Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 1 John 2:15-25, 26-29, 1Timothy 4
I believe that every well-meaning minister or leader will take time off to listen to God and to ascertain from Him what direction he/she should take the ministry they are responsible for. This act of seeking spiritual direction intensifies as we come to the end of the year and look forward to embracing a new year with new challenges and unprecedented opportunities. As leaders our intentions are to align all our visions and thoughts with that of the Almighty God in whose vineyard we are called as faithful labourers and stewards of the King’s household. I have also come to realise that many leaders/ministers, despite the busy schedules of Christmas take time to reflect and hear clearly what God is saying concerning the year ahead.
These thoughts and revelations form the fulcrum on which the rest of the year revolves. It is therefore imperative that what is heard is clear, written down and effectively articulated to the various stakeholders within the ministry or the wider body of Christ.
In December 2008, I sought the face of the Lord concerning the year 2009 and the Lord showed me that it will be: “A Year of the Manifestation of the True Believer”. To be quite honest I did not fully grasp the fullness of all that God was showing me. He led me to the following scriptures:
JOHN 12:20-26 PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 JOSHUA 3:5-7
Then the Lord directed me to preach for a while telling His people that they must die before they can become everything the Lord intended for them to become. He made it clear that like a seed, unless we fell to the ground and died that we will be fruitless and will abide alone. I challenged the people to develop a mindset that was christ-centered, Christ-driven and Christ-orientated. This also requires a life of sanctification and holiness depending totally and utterly on the ocean of grace found only in faith of the finished work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Lord made me to understand that these processes were necessary to manifest the true believer. These were the spiritual formations the believer had to go through to survive any challenges the year 2009 was bringing to us. Remember, this was still in the month of December 2008.
Looking back at the Year 2009, as it is slowly disappearing; I can put my hand on my heart and declare the awesomeness of our all knowing God who has promised to go before us to clear the way so that we can come through notwithstanding what is ahead.
The Year 2009 was extraordinary and required extraordinary and supernatural intervention to come through it. The Lord did not fail the true believers who put their trust in Him. Isaiah 40:29-31 was the bedrock of our survival and manifestation. We have come through bearing the scars of war and fire. We were not strangled by austerity measures as we all witnessed the economic meltdown, credit crunches, joblessness, and dwindling offerings to meet the basic needs of the ministry. This is an attestation of the remarkable faithfulness of the God in whom we have trusted. He has never flinched from keeping his promises.
In less than 36 hours (time of writing) this challenging year will pass forever and the true believer who trusted in God’s divine direction will be singing, shouting, dancing and offering praises to our father who is in heaven and on earth watching over us 24/7.
So what is the Lord saying to me concerning 2010? What sort of year is it going to be in terms of spiritual activities and how should the believer comport him/herself? The Lord has shown me through His WORD that 2010 will be:
“A Year of Intensification of Satanic Activities”.
This is not to strike fears in people as it will be very subtle. Satan will be using every arm of the systems /structures/technologies of this world to hatch all his plans. It will be so sophisticated that only those who are spiritually awake will notice what is going on.
It will look like business as usual and bear the hallmark of tolerance, political correctness and the cloak of human rights. Satanic activities will be enshrined in laws, policies, local authority regulations, programmes and curriculum innovations in our schools. Pressure Groups will play significant roles through advocacy and campaigns. Satan will not only pitch his tent in the world out there but also inside the church.
Satanic activities will increase in the Church through a mixture of humanistic ideologies and half baked gospels not grounded in the word of God. Syncretistic methodologies will become more rampant and acceptable as the needy and the vulnerable look up to the Church for solution. However, rather than get help they will be manipulated and defrauded (false hopes) by those who have raised altars for their master Satan to discredit the true Church.
Such ungodly actions will attract the attention of the authorities who will wage war against the church, seeking to close down places of worships and making it even more difficult for planning applications for places of worship to be approved. Satanic Activities will be counterfeited through deliverance and prayer ministries, prosperity self-actualisation based gospels. Such activities will make negative headlines in the media attracting more ostracization for the church in our society and establishments.
The Lord used the parable in Matthew 13:24-43 to enhance my understanding of what will happen and how we should approach the situation. We know that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor 10:4-6). We are not to counter satanic activities as if we are dealing with flesh and blood. Unfortunately the servants in this parable were sleeping and not vigilant. In their deepest slumber the enemy (Satan) came in and sowed the bad seeds. He came in to sow weeds that looked like wheat when sprouted. In this world, while the true WORD of God is being preached the enemy (Satan) is sowing counterfeit. The church cannot see it because instead of being vigilant watching and praying, we are sidetracking by our ambitions and the pursuance of meat that perishes. In this parable while the servants slept, the master was awake and vigilant and saw the activities of the enemy. He was not taken unawares. Praise be to God that the one who watches over us even in 2010 never sleeps nor slumbers Psalm 121
In 2010, leaders must focus their attention on the assignment. It will not be time for slothfulness but a season of watching and praying. A season of steadfastness and unmovable upholding the unadulterated word of the living God.
It is not a time to engage in internal bickering and infighting, pulling one another down and uprooting what your brother has planted because of petty doctrinal or denominational differences. It is a not season of taking the place of the judge. God is the only perfect judge who can judge righteously. At the time appointed, He will instruct the harvesters to uproot the weeds, bundle and burn them. God has appointed a time and a day when He will judge Satan and all is demons. Trying to do what is God’s divine prerogative will take our eyes of the flock and God’s ordained direction for us. The only winner will be Satan who will take many captives especially new Christians.
Like the sons of Issachar, 1 Chr 12:32 we must know and have understanding of the times. This will equip us to know what to do. As our earnest expectation of the Lord’s coming increases, Satan is frantic knowing that he is running out of time. Satan realises we are in the last hours and so he is frantically taking hostages because his days are numbered. He is accelerating his activities in the world and causing confusion in the body of Christ through well calculated plans to shipwreck the voyage of believers into the rest which God has promised His sons and daughters.
We must be vigilant and not sleep as the devil hatches his evil plans by counterfeiting godly principles. The Bible says that there are many antichrists in the world; this period will witness the acceleration of antichrists activities in the world as never before. Be warned, these activities are already taking place and many in the Church are been taken unawares. We must wake up from our slumber and become more watchful so that the enemy will not succeed in sowing weeds that might cripple the growth of the seed of righteousness which we have sown in the world and in the life of the sons of the kingdom.
We must not allow the increased satanic activities to dwarf the thirst and hunger for the true word of God. We must continue to allow sound biblical principles to guide all we do in 2010 and beyond. All our endeavours should eradicate growing ignorance of sound biblical knowledge in our communities starting with the church.
We must articulate the truth of the word of God. The difference between right and wrong must be embedded in our thinking, preaching and teaching. We must speak the truth in love.
We must advocate that biblical principles remain the benchmark for morality even though we live in a world of the so called postmodernism. We must promote the Christian agenda and not allow the message of the Bible to be dominated by humanistic secularism and satanic agenda. May the Lord bless you and keep you as you faithfully serve Him with every fibre of your being and every breath you take in 2010 and beyond. Maranatha
