Do we not know that God is testing the church? Not just our local church but the Universal church, the body of Christ? Do we not know that Christ is readying his bride? We are not tested to see just how good and loving we can be in a world of plenty, we are tested by fire so that in the last days we are able to stand firm in the face of persecution. Eleven or so years ago, when the church I attended all my life was put to the test, I was distraught and fervently praying for revival. Praying that my particular church and the church of America would wake up and repent and see God for who he truly is and make Him our first love once again. One day, God kept bugging me. He wouldnt allow me to settle in my spirit until I finally turned off the TV, sat down, and became ready to listen. When I asked him, What is it Lord? He told me. There are worse things coming than what is happening in your church family at this time. I thought at first that he meant something immediate, or that during this second church split in 2 years that it was about the new pastor coming. But he soon revealed to me that He forced my church to split because we werent prepared. The people in our church needed to divide up. We had become too settled, too comfortable in our traditions and semi, incomplete good works and out of love, God forced generations deep of family members to finally get out and into churches that were teaching the deep truths of Gods word because we were no where near ready for what was coming. What God was referring to was the persecution that is coming for the church of the U.S. And I see that he is testing us yet again. Are we ready for the kind of persecution that is promised to the church that will one day demand our lives in order to stand firm in our faith? Or are we still weak, ignorant, and still catering to our flesh that we were suppose to put to death when we came to faith? Will we stand in the face of adversity, be easily offended as the world seems to be, throw a temper tantrum and run as soon as our feelings are hurt, desert and divide as Satan uses that tactic to divide and concur? Are we ready? Within the next 20 years, the Muslim population will be so great within the U.S. that they will have the controlling votes. Within the next 30 years the U.S. could very well be under shiria law. Given what we are seeing, I believe this is very possible. Are we going to be standing alone because we have deserted our posts? Are we ready to be told, convert or die? How firm is our commitment to Christ? How firm is our commitment to the body of Christ-the church? What does God need to do to teach us perseverance in the face of adversity? Unlike what we are told by certain churches, this is not a feel good, all about me and my happiness and my prosperity religion. What is He going to have to do to build us up and strengthen us and make us be able to stand on the final day we have to choose life or death? An elder in my old church, Mr. Carter Rawlings, got up before our congregation for several years each Sunday morning and told us the same verse each week. I will never forget it: Jesus words: Mat 10:32-33 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. (33) But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. Are we ready to confess Christ before men when they have a sword to our throats as they are killing our children in front of us? Or are we going to be offended and throw in the towel to save our own necks and children from this fleshly death only to lose our soul forever? We must be able to persevere in tough times folks. We must be able to not be budged no matter what earthly or spiritual force comes against us and our children. We need to stop wining and running and buckle down and learn this lesson before it is too late. Some may say, I will be dead in 30 years. But our children and grandchildren wont be. What will we teach our children if in the face of adversity we get offended or scared and run away? We are to be walking in faith, not fear. Walking by the Spirit of God, not by the sinful flesh. Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. If there is one thing my Dad taught me by example, is that you stay and fight, stand firm, hold your ground-no matter what happens in the battle. You persevere when you are hurt. This is the family of God my friends. Do we divorce our family as we have so easily divorced our spouse when we dont like how things are going in this day and age? My parents were married 63 years. They served in the same church faithfully through all kinds of church drama and politics and hard times and stood firm for over 85 years. They were tempted many times to leave because my brother wasnt allowed to play basketball during the games even though he attended every practice on the church team. Many times my dad would come home fuming mad from council meetings at how selfish and stingy our church could be. Quite frequently my parents would spend hours, days, weeks, remodeling or repairing things in the church without a single word or appreciation. On many occasions the Pastor would hurt us, fail us, act in his flesh as in the world-One pastor held séances with the youth group in the attic of the parsonage, another molested a child, another ignored the evils that church members were doing to others without any church discipline, another divorced his wife, and even at my fathers death-the new pastor refused to allow my dads funeral to be held at the church or even for our church to sponsor a dinner for our grieving family because he was mentally disturbed and holding grudges and insecure. Apparently, the church is full of imperfect humans that can be just a mean and rude as the world, but they didnt budge. In spite of it all, monthly my Dad would pull together people from other churches for a small prayer group to pray over the churches and situations and he had learned how to stand and fight the enemy as he did in WWII. So I had a good example before me of what it looked like to never give up, never run away, never desert my post, no matter how bad it got. Are we ready folks for the end times because they are coming? Are we examples of those who stand firm and fight to keep the body of Christ intact? Or do we have to keep going over this lesson again and again before we finally learn it? Unlike the schools today, God doesnt just let us slide through to the next level or grade if we fail the tests. Our eternal lives are too precious to take the chance that we may not be able to pass the final exam one day. I love Christs Church, not just talking about my church family, but the entire body of Christ. We are all vital in every way to Gods work. Let us stand together and not allow Satan to get a foothold so he can divide and conquer. 1Co 4:11-12 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; (12) and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 2Ti 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Take the example of Pauls changed life and his instructions through the Holy Spirit to the church. Endure my friends, persevere, learn our lessons, love each other as we love ourselves, extend grace and mercy to not just the unsaved but to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as we all learn how to walk this walk together. 2Pe 1:5-9 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, (6) and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, (7) and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (8) For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. In Jesus Name, Amen
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:04:33 +0000
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