Rapture 76

Another three things which must come

April 3, 2007

Joel Akin

There are three things which must begin to pass before we can move on to bigger things. One is the faith of men must change from men to faith in God. That is critical because men trust in men but not in God. They are not ready for things of God and that is the faith which God has for those who put their trust in Him.

Second is the faith of men must begin to change from faith in things to faith in God. Things are nice but they don't give help in time of trouble. And things are things which men make.

Third is the things of life. They must begin to change and that means they must take on the nature of life. For this to happen they must give up on time and time is part of things which is of old. Those old things must pass away so things can become new.

The third is probably the easiest to explain. So lets say we begin with one and move on to the last.

Men seek God but they don't have Him. Men love and care but they don't have hope. Hope isn't just of things or of men but of life. In a dream I had this morning mom was unable to discern faith. She had guide which helped her across the bridge. Yet when she saw an empty section she tried to cross it by faith. Only she saw faith as things that were there. Yet there was nothing there.

I tried to explain to her what faith was. She says she understood but I didn't really have a way of explaining that faith is that which allows us to fly. Flying is the ability to cross those empty places by putting my trust in God.

Now I love her and she will read this some day. By then I hope she understands. When I speak of faith I speak of God. I do not speak of men. Men teach and scripture guides. And thus the guide she has is Scripture. The men are the circle in the bridge. They cannot fill the gap. Only God can. The circle which is empty is there as a sign of God. God is nothing; at least in the sense of nothingness. Now that sounds like I'm saying he is worthless. I'm not. I'm saying God doesn't exist as we see or understand. And yet we try to accept and try to build and try to fight with faith. Only we can never understand what isn't there. We are trying to build God into something we can grasp. And yet that circle is there to remind us that there are things which we cannot see. And thus if we cannot see we cannot understand.

And the eventual outcome is that Faith we speak of is the ability to walk on nothing. Only we can never walk on air. We can only fly. And so God showed me that I had faith because I understood. Faith of men is the circle around nothing. They have grasped it but cannot see it. They hope for it but they cannot reach it. They can grasp hands around the circle but when they step out in faith or plant a seed in the air they end up with only what they help create. Which is an idea. And ideas are of Scripture and ideas are of men. And God gives us inspiration. Yet if we grasp at it we cannot see. And so we put our car in drive and drive right into the middle of it expecting God to support. Yet He cannot. He cannot build up what we refuse to see.

Now if that makes sense it is that we can see that God is based on Hope. Hope is based on faith and faith is the substance of things hoped for. That circle is the light but not one we can see. Now it sounds like I'm saying God is invisible. In a way I am but only in a way. God exists yet He places us into a position of test and test is where he proves us. We are placed there to see if we understand what faith is. If mom drives over a hole with the car there is little chance the car will survive. She might but the car will fail. And thus God created a circle and in the dream it fell down a ramp into the sea. Only the sea was of muck and debris. That is because we have cast things down there trying to figure out what faith is. In the bottom were treasures people had cast because they wanted to see. There were flash units from cameras and that signifies the scribe. The scribe is the one who carries record keeping devices. For me its a pen. I try to remember to bring one with me. Either in my pocked or attached to my shirt.

Yet in the dream those flash units signified a try to understand. They reflect insight. And insight ends up in the bottom of the sea because insight isn't enough. We need more then insight to understand. It is based on more then insight. And so the bottom of the ramp is the place where God places things that are there for those with eyes to see. And thus I have a way of writing about failure because God shows me that failure is more then just mom driving by faith into a hole in the bridge.

Now she is like others who have sought after the gate to God. That is the path which leads to life. She is one who has set her heart to learn. And yet she is not able to see. And see is what gives you insight.

I am blessed in that God is helping me understand. I had that dream and I didn't understand. It didn't make sense. There was a hole with rails and a hole with nothing. And so God sets me into place to observe. Not to change because no matter how hard I try I can't change. I can teach but it takes experience. And then people cry out Eureka. And only when they cry Eureka do I understand. Of course I do understand that out there are people living in Eureka. But sometimes its impossible to find. And even more difficult to live by. It is the place of men who seek guidance everyday from scripture. Yet they don't think that God who made scripture is the God who helped live it. Or perhaps exist in it. And so we live by faith and God lives by his power.

In part two men must begin to change from faith in things to faith in God. If we are to have a time of change then this is the hardest. It is the part where God has to teach and guide for there are things I went through which would be difficult for most. For example things are not just of things. They are of people. People want you to have but they don't want you to own. So if I had faith it was broke by those who had faith in things.

Things isn't just of people but also of material things. I have faith in God but some people have faith in what they make. For example a land owner might produce food. He has faith that God will write him a ticket. A ticket to produce. Yet if the land fails he is broken and shut down. And he says "I failed to see" because things let him down.

So if things are not what God wants us to have faith in then God is the only one who can help us. He carries us to the sea of time and we are carried up to him because we fail to see. Now sea of time is age and age gives us wisdom. But sometimes we don't learn from Wisdom. We fail. Just as Solomon failed in his age so we fail in ours. We cannot see and it is because we fail to heed. And that is God doesn't forsake us in our age but he trains us. And training means we cannot see. And thus we cannot understand. And if we did see we would be shocked at what we do by faith. Yet if we saw we would fail. Partly because we might be afraid of what is accomplished.

So lets explain this differently. When we fight against spiritual forces we do so by help. Help comes from the Lord. Everyone reads Ephesians and says "This indicates we are to put on the armor of God." Paul spoke of it so I woke renege on his words. I will just point out that maybe Paul wanted us to understand that armor came with power. And power wasn't something we had but something God had. So if we were given armor it wasn't so we could go out and fight but that we might defend.

Now everyone says Roman armor had no back plate. Thus they always had to face forward. This isn't true simply because men knew being stabbed wasn't usually in the face but in the back. And if they did it to men they would do it to each other. So men in that time wore pads which were meant to be worn in the back and not just in the front. And pads were there to deflect the armor and prevent men from being stabbed. It helped men to see and it was there to be found. Perhaps men of this time reflect on what they see in movies and thus there isn't a need for a pad in the back. Or even on the side.

So if armor was of men they were wise in its use. And it is the same for faith. We are not meant to fight with evil simply because they are seen. If we needed visible armor God would provide it. Now in faith there are things God does. He protects and guides. And if we are in trouble he will send us angel or angels to guide us through. And that isn't for one trouble and then death. It is in everything we do in life. So if there is trouble we are comforted by those who are of life. And they are there to help us.

Now we cannot see angels. They are there but only on rare occasions does God grant men right to see. Those are people who have earned right as in the case of Elijah. He had right and he was gifted enough to help Gehazi see as well. Jesus has that gift and if I am sound in doctrine then God will guide me to see as well. Being sound means that I see and I understand. And that isn't easy to reach.

Lets put things into perspective. If I am able to see that means I should be able to write. And if I write I could write things from God. Yet we have scripture so you don't need more. But if God wanted me to record things of this age, and He does, then I am a man who has to be able to discern. Discern means being able to write the things of God. And that would be close to scripture. Yet if I am of God I don't write it for scripture but for posterity. And thus I write what I learn.

Now men of this age do not write as men of old. They had knowledge and that was specific to that time. And thus they could write with knowledge. And they did; and that meant they wrote the word of the Lord. And that word was word and not WORD because that was of Christ.

Now Christ is WORD and yet he can write it as word. Or even as Word. So if Christ were to speak he would write things of time and of life. And of people that fight. And of things that hurt because of life.

And so if I fight with Christ I do so because I fight with life. If I fight with life then I become as Saul who kicks against the goad. And the goad was there to prompt the mule or bare it to men.

All these things are part of the nature of life and we who are men fight with Christ because He as God carries us daily to the throne. And we fight with God because we cannot see. And thus we wrestle against Spiritual forces in high places. Not the spiritual forces Paul spoke of but Spiritual things which are of God. And part of it is because of things. And part of it is because of men. And part is because we are blind. And that blindness isn't going to be forever. In the future we will walk with men who can see angels. If we are blind to the angel they will be there but not in fullness. In a way it is a blessing that we are blind because some angels are huge. And if we saw them as we see men we might faint. For they are there to guide us. And not to make us fear. Yet we fear them because they are like unto the Lord. He comes down to see who is fearing Him and if there is one it is the one who says "I have failed." And so it is God who says "I don't faint nor am I stretched. I am not here to faint but to succor." So in a way that was the Lord sending me on a path to encouragement.

If I write the second I will go into problems simply because there are spiritual forces that strive with me. I am still fighting and it becomes hard. And there are angels who help with this fight. They are there to guide and to help. Yet they are not able to see me as I could see them. I am a man and I am small. And some of them are the size of a mountain. So I am less then an ant to them.

So why have such huge angels? And the answer is to help us understand. They are real and they are pure and they are people just like us. The only thing is they are really big. And that really big means they could have us for lunch and not know they had a snack. So if they eat they need big amounts of food. And they do eat. So they eat from a world that is huge because earth could not feed even one of them. They would eat us out of house and earth itself. In fact one angel is so big he could eat earth for a snack. And that is probably where my imagination gets me into big trouble.

Now speaking of life if there is life so big how does life change? For if the curse went into everything how did angels survive? And to answer that means God provided. And for God to provide on that size he had to make things bigger then life. And that is probably the only answer I'll get for now.

Now life isn't meant to be of hurt or pain. It is meant to be of life. And so if life is of God He knows I get hurt. He also knows I hurt. And He knows I am trying. So in this I will close and say the third answer is why God is returning. He is not coming for those who want death. He is coming for those who want life. And thus He inspires and guides people who need. And I am one. And so I fight with faith even if I do get discouraged. It doesn't change faith. It just changes things in me. I get discouraged because I'm wore out and tired. And also because I want to know. I want help and I want people to see. And I want to know what is happening so I can share it with you.

So if there is a short answer it is that God is helping us to fight. And that means there are battles and there are wars. A battle could be of men to men but war is of spirit to Spirit. And so God takes the spirit and breaks it out of its lair. And it is being delivered into the lake of fire.