Awake!

"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

-Eph. 5:14

I have been in a state of alert now for the last several months, as the dawning of the fact that we are truly in the last days has become a reality to me, and an ever-present urgency has weighed on my mind, and in my spirit. I began to get a strong urge to make every effort to get out of bed early in the morning, and get into the word of God as never before, and draw near to the Lord. The verse that kept coming to mind at the time was Is. 50:4,5 -

" The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that is] weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back."

Among many books of the bible, I have been studying Revelation, as I believe that as we draw closer to the events described therein, understanding of the book itself (as well as the books that it so heavily quotes or alludes to - i.e. Daniel, Zechariah, et al) will open up to us. As it says in Daniel 11:32b-33a "but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits]. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many...." I believe that if we seek for understanding diligently, we will recieve it from the Lord. He wants us to understand, He wants us to be able to discern what is going on around us, and what is to come, which leads me to the main point of what I want to say at this time. AWAKE! Wake up!

The scriptures tell us this many, many times, such as in Eph. 5:14 (the verse I began this post with). Notice that Paul says that if we awake, Christ will give us light (i.e. understanding). Synonymous with "awake" is the directive to "watch." Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 16:13 "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." And again in 1 Thes. 5:6 "Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober." Notice in this verse that Paul says that we should not "sleep" (in other words, "awake"!), but let us "watch". In one of the most striking verses concerning our "watching" is found in one of the letters that Yeshua (Jesus) dictated to John personally to the church of Sardis in Rev. 3:2,3 - "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

This passage brings me to the crux of this post. We are in the days that are so clearly what the bible calls the "last" of days that one would have to be "asleep" while he/she is awake to miss it. Of any time in the last 2000 yrs. at the least, We should be the generation that is the most repentant (as Yeshua told Sardis to do), the most alert, the most awaiting the coming of our King, and yet we seem to be the most asleep, the most lethargic, the most denying, unfaithful, time-wasting, sin excusing, non-bible reading, unfaithful, unmerciful, pleasure seeking generation of all (for more of who we are as a generation, just read Rom. 1:30-32 and 2 Tim. 3:1-7).

The intention of this blogspot then, is to grab our attention, shake us out of our slumber, and to prepare ourselves as a bride making ready for the coming of her Bridegroom.

Shalom, and may YHWH comfort and strengthen us.

.j.