Recently we have been working in local villages around Odessa doing door
to door evangelism and working with the youth. We leave tomorrow to our
next stop which is twenty four hours away by train. It sounds as though that we will be
putting on an English club teaching English to those who live there. We
will be there for the duration of our time here in Ukraine.
While at the Awakening back in Ireland we had the chance to pray for and
be apart of another squads Sunday morning worship our last day there.
It was there when we were praying over them that something similar
happened to them that happened to our squad back when we were in the
Philippines. The other squad that we prayed for was either O squad or P
squad, but I am not sure which . We started praying over them for the
warrior, the lion inside of them to come out.
What am I talking about? I am talking about the fact that as a Christian
there is a lion on the inside of you waiting, wanting to come out. That
we are a lion of the tribe of Judah.
Gen. 49 : 9
“You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a
lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness – who dares to rouse
him?”
This passage of scripture takes on even greater meaning when we look at a
few other passages in reference to Jesus and the Trinity. Jesus is
called many things through out scripture He is called the Prince of
Peace, our Savior, our Redeemer and our friend. While most of like the
image of Jesus we have whether that be an image of Jesus holding and
kissing children or even the image of Him on the cross. While those are
both moving and compelling images of Christ how often do we think of Him
as He is described in the book of Revelation?
Rev. 5 : 5
“See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and the seven seals.”
How does this effect us in light of the fact that the Spirit of God, the
Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of us? (Acts 2:38;
Jhn. 10:30; 1 Cor. 6:19) Further more that we have been adopted into
God’s family and made heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15 and 17). Therefore
our being called a lion rings true. As a child of God, He has given us
His Spirit the Spirit of a lion, THE LION!!!!
What does this mean? It means that there is something dangerous on the
inside of you. A lion. C.S. Lewis depicted this characteristic of Christ
in The Chronicles of
Narnia, as Aslan the lion is given for interpretation to be a
representation for Christ. Before the children were about to meet Aslan,
Lucy asks a very interesting question, she asked “Is he safe?”. The
response to her question is even more interesting,
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells
you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe.
But he‘s good. He‘s the King I tell you.”
My point being that inside of you is a lion, not some cute cuddly little
kitten, but a lion. You don’t have to be a zoologist to understand that
lions are dangerous. Maybe the idea of Christ being dangerous bothers
you or offends you. I would ask you the same question that Jesus asks
the disciples in John 6:60-61 “Does this offend you?” If that bothers
you I am sorry but it is one of the characteristics of God. He doesn’t
ask us who we want Him to be, nor is He like a buffet line where we can
pick and choose what characteristics we like about Him. So if this
bothers you, my friend please forgive me, but your problem lies with
God, not me.
Sadly I think to many of us today remain silent. We claim the Salvation
offered to us, profess Jesus Christ with our mouths, yet do nothing with
our new found freedom and identity. Or what about those who “preach the
Gospel” but not in its entirety? The bottom line is that the cross is
offensive. Time and time again we see how Christ came in and stirred
things up He offended people. Just look in any of the four Gospels and you will see this. You may not like this idea and maybe can’t
accept it (1 Cor.2:12-14) but God remains the same.
For myself I believe, that like Adam, many of us are scared and remain silent
in fear that we might offend someone. That some of us just want everyone to know that Jesus loves them. Yes he does, but there is still more to Him than this image that is so often portrayed. If you remember it was Adams
silence in the garden that allowed sin in. Instead of letting loose the
lion inside of him kicking the crap out of that snake and throwing it
out of there, he stood there in silence like a coward. (Gen. 3:6)
I would encourage all of you to see the lion inside of you and let it
loose and to not be silent. What are you scared of? You haven’t been
given a spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7) but that of a lion of the tribe of
Judah!!!!! Don’t be like Adam, let your roar be loud and furious. Let it strike fear into the heart of the
enemy!!!!
I want to thank you all for your prayers and continued support. I am so
close to being fully supported as i have a little over $600!!! Praise
God!!! If you can help please prayerfully consider doing so. God bless
you all. Also check out this song by Jonathan David Helser, AWESOME!!!!!
