Arming The Saints Blog

I asked Denise what she wanted to say to start of the New Year, and she told me two things: get ready, and be still.

I can totally see where she’s coming from. I have this gigantic gift of discernment, which means that I can tell good from evil spirits, right from wrong, all of that, but my discernment really only manifests in having certain feelings. I know people who hear from God in other ways, like dreams, visions, or even out loud, but that’s never been me. In Denise’s book, she says that God will talk to you wherever you’re looking. So if you happen to be a person who really pays attention to dreams, don’t be surprised if God speaks to you that way. I know my own feelings, and that’s how God and I talk.

So I was pretty surprised about 10 years ago when I got an honest to goodness “out loud” message from God. It’s weird. I’d never had one before, so I didn’t know what it would be like. But once it happened, I knew immediately that it was from God. It least it seemed out loud. It was different from my usual feelings anyway.

And what He said was, “Get ready.” I immediately knew it was from Him, and I immediately knew what to do because I knew what it was about. It was about end times.

Since then, I’ve been getting ready. I suppose some people would call me a prepper, but I’m way different from the people you see on those shows. That’s because I’ve been getting ready physically – Denise and I honestly think that if things get nasty (we border on believing in mid-trib rapture, but we also think the birth pangs might get kind of crazy), our house can be a bit of a safe haven for other followers of Jesus – and spiritually, by reading the Bible, praying, studying various tools, etc. In fact, if you look at our little storehouse of goods, you’ll also see a big box of Bibles, which we intend to be handing out when things get weird.

Back when I started, not too many people were talking about end times, relatively speaking. But now, you can’t go anywhere without a church or program bringing it up. All of that is foretold in the Bible. People will rise up to tell others the signs of the times.

The second thing Denise told me was just to “be still,” and, of course, that’s good advice no matter what you do. I assume she was referring to Psalm 46:10, which says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  These last few months that I have taken off have reminded me that my life has become unbearably busy. Do you realize that it took me almost the entire day yesterday just to get updates for the various computers I have? It’s really nuts. These last few months, though, have allowed me occasionally to take a bit of time from an incredibly busy life in the world just to sit down, be still, and think about God. I have my cd player loaded to go through the Bible, and I’ve started taking blocks of time during the day just to study the Word. When I’m busy, there’s no way I can really hear from God. But when I’m still, I can at least allow Him to squeeze in. It’s a start.

Good advice, Denise. And again, Happy New Year and God bless all of you!