Rich or poor, single or married, male or female, old or young. It does not matter where you are from; It does not matter what color you are. It even does not matter what faith you hail from, or have no belief. What DOES matter, is that One Day, you WILL be in front of The One Who created you. You will stand before Him. He WILL judge you righteously. It does not matter to HIM that you may not believe that will happen; it will STILL happen.
That Day is getting closer. These messages and warnings will continue to go out, to all who “have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7,17).
The Time is getting shorter; the days are hastening to the End of Days. There IS an End, for there was a Beginning. Are you ready? Is your soul ready?
Or are you going to dismiss this one as well and call me and the others who warn, “a nut”, “crazy”, “Bible thumper”, etc.?
Say what you want of me; I do will of my Father and my King. I take no orders from man, nor do I serve him any longer. As it is written, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven” (Matt. 6:10). His will WILL be done, whether man agrees with it or not. Where do you stand with Him? Make sure you are on the side of the King, and not on the side of the ones who rebelled against Him. Their sentence is eternal death. Do you wish the same?
Remember what is written, “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who DOES the will of my Father Who is in Heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Do you wish to do the will of man, so you may have honor from them? Are they in charge of where your soul ends up? Can they even save themselves? Certainly not.
Where do you stand with Him? Where WILL you stand on That Day—on His left, Or on His right? (Matt. 25:33,41; Eccl. 10:2)
I saw a devotional this morning, that spoke about how we have peace with the LORD God when we are awake, but especially, when we lay down to sleep. It quoted Psalm 4:8, and the prayer taken from it that my Godmother Helen used to have us kids to say before we were put to bed each night when I visited my cousins—“Now I lay me down to sleep…”.
But the verse that stood out to me this morning was from Psalm 23:4. As I read the verse over and over again, the words “valley of the shadow of death” resonated within me. For David, who had many enemies, being under attack by his king, and even by his own son at one point, I can see how this Psalm poured out of his soul and onto paper.
I looked up the verse, and the specific word צלמות “salmavet”, which in Hebrew is “of the shadow of death”. It is also defined as “death-shadow” (of distress, extreme danger), “deep shadow”, and “deep darkness” (of place of the dead). Even though they are mostly used figuratively, I sense there is a more literal meaning of it than we would like to admit.
This world has become more and more “the valley of the shadow of death”. In fact, I dare say that literally walking in this world right now IS like walking through the “shadow of Death”—the same Death that is mentioned in Revelation 20:14–the Greek word for death being θάνατος = “Thanatos”, the name for the ancient Greek god of Death (in Rome, the god was “Mors”). Thanatos may sound familiar, since in recent years the Avengers movies had a supervillain character named “Thanos” which first appeared in the Marvel comics. He most certainly lived up to the name in those movies.
Some other Bible verses that include “the shadow of death” or the other definitions of it are in Psalm 107:10–“There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains…” Boy, does that sound a lot like the people who basically are the “walking dead” on this Earth right now, who deny the very GOD who allows them to still have BREATH in their lungs.
Another verse is from Matthew 4:16 which is taken from Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness (חשׁך)- kho-shek’, which means “darkness, obscurity”; “darkness”, “secret place”, “death”, “misery”, “IGNORANCE”—!, “sorrow”, “wickedness”. Hmm, very interesting how that is “figuratively” used, because the way our world is right now—actually, it has BEEN that way, but MOST of us have been ASLEEP, eating the “Lotus cookies” (some of you will 😉get that), busy with our own lives, not paying attention to what really has been going on in the world, both physically and SPIRITUALLY.
We human spirits have partaken in “panem et circenses”—“bread and circuses—a WHOLE lot of distraction from what has really gone on in this world—the work of the evil ones who “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10)—the HUMAN PUPPET AGENTS of SATAN who have continued his work for millennia, because he vowed to himself to take as many with him as possible to the Pit and ultimately, to “the LAKE WHICH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE; which is the SECOND DEATH” (Rev. 21:8). That “second death” is WORSE than the first, because it is PERMANENT and ETERNAL.
WHAT needs to happen if one wants to avoid that “valley of the shadow of death”? You cannot avoid that, for WE ALL who are living ad breathing, are walking IN that valley right NOW—it is HERE on EARTH; it IS EARTH. Hence the reason why David wrote it the way he did, “Even though I WALK THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death”; David realized he was IN that valley throughout his lifetime. This entire life is about HOW to walk through that valley of death, misery, destruction, evil works, etc., and come out FROM it, with the help of the ONLY ONE Who can “deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13) that we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste of every single day of our lives. THAT Person is within the Eternal Triune Godhead—the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus DEFEATED Hell and Death (very real evil spirits) at the Cross, and OWNS the keys (Rev. 1:18)!! He is the ONLY ONE Who was RESURRECTED, and because of His victory at the Cross, as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” The Lord Jesus has made a way back to the Father—the ONLY way, for He IS “the way, the truth, and the LIFE” (Jn. 14:6), and there is NO OTHER WAY out of eternal DARKNESS, the shadow of DEATH, or DAMNATION, except one who acknowledges Jesus as LORD and SAVIOR of their life (Romans 10:9-10,13).
If you want out of the “valley of the shadow of death”, you first must REPENT (Ez. 14:6; 18:30; Matt. 3:2; Mk. 1:15; Lk. 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; 8:22). The Lord Jesus warns once again of what will happen if people do not repent of their sins and wickedness: “Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you SOON and war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Rev. 2:16). The “sword” IS His Word, and He, Jesus, IS THE WORD OF GOD.
SEEK the Lord and His Word out. BE HUMBLE and ASK Him to forgive you of your sins, and LIVE as a child of the King, Who WILL hold your hand and walk WITH you, “through the valley of the shadow of death” here, UNTIL the “appointed time” (Dan. 8:19; 11:35; Hab. 2:3; for Him to come back and “redeem His people” (2 Sam. 7:23; Job 5:20; Ps. 69:18; Is. 50:2; Jer. 15:21), and I will end with Hosea 13:14a: “I SHALL ransom them from the power of Sheol; I SHALL REDEEM them from DEATH…”
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for EVERY event under heaven…” Eccl. 3:1
“For the Day of the LORD of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low…” Isaiah 2:12
“Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let ALL the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; it is near…” Joel 2:1
This message is both a warning to those who continue to do evil, to STOP NOW, and for those who wait on the LORD—get ready, for He has NOT forsaken you! Keep your lamps trimmed with oil, and your minds focused on Him. Continue to PRAY for the the lost, and hope, for the best IS yet to come for all those who have waited upon the LORD.
“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourselves over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” Ps. 37:7
“For the evildoers SHALL BE CUT OFF, but THOSE who WAIT for the LORD SHALL inherit the land.” Psalm 37:9
“It IS good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” Lam. 3:26
Photo credit: The Holy Face of Jesus, Shroud of Turin
It is as simple as humbling yourself before the Almighty God and Savior, Confessing your sins, Asking for forgiveness, And wholeheartedly desire to serve Him, So that He can grant you Mercy and Grace, Forgiveness and a New Life In Him.
If you have not asked the Lord Jesus to help you live out your life, and have been struggling all these years, relying only on yourself and proud, unrepentant, sinful men, What are you waiting for?
GO to Him. TODAY. Start a brand new day with a Brand New Life in Jesus Christ. You will NEVER be the same again.
Ezra the scribe sought the Lord to do His will. He studied, prayed, memorized His Word, and then taught it to the people. Even the Persian king Artaxerxes recognized the Spirit of God within Ezra, and decreed that what Ezra needed for his people, it should be done. Also, that Ezra should set magistrates and judges over the people, and he himself teach the people what they do not know (Ez 7:21, 25).
We would do very well to read the life of Ezra, and follow his lead in how he spent time getting to know the LORD God, reading and studying His Word, praying, and then taking the Word of God to the people, to teach and preach it to them.
Having the Word of God in your mind and heart (Ps. 119:9-11) is a very good thing these days. It is what keeps me in perfect peace (Is. 26:3), even during such evil days as we are living in.
When the enemy tries to get a foothold in my life, I quickly rebuke the evil ones with Scripture I have memorized, or go to the Word and start speaking it out, to extinguish the fiery darts (Eph. 6:16) that the enemy shoots onto the battlefield (my mind).
Yes, the hand of God can work for good in all souls that allow the Triune Godhead into their lives.
If one does not have the Spirit of God living and working in them, then as it is written, “the wrath of God abides in him” (Jn. 3:36).
Decide for yourself just who you will serve in this life (Joshua 24:15); for it WILL determine where you end up in Eternity.
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken UP; and a CLOUD received them out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward Heaven AS HE WENT UP, behold two men stood by in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into Heaven? THIS SAME JESUS, which is TAKEN UP FROM YOU into Heaven, SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER as you have seen Him go into Heaven.” Acts 1:9-11
(The Apostle John writes) “And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a White Horse; and HE that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp SWORD, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a Name written, “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16
“The LORD looks down from Heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God” (Ps. 14:2).
Pray for every inhabitant on the face of the Earth, that they may take a knee NOW, while they still have breath in their lungs, and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, Lord, King, and Master, before it is too late (Phil. 2:9-11).
If anyone has cried over the sins and evils that both mankind and demon have done, it is the LORD God, and His Son. The Holy Spirit has grieved like no other, to see this world decline and become like those evil creatures chained in Tartarus, awaiting their Day of Judgment (2 Pet. 2:4-10; Jude 1:6-7).
But until That Day arrives; Until the Lord finishes what He has started so long ago, EVERY person who still has breath in them, STILL has an opportunity to REPENT, and ask Him for forgiveness. He will gladly give it to all those who cry out to Him (Ps. 18:6; 34:6,17).
For those who refuse, There is a place where they will go for all eternity; It was NEVER meant for mankind, but only for Satan and all those angelic spirits who rebelled against their Master so long ago (Is. 66:22-24; Dan. 12:1-2; Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; Rev. 14:9-11; 20:11-15).
The LORD is Just. He must punish the wicked ones of mankind along with those angelic creatures.
That Day is coming…SOON. NO ONE knows that Day or Hour, but the Father Himself (Matt. 24:36).
Will YOU be ready when He calls His children HOME to Himself? Will YOU escape the Time of His Wrath upon the Earth that is yet to come (Ps. 110:5; Is. 13:6; Jer. 30:7; Joel 2:11; Rev. 6:17)?
The only person that can answer that question, and will be held RESPONSIBLE for what happens to their ETERNAL state, Is YOU.
Cry out to the LORD now; SEEK His Face; CALL upon His name. HE WILL ANSWER YOU (Jer. 33:3; Ps. 17:6; Ps. 20:6; Zech. 10:6; Is. 30:19).
“Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend into the Pit” (Ps. 143:7).
Do not wait for “tomorrow”; there might not be one.
This is what I heard while praying and speaking to the Father this morning about all that is going on; about all those who, especially even my own loved ones, who no longer even speak to me. Their hearts have hardened because they have let the fiery darts (Eph. 6:16) of the evil one take over their minds.
Every one of us, especially those who consider themselves to be sons and daughters of God will be held accountable for NOT “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” because they did NOT “bring into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the OBEDIENCE of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:5).
Those who disregard God’s Word think that they will not be held accountable for any of this.
They are GRAVELY wrong.
They will not just lie in a grave or in an urn somewhere; they WILL stand before an Almighty God, His Son, Jesus Christ, AND the Holy Spirit, and give an account of the very lives we lived (Rom. 14:12; 1 Pet. 4:5).
Take the words that the Holy Spirit said here, seriously; VERY seriously.
Because there COMES a Day—SOONER than one thinks, that we ALL will be in front of Him Who is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).
“See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on Earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from HIM that speaks from HEAVEN: whose Voice then shook the Earth: but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not the Earth only, but also HEAVEN.” Hebrews 12:25-27
BUT, I will leave you with this hopeful consoling thought: The LORD is merciful (Deut. 4:31; 2 Chron. 30:9; Ps. 103:8; 116:5; 117:2; Joel 2:13)—He WILL continue to try and turn your evil hearts toward Him, even when all tribulation HELL breaks through, and hope seems to be lost.
He will continue to be there, waiting for you to “call upon the name of the Lord to be saved” (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13; 1Cor. 1:9; Is. 65:1; 2Pet. 1:10-11; Acts 2:38).
My new illustrated devotional is now LIVE on Amazon! I used a beautiful picture for the cover, and you will find many other colorful pictures with Scriptures and inspirational quotes on each of the pages with the devotionals.
The book can be purchased through Amazon in either hardcover, paperback, or Kindle format.
This book would make a beautiful gift for someone, and the devotionals are no more than a 5-10 minute read. It is a great way to start your day, during a mid-day break, or before you settle in for the night, to read a little bit of Scripture, then meditate and pray on it.
I hope you will check it out! I do also have the first of my three book series, “Walking in the Dark with FAITH” for sale. The 12-month devotional is based off of my first year and a half of my faith journey, with Scripture verses that stood and spoke out to me during that time. Just look up the above mentioned title and “12 Month Devotional” to find it.
I am trying to hopefully finish the second of my three-book faith journey series (the subtitle will be, “A Season of Trials, Temptations and (Many!) Tears”), before the end of this month, especially before my fall grad classes start again. Once they do, that takes up most of my time and energy. I will make another post when the book is available.
Thank you so much in advance if you do go ahead and purchase any of my books; right now, it is my only income because of the amount of schoolwork I have to endure. But I realize the more I write, the more I am enjoying it. It definitely is proving to be something the Lord wanted me to do all along—I just did not initially think I had it in me to write a book, and now I just completed my third one; amazing what a person can do when they allow the Spirit to move within them and use the gifts that He gives to us. Not only does it end up blessing me and honoring Him, but it also blesses those who read the books and get inspired and encouraged by them. God bless!
Walking in the Dark with Faith 