"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a workman who does not need to be ashamed
and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
The Invitation
Ephesians 3:21; Joel 2; Matthew 24:14)
By Sandra Dubón Cisneros
We are living in unprecedented days in the history of the church! The Lord is moving in powerful ways, building His church and expanding His kingdom. Revival is impacting many cities and nations. We are beginning to see tangible evidence of God’s intention to fulfill His promise in Scripture to restore and rebuild cities that are desolate.
By His own design, God has ordained seasons of revival throughout history to restore His church to simplicity, power, and effectiveness. God intends that His glory be manifested “in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever!” (Eph. 3:21). His will could not be more explicit. He desires that His glory be manifested in the church in every generation and in every culture, but the world will see the glory of God only when Jesus Christ is clearly seen in the church – and through the church to the world, just as Jesus prays in John 17.
Scripture promises that a mighty outpouring of God’s glory is coming (Joel 2) that will include sign of wonders, a harvest of souls, and the Gospel being preached to the ends of the earth (Matt. 24:14). We have a responsibility as the people of God to cry out for His presence to fill our communities toward that end. The church is not meant to be a spectator on the sidelines; God is inviting us into full partnership with this end.
Are we ready to what God has in mind? Is the church prepared to walk out the reality of the promises God has made in His Word? Or is the church struggling with her identity, authority, and purpose? Understanding our true identity in Christ must occur before we can exercise spiritual authority in order to accomplish our God-given mission as an agent of change on the earth. We need a serious lifestyle change in the body of Christ. If we are conformed to His image, we can become the “fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those that still need to be reached with the transforming message of Christ" (2 Cor. 2:15).
We are living in an important hour of history! God is inviting us to respond to one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced – to return to our first love.
In order to fulfill the purposes of God for our cities, we must hear what the Spirit is saying to the church and be obedient to His voice. Isaiah prophesied: “Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highways! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations” (Isa. 62:10). The Lord is issuing an invitation to His church to pass through a threshold into the reality of His kingdom. He is opening three doors for us…
The Door of Intimacy. Scripture contains two pictures of this door. The first is found in the Song of Solomon: “I sleep, but my heart is awake; my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one’” (5:2). A second door is found in the book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). Jesus is knocking at the door of His church, longing for fellowship and intimacy with His beloved. This door must be opened before the church can become like Jesus.
The Door of Hope. In Hosea we see the response of God to His wandering bride: “Behold, I will allure her, I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope (Hos. 2:14-15). We see the Lord opening this door and invites His people out of their captivity and compromise and into their true destiny. It’s a door that leads us out of the valley of trouble and into renewed covenant with God. This door will lead the church to fruitfulness.
The Door of Heaven. In the book of Revelation, John writes, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this (Rev. 4:1). The Lord, who invited John to come up higher for the heavenly perspective, is also inviting His church, His beloved, to “come up higher” and sit with Him around His throne. This invitation lifts us out of our compromised state and into the revelation of heaven’s perspective. With heaven’s perspective, we gain revelation regarding our identity and destiny in God. This door will help the church realize her transforming purpose.
As we accept His invitation and pass through each door, Jesus will lead us into our true identity as His bride and into our transforming purpose.
Have a great year in the Lord as you walk through the door of intimacy, freedom, and destiny!