“The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” -1 Peter 4:7-8, CSB

The Challenge of Discernment

I was sitting in a restaurant in Utah waiting for our table to be ready. I struck up a conversation with the lady next to me. She shared her love for Jesus and her children, who are also on mission around the world. I shared with her what I did, taking the gospel to those who had never heard the name of Jesus. She said, “If the whole world would just follow and love Jesus, it would be a different world.” Her husband chimed in on the men’s Bible study he was a part of and the 60 men who would meet early to study the Bible. And then they mentioned they were a part of the Church of Latter-day Saints. My head spun on a swivel. How do you say everything an evangelical Christian would say with true sincerity and yet be so lost? I had to keep telling myself, “Don’t let your jaw drop, your eyes squint, or your brow furrow; keep listening sincerely.”

I drive down the freeway and see billboards that say, “Muslims love Jesus,” and scratch my head. What does the word “love” really mean?

When we share the gospel with Hindus, some want to receive Jesus and simply add Him as another one of their 330 million gods. Now they have 330,000,001 gods. Perfect.

We need discernment and sober-mindedness like never before if we are going to walk through spiritual conversations with people today. There’s a pursuit of wisdom that is imperative for followers of Jesus to not only navigate current ideologies, events, and new cultural norms but to know how to bring the Way, the Truth, and the Life into all these fragments, religions, and false teachings. He teaches us to strategically enter places and engage the people there. He shows us spiritual landscapes so we can pray, share boldly, and love lavishly. Let’s be learners of people and places so we can be effective missionaries to our nation and the nations.

Three Essential Elements

Every state in America, as well as every country on each continent, has a spiritual landscape that we must learn to navigate with three things: alertness, prayer, and love. Let’s break these three words down (according to the Key Word Study Bible) to figure out the way forward.

• Alert: to be of a sound mind, in right mind, self-controlled
• Prayer: worship, petition, pray earnestly
• Love: affectionate regard, goodwill, benevolence

These three characteristics of our intimate relationship with Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit will be mile markers for this race to our finish line, which is Christ. Just like Paul urged Timothy to watch his life and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16), so it is with us. Many teachers today are leading scores of people astray with just a bite-sized nugget of semi-truth here and another morsel there. Deception is at an all-time high. With narcissism on the rise because of the worship of self, our love for one another is growing cold. Yet will the Bride maintain her position of surrender and dependency? Will she keep her eyes focused on the one whom she first loved? Look at what is prophesied of our current days in Matthew 24:11-13: “‘… and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.’”

Standing Firm in Truth

Our standing firm—with a sober mind, eyes wide open to know the times and seasons, and a heart that cries out day and night—is born in the reality of utter dependence. We cannot think the war will not touch us or think we are immune to the schemes of the enemy. He’s roaming around looking for whom he can devour just as much as the eyes of the Lord are looking for those who are fully committed to Him so He can strengthen you (2 Chronicles 16:9).

We have been entrusted with a timeline of His story. It’s not a simple period of time, nor is it the wide path. So, we take the words of Peter and get our minds operating with the mind of Christ, our knees bent in worship and petition and our hearts full of the love of God. And then we will stand with eyes fixed on Jesus. And then we will go and take to this broken world the salvation and healing power of the love of Jesus.

“Now we reside in an unholy mess. Yet we carry a message brimming with life-giving hope. What exactly does this hope entail? The miracle-working Maker of Heaven and Earth extends a helping hand to humanity. He vows to be there for us in good and bad times. And he leads us across mountains and valleys to his eternal kingdom.” -David Joannes, “See the City”

The State of Our Nation

My heart was wrecked when I went to Maryland and learned how few Christians reside in that state. My heart was wrecked having spiritual conversations with several in Utah who are so incredibly kind but so far from Jesus. I grieve those I engaged with in Colorado who want nothing to do with Jesus; the spiritual ground felt so hard in some places there. Or what about Texas? Many in this Bible Belt have been taught all the right words to say and yet don’t know Him personally. Do we dust our feet off in these states, or do we run into them with prayerful intercession and the radical love of Jesus? I believe it’s time to press in.

What about the churches in California that are coming alive because of the fires of refinement happening there? Praise the Lord! I celebrate the move of the Spirit in Vancouver, Washington. Saints have contended for revival in states across the country, and God is answering! (Taking spiritual assessments of places our feet walk only equips us for knowing how to pray and how to go.)

Bride of Christ, there is a cry that is going out to us right now. It’s the cry of, “Awake, awake!” It’s a cry to awaken an alertness to pray without ceasing, worship till the victory comes, and run with the love of Jesus. We have to go! Our sober-mindedness in this hour, coupled with the counsel and direction of the Holy Spirit, will show where and to whom we are to go. It’s not a blind faith. It’s a focused faith in this hour because we know whom we have believed, and we know whom we are following to the ends of the Earth with ferocious and focused faith!

A Prayer for Our Time

Will you pray this prayer with me that I am praying for myself?

Jesus, make me wide-awake and alert in this hour. I don’t want to miss this move of God You are inviting me to join You in, all across the Earth. I want to raise my sails and catch the wind of the Spirit so that I live these days with ferocious, focused faith! Will You crucify the prayerless, apathetic, self-consumed parts of me? They don’t need to rule the day; in fact, they don’t even need a voice in my head. I ask by Your mercy that I would come alive in the fullness of Jesus, who fills everything in every way. I pray for a sound mind, sober-mindedness, and self-control. Plant eternity so deep within me that the temporal fades into the background. I pray for a fresh awakening to love the lost with urgency and boldness and courage, even if that means rejection or persecution. If the end is near, mark me as one whom You can find to be faithful to You every last hour of every last day till I see You face-to-face. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

A Few Key Notes

• We have a $40,000 match in place from now until December 31 to expand the impact of Arise in our nation and the nations. Please consider making a year-end contribution to Arise by giving online.
• Have you followed us on Instagram? Check out @eastwest_arise for the latest updates and encouragement!
• Register for the Arise Christmas Luncheon at The Hope Center in Plano. Join us on December 12 as we hear from Safeeya Schnaufer, who will share stories of women who risk it all. Reserve your tickets and table sponsorships today!
• Christmas has come early thanks to a generous business partner. Burnett’s Christmas Lights has promised to donate half of the cost of light installation to Arise if a Dallas-Fort Worth area customer mentions “Arise” or “East-West.” Go to burnettschristmaslights.com to learn more or call Tim Burnett at 214.791.3777 for a free estimate!
• Love your neighbor and join us in sharing about Jesus during Dallas Harvest Day! We will teach you how to share the gospel and then go and evangelize together. Join us on the first Saturday of each month. Meet at La Victoria, 1605 N. Haskell Ave., Dallas, TX 75204, at 9 a.m. for the next Harvest Day on December 2. Tell us you’re coming by emailing [email protected].