The chart you have to see

The following chart is the work of Paul Grevas. Many of us have heard of the blood moon tetrad of 2014-2015. Each of the full lunar eclipses fall on a Biblical feast day. Paul Grevas studied all of the previous biblical tetrads (tetrads are simply four full lunar eclipses in a row. Biblical tetrads fall on Passover and Tabernacles) and found that this one is completely unique. The eclipses from 2010 to 2019 are all symmetrical around a midpoint. That's never happened before. I didn't do the math for every one, but the ones I did check are symmetrical within minutes, literally. If you want to check them for yourself, you need to use the time of greatest eclipse, not just the date.

This is just one of several charts on his site. I encourage you to visit and read what he has to say: http://bloodmoonscoming.com/

So, what does it mean? At the very least, these are "signs in the sun and the moon." God wants us to pay attention. The Bible says there will be these signs as the end approaches:

Luke 21: 25-26 There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

If you study the chart, you'll see that the time from the first blood moon to the midpoint and from the last blood moon to the midpoint is 266 days. That is the average length of a human pregnancy. If you know your Bible prophecy, that should ring a bunch of bells. God uses that kind of terminology in referring to end times. 

Please note that this chart does not predict anything. It is simply recording the eclipses and showing that they are exactly symmetrical. What does it mean? We won't know until it happens. It certainly is God saying, "Pay attention. Be ready." He tells us to watch and be ready for Jesus' coming. Is this chart telling us that Jesus is coming? Maybe. Is it going to be in the time period of the chart? Maybe. Maybe not. 

In my opinion, it means that Jesus' coming is "at the door."  But, read your Bible and pay attention to what's going on in the world, and you'll come to the same conclusion. For me, the chart just confirms it. 

Is that a reason to be afraid??? Only if you're not ready. Many years ago, I went to a Lutheran church for the first time and heard a sermon on the "end of the world." It made a huge impact on me - not so much for what was said about it, but just the whole idea. The "end of the world" really was coming - it wasn't just a science fiction thing. I couldn't get the idea out of my mind. I knew I wasn't ready. I considered myself a Christian at the time, but I barely knew what that meant. I started taking it very seriously, and not long after, read the Bible from cover to cover for the first time. I finally understood what it meant to be a Christian. It wasn't what you do, it's what you believe. Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians, it means believing that Jesus completely paid for my sins:

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

If you are trusting in Jesus as your savior, you have no reason to be afraid when these things start to happen. On the contrary, the Bible says. 

Luke 21:28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.



  

Trust the Lord with all your heart.

New year - new resolution to write more. Life intrudes - but life shapes us and what we would write.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Those who know me will laugh - or at least smile - that I'm returning to this verse again. They know it's my favorite and shared again and again. A long time ago, one of my Bible study ladies was needing to make a decision. I told her the best thing I knew was this verse. She asked, and rightly so, "But what does it mean? How does that work?"

That was years and years ago, and I honestly didn't know how to really answer. I'm still learning, but I understand better than I used to. For one thing, I've discovered this same theme other places, like here:

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him.

Psalm 37:3-7a

The key parts, to me, are "in all your ways submit to Him," and "Commit your way to the Lord."  That's what I've been learning about. 

The last 18 months have been the worst of my life. I've struggled with periods of extreme depression because of things that happened. At the same time, though, I've learning to depend on God because I've had to. Without that, I would have been lost. 

"In all your ways submit to Him," isn't something you just determine to do. It's not that you stop and pray about every single thing - asking God to make the choice for you. Well, I guess that can be a step along the way, perhaps.  It's more the realization that God IS directing everything, when you want and allow Him to. 

I honestly don't think I can explain it in a way that anyone will say, "Oh, I get it!" but I'll try.

The way it's written, "In all your ways, submit to Him," sounds like an active thing you do on your part.  For me, I certainly tried for it to be a conscious thing. And, maybe that was a first step. (Don't get the idea that I'm fully there - I'm totally still learning). 

Let me interject here:  There is prayer that's easy to say, but when you pray and really mean it, I think it might be one of the scariest things you can ask for. Completely necessary but totally scary, and that's to say, "Lord, please make me the person you want me to be. Grow me into someone after your own heart."

When I look back on the events of the last few years - especially the last 18 months - I'm so glad I didn't know they were coming. God prepared me (a story for another day), but didn't give me more than I could bear.  That whole refining process? Painful. Getting your dross stripped away? Ack. Knowing that God's not done doing that? Ugg. 

When you get to the point where you are totally depending on Jesus, (usually because the alternative is unthinkable) you start to understand what that "in all your ways submit to Him" really means. You start to realize that it's not something you decide to do; it's something that God brought you to. That concept - that God is in charge of absolutely everything - is not something you can learn in any way except that He, Himself shows you. 

Now, this doesn't mean you don't have responsibility for your actions. Believe me, you can still totally screw up. I had a dream a couple years ago that kind of explains it. In the dream, I was on a rollercoaster that Jesus (a lion in the dream) had strapped me into. I was locked in - on a set path. At the same time, I was on a journey where I could have gone any way I wanted to. It was both at the same time. In real life, I probably step off God's path for me constantly, and He does what He needs to do to drag me back on. I may consciously decide that I'm going to stay on that path, but I will fail. And fail. And fail. But, I want to be on that path, and with God's help, I am. Oh, someone who could see that spiritual journey probably sees it as the path of a drunken sailor - staggering off one side and then the other, and sometimes collapsing all together. But, I have "committed my way to the Lord" and am trusting Him to get and keep me on that path until the journey's end. He is in charge, and He does all things well.