Even with the great increase of knowledge the world is now experiencing, there is not much understanding. Understanding means to “stand under” someone else’s situation, to put ourselves in their place. This comes mostly from learning to become a good listener, which is also very rare. Yet if we are going to fulfill The Great Commission to make disciples, we must be able to reach people where they are. We can’t teach first graders geometry, and we will lose senior citizens if we try to teach geometry to them.

This week we will continue our discussion of the three phases of ministry and how it applies to the three parts of the habitations of God in Scripture. As a reminder, I have broken them down into the following general definitions.

Phase I: Rescue and Salvation. The main goal of this phase is to lead people to Christ and add them to the church.

As we proceed toward considering how we can help build the highway for our God, we want to occasionally fortify the foundations of our own spiritual lives. Just as there were five pillars at the door of the Holy Place in the tabernacle of God and the Holy of Holies, there are five basic principles that enable us to enter the deeper realms of the spiritual life. These are basics which we should have growing in our lives, regardless of how mature we become. They are:

For the last three weeks we have been addressing one of the more popular Scriptures of our time, Proverbs 13:22, “...the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” This is a true promise that is corroborated by many other biblical prophecies. It will come to pass for those who are prepared for it, and should be part of our preparation for these times.

This week we continue our study on the armor of God in Ephesians 6:14:

This week’s text in Ephesians 3:17-19 touches the very foundations of our life in God:

To understand the times, I always try to go to the foundation of a matter to see if I can recognize the hand of God in it. We are told in Psalm 90:17, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and do confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands.” I pray this often because I do not want just to be busy but to be about our Father’s business. I want to know that what I am doing is truly His work, and that what I am studying is for His purposes.

When Peter made his great confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord promised: “... upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18 KJV). The gates of hell are the entrances through which the powers of darkness gain access to this world. They are strategic, usually planned as counterpoints to the important purposes of God. We are coming to the time when all of the gates of hell will be fully opened.

We are dealing with some of the most important questions being asked at this time: If the foundations of the nations are crumbling, is it not a waste of time to try to shore them up? Why should we not spend all of our efforts and time in building the kingdom and forget about the nations that are doomed anyway?