Worship

“Surrendered” by One House Worship

Scripture

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” -1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, ESV

A Call to Faithful Service

Sons and daughters of the light who are standing on the shores of 2023, my spirit is welling up inside of me with these words: “It’s go time!” We have 12 months ahead of us we that we have never had before nor will we ever have again. We have an open window of opportunity to seize with faith and courage while it is still day. It will be a key year for many of God’s people as He takes us to not only the deeper place in His heart for the lost but to a more narrowing consecration and circumcision of our own hearts. This won’t come with an easy path because the path He is asking you to walk on is narrow, and only the righteous walk on it. It requires hard choices, cooperation with His sanctification, and a willingness to lose your life for the sake of Christ. But if we are going to be found about His work when He returns, it’s time to get out of bed, awaken, and run the race set before you.

I love what my friend Patrice Vines said to me a few weeks back. She told the Lord, “When You return, I want You to find me busy about Your work.” I want the Lord to find me right in the middle of the harvest field, preaching the gospel and confirming it with miracles, signs, and wonders. It’s go time!

“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:24, ESV

Our submission to His leadership and the sanctification of our lives is an invitation based on mercy and grace and love. He will do it. We position ourselves in dependence, and He will do it!

Living with Biblical Watchfulness

Awake, sober, and watchful—this was the exhortation that Paul had for the Thessalonians. He taught them to be wide-awake and not metaphorically in bed with the covers over their heads, waiting for the storm to pass. He taught them what to look for in the return of Jesus. They needed to be mindful and aware of the times and seasons to which they were living because the end was near. (It’s more near now than it even was then!) He was encouraging them, however, to live with a wide-awake sobriety so that they would be about the work of the Lord, not consumed with the darkness that surrounded them (times) nor the culture (seasons) that sought to entrap them. Were they ready for the day of the Lord? They could be totally prepared for the unexpected—the day when He will come for His own!

“In some respect, the coming of Jesus will be a surprise for everybody, because no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). But for Christians who know the times and the seasons, it will not be a complete surprise. No one knows the exact hour a thief will come, but some live in a general preparation against thieves. Those who are not in darkness, who live as they are all sons of light and sons of the day, these are ready for the return of Jesus. But if we are in darkness – perhaps caught up in some of the sin Paul warned against previously in this letter – then we are not ready and need to make ourselves ready for the return of Jesus.” -David Guzik, 1 Thessalonians 5 commentary

Growing in Christ’s Grace

Are you ready to get ready? This is where we avail ourselves to the counsel of the Holy Spirit. He has been speaking things to me in preparation for 2023 that are areas that He wants to sanctify and strengthen. His counsel will never come with shame or condemnation but rather the invitation and grace.

“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”  -1 Thessalonians 5:6

Awake is defined by Merriam-Webster as “Fully conscious, alert, and aware: not asleep.” This is to be our spiritual condition. And if it is not, we must ask the Lord to declare to our body, soul, and spirit, “Awake! Awake!” (Pray these words right now if you need them!)

“The word sleep is here used metaphorically to denote indifference to spiritual realities on the part of believers. It is a different word than that in 4:13-15 for the sleep of death. It covers all sorts of moral and spiritual laxity or insensibility.” -Edmond Hiebert

Sober is defined by Merriam-Webster as “Sparing in the use of food and drink; marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor.”

Sobriety isn’t a passionless life, lacking zeal and enthusiasm; it’s a life lived with intentionality and focus. It’s one who has learned to tame the flesh and live in the overflow of the Spirit. The one filled with the Holy Spirit is both intoxicated and passionately in love with Jesus. The sober-minded believer has only the things of Christ to pursue and a lost world to go and bring to salvation. The external intoxications such as food and drink and earthly pleasures grow more and more dim in His presence and glorious grace.

Paul emphasizes getting that breastplate and helmet back in place as we finish our race. Our union with Christ is our positional authority for the days in which we are living. In light of that, we each have some work to do as we prepare for two things: the return of Christ and the massive end-time harvest that is now upon us.

Therefore:

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ESV

As part of the sanctification process of walking in humility and truth, we ask the Lord to search us and know us. And as He does, we come back into agreement with His truth and what He says about us (repentance). The turning of our eyes and hearts before Him is critical as we prepare for 2023.

• Repent of anything in darkness. He’s calling you back to living in the light.
• Repent of pride. Humility is our only way forward.
• Repent of sleepiness. He’s calling to His Bride, “Awake awake!”
• Repent of drunkenness. He’s wanting to intoxicate you with Himself.
• Repent of being OK with living in darkness. This world is no longer your home.
• Repent of justifying a lack of self-control. Make room for the fruit of His Spirit, not the fruit of your flesh.
• Repent of taking off faith, love, and self-control. It’s time to have Him dress you again.
• Repent of forsaking your union with Him in a prayerless life. Let’s run back to the secret place with Him.

It’s imperative to awaken, come alive, and throw off the things that are entangling and tripping us up. It’s time to go with Jesus His way. I just received a text from my dear friend. She writes, “I’m praying the Lord continues to make both of us uncomfortable so we can grow and mature for the days that truly matter—the days that will require seasoned lovers of the Lord to stand. He is readying us for the days when we need leaders with grit and clarity.” Amen to this prayer. Let it be said of you and me.

A Prayer for Growth in Christ

I want to close with this prayer for us:

Awaken us Lord, from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet that we would chase our Lover into the harvest field and live the rest of our days on Your agenda and Your plan. Give us grit and zeal and passion and sobriety and watchfulness until You return. Teach us the times and seasons in which we are living so that intentionality and a heart of wisdom marks our every day. May we be found knee-deep in Your business when You return, overwhelmed by the light of Your presence and not hiding in darkness. Pour out Your Spirit on us as we enter 2023, in Jesus’ powerful and merciful name! Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, come!

• Are you asking the Lord for the word He is speaking over 2023 for you personally? Join us as we gather in Dallas with Me Ra Koh to listen to the Lord together for what He is speaking over this next year. Here is the link for more information and to sign up.
• My book, “Arise My Darling” has just been published in Spanish! Grab a copy for your friends, neighbors, or to pass kindness on to a stranger.