The Wedding Invitation

A generation raised like John the Baptist
dwelling in the midst of the wilderness,
eating nothing but honey and wild locusts,

the violent rejection of worldly delicacies.
This is the wrestle of Jacob, the antiphony
of man's struggle with God, the final blessing

given to those who refuse to let go of Him.
What comfort can be found in food or clothing,
what satisfaction comes from simple distractions

when the Man my heart longs for is absent?
Have you not heard? Now is the time for fasting,
to set aside the pleasures of an age fast passing,

to let go of every attempt to make the best
of life in His absence, settling for nothing less
than Him back in the Garden. It is the time set

from the beginning, appointed from the conception
of all creation, the transition from a world fallen
back to perfection, God dwelling and walking among

men once more. This is the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, whose eyes are alive
with fire in the light of the One coming,

the call for repentance, to make new your wine skins,
to renew your mind and take in the truth of His Revelation.
Awaken, all that slumber, for this is the cry of the watchmen

calling out to His Bridesmaids! Is not obedience
better than sacrifice? Or is not rebellion as the sin
of witchcraft? Has the Lord spoken from the dawn

of existence, that He will not be faithful to perform
His Word to the fullest? Or will He not speedily avenge
the trespasses enacted upon those who cry out to Him

day and night? As vipers brood in their nests
and serpents justify themselves by their tongues,
do not say to yourself, 'I am a son of God', and yet

do nothing. For is not every tree known by its fruit?
Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, lest
when He comes, He cuts you in two and appoints you

your share with the hypocrites! Rend your hearts,
and not your garments, for He is seeking such
to worship Him in spirit and in truth! Gather

yourselves together as one in His Tabernacle,
as the folds of a flock are gathered together
into the greenest pasture under the watchful

gaze of the Shepherd, for He is calling. His voice
goes out like a reaper upon the fields ripe for
harvest, that will not return until it has accomplished

all that it was sent out to accomplish, separating
the tares to be burned in the fire from the wheat
to be gathered into His storehouse - those that agree

with Him, that seek His face above all else, that come
under the covering of the blood of His Son and love
Him in obedience, that agree with His perfect plan

for the hour, that can only be known by the power
of His Holy Spirit revealing the heart of the Father
to the children, and thus it is written, 'Seek first

the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness,
and then all else will be added.' His Word is a sharp
two-edged sword that cuts to the heart,

that is not deceived by appearances nor is led
astray by flattering speech, and He will not relent
until He has spent His vengeance upon sin in all

the earth, until He treads the armies of the son
of perdition like one treads the fruit of the vine
in a wine press, until He is covered in the blood

of His enemies, of all that attempt to stand against
Him, and He will render to the nations the fullness
of their desire. His final judgements are the pinnacle

of His mercy and the perfect expression of His love,
and His vengeance drips with justice. Like a dove
alighting upon the head of the Righteous One,

He is bringing the nations to the Valley of Decision,
and those that choose repentance, their faithfulness
will be accredited to them for righteousness,

for they have heard the Word of the Lord and obeyed.
Just as the seed of Israel grew in the midst of Egypt,
a nation not her own, when the time was ripe,

God raised up Aaron and Moses to lead His people,
to proclaim judgement on the oppression of Pharaoh
and all those who came under his leadership, who agreed

with him as their king. With the pangs of childbirth,
He delivered His people with all signs and wonders
at the word of His witnesses, a violent separation

of nation from nation, and this is but a picture
of the fullness of the global departure, the hour
that is finally upon us, the time of the harvest.

So come out from this fallen culture, all you
who call upon His name! And woe to my soul,
to say one thing, but do another! (Lord,

keep me from growing haughty, lest I cease
listening in fear and trembling. Establish
Your Word in me, that from Your house

I may never depart.) For those who proclaim,
'I stand perfectly', are already falling, who say
'I see clearly', are blind, and who claim

to have no need of a Physician, are dying.
Now is the time to spend your desire on
Him, to set aside the empty temptings

of a comfortable life in this age, to buy gold refined
in the fire, to store up treasure without measure in
heavenly storehouses, where neither moth nor rust

destroy. Your voice is a trumpet, and your words
are the abundance of your heart spoken into existence.
Your eye is a lamp, and your tongue is a rudder

that steers your desire. Come out of her, all you
who have yet a little strength, who do not
deny His name, and who have kept His Word!

Blessed are you who are found giving food
to His servants in due season, whom
He finds faithful with the little given unto

you! For Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen,
and has surely become a haunt of demons!
Her sins have reached up to heaven, and

God has remembered them! Render to her
double! For she who has exalted herself above
the heavens shall drink from wine of the wrath

of her fornications! Behold, He is coming,
clothed in the splendor of His glory, burning
with fire to baptize the whole earth in,

to utterly destroy the chaff and the stubble,
to cast out of His Kingdom all that offends,
but to refine with fire every heart humble

as gold is refined seven times over in the fire,
to shine forth in glory like the firmaments
in the heavens forever and ever, and to minister

to the Lord of Hosts in His Holy Temple.
So blow the trumpet in Zion! Consecrate
a fast, call a sacred assembly, sanctify

the congregation! Let the Bridegroom
go out from His chamber, and
the Bride from her dressing room!

And let the priests weep between
the porch and the altar, saying,
'Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not

give Your heritage to reproach!'
For the Lord is a jealous God and
He will not settle for second

place. He is shaking the nations
to bring all peoples to a final decision,
for He is coming to rule with a rod of iron,

seated on the throne in New Jerusalem,
restoring His creation back into perfection,
and all have been invited to the wedding.

Those that choose to attend, who spend all
their desire preparing their hearts for His arrival,
who clothe themselves in wedding apparel,

are choosing an eternity spent in the presence
of His infinite beauty, reaping the rewards
of making themselves ready, of setting aside

their will and voluntarily choosing His now,
while there is still time. They will be found
eating at His banqueting table, inquiring of

Him at His temple forever in an infinite
expression of the extension of His perfect
Kingdom, a joyous celebration of worship

and adoration where fascination never
ends. This is the Bride emerging from
the midst of seven divided churches

who has given herself for the preparation
of the marriage supper, but do not fall
into deception, for not all who are called,

answer, and not all who are invited care
to prepare themselves for the ceremony.
These are those who refuse to heed

the voice of His servants, who choose
to continue life as usual, who value
their own plans for the future

over His, who seize His servants, beat
them and treat them spitefully. These
are the five foolish Bridesmaids found

without oil in their lamps at the cry
of the watchmen in the midnight
hour, who arise to meet the coming

Groom without any preparation for His
return, but on whom the door is shut
and they are stuck in outer darkness,

where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth for all eternity. So do not be mistaken,
for even now you are choosing your position

in, or out of, His Kingdom, forever.
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven
is at hand! Make straight the way

of the Lord! The fields are ripe for Harvest!
He has slaughtered His fatted calf and oxen!
He is calling all to climb His Holy mountain!

But will He really find faith on the earth
when He returns? He who has ears
to hear, let him hear! For the time is near!

When Time Ceases

When the time comes, we cease to see in fragmented
Pieces, the staggered recesses of our broken

Existence. But to see clearly, as in a mirror,
Through the clarity of a forever reality, the Truth

Speaking face to face with us, revealing secrets
And mysteries kept hidden from the foundation of creation!

How will I stand, given to preparation of that Day of Reckoning?
I am but a child, fed from the bread of my Father’s

Table, weaned from the sweet milk of spiritual immaturity,
Kept from the leaven of men. But who am I, but a child still,

Adorned in the robes of my Father’s house, contending
For my crown? Dare I ask to understand the severity of understanding

His Word, to suffer in the fullness of His suffering without fear
Of reproach of men, in fear and trembling of His promise

That to whom much is given, much is required? Is there a price
So great to pay that is greater than mine debt to Him?

But to hear those words! “Well done, wise and faithful servant!”
To be found feeding His flocks in His absence!

Is it not worth it? And what is my life to me but worthless!
Vanity of vanities! To strive against the tide of eternity, to fall

Aside to empty temptings of false comfort and security,
To fill my mind with idle thinking and my time with stagnant

Distractions! And what is the great deception of money
To elevate itself above the provision of my Father,

Claiming to set me free from worry and anxiety, but binding
Me to the cares of this world, slavery to a culture

That is fallen in its very nature, given of itself to the corrupt
Lusts of unchecked appetite and empty pleasures?

This is nothing more than the original rejection in the Garden,
And as for my part, I will have no part in this rebellion.

Lord, keep me in humility! Search my heart and refine me
In Your holy fire, that I may be found acceptable in Your sight!

The Widow

The widow waits patiently by the window, pacing back and forth
Into infinity until she falls back upon herself. Time is folded

Neatly, like napkins that line the table of her mind, or her hands
In preparation of prayer. The widow sees what I cannot

See, an open door into an endless room, the sky just a speck
Collecting dust in the distance. Just north of wondering,

The wind breathing softly as it does in the early hours of mourning,
And all the parish stands silent. Whose cross will you bear

When the end unfolds like a map shivering in the wind? The widow sees
What we all see, eventually, the sky stockpiling itself into eternity,

The earth opening up like a tomb, and One ascending and descending
On the precipice of heaven, whose tongue severs the ties between

The goat and the sheep, on whose right and left lie all of humanity,

And on whose back cling the weak and willing to be saved.

Prayer 2

I will worship You, Oh Lord! Your praise is the breath
of life upon my lips! How refreshing is Your word
on my tongue! In Your Tabernacle, You gather
me to Your flock, You lead Your fold to green
pastures, You make us lie down. With a shout,
You shake the heavens, You move the heavens
and split the sky. Oh Lord, Your voice is like the ancient

waters, the mighty rushing rivers of old; Your breath
is like the wind that flows from the tops of mountains!
Who is like You, Oh Lord? I will pour out my heart
to You; I will inquire of You at Your gates; I will set
my eyes upon Your throne. Your glory surrounds
You like royal robes, radiant as the sun; a river
of light flows out from Your feet. In the darkness,
find me and hide me, Oh Lord, in Your shadow.

Set me high upon a cliff, and keep my feet from failing
in the time of trouble. Speak to my soul and satisfy
my hunger, teach me the ways of Your restraint
that I may be radiant in the light of Your glory.
Clothe me in righteousness and gird my loins
with Your faithfulness; write Your name upon my heart
and set Your Word in my mouth, and I will sing
to the waste places. Yea, I will shout as one

advancing upon His enemies! I will praise You
and not be silent! In Your Tabernacle, I will sound
the alarm! I will lead the charge! Awaken, awaken!
The time spoken of from the ancients is upon us!
The battle field is set; the enemy ranks are lined
in formation; they gather in the valleys, they swarm
upon the cities. Their might is awesome to behold.
Who can resist them? Rise up, all you willing!

Put on the armor of your God and clothe yourselves
in the might of His Hand! Those that despise
the name of our God have set themselves against us,
and even they defy Him. Therefore, do not be silent!
Sing a new song! With the stringed instruments
and the beating of drums, proclaim judgement, His
righteous judgement! For His laws are perfect
and His precepts are without fault; His statutes
are unwavering; there is no darkness in them.
There is none who can stand against Him!

Prayer 1

When I come into Your House,
I am as a child once more, Oh Lord.
Though I turned far from You,
Though I spent my days wallowing

In the wasteplaces as a drunkard, a liar
And a thief, You never ceased speaking.
Though I fought to abandon You,
You sought to capture my heart,

To set me apart, to teach me to speak
Freely. Your arm was never far from me.
Like a rebellious child in need
Of correction, You corrected me.

You brought me to the place of breaking
And with my voice, I cried out.
I cried out, and You heard me, Oh Lord,
My Lord! You opened Your arms wide

And welcomed me as the wayward
Son, the one who was lost, but was found.
You slaughtered Your fatted calf,
Made cakes of fine flour; You called

Together Your servants and sat me
In the seat of honor at Your table.
But who am I, Oh Lord, that I would find
Favor in Your eyes? For I am despised,

Even in my own eyes, esteemed even
Lower than the dogs in royal courts,
And I have proven myself altogether
Worthless in the sight of the world.

You rebuked me; with a gentle word
You corrected me, and I saw myself
As You see me, a child seated at his
Father's table, washed clean and free

From the filth of wallowing in mud,
A new creation. How then could I return
To feeding on refuse in the streets?
And even as I sought You, You revealed

Yourself to me. Teach me Your ways,
Oh Lord, That I may never depart
From Your presence! And even now,
Do not hide Your face from me!

When I cry out to You in the night,
Do not be silent, And when I mourn
Before You in the morning, incline
Your ear to hear me! Like a son,

Reveal the mysteries of my Father's
House kept hidden from those wise
And prudent in their own eyes.
Speak to my heart, and I will not be

Silent; stir up my heart after Your's,
And I will praise You forevermore!

Seek And You Shall Find

From the depths of the sea, there arose within me

a desire to see the world as those in the heavenly

realms perceive it, the purity of a heart set

upon a reality more true than experience, than mere

emotion, than the limiting sight of immediacy.

Upon the waters of my mind came a Man walking

upright, the soles of His feet hovering

above the deep, reaching out His hand

and lifting me from the midst of the sea.

He bore me upon His shoulders, set me upon the seat

of mercy, showed me the secrets hidden

behind appearances, the truth of His Spirit

moving upon the still waters, stirring the heart

of man to repentance. Out of His mouth

flowed rivers of living waters, a Rock

in the wilderness struck by the rod of Moses, and as I drank,

my heart was filled to overflowing with a love

more true than experience, than mere

emotion, than the limiting sight of the immediate,

that I cannot help but go out and share it.

For this is His promise to us, that He will not leave

us orphans, that as to as many as who believe,

He has given the right to be children of Light,

that all who abide in Him, the Everlasting Vine,

shall not die but have eternal life, that He

is coming again, to judge both the living

and the dead, to fulfill His Word with a wedding

ceremony, to set His kingdom upon this earth

and bring an end to the sin of fallen man,

to rule now and forever with a rod of iron,

sitting at the right Hand of the Father,

and us with Him, a Bride of the Son

of the most High, pure and spotless before Him.

So lift up your heads, oh you gates!

And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory shall come in!

The Word You Are Looking For Is Truth

We string together words to create meaning,

desegregating ancient syllables in an effort

to communicate, each new sentence unique

in structure. Language is no barrier, but a bridge

between minds, spanning across space and time,

aligning one thought with another, and imitation

is simply a reflection, an echo of a former glory

sounding and resounding throughout history,

binding one generation to the next. Originality

is but a genuine conversation bearing the mark

of experience, exerting influence over an area far

greater than one's immediate surroundings, imbued

with the ability to persuade, to lead, or mislead, as one

blind leads the blind; those who have bound them-

selves unknowingly to one lost and struggling

simply to keep his head above water cannot help

but follow, sinking ever deeper into the snare of des-

pair placed before them by one altogether unaware of

his present condition. But what of the One whose words

radiate truth, who speaks of being a Light in the darkness, a

Shepherd to His flock, to all those who hear His voice and

believe, who hold tight to His promise of eternity,

of life everlasting? For He holds the key to heaven,

His words a fountain of living waters flowing into the

hearts of those who receive Him, giving sight to the blind

and restoring all who are broken and hurting, pouring out

His rest upon the weary and calling the wicked to re-

pentance, into right relationship with the Father,

who originally spoke the universe into existence,

and whose Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

bringing us the Way, the Truth, and the Life, all three

One and the same, to lay the foundation for thousands

of years to come, the cornerstone of a life complete

in Him, and these are His words to us, a letter of

love in two parts, and the order is of utmost im-

portance - love Him first with all that is within us,

and then one another, in the same way that He first

loved us. You see, this covenant is a reflection of His

majesty, the unending echo of eternal love proven

true by the blood of His Son as He hung upon

the beams of a cross, bearing the weight of the

world upon His shoulders, this undeserved curse

the consequence of our sins, of our unwillingness

to set ourselves aside and look to Him for guidance.

We are His creation, created for perfect communion

with Him, our hearts bearing the mark of His image,

the unique capacity among every living thing to

love, and be loved in return, and it is His Word

alive in us that works all things together for

our good, that our lives might bear witness

of the splendour and glory of His existence. In

Him, we are a new creation, dead to our old trans-

gressions and alive to His eternal mercy, our hearts

bearing the mark of the Word made flesh, the Spirit

of One whose tongue is imbued with a truth more

powerful than any earthly being has ever spoken

before or after, the perfect revelation of the heart

of the Father, His love reflecting love re-

flecting unending love for all of eternity

spent in absolute unity with Him.

The Truth About Our Words

Calling things by their rightful name is one of the most powerful tools of illumination that we have. To believe that our words have no meaning apart from the meaning that we assign to them is a fruit of the lies of this world. Words have inherent meaning, and in this is the power of words, that each word is a light that illuminates. Precisely this is why the enemy, who is the father of all lies, has taken words and twisted them over time, so that we are unable to rightfully illuminate the true nature of that which we are speaking forth.

In this way, psychology has simply given names to demons and claimed them as part of a person's identity, justifying demonic influence and perpetuating Satan's stolen kingdom here on earth. Casinos are simply temples where people go to worship, pray, and sacrifice to the god of luck. To be in debt to someone is to be bound to them until that debt is payed, just as a slave is bound to a master, for a slave works for the profit of the master without pay. Slavery is not a race issue, but a human race issue. Addiction is also slavery to a substance or a behavior. The Greek root word for drugs, or pharmaceuticals, is pharmakeia, which is also translated as sorceries, as in Revelation 9:21, "And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts."

I could go on and on about all the different ways that words have become twisted over the years, but the point that I want to make is this; that our words hold power, and when we speak the right words at the right time, we are able to wield this power effectively. In Revelation, the Almighty One, the One who is and was and is to come, is described as having a sharp, two-edged sword proceeding from His mouth. We know this to be the Spirit of God, which is the Word of God, which we are also called to wield as children of God. In Hebrews 4:12, it says, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper that any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

As we have been born into a world steeped in deception, it is impossible for us to discern truth from lies, for our language reflects the age that we live. Only when we believe on the One who calls Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life are we given the Spirit, which opens the eyes of our understanding and allows us to see clearly, to discern right from wrong, truth from deceit. This is done in part when we eat of the scriptures, when we read the written Word of God and store it up in us, so that we might wield the Spirit within us effectively, for it is the role of the Spirit to call forth the Word of God in us.

Only when we are rightfully grounded in the Word of God, which is the authority, can we rightfully wield the Spirit of God, which is the power, for without authority, power is lawless, and without power, authority is empty. Christ Himself bears witness of this, saying, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-15) and again, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'"

In addition to this, the power of the tongue is such as the power a rudder has over a ship. Whatever we declare with our mouth, the rest of us follows. By storing up the Word of God within us and allowing the Holy Spirit to have authority over our tongue, what comes out of our mouth is life to our whole body. However, if we are not filled with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, it is easy to disregard much of what the Word says, or to try and fit it into what we see in the modern world around us, and in doing this, we begin to wield the sword of our mouth as one swinging madly about in the dark, to almost no effect, or even worse, to the detriment of our own selves as well as those around us.

What we must first realize in order to wield the Word of God effectively is that it is impossible to look at our modern day world, a world that is completely immersed in deceit, where words have been twisted and changed into that which they are not, and try and fit the Word into what we see. This is only leads to confusion. Why is this? Because when we approach the Word this way, what we are really believing is that what we see and hear all around us is truth, and then trying to fit the Word of God in where it makes sense.

In order to properly wield this weapon that we have been given, we must do exactly what Christ commanded us to do in the first place, which is to die unto ourselves and live unto Him. This goes the same for dying unto the age that we are born into and living unto the eternal truth, the living, breathing Word of God. We must not believe that something is good just because our modern age says its good and then try to use God's Word to justify it, but we must let go of our own ideas, or the ideas of our day and age, of what good is, and look instead to the Word of God to teach us what is good.

What we are living in the midst of is the mature fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of those who claim to know what is good for the body, good for the mind, good for the heart, good for the soul, but whose words are empty and full of death. If we are to become followers of Christ, we must cease from eating the fruit of this tree and eat the fruit of the tree of life, the living bread which is the flesh of Christ, as He says in John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." How do we eat His flesh? By consuming His Word, for He is the Word made flesh. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

The Word of God is offensive to this age, but we must realize that the Word is always offensive to this world, for it is not of this world, but of Heaven. The culture of the world says that by changing your appearance, you can change yourself. In this way, the modern age is caught up in a false idea that everything is new, simply because everything appears to be new. Ecclesiastes 1:9 is very clear about this deceit, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

We must let go of our ideas of what is good and let the Word of God take His rightful place in us. Only by standing upon Him, by taking Him at His Word and believing that His Word is truth, can we get the correct perspective through which to view the world around us. Confusion cannot stand against the Light of His Word, and it is clear that confusion is increasing daily, in both the church and in the world. The only way to stand in this hour is by standing on His Word and speaking it forth, by dying unto ourselves and living unto Him, by laying down our ideas of what is good, or what love is, or attempting to cover up and ignore His righteous judgement of the earth, and instead asking Him to show us how He is perfectly good, perfectly just, perfectly loving, that His judgements and statutes and laws are perfectly merciful.

This is not meant to be condemning in any way, but encouraging, for what He corrects in us is for our good. On a regular basis, He convicts me of falling into deceit, not so that I might be ashamed, but that I might know the truth and be set free. "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 9:31-32) "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:19)

The words we choose to use carry so much more weight than we realize. I encourage you to get into a conversation with God about the things that you see all around you that you take for granted as being that which they claim to be. Ask God to reveal to you in His Word the truth about these things. The more that you see in this way, the more that you begin to line up your perspective with His heavenly perspective, and the more you come into agreement with that which He is doing right now upon the earth. This is invaluable in this hour. Begin today, right now, for there will never be an easier time to get in the flow of what the Spirit is doing. It only gets harder to stand with each passing day.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:10-18

The Bride

The world swirls like circling gulls over
your head, the shallow wash of waves
breaking ever so softly upon the shore

as you stand with your hands lax at
your side, the setting sun a beacon
of light hovering above the horizon,

the scorched sky lingering before
your eyes like the red and orange
flames of a torch licking each staggered

layer of gathering cloud, the wind light
and brisk as the faint breath of a
will-o-wisp fading into the night.

You are weightless, a feather suspended
in flight, your bones hollow as the bones
of an owl, floating slowly upwards in the open

air, your hair flowing behind you, glinting
like silk in the warm glow of the sun. Behind
you, the crawling moon is but the fading song

of a lovelorn loon, crying quietly for captive's
sake, his heart held high in the sky like the prize
of some heavenly hunter who is enraptured

at the mere sight of you, at the size of the setting
  sun that seems to spread itself out like canvas
          upon this page, at the sound of the waves

lapping the space around your ankles, already
free from the gritty grip of the sandy beach
that threatens to overtake you, that drinks

the rising tide like one dying of thirst,
wandering in the dry heat of the desert
for over a lifetime, seeking only rest

but finding none in the wilderness.
Still, you hover above all bitterness
of spirit, lifted far beyond the reaches

of earthly entanglement, the truth of a life
lived in the fulfillment of every divine
promise glistening like oil upon the skin

of your forehead, the holy anointing
appointing you as His beloved Bride to be
joined forever together with the King

above all Kings. You are a new creation, a being
transformed by the splendor of His majesty,
born out of love and bearing the mark of His glory,

radiant and alive in the heat of His mercy,
your heart purified in the light of His fiery
countenance, shining like the sun in all His brilliance.

Absolute Truth In Love

Compromise is not peacemaking. Absolute truth in love is peacemaking. God did not call us to compromise with the world in order to bring peace, but He called us to agree with Him in truth about His love. Only when this happens will the world truly know peace, and this will only happen when every man, woman, and child comes into agreeance with Him, that His love is the only true love. Until this happens, the world is at war with itself, for the world is at war with Him.

Jesus Himself said this when He talked about His coming to earth as a Man. "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34) He is the Word of God made flesh, and His Word is the sword that proceeds from His mouth. Only until the whole world comes into agreeance with His Word will the world know peace.

Anyone that proclaims world peace apart from this proclaims falsely, for this goes directly against God's Word, and anyone that proclaims love apart from His Word proclaims love that appears to be, but is not. This is harlot love, love that claims to be, but is full of emptiness, of death and destruction, and those that place their faith in this love, in this peace, drink of the same cup, the golden cup that on the outside appears to be good and perfect but that is full of all matter of abominable things, all matter of perversions of the truth, all of which are the fruit of death and destruction. 

Why are they abominations? Because they are the twisting of the truth, the true love that is found only in the Word of the Living God, who is Himself love, Pure and Holy in Himself. I myself have tasted and become full of this harlot love, have drank the cup of abomination to its inevitable end in very literal way. I was brought to the gate of death in my desperation, seduced and deceived by that which the world calls love, but that was only an empty shell. I was helpless and hopeless, devoid of all meaning and purpose, desiring either true love or death, and I willingly chose death.

Climate change, world peace, unity through love, justice, equal and good distribution of resources; these are all things that are only possible through the Word of God. No one else can fulfill their promises to correct the wages of sin upon this earth, for all of these things are the solutions to the corruption of sin upon the earth. Until the time that the Word of God made flesh returns to the earth to make all things right, the earth cannot know the perfect restoration of all things, and He has already proclaimed to us the truth of His coming. He has shared with us His perfect plan, as well as equipping us with everything that we need to withstand the time of tribulation that is coming. Out of the time of tribulation will emerge a pure and spotless Bride, the Bride that agrees with Him, that longs for Him as a bride longs for her bridegroom, for the moment of the marriage.

"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." Romans 8:19-22

Right now, we are being subjected to the futility of the world attempting to establish world peace on its own, of the world attempting to live in unity with a love that is not love, of the world attempting to right the effects that mankind has had on the climate on its own, of establishing its own system of justice apart from the true justice of God, of creating a system of good and equal distribution of resources of its own accord. All of creation is experiencing the consequences of the failure of mankind to lead himself, for no man or woman can deliver on his or her promises to restore the earth to the state of perfection.

There is hope in this, and this hope is the emergence of a people that will place their faith wholly in the only One who can deliver on His promises to right every wrong and restore all things whole again, to show all of mankind the emptiness of the false promises of man apart from God in sharp contrast to the glory revealed in those who come into agreeance of the Word of God, who place their faith in Him and clamor for His return upon this earth. This is the revealing of the children of God, those who willingly place themselves under the covering of sonship through the blood of Christ Jesus, who wield His Word like a sword and proclaim His Truth, even in the midst of the lies of the world. This is the way that the pure and spotless Bride will emerge, whose light will be set upon a hill and not be hidden, to proclaim the coming of the King of kings, the Lord of lords, to be a lamp in the darkness to the world.

Do not compromise with what the world calls love, with what the world calls peace, with what the world calls good. Do not become corrupted by that which claims to be something that is not, that deceives through the promise of gaining every good thing without losing anything in return, that seeks to cover up and do away with our differences, that speaks smoothly with the tongue pleasant things to the ear to pacify our longings for restoration, that lulls our spirits into a false sense of security and comfort, for the same serpent that promises to give what he does not have is behind it all, and the sting of his bite is death to those who place their faith in him. He is the father of lies, the corrupter of everything good and perfect.

In Christ, death has lost its sting, for the serpent who is the father of death and deception has been defeated, but in order to come under His protection, we must proclaim His Word and hold fast to His Way, and this is only possible through His Spirit, which dwells within those who receive Him. Jesus spoke of exactly this in His conversation with the woman at the well; "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24) 

To worship Him in spirit and in truth is to love Him in spirit and in truth, for that which we love, we worship. This is the fulfillment of His Word to us, to love Him first and foremost, with all that we are and all that we have, and in doing so, we are actually loving all those around us, for His love is the only true love and all love comes from Him. Through the power of the Spirit who dwells within us and the power of the truth of the Word of God, we have been equipped with all that is necessary to live in agreement with Him.

This is the call to all those who will to humble themselves before God, to lay down their own understanding of what love is and to wield the Word of God in its place, to place their faith not in what they see, but to proclaim the coming of what they do not yet see upon this earth. God is love, and His judgements are perfect in love. Get into a conversation with God about this. Ask Him to reveal His perfect love for all creation to you, to see how His judgements are good and pure, that His plans laid out throughout all of scripture for the day of judgement are executed out of His love for us. All of creation is crying out for His return. Will you?

The Voice of One Crying In the Wilderness

What is required of the church today is the same thing that has been required from the church from the very beginning; to repent and to come under the leadership of Jesus. It is not up to us to decide what is true or not, but to place our trust that Jesus' judgement is right. It is not up to us to formulate true love; its already been laid out for us. It is not up to us to correct others, but to point others to the One who holds all righteousness in His hands.

As the Bride of Christ, we must understand that this word is just as much for us than it is for the world, and indeed, it is entirely for us, for we are the ones who have responded to the voice of Jesus. Just as John the Baptist proclaimed repentance to all those who would receive his message, we must also realize that in order to fully come under the leadership of Jesus, we must repent. Without repentance, we cannot receive the One who is to come.

The way of the church is to reflect the way of Jesus, and when a church does not reflect the way of Jesus, than it has been cut off from the root of Jesus. This is a very real thing that is talked about over and over in the Word, and the more that we as the church try to brush this under the rug, the more pertinent it is that we understand the importance of abiding in Christ, for this surely is a sign that there is something to hide, to be ashamed of. This is an attempt to control Jesus, to establish for ourselves what is right and what is wrong, which is the story of the fall of mankind from the very beginning.

Jesus is the Tree of Life, present from the very beginning to the very end to beyond, and only through abiding in His Word can we be grafted in to His Vine, can we eat of His fruit. Apart from Him, there is no life. Apart from Him, there is surely death. All other roads, all other ways, lead straight to death, for they are cut off from the source of life. There is no middle ground, no gray area that covers those who wish to live but are not submitted to His authority. Everything either leads to life, or it leads to death. Everything is either helpful or harmful. The idea of harmless is a lie, the same lie, in fact, that the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden, for God created all things and called them good. He said there was one thing that was bad, that they should not do, which was eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He didn't create everything and say that there were good things, that there were things that were kind of good, that there were neutral things, and then there were bad things. When He spoke of the fruit in the garden, He said all of it was good to eat, except the fruit of the one tree.

As a church, we must believe this. We must hold fast to the truth, to the Word of God, even in the midst of persecution, of being cursed and called names, of being labeled falsely, of being accused of being evil, the source of all the problems in the world, of being despised in the world around us, in the churches that claim to be part of the church, but that have cut themselves off from the Vine. We are not called to conform to the world, but we are called out of the world, to live in the world and apart from the world simultaneously. We are called to be set apart, holy as the One who called us out of darkness is holy, to proclaim His truth, no matter the cost to our own selves. He is our identity, He is the one who gives us our names, not the world.

He has already equipped us with all that we need to withstand the evil one, the son of perdition. His Word is a two edged sword against all deception. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light upon our path. What we need to do is start wielding it, to align ourselves with His Word, to run towards His truth with all that we have, not to bicker among ourselves about who is right, to manipulate His Word to fit our own understanding or desires, to justify ourselves just as we are, but to come into agreeance with Him.

We ought not be looking for ways to make our ideas fit with the Word, but bringing our thoughts in submission to the Word. Heaven is brought to earth when we align ourselves with heaven, not when we align heaven with earth. We must not try and take His place, for this is the same spirit that has been present from the beginning of the fall of mankind, the spirit that wishes to replace the true kingdom with a stolen kingdom, the same spirit that has set itself against Christ throughout all of human history.

He is calling all of us freely, and it is up to us how we respond to His calling. To choose His leadership is to choose His love, His life. To choose the leadership of this world is to choose the leadership of the fallen one, the one who promises life but can only deliver death, for no life resides in him. This is the calling that will unify the church, for as the church begins to gather around the leadership of the true Head, Jesus Christ, every part of the church that has replaced His Word with their own leadership will either be corrected and connected to Him or else they will fall away and be cast into the fire.

In this way, we need to start seeing the church as a unified body, and we need to begin gathering around Jesus's feet while we still can. It is not a matter of agreeing on theology or doctrine, it is a matter of agreeing with Jesus. He holds the words of life. He is the only One who can rightly judge right from wrong, and as such, we must come into agreeance with Him. To begin to see the church as a unified Body, gathering around the Head who is the Christ, is to step into the true identity of the church, the pure and spotless Bride.

The time for repentance is now. The time to align ourselves is now. The time to come under the authority and leadership of Jesus is now. Until the time of His return comes to pass, we must believe His word and prepare ourselves expediently for His return. Over and over He tells us to keep watch, to ready ourselves, to stay awake, for He is coming like a thief in the night to those who are not expecting Him. Do not wait until tomorrow to begin allowing Him to be Lord over your life. In even the smallest areas of our lives, whatever we submit to Him and allow Him to have preeminence over, He will prepare our hearts to receive Him. He is the source of our repentance and our reward.

The Truth About Submission

Each one of us is individually responsible before God for our own actions, not those actions of those around us. We are responsible for our own thoughts, not the thoughts of the majority. We are responsible for what we choose to believe. Culture is not part of our conversation with God. Just because the culture of today, especially the changing culture of the church, says and does one thing, does not give us individually permission to follow blindly in their footsteps. God never intended us as humans to follow the crowd; He created us to follow Him. The only way we can completely enter into His covering over our lives is by giving Him the first place in every aspect of our lives, our thoughts, our beliefs on what is true and what is deceit, our motivations and desires.

How do we live lives that are reflective of His lordship over us? Through constant submission to the Word of God, to the Holy Spirit, and to other members of His Body. Just as we live in a nation that has in place a system of checks and balances in the government, so too must we live in the system of checks and balances in the kingdom of heaven. Even as members of His Body, the more that we individually seek after Him, the more that we are able to see as He sees, the more capacity we have to speak life into others. This is not the same as every member of a church following blindly after the man or woman placed as a shepherd of a church, for Christ is the head of the church. No man or woman can take the place of Him.

What is submission? Submission is simply softening our hearts to receive encouragement and correction from others. In this way, we can worship God in our jobs, regardless of what they may be, by submitting to those that have been placed in authority over us, not to do that which is contrary to the Word of God, but to honor those placed in authority over us. Just we are all individually responsible before God, so too are those that are placed over us, as well as those who are placed below us. In truth, those distinctions are distortions of how the kingdom of heaven works. When we submit to others, when we lay down our own rights for the rights of others, when we allow others to occupy the place that we want for ourselves willingly and joyfully, we are actually stepping into greatness in the kingdom of heaven. This is the inverse relation of the kingdom of heaven to the kingdom of earth.

Those who are willing to lay down their lives, their possessions, their rights and dreams and desires, not for the sake of pleasing others or attaining glory from men, but for their reward in heaven, step into the cycle of life giving life. When this happens, Jesus is both the source and the reward, for it is out of our love for Him that we forsake our worldly standing, and our reward for doing such is a closer relationship with Him. This is the active transformation of our spirits to be more like Him, and the more that we become like Him, the greater capacity we have to experience Him. It is all about getting as close to Him as possible, to willingly run into His arms, to dying to ourselves and living unto Him.

How would you react if someone told you that tomorrow, or next week, or next year, the world economy would completely fail? That all of your assets, all of your money and possessions, all of your worldly inheritance, would suddenly be worth nothing? That your standing in your job, no matter how low or how high, would suddenly be eradicated, that there would no longer be a job to go to? What would you do if you found yourselves without a house to go home to, without a car to transport you, without a television or a computer to entertain and distract you? Where would you stand before God if all of those things were suddenly wiped away?

This is the place that we need to begin operating out of as a church, as individuals that make up the church, for it is out of this place that we begin to see how the kingdom of heaven operates. The more that we give now while we have that which we cannot hold onto, the more we will gain that which we will never lose. It is not out of our love for our possessions, for our money, for our good and charitable deeds, or even for our neighbor, but it is out of our love for our Creator, for our Savior, for our Bridegroom. When we stop allowing what the world says is good to get in the way of our relationship with the Giver of life, we begin to operate as if He is the Lord over our lives, we begin to submit ourselves to His authority.

What's most important to remember about all of this is that His authority is love! He desires us, He wants to be Lord over our lives, not because He wishes to exert His power and control over us, but because He wants to pour His love into us, to sustain us, to draw us ever closer to His heart, which is the source of all life!

He has placed us specifically in a system of checks and balances in the heavenly kingdom for this very reason. Through the authority of the Word in our lives to be a light in the darkness, to be the truth in the midst of the deceit of the world, through the authority of the Holy Spirit to guide us and convict us, to bring to remembrance His Word, and through the authority of the Body of Christ to speak into our lives, to rebuke and encourage us, He has equipped us to walk upon the narrow path of safety. However, this is an individual act. No one else is responsible for my walk but me.

How do we begin living in the reality of the kingdom of heaven; how do we begin operating out of the economy of heaven and not out of the economy of the world? When Jesus went up upon the mountain and delivered the sermon on the mount, He was actually giving us the road map of how to do exactly this. His instructions, His sermon, was delivered specifically to give us the exact way to enter into living in the kingdom of heaven while we are still living in the world. The more that we desire to be transformed by Him, the greater capacity we are given to willingly give up our lives, and this process starts with us believing on Him, by believing His Word, that what He said is truth. We cannot operate in the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven except by faith, that His Word is true, and this faith begets faith as we begin to see the truth manifest itself in our lives.

This is nothing new. From the very get-go of Christ's ministry, He spoke these things. It is also no wonder that these things are the specific instructions for the church to stay on the narrow road. This is protection for that which is to come, the time of His return to the earth, the transformation of the church into His pure and spotless Bride, a transformation that only comes about by dying to ourselves and living unto Him, the great tribulation of the world, which is a terror to the world but a joy to those who love Him. He is coming, and this is the time to ready ourselves by willingly living out the sermon on the mount. We want to be counted among the Bridesmaids who are found ready, with lamps full of oil, and we can be ready by walking out our death to our own selves willingly, by allowing God sanctify our hearts while there is still time to do so, and not by waiting till the last possible minute, not by holding on to our lives until we see our Bridegroom parting the skies, for if we wait until that moment, than it is too late. It was out of this same mindset that Paul operated, the single greatest contributor to the New Testament, for he understood full well the urgency of preparing the world for Jesus return.

How then can we walk this out, responsible only before God, but still in submission to the Body of Christ? Does this not seem to contradict itself, if there is the possibility that there is a chance that the church has been swayed by the winds of the world today? If we are, in fact, living out the two greatest commandments, in order, than we will not be swayed, nor will we blindly follow after the leadership of others, because we are looking first to God and His Word and allowing His Spirit to guide us before we look to the church. We must test each church by looking to the fruit that it produces, for everything can be known by its fruit. If the fruit of a church is not in line with the fruit of the Spirit, if it is not fruit that draws us closer to the source of life, to Jesus, if it is contrary to His Word, if it promises false comfort and peace, if it flatters with the tongue and agrees with the world, then it is not of the root of Jesus. In this, we must not condemn others, but point them to the truth in love.

What this will produce in the days to come is a unified church, such as the world has never seen before. This is the Bride readying herself for the Bridegroom, to receive Him in all His glory, to become pure and spotless before Him. We must choose, each of us individually, to step into this, to die to ourselves and live a life a submission, of humility, of love, first to God, and then to our neighbors. There are very real consequences, both good and bad, to the choices that we make today. The sooner that we, that I, choose to relinquish my own hold on my life, the sooner that I can begin readying myself for that glorious day, for that day is coming, regardless if we are ready for it or not.

What have you been holding onto in your life? Is there anything that you can think of, an area that He has been highlighting in your life recently, that you have fought to have control over? I encourage you to take this before God, to submit to Him these areas, to allow Him to have more authority over your life. Talk to someone in your church about these things and allow them to speak into your life. Dig into the Word and see what it says. Pray about these things and ask God to transform your heart. Ask Him to open your eyes what is truth and what is deceit. Ask Him for more opportunities to become more like Him, and ask Him for the strength to respond to those opportunities, to lay down your rights for others, to be more generous with your time and money. This is not something that is done once and forgotten about. This is not something that is easy, but it is worth doing, for what you gain is Him. After all, what does it profit you if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul?

Side note: These questions are just as much for me as they are for you. I am desperately in need of living this out every day. It is out of my own desire to become more like Him that I am writing, not to correct anyone else or pretend that I have figured everything out, because I clearly have not.