The Sign of the Fig Tree

In the last blog we looked at what the world will look like
just prior to the Rapture. Today I want to look at a tree, the
fig tree.

The fig tree represents Israel.
(Hosea 9:10; Joel 1:6-8; Luke 13:6-9)
The disciples asked Jesus, 'What will be the sign when 
all these things are to be accomplished?'
Jesus says:
'From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch 
becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that 
summer is near. So also, when you see these things 
taking place, you know that he is at the very gates. Truly 
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all 
these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away 
but my words will not pass away. '(Mark 13: 28-31)

When Jesus spoke of the fig tree the disciples knew that
He was speaking of the land in which they were living.
Was it perplexing to them? However, in 70AD everything
changed and the Jews were moved out of their land. The
disciples were still alive then. For 2,000 years, the Jews
lived without a country and experienced ongoing
persecution. Prior to1948, theologians expressed doubts
that the Jews would ever be a nation again. It was during
this time that much of the church decided that 'She' was
the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel and then
Replacement Theology became mainstream. It looked like
the 'fig tree' had been cut down and was dead. But wait!
After the Holocaust, in which despair became a window of
hope, Israel became a nation in a single day. (Isaiah 66: 7,8)
No scattered nation has ever come back to their original
land with an intact language after being scattered. The fig
tree was in full bloom. Only God...

OK, back to the prophecy: 'The generation that sees the
birth of Israel will not pass away until ALL these things
take place...My words will not pass away.' All includes the
tribulation. Psalm 90 states that a generation lasts up to
80 years. The 80 years from the planting of Israel is up in
2028. If you subtract the seven years of the tribulation,
it comes to 2021. Before the planting of Israel again, no one
could predict anything, but now we understand the season.

Jesus goes on to say that of 'the day and hour, no one knows...
Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the 
time will come.'

Reader, it appears that we are only five or so years from the
tribulation--or closer. Are you ready? Are you watching for
Him? Are you even awake? Or, have the cares and worries
of the world dulled your mind to the lateness of the hour?

The Days of Noah

The early church expected the return of Jesus any
minute and Paul addresses this in his letters to the
Thessalonians, who were experiencing great
persecution. Paul wrote this letter about 50AD,
long before John received the Revelation from Christ.
Throughout the church age each generation has
looked for the coming of the Lord, but the imminent 
return of Christ before the tribulation fell out of favor
from about 300AD to the 1800's when John Darby
began to teach and write about the rapture of the
church. People started setting specific dates. Then,
'No man can know the day or the hour,' became the
by-word, the mantra, that has merged into a complete
lack of attention to end time events. (If you can't
know the day or hour, then why bother looking into
prophecy?) The church, on the whole, is no longer
watching, and frankly, not interested. Life is full,
meaningful, busy. The cares of this world capture our
attention with every headline. BUT, is it possible to to
know the season in which Christ will return? Yes. I
believe that the scripture itself testifies to this. I will
cover one sign mentioned by Jesus today and another
sign in the next blog.

...Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in
the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and
drinking and marrying and being given in marriage,
until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the
flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as
it was in the days of Lot--they were eating and
drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire
and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them
all--so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is
revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)

Things are fairly normal these days, however, if you
peak into the sixth chapter of Revelation, life for the
whole world changes and billions die. At least one
quarter of the population dies in the first few months
of the Tribulation. Those seven years will not be a time
of planting, eating, drinking, selling, buying, building. It
will not look like the days of Noah.

Reader, are you ready, alert, watching, eager for the
return of your Lord? We are almost out of time.

What Time Is It?

According to  my clock it is 12:30AM, but what time
is it according to God's clock? Our Lord said that we
are able to look at the sky and know what the changes
will be in the weather, but we fail to discern what He
is doing.

'And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him 
they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He 
answered them, "when it is evening, you say, 'It will be 
fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning it will 
be stormy, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know 
how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you 
cannot interpret the signs of the times."'(Matthew 16:1-3)

You cannot interpret the signs of the times...

I have delved into scripture on the topic of the 'end times'
for many years, but recently God has opened my eyes to
what is happening on earth and in the heavens that point to
the lateness of the hour. Our enemy knows his time to reign
and rule is fast approaching, but the children of God seem
clueless. Have any of you seen the trailer of the movie,
Through the Looking Glass coming out in May? Have you
noticed that every trailer is connected to 'time' in some way?
Plus, there are many references to doors. CERN is busy
trying to open gates into other dimensions. Do you realize
that entertainment is a key way to pass along messages, that
the movies in recent years often depict what is coming?
Aliens are a big theme. When one is being entertained the
filter for truth turns off. The opening and closing of the
Olympics is telling us what time it is. The half time of the
Superbowl in the last few years has been very blatant with
songs, dance, and symbols of the hour. Ads contain
messages also. Pay special attention to what you see on
Sunday.

Reader, now that I my eyes are open, I see more clearly what
God is up to, but also what our enemy is doing and saying.

The Lord says, "wake up," it is later than you think!

The Rapture

Is there going to be a rapture?
Is there scripture to back it up?
Are there signs to watch for?
Can we know the season of Christ's return?

I have been pondering these and many other questions in
regards to the Second Coming. I was thinking today that
the first coming of Christ was a secret, but then I did a
little digging and this is what I found:

A virgin would bear a son, Isaiah 7:14
The Messiah would come as a baby, Isaiah 9:6
This baby would be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2-5
Exact time that Messiah would be killed, Dan 9:24,25.

The Jewish leaders had the truth for hundreds of years;
the scribes penned the truth, but no one was watching for
the arrival of their Messiah. When the wisemen came to
Jerusalem to inquire about the birth of the Jewish King,
the chief priests and scribes had to search out the answer.
No, they were not ready. Since the Jewish leaders of the
day were totally ignorant of this awesome event, the angels
were sent to a bunch of illiterate shepherds to give  them a
sign: 'You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger.'

The 'Rapture' is a politically incorrect word in the church
today. Men schooled in Seminaries and Bible Schools
actually fight over when or if there will be a rapture of the
church. It is a subject rarely preached on. Prophecy has
a huge place in scripture and much of it not yet fulfilled.

I was five years old when I was found by Jesus and in
walked my new best friend. We attended a Presbyterian
Church and it was there that I first heard about the Rapture.
By then I was six years old and it captivated my
imagination. I dreamed about the rapture, but deep down
I thought I was too little to be noticed and would probably
be left behind. One night a full moon came out from behind
a cloud and woke this little girl who promptly sat up and
said, 'Wait for me, Jesus!' (Laughter in heaven.)

In the late sixties I was living in New York City and the
huge buzz was about the coming of Jesus in the Rapture.
Stories floated around about people picking up hitchhikers
who would suddenly say, 'Jesus is coming soon,' and
promptly disappear. Yes, at least one part of the church
was watching and getting ready for the big event.

That was then and this is now. I am not sure when the
subject of the Rapture faded away or why. Perhaps it
was because people were date setting and it was easier
to ignore it than be disappointed. Whatever the reason,
the percentage of Christians looking for the return of
their Lord is pretty low. Here is what Peter says:

'I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of 
reminder, that you should remember the predictions 
of the holy prophets and the commandment of the 
Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this 
first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days 
with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They 
will say, 'Where is the promise of his coming...?"'
(2Peter 3:3-7)

Well, reader, prophecy has suddenly come up to the
front burner in my thinking. I am doing a lot of
research and will write up my findings. I will look
at Biblical promises, the signs that are taking place,
and what the Enemy of the church is saying and doing.
He is actually quite busy because he reads the Bible
and knows his time is short.

What is Fruit?

'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him he will bear much fruit; apart from
me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Nothing? I can do nothing? This just took the wind out
of my sails.
I have spent my whole life trying to do something for
God; working for God.
Isn't that what the Christian life is all about?
So, just what is fruit, anyway?

"Fruit is the over-plus of the tree's life, over and above
what it uses on itself, for self-existence.

Fruit has the flavor of the tree, is separable from the tree,
can be given away, is such as to be a blessing to others.

Jesus showed us we are so united to Him, as branches to
Vine, that His life flows into and through us, manifesting
itself as fruit. That is, we are so to appropriate and live
His life as not to use it up on ourselves, not, as is often
said, in 'trying to live the Christian life.'

What self-centerdness! Rather, to let Christ so realize
His own life in us that His very quality of life, with all its
power to bless, is manifest through our transformed,
yielded, self-effaced personalities.

Should there be no such fruit, we defeat the very purpose
of our being 'in Christ,' but as we abide, draw upon Him,
the inexhaustible Source, and yield ourselves to His
in-flowing, there results an out-flowing of His life in
'fruit.'

As we learn better to abide in Him, the fruit becomes
'more fruit.' But Christ is satisfied only when 'more'
becomes the abounding 'much fruit.'"
Norman B Harrison.

One more thought:
"Fruit is not produced by making fruit an object, nor by
thinking of fruit; it is the outcome of having the
Lord Jesus as one's object, of thinking of Him. He is
the one True Vine who precedes and produces fruit."
Hannah Whitall Smith

Reader, the name of the website is
His Victorious Indwelling. It is impossible to produce
fruit that lasts, eternal fruit, out of my own resources.
But, I continue to try...

www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com

Rise; Shine

Here are some blurbs from the Psalms I read yesterday:

Psalm 1  Blessed is the man whose delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and
night.

Psalm 31 In you, O Lord do I take refuge
                 Let me never be put to shame.
                 Be a rock of refuge for me
                 A strong fortress to save me.

Psalm 61 Lead me to the rock
               That is higher than I
               For you have been my refuge
               A strong tower against the enemy.

Psalm 91 He will cover you with his pinions,
                and under his wings you will find
                       refuge
                His faithfulness is a shield and
                       buckler.

Psalm 121 The Lord will keep you from evil
                        He will keep your life.
                  The Lord will keep
                         your going out and coming in
                  from this time forth and forever more.

Reader, when the enemy comes in like a flood of
filth into your mind and tells you that you are not
loved by God, that you are on your own, pick up
your Bible and read the psalms. Take a verse of
truth, write it out, read it, delight in it, believe it,
receive His love, trust in His goodness. You will
be blessed according to psalm 1 and tomorrow
you will rise and shine!

His Doing?

'This is My doing.'
1Kings 12:24

'The disappointments of our life are simply the hidden
appointments of love.

'Dearest child, I have a message for you today. Let me
whisper it in your ear so any storm that may arise will
shine with glory, and the rough places you may have
to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but
let them sink into your inner being, and use them as a
pillow to rest your weary head:

This is My doing.

You did not come to this place by accident--you are 
exactly where I meant for you to be"'
Laura A Baxter Snow
Streams in the Desert February 1

Sometimes I am hit with something so big it crushes me
flat, but most of the time it is the 'little foxes,' the steady
drip of daily issues that wax and wane. Issues that tend to
be repetitive and completely unsolvable through my own
manipulations. Reader, do you notice how often you walk
through the same part of the maize--the rut keeps getting
deeper--but the cheese is never at the end?

Papa, it is time to change this thing out!