So I'm going to be finishing a message that I have been working on for an entire year. This message has been constantly on my mind and even keeping me up at night. Now, I never have been able to put it all together, but out during prayer last night...it all fell into place. Thank you Jesus the Messiah!
Now the message of "The shaking," has to do with being rooted so that when a shaking comes in we can remain grounded. This applies to individuals but more so this is a national message. I have been thinking for quite some time about why it has grown so dark in America and I believe it is due to the failure of our churches.
Christianity in America has become so superficial, empty, and meaningless that it has lost all relevance! Their is such a detachment between the word of God and the younger generations in this country, it's mind blowing. This idea of Christianity loosing relevance is why our leaders enact laws and pass legislation that is in direct opposition to the very book that they swear on. (The Bible.)
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this "ceremony" or "tradition"of swearing on the Bible, ceases to exist pretty soon. This idea of a "tradition" or "ceremony" is how many people see, when they hear the words "Christianity." They see it as a vein tradition where you go to a building only once a week and go through a bunch of meaningless motions that have absolutely no connection or application to the real world!
With all these fluffy messages, the lack of real Biblical application to real life, the political correctness, the abandonment of holiness standards, and the hypocrisy can you blame the world for seeing Christianity in such a negative light? Many churches only preach John 3:16 by itself but John 3:16 by itself is 100% worthless. YES that's right...by itself without context and more scripture to MAKE it relevant, John 3:16 won't get you to heaven, let alone out of your back yard!
Our doctrine and teaching has become as shallow as "Jesus loves you and died for you, and if you just accept him you will go to heaven. (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND HOW DO I "ACCEPT" HIM?) So I don't have to repent, or live holy, or even stay in church? How have we allowed such shallow lie to exist? There is no point to believing something this shallow, which is why I'm writing about being rooted.
What gets me irritated is not the "world" but the "church." If the church would be the light it was called to be, America would NOT be as dark as she is. The problem is not the "lost," the problem is the church! As I'm writing this, conviction is setting in on my own self. 40,000 plus denominations and they all claim to be the right one! In fact, a number of these organizations don't even have the right Bible!
Now, when you are rooted in God's word, you understand it. Not only that, but you can apply it to your life and you can see God working in your life. The building that we meet at once a week has meaning. The worship has power, the teaching has conviction, and the people who come together and assemble in it, have a sincere love that is not superficial. These people are NOT divided by race, social status, or any other stupid or meaningless marker. Not only that, but "Christianity" becomes a lifestyle, not just an act you put on every Sunday morning.
You see God's blessings and also his curses. (Yes, when you have a real relationship with God, he can discipline you like a good father would.) You seed God's power in answered prayers, miracles, and passionate teaching. God's word has power and every word has meaning. His word doesn't get rationalized and you don't get to pick and choose what you believe out of it. You can't speak anything that is not grounded in His word and you build all your views off of what God says. It's not about what a pastor or priest says, you have your own walk with God. Eventually, Jesus has to become real to you, or you won't make it.
You will notice that meeting once a week isn't enough and will meet throughout the week. You will notice a desire to read God's word and know it for yourself. You will want to help out and get involved with a ministry. You will want to be an active disciple of Jesus, trying to make other disciples. Your lifestyle will also reflect this as negative behaviors will slowly flee, as you will mature in Christ
Judgement is first going to be in the house of God. Before any type of judgment takes place, there is a separation process. A separation between the clean and the unclean must take place. The wicked is allowed to contend, but only for a short season. They wicked are allowed to prance around in their lies and promote blasphemies in the face of the righteous. After the separation, a case is made against them and then judgment happens.
Soon there are only going to be two types of Christians and two types of churches. Those who fall to the pressures of the world and yield to unrighteousness and those who are refined by the coming trails. The lawlessness that is coming at the church is actually a good thing and will part of her refining process. The real church is about to stand up from amidst all the confusion (Babylon/Babel is Hebrew for "confusion") and 40,000 denominations.
She will become the light she was meant to be, because she will reflect Jesus. (Not the Pope or Joel Olsteen.) She will follow Jesus who is the true light and head of the church. His Spirit is living and is not in need of a replacement! The Bride will rise and reflect His glory and she will be made ready for him. In fact, she will be married with him through this suffering. The intimacy from sharing these sorrows will be so powerful that it will birth miracles and will produce such a life that the dead will arise. There will be such a oneness with the bride and her husband that they will speak the same words and through all this, the real church will prevail and be recognized from passing through glory to glory. All the mountains shall be made low, meaning that everything (opinion or religion) that has esteemed itself over God shall be made low. The lowly valley or humble bride will be made high!
The false shepherds will run and will abandon the flock because they will not be able to stand in the fire because God is NOT walking with them as he walked with the three men in the fiery furnace. Not only that but their real motive of "Mammon" or money, will cause them to be seen as frauds. If they are not getting their wages, they will abandon the flock. In fact another factor to the abandonment of the flock will be shepherds who concede to political correctness and other outside pressures from the world.
As all this is being laid on my spirit as I am putting together this message. I feel both encouraged but also anxious, the church is really going to need God in her....to be what she is destined to be. In fact, nothing less will due. We must be in Jesus, as he is the promised seed. He must be in him to such an extent that he in us. This depth has to be so concrete because anything less will be uprooted. A shaking is coming, and the only "inside" information I have is the Bible. Anything that is not rooted with depth will be uprooted. Also, anything that is rooted, but not in Jesus will also be uprooted because Jesus is the only sure foundation. It's time we get real with this thing, and really grow some solid roots in the only sure foundation. "The shaking" is coming. It's time we make our stand for righteousness.
Now the message of "The shaking," has to do with being rooted so that when a shaking comes in we can remain grounded. This applies to individuals but more so this is a national message. I have been thinking for quite some time about why it has grown so dark in America and I believe it is due to the failure of our churches.
Christianity in America has become so superficial, empty, and meaningless that it has lost all relevance! Their is such a detachment between the word of God and the younger generations in this country, it's mind blowing. This idea of Christianity loosing relevance is why our leaders enact laws and pass legislation that is in direct opposition to the very book that they swear on. (The Bible.)
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this "ceremony" or "tradition"of swearing on the Bible, ceases to exist pretty soon. This idea of a "tradition" or "ceremony" is how many people see, when they hear the words "Christianity." They see it as a vein tradition where you go to a building only once a week and go through a bunch of meaningless motions that have absolutely no connection or application to the real world!
With all these fluffy messages, the lack of real Biblical application to real life, the political correctness, the abandonment of holiness standards, and the hypocrisy can you blame the world for seeing Christianity in such a negative light? Many churches only preach John 3:16 by itself but John 3:16 by itself is 100% worthless. YES that's right...by itself without context and more scripture to MAKE it relevant, John 3:16 won't get you to heaven, let alone out of your back yard!
Our doctrine and teaching has become as shallow as "Jesus loves you and died for you, and if you just accept him you will go to heaven. (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND HOW DO I "ACCEPT" HIM?) So I don't have to repent, or live holy, or even stay in church? How have we allowed such shallow lie to exist? There is no point to believing something this shallow, which is why I'm writing about being rooted.
What gets me irritated is not the "world" but the "church." If the church would be the light it was called to be, America would NOT be as dark as she is. The problem is not the "lost," the problem is the church! As I'm writing this, conviction is setting in on my own self. 40,000 plus denominations and they all claim to be the right one! In fact, a number of these organizations don't even have the right Bible!
Now, when you are rooted in God's word, you understand it. Not only that, but you can apply it to your life and you can see God working in your life. The building that we meet at once a week has meaning. The worship has power, the teaching has conviction, and the people who come together and assemble in it, have a sincere love that is not superficial. These people are NOT divided by race, social status, or any other stupid or meaningless marker. Not only that, but "Christianity" becomes a lifestyle, not just an act you put on every Sunday morning.
You see God's blessings and also his curses. (Yes, when you have a real relationship with God, he can discipline you like a good father would.) You seed God's power in answered prayers, miracles, and passionate teaching. God's word has power and every word has meaning. His word doesn't get rationalized and you don't get to pick and choose what you believe out of it. You can't speak anything that is not grounded in His word and you build all your views off of what God says. It's not about what a pastor or priest says, you have your own walk with God. Eventually, Jesus has to become real to you, or you won't make it.
You will notice that meeting once a week isn't enough and will meet throughout the week. You will notice a desire to read God's word and know it for yourself. You will want to help out and get involved with a ministry. You will want to be an active disciple of Jesus, trying to make other disciples. Your lifestyle will also reflect this as negative behaviors will slowly flee, as you will mature in Christ
Judgement is first going to be in the house of God. Before any type of judgment takes place, there is a separation process. A separation between the clean and the unclean must take place. The wicked is allowed to contend, but only for a short season. They wicked are allowed to prance around in their lies and promote blasphemies in the face of the righteous. After the separation, a case is made against them and then judgment happens.
Soon there are only going to be two types of Christians and two types of churches. Those who fall to the pressures of the world and yield to unrighteousness and those who are refined by the coming trails. The lawlessness that is coming at the church is actually a good thing and will part of her refining process. The real church is about to stand up from amidst all the confusion (Babylon/Babel is Hebrew for "confusion") and 40,000 denominations.
She will become the light she was meant to be, because she will reflect Jesus. (Not the Pope or Joel Olsteen.) She will follow Jesus who is the true light and head of the church. His Spirit is living and is not in need of a replacement! The Bride will rise and reflect His glory and she will be made ready for him. In fact, she will be married with him through this suffering. The intimacy from sharing these sorrows will be so powerful that it will birth miracles and will produce such a life that the dead will arise. There will be such a oneness with the bride and her husband that they will speak the same words and through all this, the real church will prevail and be recognized from passing through glory to glory. All the mountains shall be made low, meaning that everything (opinion or religion) that has esteemed itself over God shall be made low. The lowly valley or humble bride will be made high!
The false shepherds will run and will abandon the flock because they will not be able to stand in the fire because God is NOT walking with them as he walked with the three men in the fiery furnace. Not only that but their real motive of "Mammon" or money, will cause them to be seen as frauds. If they are not getting their wages, they will abandon the flock. In fact another factor to the abandonment of the flock will be shepherds who concede to political correctness and other outside pressures from the world.
As all this is being laid on my spirit as I am putting together this message. I feel both encouraged but also anxious, the church is really going to need God in her....to be what she is destined to be. In fact, nothing less will due. We must be in Jesus, as he is the promised seed. He must be in him to such an extent that he in us. This depth has to be so concrete because anything less will be uprooted. A shaking is coming, and the only "inside" information I have is the Bible. Anything that is not rooted with depth will be uprooted. Also, anything that is rooted, but not in Jesus will also be uprooted because Jesus is the only sure foundation. It's time we get real with this thing, and really grow some solid roots in the only sure foundation. "The shaking" is coming. It's time we make our stand for righteousness.