I completely understand your reluctance in accepting or agreeing with my following assertions, but they are all consistent with God’s Word.  If you can show me where they are inconsistent, I will be gladdened both by the humility it brings my spirit and the fact that you took the time to read God’s Word enough to find evidence with which to convict me.

Can you stand on the side of the river of worldly events and rationally deny the current is speeding up, perhaps even channeling toward rapids or an unseen precipice?  What manner or level of denial, avoidance or escapism does it take to refuse the facts of a “coming storm” upon the horizon?  Are you willing to investigate why we as a church or as individuals would hold so strongly to an ideal, wishing it to remain, desperately wanting our lives to be undisturbed by the radical throws of Biblical predicted change.  If we are unwilling to serve God’s call upon our lives, are we then serving God or are we serving another master?  There are only two sides in this battle.  Do not consider yourself the only person capable of sitting on the fence.  Christ is coming and though you may argue His return may still be a number of years off, you will not argue that the time prior to His return is nearing its end.  The question then becomes what should we doing during this remaining hours, days, weeks, months or years?

I see no revival in our future.  I see no revival mentioned in the Bible.  Yet I hear men saying that is what we need.  I totally agree, but God’s qualifications for revival require that Christians, “Those who call themselves by my name”, go through true repentance as a precursor to our humble cries being heard by God.  I see no such repentance.  I see churches concerned about church business, fellowship, raising money for fellowship halls, child care, buildings, salaries, furniture and programs.  I do not see churches, individuals or even myself investigating God’s call upon our lives and obeying out of love, humility and a sense of obedience.  James is very clear that if a man knows what is right to do and doesn’t do it then that is sin.  Taking my own medicine I must then ask myself what God is calling me to do right now that I am refraining, reluctant or out right disobedient in doing?  What the Bible indicates is that we will not be humble enough to begin a necessary revival but instead this world, which the Bible says is a wicked generation will not turn its face back to God but almost demand His retribution, wrath and tribulation.  God will give this world the tribulation it requests because He loves us enough to provide the devastating impetus sufficient to waking us from slumber, ignorance, pride or disobedience and driving us back to crying out to Him for Mercy and Grace.  Who would argue against this having always been God’s intention for introduction of calamity so that His glory and love may be revealed?

The Lord called us to be Holy.  So, am I keeping myself Holy?  Am I voluntarily allowing accountability in my life by others to keep me on the path to Holiness?  Am I voluntarily allowing the Holy Spirit of God to convict me and change me, sanctifying me in preparation of meeting a Holy and Righteous God?  The Lord calls me to be ready.  Am I studying His Word relentlessly?  Am I preparing my spiritual understanding, my spiritual gear and my spiritual health for the day when I will be called upon to be ready for the battle that rages in the heavenly’s as we speak?  The Lord calls us to make disciples through the use of our testimony, His Word and His Love.  Do I understand in a practical sense the use of those assets to bring the lost, lame, wounded or captive to the cross for a meeting with a Holy God?  Am I loving people enough to go out where they are in the interest of demonstrating that loving care or am I simply waiting around, unprepared, unprayed, hoping that God doesn’t really have any work to do through me.  Am I in continuous prayer with the Lord?  Let me say emphatically, I fall short in this area and I believe that I pray a lot.  Most of my friends beat themselves up about their prayer lives, yet I don’t see them praying more.  Isn’t that sin, this lack of prayer in our lives, especially since we know consistent prayer indicates our reliance, dependence and trust in God?

This past month God has been showing me my inherent spots of wickedness.  I have cried openly, regretting my current state of unholiness.  It has been both effective and good for my walk with Jesus, because it has again shown me that I am no longer full of darkness but now spotted with darkness, a darkness that the Holy Spirit is currently and consistently removing from my spirit.  I am being made Holy by a Holy Spirit because I volunteered to the Hands of the Master Potter.  Unfortunately, He isn’t done and He needs to show me the remaining works yet to be completed, so that I remain in humility, a necessary state for a Holy relationship with God.  I am not worthy, but that is the point of His having died for me.  I am not capable, but that is exactly why He may use me as a vessel for His capable hands.  I have no power, but that is why when I do works of great power His Glory is inescapably evident.  I am exactly where He needs me to be, now I need to get about doing exactly what He has called me to do and leave the rest to Him.  This is belief, sponsored by love leading to repentant, consistent and true actions of obedience to God.  In Jesus’ name I pray.

What is this road, the one I am on?  To Glory, to ruin, chance, dreams or change?  How may I love them with no knowledge of or love for myself?  I look, I listen, I pray and am left wanting nothing but the rare silence that comforts my head and heart this moment.  For God, You Lord have always been a thing of quiet to my heart, my spirit rests when we fellowship, it is good, a place where we see contentment.  Your Word as guide, I wish to wander through this world with purpose, seeking wounds and beat-down hearts needing Jesus.

My complacency certain witness to Kingdom Palsy.  I am not a good man, never was, thought that I could cajole, conceal or deceive all into thinking that falsehood, but my attempts were the only deception.  Some saw through, but not I.  I was forced by my own compulsion into believing my surreptitious lie.  I have always learned through trial, but for the Lord’s crucible I would remain bereft of any wisdom, courage or maturity.  God has not intended this life, my life to be one of comfort, complacency and satisfaction for these are not the sponsors of Holy, Righteous or experiential, battle-tested saints.  That only thing that makes me strong is Jesus, His Goodness, Love, Kindness, Strength and Sword.  Without it I would be a thing of this world, finite, unworthy, expendable.  Oh, but now, since I am His, there are no terms of explanation capable.

Father, there isn’t a thing I have stood against without You.  My will to run, stronger than the heart given by Father to Son.  Yet, here I stand, with shield and buckler, girding my loins with the truth of my own existence, resolved in the certainty of salvation.  I am a thing for You to use, but now they know I love them and that feels good.  Don’t let me fear anything but Your Glory, for all that may take this life has limited effect upon a man bent for eternity.  Let me live wholly for Your Reason, dedicating this short life to assisting in Your edification of humanity.  Let me be an obedient, trustworthy and useful tool in Your Hand as You shape future unseen.

This is my being, as if existence were the definition of man.  Possibly as You are the God who “IS”, then in being my living reflects Your image upon me.  Father, let us come to You.  I am sorry that it will take Your persistent wrath to convince us, but I am still overjoyed that so many shall be received into Your presence.  We are a wicked generation dedicated to self-service, happy in our pursuit of happiness.  This talk of revival is one for Christians, revived to service for the Lord’s Good Purpose.  Risen from our slumber serving false gods and enemies of the Almighty, we find the courage to listen and follow Your Holy direction.  Let us hear and obey with joyous spirit.  In Jesus Name I pray for all mankind today.  Run from the wrath to come and find rest in peace through Jesus, the King of Everything.

Why didn’t Jesus just throw around His power as demonstration of His Divinity?  You have to ask yourself why God, would put aside His authority, His Power to come and live as a simple powerless man, even to extent of saying that He could do nothing other than what the Father had sent Him to do?  This question provides many an atheist or unbeliever wide departure from understanding God’s Nature.

He came that we might be saved but every thing He did was also an example of how He wanted us to live.  If He served the Father in Spirit and Truth, then we do must do the same.  If He depended upon the Father for all provision, power, protection and authority, then we do must do the same.  If He laid down His life, seemingly helpless to fulfill God’s Plan for His existence on Earth, then we too ought to consider the same commitment.

I can do nothing apart from Christ who strengthens me.  I can’t save anyone, I can’t set anyone free from spiritual bondage, I cannot provide for anyone’s bounty.  I fail to see how God might use a visibly and notably imperfect man like myself to fulfill His perfect plans.  I have no authority, power or protection apart from God, but I can do all things within His will for my life through Christ.  That is the example He lived and it is the one that I may easily follow as He led.  My job is to surrender to God’s Plan and go up there on that hill of sacrifice at the exact timing at which God sends me.

This life has predetermination in that I was designed to do a specific thing but God’s Love allows that I have the choice to Love Him enough to do it.  I pray that we all make the right choice to serve God consistent with the timing and word He has programed into each of our hearts.  In Jesus Name, I pray for all of you freedom on this great day of reminder of independence that began this nation blessed by God.

What makes you flee and to whom do you run?  We are experiencing a sea change in America where everyone is in some state of chaotic discomfort, seeking advice, solace and rest yet they are choosing to run to doctors, self-help and even soothsayers, avoiding the sanctuary provided in the shadow of Almighty God.  We know that tragedy sponsors outcry, leading to Divine response, providing relief, leading to dependence, then trust then surrender.  Why then would we turn to someone or something else in our moment of greatest need unless we have a rational reason for avoiding fellowship with God?  Am I incorrect in my assumption that everyone knows God is there, well that cannot be for that would contradict God’s Word in Romans 1.  Have we perhaps turned our own hearts away from the Truth of God and subsequently been turned over to our own decadence?

What the Lord said is simple; Love God with all that you are and love them the way that you are loved by God.  Why must we complicate everything?  Is it that we are searching for a loophole or justification as to why we don’t believe the Lord was referring to me?  He gave specific direction regarding creating disciples, out there on the road where people are lost, hurting, diseased, hungry, tired, poor and alone.  Why then do we sit inside our churches, fat dumb and happy hoping that this will be considered appropriate demonstration of our love for God?  Have we actually deluded ourselves to the point where we believe that the lost sheep will somehow wander into our doorways?  Come on folks, this ain’t rocket science, its simple, clear, undeniable love for God, demonstrated by our walk in purity, hope and service.  He also told us to be ready.  Ready for what you ask?  If you don’t know then that solidified my argument.

As a former Marine, let me tell you that when Marines are not in battle they are training for battle, preparing their minds, bodies, gear and hearts for the inevitable.  We as Christians are in a war, that is being executed in the heavenly realms and perpetuated in the world around us, yet we remain idle, without preparation diligence or studied attempts to solidify our readiness and resolve.  What manner of idiocy has captured our leadership that this is our standard order of defense against God’s enemies?  We aren’t even spending the time in role playing our dependence upon Almighty God, instead we seek worldly knowledge, worldly counsel or worse yet mystical support when confronted by trials that God said would come.  Where is our sanity?  Have we given it over to our hope that somehow humanity will be saved by a human representative?  Well that is what the dwellers of this planet will receive an masterfully wicked, charlatan with great power given him by satan who will assure the devastation God promised has begun.  Look I love you and I want to be of one mind, unified with other Christians, but not if you refuse to follow God’s direction.  It is time to get about the clear direction we were given by Christ and stop instituting our own marching orders.  Get ready, stay ready, be found doing what we are supposed to be found doing when He returns.

One question for clarity sake;  What would happen tomorrow morning if tonight all Christians were raptured to be with God forever?  Exactly, the world would be turned over to its decadent thinking.  The one world government would emerge overnight having no restraining voices filled with Holy Spirit to resist.  Sin would abound as most on this planet want a “do it until you are satisfied mantra”.  We are standing in an era specifically designed for the emergence of the son of perdition.  Don’t you see your place in history?  We are the generation who should be most concerned with having oil in our lamp and keeping our eyes to the heavens, doing the Kingdom work of loving God and loving them who have yet to be saved from eternal separation from God.  Whatever you think today, think it clearly, pray it clearly, understand it clearly and then act with decision and direction.  I hope you choose to surrender to God’s Will for your life and get about preparation for His return.  Be found ready, be found doing the work of a worker for the harvest.  Stop your disobedience, ignorance, idleness, avoidance or excuse.  Excuses do not work with an Almighty God who knows every thought you will and have ever had.

In Jesus’ Name I pray for your discernment this great day that He has made for each of us.

Can you smell the ripened fruit upon the vine?  Right is wrong and wrong is the song of them who dwell upon the Earth.  Right now, this very day, what would happen if all Christian’s were snatched away to be forever with the Lord?  Think on it, if the only restraining voice is that of the Holy Spirit within our breast, what would occur the moment we became absent?  They want a human leader to save them through politics, pleasantries and cumbaya’s.  They are eager for the emergence of such a charismatic leader and will call him nothing short of messiah, savior, god.

We know what this situational pregnancy promises.  The World is ripe for its leader and all that remains is to get the Christians out of the way so that they can have what they believe is the answer to man’s evolutionary stalemate.  What should we then be found doing if this time in history is appropriate for rapture?  Are we shining the light of God to this dark, dark World or just marking time, complacent, comfortable, naive to the things of Almighty God?  What then of the grand harvest that shall come to pass due to coming tribulation?  Will you be considered part of this having planted the seed of God’s Word with them who shall be left behind?  What will you honestly say to Christ about your service when you meet Him?

We are not citizen’s of this chaotic world, we are ambassadors of the Holy Kingdom of God.  Shouldn’t we be spreading the good news of Christ, sharing our testimony and familiarizing all with the King of Kings?  Christ is coming, but those who have read and kept the Words in Revelation know that awful times shall befall humanity as God’s Wrath unfolds.  We also know that this painful period will produce more converts to Christianity then perhaps the entire history of mankind following Christ’s first appearance.  Don’t you want to be part of this rare treasure?  Give your heart to God through Christ.  Serve Him and forget the pain of today’s present in exchange for the Glory of our coming King in Eternity.  Love God and Love them, that is after all what He requires from each of us.  In Jesus’ Name.

Do you meditate on God’s Word?  Do you fill your mind with scripture and allow God to provide you comfort, solace, answers and peace?  This world is difficult, nigh oppressive, in its capacity to drown us in the weighty list of things we can or cannot get done.  Is there any method by which we may take these things in stride or are we forced to ignore them, get overwhelmed, escape or simply lose our footing trying to stand against the rip tide of today’s endless requirement?

Did you know there is a way or have you been forced to choose one of these attempts to cope?  As always Christ told us how to stand in these overwhelming times.  In Luke 21, the Lord Jesus responds to His Apostle’s questions regarding the signs of the end of times.  Jesus clearly warns us that we will be persecuted for His sake and we shall not perish.  In this responsive teaching Jesus also tells us the following regarding our mental state and how He directs we prepare for what must certainly come upon us.  Luke 21:34-36 And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Without Christ’s direction we are left to choose upon insufficient coping mechanisms to deal with the onslaught of cares, worries and the shear gravitational weight of the world coming apart at the seams.  Some will worry, some will choose drink/drugs to escape the reality others will find renewed effort in futile attempt to stay ahead of the cresting waves.  Yet Christ tells us to not become overwhelmed by excesses of the heart or fall prey to escapism and worry so that we may face the day vigilant, aware, prepared and at peace.  For after all the signs of this fraying world are indications of Christ’s imminent return, which effectively nullifies the severity, number and impact of our current trials.  Choose to believe on Christ, cast your cares and worries upon Him, trust in Him to deliver you from this fallen and failing world, take from Him Peace in exchange for this surrender.  There is hope, a hope only found in His Loving, Truthful and Immortal Word.  Are you overwhelmed, let go?  Are you escaping this world, wake up?  Are you worried to the point where you are consumed with a list of things that will somehow give you the perception of control, trust in Him, not yourself?  These things are shown us so that we might turn our eyes and hearts to heaven watching, waiting and rejoicing at His return.  Do not get lost in the stimuli of this world and lose your focus on Christ from whence your blessings come.  For we will be blessed to stand in front of the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords as he returns to set things right.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Seek the impossible, for in this opportunity God’s Glory will be revealed.  The challenges that I may handle within my own power, authority, expertise and energy will only build faith in my capacity to achieve, in self-reliance.  Will the Lord God push us, yes?  Will He require more than we can muster, of course, why else do you think He saved us?  I do not know how this chapter will end, but I do know that if I wait, with patience upon the Will of God, I will see His Glory revealed through resolution.  Not that kind of solution or problem solving that I could produce but something beyond my artistic talent or creativity, a story written for me by Him.  I seek the miracle found only in a life given to His Sovereign Will.

He is the beginning, without an end.  The Creator of this, that and the other.  I know Him as a Kind Father and a Holy God, worthy of my respect, my honour, obedience and praise.  Not a thing of duty but of love.  He is perfection, He has all power, but needs not use it to be heard, followed or feared.  He is merciful, forgiving and forever True.  He provides, and conceals, trains, grows and educates with an eternal eye on the objective for each of our lives.  To my mind, He didn’t have to come, but I am certain that He doesn’t feel that way, for He loves us so much that He probably knew that He must.  He frees the captives, loves the unlovable and gives mercy to those least deserved of Grace.  His judgement will be final and all will give an accounting of their lives spent for Glory or Sin.  That seems fair and relieves me of the responsibility to criticize, judge, condemn or punish.  I am comfortable with Him being God and me being His man.  This is a good place to be.

What is next Father?  Why do you have so much hope in me?  How can you see a worth that evades my own understanding, for I often, frequently feel at the whim of my own weakness?  I just know this, that what is to be done will be accomplished for You have already overcome my oppressors, obstacles, enemies and even my own shortcomings.  You have provided a path upon which I may find success even in the midst of absolute failure, for Your Word says you will use all things for good for those who love you and walk according to Your purpose.  It is upon that path I will walk and await the miracles of your intervention in my life.  I will be sustained by your loving, kindness, your abundance and kept warm by the mustard seed of my faith in Your faithfulness to never leave me.  This is a good place to be.

Bless Your Holy Name.  For even if I fail wonderfully, Your Glory will be revealed  from the ash heap of my meager attempts.  And if by chance I do succeed, let if be known that it was all your doing, for that is the truth of my life.  Without You I can do nothing, with You the impossible is common place.  You sustain me.  Thank you Lord Jesus.

For a moment look at your fear, about the world, your job, family, friends, relationships, MONEY.  Do you embrace the created desire making you want to run, turn off the vision, escape, anything but continue to investigate the eerie, itchy, uncomfortable feeling brought on by concentrating upon Fear’s Reality?  What about your inadequacy, failures, weariness, inability, need for trying harder?  What happens when you concentrate on doing a better job or trying harder?  Are you left with peace or agitation, are you comfortable in this criticism?  Do you believe that concentrating and elaborating your failure to perform makes you a better Christian?  These two deceptions are the best route to disconnecting you with God’s Will and putting you on track to serving the world and self.  Love yourself and submit both your fears and continued resistance to success to God.  He is capable of changing whatever needs changing in you to produce successes and He commands you to be of “Good Courage”.  Live for God and see the miracle, don’t give in to concentration upon the fear or failure.  Jesus Loves you and so do I.  Delight in the struggle as God sanctifies you through the mantle of the World.  Walk through the fire and know that you have never been alone.

We are all aware that the Lord takes what was meant for evil in our lives and uses it for good.  Why do you think that is?  Have you contemplated the lost revenue, efficacy and time attributed to those things done against us or done inappropriately by our own hands?  If our ills may be turned to good what then the exponential effect of our pure, holy acts, done for God.  What would be the resultant impact of our lives if we chose to live them in tandem with God’s intention, desiring maximum efficacy and greatest glory/reflection upon His Name?  Could this be done so that we may clearly understand that God’s Will is Good and Perfect and our own efforts fallen?  Perhaps through this engagement may we understand the need, no necessity to rely upon God’s power, authority, Grace and provision for our lives instead of our own unholy action or intention?

The enemy cannot prevail.  Even those assaults effectively executed against my person are simply notification of those things I have yet to surrender to God.  My errors in judgment or the open avenues of approach/footholds currently available and open to enemy access are there to demonstrate I have not yet given myself over completely to God’s Plan.  The enemy’s efficacy in attacks upon my person are all turned to good when I see them as God intends, as opportunities to surrender those remaining areas of my life.

Why do I continue to face similar situations with the same resolution plans that have never worked in the past?  If I ended up frustrated unfulfilled and seeking escape the last four hundred times I faced the same circumstances with the same tools then it is nigh impossible I will find acceptable resolution on my four hundred and first attempt.  The Lord is waiting patiently for me to surrender the control of this and any other circumstances I have been fooled into believing I might conquer.  When will I see the enemy attacks for the good that God intended and stop whining over being attacked and rather go to God in prayer asking for the change only He might produce?  When will I believe and trust in the miracle of the Master Potter’s Hand upon my chemistry and physiognomy?

That only Hope for my worried heart is Trust, but that Trust surpasses all effect of time and circumstance, for it is the perfect Hope.  So I will trust in the Lord and leave the details to Him.  I will rely upon that which I cannot see or prove but wholeheartedly know to be Truth.  In Jesus’ Name I pray for you this wonderful day that He has made.