What Now or Now What When The Lord Returns
Linda J. Waiters © May 24, 2010
Assisting God’s people to the next level can be a challenging task, especially when it seems that many of us keep going back to square one by our choices in life. This factor is addressed in Hebrews 5:12-13 (New International Version), which says: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.”
Given we are one Body, the very nature of our being demands us to stay together through the process. Any one member, regardless of his or her gifts, strengths, position or calling is only as strong as the weakest link. This factor places others in a precarious position, because it is during these times when complacency can become an issue. Nevertheless, there is an overwhelming desire in most of us to move on. You can hear a cry rising up from the Body that’s saying “more Lord, more!” Mind you, it’s not about desiring something “deep.” The little Word we really do have can turn the world upside down now. No, it’s more like the greatness God placed inside of us is transitioning into a birth canal of sorts. The time for the Sons of God to come forth is upon us and the Body is now going through labor. Not only are we ready for the transition, but so is all of creation.
During the birthing process, the trauma of it all can begin to affect the child, especially if it takes too long for the baby to come. In like manner, as Sons of God, our danger zone may be triggered by the familiarity of the norms of our Christianity. We presume that God will forgive us, so while we wait for the rest of the Body to come on, we begin to do “our own thing” because He forgave us in the past. We get bored, and the Word notes that sin is enjoyable “for a season.” Unfortunately, the wages of sin is also death evidenced by us becoming lethargic, which results in us no longer heeding the call to press pass that stage in life. That’s why we have to encourage our own selves at times like King David.
Yet another truth must be realized. Some folks don’t want to change. We have to be mindful that time is running out, and like the old folks use to say, “get right, or get left behind.” The Word clearly shows that when God’s time line for His plan demands it, He will leave you behind (i.e., those in the days of Noah and the Children of Israel who died in the wilderness). Moreover, there are some among us who are not of us – tares among the wheat – incorrigible souls strategically planted to hinder progress. Oh yes, the weapon has been formed, but it will not prosper. The Sons of God can’t help but to come forth. Nonetheless, we may also need to consider the fact that the norms need to be re-calibrated.
We are transitioning from born-again children to born-again Sons, but are we ready?
Years ago, I heard a minister say words to this effect: “People don’t need to be reminded that they are sinners. Most people already knew that before someone came along and brought it up.” He said, “they need to know how to move forward.” Moving forward has to go beyond learning and living the constraints of a holy life here on earth. Yes, without holiness we will not see the Lord as the Word says, but while those constraints are for our good and to show we love God, there are additional motivational concepts that should be applied to move us along too. For example, if I owned a candy store and you came into it one day and stole a piece of candy. Assuming that I caught you stealing it, I could reprimand you and/or make you pay for it. However, if I stopped there, I’d leave you with that mindset which may be repeated somewhere else. But what if, along with the rebuke, I taught you how to manage your own candy store that you never embraced ownership of? That would elevate you to a whole different mindset. In like manner, the new norm in Christianity may be to shift our focus to preparing Saints to reign with Christ.
Sadly, when you approach some Saints with the truth of their being an heir of God, and they know you are not throwing out some religious cliché, they actually have to do a double-take to realize that you’re really talking about them. The position is already theirs, they just need to a) accept the truth that it is theirs; and, b) learn how to operate in that position.
How many times do you actually think about what you will do when you get to Heaven? And, what does reigning with Christ really entail? I’ve been saved for twenty-seven years, and I couldn’t honestly give you a definitive answer because it has never been my focus until now. So when I get to Heaven will I be one of those saying “now what?” I can, however, tell you all about the sin nature and the need for repentance, but will that be an issue that one even has to discuss in Heaven? Do you get my point? Therefore, if we begin to embrace the leader in us now, we won’t dedicate so much time on our sin nature because you can’t reach up and down at the same time. This positions us to enthusiastically say, upon the Lord’s return, what now Lord!
Many recognize a transition in the Kingdom of God, and believe that the Lord’s return is imminent. The time for a new norm has come, and I believe this is the shift spreading throughout the Body of Christ. It is being released into the atmosphere through songs like There’s A King In You by Donald Lawrence. People are taking note of monarchs in the natural and becoming cognizant of real life examples. For instance, take Queen Elizabeth’s grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, they were taught from birth how to be kings, even though they may never take the throne. Yet they’ve been conditioned to have a royal mindset.
A royal mindset has been long overdue by some in the Body of Christ. We are children of the Father of the King of Kings. This is not some fantasy we hope to become. We are a holy priesthood and a royal nation NOW. It’s time to focus on the truth of who we really are, so we can leave behind who we really were.
