More Fulfillment

Joe 2:28-31 MKJV
(28) And it shall be afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions.
(29) And also I will pour out My Spirit on the slaves and on the slave women in those days.
(30) And I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
(31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Jehovah.

This is a graphic depiction of what will go on right before the end of the age. Luke quoted part of this in Acts. It is undeniable that the Spirit of God is truly being poured out right now. People who are relatively new in the faith are having visions and are walking in the prophetic. People of other faiths are having dreams that reveal the identity of Messiah, Jesus. This is happening to ALL flesh.

What about the rest of the passage? We do see wonders in the heavens, regularly now. Meteor showers, comets, strange activity with the sun, eclipses... just a lot of interesting heavenly activity. Blood and fire and pillars of smoke? We certainly have all of this we want. There is a volcano that is right now creating the fire and pillars of smoke, and is also blotting out the sun and turning the moon colors, depending on where you live. These are all very definite clues, and they are most-certainly being fulfilled right now.

It's a bleak passage, but there is really nothing more than needs to happen before we can put a check mark beside it as being 'fulfilled'. It lacks nothing. So what is next?

Shaken and Stirred

Heb 12:25-26
(25) See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape, those who refused him that spoke on earth, much more we shall not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from Heaven,
(26) whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will not only shake the earth, but also the heavens."

Today is a day where things are being shaken. A CNN report just came in stating another 7.2 magnitude quake in Chile, with nearly a 7 aftershock just moments later. The earth is shaking like never before - don't let anyone kid you. This is significant as a sign of the times - a birth pain, and a physical representation of what is happening in the spirit.

People are being shaken to their spiritual core. The worldly are wondering. The spiritual are curious. The Godly are hungry.

Now is no time for passivity. Be deliberate in your spiritual walk. The Kingdom of Heaven is one that is ours by right - but must be taken by force (Matthew 11:12). You can not stumble into a throne room accidentally, sit down, wave a scepter and expect to be taken seriously even by your peers, much less your enemies. Someone with designs on the throne will come in and REMOVE YOU. Is this your plan?

Act 4:31
(31) And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.

Signs Will Follow

Mat 2:1-3
(1) And when Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men arrived from the east to Jerusalem,
(2) saying, Where is He born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.
(3) But Herod the king having heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.

After Jesus was born, He upset things right away. Scripture says 'all Jerusalem' was troubled. Wow! And He hadn't even learned to walk! This is significant because it reiterates a truth about who He is, and about who WE are. Jesus was the one the enemy had warred over and worried about ever since the Genesis 3:15 prophecy.

Joh 11:47
(47) Then the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled a sanhedrin, and said, What are we doing, for this man does many signs?

Certainly things did not improve for the enemies of Jesus. Everywhere He went He stirred things up. For the religious, the biggest problem seemed to be the signs. Miracles. It isn't difficult to get past any message that lacks power, but it's incredibly difficult to write off anyone whose message is accompanied by signs of great power. Religion in itself has no power, so it is offended by such a display.

Mar 16:17
(17) And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: they will cast out demons in My name; they will speak new languages;

Jesus said that the same signs (even greater) would follow those who believed and abode in Him. He did not say the signs would have to be sought after. He did not say the signs might happen to a few. He said signs would follow. Miraculous signs will follow - if.

Signs

If someone told you that in twenty years, we would still be here, would you believe them? How about 10 years? Or 5?

How about next year?

Do you really believe we are living in the last days, and if so, what does that mean to you?

Zec 12:3
(3) And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

If you click on the Jerusalem link on the left side of the page, the news articles will only list Jerusalem news. It is AMAZING how many nations have burdened themselves with Jerusalem. Guess what? America is at the forefront.

I'll say it again because this is what I believe: if you look outside, you look upon a society of people who have turned against God and His hand of blessing is becoming harder to see in this nation. Do the snapped telephone poles make this land appear more like the 'promised land', or less? How about the wild fires and floods? Hurricanes? Drought?

Abraham was told by God that those who bless him would be blessed. As a nation, we are losing that blessing. As an individual, I don't have to, nor does anyone else that blesses and supports God's people. Science writes this off as cyclical - or worse... man-made. (If the globe gets any warmer, I may freeze to death.) I'll contend that a truly blessed nation that walks in the light of God and under His rules would experience unprecedented properity - period. Look at Joshua's reign over Israel. When did it go awry for him? When they failed to do what God told them to do. I realize this is very hard-line. Even Joseph went through trying times, right? True - he did. But he kept his eyes on the Lord and look how he was elevated. Is that what we are doing as a nation? Are our eyes on the Lord?

My outlook on this really isn't all that bleak. Jesus said that even as the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Look up, for our redemption draweth nigh.