God’s Timeline is Growing Short

My Timeline is Growing Short
Part 1

Several nights ago I was praying at bedtime, as I nearly always do, when the word “timeline,” popped into my mind. What does that mean? I wondered. That word isn’t in the Bible, is it? I asked the Lord.

Various scenarios suddenly began to run through my mind, like an old newsreel. Here is some of what it showed:

A teenager, sitting at a desk in his bedroom planning what he wants to do with his life. A job, a profession, or a career? Law enforcement? Military, maybe? Or medicine? What is he interested in? What is he good at? He gives it some thought. This is a hard decision!

And then, what university would he want to get into, what courses would he need to take, how much studying to do to get really good grades? He’d need to get the best advisors, make the right kind of friends, get into a good fraternity with good connections for the future. And what about financial aid, help from the parents and maybe grandparents, for the high-paying job or career he’d like to have? Will he need student loans? How about a car while in college? Maybe a girlfriend?

How can I start planning now to be sure it will all work out the right way? he asks himself. He jots down lots of notes and makes his first outline… a timeline.

Do well in college, graduate, get a good job, get married, have a couple of kids, get a promotion, buy a house, put the kids in good private schools, put money into good investments, get really good health insurance, enough life insurance, set some cash aside for retirement… maybe go on nice vacations, eventually buy a vacation house somewhere in the mountains…

All that goes through his mind as he plots his timeline. All that preparation is going to take a long time, he realizes. Wonder what I could do to speed up the process? Can I shorten it some? Adjustments, cuts, can I adapt some of this and get there quicker?

How might it work out, with the right amount of effort, right connections, right influences? The right people, the right city, the right earning potential, etc. Suppose so and so happens… he thinks about planning for contingencies, emergencies. All of that goes into his thinking about the timeline for the future he wants.

And then the scene changed. Now instead of just getting a job, he’s thinking — how about maybe running for office? The necessary steps in his thinking would certainly have to change, as would his timeline.

A different university with more appropriate courses of study. Political science, of course. And networking. The right connections, people with influence! Of course, that would take lots of money! Fund raising.

Not to mention — what office could he try for? Local school board? City or county council? State legislature? Eventually the U.S. House or Senate? Hmmm. He gives that a lot more thought.

Step by careful step, he begins drafting a timeline for a political career, sitting there at his desk.

The Lord showed me quite a few other scenarios during what turned into a lengthy conversation. Ministers and missionaries, doctors, lawyers, artists, teachers, media moguls — always with a detailed timeline involved. The scenes finally faded away and I asked him the question:

Why? Why am I seeing all this?

“I have a timeline too,” he answered. “And my timeline is growing short.”

As I realized the seriousness of what he said, I began to wonder about the importance of it to the Body of Christ; particularly to the work of prophetic intercessors.

Will you explain more about all this? I asked him. I was considering current events, headlines in the news about the war in Israel, and the opinion pieces I’d been reading from various writers, Christian and secular. End-times? Most of them were asking. So were many of my intercessor friends. So was I.

Old Testament prophecies are coming to pass right before our eyes, many prophetic passages in the New Testament, too.

Is this the beginning of the end? I wondered. But the Lord just repeated what he’d said about his timeline. “It’s growing short.” I fell sound asleep only to wake up a few hours later with that conversation still vivid in my mind.

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, these last few days. Many Old Testament prophets describe the end time period, specifically what will be happening in and around Israel. Read through the Minor Prophets and you’ll see what I mean.

I’ve discovered that the word “timeline” isn’t in any Bible translation I’ve found so far, but “fullness of time” is.  Not in the Old Testament, but there are several interesting New Testament passages:

• “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5 KJV)
• “For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” (Romans 11:25-26 NASB)
• “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He set forth in Him, regarding His plan of the fullness of the times, to bring all things together in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10 NASB)

The word “fullness” in each of these verses is from the Greek word plḗrōma, meaning repletion, or completion.

Which brought up another question — where are we TODAY, on God’s timeline?!  The disciples wanted to know about end times too, and asked Jesus about it. Here’s what he said:

• “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:5-14 KJV)
• “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. 9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. 10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Mark 13:6-13 KJV)
• “And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. 10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. 13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Luke 21:8-17 KJV)

The Gospel of John doesn’t include that conversation. But remember, John wrote the Book of Revelation; obviously he was told a great deal about end times, i.e. the end of God’s timeline!

For those who regularly keep up with world-wide news, you realize that many of those conditions exist now, some of which also happened in times past. Are they worsening now? Or does it just seem like that because we access the news faster these days?

I don’t believe that matters. If God says his timeline is growing short, I’m not going to argue about “How short is short?!”

Having said all that, what should believers do about it, if anything? What should I myself do about it? And more specifically — what does it have to do with intercession? Prophetic intercession?

Part 2 will address that. Stay tuned.

Conversations and corrections over history of Palestine and Israel – 1 of 2. (Shared from Richard’s Watch.)

Conversations and corrections over history of Palestine and Israel – 1 of 2

Silent Betrayal, a re-post from a fellow blogger

Friends, the following was posted today by my fellow blogger Alan Kearns in Scotland. It is an excellent, anointed article… I tried to share it on Facebook but they refused to allow it – somehow this blog has been charged with abuse by some reader in the past and now FB considers it to be Against Community Standards. How ridiculous.
The blog name is Devotional Treasure and I have followed it for quite a long time, finding absolutely nothing that any believer would find objectionable… but some unbelievers might. See for yourselves.

Silent Betrayal

Breaking up… the roof?

Sometimes it takes me a long time to read through a Bible passage…

Luke 5:17-26, for example. (Also see Matthew 9:2-8 and Mark 2:1-12, KJV.)

This story is about an event in Jesus’s early ministry. After being out of town for a while, Jesus had returned to Capernaum. The news got around and before long, a large crowd showed up at the house where he was staying.

“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”

“And, behold, (four) men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch (mat, cot or stretcher) into the midst before Jesus.”

Reading this, I began to visualize the scene. A crowd has come to see Jesus, including sick people. There were Pharisees too, and doctors of the law. People were coming from everywhere! Galilee, Judaea, even Jerusalem.

Noisy? Surely. I can almost hear the shouts, the excitement in their voices, “Jesus is back, Jesus is back!” Can’t you imagine the clatter of their feet running, feel the jostling of their elbows, people edging closer, packing in tight to not miss a single word? To not miss seeing — or experiencing — a single miracle?

Some of those who heard that Jesus was back in town were four men with a paralyzed friend…

Did the four friends suggest he should go to that meeting? Did they have to persuade him to go? After all, he may not have been used to being hauled around town on a stretcher. Or did their sick friend urge them, beg them to carry him to see Jesus?

However it went, they got their act together, helped him onto a stretcher, lifted it up and away they went. How carefully they must have carried him! Maybe through several streets, maybe just next door, we’re not told. And how excited all of them must have been. Jesus can heal you! You can get well!

But then they hit a snag. The crowd wouldn’t make enough room for them to get inside the house. Did the crowd think that if they let those people in, there wouldn’t be enough miracle power left for them, themselves? Or what? Did they think a stretcher and five men would take up too much room?

Think about the five friends’ dilemma and their conversation. What now? I’ve got it! We’ll go through the roof! Whose idea was that? Did they all agree it was a good plan? How about the fellow on the stretcher, did he think it was a good idea?!

No, that’s okay, he might have said, let’s just go on back home. Suppose the homeowner doesn’t like this, he might get really angry, we’ll just be wasting our time and efforts.

No! We got this! Undeterred, his determined friends maneuvered the stretcher up the outside steps to the roof. That must have been fun. (Not!) Don’t drop him! Keep your side up! Hold on!

And once they got up there, there was still the problem of the roofing. Was it planks and straw? Hard clay, or clay tiles? The scripture says tiles, but what was that? Well, according to the Greek word, it was hard clay, possibly thick clay spread over planks and straw and left to dry. Dry hard! Sturdy stuff, no matter what it was.

Side note… some New Testament historians say that there was probably a stairway inside the house that led to a trap door in the roof so people could easily go up to the roof whenever they wanted, without going outside. If that was the case, it would have been like coming in through an attic and just heading downstairs. Easy! Or easier, anyway.

But Mark says, “And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.” [Mark 2:4 KJV]

Broken it up, huh? That had to have been a bit messy. A bit noisy. I can imagine some lookers-on yelling from below, “What are you doing?!” “Who said you could do that?” “This is not your house!” Or possibly, “Do you need some help?”

In the meantime, back inside the house, surely the crowd could hear something happening over their heads. Scratching, scraping sounds… Did strands of straw or chunks of clay begin drifting down from the ceiling? Did they quit listening to Jesus and start listening to the commotion up above?

Wonder how long it took to make a big enough hole? And where did they get cords or ropes to let down the stretcher bed? So many questions!

You can see why it takes me a while to read through a passage of scripture! And we haven’t even gotten to the argument that happened AFTER Jesus started paying attention to the paralyzed man and his faithful friends!