Followers of Jesus, the true church, the Ekklesia, God’s governing body in the earth, carry the spirit of reformation at their core. They are not just interested in church gatherings, they are interested in bringing the culture of heaven to every part of the earth. Isaiah 61 prophesies of a people on whom the Spirit of the Lord will come upon in order to gift to them an anointing that they may release heaven to the ends of the earth. One of the ultimate results is that “they will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” (v.4) We are those people. This is that day.
In the last few months, I have been working on something that is in my heart to write and I have studied the days of Nehemiah thoroughly. I am still studying them. Biblical scholars, of which I am not, know that Nehemiah is commonly known as “the reformer”. His entire story is the record of how he organized the rebuilding and restoration of a city that many had spent years trying to build, in just 52 days. It was supernatural. The reason he succeeded is because he understood his assignment to build by revelation from the Lord, he counted the cost, and he was not distracted in hell or high water. Every time he stepped into forward motion, there were accusations, fears, discouragements, and lies in order to frustrate the purposes of God. Yet, he stayed away from meaningless talk. He built. He positioned and equipped others to build. He taught them how to work and war at the same time.
The Ekklesia’s assignment is also to rebuild, renew, and restore. We are reformers. This is the work of God. We have been given the spirit of reconciliation. We are reconcilers. We are Elijahs, but, its not the Elijah you may remember. We are reconciling estranged sons and daughters to the family, not calling down fire on them. We are building them up as a glorious new temple, by faith, according to God’s blueprint for them. No longer is there just one temple built with hands, where we experience God’s presence, but now in the age of grace all who are alive are glorious candidates to become the temple of God, through Jesus Christ. The enemy’s greatest desire is to distract us from this work.
Paul said to Timothy regarding distractions in Ephesus, (you can read the whole story for yourself in 1 Timothy 1 and 2)
“…Stay in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote controversies and questions. This is the polar opposite of God’s work. God’s work is building(encouraging and edifying) and is produced by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm..”
Let’s make sure we don’t wander away from our assignment. Even for a “good cause”. The cost of this surrendered life in Christ is that we don’t have the luxury of being casual about the work of God or getting into seemingly “good” talks. In our internal or external world. They minister controversies and debates. Nehemiah NEVER gave them a place in his life. Jesus quickly brought them to nothing. We don’t have time to debate or answer to fear. We are to be awake and sober and vigilant. We are watchmen on the walls. We are God’s preservation factor in the earth. We are builders of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is a family of people.
Jesus taught in Luke 14 that a builder counts the cost before he builds so that he doesn’t look like a fool when he can’t finish what he began. When we, the Ekklesia, started this journey we were translated into the Kingdom of Light. We were sinners, born again, being restored, renewed, and rebuilt through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are now called to reproduce this in every person we meet, even sinners. Were we not saved as sinners? We can’t forget that we are God’s preservation factor in the earth. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 14:34) We are building and not debating. We are praying and not complaining. We are seeing what cannot be seen. “For faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb.11:1) We are going after the one who is “still a long way off”. We are committed to the world because Jesus is committed to them and pursues them with love and unfathomable patience. We are getting rid of every excuse that keeps us too busy for this most important work. Go out quickly and get the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, until God’s house is full. Don’t lose your saltiness. It is your influence. To the degree you preserve life, will be the degree of your power in the Holy Spirit to disciple the nations. Paul said to earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially prophecy. This is because it is the one gift that is useful for building. Prophecy ministers edification, exhortation, and consolation. The word edifying in 1 Tim. 1 is the Greek word, oikodomia. It means literally the act of building. Its root, oikodome, gives further clarification. Its meaning is to build up and promote another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, and holiness. This is our responsibility as mature sons and daughters in the earth.
“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?…By the grace God has given me(Paul), I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work…”(1 Corinthians 3)
I exhort you to pray for leadership, of course. In every area. National and local. But the clarion call in my heart this morning is for us to pray for the Ekklesia. Pray for the governing Body of Christ, the transformative agents of God in the earth, who the enemy is attempting to distract from their assignments in a crucial time. Pray that even the “good” things that come up will be exposed as less than God’s best for this season. There are things we know that we are to be doing and assignments to obey. Pray we be awakened and not weary. Let us “post a guard night and day to meet this threat.” (Neh. 4)
At the same time, take courage. “Arise, shine for you light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” (Is. 60:1-3)
What has taken years to accomplish in the past, will be done in supernatural time in these days of maturing reformers.
-Jamie
JSMinistries 