IT’S TIME TO PREPARE!
Luke 12:39-40 "And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." (KJV)
Introduction
By the leading of the Holy Spirit, I arrived in Los Angeles, California late this morning. Once settled in my hotel room, I began by asking God what to pray. He replied, “I brought you here to speak to you. There is a huge youth culture here, and they are UNPREPARED. Most churches contain the youth. Some entertain the youth. But very few TRAIN THE YOUTH. Thus, they are UNPREPARED. Meanwhile, the Muslims are TRAINING their youth, and thus the increase of wars and terror amongst the nations…”
UNPREPARED
The nations are in a constant state of crisis, because they are unprepared to deal with each crisis as it occurs. As Egypt rejoices in her newfound liberty, she remains UNPREPARED for the next stage of decision-making and leadership. I heard the Holy Spirit say concerning Egypt, “Will you throw off one bondage for another?” Whether or not the Body of Christ is ready for this nation’s opportunity for redemption, I can tell you this. Beyond a shadow of doubt, the ENEMY IS PREPARED! He has been very patiently WAITING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY SUCH AS THIS! In fact, the enemy’s greatest advantage is that so often he is more prepared than the Church to decisively act in the state of crisis. The enemy thrives on crisis. He strategizes to stir up crisis, always hoping that his greatest threat, the Body of Christ, will be less prepared than he, at that crucial moment, when the state of our families, cities, states and nations are at stake!
Likewise, the Church is in a constant state of crisis. Not only have we failed to prepare ourselves, we have failed to prepare the next generation to step up to the plate of leadership responsibility. Sadly, crisis in our world is escalating at a rapid rate, and our youth are even less prepared than our generation! What are we to do? How are we to prepare them, when we ourselves are not prepared to lead them?
God is showing me how our nation’s educational system is in a state of crisis. Why? Because our students are UNPREPARED! The Holy Spirit is showing me that children come to school unprepared with even the most basic skills. Then they move from grade level to grade level, yet unprepared for each new grade, and the greater difficulty of work required at that higher level. There is much complaint and uproar over the injustice of standardized testing, when the greater injustice is the fact that the students are unprepared for the tests! God is saying, so it is with the Body of Christ. How often do we complain about the injustice of life and its constant state of crisis, when the greater injustice is the fact that THE BODY OF CHRIST, who has THE ANSWER is UNPREPARED?
Likewise, many of our youth are spiritually UNPREPARED. God is saying that most churches contain the youth, some entertain the youth, but VERY FEW TRAIN THE YOUTH. So it is with the adults, as well. What ever happened to Sunday School? What ever happened to Bible study? What ever happened to corporate fasting and prayer? How often do we go from day to day, week to week, year to year UNPREPARED? When we ought to be climbing higher, moving from stage to stage of maturity, so many just go through the motions, speaking spiritual rhetoric UNPREPARED to effectively handle the constant state of crisis that defines our real experience. How often do we shout and dance to our favorite praise music, while slipping and sliding through life? How often do we speak in unknown tongues without interpretation or understanding of what God is really saying to us? How often do we listen to inspiring sermons that make us feel oh so good, yet, remain UNPREPARED to fight the war that defines our reality both inside and outside of the church doors? If we are UNPREPARED for this temporal life, how will we ever be prepared for Eternity?
IT’S TIME TO PREPARE!
It is time for church to cease from being an event we attend out of habit. The church must fulfill its God given purpose, by functioning as a TRAINING CENTER. A couple of years ago the Holy Spirit spoke to me, “These are the last days, and Christian education is the evangelism of today.” God is saying that we need to enter His 24/7 LIFE Academy. It’s time for us to enlist in BASIC TRAINING once more. It’s time for God’s Generals to TRAIN THE ARMY OF GOD! It’s time for us to enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise, expecting to be RAISED to a higher level of service through PREPARATION and TRAINING! Apostolically speaking, unless our houses of worship are producing TRAINED WORSHIPPERS AND WARRIORS, we have missed the mark clearly set for us through Jesus’ example. Where are the disciples of today? There are so many who call themselves Christians, yet so few disciples.
Jesus trained disciples, who then trained disciples. This is the POWER of Apostolic ministry that Jesus modeled for us. It is through the POWER OF DISCIPLESHIP that Jesus’ ministry STILL CONTINUES TODAY. We must return to God’s original intent for His Body. For this is the ONLY WAY that we will be PREPARED for the insurmountable level of crisis that we must face in these last days. Let us return to the Acts of the Holy Spirit THROUGH the apostles! Let us return to the BIBLICAL WAY! Let us repent for having strayed from Jesus, the LIVING WAY. Let us return today! The state of our families, cities, states, and nations are at stake! It is time to awake from our sleep and slumber. It’s time to CARE! It’s time to PREPARE! Enlist in God’s BASIC TRAINING if you dare! Enlist in God’s 24/7 LIFE Academy if you dare! For without a doubt it is time to PREPARE!
© Christine Lombard, All rights reserved, use only with permission
