WITHOUT A VISION; THE PEOPLE PERISH
"BEHOLD, A King will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. And each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land [to those who turn to them]. Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. And the mind of the rash will understand knowledge and have good judgment, and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly.Isaiah 32:1-4 [Amp].
There is ONE KING, and ONE KINGDOM... we would be wise to seek it out.
What is your 'vision' of God's ways and purposes? Whose voice are you listening to? Whose example have you chosen to follow? A tree will be known by its fruit. What kind of fruit are you bearing? Bitterness? Unforgiveness? Malice? Jealousy? Strife? Envy? Covetousness? Immorality? Selfishness? Heresies? Idolatry? Greed? These are all earmarks of the cravings of the flesh. Though they are most unattractive, these traits plainly reveal those who are NOT led by the Spirit of God. It is a sign of the times we are in, when these traits are being widely exhibited by those sitting in places of leadership and authority within the Church, widely influencing the people. There is a full-scale assault against the Word of GOD and all that is HOLY already underway... and multitudes are being caught up in it, only to be swept away to their own destruction. 'Tolerance' and 'Compromise' are the hallmarks of this 'new thing.'
Despite how loudly they proclaim... "a new thing"... "there is nothing new under the sun," (Ecc 1:9) "what was is what will be." The prophets of old lived it, and so must we in this, the last generation. "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" Ezekiel 12:2 [KJV].
"Hear now this, O foolish people without understanding or heart, who have eyes and see not, who have ears and hear not: Do you not fear and reverence Me? says the Lord. Do you not tremble before Me? I placed the sand for the boundary of the sea, a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass and by an everlasting ordinance beyond which it cannot go? And though the waves of the sea toss and shake themselves, yet they cannot prevail [against the feeble grains of sand which God has ordained by nature to be sufficient for His purpose]; though [the billows] roar, yet they cannot pass over that [barrier]. [Is not such a God to be reverently feared and worshiped?] But these people have hearts that draw back from God and wills that rebel against Him; they have revolted and quit His service and have gone away [into idolatry]. Nor do they say in their hearts, Let us now reverently fear and worship the Lord our God" Jeremiah 5:21-24 [Amp].
"For among My people are found wicked men; they watch like fowlers who lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit and treachery; therefore they have become great and grown rich, They have grown fat and sleek. Yes, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they do not judge and plead with justice the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord. Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? An appalling and horrible thing [bringing desolation and destruction] has come to pass in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests exercise rule at their own hands and by means of the prophets. And My people love to have it so! But what will you do when the end comes?" Jeremiah 5:26-31 [Amp].
What will we do indeed? We are either striving to enter into the Kingdom of God, or we are settling for being left out. Our vision determines our walk. Our vision is our hope, our beliefs, our hearts desire. God is doing a work in this hour... that is without observation. "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them" Luke 17:20-23.
This is in direct contradiction of what of what most people believe... based on what they have been taught by their leaders. God is doing a 'hidden work'... in the hearts of those who love Him... while people today are looking for outward manifestations. Few today comprehend the meaning of Jesus' words here... "for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." They have no vision of God's purposes. Instead, we have been directed to seek after the desires and imaginations bred in the hearts of men; without ever considering that when we do that, we are in fact rejecting God's purposes and desires. Multitudes today are doing the exact opposite of what Jesus told us to do. "The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it."
Though we long to, we do not see 'one of the days of the Son of man' today. Apostasy is rampant throughout the Church. "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests exercise rule at their own hands and by means of the prophets. And My people love to have it so!" Repeatedly Jesus warned His followers... when "they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them." Why? Because the kingdom of God is within you... it cannot be found by running here or there. Why would we look without? Why would we act in direct opposition to what our LORD commanded? If we do go after this or that purported 'move of God,' we will not find HIM. What we will find is error and deception. "For the fool speaks folly and his mind plans iniquity: practicing profane ungodliness and speaking error concerning the Lord, leaving the craving of the hungry unsatisfied and causing the drink of the thirsty to fail" Isaiah 32:6. I doubt there has ever been a time in the history of man when there was greater folly, iniquity, ungodliness or error being spoken by leaders concerning the Lord. The people are left hungry and unsatisfied at the least... and led into gross error and deception in the worst scenarios.
Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" John 3:6, and "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" John 6:63. Today we are witnessing an unprecedented departure from the Word of God. Scripture is no longer deemed relevant in the life of the believer. It has been undermined by the exaltation of the intellect, emotional experience and supernatural manifestations.
Yet in the midst of all this darkness and confusion, the LORD OF HOSTS is preparing a people...
Those who have... ears to hear and eyes to see.
Those who are willing to let God be God.
Those who will keep His commandments.
Loving not the world, nor the things of the world.
Loving not their own lives, all the way to the death of self.
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" Philippians 3:10. This is the purpose of God, that we mere mortals may be conformed into the image of the 'firstborn Son,' as we too... take up our cross and follow HIM.
"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" 1 John 1:6-10.
"BEHOLD, A King will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. And each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land [to those who turn to them]. Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. And the mind of the rash will understand knowledge and have good judgment, and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly."
The KING reigns first... in the hearts and minds of His people, before He establishes His Kingdom upon the earth. The Kingdom is a 'life'... not a theology. "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" Proverbs 29:18. We need to have a Godly vision today people. We have had enough of religion and the vision of man; we need to seek to know what GOD purposes to work in our lives. "Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD" Ezekiel 7:26-27.
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" Isaiah 8:20. If we do not know the Word, how will we know if what is being said is according to the Word? Multitudes today are running after signs and wonders, sitting around self-made fires that are void of the light of the Lord. I pray that we may... "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD" Isaiah 55:6-8.
Amen & Amen
Cathy Morris
