Hello Friends, welcome to Sunday2Monday. The place where we say it again!

As my pastor says: Repetition brings revelation! 

We launched into a new series called: Ready? Preparing a people ready for the Lord.

Recently Pastor Lynn visited the Ark Encounter in Williamsport, KY. It is a Biblical replica of Noahs Ark full of history and biblical science. Noah was a man who declared for 70 years a message in faith preparing for what God said He would do. While visiting the Ark, Pastor Lynn said: “I was struck emotionally and overwhelmed by the realization that my life was saved by this one man’s obedience.”

Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Noah, just like the rest of us, had to fight back the doubts and fears that come when you take a stand to do what you have heard God say to do. Pastor Lynn shared with us a principal, saying, “Before God does something significant/prophetic He prepares a person or a people, those who would be forerunners who will be positioned to prepare the way of the Lord. A people who will be made ready!”

Amos 3:7 For the Lord God does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.

God gives a taste of the season to come to His people. In the Old Testament, the prophet would hear for the people. In the New Testament, the prophet equips the church to be a prophetic people. We have to develop a hearing heart. Are you ready? Jesus, when He looked upon Jerusalem in Luke 19 said,  “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴ and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

They missed their encounter with the God they worshipped because they did not know the time. They were not prepared!

2 Implications For Our Church

1. The change that God is desiring, can you embrace it? Are you willing to reevaluate your life and priorities? As the Lord speaks to us will you embody the change? Will you be a change agent?
2. Would you be willing to lead others into the embrace? Would you be willing to not only embrace and embody the change for yourself but also become a leader who will walk alongside others through the embrace?

We all get discouraged sometimes. We wonder if our lives are making an impact. We wonder if we are even making a difference. In Christ, we will always make a difference. We have to be bold and brave. We have to count the cost.

There have been many forerunners in history. Men and women who stood for the truth and for what God was doing in the earth. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those men who stood for the rights of his people. He was anointed by God to bring about change. Abraham Lincoln was another man that God raised up, a man who refused to seek peace with the southern states as long as the issue of slavery existed. These men would stand and it cost them their very lives. History tells the story of how they changed the world! These men were entrusted just like Noah, Elijah, and Lot was, all of them were forerunners in their day. They were obedient to the voice of God in their generation.

For us, these examples require us to have a gut check – a courage check where we must ask ourselves, am I willing to stand? Will we embody the change? Are we be willing to become a people with our name in writing? The Days of Springs of Life!

When God speaks to a people He not only forewarns them but He also reveals what He is doing and prepares them. As with any preparation, there is always going to be suffering and difficulty which are the ingredients of lasting change.  – Tweet That! Which is not something the American church is accustomed too. The American church seems to have an allergy to any form of suffering or uncomfortableness. Instead, we live to enjoy our virtual reality lifestyles, elated for thumbs ups and likes on our social media pages.   If we continue to live disconnected from reality. Will we be ready for what God is doing in the next season?

In Matthew 25 Jesus speaks about 10 virgins. The 5 who were ready went in with Him. The other 5 made the assumption that being prepared was an easy thing and that the others would share with them their oil. That was not the case. Only 5 were ready!

The Trouble With Assumptions

1. Assumptions can bring costly consequences.
2. It is easy to miscalculate the timing of when something will happen.
3. We underestimate the difficulty of doing something.

We often give the best case scenarios but in reality, we will encounter many ups and downs. Pastor Lynn gave us a funny illustration to relate this truth. He said, “When I get a vision for a home improvement project, I don’t go to my wife and say to her, ‘honey, we are going to have 15 fights before this is over, it’s going to cost way more than expected, I will most likely break something, and we will be on the verge of divorce before it is over.; No, I say ‘we can do it, it will be great!’ ” We must live in reality! If we are going to do anything for God it is going to be hard and worth it! This is the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins. The wise prepared for the worse case and expected the best. The foolish didn’t think it would happen so fast and were lacking what was needed when He came.

Do We Have What It Takes Spiritually? 

We can not make the assumption that as long as I have others who have the light that I will be ok! There will come a time when you will have to write your own spiritual check from your own spiritual bank. – Pastor Lynn – Tweet That! God wants to prepare a people who are ready! Are we willing to make some serious adjustments?

Over the next few weeks, SoLife will be unpacking how to be prepared! Join us as we lean into faith for what God is doing in our church.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla