“Upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” Matthew 16:18 (NLT)
The Christ centered Spirit filled church is unstoppable! The gates of hell will not, NEVER, be able to prevail against this Church. Nevertheless, right now, Satan is shaking the gates of the church when the church should be tearing his down! Sadly, many Christians are opting out, giving in and looking to the skies for rescue from this corrupt world. But instead of crying out to God for the rapture, we’re to ‘occupy’ till He comes (Luke 19:13). To occupy means to put to work, to take up or fill up, to engage, to hold or to take possession. There is no clause in there saying that when the going gets tough us Christians should disengage, hide and pray for the rapture. It is no wonder Jesus asked if He’d find faith on earth when He returns (Luke 18:8). This is our time to (as Jeremiah Johnson says) engage in spiritual violence (Matthew 11:12)!
Cry out to God to call out His church from hiding, to have courage to follow Christ even if it costs a relationship, a reputation, an income, or even their lives (Luke 9:23, Matthew 24-25, Revelation 12:11). Ask God to grant us more stamina and endurance for the days that are coming. If we can’t stand in this hour, how will we stand when the challenges get even greater. Pray for the remnant to lead the way in engaging in spiritual warfare and kingdom advancement. Ask God to grant us a grace for faith in the testing and battle. Pray for the church in Athens to desire to totally surrender to Christ and be willing to live their lives on fire for Him. Ask all this for yourself and for your church!
