Finding Joy in the Last Days - Part 2

I had always felt that the blood moons were a sign of the earth entering into a brand new age. However, I was so caught up in and distracted by the prophesied coming judgments, that I failed to see the reality of the prophesied awesomeness of the Lord. Let me just get the picture right in your mind about what I’m talking about and where I recently came from (maybe some of you can relate).

Over the last year, just about every moment of free time that I had available was spent watching the newest YouTube video of the latest vision or dream about the next big event around the corner. I was comparing timelines, reading and re-reading all the top selling end-times books, checking news headlines, jumping from blog to blog hoping not to miss out on any new piece of evidence or information that might help me be even better “prepared” and then calling my interested family members and friends and catching them up on the latest details. In fact, I was so certain that a Utah earthquake was inevitable during the month of October, that each night I would go through the house and take down anything glass or of danger and then put them back on their shelves the next day. My husband and children thought I was getting a little ridiculous.

As my husband spent his free time dreaming about the future, working on his goals and trying to enjoy life, I kept thinking to myself that his priorities were all backwards. Why was he not interested in discussing these heavy topics with me? Didn’t he want to know what it was that we were preparing for? When he’d try talking to me about putting in landscaping lights and building a gas fire pit, I’d snap at him with a comment such as, “What’s the point, the earthquake will just destroy it” or “We probably will be called out to places of refuge before you even finish.”  I thought all of our extra money should go towards more and more food storage (we could never have enough) and preparedness supplies.

I wasn’t operating off of fear (or so I thought) just anticipation – always wondering when the next big event might happen, so I could finally exhale. Don't get me wrong, it's good to prepare; the prophets teach us to do so. However, we need to be cautious as to what's motivating our desire to prepare. What I didn’t realize was that my over-enthusiasm for preparedness and end-time prophecy was actually putting fear into other people. And when I’d respond to my loved ones with, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” it only put more fear into them. Now God does not operate off of fear, He operates off of faith. I had no clue that by feeding into the doom & gloom of end times and trying to “wake up” everyone, I was actually stirring up fear which was working against the building up of God’s Kingdom. Yes, I was helping the adversary and working against the Lord.

My goals and projects had all been set aside for several months as I felt they weren’t important anymore. My only focus needed to be preparedness on every level. In fact, some of my preparedness friends were feeling that the Lord had told them to put off cleaning their homes or fixing them up. It would only distract them and they needed to spend that time to hunker down with family and wait out the coming storms. Many people took their “last vacations” or went out to enjoy their “last good meal”. Then as everyone waited…well, life continued to go on. Birthdays came and went, the sun continued to shine and I finally stopped taking my glass vases down before bedtime.

So enough of all of that, let’s get on to the good part! The Lord didn’t hesitate to use this as an opportunity to steer me in a different direction. He began purging people, old habits, and unproductive beliefs, from my life. October was a challenging month, as I experienced the “coming shaking” in a different way. No, not the ground, not even my testimony; He chose to shake up my world. He shook it in the most amazing way, as to allow all of the junk that was cluttering my vision to fall to the wayside. The way I had previously wanted to shake others to “wake them up” was the very way He began to shake me. And yes, it woke me up. Not only did it wake me up, but it lit a spark inside of me that has since turned into an inferno.

He said to me, “You want to do something amazing and pleasing unto Me? Then build up My Kingdom.” The Sprit then took over and began to teach me things that I am so excited to share with you! I was shown talks, quotes, videos and books from people of various Christian religions who are all experiencing this same message right now from the Lord. That message is faith, peace, hope, love and joy.

Yes, it's possible that a day may come for the Lord to gather His members temporarily to a nearby place of refuge for a wise purpose, but until (if and when) that day comes, it shouldn't be what's motivating us. The Spirit has taught me that anyone who is trying to run for the hills, hunker down and hide from evil is not fulfilling the Lord’s agenda. Satan wants all the believers and all of the saints to hide. Why? Because when we shut down, stop dreaming and planning, put our goals and gifts on hold, we stop creating problems for him. We stop being a threat.

Satan wants us to get out of the picture so he can rule and reign on this earth. Yes, he wants us to hide, hunker down and run for the hills. He wants us to be fearful, because the more fear we help spread, the more his kingdom grows. Have we forgotten how much more powerful the Lord is? We can be in the midst of evil and danger and be completely protected. Daniel and the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego, even Queen Esther come to mind. There is no need for a remote cabin in the woods when we have the Powers of Heaven at our fingertips. We are children of the Most High; why must we have any doubt or worry that He will allow darkness or danger to prevail over us, in so much that we must hide and run from it? It should be running and hiding from us! How can we let our light shine on the hill, when we are hiding it under a bushel (or in our backyard bomb shelter)?

When the Spirit told me that by dreaming, setting goals, using my gifts and really LIVING my life again, I would become a powerful force in helping build His Kingdom, I felt Heaven open up and gallons of light and revelation pour out upon me. I was reminded that this new period we have entered into is the Kingdom Age. We are to build up His Kingdom on the earth, which means we are to prevail over evil! Instead of focusing on destruction, we are to focus on BUILDING!

This is the mind shift that the Spirit has impressed upon me. This is the new direction that believers in Jesus Christ from all religions must head in. The Spirit has said, “No more focusing on doom and destruction. Destruction is death, tearing apart, breaking down. This is not in any way part of your mission on this earth. You are to build, create, lift-up, as therein is life and light. It is life and light that the Lord uses to build His Kingdom.”

Wow, right? This new period we have entered into is a period unlike any other time on the earth. It’s when the Kingdom will be built and complete. It’s the period that ushers in the millennium. We are going to see miracles poured out upon the earth like we have never seen before. Don’t you want to be a part of that? You will. These miracles are the prophesied signs and wonders and it’s these signs and wonders that are going to bring people unto Christ. We are not even close to the final harvest. There is so much work to be done! You know the Lord will harvest all that He can from the field before He allows it to burn.

Yes, all of the negative components of the last days will continue to play out, but it’s not helpful in any way to the Lord for us to be fearful of it, encourage it, wish to speed it up, help spread it, or continue to run from it, etc. If the world continues to run from the evil, there will eventually be no place left to run to. Evil will have swept the globe and taken over. I now believe that this is what Elder Holland was referring to in his 2015 CES devotional address, Be Not Afraid, Only Believe. He said,

The momentum that began in a grove of trees in upstate New York two centuries ago will continue to roll forth, unabated and undeniable—Daniel’s stone cut out of the mountain without hands. 5 That scriptural kingdom will be triumphant, and it will prevail. Unlike every other era before us, this dispensation will not experience an institutional apostasy; it will not see a loss of priesthood keys; it will not suffer a cessation of revelation from the voice of Almighty God. Individuals will apostatize, they may turn a deaf ear to heaven, but never again will the dispensation collectively do so. What a secure thought that is! What a day in which to live! What a way to cut through fear or faintheartedness.

No wonder the Prophet Joseph taught that every prophet, priest, and king in every age “looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day;   … we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory.”

So, if you haven’t noticed, I am bullish on the latter-days. In nothing could I have more faith than I have in God the Eternal Father; in Jesus Christ, His Son; in their redeeming gospel; and in their divinely guided Church. So, what do we owe our students in this? We owe them a comparable testimony and a life “of good cheer.” The Savior asked for that so often that I personally consider it a commandment. However, worry and fear and pessimism and fretting can destroy anyone’s good cheer—yours and that of the people around you. So put a smile on your face, and cherish every day of your life!

In another 2015 devotional address titled, Israel, Israel, God is Calling Elder Holland continues on this same theme by saying,

For more than 4,000 years of covenantal history, this has been the pattern: Flee and seek. Run and settle. Escape Babylon. Build Zion’s protective walls
.
Until now. Until tonight. Until this our day.

One of the many unique characteristics of our dispensation, this the dispensation of the fullness of times—the last and greatest of all dispensations—is the changing nature of how we establish the kingdom of God on earth. You see, one of the truly exciting things about this dispensation is that it is a time of mighty, accelerated change. And one thing that has changed is that the Church of God will never again flee. It will never again leave Ur in order to leave Haran, in order to leave Canaan, in order to leave Jerusalem, in order to leave England, in order to leave Kirtland, in order to leave Nauvoo, in order to go who knows where. No, as Brigham Young said for us all, “We have been kicked out of the frying-pan into the fire, out of the fire into the middle of the floor, and here we are and here we will stay.” 

Of course, that statement wasn’t a comment about the Salt Lake Valley only or even the Wasatch Front generally; it became a statement for the members of the Church all over the world. In these last days, in this our dispensation, we would become mature enough to stop running. We would become mature enough to plant our feet and our families and our foundations in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people permanently. Zion would be everywhere—wherever the Church is. And with that change—one of the mighty changes of the last days—we no longer think of Zion as where we are going to live; we think of it as how we are going to live.

In my next blog post I am going to share how we are to begin this. How we are to prevail not gradually but immediately!

Now, preparing this earth for Christ to reign and rule, means that it must become like Heaven. It must change from its current state. How is that to happen? How did it happen for Enoch? Yes, we as a people must change in order for the earth to change. We will become pure in heart, and a righteous people is power against the enemy. By becoming righteous, evil has no place here. It becomes bound. When we realize the amazing power we have over Satan, we can rise to our potential and start kicking him out. As we do this, an amazing and incredible transformation will happen.

We have so much reason to be excited and joyful because what we are about to experience is about to outdo all the miraculous events in the Old and New Testament combined. He has been saving the best for last!

It is not the end yet. It’s the beginning of something very exciting! The Kingdom of God is going to prevail. There will be huge changes in the business world, movie industry, fashion industry, and every industry that God can use to help build His kingdom. As Satan begins to lose grip, the Power of God will infiltrate. It will be nothing like we are used to now. Technology will excel to higher levels, all who are pure in heart will prosper. That prosperity will be used to further build the Kingdom. As those who have been in darkness begin to catch on to what is happening, they will yearn to be a part of it. As the world begins to see that light, happiness, health, prosperity and miracles are the fruits of the body of Christ, they will want to forsake evil and trade it for peace and happiness. When the transformation is complete, the earth will be ready for the Savior to return.

There is so much to be done. So much we must build! We won’t do it alone, Heaven is going to be a part of it. Yes, the veil is about to become very thin. We are about to receive an abundance of spiritual gifts. As we seek to become pure in heart and sanctified, we will overtake evil. As we call upon the armies of Heaven to assist us, great and marvelous changes will happen. No more tolerating evil and allowing it surround us. No more sitting back in fear and waiting to be rescued. We must rise to our potential and live up to our titles as sons and daughters of God. We must do it with authority and love. Our intentions must be pure and motivations centered on Christ. Satan divides and gets us to work against each other to distract us from building the Kingdom. No more division, the body of Christ in all religions must come together. It’s time!

You see, life is brighter than it has ever been, in a time in which the most wicked generation has ever lived on the earth since the days of Noah. How can that be you ask? Remember, when you see evil pick up momentum that can only mean one thing - it's trying to compete with the momentum of righteousness. Let's start focusing on Heaven, God's Kingdom and all the beautiful and incredible events that have been prophesied for our day. When we do this, we become a force to be reckoned with.

In my next post, I'm going to go into great detail as to what I have been doing and what you can do to immediately experience joy, peace, safety and an abundance of revelation. I have some awesome personal experiences I'm going to share (pictures and all) of how Heaven has been setting up shop in my home, neighborhood and community!