Are you ready?
The wind is blowing; the tsunami is coming, it is the time of the Holy Spirit. He will bring whatever He will bring to us from our heavenly Father. I hear the rustle of angels wings as they hurry to and fro about the Lords business. I hear the steady tramp of an army on the move – taking up battle positions – preparing to receive the greatest influx of people in history.
Are you ready to pick up your cross? Are you ready to lay down your life in exchange for His life? Are you ready for your agenda to be put in the shredder? Are you ready to surrender all you know in exchange for all He will give you? Are you ready for God to move in your life such that you will never be the same again?
Are you ready? Are you ready?
Are you ready for the wind of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach of God, to blow right through your church? Are you ready for the Glory cloud of the presence of the Lord to come down in your church, in your life?? Are you ready to spend hours in prayer, praise, and worship in order to provide a habitation fit for the Father’s presence?
The Word says that God inhabits the praises of His people; that their prayers rise as incense before His throne; that if we worship Him alone and seek Him with our whole heart, if we will follow Him alone, then we shall find Him and He will come into our midst in Glory.
Are you ready to receive the sinners - thieves, robbers, cheats, liars, moral bankrupts into your church? Are you ready for spontaneous healing to begin? Are you ready for people to stay in the glory for hours on end with no breaks at all? Are you ready for people to be saved, delivered, and baptised in the Holy Spirit – all in the space of a few minutes? Are you ready to speak the Word of Knowledge and have people run to the altar in hope and conviction? Are you ready to prophesy to, and have instant confirmation and fulfilment from, complete strangers?
Are you ready? Are you ready?
Are you really ready for your world to be turned upside down when revival and the manifest presence of God comes to your home, your church, your town, your area? Because that is what is about to happen. That is what’s coming. That is why I can hear angels wings. That is why I hear the army of the Lord moving around.
It is called revival. It is called REVIVAL.
Are you ready?
ARE YOU READY?
I think it's pretty arrogant of any Christian to say "I'm ready for Jesus to return." It implies that we've got our act together and we're ready to face judgment. Of course, that's the ideal, but I think in fact, we tend to take our salvation and Jesus himself for granted. Whenever we mess up, we think all we have to do is shoot a quick prayer up to heaven saying, "Forgive me Lord in the name of Jesus", and we're covered.
ReplyDeleteProbably not.
Repentance isn't just saying you're sorry. It's a complete recognition of your sin, how wrong it is, grieving over your own willful disobedience of God, fully turning away from sin, and finally fully turning toward God. Seems a bit more complicated and certainly, it requires a lot more of our time and attention. Chances are your Pastor doesn't preach this. It's not a good way to keep his church pews filled. The truth never is.
I don't do "Christianese" very well. Words like "renewal" and "revival" weren't programmed into my internal lexicon. I think it's possible to say the same thing in plain English (or whatever your preferred language happens to be) without the "churchy buzzwords" that are used to impress the faithful but which lack meaning due to overuse (kind of how the word "synergy" has been so overly used in business jargon that it means zip to anyone anymore).
The Bible tells us what we need to do to be ready when he comes "like a thief in the night" and we certainly don't want to be caught napping and have our lamps be without an ample supply of oil. We need to be mindful of him every day. "Revival" is an event that comes and goes, like those old "traveling tent revivals", but what we need is a daily lifestyle dedicated to our faith, rather than treating faith as an "add-on", like an extra luggage compartment we attach to our car's roof before going on vacation.
In Judaism, there is a blessing and it will seem odd to most people reading this comment: "May the Messiah come but not in my day." I said it sounds odd, but it makes sense in a very human way. You want Jesus to come soon? Fine. But be mindful of just what that means. When he comes, the party doesn't start immediately. Terrible things proceed the final victory. You will be tested severely. Are you ready? Are you sure?
-James
Dear James
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments - thank you. Just one point I suppose - in this article, which was originally a word for my own church, I never said that I was ready for the return or rapture. I did say it elsewhere but the gist of my words were that I am ready for His return but I am NOT ready for the judgement. You are absolutely right in saying that none of us will be ready for that. I think that, when judgement happens, we will look a pretty wishy washy lot compared to most of our predecessors. You are right in saying it will be no picnic at that time and that we will all be severely tested. We will find out the total truth of the heart being "deceitful above all things". When our motives are exposed then we will all be embarrassed and shame-faced. Yet the mercy of God will always exceed His wrath, and after all, Jesus did die for ALL of our sins - even our bad and selfish motives. But you are right - I am certainly not looking forward to facing the judgement seat of Christ - but I AM looking forward to the return and rapture. Yes - I really am and yes I am ready for that too. Just not ready and, like everyone else, probably never will be ready for judgement day.
Blessings always brother
Chris