Dale is teaching us this week and we are talking about the 2nd coming of Christ and what His return to earth will be like. He was talking about how there will be a lot of delusion and people will be saying, "Peace and safety!" and then destruction will come (1 Thes 5:3). Dale said that peace, as we pursue it through compromise, is not true peace. True peace is found when we agree with Jesus Christ, who is truth (John 14:6). At His 2nd coming, Jesus is actually going to bring war to the earth. He will fight against everyone who does not agree with Him and His right to rule and reign upon the earth. He will bring judgment to everyone who has not repented for their sins and come into agreement with His view of sin. Ultimately, there will be peace on earth, under Jesus' perfect leadership. But, this peace will not come through compromise. Every person will be given a choice: submit to Jesus' leadership of your life and your city and your nation or die. This will be a hostile takeover for everyone who has not surrendered to Jesus already.
This is SO intense! It challenges me to examine my life and look for places that are not surrendered to Jesus. He will be king over all of me and this whole world. I want to start living according to this reality now so that I don't experience His 2nd coming as a hostile takeover. I would prefer to give up my carnal pursuits rather than have them wrenched away from me.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." Revelation 5:11-12
Jesus is worthy of all of this today. He is worthy of all of my power or my physical strength. Jesus is worthy of all of my finances and directing how I use them. He is worthy of my wisdom or my thoughts and intellect. Jesus is worthy of all of my might or the skills and gifts that He has given to me. He is worth all of my honor, my glory and my blessing. Any time that someone compliments me and recognizes me for something, I can point them back to Jesus and say He is the one who is really worthy of your admiration and praise. He is the one who makes me who I am and offers you help, comfort and salvation.
I think that this would be a good habit for me to start developing now. It will help me be ready for the day when Jesus is actually king over the whole earth, with a throne in Jerusalem. I will be ready to pay homage to my King from years of practicing.
I also think that this is important in order to protect me from pride. As the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh in the last days (Acts 2, Joel 2), I believe that God will use me to prophecy and perform many signs and wonders. I hope and pray that I will be anointed, as Jesus was, to "bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty to captives" (Isa 61:1). I am beginning to imagine myself working with abused orphans and rescued victims of human trafficking. These precious ones can only be restored by the blood and power of Jesus. I am asking Him to equip and release me into this type of counseling work and I hope that He will use me powerfully. I realize that this may tempt the people who receive help from me to worship me, as they did with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14). I may even be tempted to accept their worship for myself. But, this would be a terrible form of idolatry. I don't want to put myself or anyone that I minister to in this position. I would rather preach the gospel and point everyone to Jesus, as the true Savior of the world. I want to proclaim that I am the servant of an incredible King who is worthy of all of their adoration.
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