LAST DAYS WARRIORS - BLOG - LAST DAYS WARRIORS

YOU MUST HATE YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER

9/16/2018

You Must Hate Your Father and Mother

Luke 14:26 -- “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Our regard for father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even our own lives must be as hatred in comparison to our love and devotion for Jesus Christ. If there’s ever a choice to be made between anything in the world and Jesus, there’s not to be an instant of doubt of whether to choose Him who suffered and died for us and is the only Way provided by our loving God to be delivered from an otherwise inevitable eternity in Hell.

Jesus told the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 that unless they repented and returned to their First Love, He would remove His lampstand from their midst -- He would withdraw His presence; they could not be His disciples.

So let us draw near and devote ourselves anew to our sweet Lord, remembering our honeymoon when He first became precious to us and we became His beloved Bride, and set aside any and all things that distract us from our only true love, Jesus Christ.

0 Comments

"What more could He give?'

9/6/2018

0 Comments

“Oh, how He loves you and me, Oh how He loves you and me. He gave his life, what more could he give?”

Lord, Jesus, You didn’t just die as we think of it –

You were slowly physically tortured to death.
You, Who knew no sin, became sin.

You took on all the filth, murder, rape, theft, promiscuity, pedophilia, homosexuality, lying, hatred, rebellion, pride – all the wickedness of mankind.

You, Who knew no sin, had all the sins of man heaped on You.

You, Who were absolutely pure and holy, knew and became total depravity. All our sins were on You. You became sin!

And then you were judged guilty of all our sins.

You knew the guilt and absolute shame of the sins of the world.

And You paid the penalty.

You were judged guilty of the sins of the world and received the penalty.
You, Who were all that is good were comdemned into Hell, were separated from your beloved Father; and all Your goodness and light changed to total and eternal torment, evil, and darkness.

Somehow, I know not how, You satisfied that penalty of eternal unimaginable torment and damnation in our stead, and after three days on our calendar, You rose alive, victorious over death and sin. You came forth from Your tomb, perfect again, yet bearing the scars of Your sacrifice for me and all humankind. Not to later die again like Lazarus, but to ascend alive and sit at the right hand of the Father forever.

So I join the multitude around the throne and shout:

“WORTHY IS THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER AND RICHES AND WISDOM AND MIGHT AND HONOR AND GLORY AND BLESSING”. REVELATION 5:12

THANK YOU LORD JESUS!

Now, one can ask, “What more could He give?”

0 Comments

BREEZE - COME!

7/30/2018

0 Comments

BREEZE - COME!

July 30, 2018

Last Friday and Saturday the weather was very hot and sunny when Ginger and I were planting a garden. We set up the Caravan Canopy for some shade but the air was very hot and still. We had recently read Matthew 8:23-27; the account of Jesus calming the wind and the sea.

23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” NASB

As we were reading that passage, we concluded that Jesus thought they should have had faith to take care of the storm themselves.
As I remembered that, the Lord encouraged me and I commanded the breeze to come - we needed relief from the heat. When I commanded, a refreshing breeze came. Over those two days we were working out there for 6 – 8 hours, and this happened several times. Whenever we would have no wind and want refreshing I would speak to the wind and it would blow, having an assurance that the Lord was in it.

I know coincidence ≠ correlation; but the way it came about, I’ve ruled out coincidence. It’s wonderful what the Lord will do with mustard seed faith.
Regarding that mustard seed faith: the wind responded because the command originated with the Lord. He birthed that and encouraged me to speak to the wind. Otherwise, my commands would have been empty and without power, not from faith. (see WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT FAITH for more on this)
Paul, a man who walked by faith, was shipwrecked by an angry sea - with no lives lost. God's will was different from calming the wind and sea. Rather, He gave Paul wisdom and instruction as to how to save all on board in the midst of the storm.

Lord, You are wonderful! Thank You! You are worthy of all praise and glory! Walking with You is such a joy and so exciting!

Duncan

0 Comments

“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong.”

7/25/2018

0 Comments

“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong.”

A few days ago, we were sharing lunch with some friends and one lady asked what we experience as we read the Bible. It was a great way to open discussion about the Lord, and I was glad to be able to tell them that we are still learning new things all the time after 38 years in the Lord, and in our later years (70’s).

I have not formulated a detailed eschatological time-line, and much of the book of Revelation remains a mystery. But recently, when reading through Revelation, the Lord opened up some very interesting things. One was as I read through the very last chapter I came to:

Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” (Rev. 22:11) NASB

This verse contains some of the final instruction to John by the angel of the Lord, and as a stand-alone doctrine the angel says not to evangelize. But that contradicts so much other Scripture that I knew that couldn’t be right. Otherwise, why then would Christ’s gifts to the church in Ephesians 4 include evangelists – and what would you do with “The Great Commission”?

Further in the chapter I read:

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
(Rev 22:17) NASB

In this last chapter of Revelation Jesus refers to His “coming soon" several times, and the Book ends with “Come, Lord Jesus.” But that’s not this. This invitation to “come” in verse 17 is to “the one who is thirsty” and “the one who wishes (to) take the water of life without cost”.

The Spirit and the Bride are saying “Come” (evangelizing), and at the same time the instruction is to:
“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy . . .”

Throughout the OT and the NT the Lord has reiterated; “he that has ears to hear, let him hear” – not always those exact words, but the message is consistent. And the lady who generated the conversation observed that Jesus says in John 6:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

I’m reminded of the account of the “rich young ruler” in Matt 19:16-27. Jesus said to him, “Come, follow me” having explained the cost; and the man walked sadly away. Jesus didn’t try to stop him and convince him with more appealing arguments. He let him go. For whatever reason the young man did not have “ears to hear”.

I began to think about how this applies to what we call apologetics. Most of what I have seen is ineffective. People on either side win the debate, but make no spiritual gain. One man at the table questioned -- if no apologetics, then how do you reach those with a logical mind-set? Later, the Lord prompted me to look at Paul's message in Athens at Mars Hill:

“16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (Acts 17:16-34) NASB

Note what happened in verse 32. When some began to sneer, Paul departed and others that “had ears to hear” followed him and believed.
The Holy Spirit gave Paul a specific and unique message for these people. His “Come” message wasn’t a simple invitation to "come to Jesus", or a Bible tract, or memorized verses through “the roman road” methodology of evangelism. His message of “Come” was authored and anointed by the Holy Spirit specifically for that encounter. He was saying “Come”, but when they sneered, he discerned that they had not “ears to hear” and he walked away. Others heard, received the message, followed, and believed. Praise The Lord!

My previous negative perception of apologetics has stemmed from believers persisting in their debating when the opposition has no ears to hear, and the Holy Spirit is not in it. However, that does not invalidate the Holy Spirit’s use of apologetics in order to say, “Come”.

So, the lesson for me is that I am to give the message to “Come”, however that may be formulated by the Lord; and being assured of the message, I am not to get into disputations. I am not to contend.
This is very freeing.
There is no striving.
The results are the Lord’s.
Thank you, Lord Jesus!!
And, Yes, Come Lord Jesus!!

In Christ,
Duncan

0 Comments

#1 "How To" When Coming Out of the I.C.

7/19/2018

0 Comments

#1 "How To" When Coming Out of the I.C.

There's one thing that is essential for anyone coming out of the Institutional Church. Having had our eyes somewhat opened to that religious system, we need to ask the Lord to show us His perception of it and to recognize what our part has been in it. In order to be free to move forward in our walk with the Lord, instead of pointing the finger at “them”, we need to repent of having become a part of that. God has always held both the shepherds and the sheep alike responsible for whether they walk with Him or depart from Him. In our culture, every born-again believer has a Bible and the Holy Spirit to be able to walk in the truth with no excuse. No one can just say “I was led astray.” Without this repentance we are doomed to replicate the past problems, even if maybe in a different form.
In summary, people need to get a glimpse of how God sees things rather than how they see it, no matter how enlightened. The more we see things as He sees, the better we can walk together with Him.

0 Comments

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Dt 4:24

7/18/2018

0 Comments

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Dt. 4:24

Thoughts provoked by, "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore" by Wayne Jacobsen & Dave Coleman -- recommended reading.

God has been renewing my understanding of what His perspective is.

I’ve learned that the words “jealous” and “zealous” in the Bible are actually the same word in the original language. God was so jealous/zealous for Israel that He did what today would be labeled “crimes against humanity” as He wiped out nations – committed genocide in order to preserve His plan of salvation and the seed of our Messiah.
He’s no less jealous/zealous today for us; His Bride, His Children; and I believe the institutional church is repugnant to Him.
This book and other articles and VLOGs address what men are seeing as problems with the IC, but I don’t see an understanding of how God sees it.
Until very recently, I also was in the camp of not really giving input to someone struggling with the decision to come out of the IC, except to encourage them to seek the Lord for themselves. With a new understanding of God’s zeal and His hatred for the dead religion of the IC that separates and destroys His children, I’m now of the attitude of exhorting whomever, to come out and “he who has ears to hear, let him hear”. I’m at a point that I think that’s God’s heart.
I’m thinking of the character, Bryce, in the book. I don’t think there is an understanding that God views the IC as a total abomination.

0 Comments

YOU MUST HATE YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER

"What more could He give?'

BREEZE - COME!

“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong.”

#1 "How To" When Coming Out of the I.C.

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Dt 4:24

Author

Archives

Categories