Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

As we spoke across the United States these past months, it seems we were continually met with a spirit of apathy and a lack of understanding about the times in which we live. Despite all the things going on in the world today, the sense of urgency about the hour seemed lost among many.

Dr. Albert Bartlett, an expert on compounding, gave this scenario. Let’s suppose you’re sitting in a water tight baseball stadium which seats over 50,000 people, and you’re handcuffed to the top bleacher. Let’s say a single drop of water is placed in the center of the stadium and is allowed to double at a rate of 1 time per minute. In other words, 1 drop doubled, equals two drops added to the stadium. The next minute, two drops doubled equals four drops, next minute, four doubled equals eight, and so on.

How many minutes do you suppose you'd have before you'd drown? A few months? A few days? Get this — how about 49 minutes?! That’s right;  it would take only 49 minutes to drown completely! What’s even more remarkable is that at 44 minutes, the amount of water in the stadium would only be at 7%! Seriously, do the math!

You see, the real action takes place only in the last five minutes. It seems there is all the time in the world and then…perhaps this is one reason the scriptures say the Lord will come as a thief in the night!

I do not want to be sitting there in the top bleacher, oblivious and helpless — do you? Those of us who are aware of the times have a key to the handcuffs — discernment, wisdom and faith! We will begin preparing now for the times drawing nearer by the second!

Let’s get a sense of urgency about the hour in which we live. Let’s pray earnestly, invest wisely, and be about His business while there’s still time! There’s SO much work to be done!

Read more Christian Devotions on: Discernment, Faith, Time Management, United States, Urgency, Watchman, Wisdom

1 Chronicles 12:32 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Among the mighty men of David were those of the tribe of Issachar whose special gift was their understanding of the times, a gift of prophetic insight; and this was such a precious gift because included in their discernment was the ability to know how to apply it. In our time prophecy is everywhere. Yeshua (Jesus) warned us that there would be false prophets in the last days, especially approaching His second coming, and He said the prophecy would be so subtle and the false signs so powerful that even the elect might be deceived if that were possible; [Mt. 24:24] While it's clear to many of us that we're living in prophetic days, there are also millions who have no clue of the current times and seasons.

So we're faced with a challenge and a profound, multi-faceted responsibility: to acknowledge the significance of our times, to awaken others to this reality, to rightly discern true from false prophecy, and to know what to do about the things we rightly discern. Wow! Not an easy task. How do we even begin?

I believe that we have a prophetic "anchor"…a fundamental sign, missing throughout all of Church history, until our day. This sign is the rebirth of Israel as a nation. Many of the OT prophets foresaw the ingathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland in the latter days. [Jeremiah 30; Isaiah 43:5-6; Amos 9:14-15; and many others]. Isaiah prophesied the nation's rebirth in a single rhetorical question, "Can a nation be born in a day?" [ Isaiah 66:8]. One hundred years ago Israel, (then called "Palestine" by the Romans, as an insult to the Jews), was a barren, sparsely inhabited province in the Ottoman empire, and Jerusalem was hardly ever mentioned in conversation unless someone was reading scripture. Today, Israel is a thriving resurrected nation, reclaimed from desolation, established in one single day, (May 14, 1948), and Jerusalem is in virtually every daily newspaper, the subject of intense controversy throughout the civilized world. This one sign assures me, personally, that we are really and truly living at the end of the age.

I believe we must acknowledge this, share it, WATCH very carefully, and PRAY as the developments in the Middle East conform themselves to the Word of God. The prophetic clock is ticking toward the final hours of this age when the Lord Yeshua will return in power and great glory to judge the entire world of men.

The sons of Issachar understood their times, and knew what to do. Watching and praying, we can too. Preparing ourselves with holy living for the Lord's return, we must also warn those who live in ignorance of these amazing days by showing them the prophetic sign of Israel's resurrection, and warning them to repent, believe the gospel, and be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man!

Read more Christian Devotions on: Anointing, Discernment, Endurance, Expectation, Godliness, Holiness, Israel, Meshiach ben David, Urgency, Watchman, Witnessing

For the past 5 days, I've been home alone with my two young children while my wife is ministering in Germany. For the past few days she's been worshiping and ministering with German believers as they commemorate the 70th anniversary of 'Kristallnacht', the night that became prelude to the Holocaust. So as you can imagine, I've been a little busy with the kids! So I thought I'd take them to the zoo in Jerusalem. As we walked around, we entered the snake house to look at all those beautiful snakes.

As Elianna was looking in each snake aquarium, she was pointing out the snakes that she could find — but most of them were camouflaged extremely well. They weren't easy to find, but once you spotted one and recognized its markings it became much easier.

So George, why are you telling me about your trip to the zoo? Interestingly, the Bible speaks of the enemy as a serpent, and he's camouflaged very well. He's lurking in unsuspected places waiting for an opportunity to strike! I know it would be so much easier if Satan just came out and said, "I'm here to destroy your life!" — but it's just not going to happen. He's coming to rob, steal and destroy — and most of the time when he does, people don't even realize he's doing it! We need to be aware of how he's trying to enter into our lives, so that we can spot his markings and remove ourselves from the danger!

Don't give the enemy an opportunity for deception by failing to spot his camouflage so he can strike! Pray to become skilled in discerning his subtle serpent wiles, remembering he comes as a "minister of righteousness" or an "angel of light" who can easily blend into the background of the world. Don't go by feelings alone, but let God's Word dwell richly in you and be filled with His spirit. Then you'll be well defended, and equipped to finish the work God's called you to! And…there's SO much to be done!