Wednesday, May 15,
2013, 7:37 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Full Release” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Zechariah 10 (NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%2010&version=NIV
The
Idols
Ask
the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He
gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
The
idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they
tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore
the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
We just had all our weeds killed in our yard,
our yard tilled, and new grass seed planted, so I do pray for rain and for the
grass and the new tree to grow and to live and to thrive. Yet, as I go out each
day to water the lawn, I am reminded that this is a picture of salvation and of
revival. The weeds are symbols of sin and rebellion against God. They must be
brought to death so that we can live. Then, our hearts need to be transformed
by the working of the Holy Spirit within us (the tilling); the new life of the
Spirit of God planted within us; and then daily we must drink in the living
water of the Spirit of God through time spent with him in his word and in
prayer so that this new seed of righteousness can be sown in our hearts, so it can
grow, and so it can produce a harvest of righteousness in and through our lives.
Yet, there are shepherds of the sheep in
today’s church who are not teaching this gospel. They speak deceitfully to the
people. They tell them lies, i.e. what their itching ears want to hear. They
say “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace, and they put Band-Aids over serious
sin, treating the sin as though it is not all that serious. They water down the
gospel of Jesus Christ, making it more palatable to the listener so that it
does not offend anyone. They make coming to Christ like going through a
drive-in at McDonald’s to get a quick hamburger (a quick salvation), so they
can be on their way. They promise them eternity with God in heaven, but they
don’t tell them that coming to faith in Jesus Christ means death to sin, and
transformation of heart and mind (and actions), and a completely new and
radical life in Jesus Christ created to be like Christ in true righteousness
and holiness (see Luke 9:23-25; Ephesians 4:17-24) – all because of God’s grace
in sending his Son to die on the cross for our sins so we could go free of
slavery to and eternal punishment for sin.
These false teachers of the people are like
diviners in that they get their messages from sources other than God himself.
They read books written by men about mankind’s philosophies for how to grow
churches, utilizing mankind’s business marketing schemes in order to draw in
large crowds of people, and they even listen to mankind over and above
scripture and God, because it suits their “dreams” that they have for building
their earthly kingdoms of men. So, the people do wander (continue in sin) like
sheep without a shepherd because so many of the shepherds are spiritually
absent, and they are not leading their flocks to walk in righteousness and
holiness and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience. So many of them are,
in fact, telling their people that they don’t have to die to their sin and they
don’t have to obey Christ for salvation, but that is a BIG FAT LIE!
God’s
Anger
“My
anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for
the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
From
Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from
him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.
Together
they will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the
streets.
They
will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to
shame.
Even though our human shepherds may fail us,
God will never fail us. Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd, and he looks after
the sheep. He will give us all we need to live for Him and to bear spiritual
fruit for the kingdom of God. He strengthens, empowers, emboldens, nourishes, and
encourages us in our daily walks with him. He gives us all we need (the
spiritual armor of Eph. 6) to fight off the attacks of our enemy against us and
to keep persevering in our walks of faith with him. And, one day God will judge
these false shepherds of the people who deceive the people, lie to them, and
who give them false hope. And, he will deliver his people out of their grasp
and influence. Then the blinded eyes will be opened, and the church revived,
and the true gospel will go forth, and people from all nations will flock to
faith in Jesus Christ, to the gospel, and to salvation (see Isaiah).
Revival
“I
will strengthen Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I
will restore them
because I have compassion on them.”
“They
will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued… (NIV)
“And
I will strengthen them in the Lord,
And
in His name they will walk,”
declares the Lord.” (NASB)
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ it does
not mean we are now puppets on a string and that we no longer have free will.
Although I believe there are many false confessions of faith based in a lie
that says we don’t have to die to sin and we don’t have to obey Christ, I
believe it is possible for true followers of Christ to, at some point, drift
away (see Rev. 2-3), and to need to be brought back into a right relationship
with God through repentance and a renewed commitment to walk in faithful
obedience to Christ once more. Revival, just like salvation, involves killing
the weeds of sin in our hearts, tilling up the unplowed ground of our hardened
or stagnant lives, and planting new seeds of faith within us that need daily
nurturing through time in the word, in prayer, and in walking in faithful
obedience.
Sometimes, though, the people of God as a
whole, or a vast majority of God’s people are led astray by false shepherds
and/or by their own selfish desires to live for themselves again, which is why
they embrace the lies of the false shepherds. I believe that is the condition,
overall, of today’s church here in America, though it certainly does not apply
to every congregation or to every believer in Jesus Christ. Throughout Biblical
history, when God’s people would get to that point of complacency, rebellion
and idolatry, he would send out his messengers to the people to call them to
repentance and to warn of judgment. I believe God has been doing that for some
time with his church. And, when his people fail to heed the warnings, and they
do not turn from their wicked ways, then he must do as he promised (see Rev.
2-3), and he must judge them as a people, and he must judge their leaders. And,
I believe that is where we are in time right now, and that it is coming to
America very soon.
When it comes, I believe the church will be
revived and that they will go forth with the true gospel, and that many will be
saved (see the book of Isaiah). But, the church will also suffer great
persecution at the hands of God’s chosen instruments of divine judgment (see
Rev. 13) during that time, yet we are to be strong in the Lord and in his
mighty power, and we are to put on the full armor of God with which to fight
off Satan’s attacks, and we are to walk in the Spirit and to not give in to the
desires of the flesh. Oh, how sweet it is to walk daily with our Lord Jesus in
his love, compassion, kindness and mercy. Oh, what joy!
Full
Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking
daily with my Savior brings me joy.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus;
He’s
my Savior and my Lord.
Gently
leads me; follow Him.
I’ve
invited Him within.
Now
abiding in His presence, oh, what peace.
From
my self-life He has brought me,
By
His mercy, full release.
Hope
and comfort, peace and safety Jesus brings
When
I daily bow before Him;
Obey
freely; do His will.
Follow
Him where’er He leads.
Listen
to Him; His words heed.
Now
obeying his words fully, oh, what love
That
He gives me through salvation,
By
His Spirit, from above.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus, He’s my friend.
With
my Savior, by His Spirit,
I
will endure to the end.
Share
the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness
daily; His will do.
Tell
the world of how their Savior bled and died.
On
a cruel cross He suffered
So
that we might be alive.
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