Here in Massachusetts winter seems to be finally losing its grip on the world. The nights are still very cold and frosty, but the days are getting warmer and greener.
The sun is making a bigger appearance on out landscape.
And the early Spring flowers have finally said, “Hello world!” It’s time to start gardening in earnest now.
Here is what I will be thinking about tomorrow as I spend my Sabbath times of prayer.
WHICH ONE SPEAKS TO YOU THE MOST
This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
I am breaking down these seven prepare statements into three daily devotionals which I am sharing on Mondays for twenty one weeks. This is week number 12.
PREPARE FOR THE STORM (PRAY FOR ACTION PLANS, PRAY FOR A SPIRIT OF PERSEVERANCE)
In this final devotional thought about preparing for the storm let’s finish our pass by of Matthew 24.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.Ma. 24:3-14
The storm ahead will involve great upheavals in nature and the economies of the world. It will be an increasing softening of the strength of nations to set up the world for the coming of anti-Christ. In the midst of that softening the gospel and those who carry it will become increasingly unpopular. In all of this our job does not change. We must bear witness to the truth of Jesus.
PRAY FOR THE ABILITY TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE GOSPEL IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE.
I am joining Dawn in her FESTIVAL OF SPRING CHALLENGE.
My world has not been bright and shiny with Spring just yet. The week started out with another snowstorm. Spring is poking its way through regardless.
The nice thing about snow in April is that it doesn’t stay around long. By Thursday myself sister and I were out and about walking the local trails to catch views of Spring. It was well into the fifties and sixties by midweek and I was going about without a coat.
We had a Spring eclipse. Here it just looked like twilight for a few minutes.
Then the rain came.
And the flowers started to bloom.
That’s my que to get outside and start the Spring cleaning which I have a feeling is going to carry over well into summer.
Here are some things I have been thinking about the last few days.
Our church has been given a seven part statement for 2024, through the congregational gift of prophecy. We are calling this statement the congregational sentence for 2024. It reads: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
I am breaking these seven prepare statements 21 devotional which will be posted on Mondays throughout the year. Here is our eleventh devotional of the series.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT # 11: PREPARE FOR THE STORM (PRAY FOR ACTION PLANS, PRAY FOR A SPIRIT OF PERSEVERANCE)
What else do we know for sure about the coming storm that will help us prepare?
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.Ma. 24:3-14
The storm ahead will bring many false belief systems and false hopes of salvation outside of Jesus Christ. We must be prepared for this, and hold onto the truth that Jesus is the only way, the only truth the only life. No one will come to the Father or eternal life, but through Him.
The storm ahead will be a time of large scale war and conflict across the Earth. Mankind cannot establish peace. Only God can do that. As mankind allows less and less room for God in the public arena conflict can only escalate. We must in the midst of this storm become what Jesus called, in Matthew 5, a peacemaker.
PRAY THAT IN THE DAYS AHEAD GOD WOULD HELP US AS A CHURCH TO BE A COMMUNITY THAT KEEPS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE AT ITS CENTER AND A COMMUNITY THAT CREATES PEACE IN THE MIDST OF GROWING CONFLICT.
On Thursday last week, Mom’s health took a stark turn. She woke with intense pain. She went through two bouts of shaking and then descended into unconsciousness. We were told she had days left to live.
Brenda and I together with all the kids prepared ourselves for our vigil with Mom over the Easter weekend. As the world faced Good Friday and looked forward to the Resurrection, we were facing our own very personal deathwatch. The themes of death and resurrection were very real to us as we prayed Mom through to eternity.
I don’t know how it feels for anyone else to wait with someone who is walking in that space between life and death. I imagine it must feel different for everyone. For me the waiting was a tightening of my chest and a pressure behind my eyes. It felt like I was holding my breath underwater and my ears were filled with sound of the ocean for days.
On Friday we received more bad news that our one remaining Uncle had a heart attack and was being life-flighted to UMASS Medical Center in Worcester Massachusetts. It was almost more than our hearts could bear as a family.
I have to say I am so grateful for a church family these days. So many congregants reached out to us during this time with prayers and with food (our refrigerator had no more room). Our deacons rose to the occasion for Uncle Tom, knowing that I could not leave my mother’s side for a five hour hospital trip. They visited Uncle Tom and his family at the hospital and prayed with them. On Easter Sunday as Brenda and I waited at mom’s bedside, my daughter Amanda opened the church service and my daughter Melanie led worship for Easter Sunday. One of our Deacons, Jody Clapp and our Church DLT Coordinator, Carrie Hackett preached the Easter Sunday sermon. Amanda officiated the Easter baptism.
We thought Sunday would be Mom’s day to leave us for Heaven, but she was not ready. At about 5 A.M. on Tuesday morning Mom finally entered Jesus’ arms.
We got news that Uncle Tom was doing well and was expected to make a full recovery.
On Tuesday night I began to get sick. My body I guess had had enough of waiting and pressure and up and down. On Wednesday, my son’s birthday, Brenda commented that I looked very unwell. Truth be told I felt like I was hanging on by a thread. Thursday I was flat on my back for the entire day. What started as a cold turned into a stomach bug.
On Friday we got news that Brenda’s dog, Oliver, in The Netherlands, had eaten some poison and was at a veterinary specialist trying to save his life. Oliver went into renal failure this morning and needed to be put to sleep.
It has been a week of bad news, more bad news, Good news, more good news, bad news, good news and more bad news. To say that we don’t know how to feel, to say that we are stunned, numb, hopeful and discouraged is perhaps the most accurate description of our emotional state at the moment.
I stand at this moment on the shoulders of the Apostle Paul and declare, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-11
Mom passed from Earth into Glory at 5 A.M. this morning. As I prepare for Sabbath tomorrow here are some thoughts about Heaven I am contemplating.
Over the course of the last year Cornerstone has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
We are currently doing a devotional series which breaks down these seven “Prepare statements” into bite sized pieces. Let’s begin talking about the next “prepare statement” on our list.
PREPARE FOR THE STORM (PRAY FOR ACTION PLANS, PRAY FOR A SPIRIT OF PERSEVERANCE)
I have already been asked a few times, what I think the storm we are to prepare for, is. Well I could give you my thoughts on the matter, but they would just be my thoughts. I have my ideas about how this storm might play out, but we aren’t tied to my ideas of what-ifs and wherefores. We have Scripture to tell us some specifics about the storm of the last days. Let’s take a look.
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
We know the storm will take the form of a culture of: prideful selfishness, self- promotion, lovelessness, anger, backstabbing, violence, constant danger, short-sightedness and interested only in entertainment rather than the good of society. In short our current culture is the storm. It is a category two hurricane right now. It is intensifying. We have not seen the storm in its full glory yet.
How do we protect ourselves against this part of the storm? I think the following verses are among some of the most important verses in the Bible for the days ahead.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5: 22-26
PRAY THAT GOD WOULD GROW US IN EACH FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
Life begins and ends with us having control over nothing but our breath. In between we get so caught up with the illusion of control, we often forget to breathe.
Notes From the Vicarage 