I recognize I have not written much this year. My spirit rails against me, back and forth, on whether to open my mouth or keep it shut. I am desperate often to speak, teach, and admonish. But I wrestle with the notion inside of whether the Lord is bidding me, or my fleshly desire merely wants it. And sometimes, I come against the demonic proposition that others may interpret it as the latter. People claim I am mad. But when I hear the Lord I stop and listen.
I do not fear man, but the Lord.
Nonetheless, I am silent often this year; and desperate to listen to the Lord for a word He has; given for a specific individual. And when He speaks, I deliver it, sometimes in spite of my own fear or consternation. This morning, He spoke so loudly, that I must open my mouth again in a wider format, thus, this message.
In my waking sleep, I saw my wife standing beside my bed and in the dark. She said, “Shouldn’t you be up to hear the Word of the Lord?”
I opened my eyes and she was not there; my wife still lay in bed next to me sound asleep.
I was reluctant to wake, as I was still very tired; but I could not shake the notion that the Lord spoke to me directly. “Speak, your servant is listening,” I cried, and woke to accomplish my duties on the farm.
Our new bull is below health right now. Therefore, he was quarantined last night. As I administered his daily vitamins this morning, the ticks were falling off of him like ashes; they were as fat and round as marbles. They squished under my thumb like grapes.
And this is what He showed me:
The old generation that honored the Lord has grown tired and weak like Eli. The generation that followed–the one in leadership now–is rebellious and arrogant. They steal the fat from the sacrifice before it has been boiled; they sacrifice that which costs them nothing. Priests act as though they are kings; they do not serve, they are not compassionate, they do not sacrifice.
But, oh how terrible! Ichabod is coming. Behold, it is on the horizon, and my heart aches for them; I fall to my knees and beg for them to repent. But they will ride into battle with the presence of the Lord, but It is not with them; for their hearts are prideful, and they have not sacrificed. By their habits, they have made men abhor the gift of God. By their habits, the glory of God has left them.
And this generation will be slaughtered. God, help them. Their wives will cry Ichabod!
But the glory of God has not left this place. It has only left them. The glory is upon the child that serves and listens. The glory of God is upon the one who serves and listens.
Oh, how terrible and how great!
The ticks are falling off; they are trampled under foot. The ones that feed like parasites on the blood are dying.
Praise the Lord for He is faithful. Cry out for those who are sacrificing nothing yet parade with their tall phylacteries like they are. Serve and listen.
This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:
“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.“
This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 3:1-6;14-22
Keith G. Alderman 