There’s a lot of teaching in the church today about how God’s power is released in our lives. What they’re really talking about is divine authority. Whenever this subject comes up, I think of Elijah. His life illustrates the divine authority God wants to endow us with, especially for times like these.
Right now, a generation is entering adulthood—and they’re desperately wounded. These are young men and women who’ve grown up with what I call orphan hearts. They feel they have no direction in life. They don’t sense the caring oversight that comes from a loving heavenly Father. And they’re turning away from the Christian message completely.
In the Old Testament, high feast days in Jerusalem were an incredible event. Three times a year, Israelites from across the land journeyed to the temple in Zion to take part in the feast days. It was the most religious thing the people could do. The priests likened it to “coming near to the face of God,” or “drawing nigh to the Lord.”
The main question on the lips of multitudes worldwide is, “What is going on? There is fear and panic everywhere. Economies are being shaken all over the globe. What will our future look like?”
As followers of Jesus, we know the only reliable answers are in God’s Word. The world’s experts — economists, government leaders, academics — all admit they are confused. Nobody can tell us why bubbles are bursting or how we went from a booming economy to sudden crashes.
Our ministry has a devotional website that receives messages from Christians all over the world. Right now believers in various nations are writing the same thing: Fear is taking hold.
As prophesied in Scripture, God is shaking everything that can be shaken. It's hard to fathom all the upheaval taking place in the world at present. Consider the many fronts where nations are in turmoil:
It was the night before the crucifixion of Christ. Jesus had gathered his disciples in an upper room to prepare them for his departure from the earth. After they shared a meal together, the Lord took a towel and proceeded to wash the men’s feet.
That evening, Jesus told these devoted followers he was going to be “lifted up” (meaning crucified) by the hands of wicked men. When he told them this, he was forewarning them about what was to come.
In the book of 1 Samuel, David and his men came home from battle to find their town burned to the ground. Ziklag, where David was headquartered, had been attacked by the Amalekites. To make matters worse, the enemy had taken the families of David’s army captive. All the wives, children and livestock were gone.
When David and his men saw this, they fell on their faces weeping. They were convinced their loved ones had been killed in a bloody holocaust. Scripture says they all wept until they had no more strength.
Few devoted Christians would think of themselves as having unbelief. For years I’ve been baffled by something Jesus said: “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). The question implies a lack of faith not just on the earth but among God’s people.
The prophet Isaiah said of Israel, “They declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not” (Isaiah 3:9). These words also describe America right now. Our nation has sinned just as Sodom did. We’ve become a society where any ungodly act can take place without a trace of shame. I believe America has come to the very brink of the abyss.
When the Lord touches someone, that person is driven to his knees. He then becomes intimate with Christ. And out of that intimacy, he receives fresh revelation from heaven. This person is anxious to bring his besetting sins to the Holy Ghost, to have them mortified. His soul is renewed, and he enters a place of rest. And he begins to minister to Christ with new passion and a greater love.
