BE ENCOURAGED – God Has Your Back

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. 1 Samuel 30:6 KJV

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn…Mathew 24:30a

 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12:10 KJV

*all scriptures are from the NKJV unless indicated otherwise

Intro

There was no way (except by the Spirit) anyone could have known that the world would suddenly stop in the way that it has for a couple of months now. National policies, family activities, businesses, education, commerce, technology and the various other things that the world was anchored on, have all changed within just a short space of time and with no apology for such changes. Obviously, God is shaking both the heavens and the earth in readiness for that which must shortly come to pass. I want to believe these are some of the signs of the coming of the Son of Man, for even though no one knows when He will come, except the Father, we are however given clues and signs to help us decipher the season of His coming. We cannot take for granted the signs that are all around us and how we must position ourselves aright in and with God.

When all have gone crazy, be encouraged

The story of David’s conquest of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30) is one beautiful story that speaks of what it means to overcome in the face of hopelessness and discouragement. It speaks of dependency on God when skills, education, money, family, social security, health care etc. have all gone. It mirrors the days we are in right now in regard to the shutdown of the entire system of the world because of the pandemic and how that even in the midst of it all, courage is needed to live through each day. But if you ask me, I think it much more mirrors the days in which each one must fully be aware and know the God they serve, even if no one else does. The entire world is in some form of mourning or the other, which is also one of the major signs of the coming of the Son of God. This paints clearly for me the picture of the prophecy in Zechariah 12 on how God will cause the household of David to enter into the season of mourning by the spirit of grace and supplication, that will in turn prepare it (the household of David) as the remnant of God for the establishment of both the tabernacle and the throne of David for the coming Son of God. (Please read Zechariah chapter 12 to 14 for context) So, while the world system is in agony because of the pressure of this season, while creation, which includes nature and unredeemed men are groaning for help from the pressure of the moment, you must take an accurate stand, knowing that for you who has been saved by grace, it is the season of birth pangs (mourning) that must produce a new life on earth. The earth with all its issues still remains God’s project and He will do all in His heart to restore it to His original plan. But that restoration plan He has placed in the hands of His sons, that is, those who walk by the Spirit. This will fulfill the expectation of creation that has been waiting for the manifestation or the righteous appearing of the sons of God. For the Apostle Paul spoke about this reality in Romans 8 when he said “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope…(verse 22-24) From the words of the Apostle Paul, you would think that the moment a man is saved by grace all his troubles and groaning are over. Not really. The groaning just shifts from being the chase after earthly things to the groaning for eternal things and the immortal existence which comes by the redemption of the body. This is the reason why we are saved, that is, the redemption of our bodies which in turn completes the process of our being in the image and likeness of God. For God created man in His image, but His image is not made of dirt or dust. God’s image is immortal light. Meaning that the process of man being in the image of God was truncated in the fall in the garden, but must now be completed by the redemption of our bodies for which we groan in this season. As it were, we are not saved so that we can fly to heaven in some “rapture” event, but that through our redeemed body which will be changed in a twinkling of an eye, which is the actual “rapture”, we will be the solution to the malady that earth was subjected to in hope. We are not going to heaven as it were; heaven is coming to us here on earth. And that’s why the twenty four elders in Revelation 5:9-10 said ““You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Simply put, we are the hope of God for creation and that’s why we are here. Meaning that to reign here on earth is to enter into the original plan of God, which is for man to have dominion and rulership over all creation. As an aside, have you ever wondered what earth or creation really is groaning in birth pangs for? I believe the earth knows the original plan of God concerning the reign of righteousness of the sons of God and because it (earth or creation) was subjected to futility in hope, it remains valid for it to constantly groan for that reign to come to pass in order for it to be set free from the futility it was subjected to, so that the original beauty that it was given from the beginning will manifest. See a sneak preview of what earth and creation is longing for:

 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:6-9.  

If you ask me, I believe this is what God did in Noah’s Ark for the safety of all that was with Noah. God simply reset the futility of the fall to factory mode, which instantly killed the urge in any animal to eat the others. He will do it again, but this time, it will be permanent. I am dead serious.

Be encouraged. God has your back

I wish I had enough words to express the reality of this truth that God didn’t bring you to this season in order to destroy you. If He allowed you to be in the days of the tribulation, then He already knows how you will go through them in one piece and still remain the hope of the nations. So with that in mind, stay encouraged in the Lord and be full of joy knowing that no matter what happens, God has your back.

Be the strength others need

We all need strength. We all need hope. We all need a shoulder to lean on in these times of distress. And for all that it’s worth, the coming days will be much more distressful on earth and except a soul is anchored in God and His grace, it will be hard to cope with those days. But we have grace and mercy with God through whom we triumph always. Sometimes there are no measures with which to know what the other person is going through and how to be of help, but somehow God allows us to be aware of these things and then give clues as to how to be of help. The grace to be our brother’s keeper will be much more needed for the seasons ahead. For if you are paying attention, you will see that without masks you can’t buy or sell, without sanitizers you can’t enter a mall, supermarkets or any shops, without masks and sanitizers you can’t enter a public bus etc. etc. It is so tight that the roadside sellers have been chased away simply because it’s not easy to know if they and their customers will adhere to the use of masks and sanitizers. That too looks like a plan to centralize control of humans, for it’s easier to control the sellers in shopping malls than the ones on the streets. I also see something else in all of these things going on, there is the project coming up about the future of travel in which without a digital certificate or Covid certificate you can’t board a plane or cross a border. What is it pointing to? You will ask. Look at it here “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13: 16-17.  I am not a fan of the anti-Christ and whatever he stands for, nor am I worried about his existence, but I just want to remind us that what we are dealing with is not just the number of the beast which is 666 and which I believe the digital certificate has the ability to introduce, but also the name and the mark of the beast which is not and will not be easily deciphered.  Caution is needed here and sincere brotherhood too.

So all I am saying is this, to be the strength others need means, while you encourage yourself in the Lord and you encourage others to do so, this is not the season to keep quiet and tell yourself that your brothers or sisters will figure things out for themselves by the Spirit and then you keep vital information or help away from them that will help them in the days of the number, the name and the mark of the beast. We all need each other more than ever before.

In conclusion, be encouraged that Jesus has won the war over our souls, but we must overcome every battle we face daily and together we always win. Shalom.

From your brother.