This is an image of the rain from Hurricane Matthew as it approached Jacksonville, Florida on October 7, 2016...
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| Hurricane Matthew at Jacksonville, FL and Neptune Beach (NOAA NEXRAD) |
God is sovereign, and has control over everything, including Satan. The darkness can do nothing without God's permission...
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”One of the disasters that struck Job was a mighty wind that killed his children...
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:6-12 NIV)
…another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” (Job 1:18-19 NIV)
I find it quite amazing that a major hurricane impacted the Jacksonville beaches less than four months after many people were set free there on June 18. I described what happened to me in previous posts, especially here: The Rage of Neptune. I published that post eight days before the first "Matthew" advisory from the United States NWS National Hurricane center, which means I published it eight days before the storm entered the Caribbean Sea, and well before it was forecast to have any impact on the USA...
Was Hurricane Matthew "revenge" for what happened at the beaches? You will have to judge for yourself. Personally, I think it is quite interesting, and I believe that the Supernatural and Natural interact, as the Bible says.
Actually, I don't think the purpose of the hurricane was to punish anyone who had anything to do with Neptune Beach. Its purpose was to get attention. Most people who were there on June 18 were not there on October 7, and the whole coast of Florida is well-prepared for storms like Matthew. Even the public trash bins in the beach areas are concreted into the ground. No, Satan would not waste his resources attacking an empty beach. He would seek something dearer to attack, something closer to home. He would strike family, like he did Job's.
The Holy Spirit has become amazingly precious and clear to me since I returned from Florida in June, and I am learning to follow him more confidently. Many of my previous posts document what I have been learning. I have learned we can all have unwanted passengers (The Car), and Jesus commands us to cast them out (Evolution Revolution). I have learned to be empathetic and more forgiving to everyone, because I had demons without knowing it (Free). I learned I could even have the Gospel and chase after Jesus while I had "spiritual hitchhikers" aboard (Taking Off The Religious Glasses; Pulling Weeds), and I can be seriously deceived even when those hitchhikers are gone (Rage of Neptune). I can have dreams God wants me to have that are from Satan (Rewiring; Pheasants), and I can think I am hearing from God when I am not (Who Is It?).
Here is something that is from God. He just gave it to me after I wrote the last paragraph. Notice the name of the hurricane. That is where he wants us to look.
Satan has struck our family, our family of Christ. That is his revenge, and God has allowed it in order to test us. I only know what I have seen publicly on social media, and I am seeing it from the outside. I have seen evidence of jealousy, fits of rage, gossip and even spiritual "fratricide." What was once enthusiasm and excitement has turned into silence and despair. Jesus continues to work but the body has taken hits. It's as if a bomb went off in the headquarters tent.
This is not new. Those who participated in previous "reformations" of the Church turned on each other. In Eyes on the Ball, I discussed how Michael Servetus and John Calvin committed fratricide, literally. We can look down on them and think we are better than them, but we would be proud if we did that. Yes, we can cast out demons, and we are called to do so. We are called to heal the sick, and we are called to preach the Gospel. We must do those things, and we are certainly meant to rejoice in those things, but we must remember our place and who the Master is, and that we are all servants. Yes, Jesus has given us his Holy Spirit, who gives us the same power he had when he walked on the earth, and he has commanded us to do what he did. We must do that. But it is not just about what we do "for the Kingdom." It is also about how we actually treat one another.
Jesus commanded us to love one another.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV)That's a command, just like the command to heal the sick, cast out demons, preach the gospel and make disciples. Learning and practicing how to love one another, meaning our brothers and sisters in Christ, is part of becoming and making disciples. That is core discipleship. Our love for one another must be sacrificial, it must be top priority, it must be the most important thing we do, after loving God. Yes, we need to love our worldly neighbors, and we do that by being kind to them and sharing the gospel with them, but we must die for one another. We must submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. We must consider our brothers and sisters more important than ourselves.
If we do not love, we are nothing.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8, in part. NIV)It was publicly stated that some people received a prophecy about "a shark," and that they knew what it was. Shortly after that, it became apparent from public statements and behaviors that things were not right, and drastic changes took place. It was not pretty.
I do not know what that prophecy was, who made it, or who received it, and I do not know the circumstances -- and I don't need to know. But Holy Spirit knows, and yesterday my heart became very troubled. I think this is how "Neptune" has exacted his "revenge."
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I tested some prophecies (S.W.A.T.), and this is the key Scripture I followed:
Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 NIV)I rejected some and held onto others. My question is, was the "shark" prophecy properly tested, per the protocols Jesus gave us? I don't need to know the answer to that, but I hope it was.
What protocol is that? Scripture. Specifically, the name of the hurricane.
Matthew 18 provides many instructions about how we are to deal with each other in the Body of Christ. Forgiveness is a key one. It breaks destructive cycles. Satan may get things started with a lie, or multiple lies, but we can defeat him by breaking the chain of offenses and simply forgiving. It is not easy, but it is what we are called to do. Also, if someone sins, there is a protocol to follow...
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-16 NIV)
A "prophecy" is not evidence of a sin, and it can be hearsay. Not only do we need to test prophecies, we also need to test the "prophet," or "prophets." Do they have a good track record, or are they a new believer? Has the Lord himself established them? Do we even know who they are? I think the story about Hananiah is very instructive, and you can read it in Jeremiah 28.
If we follow the Matthew 18 protocol for dealing with a brother or sister who sins, and we get all the way through it and they do not respond, how do we treat them like a "pagan or a tax collector?" We simply share the gospel with them and tell them to repent. If they do not listen, we shake the dust off and go someplace else. That's it. We do not accuse them of being anything other than someone who needs Jesus. If they act wickedly towards us, we are to simply turn the other cheek and walk away, and let God deal with them.
Again, I only know what has been shared publicly on social media, and I don't need to know anything more, but I encourage my beloved brothers and sisters to love one another and to seek the Lord about these things. He will show us what to do, and he wants us to be reconciled. He died for us. He shed his blood for all of us -- even those who sin against us and refuse to listen.
Oh, Yeshua, please forgive us. We are weak and easily deceived. We easily become proud, and we can be so wicked to one another. Help us to demonstrate to the world what it truly means to love one another. That is the best way to share the gospel, to love one another. When we do that, with a true and sacrificial love, people will see we have something very special and precious, that words cannot adequately express. Then they will want what we have, and they will ask how they can get it...
And then we can show them.
All glory to God!!!
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UPDATE, August 19, 2022...
This is a screen shot of an actual infrared satellite photo of Hurricane Matthew as it made landfall on the island of Haiti.
The Darkness can cause evil events to happen, as I discussed above. Apparently, so can man.
I have learned and observed over the last few years that there are technological capabilities for controlling the weather, earthquakes, and other things we have always thought were "acts of God." According to Genesis...
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them..." (Genesis 11:6 NIV)
Some things never change. English is the universal language of technical people. Babylon never went away, and it may be more prevalent now than it has ever been.