12-22-2018 The Flower, The Soldier, The Church
From bud to bloom
Babe to fully equipped
Father keeps
showing me how things are coming in threes, the natural, the spiritual and the
heart!
Follow me
with this. How does a flower, a soldier
and the church all work towards the same end?
The
Flower – bud to bloom
The planting
of the seed, the young plant shooting up through the soil into the ‘heavens”,
the sprouting of leaves and then the bud is formed. The bud is encased in a
protective covering until it is time to bloom.
When the season is right, those petals start peeling back from the bloom
inside and that bloom starts to emerge. The bloom continues to unfold and
spread out until it reaches full maturity, at which time we can enjoy its
beauty.
The
Soldier – raw recruit to being ‘ready’ to serve
In the “old
days” a soldier was drafted into service or he could enlist as they do
today. Irregardless after processing
into the military, his first stop is ‘boot camp’. Here the recruit gets into good physical
shape so he/she can perform their duties without tiring and to learn military
ways. Next stop is what is (or at least
was) called ‘advanced infantry training’ (AIT).
Here the recruit learns a specific skill which will be their job for the
duration of their service. Of course
after AIT, the soldier is ready for ‘full bloom’ and show his skills. The recruit is now ready to be deployed –
sent to their duty station. The soldier
is now out ‘in the world’ performing their task, fully and effectively.
The
Church – from babe to bold
When we
first receive Jesus Christ into our heart, we are a ‘baby’ Christian, no matter
what our chronological age is. Like a
new born babe, all we really know is what we can see, hear, touch, smell or
taste (when a baby grabs something, where is the first place it goes, the
mouth, right?). The only real knowledge
of God is that Jesus has ‘saved’ us. Of
course, we grow beyond ‘infantdom’ (right?), growing into our teenage years
then to adulthood. As we grow into
adulthood, we learn how to interact with the world around us. We can apply the things God has taught us our
lives successfully. In Christ, we learn
what we can expect of God and what God expects of us. Of course, as Christians, our ‘adult life’ is
when we’ve come to understand what task Father has called us to and then being
equipped to go out and effectively work in that calling as we walk in His will.
I’m going to
go in stages, comparing the flower, the soldier and our Christian walk
together. Coming into an understanding
of the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man has helped me get a
better perspective on what I’m all about.
Hope it helps you.
The seed is
planted
With the
flower, this is obvious. We put the seed
into the ground (okay, or pot), water it and wait for the first shoot to spring
forth. The shoot still has sprout leaves
as it grows into a mature plant in order produces the flower.
In the ‘old
days’, a soldier may be drafted. But
today, was well as then, a soldier could enlist. Enlisting is the ‘planting of that new life
(in the military). Is he yet skilled in
what his ‘job’ will be? Of course
not. He has to go through ‘boot camp’
and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) to learn the skill he needs to become an
effective soldier. Boot camp gets him in
shape and AIT prepares him to perform his selected military occupation. Then the soldier can step out and perform his
task.
When we ‘give our life to Jesus’, all we know
for sure is that Jesus has ‘saved’ us.
That He has brought us into the kingdom of God – given us the promise of
eternal fellowship with the Father though Jesus Christ, the Son and given us
the Holy Ghost as a security of that promise.
But, we still have to grow in the Lord, learning how to apply His love
into our own lives and how to interface with those around us (2 Tim. 2:15). As the Holy Ghost builds that foundation in
our heart, we gain enough knowledge and maturity to go out and share what God
has given us with others. Even so, to be
ready as a solid ‘soul winner’ we have to learn how to grow in God’s love and
follow His direction, thus being sure of who we are in Christ Jesus (1 John 5:1-13).
But
understand, as the flower blooms, it is nurtured, gaining strength to continue
blooming for its designated period of time.
The soldier is now out performing his ‘duty’ but he still continues to
learn more about his ‘job’ and grows becoming even more efficient at his task. Even though the Christian has received enough
knowledge to share Christ with those around him, he doesn’t stop there. He continues to pour the Word of God into his
spirit so the Spirit can strengthen him to more boldly (and correctly) share
the Word of God with others (Acts 1:8).
All this is
about individual growth, but now, this brings us to today.
We’re in a
season, which began approximately January 2015.
Understand, that the Hebraic calendar begins in September, so I say
‘approximately’. This season could
actually have started in September 2014.
Let’s not bicker. We’re still in
a seven year period which is into its second half.
In the first
half, Father was raising up people to train so they could be ready for the next
season. The next season is also a seven
year period. During the remainder of
this seven year period, The buds are blooming, the soldier is approaching the
end of his AIT and the Christian is just about ready to go out and do God’s
work. He should have reached ‘full bloom’
by the end of these seven years.
Now don’t
get me wrong, since the time of Jesus, Christians have been witnessing and
drawing souls into the kingdom of God, but the stage is being set for something
special. For centuries the church has
been learning about God but some have come into a ‘relationship’ with Him but
during this this ‘training’ period, they
and others will come into a much closer walk with the Creator of all things.
Have you
been hearing the early rumblings of the coming of a Spiritual revival? Revival means awakening something from a deep
slumber or, perhaps, even that which has been dead. Believe
it, the church (as a whole) has been in a deep sleep for centuries. Oh it looks like what it is supposed to be
but it has fallen very short of what Father intended.
Beginning
when John Wycliffe (and a little later Martin Luther) started providing a bible
for the common man, through the Protestant Reformation and several
‘Awakenings’, Father has been bringing His church back to the maturity it has sorely
has needed. Into a relationship with
Himself (through Jesus, John 14:1-21). A closer walk with God! Coming through the torn veil and communing
with Him.
As we
approach the end of this season the flower will burst forth in “full” bloom,
the soldier will be all but an expert in his calling and the Christian will be
prepared, as never before, to go out and share the Word of God. Our bud is starting to unfold and by the time
the next season starts, God’s ‘flower’ will be in full bloom showing the world
His glory – big time!
We read
about what Jesus did as He ministered to the people. We read about what the apostles did as they
ministered to the people. A revival
would just be a renewal of all that. A
revival is just re-awakening a sleeping church to do what it ‘used’ to do.
What’s
coming is more than a just revival. IT
IS a Spiritual explosion!
The former
rain prepares the ground for planting but the latter rain brings the fruit to
maturity so it can be harvested (Joel
2:23-24). The latter house (today) will
be greater than the former (2000 years ago) (Haggai 2:9). Jesus said
that those who come after Him shall do greater works than He because He goes to
the Father and we will have the Holy Ghost, the same that infilled Jesus,
operating within us (John 14:12-14).
I call what
is coming a Spiritual Explosion because what Father is bringing soon will far
surpass what they did in the early church.
We can’t do anything more than bring souls to Christ, heal the sick, raise
the dead or cast out demons (Mark
16:17-18), but the expression of working in those gifts is what will far
surpass what we’ve read about or, perhaps, may have already seen. We won’t be just looking to the ‘super’
preachers to perform these works, but the ‘average Joe’ will add in his two
cents worth. Christians will come to not
only believe that God ‘can’ do but ‘will do’ what He says through their
obedient hands in faith. Father will
start showing the magnitude of His kingdom – here (Isaiah 55:11).
These gifts will be magnified as this season
draws to a close and even that won’t compare to what follows (Joel 2:28-30, Acts 2:17-21).
The power of
the living, Almighty God is coming. All
we have to do is receive, then be obedient to do His will (Matt. 5:1-16).
The flower,
the soldier and our walk with God are all pointing to the completion of this
season and the incoming of the next. A
lot of people claim they believe (have faith), but does anyone else see that
faith (James 2:18)? After all our righteousness comes through our
faith and salvation come through our confession (of Jesus) (Rom. 10:9-10). Confession is an action. We have to put our faith into action!
Now, the
next question is “Are we going to be ‘just’ bystanders watching the events or
are we going to be a part of it?” Listen
to the Holy Ghost and be obedient!
Amen
