Category Archives: Heaven

August 23, 2015 · 10:30

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Trumpets

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. (Psalm 37:10)

These are exciting times in which we live. The world’s attention is focused to the time around mid-September.  End-times Bible prophets point to the Jewish Fall Feasts (more accurately, the Feasts of the Lord), and note that this year’s feasts are more significant than any others in the past. Jonathan Cahn, author of The Harbinger, recently released his latest book, The Mystery of the Shamitah, where he meticulously points out that in recent US history, Shamitahs have resulted in economic collapse demonstrated by huge drops in the stock market.

The Shamitah is the seven-year cycle assigned by God (Leviticus 25:4) where the Jews were required to leave the land fallow for the entire year to give it a rest – a Sabbath for the land. The Jews failed to keep the Shamitahs for 490 years (7 years x 70 Shamitahs) resulting in their 70 year Babylonian captivity (2 Chronicles 36:21; Jeremiah 25:11-12), one year for each Shamitah they failed to keep. You will need to get Cahn’s book for specific details, but in short, he suggests that God’s laws have transferred to the US because of how our nation was founded – “One nation under God.” Our nation is now reaping the consequences for our rejection of God. Cahn observes that every great economic collapse that America has experienced has fallen at the conclusion of a Shamitah year.

This year (2015) the Shamitah concludes on September 13. If the cycle keeps true to the pattern, the United States will experience a great economic collapse on September 14. This is due to the fact that September 13 falls on a Sunday when the stock market is closed. I noticed this past week that the stock market took a huge hit dropping over 500 points and making Wall Street very nervous. This seven-year cycle has not escaped many economists; however they cannot explain why this happens.

Another interesting event in September is that of Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets), which signals the Jewish New Year. This event occurs on September 14. It also signals the beginning of the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:8). After seven Shamitahs (7×7 or 49 years), the following year was special Shamitah called the Jubilee making a 50-year cycle. At this time all debts were cancelled, all properties were returned to the original owners and all accounts were zeroed. What is significant about this coming Jubilee is that it will be the 70th Jubilee since the law was given 3500 years ago. More could be said on this, but I recommend getting the book God’s Final Jubilee by Dan Goodwin.

These are significant events on God’s calendar (which, by the way, does not follow our solar calendar). But even in the secular world, this coming September seems to hold the promise of “something big” happening. As stated earlier, economists are aware of the 7-year cycle, and even though they do not understand it nor can they explain it, they predict an economic collapse this fall, sometime in September or October. The Pope plans to address Congress on September 24. This will be the first time a Pope has ever addressed the US Congress. This follows immediately after Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths) begins on Sunday just three days later.

What does this all mean? I do not know, but it is interesting that all these events are converging from the middle to the end of September. Perhaps this is the year that the Lord will call His bride home. That is my earnest hope at least, but I am not packing my bags and heading to the hills. Jesus gave us all our assignments before He left, and He said, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). Ever since the turn of the 21st century (perhaps even before that), every time this season rolls around, I start looking toward the eastern sky listening for the call of that last trumpet. So far, I have been disappointed, but not despondent. This is God’s plan, and He is in full control. I know that the call will not come until His time is right. Whenever that happens, I am ready!

One of my favorite hymns says:

     I know not why God’s wondrous grace

To me He hath made known,

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love

Redeemed me for His own.

     I know not how this saving faith

To me He did impart,

Nor how believing in His Word

Wrought peace within my heart.

          I know not how the Spirit moves

Convicting men of sin,

Revealing Jesus thro’ the Word,

Creating faith in him.

     (I know not what of good or ill

May be reserved for me,

Of weary ways or golden days,

Before His face I see.)

     I know not when my Lord may come,

At night or noonday fair,

Nor if I walk the vale with Him,

Or meet Him in the air.

     Refrain:

But “I know Whom I have believed,

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.” [1] (2 Timothy 1:12)

I look forward to September 2015 in anticipation of our Lord’s return. If it doesn’t happen, that just means that we have more work to do. There is also the possibility that I may die before He returns. Either way, I will be with Him. As the last verse of the hymn says, “I know not when my Lord may come, at night or noonday fair, nor if I walk the vale with Him, or meet Him in the air.” The point is, I know in whom I have believed, and I am fully trusting in His sovereign will. How about you? Are you ready for His return?

Notes:

[1] Daniel W. Whittle, “I Know Whom I Have Believed,” Published 1883.

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July 5, 2015 · 10:30

The Rainbow

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.  (Genesis 9:13)

From the beginning of time Satan has attempted to pervert everything that God created and called “very good” (Genesis 1:31). A prime example is revealed in last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that homosexual cohabitation should be regarded as “marriage” and protected as a legal right under the Constitution of the United States. Such a ruling stains the bounds of reason considering that the same protection finds no haven in the Constitution for heterosexual unions. The lack of understanding demonstrated by five out of the nine justices illuminates the depths of depravity to which our nation has declined. The court’s decision prompted exhibitions of jubilation from what used to be the White House (now bathed in the colors of the rainbow) down to the streets of America. Local news media fight to maintain objectivity in reporting the atrocity as the grins on news anchors’ faces betray their accord with the order.

Regardless of the decision handed down by these black-robed oligarchs, “marriage” was defined by God at Creation. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Out of the side of man, God created the woman (Genesis 2:21) “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22, emphasis mine). In doing so, God effectively performed the first marriage ceremony. Marriage is not a human institution, it is a Divine institution, so much so that the relationship between Christ and His church is described as a marriage (Matthew 22:2-14; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 18:23; Revelation 19:7). So, aside from the lawlessness of this act by this Supreme Court, it is the height of arrogance for mere man to redefine what God has already established. But, that is nothing new!

So, what does this have to do with the rainbow, you might ask. The rainbow has been adopted by the sodomites as a symbol of their perverted cause. Like the devil, who I imagine is reveling in his presumed victory; they have taken a sign of God’s promise not to destroy the earth by water again, and have used it as a banner to flaunt the kind of perversion that brought about God’s wrath in the first place (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 19:1-9).  Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and founder of Samaritan’s Purse, said, “God is the one who gave the rainbow, and it was associated with His judgment. God sent a flood to wipe out the entire world because mankind had become so wicked and violent.”[1]

Note that God identifies the rainbow as His bow: “I do set my bow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13, emphasis mine). Indeed, the rainbow in the Bible is always associated with the throne of God. The prophet Ezekiel’s description of God’s throne (Ezekiel 1) defies human explanation, but one of the features is the rainbow that surrounds the throne.

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. (Ezekiel 1:26-28, emphasis mine)

A similar description of the rainbow surrounding God’s throne appears again in Revelation.

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. (Revelation 4:2-3, emphasis mine)

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1, emphasis mine)

God’s throne is also his “judgment seat.” The Greek word translated “judgment seat” is bēma, and it is translated as throne in Acts 12:21, “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them” (emphasis mine). This brings us back around to the rainbow surrounding the throne of God from where He sits in judgment.  “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

The poor misguided souls who celebrate their perversion beneath the colors of the rainbow call down upon themselves the judgment of God. The foolhardy President of the United States who bathes the People’s House in the colors of the rainbow in celebration of the Supreme Court’s foolish ruling unwittingly calls God’s judgment down upon our nation. This may well be the final nail in the coffin that America has built for itself

I see dark days ahead for our nation, but if you are a born-again follower of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a brighter day is coming, and it may come sooner than you think. In the meantime, Jesus said, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16). This is not the time for passivity.

Notes:

 

[1] World News Daily, “Franklin Graham: ‘Gay’ Rainbow Ends Badly,” http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/franklin-graham-gay-rainbow-ends-badly/, accessed July 2, 2015.

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May 10, 2015 · 10:30

Mom

Elena Enriquez Carrasco (1928 - 2001)

Elena Enriquez Carrasco
(1928 – 2001)

Her children arise up, and call her blessed (Proverbs 31:28)

She was not yet 22 years old when she gave birth to me just a little over 64 years ago. I was not the first. By this time she had given birth to two older brothers who died in infancy, so by default, I was the oldest.

Mom was not well educated having only completed the seventh grade, but she was intelligent and wise. Later in life, after all us kids were grown and gone, she earned her GED which enabled her to secure a position with the State of Texas as a social counselor. She always encouraged us in our education and praised us for every passing grade we earned – a “C” was a passing grade, although “Bs” and “As” earned extra attention, but never money. Mom liked to brag on our achievements no matter how mediocre. I was usually embarrassed by the attention, but deep inside, I liked it. Mom knew the importance of education and she always encouraged us in that endeavor. I still remember her waking us for school every morning to the clarion call of Isaiah 60:1 – “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee”! And she always had something warm for us for breakfast. Life circumstances prevented me from completing my college education at the age of 21 or 22, but when I earned my bachelors degree at the age of 50, she was there to celebrate the occasion; and she beamed with as much pride as any parent of a 20-year old that just graduated college.

Mom loved to sing! Her favorite part was “segunda” which included both alto and tenor depending on what note best fit her ear. We sang all the time. When we went on road trips, we sang every hymn we could think of, and when we were out of hymns, we would start in on choruses both in Spanish and in English. Then when we had exhausted our repertoire, we would begin again until we reached our destination. After I left home, the songs stopped for me. It was Mom that raised the song in me, I guess, and without her, there was no reason to sing. One hymn that to this day I cannot sing without thinking of Mom and without getting an enormous lump in my throat along with leaky eyes is “God Will Take Care of You.” She must have sung it to me in the cradle a million times. I know I heard her sing it to my two younger brothers and my baby sister. Although, she sang it in Spanish: “Dios Cuidara de Tí.” The words and the tune haunt me to this day – even in English – and I always think of her:

Be not dismayed whate’er betide
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
 
God will take care of you
Thru every day, o’re all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
 

Those words have never failed. I suppose she continues to sing them in heaven because I continue to experience them here on earth.

We were a “low-income” family growing up, but we were never “poor.” Dad earned meager wages as a pastor of small Spanish-speaking churches. During the week he worked behind a cotton stripper shoveling dusty cotton bolls to the back of cotton trailers. Mom worked part time at grocery store or as a waitress, but she was always there when we got home from school. She always made sure we had what we needed. Before our sister came along, Mom liked to dress us all alike, and at Christmastime, we all got the same toys. There was enough sibling rivalry without battles over toys.

Mom was a strict disciplinarian too. He had a six-inch wide hand-tooled leather belt with MEXICO embossed in two-inch letters on the back, and she used it on all of us at least once at one time or another. Anytime we misbehaved, she just needed to mention MEXICO, and we straightened right up. Mom was all of 4’11”, but she commanded a huge amount of respect. The last time my mother attempted to use MEXICO on me, I was 10 years old. By this time, I was about a head taller than her. I don’t remember what I did, but it incited her ire, and she came after me. I took off running, but before I got too far out of her reach, wisdom took a strong hold on me, and I realized that the outcome would be worse, if I persisted in my escape effort. I knew it would go better, if I just faced her. So, I stopped dead in my tracks and turned and faced her. As she raised MEXICO high for the crushing blow, I wrapped my arms around her and started kissing her neck and telling her how much I loved her. She melted into tears and told me that I was too big for her to have to spank me. She never did again. Her tears accomplished more than any spanking could.

Mom spent the last year of her life with June and me. She was in and out of hospitals all that year. It was a hard year for all of us. When she wasn’t in the hospital, we spent a lot of time talking. June was impressed at Mom’s ability to listen and quietly take in what we said. When she finally spoke, her words were few but laden with years of wisdom. One thing that she made clear to us that final year was that she was ready to be with Jesus, and that was her greatest desire. Just before Christmas of 2001, we had just come home from another stent in the hospital. Mom looked at June and said, “No more pills. No more hospitals.” Mom made it past Christmas day, but before the New Year, Jesus granted her greatest desire, and she went to be with Him. Before her departure, while still coherent, her concern was for us. I assured her that everything would be alright. I told her, “Don’t worry, Mom. When you meet Jesus, you are going to look back, and we will be right behind you.” I truly believe that. I don’t think there is a sense of time in heaven like there is here on earth. For me, Mom has been gone so long – almost 13 years. I miss her still, but for her it’s been no time at all.

Some reading this can probably relate similar stories. Our mothers are so precious to us, and often, we do not appreciate them until after they are gone. If you still have your mother, “arise and call her blessed” while she can still hear your voice. Let her know how much she means to you. If your mother is in heaven, as I know mine is, you need to make sure you are on the Only Way to be with her. Happy Mother’s Day.

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April 19, 2015 · 10:30

Too Rich for Heaven

camel-needle

And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.  (Luke 18:23)

Let’s face it. With the possible exception of the homeless, many of whom are in that condition by choice, poverty – the third-world kind of poverty where people live on one bowl of rice a day, have only one change of clothes, no shoes and live in cardboard houses – in the United States does not exist. I have visited in homes of the “poor” here in America and found giant-screen TVs in their living rooms with play stations for their kids. They might not have the best food – usually as a result poor choices – but they are a long way from starvation. They may be “low income,” but they are not poor in comparison to third-world nations. They own several changes of clothes and shoes, and many of their vehicles sport shiny custom “rims.”

Affluence often erects an insurmountable obstacle to the Gospel here in America. Many people here in the U.S. are self-sufficient enough that they do not perceive their need for God. They get along fine without Him, so why should they give up their lifestyle to follow Christ who asks them to change their way of living?

Our verse above is taken from an account recorded in the three synoptic Gospels: Matthew 19:16-26, Mark 10:17-27, and Luke 18:18-27. Matthew points out that the man was young (Matthew 19:20, 22). Luke notes that he is a “ruler” (Luke 18:18), perhaps indicating that he significantly, or even solely supported the local synagogue. Such support would place him in a position of high leadership in the synagogue and in the local community. Jairus whose daughter Jesus raised from the dead is such an example (Matthew 9:23-26; Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49-56). Mark omits his youth and position, but focuses on his, perhaps, feigned homage in kneeling before Christ.

However, all three Gospel writers point out that the man was rich. In that culture, wealth indicated God’s favor, and was a source of false pride by those so blessed. Jesus often berated the religious leaders for overt exhibition of opulence in their giving of alms and offerings at the temple to be “seen of men” (Matthew 6:5; 23:5). No doubt this “rich young ruler” approached Jesus in a similar hypocritical, arrogant and prideful manner “saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) Jesus saw right through him. By “good,” he meant “good like I am good.” “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (v. 19). In Texanese, what Jesus said was, “Boy, you ain’t so good. Only God is good.” Jesus went on to ask him if he “knew” the commandments (v. 20). “And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up” (v. 21, emphasis mine). He lied. No one can keep all of the commandments perfectly! James says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

Jesus then gets to the heart of the matter. So, you really are good! “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (v. 22). The hidden sins kept the rich young ruler away from that which he sought – eternal life: the sin of pride, the sin of hypocrisy, the sin of selfishness, the sin of covetousness.  “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22). He valued his stuff more than the riches of heaven.

In America, we suffer from the fatal disease of “affluenza.” “Fatal” because in many cases it resists the very source of eternal life. Affluenza blinds the victim from seeing “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Affluenza deafens the victim from hearing the Savior’s words, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

As Jesus watched the dejected young man walk away He said, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24-25). Some suggest that a “needle’s eye” was a small opening in the bulwark of a city that would allow a camel to crawl through once the city gates were closed. I don’t think that is what Jesus meant here. If there were such openings in the in the city walls, a camel could enter even with difficulty, but so could attackers. No, I believe Jesus meant the eye of a “sewing” needle. That would indeed require a miracle for a camel to pass.

If your stuff matters more to you than following Jesus, then you are too rich for heaven.

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March 29, 2015 · 10:30

Nephology

blue-sky-and-white-clouds-high-definition-green-sky

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)

“Nephology” is the study of clouds. As a young boy between six and ten, I was quite the nephologist.  I could spend what seemed to be hours observing cloud formations in the blue Texas skies. Cloud types were of no great concern. I didn’t care if the clouds were cirrus, cumulus, cumulonimbus, or whatever; I searched for recognizable figures within the clouds: birds, dogs, giants, cars, etc.

I still study the clouds, but for a very different reason. In our passage above, Jesus had just spent His final 40 days on earth. Now He made His final declaration: “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And as He said these final words, “he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). What an incredible sight! It reminds me of watching my helium-filled balloon float away into the clouds as a boy. I stood there mouth gaping, staring after the vanishing orb until it became a dot and was finally swallowed up by the clouds. No matter how long I searched the skies, the balloon never reappeared. It was gone. Jesus’ disciples must have felt the same way. So consumed were they in their nephology that they failed to notice the newly arrived heavenly beings that now accompanied them. “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

I’m a nephologist not because I study clouds for weather patterns or even for the fanciful shapes my mind can conjure. I look to the clouds because Jesus ascended into the clouds and beyond, and the angels delivered His promise saying that He would return “in like manner.”

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, emphasis added)

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither … (Revelation 4:1, emphasis added)

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8, emphasis added)

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:11-14, emphasis)

I practice nephology daily hoping that perhaps today, I will see Him coming in the clouds.

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