In response to prayer in the last days..

2 things are mentioned in those passages:

Watching and praying ( Mark 14: 32-41). Twice we are exhorted to watch!

This begs this question: Are watching and praying both necessary to be able to stand with Jesus in that hour? Are watching and praying two separate things or do they go hand in hand?

I believe from this passage, that they are inseparable. Let's take a look at what Jesus is saying by telling us to watch.

In this passage, He wants them to watch with him. What are they looking for? The trouble. Those who want to take the life of Jesus. They are in essence watching for the darkness, so that they would not be caught surprise by it.

In Matthew 24:42 it says:

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

The exhortation here again is to watch. Watch for the Lord's return so that it will not come upon you like a thief in the night.

Cross reference this and Matt. 24: 32-44:

32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ( NKJV)

and with 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8:

1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

In Mark 14: 32-41, Jesus' observations and exhortation in Gethsemane are that:

1.) The disciples could not keep watch for one hour
2.) The disciples did not pray
3.) The disciples need to keep watching and praying that they may not come into temptation
4.) The spirit is willing
5.) The flesh is weak
6.) He finds them sleeping twice for their eyes were very heavy
7.) They did not know what to answer Him

It is interesting that in 1 Thessalonians, it says in v.6 " Therefore let us not sleep.." Just as the disciples Peter, James, and John had slept with their eyes heavy in the darkest hour, so we are exhorted not to sleep, but to watch and pray. We are commanded in Thessalonians to discern the times and the seasons. I do not want my spirit which is prone to apathy to face Him "not knowing what to answer Him."

Can you have a prayer life and not watch? Sure.

I know many who are sincerely committed to the Lord and follow Him who have a prayer life. Are they watching for His return? Are they trying to discern the times and the seasons? No. So,the spirit is willing but our flesh is weak and we must indeed pray. We must have a faithfulness to the secret place. Many though do not see the importance of watching because they aren't really sure what that means.

I'm not really sure what that means.

I think we are trying to figure it out together. We are praying and trying to discern the times and season we live in. This has so very much to do with the great falling away. I do not want to trust my own heart to stand in the darkest hour with Jesus when I know that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Yes, all of disciples fell away in that hour, even the most zealous.

Zeal will not sustain us in that hour.

As it says in Matthew 24: 21-22:

21"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
22"Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

My spirit is not shocked by that statement as it should be.

We need to watch and pray: For a great post about why we should study the end-times, read David Sliker's response here on the IHOP forums-

http://www.ihop.org/Forums/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1000001991#new

Grace and peace-

clue to prayer's importance in the last days

Mark 14:
27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’*
28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not...
(later in Gethsemane verses 32-41)
Jesus said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch..." then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping, "Simon" he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing the body is weak."
This happened to all the disciples two more time and "they didn't know what to say to him"
During the Lord's darkest hour on earth they did not stand with him in the place of prayer, and later we see they did not stand with him at all. Jesus told them they would all fall away and they did. All of them, even the most zealous. They were brought back to him though. I am comparing this to the great rebellion or falling away of the last days. It will be the darkest hour on earth, and Jesus is asking us to stand with Him during it. If you have a prayer life communing with the Lord, then you might stand. If you do not have a prayer life you will not stand with Jesus.
Is this a reliable comparison? anything else?

I want to be like You...

yesterday Jong shared a verse

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to love justly,
To love mercy.
And to walk humbly with your God

Micah 6:8

hmm.....

-christine

Sobriety in the Revelation of Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:13-17 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” 17 And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;

hmm... what is the Revelation of Jesus... how we should approach this book? As those who are lovesick to know Him more... let us look to the book of Revelation as the one book which is titled wholly the Revelation of Jesus...

The faithful witness
The firstborn from the dead
The ruler of the kings of the earth

Description: in a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voise as the sound of many waters. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (1:13-16)

How can I meet Him how I am now? How can I have sobriety in my spirit towards the things of Him? For He is terribly beautiful and beautifuly terrible! I close my eyes to try to picture these things and how He appeared to John... John what were you thinking??

-christine

Julia's Loophole

In Matthew 24
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

We were wondering if these means the great commission needs to be accomplished b/f "the end" comes, whatever part of the end "the end" is referring to.

-Julia brought up a fulfillment of preaching to all nations w/ the angel in Rev. 14:6
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.

so, maybe that's what that's about, meaning maybe Jesus can even return before every "nation" possesses the gospel. But, our maybe not, because we wondering if this angel was after the return of jesus, meaning, too late.

-Here's mine: everyone, all flesh, finds out that Jesus=Yaweh when he kill a bunch of people. I'm guessing this is the tribulations and not the end o millenium fight.

Isa 49:26
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Wisdom of the Lord- Revelation Ch. 1

The wisdom of the Lord is beautiful.

The entirety of His word is meant to reveal Jesus. Just in case we missed it, just in case we thought otherwise, the opening words of this book ( The Revelation of Jesus Christ) impresses upon our hearts the magnitude of the Father's burning desire to glorify the Son and unveil Him.(Song of Solomon 1:2)

After chewing over just the first five words ( The Revelation of Jesus Christ), it is apparent that we were meant to see His majesty and glory. We are meant to fall in love with our Savior. It is as if, ( not an analogy that can compare to what this looks like but..) I send a letter one who is just beginning to know me- expressing my love, my heart, my character,my thoughts- everything about me so that the person receiving it would understand every part of my inner most being.

Wow.

With just five words, God reveals that the giving of this to Jesus to show His servants, is His vast love, meant to bless us.

Revelation 1:1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants...

His servants indicates that this unveiling of Jesus is meant for all who follow Jesus Christ as Lord. Not only for the biblical scholar. Not only for the seminary graduate. For all who are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed then, as John writes in the next sentence, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy." Later on Revelation, it is said that "prophecy is the testimony of Jesus."

As we read and discover this Jesus, we will be blessed.

Amen.

-Julia

Snowday at U of I = Blogging...

Because of our little snowstorm here in Champaign, IL, we have had our classes shut down. The following donations will be accepted for poor college students to get around campus: Skis, snowboards, shovels, snowshoes, snowblowers, and sleds.

I believe it is in fact, a gift from God that the snow has us huddled inside today, so that our little group here can start blogging ( or wordcasting as they say in some circles). What shall we write about? Many fear to discuss or write about this book of the Bible because they believe that mass chaos will ensue-The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

How you will you do it, you say? Well, a Man once said that we have a Teacher, a Counselor, and His name is the Holy Spirit. He shall lead us into all truth. So, we stand in the face of wrong ideas, interpretations, and theology. The Holy Spirit desires to reveal Jesus, our Bridegroom God to us. He desires for us to fall more in love with Him. Iron sharpens iron.

In 1 Corinthians 2: 10 -12 it says:

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. ( NKJV)

Why you say? First, we desire to know Jesus. We desire to know our God and His desire towards us in every way possible.

Jeremiah 29: 12-14:

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.

The Lord is speaking here to Israel. This is applicable to all who come to him though. Yes, even these 6 college students in Champaign, Il. We will be going through Revelation with prayer and fasting. This brings me to reason # 2.

We want to discern the time and season we are currently living in. Jesus requires us to (Luke 21:29-36). We do not want to handle the Word carelessly. We want to approach the Word with hearts that are longing to know Jesus. It is the first time that it is possible in over 2000 years that we may be in the generation of the Lord's returning ( we'll discuss more on this later).

Join along as we venture into God's burning heart. We hope to be consumed.

-Julia