Restoration Road Ministry.org

Is the path you are walking the one that Jesus is leading, or are you following a way other than his? This question applies to all of us if we will allow, yet we rarely ask it of ourselves honestly. However, without doing so we fail to examine whether we are truly in God’s will or walking in our own, and subsequently, to consider the consequences that result from our own neglectfulness, ignorance, and disobedience. Therefore, through this discussion we hope to expose once again, our fleshly propensity to sin, and Satan’s schemes used to mislead us. Because, even the subtle differences in our spiritual walk are enough to separate us from experiencing God’s fullness as he desires, through our divided attention as we navigate through this temporary world in which we live.

With that said, the point here is not to create division or cause doubt in Christ’s saving grace, but to unify one another through spiritual edification that produces spiritual maturity as we walk out our faith towards God’s kingdom, with Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:17-32, Colossians 3:1-17, 2Peter 1:3-15, ESV, 2001, Crossway).

We speak with authority through God’s redeeming work in our own lives when we encourage others to live out their own Christian walk with fullness of the Spirit and undivided focus, as they hold fast to the narrow path that our Good Shepherd is leading us carefully along (Matthew 7:13-14).

It is our hope that others will hear and see the spiritual fruit through the work of this ministry and surrender everything that opposes Jesus Christ. And then their spiritual life, through him, will be deepened and strengthened to the point that nothing else matters in this life, except for experiencing the love, peace, and joy found in him alone.

In many ways modern Christianity has suppressed our individual responsibility to align our lives under the shepherding of Jesus Christ, through a daily walk that is fully dependent on him to lead the way. Instead, we rely on God’s mercy and grace to cover us without entering into a submitted relationship through our own humble posture under his authority and expectation, thereby giving us free reign to live according to the desires of the flesh, as long as these desires do not deviate too far from the appearance of Christ. We believe that this oversight, or under-recognition, contributes to a wayward Christian walk that resembles Christ on the surface but is shallow within, and as a result, leads many towards lukewarm Christianity, through a life that has not yet been surrendered fully to Jesus Christ. And, without this surrender we simply cannot enter into his presence, or be conformed to his will or his likeness, until we do.

Because of this, there remains a disconnect in our spirit, as our focus and desires are separated between the love we hold for our Lord and Savior from that which preoccupies our flesh through the world (Luke 16:13, Mark 10:25, Matthew 6:21, 25, 33). Through this, Satan and the demonic have a foothold in which to build upon and enter, causing many to suffer unnecessarily because they chose to walk outside of God’s full control, and therefore benefit from his full power and authority over their life for provision and protection (Psalm 103, Exodus 15:26, Matthew 13:15). This results in emotional, physical, and spiritual discord, instead of peace and health of the mind, body, and soul. And until a posture of humility, honest self-reflection, sincere repentance, and full surrender before Almighty God and his Son, Jesus Christ, occurs, there will remain a spiritual conflict in our flesh that we will wrestle and war against through our disobedience (Galatians 5:17, Romans 8:5-6, Galatians 5:24).

The point here is not to shame those who have not recognized this requirement of our faith, but to encourage a spiritual walk that is consistent with scripture and is pleasing to the Lord, rather than aligned with the world (Romans 12:1-2). So that, we might enter the true relationship we have been invited to receive with our Heavenly Father and our Shepherd, Jesus. We cannot presume to see him, hear him, or be led by him unless our desires and focus are aligned with his. Which can only occur through our submission and reliance unto God, and our exercise of obedience through love, to obey and follow, no matter the personal cost (Proverbs 8:17, John 14:21, Revelation 2:4-7, Proverbs 3:6, Matthew 16:24).

The gift of salvation, through Jesus Christ is free, for those who believe and will follow him (Romans 5:15,6:23). Yet, even Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes, who knew the word of God but failed to live by it (Matthew 23:13-36). And the Apostle Paul wrote his letters to the churches with the same concern, instructing them to live by the example given by Jesus Christ, no longer engaging with the sins of the flesh through the wickedness found in the world (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Hebrews). Unfortunately, the flesh is weak, and our earthly desires and passions through sin continue to enslave us instead of being set free. And as long as we remain bound to sin through the flesh, we are of no service to Christ through our lives.

It becomes imperative for us to recognize this in ourselves and to appreciate how the schemes of our enemy, Satan, have been used to pull us off course and away from the narrow path that only a few will find (Matthew 7:14, Ephesians 6:14). Without doing so, we will continue to walk in a direction that may not be aligned fully with the Way our Shepherd is calling for us to walk (Psalm 23, 1Peter 2:24-25). And if we are not observant of the difference between the life we are currently living and the life we are to live out in Christ, then we too will fall victim to the same schemes Satan has used before.

The only way we will know if our spiritual walk is in line with Jesus Christ or not, is to engage with Jesus and God honestly. We do this through a desire and exercise of intimate prayer, daily scripture reading, and a posture of surrendering everything else that the world focuses on, so that our heart, mind, and soul are focused on the work that God and Jesus Christ are calling us towards (Matthew 6:33).

We believe that throughout scripture God is instructing us to come out of the world, and that until we do we will not find his kingdom (2Corinthians 6:14-18, Romans 12:2, 1John 2:15, Colossians 3:2, Revelation 18:4-8, 1Peter 2:11). We must not confuse our human experience or earthly circumstances as the priority of our attention or responsibility. Our identity is in Christ, not the world. Therefore, we must shape who we are, what we support, and where our focus is placed, so that we are in line with scripture and not deceived through our flesh (2Corinthians 5:17-21, Philippians 3:17-21).

Satan is working hard to distract and mislead everyone who has failed to surrender fully to God, resulting in spiritual fruits that do not adhere to the likeness of God or Christ, found in scripture (Galatians 5:16-26,Matthew 7:16-20). This can only be observed through a spiritual lens that God provides to those who desire to follow him alone, and not the world. While everyone else remains polarized within their political camps, national affiliation, spiritual misunderstanding, and prideful arrogance believing that God is behind their worldly affairs and focus. This is simply not true or in alignment with God’s word. And the same holds true for every other area of sin that does not bear Christ’s likeness. If we fail to surrender these areas of sin at the cross, then we will continue to war against our flesh through the demonic that has been allowed in to torment us.

Every nation of people must wrestle with the spiritual influence at work behind it and discern what is godly from that which is not. A nation is not saved by a few who hold fast to God. Rather, it is judged for the many who have rejected him and serve the beast. The people must look for the spiritual fruit that bears the likeness of Jesus Christ, instead of falling prey to the schemes of Satan used to mislead them through ignorance. Far too many Christians adhere to a belief that their nation is under God, and therefore protected and redeemable, when in fact the rulers, principalities, and authorities presiding over these nations are the “gods” who rebelled against, and are disobedient towards, the Almighty God they are under. There must be a spiritual separation within us from the world we have been born into, and an awareness that our earthly loyalties contribute to worshipping other gods through our active participation. We need to recognize that this is a place of testing to determine where our loyalty lays. That being, the pleasures and cares of the world through the deception of Satan, or a posture of surrender as a living sacrifice to the God who created us.

Therefore, every Christian should recognize who or what they are potentially serving through every agreement they make. It is either of God and Christ, or it is of Satan and the demonic. We cannot make this more clear to our readers. It is imperative to allow Almighty God to wake up your spiritual awareness so that you are no longer deceived, but may rightly divide truth from error, and light from dark (Psalm 146, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 25, Proverbs 14:12-16). You must desire this in your heart, or you will remain unaware of all that God is trying to reveal in this final hour. God is separating the wheat from the chaff, storing up the wheat from the harvest and burning the chaff that is of no use (Luke 3:17).

Unfortunately, too many Christians have adopted a secular identity, and have become increasingly resistant to observing the spiritual darkness at work behind it. And through their devoted allegiance have failed to educate themselves on the deception used against them. Not recognizing the idolatry of pagan gods built into the government they support, as evidenced through physical monuments occupying the land, or by observing the normalcy of wickedness, evil, and injustice that is carried out through every facet of society including politics, news, medicine, entertainment, justice, and defense. And subsequently they are unable to discern the unrighteousness and evil they do see from that which has not yet been made visible to them because of a lack of surrender. However, God will only manifest this awareness on those who desire to follow him rather than the world. While everyone else will remain deceived and in bondage to Satan.

And this also holds true for continuing in sin, which separates us from the healing of Jesus Christ. Causing us to remain physically sick and under the spiritual control of modern medicine and pharmaceuticals, as well as under the spiritual attack of our mind through all forms of depravity and thoughts, as well as all forms of addictions, and a host of sexual sins that subvert God’s plan. These are the schemes Satan uses to steal, kill, and destroy the mind, body, and soul that God created in each one of us to protect.

The truth will set us free if we desire to be (John 8:31). Otherwise we will remain in chains, in prison, and tormented, through our disobedience and unwillingness to be led out of captivity (John 8:34).

God is speaking, loudly! But, many do not have ears to hear. So, he is trying to show them, but their eyes cannot see the deplorable acts, or the judgments he is unleashing throughout the world through devastation. And so, they remain unaware, because their hearts are hardened. And they will be unprepared, just as in the Days of Noah, when the whole earth was destroyed except for the eight souls that were saved through the divine instruction Noah received and the obedience and diligence to carry out those instructions by building the Ark (Genesis 6:6-8).

We believe that the Church is largely unprepared for what God is going to do, holding firm to a dispensational viewpoint that they have nothing to prepare for, as they will be raptured out before God’s judgment occurs on the earth. While this viewpoint is not universally agreed upon by all Christians, and is arguably debated from opposing viewpoints, it is ultimately in the hands of God to fulfill according to his plan. However, from our perspective this doctrinal belief does not seam to be consistent with the rest of scripture, as evidenced through God’s nature or the examples of those who died for their faith in God and his Son, through various trials and tribulations before. And if so, many who hold fast to this pre-rapture theology will find themselves unprepared for the tribulations that lay ahead (Matthew 24).

Jesus spoke of the parable of Ten Virgins, who were to ensure that they possessed enough oil for their lamps while they were in wait for the Bridegroom to appear. But, only five of the virgins ensured they had enough oil for the unexpected long wait, while the others’ oil ran out (Matthew 25:1-13).

If we fail to consider the application of this parable into our own life, we might expect to have enough oil to barely last until the rapture, but not enough to keep our lamp lit through the Tribulation period, because we failed to prepare adequately through our negligence, in the time offered before.

Jesus also warned us that in the Last Days that many would be deceived, and that there would be a Great Falling Away (Matthew 24). The question we ought to ask ourselves is how?

We believe that the lukewarm nature of many Christian followers will be their fall (Revelation 3:15-22). Not because they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, but because their hearts and minds were not fully focused on their Shepherd to lead them through the trials, tribulations, pestilence, hunger, depravity, wickedness, and deception that is, and will unfold around them. So, in order that we remain untouched by Satan’s deception and lies requires our humility to acknowledge our weakness towards his deception, and to keep our attention fully on Jesus Christ to keep us safe, rather than wondering away from his protection (Revelation 1:1-3).

Regardless of God’s plan for the timing of Jesus’ Return, we must remain diligent to observe the Signs of the Times (Matthew 24:4-31), to be Watchmen on the Wall (1Thessalonians 5:1-11), to be encouragers of one another to remain faithful only to God, to rebuke all unrighteousness, wickedness, and evil so that we do not even partner or associate with it through our thoughts, actions, or deeds (Ephesians 5:11, Proverbs 4:14). We must learn to apply God’s word directly to our own lives, and allow God to build us up into the vessels he will use in this spiritual war we are living through.

He has a plan for those who have surrendered their lives to his will, to follow his way, and to be used according to the measure of their faith. We must each ask ourselves if we will allow God to rule over us, or if we will remain under the grip of Satan, who is manipulating the world at this present time, so as to deceive as many people that God created in order that they may be disqualified from entering God’s kingdom.

So, who will you serve as evidenced through the life you choose to live? Will you set yourself apart from the world around you, resembling Jesus Christ in every way, or will you remain captive to the desires of the flesh and easily led astray by Satan and his deception? We are in a spiritual battlefield, and we must all acknowledge what side we will devote ourselves towards in this fight.

How do you do this? Begin with humility and ask God to use you according to his plan. Ask him to equip you for the battle, to be set on fire with the spirit of truth through his word, to be girded with the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of Salvation, and the shoes for the readiness of spreading the Gospel of Christ (Ephesians 6:10-18).

What we are striving to convey is that our faith in God is through our action (James 2:18-26). It moves beyond the confines of our home and church, and into every circumstance we encounter, whether in public or in private. Satan is trying to keep you grounded through distraction, unhealthy lifestyles, depression, anxiousness, addiction, shame, being misled, and off course so that you are of no threat against him. While at the same time God, through the power and authority of Jesus Christ is desiring to awaken, strengthen, uplift, encourage, build-up, and prepare each of us so that we might receive and step into the calling he has planned.

And, please do not remain closed off in your spiritual walk, trying to fight this battle alone. We must begin to enlist one another as brothers and sister in arms against our Enemy, and let out our battle cry as co-heirs in God’s family of followers. Our spiritual revival is not an event, but a spirit filled life anchored in the fullness of God’s truth, and our redemption in Jesus Christ through complete surrender. Our battle is not with the world but with our own flesh. We must let go of everything we hold dear if we choose to follow Jesus Christ, and to recognize that our willingness to follow depends on our ability to surrender.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

In Christ.