Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. – James 5:7-9 ESV
Warrior; Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth, put it bluntly: If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha. (1 Corinthians 16:22) That is one of those “Interesting words”, Maranatha: consists of two Aramean words, ‘Maran’ and ‘athah’, meaning, “our Lord comes,” or is “coming.” If the latter interpretation is adopted, the meaning of the phrase is, “Our Lord is coming, and he will judge those who have set him at nought.” In other words: to treat as of no account; to disregard; to despise; to defy; to treat with ignominy. And IGNOMINY means deep personal humiliation and disgrace: dishonor; public contempt, public embarrassment; the state or condition of suffering loss of esteem and of enduring reproach. For those who treat JESUS with this disdain, HE WILL JUDGE! There are only 2 teams in this world. No, not Republican or Democrat, not conservative or liberal, not PRO TRUMP and those of you who believe TRUMP is somehow an existential threat and therefore, he and his followers must be destroyed….You are either in Love with Jesus or you are bitter toward the WORD OF GOD. The word MARANATHA separates the 2 teams. Those who DESIRE it- the coming of CHRIST, and those who MOCK HIM and anyone who calls on the name of JESUS.
Leader, Jesus Himself knew that HE WOULD BE THE SEPARATOR! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53) Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:11-13) The fair question to check on our spiritual health: are you seeking, hoping, craving, begging that Yeshua come? Do you speak publicly about your LOVE of JESUS, or do you let the politics of the day silence you and make you believe SATAN’S lie that your relationship with JESUS is personal and supposed to keep separate from other aspects of your life? Do you cry out, MARANATHA, or -NOT YET?
Conduit, we are a time of DECISION. We can no longer keep our FAITH and BELIEF in JESUS private. We are called to speak the name of JESUS, to DEFEND the name of JESUS and to SHARE THE LOVE OF JESUS. Jesus Himself made clear that HE IS WATCHING, and IT DOES MATTER! “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33) Read the entire 10th chapter of Matthew and you will read of the division that will come down between those who CRY MARANATHA and those who claim followers of JESUS, believers in the WORD will be called names; homophobic, hateful, self-righteous and enemies of progress. In the final book of the GOOD BOOK, when Jesus tells us how the time of the GENTILES wraps up and how the END OF MAN’s TIME in charge, is put to rest that MARANATHA will cause much division, much fear and pain. This is why we are called to be WARRIORS, fighting the good fight, speaking the name of JESUS with love and with awe. It is time to get serious about the COST of following JESUS CHRIST. “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. (Matthew 24:9-10) There is a big cost in today’s world for believing in and speaking about MARANATHA- are you willing to publicly state WHOSE TEAM YOU ARE ON? Are you willing to forgo the praise of man for the PRAISE OF JESUS? For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. (John 12:43) It is time to decide…JESUS, or THE WORLD? MARANATHA or MALARKEY? And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. (1 Kings 18:21) The time of DECISION is at hand! “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live”! Amen and MARANATHA!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 