Dec 22, 2021
In the last days, the church of Jesus Christ will be more glorious and victorious than in its entire history. The Lord’s true body isn’t going to weaken and sputter. No, his church will go out in a blaze of power and glory, and it will enjoy the fullest revelation of Jesus that anyone has ever known.
There is coming forth a body of believers who will swim in the rising waters of the Lord’s presence. This is what God is showing us in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of rising waters (see Ezekiel 47:3–4). In the latter days, there will be an increase of God’s presence among his people. This growing flow of water is the image of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost was given to the disciples. Along with this gift of the Spirit, Christ’s followers were given a promise that he would be a river of life springing up within them, and that river would flow out into all the world (see John 7:38–39).
The river of life will crest just prior to the Lord’s coming. This is foretold in the vision given to Ezekiel. In that vision, the Lord was carrying a measuring rod and paced off 1,000 cubits, about one-third of a mile. At that distance, the Lord and Ezekiel began walking in the water which at this point was ankle high. The Lord kept urging the prophet onward, deeper and farther into the water. After another 1,000 cubits, the water came up to their knees. Ezekiel says that when he stepped to the edge of this measure, the water was too deep for him, too overwhelming. I can only imagine this man’s wonder! He could only envision what we now enjoy.
Maybe you’ve experienced the presence of Jesus abundantly. You may be thrilled by your present revelation of him. Yet, I tell you, you haven’t seen anything in comparison to the increase that’s coming to the righteous. Christ is going to open our eyes and wonderfully appear in our midst.
The Spirit will reveal Jesus to us, pouring out on us as much of his life as we can possibly stand without already being in glorified bodies. What a magnificent promise!
Dec 21, 2021
I don’t think any of us can comprehend the great conflict raging right now in the spiritual realm. Nor do we realize how determined Satan is to destroy all believers who have fixed their hungering hearts firmly on Christ.
In our Christian walk, the moment we cross that line into a life of obedience to God’s Word and dependence on Jesus alone, we become a threat to the kingdom of darkness and a prime target of demonic principalities and powers. The testimony of every believer who turns to the Lord with all his heart includes the sudden onslaught of strange and intense troubles.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus introduces this subject of the sifting of saints. “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31-32, NKJV). In Christ’s day, grain workers used a sieve just before they sacked grain. They shoveled wheat into a square box covered with netting then shook it violently. The grit and dirt fell through the netting until only the grain kernels remained.
There are trials, and then there is sifting. I see sifting as one major, all-out satanic onslaught. It is usually compressed into a short but very intense period of time. For Peter, the sifting would only last a few days, but those days would become the most faith-shaking, shocking and remorseful days of his life. It could have destroyed his witness once and for all.
Thank God, Peter’s faith did not fail. As surely as Jesus prayed that his “faith fail not,” he prays for us in the same manner. The Lord gives all of us that kind of love!
In our walk with God, we have yet another ‘It is written’ with which we can do battle against Satan. It is this: “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.” You can tell the devil, “You may have gotten permission to sift me, to try to tear at my faith; but you need to know this: My Savior is praying for me!”
Dec 20, 2021
Restoring the true meaning of Christmas goes far beyond having Christian carols or manger scenes in public places. How many of you know you can have a manger in a courthouse or carols in a mall and still have a heathen nation? Something more has to change in our nation, and it’s not just the externals but the internal.
We might argue that ‘the internal’ is making sure that we remember baby Jesus in the manger. That’s certainly part of it, but I want to go one step more and say that it’s not just remembering Jesus’ birthday. Jesus isn’t in heaven, pacing back and forth, kind of worried and saying, “Man, these guys are forgetting my birthday. America used to really give me a great birthday, and now it seems so diminished.”
No, Christ is not worried about that, and he’s not just wanting us to gather around a Christmas tree with our families and sing carols and remember that he was born. It goes deeper than that. He wants us to acknowledge and understand the true reason for his entire life here on earth and ultimately his sacrifice. He came to set us free from sin and to put us in a right relationship with God. All of those aspects of what he came to do and to give us is what we celebrate in a ‘New Covenant’ Christmas.
In the book of Isaiah, God says, “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They…shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them” (Isaiah 49:8-10, ESV).
We see in this verse God the Father saying to us that he is going to send his Son, Christ Jesus. The manger, the Bethlehem story, the Luke 1-2 story is a story not just where we celebrate a baby, but that God came into human form for the purpose of the New Covenant being unveiled to us.
This Christmas season, thank God for the New Covenant. Thank God for the liberty that his Son Christ Jesus brought. Thank God for grace, freedom and deliverance.
Dec 17, 2021
I know what it is like to face divine silence, to not hear God’s voice for a season. I have walked through periods of total confusion with no apparent guidance, the still small voice behind me completely silent. There were times when I had no friend nearby to satisfy my heart with a word of advice. All my patterns of guidance from before had gone awry, and I was left in total darkness. I could not see my way, and I made mistake after mistake. So often, I wanted to cry out in desperation, “O God, what has happened? I don’t know which way to go!”
Does God really hide his face from those he loves? Is it possible that he lifts his hand for a short time to teach us trust and dependence?
The Bible answers clearly, “God withdrew from him [Hezekiah], in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart” (2 Chronicles 32:31, NKJV). We may assume that we have a pure heart, but any issue of trust or pet sins that we may be harboring will quickly be revealed as we wrestle with God’s silence.
You may be going through a flood of trials right now. You know what I’m talking about when I say the heavens are like brass. You know all about repeated failures. You’ve waited and waited for answers to prayer. You’ve been served a cup of affliction. Nothing and nobody can touch that crushing need in your heart.
That’s the time to take your stand! You don’t have to be able to laugh or rejoice, because you may not have any happiness at the moment. In fact, you may have nothing but turmoil in your soul, but you can know God is still with you, because Scripture says, “The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever” (Psalm 29:10).
Soon you will hear his voice. Don’t get excited. Don’t panic. Just keep your eyes on the Lord. Commit all things to your heavenly Father. You will be assured that you remain the object of his incredible love.
Dec 16, 2021
Most of us pray as David did, “Do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily” (Psalm 102:2, NKJV). The Hebrew word for ‘speedily’ suggests “right now, hurry up, in the very hour I call on you, do it!” David was saying, “Lord, I put my trust in you, but please hurry!”
God is in no hurry. He doesn’t jump at our commands. In fact, at times you may wonder if he will ever answer. You cry out, weep, fast and hope; but days, weeks, months, even years go by, and you don’t receive even the slightest evidence that God is hearing you. You may become perplexed and start to question yourself, thinking, “Something must be blocking my prayers.”
Over time, your attitude toward God may become something like this: “Lord, what do I have to do to get this prayer answered? You promised in your Word to give me an answer, and I prayed in faith. How many tears must I shed? What am I doing wrong? What sin in my life is hindering my prayers?”
Why does God delay answers to sincere prayers? It certainly isn’t because he lacks power, and he is most willing to work on our behalf and give us good gifts. No, the answer is found in one of Jesus’ parables. “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
The Greek word for ‘lose heart,’ or ‘faint’ in the King James Version, means “relax, become weak or weary in faith, give up the struggle, no longer wait for completion.” The Lord is seeking for a praying people who will not relax or grow weary of coming to him.
Paul wrote to the early church, encouraging them in a similar way. “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). The people of God will wait on the Lord, not giving up before his work is completed, and they will be found faithfully waiting when he brings the answer.
