Thankful

What are you thankful for today?

Sometimes as we look in the mirror, listen to ourselves in conversations, and reflect on human nature as a whole we realize what depthless unappreciative little beings we can be. But tonight as I sit down at this laptop I want to challenge everyone who reads this to lay every care down for just a minute and bask in the wonderment of what God has done for all of us. No matter what you may be facing right now and I know some are facing grievous loss, traumatic diagnoses, the ramifications of abuse, and seeming financial ruin, but brother/sister I promise you this is merely a blip on the radar of a universal map that is our overall existence.

James 4:14

You don't even know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be! For you are like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

 Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Please read those scriptures a couple of times as you meditate on what this little note is saying to you personally , and seal the words of God to your heart and mind. The peace and joy of The Lord will surely follow and through Christ a new perspective will begin to emerge in your spirit that will transform every circumstance you are facing today into nothing more than the life transformation that God intended it to be from the very beginning. So let’s start by reflecting over the things that God has done in our lives that we need to be thankful for and give Him praise and gratitude for those gifts/relationships, and let our hearts reside there.

 There are many scriptures that say “and it came to pass” (396 to be exact) which basically means “It happened”…… and God says “if it came to pass” it did not come to STAY! A lot of things are going to happen in this life and some are really tragic, painful, and ugly, but it is never the end. Even when they mark the inevitable end of this life on this earth they are just milestones to the next chapter for those who love and believe. Whatever you are facing today know that has it, and He was forsaken so we never have to be forsaken ourselves. Trust God and be thankful in this very day for you could be in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, etc…. right this very second with a knife to the throat of yourself or worse yet someone you love, cherish and are here to protect.

I hear a lot of preachers teaching about the prophetic of this age, end times, and heaven, but have yet to hear a good message about the 1000 Year Reign of Christ that is to come shortly. I will not elaborate all my thoughts about the biblical research done on this 1000 year reign into this blog, but suffice it to say there is another glorious age to come on a new Earth down here. It is apparent in Isaiah 11: 6-9 and again in Isaiah 65: 18-25 that there will be life, love and procreation during this time of unprecedented peace. I am not sure our role as transfigured saints, but I am excited about the next chapter of this glorious eternal life as we emerge from the cocoon of mortality into the transcendence of the unending.

Daughters

 God's heart is continually grieved for you His little one as you struggle for purpose and acceptance and have only found one failed path after another. The enemy of your soul has convinced you that this life is about settling, selling yourself, and false safety, and The LORD says risk it all for something and someone far greater and that someone is Me. (Yeshua) You have put on the face of the imposter because the world has told you that youth and the beauty that you behold in the mirror-mirror are the only real means to avoid rejection, but The Lord says your true beauty is your precious God-Breathed spirit. At points shame has so overtaken you that denial was your only companion, and so you have taken his hollow hand and remained. God’s Heart is for you to move, flourish, live and live free! Grace covers every stain of your fragile soul, and God does not impute sin to those that have faith, believe and desire to live free from the garbage that this life, other people, and the darkness of this world that has attempted to seize us all with from our youth.

 Romans 4: 7-8

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
  and whose sins are covered;
⁸ Blessed Is the man (woman) to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

You are covered, cherished and loved my child, and God’s mercies are from everlasting to everlasting. The medications of ill-motivated attention, superfluous attractions, and false beautifications will never fill your vacuum of your heart that desires daughter-ship with Abba. You know in your heart that the world around us is full of lies as you sense it in your zealousness to protect your own children, and yet the deception you so rigorously fight to protect them from engulfs you at times, and again you embrace rejection as truth. There is no shame, guilt, burden, or spirit that can keep you from the depths of God’s love.

Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 So live in Truth and Light my elegant and stunning beauty, as you are the exquisite pinnacle of my creation.….. Remember I made you as the finale of the creation of this extraordinary age, and if I made you the crowning jewel of the entire universe how much more do I love you…. even unto death. Don’t be distracted by the atmosphere of this world, but be overcome by Jesus’ Love, compassion, and Grace. (The LORD Says) Don’t settle my love for anything less than the authentic romance that only comes from the Heart of God overflowing the balconies of Heaven to immerse the Daughters of men.

 

Jay Frier

Indecision in victorious times

Ultimately Indecision becomes decision. I am trying to gain perspective as I write this blog as to why so many people are oblivious to the writing that is clearly on the multi-dimensional walls of the days we live in? They see the news on their television, internet, and all things media, and seem paralyzed in their spirit to even want to acknowledge the truth that is staring them in the face. Maybe it’s because we (the church) have “cried wolf” far too many times in the past, or maybe it’s because the thought of the end of this age is shrouded in fear, or maybe they feel a world apart from the global crisis that rages around us, but I believe Jesus would say once again “awake oh sleeper.”

First I would like to encourage the readers of this letter that the days that we are living in are the most glorious times in all of human history. It is the most prophesied, examined, questioned and celebrated era known to mankind, and God has called you and I to live at the very pivotal time of the generations of man for very specific reasons. There is an outpouring of His Holy Spirit coming upon us that has not been rivaled since Pentecost, and God has a vision and destiny for every man, woman, and child that is a piece of this eschatology that will comprise what will likely be a 3^rd and final testament of this age. (That is just a personal thought) This is the a victorious, magnificent, and joyful chapter we are watching unfold before our very eyes, and one that God declared prophetically 2500 years ago in the Old Testament prophets. So as faithful servants of Yeshua let’s be sure to rightly divide the Word of Truth and tell the entirety if the matter that this is not all gloom, doom, and, terror, but rather power, love and a sound mind. To me personally it is not the “end of times” at all because on the back end of this age is another incredible age of time that is the 1000 year reign of Christ, so this epoch is just the beginning of the next splendid age.

Back to the present (not the future any longer) times that we are in right now, prophecy is unfolding weekly on our television and computer screens, newspapers, and media outlets globally. I would encourage everyone remotely interested in discerning the time in which we live to read Matthew 24, Ezekiel 38 and 39 and research the names of the modern geographies of the lands mentioned in 38 and 39. I would also take the time you may spend watching your favorite TV shows over the next few weeks and read Joel Rosenberg’s book, Epicenter and watch Steve Berger’s messages from 8/10-8/31 at http://www.gracechapel.net/media/detail/latest-messages as this is crucial information about the times we are in TODAY! I will bullet out some of the highpoints below, but please don’t take my word for anything, but dig into the 2500 year old prophecy that is unfolding like a scroll before our eyes as it seems another huge piece of the puzzle falls perfectly into place every week. As you view world events like the crisis in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, and the resounding clear-cut message from every terrorist organization in existence calling for the annihilation of Christians and Jews, try to see them through the lenses/meditations of these and like scriptures. The parallels are not just similar, but more like precise as a micro-laser from the words of Old Testament prophets to the words of Jesus and John themselves.  

Matthew 24:7

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:” The word Nation here means Ethnos meaning race or “same race or tribe” and this is interesting because most of Matthew 24 is about the disciples question regarding the end of times and we have seen internal wars in countries like Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Sudan where the people or tribes within the respective nations have risen up against the governments in just the last year or two.

The Lands of Ezekiel 38 and 39 in current geographies:

·         Gog and Magog (Rosh of Meshech and Tubal) are generally looked at as the countries from the north like Russia. With the advent of natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea; namely Tamar and Leviathan, Israel is quickly becoming a massive energy superpower and this threatens its oil rich neighbors and is a prize (booty in the words of Ezekiel) that will likely be the main driver for the war of Ezekiel 38.

·         Persia is modern day Iran and has boldly called for the complete annihilation of The Zionist State (Jews/Israel) and has an alliance with Russia for the 1^st time in history that will culminate in the Ezekiel prophecies coming to pass in the very near future.

·         Cush is not the Ethiopia of today but rather the land just to the south of Egypt, Northern Sudan with is another haven for radical Islamic terrorist organizations.

·         Ethiopia back then was south of Egypt (northern Sudan) and ripe with terrorist cells.

·         Libya (Put) is pretty close to the same geography as it was 2500 years ago and in the wake of Benghazi has been overtaken by radical Islamic terrorist organizations and is now in possession of 12 commercial jet airliners to add to their arsenal.

·       Gomer and Togarmah these ancient names found their location in what today is the country of Turkey. Until recently Turkey was an ally to Israel, but just as the words of Ezekiel declared are now declaring Israel an enemy and are arming Hamas on the Gaza Strip.

So we see an unholy confederacy of these nations aligning to call for the destruction of Israel and Christians. As we watch ISIS, Hamas, and other radical Islamist organization / countries gather to kill Christians and Jews alike with an increased fervency in the Middle East and beyond. We see daily the killing of Christians by Muslims from Indonesia to Bangladesh to Pakistan while China is tearing down church buildings. Christians tortured, beheaded, and crucified in Iraq, with villages burned and churches destroyed, and much the same in Syria.  At the same time we see Russia mounting a direct invasion of Ukraine as Vladimir Putin exploits the weakness and distraction of the United States. The headlines could not be any clearer, and the United States reaction is right in line with our role biblically….. Silent!

Daniel 12:4

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” When in all of human history could you navigate this entire planet in a matter of hours? (Run to and fro) and when has knowledge ever been increased like it has in our lifetimes? Claims are today that knowledge doubles at the rate of every 13 months, and according to IBM analyst with the advent of “The Internet of Things” knowledge will double every 12 hours. (Schilling, 2013)

So what does all of this mean to the average American Christian today? It means the passivity, apathy and comfort that we have lived in here in our little western bubble is about to shake. It means the message that the angel gave to the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) is directed at us, and the comfortable, lukewarm religion we have come to thinly embrace is about to be “vomited out of God’s mouth” and we can either get right with Jesus, or allow the passive lies of this world to take us to the frigid dwelling place of indifference and offence in our hearts. This is where people laugh at this kind of rhetoric like it’s for the feeble minded alarmist with a Chicken Little mentality, and scorn the obvious truth of this reality in place of silly ideologies that align to their comfort zones and lifestyles. We live in a time where truth is subjective, and we have been systematically indoctrinated to call “evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20) and that mindset is pervasive in our culture. So if you are constantly fed lies you will be desensitized to the truth over time and those are just plain common sense facts. It is the birthplace of universalism, new age, emergent church and why these vain philosophies resonate so well with a deceived world and church. “Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” Colossians2:8      

How can a 2500 year old book lay out in specific detail the accounts of our lives here in 2014 with precision and accuracy that is unparalleled by any writing, religion, or self-proclaimed prophet? The answer is it can’t. That is why the Bible is far more than a book, it is the Truth and The Word of God and there is no other. This is not about fear or trying to scare anyone into a “religion” but it is about relationship and how we need to all get our houses in order and discern the times in which we live and make sober life choices based on these truths. The good news is we have a hope and a gracious redeemer that stands with open arms waiting for us to make the next move towards Him. Take today and make that move! Remember indecision is still decision.      

Storms

I have seen a lot of storms in my lifetime…. Some large, many small, some self-imposed, some simply a result of a fallen world, and then those that came directly from the seat of Satan himself and threatened my very existence, BUT GOD! I am reflecting tonight as I am about a month out from being set free by the Hands of Jesus from one of those large storms that has loomed over me for two and a half years. This self-inflicted tempest seemed life altering, and would leave some permanent scars, and in all honesty it has, but in some miraculous ways. Life altering to the degree that I will never live in the darkness of synthetic sedation and deceptive happiness ever again, and the scars are gentle reminders of the battle that has been fought and lost, and fought and won a thousand times and at 50 years of age the finality of this chapter is concluded.

It is an odd meditation on the other side of the end of a lengthy storm like this one that conjure thoughts like “is this really over?” It almost feels like it was never really real to begin with, and the repercussions have been as merciful as Christ washing my feet by a warm fire in my heart. My mind, body, spirit and soul  are ever thankful tonight and again I feel almost like this is someone else’s story and I am just a witness that has prayed, interceded, and warred (as I often do) for God to do a mighty miracle and He showed up in ways that are “as usual” mind blowing.     

So my question to Him on the backend of this difficult life-lesson is what were you showing me here? I have learned that we never fail a test with God we only take them over and over till we get them right. His simple yet poignant answer was “Right wanting, Right thinking and Right desires” so I have pondered that little nugget in my heart for about a month now, and see the desires of my heart have been wrong. My soul has fooled my spirit by looking for what seemed to be the right desires, but in all actuality I have been attracted to what is wrong, deceitful and controlling. To the point that I have found myself meditating on relationships and activities that I know are seductive, damaging, and full of blissful manipulation. So I am now on a determined path to having the Mind of Christ in everything I put any emotional, mental, physical and even spiritual time into. I will wake every morning from this point forward intentionally seeking joy, and with conviction and a new discipline to have right thinking and right desires in every decision I make, or the decision will be NO.  

I now see where God was transforming my wanting, thinking, and desires when about a year ago He brought a little Jewish girl into my life that was facing storms far greater than mine. A violent meth addict ex that she was still in the midst of divorce from, on the verge of bankruptcy and about to lose her home, about 10 horses and a host of various other animals that she was responsible for, and a 3 year old that was about to be diagnosed with Autism as I entered their lives. She had no idea who Jesus really was, so God gave me a deep burden for this little family and I was as “Jesus” as I could be for a guy enduring his own storm of health, personal, legal, professional issues. She came to know Jesus as her Lord and savior along the way, moved to North Carolina to start a new life and got baptized on August 3^rd 2014 in a Methodist church in N.C. and in the midst of losing everything material in this world just found out she is getting One Million dollars in a life insurance policy that she held for her 1^st ex-husband that suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 54. That right... she is now saved and a millionaire.....  That is just how our God solves storms when we are faithful and just hold His hands and walk through them. This is one of the first female relationships where I had no self-motivations and desired nothing but to see her know the Person of Jesus and sit back as God unfolded one of the most miraculous testimonies that I have personally witnessed, and I was front and center for the wonderful ride. Amazing when we get out of God’s way and let Him AWE and WONDER!!!

“Sometimes The Lord calms the storm and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child”

Humans

How is it that a being with such great gifts, talents, and imaginations can be capable of such madness as we see in the earth today? We can compose sonnets, create beautiful music, write wondrous tales of visual fantasy, and with the very same pen write a decree of enslavement or death to millions simply because of their heritage, gender, color or faith. We possess science and technologies that can cure diseases and destroy pathogens before they ever take a life, and with the exact same technological and scientific insight we can release a plague of viral, chemical, or nuclear warfare that could reduce all living matter on this planet to a fading whisper in a matter of minutes. We call this era we live in today enlightenment as we stand in awe of our vast accomplishments on earth and in space, and yet we are perplexed and paralyzed in fear of what we have created every time we glance at the latest news headline. And still we go about creating and demanding more of the same madness like a dog that simply cannot stop eating its own vomit. Our quest for more merchandise and material trinkets is insatiable and still we see it all fading and decaying right before our very eyes while crying more, more, more. While a child 2 miles down the road (much less in the horn of Africa or Haiti) is crying tonight for just a meal or shelter. No form of government, political party, military, human moral code or justice system has the answer. Obviously no “religion” has the answer either or they would have solved the cancerous dilemma of greed, pride and systemic narcissism by now. And while we look for answers within ourselves as only find the common denominator is ourselves.

I have been a part of the “Christian community” for 18 years now, and remain a strong believer in Yeshua (Jesus) and everything He taught, stood, died, and rose again for. BUT as one that has lived in the debauchery of this world for the better part of 15 years, and now have had a long season in the church I see very little that sets the "us" apart. We point our cooked little fingers at all manner of shameless behavior while we feed on a steady diet of gossip, gluttony, and pride. I don’t like making generalizations about any people group, but we Christians are supposed to stand apart in love, humility, and truth, and I honestly wonder how many of us look long and hard in the mirror every morning as we approach a gracious God and feel right (not righteous) about our true character. Human nature is a beast, and I hope we all can connect and live life by the Spirit that God put deep within us ALL.

Agent Smith from The Matrix: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.

I watched a video the other day of a young sea lion in CA that climbed up into a boat and laid his head in the lap of a guy for a few minutes in complete trust and abandon, and it was the humans that reacted in apprehension of the “wild animal”. In truth that little creature had far more to fear of those humans he sought affection from than vice-versa. I would like to see the stats on humans killed by sea lions vs. number of sea lions or relatives killed by us. The point is that little fella could have come across any number of boats in the sea that would have bludgeoned him with a club just out of a hateful heart. Take into consideration all of this while we are supposed to be the superior intellectual species on this planet with the cognitive capacity to know right from wrong, and good from evil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNPrUWXVlAY

In the end Love conquers all, enables everything, destroys darkness, and releases a power that no adversary can withstand. The ability to freely choose whether to live out this greatest of gifts to its fullest, or varying degrees, or to abandon it all together and embrace the emptiness of a synthetic lie is completely up to us. We live in a world of virtual realities, cyber connections, and accept things like social media to replace authentic relationships, and wonder why the world seems so out of touch. We are tethered to devices that tells us how to live or lives and when to be places, and friend or de-friend people with just the click of a mouse, and are astonished at our narcissistic lives. Take a moment today/tonight and ask Jesus to help us all, and that a true spirit of repentance might fall on all mankind, and that we as a nation, people, and community might receive mercy and the Hand of The Father of Lights.