Sounding the Shofar: Exhortations for End Times

By Elizabeth C. Au

Sounding the Shofar consists of exhortations for the end-times and warnings to learn and obey Gods Word, to live holy lives, and place our faith and trust in God as we occupy until Jesus comes. In ancient days, the Shofar, a rams horn, was used to warn people of enemy attacks or impending danger.

This ebook focuses on God, His Word, and obeying It. It is about our relationship with Him. It emphasizes the importance of pleasing God, doing our best for Him, and receiving His blessings. It tells us how God reveals Himself to us in the Bible, and that we need to build our faith through the study of His Word.

God has called pastors and leaders to be watchmen to warn against sin and wickedness by sounding the Shofar, much as He commanded the prophet Ezekiel. America is in decline and under great judgment because she has rejected God and has forsaken His ways. Todays lukewarm and apostate church is largely responsible for this, for not being the salt of the earth, and the light of the world anymore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jan 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466911130

Elizabeth C. Au

Elizabeth Au, a retired school administrator and teacher from Hawaii has been a missionary to Northern Luzon, Philippines, since 2000. She and her husband, Wyman, have made fourteen missionary trips to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in towns, churches, Bible schools, universities, jails, and wherever doors are open to them.

Book preview

Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

About The Author

Introduction

This book is from ‘Sounding the Shofar’, a Facebook group on which I posted words of encouragement and Bible teachings for family members and friends. The posts were submitted nearly every day over a two and a half month period from mid-September 2011 until the end of November 2011. Friends who didn’t do Facebook had the messages emailed to them. God’s Word encouraged all of us, me including, as I conveyed what the Holy Spirit was saying. Then I thought there must be more folks who will read and benefit from the ‘Sounding the Shofar’ Facebook posts. So this ebook is for you.

I began to write because I believe this is where God’s heart is, and where my heart is… to begin to share what is more important than living a mundane life… but to reach out and touch God, and have others, too, receive a touch of His love, His mercy, and grace.

The purpose of this book is to emphasize the importance of the Word of God to help us in our faith walk—as we occupy and endure in these last days, while looking to the soon Return of Christ.

All scriptures are from the King James Version, or Amplified Bible (AMP) or otherwise indicated.

CHAPTER 1

God Is Faithful

From My Personal Journal

God is Faithful and True. His love for us is an Everlasting Love, for He loved us from before time was, and will forevermore (Ephesians 1:4-5). There is nothing that He would withhold from us in the way of blessings, for them that walk uprightly. He will pour them upon us, His children, releasing His love and blessings from heaven above, even as His love flows down upon all those who seek Him and call upon His name. God proves Himself Faithful as He arrests those going the way of destruction, like He did the apostle Paul, and also does the same today, reining in wayward youth and adults and pressing them into service for His glory! For the wages of sin is death, but God’s gift to us is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord, and His desire is that all be saved (Romans 6:23; 1 Timothy 2:4).

God intervenes in the lives of our friends and loved ones, as we uphold them in our prayers and intercede for them. This we must not neglect to do because the fiery darts of the devil are against them and us as well; Satan is relentless in his destructive work. He will beat us down unless we make every effort to submit ourselves to God, and steadfastly resist the devil so that he will flee from us. James, Jesus’ half brother wrote,

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

Satan doesn’t leave us alone, but troubles us on every side, at every opportunity, more so when we let our guard down. That is why we need to know how to use our spiritual weapon, the Word of God, so we can stand our ground and push back the forces of darkness that seek to destroy us.

1 John 4:7 states,

 . . . greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

We must take heart and know that it is God who does the fighting for us. The battle is HIS and the victory is OURS! If God be for us, who can be against us? No power or demon can put us down when Jesus is present to lift us up and sustain us! Praise the Lord!

God Desires Fellowship With Us

Garden Experience in Kauai, Hawaii 8-27-2005

Hiking down from the Fern Grotto, it was as though the Spirit of the Lord was present among the thick tall trees and foliage of the lush rain forest. My husband, Wyman and I were the last ones in our tour group when everyone had gone down ahead of us. So no one was around when I was compelled to call out in a loud voice from the top of the trail. I cupped by hands to my mouth and yelled, WHERE ARE YOU?! From further down the trail I heard someone answer back, HERE! I told Wyman to call out, WHERE ARE YOU? in his bigger voice, and he shouted, WHERE ARE YOU? Again some guy yelled back from somewhere, HERE! We started walking down the trail to join our tour group. On the trip back down the Wailua River, Wyman sang ‘Beyond the Reef’ with his ukulele, one of the few oldies he still remembers from bygone years. We also sang two Christian songs to our small party of 15 passengers. Then I shared with the folks that on the hike I called out, WHERE ARE YOU? I asked if anyone heard someone shouting WHERE ARE YOU? One guy identified himself as the one who shouted back twice, HERE! It was a ‘chicken skin’ experience for me as I proceeded to explain how God also called out WHERE ARE YOU? to seek fellowship with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God calls each one of us also, to have a relationship with Him, and to fellowship with us! Praise the Lord that the boat captain was a ‘hang loose’ guy. He let us have the microphone so we were able to be Christian witnesses on a riverboat that beautiful day in Kauai!

Having A Relationship With God

To know God and to receive the blessings that He has for us requires a knowledge of who God is and finding out what it means to be a child of God. This is why we need to learn to apply our faith to believe and obey God’s Word, as we enter into a relationship with Him. Our relationship with God depends upon our love and obedience in following His commandments. We accept the authority of the Bible as Truth and allow the Holy Spirit to give us understanding and clarity. We