Are You A John The Baptist?

 

It is puzzling to me why so many Christians have difficulty telling others about the second coming of Jesus like they are supposed to. Maybe it is because there is a lot of doubt in their hearts that God will actually do what He said He will do. Does our lack of faith in the Word of God and in the power of God to do what He said He would do limit our ability to spread the gospel? I wonder how much more we could do, or how many more souls we could reach if we would just simply believe God’s Word and step out in total trust and faith?

I believe that the church of today and the world of Christianity will only see a revival and hear the fresh, anointed Word of God and will only hear from God when the church falls on her face before God in repentance and in intercession for a lost and dying world. But we are caught up in our own little worlds and we don’t have time or give time to the offering of our incense to God. No wonder there is little real moving of the Holy Spirit in the church today! The revival is going to come and is already here in many places but there can be so much more if we just offer up that incense and listen to the Word of God.

I am convinced that God is raising up many like John the Baptist that will be faithful as Zacharias and Elisabeth (Luke 1:) and they will have the “power and spirit of Elijah” to preach the Second Coming of Christ just as John did concerning the Birth of Christ. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost before he was ever born. The angel Gabriel told Zacharias that John would be the fore-runner of the Son of God...

 

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17;

 

We too need to go out like John the Baptist and let the people know. “Jesus Is Coming Again.”

LOOKING FOR THAT HEAVENLY CITY

 

      Contrary to popular belief, people are still being called out by God today. He is calling people to set their hearts on something that they cannot see, feel, touch, smell and hear, but yet it is as real to us as though they could do all of those things. It’s not something that the physical senses can discover, but by faith we know that it’s there. By exercising our spiritual senses we can almost see the lights of that Heavenly city and it’s like a magnet drawing us ever closer. I don’t know what you sense, but I know there’s a city out there not made with hands. It’s a place where I will finally find complete peace and rest, and joy beyond measure.

      Look at Abraham. What God had given Abraham did not define his final destination, a family to provide for, a job to complete, no, he gave him a place to go but he was still searching for that final destination. He was still looking for a city somewhere. It wasn’t made on earthly foundations, it was built upon God’s Holy Mountain in the portals of Heaven and it was on a different plane, a different dimension, but it was there and it still is. Along the way Abraham would fight many battles and he would have to provide for his family by earning his way and taking possession of earthly things to meet those needs but they weren’t his focus. They were only a means of getting where he was supposed to be going. He had an inheritance coming and no doubt he had the opportunity to inherit land and wealth from his family back in Ur of the Chaldees. He could have been rich if he hadn’t given it all away. But Abraham gave up the earthly inheritance for a Heavenly inheritance. Have we???

      Paul said in Philippians 3:7-8; “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, Philippians 3:7-8;

WHAT SHAPE IS YOUR ALTAR IN?

 

     Understand this please! It is not the starting right in life that counts the most, but it is the finishing your life right that matters. In Elijah’s day, God’s people were in the pit of spiritual disaster having allowed compromise to sever their relationship with God. So Elijah called the people back to the altar they had abandoned so long ago. It was at that altar they used to offer praise thanksgiving and worship. They also received forgiveness for their sins. Then Elijah dug out the stones from all the years of debris and neglect and he carefully fitted them back into a pattern and shape of an altar. He cut wood, prepared the sacrifice and then he saturated the whole works in water. Then he prayed for God to show himself. Look what happened. The fire fell from Heaven and consumed and devoured the sacrifice, the wood the stones and the water! God’s power, His presence, and His fire are all found at the altar of praise, worship and consecration. The dust and rubble of spiritual decay creep in unnoticed. Obedience to God’s Word keeps us well watered, and the fire of the Holy Spirit falls where altars are intact, not in ruins. Are we nurturing our relationship with God or is our altar in ruins? If it is in ruins then it is high time to repair the altar.