Full Pardon

Have you read Isaiah 53 lately? In it he writes about Jesus years before He comes to earth. He indicates what will happen to the Messiah who is to come. 

I was floored by the revelation in verse 7 where it is prophesied that he would not open His mouth. In Dr. Chuck Missler’s book “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” he says, “He made no defense because He couldn’t; He was in our shoes and we are guilty.” I am undone by this. 

I always thought how hard it would be to remain silent when you are being accused unjustly. But He chose to be unjustly accused because He chose to stand before His accusers and take on each one of our guilt and shame. We are the guilty party. Receive it or not, we are the guilty ones worthy to be condemned. But because the innocent Lamb did not speak up for His own innocence, we are offered a full pardon from God for our crimes against Him. FULL PARDON.  Let that sink in.  We will not be held to account for all the wrong in our lives if we accept what He did for us, humbly confess we are sinful, and turn to Him in repentance. 

Deep in each of our souls, we know our own depravity. We know our own evil thoughts. We recognize our own frailty. We just allow the world system to keep us too busy and distracted, so we do not have to face these facts about ourselves. 

If we will humble ourselves and receive what He has done for us, we can be set free to enjoy all that this silent lamb did for us. He was silent so He could pay our sin debt so we could be free.  That is crazy. Crazy love, crazy grace and crazy mercy.

Hold Back the Wall

Prayer is the strong and mighty weapon we have at our disposal in the body of Christ. The church is able to press back the forces of darkness by bringing down His kingdom to earth. We are part of the army of God that is warring on behalf of people that will come into the kingdom. Many in the body are too ill-equipped to defend themselves and too ignorant to know they are deceived. It is the army of God that is to be the wall that holds back the tidal wave of attack and assault against the people. (Remember Jesus said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against the body that rest under this mantel of who Jesus is: “You are the Messiah/Christ, Son of the living God” – the very proclamation made by Peter to Jesus) 

 

We are to gear up. We are to be alert. We are to be prepared for the battle at all times. We are to be dressed and ready not only for our sake, not only for the sake of our family and not only for the sake of our church; but for the sake of those that do not even know the Lord yet. But why must we? How will they get to know, how will they learn and who will live it out in front of them? We must demonstrate and grow up in our salvation. We must teach them by walking with them and discipling them. I see the church holding back the tidal wave of harsh judgment. I see the body of Christ holding back the tidal wave of curses that will come upon all the people. I also see the blessings that can come as the wall is holding back the curses but bringing forth the blessings on all behind that wall.

 

Those in and of the world hate the Christian. They persecute us and misunderstand us, but the world needs to comprehend and understand that believers are the very force that stands between the world and the judgment of God that is coming upon it. It is standing between the plans that Satan has for this world and his forces of evil. His plan is for utter destruction, and I am certain of that. Nonbelievers may despise the believer, but I tell you there will come a day when the church will no longer be able to hold back the inevitable judgment to come. When it comes like a powerful tsunami, many will long for the day the church was holding back this disaster of evil. And in those days, you will desire for the peace, joy, and salvation but it will not be found. 

 

The earth and the sins of many have brought forth curses. We are standing currently in the outpouring of the blessings of those that have gone before us. Those blessings came from the covenants made that were honored by those that laid the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and walked in loving obedience. We need to comprehend the magnitude of that which the church is responsible. I cannot overstate this especially to the believers. We have to take our role seriously. We need to wake from our slumber, rest, ease and time of complacency. We no longer can sit in the sterile, sanitized, impotent useless state any longer. This was never true, fulfilling or worthy of our calling. We are free at this point in history not for our sake but for the privilege of carrying the message of hope, peace and love of our savior to the world. We truly need to take up our call! Get up out of your seat. Activate your faith. Pray like never before. Be strong and courageous. And today, choose the one you will serve. I choose to serve the Lord. Join me!

 

Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray for believers to rise up. Pray for the army of God to be activated. Pray for the warring angels in the heavenly realm to be activated and charged. Pray for and cry out for deception to be exposed like never before. Pray for revelation and light to be brought forth and for all to see clearly. Pray that those who will receive the Lord will begin to seek Him and turn to Him. Pray church pray.  Be the army of Almighty God. War on behalf of those that do not yet know Him. And Pray for the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to fill you now. Pray for protection for the Body. Pray especially for believers to start walking in integrity, righteousness and loving obedience. Pray for the equipping of the saints. Be bold, strong and courageous; and do not fear.