A greater level of spiritual maturity is upon us. The past is gone, and it will never come again. For some people, that is a very sad message. For others, it is just the fuel they need to keep pressing. For those for whom this is a sad message, consider the wisdom of God when it comes to the prophecies in His Word. Our Heavenly Father tells us about the future, and He doesn’t leave us in the dark about the most horrible parts. As believers who hunger for knowledge of His ways, we should ask ourselves why He does this. The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of the answer in Philippians 3:14. He said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” God does not intend for His people to go backwards. Everything He does is in an upward and forward progression. We are moving to a time that is unprecedented. There is pressure for the people of God, and we should not be surprised. It’s not going to be like anything we’ve seen before, and we must press. As challenging as it is to hear, we no longer have the luxury of waiting to prepare for the times ahead.
There is a tremendous amount of prophecies out there from people claiming to know the day and the time that our Lord will return. The Word tells us that no one but the Father knows when our Savior will appear in the skies. Our responsibility is to be ready when he comes. We know that preparation should be our focus because God has made this clear. He encourages His people in Isaiah 55:6 to seek Him while He may be found—to seek Him before we are so far gone in sinfulness that He can no longer cover us in His grace.
Christ is returning, and he’s returning for a people that are spiritually mature and are operating according to God’s Word. If we look around us, we still see Christian believers not moving cooperatively and corporately according to God’s purpose. Instead, most members of the body of Christ are still fragmented, working in silos, with each group and religion claiming to be more righteous and knowledgeable than the other. This is not what Christ had in mind, and until we see some indication of members of the body coming together to serve God’s purpose and not their own, I dare say, we still have a ways to go before our Savior returns.
Because the corporate body has not moved collectively to produce the unity in Christ that the gospel requires, the enemy has unleashed tremendous darkness in the earth. We are seeing the manifestation of it in real time. And even with the enemy’s fierce attacks, we still don’t get it. We are as divisive and hard-hearted as ever. Because of this, things in the earth will get worse. This is not meant to cause fear, because fear is a great enemy of every believer. However, the reality that things will get worse cannot be overlooked or dismissed. It is a truth that you and I must prepare ourselves to face.
Most of us have made ourselves comfortable leaning on people, relationships, institutions, and systems. Because of the harshness of times and because of what is to come, we are being pressed now with urgency. We must learn the lessons of faith and dependence on God, and Him alone. Believers on a whole have looked to other people to save them, and they have not viewed God as their Source and Sufficiency. Many who claim to be Christians don’t even have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They know nothing about the supernatural and have never saw Jesus Christ as the door that opens the Kingdom of God to them. They are still waiting outside the door.
Many of us have not seen ourselves as joint-heirs or co-heirs with Christ, but instead, have allowed the enemy to rule in many aspects of our lives. This is not God’s Will. He created humans to reign on earth. He has given us all dominion and authority here, and Ephesians 1:3(NLT) declares, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” We are not here to conquer anything, because everything already belongs to the Father. We are God’s family. We are His children, and He wants His Kingdom in our hearts. It is our hearts that God is after.
The things that are happening in our world is a mirror of the human heart. It does not paint a beautiful portrait, but one of doubt and idolatry. It shows the degree to which we have looked everywhere else for answers instead of looking to the Word of God. Jesus Christ is the answer! We must discover this for ourselves. We must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ with all that we are, and we must learn to lean on him totally and completely. If we don’t begin to put a plan in motion to increase spiritually, we will not have what we need when we need it, because our faith will be without what it requires to be alive and active. James 2:26 declares that faith without works is dead.
There must be defining characteristics that differentiate us from the world. We belong to God’s Kingdom, the world does not. The more we act and behave like the world, the more we separate ourselves from what God wants to give us. We were very comfortable with things as they were, and we thought they would continue to be that way. 1Corinthians 2:9(NLT) says, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” We must release ourselves from the past. The blessings that God has in store for us far exceed anything we can imagine. They exceed what was in our past and they exceed what is in our present. We may not be able to visualize all that He has in store, but He demands that our hearts expand with His love to make room for the reality of it.
A limited mindset and a small heart cannot accommodate big dreams. For a very long time, we assumed they could. 1Corinthians 2:12(NIV) says, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” The Holy Spirit is our teacher. He teaches us to understand the unimaginable bounty of what God has given. You can’t understand the supernatural with a natural mindset. We must be taught by the Spirit. The Spirit will teach us in a way that prepares us for the future. 1Corinthians 2:13(NIV) says, “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”
Be humble enough for strong medicine, you’ll need it. Instead of filling our conversations with negative talk about how terrible things are, we should see with spiritual eyes and recognize the opportunity before us all. We can step outside the limitations we have clung to for far too long. We can take hold of the hand of Jesus Christ and hold it tighter than we ever have before. We can trust that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life; and we can trust that God’s righteousness and grace will lead us through whatever comes next. Don’t assume that you are prepared for the season that is approaching, it will be like nothing you’ve ever seen. It is not a time to be spiritually weak, but spiritually strong. We need the Spirit of Christ more than ever, and he, the Holy Spirit, will teach us to walk in the authority of Jesus Christ if we will ask the Father and surrender ourselves to be taught. ■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
“We Belong to God’s Kingdom!” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Sundie Morning Sistas is dedicated to spiritual inspiration and encouragement through the Word of God.