Castles in the Sand

Christsfreeservant · #1 22nd February 2010, 11:05 AM

This is from my QT with the Lord this morning but includes an older vision that I believe is relevant to the passage of scripture I read today:

Monday, February 22, 2010, 7:16 a.m. – When I awoke this morning, this song was playing in my mind:

"Prodigal" / Casting Crowns

Living on my own, thinking for myself
Castles in the sand, temporary wealth
Walls are falling down, storms are closing in
Tears have filled my eyes, here I am again

And I've held out as long as I can
Now I'm letting go and holding out my hand

Daddy, here I am again
Will You take me back tonight
I went and made the world my friend
And it left me high and dry
I drag Your name back through the mud
That You first found me in
Not worthy to be called Your son
Is this to be my end
Daddy, here I am
Here I am again

Curse this morning sun
Drags me in to one more day
Of reaping what I've sown
Of living with my shame
Welcome to my world
And the life that I have made
Where one day you're a prince
The next day you're a slave

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 13:

And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

9He who has an ear, let him hear.
10If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

The Beast out of the Earth
11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

My Understanding: We’ve been talking a lot lately about NATO, the USA and their allies, and their actions throughout the world toward the people of the world, including toward their own people. This constitutes “the Beast” as best I understand it. “Horns” and “Heads” are both symbols of rule and authority as are crowns, which have to do with kings and kingdoms. They are blasphemous because they try to play god or to act as gods over the earth and over the people of the earth in deciding who lives and who dies. They think they are the gods of the earth.

A leopard - Pound for pound, the leopard is the strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing prey larger than itself- http://www.awf.org. Grizzly bears are incorrectly portrayed by the media as voracious predators. In fact, they are normally reclusive creatures that act aggressively toward humans only in specific situations (usually when they feel startled or threatened by human actions – generally around cubs or food sources). http://www.bearinfo.org/biolandbehav.htm The lion is an exception to the usual solitary existence of most cat species. It has developed a social system based on teamwork, division of labor and an extended but closed family unit. The average pride consists of about 15 individuals: 5 to 10 females, their young, and 2 or 3 territorial males. These are usually brothers or pride mates who have formed a coalition to protect their females. http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/lion

This is interesting. This is a vision I had in October of 2009:

Sunday, October 18, 2009, 10:48 p.m. – I lay down in bed to sleep when I had THIS VISION: The mouth of a lion appeared on my right (east) facing the left (west). It looked as though it was yawning with its tongue sticking out toward the left (west). Then I saw a right arm and a hand extend out from the mouth toward the left (west). After that it appeared as though the mouth was like a vacuum that was sucking air inside of it and the arm and hand appeared like it was reaching out from inside this mouth as if to call whatever was to be sucked inside the mouth.

Following this I had an image of my mom in my mind. She died in June of 2000. Then, I saw something I can’t recall followed by an image of my aunt, her younger sister, who died in January of 1990. Both women died of cancer.

Then I saw this mouth again, still on my right (east) and still facing the left (west). There appeared to be more than one mouth or else it was just one mouth with varied tongues, for I saw the lion’s tongue sticking out and I also saw a snake’s forked tongue stick out and these appeared to alternate at a pretty fast and intense speed.

I then saw a leopard on my right (east) facing the left (west) growl or snarl and then extend its claws as though ready to attack something or someone. There was a battle that followed between the leopard and another animal or animals. It was pretty fearsome. Then the battle was over and everything felt very quiet and peaceful. END

The dragon is Satan. I read several articles about the dragon. The dragon is also a symbol for China, Japan and Korea and is closely associated with Buddhism. This is interesting in light of the fact that Japan and China own most of the U.S. securities. It is also associated with Iran. Iran is very much in the news. Wow, this is certainly relevant: “The sirrush (or mushhushshu) is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, originally dating to the 6th century B.C. It resembles a scaly dragon with hind legs like an eagle's talons and feline forelegs. It also has a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snakelike tongue and a crest. While not matching any known creature, some argue the sirrush could have been a genuine animal.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirrush. I read several news articles that stated that the U.N. and the U.S. military are presently at work in restoring the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq. I believe this is significant.

God will give this beast authority for forty-two months (3.5 years) to make war against the saints of Almighty God and to conquer them. And, God will give this beast authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. If the beast, as described here, does not currently exist in its full form, it is definitely being formed right now. We can see how NATO forces have gone into various countries throughout the world and have basically taken over. NATO is in control in Europe (Belgium is its headquarters as well as it has headquarters in Afghanistan). NATO is also in control in Afghanistan and in Iraq where the city of Babylon exists. Our U.S. military is a big part of these NATO forces, supplying half or over half of the soldiers, I believe. And, the Lord has shown me over and over and over again how we are taking over these countries and their capital cities and their governments.

When we think of “worship” of the beast I think we picture bowing down to some idol. Satan is a liar and the father of lies. He is the great deceiver and he roams throughout the world seeking to devour the saints of Almighty God. So many Christians in America pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and proudly fly its flag. So many Christians in America believe the lies of the government. They believe we are in these other countries to protect and to preserve the constitution of the U.S.A. and to protect its citizens. So, is that not a form of worshipping the beast? Churches in America, for the most part, I believe, are 501c3 organizations, i.e. they fall under non-profit status under the U.S. government. As such, the government limits what a preacher can say to his congregation, so is this not bowing to the beast? We need to wake up! We need to say, “Daddy (God), here I am, will you take me back tonight?”

To be continued...

Christsfreeservant · #2 22nd February 2010, 11:07 AM

Continued from previous post...

In this second part of this passage in Revelation, it speaks of a second beast that speaks like a dragon. He ordered the people to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. This reminds me of a news story I read yesterday. The story was about Afghanistan. It stated this:

“Karzai had also reached out to Taliban fighters, urging them to renounce al-Qaida and join with the government. But the process of reconciliation and reintegration is likely to prove difficult.” http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/02/20/1036726/karzai-nato-still-causes-too-many.html

Karzai is the president of Afghanistan, but Afghanistan is truly under NATO occupation and rule of authority. Karzai, I believe, is just a figurehead and is controlled by the U.N./U.S. I believe the Lord has been showing me that we have been killing Christians in other countries who would not bow down to this new rule of government. Whether Christian or not, though, what this statement from this story told me is that we are forcing these people of Afghanistan to not only comply with the new form of government in their country but we are asking them to forsake and to renounce their former government and to join with us. This is what I believe the beast does. He asks us to renounce our former beliefs and values and to be “reintegrated” with the new government.

Integrate - to become an accepted member of a group and its activities, or help somebody do this – Encarta. So, to “reintegrate” someone means to do this over under a new system or to bring someone back under a system that they have fallen out of. Reconcile - the ending of conflict or renewing of a friendly relationship between disputing people or groups - Encarta. So, basically, the UN/US/NATO alliance is asking the people of Afghanistan to integrate and to reconcile with us. I believe that happens in the U.S., too. And, it is going to happen more and more and become even more severe as the day approaches. We will have to choose between the government and God Almighty. The government will try to force us to take a mark of some kind, which could be some kind of small chip inserted underneath the skin, which will make it so we can buy and sell. There is much talk about this technology now and about putting all our records into one microchip and this is what we would use at banks, stores, hospitals, etc. This is coming in some form or another.

The song talks about “castles in the sand.” That makes me think of these kingdoms that we are building in Afghanistan and Iraq, in particularly, though certainly this is speaking of any kingdoms built upon sand that will give way when the rains and winds come. The song not only describes the state of many people’s lives, but I believe it represents America and all that we are involved in militarily throughout the world where we are truly dragging the name of God through the mud. Our “Daddy” in heaven and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are calling out to us to return to our one true God and to be reconciled with them and with them alone and to allow them – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – to reintegrate us back into the kingdom of God, not into the governments of this world. We need to say with this song writer:

Daddy, here I am again
Will You take me back tonight
I went and made the world my friend
And it left me high and dry
I drag Your name back through the mud
That You first found me in
Not worthy to be called Your son
Is this to be my end
Daddy, here I am
Here I am again