Phil 4:11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Paul is a great example to us when he tells us that he had “learned” to be content. There is no magic wand to arrive at this position. We must “learn” And we learn by walking through the fires and the floods. Giving ourselves over and surrendering in every situation so that we can find the freedom that is found in the darkness. What do I mean by that? Well the greatest freedom ever wrought was formed and delivered to us from Calvary.

It is on the tree that Jesus set us free from the laws of sin and death. Gethsemane, Calvary, the cross, the resurrection, this is the path. There has to be a willingness to take up our crosses and die. I do not believe it is every forced upon us. Well I remember the day in 1995, four years after I came to Jesus, that I cried out to my heavenly Father” whatever it takes Lord for me to be useful to you.” One of those prayers that you know that you know that was heard before the throne.

The next 20 years there was one trial after another. The kind of trials that make you fall to your knees. Over and over again. Yet, I began to discover deep truths in these trials. After so many of them it occurred to me how faithful God was to me in the midst of them. How He was always there. How disappointed I was by my lack of total trust in Him as I walked through them. How I was determined in my spirit to walk through the next one, which I knew was coming, with more faith and trust in the faithfulness of God.

I discovered that this journey was a journey not about my own faith but about discovering just how faithful the Lord was to me. It was all about His faithfulness!! And the light bulb began to come on. I was “learning.” And my own faith was strengthened in the midst of it all.

Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High

There is much noise in the land brothers and sisters. There is much professional worship that makes a great noise. In the world’s eyes it sounds great and is somewhat familiar to their ears because much of it is fashioned after the music of the world. It is designed to entertain. Yet can I suggest, that if the Lord does not inhabit it then it is merely noise and it actually drowns out the still small voice that would whisper to us “He is beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words, to wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard, who could grasp His infinite wisdom, who could fathom the depths of His love. He is beautiful beyond description, majesty enthrones above.”

As God gathers His people together, a hush will fall upon their hearts. They will catch their breath as the King of glory comes in, comes in in all of His fullness. As He begins to flood the dry creek beds with a mighty rushing river then the saints will begin to rise up and minister in the overflow of His presence. There is a fresh wind beginning to blow in the hearts of Gods saints. There is a fountain rising in their hearts. And the source of this fountain is God Himself in all of His majestic glory. And out of this river flows an everlasting abundant love. It fills us with light and this light is the life of men. Look unto God and see what it truly means to live an abundant life in Christ.

Perhaps you can relate to the dry river bed? Perhaps it has been a long time since you have experienced the river of God that makes glad the hearts of men? Is the Lord calling you today in that still small voice? Will cry out to Him today so that the weight of His glory may fall upon your life today? Can you seek Him out in the silence? Remove all of the distractions of life, the noise and the clamor and the demands. In the end, without His presence, what does any of it mean? Outside of Jesus and His presence all we are doing is marking time until our final day. The Kingdom of God is found when we seek it first above all things. Seek it out today brothers and sisters. The horse must go before the cart, God must be first and when He is then everything that we do finds purpose. Make Him first today.

1 Sam 17:48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

For Christians, victories are won in the depths of the valley for this is where strongholds are broken down and conquered. This is where the fight is taken to the enemy. This place is his dark domain. This is a place that we would never voluntarily go to. We would never come to this place willingly. Yet this place is where we see the gates of bronze broken down and the bars of iron cut in two.

Perhaps you are in the depths of a deep valley today and surrounded by darkness? Be of good cheer and be encouraged, for this place where the enemy would see you destroyed is actually the place where you will see victory in Christ. Your mourning shall be turned in dancing and He will put upon you a garment of praise and this spirit of heaviness shall flee before His presence.

The Christian walk is a violent one spiritually speaking. There is nothing passive about what you have been called to. There is an enemy of your soul and the Lord is the Lord of your whole life. Under no circumstances will He allow a stronghold of the enemy to exist in the depths of who you are. Consider young David as he runs towards Goliath. David runs to where the enemy is and destroys him. The Lord takes us to places that in the natural we would not go. Confrontation is the way of the Lord. It is no surprise that most folks hate confrontation yet the Lord leads us into confrontations.

Will you confront your fears today? Will you stand for the truth today? As Christians we are spiritual soldiers. We have been called to battle. And even although much of modern Christianity has been feminized this does not change the true nature of who we are. There can be no co-existence between light and darkness, whether that is inner darkness in you or in the world. Light will have its way and in this place there can be no room for darkness.

Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

There is a great multitude today who are desperately hungry and thirsty. All over the world the people dwell in great darkness and the darkness increases every day. Hell has opened up its vaults and is beginning to spew forth its contents with increasing speed and urgency because it knows its time is short. There is a desperate darkness coming and it is coming at us with alarming speed. Yet just as in the time of Noah, the world is ignorant of the impending disaster about to befall it.

Like the children of Israel when Jesus says “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!” Jesus wept because He knew that less than forty years after His death and resurrection that the whole system would come tumbling down. The Temple would be destroyed and the Israelite’s would be no more as a nation and they had absolutely no idea.

In those days, it was unimaginable that their Temple, their country, their way of life would be swept away and that they would be scattered to the four corners of the world. It is equally unimaginable to so many that the church system as we know it today, will be completely consumed by Babylon and turn on God’s remnant children. Yet brothers and sisters, that is exactly what is coming as this great Babylonian whore church evolves and worships the anti-Christ. And despite all this, God’s children will shine brightly in the darkest days the world has ever known. Full of the Holy Spirit and walking in the presence of God.

A blood bought remnant people whose desperate desire is to follow Him to Calvary and beyond. Their eyes will see the Glory of the Living God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. This persecution upon the saints will rend the heavens and the glory of God will fall upon them. Because this persecution will be worldwide therefore the glory that falls will fall all over the world and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. Jesus will be manifested to the world. It will be clear to the world what they are rejecting and then He shall appear. Oh for the day of His appearance when every eye shall see Him and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God.

1 Cor 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

There is a great tide of evil rising up against Gods people. You know it, you sense it in your spirit, no one needs to tell you. And yet you also know that God has a people that He has established and strengthened in the fires of affliction. He has separated a people from the system of the world and called them to Himself. A people who love God and Him alone with their whole hearts. They have been hardened and tempered to the things of this world by trial and by affliction.

They come from every walk of life, every traditional background. You are not alone. The Body of Christ is shortly to face its greatest test. Indeed the Word of God tells us that there is such a time coming, that if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived and for the elect’s sake God will shorten those days. Will you stand in the evil day brothers and sisters? Has your own independence from the world been forged in the fires of affliction?

Are you wholly dependent upon the Lord? Now is the time to be forged in the fire, to be purified, to be purged of the dross of this world. For if this world has a place in your heart, a foothold in your life, then the challenge will be so much more difficult. Are you truly ready brothers and sisters to stand in the evil day that is almost upon us? It’s time to take up the armor of the Lord. For our battles are not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the worlds rulers and the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So let us take on Truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness. Let us walk in the Gospel of peace and shield ourselves from the enemy’s blows by our faith in God alone. And always remember that we have salvation in Christ Jesus that can never be taken from us and the Word of God that delivers and defeats all of our enemies as we walk in the Spirit.

Heb 13:13-14 Therefore let us go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Jesus was found outside the camp, outside the walls, outside the gates. We are told to go to where He is. In those days, the walls represented security and belonging. To be outside the camp was to be outside of fellowship with the rest of society and to be in a dangerous place. Yet, Jesus was found in a place called Golgotha, outside of the gates. To leave the security of the walls behind us, we must be willing to find all of our security and belonging in Jesus.

The distance from where Jesus hung on the cross was not very far from the temple. Those who dwelt within the walls were convinced that the presence of God was within the heart of the temple, in the Holy of Holies. Yet tragically for those who clung to their place of worship and who ignored what Jesus had told the woman at the well, would die in their religion.

Jesus told the woman at the well when she questioned Him about where the proper place to worship should be that a time was coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24) The presence of God was not in the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, the word made flesh, Emmanuel, was hanging from a tree outside of civilized society on a garbage dump known as Golgotha.

The saints of God are sojourners. We are pilgrims in a strange land who are merely passing through. We bear His reproach from the world and from the religious. Do you worship Him in Spirit and in Truth? Can we ignore the truth and still be obedient to the words of Jesus? If we are to walk in the Spirit then we have to walk in the truth, you cannot have one without the other. In our ever changing world it is getting more and more difficult to justify staying behind the walls. We have to be where the truth is. True worshipers will follow the Spirit and will follow the truth, even if none go with them and despite the ridicule and the reproach. Remember we are bearing His reproach for here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come.