1 Peter 4:17 – “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, something was stirring in my heart that made me weep.   Attitudes!  None of us can truly see inside the heart of another and know their hearts.  We can see actions, hear words, and note their attitudes.  We can make a determination about the condition of their heart by the fruit.  However, if we evaluate the fruit based on our opinion, doctrine, and preference, we may wrongly evaluate its condition and intention.

What if they are deceived, misinformed, misguided, or operating out of hurt? They may still believe in God and want to serve Jesus, but have stumbled. Even if they have, out of anger, hurt, or surrender to the flesh, erred, is it God’s heart to kill them?

1 Peter 4:17 – “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

Today, there are ministers (big names and no names) falling into sin. That is tragic! That makes me weep!  The question is, what is our response and attitude toward them?  Matthew 18 gives us a pattern. Galatians 6:1 reveals God’s heart.   Do we sever them from the body with railing words?  I hear some lash out with sneers and almost glee that these are being exposed in known sin. Is that the heart of God?

I preach hell with a broken heart!  We do need to sound the alarm when danger is present. We do need to teach truth, which exposes the false.  Love covers a multitude of sins.  Covers (not hides) but covers as in shielding to give space to be healed and restored. What is our motive in our judgment and proclaiming their fall?

Is there something inside us that smirks and has a feeling of gladness that they are being taken down?  We are the Body of Christ. We are to seek restoration. If I rip someone to shreds, how can I be a vehicle of restoration? I don’t need to shred personalities to speak against evil, sin, or error.

Is my heart the heart of Jesus? Is my heart breaking over every person who goes astray? Is the longing of my heart to restore? Am I looking for ways to reach and restore them?  

• Lord, help me to be humble and repentant like the publican in Jesus’ parable, not proud and judgmental like the Pharisee.
• Lord, help me to weep over sin, that in others and in me. Help me to pray for and strive for restoration, and never have even a smidgen of gladness that someone is exposed.
• Lord, help us to love as You love!   

Help us to view others, considering ourselves, knowing we too could be in that condition. Help us to not to have a false sense of spirituality, thinking that could never be me! Help us to remember we are flesh and only by Your Grace can we stand.  Help us to stand in the gap for others!

May we all walk in mercy just as we have received mercy!

Deuteronomy 12:8-12 – “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; ⁹ for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, ¹¹ then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. ¹² And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, a three-word phrase kept echoing in my heart and mind.   “Dispossess Then Possess!”  Deuteronomy 12 was the catalyst for my meditation on our promised victory.

Many believers know that we have great and precious promises.  It is knowledge in their heads, but not in their hands.  It is theoretical, not experiential.

Some seem to see the fulfillment of the promises as a future (heaven) experience rather than a now possibility or reality.  Before we can Possess the promises, we have to Dispossess the enemy (anything that prevents the promise).

There are 5 elements in the Dispossessing process we need to embrace and implement.

1.  We must DISCERN.   Mark the enemy or hindrance.  We identify the hindrance (thoughts, desires, deeds, beliefs, etc.). We study the promises and learn to use the WORD as a weapon.

2. We must develop DISDAIN for those hindrances.  We despise anything that prevents or hinders our relationship with God.   ANYTHING!  We renounce and reject every hindrance.  It must be placed on the altar to God.

3. We DISCLOSE the identity of the enemy.  We uncover and expose those hindrances to the Light of God.     The Light sends the demonic, ungodly cockroaches into hiding.  We disclose by declaration!

4. We must DISCOMFORT the enemy.  We put them in a state of confusion, commotion, consternation, beat down, and terrified.  How?   The Word of God!   Know it, confess it, declare it, believe it,  and implement it.

5.  We must DISINHERIT the enemy.   The enemy now controls and enjoys the benefits of our inheritance and promises.   We must disinherit them and seize the possession.

Preparation always precedes blessing!   No containers, no oil.  No ditches, no water.  No surrender to God, no victory over the devil.

We have been given great and precious promises.  Christ is IN us, and we are IN Him.  He is 100% victorious, and He is living in us, and through us, is He any less victorious in us than when He walked the Earth?

When will we Dispossess the enemy and Possess the promises?    Why Not Today?   What do you need?  Is it worth the battle to you?

Have a fantastic day!

Ezekiel 47:1-2  – “Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was prompted to consider some excerpts from a recent message which aired on http://www.bpnradio.com, Channel 1, for “The Voice of Hope Broadcast.”  It was about developing a “Warrior Spirit” and a “Warrior Mentality.”   I have a deep sense of urgency in my spirit!  I heard, “Have no fear, God is near!   Be a Warrior!”

I find it more than a little disturbing that many in the American Church today seem to have an Attitude of “Indifference” and “Passivity.”   Many, it seems, are content to just ‘Splash Around’ in the Waters of the Holy Spirit in “Puddle A.”  

Waters that are ‘Ankle Deep.’   Rather than launching out into the deep, where we are required to “Swim” to survive and thrive.   Any “Resistance” is deemed undesirable.  “Ease” is sought at all costs.  “Contentment” with the status quo and mediocrity is acceptable.   I say Rubbish!   Utter Rubbish!

I’ve been asked, “How Can We Be Warriors and Love?”     I believe that the Motivating Force of this Army of God will be the “Compassion” of Jesus!   We are not going out, “Hating” those whose lifestyles are contrary to our beliefs.  NO! NO! NO!    We Do Not Hate Them because God Doesn’t!   But we can hate their Lifestyles, Way of Life, and Philosophies.   We Should Have an Intense Desire to See Them Set Free!   They are Captives and Do Not Even Know It!

We must be motivated in several directions simultaneously to become the Warriors God desires for these Last Days.  

•       Motivated By Compassion.  

Compassion moves us into action; it is never passive!  The motivating factor for God’s Warriors is not hate but love!   Love will kick down the doors of hell to rescue a captive, but hate will not!

•       Motivated By A Warrior Spirit.

The heart and mind will be filled with courage and determination.  Those filled with that Spirit will become mighty men and women of God.  They will press forward, press in, and press through.

•       Driven By Vision.

Some would call it Destiny, but it will set a fire inside the heart that cannot be quenched.    The vision gives rise to determination, and determination propels one into action!

The question in this hour is “What Would It Take For Us To Give Up and Quit?”   If there is any amount of money or any situation that would achieve those results, then it is time to run to the altar in repentance and recommitment of our lives to Jesus!

We need to close the door on the devil today.   We need to remind ourselves that in Christ Jesus, we are unconquerable!  Why not be who God created you to be and live Victoriously in the Now!

Be a Warrior and Live Victoriously!

Revelation 4:1         “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

Something is stirring in the heavens and on earth.   Something big is about to happen.   It will be eternally wonderful for those wholly committed and eternally terrible for those who are not.   Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord will enter in.”   Beware!

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, the thought of the Kinsman Redeemer filled my mind.   In Numbers 27:8-11, we have the idea presented, and in Revelation 5:1-5, we see it fulfilled in Jesus.

The Kinsman Redeemer had to be a blood relative who was able to pay the redemption price in full. In Revelation 5:2, there was a lament over no Kinsman Redeemer.  Then, in Revelation 5:5, the angel declared, “Stop weeping; behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

Revelation begins with the message to the seven churches. Then, in Revelation 4:1 – “After these things…”   I sense that we are in the closing moments of the Last Days era.   That door is about to open; the trumpet is about to sound… are we ready?

How are we stewarding God’s grace and gifts?  How are we living our lives? Is it selfish or selfless?  Are we investing in the Master’s business or focused on our business?  “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto Me.”

In the communion ceremony, Jesus spoke of discerning the Lord’s body. Who is His body? Aren’t the born-again the Body of Christ?   Maybe we should read Matthew 28:18-20 again and meditate on it. HE’S COMING! Are we ready?

Are you ready?

Jude 17-21      “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

This is the day the LORD has made, and we have the choice, opportunity, and ability to rejoice and be glad in it.  Rejoicing like love is a choice!

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, the thought of the ‘Eternal Now’ filled my mind.   In Jude 17-21, we have a reminder and warning about that time called “The Last Days.”   In verses 20-21, he gives us the pathway to preservation and living in the ‘Eternal Now.’

In Revelation 1:9, John uses some specifically chosen words we need to see. John identified himself as a brother to all believers (Christians).  He identified himself as a fellow participant in difficulty (trials, tests, tribulations).  Also, a participant in the Kingdom.  We skip over that and miss the reality that the ‘Eternal Now’ includes the presence of God’s rule & reign.  Then he says, “in perseverance.”  The indispensable element in living in the ‘Eternal Now.’

The Church at Ephesus was commended for its service, perseverance, and diligence. They exposed false apostles, prophets, and teachers.   BUT, in their pursuit of keeping the church pure, they moved away from the one thing that keeps the church the church – LOVE!  They became legalistic, heresy hunters rather than dispensers of God’s love, which reconciled.

The church at Pergamum was following Balaam’s teachings.  They were ruled by a human spirit rather than the Holy Spirit. They allowed a “me” spirit to prevail.  

The church at Thyatira had love, faith, deeds, service, and perseverance. BUT they allowed the Jezebel spirit to influence and manipulate them. The Jezebel spirit includes a controlling, dominating, intimidating, and manipulating spirit.  It does not have to be gender. It is not about the external but the heart. Revelation 2:22 – “Behold, I will cast her into a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into Great Tribulation, UNLESS they repent of HER DEEDS.”

The thought of the ‘Eternal Now’ reminds me, inspires me, and compels me to desire to give myself fully to God, reject everything not of Him, and manifest Him NOW!  We are not living for SOMEDAY.  We are living NOW, and He lives in us.

Let’s make the goal of life HIM.   Let’s resist all temptation to develop a “me” attitude or allow the flesh to control.  Let’s pursue life in the ‘Eternal Now.’ Jesus is eternally the same, and as He is, so are we in this world NOW!

LORD, help us to live now as we want to live then!