When we heard this proclamation about Christ coming back for a Church, without spot or wrinkle, what did we think that meant?

As we’ve lived longer, the idea that most things are really much more simple than we make them, begins to make a lot of sense. People who wanted to help me, told me that; but it was a long time before I understood what they were saying. Tell me, how do we get out spots; what do we do when our garments have wrinkles. What if God has waited for us to do it and we didn’t.

Why are we seemingly surprised, when the heat gets turned up. Our first reaction is to say that the devil is coming against us; and he may be. But who allowed him to do that; and why. What does it take to be willing to weed out our imperfections; to dig deeper in ourselves. Blaming others, before we look at ourselves first. A lot of what’s wrong with the church, is the people in it. We can’t clean house, without the Spirit helping us. Our flesh, won’t do the work it needs to do; on it’s own. If we don’t want help, we won’t get it.

That is unless God has a purpose in shaking someone up, in order to help someone who does want cleansing and truly desires to seek after the Spirit. It’s likely that because of a lot of suffering, trials and tests, we’ve finally begun to see that God works in ways, we don’t know about. We become willing to look at things in a way we did not look at before. It came to me again recently, how our Heavenly Father, gave His only begotten Son. What kind of hard suffering and persecution, did Jesus Christ go through. And what would make us think, that we could or should escape the same.

Some might ask, why is he talking about this subject again? It seems that enough has been said already. Why should we again be reminded, that even the Apostles were pressed out of measure? It’s because the iron is hot for many of us right now. And it is soon coming to those who may have been lulled to sleep; or those who have settled for much less in our walk.

Most do not want to hear this. There is a spirit, even within the church, that says, “leave us alone.” We like it just fine the way we are. I thought today, what if the apostles and prophets were to walk into our buildings today.

Many of us who were very sick, had to ask for help. One of the steps to getting better, was to take an inventory of ourselves. A rigorously honest one. It did not happen, until we got sick and tired, of being sick and tired. It was suggested, that at the end of every day, we take a quick inventory, to see if there was anything we might have done better. And when we were wrong, admit it. We were meant to share our journeys with each other. It does not matter what the world or the church of today says about it. If our people want to ignore what the Apostle James said; so be it.

Who should be alerting the church that tribulation is coming; in ways we have never seen before. People are falling apart; their families are fragmenting. Our people are doing things, they never ever thought they would do.

Tribulation is not coming, it is already here; it will be as it was written. Pressed. Can you know, that some of us have been through the absolute wringer, so that we can do the work of the Spirit in this hour? And to help and minister to those who are going through it now. Many church kingdoms are going to fall; and it might take some good people with it.

Who else can or even will, reach out to these; hold them, and cling to them?

~ Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn