Understanding The Times: Part 4- The Great Pruning

There is a great pruning that has already begun to take place in the United States. The Lord is looking to set His house in order. We are His house. Pruning begins with the house of God, and from there we will be the spotless bride purified in heart, deed, thought and action- equipped with power and answers to the troubling questions the lost are already seeking answers for.

This nation is lost. The church is supposed to have the answers. The church, by in large, is without vision, without focus, and without power. We have turned aside to the things of this world. Distracted and fractured, judgmental and self focused, we are not walking in purity, unity, and love with one another. We have fallen victim to ourselves and ignored the warning of Jesus:

“And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19)

The Lord is turning up the heat to remove the dross in the Church. All things that run contrary to His heart need to be refined and removed. In His love He will begin purifying His church.

The season is upon us for this generation of the body of Christ in America to be unified, in heart and mind and spirit, eagerly listening for His voice for direction on how to lead this nation back to Him.

This country is under the refinement of God. She has turned away from her calling and God is calling this nation back to repentance. Purification is first needed in the body.

“For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet 4:17)

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it “.(Heb 12:8)

This season is a season where Christ is addressing the issues of the heart of His children that are still steeped in the world. In His love and passion for both His bride and His lost He will begin to purify the church and then the lost. Its His hand upon us that, in love, produces purity and righteousness in our thinking and actions. This actually has already begun.

NOTE: There is a difference in our positional standing (who God says we are as result of the what Jesus did on the Cross) and our relational standing (how we chose to relate to God,ourselves, and others). We HAVE become the righteousness of Christ (Col. 1:21-22). This is positional in the eyes of our God. How we live though, is a choice. We either live out of that righteousness, or we chose to live out of the carnal man, which we died to.

This is coming in the form of trials and pruning. Once more will He shake the foundations so that all that remains is Him alone and Him in us.

Pruning is Love.

“The sufferings that you are enduring are for your discipline. God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are not disciplined–and everyone undergoes discipline–then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. “ (Heb 12:7-)

The Church has allowed the lost to take this country to a state of rejection against the principles and precepts of God as never before seen. The church, through prayer and action, in love, is always meant to guide and steer the actions and future of this nation. We have fallen asleep and let the world, the lost, do it instead. We need to repent of this and begin praying for refinement in the church body, and for this nation to once again turn back to God.

NOTE: God is never angry with His creation. His anger is kindled against the things that oppose His nature. if you disagree with this, please read the book of Hebrews. Jesus paid for all sin of all Ages. Wrath is poured out on sin, not the person.

We are not called to be angry at the lost. They do not have the Holy Spirit in them. Their minds are blinded. It is the kingdom revealed to them, through the church, that brings them to repentance.

“…and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city; wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11)

It is the power of our prayer that breaks the bondage of the enemy over a people and land.  We are the warriors. Those who need Christ are our brothers and sisters that are prisoners of war. There is only one enemy: the devil. We exercise dominion over him in order to release the will of God on earth. That will, according to the Great Commision, is to be a light to those who are lost, and proclaim the message of salvation to our neighbor first, and then the world. (Mrk 16:15-18, Matt 28:19)

The future of this country is in the hands of the Church. The time is come when the church is to wake up, seek the face of our Savior and ask Him to bring to light all areas we are not living in Him.

I am admonishing the body to do 3 things:

1. Seek His Face- We need to ask God in what areas we have allowed the spirit of this world to creep into our hearts

2. Repent- this word means “to turn or change direction.” It is not an emotional response. The word is a verb. We need to hear His voice and then be obedient to what He reveals to us needs to change.

3. Take Action- we need to act upon our beliefs… In love. The church was never meant to be silent. This generation has become afraid of “offending” and have gotten the false notion that walking in love means not offending. We have allowed ourselves to become intimidated by an outspoken minority. And so we have kept quiet. That outspoken minority needs our love.. and they need to hear the Truth we have to share.

Truth offends. There is no way around it. It offends the sin nature in people. But.. it also brings light to the person and  offers them the gift of His goodness. There is a difference between being offensive and offending. Speak from a position of love not anger, not judgment. The church can only do this to the degree we have responded to the call of the Holy Spirit as He leads us to live a life IN Him.

In Him is all comfort, ability and power. This is not a message of condemnation. There is no condemnation in Christ. This is a call to repentance. This is a call to change. This is a call for the church, His body, to rise up, shake off our slumber and seek Him in Spirit and in Truth.

This nation’s future is in the hands of the church. Those who minds are corrupt need to hear the truth. The angry needs us. The scared, lost children in this nation have only us to turn to… or further lies from the enemy.

This is our generation. This is our watch.

Please… join with me as I repent.

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