“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.” Judges 11:1
“Perhaps because he was the son of a harlot, he was despised, rejected, and hated; however, God used him greatly, even as we shall see. If a person’s heart is toward God, irrespective of the past, God can use such a person, and often does so in order to rebuke His People, and to confound man’s wisdom and power.” Excerpt From: Jimmy Swaggart. “The Expositor’s Study Bible.”
Many are confounded at who the Lord is using to bring the Message of the Cross back to a dying church and a lost world. The rebuke to the church is because He loves us. Jesus is not coming back for a weak and beggarly church. He’s coming back for a victorious bride…a bride who has allowed God’s Divine Grace to expel that which is not pleasing to God by fighting the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified DAILY.
This fight we fight is what gives the Holy Spirit latitude to perform the work of God in our hearts, and make no mistake, no matter our condition this side of Glory our heart continues to desperately need the work of God performed. We continually need the circumcision without hands that only the Holy Spirit can do as we look unto the Cross of Christ…not humanistic psychology or other vain philosophies cloaked in Scripture and presented to the congregation as Biblical doctrine.
When the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19). The standard is being lifted up like a flood to the four corners of the earth and the people who are being used are confounding the wisdom of man. Don’t be confounded, repent! The river of God is flowing in spite of the storms that are raging. There is a peace beyond all understanding and joy unspeakable for those who have ears to hear. The Cross of Christ is the power of God to us who are Saved but sadly many have made His Cross of no effect. The Holy Spirit has not been commissioned to do the work of God in their heart because they have looked to other methods. Come back to your First Love, Jesus Christ and be still…be still and SEE the Salvation of the Lord. Signs and wonders will follow those who believe. We don’t have to go chasing them down.
“21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to Save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:21-24
Yes, we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It may confound some but to others, they see the power of God at work. It’s not by might, not by power but by His Spirit alone. It is the anointing that lays waste man’s vain philosophies because it affects the heart of man and it is the sin sick heart of man that’s the problem. Be determined to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is indeed the power of God to us who are Saved but it is foolishness to those who are perishing. Discern how you received the message of the “Message of the Cross”. Is it the power of God or is it foolishness?
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 