And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? Lk 24:32
March 12, 2022
Great Trials
After enduring a great ordeal the worst conclusion is to come out and have gained no meaningful lesson from the experience. Supposedly, we study history to learn from the experience of our predecessors. They may have had some horrible ordeal but lived through it. We should not have to experience the same errors as our parents or peers just to learn the same lesson. The recorder of history will tell us the problem, the resolution and the lesson. We become wiser just by listening.
Everyone recalls how horrible the past two years of Covid-19 was on us and how we suffered through the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency. What if the historian never explained the lesson derived from the ordeal? Would we have gone through it for nothing only to experience it again? Who would want to repeat even one day of those experiences? There was such a dark cloud of death and fear that hung over us every day. That is the reason why we have to come out of these experiences understanding what happened, extract the lessons learned and record it for posterity.
Understanding the Trial
The true message of the experience could be lost simply because of how it is framed. Secular media has done an in-depth examination of the facts during the past several years; but they are limited to their spear of understanding even though they have done their best. When they do not understand what is happening, they ask questions about it and get opinions from various professional secular sources. They use logic and more questions to draw out conclusions even when the conclusion is just: “He is crazy.” Well, most high ranking public figures are not being locked up for insanity; so the problem will still remain without resolution.
The reason I named this article “For Christians Only” is because it is Christians that are given the mind of Christ through scripture and the spirit of God. There is so much that is going on that goes beyond the physical realm. There are explanations for things that are going on in the earth that are better explained in spiritual terms; and there are answers that are only available to the spiritual children of God. God does not tell us to just conclude a person or situation is crazy and leave it alone. In scripture God told us about the spiritual conversations that occurred at the world’s creation, in the divine judgment upon the Tower of Babel, before the trial of Job, Satan’s conversation with Jesus in the wilderness and His purpose through Mary and Joseph for the church. God is willing to tell us what He is doing when we have fellowship with Him. The church is an extension of His arm in the earth.
God sent Jesus to the earth to give us real help that people were crying out for and could not find in their secular leaders. When we or our leaders cannot solve a problem, God tells us to go into prayer and bring the problem to Him to solve. There is an answer to every problem because there is a God who made everything and who can also repair whatever is broken.
One of the main complications of the world’s trying to solve problems is that they often cannot identify the problem or frame the problem in real terms that is conducive to finding the answer. Identification is supposed to be the first step of problem solving; and if it is wrong, the solution will elude them. When a person’s anger or behavior is beyond what the world thinks is reasonable; they may conclude the person is crazy when he may in fact be sick spiritually, demonized or spiritually possessed (Mar 5:9). Even if they were to conclude that the person had a mental defect, it may still not identify spiritual abnormality.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Mar 5:2-3
In the church, many problems may remain because the church often uses carnal or worldly terms to frame a spiritual problem in worldly terms. The Christian church desires to be acceptable to the world at large. The spirit-filled church is uniquely qualified to examine some problems and discern an answer the world may not want to hear. They are the ones who commune with God, seek His answer to problems and get real help for restoration to wholeness. Our nation was started with a spiritual appeal to God for help and we cannot now ignore His reign and sovereignty over all our affairs.
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Gal 3:2-3
Diagnosis Based on Truth
With that preamble, we can now proceed to examine some of the problems before us and determine a path to resolution. Jesus taught the church to recognize the difference between flesh and spirit, disease and demons and how to minister to some problems and refer others to Him. The problems we dealt with concerning Candidate and President Trump were clearly out of the range of normalcy and yet every explanation of the problem dealt with it politically and only in the end did people even consider the illegal nature of many of his actions while some concluded he was crazy. Whatever his state was, our problems increased substantially because his influence was misidentified.
Many of Trumps actions should have been examined and blocked by virtue of their illegal nature; but many of them went beyond social, political and legal normalcy to an outrageous threat to our nation and all the while he was misidentified as a Christian. When problems go beyond normalcy in the physical realm that is when the church should determine if we are dealing with a spiritual abnormality. Actually, it is the church’s job to confront demon activity before it manifests in the physical realm. The church is first line of defense for our people in the spirit realm where the enemy forms his attack. It is also the place where God prepares His servants with knowledge and spiritual maneuvers to prevent the work of the enemy from succeeding. So demon activity should be battled in the spirit before it breaks out in the natural realm. The prayers of the spiritual church can disrupt the diabolical plan by invoking the help of the heavenly hosts. If the church does not rise to action, God will use whosoever will to perform His will toward the problem. The battle is the Lord’s, but He will fight it through the assistance of His servants.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12
Now you might ask why I suggested it was a problem of demon activity rather than just crazy behavior. Physical problems can be solved by secular means but spiritual problems must have a spiritual cure. No one in any secular profession was able to resolve the problem of Trump’s chaos and power over our nation. The problem was further complicated through his endorsement by many well-known churches and religious leaders, which added a spiritual component to the problem. Spiritual minded Christians should have understood what happens when the church leader aligns itself with what God calls ungodly. For bible reference, consider a similar story in the Old Testament:
And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. 2Ki 3:14
In this scripture, God’s King, Jehoshaphat, had made covenant with the disobedient King of Israel, with whom Jehoshaphat nearly got killed in a previous war. The prophet here disdained the union but had respect for God’s king. Quite clearly we are advised in scripture not to be yoked together with unbelievers (2Co 6:14) who could lead the believer into danger. Churches of all venues were persuaded to join in with legislators, rebellious groups, businesses and social organizations to establish a worldly goal of white nationalism. Some blacks unknowingly joined in a plot that was established against them and their interests.
The Spiritual Church’s Role
Contrary to what people may think and as I pointed out above, the first line of defense against an evil attack is supposed to be the spiritual church. The attack starts in the spiritual realm and the secular government has no weapon for destroying evil spirits operating in the heavenly realm. When the church fails to do its job then the results of the attack shows up in the physical world and it can affect leaders or laypersons of all kinds. Americans saw warfare in our administrative, legislative, judiciary branches of governments and communities because our churches lost the high ground of spiritual warfare in the heavenly realm. How did it happen? All our churches were led to seek earthly gain rather than that which is valued in heaven. It is sad to report that large renowned churches in our nation backed the wrong side for earthly gain. They not only backed the wrong side but they flooded the airwaves and other churches with a worldly gospel and spirit that traumatized and stunned the nation into paralysis. They justified their actions by claiming to represent God in the fight against the sins of abortion, homosexuality, loss of freedom, etc., but Jesus had already nailed those sins to the cross and died to defeat them. Church leaders ought to welcome all people and let Jesus deal with their sins.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1Ti 6:9-10
The lines between right and wrong became blurred in our nation because our people forsook seeking Christ and began to seek power, money and dominion. White evangelical leaders actually had a plan to disrupt normal life and cause chaos that they deemed necessary to establish white nationalism. Our chaotic American leadership promoted a mania that affected other nations, one of which was Ukraine. Mixed in with all of the greed and power grab was an effort from Russia to gain power in America through Trump and the Christian church gone awry. America suffered just like the rest of the world through the pandemic but the mental trauma that our nation went through under Trump was a result of a morally corrupt leadership seeking to establish their own will. America fell into the trap, took the bait and slipped into the mire of Satanic temptation that was a snare for the prize of its soul. As we are now watching the suffering of Ukraine on daily television struggling for its survival; we are also seeing their love among families caring for each other, citizens willing to lay down their life to protect family and nation, a strong patriotism to follow the bravery and virtue of their nation’s leader, and a unity of country to survive and protect their land. Those are all qualities Americans used to boast about, but have lost through the temptation that led them to seek money, power and a fight for white supremacy. Somehow white America seemed to have missed the lessons about Hitler’s rise and fall over authoritarism and white nationalism.
The Aftermath/The Lessons
As America begins to turn its focus onto other issues as it invariably will, we must not overlook or forget the lesson of this ordeal or those that led the nation astray. The enemy of our soul lives to fight another day. The church was given all the warnings and lessons in scripture to prevent this type of error that started in the greedy, prejudiced heart of a religious people who did not in truth know Christ as Lord. There are a lot of lessons to learn but the most important one is that the solution that sustained the nation thus far did not come from America’s money, politics, church doctrine, or any particular leader. As my spiritual eyes run over the past five years in my mind, I see God using unlikely individuals at various points and in various positions and forms to save our nation. He sovereignly impressed upon individuals to do the right thing at the right time.
The hatred that was about to boil over into destruction in America went back to its source. Greed for money, a need for racial superiority, and a love of ungodly power took us up to the brink of World War III. Let me drop this nugget while I am thinking about it: Fearful Christian leaders have so filled the nation with fear of a World War III until it has paralyzed the nation from action in Ukraine. War in Ukraine will not bring about the end time battle they feared because the end time war will be over the land of Israel, not Ukraine. Has God said how many wars will be fought before the end time war? I think not. He has told us about the number of kingdoms, not the number of wars. But God has allowed America and others to see their own hearts revealed daily on the television screen in other people and their crises. When we see ourselves in other’s error, we ought to deal with it right then in prayer. The hate of Russian President Putin against Ukraine is the same type of hatred displayed in the Republican Party that began to idolize him. We see the same lying spirit. In Putin, we see the ultimate goal of such hatred as that obscured in the nation’s familiarity and affection for Trump. Even now with all the atrocities of Putin that we can see with our own eyes on television, there are Republicans and Trump who still idolize that type of leader. There can be no further excuse for supporting such visible evil. A war of good and evil was fought out spiritually in our homes, on the streets, in congress, in the White House, and now physically on our world stage. People have had a chance to see evil personified and what happens if they continue on their present course. Some people may still not have seen God’s hand moving to stop evil simply because they refuse to see. America has seen what could have happened or might happen if it continues a course of following the lies of deceit. The American Christian church was set on the sidelines as God worked through whomever He chose to use to stop World War III before it starts. Now is the time to come to our senses and stop the evil heart that leads to destruction and acknowledge the God of our youth.
While God has spared America another feared civil war and allowed, for reasons I cannot understand, conflict in Ukraine; the nation of America must learn the important lesson that is being presented to it on the world stage and stop the madness. All the players are still in place in America for a vicious uprising, but God always grants space for the changing of minds, hearts and direction. War starts in the heart and can end in the heart; but hatred has a way of contaminating everything around it. All of the nations involved in the battle on the worldwide stage are nations that once proclaimed Christ and chose Christianity as their religion and Christ as their Lord. America is failing to show the world Christian liberty at its best. Democracy is not the answer to world peace, but choosing Christ is. Stable democracies are a result of Christ in the heart. It is Christ and true Christianity that nations need. Democracy is just the fruit of it. Backsliding Christians though cause backsliding democracies. We must not idolize democracy as our god, but rather depend on Creator God for our security. America has already seen that there is no power in democracy itself to sustain peace. Democracies come and democracies go, but Christ remains the same. Since our failure was in failing to follow Christ’s example, let’s return to Christ at home and let His love change us and the world around us. Let’s live out Christ for the world to see. Let our testimony be that we turned the world upside down for Christ and won them to His love. PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Joh 13:35
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed… Joh 8:31
Truth and Life Ministries of Christ with Apostle Joyce Reba Payne 