Watchmen

Isaiah 21:6 “For thus has the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees."

Isaiah 21 prophesies the impending doom of the great and wicked Babylonian empire. God warns His people not to put their trust in surrounding nations because Babylon is marked by God for ruin. These watchmen are to observe and declare the destruction of Babylon by God.

Last week I spoke about the shaking that is happening in the world today. Babylon is being shaken! The political, financial and religious structures of our day are being shaken by God Almighty. The shaking is not for our destruction but for the salvation of all those who trust is in Him. Like Israel, He warns us not to put out trust in what is around us, for it is marked by God for destruction.

I believe we live in a day when the Lord is looking for watchmen - men and women who will take the time to see in the Spirit what God is doing in this day and hour. We, the people of God, are the watchmen set on the wall by God to declare what we see. We need to lift our eyes off of the Babylonian world and begin to pray and speak forth God’s kingdom and will into the earth. I am reminded of the powerful song by Israel Houghton, “We Speak to Nations.”

Hear the sound
The sound of the nations calling
Hear the sound
The sound of the fathers crying
Who will go for us
Who will shout to the corners
Of the earth
That Christ is King

We speak to nations
Be open
We speak to nations
Fall on your knees
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you
Oh we speak to strongholds
Be broken
Power of darkness
You have to flee
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you.

I want to encourage you today to take your place as a watchman on the wall. Don’t just see and declare what the media, politicians and economists see and speak. As you watch and hear the news, speak forth God’s Word, will, and kingdom into the nations today.

Andy

Shaking

Hebrews 12:25-29

“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

As we look in the portion of Scripture, God gives us two reasons for the shaking. The first reason is so that we will hear His voice. The reason God came down and shook Mount Sinai was that He wanted to speak to the children of Israel to reveal himself in His greatness and His power and to reveal to them His ways. Their failure to heed the voice of God resulted in their failure to enter the Promise Land and their destruction in the desert. God is shaking the world again because He wants to speak to us. God is shaking up economic, political and religious structures, shaking up our comfort zone because He wants us to stop in our business and hear His voice. The shaking is fearful, just as it was for Israel at Sinai, however it is not for our destruction, but to bring us into the promise, if we will hear His voice and obey.

The second reason for the shaking is to remove those things that are made, man-made or temporal, so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Our response to this shaking is for us to transfer our trust from the man-made economic, political and religious kingdom, which is being shaken and disintegrating because of sin, and begin to put our trust and all our assets in the kingdom which cannot be shaken. We must begin by God’s grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel received a revelation and a message concerning a great war. He then set himself on a 21-day fast to understand the message God had given him. On the last day of his fast, after three weeks of spiritual conflict, the angel Gabriel came with the revelation Daniel was praying for. What we are seeing in Egypt today is a result of a national prayer movement of thousands in Egypt over many years. The cry of intercession has risen up before God Almighty and He is shaking Egypt. The ripple effect is sweeping through the Islamic world.

God is shaking the Muslim world today because He wants to speak not only to them but to us, His church. What happens as a result of this shaking depends upon our response to the voice of God. These countries lie in the balance. They can move to greater freedom or greater bondage. Our brethren in the faith in these countries are crying out to God for freedom. We as the church, the people of God, cannot be passive observers. God is trying to speak. We must take the time to cry out to Him, to hear His voice and to respond to Him. We the church were created for such a time as this. I want to encourage you as you see the shaking in our world to begin to be more intentional in your prayer life and kingdom walk. Challenge others to do the same.

“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven.”

Andy

The Fulness of Time

Ephesians1:3-11

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him.”

This is an amazing portion of Scripture that should encourage us in the day in which we live. When I think of the words “the fullness of time,” I see an hour glass where most of the sand of time has flowed through the neck, so that the top half is almost empty and the bottom half is almost full. When you see that happening in an hour glass, it is usually calling you to action. Most often, it is indicating the completion of something. The food is almost done or a job is almost finished. As we observe what is going on around us, I believe we live in the fullness of time. The hour glass of this dispensation is coming to a close.

Paul’s words are encouraging to us as we see time running out. God set this plan of His in motion before the foundation of the world, and we are an important part of this plan. In fact, He has set us up for success. The God of the universe chose us and then redeemed us from sin and death by Christ’s blood. Not only that, but He has blessed us or, more accurately, lavished us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. That means all the favor that heaven has toward Christ is ours. You are highly favored not because of your performance but because you have been accepted in the Beloved.

Because of Christ, we have been adopted as children of God. This word “adopted” does not just mean we have come into the family of God, but it actually means that we have come into our full inheritance, that we are joint heirs with everything that is Christ’s. We are full partners in the kingdom. As part of this inheritance, he has lavished on us the riches of His grace or divine favor and enablement. Part of this divine enablement is wisdom and insight into the mystery of His will. God by His Spirit wants to reveal to us His plan so that we partner with Him in His glorious plans. It is not our will and plans, but what He has purposed since the foundation of the world. It is not time to be afraid or to draw back, but to come into the board room of the Chief Architect and CEO of all things. It is time to discern the voice of God and to be atuned to the Spirit.

This is the most exciting time to be alive, when He who purposes all things according to the good pleasure of His will, is bringing His eternal plan to fruition that in the fullness of time He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. To Him be all glory and power forever and ever, Amen!

Andy