Hello again.

I have posts on judgment, the judgment seat of Christ, Elijah, and a host of other topics coming with new insights to share.

I pray the revelation of God’s Word would help you in your journey discover agreements, beliefs, and practiced ways of living handed down to you from your ancestral line, and any you’ve embraced, keeping you from deeply receiving God’s grace and goodness.

That as you journey in Christ, along with me and others in the revelation of him, you would see and experience God, the God who deeply loves you, from a place of healing and restoration, a new creation.

That his Word and Spirit would put to death ungodly “words,” knowingly or unknowingly, spoken over you by others, or yourself, freeing your heart to the treasures of God’s grace and goodness.

I pray, young or old, your heart and mine would continue to be fertile ground for the work of Christ.

If the garden of your heart is missing fertile soil, Jesus knows how to help you plow up what’s there, weed, and provide new soil for continued growth and maturity.

A number of things may cause one to believe (or feel) they are disqualified from receiving the love of Christ, and, unsuitable for the deep things of God.

That Jesus only comes for those in a good place, having all their spiritual ducks in a row.

But I would remind you, it was the outcasts of their day (1 Samuel 22:2) who gathered around David in the wilderness and journeyed with him, some becoming renowned.

They are a type of you and me, desperately needing the love of God and his care.

The wise virgins recognize their desperate state before the Lord and allow him to fill their lamps with oil.

The foolish virgins are like those of Laodicea.

The Lord’s not limited by our brokenness and lacks, nor, by an over-estimation of who we “think” we may be in him.

He is long suffering, knowing our true identity and heart, and how to patiently and gently work to move us toward him, despite opposing wounds and sins.

Our many religious systems of good works, empowered by the law of sin, and its’ father, have worked tirelessly to wear men and women out.

Good works and sin have made every attempt to frustrate God’s promise to rescue and redeem orphans; to come, heal and restore our brokenness.

(If you know anything about orphans they can bear deep wounds. I was an orphan in heart, mind, and spirit. Orphans may appear to have it all together, outwardly, but inside, there’s a different story. At one level or another, we all begin life as orphans until Christ enters our story and connects us to Father God.)

But God is not thwarted or frustrated! He’s focused on who we can become in Christ, not our wounds and brokenness.

He’s had a plan set in motion from the founding of creation, first through the ancients and Israel, perfected and fulfilled by Christ, testified by the early apostles, then five Church ages, and now the sixth, Philadelphia.

From Philadelphia comes the bride, matured “sons” and “daughters,” the fullness of sonship, fulfilling the third and final feast in the Church, Tabernacles, ushering in the end-time move(s) of God in the fullness of time, closing the gospel era and birthing a new.

Made New

There’s more to the gospel than just being saved, it’s being made new.

It’s the promise of the Father and the heart of the gospel.

Jesus is here to give an easy yoke and a light burden, “resurrection life.”

Resurrection life won’t do us any good in heaven!

We need resurrection life now in our battle to overcome the hostility of our flesh and the world, and anything else the tempter brings our way.

It’s the promise of the Father, the journey of salvation for you and me.

Without resurrection life, we’re no better than those who do not know Christ and try to find “rest” from their turmoil of life – brokenness and separation from God – in work, service, good deeds, or, religion.

Jesus is here to wash and heal our wounds; to cleanse our practiced ways of sin; a life free from the imprisonment and bondage of wounds and sins; freedom to choose the good and resist the evil; freedom from scheming bitterness set to sabotage seeds of grace, faith, and obedience; freedom from trauma’s determined to keep one bound in spiritual captivity, passively and aggressively, undercutting God’s grace and goodness.

This is a critical hour for the Church.

Not an anxious or fearful time, but a time of wholeheartedness toward the Lord, and whatever next steps and plan he has for your life.

If you haven’t, you may want to ask him, “Lord, what is the next step in my personal journey? Give me ears to hear and wisdom and strength to choose your way and not my own.”

It is time to respond to the call of God to go deep in him.

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I pray my writings give you greater awareness of the unprecedented depth and scope of God’s work today – the revelation of Christ in grace (1 Peter 1:13), sonship, the bride in the making, the heart of the Philadelphia church age.

Jesus is preparing you and me, and many, for deeper and greater fellowship and intimacy.

After all, we live in the Church age of “Philadelphia” – the love of the brethren.

The Lord is displaying his love in great measure by doing an unprecedented deep work, a “new thing,” “Tabernacles,” in those who desire him deeply.

It is the third and final feast for the Church – the last era for fullness in Christ.

Those who set anchor in Laodicea, and those who come into faith on the heels of the onset of the Tribulation, will not have the opportunity for maturity and fullness, though saved as by fire.

Generations have longed for Christ to form a bride, he’s doing it, it’s unfolding in our generations.

It’s more certain than the Sun rising tomorrow – a global bride in the closing season of the Church.

Philadelphia will be the climax of the gospel age.

The die was cast at creation and it is being fulfilled before our eyes.

I’m on a journey and I hope you are too, or want to be.

That we would see from our mountain view point, ages past, present glories, and glories on the horizon.

And, for those who want to continue the journey and adventure of the gospel (I hope you do), receive the Lord’s words and direction, and pioneer with him.

He’s counting on you and me to go with him!

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(Note: If you believe the gospel is for heaven, then we are of all people to be most pitied. And if it’s for heaven, then all we need is a few Scriptures saying Jesus died for our sins. 

If you believe the gospel is for the here and now, but see the call of God as impossible, Jesus would say to you, yes, it is impossible for man, but not for God.

If we receive Scripture through our wounds and brokenness we are doomed to fail because we are judging Scripture in light of ourselves and others.

But, if we understand the revealed plan of God according to the Scripture, the written testimony of those who have gone before us, who foretold and pioneered our journey, and, allow Jesus to connect us to the journey he once undertook, the path he made straight, then, the revelation of Christ in grace will elevate our hearts, in confidence and trust, in the certainty of the Scriptures and the promises of God to make you and me into the likeness of Christ.)

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We, living in the 21^st century – above all people to inhabit the earth – have at our fingertips the history of the redemptive plan of God stretching over six millenniums, from the time of Adam and Eve, confirming the prophetic writings of Scripture in both the Old and New Covenants.

We are truly a blessed, and, a much – informed people.

Not only do we have the blessing of God’s presence, but the blessing of his promises, prophecy, and types, and, numerous “accounts” in Scripture displaying and cross-confirming the progressive theme, revelation, and unfolding plan of God.

We are an enlightened people and “one” Jesus desires to accomplish a lot through.

He’s waited long to “grow” the Church to this time and place in history, and he’s not about to let the enemy undo what he’s done, or, allow the Church to drift away again into another millennium of darkness.

The question is, will we use the understanding God has so graciously given us in his Word to receive, in this season of the Church, his grace and love deeply in our personal lives?

Will we answer his gentle knock, allowing him access to our hidden and unspoken wounds and brokenness?

Will we give him the time it takes to bring resources our way to unlock and heal areas of our hearts separated from him?

And will we allow Jesus to be who he is, to delight and honor you and me, to be our Father, bringing justice to our lives?

And, also, within the confines of his boundaries and our journey, allow him to place you and me in positions of authority (a servant), to advance the kingdom of God.

Just as the Lord spoke to Noah, what he was planning, and spoke to the prophets of old when calamity or captivity would come (to friend or foe), and as John the Baptist foretold the coming of the Messiah and Christ the destruction of Jerusalem, there will be those in the future heralding the revelation of the Lord in his bride, that the time is at hand.

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I pray your heart be at rest, separated from the darkness of the world and its continual convulsions.

I also pray you’d be spared the endless speculation by some – having eyes focused on world events – of the soon or imminent coming of the Lord.

The Scripture is clear – what happens in the world does not determine God’s calendar.

Though awesome and wonderful, heaven bound, there’s more to the promises of God than being saved and receiving the Spirit of God.

There’s the promise of the resurrection life, Tabernacles, the deep cleansing and healing work of God in the life of those he’s preparing as brides for his Son.

The promise of the bride stands out among the Churches of Revelation in the Church of Philadelphia – the last great age of the Church before the gospel age is wrapped up and a new era begins.

Christ has made access to him deeper, richer, and fuller today than ever before.

It’s the plan of God set in motion at the creation of the world. We are the benefactors of Christ’s work over the last two millenniums.

It just so happens we live in the last seasons of the gospel age – the age Jesus has worked so diligently to prepare for this hour of redemption.

We’ve done nothing to merit God’s deep work in this hour other than to be born in an age prepared by God for a deep work of his Spirit.

It cannot be accomplished by you and me, but only by the Spirit of the living God “living in us” (Romans 8:11).

We have the blessed honor and privilege of being chosen from among the wise virgins to enter the feast of Tabernacles, the making of the bride.

His “coming” for us – his choosing – depends on him, and, our responses to the many opportunities and seasons of gathering oil for our lamps.

So, say yes to your many opportunities and seasons of preparation, he will help you fill your lamp with oil so you can make the journey and be chosen by him to go into the wilderness with the Lord, and be prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

At the right time, the cry of the Spirit will awaken your heart, remove the veil of darkness clouding the path to Christ, and Jesus will usher you into the wilderness with him (John 21:18; 1 Peter 1:13).

Like those who have gone before you in ages past, your time with Jesus in the wilderness, will be a time of deep revelation, fellowship, intimacy, and increasing dependence and union with the Son of Man.

He’s walking in the midst of the Church, and among the lost(!), searching for those who will catch the gaze of his eye and be captivated by his love.

Now, more than ever, is the time to touch the hem of his garment and seek healing.

If you can’t see him because you’re blind, then cry out, like Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46 – 52), so you can gaze upon the one your heart longs for.

Don’t let another year or decade slip through your fingers, without crying out for more of him.

Don’t settle for less, like the foolish virgins.

No matter what “bad fruit” you’ve reaped upon yourself or others, or what others have done to you (in no way minimizing the grievous nature of sin, the harm and dishonor it produces, and, the years of healing and restoration it may require) – Jesus will help you prepare for a wilderness journey in him, making what would seem impossible, possible.

He’s done it for me and he can do it for you.

He will never despise the turning of your heart toward him, as the Psalmist says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not the despise.” (NIV, Psalm 51:17)

His love is not diminished by our wounds and sins. He is the God of “chances.”

Because, it’s all about him, who he became, and what he’s offering us, in him, “when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus” (NIV, Ephesians 4:21, please read in conjunction with verses 20 through 24.)

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Unprecedented Times in the Church

Over the last number of posts, I’ve covered material regarding King David’s time in the wilderness and possession of the Ark of the Covenant as a “type” of Christ, (and us in Christ), and also a type of the feast of Tabernacles.

I’ve also covered a lot of material about the Church ages and some of the key characteristics of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Never before in the history of the Church has inner healing (Christian counseling and therapy, deliverance ministries, prayer ministries, intensive prayer ministries, and all the forms and venues they come in, etc.) been revealed and made available through numerous resources to the global body of Christ in the depth, scale, and “intensity” that exists today.

This is one of the signs of the Philadelphia church age, the age of the bride, the preparatory work to transition the Church from one era to the next.

The Lord’s long labor to create this stage of growth in the body of Christ has provided him with the global opportunity to “come” to wise virgins and “birth” and “form” in them the heart of a bride.

The end times necessitate a particularly deep and special global work, may I say a more peculiar and profound work, because of the weight of glory and the mantle of ministry the Lord desires to impart in his last day bride.

The sunset of the Church age, the dawn of the Millennium, bridged by the Great Tribulation, preceded by a great apostasy and the rise of a veiled Antichrist kingdom, will require a deep work by the Lord to get his people through the wilderness and encroaching darkness into the promised land.

Certainly, for our generations, these are unprecedented times.

The kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are fast approaching another bottleneck where only one kingdom will survive, and we know which one that will be, but not without a fight.

History is once again on a collision course with prophecy and the promises of God. And you can be a part of the story.

Whether we actually see the end times unveiled in our lifetime is not the issue.

No matter when the end times take place, the heart of the Philadelphia church age is to birth sons and daughters of God from virgins into “sonship,” the heart and nature of brides.

That is the calling of this age whether we live to see the last day “move of God” or not.

The Father has made available resources for sons and daughters to be birthed from the womb of the Church and “made” into the likeness of Christ, the promise of the gospel.

What a solemn and privileged blessing the Lord has made available to you and me, the fullness of the gospel, the promise of the Father – to be cleansed, healed, and restored, in Christ.

By grace through faith Jesus promised to take you and me and make us into his likeness – it’s his promise, his gospel, and we best let him unfold it in our lives as he chooses.

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Promises of God

As I’ve noted before, “types” are critical to understanding the New Testament journey.

Sadly, in the Church at large, they’re not talked about much other than through the teaching of “life” lessons from the ancients and Old Covenant Saints.

But there is not a lot of teaching about the journeys of the ancients and the Old Covenant Saints and how their real–life experiences foretell a future time when the promise of God they’re “depicting” will be completed and fulfilled not only in Christ, but in his sons and daughters.

Today, before us, lies the possibility of seeing the fulfillment of what was foretold and promised by God through saints of old and his word, a people group who come to the fullness of what it means to be Christ like (Ephesians 4:13).

This is God’s work, his definitions, his grace, his healing and restoration, and how all that comes together in his view is what matters, not our private interpretations and speculations.

In the ancients, saints of old, Christ, and New Testament apostles, we have a “birds eye view” of the certainty of God’s promises, “announced” and “represented” in part, in the lives of people, being fulfilled at a later time.

(The Bible is not a collection of stories but an interwoven meticulously crafted garment of beauty, threaded by individuals pointing to and foretelling the coming of Christ and those in Christ, past and present, his journey to perfection and ministry.)

And we see Christ, having fulfilled many of the Old Covenant promises concerning himself and yet, there are promises for him, and for you and me, yet to be fulfilled.

You can be sure Christ is diligently laboring today to fulfill the rest of God’s promises for himself, and to bring you and me into the promises he’s already fulfilled, like Tabernacles, the age we live in.

The Church of Philadelphia is the pinnacle of God’s expression in his sons and daughters.

It is the last great season of the Church and the one in which the Lord forms his bride, advancing his kingdom in one last global ministry of his Spirit.

It’s on the horizon – a coming move of God.

Whether it’s one or a series of moves spanning many years remains to be seen.

Without a doubt, we are deep in the Philadelphia church age, with major remnants of Thyatira and Sardis present, and, tragically and sadly, a surging church of Laodicea having increasing prominence.

Briefly, Philadelphia

The Philadelphia church age is marked by prominent promises, new names.

And when do people receive a new name, it’s when they’ve fallen in love and taken the name of their lover and husband.

And to fall in love with someone requires a journey of sharing of hearts, affections, experiences, and all the other things that bring two people together in the grand story of life, love, and adventure.

The Philadelphia church is the capstone of the Church ages, birthing the bride of Christ who is taken unto her lover and given a new name.

As it says in Ephesians referring to the bride of Christ in the making, “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (NIV, Ephesians 5:26 – 27)

Notice the Scripture says, “to make her holy.”

This is the journey, the wilderness journey spanning years Christ undertook and pioneered for you and me.

Today there is a profound move of God happening inside the womb of the Church.

Christ is taking unto himself sons and daughters from around the world, wise virgins, and transforming them, from death to life, new wine in new bottles, into his likeness.

Together, let’s respond to the call of God to go deep in him.

Blessings, Drake

(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™