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Last Day Cowards?

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Throughout the Old Testament, God the Father, repeatedly calls people to revival and repentance. In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus’ message to the seven churches echoes the same refrain. Why? Mt. 24:10-12 And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity,… AMPC

As lawlessness, and iniquity increase the love of many grows cold. Sound familiar? Lk. 18:8 However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth? AMPC

What’s frightening about this passage is its context: Luke 17:33 Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and quicken it. Luke 18:1 Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). AMPC The parable ends with Jesus’ summation: Lk. 18:8 However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth? AMPC

What’s the overall message? Lose your life – praying. Don’t become a coward and lose heart and give up praying. But when Jesus returns will He find people of faith – praying? What’s frightening about this passage? – We have arrived! I have been in ministry since the 80’s and have observed the attendance of corporate prayer dwindle down to a hand full of people. Why? We have lost heart because we have lost faith and hope. Losing heart is connected to this very thing. We have succumbed to a “spirit” (demon) of heaviness instead of having the Spirit of Faith and Hope!

Hosea 10:12 reminds us: Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. NKJV

Fallow ground is cold, hard ground. C.H. Spurgeon reminds us: “BREAK up your fallow ground.” Our nature at its largest is but a small farm, and we had need to get a harvest out of every acre of it, for our needs are great. Have we left any part of our small allotment uncultivated? If so, it is time to look into the matter and see if we cannot improve this wasteful state of things. What part of our small allotment have we left fallow? We should think very poorly of a farmer who for many years allowed the best and the richest part of his farm to lie altogether neglected and untilled. An occasional fallow has its benefits in the world of nature; but if the proprietor of rich and fruitful land allowed the soil to continue fallow year after year we should judge him to be out of his wits. The wasted acres ought to be taken from him and given to another husbandman who would worthily cherish the generous fields and encourage them to yield their harvests.

Jesus said, His house is to be a House of Prayer. Are churches ceasing to be Houses of God? You and I are to be God’s House. Are we ceasing to be God’s House because of a cold love, and a hard heart? Have we become cowards? The opposite of faith is fear. Faith and hope are what fuel prayer. It’s time to seek Him for rains of righteousness in the gift of tears to break up the fallow, cold, hardened soil of our heart.

Vision

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Sunday many of you responded to the call to seek God to catch fire through His Spirit. As a testimony to your desire to take off your old way of walking in order to turn to see God, and catch fire from the Burning Man – Jesus, you placed your shoes on the altar, praying a prayer of dedication. Yet, responding to the call is only the first step. What’s next? You have heard the Scripture, Where there is no vision the people perish. (Prov. 29:18)

To receive the vision from the Lord for the next step in your walk you will need to constantly keep in mind 6 principles of seeking: (1) The role of faith, hope, trust and perseverance; (2) Modes and means of manifestation; (3) Power and potential of positioning; (4) Addressing the boundaries and limitations of rituals through the power of Grace; (5) Understanding the call to seek God through prayer and fasting is a call to meet with Him in the wilderness; (6) and Passing the test of the illusion of being passed by, and rejection.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 states: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.…And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

To begin this new walk all of the principles of seeking have to be bound tight by faith, hope, trust, and perseverance. Romans 10:17 states that: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In order to see the vision you must first seek God to hear how to walk. The Greek word used for “word” in Romans 10:17 is the word “rhema.” Rhema simply means “out of the Mouth of God.” It’s His revealed and inspired words. Faith, hope, and trust will lead you to seek the words of the Lord for the vision. Perseverance will lead you to continue on in your search. Through these meditations we have been asking, How can I meet Jesus outside the camp? Through faith, hope, and trust you begin to seek Him to answer the practical ways He wants you to accomplish this.

For example in Exodus 33:7 Moses pitched his own tent – for people to seek God. Then in Exodus 34:1-3 Moses proceeded to cut two more stone tablets, readied himself, ascended the mountain, climbed alone, and presented himself before the Lord. Moses took 6 practical steps to what he sensed and heard from the Lord. What’s interesting about both passages is that it doesn’t say why Moses pitched his tent. We can infer he simply had a sense to do this, and obviously a desire to pitch his tent – far outside the camp. Secondly it states that the Lord spoke to Moses but it doesn’t say how, or where? Did Moses seek God alone in His tent and receive this word, or did Moses come to the base of Mount Sinai to ask? It doesn’t say. What it does say is that the Lord spoke to Moses, and Moses proceeded in taking the steps he believed were from the Lord.

Thus the next step from the church’s altar is not only to continue asking, Lord, how can I meet you outside the camp, but to also begin asking, What practical steps can I take to meet you there?

Aiming to Please

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C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

C.S. Lewis echoes the Apostle Paul when he stated that if we have really been born-again of the Spirit, our aim, or life’s focus, will not be on this earth – but on the things of Jesus’ Kingdom. Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

What are you aiming for in this life? What do your activities, and energies spent reveal? What do your fears reveal – about this life and the life to come? What do your fears reveal about who or what you really place your trust?

Your Opinion of God

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Romans 5:5 Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us. (AMPC)

What’s your opinion of God? What’s your opinion of Jesus, His Word and His promises? Do your words of praise match your opinions of Jesus and His promises?

For the past several months I’ve been pursuing returning to my First Love. This morning I discovered a key to it’s restoration: Romans 4:18 [For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become…

Abraham became who God destined him to become through the Love of God being poured out in his heart. We become who we are destined through His Love. How did Abraham become? Romans 4:20 No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,…

This love was shed abroad in his heart as he did not allow unbelief, or distrust in the promises of God. In fact it says that his faith was empowered as he gave praise and glory to God. But how was Abraham to give God praise without Bethel Music, Youtube songs, special effects, and smoke machines? The key is found in the Greek meaning of the word, “praise.” The definition of this word in the Greek surprised me. It did not mean what I thought. Praise here is defined as, giving your opinion, or estimate of something or someone whether good or bad. In Romans 4:20 it specifically means, “Giving Glory to God by not distrusting His promises.” That definition convicted me. How many times have I let my fear, and distrust over ride God’s Word and promises? My fear, and distrust actually reveals that I don’t have that high opinion of God or of His promises. That is my praise. I either trust, or esteem the truths of God’s Word or the lies of the evil one.

What have your opinions been saying about your praise?