Diligently Watch

A couple of weeks ago the LORD was urging me to write to the people to "wake up!" This morning He is speaking to me about "keeping watch." Once we are awake, this is our calling. And in reading the Word this morning, He showed me something very prophetic and very significant. We know that the menorah represents the Messiah of Israel. It is easy to see all the ways that Yeshua is the Light of the world, like the perfect seven-fold branches of the menorah, shining forth the light from the pure oil of crushed olives. But did you know that the branches and cups of the menorah were to be in the shape of almond branches and blossoms? The Hebrew word for almond is shaqad (Strong's #8246) meaning to diligently watch.

To diligently watch suggests to me that we are not to just "check in" every few months to see what is happening in the world and how it tracks with the Word of God. Jeremiah 1:11-12 says, "The word of YHVH came to me: 'What do you see, Jeremiah?' I see the branch of an almond tree,' I replied. YHVH said to me, 'You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.'"

As YHVH is watching over His Word to see that every word and every prophecy is completely fulfilled, so we are called to participate in this great Watch with Him! If you are watching what is happening in the Middle East, you will be astonished to see prophecy coming to pass before your very eyes! You will become aware that the alliance of Iran (Persia), Russia, Syria, and Libya against Israel is foretold and is now solidifying in a very real way. You will watch to see if a treaty or covenant is signed that divides the city of Jerusalem, as prophesied in Joel and Daniel; and then you will know the days are short, for the gathering of all nations against Jerusalem is a Tribulation event. You will be keeing the feast days (moedim or appointed times) of YHVH, for as the Bride of Messiah, your heart will desire to be in rhythm with HIS times and seasons, preparing for His return for you.

Standing in line to board a plane in Los Angeles last Sunday I had a tote bag with the words JERUSALEM in large letters slung over my shoulder. There was a family behind me wearing T-shirts that said "Cabo San Lucas" and sporting dark tans and sandals. The young teenage girl was staring and staring at my tote bag, and I watched her trying to mouth the word Jerusalem, as if she was trying to figure out how to pronounce it. Her mother noticed also, and pronounced the word for her. "What is that?" she asked. Trying not to show my shock I said, "It's a city in Israel." To my further amazement, she looked at me with a very bored expression and replied,"Oh yeah, I think I heard of that in Social Studies." Her mom shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "Whatever. I don't know what it is either."

What some have heard and dismissed as a boring Social Studies lesson, others are keeping passionate, diligent watch over. "While people are saying 'peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep..." (1 Thess. 5:3-5).

Diligently watch!

The Desires of Whose Heart?

How often we quote one of the psalms and say to one another, "The Lord will give you the desires of your heart." I've been reminding God a lot lately what the desires of my heart are - praying that He would grant them this year. But a couple of days ago a trusted sister delivered a rebuke to me from Father. He said of me, "Her desires are not always My desires for her."

Wham! Sometimes our Papa has to get right in our face to cause us to remember that it's not really about OUR desires, doesn't He? I think sometimes I am guilty of assuming that if I am serving Him, I must be right in the center of His will. But am I? Or am I right in the center of my own?

Francis Frangipane writes, "The Lord is concerned about fulfilling our desires, but to do so He must pry our fingers off our lives and turn our hearts toward Him. Indeed, the reason we are alive is not to fulfill our desires, but to become His worshipers."

Interesting imaginery isn't it? I can imagine God reaching down and prying my fingers off my own small life, in order to set my hands to praise and glorify Him! Frangipane goes on to write about Leah, the unloved wife of Jacob. She named her first son Reuben, which means "Surely now my husband will love me." Her desire was for a husband who loved her, and the result was rejection, disappointment and bitterness. But by the time she gave birth to her fourth son, Leah had changed her priorities. She named this little one Judah, saying, "This time I will praise the Lord!" And it occurred to me that Messiah Yeshua came from the line of Judah. Through a heart turned entirely toward Yahweh in praise, desiring only Him, the seed of the Messiah came forth!

Frangipane concludes, "Leah had been seeking self-fulfillment and found only heartache and pain. But as she became a worshiper of God, she entered life's highest fulfillment: she began to please God."

May this always be my heart's desire, Father: to please You, and You alone.

Wake Up O Sleeper!

The Father has been speaking to me that He will again be sending me out - and that it is for an "awakening of the slumbering people." Then He continued to speak to me through His Spirit and His word for five hours this past Sunday about the "spirit of slumber" that has enveloped the people. It is a tactic of the enemy in this hour to keep people in darkness. He spoke to me about Isaiah 60:1: "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of YHVH rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples...

What is this thick darkness over the people? It is a spirit of slumber. We sleep in front of the TV. We sleep staring at computers. We sleep on cell phones. We are the "walking dead" with cell phones and Facebook as our masters and computers seducing and addicting us.

"Wake up O sleeper, Rise from the dead and Messiah will shine on you! Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:13-16)

Proverbs 10:5: "He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son."

Are we sleeping through the harvest? Are we so dulled by entertainment of the world that we cannot hear His Voice? Do we have no interest in the harvest all around us? In Matthew 25 ALL the virgins fell asleep; not just some, but ALL of them. And when they awoke, five did not have enough oil in their lamps, but the wise virgins told them, "Go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves."

WHO IS SELLING THE OIL? I pondered the question for a very long time. Yes, yes I know that the oil is my relationship with Yeshua, something so precious and personal that I cannot give or sell it to anyone else! But if there is a window of time when the foolish virgins are finally awake and looking for oil, will I be ready to challenge and exhort them to find it? Will I be able to model it, and provoke them to jealousy to have it? Will I have such a deposit of the Word of God within me that I can offer them the True Gospel, and reveal to them the joy of living by His Torah through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Song of Solomon 5:2: "I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My Lover is knocking: 'Open to Me, my sister, my darling!'" Do you sleep with your heart awake? Is your spiritual antenna on, ready to receive dreams and visions in the night? Do you awaken to write them in a journal and ponder the meaning? Are you able to hear Yeshua knocking on your door or is there too much noise in your life?

Job 33:14: "For YHVH does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in the vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears..."

YHVH is now awakening His people - His Remnant - to know Him and to participate in the great Restoration of all things. We are living in this awesome time of Restoration, foretold by the prophets; but will we be a part of it - or will we slumber through it? Will we awaken with oil in our lamps, or will we run off to try and buy some at the last minute? And who will be selling the oil?