“This life was not intended to be our place of perfection, but the preparation for it.” William Baxter

Last Sunday, many in Christendom celebrated Palm Sunday.  It is one of the few stories recorded in all four gospels.

Luke records Jesus making a tremendously important statement. My paraphrase, “Guys, you should have known what today was all about. You should have known why I came riding on a donkey. You should have been prepared. And because you weren’t, some horrific events will occur in your lifetime.” (Lk. 19:41-44)

John reiterates this when he records that the disciples had no clue what was happening until after Jesus rose from the grave (Jn. 12:16).

Much of Scripture is prophetic in nature. God does this to prove He wrote and you can trust His Scriptures; and, to make sure you are living each day with Him. If you do both, you will always be ready for whatever this world throws at you.

Don’t blow off what you are seeing today around the globe! God’s words are coming true before your very eyes. Is Jesus coming back this year? I don’t know.

Don’t be like the majority of Israelites, however, who were caught off guard when Jesus came riding down the Mount of Olives riding on that donkey.

Be prepared! Today, not some day in the future, live and put into flesh the truths the Spirit has given you.

Would you rather be prepared and live in victory or be caught off guard and experience defeat?

Jesus has already given you victory. It’s up to you to walk in it by faith in and power from Him. The answer is up to you.

If you don’t conquer it today, it will control you tomorrow.

Scripture says to learn from the Israelites – in both their successes and their failures.

As I was reading through Joshua, this became apparent. The Israelites saw the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob literally destroy Egypt to free them from slavery.

The first generation didn’t apply this truth today and died in the desert tomorrow because of it.

The next generation saw God take out the major players in Canaan. After this campaign, they were to go to their own lands and take out the smaller players.

Now we read a disastrous phrase, “They subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but didn’t drive them out them completely.”

Their faith stalled and left some of the Canaanites live! These people would later conquer Israel either through war or their gods.

They left conquering the land to the next generation. By not conquering the land, the land ended up controlling them.

Learn from the Israelites! Take care of business today. Ask the Spirit to increase your faith in whatever He is leading you to do right now. Don’t wait until tomorrow.

If not….

Pray for a stronger faith, not an easier life.

I was prayer walking while listening to music. I was so into my time with Jesus that I almost stepped on this little guy.  

I was about three feet away when I saw him sunning himself on the road.

If I wasn’t alert, two unfortunate things could have occurred. I could have stepped on him, most likely killing him; or, have been bitten by him. 

This illustrates a freedom tool. Be situationally aware of your surroundings. 

We can get so focused on ourselves that we can miss opportunities to share Jesus, hurt others by what we say or do; and/or get bit by our adversary.

This is why the Spirit encourages us to know what is going on around us. Even the strongest can trip and fall if they are not paying attention. 

Be cognizant of your circumstances. Use them to draw others and yourself closer to Jesus. 

“It’s better to wait for the Father’s timing and have things fall into place rather than rush ahead and have them fall apart.”

The difference between a black olive and green olive is the length of time it spends on the tree. Green olives are picked before they ripen. Black olives are picked after they ripen.

Who chooses the timing of the harvest? The farmer does based on when he wants to market them.

Your Father has a purpose for your life, just like the farmer has for his olives.

You can choose to surrender to His purpose and have things fall into place or fight it and see them fall apart.

Jesus chose in the Garden of Gethsemane, where this picture was taken, to allow life to fall into place by surrendering to the Father’s plan for His life. I think that turned out pretty well, don’t you?

Learn from Jesus. Surrender to the Father’s purpose, especially when you get ancy, and life will fall into place in His prefect timing.

These mountains are just west of the city of Jericho. Can you imagine what they would say if they could speak?

They saw a massive caravan of people camping east of the Jordan River. Then they saw this mass of humanity cross the Jordan on dry ground!

They saw Jericho’s walls fall down simply because an army marched around them seven times. 

They saw a dude wearing camel skin roll up his jacket and smack the Jordan, which caused its waters to part so he could cross on dry ground. 

They saw another dude years later wearing the same get up dunking people, one of whom roamed their very hills talking with himself.

These mountains saw Israel come home. Elijah head home. John the Baptist immerse Jesus who then walked their hills being tempted by the adversary. 

They saw all this, but can’t be a witness of what God has done. Only, we can. 

Are you loving Jesus enough to let Him change your life? The world needs you to stop playing with Jesus and let Him do what He came to do – change your life today and bring you home tomorrow. 

If He is changing your life, are you praying for and taking the opportunities to share it? 

A good friend of mine once said, “Vision without action is a dream. Action without a vision is aimless. But a vision with action can change the world, one person at a time.”

Don’t play Christianity. Instead, love and share your Jesus. You CAN change the world, one person at a time.