Lately, I have been hearing an increasing emphasis on being prepared physically for coming difficulty. Some are stocking up on shelf stable food, water, and supplies.
While, I believe it is prudent to seek the Lord for direction concerning how he wants us to individually prepare in the natural....what God has been stressing to me personally is the imminent importance of being ready SPIRITUALLY.
In three successive WARNING dreams, the Lord highlighted 3 critical areas where we as Christians must be prepared. In each dream, I represented the individual in the church who is waking up to the signs of the times, but isn't recognizing the LATENESS of the hour or the URGENCY of the need to be ready.
1) UNPREPARED FOR OUR ROLE IN THE PLAY
In the first dream, I was at a dress rehearsal for a play. I had a speaking part in the performance. I had lost my script. I was not ready.
Because I was frantically searching for the script, I wasn't ready to go on stage. Embarrassed, I regretted my lack of preparation because I didn't know my lines.
Each one of us has a God given role to play in the coming days. But do we know our part in the drama that is unfolding?
My part was a speaking role. What is yours?
Do you know the unique ways that God has wired you?
Do you know the gifts He has placed inside of you for such a time as this?
Where are you supposed to be positioned on the stage of this world?
Are you in the right country, city, community, church, job, school, neighborhood?
God knows!
It is imperative that we as Christians have our script in hand, know where we are supposed to be positioned, and know our part. If you don't have your script, then GO to God and diligently seek Him for direction for your life. If you have a speaking part, what are the words He wants you to say? He is the script writer.
Your Father has a scroll written in heaven just for you. God has a specific role that you were uniquely made for. You are called for such a time as this. NOW is the time to learn your script and practice for your part before it is too late.
"I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for." -Jeremiah 29:11 GNT
"However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ." -Ephesians 4:7
"And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”-Esther 4:14b
2) UNPREPARED FOR THE MARATHON
In the second dream, I became aware that I was signed up to run a marathon, but I had not adequately trained. I was playing catch-up. Showing up late to the training house, I found that this grueling race would be run after dark. I was concerned that my training was not sufficient to make it to the end.
Other runners had already gathered together to train. Their training consisted of individual and group prayer, worship, fasting, waiting on God, ministering to Him, and feasting on the Word of God. They were storing up oil....the oil of intimacy.
The preparation emphasized in this dream was developing endurance and perseverance through consistent training in spiritual disciplines. The focus of our training was cultivating abiding intimacy with Jesus. This preparation was producing and collecting oil for the torches that we would carry as we ran.
We have a marathon ahead of us. Let's examine our training habits...
How am I spending my time?
Where do my priorities lie?
Have I developed the discipline of perseverance when the going gets tough?
Have I connected with the tribe God has called me to train with?
What do my spiritual disciplines look like on a weekly basis?
Am I checking a box or am I developing intimacy?
Do I have enough oil collected to keep my torch burning bright to the end?
Let's not delay our training any longer. It's time!
"Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." -Hebrews 12:1b
"The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them," -Matthew 25:3 GNT
"I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." -1 Corinthians 9:27
3) UNPREPARED FOR THE WEDDING
In the third warning dream I received, I was a bride getting ready for my wedding day. To my dismay, I found that I had mismanaged my time. The moments had ticked by faster than I had anticipated. I realized that I wasn't going to have my hair, makeup, and white bridal dress done in time. The hour of my wedding was fast approaching, and I wasn't ready.
There is a cry going out in this hour for the bride (the church) to make herself ready. We as the bride of Christ Jesus, are first to be PURE. We are to hate the clothing stained by the flesh.* The bride is also SET APART for her husband alone. There should be NO OTHER LOVERS. Bridal preparation is all about sanctification and consecration.
Of utmost importance, we must wash our clothing and make it white in the blood of the Lamb.* This refers to repentance and receiving of Jesus' atoning sacrifice for the cleansing of our sins.
Next, we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is where we invite God to inspect our hearts, test our thoughts, and reveal any wicked way in us so that it may be renounced and uprooted.
Out of love Jesus Christ sacrificed all to sanctify and cleanse us in order to present the church as a pure bride set apart for Himself....glorious and radiant, righteous and holy, without stain or wrinkle, fault or flaw.*
Let's examine ourselves...
Are my confessions current?
Is there anyone I need to forgive?
Have I received the cleansing blood of Jesus for the washing of my wedding garments?
Have I placed my trust in Jesus Christ as Ruler of my life?
Have I invited Jesus' light to uncover any darkness lingering in my soul?
Are there any other lovers/idols competing for space in my heart?
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the WEDDING of the Lamb has come, and his BRIDE HAS MADE HERSELF READY. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)" -Revelation 19:7-8
“Yet there are some in the church....who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy."- Revelation 3:4 NLT
BE FOUND READY
To be fully transparent, I am asking myself these very questions. I want to be found ready. After sharing with others, I don't want to find myself disqualified.
Let's examine where we are lacking in these three critical areas of preparation:
1) Am I preparing for my role in the play? (script and position)
2) Am I training for the race? ((spiritual discipline & intimacy)
3) Am I making myself ready for the wedding? (purity and consecration)
It's about time.....are you ready?
"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD." -Lamentations 3:40
"When the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?” -Luke 18:8b
* See Jude 1:23-24, Revelation 7:14, Ephesians 5: 25-27, Matthew 22:11-13