Friday – January 1, 2016
WILL IT BE A HAPPY NEW YEAR?
Ready or not 2016 is here. The most important thing about any day including today is to be ready spiritually first. This is a special edition of the things God has shown me about 2016 and thereafter. First however let us be reminded to pray for the Church of Jesus Christ. The organized Church is in much need of prayer. The Church building pictured is St. John’s Episcopal Church located in Hampton Virginia. This Church was established in 1610 and is thought to be the oldest English-speaking church in continuous existence in these United States. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
As each of us step into 2016 either with confidence or in trepidation, they may co-exist, we must ask ourselves if we really believe the Word of God (faith), what are our motives (love), and are our goals (hopes) led of the Holy Spirit or our own lust? If any of these trouble us, job one is to remedy them and have a plan established by the Master through His Holy Spirit to strengthen our foundation and become like Him.
The Lord has been unfolding things concerning 2016 and I will share those things today. First let me remind you of a reassuring Word of the Lord that came to me in December 2014. Also let’s remind ourselves that every Word of the Lord has an ‘if’ in it whether it is and explicit part of that specific Word or not. For example the Word following which says that God will not allow America to be utterly destroyed has an unspoken ‘if’ and that ‘if’ has to do with the repentance and the obedience of God’s people.
As I was in prayer in the early morning hours on the 9th of December 2014 this is what the Lord spoke to my heart.
“I (the Lord) will not allow America to be utterly destroyed. You are my Covenant nation to show My goodness and that glory shall shine again like the sun. I am the Lord, it is spoken of My mouth and my Prophets are to proclaim this in the earth. I love you.”
The first impressions in my thinking from the Lord for 2016 is that it will be a year of great transition and turmoil. Coupled with this, He has reminded me that the number twenty (20) in Biblical Numerology is the number of Redemption and the number sixteen (16) is the number of love. At its root Bible love is obedience to the Word of God, which applies to us being obedient to the Word and God being obedient to His own Word. The people of God walking by faith, in love, led of the Spirit of God will see and participate in great transition and turmoil but with equanimity (composure, calmness, level-headedness, and self-control) they will see marvelous redemptions (recoveries, renovations, reclamations, revitalizations, and restorations) in their lives and they will witness God performing His Word like never before in their lives. God is so good!
I am impressed of the Spirit that the Church at the end will be like the Church at the beginning. At the beginning is a reference to the time of Jesus, the formation of the Church in the first century AD. Recall at that time there was the organized Church which was constituted by the Pharisee, Sadducees, and Doctors of the Law. Then there were the followers of Jesus. Jesus and His followers ministered in the Church, the Synagogue, but were not considered a part of the organized Church of the day and for the most part ministered outside of that organized Church. The real Church of Jesus Christ is not the organized Church like the Catholic, Baptist, and Lutheran denominations, but that body of believers who are becoming more like Jesus day by day. For the most part the leaders and followers in the organized Church sneer down their noses at the organized Church of Jesus’ day all the while not recognizing that is who they are today. They are the ones today that have rejected much of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Many times I have heard the preceding passage referred to concerning the condition of the world at the coming of Jesus (catching away of the Church). Life will be going on as usual in the organized Church just like in the world. You may well recall that the Churches of the first century were informal gatherings outdoors and in homes, that is how it will be at the coming of Jesus and the organized Church will be railing against this just as in that day. Be assured I am not against organized religion but it tends to get its eye off Jesus and on itself. The denomination becomes the god of the leaders in the organization and the people.
Here at the end of days there will be an explosion of knowledge in general and an explosion of the revelation of Jesus Christ in the true Church.
Daniel 12:4 (KJV)
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
There is already an exploding revelation of Jesus Christ but it is not in the organized Church but in the Anointed body of believers who have ears to hear. There is a general hunger for the real thing but people cannot find it for it is not in the organized Church.
Amos 8:11-12 (ESV)
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
The famine of the Word of God in the organized Church is due to a hardness of heart. They have chosen not to hear for it would require a change of thinking and doing.
America is at a crossroads. Will the Church in America continue to slumber or will she awaken? Part of the church is awake and growing in leaps and bounds but for the most part this is an unorganized group, likely of millions, and this is the group which will be the catalyst used of God to bring America back as a shining light on a hill however they must be joined by the larger church. There must be a fundamental change of thinking in America and it must of the spiritual first then the natural.
Matthew 6:33 (KJV)
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Today there is much talk about how this one or that one will bring prosperity back to America, how America can be great again, or how to protect America. None of that will happen without the Church in America seeking “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”. God has ordained various men and women to lead this nation and the Church must unit solidly and unashamedly behind these that are willing and compelled of the Spirit to declare our dependence on God first just as the founders of this nation did many years ago.
The Lord showed me some years ago that there was a storm coming to America. We are in the midst of this storm and that storm has us circling the drain. The storm is a storm of wicked ideas that are being translated from whispered conversations into the laws and actions of the nation, accepted by a majority. The Church is silent for the most part on these ideas. The Church, the righteous of God, are responsible to arise and take captive and cast down the ideas of wickedness like abortion, fornication, homosexual marriage, and the God given right of self-defense.
Finally, some years ago the Lord gave me the phrase; Awake, Arise, and Triumph which many of you have heard me use and I have titled two books with these words. The Lord has expanded this more recently to: Awake in repentance, Arise and tear down the high places (wicked ideas), and Triumph. There are five parts to this, one is awake, the second is repentance, the third is arise, the fourth is to tear down the high places (ideas), and the fifth is to walk in Triumph with Him. Imagine a continuum numbered 1 to 10 with awake occupying 1-2, repentance occupying 3-4, arise 5-6, tear down 7-8, and triumph 9-10. Where is the organized church on this continuum? The Lord says the organized Church is between two and three. The church is not fully awake.
Each of us must seek the Lord to know that we are among the awake and not among those who sleep and are unprepared like the wise and foolish virgins.
ADDENDUM DECEMBER 30, 2015
Late on the 30th of December 2015 the Lord reminded me of the following Truth that is now applicable to America. God, our Heavenly Father, our Savior, and our Helper the Holy Spirit will keep Covenant with the righteous for a thousand generations. It is well to keep in mind that the mercy extended in any of our lives may be more dependent on those who went before us than upon our condition before God. The same is true of nations.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 (KJV)
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
America is a Covenant Nation and God is honoring His part to the letter but America has increasingly strayed from the Covenant, righteousness, for at least one hundred years. The sins of this nation which the Church has allowed include but are not limited to the spilling of innocent blood (abortion), materialism, no honor of the marriage bed, the immersion into homosexual and other deviant behaviors, a failure to honor Israel, and a progressive enslavement of the people making the government our new god.
The Church has progressively strayed from the Truth right from the beginning (first and second century AD) and it gets worse year by year at least in the organized Church but God has a remnant for the end of days. God is honoring the righteous men and women who brought about the founding of this Covenant nation and have led America in the way of righteousness. These are the people of the first great awakening that led to a beacon of liberty arising in this land and those of the second great awakening that led to the preservation of our union and abolishing of slavery. We are in desperate need of the third and final awakening before the catching away of the Church. This third great awakening will not come out of the organized Church any more than the first two or the start of Christianity with Jesus. Consider the following.
1 Kings 11:11-13 (KJV)
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.
Solomon had done wickedly in the sight of God and God is informing him of the consequences. Solomon like America has chosen wickedness, darkness, and there are consequences. There is not God, the devil, and us as separate entities without relation one to the other. We are either in the light or the dark, there is not a third option and spiritual law governs it all. The wages of sin is death, spirit, soul, and body. In the preceding Scripture please notice the phrase “for David by servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.” David was king of Israel from 1011 – 971 BC, his son Solomon was king from 971 – 931 BC. In 931 BC is when the kingdom of Israel was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. I think you can see that God is very patient and very merciful and gave His people a long space of time for repentance for the sake of David His servant. However there was great turmoil and wickedness in the land from the time of Solomon until the kingdom of Israel (and Judah) were no more for a season. Americans are not going to be carried away captive into Assyria or Babylon, but we are already in captivity to many things including Assyria and Babylon. Note that ancient Assyria and Babylon are modern day Iraq and Iran.
2 Kings 8:16-19 (KJV)
16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.
Note that even in the midst of great wickedness God preserved Judah 136 years beyond when the northern kingdom of Israel was taken away and destroyed by the Assyrians and He did it for “David his servant’s sake”. America is not going to disappear as a nation and whether America re-emerges as a righteous nation, a light for the whole world on a hill or we sink further and further into wickedness and depravity is up to the true Church. The true Church are those we are following Jesus as led of the Holy Spirit, not the traditions of the elders or denominational dogma. Will the true prophets speak, will the leaders teach repentance and the tearing down of the high places, will the people stand uncompromisingly for righteousness, will this true Church arise at the command of God or will it seem too hard and we continue to mix the knowledge of good and evil? God forbid the latter and bless the former.
END OF ADDENDUM
For the true Church there is nothing to fear for we walk in the protections of God when He is first.
Psalm 91:2-3, 7-8 (KJV)
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Remember the wicked are not just in the world but in the Church and I am not talking about those who are unsaved.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (Bold added)
Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, so I must ask myself, am I part of that Church? Am I a wise virgin or a foolish virgin?
Ephesians 5:27 (KJV)
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Put down the stones, I am but the messenger.
By Pastor David R. Wood
