We are in a battle which is calling for us to be bold believers. The battle is between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. It is time the Church took its intended place in this battle. Read on to find who you are and why you were born for “such a time as this.”
There have been many rapid changes around the world since the Covid outbreak struck in March 2020. Masks have become commonplace in society. Shortages of food and needed supplies are a reality. Businesses are closing and the jobs they supplied have disappeared.
Our government in America is discussing laws to mandate Covid vaccinations. What they are doing is taking away our basic freedom as an American. The freedom to make choices.
Cultural Upheaval
This rapid change followed a massive cultural upheaval that spawned Black Lives Matter and other more radical groups. Suddenly, it seems every group in America is being offended by something. They changed the names of places and professional sports teams because they were offensive.
Riots resulted in the businesses of whites, African Americans, and Asians being destroyed and burned. All this is reminiscent of America in the 1960s and 1970s.
Financial Turmoil
Along with all the change and upheaval, we are experiencing financial turmoil. Prices on everything are rising. Job security threatened. Oil prices are skyrocketing. Who knows how investors will act in the latter months of 2021 and during 2022?
Older Americans have become uneasy about their retirement accounts and their social security. Is retirement even going to be possible?
Not only have prices risen, the supplies for necessities are dwindling. Meat and paper products to vehicles and luxury items are scarcer. Americans must cope with empty store shelves for the first time in their history.
What is going on?
The Battle is Spiritual
Whether or not you realize it, this is a spiritual battle. I am not writing this article to state my view of what is right and what is wrong. I am writing this article to provide Christians with a proper response to all this turmoil, upheaval, and confusion.
I write of America because that is where I live. But, I am sure this is a worldwide event. The answers I provide in this article are for Christians everywhere. The answer is the same because the source is the same.
The Holy Spirit tells us the source of turmoil and chaos, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)
Your current political administration is not your enemy. Another racial group is not your enemy. Covid is not your enemy. Your enemy, and mine, is satan. He is the one controlling evil rulers, authorities of the unseen world, mighty powers of darkness, and evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Deception
And satan’s primary tactic is deception. He has been a deceiver since the Garden of Eden. Remember what Jesus said about satan? “You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 CSB)
Therefore, we know that satan’s native language is lying. He can’t help himself. His goal is to deceive you into believing someone else is responsible for your problems. The government, another race, your boss, your spouse. Anyone else but him.
But he is responsible for what is happening. He wants us to fight each other so that we are not fighting against him. Our battle is spiritual against satan and his cohorts.
The devil is our real enemy.
The Jesus People Movement
I was swept into the Kingdom of God during the Jesus People Movement of the 1970s. The situation then was very similar to today. We were embroiled in a very unpopular war in Vietnam. Cities were burning; protesters were burning draft cards, bras, and the American flag. Colleges experienced huge unrest. Inflation was running rampant. People sat in lines for hours just to get five gallons of gas in their car. So much chaos was going on.
During all this turmoil, revival started with the hippies on the west coast. They found there was no peace in drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll. Protests couldn’t solve their problems. Their answer for the upheaval of their day for many of those same hippies was the Jesus revolution.
Thousands of them turned on to Jesus instead of drugs. Thousands were being baptized in the Pacific Ocean. Billy Graham and Campus Crusade for Christ held a week-long conference in Dallas called Explo ‘72 that drew up to 100,00 young people together peacefully.
Time and Life magazines featured front-page articles about the Jesus Movement. Mainstream media discovered that God is not dead.
The Charismatic Movement
At the same time as the Jesus People Movement was happening on the west coast, the east coast was experiencing a revival of a different sort. The Catholic universities and colleges started experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
It spread rapidly to other denominations. Most of the mainstream denominations didn’t welcome this “strange fire”. They gave the left foot of fellowship to the believers that spoke in “tongues”. With nowhere else to go, they developed Bible studies that turned into nondenominational churches. My parent’s Bible study is an example of this.
Then the Word conferences began, and the “Word of Faith” movement exploded. In the 1980s, believers experienced a great hunger for the Word of God. Speakers at conferences would teach for two hours and try to close the conference for the night. The believers wouldn’t leave. Instead, they would chant, “We want more! We want more!” Often the conference would continue for a couple more hours.
The result of the revival in the 1970s and 1980s is today some of those hippies are now senior pastors in mega churches. Many of those charismatic teachers now have international ministries. The people from those conferences taught their children to love the Word of God.
Revival Today
There was a revival amid the cultural, political, and financial upheaval of the 1970s, so why not today? People in the United States are searching for stability in massive insecurity.
They need stability, yet most are not sure of what they are looking for. Just as the hippies of the 1960s sought to be outwardly with hairstyles and clothes, there are those now searching for their identity by being outwardly different. Now it is tattoos and piercings.
This search for identity has spawned groups labelled by an acronym. Of course, people continue to look for answers in power, money, sex, drugs, or another form of temporary satisfaction.
The general restlessness of the American population reveals they are not finding the peace and satisfaction they seek.
What is the Church Doing?
What is the average church in America doing in today’s upheaval and uncertainty? Many are staying confined within the four walls of their building, just holding on until Jesus returns. They live in fear of all the turmoil outside of their walls.
Others become seeker-sensitive to the point they look, act, and sound like the world around them. They bring people into the church, but don’t bring them into a relationship with Jesus. All they are offering is a salve for the guilt of not going to church.
Last are the churches that continue to do what they have always done and are completely out of touch with the world around them. They talk about how bad the world is and there must be change, but do nothing to cause the change.
Of course, there are a minority of churches reaching out and touching the world around them with change. The problem is, it’s only the minority of churches in America.
Drinking the Sand
Michael J. Fox had a brilliant scene in the movie, American President. He was in the oval office speaking to Michael Douglas who played the president of the United States. This is what he said:
“People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.”
They Need Jesus
People today are looking for the TRUTH. They are tired of the shifting sands of uncertainty beneath their feet. What they do not know is they are looking for The Solid Rock, Jesus.
The people doing the seeking cannot find the Rock, because they don’t know Who The Rock is. In the absence of believers living The Truth, they have no guide to show them the way.
Therefore, they drink the sand instead of drinking the Living Water. Why would they drink the sand? Because they don’t know any better.
When Christians look, talk, and act like the world, how can we show them Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life?
If Christians are filled with as much worry, fear, and uncertainty as to the non-Christians, then we are not placing our trust in Jesus. It becomes all talk about trusting Jesus and not backing that trust with actual actions.
The world will never find Jesus through uncertain and fearful Christians. What is needed today, and always has been needed, are bold believers.
Learn more about being a witness for Jesus in my articles:
The Believer in Psalm 112
King David described the bold believer in the 112th Psalm. (NLT)
- Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.
- Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
- They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever.
- Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
- Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.
- Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
- They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
- They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.
- They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor.
This is the biblical description of the bold believer. It begins with committing to obey the Lord’s commands because of a genuine delight in those commands being the truth. This is the believer that will be effective in the world today.
Few believers fit this description. It takes someone committed to God, His Word, and His ways to be the bold believer described in Psalm 112.
For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. (Romans 8:19 CSB)
The World is Waiting for Us
The world, creation, is eager for the children of God, Psalm 112 believers, to be revealed. It is time for bold believers to take their rightful place in the world. We need to know who we are in Christ. We are born again, filled with the Holy Spirit and power, anointed children of God.
This means we need to act like who we are. We are living in the last days. There is a world of lost souls waiting for us to be bold enough to tell them the answer is Jesus.
Fear can no longer be a part of our life. If you have fear, then the love of God has not been perfected in your life. (see: 1 John 4:18) To perfect God’s love in your life, you will need to meditate on scriptures concerning the love of God. Use a concordance or Google to find the scriptures. Print out the scriptures and meditate on them.
If you don’t know how to meditate or even what it is, read my article here -> Meditate Scripture
Do What God Has Called You to Do
We are ambassadors for Christ. As ambassadors for Christ, our purpose is to reconcile others with God. What does reconcile or reconciliation mean?
It means to change completely. Our relationship with God changed completely when we made Jesus Lord of our life. We went from being enemies of God as slaves of satan and his kingdom of darkness to children of God and citizens of the Kingdom of Light.
Now we are to reconcile others with God. How do we do that? Tell them God isn’t mad at them and He loves them. It is that simple.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 CSB)
You Were Chosen for a Time Such as This
Mordecai sent a messenger to Queen Esther to tell her, “And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?” (Esther 4:14b Amplified Classic Edition)
We were born at this time in history because God determined it is the point in history where our lives can make the most impact for the Kingdom of God. He chose us to live at “such a time as this.”
God tells us in His Word He decided when we are to live. Acts 17:26 says, “From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.” (CSB)
When the descendants of Israel would have been devastated by famine, Joseph was born and positioned to be their salvation. The Israelites needed delivered from Pharoah, Moses was born and positioned by God. At the time for Israel to enter the Promised Land, Joshua, trained by Moses, was ready.
Zerubbabel was there to lead the Israelites from Babylon to Judah. John the Baptist was born at the right time to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus was born at God’s appointed time to bring salvation to humanity. Paul was born and prepared to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
This is our time in history. God designed us to live now, with all that is going on in the world. Our talents, personality, and character are what we require at this time of history.
What Can I Do?
But I am just one person. I don’t have a ministry and I am not a leader in a church. What can I really do?
You can affect the world around you. You can start change in those you see on a daily basis.
1. Pray: The first step is to pray daily. Obey scripture and pray first for the leaders in government. During your prayer time, ask God to open up opportunities to share the gospel.
2. Work: You can share the gospel during lunchtime. As conversations drift towards the problems from the news the night before, you can interject into the conversation the hope you have and why you have that hope.
3. Marketplace: When you stop and speak with people you know, often the conversation will move towards higher prices and empty shelves. This is a great time to share Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” You can share the hope this verse provides you and the sureness of God’s promises.
4. Neighborhood: This is where others see how you live. Your words must match your lifestyle here. Your neighbors will either regard you as a believer or a hypocrite. Not meaning you have to be perfect. Only consistent. This is the one place you can share your hope and the gospel regularly. Seek opportunities to get to know your neighbors, therefore creating opportunities.
5. Anywhere: Be prepared to share the gospel anywhere and in any situation. As you consistently do step one, pray, God will create the opportunities to change the world around you.
The Challenge
I challenge you to seek out ways in your daily routine to show others the stability found through building your life on The Rock, Jesus. Not just in your actions, but with words too. People need to hear the Word in order to have faith to believe.
This doesn’t mean you have to know a bunch of Bible verses and quote them. You can simply share your testimony and paraphrase the verses that are a part of that testimony.
Give this a serious effort for twenty-one days and you will never find sharing the gospel difficult again.
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