Dear Church: Rest Up, Rev Up and Rise Up!

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson encourages Christ-followers to "be" the church the world needs to see in powerful ways as the nation enters a time of uncertainty with a new administration.

God's purpose for the Church has not been recinded.

Family of God, this is not the time to become unhinged or apathetic. We need to walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We need to ask God for direction every day. We need to live in power, not defeat.

We need to BE the Church God intended—reflecting Christ and obedient to God.

I'm not just referring to our response to government—which is all some Christians are considering right now. I'm primarily considering our responses to the wickedness in our culture and the personal temptations we face because of those influences every day. 

Our responses are important, not only because we want to please God, but because the world is watching—

the world we want to invite to know Jesus.

The culture in America has changed dramatically from 50 years ago, and the culture will likely continue to change in ways that will concern Christ-followers.

We do not know what God will do, but we know what He's called us to do.

My Three Priorities Going Forward

The Lord has given me three priorities for the days ahead.

1. It's Time to REST UP.

Listening to the news cycles and encountering the evils of this world can wear us out. We can feel overwhelmed or angry, and sometimes we might feel paralyzed with frustration or fear!

Jesus says,

Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus wants us to find rest in Him in the midst of our troubling circumstances.

We need to be careful to recharge our batteries every day in Bible reading, prayer, and worship so the Lord can refresh us, give us His peace, and prepare us for whatever comes.

When turmoil increases, it's time to seek the Lord and rest in Him.

2. It's Time to REV UP.

We need to rev up our spiritual motors and get energized to make a difference in our chaotic, confusing world.

We need to be examples of what true Christianity looks like. Revving up means getting our lives properly prepared and ready so God can use us.

The Word of God commands believers to be:

"blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world as you hold forth the word of life..." (Philippians 2:15-16a).

There are four clear specifics in that passage that can help us rev up and move forward with strength.

• Be blameless. — To be blameless is to be innocent, without guile, or without fault. Only God is completely without blame. Jesus perfect (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5), and He tells us to perfect even as our Father God is perfect (Matthew 5:48). How is this possible? Those who have trusted the Lord's provision for salvation are "made perfect forever" (Hebrews 10:14)— regenerated as a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is our positional standing. When the Father sees us, He sees Jesus our Redeemer and advocate first, and He chooses to remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12)—He no longer holds them against us. To "be blameless" is to live like we understand our position in Christ, grateful for God's mercy.
• Be pure. — Having been shown great mercy and cleansed by the blood of Jesus gives us eternal life; but until we get to heaven, we will still commit individual sins. We need daily cleansing .  God wants us to be holy—which means to be set apart for Him. We are not to live like the wicked of this world. Jesus has given us an example of how we're to live (John 13:15). We guard our hearts and keep them pure as we constantly and consistently repent and "wash" our dirtied-up lives in the Word of God and pray, confessing our sins (1 John 1:9).
• Shine as Lights. — Without Christ, we were "once darkness." But now we are light in the Lord and we are to "live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). That is our inheritance (Colossians 1:12). Jesus told us to shine our light into the world, and our light is actually a reflection of His light (Matthew 5:16; John 8:12). We're not to get apathetic and hide our light (Matthew 5:15). The hope of the Gospel is that people living in spiritual darkness might see the light of what Jesus has done for them.
• Hold forth God's Word. — We're not to promote ourselves or become argumentive. We're simply to share scripture to give people understanding and hope. It is the Word of God and Spirit of God that changes peoples' lives (John 6:63, 68). Note: We are not responsible for how people receive the Word of truth; we're only responsible to share it (Philippians 2:16).

3. It's Time to RISE UP.

To rise up in terms of the Church does not mean rebellion against ordained authority (*); it means to bow in surrender to the King of Kings so we can rise up to do whatever God asks us to do.

We need to do God's work in God's timing and by His means. That means we can't act contrary to scripture.

Here's what rising up might include:

• Put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) so we can "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His mighty" against the devil's schemes.
• Praise God in the midst of our circumstances, believing He is in control (Psalm 34:1-2; 95:2-3; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:9). G
• Pray for our Father God to show us His will—which, again, will not contradict scripture. (Matthew 6:10; Colossians 1:9; James 1:5; 1 John 5:14).
• Place ourselves in God's hands—like Esther did (Esther 4:14-16)—to stand in the gap for God's people and the honor of His name.
• Protect those who are being injured. Stand up against abortion, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and cases of injustice; and help orphans, widows and others—protect and help with wisdom and courage (Psalm 82:3; Proverbs 6:16-19; 31:8-9; Isaiah 1:17).
• Point people to the source of hope—Jesus!—as we faithfully, unashamedly share the Gospel (Mark 16:15; Luke 10:2; John 20:21; Romans 1:16).

Perhaps the Lord will speak to you about other biblical ways you can rise up in the days ahead.

It's not time to fall apart, Church. It's time to build and live in victory. It's time to Rest up, Rev Up, and Rise Up!

Which of these three priorities needs a little work in your life this week?

* NOTE from Priority #3 — While some Christians may disagree, there may be cases where civil disobedience might be necessary. This article shares three biblical examples when God's people disobeyed civil authority—Article.

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women's teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, at Revive Our Hearts, a blogger at TrueWoman.com, writes wiki-type posts at Christianity.com, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of PhotoGranary at Lightstock.

Modeling God's Love When It's So Tough

We have seen a monumental display of God's mercy this week, and in Dawn Wilson's Spiritual Life UPLIFT, I want us to focus on the grace of forgiveness.

At his bond hearing, Dylann Roff stood in his striped inmate jumpsuit with a blank expression as family members of the victims he admittedly gunned down at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church said over and over again, "I forgive you."

A daughter of Ethel Lance said,

"You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people, but God forgives you, and I forgive you."

To the astonishment of a watching world, relatives offered words of grace. Mercy. Forgiveness.

It was a painful but powerful testimony to the work of Christ in the hearts of those who love Him.

In Commentary magazine, Abe Greenwald, senior editor of Commentary, wrote, "The late [antitheist] Christopher Hitchens formulated (and forever repeated) a superficially clever challenge to people of faith: 'Find one good or noble thing,' he said, 'which cannot be accomplished without religion.' The astonishing rejoinder to Hitchens comes now from the family members of those who were gunned down Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina."

"At today’s hearing for the suspect, the spouses, siblings, parents, and children of the murdered innocents addressed the man being held for this unspeakable crime—and showered him with mercy and forgiveness. Theirs is a model for all humanity and a testament to the unique and transcendent power of faith." 

How can those, so wounded, so wonderfully forgive?

Forgiveness does not mean the relatives approve of Dylann's evil act. Forgiveness releases Dylann to God's hands. Forgiveness prays for peace, but it does not mean we don't need just laws to deal with those who are filled with hate and would harm or kill.

The victims' families are following in the footsteps of the Great Forgiver.

1. Jesus Modeled Forgiveness.

Mark 2:5 - "And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'"

Luke 7:48 - "And he said to her (a sinful woman), 'Your sins are forgiven.'"

John 8:11 -"...'Neither do I condemn you (an adultress); go, and from now on sin no more.'"

On the cross, Jesus forgave a repentant thief, hanging on a cross beside Him (Luke 23:42-43), and He even forgave those who put Him to death! (Luke 23:34)

2. Jesus Taught Forgiveness.

Matthew 6:14 -"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

Matthew 18:21-22 -"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him,'“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'" [Story of the Unforgiving Servant, Matthew 18:23-35]

We see the power of forgiveness in the much-loved parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), modeling the Father's love and forgiveness.

Jesus exemplified and taught the kind of monumental mercy and forgiveness we've seen at Emanuel AME Church.

Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., says, "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."

As the deadly shots came, the victims were in Bible study. They loved the Word of God. And likely, they too would say to us, "Love and forgive. It is when you are most Christ-like."

Do you struggle to forgive? Can you walk in Jesus' footsteps and forgive by faith?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Ministries, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the Director of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn is the co-author of LOL with God and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.