This is a very significant week at REAL Church. It's Week of War - our monthly week of prayer and fasting. At the conclusion of every WoW we pray for the sick and believe for miracles. God's already done one miracle - our new church plant launches this Sunday at an awesome location.
It's fitting for this to be Week of War leading up the the new church launch. When God is working in so many ways, it's important to watch your life very closely. We forget we have an enemy that hates us and neglects to play by the rules. What rules? Rules of leadership. Rules of economics. Rules of psychology. Rules of "I didn't know!"
Since many of us are only accustomed to calculated and logical (and, yeah, fake) endeavors where we hold the fulcrum of control and God's will is a mere ornament to add effect, we don't really understand war. Christianity and life can be very little like a battle and much more like a brunch - lots of good things to eat on the table but none of them extraordinary and not quite filling - entirely stuck in the middle between breakfast and lunch - not the real thing - just a taste - and ruining our appetite for another meal - we're satisfied until dinner but left wanting something more.
This brunch kind of life is a cozy one - the kind where you drink lots of Mountain Dew, eat plenty of Slim-Jims, spend copious amounts of time with a game controller in your hands and rarely change out of your PJs before noon. You getting the idea? Most of us are used to living a Christianity that requires so little from us and almost nothing in terms of alertness or attention. Read this...
When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day. So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
(Nehemiah 4:15-23)
To go to such measures to protect and stay alert was not paranoia or lack of faith, Nehemiah understood the threats of his enemies and answered God's faithfulness with his own full attention. As with Nehemiah and the rebuilders of Jerusalem's walls, we enter a dangerous situation when we go on the offensive against our enemy. Most of us, because we've never really been in the fight before, tend to leave the watching to the Lord - He stays up and keeps watch - we goof off because we're God's kids...
When my son Samuel and I walk across the street in Hamtramck, I teach him to look for oncoming cars and to make sure there's time to get across safely. Sometimes (rarely), he just walks right out into the street without thinking and I pull him back (I'm always close). I'll do everything it takes to protect my children, but it sure helps when their paying attention.
Are you paying attention? Do you realize you're in a fight battle war?
You may think you've hedged yourself from danger but you could be called in to fight at anytime. This is the grace of God. When we're drifting along not caring about His will, He makes waves to move us right into the center of it - praise Him!
If you're a part of REAL Church, I ask you specifically... are you ready? Do you know where your weapon is (the Word of God)? Are you paying attention for the trumpet sound (our pastors)? Have you learned to carry your load in a way so you can fight and work? Now is the time.
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