I had been asking the Lord for revelation on the reason for my troubled sleep over the last few days. It was quiet, so I got Nash together and headed to drop him off. I'm dragging, tired, my body aches, feels worn down and the Lord whispered to me "come out of the shadows, Ash". After I dropped Nash off, I was heading back to work and the Lord decided to shake things up. I had this burning vision in my mind of a gas station. The sign says 5.15 a gallon. Then almost immediately, it flashed to what I believed to be a draft. The sky was grey, it was dusty, and I saw thousands of men lined up. This wasn't a single file line, it was almost as far across as it was deep. However, this didn't look like the draft pictures form the 60's. These men didn't look strong enough to face what was coming at them. They were ill-equipped. They were confused. They were being sacrificed. For what, I am still not sure. My main guess is the cry of Peace and Safety, not knowing that sudden destruction will over come them all. Just as the Bible states. I was overtaken with emotion. I felt sick, not because they were in a war, but because they were never taught to fight properly. They had never been equipped, trained and sent. They were merely doing what they were forced to do.
I tried to regain my composure and I actually got a little angry. My flesh has about had enough. I don't understand why I was given this gift. I don't understand why it gets so intense for me. I was so frustrated and I honestly wanted to just quit. I don't know if any of this even makes a difference so why?! Then I gazed over in the passenger seat and the Lord simply said to me. "Why are you hiding, Ash?" What do you mean, why am I hiding Lord? Why, I'll tell you why, because it's every emotion all at once, its every sense of my body all at once. With every scripture I read, I feel nailed to that very same cross, pleading for the lives of the lost. Why do I shrink back, why do I read books more than scripture, why do I listen to sermons more than I read the word most days? This! This is why, Lord, because it's too much to carry the burden of a lost generation. It's too much to scream your truth from the rooftops and to watch the general public so blind to the actual truth of your words. It makes me sick the lukewarm status of our Christians, of our churches, of our entertainment, of everything. The flood of the truth feels overwhelming.
"You're not the only one, Ash. Tell them to stop hiding" Lord what are you talking about? Tell who? My flesh is not in the mood for this, my head hurts and I'm tired. "Tell them to stop hiding, Ash". Then the Lord put on my heart that there is an entire generation rising that is full of intercessors, of prophets, teachers, pastors, apostles, evangelists, of healers, deliverers, of disciples and they are hiding, just like I do at times. They hide from the truth of the word because it hurts the flesh, picking out the scriptures that make them feel better. They hide from dying to this world and to this flesh in the guise of grace. They don't fast, they don't pray, they barely read the word yet they think that they know, they think that they are born again. Sadly they will be spit out.
There are many like myself that feel, see, and speak according to the Lord. Yet there are many more that are afraid to even like or share a Christian post, afraid to go to church, afraid to be seen as something that doesn't fit in with this world. They think they are saved, yet they don't even acknowledge the Lord when He calls them. They never thank Him, only coming to pray when they are in need. There are many prophets that don't understand why they see, feel and hear things. They hide out, thinking its all too much. Afraid to speak and be rejected by the familiarity of what they know. Afraid to stand out in their churches. Afraid of the judgement of man, yet the judgement of the Lord doesn't bat their eyes.
The familiar will soon become very unfamiliar. What you once held dear to you will be shaken. Your motives, your heart, your selfish ambitions, they will all be tested. They're being tested now.
It's time to come out of the shadows. It's time to understand the big feelings, the big visions. It's time to heal, to deliver, to raise the dead. It's time for the called to step up, fearlessly breaking the shackles of their past lives. It's time to be raised and born again. It's time to get baptized. It's time to stand out. It's time to fear Hell more than feeling out of place. It's time to dig in, it's time to stand out.
It's time to come out of the shadows, even if you are one in a sea of a thousand, it's time to stand firm in the truth. It's time to draw near. Its time for intercessors to pray, it's time for the prophets to speak. It's time to stop hiding inside your safe little bubble of fear.
It's time to roar like the Lion. The ground is shaking, much like the tremors that precedent an earthquake. Will you heed the warning, or wait for the ground to break open beneath your feet?
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Matthew 10:21-40
21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Matthew 10:34-36
Not Peace, but a Sword
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Matthew 24
Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Signs of the End of the Age
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The Abomination of Desolation
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
No One Knows That Day and Hour
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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