Complimentary Story
March 2026A time to be born, And a time to die...
It is one month since my husband passed on to the next room of eternity. Not surprisingly, my thoughts have been about many aspects of life and death. There is the up close and personal aspect as well as the “macro” whole world aspect. For believers, death in faith IS victory as chaos in the world erupts more. They fought the fight and kept the faith and there is now a crown prepared for them. They endured until their end! The last three close people who have passed away I had told that I really didn’t think the rest of us would be far behind. That message only feels stronger as time goes on. Although I see some time for restoration for me after the stress of these past many months and years of dealing with Bob’s recurring illnesses, I also see that I will now have more freedom to move forward in my calling as a watchman at the gate: speaking of the things that are on the near horizon in our lives.
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted...
Sowing new things and later reaping them. I have always been more interested in beginnings and initiating than I am in the closure process. Of course, I recognize that it is necessary! What we plant and reap is, in part, what will keep us during future events we cannot see. One can think of this in the sense of food production and preservation or in the sense of what we use our life force and energy to build before we come to the end of our physical strength. As became my own practice, I have been asking people for years to consider what kingdom they are building with their life’s strength. Are you focused on your own goals and desires to make a place or name for yourself — or are you investing now in the Kingdom of our coming Messiah? Which one do we think will bear the best fruit? I know many people are confident to say “I know Jesus/Yeshua.” But as I have written before, I really think that the bigger issue is does He know you? He knows those who follow Him and guard and keep His ways.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what My Father in heaven wants. On that day, many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in Your name? Didn’t we expel demons in Your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 CJB).
That word “knew” is pretty powerful. In Hebraic concept, as in German, there is a distinction made between an intimate knowledge and how shall I say it, common knowledge? Of course, Messiah and our Father know who we are…They have known us since being formed in the womb and given life! The implication here is whether or not we have been obedient to His ways, drawing close to and yielding to Him; so that HE knows US. Do we “just” know Him or have we lived our lives in a manner that HE will know us? The harvest time is drawing near. What have you planted?
A time to kill, And a time to heal...
In the past two days as I have been finishing this article, we have experienced a joint initiative to take out those in Iran who plot death to all “infidels,” especially Israel. As I understand it, Iran was only days away from accomplishing their desire to rid the world of Israel. Finally, it seems someone has been able to comprehend that there are some ideologies/faith expressions that are simply impossible to reason or negotiate with. In their belief system is the concept that killing is worship…and they will be rewarded for it.
We understand the imperative to deal decisively with those who are essentially irrational. There is, indeed, a time to selectively kill in order to stop indiscriminate mass murder. But oh, the ramifications will be huge and accusations are already flying. We could certainly pick our position from the mass media and be turned one way or the other by their reports. Or we can prayerfully study and discern what children of the living God are to understand and how we are to intercede. I no longer think that we are receiving very much “truth” about such national and international events, but I can rely on our Father who is moving the kings of the earth around as He chooses, as we near the return of our Messiah. May our Father, YHWH Almighty be present in it all, avenging and defending where necessary. May His healing follow this strike.
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak...
There is a level of normalcy or superficiality that many people live within; never questioning things at any depth and simply living each day in the confines of their own area or time. It is so much easier to just go along to get along. This applies to many institutional churches as well. Scripture has been misused in the past to support slavery and misogyny and a few more horrifying actions. It seems normal to live your life and not interfere with anyone else’s life. The subtleties of being IN the world but not OF it have been misrepresented. Yes, we are to be our brother’s keeper.
We are rapidly accelerating into a time that no man has known before, if we follow the timeline narrative we have all been taught in school. I could make a proverbial shopping list of the things that are challenging whatever our personal sense of normalcy might be as I have been studying these things since the 1990s, with intensive updates over the past two years. Sometimes I question how it is that so many things are being revealed now… to those who DO ask questions anyway. How is so much coming forth that challenges what we have been taught? Examples: the mechanisms under the Giza pyramids that appear to be some kind of energy production, the exposure of the government and Smithsonian initiative to hide anything that would challenge the “Manifest Destiny” idea that God ordained that we were to take the land of America because there had really been no one here before; the awareness that pyramids are not limited to Egypt, but found all over the world, including here in Wisconsin. Does the timing have to do with another agenda or is it the fulfillment of:
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4 NKJV).
I believe that it IS the time to speak now and expose what has been hidden and used to deceive His people and all the nations of the world. We are nearing the time of Messiah’s return…will He know us?
The difficulty of this does involve the normalcy bias that we all live with and the not-so-subtle pressures to go along with the given narrative ignoring the evidence we have seen and heard ourselves that doesn’t match. We all struggle with what is called “normalcy bias.” “[It] describes our tendency to underestimate the possibility of disaster and believe that life will continue as normal. (www.TheDecisionLab.com). Although this may be a strategy for coping with unknowns, it can also lead to catastrophe when appropriate action has not been taken. We need to be like men of Issachar: “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times...” (1 Chronicles 12:32a KJV).
I well remember a time I challenged a woman’s normalcy bias when I spoke about the Feasts of the LORD at a Bible study group. I mentioned that Miriam and Yoseph were the parents of Yeshua/Jesus. One person was so upset because she was certain that the name was Mary, not Miriam! I explained, that yes, Mary is the Anglicized version of the Hebrew name Miriam… and Miriam was a young lady of the tribe of Judah with a good Hebrew name. I don’t think that woman heard another word I said as she was so taken aback by this.
It also seems that we tend to think that the celebration of Christmas goes back in a beautiful unbroken line to the stables of Bethlehem. I was quite surprised myself, hearing at a 1990s National Day of Prayer Breakfast, when Peter Marshall, author of “The Light and the Glory,” made it clear that the celebration of Christmas had been severely prohibited by the Puritans as a loosely pagan celebration, considered idolatry. It wasn’t until the arrival of the German immigrants, my ancestors, that this celebration came in to America like a flood...so it is NOT historically normal to celebrate this holiday and it does NOT flow all the way back to Bethlehem. This, too, can be difficult for people to take in, but I assure you, it is fact.
Much of what we hear, we are expected to accept without question, yet this leads to passivity and weakness in the face of tyranny.
Our SAM community studied the concepts of “not living by lies” two years ago and it affects our decision making on nearly a daily basis. Our American education system has been a part of ceasing to encourage logical thinking. The ability to parse understandings of complex events seems limited to a small number of people. It was not always this way. The goal has now often been indoctrination rather than education. (A very interesting resource on this process overtaking an education system was written by a group of students who lived through this process as the Nazis overtook their university. “Political Ponerology: The Science of Evil, Psychopathy, and the Origins of Totalitarianism” (Lobaczewski, Andrew M., Rectenwald, Michael).
A time of war, And a time of peace...
So, yes as I noted above, we have executed a military intervention in Iran. As was true in Venezuela, it was intensively focused, with no “boots on the ground.” This morning it is said that three American troops were killed by retaliation attacks. Media has cried that all is lost but instead, people are celebrating around the world at the destruction of this regime. “A time of war” has become more difficult to identify as it no longer consists of only active military on the ground. Fourth and fifth generation warfare has more to do with misinformation and disinformation and the use of psychological and social mechanisms to achieve purpose. We need HIS discernment in all things!
That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.
I recall having questions about various things in life as a teenager but readily accepting whatever explanations were offered. Sometime in my twenties, I began to think perhaps I should have been more persistent! Just one small example: I recall my grandmother and my mother saying at times they wanted to call someone out: “OH! Who do you think you are, a Prince of Tartar?” I only had the impression of some place east and never DID ask much about what they were referring to. Now, the question of the existence of a country known as Tartaria has become of interest to many people. How I wish that I had asked more questions back then. Did they know more? That which is has already been…what happened to these people? God requires an account.
Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there…
We are living in a time where black is called white, and white, black. Instead of righteous judgment, we often see wickedness…and indeed, we HAVE prayed for that exposure! How else can we be saved if there isn’t an opportunity for each one who has fallen to truly turn away and repent, and return to our ever-living covenant keeping God? I must add my voice to the call for repentance!
“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” (Ecclesiastes 3:17).
The time of His judgment nears…it IS a purpose of His that will eventually lead to a restoration of all things under Him. HalleluYah!
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