Sensing the coming of the Lord

By Isaiah-Phillips Akintola

 Brethren, I felt a deep impression to share these lines of thought as the Lord brought them again to my attention few days ago. i strongly believe that am not the only one hearing the footsteps of the Father walking within my Garden. Through hindsight, we have learned that when the Father shows up to inspect the Gardens of our hearts, we do not go hiding and covering ourselves with fig leaves.

 When the Spirit of the Lord requires us to give an account of our current location in the mandate of our transition into kingdom lifestyle, we do not shun his voice or get angry at the message or the messenger. Rather, we should constantly respond by exposing ourselves to the ministry of the truth, so that God’s light can penetrate and expose those hidden unresolved issues in our lives. I presume the desire of every professed Christian should be the appearing of the Lord within their hearts.  Here is my consolation,

As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form. (Psalm 17:15 ASV)

There is no doubt about the clear expression of God’s present objective regarding the state of his Church, meaning, our lives personal and corporate. As a portal, positioned at the gate of intercession and divine transaction, it is our calling and chief duty to make sure that everyone gains unhindered access to the current move and proclamations of the Lord over their lives, ministries and nation.

In this prophetic day, no one should be disenfranchised from hearing and discerning the path of the Spirit for his or her society. It’s sad to know that in this season of the speakings and movement of the Lord within our gardens, many are still found hiding without a sense of faith and hope in the unconditional love of the Father.

A word of encouragement

If you are one of those who have been negatively impacted by the personality war and frivolous materialistic attitude been displayed in the body of Christ for a while now, and you have decided to give up your Christian journey to the place of the Father’s approval.  Well, I will encourage you to stop, think and ask yourself this question, are you following God or following men? It is high time you take your eyes off men and start focusing on what God is doing within you through men.

God uses his men as gifts to train, develop and mature his church so they can do the work of their ministry within his body and across the nation. However, these men are not God; they are just instrument in the hand of the Father of all spirits.

The enemy has deceived many of us to almost see men of God as gods.  We can only be discouraged when we constantly fix our attention on men and their powerful gifts. Both the gifts and the men belong to God. Having said this, you will be in great danger of judgment before the Lord to think you can dishonor or shame Gods servants. The word of God told us to follow and respect the grace and calling of those, he has anointed over us.

The standard of the Father for honoring, respecting and dignifying his servant will not change. we need to find the balance of following God in the lives of those placed over us to guide us to that greener pasture in Christ. While this parchment may not be classified as a professional writing, it passes across the message God is emphasizing to those who need to hear the voice of the Lord. so, please bear with me if I jump from point to point. Am only writing as the Spirit of the Lord impresses his thought within my heart. Am only a pen expressing the heart of the Father for this generation.

Back to the message, God is calling you to a new level of understanding of relationship with him and others around you. The Father will use men and other means within and outside the body of Christ to bring to perfection his purposes and destiny for your life.

Therefore, wake up from your backsliding state. Get moving as you repent from your own person contribution to the mess in the Body of Christ because we are all guilty of the present state of the Church.  God is speaking. Let those with the ears to hear, hear what the lord is saying to his Church.

 Correcting spiritual perception

One of the most important desirable goals of any believer is to have his or her spiritual faculties well informed and developed in such a way that enhances his spiritual walk. Maturity is first an awareness of one’s spiritual personality. Meaning that one is awaken to his spiritual identity and culture. Secondly, it is the ability to differentiate with clarity the voice of the Lord within once spirit in the midst of thundering and compelling humanistic culture and ideologies.

As a Christian, we live in two realms of life, which are both physical and spiritual by nature. However, how we understand and interface with these two realities defines to a large degree how we perceive God and relate with the world around us. God is a Spirit and he relates with his people through their transformed spiritual faculty.

A person can be so filled with words or language that sound so spiritual, and yet be completely blind and clueless to the basic doctrinal foundation of the faith.  In my two decade of spiritual walk, i discovered a powerful paradox in the body. People who often project a sense of spirituality in most cases are disconnected from the life and basic characteristics of sound bible foundation.

I also realize that this disconnection as to do with the inability to connect with spiritual matters. What most people, including church leaders, term as spiritual, are just spooky religious activities.  Understanding the spirit realm and how it interfaces with human personality and the physical realm are acts that can be develop through sound prophetic biblical teachings.

While it is easy to go to Church, attend Christian conferences, and amass as much information one could gather regarding God and his kingdom, very few can truly relate within their hearts to what God expect them to know and become in the reality of Christ redemptive purpose.

Information and revelation are good if one understand their importance. However, if basic foundational doctrine of Christianity is yet to be establish within a believer, the whole purpose of amassing revelation becomes irrelevant.  Recipient of revelation must be first taught how to develop his or her spiritual faculty. I took this time to first explain the point am trying to pass across in this writing so the readers can connect to what the Spirit of the Lord will be saying to them. There are no magic to the things of God.

You need to desire the sincere milk of the word so you can grow. First the natural, then the spiritual. The operation of our mental faculty shows us the presence and functionality of our spiritual personality.  The word of God is explained in words, parables and symbols. When God start speaking to us concerning his coming we need to have the right template of understanding, so we are not misguided by false religious prophetic expectation.

Shadow of things to come

The scripture below gives us deep insight into what the Lord is emphasizing to our generation. While this word might have been fulfilled in one dimension of the life of Noah, some four thousand years ago, it remains a highly relevant prophetic compass to the present agenda of God for human transformation and ultimate restoration.

 The first sentence of this scripture gives us a clue to what the Father desires us to know as the driving force of his kingdom within the hearts of men. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In this parchment, we are not majoring on the final arrival of Christ back to earth but on the principle that triggers the kind of posture we are demanded to build before the lord’s final return.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:37-44 NIV)

Sensing the coming of the Lord into your heart

The progression of the coming of the Lord within our lives will be characterized by a deep sense of domestic and social responsibility. in other words, Our engagement with the reality of commerce, and other secular and socioeconomic issues will live side by side with the dimension of a life, seeking the appearance of the Lord within their humanity in this last days.   One of the things you need to know by revelation as believers in the 21st century is that the appearance of the Lord for your life will be in the context of your engagement with highly complex social issues.

The test of your spirituality will be in the marketplace and not necessarily within the four walls of a church. We attend church to receive knowledge and information regarding our assignment in the field. The field, which is the unique Garden the Lord gave to us to cultivate, requires our continuous engagement. However, the state and posture of the heart in working in these fields could either approve or disapprove our lives before the Lord.

The scripture introduced two Characters of men walking in the field. The word says one will be taking while the other will be left behind. This principle sets a high apostolic precedence for the 21st century believers. While religious mentality will interpret this scripture to mean the activity of rapture. insight into the Spirit of revelation informs that this is a present reality within the lives of men. while the scriptures gives us the physical activity of these two men, insight into their heart shows us the type of activity taking place. on a face value, no one will be able to ascertain who is spiritual or not but the following verdict explain their true condition of life.

The important point here was not what they were doing but they connection and location of their heart. The conditions of the heart in the days we live in determine our success or failure in spiritual walk.

The approval of these men was not base on their physical location but on their awareness of the demand of the kingdom at every injunction. The whole concept of approval and disapproval of a life is played out in what their heart was searching for while walking on the field. The field here is the concept of doing business or working at the marketplace.

 In the marketplace, you are expected to interact and interface with all kinds of people, believers and nonbelievers alike. While your community or workplace may not offer you the best spiritual environment, you however, have learnt to cultivate a condition of heart whose spiritual frequency  is forever linked to God’s throne.

Moving into that realm of life where your physical location or emotional condition does not stop you from sensing the voice and the presence of the Lord indeed  puts you in an advantageous position over the negative interference around you. While these two men were working on their fields, one clearly understood his main assignment; he knew what was most important to his life. While offering his expertise in the marketplace, he will not be deceived into thinking that making money or being promoted is all about life.

He understood that his life here on earth carries a more eternal purpose than his temporary location in Babylon. This man walking on his field learned to wait constantly at the doorpost of the Lords speaking over his life and family. Working in our various fields is a noble thing, and heaven desire us to offer our best with the consciousness of been rewarded by the lord at the long run.

 We cannot disengage with life and think the Lord will commend us. Having said this, we need to understand the context to which the Lord will have us engage with the society. Our engagement with the secular world is deliberated and strategic.

In other words, our understanding of kingdom mandate keeps us well positioned in various sphere the Lord will have us represent him. if you are working or doing business in a secular environment, meaning that people you interfacing with a none believers, you must keep in focus the Lords kingdom interest.   your life is the investment of God within that sphere of field. Everything you do or say should be in the consciousness of the harvest of the lord. Remember the issue before us is to been able to sense the coming of the lord at all times, regardless of where we find ourselves,

The devotion of a believer is not limited to a time bracket. a life of continuous interaction and relationship with the Spirit is the hallmark of sound spirituality. As darkness continue to cover the earth of men, we as agents of light must remember that the glory of light is shining in the midst of darkness.

Every time we find ourselves in the field, we must have the posture of a person ready to be ((taken) approved. we never allow the glory of working in the field to make us drunk such that we start acting in a foolish way like Noah did after the flood. The produce of our field must be offered to God and not for our self-indulgence. We need to learn from Noah.

An example in Daniel

 Gods coming is a progressive dealing of the Spirit within the hearts of believers that keeps them sensitive and responsive to the move of God irrespective of their political or socioeconomic stators. Daniel was a statesman in the land of Babylon, yet he clearly understood that his field is a portal to the invitation of the Lord into that sphere of life.

He never considered himself a statesman but a prophet sent to do damage to the foundational structure of the culture of Babylon through his stand for righteous and justice.  Daniel was God’s prophet ever seeking the appearance of the Lord within his mortal flesh in a compromising secular society.

Despite the condition of environment we may find ourselves forced to offer service, the window of our hearts must be perpetually open towards Jerusalem. Jerusalem symbolizes where we draw our prophetic strength, vision and motivation to stand tall amidst the compromising cultural values of Babylon. The signal of our spirituality is either weakens or strengthened by how long we are able to keep the portal of faith alive in a humanistic secular society.

The demand of sensing the coming of the Lord into our lives, put into perspective when studying the life of a man like Daniel; when we find ourselves in a condition where we are call to compromise our spiritual value amidst powerful personalities.  Maintaining your guiding ethics keeps you on the mountaintop to see and share in the glorious conversation of the ascended ones.

Daniel showed us how to keep watch of the coming of the Lord while living in Babylon.  The scripture says he prayed three times a day. To Daniel, prayer is not just dispatching some request for God to answer. Rather, prayer to him is his life source, in the midst of death. His position in prayer puts him ahead of the complex challenges facing his life at the workplace. his ability to interpret the Kings dream put him above his detractors.

Not even the conspiracy of the people or the verdict of the King could stop Daniel’s passion of walking with God in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. One of the most effective tools the enemy has constantly used to frustrate and deflate the passion of most believers, is the issue of walking or living in a hostile environment to their faith. Until believers know how to appropriate their spiritual dominion wherever they find themselves, am afraid they will not be able to witness the appearance of the Lord within their hearts.

If you as a believer are still been influenced by the dominant cultural baggages of the society, how you can effectively sense the direction of God into those areas your family or community?

The challenge of weak spirituality is dealt with when you are fully aware that God wants to come and live in every dimension of your existence.  Therefore, your field becomes your altar of connecting to the divine council of God. Closing the Gap between the state of your heart and the field of your assignment is highly crucial to sensing the walking of the Lord admits your garden.

If you are one of those believers who think they will be a better Christian if only they can walk in an environment that is less hostile, you need to think again. The lord wants you to change or regulate the climate and atmosphere of your community.

You need to learn to depend on the power of governmental intercession in breaking the stronghold of your workplace or community. Creating an environment that allows God into your Garden is the most important battle you must fight and win in this epic season.

 Stepping into the reality of the day of the Lord

As we step into the full wave of what is known as ‘the day of the Lord, we are demanded to vigorously scan and expose the false religious order, and other dysfunctional dimensions operating as a our default templates. The ability to sense the appearing of the Lord within us should be a joyful experience.

However, it could be a time of great pain and distress if one is not properly ready because it could also destabilize your whole definition of spirituality. if your life’s foundation is not solidly build on a well-balanced and secured revelation of Christ. Meaning that you need to be certain that your perception of the word is balanced and not lopsided.

 As we proceed further, I would like to debunk the theology that limits the coming of the Lord to one singular experience known as the ‘rapture’. The coming of the Lord as been a continual experience from the creation of man in the garden until this present moment. This ‘now’ moment’ in your life is experiencing the coming of the Lord that should be realigning the internal structure and faculties of your spiritual temperament.

The coming of the day of the Lord

The word of the Lord tells us that God usually come down at the ‘cool of the day’ in the garden.  We know that there was an interruption of that glorious experience of the coming of God through the invasion of Sin in the garden.   Even after the fall of man, God still came walking in the garden calling on the man he put in charge.

This is an important aspect we need to know regarding the nature of the Father. He is forever coming, like any responsible leader to see the state of his estate. Today, the garden is not a physical geographical location but the heart of men, and God is still walking amidst that Garden.

Whatever he called us to build must be able to stand in the season of his coming. Adam was nowhere to be found in the day the lord appeared in the midst of his garden. As the lord once again prepares to inspect the garden he places in our charge, I hope we will not be found hiding with fig leaves.

The ‘day of the Lord’ is a sacred issue that cannot be addressed with levity or a frivolous attitude.  Whatever we doing right now should be gravitating us towards the reality of ushering Christ into the areas we are yet to give up.

 The day of the Lord demands, we adjust our priorities, put off the evil idols within and around our lives. Before we see the final appearance of the Lord, his Church and the nations will continue to witness his coming in various forms and seasons that will highlight certain issues he wants us to deal with. As you are reading this parchment, the Lord is coming to specific areas of your life that requires your immediate attention and adjustment.

What the coming entails

You cannot afford to harden your heart or put off the voice of his speaking over the issue.  What is that thing the Lord is demanding from you? Absolute obedience is required when the day comes upon you. When the day of the Lord came upon Noah, he was plunged into decades of building a quality of system that could him and his household in the coming destruction. When that day came upon Abraham he completely abandoned is known as his ‘father’s house’ and journeyed into a strange land without looking back.

 The promised child, he waited for twenty-five years to receive was laid on the altar to be sacrifice at God’s request. What a life. No wonder Abraham was qualified to be the friend of God. The day of the Lord came over Pharaoh and his system of enslavement, the children of Israel who had been in bondage for four hundred and thirty years where released with great compensation.

 The word of the lord says ‘ a day before the lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day, what a paradox.  In other words, timing and seasons in the Spirit are relative. The dealing and operations of the Spirit of the Lord regarding your life, family or city are only relevant to your level of awareness of Gods prophetic agenda. The demand of the Spirit does not flow with human circumstance or challenges. Rather, they are stirred through active connection to divine injunction. when we study scriptures and we are able to accurately relate to its desire and demand at all point of our transition, we get better prepare for the coming of the Lord.

The end of the day of man

The day of the Lord brings to a perpetual end, weak humanistic tendencies, lock within the operations of human existence. His day brings to an end the dimension of the sixth days within us. six symbolizes the order of man, or what we can also call the operation of the flesh. This is the day of the Spirit. it is the seventh day; in the seventh day the things of the Spirit  cannot be handle or experience from the outer court dimension of our lives.

The seventh day is about life in the Spirit, a life beyond the veil. The seventh day brings to bear the glorious reality of the Father’s kingdom within the life of the Church. in this new day, perfection is not just a requirement, it is the standard template that drives every thought, intent and transaction of our lives. The day of the Lord is about the bringing forth of the new man, it about the releasing of a new order of priesthood who are ready to represent the kingdom of God in every area of human life.

 Closing the distance within us

Regardless of what we have read or know about the coming move of his Spirit, if our heart and thought does not engage with this current emphasis of the Spirit, am afraid, we will not be able to step into the reality of our prophetic inheritance. Preparing for the coming of the day of the Lord seeks to highlight those hypocritical dimensions that have taking the position of the Lord in our lives.

The hypocritical order that says the right things but does entirely something else must be brought to a stop. If we truly desire to grow and mature in the things of the spirit, we must individually examine ourselves and bring to a closure the distance within our hearts. In other words, the divisions hindering us from coming into oneness with our creator and ourselves must end.

In the day of the coming of the Lord, division within our lives must an end! One of the major challenges of division within us is a Pharisee spirit. The Pharisee spirit is set in motion by a hypocritical attitude.  Hypocrisy is a dysfunctionality of character that is usually displayed through a dysfunctional identity, manifested in fear, insecurity, pride and a powerful religious spirit.

 This spirit hinders both the mental and spiritual development of a person or community. When there is an hypocritical dimension within our behavior, it not only hinder us from growing spiritually but also destroy relationships and other built spiritual values.

Dealing with the Pharisee order

One of the prophetic words that have been coming of late is that God is about to show up in his house and the nation as a mighty RIVER. While the river could symbolize times of great bliss and refreshing from the presence of the Lord.  However, the river could also be a symbol of judgment. The flow of a river exposes garbage’s and anything that is not solidly rooted or built. The river of God is coming to purify our soul from all forms of duality.  The consequence of this is, they are going to be an exposure of the false hidden attitudes of our lives. Behaviors that do not march with the order and standard of the spirit will be exposed and judge through the river.

The life of a Pharisee encapsulates a false lifestyle. The hypocritical order that say but does something else must be brutally dealt with.  If we truly desire to grow and mature in the things of the spirit we must individually examine ourselves if the spirit operate in us.

The issue of hypocrisy is one of the most deadly weapons at the disposal of the devil. Why? It masked itself on the guise of spirituality and good works.  It has a form of godliness, it has the ability to display what looks like righteousness while the heart is completely disengaged. Matthew 23

Brethren, our redemption is nearer than when we first believe. We therefore must make sure there are no stuff in our lives that belong to Satan. Jesus said, the prince of this world came but found nothing of himself in me.  What are a standard of life set by the master himself. if we are going to represent Christ in our various sphere of life, we then must make sure there are no goods of the Babylonian buried within our camp.  Joshua 7:21

The demand of his coming

As the Spirit of the Lord sounds a new marching order, everyone within the camp is required to remove the Saul’s garment. You as a Davidic company, desiring to fight in the Lord’s battle must not borrow {carnal) soulish operating system. There has to be an awakening from the deep spiritual slumber plaguing our soul.  It is time to be cloth with the full amour of righteousness so we are not found naked and ashamed in the day of the Lord’s appearance.

 The expression of the kingdom of God, which most Christian desire to see can only take effect when the nature and life of the King is well seated within the operational template of each of us.

it is important we emphasize that the kingdom of God is within us and not some charismatic induce show we often display. if we build our expectation on some religious and psychological managerial performance, we will certainly miss the coming of the Lord within our lives for this  season.

The dawning of this new day demands a different condition of heart. a well refined and circumcise heart is the longing of heaven. David prayed in Psalm 51, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me… How clean is our heart? What are the qualities and characteristics of a clean heart?  How renewed is our spirit? How united is our thought and desire with that of the Father? How joint are we in the reality of the corporate faith that will bring us into maturity?

 Remember, the move of the Spirit starts with the circumcision of the heart and not the performance of an act. For far too long we as the Church of Christ have majored on the minor while we have minored the major. The scripture time and over again shows us the priority of heaven on earth.

There has never been a move without God first searching for a type of quality of life that he can interface with. We have an example in a man by the name Enosh. Enosh lived couple of years down the fall of the first man in the garden; however, he never allowed the condition and judgment of the fall to dither him from calling upon the name of the Lord.

Learning from Enosh

He pioneered a generation of people who decided to serve the Lord. I strongly believed that it was the life of this man who inspired Noah to separate himself from the perverted humanistic standard ruling his world.   Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:26 NIV)

A heart like that of David is necessary if you are going to meet with God in this season of his coming.  The posture and condition of spirituality can no longer be hypocritical, meaning that, we cannot afford to live in a dimension of division. There a various dimensions of divisions in our lives. From the things we say to the condition of our thinking and perception are regulated by a false order of pretends.

 The prejudice and schisms operating in our thinking as the church of the Lord must end.  In this day of the coming of the Lord into his temple, there has to be a total deliverance of our ideologies and psychology.  The cleaning of the temple that will house the presence and glory of God in this new day must be thorough.

 if you are one of those searching and longing with an unsatisfied desire for the full manifestation of your prophetic destiny, you will agree with me that we have not done enough in terms of dealing with the distractions  and false operating system within our behavioral patterns. Our prophetic destiny, meaning that which heaven has predestined for you and me to become before there interruption in the garden has never been so eminent.

 The day of the Lord’s harvest

This is the day of the Lord’s harvest. The Lord is harvesting every inaccurate order operating within our faculty. The duality of character behavior, frustrating the outflow of life of God is coming to an end.  As the work of this ingathering intensifies across churches within the nations the Lord is sending the ministry of his apostle and prophets to  separate the holy from the profane, the sheep from the goats, the  light from the darkness, lies from the truth.

 The appearing of the Lord in his temple is setting a new order of existence within the cultural lifestyle of the people of the way. Can you hear the sound? Can you feel the blowing of the wind of change? are you prepared to change your rigid wineskin so you can partake of the new wine of the Spirit?  the Lord is coming with vengeance in his hand. It is time the heart connects with the Spirit of truth so that the false order can be accurately dealt with.

 Seasons of his coming

Before the final appearance of the Lord, ‘the church of the first born’ has been witnessing a continuous descending of the temple of Lord within the hearts of men.  This coming temple has become the plumb-line  of our spiritual standard. The culture and philosophy of heaven must override everything we represent in our humanity. As the Spirit of the Lord continues to work amongst his people through the imprint of the revelation of his Son. we are seeing the exposure and judgment of every rebellious order.

 The grand appearance of the lord within the recesses of our hearts has never been so eminent. The divisions within our internal structure must be put to an end. The scripture says, a kingdom divided within itself will not stand. To the degree we are internally divided is to the degree we will exhibit strife and division in our relationships and the corporate gathering of the Body of Christ.

It is our chief duty to make sure we shorten the distance and close every hypocritical gap within our lives. we must filter out the ambitious evil imagination-warring within our soul. The Lord wants to seat over each dimension of our mental and spiritual faculty.

The ideology that drives our words and action must be sourced from Christ and him alone. while you are working on your assigned field, remember that the day of the lord will appear. therefore, keep yourself from the idol of materialism. set your heart on the things above and your will not be found nicked in the days of his appearance,