2012 - The Year of Benjamin

Each year I like to listen to the various prophetic voices (that are credible) and see what the Lord is saying for the New Year.  I heard and read a lot of different things that God is going to do this year.  As I fasted and prayed, God dropped a thought in my heart.

 "2012 - The Year of Benjamin" 

 Let me share some of that thought with you.

Just to bring you up to speed as to who Benjamin was .... In the Bible, Abraham's grandson, Jacob, had 12 sons -- what we come to know in Scriptures as the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel.  The twelfth and last son was Benjamin.  Benjamin's mother was Rachel - the woman that Jacob so dearly loved.  Benjamin's brother was the famous Joseph (the guy with the coat of many colors).


When Benjamin was born, his mother Rachel died in child birth.  As she was dying, she named the baby, "Ben-oni" which means "son of my sorrow".  The Scriptures say that his father Jacob refused to call him by this name, but instead named him "Benjamin" which means "son of my right hand". [Genesis 35:18]


When Jacob was dying, as was his culture, he called all his sons in, and one by one blessed and spoke prophetically over them.  When he came to Benjamin he said:

 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at night dividing the spoil." [Genesis 49:27]

Moses later blessed the tribe of Benjamin by saying: 

"Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; He covers him all the day long, and make His dwelling between his shoulders."

 [Deuteronomy 33:12]

The number 12 in Scripture is a number of government and foundation:

* Jesus began to teach in the temple at the age of 12

* Jesus had 12 disciples/apostles

* Jacob had 12 sons/tribes

* In the "new Jerusalem" (Rev. 21:12) - we see 12 gates, 12 angels, and 12 names of 12 apostles

* The walls have 12 foundations (the 12 apostles)

* The city measures 12,000 furlongs - and has 12 precious stones

* When Jesus fed the 5,000 he had 12 baskets of fragments left over

* Our year is divided into 12 months

* We have 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night (AM/PM)

* There are 12 configurations of stars in the heavens

On and on we could go .... I'll stop there ... you get the point....


I believe the following things are going to happen this year for "God's people" - "The Church" - "The house of believers":


1.  We will come from being "Ben-oni" the son of sorrow, into becoming "Benjamin" the son of the father's right hand.  In other words, God is going to restore a right relationship with Himself:
   * from rejection to acceptance
   * from being outcast to being recognized
   * from defeat to victory
   * from trials to being overcomers
   * from striving to thriving


2.  This will be the year that the "church" (the true church) - will go to war with the Devil and spoil the enemy!  I hope you know that there really is a Devil - our enemy!   Benjamin was a "war-like" tribe -- he was called the wolf.  The "Church" is also called the "army of the Lord" - and  we have a job to do - that is to fight the good fight and defeat our enemy -- in our personal lives, in our church congregations, and in our society.  This will be a year of fighting spiritually, and overcoming.  Remember, our weapons are not fleshy or of this world... they are "mighty" - prayer, fasting, declarations of His Word!!


3. This will be the year that the "Church" fully realizes that we truly are "the beloved of the Lord" - and with that revelation, we will "dwell in safety".  God loves His Church!  In the words of the old "spiritual" - "His eye is on the sparrow...and I know He watches me..."  God loves His church (which is made up of every born-again believer, worldwide) so much that He can't take His eye off of us!  I pray you will fully realize this fact this year!!

So -- I share with you what HE shared with me!  Think about it!  Pray over this!  I pray that 2012 will be your best year ever!

What do you think?  Share these thoughts with others!

IT'S NEARER THAN YOU THINK!

All across the world today, the sceptics, atheists, agnostics, and the media are "having a field day" -- mocking the prediction that May 21, 2011 is the Rapture of "true believers", and that earthquakes will happen beginning at 6 p.m. in whatever time zone you live.  These predictions have been broadcast all over the world on Family Radio and on billboards.....hundreds of thousands of dollars or more have been spent on getting 'the word' out.  Well, the 'word' is out!  Some are watching and waiting for the END to come.  I didn't even flinch this morning, when I boarded a plane for Ohio to preach God's Word to a congregation TOMORROW morning!  Why?  I know the TRUTH, and the "TRUTH" sets me free!

These latest predictions come from 89 year-old Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio.  Over the years I have been blessed by listening to music and teaching on this network of stations across the land.  Harold is no stranger to "predictions" -- Having a degree in engineering, he has an analytical mind that leads him to approach Scripture in that manner.  In 1994, he predicted the "end of the world" -- and he was wrong then.  Claiming that he made a mathematical error, he set out to revise his prediction.

In 1988, I was a Pastor of a congregation in North Carolina, and one day I opened my mail box to see multiple copies of a small book entitled:  "88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988" --  Author Edgar Whisenaut went on to sell over 4.5 million copies of that little book.  Guess what?  Jesus did NOT come back in 1988.  Undaunted, Edgar edited the book the next year, and mailed me another copy of "89 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming in 1989" --- somehow Edgar admitted he miscalculated. I humorously have said that the 89th reason was -- he didn't come in 1988.

If Harold and Edgar had only read the Bible -- not as a mathematical analytical textbook -- but as a guide- book for life -- they would have noted the words, "no man knows the day or the hour"! Jesus himself declared that only God the Father knows the time of His return!!

Yes, most every "true believer" and a lot of "nominal Christians" realize that we are living in precarious times .... some even say "the end times".  I believe we are in the "end times" season .... BUT ... the SIGN is NOT what Satan is doing....the sign is NOT what Israel is doing....the real SIGN is what is GOD doing in the world!

When the disciples asked Jesus, just before His ascension into heaven, about the "times" -- read what Jesus said:
"HE said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know what time brings [the things and events of time and their definite periods] or fixed years and seasons (their critical niches in time), which the Father has appointed (fixed and reserved) by His own choice and authority and personal power. BUT, you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."    (Acts 1:7-8 Amplified Bible)

I am a WITNESS -- God is doing mighty things in the earth!  Souls are being brought into the Kingdom!  Lives are being changed!  The Sick are being healed!  Miracles, Signs and Wonders, are being done in HIS name!  The earth is groaning and even shaking ... yes, there is unrest .. but GOD is ahead of the game!  What we are seeing is the REACTION to the Action of the Holy Spirit!

Two questions:  
# 1 -- Are you ready to meet Jesus, when He comes?  - No, I didn't ask which church you belong to, or even if you go to church!  I'm talking about a relationship with Jesus.   Is Jesus Christ, God's Son, your LORD and Savior?  If not -- Get on your knees right now, and pray .... ask Jesus to forgive you .. ask Jesus to come into your life ... your own words ... it works!  If you ask, HE will come!!!

# 2 -  What are you doing with the Power HE sent?  Are you daily "filled" with the power, ability, and efficiency of the Holy Spirit in your life?  If you are, then you are involved in the Kingdom work of reaching out to everyone you can to minister to their needs - in every way possible. If you are, then you are so busy doing the "works of ministry" that you hardly have time to worry about somebody's prediction of the "end".  You know the world will not END, until God the Father says so!!!

IT'S NEARER THAN YOU THINK!  

When I hear of these types of predictions, and I see all the media attention they draw, I know that God is really up to something BIG.  We must be closer to the finale than we could even imagine. SO, I will re-double my efforts to get the Word out -- to love people -- to proclaim the Good News everywhere. 

 Jesus IS coming soon!