I want to ask you a question. When was the last time you got up away from a television and thought, Boy, that sitcom was so good, I laughed for half an hour…? But whether you felt it or not, your holiness crumbled at the feet of it. If your soul is constantly being fed, how can your spirit hear the voice of the Lord? You were bought at a great price, not to live enslaved to the ways, traditions and things of the world. You were bought to be held on the precepts of glory in the hands of the ever-living God. His hand is a holy place and there is no place for the world in it.
Why does He call the Church out of the world? Because it is not for you to live there anymore. He wants you to rule and reign with Him and live in heavenly places!
Many years ago, one pastor who was a dear friend of mine told me, “You spend so much time in prayer and the heavenlies that you are no earthly good anymore.” I looked at him, smiled and said, “I do not know anyone who spent more time in prayer than Jesus. He lived there constantly and never have I ever seen anyone of more earthly good than Jesus.”
The Church is in the position it is in because her ministers do not have a prayer life and they are no earthly good because they do not have a prayer life! Listen to me—you cannot affect the temporal world unless you live in the heavenlies in prayer! The more time you spend up there, the more authority and understanding you are given. You walk in more light, and the force that flows through you is so much greater! And all of the above is needed to affect the temporal world.
We are in a time of great darkness. Darkness is getting greater and it is covering the earth—heavy, thick darkness. If we could not change history 15 years ago with the prayer life we had back then, why do we think we will be able to do anything great or grand today, with the same kind of prayer life? I am sorry, I do not mean to be unkind. I am trying to help you understand that you have got to get your eyes off the status quo Christianity and you have got to get your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ—how he thought, felt, walked—the things He did and what He did not do!
You must get your eyes on Him, because Paul, in all his wisdom said, “Follow me, only because I follow Christ!” That was a commandment for the whole Church, forever! And how are you going to know if Paul is following Christ unless your eyes are set upon Christ? How will you know whether or not you are growing in the light if your eyes are not set upon the Author? How will you know if you are changing the way that you need to be changing?
God wants the Church to change at lightning speed these days. Now, I understand that light is slowing down a little bit, but that does not give the Church permission to slow down. We have got to change faster than we ever have before. We cannot do it if we are looking back to our “Charismatic” phase.
Please, I am not trying to be unkind or judgmental and I am not inviting you to be judgmental. That is not the purpose of this; I am just trying to get this out of my mouth. I am trying to tell you that there is a need to go beyond the leadership of the present Church and look at the Head, which is Christ, because so many of the leaders in Church have never developed a prayer life—the kind of prayer life they need to walk in, the same walk to which God is calling the Church. So if you measure your life by your leaders—even me—you are going to fall short!
You have got to measure your life by truth! You have got to measure your life by Christ and keep re-measuring and re-measuring until you get closer and closer to the One you are supposed to be following. It is an awesome and wonderful invitation to come out of the darkness and into the marvelous light. The invitation of change from what was to where you are going is the most beautiful transition that any human being can make on this side of heaven. Not only is it beautiful, but it prepares you for the days ahead, to be used the way He wants to use you.
Hallowed be His name through His Church that seeks holiness. How do I make that enter into your heart? How do I paint the picture of the beauty of holiness that will make you want to put down everything that blinds you to that same holiness? The human heart is desperately wicked and it lies to us all the time and if it does not lie to us, we will lie to it. We will do anything not to change, but the Lord of Glory has sent forth the sound of His trumpet and He is calling to His Church, most especially to His Bride, to come out of the self-deceptions and darkness. Come into the marvelous light and let Me transform and transfigure you, so I can use you and you can know Me, says the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord just keeps rolling over my heart and the love for this truth is overwhelming. It feels explosive inside of me and I just want to scream it from the housetops, “Come out of the darkness and into the light! Come out of the world, into the glory! Come out of the ways of sin into the truth! Be transformed! Be transfigured! Be changed by the glory of His Word and the glory of prayer!" Hallowed be Your glorious name! Touch God—touch God and come out of the world.
Come out of the ways of the world and touch God!
To be continued…
In His Amazing Love,
Nita Johnson
