Dearest Ones,
You are on the pathway that I want you to be -- preparing to give the loud cry of the second and fourth angels' messages to the world. Do not hold back, but cry aloud, for the day of the Lord is near and hasteth greatly. [Zeph. 1:14.]
The topic for today is "alertness." The times demand a people who know the signs which I am sending and interpret them correctly. Of course, you must have the Spirit of the Lord in order to do this, and in order to have the Spirit you must have cleansed lives and hearts where the Spirit can dwell. At this time above all others, the whole focus must be upon preparation for my coming, for anything less leaves you at the mercy of the temptations and delusions of the evil one. Now the devil knows that his time is short, because he sees the preparations that are being made by my faithful people; so he will double his efforts to keep my people asleep and distracted by things that are happening in their lives and in society.
The media has a numbing effect on the mind, because you can watch the amazing things that are transpiring around the world, yet none of it really touches your lives or the lives of your friends and loved ones. This trains the mind to think that it will always be that way. But this is a deception. As the end draws near, you must make every effort to get into the hiding place of my protection:
"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isa. 26:20, 21.
This is referring to the time of trouble and the plagues. But it is imperative to recognize that the preparation time is before this happens, for then the door of salvation will be closed. Now is the time to come into the hiding place of safety. What is this place of refuge? It is a perfect and complete relationship with me so that I can surround you with holy angels and fill you with my Holy Spirit, which is the sealing agent which stamps upon your foreheads the inscription, "Holiness to the Lord." [Ex. 28:36.] You will preach my final message to the world before its destruction. But in order to give the call to come out of Babylon, you must have come out of it yourself. There must be no love of the world and the things of the world, or your mind cannot be cleansed of the love of the world and its pleasures and attractions. Let no one be like Lot's wife whose heart was wedded to her treasures.
Now is the time to search your hearts with lamps [Zeph. 1:12] and put away everything from your lives that would prevent the Holy Spirit from cleansing every corner of your heart. Soon the scenes portrayed in both the Old and New Testaments concerning the end of time will be displayed and experienced by all who are upon the face of the earth. Only my people who love and serve me and have my name and my Father's name written in their foreheads [Rev. 14:1] will be protected. I know that this seems to be a severe message, but I am deeply concerned for the majority of my people who are thinking that they have many more years to prepare for my coming and the things that will happen at the end of time. The human mind cannot comprehend the end of life as they know it now. It has always been this way when my judgments were sent upon the earth for a people or a nation. It always takes the majority of people by surprise. Only those who are in tune with my Spirit and keeping their minds open to my guidance are hearing the trumpet and discerning the messages that I am sending. All others will suffer the fate of the wicked who fall in the general destruction.
Now I want to change the course of my message and focus entirely upon my people. These are they who are following the narrow path up the mountain side that Ellen White saw in vision. They are focused upon the journey upward, and are cherishing the light of the 1844 message, plus all the light that is being poured out now in the latter rain. It has taken six thousand years to prepare my people for this time; but now the harvest of the earth is ripe. The wicked have come to the same condition as was Lucifer and his angels when they were cast out of heaven. All the light was shining upon him, and yet he sinned in direct opposition to the maximum amount of light possible. When the latter rain is poured out, all the light possible will shine upon this generation, for no one will have to choose their eternal destiny without having a chance to see and respond to the accumulated light of history.
So do you see why I can close up probationary time so soon? It is because my signs in the earth, combined with the preaching of the fullness of the latter rain by my cleansed people, will leave nothing more that can be done for the wicked. My deepest concern is for my people who are half-hearted and feel they are safe just because they profess to believe and do not realize that a profession is not enough. A perfect description of this condition is found in Zephaniah 1:4, 5:
"I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry hosts, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek. . . ." NIV.
These are Christians in name only and cannot receive my seal of my approval in their foreheads. But you, my chosen ones, are the joy of my heart as I see you laboring to be free from every sin and constantly seeking to be in harmony with the advancing light that you are receiving. And I tell you, you will not be disappointed on the day that the overwhelming scourge passes through and sweeps away all the wicked and those who do wickedly and leaves only the humble remnant of my people who love and serve me with their whole hearts. [Isa. 28:15-18; Zeph. 3:12-20.]
Now go to the activities of your day, but let nothing discourage you, for these light afflictions [2 Cor. 4:17] are the cleansing agents by which I purify your souls to be grounded upon the Rock [Matt. 7:24, 25; 1 Cor. 10:4] where nothing can harm you or separate you from me. When the wicked receive their just reward upon the earth that they have chosen instead of my kingdom of righteousness and holiness, you will be safe inside the covert of my protection.
Be blessed today, my precious ones, and look for the tokens of my love and care for you throughout the day, and rejoice that you are among the saved of the earth when the storm passes by. Lovingly, Jesus.