Dream of a weird kind of clock

[Emli]

Oh indeed, lots of bad and sad things are happening in Sweden. I originally come from Norway myself, so I remember how it was visiting Sweden before it all accelerated into all the mess it has gotten into now.

The main state church of Norway has also changed a lot, I remember in early 2000's somewhere I went to a protestantic church for a chat with one of the priests, I talked about one guy in my class who was a homosexual which I was concerned about, and he just stopped me saying I shouldn't judge him as I would be judged by the way I judged others. I asked if I could show him the references in the bible about homosexuals but he didn't let me. So I just stood up and walked out from there.

Good bible verse reference put on the end there too. Times haven't really changed that much when one thinks about it. The reason for why it may have seemed as having been going through a change is because the part of the world we are living in have been allowing compromise after compromise, just to keep the peace. Yet we shouldn't strive for having the peace of the world, the peace of the world profits us nothing!

John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

That is terrible, and exactly what people are like over here as well. And yes, it's definitely compromise. The churches are doing everything they can to fit in with the world. It's terrible, and the Church of Sweden is even including all sorts of pagan practices in their curriculum now.

I only got saved a little over three years ago, and I quickly found out what a mess it is...

The Lord showed me almost immediately that the Church today is almost exactly as the Bible describes it will be in the last days, in disorder and filled with false teachers and prophets. Most aren't living according to the Word at all, or according to twisted versions of it that will save no one.

I haven't really started involving myself with the churches in Sweden yet, but once I do, I'm hoping to be overturning some tables.

The Bride needs to make herself ready before her Groom comes.

 

[Hidden In Him]

We are always supposed to keep watch... We can't be caught up in date settings and prophetic calendars, because it is simply not the Lord's will for us as He and Paul has made it known to us.

Actually, Emli, the command of the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed to watch, but not for the second coming but for the prophecies to be fulfilled that would precede it. When believers saw them being fulfilled then and only then were they to look up and expect their redemption to be drawing near (Matthew 24:33). Until then they were to watch for the signs rather than for His coming, for if they watched for His coming and not the signs they could be deceived (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

We all have to live as though Jesus will come in our lifetime and also as if we could die tomorrow, always keeping our eyes on Him, working for His Kingdom

This part is correct.

 

[Emli]

Actually, Emli, the command of the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed to watch, but not for the second coming but for the prophecies to be fulfilled that would precede it. When believers saw them being fulfilled then and only then were they to look up and expect their redemption to be drawing near (Matthew 24:33). Until then they were to watch for the signs rather than for His coming, for if they watched for His coming and not the signs they could be deceived (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).


This part is correct.

True. We're to look for the signs. We're to wait for them and for Him. We're not supposed to calculate when they will come or how much time is left. Because we are supposed to rely on Christ, and trust that He will make us aware of them when they come, and protect us and lead us. That is where our focus should be, to prepare ourselves and others, and the whole Church, fully relying on Christ to keep us from falling away, and not relying on a time table that only the Father knows and has decided not to share. Setting dates or years or time periods only creates confusion, and whether the date is set soon or far in the future, the effect it has on believers is that they stop preparing themselves. It is a very dangerous practice that is a stumbling block for those whose walks are already weak.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Setting dates or years or time periods only creates confusion

Yes, this part I agree with.

Trust me, I'm aware of the prophetic calendar and all that needs to take place first, and we are not anywhere near there yet.

This was essentially a reference to watching for the signs that must come first.

One of them is that the Catholic church, as the head of an ecumenical movement that will include most of the mainline Christianity, will eventually return to murdering the saints and prophets, and I don't see that happening just yet.

The above is just one of many.

The small hand represents that we are now in the time when these things are set to occur, yet they will be delayed

This part here is very similar to Christ's warnings that they needed to remain faithful if the Lord delayed His coming, which is actually the Biblical context for watching for it. After everything He says in Matthew 24 to be watching for, and that they did not know the hour, He then stresses to be prepared for if His coming should be delayed:

Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:46-51).

Anyway, I think I'm forgetting what I points I was driving on at this point, LoL. But the biggest danger according to scripture is for believers not to be prepared to wait a long time if necessary.

Blessings,
Hidden

 

[Martyr's Crown]

Yes, Ma'am. I'm well aware of what's been going on in Europe. My biggest concern is with believers in the States, however, because they are the most unprepared (but certainly not due to favoritism).

Thanks for the gracious reply, and your avatar is cute these days.
Hidden

True. We will also be noticing more where we are placed, where God wants to use us. Even though we also are aware of what's going on in other places of the world as well.

You are welcome! Thanks for your response too! The avatar is a good reminder for me, also since from last year when God reminded me of this whilst I was going through a very difficult time! I cried out to Him to help me, and He showed me this bible verse:

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Not everything is always easy now too, but compared to last year I have grown a lot more and gotten stronger in my faith and relationship to Jesus Christ! I know He is with me, and that He is helping me through with any difficulties put my way! Every day is a battleground of it's own, but I have now God's peace over me. He also showed me another bible verse which helped me tremendously not too long ago:

Psalm 62:1
"I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him."

And then I was also reminded of this one which is greatly connected to this one too:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

I have noticed how much stronger I get when I am weak in myself but strong in Jesus Christ, and this has now become something I pray about often, that I will continue remaining weak in myself but strong in Jesus Christ. I believe this will also teach me to become more humble as a person too, something which I desire becoming more as well.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Fantastic verses. Some of my favorites.

Not everything is always easy now too, but compared to last year I have grown a lot more and gotten stronger in my faith and relationship to Jesus Christ!

I greatly admire this. It is in the tests that we become perfected, yet not all are willing to embrace those tests. I am going through some severe things lately, but I can see myself changing into a different person, a stronger person in every way. Just know that you can be an inspiration to others, and probably already are.

Psalm 62:1
"I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him."

And then I was also reminded of this one which is greatly connected to this one too:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

Some of the strongest verses in scripture.

I have noticed how much stronger I get when I am weak in myself but strong in Jesus Christ, and this has now become something I pray about often, that I will continue remaining weak in myself but strong in Jesus Christ. I believe this will also teach me to become more humble as a person too, something which I desire becoming more as well.

I can tell you don't need much teaching on some of the really important stuff.

Blessings, sister. You have a friend and admirer in Hidden In Him.

 

[Emli]

Yes, this part I agree with.


This was essentially a reference to watching for the signs that must come first.


The above is just one of many.


This part here is very similar to Christ's warnings that they needed to remain faithful if the Lord delayed His coming, which is actually the Biblical context for watching for it. After everything He says in Matthew 24 to be watching for, and that they did not know the hour, He then stresses to be prepared for if His coming should be delayed:

Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:46-51).

Anyway, I think I'm forgetting what I points I was driving on at this point, LoL. But the biggest danger according to scripture is for believers not to be prepared to wait a long time if necessary.

Blessings,
Hidden

Well, what I was mostly referring to in my post was all of the people who claim to know for certain or at least speaks it as if it is an absolute, that Christ will either come [insert random date next year] or that He won't come in our lifetime or even in hundreds of years, based on some calculations and speculations. That is deceptive, because it isn't based on all of Scripture, and it misleads people. A lot of people. It has always been happening, and it always turns out to be false prophecy. It's just a perspective that I have felt a strong leading to warn people away from having. Not that we shouldn't study prophecy, because we absolutely should or we will be blind, but that our focus should be on Christ and what He has commanded us to do and not on figuring out when His plans will happen, because He has told us that no one knows but the Father.

Those verses (Matthew 24:46-51) are exactly why we cannot set dates. Because by setting a date far in the future, that will cause a stumbling block for others to end up like that evil servant, and then their blood is on our hands as well. There are reasons to why we aren't allowed to know the day and hour, and why we shouldn't speculate, probably mainly because of the way it affects people and causes them to lose the urgency we all must feel, doing everything we can for Him every day. And why even speculate or ask about it, when we know for sure that God won't tell us? And if it isn't coming from His mouth, we really shouldn't listen.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Well, what I was mostly referring to in my post was all of the people who claim to know for certain or at least speaks it as if it is an absolute, that Christ will either come [insert random date next year] or that He won't come in our lifetime or even in hundreds of years, based on some calculations and speculations. That is deceptive, because it isn't based on all of Scripture, and it misleads people. A lot of people. It has always been happening, and it always turns out to be false prophecy. It's just a perspective that I have felt a strong leading to warn people away from having. Not that we shouldn't study prophecy, because we absolutely should or we will be blind, but that our focus should be on Christ and what He has commanded us to do and not on figuring out when His plans will happen, because He has told us that no one knows but the Father.

Those verses are exactly why we cannot set dates. Because by setting a date far in the future, that will cause a stumbling block for others to end up like that evil servant, and then their blood is on our hands as well. There are reasons to why we aren't allowed to know the day and hour, and why we shouldn't speculate, probably mainly because of the way it affects people and causes them to lose the urgency we all must feel, doing everything we can for Him every day. And why even speculate or ask about it, when we know for sure that God won't tell us? And if it won't come from His mouth, we really shouldn't listen.

I agree. The command is simply to watch for the signs.

Blessings,
Hidden

 

[Martyr's Crown]

That is terrible, and exactly what people are like over here as well. And yes, it's definitely compromise. The churches are doing everything they can to fit in with the world. It's terrible, and the Church of Sweden is even including all sorts of pagan practices in their curriculum now.

I only got saved a little over three years ago, and I quickly found out what a mess it is...

The Lord showed me almost immediately that the Church today is almost exactly as the Bible describes it will be in the last days, in disorder and filled with false teachers and prophets. Most aren't living according to the Word at all, or according to twisted versions of it that will save no one.

I haven't really started involving myself with the churches in Sweden yet, but once I do, I'm hoping to be overturning some tables.

The Bride needs to make herself ready before her Groom comes.

True. You can clearly see the falling away happening in churches nowadays, this is very evident! It is sad seeing how lost and blinded people can get, but at the same time it encourages us knowing that the time of Jesus Christ's Return is nearing as well!

I am sure of that if this is what God has in mind for you, then it will happen at the right time! You may just need getting more prepared and build up stronger first.

I must admit I got touched when reading this part: "I haven't really started involving myself with the churches in Sweden yet, but once I do, I'm hoping to be overturning some tables.

The Bride needs to make herself ready before her Groom comes."

It made me get filled up with much inner joy.

(my answer over about the right timing in God for you is also a response to what I quoted from your message above here)

 

[Emli]

True. You can clearly see the falling away happening in churches nowadays, this is very evident! It is sad seeing how lost and blinded people can get, but at the same time it encourages us knowing that the time of Jesus Christ's Return is nearing as well!

Yes! Exactly!

I am sure of that if this is what God has in mind for you, then it will happen at the right time! You may just need getting more prepared and build up stronger first.

I must admit I got touched when reading this part: "I haven't really started involving myself with the churches in Sweden yet, but once I do, I'm hoping to be overturning some tables.

The Bride needs to make herself ready before her Groom comes."

It made me get filled up with much inner joy.

(my answer over about the right timing in God for you is also a response to what I quoted from your message above here)

Thank you. I hope so. I do need to prepare and get stronger, and a lot more ready to face all of the opposition.

I'm really glad it gave you joy. It gives me joy to think about it. The Bride of Christ, the Wedding, the Church making herself ready, cleansed and dressed in white. We're not ready today, not all of us, not as His Body. But we will be one day.