We are entering a time and season, unlike anything we’ve seen before in this nation. I believe that crime, famine, riots, and increased government oppression are on the horizon. So what should we be doing, and how should we be prepared?
The Tree of Life: Testing Everything
Examine yourself – Not to see if you’re “in the faith” (saved) but to see if you’re eating from the Tree of Life (TOL), as opposed to eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (TKGE). We could call eating from the TOL “being in the faith” from a certain point of view.
The TKGE is used for assessing life through the soul. The mind, will, and emotions – but don’t forget logic and reasonings, as those come from the mind, too. Eating from the TOL involves testing everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – before stepping into it.
Would you like examples of learning how to get everything? I’ve got them.
- Do you need to go to Wally World for supplies? Do you have a choice as to which one to visit? Test it.
- Need groceries, and you have a choice of where to go? Test it.
- Any other decision you need to make, then test it.
We must learn the “voice of the Lord” in the mundane to enable ourselves to discern the voice of the Lord in the critical things yet to come. Otherwise, we’ll miss the important stuff through confusion. Additionally, we may not always have the opportunity of peace and safety when testing the voice of the Lord.
Also, note that the “voice of the Lord” is not equivalent to the “word of God” (Psalm 103:20). They are related, but one is not the other. Ask me if you have questions about what I mean. Lastly, the Husband and Wife make a single unit – learn how to test things together.
I’ll provide another post soon to provide some simple steps we can perform to begin the journey of learning the voice of the Lord through testing everything.
Seeking God First
The next thing is tangential to the eating from the TOL: Seek God for His sake, but NOT to be approved.
The best example I have of what I’m talking about is the nature of KJV-only-ism. The KJV-only doctrine’s core is that we “must read the right thing, to believe the right thing, to do the right thing so that we can be acceptable to God.”
Bible worship is a real thing, and we learn Bible worship primarily through exposure: it is a thing we catch along the way. It is in the same vein as worshiping God the Father, Son, and Holy Bible. It places Holy Spirit as a random effect that shows up now and again but doesn’t have any real necessity other than sealing one in salvation.
1 Chronicles 22:19 – Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God;
Psalm 14:2 – The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
Isaiah 55:6-7 – Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
Amos 5:4-6 – For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, “Seek Me that you may live.”
Sins & Repentance
Live in repentance. Only two of the seven churches of Revelations were approved; the others were rebuked and (presumably) had their lampstands removed. Those five churches were like the olive tree that Jesus withered because it was not producing fruit out of season.
Don’t confess sins you’re unaware of committing. If you don’t know that you did it, don’t bring it to the Courts of God in sorrow and repentance.
Don’t confess the same thing twice unless you do the same thing twice. Doing so indicates a lake of belief and trust (faith) that God has forgiven.
Prayer – Don’t Beg God
Not too much to say here, but we must learn to stop begging God.
Almost every prayer we hear from the pulpit is man’s idea and is usually tantamount to begging God.
Learning His voice means we learn how to act like the Kings and Priests He has made us be: we make declarations for things to be done, and we make decrees to alter the environment within the realms we’ve been given authority.
A Recovering Legalist 