While we wait ... He moves

He doesn't want anyone to perish, and nor do we

These are my own words and AI is not used. Have grace. I’m not great at writing and grammar is like kryptonite.

The kitchen table is a familiar place, a safe place, where we fellowship with other members of the Watchmen Community and more broadly the Body of Christ. There is a war going through my mind most days. It is particularly vivid when I get depleted, or have watched global news feeds (both are correlated). There is a growing exhaustion that cannot be fixed by sleep or rest. If truth be told, I’m not even sure I understand what rest looks like anymore. The truth: our need for rest is more profound and nuanced than many of us realize and we settle for a counterfeit all too often. This is a difficult post, because it comes on the heels of great exertion in many of my ministry projects. Rest is not rest…enough.

I can tell when I need to reevaluate where I think I am. It’s when I crash. It’s often not something I can anticipate. Those in my audience that are introverts will know what I am talking about. I need to just shut down for a while, maybe for at least a few days. It’s when I think most about going camping, because there is something regenerative when I can be by myself and focus on the Lord, the Word of God, and worship. This is especially true if it is raining!

Here’s where I’m going with this. The longer we go into the last of the last days, the more I watch the complete nonsense on the news, or witness the clear signals of the approaching Beast System and the tribulation, the more my longing for the Lord to come for His Bride strengthens. #Maranatha is often how I tag this sentiment—note this is how I end my Kitchen Table posts! But beyond a tag, my voice in prayer is simply: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” from the second part of Revelation 22:20 (here). It’s funny how quickly I get to this moment when watching the news. As I’ve said before, often I skip out of news stories before they finish and move on. But I’m noticing it’s happening more and more often. It’s one reason why I’m working on a news app.

The battle over news seems to have a direct impact on my longing for Jesus Christ and our Blessed Hope. Let’s look at these verses:

Titus 2:11-15 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

Having just put this on the table, let’s continue to think through the friction between longing to go versus our responsibility to stay engaged in our world—cooperating as it were with the Holy Spirit who doesn’t want any to perish.

Introduction

What makes the delicate issue of longing for the Lord so much more difficult to bear sometimes is the cognitive and spiritual distance it puts between us and those that don’t. That gap between those that long and those that don’t seems to be widening. Painfully, it leads to a form of sorrow. Those that don’t long for the Lord have their excuses—some of them are justifiable. No one preached to me from the pulpit about the End Times, the Bema Seat, the Rapture, the Millennium, or our Eternal State.

Without understanding the full redemptive plan and its promises, is it any wonder that people just follow the status quo and the full-on normalcy bias so prevalent today?

So, it seems like the distance between these two groups widens. I’m sure this breaks the Lord’s heart, because it doesn’t reflect a proper functioning of the Body of Christ. It breaks my heart, too. But for the Lord waking me up 8-ish years ago, that would be me, folks. If you’re honest, wouldn’t that be you, too?

I was just reminded by a Brother that we live under the oppression of this world and this contaminates our understanding of our NEW IDENTITY in Christ (see v17 below). Long time readers of my substack know that the enemy’s attack on our identity is exceedingly hard to detect—up to the point of having arrows squeeze between gaps in our armor. The enemy is wicked and clever and knows how to push buttons to keep us from our mission. Not properly defended, it leads to incorrect views of what Jesus did on the cross. I’m referring to the POWER of what is in our grasp as we seek to finish well and be a faithful servant. What is this power? It’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit given to us—in fact, who lives in us. I admit this is one of the most simple, and yet difficult, areas to get my head around.

Today, I want to spend time reacquainting myself with one of the key foundations of our identity, purchased at great cost by Jesus and given freely to us who put our faith, hope and trust in Him.

For the love of Christ controls us

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know [Him in this way] no longer.

• For the love of Christ controls us—let’s think about this, Brothers and Sisters. The weariness of our times is like a virus in our minds. It robs us of JOY and thus MISSION. We don’t often consider a really key truth: love controls us now. Whose love is the source of our love? It’s Christ! We often react poorly in the flesh when talk about someone controlling us … unless it is the Lord Himself! This is something we need to intentionally manage. If Christ controls us, we should be leaky vessels for the Holy Spirit that profusely uses our broken, battered, and flawed testimony For His glory alone! His grace and mercy set us on the rock of the Word and the Gospel. To a deprived, hungry, and truth seeking world within reach of your personal sphere of influence, aren’t you the perfect example of what Christ can do to give others a hope and a future?

• They who live might no longer live for themselves—this is where the rubber hits the road. Do we actually control our lives? Doesn’t the Word say that He controls our days (see Psalm 139:16 here) or (Job 14:5 here) or (Psalm 90:12 here). Logically, He who numbers our days is sovereign over us—acknowledged or not, believer or not, He is LORD over all. Reminder the Great White Throne judgement is where those that were not written in the Book of Life (here) will stand to give an account … which they cannot endure before a Holy and just God. My takeaway: when I think improperly: “I will do this, I will do that…” is that equivalent to me living for my will over His, my way over His, my timeline over His? I am so overwhelmed by my will and flesh: “Lord, forgive me, help me to by the Man of God that You desire. I repent. Not my will, but Your will. Not my way, but Your way. Not my timeline, but Yours. Lord, I pray right now for my Brothers and Sisters to realize the profound truth of Your Word and may they resolve to come to You like I try to. May we all offer the fullness of our lives in service to You for this great season…until You call us home by death or the Rapture. Your will be done. AMEN.

• From now on—hmm, interesting. From now on suggests that there is a before and an after. There appears to be a point of decision. Is this just a feeling that comes in the moment but is quickly forgotten in the distractedness of our lives? Or is there an anchor here? I have a massive sensitivity for those that think they must fix themselves before coming to the cross. This the exact opposite of the Gospel. An Anti-Gospel? Anything with the word anti in it is opposed to Jesus and His unfathomable love for us. He receives us to Himself as is. You see, He doesn’t see us like we see ourselves. He sees us as who He made us to be; who we will be in our future selfs, unblemished by this world and the trap of sin. When He said it is finished on the cross (here) it is the very same moment He rejoices over us with great joy (here)! Not condemnation, but joy!

He has committed to us the word of reconciliation

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all [these] things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

• A new creature; the old things passed away—Oh wow! A 2x4 just hit me upside the head! The old things have passed away. If they have passed away, but they are ever present in our vision today, what is that say about the state of my/our reality? Is there a problem here? Did sin just trip us through crafty intent? How? Did we stop looking up? Or, are we looking down, crumpled by shame? Whose voice is this in your head? Speaking from experience, this is the voice of the enemy. And I am doubly ashamed at how often I look down and collapse into the vortex of my/our current downward spiral. Are you guys with me? The Kitchen Table: where we speak honestly. That part of me must not get stuck. I must overcome because the cost for my freedom before the LORD was paid for and won. What I do is read the red letters…drink deeply. My daily reading right now is 2 Samuel 22, but I need Jesus more than I need to read all the drama of King David.

• New things have come—what new things? I think the next item will address this handsomely. New is new! Before becoming a Watchman is an excellent proxy for what the difference is for me personally. Old self: lazy Christian, bent by pride, not Biblically literate, and certainly not eschatologically aware. New self: intentional, in focused relationship, striving to conform to the image of Christ, sprinting to finish my course and stand approved FOR HIS GLORY! What is your journey? What is you NEW THING? Can you identify the difference between old and new? Are you cooperating with the Holy Spirit? I’m asking questions my friends, not throwing stones here. We do life together.

• Gave us the ministry of reconciliation—So here it is. Beyond a specific calling, or even beyond our God given skills, abilities and resources is this gem: the ministry of reconciliation. This is about the Gospel, stewarded by pouring ourselves outward for the benefit of others we may or may not know. Does it matter which? Do we get to pick? I think not. We respond to the prompting/nudges from the Holy Spirit. And friends, this can be so subtle at times. A flicker of indecision or the sudden noise over there, and the delicate moment might pass. I shudder to think of the multitude of times that I have elevated my priorities over the love of GOD for OTHERS that He is in the act of calling to Himself. This wrongful thinking is a deep crevice in an arctic wilderness. One wrong step and we can succumb to an act of accidental disobedience in the Lord’s plan. Lord, have mercy on us, your servants. This is not our desire. We seek to serve You will all our heart, mind, and soul. We are available. We are expectant. We will give others the truth of the Gospel in faith as is befitting our standing and maturity in Christ.

• He has committed to us the word of reconciliation—The Word! For us to participate in the ministry of the Gospel and reconciliation we have to have enough memorization of the Word of God that we don’t stutter and face-plant. My memory is becoming a bigger problem. It’s frustrating. The Word is in there somewhere, but my brain has more difficulty calling up the exact words of the verses. Out of necessity, I fallback to paraphrasing. And if this is you too, take heart because I think that quoting Scripture flawlessly can sometimes be intimidating to others. That paraphrase may help to remove difficult to understand Christian-ese words that are hard to transfer context correctly. Nevertheless, we have to fix any gaps in our delivery so that we can be a coherent custodian of the truth.

We are ambassadors for Christ

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

• We are ambassadors for Christ—I love Brother Patrick Wood reminding us of this during our Tech Roundtable discussions. Often in the closing moments, you can hear his heart for people. He encourages us to love sufficiently to bring many into the Kingdom by doing our part to plant, water, or harvest in this season. I am always so encouraged when he and the rest of the roundtable team speak up about this. An ambassador is the reflection of the One sending us. We are the touchpoint of the Gospel to real people that need Jesus. We are the ones sent, and we represent the King. We are charged with looking for good soil without condition, prejudice, or inhibition. If the person we share with exhibits hard, packed down and compressed soil, does that excuse us from avoiding our responsibility? No, we are doing the work of reconciliation and acting in our proper role as ambassadors for Christ even then. We have no foreknowledge how our seeds cast among hard packed soil might take root in due time. How dare we presuppose the purpose God intends for the people He nudges us towards! Of course, always be safe.

• Be reconciled to god—I was slightly taken back by the appeal a Brother used when he responded to the Lord’s prompting when witnessing. It wasn’t immediately logical. Not a step-wise framework of the Gospel, such as the Roman Road to Salvation or the Four Spiritual Laws. He talked about his yearning for that person to join him in Heaven for all eternity. It’s love and concern not rote dissertation. Breaking through logic and its resistance or defensiveness is effective. The AUTHENTIC love expressed is not his own—nor ours, Brothers and Sisters. In those precious moments, it’s as if the LORD speaks His words directly through the testimony of our redeemed life. People have such a fundamental need for love—often filling that God-shaped vacuum with all kinds of counterfeit substitutes. Sex? Drugs? Fame? Power? They quickly fade. Somewhere inside they know it doesn’t work. But they need hope and a new vision to break free, don’t they? Aren’t YOU the steward of your imperfections to a lost and deprived world? Your signature, your personality, your God given identity and personality are potentially the unlock for others…perhaps even the very next person you meet! Can I get an AMEN?

• So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him—so that, hmm. This sounds like one link of a chain leading inexorably to the next link. I’m not a theological expert, but the so that almost seems conditional to me. Conditional on our response and action to the verses we’ve been discussing. This righteousness was forever made possible at the cross and forever ours when the transaction of our salvation happened. The great exchange. The great gift of God. Given to us for our good and for His purposes. The fullness of our righteousness is not visible to us while we are still in enemy occupied and controlled territory here on this side of the Rapture. But It is one day closer!

Summary

He doesn’t want anyone to perish, and nor do we. Are you with me, Brothers and Sisters? I know we’re tired and exhausted. I am and I know from hundreds of comments that we all have the same affliction. But the Lord brought us into this part of the redemptive timeline for a reason! Your knowledge as a Watchman or Watchwoman are critical just before things break loose. Look around at the world and groan. The birth pangs are so more difficult to endure. But rest is coming—just not right now. We have to be about the Father’s business. Time is shorter than when we first believed.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Yes—I struggle with introverted crashes where I have to retreat and recover. And it is true that this creates tension between the reality of my empty tank and the needs of those that are within arms reach in my sphere of influence. God help us all pour out as You command. I ask You for permission for the respite that I need. If you give that respite, even those fews days of rest, I will gladly receive them. But the desire of my life is not to elevate my desires in a way that accidentally and unintentionally interferes with the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. May it never be!

As a community, more (not less) will be demanded of us soon. The soon we always sense and hope for is elusive. The soon seems endless, but we are resolute, sober, and tender hearted towards Your purposes. May our will be subjected—in love—to Yours for Your glory.

Lord, it is so hard now. The remnant is looking up to meet You in the air at the time You have appointed from eternity past. Rest is coming, Lord. We know this. But sustain Your servants. Help us receive a fresh infilling of the Spirit to sustain the work You have called us individually and collectively as the Body of Christ to do in this season! AMEN.

Brothers and Sisters—my affection for us is on full display here. Let’s do our best. Work on sanctification and holiness. Let’s work on community and fellowship among like-minded Believers. Let’s work on mission. Re-stoke the flames of your dying embers. Rediscover your FIRST LOVE. Fan it into generous and unbridled love for the King of Kings. Love that can’t help but affect others with your authentic testimony in these, the Last Days. Godspeed!

#Maranatha

YBIC,
Scott