WAKE UP!

Look at your clock.  Not your digital clock, but an analog clock that actually shows the seconds ticking by.  Now watch the clock for a full 60 seconds................................................................

Did you actually watch the clock for 60 seconds? Most people won't, but if you did, then during the time you spent looking at the clock, approximately 100 people died worldwide, and that's being conservative. Multiply that by 24 hours and you come close to 150,000 people per day! That not only includes the victims of war and religious persecution overseas, it also includes people in your own neighborhood! Victims of violent crime, deaths at your local nursing homes and hospitals, a neighbor's suicide or death from an automobile accident just down the street.

If we estimate that 25% of these individuals are true born again believers in Christ (and that's very VERY generous), then that would mean that 112,500 people enter an inescapable eternity of pain and suffering every day!  How many of these 112,500 individuals can you be credited to have witnessed to, either directly or indirectly? Let me make this a little simpler. How many people did you reach for Christ today? This week? This month?

We are all called to be a part of the great commission. Some receive a call from the Lord to give up everything and become missionaries, ministering and spreading the gospel in sometimes hostile regions of the world. Do you pray for them? Do you offer consistent financial support for them? If not, why not? Do you know that by supporting missionaries, the souls saved through that ministry are also credited to you as well?

I look out on the streets of my own city and wonder where God's people are. Where is the message of salvation being shared with the lost? It's not at the soup kitchen or the food bank lines. I've been there, I know. I'm deeply concerned that Christians aren't taking it upon themselves to witness to the lost on their own, without having to wait on their church to plan an outreach event.

I hear Christians praying that the church body will rise up and be used by God to spread His word, but I can't help but to think that so many people don't understand what they're actually praying for. If we're asking God to use us, we can't honestly believe that God will use us in the little comfortable bubble we've surrounded ourselves with. Many Christians are willing to sacrifice a meal or two, an extra $20 in the offering basket, and maybe even give someone a ride to church every once in a while (as long as it's on the way, of course).

While we're comfortable with our daily routine and the "fruits" of our labor that we've accumulated, we forget that people are dying all around us. We ask the Lord to guide our steps for the day, but at night, when we reflect upon our day, can we honestly say we were walking the path He prepared for us, or did we stray from that path? Did we miss an opportunity to be a witness for Christ out of fear of men or because it was inconvenient at the time? Did others notice our lack of faith and ,as a result, cause them to push Jesus further away?

WAKE UP!

You are the light and salt of the earth! Do all your friends, neighbors and co-workers know you're a bonified born again believer in Christ? If not, why not?  We can be so self absorbed and concerned about how we're perceived by others that our Christianity becomes a reflection of ourselves, often causing it to become watered down. We need to remember that our Christianity needs to be a reflection of Jesus, not a reflection of us. We do not reflect our own light, but the light of Christ!

Friends and family have ostracized me because of my faith in God. My sister even wanted to have me forcibly admitted to a psyche ward for evaluation because she believes I've gone "too far" in my faith in God. Talk about rejection!  But I shared the word of God with her even while she shook her head and called me crazy.

When those you are trying to witness to begin to ridicule and belittle you, when they reject your efforts to share the word of God with them, then you are partaking in some of the sufferings of Christ, just like so many brothers and sisters have, who have gone before you, and just like so many of those who are serving the Lord here and now. Pray for those who reject the gift of salvation knowing that if they never repent, then these moments of witnessing will be recorded and used against them on that terrible day of judgment. How heartbreaking is that? That makes our suffering seem small, doesn't it?

We've been conditioned to flee rejection/persecution and sometimes we even feel forced to conform to the world so that we don't have to feel the sting of rejection. As we know, God doesn't operate under a worldly system. We're commanded to enter the enemy's territory where rejection is the norm.  Jesus warned us that we would be rejected, just like He was. Matthew 10:24-26 (KJV) The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.  25It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? 26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

He also warned us that if we were ashamed of Him, He would be ashamed of us. Mark 8:38 (KJV) Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

 

Ask yourself this question: "Does my comfortable life reflect God's call for me to put on my armor to do battle with the enemy?"

 

If you are physically limited in what you can do, then can your brothers and sisters depend on you to be a prayer warrior and to offer up words of encouragement when they call? If you make a decent salary, are you investing in the Kingdom of God with more than your tithes? Are you supporting a missionary? Are you investing in local Christian businesses? Are you sponsoring an outreach event in your community? We're all called to share the gospel no matter where our talents lay, no matter what our circumstances. 

 

A life of comfort comes to us all when Jesus raptures His church. Now is not the time to get comfortable. So many Christians don't seem to comprehend that we're in the middle of a war. What would our reaction be if the Lord removed the veil from our eyes for just a few moments... when we could actually observe the spiritual warfare going on all around us. Do you think we would more likely to enter the battle? I believe we would!

 

If a foreign army were to invade this country, we'd all be up in arms, ready to defend our country and our personal liberties. There would be such an outcry nationwide that we would feel called to sacrifice as much as was necessary to expel this foreign invader. 

 

WAKE UP!

Not only is our country under siege, but so is the rest of the world! The enemy is all around us and we seem to have become complacent with his presence. Satan has rooted himself in our governments, our schools, our churches and our homes! Praise God that the Holy Spirit is still holding back the full force of evil in this world! Where is the outcry? Where is the willingness to sacrifice whatever it takes to expel this enemy from our homes and our communities?

 

Sadly, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask yourself another question: "Do I choose to live a Christian life that brings me only comfort and peace or am I willing to wield my sword and charge into the enemy's territory to take back the captives"

 

Every time we share the gospel with someone face to face, every time we pray for an unbeliever, every time we pass out a tract or say, "God Bless" to someone, giving them an opening to ask us questions about God, every time we show compassion for someone the world would reject or stand and every time we rebuke the enemy in someone's life, we're operating in enemy territory. And just for your information, there is no physical comfort for the Christian while operating in enemy territory.

 

When Jesus returns, what do you want Him to find you doing? Watching television (the big game, a reality show, an R-rated movie)?  Playing video games?  Reading romance novels? Sitting back reflecting on the pleasures you've surrounded yourself with? Or would you rather have Him find you witnessing to the lost or rejoicing with someone who has just given their life to Him; to find you reading and studying His word; to find you handing out tracts; to find you at a men's/women's fellowship or participating in a time of fasting?

 

It seems to me that the further away we get from the front lines of the battle, the more comfortable Christians get. They deal with the occasional skirmishes that get through (treating them as if they were major battles), but the real battle is far from them. It reminds me of Proverbs 6:9-11 (KJV) How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." Are some of us in spiritual poverty? Will we travail because we lack passion to perform the work of the Lord and will be found in want when the battle breaks down our front door?

 

Where will the Lord find you when He returns and how have you invested what God has given you to use for His kingdom? Will you be rewarded and given more, or will you be chastised for wasting your opportunity? Matthew 25 (KJV)

There are those who will read these words and they will fall on a lukewarm heart or a heart that seeks only after personal comfort. My prayer is that there will be some who will meditate on what I've shared. Is this message for you? Have you been avoiding the front lines? Take heed, our Father up in Heaven knows your heart and knows your mind. We have all been given the blessing of living in one of the most exciting times in history when we anticipate the return of the Bridegroom! The enemy has sunk his roots in every aspect of life on this planet and his main goal is to deceive as many as possible before the day of the Lord comes! We should be more eager to step out in faith and rescue as many of our lost brothers and sisters as possible before our work here is done. Every day that passes is one less day to forcibly enter into the enemy's territory to take back what belongs to the Lord! 

Embrace what God has called you to do and take up your armor, especially your sword, because it represents the word of God. Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Find your comfort in the arms of Christ, not in the the trappings of this world. We're on a rescue mission and the enemy knows it, but take heart, because if God is for us, who can be against us?  Romans 8

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Repent and be forgiven! Believe and be saved!

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