Day 116 Forgive and Revive

 

4/26/225

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that 

the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come,

by which we know that it is the last hour."

1 John 2:18

 

When I woke up this morning, the first words that I wrote in my journal were about feeling dazed and confused. I have alarms set to wake me up by 7 am, even if I don't sleep well, but this morning I wasn't tired, I just felt empty, burdened. I sat here with a cup of coffee in my hands just trying to shake this sense of "where do I go from here" moment off me, so I could focus on my quiet time. Before I knew it the second alarm went off, this time for the short, daily devotional with Pastor Jack Hibbs that begins sharply at 8 am. The scripture posted above is the one Pastor Jack shared for today. It's a wake up call to the church for the hour in which we are now living.

It didn't really come as a stark awakening to me, as I talk about this all the time, and the need for the church to wake up, repent, and pray. Sadly, many are blinded to what is going on in the world. I wonder if they see the headlines, but I know they have seen the prices continue to rise in the grocery store and at the gas pump. Now that we have a new administration who has been frantically trying to strengthen the economy and decrease costs, people continue to rant and rave, not seeing the change, however, slight in some places, but definitely changes. Because I stay alert to news for our daily prayer meetings, I don't understand why eyes are so blinded and ears so deaf.

Recently I have been made aware of statements made against my character, and I know this attack is coming from the enemy, because of the increased prayer. I've had to endure this type of thing before, and I recognize who is behind it. This has been spoken of in the scriptures by Jesus, as He warned His disciples of what was to come. So, I should not be confused when new things come up. It seems the attacks are multiplied and from each front. This has been true for America and Israel, and I must say that, although I am aware of certain things happening according to scripture, I am still amazed when anything is directed my way. I am not a leader or a pastor, or much of anything in the world's eyes, but I must be doing something right with this much persecution.

Pastor Jack mentioned a comment by Leonard Ravenhill, a well known Christian leader who didn't mince words when it came to speaking truth and calling the church to repentance. The comment was similar to what Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil." Bonhoeffer's famous words were spoken in regard to the silent church during the Holocaust as the trains, carrying the Jewish people and Jewish sympathizers who had tried to hide them, were traveling down the tracks on the way to death camps. The people inside the churches could hear the screams of the people, so they sang louder to tune it out. Over the last few years people and churches have been silent, and those who did speak up were condemned. Now the repercussions of that time are being blamed on the new administration and the praying church. So why is the church at large silent, and why is it business as usual?! 

Out of curiosity I decided to look up Ravenhill's more noteworthy quotations. I confess that while I am very familiar with him, I have never read his books or sermons. I will include a few quotations below:

"Someone asked me, 'Do you pray for the dead?' I said, 'No, I preach to them!' I think every pew in every church is death row. Think about that! They're dead! They sing about God; they talk about God, but they're dead! They have no living relationship (with God)."

"God is taking His hands off of America. We've had so much light and we've rejected it."

"The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity."

"One good Baptist (once) said to Dr. Tozer, 'If God withdrew the Holy Spirit tomorrow, my church would function just the same; we wouldn't even know He was gone.'"  

All of these quotations were very disturbing to me, but I know them to be true. I have spoken of this chronic ailment within the church at large many times, and I have quoted A.W. Tozer many times. He was consumed with the Presence of the Lord, again something I write about often. 

I'm not certain why I felt the need to share this message today, and I admit that it has been difficult to post, but I promised Abba that I would write daily, and I am doing that to the best that I can. We need to repent of our failures, even when it is not our own personal shortcoming, God loves for us to stand in the gap for others. "Lord, we come humbly to the throne of grace to ask for mercy. Forgive us and revive the church today, Your body, so that we may know the hope to which we are called. Fill us with Your power and boldness to speak the truth and stand for righteousness in our nation and world. Fill us anew with the indwelling presence of Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name. Amen."