Monday, January 28, 2013

YOU WERE MADE TO BE COURAGEOUS

For the last two weeks, the Holy Spirit has been speaking very strongly about the condition of the body of Christ. I am hearing how crucial it is NOW to stop being so complacent about our relationship, and take a stand for our beliefs! At what point did the body of Christ lay down and decide the task could not be accomplished? When did we become so weak, so comfortably numb, so apathetic, that we felt it's perfectly fine to sit back in our comfy homes, medicating ourselves with media, food and drink, technology, while it is estimated that 1.78-2 people are lost to hell every second. Do the research yourselves, the numbers don't lie. We can not even begin to grasp the magnitude of this fact. Which generation was it, that lost the passion and the drive to fearlessly proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to all they came in contact with? When did we stop teaching our children about Yeshua? When did it become unimportant to read and study the Word everyday? To pray unceasingly, and instruct our children to do the same? When did we stop truly worshipping our Creator for who He is? I mean, truly worship, on our faces and on our knees before the throne, praying as One and in unity? When did Jehovah take a back seat in our lives and we decide we could handle life on our own? At what crossroad along the way did we feel He hadn't proved Himself capable in the past, and we took control of things?

Hard questions indeed, yes, but deserving of every bit of attention we are willing to give it. What has been our excuse, to become a body, a church, that has completely lost its backbone? Why do we go about life acting as if we are suddenly vulnerable, when He never was? When we do not make our relationship with Yeshua first priority, many of us succumb to anxiety, fear, depression, anger, apathy, and hopelessness.

The Word tells us however, that we are equipped with a supernatural strength in order to fulfill the calling we were created for. If this is the case and we truly have the Divine residing in us, then why isn't all hell breaking loose because of the power and authority of the church of Jesus Christ? Hell does not fear the church! When will we realize that we were not put here to be comfortable? We can not base our doctrine on our personal experiences, but only on the Word of God. God speaks, it is fact and it is authoritative. It may defy our experience, but we must follow fact, and our experience will come in line. It may take a season, but we need to persevere. When Yeshua becomes our primary focus, and the reason we live and breathe, we receive that supernatural strength, so that we can be made well in every situation and circumstance in order that He be glorified! 

The point we don't seem to grasp is that our Father wants what is happening in Heaven to be made manifest here. The Lord's Prayer, that Yeshua spoke to us says simply, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." This is our command. We can not just read it, and then say we believe it. We must take it and grapple with it and live it! We were bought with the precious blood of Yeshua, and His work of grace has not ceased just because somewhere along the way we deemed Him incapable of managing our lives. We are not here to seek easy lives, and easy relationships. The battle must be taken to the enemy in this natural realm. It is our task to prove Yeshua's awesome victory of the cross here on earth in our lifetime.

We have been given courage and fearlessness to win the battle with sin in this sinful world. No, we are not immune from the battle, however, we are equipped by the Almighty with all power and authority to be more than conquerors! When Yeshua truly resides within us, we are immovable, unshakable, unstoppable, and invincible. We were made to be courageous! Our inner man is infused with the new wine of the spirit of Jesus Christ and we can have a new life everyday in these old, dying bodies, in a dark and dying world.

May our prayer be that we are filled with His abundant grace and mercy to overflowing, completely resilient to our physical weaknesses and human frailties, ever reaching for the face of our Creator, walking in a boldness that makes all hell tremble, and as souls that are completely and utterly kept by the power of the Almighty, sold out for Jesus! If we don't show the world Yeshua, who will??

Hallelujah Yeshua! Amen!





Exodus 19:5

King James Version (KJV)
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:


Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.


Psalm 37:3

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.


Proverbs 28:1

28 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.


Psalm 37:5

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Matthew 6:10

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.


Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:


Hebrews 4:16

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.


1 Corinthians 16:13

13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.


1 Thessalonians 5:17

17 Pray without ceasing.


2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


Psalm 91

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.