Prophecy - End Times

Ezek. 12:2 “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.”

I know quite a few people who see the prophecy of the Bible for them and not us. For them I mean the people ‘over there’ and not here, in America. Do you really think that one of the most powerful countries in the world was left out of biblical prophecy? Why, because it was written so long ago? In the book of Revelation God spoke of the ‘End Times’ and you think he was talking just about the people in ‘other’ countries? Israel alone?

Do you believe the God who breathed the world into existence, knew the beginning and the end, would leave a country, a nation so full of sin out of the end times? So you think the end is only going to come to the other countries and God will spare America? Because we’re all that? I’m not a realist and even I can think in realistic terms concerning the end. America is not exempt!

In all my years of reading, studying and trying to understand the vast amount of truth in the writings of the Bible, I never one time thought that America was going to be excluded from the End Times. God did not specifically say the word America but He alludes to it in many references.

Haggai 2:[6] “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
[7] And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Isa. 66:18-20 [18] For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
[19] And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. [20] And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

Zech. 12:[2] “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
[3] And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”

Just as when he said “an eye for an eye” did NOT mean to pluck out the eye of another, the use of metaphors are rampant in the written word of thousands of years ago. To understand prophecy in the Bible you must understand metaphors and their meaning. Maybe this is why I’ve been a poet since as young as I can remember, I understand the difference in a metaphor and literal meaning.

Ezekiel 38 is full of end time prophecy and understanding this book with eyes wide open, not sleeping, you might see what God is trying to tell you. After some digging and research, I found that my thoughts are not mine alone. Now that I have the internet, my thoughts have reached a reality shared by other men and women who see.

Again, while granted I may be thought a strange one, these thoughts were in my mind before I could ever understand what they meant. My heart knew America was not exempt from End Times, my soul knew where I’d be in the End Times, and the momentum of my thoughts finally caught up with other people who see the same thing. Praise be to God!

While man is distracted with satans willpower by having them enmeshed in the here and now, worrying about idle chit-chat, engaging in senseless banter, he sweeps the shores and you’re caught unaware. He has you not believing in angels because he has unleashed a legion to thrive here on earth with you and you drink from the bath of his deceit.

There’s a reason I don’t tie myself up in prophecy and it’s because I’m awake, I see and am not blind to the truth right under my nose. Do you think our ‘nation’ is covered in evil because that is just the way humans evolved not ape to man but from good to evil? No, it’s because satan veiled our eyesight so we see only what he wants us to see. Is it a coincidence that veil is an anagram of evil? I don’t believe in coincidence.

Ecc.3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
[2] A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
[3] A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
[4] A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
[5] A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
[6] A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
[7] A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
[8] A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

May the Light of the Lord shine on you all and give every one of you a reason, a season, a lifetime.

God Bless you!

1 Pet. 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Sight

Sometimes we see only what we want to see. I try to see what God sees when looking out at mankind. I’m as discouraged as Him.

Ruth 2:13 “Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.”

1 Chron. 22:8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Neh. 1:11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

Pss. 9:19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

Pss. 76:7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

Pss. 101:7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

Ecc. 2: 26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecc. 8:6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

Isa. 38:3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Mal. 2:17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Rom. 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

2 Cor. 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)   <--- b="" emoticon="" first="" found="" here="" in="" is="" kjv.="" smiley="" the="">

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
[13] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Heb 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

May God bless you all!

Quotation Saturday

Acts 18:9 “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:”

OBSCURED

“Even the darkest cloud cannot obscure the brightest light.” 
― Ken Poirot

“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give more attention and consider the fruit of their labour more valuable” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“You can't be successful if you are good at hiding yourself! Be success minded; think about uncovering what you know, what you have, and what you have to know for the comfort, inspiration and enlightenment of others!” 
― Israelmore Ayivor

“If you don't want to be average, don't rush into doing what the crowd is doing” 
― Constance Chuks Friday

BLIND

“If the Creator stood before a million men with the light of a million lamps, only a few would truly see him because truth is already alive in their hearts. Truth can only be seen by those with truth in them. He who does not have Truth in his heart, will always be blind to it.” 
― Suzy Kassem

“Sometimes your light shines so bright that it blinds people from seeing who you really are.” 
― Shannon L. Alder

“A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it.” 
― H.L. Mencken

“So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to hope for success, but merely being willing to risk the experiment of finding whether the truth they seek lies there.” 
― René Descartes

CLARITY

“Appearance blinds, whereas words reveal.” 
― Oscar Wilde

“A solid answer to everything is not necessary. Blurry concepts influence one to focus, but postulated clarity influences arrogance.” 
― Criss Jami

“When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.” 
― Horace Walpole

“...it is precisely because the world appears to us to be multiple, ambiguous, and paradoxical, that we must strive to speak and write clearly.” 
― Mark Dintenfass

VISION

“The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.” 
― Helen Keller

“Never surrender your hopes and dreams to the fateful limitations others have placed on their own lives. The vision of your true destiny does not reside within the blinkered outlook of the naysayers and the doom prophets. Judge not by their words, but accept advice based on the evidence of actual results. Do not be surprised should you find a complete absence of anything mystical or miraculous in the manifested reality of those who are so eager to advise you. Friends and family who suffer the lack of abundance, joy, love, fulfillment and prosperity in their own lives really have no business imposing their self-limiting beliefs on your reality experience.” 
― Anthon St. Maarten

“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received — hatred. The great creators — the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors — stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.” 
― Ayn Rand,

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” 
― Albert Einstein

Tunnel Vision

2 Cor. 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Tunnel Vision

There is a world around me that has tunnel vision. They only see one point of view and that is theirs or people who believe in the same thing while all others are wrong and considered a liberal. Their vision is so shallow, any attempt to steer them right they become boisterous, overbearing and sometimes downright rude.

I try desperately to separate myself from them but as a living loving soul, I see a good spot in all people, in all walks of life and in many different colors. Here lately what has been bothering me has been the bashing of Religions, Races and Lifestyles. I just don’t get it or understand and I wish someone could enlighten me without bashing me and calling me a Libtard, why because I have an open mind as opposed to being close-minded?

Take the Muslim religion. There is such a hate for them because of what they see on TV, read on their screen, or listen to a minister bashing the Muslim faith. Do people try and understand the religion or would they rather jump on the bandwagon of hate? You cannot brand them all the same and if you took one second to stop hating, you might see a human being in there somewhere.

Note: Have you ever walked past a Mosque and had Muslims come running out with machetes ready to behead you? Of course not. You only hate what the Arab country and their men are doing. You don’t even understand the culture OR religion, you just want to hate

Then there is the black community. They are not all the same! They don’t all agree with the hate that is thrown at them. They don’t all want to riot and start fires and protest, they want to be HEARD but it is the people with tunnel vision who only see blacks as a degrading term. Have you ever had one in your home, eating off of your forks? I did and guess what, they are human too!

Note: Have you ever lived in a black community? Did they run the streets rioting and burning down houses? Of course not. You only hate the black community when it fits to your form of hate filled attitude. You have never tried to understand the culture or the person of a different color.

And guess what? I’ve sat at the same table and on the same church pew as a homosexual. Did I move away as if the person had the plague? Did I run home and put on facebook, “How could they allow those people in a church?” What sick and twisted mind thinks like that? I’ll tell you what kind, the people with tunnel vision who only see what they want to see and agrees with only those who are in agreement with their line of thinking.

All other people are just wrong!

Let me ask you this, do you bash the Catholics? They worship false idols. I was born and raised Catholic and around the Church sanctuary there are statues of Mary and Jesus and I have many times seen women at their feet praying to the statue. They place statues of Mary in their yard in hopes it will bring them good will and grace. They have priests who have been molesting small children long before there was EVER an internet with social media coverage. They pray and worship the Saints too. Are these atrocities any worse than the raping of women or the beheading of Christians?

Do you bash the Jews? They don’t even believe Christ is the Son of God. But do you bash them? No, or maybe this is one of those things you hide when you proclaim, “I stand with the Jews.” Do you really know what you’re standing for? Of course not, you don’t WANT to understand their culture.

You pick and choose the scripture that suits you. You also pick and choose which religion is wrong (meaning not the same belief as yours); you pick and choose who you love and hate. When Jesus said, “Love your brother as yourself.” He NEVER said pick and choose which brother you’ll love and hate or surely He would have HATED Judas for betraying Him, right?

You might not want to believe this but you are the Judas’ of Christianity. You are selling out Christ for what YOU believe in. Selling out mankind for all that Jesus taught, for what, a political allegiance, an ‘I’m right, your wrong’ attitude? 

You pick and choose sin like it is today’s bread to eat. “It’s only a small sin. I stole a gumball not a car.”  Isn’t stealing, stealing? Can we choose our sin too? Mankind is lost with his tunnel vision intact, seeing and believing in what he picks and chooses, not what is right and what is wrong.

When Jesus said, “Man cannot live by bread alone.” For some reason, I don’t think He was talking about the loaves of dough we eat; He was referring metaphorically to the Word alone. His Word alone is nothing and meant nothing if you don’t PRACTICE what He PREACHED!

Alleluia Amen! God bless each and every one of you.

Phil. 4:9  “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Poetry Sunday ~ The Tree of Life

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

***

Tree of Life
(c) Joni Zipp

***
 

In the vision of my eyes,
I see the world in disguise
playing with the human emotion
like a child without a notion.

I scan the open field of dreams
everything clearer than it seems.
Wandering round in an enlightened state,
hoping my words don’t come to late.

Can you feel the life of you
within the world of confusion too?
Upon the doorway of mystical bliss
there is a lot I feel I miss.

The trees they prosper with each season,
some are wounded with good reason.
Getting stronger from each storm
within each branch about to form.

Life it takes us for a spin;
seasons strengthen us to win.
This world is one we all must commune
lets play our lives in angelic tune.

Sin will compromise our feat
sacrifice is our only mete.
When we serve the One who is True,
the tree of life will flow through you.

All rights reserved: copyright © joni  zipp

Quotation Saturday

OVERCOMING FAILURE

"It doesn't matter how much milk you spill as long as you don't lose the cow."
-Harvey Mackay

"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it."
-William Durant

"I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy."
-Anthony Robbins

"Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again."
-Henry Ford

SKILLS

"The better you get at your key skills, the more you accomplish in a shorter period of time."
-Brian Tracy

"Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom."
-Jim Rohn

"If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things."
-Vincent Van Gogh


MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Happiness and a meaningful life come from making differences. But this is the most important rule to follow: Always make the differences you can make, not the differences you would prefer to make but can't. As you keep making differences, your skill will automatically and effortlessly increase. Anything human beings repeat they get more skillful at. Including misery!
-Lyndon Duke


You count. You make a difference. You can add to the sum of beauty and joy and love and understanding in the world (for yourself, your family, your friends, your community, however you define it), or you can subtract from those already scarce enough commodities. What you do matters.
-Vincent Barnett

VISION

"Teaching people skills without giving them a vision for a better future a vision based on common values is only training."
-Nido Qubein

"With vision, every person, organization and country can flourish.  The Bible says, ‘Without vision we perish.’"
-Mark Victor Hansen

"Yesterday's passions may not serve tomorrow's goals."
-Frederic Hudson

We're writers, we all see things in a new light.~ Joni Zipp

Quotation Saturday

“The best things and best people rise out of their separateness; I’m
against a homogenized society because I want the cream to rise.”
- Robert Frost

HAPPINESS
"Choose a career you love and you will never have to go to work."
-Denis Waitley

Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.
-Elisabeth Bishop

My days of whining and complaining about others have come to an end. Nothing is easier than fault-finding. All it will do is discolor my personality so that none will want to associate with me. That was my old life. No more.
-Og Mandino

VISION

“A visionary is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world.” -Oscar Wilde

If you don’t have a vision, then your reality will always be determined by other’s perceptions.” -Melanee Addison


CHARACTER

Just as an oak tree grows from a little acorn so does great character grow from a great many decisions that may at the time seem very minor.
-Ben M. Herbster

The man of character, sensitive to the meaning of what he is doing, will know how to discover the ethical paths in the maze of possible behavior.
-Earl Warren

HUMOR

“Laughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles: It won’t take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother.”
-Barbara Johnson

“The saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities: a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“Above all things, and at all times, practice yourself in good humor.”
-Thomas Jefferson