#preparetheway

The Lord Comes Nigh; Make the Way Straight for His Return

7/3/05 From The Lord, Our God and Savior The Word of The Lord Spoken to Timothy For All Those Who Have Ears to Hear

Thus says The Lord to the peoples of the earth: In My right hand is the power to save; and in My left, judgment, which I am about to pour out. For I am The Lord your God, The Only God, The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, and of Jacob whose name is Israel.[1] And behold, I sent My Only Begotten into the world,[2] and The Word became flesh,[3] YahuShua, Immanu El.[4]

Again, I am sending The Holy One to you. Therefore incline your ears and listen, that you may receive true knowledge. For as it was at the first, so shall it be at the last, for I do not change. Behold, ahead of The Messiah did I send John the Baptist, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.[5] In John’s hand I had placed the trumpet; and he made the path straight in preparation of The One coming after him, by whom all must be saved. John indeed baptized with water and with the Word given him. And now I am sending 144,000[6], in the spirit of John and in the power of Elijah,[7] to baptize with the Word of God and fire. For I have placed My words in their mouths, and the Trumpet rests securely in their hands. Therefore trust these I have sent and am sending, for they are My witnesses; they hear My voice and prepare My way before Me. For My judgments shall fall from Heaven, upon every tribe, tongue, people and nation; My punishments shall rain down hard upon the earth and break the pride of man! Behold, I shall remove all from their places; in My fierce anger I shall drive them out! The cities shall be laid waste and the houses shall be left desolate, for the earth shall become one vast desolation!

Yet there is sanctuary from this storm, A way of escape has been provided;

For He is called Jesus and Christ; YahuShua[8] HaMashiach is His name!…

Call upon Him, do not wait!…

Call upon His name in sincerity and in truth, And you shall surely be delivered…

Says The Lord.

1.↑ Genesis 35:10 2.↑ John 3:16 3.↑John 1:14 4.↑ Matthew 1:23 5.↑ Matthew 3 6.↑ See: https://answersonlygodcangive.com/Regarding_the_144,000_Witnesses 7.↑ Luke 1:17 8.↑ Zechariah 6:9-13 [*In Zechariah 6:11, the original Hebrew word for Joshua is Yahushua (יהושע)]

"A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" - #Isaiah 40:3

‘Tis the season once again! Of course, the phrase “’tis the season” can take on a variety of meanings.  For many of us, that phrase … and the particular season that it implies … comes with a lot of stuff. You know, Christmas stuff.  Music, lights, parties, food … the oh-so-familiar routines and traditions.  Not only that, but the season of stuff is very quickly over:  over-eating, over-indulging, over-spending, over-committing, over-stimulating, and over-anxious.  Despite the fact that last year we vowed to not let it happen next year, by December 20 of this year we’re so “over it” that we’re ready to just pack up, escape to a beach somewhere, and trade decking the halls for wasting away again in Margaritaville.  According to Norman Rockwell, it’s not supposed to be this way. But according to reality it happens, and unmet expectations of perfection fuel our increasing anxiety. And, with increased anxiety the background “stuff” of our psyches starts to compete for our attention.  

Background stuff.  It’s like a computer program or ap running in the background of our subconscious. We’re not even aware that it’s active. There is so much sub-conscious emotional stuff running, or active, in the background of our minds and spirits 24/7 that we don’t even realize what’s going on.  Why am I feeling this way? Sigh … It takes some real introspection and self-awareness to answer, or attempt to answer, that question. 

Well crap!  That means I’ve got to focus on me rather than try to blame someone, or something else.  

A day or so ago, I found myself feeling like … well, like … nothing. Not much mattered. Unmotivated.  Just wanted to sit and drink coffee and reflect upon how defective I perceive myself to be.  BUT WHY? Life is good!  Family and personal stuff is great, and I am blessed to be the pastor of a small spirit-filled, servant-hearted, loving congregation.  I could go on and on.  So, what’s going on?  

Then it hit me.  I had to change the question.  The real question became “what’s running in the background?  What triggered this?”  

Well crap!  That means I’ve got to focus on me rather than try to blame someone, or some thing else. 

Ok.  So, a little bit of silent alone time helped me as I took mental inventory. 

Seems that within this busy ‘tis the season, I had two meetings in two days … pleasant and benign.  However, the context of the meetings, jammed together in consecutive days, brought me right back into some trauma from the past; trauma from which I thought I had healed. Trauma that happened at ‘tis the season. Background ap running.  Then, a pile-on as some old software that is always running in the background took over from there; a shame spiral … that ‘ol nemesis that smells vulnerability and starts the replay of the “I’m” message. That is, the message in which each sentence begins with either I’m not, or I am.  Gee, thought I had uninstalled that.  Just went downhill from there.  So many aps running in the background that I had to shut down and re-boot. 

Hummm … maybe that’s really who the Grinch is.  Could it be that the mean one is really none other than … my own subconscious self?  Ewww!

During advent, we focus on waiting and preparation.  That means “prepare the way of the Lord” by preparing our own hearts and minds.  For me, that means a re-boot and to boot my nemesis the Grinch back into the background … at least for now.  I’ve tried to uninstall it, but unfortunately, its footprint remains.  The good news is, I’m aware that it’s running in the background, and I’ve got just enough self-awareness to help me combat the “I’m’s” when they start, rather than letting them invade and conquer like they used to.  But with that comes more self-awareness; the Grinch will smell vulnerability again at another time. 

Well, crap.

Sigh …  oh well.  At least I know how to re-boot.  But a beach and Margarita wouldn’t hurt either!