CONTINUING ON... There is a fear of reaching out There is a fear of reaching out amongst many Christians and we justify it by saying; “that’s not my gift”. We must all understand as Christians, God wants us to simply be available to do his will and use the gifts he has given us. God knows we are not all evangelists but this should not stop us from becoming available. Be prepared in the future, for a worldwide scattering of Christians. It happened in the book of Acts chapter eight, and it most certainly can and will happen again. If it is going to take a drought to wake us up to do God’s will then so be it. Terrible Consequences as stated in Haggai chapter one The drought of souls also has terrible consequences; the power of God is diminished. Both the oil and the wine are withheld and as a consequence, our lights go out and our joy leaves us. We become blind and joyless; does this ring a bell in some churches today? Christian believers living in depression, no hope, no joy, no light. We become introverted people living lives embraced in fear and failure. When we stop reaching out to unsaved people our purpose dies. Someone once said; “Life is meant to have purpose, if we have purpose we have life”. When we lose the purpose of the “Great Commission” we might as well go and be with the Lord. Our whole purpose surely is to worship God and do his will. We simply must repent of our spiritual blindness and joyless lives and call out to the Holy Spirit to fill us with his joy and peace so it can strengthen us to do his will. God knows we need his strength. The Bible says; “…for the joy of the LORD is your strength”. Neh.8:10. The simple matter is; if we lack joy, we lack the strength to do His will. We become fearful and unwilling to do anything. When there is a drought on the wine (Holy Spirit’s Joy) how unenthusiastic we become. When the oil (the oil of joy for mourning Isa.61:3 KJV) runs out our lights go out and we become the blind leading the blind. (Remember the five foolish virgins.) The oil and the wine also speak of healing, i.e. “The Good Samaritan”. Could this be the reason why we are not witnessing many miracles in our nation today, because there has been drought declared on the oil and the wine? It’s almost like God’s illuminating revelations have been withheld from His children. Rev.2:5. Far more devastating consequences ahead If we continue the way we’re going, there could be far more devastating consequences than we think; “a drought on the “Word of God”, Amos.8:11-12, and a drought on men (mankind)” Haggai.1:11. What does this mean? Mankind will simply not be able to produce anything. Just like the crops will be stunted, dry and dead, so will mankind in our nation. We will become spiritually stunted and dry. Could this be happening now? Are we experiencing one of the greatest droughts ever spiritually? A drought on the “Word of God” speaks of a drought on the “Bread of Life” (Manna). Our spiritual food will dry up, just like the crops spoken about in Haggai chapter one. There is some good news if we listen to God’s voice. Haggai.1:12-15; Amos.3:7 There is some good news; God has sent His prophets to speak out and we must listen to their words. It will bear witness with our spirits and the Spirit of God will tell us what to do. God wants us to be spiritually healthy. We don’t blindly listen to God’s prophets we simply listen with our spirits as they speak. May God help us! A drought on the mountains As surely as the Lord lives and the rains fall on the mountain tops, if that rain were to cease falling, the valley’s will begin to dry up. This, I believe, is where we are spiritually at the moment. We must cry out to God to forgive us and show us the way back to the light of the world (Jesus). We must listen to God’s prophets and be obedient when their words bear witness with our spirits. Even now most Christians are feeling troubled in spirit. We must act now and seek God for wisdom and revelation. Ephesians.1:17-19. Our eyes need to be opened. There will always be pockets of lush green areas of Christian life but this is not the norm around Australia. Even those churches that are experiencing growth must understand there is a terrible drought around our nation, both physical and spiritual. If churches in our nation are suffering, we need to become active and reach out to those who are in need instead of being just concerned about our own turf (church or house). If we are just busy with our own house (church) we could be guilty of neglecting the house of God. Haggai.1:9. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb.11:6. “…and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Rom.14:23. We must ask God for the gift of Faith. The neglect of the “Great Commission” does not please God. In fact, any disobedience does not please God. Of course, our personal salvation is secured but the salvations of millions of people are in jeopardy. Faith is the key that God has given us to reach out to the lost. All faith comes from God, so that we may not boast. In Ephesians.2:8 it says; “For by grace are we saved, through “faith” and this not from yourselves it is a gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.” Also look at, Romans.12:3; and 1Corinthians.12:9. What can we do? Simply become available. We must simply make ourselves available to be used of God. Remember Jesus said; “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt.11:28-30. God is not a tyrant, He simply wants’ to build His house with people, (living stones). When we make ourselves available, this will give God the Holy Spirit the opportunity to use us; instead of worrying about our own affairs to the point of neglecting the house of God. We must ask the Holy Spirit to fill us afresh each day, so that we can be filled with His power. (Look at Luke.11:13, about asking for the Holy Spirit and 1Cor.12:9; Rom.12:3, about faith.) Also, we must repent of our neglect of the “Great Commission” and start to build His house and do the work of the ministry. The only way we can do this effectively, is by reproducing our gifts that God has given to us.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:53:50 +0000
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