At the end of 2017, I was at a retreat where the LORD asked us to pray against the plan of the devil for 2018 which was to start a war in Nigeria and the aim of the war was to take the attention of the church away from Jesus.
One of the spheres of influence where the battle between man whose will aligns with the will of God and the devil is the church. Ever since the birth of the church in the days of the apostles of the Lamb, the devil has always attacked her through every available means.
The first 100 years of the church was so turbulent because the devil was bent on wiping out the growing ecclesia of Jesus. Somehow the devil knows that the church is the very organization that will lead to the establishment of the will of God on the earth.
Part of the stories of how the early church was persecuted are written in the bible, but most are not found in the canon of scripture. Robert Liardon did a very amazing work on the Martyrs of the church from Stephen, the deacon to the present day. In his book, he noted that as the persecutions become intense, the church became stronger.
When Joshua and the Israelites were entering the promised land, one of the nations they were to destroy are the Jebusites. The Jebusites represented a nation that seeks to invade the Israel of God and erect legalism. This signifies the mountain that we need to defeat in the church.
There is a battle to own the church and sadly, the devil is winning this battle in many local assemblies. It should not be news that the devil is after the church. Let's stop attributing the happenings to the church to other things or persons. Today, churches are being attacked and christians killed in different part of the world. As much as you call this insecurity and radical Islam, don't forget that the real culprit is the devil.
The church needs to stand as the pillar and ground of truth against the onslaught of Radical Islam, Homosexuality, Lukewarmness, Legalism, Materialism and all that easily besets us. The church is not without enemies, but we are assured of victory as we continue in faith and prayers.
I don't like long posts, but this edition will not be complete if I don't tell you that many things that are not of God have entered the church and this necessitates a need for shakings so that the church can be without spot, blemish, wrinkles or any such thing. Many structures will fall away in the shakings. The LORD is (and will) shaking His church. Make sure you build according to His pattern alone!
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