Bible commentary or secular news headline?

Ominous signs that the next war in the Middle East is coming, and it won't be pretty

It's likely to directly or indirectly involve Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and even Russia

I won't ever be a Michael Coren fan but I have to admit that this headline is chilling.  And if he's any bit of the Christian he claims to be, he would know his headline is straight out of Ezekiel 38.

Drive-in Divinity

So the fam and I went to the drive-in last night (yes there are still drive-ins).  It's always (at least) a two-show affair which started last night with Inside Out followed by Avengers Age of Ultron.

Inside Out was thoughtful (literally), funny and heart-warming.  It opened up opportunities to talk to the kids about not relying on emotions for decision-making but instead on what we know is right and wrong.  Once it was over the little girls were ready to bunker down in the back seat for a good sleep.

Avengers was, well, as usual - AWESOME!  Watching from the middle seat of a minivan with three other people in the front wasn't the most ideal situation but it's too squishy with all four of us up there.

SPOILER ALERT!The movie went along as would be expected until we get nearly to the end and we see the creation of Ultron's polar opposite, thereafter named Vision.  But that's not how the Vision first described himself.  When asked who he was, he hesitantly answered, "I am … I am."

WHOA, NOT COOL MARVEL!  Major blaspheme, right there!

That was my original, and still is kinda, feeling about that statement.  If you aren't from a Judeo-Christian background (and maybe not even then) you may have breezed by this statement without a second thought.  But if you've ever read the account of Moses and the burning bush, you will understand the significance of such a statement.
So, what's wrong with naming oneself I am.  Well, by having Vision make the statement, "I am … I am,"  Marvel was essentially equating him to God.  You see God's name is not God.  In Jewish tradition, God's name is so sacred they didn't even want to say or write it.  They used the word Elohim to describe God most of the time, and Adonai to say His true name.  The places where the word Lord is written in the Bible indicates God’s real name, Yahweh, is being used.  Have you guessed what Yahweh means?  That’s  right, I Am.

When Moses was speaking to the Lord in the burning bush, he asked Him, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I Am who I Am.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I Am has sent me to you’… The Lord the God of … Abraham… has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:13, 14).   Thus I Am has always been the true Living God of the Jews.  This explains why Jesus was so hated by His contemporaries.  Once He was disputing with some religious leaders about his divinity and in response to their exclamation of “You are not yet fifty years old … and you have seen Abraham!” he said, “Very truly, I tell you … before Abraham was, I Am!”  The leaders were enraged because of this perceived blasphemy and “at this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” (John 8:57-59).  How did Jesus “slip away” from an angry mob picking up stones and ready to kill Him?  Truly, He is I Am!  I imagine Him becoming ever so invisible as He walked calmly through the crowd or on the topic of superheroes, maybe He used super-speed and zipped out of there.

The very idea of God’s name being I Am is remarkable.  Just think about that statement.  It encompasses all time.  Jesus was able to make Himself much more clear in His revelation to John than He was shirking away from a murderous mob.  He refers to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet when He calls Himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 21:6).   In the first chapter of Revelation He says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega … who was, and who is, and who is to come, the Almighty” (vs. 8).  I visualize the Lord’s presence over eternity instead of in eternity.  Here’s a simple diagram to illustrate what I mean:
The Bible says that Yahweh is, He was and He will be, but I’ve taken some literary liberty and read it as “I am the beginning, I am the present, and I am the future.”  It just opens the meaning that Yahweh not so much Was, or Will be, but He simply is what His name says, He is.  Strong’s concordance defines Yahweh as self-existent, or eternal.  Yahweh simply is.

Why do I seem so fascinated by this description of God?  First of all, it simply blows my mind.  God, Yahweh, exists in and of Himself.  He has no creator, He did not begin, He just was (is).  Secondly, I feel this description of God holds the key to so many questions that us humble human beings have.  It seems that many people are seeking to union themselves (by way of chants, meditation, yoga, or other methods) with the eternal life force.  We’ve all seen, at least on TV, people sitting cross-legged chanting “Ommm.”  “The Mandukya Upanishad, which is entirely devoted to om, begins like this:  “Om is the imperishable word. Om is the universe, and this is the exposition of om. The past, the present, and the future, all that was, all that is, all that will be is om.  Likewise, all else that may exist beyond the bounds of time, that too is om." ¹ Hmm?  Sounds familiar, yet the idea of om nor , Brahma, nor any of the hundreds of other Hindu gods, claim to be the personification of Eternity itself, in the person of Jesus Christ.

So, is it possible that a search for the Creator, or the universal life force, or the “infinite intelligence” is a search for the Living God, the Eternal Yahweh?  I believe it is.  But I also believe that search will be in vain if one does not accept Jesus Christ as Lord, to the exclusion of all other gods.

Thirdly, in a time when God is thrown around as the token deity for all religions, I like that my God has a name,  His name is I Am , and He is, and is of His Son Jesus, and His earthly Holy Spirit.

Originally I gasped in shock at the audacity of Marvel likening a super-hero to Yahweh, but perhaps others noticed it too and may contemplate the possibility of a thing or being simply existing.  And perhaps that contemplating will lead them to the only being that has, is and will forever exist, Yahweh, the Living God.
 ¹ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kripalu/meaning-of-om_b_4177447.html

What He's saying...

Last night, my first born mused over his agony of having to miss a sleepover because I’d committed him to serve, “But God wants us to be happy… ” “No, my child, God does not want us to be happy just to please ourselves. He wants us to help the widows, and the fatherless. When we serve, we find true happiness we will never find by serving ourselves only. ” He left my presence, sowing a seed of anger to grow suffering to his soul that I cannot let come to fruition.

What have I been missing all these years to let my boy believe that sacrifice, and pain are un-Godlike?

Where's the Spirit calling you?

https://youtu.be/dy9nwe9_xzw

Rapture of the Church: Fact or False Hope? PART THREE

DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way questioning the validity of the Second Coming of Christ.  Jesus is returning to Earth to set up His eternal kingdom.  I am just debating the timeline and details.

It’s been a good two full work days of reading and writing but I've finally completed the third installment of this blog series (to read parts one and two, click here, and here).  In the past Matthew 24 has been my go-to passage for Jesus’ account of the return of the Son of Man but this journey has opened my eyes to the rich account also recorded in Luke 21.  I had tears in my eyes as I read the description of the saints’ persecution.  This was before I heard about the beheadings of  21 Egyptian Christians in Libya this past week.  Tragedies like this should bring us Christians in the west to our knees in thanks for our freedom.

Many scholars attribute Jesus’ prophetic words in Matthew 24 to the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70 but there is one caveat to that theory that begins in verse 25:  “There will signs in the sun, moon and stars…At that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”  Historically, none of the catastrophic events described in Matthew 24 or Luke 21 occurred after the fall of Jerusalem.  We must assume Jesus is talking about future events similar to the destruction of the Jewish temple in BC 168 (as prophesied in Daniel 11:1-35) and the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, but events that conclude with his glorious return!

Here’s a list of the Scripture I will be analyzing and as before you can click on each passage to read it on BibleGateway.com:  Matthew 24:4-34; Luke 17:22-37 and 21:8-33; 1 Corinthians 15:50-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and of course
Revelation.  There are a few quotations from the Old Testament as well in Daniel 12, and Zechariah 14 for events that needed further clarification.

These tables are self-evident in and of themselves, but you may want to review the table from my last post to see what the Old Testament says about Jesus’ coming.  I’ll be the first to admit that these tables are lengthy and jam-packed but it was so important for me to tease out every detail and correspond them to the other passages written about Jesus’ coming.  For this reason, it’s completely understandable if you just want to skip ahead and read my analysis/timeline for these events.  I wrote the tables for me to sort the information and also serve as a basis for those of you who want to know why and how I developed the timeline.  I’ve numbered sections of the tables as they correspond to the timeline so you will find the Scripture in the corresponding column.  If there is something in the timeline that I didn't include in the table, I will reference it there.

The following timeline is available for PDF download here.  You'll need to have a PDF reader, available from Adobe for free.  
If you are signed into a Google account you should be able to read it from your Google Drive as well.

Timeline for Event’s Leading up to Jesus’ Return to Earth

1. Many people making false claims  of being Christ, and false prophets.
2. Many wars, and rumors of wars.
3. Famines, earthquakes and pestilences, in many places; fearful events and great signs from heaven. (Note: Revelation deals extensively with the many plagues that will befall earth that seem to be summed up in that little phrase.  There will be untold death and destruction too numerous to recount here).
4. The saints, Christians (and Jews too most likely), will be persecuted dreadfully for their faith.
5. Many will fall away from the faith, betraying even family members.
6. Many saints will be put to death (beheaded in many cases).
7. At one point, the Anti-christ will receive a fatal wound to the head, and supposedly rise from the dead (Revelation 3,4).  People of the earth will be deceived and forced to worship the beast and his image and receive his mark on their right hands or foreheads by punishment of death.  Otherwise they will be unable to buy or sell.
8. The saints are encouraged  and blessed to stand firm to the end.
9. By this time, the Anti-christ has led his campaign against Israel and stationed himself there (see Timeline for End-time Battles).  He has somehow desecrated the Jewish Temple.*
10. The whole world will hear the good news of Jesus,and of his returning for judgment.
11. The Anti-christ will overcome and murder the Two Witnesses, but after 3 1/2 days of the “whole earth gazing on their bodies” and gloating over their deaths (tv/internet feed?) and not allowing them burial, they will arise from the dead and ascend into heaven “while their enemies look on” (Revelation 11:3-12).
12. There will be a great distress in Israel (mass murders, kidnappings, rapes).  Jesus warns to get out of the city as fast as you can.
13. Satan, the Anti-christ and the second-in-command will send out demons to deceive the leaders of the earth to gather and fight in Israel (Revelation 16:13).
14. Make no doubt about it, when he comes, we will know, just as we can see lightning flash across the whole sky and hear thunder roar from miles away.
15. In this obscure and seemingly out of place verse about vultures gathering where the dead lie, is Jesus alluding to the bodies that will fill the land when he returns in victory to defeat the enemies of Israel?
16. Jesus shouts that he is coming! (YES!)
17. The sun turns black.The moon turns to blood.  The sky is shaking.  Stars are falling.  The sea is roaring.  Men of the earth are shaking in their boots, fainting from fear.
18. There is a massive earthquake, unlike any ever seen before on earth.  Islands and mountains are leveled.
19. Hail the size of 100 pound boulders smash to the earth.
20. GET READY PEOPLE OF GOD!  STAND UP!  LIFT YOUR HEADS!  HE’S HERE!
21. Your brothers and sisters have risen from the ground—alive!  In the sky!
22. AND SO HAVE YOU!
23. The battle begins.

And that my friends, is my idea of  Rapture.  I wish I could say I'm done but I ain't done yet.  Please stay tuned for some further discussion about the Rapture, as well as a few details about Heaven, and what we should be doing while we're waiting for it all.

*I am not sure if it says in the Bible when the Third Jewish Temple will be rebuilt but there are many organizations preparing and politicians campaigning for it. There are rumours on the ground and in the media that rebuilding is set to begin within the next couple years (as of 2019).

The following tables are available for download as PDF here and here to print and study more in depth if you like.  You'll need to have a PDF reader available from Adobe for free.  If you are signed into a Google account you should be able to read it from your Google Drive as well.

What to Expect Before Jesus Comes

	Matthew 24	Luke	2 Thessalonians 2	Revelation	Zechariah 14 and Daniel 12
1	Jesus warns us not to be deceived by many who will come declaring to be the Christ (vs 4,5).	Jesus warns us not to be deceived by many who will come declaring to be the Christ (21:8).
1	“If anyone says to you ‘Look, here is the Christ’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (vs 23).	“Men will tell you, ‘There he is!” or ‘Here is he is!’. Do not go running off after them” (17:23).	“The coming of the lawless one (the Anti-Christ) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing" (vs 9, 10).	The “beast from the earth”, the Anti-christ’s second-in-command, acts as a spiritual leader performing “great and miraculous signs” and deceiving people into worshipping the Anti-christ. (13:13-18).
2, 3	There will be “wars and rumors of wars… Nation will rise against nations” (vs 6, 7).	There will be “wars and revolutions” (21:9).  “Nation will rise against nation” (21:10).		The 4 horses of conquest, war, famine and death are sent out and given power to “take peace from the earth to make men slay each other”;
3	“There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (vs 7).	“There will be great earthquakes,famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (21:10).		to grossly inflate the prices of wheat and barley;  “to kill by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts” (6:1-8).
4, 5, 6, 7	“Then [the saints] will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you will be hated by all nations because of me… Many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (vs 9, 10).	“But before all this, they will…persecute (the saints).  They will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons…and all on account of my name.” (21:12).  “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.  All men will hate you because of me” (21:17).		The Anti-christ will “be given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.  And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life” (13:6-8). His second-in-command will force everyone to worship the Anti-christ and his image and receive his mark on their forehead or right hand.  You will not be able to use currency to buy or sell if you do not have the mark (13:11-18). “And [John] saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus, and because of the word of God.  They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark” (20:4).
8	“He who stands firm to the end will be saved” (vs. 10).	“By standing firm you will gain life” (21:19).		“This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints (13:10) who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus…Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (14:12, 13).
9	“When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ …” let everyone flee from Judea to the mountains (vs 15, 16).  Do not stop to grab anything.	“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.  Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out” (21:21).	“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our being gathered to him: …That day will not come until the rebellion occurs, and the man of lawlessness” (the anti-Christ) “is revealed [and] sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (vs 1, 3, 4).	The Anti-Christ was “given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.  He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven (13:5-7).	“I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to fight against it…” (14:2).
10, 11	“This gospel will be preached in the whole world… and then the end will come” (vs 14).			“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people” (14:6). The Lord will “give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days” (11:3).
8, 12	“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again”  (vs 15-21).	“There will be a great distress in the land and wrath against this people.  They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.  Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (21:24).		The Gentiles will be given the outer court of the temple.  “They will trample on the holy city for 42 months” (11:2).	“…the city will be captured, the houses ransacked… half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city” (14:2). “There will be a time of distress such has not happened from the beginning of nations until then” (12:2).  “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.  Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days” (12:11, 12).
14	“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (vs 27).	We will know Jesus is coming because “The Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other” (17:24).
15	“Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” (vs 28).	Jesus’ disciples asked “Where, Lord?…He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather” (17:34-37).		An angel cried “in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat…the flesh of all people…” (19:17).

Jesus’ Return

	Matthew 24	Luke 17 & 21	1 Thess. 4 and 1 Cor. 15	Zech. 14, Acts 1, and 2 Thess. 2	Revelation
16, 17, 18	“Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun [and moon] will be darkened…the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (vs 29).	“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken (21:25, 26)			Jesus shouts “’Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed’”.  Then they gathered the kings together to the place…that is called Armageddon”  (16:15, 16). “There was a great earthquake.  The sun turned black…the whole moon…” turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth.  The sky receded like a scroll rolling up and every mountain and island was removed from its place”...People of the earth called out:
19, 20	“At that time the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” (vs 30).	At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”  (21:27, 28).	“We who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have [died]. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with	“Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations…On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives…and [it] will be split in two…with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south…” (14:3, 4). When Jesus first left earth and ascended into heaven over 2000 years ago, he ascended from the Mount of Olives.  Angels said to his disciples:  “This same Jesus…will come back in the same way you have seen him go…” (1:11). “You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah…Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him” (14:5).	“Hide us from the face of him whose sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.  For the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?” (6:12-17). The angels have indicated the end has come (15:1, 16:17). Lightning flashes, “rumblings, [and] peals of thunder” and an earthquake so severe that none like it has “ever occurred since man has been on the earth…Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.”  Huge hailstones about “a hundred pounds each fell upon the men” (16:18-21).
21, 22, 23	“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from one end of the heavens to the other” (vs 31).	“On the day the Son of Man is revealed…on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”	the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever (4:15-17). “We will not all [die], but we will all bechanged—in a flash in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised…and we will be changed” (15:51, 52).		“The seventh and last trumpet is sounded and it is said in heaven “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord…The time has come for judging the dead and rewarding your servants…and for destroying those who destroy the earth’…and there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm”  (11:15-19). Heaven is opened and there is “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…The armies of heaven were following him riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out
23				Paul writes “concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our being gathered to him”: Then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (2:8).	of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” He is the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (19:11-16).
23					An angel cried “in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat…the flesh of all people’…Then I saw the beast [the Anti-Christ] and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.  But the beast was captured and with him the false prophet…The two of them were thrown alive in to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out the mouth of the rider on the horse and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh” (19:17:21).

Rapture of the Church: Fact or False Hope? PART TWO

DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way questioning the validity of the Second Coming of Christ.  Jesus is returning to Earth to set up His eternal kingdom.  I am just debating the timeline and details.

I ended my last post stating my desire to read the Scripture, and analyze with my own understanding, the timeline of the battles of Gog and Magog, and Armageddon, and the Rapture.  I dove into it with such fervor that I burned myself out making me more confused than ever :).  Thankfully I’ve cooled off and decided to take each Scripture passage that I was intrigued by and break them down and compare them.  It has been a daunting task but incredibly exciting as well.

The passages I’m comparing first are Ezekiel 38:1-6, 18-22, 39:1-6, 17-20; Daniel 7:24, 25, 11:36-45; Zechariah 14 and Revelation 13:5-7, 16:15-21, 17:12-14, 19:11-21, 21:23-22:2. For the sake of time and space, I’m not going to type out (okay, click and paste) each passage so you’ll have to look up the verses yourself in a Bible or you can click each of these passages to read them on BibleGateway.com.  I’ve chosen these first because they detail the end time battles that will be fought and Jesus’ coming to rescue his people and set up his earthly kingdom.  This has given me a basis on which to decide if the Rapture is a separate event from the Second Coming of Jesus as King.  The Scriptures I’ve listed here serve as evidence for the timeline I’ve created at the bottom of the table.

Ezekiel	Daniel	Zechariah	Revelation
	10 leaders (kings) will arise.  Another leader (the Anti-christ) will arise and he will subdue 3 of those leaders (7:24).  The Anti-christ speaks blasphemes against God and will oppress the saints for 3 1/2 years (7:25).		The Anti-christ (the beast) arises and utters blasphemes against God.  He is given authority for 3 and 1/2 years over the whole earth and to make war against the saints (13:5-7).  With 10 leaders, he marches to make war on the Lord but Jesus will overcome with his faithful followers in tow (17:12-14).
Gog of Magog (leader from Russia) will attack Israel with “many nations”:  Meshech, and Tubal (vicinitiy of Turkey), Persia (Iran), Cush and Put (vicinity of Libya and Sudan), Gomer (vicinity of Eastern Europe), Togarmah (vicinity of Armenia, and Georgia) (38:1-6).	The Anti-christ is attacked by the kings of the North and South (Syria and Egypt) who are threatened by his political (11:39) and military success of gaining control over many countries (vs 40-44).  Israel is also invaded.  Egypt is taken captive but Edom, Moab and Ammon (Jordan) will somehow evade capture (11:41, 42).  He stations himself in Jerusalem (11:45).  (Note that the allies of Gog are not listed among the nations in Daniel).	All nations gather to Jerusalem to fight against it (14:2).	The kings of the earth gather together at the place called Armageddon (16:16) to make war with the Jesus and his army (19:19).
The destruction of the armies of Gog will be characterized by a “great earthquake”; “the mountains will be overturned, cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground” (38:19, 20).		The Lord himself will fight for Israel and set his feet on the “Mount of Olives and [it] will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley” with each half of the mountain moving north and south (14:4).	“Out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake.  No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on the earth, so tremendous was the quake.  The great city spit into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed.  Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found” (16:17-19).
“Every man’s sword will be against his brother” (38:21b).		“Men will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other” (14:13).
Judgment of “plague and bloodshed” (38:22).		A plague in which “their flesh will rot while they are standing,” and their eyes and tongues will rot in their orifices (14:12).  A similar plague will happen to the animals that are with them (14:15).
Torrents of rain, hailstones, and burning sulfur” (38:18-22)			“From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each (16:21)
		After Jesus has landed on Mount of Olives and the armies have been destroyed (14:5,12) “he will come and all his holy ones with him” (14:5b)	“I saw heaven opened and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is is called Faithful and True” (19:11) and his name is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16).  “The armies of heaven were following him …” (19:14).
The Lord “will summon a sword against Gog” (38:21a) (just him and/ or his armies too?)			Jesus has a “sharp sword out of his mouth with which to strike down the nations” (19:15).  The Anti-christ will be thrown into the fiery lake but the  nations will be killed with the sword (Rev 19:21).
“The Sovereign Lord says:  I am against you Gog … On the mountains of Israel you will fall , you and all your troops and the nations with you.  I will you as food to all kinds of a carrion birds and to the wild animals” (39:1, 4).  “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel … You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth … At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind” (39:17-20).			And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds …“Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.  Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army” (Rev 19:17, 18).
		“The Lord will be King over the whole earth” (14: 9), and set up his earthly kingdom in Jerusalem.  There will be one day with no light, day or night, but then light will come in the evening.  Waters of life will flow out of Jerusalem (14:6-11).  The survivors (those who didn’t fight) from the nations who fought in the battle will come to Jerusalem every year to worship the Lord. (14:16, 17)	“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life … flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb …” (22:1) which is in Jerusalem.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light … The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it” (21:23, 24)

Timeline for End-Time Battles and Jesus’ Return as King

1. A leader from the North (most likely Russia) gathers armies to march on Israel.
2. Anti-Christ is also gaining ground politically and militarily.
3. Anti-Christ is challenged, possibly by Syria and Egypt, and he conquers them, and many other countries, except Jordan.  He invades Israel and sets up camp in Jerusalem.
4. Nations gather in Israel for war.
5. A great earthquake, unlike any ever known, destroys the geography of Israel, and beyond.  This earthquake is possibly caused by the Lord himself landing on the Mount of Olives, and splitting it in two causing a great valley to form.
6. The Lord comes to fight for Israel, causing confusion upon which men fight each other, and are plagued with terrible sores causing their skin to rot; hail; and burning sulfur.
7. Jesus is seen in heaven with angels and saints.
8. He slaughters the nations with a sword from his mouth. 
9. The Lord orders the birds and animals to devour the bodies of the dead armies.
10. Jesus sets up his earthly kingdom and rules with the resurrected saints who were beheaded during the tribulation.

It’s widely taught that the campaign of Gog and Magog against Israel will happen at different time than the Armageddon.  As I was researching this, there were times when I thought ‘Yes, they must be different battles,’ but then others when it seems they are too closely linked.  The accounts from Ezekiel and Zechariah have striking similarities, and the feast prepared for the birds after the battle of Armageddon in Revelation, is nearly identical in description to the feast prepared of the armies of Gog.  Also, I can’t find anywhere in Revelation of an account of a second march on Israel.  I’m still not sure if both battles are separate or the same, but I do believe that if they are separate, then they are probably very close together in time and the battle of Magog will immediately precede the battle of Armageddon.  I also wonder if Gog, the leader from the North, is not in fact the Anti-christ.

The author of the book I was reading makes the point that the citizens of Israel clean up the bodies of the battle of Gog and Magog, not the birds and wild animals as described in Revelation.  Ezekiel goes into great description of the cleansing of the land after the battle of Gog and Magog, but before this description is made the Lord says of Gog “On the Mountains of Israel you will fall … I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals” (38:4).  It’s safe to assume that poetic call the Lord makes to the birds after the description of the clean-up is referring to the previous battle of Gog and Magog. The carnage is so immense that it takes Israel 7 months to clean up the bodies strewn across the landscape (39:12); it would be foolish to assume that no birds or animals will have scavenged in that length of time.  It is also safe to assume that the poetic call the Lord makes to the birds in Ezekiel, which is nearly identical to the call made in Revelation, is for the same battle described in Ezekiel.  It is easy to make the assumptoin that both the campaign of Gog and Magog cumulates at the battle of Armageddon.

I think it is also important to note that the nations listed in Ezekiel are not listed in Daniel.  It could be assumed that the nations with Gog are actually those that the Anti-christ has attacked and/or swayed over to his side in his campaign to invade Israel (Daniel 11:41 alludes to the Anti-christ making alliances with certain leaders and rewarding them).  The nations that go against the Anti-christ, Egypt and Syria, and in the case of Jordan are spared, are not listed among these allies.  As I’m writing this I’m wondering if the 10 kings from Daniel 7 and Revelation 17 are perhaps the 10 nations listed in Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 11:
1) Meshech; 2) Tubal; 3) Persia; 4) Put; 5) Cush; 6) Gomer; 7) Togamorah; 8) Egypt (king of South); 9) Syria (King of North); 10) Jordan (Edom, Moab, and Ammon).
Is Gog from Magog, the 11th king listed in Daniel 7?  Does he form an alliance with the above 10 nations but Egypt, and Syria oppose him by military force, with perhaps Jordan being spared because they do not put military pressure on him?  Are Egypt, Syria and Jordan the 3 kings who will be subdued by the 11th king?  There is so much to speculate about, but so much that is clear.  One thing that is 100% clear is that Jesus is returning with his heavenly armies to destroy the nations of the earth that oppose Israel and he will set up his earthly kingdom in Jerusalem.  The next questions I have which I will leave for my next post are who will these heavenly armies comprise of and when in the end-time timeline will they be assembled?

Rapture of the Church: Fact or False Hope?

DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way questioning the validity of the Second Coming of Christ.  Jesus is returning to Earth to set up His eternal kingdom.  I am just debating the timeline and details.

If you have ever been a church-goer, chances are you have learned about the Rapture of the Church, or Christ’s Return or the Second Coming of Jesus.  If you aren’t a church-goer, maybe you’ve heard about the Rapture and knew it was something to do with the belief Christian’s have about leaving earth before doomsday hits.  Maybe you’ve even watched Nicolas Cage’s recent movie Left Behind, based on events that are to occur after this said rapture.

In any event, you’ve probably been told that Jesus is returning to meet all Christians in the clouds in the not so distant future.  “The dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever”  (1 Thessalonians 4: 16b, 17). I was told this would happen before the Great Tribulation -- a 7-year time period when the Anti-Christ will rise and cause untold persecution of Christians (those who convert after the Rapture).  I was led to believe that Christians who are alive on earth during those last days will not endure The Great Tribulation but instead be whisked away to Heaven with Jesus in the sky. But Jesus will return again, and conquer the Anti-Christ, Satan, and all earthly enemies of Israel.  The Lord’s Wrath will finally be poured out on the world who has rejected Him as God and Savior.  The Bible verses describing these events were always so familiar to me and I never questioned the timing of the Lord’s coming. 

How wonderful the Rapture would be?  That’s why it’s called the Rapture of course because it will a carrying away of ecstatic joy.  I hope for all our sakes it’s true.  I certainly do not want to experience the horrors detailed in the book of Revelation but as I began to read and really study the Scripture myself, I just could not see how this lined up to be two separate events.  After all, it’s called Jesus’ Second Coming- the first being His coming to earth as a baby over 2 000 years ago- why would he come twice within a 7-year period?  Wouldn’t that be Jesus’ Third Coming?

Over the last 15 years or so I’ve vacillated between believing the carrying away of the Church to be in the pre-tribulation stage (pre-trib), to post-trib, then mid-trib and now maybe swinging back to post-trib.  I’ve recently been reading a book by a well-respected Christian author, teacher and pastor.  I’ve never disagreed with anything I’ve heard this preacher say, but when I began reading his book on end-time prophecy, I once again was intrigued by the discrepancies in what we’ve been categorically taught about the Rapture of the Church.  The author uses verses to explain how we will be raptured pre-trib but the rest of the verses in context (the entire passage or chapter) sure sound like the Second Coming of Christ.  Is it possible the Rapture, and Jesus’ glorious, victorious second coming to claim His Kingship over the Earth are one in the same?

Obviously, I’m not the first person to make this assertation, and I’m not saying my interpretations are exactly the way things will go down but I’ve never gone looking for other opinions of the post- or mid-trib theories of the Rapture (a quick Google search will reveal plenty of information about each theory).  I can’t honestly say that I’m 100% certain of a pre-, mid- or post-trib rapture; I just feel compelled to write about what I’ve learned from my own reading and understanding of the Scriptures.  Some people state:  “Well it doesn’t matter when we go, as long as we know we are going.”  This has some truth because we have a firm foundation that one day Christians will dwell and rule with Jesus in His new Kingdom.  However, isn’t it important to know just what, if any, process we will have to go through to get to that place?  Won’t it be easier to stand firm for Jesus if we know to expect intense persecution before we see His glorious return?  Or to instead have our hopes crushed when we realize that He is not returning for us at this time and we may have to give up our lives for Him before we join Him in His earthly rule? (Revelation 20:4, 5).

I guess this post is an introduction to my journey of analyzing, and interpreting a few key passages about the return of Jesus Christ, the battles of Gog and Magog and the dreaded Armageddon.  Won’t you please come with me as I try to sort these events out on paper or, you know, computer?  You’ll hear from me soon.

Sometimes you are just on the wrong track

So I’m practicing my vocals for a solo tomorrow morning.  As I’m singing I’m getting so discouraged because I’m just finding this song so hard to sing.  “What have I got myself into?”  I’m thinking.  “I’m going to sing for the first time at my new church tomorrow and I’m gonna suck.  Lord, you have to help me through this;  You have to give my voice some more strength.”  I even started getting down on myself and asking“Lord, why isn’t my voice as strong as other peoples?  Why does my voice wear out after such a short time of singing?  Would I rather to not be able to sing at all then just sing okay?”  After a little break, I go back to my practicing and the song is coming much more easily, even well.  This is either a miracle or I was singing the song in the wrong key.  Turns out, it was the wrong key, the wrong track!  Sometimes you just have to get back on the right track and everything will be fine.

What He’s saying…

 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you …”  Jeremiah  29:13, 14

Become like a little child

Just take a few moments to rest in your Father’s arms…

The Wonderful Ways We Find "The Way"

I'm sorting through my blog posts and remembered that a couple of years ago I wrote a guest blog for CSAHM.com (that's Christian Stay-At-Home-Moms).  I gave them the rights to the post and they requested that I not publish it on my own blog but hey I can post the link!

Click here to read it!

www.csahm.com

Green Eggs and Ham

I made this once before for my kids with great results.  This time I thought I’d actually record the recipe and share it with you all.  It isn’t exactly the green eggs from Dr. Seuss so you may have to cook with your kids so they believe it’s really eggs!  My son said “Mom, it’s really more like an omelette.”  To which I replied “Well, some people would say it’s more like a quiche or others a frittata but guess what?  They are all eggs.”  I don’t know how you would make a yolk green like the book other than let it sit out of the fridge for a few weeks :).  This is the next best thing, and better yet, it’s healthy and will get your kids eating something they may never have consented to before:  SPINACH!  This recipe was shared between me and my 4 kids and was just enough for us so I would it say serves 3-4 adults.  You’ll note the “ham” pictured below isn’t quite ham … it’s a “leftovers” mixture of ham, pork and sausage from our deli.  See notes below for additions and substitutions.  Here’s the recipe:

Add 1 tbsp of margarine (or oil) to oven-proof skillet (approx. 8 inch).  Heat just until margarine is melted and covered bottom of pan.  Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. F (see below for stove-top method).

Blend in food processor or blender.
6 eggs
1/4 cup milk (whole or evaporated is best)
2 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese

 

Add most of egg mixture to skillet, reserving approx. 1/4 cup.  Add following ingredients to reserved egg mixture.
1 handful fresh spinach (approx. 2 packed cups)
1/2 tsp salt
A few dashes of black pepper, garlic and onion powder to taste

Process or blend spinach mixture until nearly pureed.  Add mixture to eggs in skillet and mix until well blended and eggs appear green.  You may discover a few whole spinach leaves at this time which you should remove.  Bake in 400 deg F oven for 20-25 minutes.  Meanwhile fry slices of ham in skillet on medium heat until browned. Eggs are done when they have puffed and are starting to slightly brown on top.  Cut eggs into pie slices and serve with ham.

-My little guy doesn’t like eggs and cheese so I opted out of too much but if you are big egg and cheese fan add up to 1/4 cup parm or 1 cup mozza or cheddar.
-The first time I made this I used thawed spinach.  I think maybe 1/4 cup of the thawed stuff would be enough but I’m not 100% sure.  This would also be good with cooked broccoli but I’m not sure if it would give the same color.
-I like to use the oven because once it’s in there you don’t have to bother with it until it’s done.  If you don’t have the time you can do this on the stove with similar results in less than ten minutes.  Cook on low-medium heat.  When egg begins to firm along sides, use spatula to loosen edges and allow uncooked egg to moved to the bottom of the skillet.  Repeat this until eggs are nearly cooked through with top being a little moist.  Place in oven under broiler for 1-2 minutes until eggs are fully set.

Believing Lies

So a few days ago I read an old letter I had written to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association thanking them for a free book they sent to me entitled Believing God by Beth Moore.  If you’ve read my blog before you may remember me writing about this book.  I wouldn’t call myself a scholar by any stretch but I’ve read a number of Christian books over the years and this one is probably the only book that actually gives specific instruction about how to increase your faith, and it does so with results. I thought “I need to read this book again,” so I pulled it down of the shelf and began.
It’s been I think maybe almost 5 years since I last read it so it’s kinda of fresh to me again.  For some reason I feel compelled to write about what I’ve been learning . I haven’t felt this way in a while so I thought I should heed the call.  I may do this throughout the re-reading of this book so keep checking in on me, won’t you?
From the very first chapter I was challenged.  I realized that I had a core lie that was interfering with my belief in God and what He can accomplish in my life.  The idea of core lies comes from the e-book of the same title by Sarah Mae.  Basically a core lie is something we believe about ourselves that is untrue and contrary to the way God sees us.  Sarah states them as a bunch of “I ams”:  “I am bad,” “I am not good enough” and so on.  I realized that not only do we have lies about ourselves, but perhaps many or even all these lies have reciprocating lies about God. I won’t go into the very personal core lies of my own but for example you may have a core lie of “I am un-loveable.” If you believe you are un-loveable than you probably deep down have the lie embedded in you that God does not love you. You may just say to yourself “I am so un-loveable” but the lie about God is that “I am so un-loveable (that God could never love me).”  Of course, it can be refuted again and again in scripture that this is not true, and both authors and certainly myself will say that the best way to refute lies and build faith is by strapping on the belt of truth and arming yourself with the Sword of the Spirit, that is God’s Word.  So as I pondered this (that what I believe about myself is actually a lie about God), then I started to think differently about the situation.  I don’t want to believe lies about God.  I don’t want His word and His power to be nullified in my life because I am choosing to believe something that simply is not true.  While de-cluttering my book shelf yesterday, I found my printout of Core Lies, and sure enough right there at the bottom of the list of core lies that Sarah had compiled I had written own my core lie.  Not in exactly the same words that Beth described it but there it was “I am . . .”  But now I see it more than just a lie about myself; it’s a lie about God and that does not sit well with me.
So I’m putting on some armor, and lifting my sword and shield, and I’m excited to see what happens next!

On not living in the fullness of God’s promises

It’s like buying a house.  God has a house for you but you can’t afford the mortgage.  Jesus pays the mortgage for you, hands you the keys and tells you today is the day you can take possession.  And we hold the keys but never take possession.  We brag we own a house, after all Jesus gave it to us, but we never live in it.

Coincidence? Me - sa not know

Why is it that you may never read or hear about a particular subject but the moment you do, or the moment your brain actually takes notice, that you’ll hear or read about this subject again within a week? This happens to me all the time! Tonight it happened and I’m wondering if it was a mere coincidence.

The past 6 months or so I have been reading The Left Behind series by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. For Christians and non-believers alike, these books are a great read, exciting and Biblically based. Don’t be distracted as I was on the sappy romance of book 2 or 3 (can’t remember which) as this fades and is less a prevalent story. I’ve taken a hiatus from the original series because I have to order the next book from another library and delved into the prequels (they were at my library). I just finished book 2 of the prequels and got online to check my email etc. I also wanted to see how popular the Left Behind series was in relation to other fictions series.

My email contained one of those hoax emails asking for signatures to stop a petition to the FCC trying to eliminate Christian broadcasting. They had a list of names of well-known Christian speakers including Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, and David Jeremiah and how they would no longer be broadcasted. I heard of all the others but not David Jeremiah. I Googled this so-called petition and of course it’s been circulating in various forms for 8 years now, the one I received since 2008.

So my search about the popularity of the Left Behind series led me to the New York Times Best Sellers list*. It didn’t help much with my question but as I scrolled the top-sellers in the various categories many were familiar: The Help, the recent book turned blockbuster movie; Heaven is for Real, about the little boy who recounted descriptions of a visit to heaven; The Five Love Languages, after 15 years still at the top of the list for Paperback Advice and Miscellaneous, which is awesome. At the top of Hardcover Advice and Miscellaneous there was those names again David Jeremiah and Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen I knew, young curly haired guy, never really listened to him much when I’ve seen him on TV cause he never really caught my attention. But who is David Jeremiah? So I looked up his new book.

The title isn’t very revealing: “I Never Thought I’d See the Day!” The day for what? I soon found out that is a book regarding the changes that have occurred over the last couple of decades and how Christians are to respond to these changes. As I downloaded a sample of the introduction to the book I was surprised to find it dedicated to none other than Tim and his wife Beverly LaHaye. So…. I finish a book about the last days as prophesied in the Bible, check my email and read a fabricated and totally unrelated story about a Christian teacher I’ve never heard about, Google about aforementioned book, end up on the New York Times Best-sellers list and realize this Christian teacher is on the list for books he’s written about the end times and has dedicated his latest book to the very author whose book I had just finished reading … Hmm coincidence?

I believe there are some things that are coincidences and some that are not. This one? hmmm not so sure. Is it God’s way of telling me I need to get me this book by David Jeremiah? You must realize, after reading the Left Behind series now in succession over the past few months, and reading the book of Revelation as I finally finished the Bible from cover to cover in July, I’ve been a little on the paranoid side. Maybe paranoid is not the right word, but my interest in end-time prophecy is piqued as it has been at times over most of my life, okay maybe a little paranoid :). I did an personal study in my early twenties on the end-times, and have a read a few books on the subject over the years. I try to keep up on current world events and how they fit into the picture of the end times but it seems the more I learn, the more there is to learn. There are two subjects that I try not to think about too much: end-time prophecy and abortion. The latter because it breaks my heart to the point where I cry my eyes out in desperation and the former because it makes me feel like I’m going crazy.

This book seems to deal less with the changes in our culture that are indicative of the end-times drawing near, but more of how Christians are to combat and remain true to God’s word in a society that is becoming increasingly God-less. I use God-less instead of godless because there is no lack of gods in our culture, both implicitly and explicitly worshipped. Maybe what I really need to be reading about is that despite how depressed and often angry I feel pretty well every time I read the news headlines, that God is in control, and that there is hope. I focus on the age-old questions: “Aren’t You as angry as I am about the constant defaming of Your name? How much more can You tolerate? Are coming today Lord? Is it next week? Next year? Jesus, I know even You don’t know the exact hour or even the day but You must know if it’s soon? Will we go with You right away or are we to endure some or all of the Great Tribulation?”

Instead I should be asking “Lord, what can I do for You today to further Your kingdom and bring You glory?”

*When reading the list of the best sellers I was surprised that so many Christian titles were listed, particularly in the non-fiction and advice categories. While quickly scanning the children’s best sellers lists I was taken aback to see Richard Dawkins as an author. Richard Dawkins? The evolutionist Richard Dawkins? The atheist who’s life work has been to elevate science and obliterate religion? I’m amazed by the disconnect of having numerous Christian authors peppering the “advice” category of best sellers and yet the “children’s chapter books” has one of the most anti-religious, essentially anti-Christian authors of our time. Who’s indoctrinating now? It brings much credence to David Jeremiah’s first chapter of I Never Thought I’d See the Day “When Atheists Would Be Angry.” It makes me fearful for the generation that is coming after mine.

LOL

The Funeral

Has there been a day when God is just like slapping you in the face with His Word?  Moments when you don’t have to guess what He’s trying to tell you, it’s so obvious that you would be an idiot not to figure it out.

Today’s been one of those days for me.  I was cleaning up my kitchen and became overwhelmed and sorrowful just out of the blue.  Not long after that the song “Forgiven” by Sanctus Real came on the radio.  It’s one of my favorite songs but I haven’t heard it in a long time.  The words of the song spoke straight into my heart, so much so that I immediately searched the song on YouTube to listen again and posted it to my Facebook page.  I determined in my heart, as the song says, that “when I don’t measure up to much in this life, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ.  I don’t have to carry the weight of where I’ve been, I’m forgiven.”  I thought alot about people who are hurting.  People who have a lot more baggage to carry around than I, and about someone in particular, wondering what kind of pain they have.  After a few tears of thankfulness these feelings disappeared, as quickly as they had come.

Just as I finished washing the dishes, I realized I was still thinking about this person but mostly about how much this person has hurt me.  It struck me that I should be concentrating less on what this person has done and praying for them instead.  By now it was soon time for my favorite radio program, Walk in the Word, to come on which I hadn’t listened to since last week.  The name of the message James MacDonald preached today is “The Burial - Making Forgiveness Final”, from the series “Have the Funeral:  God’s plan for your past”.  The series is about forgiving others who have hurt us and putting that pain behind us, burying the pain if you will.

Something I have been reciting to myself over the past few years has been “Well, this person hasn’t asked for forgiveness, how can I forgive them?”  James says there is only one passage in Luke that admonishes to forgive those who have repented.  Most of the passages regarding forgiveness make no mention of repentance.  I am not responsible for this person’s repentance or lack thereof, I am simply responsible to forgive.  Of course, simple is an understatement.  James asks the members of his live audience to take a piece of paper and write the person, the pain and state that they are forgiven, and that it will never be read but placed in a container and actually buried - a funeral for the pain.  He argues against personally verbalizing forgiveness to someone who has not asked for it, but to repent of unforgiveness to God alone, state your forgiveness and leave the rest to Him.  “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15).

I think I need to have a funeral.

To listen to today’s message by James MacDonald click here.

Escape

A friend just recommended a blog to me because according to her facebook post it “really made me think of you".  From a first glance, I can see why she said that.  The second post on this page by Sarah Mae addresses a criticism of her latest book 31 Days to Clean:  Having a Martha House the Mary Way.  If my friend (who was a university roommate) didn’t know back then that I need help in the cleaning department, then she knows now if she’s read the blogs I’ve written about it.  By the way, I’ve also blogged briefly about Mary and Martha.

The third post on Sarah Mae’s page is titled “For the lemon pound cake nights…”  The author delves into the different ways we cope when need a break from the stress or disappointment or any other array of negative feelings we may have at time to time about our lives.  She “escapes” with pound cake and latte at Starbucks.  Ironically, my “escape” lately has been a warm or rather hot cup of coffee which is the name of this chick’s blog: likeawarmcupofcoffee.com.  I made coffee earlier planning to sit and enjoy a cup while my husband finished making our late supper but I sat down instead to another of my rarely visited escapes:  writing this blog.  It is now nearly bedtime and I still haven’t had time to sit down to drink it.  Once I’m done feeding my little baby and putting her, the last of my four darlings to bed, I’m certainly going to enjoy my escape to cafe latte land.

As I now sip satisfactorily on my roasted bean bliss, I’m feeling particularly thoughtful because Sarah Mae’s words from her lemon pound cake post have brought back memories of when I too was “coming undone for days because of how overwhelmed with life I was. I pretty much had everything I ever wanted (husband, babies, the ability to stay home, etc.), but I was drowning.”  And memories of when God’s word breathed life straight into my heart.  When chayah, Hebrew for “live”, became a life motto for me.

After having dealt for years with overwhelming feelings of unwarranted guilt and inadequacy I was losing my faith, not so much in God, but in my ability to ever allow God to make changes in me that would make life worth living.  In the months before, God had shown me His unfailing love for me (I’ve written about that here).  Despite the ways God was revealing Himself to me I still struggled with a lack of joy and purpose for living.  I wasn’t suicidal per se, but I was really questioning the relevance of my existence.  I was a Christian, yet I was extremely unhappy, and I couldn’t understand why God would put me on this earth to live in such misery.  Since as long as I could remember I wondered why I was born, and as Job did, I cursed the day I was.  One particularly frustrating day I was in my bathroom freaking out.  I don’t know why the bathroom but that’s where I was.  Crying out to God for help and asking Him to reveal His word to me I began to read my Bible.  I simply opened up to Ezekiel where I had previously left off reading.*  I began to read Ezekiel 16 and the words echoed the wretchedness that I felt:

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.  No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you.  Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. (vs 4, 5)

Reading this now I realize how awful that sounds but that was how I felt.  I felt like that little baby, alone, uncared for and unloved; despised and helpless; abandoned and hopeless.  I kept reading . . .

Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”  (vs 6)

Imagine that one word Live coming off the page and becoming larger and larger.  That is what I saw.  Live left that precious book and became imprinted on my mind.  In that one word I felt God saying to me “Live!  I want you on this earth.  I put you on this earth.  I want you alive and not just to breathe and exist but to be content and to be fulfilled.  Don’t just survive, live in wholeness, in the completeness that I’ve planned for you.”  He then promised me in His word:

I made you grow like a plant of the field.  You grew and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. (vs 7)

What else can I say?  That moment, that “Chayah!” moment was the most impactful moment of my life.  It’s why I chose to name my 3rd daughter Chayah.  At 5 months pregnant we had yet to choose a girl’s name.  After watching the movie Defiance, I was enthralled by the name of one of the characters, Chaya, which in it’s Hebrew guttural pronunciation sounds like “kHy-yah”.  Out of curiosity I looked up the word in my Hebrew-English dictionary and was amazed that it meant “live".”  I told my husband I didn’t care how we pronounced it but if she were a girl her name had to be some variation of Chayah (we later chose to soften the kh sound to sh).  The next day I was scheduled for an ultrasound at the children’s hospital to confirm whether or not the first ultrasound at my local hospital was correct in a diagnosis of fluid around her heart.  Thankfully it was incorrect and we were able to find out that we were having a little girl.  That evening, once again out of “curiosity” I looked up the Hebrew word that was used in that passage from Ezekiel.  Sure enough it was chayah.  The one word that God spoke in a book filled with lengthy monologues was “Chayah!”  I believe God gave me the name for my little girl as a reminder of the way He wants me to Live!
Obviously, life isn’t always peaches and cream (or coffee and cream), but I’ve never sunk to the lows I felt then.  I still need to escape to the quiet place with my Savior sometimes to maintain my sanity but He’s taught me that I’m worth it, life is worth it and to work harder to truly Live.  Now that my cuppa Joe is done and it’s way past my bed time, I look ahead to my next chance to escape.  Maybe next time with a good book.  Say, 31 Days to Clean?

* In my quest to read the Bible from cover to cover I placed a stroke beside each verse as I read it.  Ezekiel 16 had not been stroked so I assumed that was where I had been reading in the days before.  I later realized that I had not left off reading at Ezekiel 16 but actually had been reading about 5 chapters ahead according to the strokes I had made.  I believe God allowed me to skip those chapters in the past because He knew that I would need to go back to read them precisely when I did.