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The Last!

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Revelation 1:10-12 I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like the calling of a war trumpet,11 Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.12 Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,…

Natasha Bedingfield penned the lyrics to the song, Unwritten. Here are the lyrics: I am unwritten – Can’t read my mind – I’m undefined – I’m just beginning – The pen’s in my hand – Ending unplanned. Staring at the blank page before you – Open up the dirty window – Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find. Reaching for something in the distance – So close you can almost taste it – Release your inhibitions – Feel the rain on your skin – No one else can feel it for you – Only you can let it in. No one else, no one else – Can speak the words on your lips – Drench yourself in words unspoken – Live your life with arms wide open – Today is where your book begins – The rest is still unwritten. I break tradition Sometimes my tries are outside the lines – We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes – But I can’t live that way.

Only there are a couple of things I would disagree with: The pen’s in my hand? Mother Teresa once said: I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more. In 2 Cor. 3:3 the Apostle Paul reminds us: You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. NIV

Ending unplanned? Your ending is planned. There’s a curious Scripture passage which states: And all the inhabitants of the earth will fall down in adoration and pay him homage, everyone whose name has not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain [in sacrifice] from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 AMPC) Jesus was crucified before the foundation of the world? Your life has been planned. Take part in His Plans.

As Natasha reminds us: We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes. Stop it. Drench yourself in His Words and release you inhibitions. Try outside the lines of your comfort zones and break your tradition. Quit living that way. Reach for the One in the “Distance” that according to Acts 17:27 really isn’t that far away. And don’t just open a dirty window (your limited vision) but open up the Door you have been commanded to open (Rev. 3:20). You are the one with the handle. He’s knocking on the other side waiting for you to make room for Him; to open the Door. Walk with Him in the Light of the Lampstands, or Menorahs of His Holy Spirit.

Branching Out

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Thursday, October 17, 2019 

How are we to branch out in the things of the Spirit? Does the Bible include details for how we are to be lights to the world? What significance is there between Jesus being called a Nazarene and Old Testament Prophecies regarding the Messianic Branch?

Matthew 2:23 He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene [Branch, Separated One]. 

In the Amplified Classic Translation Nazarene is translated as the Branch, or Separated One. There are several Old Testament prophecies referring to the Messiah as being the Branch: Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and lovely to those of Israel who have escaped.

Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse [David’s father], and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit.

Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch (Sprout), and He will reign as King and do wisely and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

In Hebrew, the golden menorah that lit the inner court of Moses’ Priestly Tabernacle, and Solomon’s Temple, had seven lamps. The middle lamp was referred to as the “Shemash.” The “Shemash” was known as the “Servant Branch” or simply “The Branch.” The reason being that the menorah in some respects resembled a tree with seven branches. Even the “cups” of the lamps were modeled after almond blossoms from an almond tree. Each of the “branches” of the menorah received their oil from this middle branch. The Isaiah 11 passage referred to above has another interesting twist to it when it describes this Messianic Branch: And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse [David’s father], and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord— And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;

The attributes of the Messiah, on Whom the Spirit rested, would be that He would have wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. If you count the attributes you would discover only six. Why is that significant? Because Jesus is the Middle Branch, from Whom the Oil of the Spirit flows. This is what the book of Revelation was referring to when it mentions the Heavenly Menorah: Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne seven blazing torches burned, which are the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit]; Revelation 4:5

How does all of this apply to us? We are called to become a menorah for the Lord.
John 15:5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
Jesus is the Branch but we are His branches. Jesus also stated that He was the Light of the World, and then calls us lights to the world. Another way of saying this is to say: I Am the Menorah of the world and you are menorahs to the world. We become these menorahs when we receive the anointing of the Spirit for wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. As we seek to surrender daily to a life of being intoxicated with the Spirit His Fires will burn brightly in us; we will walk with Him in the Inner Court.

One last detail to mention is that many Jews believed the menorah to be reminiscent of the Tree of Life. Revelation 22:1-2 states: Then he showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 Through the middle of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations. We must never forget that we are lights to the world through the Power of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus we have been made to be trees (See Psalm 1) to bring healing to the nations. We receive His Spirit’s infilling to be His witnesses, evangelists, missionaries and ministers. The Lord distinguishes us as one of His Servants by manifesting through us what only He can do.