Reinforcing the Wall, Stand and Be Not Weary

By Ray Gano

Folks I have been disheartened lately.

In no other time in history have we seen God’s hand at work. Daily we see more and more pieces being placed in the bible prophecy puzzle than ever before. This is a time of GREAT excitement because daily we see scripture unfold.

But people are becoming numb to this fact and that is what disheartens me.

All people see about them is doom and gloom where in reality we should be rejoicing because we know that our Lord is coming soon for His spotless bride.

Paul reminds us to not be weary…

Galatians 6:9(KJV) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

But all around me I see people dropping like flies and that disheartens me.

Why?

Because the many people I talk to give me the same excuse, well it is multiple excuses but it boils down to one primary thing and that is they choose to not play anymore and stick their heads in the sand.

I hear excuses such as…

• I’m to busy
• I don’t care anymore
• There is nothing I can do about it
• I’m just gonna wait for the Rapture
• There’s to much to Read / Study / Learn / Report / Convey / Share
• Things are too confusing
• Are you sure the rapture is coming?
• Yada yada yada…

Do you see what I mean?

Friends, every single one of us have a responsibility to the Lord. If you are reading this right now, THEN A HIGH FIVE KUDOS TO YOU!

You have not fainted and you are still on the wall!

Do you realize that we have rewards waiting for us right around the corner?

2Ti 4:8 (KJV) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

I am troubled that people are taking themselves out of the game when it is NOW that we need watchmen more than ever on the wall sounding the alarm of our Lord Jesus Christ.

People making those selfish head in the sand excuses, forget what God says…

Heb 13:6 (KJV) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Several of my heroes were involved in the civil war; they were very strong God fearing men who had honor and valor.

These men were, General Robert E. Lee, one of the most respected Generals to ever serve this nation and the Union. And Lt. General Thomas Jackson AKA Stonewall Jackson, a General that is held in the highest respect to many of those who have served throughout the years.

One evening Stonewall Jackson was asked the following by a Captain John D. Imboden

"General" Captain John D. Imboden remarked,

"How is it that you can keep so cool and appear so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shell and bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit?"

General Stonewall Jackson instantly became grave and reverential in his manner, and answered, in a low tone of great earnestness:

"Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me."

He added, after a pause, looking Captain John D. Imboden full in the face:

"That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave" (1)

That is my wish as well, that all would be equally brave.

Friends and fellow watchmen on the wall, now is not the time to be faint and weary of heart. We are standing in the crossroads of life and standing upon that wall at our moment of greatness. For all of us are watchmen, predestined to honor and valor in the service of our Lord in these last days. In this calling we can take our comfort. Knowing that, daily we must remember that we are the body of Christ’s last defense.

I love Joshua, he is a hero of mine. He was a mighty man of God who had great valor and courage before the Lord.

Joshua stated the following…

Joshua 1:9 (KJV) Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Another one of my heroes is David, a man after God’s own heart. He gave these words to his son Solomon…

1Ch 28:20 (KJV) And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Psalms 27 is a great psalm of David. The general object of the psalm is to excite in others confidence in God; and when you read it, one gains the strength and fortitude to stand upright upon the wall because it is God in whom we trust and wait upon.

But here is a little background to this Psalm.

It is understood that the situation which gave cause for David to pen this Psalm is that he learned that Saul died a cowardly death leaning upon his spear and then asking an Amalekite soldier to finish the job (2 Sam1:6-9).

David needed to instill hope once again in his fellow soldiers of Judah. We learn that in the Septuagint version, Psalms 27 has the title, “A Psalm of David before his anointing.” Because of this, it is believed that David stated Psalms 27 to his men there at his anointing in Hebron. They needed to have a boost in confidence and to know that the job they were called to is one of greatness and honor. They needed to know and remember that it is the Lord who is in control and that He is their Salvation. It was on that day that David was first inaugurated as the new king of Israel as found in 2 Sam 2:4.

Read now the words of the Lord given to David, the new king of Israel, to his faithful soldiers and words that we as watchmen on the wall can take solace in as well.

Psalms 27:1-14 (KJV) “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

It is Psalms 27:14 which is the binder that gives us strength to carry on another day upon the wall.

Here it is again, and hear David’s voice speaking it to his troops.

Psalms 27:14 (KJV) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Folks, it is my personal belief that those who are abandoning the wall are weak in God’s Word. It is God’s Word that we find our strength. Leaving the wall to learn God’s word is another poor excuse and one lacking in commitment to ones calling. I know that these are hard words to say, but it is what I feel is true.

Folks, if we abandon our fellow watchmen and abandon our duty upon the wall, do you realize the sorrow that one will gain in their life? This is called walking away from what the Lord has called you to do and a form of disobedience.

These are hard words to say, but you know when rubber meets the road, I am correct in what I am saying.

Friends, if you are reading this, you are a watchman on the wall.

If you are a PZ Insider, you are a watchman on the wall.

If you are not a watchman on the wall, why else do you have this insatiable need for news? Have you looked at a news article and it seem to jump off the page in 3-D Technicolor? You read it and you hear the words in surround sound dolby stereo.. Right?

That is happening to you because you are called to be a watchman on the wall and it is your duty to sound the alarm.

The time is now to get tough and stand. We must know the word of God and have it buried in our heart. Because it is God’s Word that carries us through in battle.

With that said, we need to equip for this battle. How we do that is we must learn God’s Word and have it in our hearts.

Days are coming where the ownership of the bible may be a crime. In fact, go to any Christian bookstore and try to find a good King James Bible. It is hard because they are becoming scarce. They are being replaced by all these watered down modern versions. Shoot, try to find a Thompson Chain Reference in a King James Version and odds are that you have to special order it.

Here is the plan that I am adapting from “The Gideon’s Scripture Memory Verse Course.”

Let’s start with the what is being called the KEY VERSES

#1 - Romans 1:16 - The Gospel

#2 - Colossians 4:6 - The Answers

#3 - 2 Cor 5:17 - The Christian Life

#4 - John 15:5 - The Fruit

#5 - 2 Corinthians 1:20 - The Promises

#6 Eph 6:13 - Be Prepared

We first need to learn and memorize the foundations and then each foundation key verse has 10 sub verses that focus on the primary area.

Folks, Tracye and I do not want to be the only ones here left of the wall. We need you here beside us and together we can make a difference for the Lord.

The following page I have laid out these verses so that you can print this out on card stock and then cut out the cards. I encourage you to carry these with you all the time so that you can set them to heart. In doing this, you will always have God’s Word with you and when there seems to be dispare upon the wall, you have these to fall back on.

The time is now to stand and be counted and not shirk ones duty to the Lord and abandon your post.

I am honored to be a watchman on the wall and await the day to here my Lord tell me..

Enter, my good and faithful servant into the Joy of The Lord…

Maranatha!

TIME TO CHOOSE - Cowboy UP or Complacency

By Ray Gano

Ever have one of those nights where you wake up and then you can’t get back to sleep because all of a sudden your brain has gone into overdrive? Seems that at times like these I am able to solve the world’s problems, write novels in my head, design and draw our dream house, etc. Well this time it was kind of different and no matter what I thought to change the direction I kept coming back.

It is kind of hard to put a finger on it and my thoughts kept coming to me from a zillion different directions. Funny thing is that they all corresponded with each other.

There is a saying here in Texas, when the going gets tough, “Cowboy Up.” The term means to dig down deep within yourself and muster up what you need to muster in order to get the task at hand completed. Other versions of this is.. Buck Up, Suck it up, Get it together, Get with the program, ect.

Before we go any further, let me make this clear. I am not a prophet, son of a prophet and I did eat Mexican food yesterday. But these thoughts were going through my mind while I was awake, not asleep and no matter how hard I tried I could not tune the thoughts out.

One of the thoughts that kept coming back was a pretty deep discussion I had with Bill Koenig about a year ago. We were talking about the separation of the church, or what we are both seeing as a separation of the wheat from the tares. No matter where I look I am seeing two types of Christians. One type who have maintained the traditions of our fore fathers and the fundamental principals of Christianity found in God’s Word and then there are the rest who are just “Christian lolly gagging” through life with a “fa la la” attitude. And yes those are official Ray Gano technical terms and I hope you understood there complexity.

Bill estimated that there are about one million, if that many, so called solid hard core, know the Word, live the Word, Jesus is my rock Christians. You see, Bill lives on the road 3 out of four weeks per month speaking and sharing the Gospel. So I believe his estimate. Not only that, but I have heard this also from my friend Walid Shoebat as well as several others who are out on the road also. Interesting thing is that not only are we seeing this, many of you out there are seeing it too.

George Barna came out with a report that shown that only 6% of Americans hold to a biblical world view, that means that 94% do not. Kind of a scary thought.

A little while ago my Pastor taught from these verses and they resonated with my spirit as I ponder these things.

Proverbs 22:28 says, "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set."

Deuteronomy 6:4 – 9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Folks I am deeply concerned.

1. I am concerned that we as Christians have stepped completely away from the solid teachings, the solid Word of God, and the solid songs, hymns, and psalms of the Lord. We have forgotten the “ancient landmarks” of our forefathers.

2. We no longer love the LORD thy God with all our heart, soul and might. We do not meditate on Him or on His Word. We no longer teach it to our children and we do not meditate on it day and night 24/7. We have forgotten the LORD our God and have put Him away and in His place we have accepted a sugar coated humanistic social gospel.

3. We have not separated ourselves. We are Christians no longer holy and acceptable unto God. We have watered down the gospel, watered down our churches, watered down the very word of God and watered down our praise and worship. The authority of God’s Word no longer matters. It is group thought and our own subjective thought that counts, who cares that the Bible is only the infallible Word of God.

4. We are in love with the world and to justify it, we slap the word Christian on all our actions. Our actions give us that warm fuzzy feeling. This is a lie and we know it. We have become friends of the world and we willingly have done so. The warm fuzzy is the trappings of the world and we have willingly partaken of those trappings much like Adam and Eve took to the apple.

5. We no longer have men of God and in its place we have created feminized men who are now leading the church with a touchy feely sugar coated, don’t offend anyone attitude. Women, due to the vacuum men have created; have stepped up to the plate. This is not their calling, nor their place.

1Timothy 2:12 - 13 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

This is nothing new but is horribly wrong. Here is a short story that was told by our Pastor; who by the way is a man completely committed to the Word of God and makes no bones about it.

“Theodore Roosevelt taught Sunday School at Christ Church, but he was so muscular a Christian that the decorous vestrymen thought him an unwise guide in piety. For one day a boy came to class with a black eye which he had got in fighting a larger boy for pinching his sister. Theodore told him that he did perfectly right--that every boy ought to defend any girl from insult--and he gave him a dollar as a reward. The vestrymen decided that this was too flagrant approval of fisticuffs; so the young teacher soon found a welcome in the Sunday School of a different denomination.”

- Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography By William Roscoe Thayer

You see, what Teddy Roosevelt did was correct, but where the church erred is turning the other cheek… a soft response. Teddy was in between two commands from the bible.

1. Turn the other cheek

2. Defend the weak.

Teddy rewarded the boy for defending the weak. The church fired him for his approval of the boy’s actions. What Teddy was doing was instilling the values of being a Godly man where the “men” of the church chose a more feminized solution.

Fast forward to today and look at what kind of church the men of God lead today. Many of them are unwilling to take a firm stand for the Word of God, unwilling to defend and to stand up to be counted as true men of God. We as men of God have forgotten how to be the true leaders in our family. We have delegated the position of spiritual leader to the wife, a role, responsibility and burden that she was not meant to have nor created to have. Because we are unwilling to lead in the family, we are unable to truly lead in the Lord’s Church today.

I am concerned… deeply concerned.

By this time I have probably ticked off every single one of you off in one way or another. See that is another area we have forgotten; accountability. We are no longer accountable to God, accountability to our church, nor to each other. We all walk around with 400 pound gorillas called “LOVE FOR THIS WORLD” strapped to our backs and no one has the guts to neither mention them nor even expose them.

Here is what God’s word says…

Psalm 119:128 -- "Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way."

Romans 16:17 -- "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

Galatians 2:11 -- "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed."

1 Timothy 1:19-20 -- "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."

2 Timothy 2:16-18 -- "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

I have said all of that to state this.

I see a battle coming and tough times ahead. We as the church have two options.

1. Cowboy UP and get right with God so that when that day comes we are able to stand and be counted.

OR

2. Maintain our status quo of complacency, refusing to occupy till He returns because we are spineless jellyfish.

You see, we serve the Great I AM. We forget that “all things are possible through Christ Jesus.”

We as God’s people must separate ourselves from this world. The battle coming brings great opportunity. The opportunity we have is to once again be the true church of God of our fore fathers. We have the chance to grow great leaders the likes of Charles Spurgen, DL Moody, Clarence Larken, Billie Sunday, etc.

The rapture can take place this very moment. But if it does not we are commanded to occupy till He returns. We have come up seriously lacking to the duty given us. We have neglected our stewardship in exchange for the world.

We have the chance to impact the world like never before. We have the chance to once more have the church be the salt and light to this world and not the ineffective lukewarm Laodicean church we are today.

Here is the answer.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Joshua 24:15 b - But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I leave you with these words from Paul to meditate upon…

Philippians 3:13 -14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this ONE thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind,

and REACHING FORTH unto those things which are before,

I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK

FOR THE PRIZE

OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
(emphasis mine)

A special thanks to David Beatty Sr. A pastor I am honored to follow as well as a valued counselor for Prophezine.