A Heart to Understand

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...the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times,

to know what Israel ought to do...

- 1 Chronicles 12:32

He who has an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes I will give

some of the hidden manna to eat.

And I will give him a white stone,

and on the stone a new name written

which no one knows except him who receives it.

- Revelation 2:17

My beloved spoke, and said to me:

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away.

For lo, the winter is past

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of singing has come,

And the voice of the turtledove

Is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth her green figs,

And the vines with the tender grapes

Give a good smell.

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away! 

- Song of Solomon 2:10-13

Now learn this parable from the fig tree: 

When its branch has already become tender

and puts forth leaves, 

you know that summer is near.

So you also, when you see all these things,

know that it is near - at the doors!

- Matthew 24:32

Now when these things begin to happen,
look up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption draws near.
- Luke 21:28

The month of February ends today, and once again, I have found it difficult to pick one appropriate name to sum up in a nutshell what the past twenty-eight days has been like for me.

Nevertheless, God has helped me narrow down my choices, and the word I have chosen resonates within and fills my heart with such glad expectation.

Upon my return from the US last month, I wasted no time and quickly resumed the weekly commitments that had been an important part of my life these past years: the Monday night Bible studies with Lyndon at my sister in law's house, the Thursday lunch devotional lessons with the women's group of our church, and the Saturday morning prayer and intercession at the Negros Island House of Prayer.

Our Family Foundations International (FFI) ministry team had also begun hosting a new series of discipleship studies on the end time events.

These past few weeks, we have been listening to in-depth Bible teaching focusing on the prophetic framework for 2014 and beyond. The heavens and the earth are telling an important story that we may need to listen to. There is an urgency to hear and understand the current events in our nation, in Israel, and in the rest of the world... and how it all connects to the written word of God.

Bible study at my sister in law's house

Together with these, I am also getting back into the rhythm of my family relationships, touching base with my two sons, my daughters in law, and my grandsons.

Our family had lunch with my friend Nening and her daughter Ann

future engineers at work...

Full of Hope

Forerunner

Rejoicing with my daughter Obedient One as she completed another marathon...

Obedient One 

Catching up on my reading...

Jim Goll, Wasted on Jesus

Bruce Edwards, Not a Tame Lion

Danny Silk, Culture of Honor

Tending my garden...

 

Reconnecting with dear friends... rejoicing with Nening on the visit of her daughter Ann with whom I stayed during my weekend visit to New York City last November... On Valentine's Day, I was part of their special family dinner...

Hope, me, Nening, and Ann

Denito, Vic, Michael

Nening, Ann, Hope 

Birthdays are special opportunities to speak forth blessings into lives... and this month I was part of the birthday celebration of Stef, the only daughter of my dear friend Ruby... of Babes... and of Buddy...

Celebrating with Babes on her birthday

standing: Marilou, Davi, and Gabriel

seated: me, Babes, Ann, and Nening

Blessings for Buddy on his birthday...

standing: Ruby, William, Buddy, Minerva

seated: me, Pat, Raffi, Honey Grace

In this month of rejoicing, there was also a bitter-sweet kind of celebration,  the homegoing of another precious friend Joan, and that of my husband Ernie's beloved nine-year old pet dachshund...

100 white balloons released as Joan's body was laid to rest

I also said a tearful good-bye to another dear friend, Joam who is immigrating to the US together with her husband and children. She and her family are very dear to me, I will surely miss them.



So, another month comes to an end. Another opportunity to share through this post what is happening in my own heart.

Before anything else, one event worth mentioning here is that this blog turned six years old on February 7!

I have so much to be thankful for. This blog has become so special and meaningful to me; it is here that Abba Father enabled me to put words to some of the beautiful and amazing stories He is writing through my life.

As this month ends, I look inside my heart and find answers to a few important questions.

What is the Father saying to me?

Am I listening?

How am I responding?


Abba Father is always speaking... He wants His children to know His heart. He doesn't want to leave us in the dark, uninformed about His plans. But more than mere information, Father is always speaking life to us.

Is my receiver working? Am I on the same frequency as my Abba?

One thing is sure: My heart hungers to know, and to hear.

The resiliency of the human heart, what a wonder it is!

I am referring to my own heart ... its capacity to expand and absorb... even things too wonderful for me to grasp or comprehend at the moment. Events in my own life... my nation... the world around me. Biblical passages coming to life before my very eyes.

My heart senses the urgency of the times. It is evident that something deeper is happening, something beyond what the physical senses can take in.

We are living in a heightened prophetic season, and we are called to make an important choice...

I don't want to be sidetracked by peripheral issues. Rather, my desire is to take a firm stand for what I truly believe. To be a shining light. To be unwavering. To walk in my God-given identity and calling.

In the book of Daniel, he writes about the seventy sevens or weeks leading to the end of the age. Each "week" stands for seven years. We have so far seen the fulfillment of the first 69 sevens, and only one week remains to be fulfilled. (Daniel 9:24-27)

The end is near... there really is no time to lose, no time to waste in religious talk, arguments, or disputes.

The facts are there for all to see:

There will be four blood moons this 2014-2015, the two blood moons will fall on the Jewish feasts of Passover and Sukkot this year and next year. There will also be a solar eclipse next year. In previous years, the occurrence of the tetrad (four blood moons) always coincided with a significant event in Israel's history.

Abba Father is calling our attention to something of eternal significance.

Are we listening?

April 2014 is the end of the nine month deadline for the peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians to be finalized.

Talks between John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu are underway for a final settlement regarding Jerusalem and other issues in Israel.

Pope Francis will be made the legal custodian of the Temple Mount and the Holy Land.

News about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem...

When the temple is rebuilt, then it won't be long before the anti-Christ is revealed.

Talks of implantable microchips make the Bible prophecy regarding the mark of the Beast a reality.

Earthquake swarms, earthquake storms, severe weather patterns, massive animal deaths, pole shifts...

And so much more.



Links to the teaching slides are provided below for those who are interested.

Gavin Finley - Seventy Weeks Prophecy (slides)

Negros Island House of Prayer - Prophetic Framework for 2014 (slides)

The Blood Moons with Mark Biltz (video)

Gavin Finley - The Fall Feasts of Israel and  the Timeline of the Final 7 Years of this Age (video)



As I listen to what the Lord is speaking, through my personal devotional times and study sessions, the messages given in church, and in the messages spoken at the various Bible teachings I have been sitting in, it can't be denied that this year 2014 promises to be a crucial year in the prophetic timeline.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

There is a call to watch and pray.

Watch and pray. This is the battle cry for these days.

Watch the signs of the times.

Watch what is happening inside my own heart.

Respond accordingly, in the way God tells me to respond. This is the way, walk in it... I hear Him say.

Get rid of duplicity, dispose of the garbage in my heart, throw out the non-essentials.

Rebuild the walls of prayer, be a house of prayer.


We are in a season of prophetic fulfillment, and Abba Father is looking for those who are willing to let go of their doctrinal prejudices, who will allow the Father to open their spiritual ears that they may indeed hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Will we be the kind of people to whom God can entrust throne room secrets, special instructions that He reveals to those who are listening?

Or will we disqualify ourselves because we choose to doubt, dispute, debate, and lose sight of the more important thing that Abba Father wants us to focus on?

In the diagram below, I have drawn the "Triangle Effect" involved in hearing and doing what God says:

1 - God speaks

2 - I remain faithful to what He says

3 - I trust that what He says will come to pass

This diagram pretty much sums up the response of my heart to what I believe God is saying.

This, I believe, is the more important thing: to listen, to remain faithful, to trust... and then obey.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

There have been many prophetic insights being shared the past weeks and months. It is only the second month of the year, and the Father has already been downloading many things into my spirit.

I have regularly asked Him, "Help me recognize Your voice when You speak. Help me to judge with righteous judgment."

And yes, I trust Him to honor that prayer.  Abba Father assures me, If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek with all your heart.

The sons of Issachar listened with discernment, and God gave them wisdom to know how to respond.

"Let me be as the sons of Issachar who understood the times, and therefore knew what to do," I pray.

In the last days, the Bible clearly says, perilous times will come. The word peril means serious and immediate danger. This alone motivates me to stay close to the Master, that I may not be led astray and trapped by a false response.

A Godly response is of utmost importance. Our Lord Jesus reminds us that he who endures to the end will be saved. 

The goal is to overcome, against all odds.

To overcome requires that one endures, and perseveres... to the end.

This is the consistent message of the prophetic books in the Bible:

Daniel 12:9-13

And he said, "Go your way Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand... But you, go your way till the end, for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."

Matthew 24:10-13

Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

By looking at the signs, we can see that the end is indeed very near... at the gates.

How do we respond to what we see and hear?

There are those who respond in offense at the messages being preached these days.

But offense is such a potent strategy of the enemy.

As I was asking Abba Father what I was to guard against, I sensed Him gently reminding me to guard my heart against offense.

Offense is an offshoot of unbelief, tools that the enemy will use effectively in the last days to divide and create disunity.

Love has to be kept warm and alive in the midst of God's people.

Offense comes through pride and self-righteousness.

A heart of humility will keep our hearts soft and tender toward the Father.

In this season, we have to be careful with the words we speak.

I am purposely sifting my words, even the words I share on the various social networks that I have access to, like Facebook and Blogger. I watch carefully what I post on my updates, and the kind of comments I write. For where words are many, sin is not absent.

This is in obedience to the Father's strong reminders that I keep a close watch over the words that come out of my mouth, and this includes the words I type on my keyboard and publish on cyberspace.

Matthew 12:36-37

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the days of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Abba Father also reminds me to guard my heart, for out of it flows my responses to the things I hear.

A heart to understand is what I have asked the Lord this past weeks.

A heart to understand. This is the name I choose to give this month as it ends today.

My heart rejoices at what the Father is revealing to me so tenderly:

Receive My words in humility, not in pride. 

In weakness, not in strength. 

In emptiness, not in fullness.

If I listen in pride, in strength, in fullness, then I will not be able to discern correctly. I will be offended... and my response will be that of skepticism and unbelief, instead of faith and obedience.

A fierce battle rages around us. It is the battle for our soul.

Father wants us to receive His truth, and hear what the Spirit is saying. Therefore I want Him to let me fight this battle, not in my own strength, but in His. And to understand not with my carnal mind, but to believe from my spirit chamber. 

God reveals what He is doing only to those who listen with an understanding and obedient heart.

Open your spiritual eyes to see... allow Me to fully activate your spiritual senses. 

Trust Me to bring you to deeper waters, the uncharted, unfamiliar territory of your faith... areas where you have never been. 

Those are words I hear the Father speaking in my spirit.

And as I hear those specific words, my spirit leaps with joy.

I desire to humble myself to listen to what the Spirit is saying. I purpose to live right, with the help of God, by setting the right priorities.

In a manner of speaking, I assume the position of a bride waiting for her bridegroom to arrive... not in any physical sense, but in a spiritual sense.

The bridal posture of prayer, worship, and intimacy is such a beautiful picture. It is a picture of longing to see the face of the One I truly love.

Jesus is coming back to claim His bride, a bride who has prepared herself... cleansed, purified, healed. Jesus will not come back for a bride with a victim mentality, a poverty spirit, unhealed emotional wounds, or unresolved issues.

I wait for the return of my Bridegroom-King in confidence, not in fear... believing in abundance, not lack.

A bride who reflects His heart will bring much pleasure to the Lord.

This month ends for me in a spirit of joy, gladness, and expectation!

Now when these things begin to happen,

look up and lift up your heads,

because your redemption draws near.

- Luke 21:28

A bride awaiting her bridegroom

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This is the kind of music I have been listening to these past days.

Over the Mountains We Run by Terri Giesel (Soaking Worship Music)

My February 2014 word cloud