Ephesians 5:13-17 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore he says, “Awake, sleeping ones! And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
For those who have been following us, we have been ‘re-deployed’ to the United States at this pivotal moment in history. For those who know me personally, my heart is for revival and for preparing the Bride of Messiah to meet her Creator.
We are now at a “Ninevah” moment in history … a great divide focused on the issue of freedom. Will true and lasting repentance preserve our freedom in the West to preach the Gospel unhindered in the years ahead? Or will darkness and tyranny overtake us forcing the battle for revival to continue in a context of governmental opposition or even captivity?
I cannot pretend to answer this critical question. (The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know, and how much less I can predict); only that my deep conviction and ultimate security lies in the unshakable confidence that God loves me and holds me firmly in His powerful hands… And that by His grace I will walk in the works He has prepared for me, and that my food is to do his will and to finish the work He has given me.
With prophecies all around, a great need for discernment, and a growing atmosphere that seems utterly out of control, we are desperately in need of a sure compass. And thank God, “True North” has never changed. The cross of Yeshua the Messiah points as certainly as ever in the direction of Eternal hope. Are you afraid of losing control? Don’t give in to it. You can maintain poise and equanimity by choosing to submit yourself to the will of God, and by trusting Him unreservedly. If another awakening IS in God’s plans, you will participate in it, individually, by STANDING at the CROSSroad, where Yeshua’s triumph over sin was purchased and demonstrated in bodily resurrection. May a TRUE Christ-centered move of God penetrate this growing darkness!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Recently, I’ve been impressed by the Lord to address the anxieties many are feeling about the future– how to be strong in the face of the intense opposition we’ll be facing as believers. One of the founders of the modern state of Israel, David Ben-Gurion once said, “Courage is a special kind of knowledge, the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared. From this knowledge comes an inner strength that inspires us to push on in the face of great difficulty. What can seem impossible is often possible with courage.”
For a season, I worked in Washington, D.C., for one of America’s largest Christian political organizations. Sometimes I saw how politics could get ugly and, more often than not, how it changed people — not for the better…but usually for the worse!
Have you ever felt uneasy, unsettled or unstable? Or maybe a better question is — who hasn’t? How do we overcome these feelings?
Is that a trend or something? I don’t know what it is but I’ve heard that phrase said quite a bit. We were even walking down the Wal-Mart isle to pick up a few things and my wife showed me a T-shirt with “I have issues” written across the front! I guess the world is coming to the sad reality that we really do have some issues.
It never ceases to amaze me, the way the devil uses our offenses and our “offendedness” to divide and conquer marriages, relationships, churches — even entire nations!
There’s an old adage, “Have the heart of a lion!” Hearing it, we think, “courage”. This recalls a quote I once heard; “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened”. I doubt there’s a single hero story in which the fearless leader fails to inspire the righteous determination of his army or people. The voice of the captain resounds through the ranks evoking the fierce cry of every warrior ready to face death or worse, for the cause. Courage truly is contagious.
The Hebrew word for “face” is “panim”, (the Hebrew letters, peh-nun-yud-mem), literally “faces”, a plural word. Normally, when we think about God, we focus only upon one of His “faces” at a time. God is “love” – or He is “holy”– or He is “just”— or He’s a God of “wrath”. Yet, of course, ALL these “faces” are His at once; and so the word “panim” accurately reflects the truth of God’s multifaceted being. As we get to know Him better we begin to appreciate the complexity of His nature and the fact that our focus on one “face” is a very limited view, since there’s so much more going on in His amazing “Personality”.