The Holy One calls to me this morning. There is a sense of urgency in the atmosphere, like when I was in high school and the final bell was about to ring for everybody to be in class.
He speaks into the quiet of the early morning, "The Father Heart of God is under attack". I find my own heart aching as I consider the weight of His words. Much of my wrestles and trials lately have had to do with a father's heart.
The message of Malachi 4:5 has been one I pay attention to because these were the last words written before the 1st coming of the King of Kings, Jesus the Christ. The conditions on the ground here on earth are eerily similar today to the ones spoken of back in the time of Malachi.
All indications are that the return of the Lord is imminent. It is written that the day of the Lord's coming will be like a thief in the night. It will take many by surprise unprepared to handle that epic event. 2 Peter 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2 NIV
Elijah, the prophet of God was the name mentioned in Malachi 4:5 NIV, "see I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
These words paint a picture in my mind of a swirling mysterious dark and foreboding cloud. The message is clear, the warning unmistakable. We would do well to ponder these words as we see all the Chaos in the Middle East that speaks of an atomic explosion about to take place.
If you are a stranger to the "Prophetic" calendar of end times....the Middle East and specifically Israel is where the last great battle on planet earth will take place before the return of Christ to the earth. The first coming of Christ was the delightful introduction of God's amazing Grace through God's only Son, Jesus. Jesus came the first time to "show us the Father".
The next time He appears will be more like a "dreadful day"....with cataclysmic events taking place that have been outlined in the book of revelation.
The Word of God is an instruction manual as well as a book of promises. I take heed and pay attention to all the words written as each word is applicable to life today here on earth.
The back burner personal story to this is a raging custody battle that has exposed society's agenda to eliminate fathers from their children's lives. The battle itself is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness so evil that are using people they find willing to break down the Godly structure of authority and protection and love that provides security to the children from the God-ordained father role.
The Holy One always uses the personal to bring me to His lessons for the corporate issues that He wants me to understand. Today He is connecting more of the dots in the bigger picture of human rebellion and rejection of God himself.
Our society is in big trouble. The covenant relationship of marriage and family has been ravaged. The core relationship that makes for a strong and peaceful society is being destroyed and re-defined.
While we can pass the circumstances off to the dark Lords and a fallen earth, we cannot blame-shift the responsibility for wicked actions to any darkness but the darkness that lies within the human mind.
The thing that strikes my own heart so heavy is the realization that the warning goes far beyond the human situation of marriage and family, divorce and custody. This touches the very core of our relationship and understanding of the Father heart of God.
The Holy One draws me deep into His counsel today.
The Prophets of old were the father figures of authority representing God's heart to the people. Elijah was a very, very significant Prophet to the nation of Israel. Not only did his spoken word stop the rain and the dew from falling for a period of 3 years, by his voice and prayer, Holy fire came down from Heaven in a mighty display of God's power.
Fire was the affirmation of his message and Elijah's respected position in the Lord's service. I Kings 18 NIV
Then there was the mystery surrounding his dramatic translation from earth to Heaven in 2 Kings 2 NIV, which left his successor Elisha as a stunned witness to the power of Holiness upon His life.
He speaks into the quiet of the early morning, "The Father Heart of God is under attack". I find my own heart aching as I consider the weight of His words. Much of my wrestles and trials lately have had to do with a father's heart.
The message of Malachi 4:5 has been one I pay attention to because these were the last words written before the 1st coming of the King of Kings, Jesus the Christ. The conditions on the ground here on earth are eerily similar today to the ones spoken of back in the time of Malachi.
All indications are that the return of the Lord is imminent. It is written that the day of the Lord's coming will be like a thief in the night. It will take many by surprise unprepared to handle that epic event. 2 Peter 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2 NIV
Elijah, the prophet of God was the name mentioned in Malachi 4:5 NIV, "see I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
These words paint a picture in my mind of a swirling mysterious dark and foreboding cloud. The message is clear, the warning unmistakable. We would do well to ponder these words as we see all the Chaos in the Middle East that speaks of an atomic explosion about to take place.
If you are a stranger to the "Prophetic" calendar of end times....the Middle East and specifically Israel is where the last great battle on planet earth will take place before the return of Christ to the earth. The first coming of Christ was the delightful introduction of God's amazing Grace through God's only Son, Jesus. Jesus came the first time to "show us the Father".
The next time He appears will be more like a "dreadful day"....with cataclysmic events taking place that have been outlined in the book of revelation.
The Word of God is an instruction manual as well as a book of promises. I take heed and pay attention to all the words written as each word is applicable to life today here on earth.
The back burner personal story to this is a raging custody battle that has exposed society's agenda to eliminate fathers from their children's lives. The battle itself is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness so evil that are using people they find willing to break down the Godly structure of authority and protection and love that provides security to the children from the God-ordained father role.
The Holy One always uses the personal to bring me to His lessons for the corporate issues that He wants me to understand. Today He is connecting more of the dots in the bigger picture of human rebellion and rejection of God himself.
Our society is in big trouble. The covenant relationship of marriage and family has been ravaged. The core relationship that makes for a strong and peaceful society is being destroyed and re-defined.
While we can pass the circumstances off to the dark Lords and a fallen earth, we cannot blame-shift the responsibility for wicked actions to any darkness but the darkness that lies within the human mind.
The thing that strikes my own heart so heavy is the realization that the warning goes far beyond the human situation of marriage and family, divorce and custody. This touches the very core of our relationship and understanding of the Father heart of God.
The Holy One draws me deep into His counsel today.
The Prophets of old were the father figures of authority representing God's heart to the people. Elijah was a very, very significant Prophet to the nation of Israel. Not only did his spoken word stop the rain and the dew from falling for a period of 3 years, by his voice and prayer, Holy fire came down from Heaven in a mighty display of God's power.
Fire was the affirmation of his message and Elijah's respected position in the Lord's service. I Kings 18 NIV
Then there was the mystery surrounding his dramatic translation from earth to Heaven in 2 Kings 2 NIV, which left his successor Elisha as a stunned witness to the power of Holiness upon His life.
2 Kings 2:11, "Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind." With no more of an explanation than that, Elijah was no more.
There is much to be gleaned from Elijah's recorded life, including clues about the Rapture of the Church. But the overwhelming purpose he served was to turn the hearts of the people back to the One True God. He exhorted those who had been sucked into idolatry, compromise and rebellion to come back into covenant loyalty to the One who brought them out of Egypt's slavery and bondage and formed them into the nation they were.
Many look at the Old Testament as history with little or no relevance to our world and relationship with Holiness today. Many look at the New Testament as a grace laced excuse for what God calls rebellion. The Holy Spirit blows holes in both those points of view. Love always warns when disaster is waiting.
The "Spirit" that was on Elijah then is the same Spirit of Holiness that is in us today. Jesus' death resurrection and Ascension opened the way for the release of His Holy Spirit into our being. It bears repeating, the Spirit of Holiness that was "on" Elijah then, is "in" believers today.
The message the Holy One has been speaking to my heart is that Elijah created the contest with the priests of Baal in order to draw a line of loyalty in the sand demanding that the people pick a side. "Choose this day who you will serve", but the contest was not without the display of God's sovereign and powerful Holy fire to make that decision easier for the people. The mercy and grace of our God is amazing.
Elijah drew the line and it brought down fire. Jesus drew the line and it brought down miracles. When Jesus came to show us the Father, miracles were the evidence of the Father heart of God.
Our battle today is the same as it was then, not against flesh and blood even as it concerns our marriages and families. Ours is a kingdom battle. The Kingdom of Heaven VS the Kingdom of the dark lord we know as Satan.
The destruction of God's ordained unit we call marriage, is the beginning of a strategy to separate every child and every "next" generation from understanding and trusting the Father Heart of God.
When we wipe out that divine structure of authority, our children become casualties of the war. Chaos and confusion abounds in a broken family and emanates out and adds to a broken society. But that is just the earth bound consequences we suffer. The real devastation issue is that a child of divorce has a much harder time trusting the One we know as our Heavenly Father.
While marriage is a symbol of a Heavenly relationship with Christ, the earthly father-child relationship is a symbol of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
The damage to an innocent child-like heart and mind is incalculable and lies hidden in the deep recesses of their being. No wonder the enemy of our soul targets the earliest keepers of it.
The warning of Malachi is clear and the stakes are eternal. Earthly fathers have a high calling and a deep responsibility to model the Father Heart of God to their children. Interruption of that comes with a solemn warning. I cannot help but notice the silence from the Church on that issue. Many are deceived about the serious consequences of personal rebellion and denigration of the father child relationship and never hear the "rest of the story".
The message has been laced with so much grace and the consequences of divorce dismissed as non-existent for the "blood washed" believer, but life here on earth tells us otherwise. Divorce statistics within the church are staggering. Not wanting to hold people accountable to live by their covenant vows, we are left to endure and somehow deal with the mess that divorce makes in the family unit and the toll it takes in the heart of a child.
God's warnings are always to a peaceful end if they are heeded. For every curse there is a promise once we have allowed the Lord to deal with the hardness of our hearts. We, as the body of Christ need to pay attention to the children and make sure to encourage fathers in their role, and if there is not one present in the life of a child, become one to them.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God." The love of earthly fathers for their children impacts more than their security here. It forms the trust bond that will someday be transferred to their Father God.
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
There is much to be gleaned from Elijah's recorded life, including clues about the Rapture of the Church. But the overwhelming purpose he served was to turn the hearts of the people back to the One True God. He exhorted those who had been sucked into idolatry, compromise and rebellion to come back into covenant loyalty to the One who brought them out of Egypt's slavery and bondage and formed them into the nation they were.
Many look at the Old Testament as history with little or no relevance to our world and relationship with Holiness today. Many look at the New Testament as a grace laced excuse for what God calls rebellion. The Holy Spirit blows holes in both those points of view. Love always warns when disaster is waiting.
The "Spirit" that was on Elijah then is the same Spirit of Holiness that is in us today. Jesus' death resurrection and Ascension opened the way for the release of His Holy Spirit into our being. It bears repeating, the Spirit of Holiness that was "on" Elijah then, is "in" believers today.
The message the Holy One has been speaking to my heart is that Elijah created the contest with the priests of Baal in order to draw a line of loyalty in the sand demanding that the people pick a side. "Choose this day who you will serve", but the contest was not without the display of God's sovereign and powerful Holy fire to make that decision easier for the people. The mercy and grace of our God is amazing.
Elijah drew the line and it brought down fire. Jesus drew the line and it brought down miracles. When Jesus came to show us the Father, miracles were the evidence of the Father heart of God.
Our battle today is the same as it was then, not against flesh and blood even as it concerns our marriages and families. Ours is a kingdom battle. The Kingdom of Heaven VS the Kingdom of the dark lord we know as Satan.
The destruction of God's ordained unit we call marriage, is the beginning of a strategy to separate every child and every "next" generation from understanding and trusting the Father Heart of God.
When we wipe out that divine structure of authority, our children become casualties of the war. Chaos and confusion abounds in a broken family and emanates out and adds to a broken society. But that is just the earth bound consequences we suffer. The real devastation issue is that a child of divorce has a much harder time trusting the One we know as our Heavenly Father.
While marriage is a symbol of a Heavenly relationship with Christ, the earthly father-child relationship is a symbol of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
The damage to an innocent child-like heart and mind is incalculable and lies hidden in the deep recesses of their being. No wonder the enemy of our soul targets the earliest keepers of it.
The warning of Malachi is clear and the stakes are eternal. Earthly fathers have a high calling and a deep responsibility to model the Father Heart of God to their children. Interruption of that comes with a solemn warning. I cannot help but notice the silence from the Church on that issue. Many are deceived about the serious consequences of personal rebellion and denigration of the father child relationship and never hear the "rest of the story".
The message has been laced with so much grace and the consequences of divorce dismissed as non-existent for the "blood washed" believer, but life here on earth tells us otherwise. Divorce statistics within the church are staggering. Not wanting to hold people accountable to live by their covenant vows, we are left to endure and somehow deal with the mess that divorce makes in the family unit and the toll it takes in the heart of a child.
God's warnings are always to a peaceful end if they are heeded. For every curse there is a promise once we have allowed the Lord to deal with the hardness of our hearts. We, as the body of Christ need to pay attention to the children and make sure to encourage fathers in their role, and if there is not one present in the life of a child, become one to them.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God." The love of earthly fathers for their children impacts more than their security here. It forms the trust bond that will someday be transferred to their Father God.
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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