Some call me a romantic, an idealist or a dreamer who is out of touch with reality but this March 30th 2015 I am starting my 15th year of being crazy in love with my wife Sandy Spencer. With this overwhelming desire to race home every day after work just to be in her presence, I have been given a partial inside glance of how Jesus views His Bride to be.
I was studying with a friend several years ago and he just blurted out;
…everyone knows who the Bride of Christ is!
Do you know who the Bride of Christ is? Do you think you are in that company? Are there any qualifications that are expected to be met? Can you point out those that are the Bride of Christ and those that are not? What is her purpose both now & in the future?
In this hour of prophetic fulfillment many religious people will try to persuade you to make eternal decisions based on Heaven or Hell; what a pathetic existence of fear based teaching. Yes Heaven & Hell are very, very real but our motivation of eternity cannot be based on NOT GOING TO Hell therefore Heaven is a better alternative. Our eternity is not based on where but on whom. The Bride of Christ is NOTHING without the Groom: Jesus.
I will give you the answers right up front, if this speaks to you then enjoy the details that follow.
The Bride of Christ is…
Real people.
Gentiles not Jews, not composed of Old Testament Saints.
In love with Jesus, the Son of our Living God.
The ones that have submitted to the cleansing & purifying of His Word.
Not the whole Church but a called-out body, from a called-out body.
Many are called but she will be chosen from the called by a set of virtues.
The 100 fold; not the 60 fold or 30 fold chosen from the same ground or field.
Prepared for the rapture event that starts the Wedding Feast.
Will be caught away in the rapture event.
The rapture of the Bride is the first fruits offering of the barley harvest.
John’s vision of the 24 elders with crowns (not the multitude) Revelation 4.
The ones that say: “Come.” Revelation 22:17.
The Bride can be also be identified by 5 crowns or rewards for her earthly service:
Victor’s Crown: overcoming the desires of the flesh 1Corinthians 9:25.
Crown of Righteousness or Watchers Crown 2 Timothy 4:8
Crown of Life: remaining faithful in persecution James 1:12, Revelation 2:10
Crown of Glory: leading those in your influence with a righteous example 1 Peter 5:1-4
Again, the one true motive behind all of this service is because we are so crazy in love with our Lord Jesus, thankful for his: life, death & resurrection, living in full faith that He is preparing a place for us and that He can’t wait to have His Harold proclaim: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!”
If you realize you are not in this company of The Bride of Christ, make yourself ready…choose to be chosen!
We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!
A Storm is Coming and our Lord God is about to speak!
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Job 40: 6-7
What is the purpose for looking into the appointed times of God? To keep us awake; ever praying, serving and witnessing of the great love of Jesus knowing that this season of Grace and Mercy is quickly coming to an end!
1. God’s Calendar
Understanding God’s Calendar that He established with Moses concerning “appointed times” was first based on remembering the first Passover in Egypt and then the other Feasts which all had their beginning & ending according to the “new moon” or the tiny crescent moon in the sky. Prideful man cannot just assume what day it is, he must “LOOK UP” and calculate from each “new moon”!
Sabbath, Shemitah, Jubilee – just as every seventh day was laid out by God as a Sabbath day of rest, every seventh year or Shemitah year was designated as a Sabbath year or a year of rest and at the end of every seven Shemitah years (or 49 years) started the year of Jubilee (or the 50th year)!
Don’t let the word “rest” fool you; Jewish understanding is that they only got rest, blessing & refreshment IF they followed the way and commands of God all week then a Sabbath, all year for 7 years then a Shemitah, every Shemitah for 7 Shemitahs then a Jubilee!
Harbingers – But what if they did evil and did not follow the ways of God? They would receive Judgment instead. If God’s people were not faithful, our loving God who wanted to give rest & blessings would always send Harbingers or a series of warnings to help His people repent & get back on track so He could bless them.
So what does this have to do with America? Just as Israel was a nation created by God, God blessed it, that is until the nation rejected God, and God sent warnings, Harbingers. Israel did not heed the warnings which brought national judgment. In the same way America was founded as a Jesus Faith based Nation, and dedicated itself to the service of God, through the founding fathers. Just as Israel was not faithful to her dedication and was judged, so America has not been faithful to God who has blessed her and established her; to which we have seen God’s warnings or Harbingers (the major ones based around the Twin Towers September 11, 2001). Not only has America not repented as a Nation, America has gone just the opposite direction; actually denying that this country was built on Christian values, plus God’s Word is on the edge of being illegal (considered a book promoting hate-crimes and the name of Jesus cannot be used in public prayer.
Current note: more Jews still live in USA than any other place except Israel. God always had to use hardships to get the Children of Israel moving; in this case, moving back to Israel. American Harbingers should be a warning at least to the remaining Jews to get moving back to Israel.
2. Current Calendar
September 24, 2014 was the start of a 7th Shemitah year. March 20, 2015 is the exact midpoint of the Shemitah and sundown September 13, 2015 the exact end of the Shemitah year on the Hebrew calendar day of Elul 29 and the start of the 50th year; The Year of Jubilee.
3. Signs in the Sky
Back to “looking up” to the moon and the sun.
Blood Moons – Understanding the importance of the moon and “appointed times” we look at a lunar eclipse or eclipse of the moon (called blood moons; as at the moment of eclipse the moon turns red). Jewish understanding is that a lunar eclipse is a “sign” for the Nation of Israel and that a solar eclipse or eclipse of the sun is a sign for the sinful world or Gentile Nations.
March 20, 2015
To understand why I would consider the solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 to be a judgment for the Gentile Nations especially USA we must zoom our lens out a little farther to look at an amazing sequence of lunar eclipses called Biblical Tetrads (groups of fours) in this case 4 blood moons that eclipse on God’s calendar of appointed times declaring the start of Jewish Feasts. This has only happen in this order twice in the last 500 years and this will be the eight time since AD 1 plus it will not happen again for about another 600 hundreds years.
If the odds of Biblical Blood Moon Tetrads are not great enough to grab you attention; put a solar eclipse right in the middle of the four blood moons and have it land on the Jewish New Year. The odds of that happening are not one in a million/trillion – the odds are so slim that I could not get all of the zeros on this page!
4. Follow all of the overlays on this year’s calendar.
2014 – 2015 four blood moon total lunar eclipses all falling on feast days with a solar eclipse in the middle landing on the Jewish New Year plus landing in the middle of a Shemitah Year but not just any Shemitah Year the seventh in a row which ushers in the Year of Jubilee on September 13, 2015.
Blood Moon – Passover, April 15, 2014
Blood Moon – Tabernacles October 8, 2014
Start of Shemitah – September 24, 2014
Solar Eclipse – midpoint of Shemitah – March 20, 2015
Blood Moon – Passover, Evening of Saturday April 3, 2015 to Evening of Sunday April 4, 2015
Feast of Unleavened Breads: April 4-11
April 4-5 – Pagan Holiday Easter – First Fruits Barley Harvest
May 23, 2015 Feast of Weeks (Pentecost): May 23-24 Full Barley Harvest (count 40 days)
End of Shemitah & start of Year of Jubilee (Elul 29) September 13, 2015
Feast of Trumpets: September 14-15
Day of Atonement: September 23-24
Blood Moon – Tabernacles, September 28, 2015 (possible catching away of the Gentile Martyrs saved after the rapture of the Bride).
Feast of Tabernacles/Shelters/Harvest: Sept. 29 – Oct. 5
The Eighth Day: October 5-6
5. Fact Review about Blood Moons & Israel
What is significant about this? A tetrad of lunar eclipses on feast days has only occurred two times in the last 500 years; 1949/50, and 1967/68. During each of those tetrads of total eclipses Israel was at war.
“Though Israel was declared an independent state sixty years ago in 1948, the war with its neighbors began after its first day and lasted for a year. Therefore, the first lunar eclipse of 1949 occurred during this war for the establishment of Israel. The next tetrad began on Passover 1967, which was just six weeks before the Six-Day-War. Therefore, these two significant wars of Israel were covered by each tetrad period.”
6. Fact Review about Shemitah Years & the USA:
For instance, the five greatest economic crashes of the last 40 years – 1973, 1980, 1987, 2001 and 2008 – all occurred in Shemitah years – those God set apart as Sabbath years. In 2001 and 2008 they coincided precisely with the exact end of the Shemitah year on the Hebrew calendar day of Elul 29. (d)
As You Wake
Father God has established appointed times on His calendar to “meet” with His people, given us signs in the sky to get us to look up and remind us of those appointments and has given us prophecies in His Written Word for us to prepare for those appointments. Now the wind is blowing, a storm is brewing.
*Mark Biltz: The Feasts of the Lord (a), Blood Moons (d).
*Jonathan Cahn: The Harbingers (c), The Mystery of the Shemitah (b).
A Storm is Coming and our Lord God is about to speak!
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Job 40: 6-7
America; I write this to you in advance so that when you hear the Voice of the Lord, you will know it to be true. The Word of our Lord turns from a Nation to the individual people.
Father God has already given America opportunity to repent as a Nation but instead America has continued to drift down a slippery slope, and has come to the edge of the cliff. Now our Lord will address the Individuals who live in America because the storm will fall on the just and the unjust.
As You Wake, Remember this
Oh America, you have drifted from your ways, you have turned you back on you purpose and calling in this life, you have removed yourself from the protection of the One who established you. Did you deceive yourself to believe that there would be no consequence?
“He (God) makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away. He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people And makes them wander in a pathless waste. They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.” Job 12:23-25
As You Wake, Remember this
Father God has established appointed times on His calendar to “meet” with His people, given us signs in the sky to get us to look up and remind us of those appointments and has given us prophecies in His Written Word for us to prepare for those appointments. Now the wind is blowing, a storm is brewing and we will probably be in the eye of the storm very soon.
A Storm is Coming and our Lord God is about to speak! A Word of the Lord to America. By Thomas, an Apostle to those of like faith.
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Job 40: 6-7
America; I write this to you in advance so that when you hear the Voice of the Lord, you will know it to be true. The Word of our Lord turns from a Nation to the individual people.
Father God has already given America opportunity to repent as a Nation but instead America has continued to drift down a slippery slope, and has come to the edge of the cliff.
Awake oh Sleeping Drifter
America as a Nation has drifted from:
Humility & Holiness of God’s Grace and Mercy to Prideful tolerance of all sin
Honoring the name of Jesus to denying His name in the public place
Consulting the Bible to outlawing the very book in public places
Following The Holy Spirit to consulting “mediums” & evoking the occult
Celebrating God’s sacred marriage covenant to legalizing base & unnatural practices
Protecting the unborn to genocide of our children
Spiritual freedom in Christ to religious & political bondage
Freeing the slaves to enslaving the free
Missionary Nation to a Nation where other countries now send their missionaries
Blessing the children of Israel to turning your back on them and stealing their homeland
Oh America how you have drifted, drifted to sleep.
Oh America once you were a great light to all the world and now you have drifted into a sleeping darkness that will soon be forgotten; mentioned only in a whisper of old man’s story.
Oh America you are not mentioned at the end times of the Bible for a reason; for you will not be there, you will be swallowed up into another, you will be unrecognizable.
Awake oh Sleeping Drifter
Father God has established appointed times on His calendar to “meet” with His people, given us signs in the sky to get us to look up and remind us of those appointments and has given us prophecies in His Written Word for us to prepare for those appointments. Now the wind is blowing, a storm is brewing and we will probably be in the eye of the storm very soon.
There comes a time when our lives would be much better if we would just look up.
Our dog Cowboy is getting up in years and surely his sense of smell is better than his eyesight. In the woods he was on the scent of the elk that linger on our property especially in the winter. Nose to the ground, at the edge of the pond with a full charge forward…it would have been much better if he had just looked up. Like a “slapstick” cartoon he actually ran into the largest elk of the bunch; he yelps, takes a submissive roll to his back and then slides into the pond.
In the past 40 years walking with Jesus, I have discovered three types of people:
Group One:
…those that drift aimlessly down the river, their compass is what “feels” good and usually with no goals or sense of direction. They have the thought that they cannot affect their destiny, therefore they try to “experience” everything with no consideration of consequences from choices or worse; lack of choices. They seem to have a lot of “drama” in their lives, little depth of truth, fleeting pleasure and little happiness. These remind me of those in Philippians 3:18-20 “…who set their minds on earthly things.” (read the rest below)
Group Two:
…those who crave knowledge and have mastered the Bible: “knowing” everything about the Jewish calendar & feasts, understanding the prophecies of end time eternity, dazzling those around with their expertise of the “tions” salvation, sanctification, redemption, justification, resurrection, dispensations, elections, predestination…blah, blah, blah. Possessing such great knowledge results in a life of: rules, laws and legalism but no relationship with the very Author of the Bible. This reminds me of Martha the sister of Lazarus in Luke 10:40 “…Martha was distracted with all her preparations…”Or the verse in Matthew 13:14 “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
Group Three:
…these may look like they are aimlessly drifting, but in reality they are fighting the current and headed toward a predetermined destiny. They may consume large quantities of Bible information but more like a treasure hunter learning as much as they can about the author of the book. They are constantly looking up as Mary (the other sister of Lazarus) did when she sat at the feet of Jesus; listening, learning in a relationship with the one who was speaking. Luke 10:39 “…Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.”
Like our dog Cowboy, perhaps we would all be better off, if we just looked up.
Luke 21:28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Revelation 4:1After this I looked (up), and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.
Philippians 3:18-20For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 46:10Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!
Know Truth & be Set Free!
We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!
Knowing where God lives: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – December 18, 2014 – Day 142,563
Picture from: vineandbranchworldministries.com
There are keys and then there are master keys.
Knowing where God lives or where His Presence is or where He invests His: time, energy, resources and life has become the most valuable master key in my life.
Isaiah 57:15a (NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit…
I have discovered some religions practice one or the other but have not found one that practices both. See if you can understand the master key here.
Contrite and Humble but no reverence for the Holy
I have been in meetings where broken people have come to the end of themselves, cried out to God and have fallen on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Quoting the verse Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV) “…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” but then observed as the “flesh” takes over and they start barking like dogs (no reverence).
Legalistically Reverent but no intimate experience
On the other hand I have walked into meetings where everyone is legalistically threatened to enter like an old-fashioned library; most of the women wore grey with their hair up in buns and the men cowered like passive pets. They were trying to honor God who dwells in the High and Holy Place but actually made Him unreachable altogether.
The Master Key is to live in both! Tips I have discovered…
When I pray in public, I formally pray to our Father in Heaven (the High and Holy Place) in The Name of Jesus; referring to Jesus as Royalty; my King, my Lord, The Son of God! In contrast when I pray in the presence of our small group or my family or just all by myself; the atmosphere in the room turns more informal.
My language and worship dive deep, personal and intimate. There is no concern here for formalities or ritual. This is the place where my spirit prays: deep to deep. A place where there is no concern for time or schedules. It is the time of true confession and repentance and worship and deep joy with great hope and incomparable faith. The place where God dwells: in a contrite and humble spirit while maintaining reverence for the High and Holy!
The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!
Key to Freedom – Forgiveness: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – Day 142,561
We do seem like fakes; the times we have said we forgive, when deep down in our hearts we want that person to burn in hell. We learned as children to say “sorry” but forgiveness is deeper, it is a process but, I have discovered that there is that moment when it really comes true!
Growing up we called it our “bad bag”. Everyone that caused us an injustice, we carried around in our thoughts every day. Then if a new person harmed us we would throw them in the bag with everyone else and compound the injustices that were already in the bag.
Some men have gone to the moon, discovered cures for diseases, saved people from burning buildings or have written the greatest symphony…well…my great goal, accomplishment, achievement was to empty my “bad bag”.
Once empty, BURN IT!
Now, you no longer have a bad bag!
It is a process; one that for me started by understanding the injustices that Jesus; the Son of God encountered and then followed His path of how to forgive. I have honestly prayed Matthew 6:12 “…And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors” (NKJV). Today I can pray it in advance:
Father God I purpose in my heart to forgive in advance anyone who would try to harm me or my family this day, help me to walk in forgiveness, Amen.
Today I pray that you would open YOUR “bad bag” and just dump it, you may feel like a fake in the beginning but as the process continues it DOES become REAL!
The Forgiveness Key
The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!
These past years the commission from my Lord Jesus has narrowed from a broad “shotgun” type ministry of the whole world, to a more focused target. Some would call me a missionary, not to an underdeveloped country but a missionary to the United States of America, primarily to the Gentile Church of the United States of America. Things have changed here and I am to be a witness to the fact that just because “man” changes things does not mean that God endorses those changes.
Time to take inventory of this once great nation; to see and hear what the Lord Jesus has to say about what to speak and what to do. “Father God I ask in Jesus Name that You would lead and guide us as we take inventory, let us stay focused on your tour, help us not to get distracted. In those places where it may seem dark and hopeless; hold our hand, give us strength and make Your purposes clear and sure. Amen”
There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
Inventory:
Men and women who have called themselves spokesmen for God: have, are and continue to rape the sheep of God. These false teachers have left hundreds of thousands of people maimed, hurt, confused and broke. False Evangelists have physically gone from city to city operating in a spirit of witchcraft and stealing what little God’s sheep had. This destruction continues today through the airwaves. People have been paralyzed through lies, false hope and mind altering substances.
A word from our Lord (even though this may apply to other regions in the world, remember the context is the USA)
“This is the hour of final gleaning just as Ruth (Ruth 2:3) gleaned behind the reapers in the field of Boaz. Walk through the fields says our Lord, lift up the rubble, call out one more time, and communicate again with loved ones, even those who call you enemy.
Listen; listen for a breath, for a heartbeat for any interest in Truth. Reach out with faith; faith to bring little ones to salvation, faith to heal the sick and to cast out demons, faith to pray for a sound mind.
In this hour of final gleaning do not be distracted by the promoting of large crowds; glean the one, glean the two be the good servant (Matthew 24:45).”
Gold Fever – In 1980 I travelled to Alaska with three other families on a gold mining expedition costing over 2 million dollars and personally lost everything. I journaled the event thinking I might sell it as a book, but it was so negative I burnt it in the fire. Now armed with this experience I turned to being a treasure hunter in the Word of God.
The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!
Know Truth & be Set Free!
We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!
Here are three things I started my search with…
As we walk with Jesus He, through relationship gives us the Keys: Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) And I (Jesus) will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…
There are real Enemies who don’t want us to have the Keys: Luke 11:52 (NKJV) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
The attitude of a true treasure hunter is that we must seek believing that we will find. Hebrews 4:2 (NKJV) For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!
1st day of kindergarten, fire drill, pint cartons of milk, the pledge to our flag…
1st time to hold a girls hand in a circle, screaming yuck but really liking it…
1st time to drive a car, get a job, and wonder why the bank gave us that first loan.
Our childhood backyard, home base, history, memories of the corner store,
A season where things were measured by the price of gas, a roll of stamps & penny candy,
Where we could safely test life and play before we became adults;
Playing sports, playing music, playing like couples in love and even being in plays,
Until we were all expected to grow up from boys to men & girls to women
I know for some who can’t let go, Hometown still seems to owe them something…
Yet others who are a little detached it is just their password on facebook,
For me, it is the vibrant color in my youth that allows me to paint my life today…
It was where passion for knowing truth was passed on by teachers, coaches, moms & dads.
Hometown was anything from perfect but it was real…
Our friends, family, pets, successes & failures…
Experiences that gave us a glimpse of who we wanted to be & who we did not want to be.
Now as we look back, the gigantic basketball court seems much smaller…
The initials carved into the tree seem a little silly…
That first car, well, it took more power to run the speakers than it did to make it up a hill.
I find myself referring to people & things as; “that old so and so”…
Questions start with; “Remember…” & “I wonder what happened to…”
Bad memories kind of fade into the shadows of time – but the thoughts of Jumping off the swing set, flying into the air & being a super hero once again are still just under the surface!
Hometown, a moment on the timeline of life, a reference of being, a circle of friends & family…
And a safe place to make mistakes & to overcome.
Could it be that God’s Original Design for Hometown was like one of three bird’s nests?
The nest that either had so much comfort we never wanted to leave…
The nest that had little comfort & so many stickers we couldn’t wait to leave…
The nest that was so high in the air with such a beautiful view that we looked back at the nest with great honor but we had to answer the call to adventure to jump out & fly, testing & challenging all that we had been taught in our Hometown.
