As I ponder what I see in our world and especially in our community, I can’t help but wonder how we got to this place. I was reviewing some notes from my journal and I ran across a dream I had on August 3, 2024. It was no doubt a spiritual dream and I sent it to several to get feedback. I have a note at the end of the dream that as I awoke I heard, “You have no idea what level of warfare you are in. You must pray more.!”
Looking back now a year plus later, there is no doubt of the level of warfare that we have been and remain in. We are seeing it in our nation and we are seeing it in our own community.
A few weeks ago in our Saturday night prayer at church, I heard the Lord say we have a “Nehemiah Call.” Nehemiah has always been one of my favorite Old Testament books and I have found much confirmation and direction from this book. While in prayer today, I heard clearly that my next book would be entitled, The Nehemiah Call: Called, Appointed, Anointed!. I felt this same clarity of title with my first book, “The Power of Empty”, knowing clearly the title was from God.
Today, we are beginning a pre-prayer discussion of the Book of Nehemiah as we have heard in prayer that the answer to the issue in our city will be found in the Book of Nehemiah. A few weeks ago, I also heard, “do not get in a hurry to make decisions, steward well the assignment, and get out of My way!”
We no longer have time to tolerate bad doctrine, immature believers whining over their long past hurts, and complainers. This may sound hard, but we are where we are today because the church has been more of a social organization than a power house that the gates of hell will not prevail over. We have tolerated sin in order not to hurt feelings. We have followed quasi prophets who want a following and a dollar bill and we have put more stock in titles than function. I’m tired of “Amway” Christianity where character is less important than performance. Just make the sale! We cannot continue with this mentality and the church must wake up and get up. God told Joshua, Moses is dead. The old way must be dead, as good as it was in its time. Every place God sends us has been given to us, as it was with Moses and Joshua.
Witchcraft is permeating our cities and states. We not only tolerate it, we celebrate it and entertain ourselves with it. Parents allow their children to be entertained with witches, sorcerers, ghosts all in the name of “entertainment.” Many of our children are being led to the slaughter and no one is watching or calling them out. And those who do are deemed as fanatical or super spiritual, and ridiculed. Our city recently had a week where witches, sorcerers, wizards, and enchantresses were invited to participate. The next week we had a shooting in our street when families with children were present to light the city Christmas tree. Do we understand? Are we so blinded by the wizardry of evil?
We have been so consumed with having church that we forgot to be the church. We counted success by numbers and not the visible results of light dispelling darkness. Do we understand?
Even today with what is so painfully visible, some will refuse to pay the price. Some will refuse to step outside of comfortable Christianity to answer the call of what church really is supposed to be. If it is comfortable, we are not doing it right. If we are not awakened in the middle of the night to cry out for the prodigals, we possess nothing but a membership in the local meeting hall. We have been lulled to sleep by the powerless, religious entertainment industry that operates on emotion rather than truth, professional music rather than worship, and programs that replace power.
Why Nehemiah? Why you? Why me? Why do some feel the burden while most do not? When Nehemiah was told of the condition of Jerusalem, Nehemiah prayed, fasted, mourned for four months before he was released to the assignment. Do we mourn over what we see? Or do we think someone else will take care of it? There were Jewish leaders, priests, nobles, and officials in Jerusalem, but Nehemiah had to come from Babylon to rebuild the walls and the gates. Walls represent security, divine separation and holiness. Gates represent authority and choice. Many were in Jerusalem who could have rebuilt the walls, but God called Nehemiah. They lived among the ruins, yet did nothing to change it. Do we understand?
Sadly the church has been preaching another Jesus for years. Thank you Pastor Donna for preaching, teaching truth!!! Show us Jesus the Highway of Holiness and the ancient paths.