Prepper Recon

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

Ezekiel 44:23

Take it down! Take it down! I can hear the protesters filling my inbox and comment section with their outrage because of the image for today’s post. Good. That means you’re paying attention. And you know that sickening feeling in the bottom of your stomach when you look at the crucified Peep? Well, maybe, just maybe, you can relate with how we make our Father in heaven feel when we blend the holy with the profane.

What do I mean? What could be as bad as the picture at the top of the post? How about the fact that Christ was crucified on Passover and resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits, not Easter.  There is a major symbolic message God has for us through the message of Passover. The Jews had to slay a lamb without blemish and smear the blood on the sides and the tops of the door frame,  so the angel of death would pass over them. It’s a real tragedy if we miss that, due to a mishap on the calendar. But could the date change actually be more sinister?

Passover, which is determined by the Jewish calendar, comes this year on April 22, nearly a month from now, yet we celebrate Easter, on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring solstice. Does that sound remotely Pagan? It should, because, as the word Easter suggests, the first full moon after the Spring solstice was a day to celebrate the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. This queen of heaven was worshiped throughout many different cultures using many other names, like Eastra, Astarte, Aphrodite, and Venus, but she is always the goddess of love, sex, and fertility as represented by eggs and rabbits and celebrated by the coloring of eggs.

So is this an attack against Easter candy? Not really, although the thought of a chocolate cross, with or without a crucified Peep, to me, is in extremely poor taste, considering the pain and suffering it brought my King.

Then what is my point? Should Easter, or rather Resurrection Sunday, be moved to the first Sunday following Passover or the Feast of Firstfruits, which comes three days after Passover and is the day Christ actually arose? That would be a great idea! But, upsetting the apple cart isn’t my primary mission here. Instead, what I’d like to do is to challenge you to look at your life. In what ways are you blending the holy and the profane? Sometimes, things are culturally acceptable, so they’re not as shocking as a crucified Peep, but they give God that same putrid feeling as the candy cross at the top of the page. What about those television shows you’ve been watching? The language in those R-rated movies, does it grieve the Spirit inside you? Sure, it’s not as bad as what some people watch, but a brightly colored egg doesn’t seem so bad until you learn the origin.

Pray that God will  show you the difference between the holy and the profane and give you the wisdom to discern between the clean and the unclean.

Come back every Sunday for a new Prepper Bible Study! The most important prep of all is knowing GOD. Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.

Have a blessed day and happy prepping!

Mark

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6

From time to time, we all get lost in the sludge. Sometimes the struggle is obvious, the oppression has a name, a face, a circumstance, physical pain, financial hardship, loss or heartbreak; then there are times when you can’t quite put your finger on it. In all these things, it’s the lies of the enemy; he’s telling you that you won’t make it, that God has abandoned you. But I’m preaching to the choir, you know all about the oppression and the attacks.

The question is, how do we deal with it? It’s in those times that it seems nothing we can do, nothing we can say makes any difference. It’s like the wind is blowing us backwards. Ah, and there we find the wisdom of today’s verse. Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Easy enough, if you know how to do it . . . or not do it, in this case. Let go and let God. Yeah, great bumper sticker, but how does that happen? It’s by his Spirit. You have to do something to lay the burden down. You have to walk away from the flesh. How do you do that? You walk away from the needs of the flesh. Quit feeding that wicked pile of bones for a day. Show your flesh who the boss is. Fast. And don’t just starve your flesh, feed your spirit. Find a quiet place and listen to some good worship music. For me, most anything by Kari Jobe will take my mind off this world and put my thoughts on the things above. The time you would  have spent eating food, spend it eating the Bread of Life, reading the Bible. For man does not live on bread alone but on every word from the mouth of God. And pray; tell God what’s eating you. If you don’t know what’s eating you, tell him; He knows what it is and how to fix it. Throughout your day, listen to biblical teachings, on your drive to work and at the gym. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Come back every Sunday for a new Prepper Bible Study! The most important prep of all is knowing GOD. Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.

Have a blessed day and happy prepping!

Mark