Have any of you ever wondered how, considering the current condition of the World and the glaring obvious decay of morality and exaltation of iniquity on a global scale, can we not only as a Nation survive, let alone turn the tide has evil triumphed? As we peer into the looking glass of scripture as our guide for an answer, we must remember this, it surpasses time and space. It is Divinely inspired and is rightly referred to as The WORD of GOD, meaning it is Breathed by The Holy Spirit of God, and as such must be read with His breathing upon us as we read it for it encompasses past, present, and future. For Our God is The One Who Was, and Who IS, and Who Is to Come.

We will look into the Books of Jude, Timothy, Romans, and a few others as we navigate our way through to a better understanding of discerning the times and the dispensation in which we as Followers of Christ find ourselves living in. For such a time as this, God has ordained that we are to Be His Ambassadors of Light in this ever growing darkness.

Just as a Veil hides the spiritual – eternal realm from this natural – temporal plane of existence. God has veiled his plan in plain sight, So that we cannot always “see” with our eyes or lean on our own understanding. He has called us to Watch and Observe, to discern the Times and Seasons He has set and determined. God has had a plan from the very beginning.

So how can God grow His Kingdom at the same time Satan seems to be growing his, this is The GREAT Dichotomy. I would like to start out at the end rather than the beginning, and then re-trace our steps through His Word to encourage and strengthen your Faith, and your Hope as well as to inspire US ALL to action in Love.

In The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ in chapters 12-13 The Apostle John tells us of a future scenario of the world; starting in 12:12b…[“But WOE to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”] Here now we find the enemy of our souls engaged in an age long struggle to destroy as many souls and lives as he can by any means in his arsenal. Lies, Deceptions, manipulated Truth, chaos and confusion all so that He might not only lead people astray, but also because he desires above all things to be worshipped as God. Moving forward to Chapter 13 we find his plan for global supremacy unfolding with the help of world governments (beast) and false prophets (religions). In 13:16 we can find his so called Utopia on earth, “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

So we see Satan, the devil, the beast or Anti-Christ as he is often referred to, is also the same beast that ascends from the Abyss in Revelations chapter 9 his name is Abaddon in Hebrew or Apollyon in Greek his name means Chaos, and from the chaos he brings he institutes his One world system, government, religion, economy (see Nimrod Rising and Spirit of Rebellion). In Chapter 13:10b the Word of God encourages us in this regard “This calls for Patient Endurance and Faithfulness on the part of the saints.” Now many might find this speculative in nature regarding these events. As I stated above I want to peer into the looking glass of Gods Word to rightly divide and to discern the Word of Truth. The GREAT Dichotomy as Satan is undeniably advancing his dark New World Order/Old World Agenda, all hope is not lost. Lets look a little closer at prophetic declarations and see where we might find ourselves presently.

Jude 17-23a admonishes us as such, ” But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of Our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you [“In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural (carnal) instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most Holy Faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; SNATCH others from the FIRE and SAVE them…”

2Timothy 3:1-13 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…so also these men oppose the truth–men of depraved minds,…In fact everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Romans 1:18-32 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

We would be right in our thinking that this IS the days we are living in. God’s WORD is TRUTH and it is everlasting, they are Eternal. So what is God doing in the midst of the spread of iniquity? He is not idle nor is He slack in accomplishing His Great Commission “To GO into All the world” to teach and make Disciples and Baptize in The Name (HaShem) of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit Three in ONE. As mentioned above in Revelation and in Jude; we as disciples of Christ must possess a Patient Endurance, and we must be willing to stand firm and in boldness be willing to Snatch some from the fire of eternal damnation, meaning we must build ourselves up in our Most Holy Faith to be fully equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to rescue, restore, and redeem as many as would be saved. As Jesus told His disciples in the Book of Acts 1:8 “But you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and YOU WILL be My witnesses.” He has given us the greatest tool in which to Evangelize the world around us, our homes, our market places, and communities.

God is moving across the globe right now and the gates of hell are not prevailing (contrary to popular perception) , as multitudes are coming to Christ, believing and being baptized in His GREAT Name. The GREAT Dichotomy is this; were sin abounds GRACE does MUCH MORE abound Romans 5:20; a great harvest of souls is sweeping across planet earth, soon and very soon a Trumpet blast will sound for that harvest to be gathered into God’s storehouse. This rapture as it is known is our gathering together to meet with Christ in the air, while the world in its depravity is given over to the Father of Lies, for a short period of time. As this Dispensation of Grace (time of the Gentiles) comes to a conclusion; Let us urge one another on in the Love of God, He demonstrated through Christ Jesus showing for us as an example to reach out to a lost and desperate dying world, to save some.

In closing, Romans 10:13-15 charges us “for Everyone who calls on the Name of The Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard ? And how can they hear without someone preaching (declaring, witnessing, testifying) to them? And how can they preach if they are not sent? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ , that is The Testimony that Jesus is the Christ, The Messiah and we all have an Anointing to make Him known.

Let us Keep Our Eyes fixed steadfastly upon Him Who IS the Author and Perfecter of Our FAITH.

We have all been hearing ALOT about the so called “Insurrection” of January 6th, 2022. In our hearing ALOT of this, it seems that we always only get one side of the story. As numerous conflicting reports arise, there is in fact as of today “Political Prisoners” within the United States of America. Those that are being held contrary to legitimate due process of the law. While the Progressive Liberals and the complicit MSM for four years, decried Russian collusion that somehow, although FALSE, that The 45th President of the United States was not legally and lawfully elected as if somehow the election was “rigged”. Funny how that goes to the flip side when a sitting President receives the MOST votes in History for his re-election and “losses” amidst numerous, proven, and visual evidence of voter tampering and fraud, yet we hear it was “The most secure-election” in history, because A Puppet President was inserted by the same Progressive Liberal-MSM Globalist Complex. Any oppositional view is squelched with government agency coercion and social-media bias censorship. We hear from this crowd that on January 6th “Our great democracy” was threatened. And that The former President should be found guilty of “treason”. I don’t believe it is so much they fear DJT, as much as they fear who supports him, “We the People”.

Remember when Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi, RIPPED up the Historical document “State of The Union” speech after the 45th President finished declaring it live, yet we are to believe she is supportive of this so-called democracy. Let me remind some of you, we DO NOT Now nor have we ever been as a Nation a “Democracy” no dear friend we have ALWAYS been since its Founding a Constitutional Republic with Democratic Representation. To summarize for you the difference; the mantra of the left “democracy” is all about Mob rules; that is to say we have the votes that’s the way it goes, period! A Constitutional Republic with democratic representation allows us to elect our Representatives, by mob rule or more appropriately majority of votes. Nowhere does it imply that by a simple majority of voters that the Laws (to include The Bill of Rights) specified in The Constitution of The United States (COTUS) be simply voted out as no longer needed and outdated. They are the FOUNDATIONS -“The Founding Documents” are the very bedrock of Our society. They are in fact an Essential core of The Law of The Land.

In light of recent rulings by The Supreme Court (SCOTUS), many egregious “bad” laws that are Contrary to The COTUS, have been ruled Un-Constitutional, as they should have been. Now we see these same frantic politicians who really appear to be the true treasonous entities within the body politic, these who took an Oath to protect and defend The COTUS, not a “democracy” screaming, on camera…as Maxine Waters “To Hell with The Supreme Court, we won’t listen” in response to Roe v. Wade, or The President of The United States (POTUS)- aka “Puppet President Joe -Beijing- Biden” they got it wrong in regards to a Second amendment ruling by The Supreme Court. Issues like The Second Amendment to The COTUS, is pretty basic in its verbiage, the current legal “Constitutional-Lawyers” politicians of the left do not care about it, they study it to find ways to circumvent it, or use cunning crafty semantics to twist and pervert it. Yet it is IN The COTUS, period. Another issue at hand is regarding an issue of “aborting babies, while in the womb, and even after being delivered – birthed”. Nowhere in The COTUS is this a concept, Oh besides a right to Life, Liberty , and the pursuit of happiness. However what is plainly stated in The COTUS is that whatever is “NOT specifically addressed in The COTUS is relinquished to The Sovereignty of each State.” Some of you may not even be aware that each and every State has its own Constitution and has entered into covenant, an agreed upon allegiance to The COTUS, as its abiding authority. It is how and why we as a nation are called “THE UNITED STATES of America”. “I pledge ALLEGIANCE to the flag of The United States of America and TO THE REPUBLIC for which it stands”.

Some of you may be asking why am I writing about such things when typically I write about things pertaining to The Lord God and The Bible. Let me shed some Eternal Light and Truth to my previous screed. It declares in The wisdom writings of Proverbs 28:4-5, 12, 28 the following; “Those who forsake The Law praise the wicked, but those who keep the Law resist them. Evil men do not understand Justice, but those who SEEK The LORD understand it fully. When the Righteous Triumph, there is GREAT elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding. When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.” NIV

To illustrate these verses we can look to a historical narrative found in 2 Kings 8-11. I do not have space or time to expound the entirety of these few chapters but wish to highlight some key verses. In chapter 11 we find a woman named Athaliah, who in true political power hungry madness, murders and destroys her competition and their offspring so that she may continue in power to rule and reign. Unknown to her is that her plan did not fully succeed as there remained a Seed of Truth, A Remnant, and with the aid of other Righteous men they uncovered her wickedness. These men made a Covenant and swore an Oath, lets call them Oath Keepers, to bring a little current events to mind. Upon the revelation of The TRUTH she cried out “TREASON, TREASON”. Let me diverge from the narrative to mention how incredibly familiar this all sounds, be it a Hillary Clinton or a Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Chuck Schumer or any of the other Progressive-Liberal mouth pieces, now back to the biblical narrative. Not only was this venomous snake of a person destroyed but the spiritual ideology behind her wickedness was exposed and razed to the ground. 11:18 “ALL the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down, they smashed the altars and idols to pieces and and killed the priests of Baal”. When the Rightful King took his place All the land rejoiced.”

Now to be clear I am NOT calling for or condoning any act of violence, however I am stating the wickedness and demonic influence that fills our sacred halls of Freedom and Liberty must be called out, confronted, eradicated, and destroyed. The worship of Baalism often included child sacrifice, we changed the semantics and call it a much nicer phrase “abortion” for the aborted fetus, the killing of the innocent and wish to simply say its a matter of choice.

Lord we CRY Out to You, bring Justice, Truth, and Righteousness to the Land of Liberty. Let Freedom Ring, because many of us Do Care, for the next generation.

The Olive Tree, The Branch, and The Root have been symbolic throughout the scriptures. The Garden of Gethsemane was, at the time of Christ an Olive Orchard. In a previous post I attempted to shed light on the symbolisms above as they pertained to Messiah (Christ) Jesus. I would now like to take a little closer look at the fruit of the Tree, The Olive, and the Oil for which it was harvested.

As the Olives were harvested, and gathered for processing into oil. How might this apply, like so many other agricultural symbols in The Word of God to Jesus Christ, that is, as the Suffering Servant.

Bags of olives were laid on top of each other and then placed under the pressing part of the olive press. This particular press had 3 large stones. The first stone (closest to the fulcrum of the press) was used to squeeze virgin olive oil from the bags. This was collected in a basin under the bags and a new basin was used to catch the oil when the second weight was added to the lever. A third basin was used to collect the oil when the third weight was added. The First Pressing– is from the one-stone weight, pressed and collected it was used to make the Holy Anointing Oil to Anoint the heads of Kings and Priests, and other articles in the Tabernacle/Temple . The Second Pressing– is with two stones and the oil was collected and used for consumption and cooking. The Third Pressing– is when all three weights were applied to the sacks of pressed olives, the oil was collected and used for fueling the lamps, squeezed for the last drops of oil. Three Pressings in total, the pulp was then collected and used as fire starters.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus on the night He was betrayed had asked his disciples to “Tarry” with him One hour. Let us take a look at the Gospel story again and find some significance in His examples, In His Pressings.

Mt. 26:36-46, Mk. 14:32-42, Lk. 22:40-46, Jn. 18:1 (A combined perspective)

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Tarry here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed. “My Father if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look the hour is near and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise let us go! Here comes my betrayer.” [Gospel of Mathew]

“ABBA Father…everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” “Simon…are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing the flesh is weak.” Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Loo, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” [Gospel of Mark]

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stones throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” [Gospel of Luke]

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. [Gospel of John]

Three times he went to “pray” alone, Three Pressings as it were, the cup of which he was about to drink is of course not only his encounters with Ciaphas the High Priest, the Sanhedrin Court, and of course Pilate. Where he would be abused, flogged, and sentenced to death on a tree. But in fact The Cup of Wrath or Judgement of His Father God.

What can we attribute to this deeply troubling time for Jesus of Nazareth and his three times he went to “pray”?

*First Pressing- Holy Anointing Oil- Anointed as both King and a Priest– The Order of Melchizedek ; King of Righteousness, Priest of Salem -“Peace”. This first pressing that Jesus endured and submitted his will to, He lays the foundation to fulfill both these Titles and prophecies. (Gen. 14:18, Psalms 110:4, Hebrews 7:1-2)

* Second Pressing-Consumed- The Communion Cup, this cup of judgement was his to drink. His sweat, as His blood, dripped in great drops. Cup of the new Covenant and the Koinonia of Fellowship of his suffering, . (Gen. 14:18-20, Mat. 26:26-28, 39, 1Cor. 10:16, 11:23-32, Phi. 3:10-14)

*Third Pressing-Oil for The Lamp – Light of The World- in this final pressing Jesus establishes he is ready to be a Light unto ALL the world and will be the one to pour out the oil of The Holy Spirit, to Jew and Gentile alike. (Jn. 8:12, 2Cor. 4:4, Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2)

Three Pressings, three times he saw the weakness of his disciples, three times He endured what only He could. He ALONE now is READY to drink the Cup of His Fathers Judgement FOR ALL OF MANKIND. He is READY for His Scourging and Beatings, He is READY for the Ridicule and Shame. HE IS READY FOR THE CROSS!

He emptied himself of his will, and endured The Pressings to squeeze out the Holy Spirit so that as a man he would face judgement, submitting to God The Father’s will and plan of salvation for the redemption of mankind.

Where after His death was confirmed His lifeless body, the pulp, as it were, was placed in an empty tomb, ready to Ignite A FIRE.

John the Baptizer testified to this account of the Messiah, Christ Jesus …”one will come after me who WILL Baptize you with The Holy Spirit AND with FIRE“!!! (Mat. 3:11)

All that remained was to wait and see if God The Father would find His Son Jesus’ obedience as an Offering of Himself, an acceptable and Worthy Sacrifice, “an offering made by Fire a Sweet Aroma Pleasing unto The LORD.” Leviticus 1-4

The whole of heaven sat in silence, his disciples in darkness, for Three days Pending the Final verdict…

Psalms 115:2. WHY do the nations say “Where is THEIR GOD?”

For millennia people have asked that question and declared, in their ignorance “God is dead.”

Many people, especially in this modern age of instant gratification and entitlement find it very difficult, almost crippling of the need to tarry or wait, which is to be patient and more importantly how to abide. Many, even “church” folks have lost the discipline to Trust in The Lord and to Lean not upon our own understanding. In our current world situation and the increase of hostility towards Semites and Followers of The Way, we hear the same old statements identified above. Be rest assured GOD is NOT Dead, nor is He slow.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise (His coming and His Judgement), as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Meaning in His INFINITE Love for humanity God the Father (Abba) is not eagerly awaiting to carry out the sentence ALREADY imposed upon the whole of a fallen and rebellious world. The exception is for those that have put their trust, hope, their confession of FAITH in His Son and Redeemer Jesus of Nazareth the Christ (Messiah). A CONFIDENCE not only in the Promises of The Almighty, but more appropriately the faithfulness and trustworthiness He is to His WORD. It is the only thing God equates to His GREAT NAME (HaShem). His WORD (Logos/Rhema) the written and the declared spoken WORD of God. It is eternal and everlasting , it alone is the standard by which mankind is guided, instructed, and warned about the impending Judgement.

HE is The helper and The Shield to those that FEAR and TRUST in HIM. (Ps 115:11, 13)

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise him. Psalms 28:7

A Shield of FAITH Ephesians 6:16, our faith isn’t in some man-made perishable shield, NO it is in the personhood of the triune Godhead of the Bible for both the Messianic Jewish and Gentile believers. Psalms 91 likens it to a dwelling place, “He who dwells IN the Shelter (booth/tabernacle) of The Most High will rest IN the shadow of The Almighty! I WILL say of The LORD He is my refuge and my fortress.” Oh to be found IN HIM when those moments and that day arrives.

Jesus makes a very peculiar comment, “When The Son of Man returns will He find FAITH in the earth….Luke 18:8b. When He does return, and HE Is! What will He find? A steadfast, courageous, and persistent ecclesia or a frightened, submitted, conquered, and frail bride that only sits in compliance with the injustice committed amongst mankind?

He IS Faith! Not only is it Faith In Him, and only those that remain and walk in an “abiding” FAITH, will be helped and justice delivered for. Once FAITH as a Mustard seed is sown into your soul, it must be watered, nourished, given everything it needs to thrive. He is that Seed of Faith! The Seed of Messiah which is The Anointed One.

Arise O Mighty Warrior, you Captain of the Host of Heaven! Ps. 24:7-9, Joshua 5:13-15

An ABODE is by definition an abiding place, where one dwells or resides, a habitation. It is to be the place where we “live”.

As Jesus (Yeshua) testifies in John 15:1-8 that we are to “remain” (NIV) that is to “ABIDE” (KJV) IN Him. Just as He and The Father are One as they abide and remain IN one another.

In 1 John 2:24,27,28 he writes to us “See that what you have heard from the beginning “REMAINS” -ABIDES in you. If it does, you will also “REMAIN-ABIDE” in the Son and in The Father. As for you, the Anointing you received from HIM “Remains-Abides” in you…that anointing is real, not counterfeit-just as it has taught you, “Remain-Abide” IN HIM. And now, dear children, CONTINUE “Remain-Abide” IN HIM, so that when He appears we may be Confident and unashamed at His coming.” Furthermore in 1 Jn 3:24 “Those who obey His commands “LIVE-ABIDE” in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He “Lives-Abides” in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” The Spirit IS the Anointing!

Psalms 91:1 KJV invites us again. “He who “DWELLETH- ABIDES” IN the secret place of MOST HIGH shall “ABIDE” under the shadow of The ALMIGHTY.”

There is a word in the Hebrew language that is given to this place that the believers in God are called to ABIDE in. It is His Presence, His Glory, The Place where His Name is to Dwell-ABIDE.

It is in The Holy of Holies, between the cherubim, His throne; the Mercy Seat.

We learn of this “place of habitation” first from Moses (Moshe) in Exodus 33 , it is called the KABOD.

KaBod- Strong’s #3519/#3513 kaw-bode; it is the heavy weighty manifested presence of The Living Holy God, His Glory, His PRESENCE.

So as not to confuse the reader with the other word associated with God’s GLORY as in the “Shekinah” Glory which was manifested in the glowing radiant face of Moses (Moshe) as noted in Exodus 34:29, in which the children of Israel required him (Moses) to wear a “veil” as it frightened them. Gods Glory and Presence will ALWAYS cause fear and trembling to our carnal nature (the flesh). Yet it remains that He calls us in to it and to ABIDE there. In Exodus 20:19 the people of God did not desire a personal relationship that is a true encounter with the living God and they requested Moses alone speak to God and then let them know what He spoke, as they were afraid to die.

In the Book of Ezekiel chapter 10, in one of his visions he is writing in regard to the departure of the Glory (kabod) of His Presence; it departed out of the East Gate. In 1 Samuel 4:21 a name is given to a child, shall be called Ichabod. For The GLORY has departed. Because the Arc of the Covenant (Arc of His Presence) was captured.

So Let us put off that which so easily besets us and cling to Him, to make our ABODE in His KABOD, so that we also may not be known as an Ichabod generation.

In closing, going back to Moses encounter on the Mountain he makes this petition to The MOST HIGH GOD, may your PRESENCE go with us, because if your Presence (GLORY) does not go with us we will be NO different than the nations (people) around us in the land you are sending us. He changes NOT so we MUST be found dwelling IN HIM. We are called Ambassadors of Christ and we are to be the people that carry His Presence wherever we go.

This HUMBLE ABODE is not so humble, but we enter in through humility, and ABIDE in HIS GLORY (KABOD)! HIS PRESENCE!!!

_{LORD GOD I ask you to meet and encounter each and every person who reads these words. May they come to Know you through the gift of Messiah, Your Son, Jesus Our Lord and Savior. And fill our CUP with the Oil of your Spirit}

Amen

We look to things that we can have confidence in and often times we look in the wrong places or more correctly at the wrong “things” in which we place our valued confidence. If we do not have confidence then we truly will be like a ship tossed about on the stormy sea of life.

By confidence we trust in our ability to walk, run, and leap. When that confidence is shattered we can become gripped with fear that harm may befall us. This is just an illustration of carnal confidence that is to say trust in our fleshly ability. I would like to take a moment to discuss the Confidence we are to have IN a Covenant KEEPING GOD!

Throughout the Bible God has revealed himself to mankind, to specific individuals, groups, and peoples. He has himself established certain Covenants, that is Contracts, with these afore mentioned entities. We can find very precise promises from God in these Covenants and scripture reveals His faithfulness in holding Himself alone accountable to His Promised Word.

If you have entered into contract with The Most High God, you have in fact entered into Covenant with Him, all the promises, all of the blessings therein apply to you in HIM, who is the Covenant Keeping God.

Other words associated with confidence are trust, faith, belief, reliance, and dependence. We live in a world that, like in the opening paragraph, is tossed about like a ship by every wind of doctrine, the church has placed its confidence Not IN the Covenants of God but rather it has placed its misguided trust in the world and the prince of this world. Tossed that is to say confused and ungrounded with no certainty of Truth.

We must separate ourselves from trusting in the things of this world, and return to a solid Rock foundation, and place our firm Confidence IN Covenant with the only Covenant keeping God there is. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. and there is none like Him in all of heaven and earth, this world may try to intimidate by fear and force. But as our heroes of Faith testify Greater is He who is IN me, than he that is in the world.

For such a time as this O LORD GOD, strengthen the feeble hands and feet of those that are called by your Great Name, place within us a Holy conviction that above ALL else we would place with a full heart, mind, spirit, soul, and body a fresh new Confidence IN Covenant and allegiance with you.

Revelations 12:11 declares this for those that have their Confidence IN The Covenant Keeping God. “They overcame him by the blood of The Lamb and by the Word of their testimony; they loved NOT their lives even unto death”. Therefore FEAR not child of The Most High God, determine in your most holy place that at all costs we will not waiver from our Confidence IN His Covenants.

I am His and He is Mine, abide therefore and cling to The Vine that IS The Tree of Life!

Several weeks ago as I could not sleep, The Holy Spirit prompted me in my supplications the word “Tarry“. Now many might think as I did immediately to idea of lingering, waiting, or simply procrastinating; this word and its various uses can and do imply so much more. So as you read along and tarry with me for a moment we can dig a bit deeper into a more appreciative view of the Word The Sprit of The Lord is Speaking at this moment to His Church. We can also further understand the importance of the comment from our Lord Jesus, on the night of His betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane He states “…could you not “TARRY” with me One hour?” Mt. 26:40

If to tarry simply implies to linger or hang out, then His disciples surely had accomplished that, as they too were in the garden. Let us look at this word in its original language, context, and in various uses in scripture.

As noted above in the Gospels this word “tarry” in the original Greek lexicon is

Strong’s #3306; meno: verb; to stay (in place, relation, or expectancy) abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, to stand.

This is an active participation, cooperating in that which we are to be engaged in at that moment. It is not idle and it is not passive.

Again, the Risen Christ tells His disciples in the Book of Acts to “Tarry” in Jerusalem until they have received power, now we many times glance over the “Tarrying” and go straight for the “power”. In the next few verses of chapter 1 of Acts we find the students and followers of The Way in an Upper room, “praying” ; “anticipating“, “watching” they recalled when Jesus asked them to tarry with him in the Garden, so they knew now that it was not just to sit idly by but an active engagement in the spirit through intercessory prayer, a birthing type of prayer see Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 1:10-2:10. We find this example throughout scripture Elijah travailing in prayer for rain, to note in Genesis we find Adam having a time of fellowship (koinonia) with The Almighty in The Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, Our Father seems to really like gardens, it reminds me of a song “In The Garden” and a phrase of that lyric that sings: “Oh the joy we share as we TARRY there no other has ever known”. (Mary Magdalene in the Garden Tomb setting, meeting and tarrying with the Risen Christ is the inspiration of this song). And again as recorded in the Gospels Jesus himself would arise before dawn to go and have a time of fellowship alone with His Father.

In Isaiah 40:31 this well known verse often quotes “…they that “wait” upon the Lord shall renew their strength…” the word wait here is likened to “tarry“, in the Hebrew the word is qavah Strong’s #6960 and it means to be entwined, to become a part of, to be strengthened by twisting together.

Ecclesiates 4:12 states that a cord of three is not easily broken, when you braid strands into a cord it is so much more durable and stronger than by itself.

Jesus is speaking to His church right now that this is the season we need to be yoking ourselves to Him by The Holy Spirit, though The WORD, and prayer and intercession, watching and discerning, to be making ourselves ready as one prepared for the Bridegrooms announced arrival as noted in the parable of the Ten Virgins in Mathew 25.

Those that do not hearken to His promptings, will be like the 5 virgins that are not prepared or ready for His Wedding banquet. Will you be found ready having prepared yourself or will you be found wanting?

Hear what The Spirit is saying to the Church in this moment.

Tarry with Him The Bridegroom By His Spirit, through His Word, til He Returns for His Bride!

Amen!

A Tree was placed in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Ge.2:9), let us presume to say for this teaching, this Tree is in the form of an Olive Tree. This Tree, The Tree of Life, is an ancient and Eternal Tree. Throughout scripture The LORD God uses many agricultural analogies to instill His Eternal truths, that is what we are attempting to uncover.

In the Holy Land of ancient Israel and the middle east one of the oldest trees and a significant source of produce is the Olive Tree, from the concept of this tree we will look at the tree, the root, the Branch, and perhaps even the fruit and its purpose and fulfillment in following Christ (Messiah).

A Family Tree is a record of its ancestral historical life, the olive tree is unique as it too records history and connects time through the past, the present, and gives a glimpse of potential for the future.

Tree of Life: The source of Eternal, Immortal, state of Living in God’s presence.

Root of Jesse: From his ancestral tree, his lineage, yet was also before him. Son of David, Son of Man.

Righteous branch: The fruit produced would be Righteousness for it stems from The Righteous One

Natzer: The root word that is the basis for a Nazarene or the town Nazareth; It means a sprout, also implies it is that there is nothing of significance or majesty to behold, and can be used to imply a student or disciple.

“No student is above his Master” (Mt. 10:24, Lk. 6:40) Our Master; if we are His students, is The One and Only, The Alpha and The Omega The Beginning and The End (Rev. 1:8), The Root and Offspring of Jesse (Rev. 22:16)

“I am the vine YOU are the Branches, apart from me you can do NOTHING (Jn.15:5). Basically what Jesus (Yeshua) is stating in fact is that He is The source and we are but the conduits unto which all GOOD fruit is produced. But there is So much more beneath the surface. We must look at the biblical principles and examples to fully understand The Cost of Discipleship.

Counting the Cost

Discipline is part of discipleship. Hebrews 12:11 states it like this.

” NO DISCIPLINE seems pleasurable at the time, but PAINFUL. Later on, however it Produces a Harvest of RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE for those Who have been TRAINED by it.”

We in the modern church have not wanted to deal with discipleship, just a social structure to feel good about ones self. A spectator sporting event to see the hippest or coolest musicians or speaker(s). There is a Cost to Follow Christ, He emphatically stated, “if the world Hates you for His names sake, remember it Hated Him first” (Jn.15:80. Again, “those that would live a godly life in Christ Jesus Will Be persecuted” (2Ti.3:12), why because being a friend of this world is enmity towards God. They are not of the same Kingdom nor of the same character.

Again Jesus states; “if anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. The early natzers (sprouts/disciples) of Christ or “followers of the Way” as they were known abandoned everything, they left it all behind to follow him and it COST them at least in this worlds view “Everything”. But, they received for their reward an Eternity in His Glorious presence!

So we can see the REWARD is worth so much more than the COST if we can see with eyes that look past this temporary existence of this life in this world and looking unto Eternity in a Glorious Kingdom with Christ Jesus as our God and King.

In the Book of Ezra it describes a wayward unfaithful nation or people of God. Specifically it deals with the priesthood and its marrying of foreigners from the surrounding lands and nations. Ezra the Priest in verse one of the tenth chapter is found in intercessory prayer for his covenant brethren. Praying, confessing, weeping, and throwing himself to the ground (complete humility). He was praying for repentance to fall upon the hearts of his kinsmen. In verse two his prayers begin to bare fruit; as they collectively confess “we have been UNFAITHFUL to Our GOD by marrying foreign woman from the people around us. But in spite of this there is still a HOPE for Israel.” Finally in verse three the intercessory prayer of Ezra is manifest as the leadership of those people declared publicly; “now let US make a covenant before Our GOD”…to PUT AWAY the foreign wives and offspring from among us. Ezra 10:1-3 NIV

The marrying of “foreign women” can be likened to partaking of the things of this “world”.

Carnal Christianity, while apparently flourishing over the past few decades, produced nothing more than veal calf Christians. Veal is accomplished when a baby calf is never weaned from its mothers milk, and kept upright in stalls so that they do not fall over as they are too weak from anemia to stand on their own.

America, like Israel also has been found to be UNFAITHFUL to Our GOD. This is an image of modern American Christianity as we are called to be a Royal Priesthood A Holy Nation (1Peter 2:9). Yet we have been married that is to say we have coupled ourselves to the things of this world and have been led astray from the Truth and from The Way in which we are to be living our lives. Separated from the influence and attachments that go along with yoking ourselves to this culture. Lots wife perished for her love of the things of her world (Genesis 19:26). We are called to be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:11,14-15).

To paraphrase Christ Jesus’ teaching he states in the Gospels (Mt. 12:30 , Mk. 9:40, Lk. 9:50) that those (things or people) that are NOT FOR US are against US. The things and influential people of this world are not for US my fellow Christ follower they are against The LORD GOD and His Messiah and those that would follow them whole heartedly. It is TIME TO SEPARATE, to sever that relationship and PUT them AWAY.

No longer can we be like an unfaithful spouse to Our Lord and Savior, Our Bridegroom, Our GOD. We MUST become fully devoted to Him who is Coming soon for a Bride without Spot or Wrinkle.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning.

The translated word in the Hebrew Bible is Bereshith (בְּרֵאשִׁית‎): “In beginning”.

V2 Darkness was over the face of the deep (this thick darkness is what we see in the night sky, it fills the cosmos), and the Spirit of GOD (YHWH) was hovering over the waters.

There is a distinct boundary established between where GOD ALMIGHTY DWELLS and this place called our planet/galaxy/universe our HOME.

Darkness

Strong’s #6205:

araphel: Gloom, (as of a lowering sky)- gross, thick dark (cloud)

#6201 araph: droop drip down

Thick

Strong’s #3515: kabade: heavy, too heavy,

#3513:kabad; heavy laden glory also see kabode #3519

The Heavy weighty manifest presence of GOD, HIS GLORY descended upon the earth.

Exodus 19, 24, 33

For forty days and forty nights, Moche (Moses) did dialogue and fellowship, and intercede with ALMIGHTY GOD in radiant splendor. YHWH allowed Himself to pass by as Moses was Hidden in the Cleft of The Rock. We will ALWAYS find Refuge when we abide in The Rock!

He wears the darkness as a cloak, a garment to conceal HIS Radiant Splendor to those which may be destroyed by it before it can be revealed to them in due season.

Moses was instructed to inform All the people not to approach His Glory unless they die. Dying to self and the things of the carnal nature ALWAYS will perish in the presence of A Holy and Righteous GOD. However, we see Joshua ben (son of) Nun, was always near Moses, he too was upon the Mountain of GOD as it thundered and shook. Again, he was always near Moses as he was near The LORD GOD at The Tabernacle. Yet he did not perish but was commissioned by The Lord GOD Himself to be Moses’ successor. He chose God over life; he would rather know and experience for himself God’s glory then let it be translated by another means.

The Lord Jesus declared  in Luke “if any man follow me he must deny himself and take up his cross. For whosoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life FOR ME and for the Gospel (of Jesus Christ) will Save IT.”

We know where the cross led Christ. Death to the flesh always comes before the revelation of His FIRE & His Glory.

Psalms 18:7-13(paraphrased)

King David The Worshipper sang this song when he was liberated from his enemies.

The earth trembled and quaked, SMOKE rose from his nostrils, a Consuming FIRE came from His mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens (The cloak was peeled back to reveal) and came down, DARK clouds were under His feet. He made DARKNESS his canopy around Him. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced (Thick Darkness), with hailstones and lightning. The LORD Thundered from heaven, The Voice of The MOST HIGH RESOUNDED!

We do not “see” with unveiled eyes, but rather they are veiled to protect us from that which we are not in this current state capable of withstanding. In examples such as Samson’s parents, or Gideon, and other instances of encounters with The Living and True GOD, these people ALL died at that moment to themselves and were changed forever.  We do not see clearly now but someday we will see All things clearly and see HIM for who He really is.

Mark 13:24-26

…the sun will be DARKENED, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly boides will be SHAKEN.  At that TIME men will SEE The Son of Man coming in the Clouds (Thick Darkness) and with GREAT POWER and GLORY.

Revelation 1:7 Behold! He is coming with the Clouds.

Rev. 1:12-17 (paraphrased)

I turned around to see The Voice that was speaking, when I saw Him I fell at His feet as though dead. His appearance was as a “son of man” dressed in a robe reaching to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool, His eyes were like blazing Fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His Voice was like the sound of rushing waters and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Revelation 19: 11

I saw heaven Standing Open (The Cloak fully removed) and there before me was a White horse, whose RIDER IS CALLED Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes WAR. His eyes are like blazing FIRE, and on His head are many crowns. He has a Name written on Him that No one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a Robe dipped in blood, and His Name is the WORD of GOD

He Dwells in The Thick Darkness . But ALL Light , Truth , and Glory EMMINATES from Him.

THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

The Spirit and the Bride say COME!