What we believe about God’s purposes in the earth today and tomorrow, affects what we do for the kingdom and how we do it. Think about it. What if a billionaire commissioned you to build a spectacular, eight thousand square foot home with vaulted ceilings, crown molding throughout, stunning lights and fixtures in every room, detailed tile work, indoor water features, and highly textured walls – wouldn’t you be excited to show off your best and most creative work? But what if you then discovered that on the day you hand the house over to him, the eccentric owner was simply going to burn the house to the ground so he could video it without ever living in it.

Do you think that realization would affect the excellence with which you labored on the house and the unseen details you were planning to make perfect in the structure?   If there is no real future for the house, why not skimp on insulation and why install top-end appliances? Would it even matter if all the wiring were done correctly or if the paint had a few runs? If the walls weren’t perfectly straight, who would know? After all, it was all going to be burned down without one family ever living in it or one guest enjoying the splendor of what you had built with your hands and talent.

What we believe about the destiny of our work, affects the way we do it. If I can build something that will shine and last, I will give it my best. If I am building something doomed to decay and to disappear in a short time, I will probably not give it the excellence I would give the other project. Most of the western church is still afflicted with the theology that we are in the end times, and in the end times, everything is destined to get worse and worse regardless of our prayers or efforts and the church is powerless to stop it. Why try to salvage America if it is destined for demise? Why try to redeem cultures if they will only grow more perverse no matter what we do?

There are certainly verses that suggest a tribulation time and love growing cold, but there are also many verses that suggest an almost golden age of the church before the final harvest and judgment of God. Notice the prophet’s words, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Mic. 4”1-2). The setting of the prophecy is “in the last days.” Peter suggested that the last days were launched at Pentecost (Acts 2:16) and will continue until the return of the Lord. Numerous scriptures, as well as nature itself, suggest that a great harvest will occur before the Master brings down the curtain. For a great harvest to occur the church must be strong and vibrant not fatalistic, weak, and irrelevant.

Isaiah also speaks of a time when, in the midst of darkness, the Lord raises his church to new heights. “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,” says the Lord. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isa.59:21- 60:3).

Daniel proclaimed a day when the kingdom of God would subdue all other kingdoms and cover the earth. “While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.          Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth…In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” (Dan.2:34-35; 44-45).

The New Testament tells us that God desires that all men should be saved (1 Tim.2:4). It also tells us that all men will not be saved, but a God whose heart longs for every man to enter his kingdom will certainly not be satisfied with a paltry harvest. We are told that, “…the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab.2:14). Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations – not just a few people in each nation, but the nation.

All of this still lies ahead of us. There are many nations yet to be disciple, many people who have yet to hear the good news. The time when nations will stream to God’s people still rests in the future. The harvest will only be accomplished by a vibrant and powerful church. The good news is that the church is now rediscovering who she is in Christ. There is a resurgence of power, signs, and wonders among God’s people. Millions are being harvested in China, Africa and South America. The church is already being invited to come to nations and is being given full access to preach the gospel. Just in the past two years, Honduras and the Dominican Republic extended that invitation. It was not an invitation from church leaders in those nations but by heads of state. “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isa.60:3).

We do not need to be discouraged, fatalistic, pessimistic or afraid. I believe we are on the verge of a season when God will shake not only the earth but the heavenly realms as well. Demonic powers will fall. Nations will be discipled. The bride of Christ will shine and nations will come to the church for hope and solutions. If we believe things will only get worse and worse no matter what we do, we will not give God our best; we will not sacrifice to attain victory, and we will not dare to do the impossible. If however, we believe we are on the leading edge of the greatest harvest in history where entire nations will come to Jesus, how much more will be pray, give, evangelize, and go the mission field?

But it looks so dark! Yes, it does, but the greatest victories in scripture followed on the heals of what looked like certain defeat – Israel with her back to the Red Sea as the armies of Egypt closed in; Hezekiah surrounded by Assyrian troops until a single angel annihilated the Assyrian army in one night; the church facing the relentless persecutions of Roman emperors; and Jesus lying in a tomb. But in the darkness the light shines all the brighter and the victory is even more glorious. Be encouraged. The church will not limp defeated and bruised from the battlefield because we have the sure word of our Lord that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Build the house. Do it with excellence. This house will not burn, but will stand forever.

None of us enjoy rejection. We don’t wake up in the morning excited about the possibilities of being rejected multiple times during the day. We may wake up with an expectation of rejection, but not a desire for it. Rejection wounds like nothing else because it suggests that we are unacceptable, unworthy, unlovable, or defective.

Contrary to most psychological theories today, I believe that we are born with a deep-seated sense of defectiveness that has been passed down to us since the Garden of Eden and the fall of man. Its hard to recognize but at some level it nags at us. Remember, before Adam and Eve took a bite from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they walked around naked, “in front of God and everybody,” and felt no fear and no shame. They were completely secure in their sense of who they were and in their relationship with God and one another. Then they ate and the universe radically shifted. Suddenly, they were afraid and ashamed. They were hiding from God, scrambling to cover themselves, and blaming everyone else for what had just happened.

As a result, children (and adults) have an innate need for affirmation. Some crying is simply to find out if someone will come and comfort them so that they have a sense of significance in their own little world. Why do most small children want to be held? Why do they constantly cry, “Look at me!” if not for some kind of affirmation? Why do they constantly bring their “art” work to parents for some kind of approval, seeking coveted space on the refrigerator door? I think it is because, they are uncertain of their worth and their significance. They want someone to tell them that they are okay because, deep inside, something hints that they may not be.

Why does it take ten positive statements to overcome one negative statement? I think it is because our default setting is a feeling of defectiveness that hurts deeply when something or someone suggests that we are, indeed, defective. Children who get healthy attention, nurture, and affirmation growing up seem to cope fairly well with the niggling question of whether or not they really matter. Those who are not nurtured, but are abandoned, abused, or neglected fight a terrible uphill battle with rejection most of their lives.

Satan maneuvered Adam and Eve into a scenario that had the flavor of rejection – expulsion from the immediate presence of God. They did not see removal from the Garden as discipline or even grace but feared that it meant total rejection and abandonment by their Father. I think Satan fueled that fear. How many of us have seen a child (or an adult child) goad someone into breaking the rules and then begin to crow, “Oh, you’re going to get it now!” I sense that echoes Satan’s follow up to, “you won’t surely die.” Rejection taps into that most ancient of fears and wounds us at the deepest levels.

Rejection comes in all forms…neglect, abuse, criticism, slander, accusation, abandonment, harsh and demeaning words, being ignored, unfaithfulness in a relationships, being passed over for promotion, etc. Rejection hurts because we tend to accept the evaluation of the one rejecting us. We receive their evaluation and conclude that we must indeed be unworthy of love or consideration. Our greatest fear – that we are defective and unworthy – seems to be validated by experiences of rejection, which simply deepen our sense of defectiveness.

Jesus understood our dilemma when he told us that when the world rejects us, it is not us that the world is rejecting, but him. At the core of the gospel is the message that God counts us as immensely significant, that he will never leave us nor forsake us, and that he loved us enough to die for us. Not only that, but he has taken away our shame and made us worthy in Jesus. We are new creations, sons and daughters of the King, with an inheritance of glory. But even with that revelation, we are fragile creatures in this arena of self-image and rejection – so much so that demonic spirits come to magnify the rejection.

In most cases of demonization, the first demon on the scene in a person’s life is a spirit of rejection, who constantly accuses and condemns us, so that our early experiences of rejection, which tapped into our ancient sense of defectiveness, never heal. It is as if the demon keeps tearing the scab off the wound so that it cannot mend. That spirit then projects a filter, so that even innocent statements sound like hateful criticism. Discipline feels like abuse. Correction feels like victimization and humiliation. Because of that filter, our over-the-top pain response to innocent or neutral statements by others, invites rejection because people do not want to be around people who overreact. That demonic filter even makes us immune to compliments and affirmation by suggesting that the affirmation is insincere or that it would not be said if that person really knew us. All of that magnifies our pain and fear of more rejection.

Because of this foundational hurt in the human soul that gives the devil such opportunity, Paul says, “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only that which is good for building up the other person according to knowledge” (Eph.4:29). The writer of Proverbs sums it up this way: “Reckless words pierce like a sword” (Pr.12:18).

We need to be a constant source of blessing and affirmation to the world around us. When we do need to point out areas that must be improved, we need to begin with sincere affirmations before we get to the problem. Notice how Paul addressed churches to whom he was writing. He was nearly always writing about some problem that needed to be corrected but, inevitably, hr started by affirming his love and telling them the things he appreciated about them before discussing the problem. He then ended with more affirmation of his love. Jesus took the same approach in his letters to the seven churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation.

The world, for the most part, struggles with a sense of rejection and the enemy fuels the flames. Encouraging, affirming words are like oxygen to a drowning man for most people. The tongue has the power of life and death (Pr.18:21) and we are to be a source of life to all those around us – as much as possible. If we are the one who is tormented by rejection, we need to seek healing from the Lord and get in the business of rebuking spirits of rejection, condemnation, and accusation.

In Christ, we are anything but rejected and we need to make a habit of saying so. We need to make a habit of saying, about ourselves, what God says about us while we ask the Holy Spirit for a revelation of that truth in our hearts. If we are in Christ, we are not rejected, not defective, not unworthy, not incompetent, and never alone. We are loved, glorified, and destined for greatness. That is the truth that sets us free. As believers, we should affirm those truths in ourselves as well as in others and we should do so at every opportunity.  Be blessed today by who you are in Jesus.

I was watching a teaching by Bill Johnson the other day. It was a teaching I had heard by him before, but my spirit was stirred again. When you hear a teaching that is anointed by the Spirit, it speaks additional things to you that the teacher has not said. The word enters and then births other things in you, in addition to what the teacher has declared. At that point, the teaching becomes your truth…a truth possessed by you that was taught by the Holy Spirit. So, I want to credit Bill with the genesis of this truth but I want to share what has formed in my heart about it, in addition to some key thoughts that Bill presented.

In Genesis 28, Jacob was traveling cross-country by himself. He stopped in a certain place to bed down for the night. As he slept he dreamed. What he saw was a stairway or ladder resting on the earth and stretching into heaven. Angels were ascending and descending on that ladder. Above the ladder stood God, who pronounced a blessing and a promise over Jacob concerning the land of Israel and the Messiah who would bless all nations. When Jacob awoke, he thought, “Surely God was in this place and I was not aware of it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Gen.28:16-17). Jacob went on to name the location Bethel, which means house of God.

This must have been a vivid dream that not only made its way into his mind but into his very soul. It was the kind of dream that, when Jacob awoke, seemed as real as the sunrise. He recognized it as a revelation of God and it frightened him. What is interesting is that he declared the place to be the house of God and the gate of heaven. Gates not only mark boundaries and dividing lines, but also allow access back and forth across those lines. Jacob experienced an intersection of heaven and earth, the natural with the spiritual. He saw angels ascending to heaven as they completed assignments on earth and descending to earth as they received new assignments – most likely regarding God’s people since angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb.1:14). So the house of God is a gate that opens up and connects the natural with the spiritual realm.

In John 1, we are told that Jesus is the Word who put on flesh and “tabernacled among us.” Jesus came as both Messiah and the tabernacle where the presence of God resided and the gate of heaven. In John 1, Jesus tells Nathaniel, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (Jn.1:51). Since Jesus has ascended to heaven, we are told that now, as believers, we are the temple or the house of God. We are now the house and the gateway to heaven.

The house of God suggests that we carry the presence of God. Jacob said that God was in that place. The presence of God rested in the tabernacle or the temple. Certainly, Jesus carried the presence of God and so do we as his Spirit lives in us. Remember that the presence of God was manifested from the Holy of Holies. The temple contained courtyards and altars. Then there was the Holy place where the showbread, the candlestick, and the altar of incense stood. But the presence was in the Most Holy Place and manifested from there. The more dedicated, set apart, holy, and committed we are to God, the greater will his manifestation be in our lives.

But the part that is capturing my attention today is the gate of heaven. We are that gate which bridges both realities – the natural and the spiritual. We are the household and the temple of God. We are also the gate through which men can enter heaven and through which heaven may enter the earth. God has chosen us, his church, to be the primary way in which those two realities are connected.

When we preach the gospel, we open the gate so that those who indwelled the natural realm suddenly have access to the spiritual realm as well. As the Holy Spirit takes up residence in them, they become carriers of his presence and citizens of heaven. Through us, his church, heaven also finds its way into the natural realm through our prayers, our declarations, and our message of Jesus Christ. When Jesus told us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven,” he invited us to pull heaven down and release its power and values onto the earth. When men are healed, heaven is released on earth. When women are set free from the demonic, heaven is released on earth. When mercy and love are released into lives where none existed before, heaven is released on earth. When prophetic words are declared, those things that were spoken in heaven are released on the earth.

God’s design is for us, as individuals and as a corporate body, to be the gate or the doorway through which men gain access to heaven and through which heaven gains access to earth. For us, that is a tremendous privilege and a tremendous responsibility. God had given that opportunity to the Jews as well who were the descendants of Jacob. Theirs was the covenant, the temple, the presence of God, and the promises. They were to be a light to the gentiles and a keeper of the gate. But Jesus proclaimed, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Mt.23:13).

Sometimes, we shut the gate, not necessarily through hypocrisy, but more often by inactivity – neither sharing the gospel, praying, declaring, healing, dispensing mercy, nor setting captives free. It is our activity that keeps angels on assignment. It is bold, audacious prayers that cause the gate to swing open wide rather than rusting on its hinges. I’m certain that God’s desire is for the gate of heaven to be a high traffic gate. We, not St. Peter, are primarily the gatekeepers. May we know our significance and keep the gate swinging in both directions as we fill heaven with the lost and earth with the things of heaven. Blessings in Him.