THE PERFECT STORM

                                               THE PERFECT STORM

Why is it that sometimes the most dangerous things that surround us are things that we cannot see?  Can we see the wind?  No, we cannot see it but we can feel it and see what it causes by seeing the movement that it creates in the trees and earth and living things that move because of it.  It can be devastating like a tornado or a hurricane.

How is it that a powerful country or countries can be brought to their knees when a virus, that cannot be seen by the naked eye, invades a country through unwilling hosts that may not even know that this uninvited pathogen is dwelling inside of someone unseen until it rears its ugly head.

There are vaccines and medicine to combat disease and we should all be aware of protecting ourselves from this contagion.  But how many of us are protecting ourselves against the unseen of the demonic world that seeks to attack our souls at every turn.

I believe that the COVID-19 virus is the enemy from the pit of hell that is attacking the world with fear.  Fear, more than anything else is the driving force of this virus more so than the virus itself.  Actually, it has been stated by the medical profession that fear, in and of itself, can actually weaken the immune system.  So is fear working hand in hand with this virus and probably having more of an impact on the situation we are facing now?  Are many of the media and politicians also instigating this fear for evil reasons?

In the Word of God it says,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 | NIV |

For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

Isaiah 41:13 | NIV |

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?

Psalm 118:6 | NIV |

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18 | NIV |

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:4 | NIV |

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Deuteronomy 31:8 | NIV

There are more than 365 verses in the Bible about fear.  It’s as if God has given us a verse for each and every day.

We need to start taking the authority that we have received, through Jesus Christ, at the cross.  We need not surrender to the corona virus.  It is not of God.  Let us not panic because we know that God is in control.  We need to pray and trust God. 

The evil one, the enemy, has used this corona virus as a “perfect storm” to cause people to be afraid.  How convenient that Churches are closing their doors to decrease the spread of the virus!  We should be praying together and not let the enemy dictate what we should and should not do!!

Church arise and come against this virus!!  Yes we should use common sense but we need not be afraid.  Fear is the fuel that is fueling this with something so microscopic that it cannot be seen with the naked eye.  Let’s also realize that evil things that are not seen are there to instigate fear but we, as Christians, need to take a stand and not fear because in Psalm 91:5-6 it says, “You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day.  Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.  Psalm 91:9-10, “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, There shall no evil befall you, nor an y plague or calamity come near your tent.”  (Everyday Life Bible, Amp.)

A Daily Prayer for Protection

Lord God, I pray for Your protection as I begin this day. You are my hiding place, and under Your wings I can always find refuge. Protect me from trouble wherever I go, and keep evil far from me. No matter where I am, I will look to You as my Protector, the One Who fights for me every day. Your love and faithfulness, along with Your goodness and mercy, surround me daily, so I will not fear whatever might come against me. My trust is in You, God, and I give thanks to You for Your love and protection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer for Good Health and Protection from Harm

We bless You, Lord, for You are our Jehovah Rapha, the Healer of all our diseases. Our body is the temple of Your Spirit, so we pray for protection from that which could bring harm to us physically. Guard us from stresses that steal our emotional strength and lower our immunity to fight infection. Heal us of past traumas that may affect our present or future health. Teach us how to discipline our bodies so we can grow stronger and increase our physical stamina. When challenges arise, we need not fear, for You have given us a spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind.

As the Great Physician, You know us so well. You ordained every part of our body even before we were born. Help us to treat our bodies with respect as Your beloved creations. We want to serve You with excellence, so in our weakness, grant us strength and good health so that nothing will prevent Your plan for our lives. Protect us from contagions and disease that can riddle the body and bring dangerous results. Safeguard us with wisdom to use well the rest You provide as we wait on You and with You daily. Our lives and our health are in Your hands, Lord, and our trust and faith are in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

• Rebecca Barlow Jordan www.rebeccabarlowjordan.com

CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY

CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY

Is Christianity shaping our culture or is the culture shaping our Christianity?  Are you a Biblical Christian or a cultural Christian?  Are you trying to have the best of both worlds by compromising your beliefs as a Christian?  

Sadly to say, we seem to be adopting some of the values of the world.  We have been exchanging the truth and the absolutes of God with the lies of the enemy.  We have become saturated in the material world and have sought after fleshly desires. 

We use God as an ATM.  God I want this.  God I want that.  We make God Who we want Him to be, not Who He is.  How many of us who call ourselves Christians are born again and read and know the scriptures?

In the parable of the sower, Jesus says, in Matthew 13:19, “While anyone is hearing the Word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is what was sown along the roadside.”  Jesus is making it clear that not everyone who hears the Word of God accepts it.

The cultural Christian is the one who is living a counterfeit faith because he or she is not living out the true Gospel.  It is not genuine.  They are Christian in name only because they think that just going to church and filling up a pew qualifies them to be a Christian but when they go home “they live like the devil.”  Remember, even the devil shows up at church!!  He can also quote the gospel such as when Jesus was being tempted by the devil when Jesus had been fasting in the desert.

In many instances, there appears to be little difference between some Christians and other people in the world.  The temptations of the world are sought out more than the fruits of the Spirit.  They seem more influenced by what the world is saying than what God is saying in His Word.  They may have faith but have not made Jesus Lord over their lives.

Who is the true Christian, the Biblical Christian so to speak?  He or she is a person who has surrendered their life to Christ.  They are obedient to the Word of God.  They stand up to the world and are not afraid to speak out against laws or ideas that are not Biblically based.  They are not afraid to speak truth in love.  They do not fear back lash and give in to popular beliefs for fear that they will lose their job or that others will ridicule them.  There have been brave people who have stood such as the baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple because he did not want to be forced to do something that his faith did not support.  

We live in a world that is rapidly losing its way.  Universities and colleges and even high schools are rewriting history.  If they can rewrite history, then the Bible becomes a myth and ancient history in which people can ignore it or redefine it with their own agenda and dogma.

Don’t get sucked in to the world.  Jesus talked a lot about being in the world but not being of the world.  Jesus came down from heaven to show us how to be.  We need to be who He made us to be.  We are not robots being programed by the world but we are sons and daughters of the most High King of the Universe.  We need to act as such.  We have authority over the evil one.  Jesus came so we could take back our authority that was stolen from us at the Garden.  We have authority in and through Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Live the Word.  Be the Word to others.  Stand and don’t become a cultural Christian.  Just remember that people are being martyred every day because they will not renounce their faith and some of us are afraid to speak out for the Kingdom.  Let us look, act, and speak like Jesus and we will truly be able to stand against those that would have us cave in to their agenda and beliefs.

For those of you who would like to give your life to Jesus or those of you who want to rekindle your commitment to the Lord, say this prayer out loud with me:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus to die on the Cross for my sins

Forgive me for my sins.

Wash them away with the Blood of Jesus

Jesus, take over my life. 

I give it to you

Reign in my heart and my soul

Change me and make me whole

I ask all of these things in Jesus Name

Amen

THE CHURCH

THE CHURCH

What is the church?  Do you think of a church building or do you think of Christianity and the people who make up the Body of Christ?

In chapter 17 of John’s Gospel Jesus talks about believers.  He is talking about those who have believed in Him and accepted Him.  He talks about the people that have been given to Him by God the Father, “I have manifested Your Name to the people whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have obeyed and kept Your word.”  John 17:6   Jesus goes on to say, “I am praying for them, I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they belong to You.”  John 17:9

Jesus also spoke about the Kingdom of God.  He said that the Kingdom of God is within us.  Jesus came to bring the Kingdom, God’s Kingdom to us through Jesus.  Yes, we are the Kingdom of God.  We are the representation of God upon the earth. 

 

Do we represent Christ?  Do we just show up and occupy a pew in a church building and believe that by doing so we are doing God’s work on the earth?  Jesus did teach in the temple but He went out to where the people were---the sick, the lame, the outcasts. 

Wake up church because you are the hands and feet of Christ!!  

The Body of Christ needs to wake up at this time in history because we are at a precipice of retreat or victory.  It is a time when our very own identity is being challenged.  We have been created in the image of God and we need to stand for who we are in Christ.  The world is trying to steal our identity and we cannot cave in to what the world would have us to be but what God says we are.  

Christians around the world are being persecuted and martyred for their faith.  We here in the United States need to stand against the world and not give in to cultural Christianity which is watered down Christianity to accommodate the world.   We were created in the image of God---male and female.   Abortion is not a woman’s right—it is the taking of an innocent life.  The Word of God is not a fairy tale—it is truth!!  We will not look the other way when we see corruption, but we will speak out.

Where are the voices?  2020 is the year of the mouth and the year that Christians, true Christians, the remnant, need to make their voices are heard.  For those of you who don’t think that Christianity and politics should mix, let me tell you, if it wasn’t for the evangelicals in the last election, Donald Trump would not have been elected and we would be in a big mess!!

There are prophecies out there that Donald Trump will be re-elected.  Does that mean that we should become complacent?  NO!!  There were many millions of people praying for President Trump to be re-elected so we need to continue to pray that he is.  God has given us a window of opportunity while Trump is president to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit to prepare for Revival.  Because of the great economy, the Gospel is being spread throughout the world.  The United States is the country that sends out the most missionaries.   If the US collapses because of a socialist leader, we will not be able to accomplish the great commission.  So get out and VOTE!!

 Social Justice is only a cover up for socialism where everyone is put into groups—race, gender, socio- economic, etc.  Many churches preach this.  Yes, Jesus did have compassion on people and healed many but He came to change people’s hearts.  The church needs to be more concerned about evangelism than social justice.

Before Jesus left this earth to ascend to His Father in Heaven He said that we were to preach the Gospel!!  How often do we fall short of this?  Yes the preaching of the Gospel is in the church buildings but do we go out and live the Gospel?  Do others see Jesus in us?  Do we go to the where the people are as Jesus did or do we just sit in our comfy pews and listen to a great sermon that produces no fruit in us?

Wake up Church!  We are the hands and feet and voice of Jesus.  This is the year of the mouth, the voice.  Let’s speak up and speak out.  Let’s stand up and stand out for God who is our Creator.

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything.”  Albert Einstein

I had a dream about being in a place where there were many people seated as if in a church building setting.  While I was sitting down a woman came in who was not very good looking but she was excited and she kept saying, "Change, change, change!"

She and her fiance sat down in the same row that I was in and she showed me her engagement ring which she said was not a diamond but some other name for a jewel that I do not remember.  What I do remember is her consistent word of "change."

As I pondered the dream, I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the interpretation of the dream.  I looked up the word engaged because she had obviously become engaged.  The word engaged means "actively committed."  The Church needs to arise and be actively committed to God's Holy Word and defend Who God is and our identity in Christ and not let the world dictate who we are or how we are to think or act.  Almighty God is our Commander and Chief.

I believe that she represented the Church of Christ.  She was not beautiful and did not have a diamond but an ordinary stone because she is still in process.  She is not perfect yet.  She is not ready for her bridegroom.  Revelation 19:7 says, "Let us rejoice and shout for joy (exulting and triumphant)!  Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb (at last) has come, and His bride has prepared herself."  Revelation 21:2 says, "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified and adorned for her husband."  (Everyday Life Bible Amplified Version)

Why did she keep saying, "change, change"?  I believe that God is saying that there is a change coming to the Bride of Christ.  We need to change so that we are ready to receive our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  We need to be made perfect.  We need to be the defender of the faith.  We need to act like the Church, the Body of Christ here on the earth to prepare for the 2nd Coming of Jesus.  We need to also prepare to meet Him.

Revelation 22:17 says, "The (Holy) Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come!  And let him who is listening say, Come!  And let everyone come who is thirsty (who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened); and whoever (earnestly) desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost."   (Everyday Life Bible Amplified Version)

We need to arise and be the Church, which means we are the representation of Jesus Christ on the earth.  We need to re-present Him to the world.  We need to win souls and be an open Gospel by our words and deeds.  The harvest is plenty and the workers are few.  Let us go out to the fields that are ripe and be a part of the largest harvest in the history of the world.  It is a harvest that is going to arise as the Church realizes that the coming of her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, is at the door.

As I read the words written down from an outpouring gathering here where I live, I realized that it confirmed the dream that the Lord had given me.   A portion of the message from the Lord given on October 25, 2019 through Lenora and Jody Morin from Fountaingate Ministries said, "Church arise!  Be engaged moving with Me (God).  You are the movement."