Friday, April 3, 2020

The Church (body of believers) is at a Crossroad!

       The Book of Zechariah is a book of end times!  Some scholars called it the apocalypse of the Old Testament.   Apocalypses meaning, "an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale."  
Related to the spiritual definition "it is the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the book of Revelation.  Bear with me and let me paint a picture of what was happening in Zechariah's day.

     The remnant of God's people had returned from Babylonian captivity and Zechariah was a prophet who ministered to this remnant.  The remnant was back in Jerusalem but were still under the  Babylonian control.

                 In Jerusalem they were working to rebuild the city and the temple.  It was a time of no hope, deep depression; a time in which they had a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or they believed that the worst would happen;  they had a lack of hope or confidence in the future.

                           God sends Zechariah in the middle of all of this hopelessness and despair to give them an important Word from the Lord."  What was the Word?  

Thus says the Lord[Jehovah] of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 1:2-3 RSV)

In the middle of chaos and confusion; in the middle of this Coronavirus which is affecting the nations of the world and even more historically the entity we called "the Church", God is speaking a Word to the Body of Believers!

    
     RETURN TO ME!  RETURN TO ME!  Return to me from you discouragement, your complacency, your depression!  Return to me from your fear, your anxieties, your hopelessness!  Return to me from your melancholy, your ingratitude, your complaining, your envy, jealousy, and strife.  RETURN TO ME NOW SAYS THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS! 

                 I believe the Church is at a crossroads and what we do next, how we handle what is happening in the "Now" is critically important to the body of Christ.  We have a choice to arise as the body of Believers, serving, living our lives as unto the Lord.

   What else is God saying in this pandemic called Coronavirus?  

Most of you know that I love word definitions.  So of course, I researched the word Corona.  

Corona defined means "a crown."  In anatomy, it is "a part of the body resembling or likened to a crown." 


          It is so named because of the crown-like arrangement of proteins on the virus when viewed        under a microscope.

          Here is the Word of the Lord for every born again believer!

"We Must Exchange OUR Crown of Life
(our faults, our failures, our way of living)
for HIS Crown of Life!


     All believer are being "viewed under the microscope" by our heavenly Father to see if we are wearing our Crown!  So make sure you are not only wearing your CROWN but that it is SHINING BRIGHTLY for our KING JESUS!  "Choose you this day whom you will serve...….as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

Prayer

Heavenly Father!  Today I am returning to you!   The things of this world were bright and shiny to me and I followed its path.  Today is the day that my life turns from the allure of the things in this world and I RETURN TO YOU!  Forgive me for all of my sins, known and unknown and restore unto me the joy of my Salavation, which is not only being saved from darkness, but totally complete healing and deliverance.  Restore and place on my head your CROWN of Life in Jesus' name.  Amen!
 
                                                                        Loving Jesus,

                                                                                                        Lou Ellen