Amos 2:12 –  “But you made the Nazirites drink wine; you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the Last Days, Judgment, Restoration, Renewal, and Revival filled my mind and heart.  Where are we on God’s timetable?  I believe we are in the last of the Last Days!

How much time do we have left?  If we use God’s clock, what do we see in the visible moments?  If we use man’s, who knows, maybe we have decades or more.   When is less important than the what.  The intermediate is the focus.

God is incredibly patient and long-suffering.  His patience has a limit.  His judgments are more about obtaining repentance than punishment.  There will be a time when punishment is the result, but until then, God is seeking our repentance to restore us.

The prophet Amos spoke powerfully about these times and God’s purposes.  In Amos 2:12, we see an attack on religious faith and a silencing of the prophetic.  I see something interesting in that for our day—the desire of the secular to exclude anything of God and the religious system to silence the prophets.  The attack or resistance comes from inside and outside the church.  The Last Days!

The Last Days Revival will see a Restoration of God’s authority and power.  An incredible harvest of souls will characterize it.  And Israel’s final planting will transpire.  1948!  That generation will see the prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’ decree about the Last Days.  

How long is a generation?  Some say 40 years, but there are places in the scripture where it is 100 years.  However, since one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, human calculations are pointless.  Just know we are witnessing the signs of the times, and those signs point to the Return of Jesus.

Right now, God’s plumbline is testing lives, nations, and churches.  Anything out of alignment is being exposed.  Remember, God’s purpose is ALWAYS Restoration.  We judge, criticize, ostracize, and vilify, but God seeks repentance and restoration.

The harvest is to be our focus, not the purging.  May God break our hearts over sin (in us and others).  May God cause us to have the heart of Jesus and always regard others with the Cross in mind.  If I see others, the world, and life through the filter of the Cross, I will see as God sees, and everything changes.  My change will affect others positively!

Look up; redemption is near!

LORD, help us to discern the Times and know what time it is on your Timetable!