The Age To Come

Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6 v8-17

In the current cultural insanity that grips the nations of the West, I am aware that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the “rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Eph 6 v12. The forces arrayed against us are strong – governments, corporations, judiciary, social, religious and media – all pulling for a brave new world where all cultural norms of past millennia are uprooted.

But, like for Elisha, those who are with us are far, far greater than those opposed – if only we have the eyes to see. A mighty, invisible, golden army fights for the Lord! But…we need to pray. The only way this power is released is through prayer.

The impossible compliment of prayer, being co-creators in the Lord’s purposes, is available to all who are His. Do we want to see voices raised up that have the power to roll back the tide of darkness? Then…to pray is the key.  Pray like we believe, that we know, that those who are for us are far, far greater than the camp of those opposed.

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Hell is real. Sin is serious.
Our hearts are wayward and stubborn, and it is like threading a camel through the eye of a needle to do the right thing.
And most of humanity are going to go to Hell, because they refuse to come to Heaven.

These are not my thoughts, but Jesus’s. Sometimes, like today, it is good to get the wakeup call. It’s not a game, it never was, though so often we treat it like so. Come to Jesus, and then go off and do your own thing, it’s all good now. You got your sticking plaster on the owie, you’re fine now; don’t come anywhere near me with that scalpel, thank you.

Other people go to Hell, not good decent people like us, right? We’ve totally got it sorted, Jesus is my buddy. My tame God, that I can bring out from time to time as the need strikes me. I like my Grace cheap, thank you. An ounce of God with my morning coffee. The Christian-lite religion, worshiping the trinity of Me, Myself and I.

We all get to wake up one day, either in this life, or before His judgment seat. Maybe we think we’ll be the exception, the one without a wedding garment hidden in the throng, overlooked. Maybe….our God is too small. Maybe we need to realise, one day before it is too late – this day? – that the gift of Jesus’s righteousness, though free, costs us everything.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 6 v24.

At the beginning of the Welsh revival in 1904, a young girl named Florrie Evans rose to her feet and said, “I love Jesus Christ with all my heart.”  So began a fire that carried over into all five continents.

Recently, I was at a church service, watching people at the end as we were singing “Holy and Anointed One”. As we were singing, some folks went to get their kids, at which point others got up to leave, or chat with friends.  By the end of the song, maybe 10% were still worshipping.

It just seemed incongruous – just a few were worshipping –  Jesus, Jesus, Holy and anointed One, Jesus – and for everybody else, it was as if it was not happening.  As I watched, what I felt from the Lord was a deep sadness.  Sadness that this was His bride – and they were ignoring Him.

To be clear –  this is not about sitting in judgment on anyone, or wanting folks to feel ashamed.  I’m sure there were very good reasons.  And you can count me in the number of those who simply don’t love the Lord with all their hearts.

This is about feeling the sadness from God, and how much we still need to return to Him, to worship Him, to glorify Him.  And to have our hearts melted and renewed by Him.

Funny thing was – as I walked outside the church pondering, I came across this:

Seems as if the stones do indeed cry out.

Above the crystalline sea, the land is suffused with a golden light. The air is crisp, pure and exhilarating. There is peace, purpose, beauty and a strength of a reality that far exceeds our own. This place, that we can only see in vision, gives hope for those of us living in a land of ghosts, where fogs and smoke so often obscure the Truth.

It’s hard to see clearly when there are so many words, so much spin, truth distorted and obscured. So when I asked my Father if there is anything he wanted to tell me, he gave me a little glimpse of heaven. I wasn’t expecting that; rarely does He speak on my plane, but raises me up to His.

So remember – there is a Beauty, a Life and a Place that no smoke has touched, or ever will. Let a piece of your mind dwell there today.