The year 2007 will be a significant year, and 2008 will be even more so. We can expect each year to ratchet up in intensity and significance. This means that the consequences of our choices will continue to increase in importance. This is why asking God for wisdom should be one of our highest priorities. Therefore, we have a great promise and warning in James 1:5-8:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The promise is that God will delight in giving us wisdom and will give it to us generously. However, we are warned not to be "double-minded," as this will make us unstable in all of our ways. What does it mean to be double-minded? The Greek word translated "double-minded" here is dipsuchos, which could have been literally translated "two-spirited," or having two spirits. A modern term for this would be "two-faced." This implies a person who changes with situations and cannot be trusted.

If we are one person at home, another on the job, another at church, and another when out with friends, this kind of inconsistent personality would be a form of this. In the case that James is discussing, it would be like someone who projects himself as being one person before God, especially when he may want something from Him. He will not be fooled by this, and such a person should not expect to get anything from the Lord.

Because the world is falling further into instability and inconsistency, it is more imperative than ever that Christians become stable, consistent, and true in our basic nature. Of course, this is supposed to be basic Christianity, which is the result of a life that serves one King, doing all things to please Him, regardless of what others may think about it. The exposure of highly visible ministries that are living double lives is an indication of just how serious the Lord is about having a people who represent Him on the earth who are true. As we are told in I Peter 4:17-19:

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

When the Lord judges His church, it is not for the purpose of condemnation, but for correction so we might share His nature. The Lord does at times wait before disciplining His people to give us time to repent and discipline ourselves. It is better and easier to fall on the Rock and be broken than to have it fall on us and grind us into powder (see Luke 20:18). Even so, as we are told in Ecclesiastes 8:11, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." Many Christians have been under the delusion that because they seem to be getting away with transgression in their lives that God does not really care about it. The scariest thing in the world should be if we are living with a major stronghold of sin in our lives and getting away with it. We are told in Hebrews 12:5-8:

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

This is the time when our choices will begin to bring much swifter and more drastic consequences. This intensity will grow continually until the end. It will never be easier to repent and make the necessary changes that we need to make than right now.

Nations are making decisions now that will determine if they will turn and become part of the coming of the kingdom of God or be shaken loose from their moorings to drift into oblivion. Individuals, churches, and denominations are likewise making this same choice. As we get closer to the end of this age and the revealing and establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth, the consequences of our choices will come swifter.

The consequences of righteous choices will also increase, and the rewards will come faster. Christians are about to begin streaming across their Jordan River to begin possessing their inheritance. We are entering the days of fulfillment. This will be the subject of the Word for the Week for the next few months. There are practical things we must know and do to be ready for this, which are not burdensome, but will result in a greater freedom in us, so that we can proclaim liberty throughout the land from a heart that is free.