Tag Archives: Christian

This is Only a Test!

17 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in Encouragement

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I remember when I was younger hearing that annoying loud sound that would come across the TV followed by a message that said, “This is a test, this is ONLY a test of the emergency broadcast system…”

I often wish I could hear that sound as I go through life and have those moments that seem difficult.  Perhaps then, I would remember that THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

I don’t know too many people who enjoy test taking, yet it is an ordinary part of the world we live in. It begins at the moment we are born with an Apgar test, which quickly summarized the general health of the newborn. Tests are an integral part of our educations system.  We take a test before we are licensed to drive a car, and many endure all kinds of medical tests throughout the course of life to assess proper function of human anatomy and physiology.

Even though we are so familiar with all these kinds of tests we experience in our natural lives, it is often unsettling when we encounter a spiritual test. These can come in many forms.  Some examples of common tests we encounter are relational challenges with family members and loved ones, health issues, and financial concerns.

We read this from the book of James:

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

 James 1:12 NLT

A healthy perspective on the benefits of enduring a test can aid us in our perseverance during them. Three possible reasons for a test are:

  1. TO DETERMINE AN AREA OF WEAKNESS: I already mentioned a great example of this concept. Medical tests are often performed to identify something in the human body that needs attention. By finding the weakness, often treatment can be administered to correct the problem.
  2. To REFINE: Times of testing can be related to “going through the fire”. When you heat up certain metals with fire, a refining process happens causing the impurities or unwanted contents to rise to the surface so they can be removed.
  3. TO PROMOTE: A test is used in all education to determine the appropriateness of promotion. We advance through the school system one grade at a time with passing scores on tests. Higher education is no different, the more elite the profession the greater the difficulty of the test.

How does all of this apply to our spiritual life? First and foremost, let me state that the reason for the test may be unknown and undeserved.  Some tests we encounter in this life are a result of our own actions, but many are simply a consequence of the fallen world we live in.  Regardless of the reason, there can be many benefits spiritually, just as the other examples listed above.

Spiritual weakness is easily identified and impurities often rise to the surface during the seasons we walk through that are difficult. These realizations afford us the opportunity to take action and make corrections.  These are the times that our character and our integrity are more fully developed.

Promotion is also critical in our spiritual walk. We are never to become stagnant, nor should we ever retire on this side of heaven.  We are to be consistently transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

I believe the enemy uses tests to defeat Christians, but God can bring good from these trials and use them to better prepare you for promotion.

So the next time you hear that annoying sound the test brings……just stop and say, “THIS IS A TEST, THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

  •  Remember that a test is an opportunity for you to assess what you know, and learn from where you are weak and grow!
  • The greater the calling or the destiny, the more difficult the test!
  • In your spiritual walk, failing a test is not the end, the teacher gives make up tests!
  • Prepare for the test, expect the test, and review the answers frequently, because the teacher is often silent during the test!
  • Respond to the test do not react to it!

 

 

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Are You an Undercover Christian?

21 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by in Christian growth

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Have you ever asked yourself this question? It is a valid consideration in the wake of the recent tragedy in Oregon, where a gunman reportedly targeted Christians as he shot and killed ten people on a college campus.

It was just a few months ago that a gunman attended a prayer service at a church, before taking the lives of nine people including the pastor in Charleston South Carolina. Most never consider the possibility that in America we could be asked to give our life if we claim to be a Christian, but unfortunately we are seeing many examples where this seems to be the case.

If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

It seems that the lines have become blurred and too often the church looks like the world. There is a large gray area between the white and the black.  Maybe you could refer to it as “being on the fence”.  Another way to look at it is being hot, cold, or lukewarm.  When speaking to the church at Laodicea, we read that lukewarm, gray, or fence-sitting is the least desired place to be.

Revelations 3:15-16 NASU

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” 

I believe as a Christian I am to be red hot – all in – and a brightly shining light that points those who are lost toward salvation. I am also to be a light to those who have lost their way.  Perhaps life has brought pain, loss, disappointment, and disillusionment, and the end result is a dark place of hopelessness and/or depression.

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Recently I saw this as an image of a person being on a harness and lowered into a dark place. If we have the love of God in us, we need to go into those dark places to offer light to illuminate the path out for others.  Many choose to look the other way.  It is easier to walk past that dark place than to go in after someone.

Have you ever been in a pitch black place where you can’t even see your hand in front of your face? Your vision is gone and it can be a fearful time.  I am reminded of the first time my husband decided to take me a new place deer hunting.  We walked into the woods of this farm I was unfamiliar with before daylight.  He guided me to the tree I was to stand by and left to go to his own stand.  It wasn’t long after he was gone that the darkness began to envelop me.  I didn’t know where I was or how to get out, my only hope was to wait for daylight.  The dark places many find themselves in spiritually, is more like a cave, and daylight will never come to them.  They need someone to be that light and to go in after them.

We read in Matthew 5:14-16 NASU

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

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How can we be this light if we are undercover? An undercover agent blends in with those he is trying to bring to justice.  I have read stories where those agents who go into deep undercover work for long periods of time can often lose their true identity.  It can be the same for the lukewarm Christian.

Ask yourself some challenging questions today.

  • If I were in that horrible situation and asked with a gun to my head if I was a Christian, how would I respond?
  • Am I blending in with the world?
  • Have I allowed compromise to make me lose my true identity in Christ?
  • If I am an “all in” Christian, who can I help lead out of darkness?

John 8:12 NASU

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Unleashing the Potential of the Cross —— A 90-Day Journey

29 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by in Christian growth, Prayer

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At the beginning of April this year, while traveling very early in the morning, I was challenged to embark on a journey as I listened to a sermon by podcast. The minister was discussing many topics that I had been studying and praying about since the beginning of the year. He was encouraging this church to begin a 90-day journey of dedicated time of pray twice a day, which would also include partaking of communion. As I listened, the Lord began to urge me to make this commitment as well.

I thought that these three months would be a personal journey for me, beginning April 11th and ending on July 11th. However, the second day of my commitment was a Sunday, and at the end of our church service, I felt compelled to share briefly with the people at my church about this challenge and encourage others to join if they felt inspired to do so. Our pastor immediately determined that this needed to be a corporate commitment and he said we would have the church open at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day!

Now the accountability became very real! It was one thing to tell the Lord in the privacy of my car that I would pray and take communion twice a day for 90 days, but to do it publically added a new level of commitment that made me thankful. To be honest with you, I entered into that time knowing it was an appointment, but unsure what the purpose or outcome would be. One thing I can say is that if you set aside two hours a day to meet with the Lord, you can expect there to be revelation. It would be impossible for me to share everything about this 90-day journey, but I do want to try to articulate some strategies I believe the Lord showed me that will be critical for us to understand during these final days.

This commitment seemed extreme to many, but I believe we are living in extreme times. We are seeing thing unfold that I never thought I would live to see. Signs of our Lord’s soon return are all around us. However, as darkness gets darker, we the Church are to shine forth bright, this is the time for great visitations, people are looking for a solution, people are looking for deliverance, and Jesus is the answer!

We are living in a time like never before and it is very important that the church wake up and the lost come to Christ. I am not sure how much catastrophe or how much of God’s glory we will see to bring the end time harvest of souls, but I believe we see this time defined in Scripture.

The Bible warns us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NASU

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”

But in contrast to the great difficulty, look at what we read in Acts 2:17-21 NASU

“AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT and they shall prophesy. AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESSAND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”

I believe that the time we are living in will require us to enlist and engage as the Army of Christ on a different level than we have in the past. I also believe that that each month of the 90-day journey painted a picture of the seasons we must learn to navigate. In this post, I want to provide the introduction, and then I will post insights from each month in parts two through four.

For me personally, the significance of the beginning of this 90 days on 4/11 can be referenced in the below scripture.

“And He said to them, to you has been entrusted the mystery of the kingdom of God [that is, the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly]; but for those outside [of our circle] everything becomes a parable.” Mark 4:11 AMP

When Jesus walked on this earth, He often taught by using stories, analogies, or parables. These stories often concealed the truth from those who would oppose His message. However, those who were closest to Him could understand the truth behind the comparisons.

Another way to say it is, Jesus veiled the truth in parables and then looked for treasure hunters who could reveal the story in the story.

The thing about a treasure hunt is it requires perseverance and commitment. This leads to the significance of the end of the 90 days 7/11….

“If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!” Matthew 7:11 AMP

If you consider this scripture in context going back to the previous chapter there are many wonderful nuggets….

Matthew 6:19-21 AMP

“Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

This 90-day journey was not about treasure on earth it was about Kingdom treasure. The kind of treasure that is found with perseverance, commitment, and sacrifice and through methods that was inconvenient! Many, like those who did not understand the parables, do not realize that these treasures are even available. They are hidden unless you seek and ask for them.

It is critical for us to find them now, because I believe these treasures will enable and empower us to navigate the unique times we are living in!

Matthew 7:7-8 AMP

“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.”

Asking implies consciousness of need and belief that God hears our prayers. Seeking implies earnest petitioning along with obedience to God’s will. Knocking implies perseverance in coming to God even when He does not respond quickly.

90 days of asking, seeking, and knocking through prayer and communion twice a day. 90 X 2 = 180! Many people need a “180” in their lives, and this 90-day journey was a dedicated time to seek direction and ask for that to happen.

So you may be asking, “Why communion?” I do not believe I fully understood this at the beginning, but I quickly learned that at least for me, and I believe also for the Body of Christ, we need a renewed passion for the power of the cross!

Perhaps you noticed the title is not “Unleashing the Power of the Cross”. This was my original plan, but through prayer, I realized it should be “Unleashing the Potential of the Cross”. Let me explain why…

Do you know what that word potential means? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it means, “existing in possibility: capable of development into actuality.”

We talk about the power of the cross, the power of the blood of Jesus, but we do not always walk in that power so it is actually potential.

It is easy to become too familiar with the cross and the sacrifice Jesus made on it if you have been a Christian for a long time. I began to be stirred about the power of the cross and Jesus’ blood a month before Easter this year. Our pastor had placed a big, wooden cross on the platform for his sermon series. The first Sunday it was there, I was sitting on the front chair, and while Pastor was preaching, I began to have a fresh perspective of the meaning. I began to thank God for sending His only Son Jesus to die on the cross for me – I thanked Jesus for that ultimate sacrifice and for shedding His blood for me, and for bleeding as he bore those stripes for my healing.

While sitting there looking at that cross, I got a glimpse of something in my spirit….You know how you can watch crime scene coverage or TV shows and they go to a place where they think someone has cleaned up the blood from a crime? They show the agent spray the substance called luminol. Then turn the light off and they see the blood that was not previously visible show up in a blue color.

That morning, looking at that cross, I got a glimpse of what the enemy and all his forces see when they come out of darkness to bring opposition to the child of God….they see the blood! It may have been shed 2000 years ago, many have tried to clean it up, but it is still there!

Just as the Children of Israel applied the blood of a lamb for protection, we in this age apply the blood of Jesus. We pray from the place of the power of the blood, the cross, and the resurrection. That same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us!

During this 90-day journey, I heard God say this:

My Son’s blood is more than enough to meet every need and break every chain!

My son’s blood purchased your salvation.

My son’s blood paid the price for your healing, but what you must understand is His great sacrifice also granted you access to heavenly places:

When He breathed His last breath on the cross, the veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom, granting you access to joint seating with My Son!

My son met all requirements once and for all!

Do not allow His great sacrifice to be taken for granted.

The door is standing wide open! Access has been granted for you to walk in all authority, power, and revelation…to be My hands and feet, and voice in this earth in these final hours.

THIS WORD CHALLENGES ME TO SEE THE CROSS AS MORE THAN A FIRE ESCAPE!!!

I believe this is why communion twice a day for 90 days was so important during this consecrated time.  I can tell you for me; it brought a brand new perspective of the potential of the cross.

Day after day, I came to the cross; I laid many things down at the cross, things I do not need to carry because He already carried them for me. I would pray, “Lord if you will take care of my business, I will focus on Yours!

Day after day, I not only laid things down at the cross, but I picked things up from the cross. He said, “Access has been granted to walk in all authority, power, and revelation.” Day after day, I picked up authority, I picked up power, and I picked up revelation!

I learned that the closer proximity to the cross, the greater the power.

Why am I telling you about this? Because it is available for each of us! I feel like this 3-month period was an ordained period for me personally and for our corporate body. We saw some of the “180’s” happen, but more importantly, there was a “180” in my perspective about the potential of the cross that is available to us! It is not limited to this 90-day journey, but is available for the remaining days we live on this earth!