- Jun 26, 2015
- 1,697
- 1,275
- 74
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Most of us here agree that all the signs point to us living in the last days. Judgment is on the horizon. And before that, hell on earth. How many of us have friends, neighbors, work associates, parents, siblings and even children who, if they remain on their current path, will be part of those who, on the final day, will be found weeping, wailing and gnashing their teeth? Our wisps of vapor will soon end. Eternity will begin for both the saved and the unsaved. Unchangeable, never ending, eternity.
A logical person would think that in light of these truths, and given the fact we believe we have been entrusted with the answer that can rescue souls destined to live in misery without what we possess, we would be found like the widow Jesus talked about pleading her case to the unjust judge.
Do we remember the story? Even though the king was unjust, he still granted her persistant cries, if only to find relief from her never ending barrage of pleas for help. What was Jesus trying to teach us here? Was it not that, unlike her, we have a just judge, a loving judge, and if her cries were answered anyway, how much more will ours be in we faint not?
So what is the problem? Why are our prayer closets almost non-existent? This is not to say we do not pray, but do we pray fervently? Do we pray as if our prayers may be the only thing keeping our very children from falling into hell, with never even one shred of hope that they can somehow find relief?
You know, we are told by God that the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much. And therein lies the problem, doesn't it? It is that darned word "righteous", isn't it? Yes, I know, we all have the righteousness of Christ, but we also know what God means here. Power in prayer is to the pure in heart. We are told there is no condemnation from God if we are walking in the Spirit..... but are we?
Not being condemned by God is notcenough to give us power in prayer. John tells us that if our own hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. And the result? We are not to think we will receive anything from the Lord. Anything. Ouch.James tells us that if we are double minded, one foot in this world, one in eternity, trying to get the best from both, we are adulterers.... spiritual cheats. No prayers will be answered here. None. Something has to change first.
Guys, here is the deal. We as Christians have been led into pastures where real freedom from sinful habits is viewed as a nice ideal, but the truth is, we are told, it is an impossibility. The mantra of the early church was "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Sadly, ours today is "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven". Shall we add to that "....and powerless in prayer"?
Look, the glorious promises given to us by our Heavenly Father are the very stepping stones that will lift us up onto the highway of holiness, where even the weakest among us can live pure, holy, loving, Christ-filled and Christ-led lives, where we truly can move mountains with our pleadings to our Father to save our loved ones. Have we been taught to believe them, to grab hold of them as if our (or our childrens) lives depended on them? We have not. We have listened to leaders who they themselves for the most part are not pursuing freedom from sin, and this, we have been brought down to the very same level. Religious, not righteous.
Our lack of faith that God can and will do ALL that we ask or think is sad enough. But the real issue is not where we find ourselves but rather that we are totally content here! Why? It is because conviction ...... not condemnation... but conviction, has been silenced in our hearts. The Spirit of a God is pleading, longing for Us to awake from our slumber, but the sins that have continued in our lives, the sins we are told on Sundays not to worry about, those sins have hardened our hearts to the point that our prayers make it no further than our ceilings. And our friend and our children walk on in darkness.
I wonder how many will read a message like this, one we all know is hitting the mark, and simply move onto the next post, one more "uplifting"? Why? Because conviction hurts. Because conviction tells us the ground we are standing on is dangerous ground, if not for us, then it is certainly for our loved ones who need someone to stand in the gap, an intercession, holding off Satan, so they can with clear minds grab hold of our good God, the God who cannot lie. Sadly, right now, we are the ones needing intercessors.
People often chafe when it is suggested that we as the modern church are Laodecia, not realizing that is that exact response that proves it. So what will be your response here? Is your heart convicted by that still small voice of God? Praise God, there is an answer to our dilemma. There is a way to get free from our hearts that condemn us. There is a way to walk in real victory, with prayers able to set others free. God is, even now, opening eyes to see it, to grab hold of it, but we must not only want it with all that is within us. And moreover, we must finally get real with a God, with one another, with ourselves, and admit that we are the very ones spoken of in th Bible in the last days, those who draw near to God with our lips but with their hearts are far from Him.
Guys, we are not a dis-honest church, just an un-honest one. Like ostriches, we have had our heads in the sand, not wanting to admit our sad state, our dangerous state. Eternity is forever. Now is not the time for business as usual. Shall we remain blind, and cheerfully walk with our loved ones to the precipice, never once truly crying out to God with pure hearts for their souls, and then to our horror, see them fall into the abyss? , when their last words to us before our eternal separation are "Why did you not tell me.... warn me?", what will we say?
There is hope, dear loved brothers and sisters. It is not too late. God is, in His infinite kindness, beginning even now to awaken us from our sin-induced slumber in these last days. Our hearts have been far from him. Yes. We have had great forms of godliness, but our lives, our hearts, our prayer closets have denied Him. The end is approaching, whether we like it or not. How shall we respond?
The gift of holiness, brand new natures, victorious natures, is the second half of the amazing good news called the gospel. Satan has blinded us to it for 1900 years. That time is coming to a close. Yes, we have forgiveness, but half a gospel is not the FREE INDEED Jesus promised us. Not by a long shot. The question now is, will we awake, remove our heads from the sand, and cry out to our God to cause us to walk in true whole-hearted obedience to a Him? I promise you this. He will awaken us, rescue us, change us, if we want it and admit we desperately need it. He cannot fail us. Our part is to believe it fervently and want it more than our next breath.
Blessings,
Gideon
A logical person would think that in light of these truths, and given the fact we believe we have been entrusted with the answer that can rescue souls destined to live in misery without what we possess, we would be found like the widow Jesus talked about pleading her case to the unjust judge.
Do we remember the story? Even though the king was unjust, he still granted her persistant cries, if only to find relief from her never ending barrage of pleas for help. What was Jesus trying to teach us here? Was it not that, unlike her, we have a just judge, a loving judge, and if her cries were answered anyway, how much more will ours be in we faint not?
So what is the problem? Why are our prayer closets almost non-existent? This is not to say we do not pray, but do we pray fervently? Do we pray as if our prayers may be the only thing keeping our very children from falling into hell, with never even one shred of hope that they can somehow find relief?
You know, we are told by God that the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much. And therein lies the problem, doesn't it? It is that darned word "righteous", isn't it? Yes, I know, we all have the righteousness of Christ, but we also know what God means here. Power in prayer is to the pure in heart. We are told there is no condemnation from God if we are walking in the Spirit..... but are we?
Not being condemned by God is notcenough to give us power in prayer. John tells us that if our own hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. And the result? We are not to think we will receive anything from the Lord. Anything. Ouch.James tells us that if we are double minded, one foot in this world, one in eternity, trying to get the best from both, we are adulterers.... spiritual cheats. No prayers will be answered here. None. Something has to change first.
Guys, here is the deal. We as Christians have been led into pastures where real freedom from sinful habits is viewed as a nice ideal, but the truth is, we are told, it is an impossibility. The mantra of the early church was "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Sadly, ours today is "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven". Shall we add to that "....and powerless in prayer"?
Look, the glorious promises given to us by our Heavenly Father are the very stepping stones that will lift us up onto the highway of holiness, where even the weakest among us can live pure, holy, loving, Christ-filled and Christ-led lives, where we truly can move mountains with our pleadings to our Father to save our loved ones. Have we been taught to believe them, to grab hold of them as if our (or our childrens) lives depended on them? We have not. We have listened to leaders who they themselves for the most part are not pursuing freedom from sin, and this, we have been brought down to the very same level. Religious, not righteous.
Our lack of faith that God can and will do ALL that we ask or think is sad enough. But the real issue is not where we find ourselves but rather that we are totally content here! Why? It is because conviction ...... not condemnation... but conviction, has been silenced in our hearts. The Spirit of a God is pleading, longing for Us to awake from our slumber, but the sins that have continued in our lives, the sins we are told on Sundays not to worry about, those sins have hardened our hearts to the point that our prayers make it no further than our ceilings. And our friend and our children walk on in darkness.
I wonder how many will read a message like this, one we all know is hitting the mark, and simply move onto the next post, one more "uplifting"? Why? Because conviction hurts. Because conviction tells us the ground we are standing on is dangerous ground, if not for us, then it is certainly for our loved ones who need someone to stand in the gap, an intercession, holding off Satan, so they can with clear minds grab hold of our good God, the God who cannot lie. Sadly, right now, we are the ones needing intercessors.
People often chafe when it is suggested that we as the modern church are Laodecia, not realizing that is that exact response that proves it. So what will be your response here? Is your heart convicted by that still small voice of God? Praise God, there is an answer to our dilemma. There is a way to get free from our hearts that condemn us. There is a way to walk in real victory, with prayers able to set others free. God is, even now, opening eyes to see it, to grab hold of it, but we must not only want it with all that is within us. And moreover, we must finally get real with a God, with one another, with ourselves, and admit that we are the very ones spoken of in th Bible in the last days, those who draw near to God with our lips but with their hearts are far from Him.
Guys, we are not a dis-honest church, just an un-honest one. Like ostriches, we have had our heads in the sand, not wanting to admit our sad state, our dangerous state. Eternity is forever. Now is not the time for business as usual. Shall we remain blind, and cheerfully walk with our loved ones to the precipice, never once truly crying out to God with pure hearts for their souls, and then to our horror, see them fall into the abyss? , when their last words to us before our eternal separation are "Why did you not tell me.... warn me?", what will we say?
There is hope, dear loved brothers and sisters. It is not too late. God is, in His infinite kindness, beginning even now to awaken us from our sin-induced slumber in these last days. Our hearts have been far from him. Yes. We have had great forms of godliness, but our lives, our hearts, our prayer closets have denied Him. The end is approaching, whether we like it or not. How shall we respond?
The gift of holiness, brand new natures, victorious natures, is the second half of the amazing good news called the gospel. Satan has blinded us to it for 1900 years. That time is coming to a close. Yes, we have forgiveness, but half a gospel is not the FREE INDEED Jesus promised us. Not by a long shot. The question now is, will we awake, remove our heads from the sand, and cry out to our God to cause us to walk in true whole-hearted obedience to a Him? I promise you this. He will awaken us, rescue us, change us, if we want it and admit we desperately need it. He cannot fail us. Our part is to believe it fervently and want it more than our next breath.
Blessings,
Gideon
Last edited:
