Comfort

Some people see God in everything...some people can't see Him right in front of them.

I want to be a person who sees Him.

The comfort is going. The Bible makes this clear. We are at the beginning, but can you see that day by day the world around us is becoming more intense, sharper, colder, hotter?...everything is becoming more extreme...that is the opposite of comfort.

When I sit before the Lord and listen to what He is saying, for several years he has been gently warning that the comfort was going. My response has been "make me ready to stay faithful." He has led me to repent. This is His way of making a person ready...to get them low, not rising up. False prophets rise up.

The warning in the Bible to believers is one of misinterpretation. Thinking God was going left when He was actually going right, or vice versa. Jesus said it like this "do not be deceived."

Matthew 24:10“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

11“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

12“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

13“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

The deception comes from being offended by the circumstance and misleading information. The basic reality is not that offensive. It is the misunderstanding that drives offense.

Right now, the church is geared toward offense because it believes the entirely wrong gospel...one of comfort, increase, success...only in the Western world could this be accepted as the gospel, because the Western world is the comfortable world....but the comfort is going.

The Western world, primarily Europe and the Americas, are going to be the places of greatest Tribulation, next to Israel....this is primarily because of deception and offense. It is good to adjust our mindset right now.

If you try to save your life, you are going to lose it. If you are willing to lose your life, God will save it. So many in the church unfortunately believe in self- preservation. This is catastrophic in this moment in time. A cross. That is the gospel.

A cross is the rejection and discomfort that comes from doing the RIGHT thing. A cross isn't social justice, its self-death. A cross isn't activism, it is rest and faith. A cross isn't selfish...its self-less. A cross is love for a friend to the point that I lay down my life and let His be resurrected in me.

A cross is safe right now. You can't kill what is already dead. You can't intimidate a person with nothing left to lose. You cannot offend someone who has no personal rights being stepped on. You can't deceive a person who has already let truth find out their vulnerabilities and fears and deal with them.

Our society is fragile. Our comfort systems are very fragile...even the system for delivering energy to your house is very fragile. We are very dependant beings...on purpose.

God designed us to need Him. That is a good thing. If I see how needy I am, I get HUMILITY. It is very hard to offend and deceive the humble.

Pride comes before a fall. For this reason, repentance is the safest, warmest, most comfortable place as judgment is being rolled out. Judgment is being rolled out. I want to see God in it and embrace Him.

Psalm 119:25DALETH

My soul clings to the dust;

Revive me according to Your word.

26I have declared my ways, and You answered me;

Teach me Your statutes.

27Make me understand the way of Your precepts;

So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

28My soul melts from heaviness;

Strengthen me according to Your word.

29Remove from me the way of lying,

And grant me Your law graciously.

30I have chosen the way of truth;

Your judgments I have laid before me.

31I cling to Your testimonies;

O LORD, do not put me to shame!

32I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.

33HE

Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,

And I shall keep it to the end.

34Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;

Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

35Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,

For I delight in it.

36Incline my heart to Your testimonies,

And not to covetousness.

37Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,

And revive me in Your way.

38Establish Your word to Your servant,

Who is devoted to fearing You.

39Turn away my reproach which I dread,

For Your judgments are good.

40Behold, I long for Your precepts;

Revive me in Your righteousness.

A false church fights for their own cause thinking it is God's cause. God doesn't need people to fight for Him. Jesus said "it is finished.". God desires all people learn meekness, humility, forgiveness...wholehearted love for a God who sent His son to show us the way of truth...not in short-sighted strategy and temporary strength, but in everlasting faith, hope, and love.

The true church sees laying down their lives so God can come through them in meekness and humility is the way of the cross.

Follow Jesus through the cross, not what calls itself the church into arrogance and offense. Do not be deceived. The comfort is going.