His Remnant Remains..
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 (KJV)
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4: 15 (KJV)
For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
alive = zah’-o = living, live; not lifeless, not dead
Let’s examine what it means to be ‘alive’ according to scripture, rather than what we think it means…
Acts 17:28 KJV
For in Him we live (zah’o), and move, and have our being (ay-MEE); as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.
You can be living and yet lifeless (spiritually dead).
Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4, make it clear that man CANNOT live by bread alone – we need another level of sustenance BECAUSE we need strength and power and life to thrive in the spiritual.
There’s a spiritual realm that we need to live in, we are called to live in. We get distracted by the physical/natural realm because of it’s over bearing presence.
Living in HIM is a spiritual relationship. By living in HIM, we become… we are… The word for ‘being’ is originates from the Greek word ay-MEE (pronounced just like the name Aimee). ay-MEE is a verb. Verbs indicate action, right? ay-MEE, translates as, I exist.
In HIM we connect to our spiritual life, the gifts are stirred up, and our purpose for our existence is activated and we become what we are supposed to become… we move in purpose and destiny. ay-MEE can also be translated as; am, have been, it is I, was.
Do you hear a remez to the GOD of Heaven, “Who Was and Is and Will Be?” ay-MEE is referring to our being in the image and likeness of Christ.
When we apply this knowledge back into…
1 Thessalonians 4: 15 (KJV)
For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive (zah’o) and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
We which are alive, zah-o in Christ – those in His Image and Likeness, survivors. The word remain has its roots in the Greek word loipon which means to remain (perileipomai), in the sense of being left behind – a remnant left behind – for this moment in time. There’s a connection to time. There’s a clock ticking in the application of the word leipo.
The same words appears again in verse 17.
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Then we which are alive in Christ, bearing His Image and Likeness, (His mark upon us, is His Name upon us) and remain – the remnant that remains awaiting His Return… verse 15 informs us that we wont precede those that have already ‘fallen asleep’ in Christ… but we (the remnant) will follow them in due time.
The Book of Revelation is oftentimes set at a distance because of the weight of its symbolism. You have to press pass the obstacles created by our culture, those words that have dropped in our spirit by other voices, their biases and preconceived notions and just study the text while allowing the vision to speak, uninterrupted by our own carnal thoughts.
As I so often say, it is the vision of Jesus Christ, revealed to the Apostle John, when he was in the Spirit on the Lords Day.
A vision that was given to him by the Spirit when he was in the Spirit.
GOD is speaking to the Spirit of man, through the Spirit. If we can not get our flesh out of the way, so that we can see and hear what the Spirit of GOD is saying to the church, if we can not allow our Spirit to flow with the Spirit of GOD, then we will continue to view the Book of Revelation as difficult, confusing, beyond comprehension.
Paul wanted to ‘comfort us’ with these words. We should be comforted by the Book of Revelation. It truly is the Good News!
As we enter into the Day of Rosh Hashanah – The LORD’s Day, we are joyful becasue those that are with Him have yet another rehearsal party!
We did the work this year, we search our hearts, took an accounting of our souls in the month of Elul, we know where we stand spiritually and the work we need to do this year, we have allowed the LORD access to our hearts, our minds, our souls, not shutting anything out from Him.
The Spiritual Work Days come to a close and we are ready to do our part to complete the work of GOD in the Earth. I pray that we all walk in our assignment and calling. Do our best work for GOD and give glory to Him in all that we set our hands to accomplish this year…
GOD has saw fit that we make it to this point in time. We lost some along the way this year. Is there a mantle that fell from our loved ones that we need to pick up, and complete the assignment? Is there something that we can do to finish the work they began? What honor is there that we can bring to those that we have lost?
What part of the legacy can we complete? for them and for ourselves?
Some are saying once more that the LORD is coming this Rosh Ha Shanah, and that time is up within the next two days!
I am not seeing that at all. I have work to do and I know it. GOD’s not giving me a pass on any of it! Im certain about that.
So if the world does not end by the 24th, blame me. I’m sure it’s my fault. I have an entire list of things I still want to accomplish!
If I meet you in Heaven on the 25th, you can tell me all about how wrong I was, while we celebrate at the Wedding Feasts of the Lamb!
Amen.
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