But now, O Lord, Thou art our father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter;
and we all are the work of Thy hand. Isaiah 64:8

We are made in the image of God.
Each person whether big or small, rich or poor, intelligent or not,
Each one has the capacity to give their lives over to God.
if they cling to their earthly riches, including the riches within themselves,
their beauty, their personality, their friends, their idols or any other things this world has to offer,
they will not be accepted by Jesus on the last day.
Their riches will lose value, their idols, broken in a million pieces,
their foundations ruined and all that they hoped in or trusted in will be destroyed,
and they will be standing or kneeling before the God of all Creation,
trying to explain how they trusted in other things and not in Him.

The apples of delight that they have eaten and desired will cause them to starve.
Their flesh has been fed, but not their spirit.
The love that they think has been solid will evaporate.
Those things they trusted in will evade them.

Pray and fast for those you love to hear and see.
Plead with the Lord that He will give them one more chance.
If they do not see and hear, that is not because the opportunity was not there for them.
They let it slide. They chose another option. God always looks on the heart. He knows who is seeking Him.

Look at this king. The scripture here tells us why he fell, why he couldn’t make it.
It was his own fault. Read this carefully. Consider your own self.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 12:14

Is this a formula?
Not exactly. However, there are things we do that honor the Lord.
This is more like an unofficial commandment, something you should do that is not so obvious.
It lines up with circumcising your heart, taking up your cross and following Jesus,
rending your heart and not your garment, following hard after the Lord.
Many scriptures reflect this same attribution.

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God;
arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 12:19

This is what God required of the temple that was built for Him.
Look at each portion and what He expected.
Here, we are reminded that we each are now His temple.
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 2 Corinthians 6:16

As we follow Jesus, we make choices along the way.
Choose life. Choose Jesus and Choose His ways above your own.
You will not be disappointed in the long run, however, it may be painful to the flesh for the time-being.

Hand it all over to Jesus and do not look back. Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 17:32

Jesus continues to reach out. The shaking of the Earth will come upon us as a woman in travail.
No one will escape. The only refuge will be in Jesus.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety;
then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape;
and though they shall cry unto Me, I will not hearken unto them. Jeremiah 11:11

The time is very very short.

Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another;
their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate:
and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light:
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity;
and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place,
in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. Isaiah 13:6-13

Offenses and unforgiveness. They seem to be connected.
The offenses Jesus mentions here seem to be more of a menace against the hand of God that is on someone
or a work that someone is doing for God.
Either way, God wants us to move on.
Let Jesus take the brunt. Let Him deal with the offenders.
We cannot escape wrongdoings and things that happen to us that might cause the need for forgiveness.
The sooner we forgive, the less that misdeed will affect us, if it is not allowed to take hold.

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 
Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Hebrews 12:15

Trusting God to deal with offenses is not always easy.
Once our emotions get involved, we can become burdened by things that Jesus wants us to commit to Him.
He gives wisdom for us to deal with those who have evil intent or who are not able to treat us well.
Jesus may ask you to step away from that person, but there is no excuse not to forgive.
There is no excuse to harbor resentment and unforgiveness and hatred.
We do not need anger and unforgiveness to stay away from people harmful to us,
we need the strength and the wisdom of Christ.

Jesus radiates God’s glory and is the exact representation of God and represents God’s very nature.
Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,
and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3

Jesus is to be the focus. He has the preeminence.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things He might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:17-18
All things. Not some, all.
If Christ Jesus does not have the focus, the center, things are off-balance.
God does not like things that are off-balance, in fact He hates things being off-balance.

A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight. Proverbs 11:1

If you notice something you are stressing over a petition unto the Lord,
make sure the balances are right when you are seeking Him.

Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10

If you see a struggle, that is because Jesus is not at the center.
There are many times when Jesus is eschewed. we will see the balances off.
We might notices unfairness or a wrong judgment given by someone with power.
We might even see evil advancing.
When the Lord’s ways are rejected, there might be a time when evil has its way.
Pray and seek His wisdom on how to pray. Whether now or later, the Lord will triumph.
Sometimes it can take many years for the tables to be turned.
We might not even see it in our lifetime.
However, Jesus is always working and whether it is now or later, He will be victorious.
Whether big or small, in politics or church or in your own home,
if Christ is not the center, things are erroneous
Do your part to bring forth God’s righteousness.
It may seem small, but it will be your light shining for the Lord Jesus in the darkness and people will see it.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

When He brings about His righteousness, there is no saying how He will do it.
He has His patience and eventually, when He has given people opportunities for repentance,
and they have refused, the hammer will come down.

This is a short conversation I had with the Lord about those who are wicked and seeming to win.

Lord, it is so hard to see them keep harming others and it seems nothing happens to them.
“You shall see the destruction of the wicked. They will be running to and fro in fear.
You will be an anchor in Me.”
I believe that is for many of us who are already steadfast in the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me,
that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:34
This is also our work. His work. Not ours. Without Him, we can do nothing.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in Him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. John 15:5

The works of God are different than the works humans do to think they earn their way.
A study of what Paul said and what Jesus said about works when He was here
will be helpful to understand the difference.
Spiritual works are done out of reverence, not to earn favor.
You care about what God cares about as you learn His heart.
Helping others even when it’s not convenient, giving to the poor, loving others, even the unlovely.

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. James 217

People confuse the human idea of what works means with what God was speaking of.
The works of God are done unto the Lord, not to earn points or to gain anything.
They are done out of adoration and the freedom we have in following Jesus.
The disciples did their work, to follow Him and obey what He asked.
The loaves and fishes stories are two examples of works in God,
the disciples took the baskets around and God multiplied the loaves and fishes..

Our work is unto Him, not for ourselves to feel better or to gain anything, they are purely unto the Lord.
If the works are not done for God, the reward comes now, from earth and your reward is fleshly,
like someone else thinks you’re great.
Work unto the Lord is hidden from man and is for God’s glorification and not for anything for ourselves.
Our righteousness is as filthy rags. We could never repay Jesus for anything.
Because we have no works or righteousness apart from Him.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

Anything we offer Him to try to earn His favor is an insult because we cannot.
It is impossible to repay Jesus for what He has done for us.

The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: 
He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour;
thou savest me from violence. 2 Samuel 22:3

We are about to enter very tough times.
We need to be affixed to our anchor, our rock, our high tower.
There will be no middle ground.
Anywhere people are sitting on the fence, they will be forced to choose.
Jesus, the way the truth and the life or deception.
There is only one way to the Father.
Anyone who is not all in, will be cast out.
Being Lukewarm will not be good enough.
Sort of following Jesus, going to church, but not living for Jesus every moment will no longer suffice.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

It’s hard not to love the world.
We love our comforts.
We love the things we desire.
When America falls, she will fall hard.
We already know that there will be a time when people will not be able to buy or sell
without paying homage to the devil.
The deception will become so strong that it will be hard to resist.
We must make up our minds before this happens and ask the Lord for strength to endure.

The not fitting in is already happening.
For me, it has happened my whole life.
The only place I find peace and sanctity is with the Lord and oftentimes with the Lord’s people.
In the world, I’m never cool enough, funny enough, rich enough, smart enough to fit in to whatever group.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
that ye should shew forth the praises of Him
who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9

Not fitting in?
That’s not such a bad thing.
It means it is not your niche.
This world does not offer what our inner man treasures.
All this world gives is fake and phony and emptiness.

We are treasured by the Lord.

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself,
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6

Jesus didn’t fit in either. We are in good company.

Assuming that God wants us to do this or that without asking Him is not His way.
I was directed to leave my home and city and friends several years ago.
It takes a while to build friendships, to get to know your neighbors, to learn the ropes.
Share and share alike? I don’t think so. They’ll share if there is plenty, but they will not if there is not.
What about my church family?
Yes, I think they will come together.
There will also be those who cave and decide to get the Mark of the Beast.
We might not know who we can trust.
God is still good. He will be with us. That does not guarantee that He will do things like we think He should.

If you get an idea, pray it through.
While there is not much time, you also don’t want to assume you know the timeline.
You don’t. None of us do.

Some people might starve if the conditions allow.
If God does send manna or if He doesn’t, God is still good.
This is not to scare anyone. It is to help us seek the Lord about the practical things.
If there are roadblocks or difficulties, loss of comforts, we are all going to suffer.
We are used to a kingly lifestyle.
We have everything we want at our fingertips, at the click of a phone, the luxuries of the world.
Even the poor here have much more than some in other countries.
The lack of comfort is going to hit us hard if we cannot buy or sell.
When the Digital ID with health is brought forth, we need to be watching very closely.
The Mark of the Beast is not going to seem like a monster, on the contrary, it will seem like a help.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation;
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,
who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me,
Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Revelation 14:9-13

Ask Jesus, then do what He tells you to do.

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Romans 12:14

Forgive those who mean you ill.
Move on.
Let it go.
Give it to the hands of the Lord.
He will take care of them.
He will judge righteously.

When you have been offended, be like a duck.
Let the water roll right off you and fall to the ground.
If it is meant to be examined further, God will do that.
He sees all and knows all.
If they are sinning, He will deal with them.

The good and the evil are out of our hands.
We cannot fix things, but God can.
When we think we have the right, we are wrong.
All vengeance belongs to God.
There are no excuses.
There are no exceptions.
We cannot right a wrong or repay evil.
That all belongs to the King of the Universe, the Mighty, the Awesome, the Terrible God.

Fear not man, Fear God.
Obey not man, obey God.
His ways are righteous and holy.
If we allow the evil that has been done to us to touch us, to taint us, we have missed it.
We also can be contaminated by the evil we allow to dwell in our minds and hearts.
We must forgive from the bottom of our hearts.

Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,
if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Matthew 18:33-35