Blessed be the name of the Lord, the Lord our God the Lord He is one.

Bless you my friends may your Thanksgiving being rich and full and may it be as though no problem exists in your life for the God of our souls is watching over us lovingly and with great care.

May we have the seven pillars, the eyes of our God, fully functioning. The Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, council, strength, knowledge and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

These are the seven pillars. These are the eyes of God upon the stone He presented. May they be a strength to us. May we have eyes to see clearly and correctly and righteously. Like a plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel assuring our work is aligned perfectly with our vertical understanding of God and His seven ways.

To the Lord, the glory in our souls, and in our ways forever, in the great salvation which is His name, and that of His beloved Son Jesus, amen.

Give thanks that the Lord has bestowed upon you such great riches in power and salvation.

We (He and I) love you dearly,
Michael

Proverbs 9:1 (KJV)
¹  Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

Zechariah 3:9 (KJV)
⁹  For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 

Zechariah 4:10 (KJV)
¹⁰  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Revelation 5:6 (KJV)
⁶  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Isaiah 11:2-5 (NASB)
²  The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³  And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
⁴  But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
⁵  Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Please … forward this post or others to a friend, your Pastor,  or a missionary in another country, or in this one for that matter. God has paused briefly for our preparation.

“If we remain in His grip, how far from His heart can we be!”

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

I am so thankful for all of the friends that surrounded me this year after the loss of my beloved Janis on 12-12-14. It is not a brief Thanksgiving that I give. Some gave me housing for weeks. Many a meal was provided and the comfort of friends to be with in the evening. I had a place to mourn in private, in a bedroom of my own. All gave me prayer and moral support. My church acquaintances still ask me, “How are you doing?”

The group of exxxxxceptional young people from Lee University that I toured Israel with still include me in their lives through Facebook. After I posted a comment, one recently blessed me deeply by saying, “I miss you Mr. Mike.” A pair of them got engaged. As a marriage counselor I suggested a book “The Five Love Languages.” My suggestion was graciously received. I am so grateful Lord. Bless them all richly please. I know You will.

My 94 year old mom keeps asking if I have a girlfriend yet. She loved Janis so much. She says she loves me more than I will ever know. I tell her, “Just keep telling me Mom, just keep telling me.” I tell her she is the only gal in my life now.

The Lord has blessed my finances, and my health. I walk 4.25 miles a night, three nights a week minimum. I have a home now in Deland. I have a blog with 75 posts over the past year. I am being read in 29 countries around the world. I have a message and a calling about rescuing at least some of the believers that will be lost in the Apostasy. I have a book about it available in most electronic book stores like Amazon. “Exit Strategy, we initiate the return of Christ.” $2.99. 

I have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner, by several households, thank You Lord. I have been invited to a special Christmas with longtime friends and their family. Not actually related just loved abundantly, they have always known me as “Uncle Mike.” 

My heavenly Father has told me even this morning that He loves me and that I am His. I have wept, no I cried over such a wonderful blessing. I get to sing in the church Christmas choir on the 13th of December at the Sanctuary Church of God. (You are invited of course. There is something [God] happening there.)

Every morning in the last month and a half, I have met with the Holy Spirit under my Tallit as He has led me to obscure persons in the Word, guiding me to answers about today’s situations, making comparisons, each time confirming that my experience with Him is real. It is amazing, troubling sometimes, and or instructive to me personally at times. Never-the-less, you know when you know it is Him and it is real. I post about some of these things frequently.

As I always say, and as many of you are, please … forward this post or others. to a friend, your Pastor,  or a missionary in another country, or in this one for that matter. Maybe they will identify with the revival message in these posts. Revival for survival.

“If we remain in His grip, how far from His heart can we be!”

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

As I shared in my last post, “Who will not exist?” the Esau’s of this world will not enter into eternal life. God hated Esau. I asked “If God hated Esau then and followers of Esau then, will He not hate the same Esau like behavior now and in the challenging days to come?”

Anything we insist on clinging to, be it person, place or thing, be it hurt, offense, or event, by our insistence, it then means more to us than our birthright into the kingdom of God. Our insistence, (or resistance) is against the counsel of God to let it go, to forgive, to forget and repent of such a grip; refusal demonstrates our likeness to Esau.

God said, “I hated Esau.” (Mal 1:3 KJV)  However, the Jacobs will enter. Obadiah 1:17-18 Why? Holiness. The house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. Like the stew in Esau’s case fulfilled a carnal need, nothing carnal is to be as important as our birthright. We may say we know this but do we inventory our heart in light of current atrocities?

I began that last post by saying on November 14^th God pointed me to Obadiah. Since then upon my asking in prayer, He has pointed me to places or rather obscure persons that I now see as timely in light of all we see happening. What does it mean?

On the 16^th, it was “Agabus.” I know, you are asking what I asked myself. “Who?”

Agabus was a prophet in Acts 11:28, 21:10-11. From Jerusalem he came to Antioch and Peter and also to Caesarea and Paul and in both cases to warn them of very unpleasant future circumstances.

I believe God has made it clear that some things He shows me are to encourage and direct me. Other things are to be shouted from the house tops. The last post was one of the latter.

“Agabus” was for me. The blood of whoever is on the head of the watchman who does not warn or the prophet who does not speak. I have to be willing to go and speak what the Spirit gives me to speak no matter how unpleasant it is. As I said in a previous post, “The prophet must forsake man for the sake of man.”

Warnings are meant to do just that. They are meant to help us prepare for the certainty God has foretold. Agabus did as he was impressed by the Spirit to do. (See Acts 21:4 for an example of this concept.)

God told Ezekiel in 3:26, (it) “cannot be a man who rebukes them.” In 3:27 He told the prophet, “But when I speak to you I will open your mouth.”  This is freedom to the prophet in not assuming a responsibility to correct others himself and yet it also is being in the chains of a bond slave Ambassador, to speak as told, a relationship Paul spoke of in Ephesians 6:20.

On November 19^th I asked in prayer and “Ahaz” was God’s response. I again I only knew the name vaguely. Now remember the daily events we are seeing. Do we elect a strong fighter type who may or may not be a very Godly person or do we elect a Godly mild mannered type who may turn out to be the “Clark Kent” of our day? Or is this another warning God knows we will ignore?

So I look up “Ahaz.” 2 Kings 16:5. He was a young king of Judah, who when under attack was spoken to by Isaiah the prophet. God through Isaiah basically said He was going to win this battle for Ahaz. Ahaz instead chose to call upon the king of Assyria for help. I had no idea what Isaiah had said to Ahaz.

Turn to Isaiah 7. Here is the one case I know of where God Himself demands that a fleece be requested of Him, in order to prove to Ahaz that he can trust this word of protection from God through Isaiah.

Ahaz’s name means “he has grasped.” In this case God was trying to help Ahaz live up to his name. It did not work. God in His (what seems like) exasperation over this then has Isaiah declare a fleece FOR Ahaz.

Isaiah 7:10-14 (NASB)
¹⁰  Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹  “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹²  But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” ¹³  Then he (Isaiah) said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? ¹⁴  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Wow! The birth of Jesus. This fleece would actually go both to Sheol and as high as heaven!

What a circumstance for this prophecy to be spoken. I must admit I had not remembered the context of that special prophecy. It seems it was made almost out of frustration but look at how it is addressed. “Listen now, O house of David!” God is looking beyond Ahaz to His Davidic covenant promise because Ahaz did not grasp it!!!

Does it seem coincidental that our political choices are being formulated on the verge of Christmas and (to me) God is also trying to impress us by the lessons of Ahaz? And,…He tried to get Ahaz to listen by giving Ahaz a word so far reaching that only we, followers within the house of David, might benefit from it? Will we do better than Ahaz?

I sum up by quoting a portion from my journal that day. “Shall we select a Godly man and God or a warrior king “believer” who has his own version of the temple and worship? Like 9-11, is this not a test again of our nation? What will those who are His do this time? Like Isaiah said, “a virgin will be with child and bear a son….(Isa 7:14) He also said the two kings Ahaz feared were forsaken “by the time the boy (Jesus) knows to refuse evil and choose good.” (Isa 7:15) Are there two kings in our future? Some believe Putin and Obama (who rule like kings) are the kings of the north and south respectfully. That is another bailey-wick.

Shall we make a carnal choice this election or shall we turn to the Lord. Shall we ask for a sign or is Jesus enough? Are His Words guidance enough? Will we (as a nation and individually) run home to Him? Did the prodigal not live under his fathers rule and blessing from the day of his forsaking his own way; the way of death? “For you are a nation divided even as Israel was divided. Which half did I preserve for My names sake? I honor My Word over my name. Jerusalem is my chosen place. Salvation is my Name. Both will be upheld.” God might as well have said, “I honor My Word over My Salvation, (My Name)”!

His Word will judge us. His Word was to lead us to actual salvation or not. Whether it will or not is an individual, a national, and a world wide challenge. Choosing life means specific choices. You read of those choices in the commandments of Jesus and here in these posts from God’s Word.

I am pleased to say we are being read in 29 nations throughout the world. Others are embracing the message of preparation.

To you in each nation, PLEASE … forward this post or my other posts to anyone you think of, your Pastor,  or a missionary in another country or in this one for that matter. Many will fall if we do not call! What if we only had a year?

“If we remain in His grip, how far from His heart can we be!”

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

Colossians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
¹²  Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Forgiving without love leaves you wanting not them. (Matthew 18:35 NASB)

On November 14^th I asked the Lord what He wanted me to read. I was under my Tallit as usual. Yesterday great tragedy and death struck France. Terrorism killed or injured over three hundred in Paris. Oh Lord.

Under my covering, in a whisper I heard in my mind, “Obadiah 3” As I found out, upon looking, there is only one chapter so 3 meant verse 3.

Obadiah 1:3 (NASB)
³  “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, …

You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’”

As we read on we see God is speaking to the followers of Esau, on the mountain of Esau, through Obadiah.

So why is God coming against Esau and his followers? We know of the birth and conflicts Jacob and Esau had in Genesis chapter 25 continuing even into Deuteronomy. In Genesis 25:29-34 Esau (swears to Jacob) and sells his birthright for a meal of stew and bread. Esau despised his birthright. Esau had little respect for the Godly relationship his father Isaac demonstrated. It seems Isaac was unaware of Esau’s purchase and the price he was willing to pay.  We sometimes blame Jacob for stealing the birthright but in fact he (and his mother) was repossessing it. Jacob had the “title” to it, an empty bowl of stew! To God, Esau’s cavalier attitude was a big deal. God, the God of love, “hated” Esau. God refers to His hatred of Esau by other prophets.

Malachi 1:2-3 (ESV)
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

Hebrews 12:14-17 (NASB)
¹⁴  Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵  See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; ¹⁶  that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷  For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

The book of Obadiah is speaking by the Spirit of God and God is declaring the future of those following Esau and Esau’s ways. He begins with, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.”

When I read that first phrase, “The arrogance…” I asked “Lord is it me?”  Then I knew but still asked, “Lord is it America?” Then I read the entire book.

IF this is God speaking to us today, if He maintains the same standards, then consider this synopsis as you read the book of Obadiah yourself.

Verse 3 Because of verse three, God is bringing us down as a nation. The majority has determined God should be excluded from government and its extensions. The term “arrogance” was used tonight in critiquing our leadership on TV.

Verse 4 Our nation, “built high like the eagle” ”From there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. Is our nation what it was?

Verse 5-6 We will be stolen from, ruined, ransacked, our hidden treasures searched out. How many ways has this happened already?

Verse 7 Allies will forsake us, deceive us, eat our bread but ambush us. Many are not being faithful to us. (Is it because of who we have become (weak) unsupportive? Is it because Esau’s do not understand covenant?). As Christians we were trustworthy and faithful toward what is right. We are no longer a Christian nation according to our top leadership. Forsaking God and His Ways is never an option.

Verse 9 God will destroy any wisdom from the mountain of Esau. Decisions are being made, actions are being taken that astound many of us to the point of exasperated unbelief!

Verse 10 Because of violence toward your brother Jacob [this is critical] “You will be covered with shame and you will be cut off forever.” Well Israel has seen it and now the rest of the world is getting its share with more to come. Declarations of our being “next,” does not make us a part of Jacob. Our Judeo-Christian relationship does.

Verse 11-14 Strangers carried away wealth while Esau stood by aloof. Esau eve though a brother of Jacob, was as one of them, gloating over Jacob’s misfortune, in the day of their destruction. “Do not enter the gate of My people.”  Are our leaders gloating in secret? As criticism blasts away at their egos, will it become clear that greater and greater participation has been in a heart of deception? Those like Esau will be shut out, even though they were once brothers, God hates Esau.

Verse 15 The day of the Lord draws near on all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you.” (Here and the source for Jesus in Matthew 7:12 NASB)

Verse 16 “As you drank on My holy mountain, all nations will drink and swallow and become as if they never existed.” We must realize there are those who drink of God and Christ but refuse to follow in His Ways. Learn how! We have a choice. Know this. True followers will be aflame with fierce commitment, trying to advise and lead many to righteousness. This fire will destroy those who are spoken of by Obadiah. They will be those who will hate us because they hated Him.

Spiritually and in practice, we must avoid being an Esau at all costs. “The house of Esau will be stubble….so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken.” Verse 18

Esau was a brother. We have brothers in the Lord who are like Esau in their spiritual existence. They prayed the prayer. They still drink milk. Sometimes not even that. We have a calling to pursue them. Warn them. Or as the Lord said in Ezekiel 3:20 (NASB)
²⁰  “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However if you have warned the righteous man…”

Christ is the obstacle for all of us. He is a stumbling block that tries to be a stepping stone which tries to stop us in our stinking hell bent attitudes, attitudes which must be left here in the trash heap of this lost and dying world. No one who has a full stomach of these, will get in. The gate is closed.  Obadiah 13.

Please … forward this post or others to a friend, your Pastor,  or a missionary in another country, or in this one for that matter. We are being read all around the world in 26 countries. Everywhere, enduring love must be preached.

“If we remain in His grip, how far from His heart can we be!”

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

There comes a time when one must do as he believes he is supposed to. In my case I have been pointing to the necessity that we have a heart of enduring love as trouble increases. It is already here.

What enduring may entail if we are followers is clear in the scriptures. Because it is going to happen, Jesus has admonished us in saying, “‘This,’ shall be preached”. Christ refers to “this” (enduring love) as the good news of the kingdom in Matthew 24:14.

Most including myself thought Jesus was talking about getting saved or evangelizing the world. Of course we are to do so but context says He is speaking of the end…not the beginning of man’s relationship with Him. Staying saved or maintaining our reconciled, righteous relationship to God is the topic. Enduring love, like He showed us, sets a standard that Jesus set first, to show us we can and must follow His Way. It must be the new or second nature our relationship to Him has spawned. This must be developed in us and takes time. It does not happen totally at reconciliation.

First. Many of my posts may sound like I am rebuking whoever for whatever. Everything I write applies to me first. What I have been shown I must shout from the house tops. Test it by the scripture I submit. Challenge me. A more certain hope via preparation and guidance are the goal here.

Second. Every morning before I do anything I have a time of meeting with God. I cover myself with my Tallit and after a minute of praise for the privilege, I ask God where I should read. One day recently it was Ezekiel 3:26.

Ezekiel 3:26-27 (NASB)
²⁶  “Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.
²⁷  “But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”

I am concerned that to some, especially those who do not know me, feel that I am just another man “rebuking” them. In my writings I have not said “Thus says the Lord God.” although I absolutely believe He has given me these various points of understanding to share for our eternal good. I find scripture that backs up what I have heard. The more different, the more serious the proof needed.

Many are immediately turned off by someone claiming they “heard” from God. I know history provides a plethora of disreputable folks who thought they did but did not.

On the other hand the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth. Does He take our hand literally? Not usually. Does He whisper to us, as I am alluding to? You cannot tell me he does not. So, as with all such occurrences, let’s eat the meet and spit out the bones. Let’s not focus on those who failed. Let us look inward and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us in such a way that we know, that we know He has done so. His truth requires a guide.

When I ask God where I am to read it is a very quiet almost faint voice that directs me and it is always to an obscure verse or location. My own memory is not involved. The case above was an answer to prayer for me. My greatest desire is to write or speak in such a way that it is received and spread world-wide. That may seem presumptuous but Matthew 24:14 (NASB) says,
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

As a testimony to our absolute commitment of “Followers” to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and His Son, Messiah Jesus.

According to Jesus this “enduring” is a world-wide message. Our eternal life saving goal is the enduring love that manifests in a soul developed over time and challenges, by the Words and examples of Christ.

Loved ones, this is not only an unfulfilled prophecy but it must be preached in order to minimize the losses that will occur during the Apostasy. Believers WILL BE LOST.

Jesus did not say this is the only message to be preached but in speaking of lawless times, He did say “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24: 13)  Of course for now, pastors and teachers world-wide can teach or preach on a myriad of topics. “This” however must be a priority, no matter when we think the rapture will happen. If a heart of enduring love saves us then….is it not required of us now? Can we have hatred buried in our hearts and expect to pass muster in heaven? No! Such will not be smuggled into heaven, now or then. The righteousness that prepares us for heaven must be in us here first.

As we witness today’s news and the atrocities, the lawlessness, the persecution, the killings, the renouncing of God by our nation, the absurdity of it all, we are severely challenged in our hearts. Hatred could rise up. Curses might be spoken against these enemies. These responses must be reigned in. They MUST BE taken into captivity and cast down, time after time. They are not of the Christ who dwells in us. Each offense on our part pushes Him further and further off of the Thrown of our hearts. God forbid we allow this lethal liberty to invade our souls once made righteous by the death of Jesus, reconciling us to the Father.  We MUST maintain this righteous relationship. After all we have no excuse.

”Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”   2 Peter 1:2 (NASB)

We must embrace the “everything pertaining to life and Godliness.” We must implement it so that “life” will be maintained by that Godliness until we bow before Him in gratefulness.

My next post is titled. “Who will no longer exist.”

Please … forward this post or other posts to friends, your Pastors,  or missionaries in other countries, or in this one for that matter.

“If we remain in His grip, how far from His heart can we be!”

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99