The Threshing Floor.

Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Sign of the Times? Or just Current events?

Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  25 Behold, I have told you before.

2 Thes. 2 :1. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of [a]Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The Desert

The desert is a place where God “tests” his people. To see if they will obey him or not. Are they trustworthy? 

It is a place where He deals with issues that hinder the true believer from hearing his voice and walking in his ways. As long as we trust in our own understanding as long as we believe we know what to do, God cannot fully (bless) support our activities (the activity isn’t the issue). If we take credit (pride) we prove our untrustworthiness. 

His desire is to fellowship with us intimately. To share His inmost heart, what He thinks and how He feels about everything and everyone around us. If He can’t trust us, He is unable to share as much as He would like to. 

He is the truth, the way, and the life. Can God trust me with great insight and spiritual understanding? Humility – seeing who I am really. Dependence: seeing who God is…savior, Lord. God is the only source of wisdom and understanding. I don’t need principles of life; I need the Author of life. I don’t need things to make me happy. I need the joy that comes from making God happy. Am I committed to the journey? Do I walk according to what I already know? Do I believe that God will hold me accountable?

Are God’s priorities my priorities? (What did Jesus read out loud at the beginning of His earthly ministry Luke 4:18)

We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Set the captive free. Mend the broken heart. Declare the acceptable year of the Lord. God wants to give me His heart (love) for those I come in contact with. He wants to tell me what He thinks and how He feels about all of those around me. Can He trust me? Lord I want to be trustworthy, Amen.

The vision to travel all over the world and take pictures for you, the promise to give me a wife and family motivated me when I saw them as goals that would fulfill me. Make me happy? Complete me? Activities? Jobs? Careers? What is God’s will? The promise motivates obedience. As we try to obey, God shows us all our weaknesses. All our sin that hinders. 

You purge us of pride, selfish ambition, selfishness, and self-centeredness. As we try to build our own reputations, as we try to secure our own comfort and security as we try to be happy and successful. You show us life. It’s in you, not apart from you. It’s not in acquiring knowledge of life principles that we find all the things we think we need. Apart from you, everything is vain and empty. Life is found at your feet in humble dependence. Eternal treasure is gained in trust and obedience.