Take Heed! Lest Ye Fall!

From Bible Devotional aka Shofar: This page consists of an email that was sent to me by a dear friend of mine. The message you are about to read is clearly a message of "Repentance and Watchfulness." Whether you agree with this or not, take it as a message to draw nearer to God than you have ever been before. As believers we need to "Keep Watch" and continue to pursue a "Prayer of Repentance" for ourselves and for this Nation. The message I hear in my spirit regarding recent tragic events would be: "take heed, lest ye fall."

Dear Friends,

I don't often send out emails of this sort anymore. I don't do a newsletter, since I no longer travel in ministry. But I did share this vision and message I felt God gave me, with a friend this morning. Right after sending it to him, I opened another email from an associate, who had copied and sent a message by David Wilkerson about the recent acts of war against our country on Sept 11. I shook when I read it, knowing that God had indeed sent a second witness to what I had seen and heard. Fueled with the knowledge that what he gave me was for the Body, I have copied both my letter and the message from Wilkerson into this email. Perhaps you have felt the same things, and have been accused of being insensitive or too stern in your proclamations? Or maybe you have found yourself rejoicing in what may appear to be a return to God in our nation. I only hope that as you read these things, God will make clear to you what you should glean from them.

Humbly yours, and praying for the best for you, your family and our nation this hour,
Lisa

Submitted by Lisa Gwin

Many Christians are saying that the attack helped bring our leaders around. There's a letter being circulated called "Thank you Bin Laden." It says thanks to him for the attacks that lead our leaders to "Pray and repent together." This struck me as wrong. As I was praying the morning I received this email circular...I saw the following:

I saw a fat child sitting in a gold and cushioned high chair. He was stuffing his face with chocolate cake, oblivious to the starving of others around him. At times he'd even throw fist fulls of it at the cook who gave it to him to begin with ... treating everyone else with selfish disdain. Then, suddenly, the cake falls to the floor in crumbs. He screams and screams for more ... surprised that such a thing could happen to HIM! But he's screaming for something he didn't truly appreciate to begin with.

After I saw this praying ... I was driving in town. Sitting on a street corner, I saw so many signs saying "God Bless America." I realized ... the spoiled child is us. I haven't ever seen any signs that say "Thank you God for blessing America." It's because of His blessings that we haven't seen things like Sept 11 more often! We are spoiled children who had our cake messed with. Because of a couple of incidents...we scream for more of what we have taken for granted.

Now, so many are saying our leaders have repented. I just don't see it. Never once have I Heard any of them say "We need to pray for God to forgive us" They've all prayed for God to help us. And well ... since God doesn't hear the prayers of the sinful man ... I wonder who they think they're praying to? They are treating our Lord like a garbage man.

Edmund Burke said "All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Where were all these "good men" who supposedly believe in God now?

Where were they when they kicked God out of school and took His commandments from the halls of Justice?

They truly are playing the hypocrites. God is a convenience for them ... nothing more. They will soon cast him away again when they get a few victories on the battlefield and their pride comes back.

True repentance is change. So if they've truly repented...then let's see them undo the things they've done that were such atrocities to God and life. Without the fruit of repentance...it isn't really repentance. Is an orange tree that bears dung really an orange tree? Let's wait for the fruit before we get excited about the repentance of our congress and leaders.

In the meantime...praying like crazy since now China is agreeing to fight with us in the middle east. Sort of a scary thought, eh? The red wave in the Holy Land?

Sound familiar...or perhaps...prophetic?

Wouldn't it be a kick in the head that the "Nation Under God" would be the initiators of Armageddon?

And now...they are again talking of the national ID card or chip to cut down on terrorism. Perhaps we are now in the spiral that will lead to the end.

In any case, I believe the best we can do is pray for true repentance in our leaders and pray the eyes of the redeemed will be open to see the false fruit. Many will be deceived by leaders who will use this attack to initiate such things that will lead us farther from the Lord...all in the name of freedom and under the guise of being leaders who pray. Weaker believers will swallow it hook line and sinker. We must be stronger than ever in our stands for truth and righteousness, so the weaker ones won't be taken in by those who "hold to a form of godliness, denying the power thereof."

NOW HERE'S DAVID WILKERSON'S WORDS ... SENT ME AFTER I WROTE THE ABOVE LETTER TO A FRIEND, SHARING WHAT THE LORD HAD GIVEN ME A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.

I ask you: does Israel's example hit home with you, after everything we've
witnessed in recent weeks? Please don't misunderstand me. I thank God we
have a moral President leading our country. I thank the Lord for all the
devout Christians who serve in high office. Our church prays diligently for
our nation's leaders. And we're grateful for the temporary outpouring of
prayer nationwide. It's encouraging to see people sobering up and beginning
to rethink their lifestyles.

Yet, even so, we risk missing God's message to us. Think about it: when our
public assemblies call for a moment of silence, we think it's true repentance. When we see politicians singing "God Bless America," we think our nation has turned back to God. When we see sporting events observe a silent minute at half-time, we think it's a spiritual experience.

But is this all that's going to come out of our recent disaster? Will people
in sports stadiums stand in silence for a minute, then go back to painting
their bodies in wild colors, chug beer after beer, and scream maniacally for
their favorite team?

Like most Americans, I wept as I saw Senators and Congressional leaders
standing on the steps of the Capitol, singing, "God bless America...stand
beside us, and guide us..." Yet, as I was crying, the Lord reminded me, "Many of the leaders you see singing have worked to rule me out of American
society. They are even determined to remove my name From American history books. And they've allowed the murder of millions of babies through
abortion."

Suddenly, I was struck by the absolute hypocrisy of it all. We give lip
service to God, but we continue our slide into the mire of immorality.

A nation under chastisement may humble itself and repent, as Nineveh did.
Or, it may give lip service to God, but then turn inward to its own strength
to rise above the correction. There will be a rallying cry, stating, "We
have the strength to endure any disaster. And we have the ability and
resolve to overcome any problem. We're truly a great nation."

I'm as patriotic as any American. And I'm as thrilled as anyone at the unity
our nation is experiencing. I thank God for the heroic efforts and
incredible sacrifices we've seen in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
The whole world is in awe of the fortitude and love displayed by the
people of New York, Washington, D.C. and America in general.

But we face the same danger Israel did. In our fiery patriotism, we could
easily miss God's message to our nation. And right now, we're standing at
the very same crossroads where Israel stood.

I wonder: if we had lived in Isaiah's day, would we have listened to his
prophetic warnings? Or would we have turned a deaf ear to him? Both
Jerusalem and the nation of Judah refused to believe they could be brought
low. Yet Isaiah prophesied, "Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and
her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?" (Isaiah 10:11). God was saying, in essence, "I've judged other nations for the very idolatry you're practicing. Why wouldn't I judge you? What makes you exempt from my law?"

All across America, people are holding meetings for "prayer and remembrance." It's right and honorable (and totally scriptural) to remember
those who have died. But why are we so afraid to also call for meetings of
"prayer and repentance"? Right now, most Americans are focused on
remembrance and revenge. Yet, where is the call in America to turn back to
God?

As for the punishment of terrorists, Isaiah addresses this issue as well. He
declares, "When the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of
Assyria" (Isaiah 10:12). Indeed, when God was finished using Assyria as "the
rod of mine anger," he destroyed them. Likewise, God will bring down any
terrorists who attack and murder innocent people. It won't be long before
they meet their eternal destiny in hell.

Deep in my spirit, I hear the Lord saying, "I've prospered you above all
nations. Yet, for years you've persisted in worshipping idols of gold and
silver. I've endured your shameless sensuality, your mockery of holy things,
your shedding of innocent blood, your tireless efforts to remove me from
your society. Now time is running out for you.

"I've sent you prophet after prophet, watchman after watchman. You've been warned again and again. Yet still you won't open your eyes to your wicked ways. Now I've stricken you, in hopes of saving you. I want to heal your land, to destroy your enemies, to bring you back into my blessing. But you don't have eyes to see it."

If God wouldn't spare other nations that have outlawed him, why would he
spare America? He'll judge us even as he judged Sodom, Rome, Greece and
every other culture that has turned its back on him.

Consider what God spoke through Ezekiel: "Cast away from you all your
transgressions...and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye
die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that
dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye" (Ezekiel
18:31-32).

For anyone who doubts that God feels pain, here is proof positive of his
great compassion. He too feels grief and sorrow over death. He's telling us
in this passage, "I take no pleasure in seeing you suffer and die. That's
why I'm pleading with you now: turn from your sin and live."

God weeps especially over those calamities that befall innocents. In these
past weeks, you can be sure Jesus has been weeping over the victims of the
terrorist attacks. He is said to "bottle the tears of his saints." Indeed, I
believe many of the tears shed by Christians are God's own tears, prompted
by his Spirit in us.

Yet, at times, God's justice and righteousness cause him to restrain his
pity. And he's forced to carry out his righteous judgments as a last resort.
The greatest example of this is the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. Justice
demanded that the sins of the whole world be laid on an innocent man, and
that this man would be condemned to die for all. Tell me, who could be more
innocent than God's own Son? Yet Christ willingly gave himself as a
sacrifice, to offer deliverance and salvation to all of humankind.

What will be our nation's fate if we reject God's call to turn wholly to
him? What will happen if abortions continue and fetuses are used for
research...if we keep erasing our Savior's name from American history...if
we rebuild all things bigger and better, only to enrich ourselves more...if
we rely on our armed might rather than on God for power?

Isaiah describes what happens to every nation that rejects God and boasts of its own greatness: "Wickedness burneth as the fire.....they shall mount up
like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the
land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall
spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be
hungry...they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm" (Isaiah
9:18-20).

Devouring fires will rise to the heavens. Darkness will cover the land. The
economy will be hit with a staggering blow. And there will be disunity in
the nation, in communities, in neighborhoods, in families. People will look
out only for themselves, in a desperate fight to survive. And God help you
if you come near them.

I was given a prophetic message nine years ago, and I delivered it at Times
Square Church on September 7, 1992. Let me share it with you now:

"This warning is not meant to scare you. It's meant only for you to take to
the Lord and pray. This is what I believe God has shown me:

"Thirty days of chastisement will fall on New York City such as the world
has never seen. God is going to let down the walls. There will be
unimaginable violence and looting. The violence will be so ferocious, it
will shock the whole world. Our streets will be lined not just with the
National Guard but with militia.

"A thousand fires will burn at the same time throughout the city. The Los
Angeles fires were confined to a few sections of that city, but New York
will be ablaze in all its boroughs. Times Square will be ablaze, and the
flames will ascend into heaven and be seen for miles. Fire trucks will not
be able to handle it all.

"Trains and buses will be shut down. Billions of dollars will be lost.
Broadway shows will stop completely. Businesses will flee the city in an
unstoppable hemorrhage. Such things are expected in Third World countries,
but not in a civilized nation like the United States. Yet, in not too long a
time afterward, New York City will go completely bankrupt. The Queen City
will be cast into the dirt, becoming a city of poverty.

"You may ask, when will all this happen? All I can say is, I believe I will
be here when it happens. Yet, when it does, God's people are not to panic or
fear."

Calls and messages have flooded our ministry offices, asking, "Was the
terrorist attack on September 11 the calamity you were prophesying back in
1992?" No, not at all. What I saw coming will be much more severe. Indeed,
if America rejects God's call to turn back to him, we'll face the same
judgments Israel faced. And they will hit not only New York but every region
in the country. Even the heartland won't be spared. The nation's economy
will collapse, and violence will erupt. Fires will consume our cities, and
tanks will rumble through the streets.

Perhaps you wonder, as I have, "Can any of this be avoided?" Yes,
absolutely. I believe we'll be given a reprieve if our President proves to
be a Josiah. You may well remember Josiah as the king who sought the Lord
with all his heart. We all should pray that God would give our President the
same spirit that Josiah had, to tremble at his Word. The Lord spoke the
following to Josiah:

"Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants
thereof...because they have forsaken me, and have (worshipped) other
gods...But [say] to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the
Lord...Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before
the Lord, and thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse...I
also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore...thine eyes shall
not see all the evil whichI will bring upon this place" (2 Kings 22:15-20).

God told the king, in essence, "As long as you're in power, trembling at my
Word and relying on me, you won't see the judgments to come. They won't
happen during your reign."

I believe our window of opportunity to respond to God's call is brief. We
all should pray that our nation repents and turns back to the Lord. But our
most intense prayers should be for our own hearts: "Lord, let me tremble not
at the disasters, but at your Word. I want to hear your voice in all of
this. Cause me to turn wholly to you."

David Wilkerson
Released for public use

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Thank You, Lisa Gwin, for your faithfulness to our Lord.

"Change My Heart, Oh God" MIDI: author unknown

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