"Rejoice in the LORD always, and Again I Say REJOICE" - 

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.!!.  Hallelujah.!!

"When the eyes of the heart see the risen and glorified Christ and faith lays hold of the wonderful meaning for us who believe, then we learn to walk in that separation into which God has called His people. 

What the Christian therefore needs is an ever increasing realization in faith of his position in Christ, and then to be energized by the indwelling Spirit to seek those things which are above and not the things on earth. Such a life means joy and peace. It is a life of obedience and quietness, victorious over all earthly circumstances.

And because it is a life which is hid with Christ in God, it is hidden from the world." 
~ A.C. Gaebelein

THE WATCHMAN
By: Ali Winters

The Presence of the LORD surrounded the young man, his heart pounded in his ears as he heard the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking; Spirit to spirit, deep within his soul:

“Be still and know that I am God!”

Shaken, Willis paused and wondered; but there was no time, friends were waiting:

“Tomorrow Lord, I promise. Tomorrow.”

Hurriedly, he closed his Bible, buried it deep inside his backpack, and rushed out of the library toward the waiting car. Ignoring the nagging guilt gnawing in the pit of his stomach, he slid into the back seat:

“Tomorrow Lord, I promise. Tomorrow.”

The car sped toward Route 618 and The Lighthouse Bar, leaving behind a cloud of dust, gravel and guilt.

His nose pressed against the window, the smell of stale tobacco and alcohol permeating the air, the watchman scanned the smoke filled room – his eyes at last coming to rest on Willis. Sent by the Almighty to watch over this new child of the King since his rebirth in Jesus the Christ four months earlier, the watchman had been faithful in his task, but it had not been easy:

“How can it be? How can one neglect so great a salvation?”

Late into the night, the watchman stood and watched, waited and wondered. The Truth of God’s Word spilling out into the vast darkness of the night ~

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompence
of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation..."
[Hebrews 2:1-3]

The following morning the watchman moved silently through the mourners standing vigil near Route 618 – once again the watchman wondered how man could not know or understand that:

“There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the
spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death...” [Ecclesiastes 8:8]

Headlines in the Falls Creek Gazette had shaken the college to its core:

“College students lose life in deadly automobile accident on Route 618. Dead at the scene were 23 year-old Jake Mitchell, 21 year-old Molly Jacobs and Willis Haskell age 19.”

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away .” [James 4:14]

Salvation does not come by repeating a prayer or asking Jesus into your heart.
Man is not saved by signing a card or joining a church. Salvation comes when
we hate our sin as much as God hates our sin, when we love God as much as we
once loved the world and the things of the world.

Salvation comes when in our brokenness we fall on our face before a Holy God, recognizing our sinfulness, recognizing His Holiness and ask:

“My God, What have I done?”

Then, and only then, will we begin our walk of faith and obedience with the LORD. Anything else is only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

'Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead...' Philippians 3:13

I received the following on 17 February - three days after the school shooting in Florida.  Please keep those who lost loved ones in your prayers as they continue to grieve their loss and ask why...  

And now the Austin bomber, we wonder what' next.

"America you have come to a crossroad. The time to decide is NOW. The choice is yours to make. Will you surrender to Me - acknowledging Me as LORD of lords, KING of kings or continue to face destruction and devastation in your own strength. The choice is yours to make."

I ask if America would repent and turn from their wicked ways.  

"Some will, some will not. Sadly the majority will continue to follow the familiar and profane. But you (all called by HaShem, The Name) must continue to warn. None will be able to stand before the Son of God on the day of judgment and say they never knew for you as well as others must continue to warn.

Lives lived in accordance with the ways of the world are lives lost, squandered by their unrighteousness and rebellion; choosing to exchange priestly robes for filthy rags they proceed down their path of destruction. Retreat is not an option for My children. Not retreat, but advance. Move forward in your high calling as priests and kings. Move forward in My Name. Do not allow others to destroy My Word alive in you. Do not allow anger or bitterness to rob you of My anointing. My yoke is easy-My burden light. 

Great deception rules the church called by My Name. Man follows man creating a greater distance between Creator and creation. Souls hang in the balance and yet the church, called by My Name rejects the only truth that has the power to save.

Move forward...the time is now. Prepare, advance, proclaim."

'For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you.' Psalm 50:17

'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.' Proverbs 1:7

'Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.' Psalm 51:10

"The LORD looks on the heart and the heart of man is desperately wicked.

Man has long ignored the still small voice of the Holy Spirit; now the hardness of his heart prevents man from hearing, believing, repenting and being reconciled to God. Time is slipping away, there is coming a time when My Word will be silenced. Even now My Word is being twisted to fit the degenerate lifestyles of the masses. There are those among you who will not notice when My Word is silenced or if they notice will rejoice that the voices that bring condemnation to them has at last been silenced. Repent wicked world, repent...turn from your wicked ways and return to Me The Author, Creator and Giver of life.

Do not allow unconfessed sin to rule and reign in your heart and mind. Do not seek to please man, seek to please Me The Author and Perfector of all that is and ever will be.

'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28'

The Son came that fallen man might be saved from the wrath to come. The Holy Spirit was given to guide you to all truth. Both have been ignored as man follows after evil believing it to be good.

Revival and wrath,warnings and judgment, resentment and restoration. All coming upon the earth. Prepare your hearts now. Weep and mourn before My altar. Don't remain as you are today-filled with the 'good' things the world offers while rejecting the Holy Spirit of God. The gates of hell will never prevail against My church. Yes, there will be pockets of revival for as man searches for Me I will be found. But sadly the masses will continue to reject, mock and scorn My Son Who is The Way, The Truth, The Life."

'But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.' John 4:23

'Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?' 1 Corinthians 3:16

What if...  

For several years I listened expectantly for the trumpet to sound, calling believers home. I listened with excitement to messages of deliverance from the wrath coming upon the earth. With a smile on my face, I embraced those encouraging words admonishing each of us to look up and not out, teaching them to my children. Joy and laughter filled the halls of churches as thoughts of escaping the judgments to come danced across our minds, filling our hearts with the assurance that all was well with our soul.

Several years passed and I rocked on until one night I was radically changed after an encounter with the True and Living God. I matured in my faith, took my Bible and began to read, to study. As the Word commands:

“Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
“What If?”

What if the PreTrib belief were correct? What Harm?

We had waited with expectant hearts the appearing of our LORD. Standing joyfully on His promises to deliver us from the wrath to come.

What if the PreTrib belief were correct? What Harm?

As I read books by Robert VanKampen, Marv Rosenthal and Michael Pfeil along with studying my Bible, nagging thoughts crept in. My smile became a thoughtful gaze, and I was left to wondered:

What if?

We as a family, with joy and laughter, had discussed what heaven would be like and spent hours attending prophecy conferences with feel good messages, amid shouts of Maranatha, sharing our excitement with like minded believers.

BUT nagging thoughts refused to go away.

What if the PreTrib belief were wrong? What Harm?

We have spent much time waiting expectantly to be saved from the wrath to come but NO time preparing our hearts and our minds to stand for Him in the fiery furnace of affliction. We have spent little time on our knees weeping before the LORD over the lost within our own families, nor have we cried out to our Father to save, deliver and heal a lost and dying world. We have swallowed and followed but spent no time becoming rooted and grounded in His Word.

What if the PreTrib belief were wrong? What Harm?

We have not examined our own hearts before God, but have chosen instead to embrace easy belief-ism. We have not looked at our own sins nor cried out to God in broken repentance. We have forgotten to look up to a Holy God who said:

“I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44

There will indeed be a rapture - but whether it is today, tomorrow or a thousand years from now, our LORD has said “occupy until I come."

“…when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

"And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God." Mark 11:22

"You will never stop growing until you come home to be with Me or you choose to remain down when trials and testing come. Only when one refuses correction or remains confined in a prison they themselves have erected...only then will you be separated from the grace and goodness of your God.

Continue to strive. When testings come expect failures, heartaches and tears...but not defeat. Do not remain separated from Me,; run to My arms for there you will find strength for the days ahead.

Some battles you will win, others you will loose, but I AM alone has already won the war. Satan is defeated! My children can walk in victory as they keep their hearts and minds stayed on Me.

Remember the words of My Son...'it is finished.'

Engraved on the palms of My hands are the names of the redeemed. My sheep hear My voice. My sheep obey My Word. I have many who have not lost faith. Continue to walk with Me. Encourage My sheep to walk in faith, even when the way seems dark and fears arise; walk in faith, for they do not walk alone." 

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10

"For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined...Psalm 66:10

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful..." Hebrews 10:23

"Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble..." Hebrews 12:12

"Be still and know that I AM God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted upon the earth.

Heaven and earth will declare the glory of God. Man will not forever ignore Me as he does today. Soon man will weep and mourn for the choices he has made, the time he has wasted, the opportunities he has squandered. I AM The Light of the world but man would rather live in darkness.

The wrath of God will be poured out upon this wicked and perverse generation. Never doubt that I AM that I AM and will not alter My Word to fit the belief system of this wicked, lost and dying world. I AM is your example. Measure your life, your sin with My Word...not your neighbor, not your church. Balance all with My Word for there you will find The Truth.

I have spoken truth in My Word yet millions refuse to heed what the Spirit has spoken. A Great War continues to be fought in the heavenlies...a war for the souls of man. Light against darkness yet mankind continues to reject The Truth. To embrace The Truth requires change and this man is neither interested nor willing to do."

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness..." Romans 1:18

"Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the LORD your God, And the dread of Me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of hosts." Jeremiah 2:19

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Pastor Bill Randles writes in Born From Above:  'Man prefers fantasy and illusion to truth, for The Truth humbles him, showing him to be a dependent and needy creature. Man doesn't want to face a judge so he imagines there is no judgment. Man wants to craft his own rules, his own personal ethics, therefore he resents and even hates the commandments of God. Fallen man hates the light of JESUS.'

When I sat down and began to pray seeking to hear from Holy Spirit I ask the LORD if He had a word for today. His response; "I have a word for everyday but most days My Words fall on deaf ears. Soon My Word will begin to be silenced. It has already being marginalized, cheapened by the evil intent of the greedy and the gullible. My Word, once so precious,  has no place in society, (nation, population, world, humanity). The Great Awakening (1730-1740), Azusa St. (1906-1915) forgotten as man walks the way of the world."

From Natural to Super Natural
     Just thinking out loud...

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

We claim faith in Jesus the Christ. We stand with voices raised heavenward singing, “Standing on the promises of God,” we glibly quote scripture and encourage our neighbors and friends to ‘only believe’. Yet, when we are confronted with trials and testing, when our own world appears to crumble beneath us, we cry in agony, race to the doctor, grab a pill or call a friend to listen to our woes.

We generally feel sorry for ourselves, while bemoaning the unfairness of our circumstance we fail to remember the words of the Psalm - "Be still [cease striving] and know [remember] that I AM God."

While this may be natural, we were not chosen of God to be natural, we were chosen by God, 'out of the world', a new creation in Him - called to be a supernatural people. We all too quickly panic rather than praise and all too soon forget:

“In all [these] things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” [Romans 8:37]

Scripture tells us -  “Endure hardship as discipline. God is testing you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” [Hebrews 12:7]

Again, scripture tells us -  “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” [James 1:1-4]

We are powerless in and of ourselves. We read in Habakkuk, ‘it is The LORD God who is our strength. It is He who makes me walk on high places.’

We are admonished to never forget - ‘we are not to conform to this world [the natural] but be transformed by the renewing of our mind [supernatural] so that we might prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’ [Romans 12:2]

"For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you." Psalm 50:17

"My mercy, My grace has covered the sins of My people...but to their great shame many have taken My grace, My mercy and turned it into a license to act foolishly, to follow blindly the ways of the world. To do things of which I do not approve that bring shame and reproach to My Name. Be careful to take My grace, My mercy as My love extended to My children that you may turn from your sin and live a holy life - free from the guilt of the world, not as an open door to bring shame upon yourself; slandering My Name among the lost.

The love of God has been poured out to all mankind. All who will may come to The Fountain of living water drinking freely. Yet man will continue in open rebellion to My Word, rejecting My sacrifice of love."

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"You who have forsaken Me," declares the LORD, "You keep going backward So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!" Jeremiah 15:8

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness." Psalm 103:8

"For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength." But you were not willing..." Isaiah 30:15

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God..." Ephesians 2:8