Have Faith & Fear
Not!
3/4/12
What
are the major topics on our minds these days here in early 2012? Gas
prices, Republican Presidential primary elections, economic woes and then there
is the weather. Indiana, Kentucky and a number of other States suffered
severe long tracking tornadic weather just this past week with a
great loss of life and property. It is so sad to see and hear the
testimonies of those involved. One feels quite helpless at the mercy
of such great storms. All one can do, is pray and seek shelter and
then keep praying. But let's have some faith!
We
have heard and even experienced such great and horrendous storms in the
past. I was in High School when the 1974 storms came through this
same area. Those tornadic storms are still to this day the
benchmark by which they judge all other storms passing through each
year. Like many other families, we kept those huge hail stones in
our freezers for many years.
My
home town was hit hard by a devastating F3 tornado on the day of Pentecost just
a few years back in 2004 that destroyed about 80% of the homes and
businesses. I saw the tornado forming just outside of the town right
above a hill within a couple hundred yards from where I was
standing. It was still small and only strong enough winds at the
time to move the smaller trees around, just hovering there before me yet
remaining stationary. All of a sudden, as though it was hesitating
as to what it was going to do, it took off and crossed the railroad tracks and
within seconds it took on a violent nature as it swept through the small
community. As it passed through the town, and I know that you are
going to think that I have flipped my lid, but it was as though the tornado had
intellect as the upper portions of the funnel literally bent and folded itself
with a twist and turned around with a pause and looked at me. In my mind I
heard these words, "since I cannot get to you, I will destroy your home
town." More on that later.
I
was once involved directly with a great storm that under my then
responsibilities, was to oversee a business, the property and campers who were
staying with us at the time. So I drove to my work place in the
middle of the night and between the strong wind, rain, lightning and thunder, I
began warning our visitors and checking on the place. While I was
standing outside there was a sudden flash in the sky and from one horizon to
the other there were two horizontal lightning bolts that came from opposite
directions and collided with a great explosion before my eyes as I cowered
there in awe and I asked Yahweh, "why is this storm so
violent?" He immediately spoke to my mind and
said, "Kingdom against Kingdom." I
knew that verse of scripture as I recalled from the book of Matthew
24:7,8 "For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are
the beginning of sorrows."
Yahweh
was quickening a verse of scripture to my mind that I had not interpreted in
such a way previously. In other words, yes there will be wars and
rumors of wars with nation warring against nation, but He was showing me that
there is also a clash of Kingdoms, spiritual Kingdoms. Why was the
storm so violent? Because there was a war going on between two
powerful spiritual Kingdoms and it was overflowing into our physical world from
the spiritual realm in the storm.
The
term "earthquakes" as it is used in Matthew 24:7,
comes from the Greek word sice-mos' from where
we get the English word for Seismology, the study of earthquakes. In
the Greek Strong's Concordance it is assigned #4578 and 4579 and it not only
means a commotion of the ground, but it also means a commotion of the air as in
a gale or even a
tempest. WOW! So Yahshua Messiah was warning us
that there would be great physical and even spiritual wars going on, but that
there will be earthquakes not only of the ground but of the air in the form of
tempests. A tempest is a storm with high winds such as a tornado,
cyclone or a hurricane.
Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience:" There is a prince of the power of
the air. This is an evil entity that has been given authority
over the air. These same beings are mentioned as the ones within
whom we are actually fighting in Ephesians 6:11,12 "Put
on the whole armour of Yahweh, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places."
The
tornado back in 2004 spoke to my mind and said, "Since I cannot get to
you, I'm going to destroy your home town," was in actuality the prince of
the power of the air. He couldn't get to me, because at that time I
had on the armour of
Yahweh! Yahweh had put a hedge of protection around my family
and I that day. The lightning
bolts that collided in midair when Yahweh spoke to my mind and said "Kingdom
against Kingdom," that also was a great spiritual battle
going on between Yahweh’s messengers and the demonic and fallen Angelic powers
of the air.
Back
in Matthew 24:8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows," the term "sorrows" in the Greek
Strong's Concordance is #5604 and it means to be in travail, birthpangs. When a woman is in travail of
childbirth, she has contractions. Each contraction gradually gets
more intense building upon the one previous until the child is born. So such
things as wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes (of the ground and the air)
will grow with intensity as we draw closer to the end to the age, culminating
with the return of Messiah and the birthing of the Kingdom of Yahweh.
Tornadoes,
floods, hurricanes, lightning and such are just too big and powerful
for humans to take on either in our physical strength or in the power of our
minds. But according to the scripture we are to have the mind of
Messiah. 1st Cor. 2:16 "..we have the mind of Messiah." There
is a storm coming. We are most likely, having only mild contractions
presently. True believers need not worry and fret. 2nd
Timothy 1:7 "For Yahweh hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind." If our lives are taken through these great endtime events, have a little faith, there is a
resurrection from the dead. But while living, we have no need to
worry and fear. 1st John 4:18 "There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is
not made perfect in love." Sure, nobody relishes pain and
misery or death, but with the mind of Messiah, we can take on the endtimes with the spiritual strength and the power of
Messiah's mind! Just have faith and fear not.
Luke 12:32 "Fear
not, little flock; for it is your
Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom."
The Old Paths Restoration Ministry
PO Box 247
Marengo, IN 47140