“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.” (John 17:24)
The Lord is committed to His Bride being WITH HIM WHERE HE IS. (John 17:24) This petition from Jesus, is God asking God for you and I to walk in covenant fidelity with Himself. This isn’t merely about Jesus asking the Father for us to be seated next to Him at a wedding banquet, as uber-glorious as that reality is. It’s ALSO about us living submitted to, and aligned to all the ways of our Bridegroom-King.
Jesus has already pledged to be WITH US, EVEN TO THE ENDS OF THE AGE. (Matthew 28:20) If we are born-again, our Savior-King is faithfully with us in ALL circumstances: heartache, loneliness, affliction, persecution, poverty, abundance, applause, victory and judgment.
What Jesus is seeking, is for our hearts to be filled with divine might, insight, and passion to not be put off by all the noise and the shrapnel of the world, and find our place in the literal Presence of the good Shepherd-King Himself.
And not only this, but to also understand the nuances of His heart. We aren’t with Him as mere servants. We’re with Him as beloved friends, compatriots, allies – indeed as those who are betrothed to this beautiful resurrected, Jewish Man, Who is ordained of the Father to rule the nations of the earth. He wants us maritally yoked with Himself – meaning, that we share in the same authority, vision, thoughts, emotions, strategies, and spirit that He lives in, knowing that our destiny is inextricably linked to Him, and His way in the cosmos.
Right now, what is CHIEFLY on the heart of the Anointed-King are two thoughts:
1. “WHAT IS YOUR WILL FATHER?”
AND,
2. “WHERE IS MY BRIDE? WHAT KIND OF ZEAL, AND FEAR, AND NEED, AND FAITH IS SHE WALKING WITH? IS SHE WITH ME, AS I MOVE ON THE EARTH? IS SHE WALKING IN LOVE LIKE I AM? LOVE TOWARD HUMANITY, AND CHIEFLY LOVE TOWARDS ME?”
Family of God, we cannot BE WITH HIM WHERE HE IS without talking to Him in what He is doing in our lives, and in our world. And we won’t truly be all present to Him without dialoguing with Him about the real mysteries, falsehoods, temptations, and hopes that storm our hearts.
What does this mean practically? John 17:24 is Jesus inviting His Bride into the prayer. This is how, and much of where we ARE WITH HIM WHERE HE IS. Our King is first a Son, Who ever lives to intercede. (Hebrews 7:25) And, the fact of the matter is, we won’t align our hearts to His, on the run – or in a 90 minute Sunday morning experience, an altar call, a 15-minute devotional reading, or even a men’s group Bible study. These are all VERY GOOD things. But unless we’re in the sacred, focused, Word-centered space of honest, vulnerable conversation with Jesus; where we can hear His distinct Voice addressing distinct issues and needs in our personal lives, we won’t know the deep, authentic strength He wants to give us, so that we’re not moved, or swept up in the epic rage that screeches around us.
Beloved. HEAVEN HAS NO BACK-UP PLAN FOR PRAYER. If we thoroughly see the need for us to be close to Him through great seasons of tribulation, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR INTIMACY WITH HIM.
Jesus says: “Stay close to Me, as I move to save, judge, deliver, rebuke, encourage and dance. Watch, and honor what I do. I’m not lost. I’m keeping perfect pace with the Father. And We’re winning on the earth. Ha! (Yes, He laughs… Psalm 2:4) It’s not even a fair fight… MY BRIDE, I WANT YOU WITH ME, WHERE I AM.”
____________________ JSB • March, 2026
Family. Would you be willing to help us financially? All Nations House of Prayer Southwest is committed to meeting the unique spiritual needs of this hour, and a portion of the hunger of our culture to have holy space where individuals, families, and leaders may encounter the living Voice of the Father.
In an hour of intensifying pretense, darkness and deceit, living and loving with vulnerability in His light is a radical act of prophetic faith.
No one needs to tell us that we’re living through an age when pretense, deceit, and darkness is intensifying all around us. Every day we are surrounded by “competing narratives” (whether they come from social media, news outlets, or face to face interaction with others) – statistics, anecdotes, rhetoric and storylines that bid to win our trust, and our loyalty to silos of thought, faith, political and cultural ideology. A man could claim there is no such thing as gravity and win a great crowd in our world, today* – provided the one making the assertion could convince the insecure, and fickle masses that they could keep themselves from the evil threat in their world by believing something that was so obviously upside-down to common experience.
Our world is filled with people – we often call “leaders” – who are ready to make this claim about any subset of reality they care to comment upon:
“Masks are bad.”
“Killing your baby in your womb is healthy.”
“Feeling contrition about racism and bigotry is nefarious.”
“Threatening to annex another nation/state is good.”
“Empathy is evil.”
“50 year old men having sex with 14 year old girls is normal.”
“Telling a 50 yr old man he can’t be a 30-yr old woman is oppressive.”
“Not being accountable for one’s abuse is fine.”
“Helping others identify idolatry in our culture is divisive.”
“Spending too much time in prayer is dysfunctional.”
There is no end to the type of pronouncements about life in a fallen world that vie for our allegiance – ALL for the purpose of bringing more security and contentment into our short, little lives. And we humans devour these pronouncements, like starving dogs. Reading news reports; doing 15 minutes of “deep dive” google-searches; padding our world-view; building our towers of mutual strength; while assailing the towers of those who threaten our towers.
This was the world that Jesus came into. Humanity then was no different than us. The Romans and the Jews were both seeking security and deliverance from insecurity. They both sought a truth that promised them stability in a world filled with destabilizing enemies.
The Romans largely sought to achieve it through order and military enforcement of their order. The Jews looked for a deliverer from Roman order. And without a deliverer on the horizon, the Jews fashioned religious principles that allowed them to justify murder and insurrection. Both wanted security. Both legitimized the destruction of others in order to obtain it.
By the time we get to Luke 11, Jesus has done a lot of things to win the attention of the crowd. They’ve seen that He can do stuff that others can’t. He can provide lunch for everyone, and He can clear out their sick wards. He LOOKS LIKE someone we can trust to make our lives more secure. And so Jesus finds many being attracted to Himself. The crowds are learning to trust Jesus. But Jesus (rightly) doesn’t trust the crowds.
It was to the crowd that was building around Him that Jesus spoke these words in Luke 11:34-36.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is (actually) not darkness. 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 11:34-36)
Huh?
“I came with a touch of arthritis, and seconds on lunch. Why is Jesus talking about my eyes? How can my ‘body be filled with darkness’? What?? Do a miracle, and change the circumstances in our world Jesus of Nazareth!”
Fortunately for them, and for us, Jesus wasn’t swayed by the demanding needs of the crowds. He knew that what was in the heart of all humanity was what needed changing. The world was evil – submerged in darkness – and under the reign of darkness – that was the perpetual order of the age the crowd lived in.
The hope that Jesus was wanting to instill in them wasn’t one that changed the world’s baseline order. It would remain “evil” until He came and deposed its evil ruler. The hope that Jesus was offering to Jew and Roman alike was the promise of freedom from interior insecurity – a security that everyone could have, regardless of their world-condition – a security that came with Him as the chief, and sole Determiner of truth, reality, and salvation.
But here’s the catch. Here was the stumbling block for those who pursued Jesus’ promises. The REAL PROBLEM, and the REAL THREAT wasn’t out there in the world – amidst some exterior consuming force. The REAL PROBLEM was inside us. Me. You. Our families. Our heroes of the faith. Our mentors. Our leaders. Us.
Until we were ready to acknowledge that the greatest destabilizing threat to our well-being was what was surging inside of our own souls – every breath of every day – we were not ready to receive the level of radical leadership that Jesus came to kindle. His Kingdom was one that took root in the nuclear-core of the soul, and then worked its way out with integrity, in every other place the soul went.
Furthermore, in order for the soul to garner this type of authentic, “sufficient for the world”, strength, it needed to acknowledge that it was innately corrupt; broken; deficient; bent on evil; and bent by evil. It needed to agree with Jesus about how wicked and dysfunctional it was. It needed to let Jesus’ Light, illuminate itself to its true condition.
And then, (as if that was not enough) it needed to learn to let Jesus CONTINUE to bring His Light to bear on the inner workings of the individual soul. ONLY THEN would Jesus’ Leadership have sway and gravity within the person – and by extension – in the world.
The devil wants us to believe the evil is out there – threatening our right to have stability, and contentment. Jesus quietly tells those who have ears to hear; those who are weaning their convictions from the thousand narratives in the atmosphere of the evil one; that the real threat, the peril that He’s come to deliver us from; is the evil that colors everyone of our souls.
In a world that’s incessantly pointing at others, who wants to be “that fool” who is gazing into their own soul? Who would believe that the Kingdom of goodness, justice, kindness, faithfulness, love, and beauty could eventually make so many consequential changes in the whole world, while being so intimately administrated within our own hearts?
Jesus.
It takes faith to walk in the thorough way of Jesus. And it takes vulnerability to walk in faith; believing Jesus, and turning down the noise about the looming dangers encircling us.
Don’t believe the hype of those who use Jesus’ Name to fix everything else OUT THERE. That’s living with the light that Jesus calls “actually, darkness”.
Walk in the quiet Light of His Voice that offends you with the truth about what needs “fixing” inside of your self.
…from our Lord, and four sister churches in the first century.
The Lord is speaking the word PERSEVERANCE to His “holy ones” to a degree that I have never heard… As I’ve been praying through the many words, conversations and encouragements of this past week, the Lord has been forging a specific Word (from His messages to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Philadelphia) for the many who are PERSEVERING through this inflamed season of corporate judgment:
For the Saints in the Church in America • February 21, 2026
“I know your works, your PATIENCE, your TRIBULATION, and poverty of spirit, and that you CANNOT BEAR those who are evil. I know you are dwelling where satan’s throne is. And you HOLD FAST TO MY NAME, and DID NOT DENY MY FAITH. Although you have A LITTLE STRENGTH, you have KEPT MY WORD, and have NOT DENIED MY NAME. You have PERSEVERED and LABORED FOR MY NAME’S SAKE and have NOT BECOME WEARY. I also know you have TESTED those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. I know the blasphemy of those who say they are in covenant with Me, and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which YOU ARE ABOUT TO SUFFER. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, and you will have TRIBULATION, that you may be TESTED. HOLD FAST what you have, that NO ONE MAY TAKE YOUR CROWN. KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU! Be FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH, and I will give you the crown of eternal life.”
We fool ourselves if we believe the enemy of our Kingdom is not strategizing a perfectly horrible outcome to this ten-year plunge into his evil ways. More than experiencing the natural consequences of our departure from faith in Jesus Christ, the devil seeks an end-destruction of those who remain steadfast in their love, and fidelity to Jesus – both spiritually, and physically. (Meaning financial, relational, ecclesiastical consequences – not necessarily loss of life…) Again. We fool ourselves if we believe we’ve experienced the worst. The devil is never one to not take advantage of crossless hostility and incivility. It is for this reason that the Lord is speaking PERSEVERANCE in this hour.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It does neither us, nor our “argument”, nor His Kingdom any good, if we resist the antiChrist spirit in MAGA, while failing to bear our cross FOR Jesus. One form of faithlessness is no better than another. The Lord is breathing PERSEVERANCE into the mouths of His prophets, right now in order to bring His Bride into lifestyles that…
1. speak the truth with integrity to the Spirit,
2. maintain an ear toward the nature of the Lord’s precise judgment upon our family,
3. cultivate an intercessory, “stand in the gap” heart,
4. possess a clear understanding of the Lord’s pattern/invitation to redemption,
5. are personally vigilant to “take every thought captive” so that we retain an obedient, “soul-tenderness” to Jesus, Himself.
Without these five elements, we ARE “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 2 Peter 3:17) from the vibrant (Galatians 5:6) “faith with love” that Jesus has purposed for us to walk in.
It’s 2026, and most Bible-believing followers of Christ honestly neither see what’s at risk inside ourselves, nor within our household. We have little perspective on what it is that the devil is attempting to wrest from our lives. And, in most cases, we give it up willingly, without even understanding what it is that we’re surrendering. The troubling truth is, without it, we (ourselves and the Bride) will never enter into the nobility of our destiny. What we’re blindly relinquishing is that precious.
Right now, the age-old deceiver is using thousands of voices (politicians, pundits, pastors, and prophets) in a full-press quest to divest the church of her cross.
These are the false christs, false teachers, and false prophets that Jesus warned us about. They have no value for walking in the manner that Jesus walked. Neither do they have a game plan for the Bride to come forth in glorious Christlikeness. They are literally hell-bent on agitating the faithful to lay down their cross, take up the power of the exalted flesh, and follow the spirit of anti-christ – no love; no Holy Spirit fruit; no humility; no death to self…
Millions around us, in our churches, our prayer gatherings, our home fellowships and our seminars are succumbing to the temptation, and enthusiastically handing the enemy of our souls, the very nexus of our covenant in Christ, and the one essential means by which we may bear the fruits of righteousness – our cross.
It is nothing short of the “falling away” from vibrant faith in Jesus Christ.
Chief among these incendiary voices are those who crusade to turn our nation back to God. Burning with an eternal flame of enmity, they intend to accomplish the feat by fiat. Their banner is a sword. Their mouths never tire of the propaganda. And, in spite of their desire to be known as “peacemakers”, their festivals are filled with the drums of war.
There is no humility in their spirits. No mutual confession that escapes their lips. No call to repentance that touches their own houses of ill-repute. Their’s is a perpetual campaign to destroy the “other”, in pursuit of an earthly utopia for the “unwoke”. Not a community of the redeemed – a society of the justified, the mutually adoring, and the worthy.
In 1930’s nationalist Germany, the new, spiring socio-political power within that nation sought a symbol to represent its vigor and devotion. The image it chose was one of a broken cross. Dietrich Bonhoeffer perceived what his sisters and brothers were being seduced by, and wrote about it in his landmark book, “The Cost of Discipleship”. Essentially, Bonhoeffer’s message was, if we take up the emblem of naziism, and champion a crossless “kamph”, we, and the world around us will only have cheap grace, and a pretentious kingdom built upon edict, hostility, intolerance, platitudes, and the unrestrained appetites of the right-minded flesh.
The vast majority of German Christians did not heed Bonhoeffer’s cry to count the internal cost of remaining faithful to Christ. Instead, in their lust to become the master race of humanity, they exacted that cost from the lives of 50 million of their fellow human beings who opposed their “jihad”.
Such is the universal way of the antiChrist: glory without the agency of the cross.
When tempted in the desert, the true Christ, turned down the offer to receive the nations from the hands of the devil, who was offering it to Him without the messy need for a cross. Jesus had already determined to follow the plan of the Father, that would deliver both the rule and the redemption of the nations into His Hands via the way of the cross.
And when we see national prayer assemblies filled with self-vaunted rancor, and the honor of killing others for the glories of supremacy being esteemed as the pathway to eternal salvation, we know the devil has come to our doorstep as well.
Friends. Family in Christ. American evangelicalism is at a watershed moment. The crafty rhetoric of the deceiver is not only echoing from the White House, its found a foothold in the pulpits of our churches. We MUST attune our spiritual ears to the pride, the lust and the selfism, and hear his serpentine beguilement.
By his siren song, our apostolic virginity is being raped. The Name of our King is being coopted. Our witness is being bastardized. The fame of our God is being defaced. And unless we wake up from our intoxications, we are going to rush ourselves, our families, and many in our nation toward an everlasting fire that was only prepared for the devil and his angels.
We need the pure holiness of the Lord within our own bosom, twitching at every promise of greatness through self-promotion. Evil isn’t (only) coming with horns, dressed in drag. It’s coming wrapped in red, white and blue sentiment, and the magical touch of Meidas.
We MUST, in all our praying, speaking, meditating, studying, gathering, and debating cry out to the Spirit to bring us into the way of our cross! Should we not, we WILL exact the same price upon all others who oppose us in our gilded zeal.
“For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they set their aspirations on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19)
____________________ JSB • February, 2026
* At the February 5, 2026 Prayer Breakfast, Secretary Pete Hegseth made the following incredible statement to the assembled guests; pastors, evangelists, intercessors, government officials etc.: “The willingness to make sacrifices on behalf of one’s country is born in one thing: a deep and abiding belief in God’s love for us and his promise of eternal life. The scripture says, ‘For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’ The warrior who is willing to lay down his life for his unit, his country, and his Creator, that warrior finds eternal life.” (Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War • February 5, 2026) …and no one rose to object.
The idol is now on full display. The trumpets are bidding the “faithful” to bow. The sheep are being divided from the goats – real time.
Christian leader. In this hour, if you’re not making the way clear, you’re playing the role of Aaron. You’re an impediment to Jesus’ exhortation to His disciples. We are watching nothing less than the usurping of American evangelicalism by the spirit of antiChrist. Period.
After his curse-filled rant, (…at the NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST!) Trump announced that in a May 17 festival, he intends to declare the United States a Christian nation. Tragically, this assembly will be hailed by millions of our sisters and brothers, as a monumental step in the ascendency of the Kingdom of God. In truth, it promises to be the greatest desolating abomination our culture has ever witnessed – satan himself serving as the master of ceremonies where he will bestow glory upon a people who exalt self, and repudiate the need for a cross.
Five things every American practically needs in order to navigate this hour of enflamed alarm, and warring perspectives on reality:
1. YOU NEED JESUS. If you don’t know Jesus as your King, your Lover, and your Savior, nothing else will make sense of our world, until you do. Jesus was not only “the reason for the (Christmas) season”, He is the reason for all of what is happening all around us. Everything that swirls around us is evidence that we NEED Jesus. 100%. 100% of the time. We need the One Who is “Immanuel” (with us); the One Who called Himself “the Truth”; and the ONLY One Who can Redeem us from the curse that rages all around us – AND within us. We also need the One Who will breathe the Holy Spirit into our wandering, luke-warm souls. What’s more, for those who have ears to hear, everything whirling around us is evidence that Jesus WANTS TO BE WITH US; AN INTIMATE, ESSENTIAL PART OF OUR EVERY DAY LIVES!! (Yeah, I know – wonder of wonders!)
2. YOU NEED THE BIBLE – the Word of God, written – dependable truth, on how to live life, with the vision of One Who transcends all human life, gives meaning to to life, and is zealous to lead us through life. On every page of the Bible there is a Man, a Divine Man Who is looking back at you. To read the Bible, and yield to its encouragement, exhortation and direction is to find life. There is, indeed, LIFE in the Word.
3. YOU NEED A CROSS. Martin Luther said, “Nothing pleases the devil more than a Christian with a Bible, but no cross.” The cross humbles us. It tells us that every one of us needs to be redeemed from the power of the curse, at every level of our lives. Our cross is what Jesus gives to everyone who says “Yes” to His Presence in their lives. It’s what empowers us through our reading of the Word into being transformed by the Word. It is the essential daily instrument that conforms us out from under the power of the curse, into the image of our King.
4. YOU NEED A PRAYER ROOM; a time and place to dialogue with the Lord. Jesus is the Word-speaking God. He does His transformational, and leadership work by dialoguing with His disciples, and friends. Prayer is where we share our hearts, emotions, opinions, fears, joys and dreams with the ONLY ONE Who is capable of giving us perfect guidance through the storms of life. Prayer is where we invite Him to reign in, and through our lives with supernatural power – power that exceeds abundantly beyond all that we can ask or believe. (Aside: for one hundred reasons, it’s all the more vital that we have times and places of corporate prayer… not only church service, but actually engaging in the give and take of corporate, holy listening, and speaking with the God of the universe.)
5. YOU NEED “SAFE OTHERS” who are walking with Jesus, the Word, the cross, and in prayer; a group of followers – fellow cross-bearers – who will walk with you; dialogue with you; speak the truth in love to you; encourage you; know you; cherish you; and love Jesus WITH you – even more than they love you, yourself.
I’ll be blunt. (Hopefully, you’ll hear this in love.) Without these five elements in this raging world, you AND I are ill-equipped to withstand the internal temptations, and external deceptions that are going to assail our lives in 2026. The Living, Speaking, Breathing, Redeeming, Guiding, Loving Presence of the resurrected, God/Man Christ Jesus is THE ONLY WAY you will have strength to survive the storms that are buffeting our world.
This is 100%, bonafide, time-tested, universal truth.
9 The LORD is not slow concerning HIS PROMISE, as some regard slowness, but is being PATIENT toward you, because He does not wish for any to PERISH but for all to come to REPENTANCE. 10 But the DAY OF THE LORD will come like a thief; when… the earth and EVERY DEED DONE on it will be LAID BARE… (therefore) WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE SHOULD YOU BE, CONDUCTING YOUR LIVES IN HOLINESS AND GODLINESS, 12 while WAITING FOR and HASTENING THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD? … According to His PROMISE, we are WAITING for new heavens and a new earth, in which RIGHTEOUSNESS truly resides. 14 Therefore, DEAR FRIENDS, since you are WAITING FOR these things, STRIVE to be found AT PEACE, WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH, when you COME into HIS PRESENCE. (2 Peter 3:9-14)
The Lord’s preparation of the Church is one of the most overlooked, New Testament dynamics that is (day by day) impacting the people of God right now. Whether we see it or not, the truth is, the closer we get to the return of Jesus, the more the heart and the collective mind of the Bride is being refined to both understand and champion the reign of our King!
Jesus is not coming to “take us home”. If we’re in Christ, we’re already home! He’s coming to rule and reign on the earth, WITH HIS BRIDE IN GLAD-HEARTED CELEBRATION of the way He administrates His Kingdom.
Right now, the Church is still “working the issues out” in our collective thinking. Our narratives are not filled with appreciation for the ways of our King. We don’t esteem the values of meekness, holiness, patience, and mercy-giving the way our King does. In fact, we count much of what He wants to work into our world as foolish, unpractical, and/or too religious. Where Jesus calls us to “serve”, we want to dominate. Where Jesus calls us to “pray”, we want to rush to action with human power. Where Jesus wants to aim at relationship, we want to build laws and structures. This disconnection from Jesus’ mind is what both Peter (here in 2 Peter 3:14), and Paul (in Ephesians 5:26,27) call “spots, wrinkles, and blemishes”. This is where the Bride is operating unlike Christ – where we are not Christlike!
So, how does the Lord bring us into like-mindedness? How does He conform us to His image?How does He cultivate both an understanding and appreciation of the ways of His leadership?
He shapes us by employing two living and active realities. The first are the affairs of 200ish nations, and the pressure points in our own lives. These are actually “grinding bearings” that the Lord uses to drive us to Himself. Where the answers are “out of our reach”, and “beyond our under-standing”, He nonetheless calls us to bring the tension points to Him, in both humility, and honesty. This means that we don’t allow other players to become the primary “shapers” of our narrative. It means that we bring what we see, what we know, and what we feel, into the “tent of meeting” with Him, and allow Him to illuminate our minds, and our hearts about both the facts of the storylines, and the issues they create in our own lives. He may or may not want to tell us the details about the nefarious activities of globalists. But He will most certainly want to talk to us about how these true or false reports are shaping our trust in Him, and our love toward others. Make sense?
The second living and active reality that He’s using to shape the Bride is His own Word.
Paul writes: “He (Jesus) sanctifies her, and cleanses her by THE WASHING OF WATER WITH THE WORD, that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:26-27)
Jesus uses both the crises in our world, and our daily, disciplined commitment to engage Him in prayerful dialogue with His Word, and in this kinetic mixture, He shows us how He leads, how He redeems, how He analyzes, how He rewards, and how He purges humanity, and the human spirit. And then He calls you and I, His Bride, to agree in prayer with Him about the ways and the intents of His government.
It’s in this turbulent forge that our Bridegroom King forms and purifies our thoughts, responses, attitudes, countenance, and will. As we bring our outrage, passivity, temptations, and promises in the context of these worldly, national and personal crises into His courts, with truthfulness, a spirit of yieldedness, a dash of expectation, and a will that is prepared to give Him the gift of repentance, He is faithful to remove the impediments (the spots, wrinkles, and blemishes) so that His authority can freely work in, and through our lives. This is how we, the Bride, are conformed to His Image. This is what it means to be aligned to the “true righteousness” (v.13) that He will manifest on the earth when the fulness of His Kingdom comes. We do this by faith, now, in anticipation of it fully coming when He comes. And this is, according to 2 Peter 3:12, (wonder of wonders) how we “hasten the coming” of that Day – His Day – when He rules in our physical presence!
Until that Day comes, 2 Peter 3 tells us to “wait” three times! This is an exhortation to a.) abide in, and not lose touch with this truth, b.) to walk in growing patience and peaceable confidence in the Lord, and what He is accomplishing, and to c.) give ourselves to these conforming dynamics with abandon.
However, the Kingdom of God is always a paradox. In the context of patiently “waiting”, v.14 also charges us to “strive”. (This paradox keeps us from turning the dynamics of the Lord into a math equation – and keeps us close, and reliant upon the nimble, intimate, breath-by-breath leadership of the Spirit.) It is by the Spirit that we “strive” toward coming to the place of “peace” with the Lord’s Bridal purification process. We are in His more than sufficient Hands. We belong to Him. We are in His care. He knows how to get ahold of us. He has our number. He knows how to call us out. He isn’t perplexed about how to bring you, your family, your Bible-study group, your community, and your nation into agreement with His ways. v.14 is the Spirit’s loud encouragement to “TRUST THE KING’S PROCESS!” He will bring us forth, into His Presence, without “spot” or “blemish”; purified; like a sacrificial lamb; ready to be offered up to Him; wholly yielded to His majestic reign.
This is His goal: that we come forth, by His power, united to Him, and each other, loving Him and His ways with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mark 12:30)
This has massive implications for HOW WE “DO CHURCH”. It underscores the vital necessity that we become a people of daily, reliant PRAYER. WITHOUT BEING MUCH IN PRAYER THE BRIDE WILL NEITHER BEHOLD NOR YIELD OUR HEART AND OUR WAYS TO THE LORD’S REFINING WORK. NOR WILL WE LEARN TO WALK IN THE AUTHORITY OF HIS DIVINE ORDER.
This brings us to the other side of the coin. And it is the reason that spurs the apostle Peter to write these injunctions in the first place. Should we neglect, and/or withdraw from Jesus’ capable, prayerful, purifying process; should we instead, give ourselves to spiraling conspiracies, spouting our own opinions, -becoming rigid in our carnal thoughts, we will not come forth in mature love. We will actually come forth with a mutant love – shaped by our world, the devil, and our own corrupt soul. Perhaps, (or perhaps not) filled with “Christian-sounding” rhetoric – but no substance, and no fruit.
When we neglect Jesus’ prayerful, purifying process, and instead, give ourselves to spiraling conspiracies, opinions, and rigid carnal thoughts, we will not come forth in mature love. we will come forth with a mutant love.
The wretched truth of the matter is, when we refuse to give ourselves to His ongoing refining process, we are in essence saying to Jesus: “WE REALLY DON’T LOVE YOUR RULE AND REIGN in our world. We would rather continue to have our own way, under our own power, than have You remove the SPOTS and BLEMISHES from our hearts… We’d rather You NOT do what You want to do to manifest Your vibrant RIGHTEOUSNESS through our lives.”
This is the spirit of antipathy. This is the spirit Peter calls us to “strive” against. This posture will produce endless enmity (and never “PEACE”) in our lives. And, truth-be-told, it is the sentiment, and slant that accounts for SO MUCH of the hostility in the Church today.
Beloved, the Lord is not relenting. He will not let us sleep-walk through the fires that He has kindled in our world. He is a holy-disturber of our “false peace” Who is making every provision for us to be aligned to Himself, in joyful unanimity with His Kingdom.
Let’s go into the place of prayer, and wholly give ourselves to His refining process. Let’s hasten the return of our King!
The Holy Spirit is leading millions of believers around the world to accelerate intercession for Israel, and agree with the eternal promises that He has established with the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
7 Reasons to Pray for Israel
1. We believe the best thing that could happen in the Middle East is for millions of both Jews and Arabs to make covenant with the God of the Bible, through the blood atonement of His Son, Y’shua of Nazareth.
2. When the Lord touches the Jewish people with salvation through their Messiah, the whole earth will be provoked to wonder and receptivity re the unique claims of Y’shua.
3. The Lord is serious about intercession. He wants His own people (the Church) to partner with Him as He accomplishes His promises on the earth. He wants us to read about them in the Word, believe that He wants to do them, and then pray with faith, believing that He will do what He’s promised to do.
4. The more we look into the scriptures and see His heart for Israel (and the Middle East), and the more we understand Israel’s key role in the end times of this age, the more the Church will “purify” ourselves (1 John 3:3) “make ourselves ready” (Revelation 19:7) and “hasten the return” of Y’shua to the land.
5. We pray knowing the hearts of billions are gradually being drawn into intense contro-versy (Jeremiah 25:31) with the Lord re the promises that the Father has made to the Jewish people re His Son, Y’shua of Nazareth.
6. We pray out of respect and gratitude for what our “older brother” (Israel) has endured in order to display the love, the mercy, the faithfulness and the holiness of the Lord.
7. Praying for Israel prepares our hearts to learn how to yield, and trust, and celebrate the reign of a real Jewish Man Whose Kingdom is meant to be established in real human hearts, in preparation for His ultimate expected earthly reign in the Millennium.
NOTE: When we pray for Israel, we’re praying for the Jewish and Arabic-speaking people living in the Promised Land as well the Jewish people living in the nations (the Diaspora).
Scripture Prayers for Israel Listed below are numerous prayers we can confidently pray for Israel that come directly from the Word of God.
1. Father of glory, APPOINT WATCHMEN, who will stand on the walls of Jerusalem, WHO WILL PRAY ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. Give them grace to never keep silent.(Isaiah 62:6)2. Father of glory, how shall they hear without a preacher?RAISE UP REACHERS AND SEND THEM FORTH. As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring the glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15)
3. Father of glory, POUR ON THE HOUSE OF DAVIDand on the inhabitants of Jerusalem THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AND SUPPLICATION; let them they behold Your Son today whom they pierced. Cause them to mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
4. “THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU [Israel]; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:23-26)
5. Father of glory, speak the Name of Your Son, Y’shua to Israel. “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘SURELY YOUR SALVATION IS COMING… and His work before Him.’”(Isaiah 62:11) 6. Father of glory, ARISE AND HAVE MERCY ON ZION.. SO THE NATIONS SHALL FEAR THE NAME OF THE LORD… build up Zion; appear in Your glory… that a people may praise the LORD. Look down from the height of Your sanctuary… and hear the groaning of the prisoner, release those appointed to death, and declare the name of the LORD Your Son, Y’shua… and His praise throughout Jerusalem… (Psalm 102:13-21)
7. Father of glory, POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; cause sons and daughters to prophesy. Cause old men to dream dreams, and young men to see visions… Show them wonders in the heavens and in the earth… Turn the sun into darkness, and the moon into blood. Let all of Israel know that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. Assure them that on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance… among the remnant whom You call.” (Joel 2:15-32)
8. Father of glory, cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary… Incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name… because of Your great mercies. O, LORD HEAR! O, LORD FORGIVE! O, LORD LISTEN AND ACT! Do not delay – for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Daniel 9:4-19)
9. Father of glory, LET ALL OF ISRAEL SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD, THE EXCELLENCY OF THEIR GOD.Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God… will come and save you.”Open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf. Cause the lame to leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb to sing… (Isaiah 35:1-9)
10. Father of glory, for Zion’s sake DO NOT HOLD YOUR PEACE, and for Jerusalem’s sake do not rest, UNITL HER RIGHTEOUSNESS GOES FORTH LIKE BRIGHTNESS… (Isaiah 62:1-2)
11. Father of glory, RAISE UP THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID, which has fallen down… Raise up its ruins, and rebuild it… that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by Your name… (Amos 9:11-12)
12. Father of glory, cause Your backsliding children to return… Remind them that You are married to them… Bring them to Zion.GIVE TO THEM SHEPHERDS AFTER YOUR HEART, who will feed them with knowledge and understanding… (Jeremiah 3:14-17)
13. Father of glory, RELEASE SINGERS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL WHO SHALL SING; FOR THE MAJESTY OF THE LORDand shall cry aloud… glorifying the LORD in the dawning light… Let the ends of the earth hear their songs: “Glory to the righteous!” (Isaiah 24:14-16)
14. Father of glory, LEAVE IN THEIR MIDST A MEEK AND HUMBLE PEOPLE… a remnant of Israel that does no unrighteousness… Cause all of Zion to Sing…rejoice… as You cast out their enemy. O King of Israel… be in their midst… (Zephaniah 3:12-15)
15. Father of glory, SHEPHERD YOUR PEOPLE… the flock of Your heritage. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, show them wonders. Cause the nations to be ashamed of their might… and to be afraid of the LORD… (Micah 7:14-17)
16. Father of glory, SAVE ALL OF ISRAEL. Cause them to look to You, and be saved… Tell them that You have sworn by Yourself; the Word has gone out of Your mouth in righteousness… Assure them that to You every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. Let them know that surely in You they have righteousness and strength. (Isaiah 45:17-24)
17. Father of glory, let wisdom and knowledge be the stability of Israel’s times, and the strength of their salvation. Show them that the fear of the LORD is their Messiah’s treasure… Arise, O LORD… CAUSE THEIR EYES TO SEE THEIR KING IN HIS BEAUTY. (Isaiah 33:17)
