Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the Ancient Paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16
I had a dream 07/04/2014 where I was walking along, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, when my attention was drawn to an area where I was that did not look any different from my surroundings. However as I went towards where I was being drawn, I saw a slit as in a curtain. Had my attention not been drawn towards this, “slit” in material, I would have never seen nor noticed it, it was that well camouflaged. I stuck my head in the slit and saw a big table and there were men dressed in black, some without turbans, but most with. There was an individual in the middle who had a large scroll and when he unfolded it on the table, I could see that it was a map of the United States. I then could see various colored push pins being placed on various locations on…
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their mouth. Jeremiah 7:28b The people no longer know the requirements of the Lord. Jeremiah 8:7b They reject the word of the Lord and the scribes lying pen produces falsehood Jer 7:8-9 “YOU LIVE IN A WORLD OF DECEPTION AND REFUSE TO KNOW ME” Jer 9:6
God told Jeremiah he would be a prophet to the nations. The message was directed at the nation of Judah, but as I read the words, my heart trembles. It’s as if the words are going out today to all the Nations. We have become like Judah, we are all show. “In God we trust” is on our currency. Our children pledge daily that we are “One nation under God” but we refuse to let His name be spoken in our schools. We punish our people for praying publicly to the Lord. We refuse to listen to His words. We have allowed this terrible sin to spread like a disease throughout our country. Prayer is forbidden – who did this? One nation under God we proclaim – like Judah, our face is before Him, but we have turned our backs on Him.
Judah watched her northern sister Samaria, Israel fall to sin and then ultimately destruction. The land was ravaged and the people were taken into captivity. Both Judah and Israel began as a nation under God. They had rulers who had hearts for the Lord. They prospered in everything they did, they were powerful and the nations feared them. Their rulers had supernatural wisdom and protection. The people of the land served the Lord God and honored His sanctuary. (Just like America!) As the years passed, the people became lazy, fat, living in over abundance and luxury. Their hearts had drifted far from God. To make their ways more acceptable, they made up their own ways and contradicted God’s word to fit their new ways and new lifestyles. They still followed the traditions of their ancestors in worship, temple attendance, rituals, etc., but their hearts were far from the Lord. They no longer knew Him. They brought in practices from the nations around them, they told the Lord, “We will go where we want; we will no longer come to You” and yet in all this, they still proclaimed “ We are innocent, surely the Lord will turn His anger from us for we have not sinned” but God told them that their ways were always changing.. They had no heart for the orphan, the oppressed, the hurting, the helpless. In all their luxury and blessings, they had forgotten the Lord. They no longer knew Him.
They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation? A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land— the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes? Jer 5:28
The Lord said “ My people are fools; they do not know Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good…. They have contradicted the Lord and said “ It won’t happen, harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine” but beware!!!! The prophets words are only wind, the Lord’s word is not in them. Hear this; They have eyes, but they don’t see, they have ears but they don’t hear.
photo from usnews.com
A dream: A year of two ago I had a dream. There was a horrible, wicked and conniving attorney. He was dressed in a dark suit , he had files of paperwork and years of knowledge behind him. I could see Him going back and forth telling another attorney something. He was always behind the people whispering in their ear. He never spoke for them, but he was the behind the scenes man who did all the legwork on the case. He would whisper his findings secretly in their ears, he brought all his arguments to their thoughts. He knew every trick, the way around every argument and knew how to manipulate the words so they would win the case. It was almost as if he would listen in to the conversation, go do the research, spy on the opposing attorney and report back to his side. He was hard at work behind the scene of this team who was trying to fight for something. He would listen in at the meetings, leave to do research and come back with a hard hitting plan that would undoubtedly win. For each obstacle they faced, this wicked attorney had the ammunition and words to win. He was unstoppable, he knew the plans of the other side and would prepare a case to knock it down before the words were every made known to his side. He was a spirit. No one could see him but me. The attorney and his team thought these ideas were their own, their own intelligence, and their own arguments, but they didn’t realize it was completely orchestrated by this wicked spirit who was giving them all the information and arguments they needed to win the case. The case that I was watching was called Roe vs. Wade, I could hear the attorney’s speaking their names in the meeting. I woke up and felt as if I had been through the entire trial watching this wicked entity scheme and manipulate every word and every argument. This is the enemy our nation is fighting. This is the enemy the world bows down to. Is it in fear? Cowardness? Pride? Or is it that we don’t know our God anymore? photo from npr. How many babies died today? counter clock
We have made our own ways, we have contradicted God’s laws. Our faces are before Him as we proclaim that we are ‘Christian’ but our backs have turned on our maker. Many of today’s Christians have bowed down to the world and it’s ways. We are lukewarm! Yuck – we judge, we gossip, we look down on others, we stay in our own little church hierarchy groups, no wonder no one want’s to go to church anymore. Are we any different than the world – I think worse because we make excuses for our ways under the title of being a christian. I’m not talking to the world – this message is for those who call themselves Christians. We have chosen the World ways instead of God’s ways. We show up at church and our bible meetings just like the people of Judah did over 2000 years ago. We have made our own image of what we think God is and what we think God should and should not accept. Don’t you know that God’s word stands forever? The earth beneath you may disappear, but His words stand forever. He is outside of time, the argument of what year it is, is no different than it was in the past. Sin is sin. That doesn’t change because of the year we are in. Who do we think we are? We are just a speck of time traveler passing through – we think we are so advanced but outside of time – does our year and do our advances really change God’s word?
YOU HAVE NOT LATELY CALLED ME “ MY FATHER” I THOUGHT, SURELY YOU WOULD RETURN TO ME, BUT YOU DIDN’T. YOU DIDN’T RETURN TO ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART – ONLY IN PRETENSE” but Look!, their ear is uncircumcised so they cannot pay attention. See! They no longer delight in God’s word,they find no pleasure in it. God told them to stop at the crossways and look, ask Him which way to go, but the people shouted “WE WILL NOT LISTEN” , they paid no attention to the Lord’s word. And then YOU COME AND STAND BEFORE ME in My house and say “ We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts”, but the Lord says “ I have spoken to you time and time again, but you won’t listen, I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer”
Did you hear that? Do you hear Him knocking at the door of your heart? I heard Charles Stanley say that we have ignored the Lord’s knocking on our heart for so long, that we no longer hear it. When He wakes you up in the middle of the night – are you too tired for Him? Are you like the bride in the Song of Songs who says – not now, I don’t want to get up out of bed to answer the door – even though I love you? Do you see your bible sitting untouched in the same place and you know God wants you to open it up and read it, but you say – not now, another time? I think there are forces we do not see that fight against our walk with Him. Have you ever walked by a bag of chips , the tv, or the computer and felt that same pull away from it? No – it’s only when we are trying to make time with the Lord – funny how much time we have to be on the internet, facebook, watch tv – but somehow there is never enough time for God – I’m convinced there is some kind of force involved in this. It really doesn’t take much – reach over, pick it up, open it- pray! And read – y ya! That’s it, it’s really not that complicated and it doesn’t take hours out of your day (for some it does) but God just wants you to come back to Him- He loves you so much and I saw Him reaching out to His people – as if each one of you were His only son. So amazing! It cannot be described!
Secret Key – from Jeremiah 6:10- Delighting in the word of God is the secret to hearing Him, it’s the secret to understanding Him. When the people no longer heard the Lord, they no longer had sound judgement because they did not delight in the Word of God.
In Corey Russel’s book, Ancient Paths , he says “The crisis of our day is the product of many factors, but the one I want to highlight……is the loss of intimate communion with the Word of God. This fundamental breakdown within the church has now permeated society….Truth has become a matter of individual ideology and preference, subject only to political correctness…… I believe that rediscovering the ancient paths will require us to leave behind our over familiarity with the bible, along with our tendency to discount the words on the page, so that we may truly feel it’s weight again.”
“THE PRIEST RULE WITH THEIR OWN AUTHORITY, MY PEOPLE LOVE IT LIKE THIS” This is going on today!!! Do you see it? Do you see it? The churches and the priests make their own rules overriding God’s word. Does anyone see this? We have become like Judah. Each man has made his own way, we are just like the Israelites who lived 2500 years ago, we too love it this way.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding. Did you ever wonder what that means? We all want understanding, but how can we have the fear of the Lord ? Can I say, okay, I fear the Lord and boom! I will be given understanding? I have found the key and foundation to the fear of the Lord. It all begins with knowing Him. Knowing Him begins by learning who He is by searching for Him in the scripture, crying out to Him and walking with Him. This was Judah’s ultimate sin – They no longer knew Him. This is America’s sin today – We no longer know Him.
Consider the sins of Judah, The Lord called them out on their sins: (do any sound familiar?)
Experts in the law NO LONGER KNEW HIM
They stopped calling the Lord “My Father”
They shouted “We won’t listen”
Worshipped the works of their own hands
They paid no attention to His word
Followed useless idols and they themselves became useless
Stopped asking “Where is the Lord?”
The priests stop asking “Where is the Lord?”
Abandoned the Lord
They exchanged God for useless idols
Dug cisterns for themselves that cannot hold water
No fear of the Lord
Insisted “ I will not serve!”
They forgot the Lord 2vs 32, 3:21
They were constantly changing their ways
Living immoral lives
As a woman betrays her lover, so they had betrayed Him
They had perverted their ways
They refused to accept discipline
Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips
They refused to return
They no longer trembled before Him.
The priests rule by their own authority
As a well gushes out it’s water, so she pours out her evil
They make prophet dishonestly
They have treated the people’s brokenness superficially by saying “peace, peace, when there is not peace”
They were not ashamed when they sinned, they no longer felt humiliation
They refused to ask for God’s guidance
They rejected instruction
Worshiped and offered sacrifices to the queen of heaven
They worshipped idols
They defiled God’s house
Truth has perished and disappeared from their mouths
Lived immorally making excuses for their ways as they walked in and out of the sanctuary with their sacrifices, prostitution, wickedness
Their worship was all show, they were fake
They lived to deal treacherously and excelled in evil matters, greedy wicked perverted lying sneaky, they didn’t care for the orphan, the widow, no love for others,
They did not defend the rights of the needy, oppressed, innocent or helpless.
The priests ruled by their own authority and not God’s rule and authority
Their ways were now erred because they had forgotten Him
They had twisted and contradicted His word Their ways were now erred because they had forgotten Him
They were not ashamed
Sacrificed their children, their sons and daughters in the fire – something so vile, a thing not commanded, a thought never even entertained by the Lord
No one could be trusted
Everyone spread slander
Friends betray friends
No one tells the truth
Live in a world of deception and refuse to know Him
Their Punishment:
(God warned time repeatedly of the punishment that was ahead, He continually called them back. He gave them chance after chance after chance, but there came a day when it was too late. There will be a day for each of us when there will not be a day of second chances. Listen to Him.)
Disaster on the land
Cities laid waste and in ruins
They turned into a degenerate and foreign vine
Their sin defiled the land
No food, no rain,
Destruction, war, death, ruined cities
Sword – war
Their children, flocks, land, wealth would be consumed by other nations
Sickness and wounds
You will be driven from His presence
Whatever the Lord had given them, will be lost to them
Terror
The Lord would no longer be with His people
Their guilty acts have withheld the Lord’s blessings on them
What can I do?
KNOW YOUR GOD
STOP AT THE CROSSROADS AND LOOK
ASK ABOUT THE ANCIENT PATHS: WHICH WAY SHOULD I GO LORD?
LISTEN TO HIM AND FOLLOW HIS LEADING;HERE YOU WILL FIND REST
Cut off what is causing you to sin, even if you desire it. The Lord says, “How long will you harbor malicious thoughts in your hearts?” Jer 4:14
Acknowledge your guilt in your rebellion against the Lord
Seek Him with all your heart
Help the widow, the orphan, the oppressed and the helpless – isn’t that what it means to know the Lord
Return to Him and He will give you shepherds who are loyal to Him, He will heal your unfaithfulness
Remove your idols that stand in the way between you and the Lord
Prepare your heart, break up the unplowed ground. Fill your heart and your mind with God’s word
circumcise your hearts, get rid of anything that makes you sin or entices you to trip or His wrath will break out like fire and no one can extinguish it
Mourn and repent for your ways
Act justly and seek to be faithful and He will forgive you
Correct your ways and your deeds
Do not trust in deceitful words
No longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow
No longer shed innocent blood
No longer bow down and offer sacrifices to the queen of heaven
No longer worship your idols
Stop trusting deceitful words that cannot help you.
Are you called to be a gatekeeper? Do they hear your voice? I want you to think about this – if the world doesn’t hate you yet, are you really stepping out? Jesus said blessed are those Who are persecuted for His name sake. Rejoice in the world’s rejection of you, you will be blessed. The Lord will be with you, these words you can trust. The World hates Him, does it hate you? Have you made your own ways? Your own rules? Your own god? If you are trying to make everyone happy by changing God’s ways to suit the people around you, you have become just like these evil priests in Judah. They didn’t not heal the people, they only covered the wound with false words. Stand up, Be strong and courageous. You weapons are mighty before God to defeat every wicked entity that comes against God’s people. Stop following the crowd and be ready for extreme persecution, for the Lord is about to shake things up, but remember this – in Him and in Him alone is victory – wether life or death, it doesn’t matter – all that matters is that He is glorified. We look forward to that day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen
Three Secret Keys – may God give you understanding:
Do you fear Him? – That’s the key to understanding
Do you know Him? – That’s the key and foundation to the fear of the Lord
Do you delight in His Word? – That’s the key to hearing Him
Hear the Word of the Lord:
“I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.
“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my My servants, the prophets—day in and day out.But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.
“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips. Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’ Jer 6
You have brought this punishment upon yourself by abandoning the Lord your God. Your own evil will discipline you.Think about it and see how evil and bitter it is to abandon the Lord your God and to have no fear of Me. Even if you wash with lye and use a great amount of soap, the stain of your sin is still in front of Me. Jeremiah 2
If they had known the Father, they would have known the Son.
Jesus said “All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” Luke 10:22
photo from usnews.com
Ancient Paths 