A Question Of Testing

Fully conscious of all that Jesus wants for His Church, all that He has pronounced about His Church, we come to this time, unable to hold on to any of our past excuses and reasons for not living and demonstrating the Risen Lord’s Words in our lives.

Holy, Heavenly Father God, we have come to You as Jesus told us to, in His Name, asking for truth to be revealed in us. We want Your truth please and not what we hold as truth, not what our hearts and minds tell us, for they are all of self, of us. Thank You Father that You are never deceived by any piety or heart desires that are not of You. Thank You that You never fail to expose darkness. We wait expectantly on You, O faithful and trusted Father. Amen!

These testing questions are then shot at us, individually and collectively, as the Body of Christ.

• Is Satan prevailing in our lives and in our Churches?

• Are worldly voices, methods, teachings and ideas taking us over?

• Are we living compromises, to ensure that we look good in the eyes of the world and remain friends with the world?

• Are we afraid of what the world can and will do to us, as the Church of Jesus, calling us all sorts of ugly names?

• Are we being daily broken down in true faith, so that we give in to popular ideologies and customs; worldly rights and thinking; well-loved and well-famed new ways of doing things in the Name of Jesus, which draw crowds, but not to Jesus?

• Are you being called blessed because of revelations from Father God and not from others?

May we have ears that hear, eyes that see and minds that are in Christ Jesus.

In Ephesians 5: 25 – 27, as we read and listen, husbands are admonished to love their wives as Jesus loved the Church. Listen attentively to the way Jesus loves us. Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.  NKJV

Cast your mind back to what was said about who is the Person who is building Jesus’ Church. Yes, Jesus is the Builder of His own Church. He Himself builds, for this very reason:-

He alone can sanctify His sinful Church.

He alone can cleanse His unclean Church.

He alone can present His human Church as a glorious Church before Him.

But what does Jesus want of His Church?

This will be our main focus tomorrow.