Advance

This last year has been absolutely crazy for me. I have seen the most growth in my life in this one year than I have in all my life. I thank God for the work that He’s done; I celebrate it, and it would be wrong of me to diminish what He has done. But I also do not want to camp in yesterday’s victory when there is more ground to be taken today. 

Around a month ago, the Lord dropped this word into my heart. I was amidst praying for our nation and He reminded me of something I read in Jeremiah 2: “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit,” (Jer 2:8 NKJV). As I read this, the Lord revealed to me how this correlates to the Church in America today. 

The role of each of these offices was supposed to be unto the Lord, but more than simply performing the duties that were assigned to them, the Lord desired that their hearts would be toward Him. He wanted them to pursue only Him. However, as the Word shows us, the nation of Israel habitually turned from the Lord and put their hope into false gods. 

This generation in the book of Jeremiah was extremely wicked, and far from the things of God, and I believe that their backslidings were in part due to failure of those who were supposed to represent and minister unto the Lord—the priesthood, the keepers of the law, the rulers, and the prophets. The Lord highlighted this verse in my heart because these positions of leadership are an example of the Church today. The condition of the nation of Israel was direct representation of the condition of their hearts as a whole. In Jeremiah 2:19, the Lord speaks through Jeremiah saying, “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.”

As the heart of the people walked away from the Lord, and embraced wickedness, the nation as a whole would suffer. I believe that a large portion of the issues that we see in our nation today are a result of a nation that has rejected God, and a Church that has failed to represent Him and give Him glory. Though we do not have a foreign empire at our doorstep preparing to invade us like Israel in the book of Jeremiah, we are suffering from many different plagues in our nation. 

As the Church, wherever there is darkness in the world, we are supposed to be manifesting His presence into that situation. Oftentimes we say things such as “We live in a fallen, and broken world,” and use that as an excuse to hide the fact that a lot of the western Church is not walking in the revelation of power and authority that Christ has given us. Yes, we live in a fallen world, but before Jesus left, he said to us that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

In Acts chapter eight, Phillip, a man who never knew Jesus and was simply a table waiter walks down to the city of Samaria and flips the city upside down. As he entered the city, he preached Christ, with signs following as the sick were healed and many demonized people were set free. Verse eight in that chapter tells us that, “So there was much rejoicing in that city,” (Acts 8:8 NASB). The Church in the book of Acts was Jesus’ church plant. This is the standard set before us. If we are failing to see the promises that are in His word in our lives, then we ought not elevate our experience above His word. 

I am not writing this from a place of, “I am perfect.” There are still many areas in my life that I am still learning. During this month, I would encourage you to join me in meditating on Luke 11. The promise in this passage is that if we persistently ask the Lord, that He would give us the Holy Spirit. Let us ask, seek, and knock, and ask the Lord for more. Let us press on, so that we would see His Kingdom manifest. 

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:12-14).

Let us press on. And here is the exciting part: our God is not a God who is afraid of the process. He is an ever-present Father who loves watching His kiddos grow up and look more and more like Jesus. This is so exciting! He’s with us every step of the way! When we think of going through a process, we often think of the struggle and ugliness that is involved, but in truth, through the process is an opportunity to get to know Him in a way unlike ever before. Eternal life is knowing Him, and every moment is a new opportunity to see and encounter Him in a new way. 

~ Cole