We live in desperate and dark times in our world, and in the United States of America. Every person is out to preserve his or her own life, yet so many people live in a lack of peace. Marketing is targeted at our selfishness.
“Just do it!”
“iPhone”
“Ipad”
“Self Magazine”
Even names of products are focused on me, myself and I. Yet, all the while, we see an increase in the desire for understanding the importance of “self-care.” While, each person in our society strives to serve self, there is a great and overwhelming feeling that self is not being served. There is an emptiness and an ache that cannot be filled or healed by all of the best products or personal achievement.
Our news articles are full of “mental health” awareness. Why? There is more and more focus on self and less and less external pressures compared to the times of our ancestors or founding fathers, who knew physically back-breaking strain and an extremely high infant mortality rate, without the wonders of modern medicine to prevent the heartache of loss that most families were touch by . They lived through wars and fear on every side, yet they did not diminish or lose hope.
So, now, why are we so fragile?
We have kicked God out of our nation – out of our schools – out of our government – out of our lives. Darwinism declares that we are little more than a happy accident with no real purpose, no real truth, no real moral compass. We have relegated God, who created us for greater eternal purposes, to a box of ideas that belong in a building we may or may not go to once a week.
Even believers in Jesus Christ do not know or understand how to access the power of their precious relationship with him through the Holy Spirit. They have lost the disciplines of prayer, surrender, forgiveness, worship, fellowship, unity, patience, love and peace. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. The enemy has stripped us of our weapons and we are surrounded.
Christians have relied on politicians to solve their problems and refused to stand up for the truth on issues that they may be persecuted on. In fact, most church-goers do not know where the Lord stands on many issues. They listen to their political talking heads to know what to think about things.
In such a time as this, when we are faced with critical societal implosion, believers need to stand in the righteousness of Christ, put on the armor of God and fight with the weapons of our warfare.
2 Corinthians 10:2-5 says, “I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be towards some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
We cannot continue in the same old, same old patterns and believe that it will make a difference in our own lives or in the lives of those around us. This is why we fast and seek the Lord. This is why we do spiritual warfare and ask the Lord to show us any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting. This is why we ask the Lord to reveal any lies we are believing and to put the belt of truth about our loins and the helmet of salvation on our heads.
I am going to share a passage that is difficult. As believers, I think we need to take this seriously – not in fear- but in prayer. Because we are in a time of judgement on our nation. In Ezekiel, it is prophesied about what the conditions are in a nation that is under severe judgement by the Lord for sin. I think we are on the precipice, with blood on our hands.
The Lord has shown me that the church is to blame for pushing a very spiritual and morale issue of abortion into the political realm. We “skillfully” kicked the can down the road, by saying that abortion is a state issue. In this way, we hoped that we could avoid federal laws allowing universal abortion. We relied on the lie that people would generally be good and moral and never do anything so extreme as promote infanticide in a state like Virginia. We forgot that man is desperately wicked.
But the devil has read our mail. He is happily taking on our challenge. And we are shocked by what is happening in New York and Virginia. We should be ashamed. We should repent for imagining that God is okay with any murder of innocent babies. When we stand before him, will he show us their faces and ask us to think again? Except there will be no test corrections at the judgement seat.
In Ezekiel 14, we see a sobering alert to the people of God. The first is concerning our responsibility to share our knowledge of God with those who are in danger. The second is that righteous people in this type of nation full of idolatry will only be able to save themselves in the physical judgement on earth. This shows us the severity of a great national judgement and gives us even more reason to fast, to pray, to repent and to call others whom we love to do the same.
Ezekiel 14 New King James Version (NKJV)
Idolatry Will Be Punished
14 Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’
6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. 8 I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
9 “And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, 11 that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord God.’ ”
Judgment on Persistent Unfaithfulness
12 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.
15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they [a]empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even thoughthese three men were [b]in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it, 18 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.
19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, 20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
21 For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when I send My four [c]severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? 22 Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord God.
Prayer Focus-
(It is best to pray these spiritual warfare prayers aloud.)
Oh, Lord my God! I cry out to you. I know that the battle for my family, my nation and my world is not with people. The battle is in the spiritual realm. I ask you for grace and mercy. I come and repent for my personal sins. I ask that you forgive me for not sharing the gospel, sounding the alarm, or speaking the truth, when you have asked me to.
I repent for my own personal idolatry and sin. I ask that you forgive me for listening to the philosophies and thinking of the world and valuing it above the spiritual wisdom that is from above. I need your Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open my eyes and heart to know you. I need to know your will and your heart on my personal life. Open my heart, Lord, to the hope of my calling.
I know that you have given me grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I pray that you will help me to walk in the power of that grace and mercy.
Lord, I pray that you will equip me in this evil time to stand my ground. I pray for repentance for my family and friends who do not know you, or who are walking away from you. I pray that you will deliver them from evil and bring a powerful move of your Spirit in their lives.
I ask that you undo and frustrate all of the devil’s plans for my life. Send his plans and efforts into confusion against himself, Lord. Uncover his plots, before they come to fruition. He comes to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus comes to destroy his work and to bring life everlasting! I plead the blood of Jesus over my family, my household, my church, my friends, my community. I ask for your protection, Lord. I ask for the protection that comes from repentance. I pray against all witchcraft and evil that is being done against me, my family and the body of Christ in my area. I ask for Jesus Christ to lead his heavenly angels in battle against the plans of the devil.
Build up the walls of protection around my life. The walls of righteousness, which are in Christ Jesus protect me from all evil. Help me to walk in your Spirit, in the righteousness of Christ and not in my flesh.
I pray that you will advance your kingdom. I pray that your kingdom will come, your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give me everything I need, Oh Lord. You provide for all of my needs, according to your riches in glory. I need not fear men, as greater is he that is in me, then he that is in the world.
Unveil my eyes to see your truth. Show me, if there is anything in my life that offends you, Lord. You raised me up in Christ Jesus and I know that my spirit is alive to you. Strengthen my inner being through your Spirit, so Christ can dwell in my heart through faith! When my faith grows and my spirit is strengthened in you, I will overcome. I thank-you, in advance today, for the strength that you are giving me and will continue to give me.
I pray this, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Revealed Ministries 