Today is Groundhog Day. Many lightheartedly look to the groundhog to predict whether winter will continue, or whether we will experience an early spring. This year, the groundhog did not see his shadow, so an early spring is predicted.
There was a 1993 movie starring Bill Murray titled "Groundhog Day", about a man who experiences a strange phenomenon. When he wakes up every morning, he finds that he must relive the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again.
Are we doing the same: doing the same thing, but expecting a different result?
Peter prophesied that as Christ's return and His day of judgment draws near, cynical men will say that although God's judgment has been written of, nothing has changed since the beginning, all remains the same, and they don't expect that to change (2 Pet. 3:3-5).
However, God has promised in His Word that all things will not remain the same. He will change even the most common experiences shared among men. Jesus taught of these changes in what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount, or the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12).
Among those changes of condition, Jesus taught:
The poor in spirit (humble before God) are blessed and will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Those who mourn are blessed, and will be comforted.
All of us experience the death of a loved one, but how do we deal with it?
Isaiah prophesied about this miraculous change in our common circumstances and experiences also, including those who mourn. These are the changes promised by the LORD that Isaiah chronicled, and that Jesus centuries later preached in the synagogue. When Jesus preached it (portion indicated in red lettering), He also announced its fulfillment that day in Him:
"The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, the he might be glorified."
Isa. 61:1-3
All of these miraculous 180 degree changes taking place in the common human condition prophesied by Isaiah and preached by Jesus, including the overwhelming grief experienced by those who mourn, is so that the LORD might be glorified. We are not here to daily repeat the routine of eating, working, sleeping, over and over. Each of us is here with a purpose.
In another place, Jesus told his disciples that when He left, they would be filled with sorrow, with weeping and lamenting. However, their sorrow would be turned into joy, like a woman who sorrows through labor, but rejoices as she holds the child she has given birth to. All of her previous travail and sorrow is forgotten as she experiences that overwhelming joy (Jn. 16:19-21).
Isaiah wrote again about the transformation from the condition of darkness in the world, by the glory light of the LORD seen upon us at our rising and shining (Isa. 60:1-2):
"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise...and the days of thy mourning shall be ended....that I may be glorified....I the LORD will hasten it in his time." Isa. 60:18-22
The LORD is not constrained within time, but He lives outside of time. As Peter wrote, "...one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Pet. 3:8). The signs all tell us that the day draws near.
As Revelation prophesies regarding the coming down from heaven of the New Jerusalem, and the changes this brings to men:
"...Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away...And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev 21:1-4 (part.), 27
Again, as to timing, Jesus said, "And behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." (Rev. 22:7), and in another place the angel proclaimed, "...there should be time no longer." (Rev. 10:6).
Many men say that things never change, but the LORD has made the promised to us that everything will change.
To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", and to help us get out the message, to contribute to the Book of Remembrance for Sean Stevenson:
Dr. Kenneth Stevenson
P.O. Box 154221
Waco, TX 76705
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
http://endtimeschool.com/
P.O. Box 154221
Waco, TX 76705
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
http://endtimeschool.com/
To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.
To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8 http://endtimeschool.com/
To send testimonies for the Book of Remembrance to be published in the memory of Sean Stevenson:
To send testimonies for the Book of Remembrance to be published in the memory of Sean Stevenson:
You can send your testimonies to:
everlastingcovenant@ymail.com or PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705.
Sean Stevenson
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