The Deception Virus

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Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God.”
 
I would have been Peter.   Remember when they were all on the boat and Jesus said, “Come”?   I would have been Peter.  The others would have thought of all the reasons why not and I would have said “Why not?”.   I would have walked on water that day….and almost drowned.  But, I would have walked on water. 
 
Of course, the difference between faith and foolishness is obedience to the command of Christ.  That was the case in Matthew 14.  Until the moment when Jesus said the word, it would have been ridiculous to think you could walk on water, right?  But once Jesus said the word, “COME”, all bets were off.  Practical and Pragmatic made way for Phenomenal. 
 
I can talk like this because I have lived that life.  At almost every juncture in the road, I took the path less traveled; the one that required more faith.  Almost everyone advised me not to do it.  But here I am.  There are NO regrets.
 
So, I’m used to looking at things through a different prism; things like COVID-19.  I’ll start by saying that I agree with everything we’re being TOLD to do.   How could you argue safe practices and social distancing in times like these?  And yet, there is something hiding in the shadows. 
 
Most people are going to talk about this pandemic in terms of the natural.  They’re going to talk about it ad-nauseum.  I turned off the TV weeks ago.  But what is going on in the supernatural?  I’ve been trying to listen to God’s Spirit without the noise of the world in the background.  I’ve talked to a lot of people.  Everyone has an opinion.  But what is The Spirit saying?
 
I don’t know.
 
But here’s what I sense:
 
Governments in the West shut down the churches without a whimper from them.  We are quite “non-essential”.  However, the ABC stores are still open in Virginia.  Oddly enough, AA can’t hold their meetings anymore, but we can get liquor.  We can also get an abortion because that's not elective surgery?  Meanwhile, churches around the world meet in homes where it’s illegal to gather in the name of Christ.  They are underground, you see.  And they face the threat of death every time they gather together. There are more martyrs in the 20th Century than through all history.   Who haunts them?  Governments.  By the way, their faith is on FIRE.  Churches in Iraq, Iran, China, and Africa are growing like wild-FIRE.  They’re alive.
 
Our faith is NOT on fire.  That may be one of the many reasons that people are leaving organized religions here in droves.  We are the Church at Laodicea.  This is Jesus’ response to that last days’ church in Revelation 3:15-18:
 
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
 
Christians have been dancing around words like practical, cautious, responsible, safe, etc.  Just look at that list of words.  Does it reflect ANYTHING of the person of JESUS CHRIST and his bride, THE CHURCH?  I think (?) that the Spirit of God may be using COVID-19 as a mirror to show us that we are deceived.  “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”  (Rev 3:22)
 

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