Forsythia!

View Original

A Field and a Gavel

Hi Friends,

I hope all is well with you.  I have two visions to share with you today.  The Lord is good.  He encourages us and lifts our heads.  He goes before us to make our path straight and he is our rear guard.  He is our salvation.  Jesus actually means salvation!  He is the one who saves!

The Visions

The Hand and the Block

In the vision I saw a hand with the index finger and thumb pinched together as if holding something very small.  There was a small cube about 1.25 inches square on all sides.  While keeping the fingers pressed together, the hand tapped on the little box.  The action reminded me of a judge striking the bench with a gavel to bring order to the court.  It also reminded me of a telegraph operator holding the knob on a telegraph machine.

However, the hand was held directly over the block and struck the block repeatedly with a downward stroke. I knew that the action was like that of a judge calling for order.  I decided that it was not like a telegraph machine, because the knob on a telegraph machine is not actually over the point of contact, but several inches away, and there is no block used.

When I did a search for gavels, I found that there were two styles.  The most common style of gavel used in most courts today is a mallet, usually made of wood with metal trim. The other style is quite different. It is called a palm gavel and is shaped like a female torso.  It is cylindrical with a narrowing in the center like a waist.  You can see this style in the featured photo of this post.  Palm gavels can have a striking surface at one or both ends of the gavel.  There is no handle.  The gavel fits in the palm with the fingers gripping the narrow center.   

I believe that  the hand in the vision represents God’s hand.  The cube that the fingers tap would be the sound block.  It is used with a gavel to increase the resonance and protect the surface of the table or desk.

Even though I didn’t see the gavel, I did see the block.  Very often in my visions the hand of God is immense in size. And what is sized for a man is shown to be extremely small by comparison.  If the gavel were a man’s size, I believe that it would represent God overseeing man’s judgment.  It could mean that God is using man’s courts and institutions to bring judgment against those who do evil.  If the gavel is simply unseen because the gavel fits perfectly in his hand then it would be God declaring his own judgment.

When God brings judgment upon a person or nation it is after repeated warning and after many opportunities to change.  It is possible that the corrupt people in our government and those who use their money, power and influence to do harm to our people will be brought to justice.

The Lord is the ultimate judge.  He will establish his order, and rule with justice and mercy, for his ways are perfect. 

I remember a vision the Lord gave me years ago.  There was an inflatable toy “happy face,” rolling down a hill.  I heard a voice say, “Judgment, mercy, judgment, mercy…”  The Lord brings judgment against nations and people groups in hopes that some will repent of their wicked ways.  With godly sorrow over one’s sins, God responds by showing mercy.  

“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9 

The Lord judges our hearts and motives.  But he also expects us to judge them as well, for he has given us his word, so that we might know what is true, what is right and how we can please him.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:13

It is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction of sin to our hearts so that we can repent and return to God. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 

I believe that judgment is coming to our nation and its people, for even though we can blame the government and those in positions of authority, we can also go along with them and share in their guilt.  When we choose to agree with the world and its values we come under the same judgment as the world.

The Lord told his disciples that wickedness would increase in the last days.  And today, there is no doubt that wickedness has increased to a level that rivals the time when the Lord destroyed the earth with a flood.  For example: 

Over 63 million abortions have occurred in the US since Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 America saw more than 1,000,000 abortions each year between 1975 and 2012. 

The Lord grieves over the sins of our nation and our people just as he grieved over the violence and wickedness on the earth in the days of Noah.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”  Genesis 6:5-7

We are experiencing wickedness and corruption all around our nation.  Our culture is moving further away from God and his perspective of morality.  All restraint to sin seems to be cast off.  People are embracing a new morality based on a perverted world view.  The freedom to kill is elevated to a new level.  Not only do we accept abortion, but California has now passed a law  permitting a mother to kill her 28 day old infant.  The same state has passed laws now permitting euthanasia, the right to end one’s life.  They want to expand the availability of euthanasia to children without requiring parental approval.  We are living in a culture of death.  The global elites fear that there are too many people.  One group has declared  that the world’s ideal population should be 500 million.  Today we have 8 billion people globally.  This would mean that we would have to kill 94% of the people now living on the earth to reach their goal!  

This is why so much effort and money is put forth to promote anything that stops procreation, and kills people.  Pandemics kill great numbers of people without much effort.  The bubonic plague killed ⅔ of Europe–twice!  Wars also kill.  Famine kills.  And wars have the added benefit of slowing down the birth rate.  Without young men, there will be fewer births.  By promoting the LGBT agenda there will also be fewer births.  By promoting promiscuity and keeping young women in the workforce, during their child bearing years, they destabilize the family and delay  marriage, so that there will also be fewer births.  By over-regulating and heavily taxing small businesses they work to decrease the middle class.  Where there is less spendable income, there will be couples with fewer children.   

Wickedness is everywhere.  What was considered true and good in the past is now being questioned.  Some deem the truth to be “misinformation,” and the good and pure to be bad, racist, or misogynistic.  The value we place on our faith, our families, in self determination, in patriotism, individuality, in our Constitutional rights and freedoms are not shared by our fellow citizens.  From the globalist perspective, these values undermine their goals.  Our moral standards and our trust in God stand as hindrances to what they want to achieve.  They are bent on destruction for they have agreed with the enemy of our souls to reduce the population at any cost.  

Jesus said, speaking to the Pharisees of his day:  

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”   John 8:44 

But God will judge.  We are to pray.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”  Isaiah 5:20 

By this vision, I believe that the Lord is declaring that he will judge, and his judgments are final.  There is no higher court.  He has written his law on the tablets of our hearts, so that we will all be held accountable.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”  Romans 1:18-32

We know that judgment can come to those on the earth right now who fail to turn to God.  For the Lord hears the prayers of his people.  And at the end of days, there will also be a judgment, where the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats.  I can’t say anything more clearly than what the Lord himself says and what he says through his prophets and apostles in the word of God.  It is always best to read the word for yourselves.  But I am trying to convey this message.  Jesus is the judge.  He is holy.  He came to die for us who believe in his name and have a desire to love and serve him, to honor him above all else, and to obey his word.  Jesus wants his church to be ready to receive him.  He wants his church to be prepared for persecution in any and all its forms.  We have to stand firm and not be shaken when our faith is tested.

Let’s pray for our leaders and those in positions of influence and power.  We pray for the noble and pure in heart that are serving in our nation’s capital and in our states and communities.  Those who love and serve the people of our country.  We also pray for the corrupt and wicked leaders who care only for themselves. We pray that the Lord will capture their hearts and turn them around.  We pray that they would fear the Lord and be obedient to his word.  We pray that in the Lord’s mercy, they would choose to love, honor, and follow him.

The Field

The second vision is of a field next to a road.  The field is not showing a particular crop like wheat, corn or soybeans.  But it seems to be a field with just grass and weeds and whatever springs up on its own.

There were a few scriptures that came to mind when I saw this vision, but since the first vision concerns judgment there are two that I would like to share.  The first comes from the Old Testament but it concerns provision for the poor.

“Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.  The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing:  “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.  A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”  Isaiah 5:8-10

So what does this have to do with the poor?  Do you remember the story of Ruth?  She, being an alien and a widow, was allowed to go to a field and harvest what was available around the perimeter of the field to keep for herself.  This was the provision of the Lord that was declared in the Old Testament Law. Because her mother-in-law was a relative to Boaz, she was told to go to his field where she would be treated well.  By the grace of God, she was allowed to go into the entire field and gleen what was left following the harvesters.  They even gave her some of the grain that they had already gathered.  This is how we are to take care of the poor.

The woe presented in the passage above was to those who joined house to house and field to field, till no space was left.  There is no room and no place for the poor to go and gather for themselves when the land is but one field.  How can a person journey from one place to another if everywhere is private property? When the houses are joined one to another and there is no space left, where are the poor to live?

We see this happening in our communities today.  The more affluent neighborhoods and communities do not want multi-family properties or rental properties in their towns.  So they crowd out people who are not wealthy like themselves by using zoning laws to remain exclusive.  This forces the less fortunate to live in areas further away, so they must drive a distance to work in a community that they cannot afford to live in.  Here in New Jersey they have state laws to mandate affordable housing in all communities throughout the state.  Although this law may be in place, it does not stop people from attempting to get around it to maintain their exclusivity.

We see now that farmland is being purchased by large corporations that join field to field in every direction.  The family farmer is having to compete with large scale agricultural production.  When they cannot compete, they lose the farm and it is sold.  The large corporations take over another farm.  Like cancer, these properties grow and spread everywhere.  In the past, when a farm owner died, he could pass his farm to his son or family member without paying a “death tax.”  But in more recent years, the corrupt leaders assessed a death tax on the estate so that the tax would be too high and it would force them to mortgage their property or sell it just to pay the tax.  Thank the Lord, for President Trump who reversed this corrupt and immoral law, so that family owned farms could pass from one generation to another, without this burden of tax.

We have corrupt people who are selling our farmland to foreign countries.  This is like Essau who sold his birthright, his inheritance for a bowl of soup.  Not only is it foolish, but it will cause food shortages. The foreign countries who own this farmland will ship it out of our country depriving our people of the food it produces, or they will get federal subsidies to not farm it.  This is not just poor stewardship.  This undermines our national security.

Judgment is coming to those who do such things: joining house to house and field to field.  It harms those most at risk - the less fortunate.  

There is another scripture that came to mind as I was praying about the vision of the field.  It was this:

“Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.  But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.  When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”  Matthew 13:24-30

This parable has to do with the end times and judgment. The Lord wants us to know that the wicked will be everywhere, right alongside the righteous.  They will be living in the same communities, going to the same schools, and working in the same workplaces.  We will even find the wicked attending our churches, some as the enemy’s plant. Some will seek to cause division, strife, discredit the pastor or prey upon lonely unmarried women and innocent children.  

The Lord represented by the man in the parable, tells the servants not to pull up the weeds but allow them to grow together because there is the potential of uprooting the wheat at the same time.  However when it comes to discovering a wicked person in the church, we are told to expel a divisive or an immoral person from the congregation.

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”  Galatians 5:9

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.  

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”  1 Corinthians 5: 9-13

God is bringing judgment to all.  I recently wrote about a shaking that may soon take place.  It will affect everyone, for it says in the word of God: 

“Everyone will be salted with fire.”  Mark 9:49

This is true even in the church: 

“For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And, if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 1 Peter 4:17-18

Now is the time to get right with God.  We might not have another tomorrow.  Today is the day of salvation.  So if you feel that you are not right with God and you want to repent, which means to change your mind, and ask for forgiveness. Then make a decision and a genuine commitment to follow the Lord.  Becoming a Christian is not about praying a prayer and then thinking that you can then go your own way and do your own thing.  It is about dying to oneself.  It is about submitting to Jesus, taking up our cross and following him.  The Lord will require you to know him, to walk with him, to follow him wherever he leads, and to be obedient to his word.

If we do not put him first in all things– then we are not worthy of him.

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.”  Matthew 10:37-38

If you would like to pray a prayer of salvation to begin your life with the Lord, just first confess your sins to God, and decide that you will change the things in your life that are sinful or hinder your walk with him.  Then pray:

Dear Jesus,

I confess to you my sins that I have committed by my actions, thoughts and words.  Please forgive me, I choose this day to turn away from my sinful activities and thoughts and desires, and turn to you.  I acknowledge that you died for my sins and the sins of the world.  You paid the debt for my sin, something I could not pay myself.  I ask that you reconcile me to the Father and that you will fill me with the Holy Spirit who will lead me, guide me, and live within me.  I thank you that he will lead me into all truth.  I thank you for the word of God which will teach me your ways.  I ask that you direct my steps and help me to serve you with all my heart.  I also ask you to write my name in the book of life, so that when I leave this earth, I will be welcomed into your heavenly kingdom, to be my home for all eternity.  I thank you Lord, that you have removed my sins as far and the East is from the West and that you choose to remember them no more.  Lord heal my heart of the wounds that came to me because of sin.  As you have forgiven me, I also choose to forgive those who have harmed me, physically, emotionally or even spiritually.  I commit my life to you and ask that you help me to please you in all that I do, and all that I say.  Thank you for your forgiveness.  I am born of your Spirit this day, and I will always remember my commitment to you.  Thank you Jesus, you are God the Son.  Thank you God the Father and thank you Holy Spirit.  You are truly a trinity, three persons, yet one God!  I love you!  Amen!

Please share this post with others. Everyone needs to realize that we need to be right with God. Today is the day of salvation. Share this with someone who needs to hear that salvation is a gift from God. His name is Jesus. He is the gift of salvation! God bless you!