Since 1998, while on Okinawa, “I believed, so I spoke.” (2Cor 4:13) As my beliefs in Christ have increased, so has my speech. Honestly, the more I believe, the more I speak.
As such, literally every ministry we’re doing here has been bracketed and targeted for elimination! This week, I received two more emails from government authorities demanding justification and qualification for my ministerial presence on the bases. Presently, every primary ministry the Lord has been using us to build here, over these twenty years, is under direct, heavy assault! Saints, we are in desperate need of your “now” prayers!
- Our request for SOFA status has been denied (for now, Lol), which has led to…
- Our Friday Brig Sxx Class of twelve years coming into question as authorities are asking for my qualifications (concentrated degrees, licenses, and certificates), which has led to…
- Our Base Chapel Bible studies (Brig and Schwab) of twenty years being scrutinized as to its’ legality.
- I was banned from the Welcome Aboard Briefs because I was too offensive.
- The building owner of Zebulun wants to take us to Japanese court to evict us over rental cost disputes.
Real talk. My initial response to these attacks came from my flesh-man. My flesh cried things like, “Yikes!” And, “Just tone down your speech,… Stop being so aggressive and provoking,… Be more diplomatic,” and finally, “Father, why have You forsaken me?!! Aaugh!!!”
But, the more I am squeezed and forced into a corner, to the point where I have to respond to my accusers, I find that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, my spirit-man begins to arise and speak. “God, You are bigger than anything we face! Lord, these are Your ministries, but if You’re closing these doors, we know for certain we still carry Your message, Your calling, and Your power! We will build and plant anywhere You send us! And, (2Cor 12:7-10) Lord, I truly thank You for these challenges. They keep me from becoming conceited and distracted because of the surpassing greatness of Your works and accomplishments through me. I receive these difficulties as thorns, given me in my flesh, messengers of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Lord, I have pleaded with You to take these problems away, but You said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ So Father, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. O God, for the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (1Pe 4:12-14) Father, I repent. You told me not to be surprised at the fiery trials I would go through, as if something strange was happening to me. Instead, You told me to be very glad because these trials make me partners with Christ in His suffering, so that I will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world. Father, You told me to be happy when I am insulted for being a Christian, for then Your glorious Spirit rests upon me.”
What a stark contrast between my flesh-man and my spirit-man! On the one hand, my flesh wants comfort, safety, security, peace, blessings… the path of least resistance. On the other hand, my spirit-man gets excited for hardships, challenges, and opportunities to exercise faith in God and His power! My spirit-man, now aroused to battle, whoops, “Wooh-hooh! Yes! Persecution! Praise the Lord! I get to wholly depend on God for His deliverance! Lord, I am so far out here that if You don’t deliver me, I’m going down! Hallelujah! Bring it on!” (Lol! Faith can sound so insane sometimes.)
Beloved, Sandy and I are mindful that this is fundamentally a spiritual battle (2Cor 10:4-5 and Eph 6:12). Please know that we’re NOT taking any of these hardships as signs that “The battle is lost,” or “God must be closing doors,” or “Maybe our work here is finished,” or “These must be signs that God is telling us to pack up and go home.” On the contrary, we are buckling down, and pressing on. (I’m kinda hard-headed like that.)
Still, we have to go through. Tomorrow (Friday), I am to give an account to some authorities and judges. (Nervous, much? Lol!) What am I supposed to say? What do they want to hear? As Sandy (I love her name, tho’!) and I were praying and discussing this, the Holy Spirit just reminded me of this: “When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts and before judges, don’t worry about defending yourselves — what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes.” (Lu 12:11-12 Msg) Practically in tears, here.
For the record, over these years, so much Kingdom fruit has been harvested for His glory. Countless disciples have been made! Bottom Line: He is Lord and our lives are in His hands.
What are You teaching us, Lord?
– My trials keep me dependent on God (2Cor 12:7-10)
– My trials keep me close to God (Jn 6:68-69)
– My trials are good for my growth (Rom 5:1-5; Jms 1:2-4)
– His power shows up in my calamities (Lu 12:11-12)
– The degree to which you believe, is the degree to which you will speak.
– The Flipside: The degree to which you don’t believe, is the degree to which you will be silent.
Simply put, “I believe, so I speak.”