Throughout the fall of 2019, All Nations House of Prayer Southwest engaged in an in-depth study of Psalm 27. Psalm 27 is a Word of the Lord for His people to strengthen them to endure the time of trouble successfully.

PDF notes from that series of teachings may be found here: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/043a3787-b307-4fec-b839-c17d45726639/downloads/PDF•Psalm27GodsWayInTheTimeOfTrouble.pdf?ver=1584627920603

KEY TEXT: Psalm 27
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me. Do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

We Are In a “Time of Trouble”
Beloved, we are in a “time of trouble” (Psalm 27:5), and surprisingly, God’s primary objective isn’t to remove us from trouble. God is mostly interested in telling us  something throughthe trouble; either giving us insight into the nature of our trouble, or disclosing  some important truth about His character pursuant to the trouble.

How we define trouble is frequently quite different than how God defines trouble. It’s imperative that  we learn to not allowthe course of this world: social, political, familial and economic pressure to  define what trouble is at any given period. A whole generation in Noah’s time were preoccupied with  their own values and worldview, and therefore did not see the true nature of their trouble until the rain  of God’s judgment began to fall on them. Sin and selfishness had seared their minds and dulled their  spirits so that they shunned God’s light and salvation (Psalm 27:1) As a result of not entering into  face to face dialogue with God, they missed all the cues about the nature of the trouble they were in,  and the impending calamity.

It’s vital that we understand how God is defining the trouble in our world. (Beloved, if the response  our Lord is looking for is Psalm 27, I can guarantee you our primary trouble IS NOT corona  virus…)

Most evangelical Christians, pastors and leaders, in any season, because of the littleness of their  prayer lives, live conventionally disconnected from understanding God’s definition of trouble. They  are living in a dangerous way while a great “time of trouble” filled with “devouring wickedness” consumes the land. (Psalm 27:2)

In order to hear God’s definition of trouble, we must “inquire of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4) It takes intentionality to press against the natural gravity of seeing things from a different perspective than the one we’re used to operating from. We won’t see ourselves, our world, or God from God’s perspective  if we’re doing it casually, or “on the run”.

There is a greater trouble coming than COVID-19. Before Jesus returns, there will be escalating judgments, warnings and alarms. These  calamities are all about God removing everything that…
 a. hides our condition from us, 
 b. keeps us in our selfish pride, and 
 c. hinders us from entering into the covenant love that He’s created us for.

Tom Stolz, the director of The Lighthouse of Prayer in Kalamazoo, Michigan writes: “If mankind wants to try to live without our Maker, He will actually let us, but it is deadly  and painful. Right now we are literally witnessing man fail to control disease, economics and  social structures. If we repent and make God our strength, turn from our selfish ways, give  ourselves to prayer and intercession, we will find that He will lead us and protect us from  what is next. If not, He will give us over to more of our own leadership and that will be much  more painful than empty shelves. Read Lamentations. All this happened to the “Apple of  God’s eye” because they would not repent. What is coming is much worse than what is  described in Lamentations.” 

Jesus warned His disciples that trouble would increase and intensify before He returned.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be  famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of  sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by  all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another,  and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And  because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to  the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as  a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24: 7-14)

Our daily reality is, we live in trouble. Corona virus will lift and dissipate and we will still be in a “time of trouble” (Psalm 27:5). There’s an even greater pandemic that’s already infected 7.4 billion of us. It’s mortality rate  is 100%. You don’t need to test for it. You’ve already got it.

The good news is, there’s a Cure that’s come out of the nation of Israel. His Name is Jesus  of Nazareth. He took the disease in His own Body. And now His blood is the Perfect anti- body. His ability to save is 100%. It’s vital that the Church not only see the “threat” of the  “time of trouble” but also wholeheartedly seize the Holy Spirit orchestrated opportunities  that come with God troubling the earth, and declare God’s divine antidote to the trouble.

God Chiefly Defines “Trouble” According to What’s Happening in Our Heart
The trouble that the Lord sees in our hearts are attitudes that corrupt faith and hinder love between  ourselves and God, and ourselves and others that God loves.

These attitudes include, pride, selfishness, covetousness, unforgiveness, impurity, lust of pleasure,  bitterness, offense, fear, unbelief, hostility, idolatry, deceit, alienation, malice, rebellion… etc.

When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. So put to  death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion,  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is  coming on the  sons of disobedience. You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among  them. But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your  mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices and have  been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the  one who created it. (Colossians 3:4-10; See also Ephesians 4:31)

If these attitudes are not addressed and purged from our lives we (yes, even believers) will actually  find ourselves warring against the Son’s sovereign, holy and perfectly loving reign. In a simple  sentence, our hearts will be “anti-christ”.

As I encounter different waves of trouble, and I’m tempted to give footholds to selfishness, fear,  anxiety and hostility, the Holy Spirit is training me to ask a simple question that reorients the overall  perspective of my heart: What will I want my heart to be filled with on the day I meet my  Bridegroom King? I’m also praying this prayer for myself and my sisters and brothers through this  hour of trouble: “Holy Spirit, use this season to fill our hearts with the attitudes and qualities that are  most pleasing to our King.”

Some of the attitudes and emotions that I want my heart to grow in include: Awe, excitement,  humility, gratitude, zeal for others’ well-being in God, compassion, tenderness, worship, yieldedness  to His ways, agreement with His leadership, first-commandment love, trust, intimacy, no shame,  purity, integrity, forgiveness, mercy-giving, desire for unity with Him and others, adoration etc. 

(Note: On that day when we meet, I believe one of the heart dynamics that will be most valuable  to me will be to look into His smiling eyes and rejoice over the shared history of love that we had  cultivated with each other. Episodes like the corona-virus outbreak, are a marvelous opportunity to make a memory of increasing in our love for this Man that we will one day see face to face.)
 

Our Hearts Are Weaker than We Think
Our hearts are weaker, and therefore, in more trouble than we’re conscious of. Our hearts are more  susceptible to the wickedness that is encamped and warring against me. David writes: the wicked  came against me to eat up my flesh…(Psalm 27:2) Our hearts are more at risk of being devoured  by contra-Kingdom attitudes than we are aware.

Unassisted, our hearts are no match for the forces of darkness, the pressures of the world, and the  temptations of the flesh. Apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit, the human heart will lose a  one-on-one battle with the lion who is seeking someone to devour 100% of the time.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking  whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

When the pressure of crises like corona-virus hit our heart, we violently default to attitudes that will  unplug our faith and corrode our love for Jesus. If we’re not vigilant the trauma of these events will  trigger self-defense mechanisms in our inner-man that abort humility, meekness, compassion and  other beatitudes; (attitudes that Jesus says contain the blessing) in favor of fear, unbelief, selfishness,  pride, anxiety, hostility, accusation etc.

When the antichrist is on the earth his power to deceive will be great. (Matthew 24:11; 2 John 1:7)  His deceit will shipwreck the love and faith of millions of born-again believers. However, the power  he employs to deceive and defile the human heart will not only be an external power, it will be a  power that draws on 7000 years of natural human tendency. Millions will have no power to resist his  temptations because they never considered the weakness of their own flesh to do so, and never  cultivated a history of learning how to infuse their hearts with the victorious power of Jesus’ strength.

The pressure on our hearts to succumb to devouring wickedness is only going to increase in 2020, and  the years ahead.

Right now, the Lord is graciously allowing the world to feel our weakness and littleness, and our great  need for Him, so that we can learn to turn to Him, repent and be clothed with His Christlike strength.
How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and who has not turned to the  proud, nor those who lapse into falsehood. (Psalm 40:4)

The great task in the hour of trouble isn’t for us to get strong in our own strength again! This is such a  counterintuitive mindset. No matter what, none of us are going to be strong enough for what is  coming. The point is for us to see that we’re weak enough in order for us to have the life-saving  conversation that the Lord wants to have with us! The Lord is saying: “I see your weakness. I’m not  put off by it. I’m exposing it to you so that you and I talk about your need for Me and My strength.”

Our Lord is gloriously committed to us knowing that our hearts are not as strong as we think they  are; and that He’s more loving, more compassionate and more capable of leading people with weak  hearts than we think He is.

God is Leading Us into a “New Normal”
Our nation and our world needs more than a perfunctory day of prayer to stave off death. God bless  every cry in crisis, but these prayers ultimately cannot merely be about our world economics, political  aspirations, and power-structures returning to an old-normal.

Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is about to return to rule 195 nations! His arrival will be the greatest “new  normal” planet earth has ever seen.

We want the new normal that comes with His presence! It’s the glory, the power and the righteous  order that we pray for and long for!

Year after year, and day after week, the Lord is preparing the heart of the Church for His arrival,  removing spot, wrinkles and blemishes (Ephesians 5:27) faithfully leading us deeper and deeper into  His vision of the earth’s new normal, so that when He appears we will be like Him. (1 John 3:2)

In His perfect love and grace, He’s just brought 7.4 billion of us into “lock down mode” – all to have a  focused conversation with us about the new normal He’s inaugurating.

He’s zealous for our hearts to be filled w the truth of His goodness in the land of the living (Psalm  27:13), so that we’re prepared to respond to Him in love and confidence through the great and terrible  now, and in the days that are ahead…

It takes supernatural revelation and faith to declare in the face of this raging and enticing world: “For  my part, I want the new normal of the King! I want generosity, joy and love instead of selfishness,  doom and condemnation.”

It’s also important that we let this be our message to our world. You really do want the new normal of  the King. We want Him to reign over sin; over the curse; over death – in us, and our world!
 

The Way to Shift Our Heart Into God’s New Normal is to “Focus on Jesus”
Psalm 27 is the Holy Spirit’s urgent exhortation to focus the eyes of our heart on the God/Man, Christ  Jesus.
“One thing I have desire of the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all  the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

A prayer-phrase from Jon Thurlow succinctly expresses the spirit of verse 4, and the spirit that the  Holy Spirit is engendering in the hearts of billions in this hour: ”I turn off the other distractions; I  isolate this one conversation; O, Spirit of wisdom and revelation, open up my eyes to the beauty of  our King!”

The only way we will make the shift away from our strength to the Lord’s strength; away from our  old normal to His new normal is by beholding the sufficiency of the strength and goodness of our  coming King.

In order to do this we need to “Seek My Face!” (Psalm 27:8) and to establish (Psalm 27:4) lifestyles  of intimate dialogue with the Lord that will fill our hearts with love for Him, and confidence in His  good and perfect ability to reign.

The Spirit is saying: “Lock eyes with Me, My Bride! Just as Moses cried out to see My glory, come  into the cleft of the rock as I pass by… I long for you to be strengthened with revelations of My  goodness and My glory!”
My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away. For lo, the  winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing has  come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs,  and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come  away! O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face,  Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” (Song of Songs 2:10-14)

The Holy Spirit is zealous to declare the dynamic realities of Jesus (John 16:13-15) into our hearts, so that we are conformed to His image. This is the focus of the preparation that the Holy Spirit is  engendering in these hours of crisis. These dynamic realities are divine strength in the inner man  (Ephesians 3:16). Furthermore, they can only be received and appropriated in our lives through the  dynamics of prayer.

Warning: It’s folly for us to believe that in the intensifying heat of the Day of the Lord, any of us will  have more wherewithal, to cultivate sufficient spiritual strength in the place of prayer if we are not  “seeking His Face” (Psalm 27:8) today. We should not assume that in the day of increased  turbulence, persecution and anxiety we will see the value of this lifestyle any clearer or have any  more bandwidth to cultivate it then. 
“For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You. In a time when You may be found; Surely  in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall  preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalm 32:6-7)

In this hour it would be extremely wise for the Church to entreat the Holy Spirit to train us up in  Psalm 27. The Lord has even conveniently divided the Psalm into fourteen individual verses – one for  each day that many are quarantining. Each verse is packed with God, Who is our solution to this and  every future crisis.
Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. (Psalm 27:11)

Our Lord is zealous to lead us into His definition of increased strength in this hour. His way entails  doing Psalm 27:4 and letting our hearts be saturated by the beauty of our coming King. If we fail to give ourselves to this regimen, we will be overwhelmed with the intensifying curse on the earth. Simply put, if we focus on the plague around us, it will obscure the King. But if we focus on the King  it will obscure the plague, no matter how intensely it surrounds us.
He shall set me high upon a rock, and my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. (Psalm 27:5,6)
 

____________________
JSB • March, 2020

FLAGS
Fifteen years ago I was invited to a large, evangelical conference in the southwest, sponsored by a prominent Christian ministry. It was held in an enormous convention center and featured two familiar charismatic leaders.

I arrived on the third day of the gathering. As we entered the auditorium each of the ten-thousand attendees was given a small, American flag. I was happy to receive the flag – but a little curious. Perhaps it was a prayer prompt for some special message during the day.

I had no idea.

We began with inspiring worship, and I joyfully engaged the glory of God with my sisters and brothers. About forty-five minutes into the program, one of the chief leaders took the stage and began to describe how grateful he was to live in America – a land where he and his family could freely worship God. “Amen! Thank You, Father!”

He continued, and the musicians, who had been playing in the background, moved into a stirring melody: “Our nation, has been blessed by God ever since it was first conceived, and birthed upon this continent…”
…and a parade of actors began to march down the elevated center aisle of the auditorium.

At the front, there were three men looking like Jefferson, Franklin etc. and a woman who looked like Betsy Ross. This group was followed by a drum and fife corp, with “Old glory” flying above. Everyone in the hall was getting to their feet, and the music had transitioned into an exhilarating rendition of “O beautiful for spacious skies…”.

The leader’s voice continued to cheer the procession:
“We thank God for the Revolutionary war…
the war of 1812…
the Civil war…
the Mexican American war…
the first world war…
the second world war…”

With each war, another group of 4 or 5 actors marched down the aisle in replica military outfits… one squad of soldiers after another.
“The Korean war…
the Viet-Nam war…
and now the gulf war!”

At this point the thousands were standing on their seats waving their flags in the air – many with hands extended in full-on worship, while (this is no embellishment) the band had crescendoed into a chorus of “thank You for the blood… thank You for the blood.”

I could barely hear myself think. Gradually a picture of (Daniel 3) and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came to my mind. I thankfully found my seat, sat down, and laid my plastic flag on the chair next to me.

Friends, I love our nation – but, by the grace of God, that love is not in competition, or confusion with the affection that transcendently belongs to our resurrected Savior. They are not equal.

FLORIDA
Cut to Miami, Florida, where on January 3, 2020 President Trump launched his re-election campaign in the mega-church “King Jesus International Ministry”. He strolled into a private “meet and greet” with evangelical dignitaries, as if he’d just entered a pilot debriefing: “We got ‘im!” Trump exclaimed (referring to the fact that Special Operations had just assassinated the Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, and several of his Iranian attendants.) Our family burst into cheers.

The rest of the evening was remarkably similar to his typical campaign rallies – except for the notable absence of the curse-words that routinely lace his stump-speeches. Our President was in church.
The gathering did, however, conclude with his iconic theme song: “You can’t always get what you want”: (a song written and sung by an avowed satanist). Again, I remind you, our President was in church.

How is it that we don’t see just how removed our behavior in such events is from our evangelical heritage?

OUR MORAVIAN FAMILY
In the 18th century, the Moravians led a prayer-movement that spawned a missions movement that touched the nations. They sent their missionaries with great fanfare. When individuals left for a distant land, their whole community would tearfully parade to the docks and proclaim this commission over their departing sons and daughters: “Go and win for the Lamb the rewards of His suffering!”

The Moravian’s passion for souls was surpassed only by their preeminent love for the Lamb of God.

Question: When was the last time you and your whole church fellowship stood at the gate of your local airport and cheered the departure, or the return of a gospel missionary? [a]

What would Jesus say about a people who more vigorously applaud an Islamic terrorist being blown to smithereens, than the sending of missionaries to that same land to save the man, and his family? What would our (Revelation 2 and 3) Lord say to the Church of America who evidences more ardent zeal for our (Matthew 5:22) President than we do for missionaries who will lay down their lives for the Shi’ites going to hell?

We’ve lost our way, sisters and brothers. But it’s not a path that’s been unfamiliar to the Church. The ekklesia has persistently sought political control at the expense of Kingdom mandate since the opening chapter of the book of Acts:
has persistently sought political control at the expense of Kingdom mandate since the opening chapter of the book of Acts:
“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) In today’s parlance, the disciples were asking their unconquerable King, “Are you now about to make our nation great again?”

Beloved, by the mercy of Jesus, we are primarily transcendent citizens of His Kingdom; and then secondarily, salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) citizens of another.

Jesus’ great commission to His cross-bearing disciples was, Jesus’ great commission to His cross-bearing disciples was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19) It was decidedly not, “Stay home. Shame the unrighteous, kill the heathen, and fight for your rights.”

As one who is keenly aware of the demonic influence humanism has had on our society, as one who has spent his life committed to conservative values, as one who prays for his President, governor, senators etc., and one who anticipates the Church’s purification through the Holy Spirit’s grace-filled unction – let me say this plainly: Our veneration of America and President Trump has become a full-blown (2 Corinthians 10:4) ) “stronghold”; a (Leviticus 19:31) ) “familiar spirit” that’s that’s strangling (Matthew 13:7) the heart and soul of evangelicalism. So many of our leaders, sisters and brothers seem no longer able to distinguish our Spirit-empowered loyalty to Jesus and His Kingdom from our sentimental loyalty for American nationalism.

The only hope we have of breaking free from this (Galatians 5:20) fever is by (Psalm 119:34) wholeheartedly, (James 4:9) repentantly, prayerfully and ruthlessly applying the (Matthew 10:38) cross to every aspect of our evangelical world.

Our cross, is the only cure for our deadly malady.

Should we fail to purge ourselves of this cancer, our moral-spiritual condition will become more fatal than our socio-political condition without a conservative in the White House.

Make no mistake: Our prayer-less, self-absorption is blinding us to the fact that the judgment of God is upon our nation. And most of the evangelical world is disconnected from the depth to which we are Make no mistake: Our prayer-less, self-absorption is blinding us to the fact that the judgment of God is upon our nation. And most of the evangelical world is disconnected from the depth to which we are “storing up (Romans 2:5) ) wrath” upon ourselves as we persist in this (James 4:4) idolatry. The truth is, we’ve grown dull to the very heart issues themselves that are at the crux of what the Holy Spirit is sanctifying in the Bride.

THE FROG IN THE KETTLE
In the spring of 2016 I wrote an article for a major Christian magazine expressing my concern about merely voting for “the lesser of two evils” and squelching our transcendent, prophetic voice to the nation.

I wrote: “As America reels under compounding sin and the tension of partisan philosophies, where are the voices that are unbowed to political expediency, that look at a humanistic candidate and declare with authority: ‘You’re a deceptive, corrupt and calculating spirit. You are not fit to govern your own soul, much less the soul of a nation.’ And then do not lose the integrity of their message because they no less boldly confront the hedonist candidate: ‘You have a carnal heart and a murderous tongue. We will not bow to your definition of greatness. Even now, our nation is overshadowed by the judgment of God. It’s you, O man, who needs to find shelter in the greatness of God.” (“Where Are the Friends of the Bridegroom?” June, 2016)

90% of my evangelical sisters and brothers resoundingly affirmed this heart posture.

Less than 4 years later, those (like the editors of Christianity Today) who continue to voice Kingdom concern about this President become the targets of angry letters, [b] are shouted down by the vast majority of our body, and even branded as “false Christians” [c].  

What’s changed, my friends? [d]  

When I hear of a thousand of our evangelical family members gathered to cheer someone who is being introduced as the man “who is changing the spiritual atmosphere of our nation”, [e] I think of that conference fifteen years ago. I ask God for the (Ephesians 5:15-16) ) circumspection to understand the social-psychological pressure that to understand the social-psychological pressure that “so easily entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1). And I pray for the day when politicians take up their cross with the company of the redeemed exclaiming “He is Lord! He is Lord! He is Lord!“, rather than the redeemed children of the Lord chanting “Rome! Rome! Rome!”

Beloved, we’re being enticed by a siren’s song. 
Our lost nation needs us to extricate ourselves… 
Jesus, our Deliverer, and our returning Bridegroom, demands it.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

_______________
JSB • January, 2019

FOOTNOTES:
[a] I love that we show honor to the men and women in our military. But as I’ve lived in our American culture for more than 60 years now, (40 years integrally connected to the evangelical American culture), I can honestly say I’ve never seen the same level of zeal, commitment and enthusiastic championing of our heroic missionaries – many sent over seas for their entire lives – that I do for the way we evangelicals show support for the heroic defenders of our nation.

[b] I find it lamentable that 200 of our evangelical leaders can spend four years turning a blind eye to our President’s contra-Kingdom behavior, not utter a word of concern about the many extra-Biblical, Trump-worshipping comments being made in our body today, but can immediately generate a letter of indignation when an evangelical publication like Christianity Today dares to acknowledge the contra-Kingdom character issues in our President. What kind of spirit animates behavior like this?https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/lori-arnold/nearly-200-faith-leaders-sign-letter-rebuking-christianity-today-op-ed.html 

[c] “Christians who don’t support President Trump will have to answer to God.” https://www.christianpost.com/…/paula-white-christians-will…, and “only saved people can love Donald Trump… Trump is a test of whether you’re even saved.” https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/celebrities/article239027493.html This is a different gospel, beloved; no less than an aberration of the message Paul warned us about in Galatians 1: This is a different gospel, beloved; no less than an aberration of the message Paul warned us about in Galatians 1: “If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8) 
We don’t curse Jim Baaker or Paula Cain White. But without a cross at the center of their theology, and by teaching political affiliation that supersedes faith in Jesus’ death, they are bringing their adherents under the natural order of the curse.  

[d] The apostle Paul provides the Church with an excellent diagram of the declension of the soul under the curse of sin. Paul outlines this in Romans 1:18-32.  
A. We argue about the ethics of choosing the lesser of two evils.  
B. We make excuses for our selection of it.  
C. We look the other way when the evil manifests itself.  
D. We offer the evil mulligans for it’s character, rather than its behavior.  
E. We normalize the evil. 
F. We redact the history of the evil. 
G. We champion the evil.  
H. And then we persecute others who do not celebrate the evil.  
This is the same frog-in-the-kettle condition; our unwillingness to prophetically confront evil wherever we find it, that has allowed whole segments of our culture to normalize abortion, same-sex relationships, embrace Islam as a religion of peace, minimize racism and foment anti-Zionism.  

[e] January 3, 2020. Paula Cain White introduces President Trump as the man “who is transforming the spiritual atmosphere in our nation”.  https://www.c-span.org/video/?467813-1/president-trump-speaks-evangelical-rally-miami

Fig-leaf apologetics, like the kind that’s employed in the article written by Joseph Mattera (attached below), only underscores the fact that the deep poison corrupting the Church in America is OUR poison. Rather than weep and cry out to God, we parse and dismember to save self. “The woman You gave me…” “The serpent, he…”

In the face of charges of social insensitivity, racism, idolatry, political partisanship, compromise, sexual immorality and false prophecy, our evangelical family is launching boat-loads of these arguments. It’s vital that they be seen for what they are – self-justifying defense-mechanisms of the shamed and the desperate that have no power to shield us from the depth of true holiness that the Lord is intent on forging in His Bride.

The judgement of the Lord is in our camp. Like Moses (in Exodus 32:26, He is separating those who will surrender to His leadership, from those who will only offer more excuses for why the judgement of the Lord shouldn’t apply to the way they’re living their lives.

Beloved, there is no need to fear His judgments if we are making Him our shelter. His grace is sufficient for ALL of even our worst sin. But you can’t keep one foot in the camp of self-saving idolatry when the Lord is separating His people to Himself.

For all who are separated to Himself, He offers us the “dead-end” way of the cross. (FYI – It’s SUPPOSED to look like a dead-end.) That’s what things look like before “resurrection”.

“Why We Must Cling to Spiritual Formation in the Midst of Evangelical Scandal” by Joseph Mattera
Article: https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/the-pulse/84722-why-we-must-cling-to-spiritual-formation-in-the-midst-of-evangelical-scandals?fbclid=IwAR2shUuiaxdS7fgJz1BEEDmk8DVeHQsOSZUborbqYKhGYfmXGH0zY2WpO10

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JSB • March 2021

As Exodus chapter 32 opens, Moses and Joshua are on the mountain, being overwhelmed with the glory of the Lord, while back in camp, the sons of Jacob are giving themselves to an unholy exhilaration. Bored and distracted, the former slaves of Egypt fashion a god from the gold of their own inheritance and begin to offer it their affection and allegiance. In verses 5 and 6 we read about the scope of the Israelites’ worship.
“Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” (Exodus 32:5-6)

There are two noteable elements about this part of the story. First, the people of God, under Aaron, God’s ordained leadership, view their idolatrous behavior as a service unto the Lord”. (v.5) The Lord, however, looks upon the very same activity as corruption (v.7). This discrepancy is at the heart of the judgements of the Lord. We see our lives and ways imperfectly – even under a veil of delusion. We can be deceived into believing that what we are celebrating is good and even holy. We need the clear-eyed judgement of the Lord on our lives to see goodness and holiness from God’s eternal perspective.

The second salient feature of this story is that Joshua, who has been steeped in the counsel of the Lord, even when he hears the “festival singing and dancing” of the people (v.18) understands it to be the “sound of war” (v.17) against God.
“When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.’ But he said: ‘It is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear.” (Exodus 32:17-18)

When one has been in prolonged periods of prayer and fasting before the Lord, and then returns to the “norm” of the Christian culture, she/he often feels the great disparity between the Lord’s plumbline, and the people’s playing.

2020, and its attendant pressures have been nothing if not a season of carnal clamor in the camp of the Lord. World-weary and disconnected from the pure essence of God, our family has learned to make ourselves merry, measuring ourselves according to the unholy paradigm of our evangelical culture, rather than the unadulterated entente of the Lord.

Israel’s idolatry was more than a “one-off” set of dysfunctional behaviors. The people had taken significant time, contributed what was precious, and fashioned an object of veneration, undoubtably a familiar deity, one that offered them more predictability and apparent security than this formidable and frightening God of Moses. Furthermore, the lust for this idol was significant enough to keep many from joining forces with Moses when confronted with the folly of their misconduct. Their mind-set had undoubtably become attached to a narrative and a world-view that looked more appealing than remaining faithful to the one who had led them out of slavery. This was no shallow party. To many, it had grown to be a wholehearted “religion” sufficient to inspire songs, dances, festivals and personal sacrifice wherein which the people authentically believed they were offering service “unto the Lord”. (Exodus 32:5)

In the verses that follow, we see that the reckoning of the Lord upon His people was painful and clean.
“Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, ‘Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’  So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, ‘Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.’ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, ‘You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book…. (and) the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.” (Exodus 32:25-30; 33)

As His judgement fell upon the people, there was no bartering with the Lord. One either renounced their idolatry, repented of their sin, and announced their abject fidelity to God, or they were uncoupled from the Exodus that He was accomplishing.

He severed thousands who had covered their doorposts with the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12:13-28), and had sung the song of Miriam at the destruction of their enemies (Exodus 15:1-21). He divorced all who opposed His paradigm, though it had not been fully revealed. Those who transgressed the covenant established by the unapproachable God (Exodus 24:1-3) would proceed no further toward the land of promise. Without humbling themselves before His analysis of the situation and dealing with that which was defiling their relationship with God, their journey under His favor was over – literally.

It should be an occasion for us to tremble to remember that the same God of Sinai is the One Who walks among the Churches of Revelation 1, 2 and 3. The One Who is leading the Church out of this age, and into the next is the One Who rewards, Who releases pure judgements, and removes lamp stands. He is our resurrected Jesus.

The Lord Who purged the covenant children of Jacob, is the Lord Who purged the covenant people of Thyatira, is the Lord Who is purging the covenant people in America. This reality should bring every praying assembly to their knees. In the fear of the Refiner’s fire, it should compel every believer to scrutinize every vestige of racism, pride, idolatry, hostility, antipathy, indifference and selfishness in our heart.

Beloved, (and we are – Hebrews 12:6) evangelicalism will not experience the fulness of the presence of the Lord in this hour without dealing with our corrupted hearts. The Lord simply isn’t going to turn a blind eye to our false-prophecies, idolatries and contra-Kingdom ways. He knows what’s under our rug. They must be brought into the light, repented of and removed from our camp. Any talk about personal power and revival without talk about a purifying repentance borne on a paradigm of prayer is exhorting us into one more false way, in a year of many false ways. Neither is it being circumspect about the Biblical record of God’s dealings with His people.

The appropriate response of the people of God to the judgements of God is corporate prayer, confession and reconsecration to God.

In this hour, appealing to a sentimental false-grace theology, redacting the past, pointing at our ‘enemies’, justifying self on the curve, counting on the mere passage of time, or promising to do better will fare us no better than they would had our forefathers plied them at the foot of Sinai, or the city of Sardis.

The judgements of the Lord are neither optional, nor avoidable. They are not open for debate. His assessments are clean and target-specific. They are altogether true and righteous. He knows the incessant inclination of the human heart to duck and cover. And He also knows how to separate our rhetoric from reality.

He’s promised a Bride aflame with first-commandment love to His Son. I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion… Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for an inheritance.” (Psalm 2:6,8) “Understand what the will of the Lord is… that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:17,26,27)And He knows how to bring our spots to the surface.

The good news is, He loves us. He wants us. He’s committed to us. And He has an abundance of grace for every cleansing judgement that’s coming.

The sobering truth about our situation is, this grace will only be accessed by much prayer. And prayerlessness  is one of the indictments the Lord is bringing against our evangelical culture. This means that in order to respond Biblically to the Lord, one will have to engage in a counter-cultural lifestyle; one that won’t be applauded by most, and will seem “out-of-step” with the majority of what the church around you is doing. It will be no less difficult than had you had to say “no” to the “cow carnival” in the Israelite camp: “No. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Beloved, the judgement of the Lord is in our camp. Like Moses (in Exodus 32:26) He is separating those who will surrender to His leadership, from those who will only offer more excuses for why the assessment of the Lord shouldn’t apply to the way they’re living their lives.

In the face of charges of social insensitivity, racism, idolatry, political partisanship, compromise, sexual immorality and false prophecy, our evangelical family is launching boat-loads of these arguments. It’s vital that they be seen for what they are – self-justifying defense-mechanisms of the shamed and the desperate that have no power to shield us from the depth of true holiness that the Lord is intent on forging in His Bride. 

For all who yield themselve to Him, He offers us the “dead-end” way of the cross. (FYI – It’s supposed to look like a dead-end.) That’s what things look like before “resurrection”.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons…He (chastens us) for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:5-8, 10-11)

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JSB • March, 2021

PREFACE
What vision stimulates your heart as you follow Jesus? What do you hope your life will look like a year from now? How about ten years from now? Do you hunger for signs & wonders? Prophetic anointing? Wisdom? Boldness, favor and zeal to proclaim the gospel? A richer expression of the love and character of Jesus? This teaching is about responding to the Holy Spirit’s invitation to look deeper and higher within His beautiful, burning heart: to see and understand the high vision that He has for the people of God in this hour of history.

GOD’S DESIRE FOR EVERY BELIEVER: A VIBRANT SPIRIT
Living with a vibrant spirit is God’s vision & passionate desire for every believer.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. (Psalm 92:12-15)

The Hebrew for flourish is Dash’na’im; meaning: “vigorous ones”, or “illuminated ones”. The OldTestament also uses the word when referring to stalwart warriors. God is saying, The right order for all those who believe is for them to grow up vigorous and vibrant in spirit.
• they shall flourish
• they shall be planted
• they shall still bear fruit in old age
• they shall be fresh and flourishing
• they shall declare that the Lord is upright and faithful

Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. This doesn’t mean that the person is always in the building or organization of a House of Prayer. It speaks of the reality that’s cultivated in the courts of intimate fellowship with the Lord. Vitality needs to be thoroughly enculturated with physicality and intentionality now so that the person can return to the secret courts of the Lord within their own heart perpetually and immediately.

“in old age” speaks of an undimmed spirit through the entirety of one’s life, regardless of the intensity of the season; presumably even within those who are present when the Lord returns. In a great and terrible day, the dash’na’im shall declare that the Lord is upright and there is no injustice in what He does.

Jesus, the true Light Who enlightens every man (John 1:9) encourages each believer: “You have the capacity to be filled and wholly enlightened by My vibrancy and vitality.” 
If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light. (Luke 11:36)
The path (or the way) of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. (Proverbs 4:18) [NASB]
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)And the glory which You gave Me I have given them… (John 17:22)

To cultivate a brilliant spirit is to mature in our Christ-likeness. Jesus is the most alive and glory-filled person in the world. To become more and more like Him is to become more and more vibrant.
We all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)
that we… may grow up in all aspects into Him Who is the head – Christ. (Ephesians 4:15)

The invitation to cultivate a vibrant spirit is the companion invitation to cultivating wholeheartedness. As we increasingly love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) our spirit will become illuminated by the One Whom we love.

A vibrant spirit is living with a heart that is fully and eternally alive; the condition in which we are allowing the seven longings of our heart to be wholly satisfied by Jesus and His righteousness. (See http://mikebickle.org/resources/resource/2921)

The purification of our spirit is us taking personal responsibility for the bride making herself ready (Revelation 19:7) It is also the dynamic process that Paul is speaking of in (Ephesians 5:27) when he describes a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. It is also cultivating the illuminated witness that Jesus saw in John the Baptist when He declared: He was the burning and shining lamp, (who was full of) light. (John 5:35)

Living with a vibrant spirit is our consummate destiny.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2,3)
We were built for righteousness! It’s deceit to believe that believers will find any true satisfaction apart from living in righteousness. RIGHTEOUSNESS is how heaven spells FULFILLMENT of the desires we’ve been hard-wired with, and the purposes for which we’ve been created.

THE ALTERNATIVES TO CULTIVATING A VIBRANT SPIRIT
Confusion: An honest lack of understanding about what a vibrant spirit is, how vibrant we can be in this age, what we may do to cultivate it – and that we don’t have all day to cultivate it. The western church’s standard is not for vibrancy; but for status quo. The enemy is bent on corrupting individuals, communities and generations.

Compromise: Once the way has been discerned, many still fail to Count the Cost simply because the way requires so great a sacrifice of the consolations, values & applause of this world. Believers face great temptation to become apathetic and unassertive; to withdraw from spiritual violence, andto draw back from spiritual zeal. We easily lose a sense of urgency; for God’s ideal for ourselves; our families, and our communities.

Comparison: It’s the “norm” to pattern our spiritual vibrancy after the relative vibrancy of those around us rather than on the eternal vibrancy of Jesus. Resist the deception of living according to the curve, knowing that all will be tested according to His glory and righteousness; the Absolute.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:3)

Corruption:
They have corrupted themselves. They are not His children… they are a crooked and perverse generation. (Deuteronomy 32:5) [This comes not as an indictment of a present-tense circumstance, but as a prophecy.]
Put off your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.  (Ephesians 4:22)
…that you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the worldthrough lust. (2 Peter 1:4) the unjust… promise liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome,by him also he is brought into bondage. (2 Peter 2:9,19)
Those individuals and families who do not set themselves on a path to cultivate the vibrant spirit will make themselves vulnerable to the corrupting power of the great end-times onslaught of immorality. (Revelation 19:2)

PIERCING THE DECEIT OF A DIM SPIRIT
It’s so critical that we close the doors to the alternatives which so easily ensnare us (Hebrews 12:1) and help others do the same: a.) perpetually filling our MIND with God’s understanding of how vibrant a spirit can be in this age, b.) settling the issues of compromise and committing our HEARTS to pursue an increasingly vibrant spirit for decades, c.) establishing a steady vision, of one thing (Psalm 27:4) gazing into the brilliance of His image; fixing our EYES on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (the attitude that empowers us as we pursue that vibrant spirit). (Hebrews 12:2)

We need to know, and be daily attentive to the condition of our personal, spiritual vitality. Our spirits do not automatically move from dullness to brilliance. A soul that does not diligently attend to it’s vitality will soon find itself in a lackluster condition.
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed… (Matthew 13:15)
all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

We need to establish a determined will to not live with a dim spirit. It’s not safe to live with a dim spirit in this age. It’s dangerous to be a believer and walk with a dull spirit. It’s impossible for a forerunner. In Joel 1 and the book of Lamentations God describes the fearful and degenerate state of a people who allowed their spirits to grow more and more dull, barren and corrupted.

We need to understand what makes for a dull spirit. If we are determined to have a vibrant spirit, we will pay attention to the creeping deceit of those symptoms and attributes that cause hearts to grow cold and spirits to grow dim. Here are several questions to help us remain sensitive to our vibrancy:
1. How may I be despising the Lord or the Word of the Lord?
2. Where am I operating in self-sufficiency?
3. Where am I exalting my self?
4. How am I allowing my mind to be debased, or earth-bound in it’s thinking?
5. Where is my heart growing cold, lethargic and/or apathetic toward Jesus?
6. Where am I tolerating an identity built on self-evaluation rather than God-evaluation?
7. Where am I pursuing faithless, self-satisfaction?
8. In what way(s) am I excusing myself from having the cross being applied to my life?
9. Where can I not break free from sin; and where am I in bondage and addiction to sin?
10. Where am I forcing my own way?
11. What are the self-deprecating thoughts that nag my thinking?
12. Where has my spirit entertained and given in to fear and phobic thinking?
13. Where is my love for Jesus growing cold?
14. How am I withdrawing from experiences of intercession and prayer with God?
15. Where have I let timidity rule my heart instead of bold love for Jesus?
16. Where are my thoughts about God becoming stale, small and narrow?
17. Where am I harboring fear, suspicion and anger?
18. Where am I growing content in remaining insensitive toward God’s Spirit?
19. Where are my investments of faith in God becoming weak, bland and meager?
20. Where am I turning a blind eye to compromise with the Word of God?

How do we guard against the stealthy creep of stagnation in our spirits? The first step is to ask God for grace to remain attentive to our condition. Then we may pay attention to some common symptoms that accompany an increasingly dull spirit. Here are seven:
1. A loss of hunger for the “Word of God”
2. A waning sense of wonder and awe regarding the person of God Himself
3. An increasing numbness in the act of worship, whereby the holy and the glorious is treated as common  
4. A gnawing desire for isolation; from other believers and from being honest and authentic before God
5. Prayerlessness – a lack of intimate conversation
6. A persistent attitude that emotionally questions the wisdom of taking Him at His Word and faithfullyinvesting in His Kingdom
7. A wretched loss of longing, affection for & enjoyment of the person of Jesus.

Which of these symptoms threaten to short-circuit the vibrancy of your spirit today? Keep in mind, that one symptom will infect and affect the other aspects of our heart. One dimension of a diminished spirit, if left untreated will inevitably dim the others. It is essential that we vigilantly tend to the issues that dull our spirit. Each of us need the illumination of the Spirit to accurately discern the condition of our own spirit. “The heart is deceitful above all things , And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jer. 17:9) “How the gold has become dim!” (Lamentations 4:1) We also need/want a spirit of humility & brokenness in order to receive and respond to His revelation of the condition of our spirit. We want the Spirit’s illumination to prove beneficial and fruitful. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

WHAT A VIBRANT SPIRIT IS NOT
The believers of Sardis had developed a reputation of having a vibrant spirit and an alive heart, but they were living in a deceived state. Their brilliance was pretense and image. It was not rooted in eternal reality. It was profound kindness for Jesus to pierce their illusion and set their record straight.
I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)

Here are four things that a vibrant spirit is not!
1. A vibrant spirit is not a flamboyant personality.
2. It is not a lifestyle of spectacular sensational stories and adventures.
3. It is not mere fiery, alarmist or holiness verbiage.
4. A vibrant spirit is more than heightened human intelligence, ingenuity, creativity, cleverness or wisdom

FIFTEEN QUALITIES OF A VIBRANT SPIRIT
Below are fifteen qualities of vibrant righteousness that reside within a heart that is alive, in love & responsive to the tangible, present reign of our Lord, Jesus. What other marks of vibrant righteousness would your add to this list?
1. A heart and mind that is tenderized with AWE over the WONDER of Who God is.
The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? (Psalm 113:4-6) Let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. (Psalm 33:8)

2. Exhilaration at SEEING GOD being ENJOYED, HONORED & His glory being ACCLAIMED on earth. This characteristic is actually a supernatural quality of agape love:
love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6)
All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. (Psalm 145:10,11,12)

3. A consuming zeal to SHARE GOD’S yearning, weeping, burning HEART-VISION for His people
Zeal for your house has consumed me (Psalm 69:9) also (John 2:17)
What was it that both David and Jesus were zealous for? It wasn’t merely that blocks would be set on top of each other and there would be a building where God could be worshipped. Zeal for the House of God was a yearning, weeping passion for the people of God to be filled with the spirit of intimate prayer and worship. Who will see – who will understand and who will share God’s zeal for His people to be His House of Prayer? It’s also to weep with Jesus while He is outside of the temple; and outside of Jerusalem. (Luke 13:34)

4. A holy FEAR, REVERENCE and DREAD at HIS otherness
Moses was a man who knew close intimacy and friendship with the uncreated God. And yet, as he engaged God Moses himself was so frightened by the Being he encountered that he said, I am terrified and trembling. (Hebrews 12:21) Should we imagine that engaging His reality should produce less dread in our own lives? How does a created, limited, faulty, weak being stand before the eternally perfect, uncreated, all-powerful God Who fills 300 billion galaxies?
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed, it is near! (Joel 2:1)
Tremble, O earth, before the Lord – before the God of Jacob (Psalm 114:7)

5. A joyful RESPONSIVENESS and determined OBEDIENCE to GOD’S LEADERSHIP
Jesus Himself asserts that the greatest joy a man or woman can know is to keep and obey the commandments of the Father. This is not our nature. We must cultivate a responsive heart in cooperation with the work of the Spirit in our lives. As we grow in our responsiveness, we will experience greater and greater measures of deep joy. This is the promise of living wholehearted in righteousness.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:10-11)
Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. (Romans 16:19)

6. We need the body (safe, significant brothers and sisters in our life) who will love us enough to help us deal honestly with these enemies of our spirit – in a spirit of grace and celebration.
Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. (Eph. 4:15)

7. A HUNGER to receive, understand and be shaped by the WORD of GODYour words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16) (1 Thessalonians 1:6; Luke 19:6; Mark 4:16; 2 Peter 1:17) This is a multifaceted craving to experience the power of the Word of God, so that it accomplishes all that God means for it to accomplish within our lives. It’ an increasing desire and compulsion for the Word of God to forge us and shape every aspect of our lives: our heart, our will, our reputation, our dreams, our standard of living and our thinking.
Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your law… My soul is crushed with longing for Your judgments at all times. (Psalm 119:18, 20)

8. ABANDONED to be CONFORMED to the IMAGE of JESUS.
This is the gloriously preeminent objective of our relationship with God. The work of the cross, and the power of the Word under the loving leadership of the Holy Spirit is designed to bring us into vibrant Christ-likeness.
And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the Man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:49) As the believer yields to the (John 3:30) lifestyle, the Holy Spirit uses every life situation we encounter for
the good of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:28, 29)

9. A CRAVING to COMMUNE & DIALOGUE with God
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)
The burning desire of the “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) was to be in constant communion with God. David cultivated a vision of deep intimacy with God and became a picture of a spirit that is fully alive to the human pursuit of intimacy with God. The very mature apostle Paul expressed his own zeal for communion
with God in Philippians 3:10 when he cried: “I must know Him!”

10. A BOTTOM-LINE DESIRE to grow in FIRST-COMMANDMENT LOVE for HIM
Cultivating the priority of increasing in your love for God through all circumstances is the one dynamic that will cause your walk with God to grow deeper, and more brilliant, and more powerful than any other relational dynamic in the Kingdom. Love Him, beloved! He is worthy of great love. Jesus lists this as the first and greatest commandment. More than anything else, our God esteems and favors great love in the human heart.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)

11. A spirit of HUMILITY and MEEKNESS
In Philippians 2 Paul begins by speaking of Jesus’ astounding humility He humbled Himself… and ends with the mind-bending fact: and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Revelations of the eternal God operating in meekness and servility stir our hearts with a sense of awe and clothes us with incarnational strength to be like our Lord, Jesus.
But it is impossible for this quality to be developed by some internal human desire. Humility is the oil that arises in our spirit as we obey Matthew 16:24 If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross, and follow Me. The fountainhead of all humility is rooted in the crucified life, which is the foundational posture we embrace in our covenant with Christ.
You have died, and your life is now, hidden in Christ. (Colossians 3:3)
Increasing love, increasing humility, selflessness and death: These qualities cause us to grow in grace and the beauty of the things of God.

12. An escalating APPRECIATION for the MERCY and GRACE of GOD
Oh, you that have passed from death to life, you have reason indeed to be thankful! Remember what you once were by nature—dead. Think what you are now by grace—alive. Look at the dry bones thrown up from the graves. Such were you; and who has made you to differ? Go and fall low before the footstool of your God. Bless Him for His grace, His free distinguishing grace. Say to Him often, “Who am I, Lord, that you have brought me to this time? Why me? Why have you been merciful towards me?” – J.C. Ryle
The more we see the wickedness of our own heart, the pernicious curse of this world, the horror of hell, Jesus’ astounding cost for our atonement, the inheritance of His Kingdom, and length of eternity, the more and more grateful we should be.
“Every day my conscience makes confession relying on the hope of Your mercy as more to be trusted than my own innocence.” – Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (397 A.D.)

13. CONFIDENT FERVOR to INVEST in HIS KINGDOM
This is an uncommon work of faith that increases all the more as a believer acts upon the Word of God. As we increasingly invest our lives, values, wealth, energy, creativity and dreams in Who He says He is, what He wants to do and how He wants to do it our brilliance grows in goodness, confidence and peace.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Mat. 6:33) An abiding, LOVING COMMUNION with the SAINTS and the household of God It is inconceivable that we should be filled with the love of the Father and not also have love for His children. Patient love for the church is essential if one is to walk with a vibrant spirit. This love is a reflection of the Father’s agape heart and it’s a witness of the reconciling power of the Father to bring such disparate sons and daughters together under the reign of His Son.
So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith. (Galatians 6:10)
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

14. A passion to participate in JESUS’ active COMPASSION for the poor & the lost.
Everyday – all day, the Lord’s mission statement is to redeem humanity. His heart for the lost is a yearning urgency that extends, reaches, gives and provides a refuge to all in need of being rescued from the curse of sin.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38)

15. A ZEAL to see JESUS ENTHRONED and EMBRACED by every person, and in every sphere of our society. When we know the perfect goodness of the Lord’s ability to lead and we know the depth of the need of humanity it’s good and right that we should pray for, and yearn for every aspect of our world (families, individuals, governments and the arts) to embrace His life-fulfilling leadership.
The Lord rules forever. He rules in a just manner…Sing praises to the Lord, the One Who rules from Zion. Tell the nations what He has done! (Psalm 9:7 & 11)
You, O Lord, are enthroned forever. The fame of Your Name and Your glory endures forever. (Psalm 102:12)

WHY IS IT WISE FOR BELIEVERS TO CULTIVATE A VIBRANT SPIRIT?
1. It PROTECTS US in the Day of the LORD.
It’s wise for us to cultivate vibrant spirits before the hour of crisis. The virgins who took extra oil in their lamps had hearts and lives that were prepared to “enter into” God’s suddenly. 
…the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps… and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. (Matthew 25:4, 10) 
Those who live with a dim spirit will be easily enchanted by the great deceptions to come in this life. Vibrant righteousness is the “end-times defense” against hearts that grow cold (Matt. 24:12) and a stable refuge in
the day of delusion. The name of the Lord is like a strong tower; the righteous person runs to it and is set safely on high. (Proverbs 18:10).

2. A Vibrant Spirit MAGNIFIES GOD
The illumination of the human person (emotions, sensitivity, intelligence, relational abilities, heart attitude, etc.) through the magnification of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the most worshipful & honorable expression of our humanity unto God. It magnifies the grand extent of God’s plan to reach, redeem, elevate and beautify sinful and weak creatures.
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, and IN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS THEY ARE EXALTED for You are the glory of their strength (Lit. Hebrew = for the splendor of their strength is You) and in Your favor our horn is exalted. (Psalm 89:15-17)

3. Vibrant Righteousness is the MOST EXHILARATING WAY TO LIVE
It is the most stimulating & fulfilling way to live. “The biblical view of happiness is not based on circumstances but having a vibrant spirit in the midst of any circumstance.” Mike Bickle 
The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. (Proverbs 15:30)
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. (Psalm 19:8)
“As our soul awakens to the holy love of God through spiritual pleasure and fascination, we are empowered to set our heart to love and obey God with all our heart. When we set our hearts to live in 100 % obedience, our emotions are significantly and our heart is spiritually vibrant.” – Mike Bickle

4. Vibrant Christ-likeness is a RADIANT WITNESS in this hour
Living with a brilliant spirit is the most certain, convincing and thorough witness to the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

5. It’s the MOST WISE INVESTMENT of HIS GRACE
Cultivating a vibrant spirit will help us make the most of God’s grace as He daily dispenses it; month by month and year by decade. Every effort to engender vibrant spirits will be profoundly rewarding, both now, when the Spirit magnifies His activity within this age (revival), and in the age to come, when every cup of cold water  (Matthew 10:42) will be seen and appreciated according to Jesus’ estimation.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS COMMITTED TO CULTIVATING A VIBRANT SPIRIT IN YOU
Regardless of how bright or dim we are, God is phenomenally committed to overcoming our dimness with increasing measures of righteousness and vibrancy. The Holy Spirit is the relentless opposition to everything that threatens my heart from being fiery and vibrant.
The crushed stem will not be broken by him; and the feebly burning light will he not put out, TILL HE HAS MADE RIGHTEOUSNESS OVERCOME ALL. [BBE] (Matt. 12:20)
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (2 Thessalonians 5:23,24)

The Holy Spirit longs and groans for my spirit to become vibrant and fully alive. He is jealous for vitality and holiness to be firmly established in my life because His first name is “HOLY” – and wherever He is, He cannot be anything “less”. If I want Him in my life, I am giving Him authority to bring my unholy, unvibrant self into submission to His beautiful holiness (Psalm 110:3). The Holy Spirit has unwavering, 24-7 zeal to accomplish this within me! (Halleluia!)

The Holy Spirit has grace for weak, and dim believers to successfully undergo the process of transformation into vibrant Christlikeness. Though our capacity to become vibrant is weak, His capacity to not break our frame and cause us to become bright and shining lamps (John 5:35) is perfect.

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My STRENGTH is made PERFECT in WEAKNESS. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

____________________
JSB • October, 2016

While Kathy and I were still in Kansas City, the Lord encountered me in one of the most alarming experiences of my life. First, He guided me through a brief vision of hell, and then brought me up into heaven, where He engaged me face to face.

I had just gone to bed, and was laying on my back, when a large dark circle opened above my feet. It was a round hole, or portal, that I could see with my physical eyes. As I stared up into it I could make out black images moving upon a black background; like a living relief-sculpture.

In the first scene, I saw military tanks. Many military tanks. Almost more than could maneuver in, and around each other. They were facing in all different directions, crashing into each other. I could feel the terror in the vision. Each tank full of fear that it was about to be blasted. I believe there were also people outside and underneath the tanks; fearful that they were about to be crushed by the tanks. The fear of death was intense, and real. 

I heard the Spirit say: “This is a picture of hell.” As I was hearing this, I wondered: how would the fear of death be real if you knew you were in hell? Somehow the terror never stops in hell. But you are constantly in fear for your life. Constantly. Like every breath, abject terror – constantly. Forever.

I looked to my left and I could see our bathroom doorway. I looked to my right and I could see our closed window blinds. I shut my eyes tight, and then opened them; looked straight ahead of me; the circle remained open in front of me; clear; black, horrible…

A new scene began. Nuclear bombs exploding on a vast landscape. More terror and horror. I couldn’t see people – only mushroom clouds billowing up and out; and a sense of impending, utter destruction. All was being laid waste.

The next scene was the briefest. It was a sky filled with “aliens” terrorizing the inhabitants below. What was most prevalent wasn’t the aliens, but the terror that they incited. I felt a great great fear about their presence.

I wondered silently: “Isn’t hell supposed to be about personal suffering and horrible, gruesome torture?” I heard the Spirit say: “Even in this vision, I’m sparing you, but since you’ve wondered.” He showed me a person who was drowning another person in a dark pool of cold water; like in the shape of a shallow grave. Hands around the neck; submerging the other into their death. Over and over – I could feel the dying one’s fear and desperation each time. I could feel the consuming rage AND the murderer’s great remorse at the same time. It was a friend he was murdering – again and again.

That was enough. I closed my eyes. The vision disappeared. 

When I closed my eyes, it fully occurred to me: I wasn’t sleeping. I had been awake. I had had my eyes open – not closed, the whole time! 

I could still feel the unrelenting terror and horror of the scenes. I thought: “This is the reality that so many that I know are headed for…” I don’t want to experience this. I wondered, “Is this what I’m going to experience? Is this why You’re letting me see this, Holy Spirit?”I felt like He would have taken me back there, had I focused on it again – but I didn’t want to. Who would want to? 

I could feel the sweep of history all rushing for a giant leap into hell. Unavoidable. Unstoppable. Relentless. I could see individuals who had no idea where they were running to, laughing and cursing – but rushing all the same into this end. A leap into some horrible chamber in the cosmos. Blind. I could feel the zeal to let people know “Hell is for real!” It’s so close. We’re all in such danger! And I thought of unsaved loved ones… Those that would laugh at the idea of hell… I could feel the Spirit’s kindness in showing me only 30 minutes of this place. It all occurred in 30 minutes.

I could also feel the presence of many many demons; they seemed perplexed and vexed at the same time. Either stupid or malevolent, or maniacal. I shuddered at each one. The appearance of each was as repulsive as it was different. Everyone. I didn’t want to see. I wanted them to be gone. I wanted to banish them with a word.

I laid there for another hour? I noticed the radio was on – blaring news and politics. The sound of the voices caused me to feel our world being swallowed by the atmosphere of hell. Fear, anger, remorse, rage, deceit, stupidity, contorted, blindness – like a tide that’s overtaking the whole world; again and again. I laid in bed still amazed that I was awake and not asleep…

I got out of bed to get some juice. When I returned, and laid back down, the vision began again… As the dark images appeared before me, I could see demons of all shapes and sizes; macabre… stupid ones; senseless ones, tortured ones… I said, “Holy Spirit, I don’t want to engage this again.”

He said, “Call on the Name of the Lord.” I began to say “Jesus” softly… In the very instant the first syllable formed on my lips, a large hand extended toward me. It strongly reached down and drew me up into the clouds; billowing grey, dark and stormy. In the distance, I could see a regal figure on a horse. (I couldn’t see the horse. I wasn’t looking at the horse. I was fixed on the Man.) He was riding on the clouds. Riding like a surfer rides on the big waves in the ocean. The clouds expanded and rumbled toward me. He had a fierce, stern, determined look on His face.

I was no longer in my bedroom. I was no longer envisioning hell. I began to wonder about the phrase: “All who call upon the name”, and honestly, I was offended. I could feel my own offense that simply calling on His name was all that it would take to be drawn out of the horror. As I was being offended Jesus rode His horse right past me. Again, I saw no horse, only Him. He didn’t look at me at all. 

As He rode by I heard Him say four things: 
“I am Jewish.” 
“I am coming quickly.” 
“You’ve not given yourself to understanding the horrors of hell.”
“Neither do you comprehend My zeal to extend mercy.” 

Behind Him came an army of angels and saints without number; all throughout the clouds.

As I think about each of these images, I can see them; feel them all again. Immediately. My inner-man still trembles like jelly… The mercy of the Lord is soooooo tremendous. It perpetually offends the human mind.

The end for so much of humanity is utterly terrible – beyond calculation. 

What gives me permission to diminish the Biblical description of the eternal and horrible estate of those without Christ?

“I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5)

____________________
JSB • March, 2021

Interested in more on the subject of hell? See the companion article, “Why Hell“.

Father of glory,
We, Your sons and daughters come before You in humility and trembling, pursuing Your grace in confident boldness.

We, Your Church, have sinned against You, against our sisters and brothers, and against our neighbors. We ask that You cut through what is false and untrue and insufficient and quicken us to our core, that we may present to You a holy offering; our whole selves in service to Your purposes in our world and nation. Break apart our group-speak. Rend our selfish defenses. Cause us to stand before You in naked honesty, and purity of heart as we confess our racial sins to You.

Father, we’ve lacked empathy to the long, deep wounds that our black and native neighbors and sisters and brothers in Christ bear in themselves and their families.  Remove the rags of our self-justification and clothe us with Your garments of gentleness, tenderness, compassion and the ability to listen to their painful stories. Give us grace to not weigh-in and judge while they’re pouring out their trauma. Kindle us with Your 1 Corinthians 13 love.

Father, we have claimed the blessings of the rich heritage of our nation’s founding fathers, but cared little for the racial curse that they also inflicted upon succeeding generations. Forgive us for this great duplicity that has doubly wounded our sisters and brothers. We repent of this selfishness. Help our love to be without hypocrisy, Father.

Father, we confess that too often the Church has been a great source of our neighbors’ wounding, rather than a great source of their healing. When racial charges are made, we too often respond with generalization, accusation and hostility – even before we know the facts of the episode.  Forgive us for our defensive ways, Father. Grant us a meekness to bear long with the ongoing cries of our native and black neighbors. Give us ears to hear what You’re saying about the injustices they’ve endured, and hearts to understand how it impacts their daily lives.

Father, we especially thank You for our POC sisters and brothers in Christ. Forgive us for the ways we, our denominations and our forefathers alienated them from the commonwealth of the household of God; and all the ways where they were forced to form their own fellowships in order to enjoy fellowship with You. What great sin against You, Father and the love You have for Your whole family! Our family has been so full of pride; so filled with racial separatism; prejuduce and unrighteous zeal. We turn from these great evils so we may be aligned with Your righteous order.

Father, we ask the grace and wisdom of James 3.
We seek the Galatians 5 fruit of the Spirit-directed way.
We knock in pursuit of the Matthew 5 constitution of Jesus’ government in our hearts in all our relationships.

Forgive us, Father. We plead the blood of Your Son, Jesus over our many racial transgressions.

Give us grace to walk in humility with our sisters and brothers; washing Your feet as we wash theirs’. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we may be agents of healing and champions for Your purposes for their lives; their families and our united fellowship in Your presence.

Unite our hearts to fear Your holy Name, and Your Holy Family, Father.
For the sake of Your magnificent glory, we pray this in the Name of Your Son, Who makes us one.
Amen.

______________________
JSB • February 2021