Christ is able to make him stand.

No. Jesus's Grace fulfills the Law. We are not under the Law, we are under His Grace.

And for that I am oh so grateful and thankful...

So in this season, I cherish our Lord and God, and consider His mighty work on all of our behalf (past, present, and future). Let us be humble and compassionate, sharing the love He taught us by His example and His command to love one another as He loved us, even before we knew what love really was.

My hope and desire as always, is in His promise of His soon return for us. The time is oh so near folks... Make sure you are ready for Him... Hold on to your faith to the very end, you will not be made to be ashamed of it.

If you are not in a Saved Relationship with Christ, I invite you to simply follow the simple pattern that Christ as the Word, gave in His word.

Grace and Peace to you in  this season in Christ Jesus our Lord!

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Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]

Signs in the Sun, Moon, and the Stars... (Luke 21:25)

 

This week and last has some particular interest in the geopolitical future of the world according to men, with summits and agendas.

It's also seen an event in the celestial world outside our atmosphere, which doesn't seem to be a rare occurrence any more.

Many here in the USA lament the condition and vulnerability of the Power Grid, and rightfully so. The situation is more precarious than many would like to admit.

Recently, yet another large coronal hole has appeared on the suns surface, and it's huge. Spewing out radiation in the form of a Solar Wind towards Earth, accelerated by the lack of being able to contain it at the surface of the sun. Southerners seeing Arora in the lower latitudes because of the onslaught.

Technically speaking, a coronal hole is a temporary region of relatively cool, less dense plasma in the solar corona where the Sun's magnetic field extends into interplanetary space as an open field.

Compared to the corona's usual closed magnetic field that arches between regions of opposite magnetic polarity, the open magnetic field of a coronal hole allows solar wind to escape into space at a much quicker rate. This results in decreased temperature and density of the plasma at the site of a coronal hole, as well as an increased speed in the average solar wind measured in interplanetary space.

If streams of high-speed solar wind from coronal holes encounter the Earth, they can cause major displays of aurorae. Near solar minimum, when activity such as coronal mass ejections is less frequent, such streams are the main cause of geomagnetic storms and associated aurorae.

Here's a picture of it from instruments designed to image the surface of the sun to see it's features.

Now, for me, I see more than just some physiological feature of the sun in it's processes. The shape is particularly interesting to me in the fact that it reminds me of the Hebrew Letter Gimel (or Gimmel - 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet).

I took some time this morning to check out various depictions of the Letter Gimel (Gimmel) and a few of the written forms are mighty close. Here's a pic I made to get the idea across.

Why might you ask would I find this interesting?

The Word... Always the word.

Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.

I take the word as a real and practical meaning unless otherwise noted by context, and the context here is VERY practical, because 3 verses later in verse 28, Jesus includes it in a larger list of things we are to recognize in the time He speaks of (which we are in), and to use for our encouragement.

When we see this, and the other things, we are to look up! Focus on Him... Lift up our heads! Be encouraged by it... And why?

Because our Redemption draws near (not His second coming, no... OUR REDEMPTION!)

Okay, so, why would the letter Gimel (Gimmel) show up on the sun's face, and what could that mean?

The Hebrew letter Gimel (Gimmel) has quite a rich meaning base for believers, but it's foundational meanings of which I will share only 2, has much to say.

From (Chabad Org) -

The word " gimel " is derived from the word " gemul ", which in Hebrew means both the giving of reward as well as the giving of punishment.

From (Hebrews for Christians) -

Gimmel is a Picture of Yeshua as our Redeemer

Yeshua the Mashiach is identified as the Redeemer of mankind (John 4:42). He is the One who, being born into the world, runs forth bearing charity for the poor ones who stand "behind the door." He is our nourishment and our great Benefit. But for those who spurn His love, Yeshua represents judgment and recompense (i.e., the Avenger of blood, called go'el haddam).

Note that Gimmel also can mean "lift up," as a camel lifts up the one who is upon it. Likewise, Yeshua has been lifted up and exalted before the world as the One who has conquered sin and death on our behalf.  Benefit indeed!

Here then is a coincidence in meaning between (Luke 21:25) and an actual physical event with a "seemingly" Hebrew letter of Gimel on the face of the sun, a coincidence in context of the message of Redemption being near when seen, a coincidence in meaning of the letter Gimel representing our Kinsman Redeemer who will perform our Redemption, a coincidence in the pictorial meaning of Gimel as a Camel that "Lifts up the one upon it".

Irony as well... Look up, Lift up your head, for your redemption draws nigh...

The redemption of both the living and the dead in Christ involves our being changed, and lifted up off the face of the earth forever to be with Christ.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

I make no predictions, I will set no date... But I gotta say...

I am HIGHLY encouraged by this event, and it's timing in these two (of all) weeks.

Keep looking up !

Grace and Peace to you all in our Lord Jesus Christ!

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Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]

Priorities

 

A few years back, a week after the Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017, I had a dream of sufficient strength, so as to remember it well.

It had a message for me, and I recognize that I am now fairly along in it's timeline.

Now, while I regard my dreams (at least some of a certain special quality) as authentic messages for me, they are never for public consumption, and are not prophecy for, or to the world.

I don't often talk about my dreams openly, because usually if I do, then all manner of yahoos jump in with their interpretation, or criticism about dreams being too vague, or the symbolism too weird to be understood, or figments of the imagination and meaning nothing really but physiological responses to the previous days stresses, etc, expressing a verbal litany of things and opinions I didn't ask for, or don't really want to hear about.

Those complaints are not my problem, as I know for certain what my dreams usually mean quite quickly, and which ones are really just brain idle.

Sharing a dream often seems like either an open invitation for purists and legalists to assault your character and tear you down, or the other extreme of those who would use your dream and try to manipulate it to be about something they want to be true or they want to make seem like it predicts, stealing away the exact and original meaning that was meant for the one who had the dream.

They can never know the meaning as it was not a message for them, nor did it use symbols or circumstances they have reference for like the one who had the dream. The same symbol in one man's dream, has different meaning in another's. God uses what will get your attention and mean a certain thing to you in your dreams, that has no bearing in another's relationship with the Lord. It's a totally discrete, unique, and proprietary lexicon for each person in a dream language.

So then, you might be asking me why now then, I would bring this up in the public eye in a blog. And the answer to that as always when I post something here, is that I felt moved to do so.

I've been at the bottom of a well as of late.

Isolated, overwhelmed by real life, treading water, and last but not least, like many of you, under attack.

It's a multi-frontal assault on all sides with different tactics all converging to bring me down, trying to steal my joy, kill my hope, and destroy me by insidiously trying to use me to do it.

There's a thing about being at the bottom of a well though, if you can keep yourself encouraged enough to recognize it. And that is the quietness and solitude. The ability to be able to focus in the silence of it, to remember the things of the past that you have learned from, the lessons taught in the affliction of the trials, the affirmation of God's blessing and wisdom, and presence, and I believe even in the dreams He sends.

He shows us our path, our future, our ultimate and eternal victory, He encourages us, He edifies us. He shows us it is not over, we will make it, we will come through.

The gift He has given us in both Salvation and in His own Spirit given to us, He could do no other. He has not brought us this far, only to forsake us and give up on us. He's already won, He's already paid the price. We're just catching up to Him in time, and eventually, time will run out and mean absolutely nothing to us anymore.

So... On to the dream then...

The Second Hand Store

In a good friend's store (He owns it) working with, and for Him, to help Him. My wife and other friends are in there too, doing various things.

The store is full of different things, like a thrift store but the items are not as old and used as you would find in a thrift store. There is nothing in it that is high tech like PCs or TVs or electronics of any kind.

One friend who is humble and mild, is being asked by another person, who was thought to be a friend, to take inventory of everything, and send that inventory to the "officials" (feeling like it was government of some kind).

I immediately take notice after overhearing this, and openly call my good friend the store owner over and tell him what is going on. Explaining what this other guy is trying to do. And it is an open conversation with all of us there in ear shot.

Nothing is said out loud by the store owner (my friend) but somehow we all know His decision is to leave it all behind and leave the store together.

I have a moment of anxiety about my wife and an income, but am pleased to see she also is ready to leave.

The other guy who tried to get the meeker friend to do an inventory walks away while all this has happened shaking his head in feigned disappointment.

After we leave the store and make our way towards some other location, we are walking along a section that is either a road or a river or a canal bank.

Across from this is a housing section and just above the houses are mid air displays by laser, of trees and sky that overlap (not too well either with double instances of trees offset and overlaps that are not properly registered with each other).

They flicker some times, and the animation of clouds and trees blowing are jittery. Though it is not very good, the equipment being used is very high tech. It is obvious that something is being hidden from view behind them.

After this we all are approaching a bridge across the road/river/canal which has curved to the right in front of us, yet we can't really see the bridge.

As those ahead of me (knowing the store owner friend and a few others are in that part of the group) begin to cross the bridge, they appear to be walking on air.

I look down at my feet and my feet disappear into the "seemingly" empty air. I tap my feet a bit and it is like splashing in a puddle, my feet show up again, and then disappear back into the air. I then realize this is the same high tech laser imaging being used previously.

As we continue forward across the bridge I get yet another moment of anxiety about if maybe the bridge is out ahead and we can't see it. It only lasts a moment though and we continue forward.

This is where the dream ended.

If I am to place a marker in this timeline of this dream to say where I (we all) are now currently, I would say it's just after leaving the store, and while we are all walking the bank of the canal.

This dream (for me) teaches several things. The most important for me is the lesson of Priorities. 

To stay focused on the One (Store Owner) and follow His lead, whether to do the work assigned or to exit the store on His direction. The Store Owner is obviously Jesus.

Here is where we see the faith of the believers. Exchanging the world for the Higher things (Walking away from the store when the Store Owner says the work is finished). The Store itself and the items in it, are His creation, the world, the people in it.

There is also Discernment being shown here by the juxtaposition of material versus spiritual. The whole path of the walk from start to finish, is from the visible, to the invisible. The Road/River/Canal Bank represents the flow of life in the temporal.

There is Discernment in the difference of true believers, in the action of defense of the meek here in this example, versus a Judas typology, in the person who tried to bully the meek worker, with the focus on "inventory" which represents the lust of  avarice and legalism.

These items in this store are no mere physical objects, but represent opportunities in the form of personal lives, to which is His work, and by His direction, our work as well.

There is Deception shown also in the high tech displays showing both a fake world on flat screens, and hiding something behind them. There is also the lack of High tech in the store

On a personal level, as I know this dream was given to me in that fashion, I experienced as a participant, a couple moments of doubt. Quickly recovered both times, and that has to do with faith and focus on the One, the Store Owner, Jesus.

I'm very comforted by the way this dream ends, and I can't really call it a Rapture Dream per se', but "Walking on air in the clouds" comes pretty darn close. ⛅

Grace and Peace to you in Jesus Christ our Lord!

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Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]