Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. – Ephesians 6:13 KJV

I’m in a season of intense spiritual warfare. My flesh would like nothing better than to curl up in a ball and hide under the covers some days, yet I continue to stand.  In spite of how I feel, I know that my God is bigger than any storm that comes my way.  Some days it takes every last ounce of faith I have to remain standing, but by the grace of God I continue to stand.  I am thankful for my “stormy weather friends”  who will stick by my side and pray me through the most intense battles I have ever faced in my Christian walk thus far.  I am thankful that in spite of all the emotional and spiritual chaos that surrounds me, God’s Word is steadfast, immutable, and true.

I know that God will be victorious and that His will shall be accomplished.  I know that He is working all things for my good.  Just as Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15).  So even though some days my friends are holding me up with their prayer and encouragement, I continue to stand…because I refuse to be overcome by the world, the flesh or the devil.

Jesus said in this world I would have tribulation, but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world (John 16:33).  On that truth, I continue to stand.

I know a lot of people who are discouraged and wondering where God is in their circumstances.  If you are one of those people, I want you to read and meditate on this psalm today.  Let its truths penetrate deeply into your spirit and give you hope that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is ever present in your life, even in those dark times when you can’t see Him.

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills –
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip –
He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you –
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm –
He will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forever more.

…What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. – Jonah 1:6 KJV

I was listening to a study of the book of Jonah and part of the Scripture leapt out at me.

First, I’ll put it in context. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and call upon the people to repent. Instead, Jonah tried to run as far away from his destiny as he could. Jonah boarded a ship to head away from his calling. The ship Jonah was aboard was caught in the middle of a supernatural storm sent by God because His prophet was disobedient. The entire crew was terrified, so much so they were casting the goods (their livelihood) they were carrying overboard to try to lighten the ship enough to survive this storm. Everybody was calling out to their own gods, but to no avail. Meanwhile Jonah stayed below deck and slept. The guy who owned the ship came down and asked, “What are you doing sleeping? Wake up and call out to your God (the true God) so that perhaps God will not destroy us.

As I was reading Jonah 1:6, the Lord began to speak to my spirit. The Holy Spirit is speaking this same verse to the Church in America: Wake up, Church! Rise up and cry out to God on behalf of your nation so that perhaps God will look upon the nation and we perish not!

God isn’t waiting for the unbeliever to cry out to Him for mercy on behalf of this nation. God is waiting for His children to cry out. Sure, we can find many faults with the leadership of our country. But God doesn’t want us pointing fingers; He wants us bowing our knees (and more importantly our hearts) and repenting and seeking the Lord.

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. – 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 KJV

The time for apathy has come to an end. The Church must rise up in the power and authority that was bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ!

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. – Romans 13:11-14 KJV

WAKE UP, CHURCH! CRY OUT! BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. – 1 Corinthians 9:24 KJV

A certain man was running a race.  There was a fee for entering the contest, but someone else paid the price for him.  As the man was running, his adversary threw a rock into his path and he stumbled over it falling to the ground.  Instead of picking himself back up immediately and continuing to run the race, the man sat where he had fallen and began hitting himself in the head with the rock he stumbled over blaming himself for tripping and not being worthy to run this race in the first place.  The man felt shame for letting down the one who paid for him to be entered into the race, even though there were no conditions set on the payment of the entry fee.  Instead of trying to finish the race well, the man wallowed in self-pity and fell further and further behind in the race.

Does this “parable” sound absurd?  I mean, who would trip and fall over a rock in a race and then beat themselves up about it?  Yet that is precisely what many Christians do when they stumble in their Christian walk.  They give in to temptation and sin, and instead of simply confessing their sin, asking forgiveness and moving forward; they wallow in self-pity and beat themselves up about it.  This is a form of pride.  We think when we sin we have to do penance to earn God’s forgiveness.

I will let you in on a little secret:  Jesus paid the penalty for your sins – all of them – before you were even born!  If you have trusted Christ for your salvation, you are justified (declared righteous) before God.  He has forgiven all of your sins – even the ones you haven’t committed yet!  You don’t have to beat yourself up thinking you are a failure and that you don’t deserve God’s mercy.  Of course you don’t deserve it!  That’s the whole point of the Cross.  We don’t deserve to be declared righteous; we can’t even do anything to earn that right.  But God loved us anyway and provided Himself a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins so that He could then be free to save us.

We all stumble and fall.  It’s called “human nature.”  If we are given the opportunity, we will mess things up.  That’s why our justification is not dependent upon our behavior.  Our justification (the first step of salvation – the “entry fee” for the race, if you will) is wholly dependent upon God.  However, once we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s not a “free ride” to the end.  Our behavior here and now will impact our rewards and our positions of authority in the coming Kingdom.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. – Romans 8:15-17 KJV

Becoming a child of God is what happens when we trust Christ for our salvation.  It is at that point that God adopts us as His children.  However, according to the above verse there is a condition involved in becoming an heir:  “If so be that we suffer with [Christ].”  Our position and authority in the coming Kingdom of Heaven is dependent upon how we “run the race.”

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 KJV

Paul tells us to “run the race so that you might obtain the prize.”  That, however, implies that we also might not.  In order to obtain the prize that awaits us (becoming heirs of the Kingdom) we must learn to submit to the Lordship of Christ.  We must learn moment by moment, choice by choice, to lay aside our wants and desires (bring our bodies into subjection), and allow Christ to do His will through us.  Paul was paranoid that he might miss the mark and not inherit the Kingdom (“I myself should be a castaway”).  He wasn’t worried about his salvation (he wrote the book on the eternal security of the believer – see Romans 8), but he was aware of the fact that he could lose rewards and privileges in the coming Kingdom.  Finishing the race well is the objective here.

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; – Hebrews 3:14 KJV

This doesn’t mean we have to be perfect.  We don’t have the capacity in our own strength to be perfect.  God isn’t looking for perfection; He’s looking for obedience.  He is looking for people who are willing to set aside everything to follow Him.

Christianity is not a list of do’s and don’ts.  It’s about learning to live in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  None of us are going to be perfect until we are with Christ and He makes us perfect.  So don’t waste your time trying to be perfect.  Work instead on being obedient to what Christ is asking you to do for His sake.

Don’t allow the enemy of your souls to trick you into sitting on the sidelines instead of running the race.  If you stumble and fall down, get back up, brush yourself off and thank God that Jesus died for that sin, too.  First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  So when you sin, confess (agree with God what you did was sinful) and repent (turn and walk God’s way and not your own) and run the race that you may obtain all the rewards and privileges that God has waiting for you at the finish line!

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. – 1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV

Selah!

These “children of promise” must be dedicated to the Lord for they are part of a Samuel generation. Do not withhold from the Lord what belongs to the Lord. Render to God what is God’s.

Rise up and don’t be afraid to be called blessed, for it is the Lord who has blessed you. Give praise to God for the “child” you are about to receive. Don’t neglect this precious gift. You must nurture it and care for it, if you want it to grow to its full potential.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him…” – Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NASB

This nation has been on a steep spiral downward for decades.  The nation has pushed God out of society.  Instead of choosing life by loving the Lord and obeying His voice and holding fast to Him; the US has chosen to embrace death.  Instead of turning to Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; this nation would rather serve false gods.

If you deprive a plant of water and light it will invariably wither and die.  The same is true for nations.  Jesus is the Living Water and the True Light, and this nation has been depriving itself of Him for a long time.  How can we expect this nation’s economy or anything else to grow when the spiritual root of this once great nation is diseased and dying?

According to Scripture there are certain events that must take place during the end times.  There is a 7-year period coming known as the great tribulation in which God’s wrath will be poured out upon all those who have rebelled against Him.  At some point the United States will cease to be a superpower.  So I know eventually this nation I love and am proud to call my earthly home will eventually cease to enjoy its favored status in the world.  Prior to this time period, though, the Church must be raptured (which is the trigger for the subsequent events), and that has not happened yet.  So even though the United States’ days are numbered (along with many other nations), until the triggering of the great tribulation, until the Church is removed from the world to be with the Lord, I continue to pray for my nation and its leaders.  I pray that instead of choosing death, this great nation will once again choose life and that it would be like Job, whose end was greater than his beginning.

Our current president won this election by promising hope and change.  He (along with every other human being) is incapable of providing the kind of hope that will save this nation.  It is only through choosing to follow the one true God, and forsaking all other false gods, that this nation will see her best days.  Yes, everything has its season, and this nation will eventually pass away, but that doesn’t mean she has to lie down and wait for the end.  This nation can enjoy life and light and prosper once again until it is her appointed time.  The saddest, most tragic deaths are the ones in which someone has “died too young.”  As Christians and watchmen of our nation, let us pray for the grip of this spirit of death to be broken off of our nation.  Our nation is too young to die.

I thought about what I put my reliance upon when life is not going along as smoothly as I’d like it to.  When crises occur, to whom or what do I run?  Of course, the proper, pious response would be, “Oh, of course, I run to Jesus.”  But the reality is, that is not always the case.  When a crisis erupts, sometimes I run to friends for advice and counsel.  Sometimes I rely on my own strength to get me through…until that strength runs out.  Many times, once I have exhausted all other possibilities, I turn to Jesus.  Why do I do that?  My Savior desires that I turn to Him immediately.  He doesn’t want to be a last resort, the final option.  He wants to be the only option.

The world is in crisis, and the crisis is only going to increase.  Everything you cling to and rely upon will be shaken.  There is only one thing that cannot be moved and that is reliance in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Reliance comes from experience.  I rely on something because either I have experienced the reliability firsthand, or I rely on testimonials from people I trust (again, my reliance is being placed on the testimonial).  I can’t just say something is trustworthy if I haven’t had some type of encounter with its reliability.  My reliance that Jesus Christ is the Messiah (the only way to salvation) doesn’t come from some abstract concept.  My relationship is a result of Jesus revealing Himself to me in a real and tangible way.

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. – Isaiah 32:17 KJV

The kind of righteousness it takes to spend eternity with God can only come through the Messiah, Jesus.  My righteousness doesn’t measure up to God’s righteousness.  The effect, or result, of accepting Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, is assurance forever.  Through the shedding of Christ’s blood, my sins are paid for.  My acceptance of that payment (my reliance on the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice) justifies me before God.  So even though my own righteousness is still like a filthy rag, Christ’s righteousness covers me and in God’s eyes I am clean.  The work of salvation is done, complete. My assurance is an effect of Christ’s righteousness upon my life, not of any work I can do to earn God’s love.

Reliance reveals your heart.  If my reliance is upon Jesus, my heart will be focused on Him and my life will reflect it.  If my reliance lies elsewhere, my heart and life will reflect that also.  The product of my life will reveal where my reliance lies.

So my challenge to myself and to you, O reader, is this: As you (I) pass through life today, where will your (my) reliance be placed?  Will you (I) choose to trust Jesus in every situation, or will you (I) choose to rely on other people and things?

If you have never experienced Jesus Christ for yourself and are not sure how reliable He is, please feel free to contact me and I will give you my testimony of the reliance of Jesus.

This has not been an eloquent blog post, but it is what was flowing out of me in this moment.  I would like to end it with the words of an old hymn by Fanny Crosby, “Blessed Assurance.”  May you find that blessed assurance in your life today, my friends!

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long

Perfect submission,perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

I read a quote on Facebook earlier this week from Joyce Meyer that said, “Our past experiences may have made us the way we are, but we don’t have to stay that way.”

I had spent a lot of my life living in the past – past hurts, past shame, past regrets.  I missed a lot of joy and peace in the present because I wasn’t where God wanted me.  Those hurts were things I had not fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ.  I finally handed them over and allowed the Holy Spirit to sanctify those areas so that the Lord could use those experiences to minister grace and healing to others through me.  After 20 years of being a Christian, I finally experienced true freedom in those areas.  It was a journey that took several months and lots of tears, but Jesus walked with me every step of the way.

If you are shackled by the past, I encourage you to make the choice to not be controlled by anything or anyone but your Heavenly Father.  Choose to forgive those who have hurt you.  Choose to forgive yourself.

As I was blogging this, one of my Twitter friends, Trevor Lund, tweeted the following quote:  ”Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.  ~Mark Twain.”

That makes me think of Isaiah 61:3:  ”To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”

It’s not God’s will for you to walk around in circles and never move forward.  He has a plan for your life.  Pray and ask God to release you from the past so that you can serve Him today.  Don’t allow past circumstances to rob you of present joy.  When God revealed His Name to Moses, the Lord said His Name was “I AM.”  God wants us to live our lives in the present.  Yes, we look forward to our future glorification when we will be with Him in eternity.  But there are things God wants to do in your life and through your life now – today – at this present moment.  God is “I AM,” not “I WAS.”

By the way, if you are struggling with past hurts and unforgiveness, please feel free to email me at viewfromthewall@gmail.com and my prayer team will pray for you.

PS…here’s another tweet about forgiveness:  ”Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. ~William Arthur Ward.”

I have allowed my devotional life to decline.  Not so long ago, I was dedicated to rising early so that I could start my day with God, not because I’m a fan of 3:00 AM but because it was the only way that I could spend quality time with my Father.  I’m ashamed to say how long its been since I’ve made this a priority in my life.

There’s a book called “The Five Love Languages” that talks about the different ways people express their love.  I took the quiz a couple years ago and discovered that my primary love language is “quality time” and my secondary love language is “acts of service.”  In short, I demonstrate love by spending time with people (which is ironic for an introvert) and by doing things for people.  This morning I pondered how I can proclaim how much I love God and yet I haven’t made quality time (the way I demonstrate love) with Him a priority.

At the beginning of 2011 the Lord showed me I was entering into a season of renewal.  So here I am, learning how to fall in love with my Lord again.  I know this is going to be a prolonged process and not going to happen overnight.  As I am on this journey, I’ll be sharing excerpts from my journal in hopes that if you have lost your first love, you can renew your commitment to Christ and be a reflection of His image.

And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. – Matthew 13:58 ESV

How many times have you observed this scenario:  Someone in a church service asks for prayer because they need healing.  The prayer often goes like this:  Lord, we lift up our brother/sister to you.  Lord, we believe you are a God who heals.  But if you don’t heal our brother/sister….

Wait, what?  On the one hand you say you believe God heals, but then you give God a “back door” in case your prayer isn’t answered?  How many times have I prayer “faith-less” prayers, asking God for big things but not really believing He would do what I prayed He would do?  How often does our unbelief limit God’s ability to perform “mighty works” in our lives?

But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. – James 1:6-7 NLT

Jesus said if we ask anything in His name, He would do it (John 14:14).  That’s the frightening thing about God:  He will give you what you ask for.  Sometimes what we ask for is not always what’s best for us.  It’s important to pray according to God’s will.  When you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s will in whatever the situation is.  Then listen for the answer before you pray.  God’s Spirit will lead you in prayer if you ask.  But be sure you are praying believing that God will answer your prayers.  Don’t be found lacking when it comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!  BELIEVE!