LIFES CROSSROADS…

As I sit in my office and pray, I open my eyes and see these scriptures. These Scriptures became life verses for me over the last 5 years, and because of that I printed and framed them so I could hang them on my wall, that way when things were tough, I would be reminded of Gods plans and purposes. Today, God was speaking to me once again through His Word.

What on earth are you doing Lord?

As I ponder these Scriptures, remembering the way God used those actions: The action to Stop… to Look… to pay attention to what were His ways verses my ways. I was reminded of ALL of the ways He did do something new… something we couldn’t see or even begin to expect that He was doing. These thoughts immediately bring a smile to my face as I am reminded of the difficult path we were on and see the beauty He brought out of the ashes we had created of our life. God is truly so very Good.

But this time as I ponder those words written by the Old Testament Prophets, I am looking at World Events that are happening right now, in 2023 with the nation of Israel. God’s chosen people. I read about the atrocities being inflicted upon His people, I cry at the images of babies murdered in their beds and grieve at the images of Grandmothers being taken hostage to be abused and tortured at the hands of a terror group, that simply believes the Jews have no right to exist.

I find myself crying out to God to protect them, while at the same time praying for protection of the innocent people that do not agree with the Hamas Terror Regime, that unfortunately, have no choice but to live in their midst. I grieve children that are raised to Hate a people group, raised to celebrate murder with celebrations and sweets. These things seem impossible to reason out or come to terms with…other than evil is alive and well in our world, as the Bible says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour“, 1 Peter 5:8

Our world is no longer the same world that we grew up in. Things are changing for the worse, at a pace we could not have comprehended even 20 years ago. In many ways it feels like a time warp, that has hastened in so much chaos and confusion. The spirit of anti-Christ is rampant in our world, and sadly it feels that many (even Christ followers) are blinded to it. Please keep in mind, I am NOT speaking of THE Anti-Christ that will come onto the scene during the End times as taught in Revelation. I am talking about the spirit of anti-Christ that is growing exponentially in our world. (see 1 John 4:2 & 3)

What is the spirit of anti-Christ?

I know for myself, until I started studying prophesy, and understanding the connection of the Old Testament Prophets to New Testament Prophesy, I was only aware of THE Anti-Christ….the one, who filled by Satan himself would come against God in the End Times. Once I started digging deeper, I learned that prior to the end times, the spirit of anti-Christ would come upon the world, and these would increase as time grew closer.

These spirits are not dis-embodied spiritual beings, rather they are a people, (a human prophet or teacher,) that teaches a false gospel. Teachers of Truth are filled with the Spirit of God, everything they teach falls in line with the unerring and unchanging Word of God written in our Scriptures. (See 2 Timothy 3: 16–17). Teachers of falsehood are preaching the devils doctrine… this is the spirit of anti-Christ, and it is abounding in our world today.

Where can we see the active spirit of anti-Christ today?

You really don’t have to look far to see the false teachings that are spreading not only through our Churches, but our schools, our governments, our nations and our world. These are teachings that are “contrary to the word of God”. If someone says that what God spoke in the Bible through His prophets or his Apostles is no longer relevant or true, then they are preaching a false gospel. The word of God clearly states that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, His word does not change, as He does not change. No matter how the world changes around us we can trust that God is consistent in his truth and his nature. (See James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8)

Where do we see these false teachings:

• The Church: the Progressive Church denies the validity of all scripture, to accommodate the new ways of living for self without any turning from sin. The Pope (and in part the Catholic Church, although not all agree with the Popes stance on this): Pope Francis claims that some scripture is outdated and no longer in line with the world today, therefor particular portions can be disregarded so as to love the people of the world better. (Christ called us to be apart from this world as this world was not our home. See 1 John 2:15,16,17, John 15:19, 1 John 5:19)
• Our Schools: All reference to Scripture and anything related to Christ, including being made in His image, have not only been removed from our schools, but are openly mocked and ridiculed. While at the same time promoting a culture of gender confusion and the grooming of young minds from within our educational systems.
• Our governments: We are no longer nations under God, as our Christian nations of USA and Canada originally stood. Since the 1950’s there has been an ever-growing movement to remove Christ from all arenas of government and no longer be accountable to Him. This has opened the door to much of the spirit of anti-Christ within our Country: it is led by personal motives verses righteousness or absolutes of any kind. In fact, for the first time in Western History we are seeing Isaiah 5:20 playing out right before our very eyes… and here I grieve because so many who call themselves Christ followers appear blind to it.
• Our Nations: Communism and Socialism are on the rise again, these are without a doubt, fueled by the spirit of anti-Christ, these systems are all about oppression and control, Christ is about Freedom for the captives. Christ died so that we could be free. History has shown us exactly what these systems bring, yet many in the world seem to be content to follow without discernment “for the apparent greater good,” like sheep led to the slaughter.
• Our World: this brings us full circle to the war currently occurring in Israel & Palestine. As shocking as these reports are, we should not be surprised. The Jews, Gods chosen people have had the spirit of anti- Christ since the days of Jesus life, death & resurrection. They allowed themselves to be blinded from truth and refused to see… even though their own Scriptures, through their very own prophets, prophesied about Jesus coming, right down to where he would be born and how he would die. Luke 21:24 reminds us; “they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. To this day we are still in the time of the Gentiles…but that isn’t the end of the story, nor are the Jewish people forgotten by God, and no the Gentiles did not replace the Jewish children of God. Mid-point in the Great Tribulation, God will call them back to himself, where they will once again worship not only God but recognize Gods son Jesus Christ, there will be an awakening not seen before on this world. The enemy also knows these Biblical truths, so it is no surprise that he has fueled hatred in the hearts of their enemies surrounding them on every side.

So, what do we do?

The word anti- Christ means against Christ. Anyone who says that Jesus is not of God, or who the Scriptures say he is, is against Christ therefore, they are ruled by the spirit of anti-Christ. We as Christ followers need to Test the teachings we hear against the Scriptures, If they are not wholly in line with Scripture they are a false doctrine and we need to recognize them for what they are, remember the enemy is the father of lies, the Bible teaches us that there is no truth in him, like the false teachers of today, he knows Scripture well, so that he can twist it to draw those unaware away from Christ.

With this in mind, let’s look back at the verses that started this post. Jeremiah 6:16 tells us to: Listen to what the Lord says, (the one who never changes) He tells us to “STAND at the crossroads in life and LOOK”. What are we looking for? I would say, He wants us to look for Truth, to Discern if it is Truth from Him or is it Lies from a false teacher. He then instructs us to “ASK for the ancient paths, ASK where the good way is”, who are we to ask? We to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show us and lead us, then we are told to “walk in it”. Obey Him and walk in the truth. Why should we follow this God ordained process? Because in this way, “we will find rest for our souls”...even if the world around us is filled with chaos and confusion… God will give us peace in our souls. Once again, we can see as the Psalmist saw… “God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Psalm 119:105...Thank you Lord.

In the 2nd verse I shared, Isaiah also prophesied a message from God to his chosen people who were not keeping their eyes on His plans and purpose for them. This message is also a wonderful reminder to his adopted heirs, the Christ followers. He tells us to LOOK, open our eyes and hearts to see what He is doing. He reminds us to keep watching, because in His timing, It IS coming! Then He finishes with this wonderful promise. INDEED (without any doubt- completely sure) “I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” This is an amazing reminder that Gods people do not need to be afraid. God has resources that we know nothing about, and he can make a way in the most difficult circumstances.

This is also a prophetic promise of the coming of Jesus and a ‘NEW WAY’ that would usher in Grace and Forgiveness, as He has made a way in each of our lives through: His birth…death and resurrection. So that through HIM, we could finally be made right with God… that was Indeed a river of grace in the wilderness of our lives… thank you Jesus!

For the Jews, this is a yet to come promise: It speaks of the coming day that He removes the veil from their eyes, and they will finally see Jesus as the WAY… the TRUTH and the LIFE… that no one comes to the Father but through HIM (John 14:6). They will finally be reconciled to their God and He will pour His Love and Grace upon them and forgive them for their sinfulness and unbelief.

I believe there will be great rejoicing in Heaven on that day when these Prodigal children finally return home.

So, what is our response to this?

I believe that as a Christ Follower, our response should be exactly as His Word, our Scriptures tell us. Naturally, to know the Word we must be both readers and doers of the Word. If we are to be Light in a world of darkness, we must spend time in the instruction manual for life. If we want to be able to TEST the spirit, if it is of Truth (being the Spirit of God) or if it is from the spirit of anti-Christ (against Christ), we must know what His Word says, and we must choose to obey it, and walk in it…even when it’s hard.

So let me leave you with this final thought…

Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

From a human perspective, these words are often taken as a “cop out phrase”, in fact throughout my Journey with Jesus, I have had that sentiment thrown back at me many times… but after spending time trying to better understand, I read from a Bible teacher, that the clue to understanding what God was saying here was punctuated by the word “higher”. When we look up from our worldly view, all we have are questions, because we have such limited knowledge of the BIG picture…our view is one dimensional and very small. When we try to make sense with this bottom-up limited knowledge it makes no sense to us, God actually invites us to look at it from a higher perspective… a TOP-down view if you will, to try and learn from HIS perspective. From earth looking up, we see only confusion. But from Heaven looking down, we see a plan unfolding…Gods plan. We may not understand… but because we know Gods unchanging nature fueled by LOVE for those who choose to follow him… we can TRUST in it.

That teaching totally changed my perspective on what I see and how I perceive what is happening in Gods timeline…hopefully, it will expand yours as well.

Blessings, Janet