There is such confusion in the world today. I’m afraid much is due to the state of the Church. Clearly, God is moving and working in areas, but Satan has taken now much ground. Our words say one thing, yet our actions another. We are biting and devouring one another. The Lord has taken me through seasons of sifting where He showed me the brokenness of His heart and His Church. I am much more cautious with my promises and my words these days….especially when I am ministering to a broken heart. Because we do not know the memory of each unique heart, we could easily land a “death blow’ we could never know was possible. It is a matter of seeing with God’s own eyes. I certainly have been guilty many times, but my aching prayer is that the love of Jesus would increase in me and change the way I see. We were called to evangelize a lost world….to love people to Jesus. But we are struggling to love each other well.

I received another call this week from one suffering and the Lord gently showed me how to navigate this precious heart but He drew from my past failures and pain. I could hear patterns of actions due to past loss. She wanted to be free, was trying to be free, and reaching out for help. Yet, I wanted to be so cautious not to partner with the devil on any front. For I think we now are partnering with him very often not realizing the damage.

When we dismiss a pain as trivial, a grief that we feel should be diminished; When we decide to show ourselves strong in knowledge rather than grace, or we casually refuse to see that which we inflict on another….then we have partnered with the devil. It’s not always our noticeable sins that are hindering us. It’s the behavioral sins that we dare to let Christ expose..those that are hidden to the view of others. It’s the pride of the heart that can not seem to view things from His perspective. Often our excuses are wrapped in religiosity. Yet, the world sees right through it and so does Christ. Therefore, they no longer want what, or who, we are offering.

I have been thinking a few days about when Peter wept bitterly after denying Christ 3 times. I imagine the stare of pain between Christ and Peter was beyond imaginable. Silence was enough for Peter to be deeply convicted. The mere thought of what Peter had done caused him a deep sorrow. Have you ever realized you inflicted a wound and became literally sick to your stomach over it? I have my friends. It is a terrible feeling and all I could think about was begging and pleading for their forgiveness to undo what I had done. I will never forget weeping in my closet before the Lord so I can imagine what Peter was feeling. Yet, Christ had said….when you return…strengthen the brethren.

Are we strengthening the brethren? Perhaps we are not denying Christ exactly as Peter did….but if Jesus lives in us and we act similarly then we still have denied Christ in some measure. If the scriptures are true, and I believe they are, then I am one with Christ as He is one with the Father. Shouldn’t I be so careful at how I am handling other’s hearts? For the pain inflicted did not just hurt the individual….but it wounded also the Christ in them. There is nothing worse than feeling the grief of Jesus. It can be overwhelming. Yet, I am not certain we are feeling much of His grief these days. We merely go about our business with little thought for others. We have become hardened of heart. We also would rather not involve ourselves if it is not directly related to us, yet we were called as Esther to break the silence when there is an injustice. If we see an injustice of any sort and we turn away and allow it to happen, we also just partnered with the devil. For we were called to set the oppressed free and tend wounds. It starts with individuals. Otherwise, we are merely the priest walking by the man who was beaten in the parable of the Good Samaritan. For Esther, we know “should you remain silent your people will perish.” This is still true today. How many are perishing due to our corporate or individual silence? Remember Mordecai’s warning for Esther to not think she would escape the ramifications.

What does injustice mean to us? Here is the dictionary definition:

:absence of justice :violation of right or of the rights of another :unfairness

2 :an unjust act :wrong

If Is. 58 is God’s measuring stick for the fast He chooses it looks like this?

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

This is what the world is watching my friends. We are quoting the scriptures, yet we seem to be doing the opposite. What they see is us simply “dancing with the devil.” We are the ones oppressing those gifted for Kingdom purposes. We are the ones wounding our own brothers and sisters and shrugging our shoulders. We are the ones that exclude yearning hearts because they are not quite like us.

I sat before the Lord this morning and asked Him to please reveal to me any area where I am “dancing, or partnering, with the devil.”  Any place where I am placing people under oppression instead of letting them be free. Am I employing the law rather than the fullness of Christ and His grace in this hour? Is there anything I have misunderstood in the scriptures that the Holy Spirit needs to reteach me? Sometimes our doctrines alone are oppressing that which Christ wants to do in and through His people. We need Him to remove scales from our eyes in many areas. Do I lift up others to fulfill their destiny or do I hold them down in anyway at all. Because If I am…then I am coming up against God Himself in which case I have now become the oppressor rather than the oppressed. I am denying all He desires for His people.

We must get our house, the Church, in order. Christ says they will know us by our “love for one another.” Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.” Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Can we honestly say we do unto others as we would have them do unto us?” I must become the biggest cheerleader for the brethren in ways that help one another across the finish line. Otherwise, many will not endure.

Of course, I am still learning…. but my tearful prayer is that the Holy Spirit would give me insight into each heart to assure I am not partnering with the enemy for their harm. But He will have to first be allowed to search my own heart.  My zealousness must be led by love always thinking of how what I am about to do or say will affect the heart He has entrusted to me. This could very well stunt our progress on the path to our own personal destinies. Not until we can pass this test will Christ be able to trust us with more.

May we shine the light of Christ because “His gentleness has made us great.” May we “tend the sheep” and not just preach to them. May we bow to the revelation and repent that the sheep have now been scattered as if they have no shepherd. (Jeremiah 23:1)

” A Dance with the Devil”

There’s a dance with the devil

That goes unseen

The blinding of hearts

Who serve the King

Yet when Christ calls

For justice and strength

Many turn away

Allowing Satan’s teeth.

The matter can be small

In the grandest of ways

Yet huge to a heart

Whose been tossed away

For orphans they need

Love that builds honest trust

So we must be gentle

Oh Gentle we must.

To turn a blind eye

No matter at all

To know of a wrong

Ignoring Gods call

Refusing kind words

Shunning His sheep

Oh this is the dance

Where the devil takes lead.

For justice and mercy

Are found in the small

Yes in the big too

But He sees them all

If we overlook or

Simply just walk

Then aren’t we playing part

In oppression now y’all?

We must now return 

To the altar and cross

Christ needs us readied

No matter the cost 

Quick to repentance

And quick to restore

For if we refuse

We give Satan the floor.

October 25, 2017