Rush Our: God Says This Is “Our Hour”

By Max Gallegos

The ability to listen and understand God is of utmost importance for humanity. Obedience through listening is crucial for a fulfilled life with God.

This is a series of experiences through listening.

Divine intervention depicts the compassion and love of our heavenly Father. This is what he does best; he heals our bodies, provides prophetic words, dreams, visions, as well as prophetic statements in and about our current time.

Episodes of divine intervention will foster hope where it seems there is no hope. They are to encourage the individual whose focus is on hopeless situations. Hopeless situations such as current events in the ever-shaking economy, the gruesome events of people at war with each other, the planet itself quaking, flooding, and experiencing many extreme conditions, to say the least!

Actions taken by our growing society without the knowledge of God to help guide their thoughts and choices can cause a sense of unrest which hovers over this planet. Unrest is felt by both old and young alike. All of creation has been and is anticipating something.

In spite of this unrest or seemingly discouraging events taking place in your life or the lives of those around you, the love of God will prevail!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512768688

Max Gallegos

Max humbly walked through the Haifa School of Ministry in Israel in 2005. He witnessed and preached in Zambia in 2007, while obtaining his certification in ministerial studies from the Berean School of Ministry. His adventure in life begins when he doesn’t listen to God’s gentle voice!

Book preview

1

AMOS’S ASSIGNMENT

T he phone rang. Oh my! A phone call could bring either great joy or great sorrow through the curtains of a person’s heart. This call came during an ordinary, full day in our lives in Gilgal, Colorado. It was a bright fall afternoon. My wife Esther ¹ and I had worked all day and were preparing dinner. Our two young daughters were talking in another room. The windows were open, and fresh evening air came in.

The phone continued to ring. Honey, get the phone, I said,

Okay, okay, Esther replied. She picked up the receiver. Hello? What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I could tell by Esther’s voice that it was something terrible. I don’t understand you.

Then Esther turned to me. It’s Priscilla. Esther whispered that something was wrong and Priscilla was hysterical. Priscilla was Esther’s best friend of about twenty years.

Hearing the concern in Esther’s voice, I stopped everything I was doing and listened carefully to Esther’s every word. She lowered the phone while covering the mouthpiece with her hand. I could tell she was having difficulty speaking. Her eyes teared up. Her mouth moved, but no sound is coming out.

What is it? I asked.

Esther’s eyes were speaking louder than her words ever could. They were empty, like a glass chalice with no contents.

What she is about to say is not going to be good, I thought.

She lifted her left hand and signaled for me to wait a minute so she could regain her composure. Or was she hesitating?

If this terrible news were about one of our immediate family members, she would not have been so hesitant to tell me. I slowly sat down, anticipating the fearful unknown.

Esther said, Jeremiah … it’s Amos. He … he just killed Emma, then himself.

My heart ached. I winced in sheer pain, as if I had been pierced by an arrow. Then the tears came streaming down my face. Esther gently embraced me while we both cried.

At that very instant, I, Jeremiah, knew what the essence of love was: to have invested time and emotion with another. To have broken bread together at the dinner table of compassion. To have gained a firsthand understanding of Amos’s relevance.

I experienced love while discerning God’s grace and mercy in a measure of time. I was reassured that this had been a clear, concise choice on Amos’s part. Although his spirit had been clawing from the pit of despair at that moment, he had chosen. His grip on the hand of free will had been unmistakable and unwavering.

Isn’t it amazing how we hear about death, suicide, and other tragedies, and yet react somewhat numbly to these events? Except when they hit close to home.

It was surreal. Amos was my friend. Esther’s friend Priscilla had worked side by side with Emma for years. She was not only a coworker, but had become a great friend as well.

The details of the murder/suicide came out later. Amos had come home for the evening. He had taken gun in hand, pulled Emma into the bedroom, and shot her. He had then shot himself. All this had occurred while one of his two young children played in the other room.

Amos and Emma had been a young couple, hardworking individuals with good incomes, their own home, and their two children. They both had family members in town. Amos had multiple brothers and sisters, as well as church members to whom he could have gone for help or counseling.

This was not the first or the last suicide that my family would hear about. It was but a grim reminder of humanity’s choices and ability to do terrible things in spite of God himself trying to speak to us.

This place of hidden struggle is a place that human beings sometimes drift through. Life may have put you there now or taken you there at some time. The human mind can be a place of peace, confidence, and hope, or it can be a haven for the worst of thoughts and actions.

The gap that we often put between ourselves and God can seem insurmountable. Our ability to avoid God’s love, or not recognize it, seems to be a pretty common trend. This gap is quite contrary to what the Bible says about God and his presence in our lives.

Please read this next Scripture passage slowly. Examine it and see if this is how you see God in your life.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me know! I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. (Ps. 139:1–13)

Is this how you see God in your life? Is it possible for all humanity to see the proximity of him in a way similar to this? Why was Amos unaware of his God being so close?

It was intended from the beginning of time for humanity to find God or to feel their way toward him. We are to have an understanding of his purposes. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall and he determined their boundaries. His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way towards him and find him-though he is not far away from any one of us (Acts 17:26–27).

Every human on this planet will someday either question God or ask themselves if there is a God. After reading the two previous Scripture passages, doesn’t it just makes sense that a God who is so close to us would want to identify with us on a personal level? Then he will instruct us on correct actions in our lives. These actions have a profound effect on our futures and the futures of our loved ones … those who are so close to us.

God’s gentle leading makes and takes our lives from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The absence of this leading can leave humanity to its own actions. Even worse, human beings are left susceptible to the influence of the Enemy of our very souls.

I did not know that Amos would eventually kill himself. I did not know why God gave me this assignment. What I did know was that God’s love for Amos and I is immeasurable, and God was very involved in the situation. I was reminded of this passage: This is real love. It is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins (1 John 4:10).

What was my assignment, you ask?

Later I will explain it and tell you in detail how long God had been trying to get Amos’s attention. God had been relentless in encouraging Amos, and God had been speaking into Amos’s life. Amos overlooked God, but God continued to share his love with Amos.

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think, No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent (2 Pet. 3:9). I emphasize the words He does not want anyone to perish. Yes! This extra time that he has given us to repent is critically important at this hour. There is so little time left to reach out to those who are lost—to reach out in genuine love and compassion. God’s love and compassion are expressed through us.

Was Amos the only suicide we had heard of? Of course not. If this were a book on statistics, I could go into detail about the substantial number of years lost to suicide. I could show you with the number of people lost to suicide in the last few years. That is not my point here.

In the Bible, there is a particularly infamous man who committed suicide. His name was Judas Iscariot. I find it quite ironic that he was one of the chosen Twelve, an apostle who walked with Jesus, sat down and ate with him, listened to his teaching, and saw his miracles firsthand. Yet Judas still betrayed Jesus. Although this betrayal had been foretold and had to transpire for Jesus to be crucified, the selfish act of one man still rings through time and remains in God’s Word for eternity. This betrayal and suicide left their indelible mark on humanity.

Could suicide enter into the arena of your life or your family’s lives? Could the pressures or struggles of this age weigh down so heavily on us that our only recourse seems to be this extreme? Are the pressures of this age going to increase?

Amos not only committed suicide, but went further and killed his innocent wife. Taking the lives of the innocent has been an ever-growing plague since Cain killed his innocent brother Abel. God himself warned Cain. God spoke to Cain about his anger and his dejection. Listen closely to what God said: ‘Why are you so angry?’ the Lord asked him. ‘Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it’ (Gen. 4:6–7).

Even so, Cain suggested to his brother, Abel, Let’s go out into the fields. While they were there, Cain attacked and killed his brother.

Cain acted out of anger and rejection. Cain did not feel real sorrow until God had rendered the consequence for this great sin. His fear and reverence for God Almighty did not come until after his deed.

There is no need for me to explain all the events that have taken place on this planet since then. Such events seem to have increased in the twenty-first century. Or maybe we just hear more about evil events through social media. Either way, God is still in control and will equip his servants who love him and have an understanding of the fear of the Lord. This knowledge of God and reverence for him is available to any and all who seek him.

Cain and Abel should serve as an example to humanity that God’s grace is available for any individual in dire straits. If we as believers are able to discern our heavenly Father’s gentle leading, we can go to the lonely and those broken in spirit. Then quite possibly they will never have to hear God render their punishment.

Listen carefully of Cain’s response to his Creator. God’s presence was known to Adam and Eve, then to Cain and Abel. Cain replied to the Lord, ‘My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from my land and from your presence. You have made me a wandering fugitive. All who see me will try to kill me!’ (Gen. 4:13–14).

Humanity has the ability to choose. We have to respond to correctly to live. Or we can be like Cain and be told to then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.

Premeditated acts of violence come with a thought. The thought usually consists of a question, How? or Where? or Who? These are the thoughts the Bible says we must subdue, or else sin is waiting to destroy us. The only way to subdue these thoughts is to replace them with God’s written Word. With God’s Word in our hearts and minds, humanity does have the ability to understand God’s thoughts. This proactive approach to understanding and knowing God is available to all who believe.

God’s desire is to equip his servants with divine knowledge and understanding through his written Word. He will provide increased direction for our thoughts. His guidance can lead you and help you.

These guiding thoughts will continue to increase among the believers of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will increase them due to the time that we are now in. I like to refer to the time we are in as Great Time or Great Age, not that any time in history hasn’t been great and awesome. This particular time in history is unique. Just so, when you see the events I’ve described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door (Matt. 24:33).

I know that God spoke into my life about Amos. The assignment God gave me was a strategically placed thought for me to contact Amos. It was not an audible voice, but in this unique situation, much like a guiding thought.

We may have very negative thoughts. This is a common occurrence in human lives. Yet anything negative that enters our minds can be replaced with God’s Word … with real life.

All humanity will eventually experience some sort of loss: a friend, a family member, or a coworker. This person will be someone we will be expected to have breathed life into. We will be expected to have expressed God’s love and compassion toward that person.

So the question is, what role did you play in that person’s life? What did you do to encourage that person or to foster hope in that person’s life while she or he was alive? Was the amount of your patience equal to the amount of your dissatisfaction in that person?

We obviously cannot control the actions of others, but we can be obedient to the voice of God and show every person the love we have so richly received. What measure of love did you distribute among your peers, family, and friends? How will they remember you? It’s not a question of whether they deserve your love. It is his grace in us that allows us to love even the unlovely.

I surely have difficulty asking you a question such as this, considering this is one area everyone will struggle with at one time or another. Loving others on our own is almost impossible. It is only completely possible when there is an abundance of love imparted through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love (Rom. 5:5).

The Bible is clear on the subject of loving others. The instruction is given from the beginning of time and is meant it to last throughout time, from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (Lev. 19:18)

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important. love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater that these. (Mark 12:30–31)

These passages were written hundreds of years apart, but still with the same message.

How will the Creator of your soul welcome you into his kingdom? Will it be Welcome, my good and faithful servant or Get away from me, for I do not know you. For in life I presented many opportunities for you to share my love and to love others as you love yourself.

It is difficult not to see our lives as love gifts from God. God has created you to be a gift for someone close to you and, quite possibly, specifically for you. God has also given you talents to use as you wish. Have you honored God with the talents he has given you? Have you experienced the complete joy that comes when you voluntarily use your gifts for your Creator and humanity? Isn’t your God-given time a talent also?

So allow me to explain what happened to Amos. It was April. I was awakened in the early morning, Amos heavily on my mind. I am not talking about a fleeting thought of someone from the past. This was an urgency to contact Amos. It was an unspoken directive from my heavenly Father. I felt a heaviness for Amos placed directly into my spirit. It consumed my entire being. Imagine someone pouring oil over your head and letting it slowly run down your neck and over your entire body. That was how this felt. How does a person rinse such a feeling off? How do you clean what you are experiencing on the inside? It wasn’t that I wanted to remove it. It was something that was placed there until a response came.

How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is a precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. (Ps. 133:1–2)

This was how I felt when I knew I had to contact Amos. Understanding how I was feeling and then finding this Scripture verse was very important. I knew that this feeling had been orchestrated by my heavenly Father, and that Amos and I would be in harmony.

It had been well over twenty years since I last spoke to Amos. I had seen him occasionally in town because he was a surveyor for the city. That role placed him in the middle of construction sites, wearing a bright yellow vest.

Amos was one of those people who had really never changed from when he was young. He was tall and thin, and usually had a huge smile. That was the Amos I knew. I had worked at a fast food restaurant with him when I was in high school. He had been my manager.

I vividly remember that on one occasion, I was in need of five hundred dollars. In 1979 that was a lot of money. I was making minimum wage, which was around $3.35 per hour. Amos, without hesitation, offered me the money and insisted that I take it from him. He said that he knew I was responsible and that I would be the last person he’d have to worry about paying him back.

This man had invested in my life and believed in me at an early age. It made a lasting impact on me. He had made one simple act of selflessness.

As this particular morning progressed, the feeling kept stirring. I knew I had to contact Amos. Where and how? The feeling of concern was growing by the hour. Its intensity was like a weight on my shoulders—an uncomfortable heaviness and a consuming concern. My spirit was experiencing a great sense of compassion. I could spend hours and pages describing how it felt to be led by the Holy Spirit. What is important is the point that humanity can be so led.

I was almost in tears because I knew I had to contact Amos. Why the urgency? Why was I not letting this go? Why could I not allow any excuse for me not to somehow, someway talk to this man? Why was this idea sealed in my mind? It had become a permanent marble fixture in the kitchen of my heart. There was no moving it and no changing it.

2

DR. DAVID BEND

A s I said earlier, Amos’s act was not the first time suicide had visited our family. Dr. David Bend, go pray for! is how I awoke early one morning months before I awakened with Amos on my heart. This directive was not audible, but a definite instruction placed into my mind. It went deeper than just a thought; it was not my thought. Instead, it was a thought placed into my mind by my heavenly Father. This directive became a consuming part of my very existence.

Sitting straight up in bed, I told Esther what I