When I woke up this morning the Lord immediately planted the phrase in my mind “disconnected from reality”. I began to meditate on the importance of being disconnected from the “realities” of life today and focusing instead greater on the realities of Heaven. I imagined Heaven coming so close to us that we could reach across into heavenly places for food, finances and freedom! On Sunday I watched my pastor preach a powerful, bold, faith for the future filled message and as he was speaking I saw in the spirit a vast thick rope coming out of the ceiling and cemented into the foundation of the floor. I saw a giant pair of scissors snip the rope breaking it in half and I realized it was tethering us to the world but the tether had been broken! I kept hearing “this church is now disconnected from the world”. This morning I began reading Mark 16. It details an unexpected move of God and the various reactions to it. You can gage their connections to the Kingdom of God verses the world by their reactions.
“Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.”
Mark 16:1-4 NLT
They made their plans based on their best understanding of current conditions and proceeded accordingly. They advanced with hearts filled with love for Jesus and hands ready to honor and serve him. They perceived a possible complication but moved forward anyway. Upon arrival they discovered an unexpected move of God.
“When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened. Mark 16:5-8 NLT
These courageous strong-willed women stumbled right in a holy visitation with news of a mind blowing reversal by none other than the hand of Almighty God Himself. They left trembling, undone, emotionally overloaded and full of the fear of the Lord. Over this past year the enemy has bellowed loudly fierce threats against humanity trying his utmost to force them to cower and surrender to his leadership in fear. Can you try to imagine the hallowed, rooted in the core of your soul, fear of the Lord that will result on the other side of this turn of events? This point in Bible history marked an unexpected move of God that altered the course of world events in the right in the middle of an apparent lost cause. The women were “bewildered” they could not function after this encounter.
“After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.”
Mark 16:9-11 NLT
This mighty woman of God spoke up but the people could not believe what God had done. It was too wonderful for them to be capable of believing.
“Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.”
Mark 16:12-13 NLT
Jesus continued to encounter His people and speak to them. They faithfully went out and spread His words but again it was too awesome for God’s people to believe.
“Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.”
Mark 16:14 NLT
The word of God admonishes His people to believe the prophets and you will succeed! Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God! God rewards those who believe, trust and hope against hope time and again! The longer you have to apply faith against enormous odds the more extreme the response of God in the outcome on the other side. As fearful as you might be now compare it in faith to the fear of the Lord these woman experienced at the resurrection! Believe!
“And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.””
Mark 16:15-18 NLT
This resolute position of faith given by God resulted in a commissioning to a special post in the Kingdom of Heaven and with it came the power to work miracles, signs and wonders at all times everywhere they went!
In conclusion as we continue to pray fierce prayers sending out angel armies to do battle in the Heaven-lies while raising up ridiculous standards faith mixed with thanksgiving to God we are provoking a move of the hand of Almighty God that will change the world as we know it. At any moment absolutely anything can happen.