#277: IMPORTANCE OF TUNING OUR HEARTS IN ON GOD IN OUR PERILOUS LAST DAYS

IMPORTANCE OF TUNING OUR HEARTS IN ON GOD IN OUR PERILOUS LAST DAYS

We always need to tune our hearts to God’s voice through His Spirit as the following miraculous rescue testifies.

After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, ‘The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”’ When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’        ACTS 21:1-14.

We are living in terrible times in the last days, when

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.  (2Tim.3:1-5)

and when ‘the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain’  (He.12:27).
What is taking place worldwide now indicates the fulfilment of biblical prophecies. 

On 28th September this year, a 7.5magunitude earthquake hit Palu, Indonesia, which brought terrible consequences, with the death toll and number of casualties increasing by the day. Above all, a group of 86 children studying at a Bible camp was reported missing, with only 35 bodies being found, was a heart-tearing tragedy. It makes us wonder why our all knowing, almighty God would not have chosen to rescue them but such events seem to be characteristic of the latter days we live in. 

However, God has also demonstrated His utmost will to save people through a spirit-filled man who had tuned in to the Holy Spirit. The following article tells of a miracle amidst the horror of the tsunami which accompanied the earthquake, in which a pilot saved his 140 passengers from certain death by taking off from the very epicentre of the disaster 3 minutes ahead of schedule.

Captain Ricosetta Mafella of Batik Air revealed why his plane took off three minutes earlier than its scheduled flight time from Palu Airport. According to the reports, from what he shared with a church congregation in Jakarta, Captain Mafella had been feeling uneasy all day long. He felt so disturbed that he sang worship songs the whole flight from Ujung Pandang to Palu. His Muslim Co-Pilot even jestingly suggested he could make a CD of worship songs.

“Usually I only hum, but that day I wanted to praise the Lord as best I could,” he said. When they arrived in the skies above Palu Airport, he heard a voice in his heart telling him to circle again before landing. The airport is surrounded by two mountain ranges, and pilots have to be extra careful while landing. For this reason, he was reminded of Psalm 23:4 …

Fortunately, they safely landed at Palu airport, but he had this feeling that he needed to hurry. So he led the crew to take a 20 minute break and depart for Jakarta via Ujung Pandang again. He felt an urgency inside that he even requested to leave 3 minutes ahead of schedule. After the air controller from the Control Tower (Anthonius Gunawan Agung who sadly lost his life) granted him permission for an early take-off, they immediately set the pace.

He confessed that he broke the flight procedures and took over the co-pilot’s role just to speed up the plane in the process of take-off. He wondered why, but his hand kept on holding on to the lever. His co-pilot looked fearful when he brazenly did this as the plane’s body was strangely swaying left and right. Right then, unbeknownst to them, an earthquake had hit Palu.

Captain Mafella tried to communicate to the Control Tower several minutes later, but he received no response. To his shock, a peculiar phenomenon was happening below as he looked down. The sea water on the coast was forming a huge hole and the foundation of the seabed could be seen! When the plane arrived at Ujung Pandang, he heard the news that a tsunami had hit Palu. Moreover, the official in the control tower who he spoke to, had died shortly after he had made sure that the last plane had taken off safely before the earthquake hit.

Captain Mafella emphasized how crucial it is to be sensitive to the voice of God. According to his testimony, if he hadn’t taken off three minutes earlier, he would not have been able to save the 140 passengers, because the asphalt on the landing strip was moving up and down like a curtain blowing in the wind. He concluded his testimony with a vital lesson. He says that whatever happens we must be calm and avoid panic so that we can clearly hear God’s instructions coming to us through the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of this chaos in Palu, Indonesia, we can learn a great lesson from the testimony of Captain Mafella. Also, our prayers go out to the families of the victims. We pray that the Holy Spirit would comfort them in their grief and that God would provide for all who have lost their homes. (godtv.com)

The passage quoted from Acts at the beginning often divides opinions regarding Paul’s decision of going to Jerusalem despite repeated prophetic utterances. Paul’s determination to go resulted in him being rolled up in a serious situation there. 

In a nut shell, it would be safe to say as a principle, that those words uttered by people should be taken as warnings such as ‘Get ready with determination!’ but not prohibitions such as ‘You must not go!’ Thus, Paul’s decision of going to Jerusalem was not wrong, rather his inner voice of the Spirit must have urged him to do so. 

But later when the Lord clearly commanded him: ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately’ (Acts 22:18, :21), Paul obeyed His instruction by applying it to “that particular time” but not as a life-long prohibition. 

Bible-believing Christians know that we are in the midst of ‘time for judgment to begin with the family of God… hard for the righteous to be saved’ (1Pe.4:17-18), and so we always need to tune our hearts to God’s voice through His Spirit as Captain Mafella emphasised in his testimony.