There is an urgency in the Spirit for the Body of Christ to awaken and discern the times in which we live. Jesus warned that before His return, the days would resemble the days of Noah.
Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah [were,] so also will the coming of the Son of Man be…
We are in these days, and as the Church, we can no longer afford to live carelessly or casually because the coming of the Lord is nearer than many realise.
Unfortunately, many believers only focus on the outward activities mentioned in Noah’s day—people eating, marrying, trading, and living normal lives—yet they miss the deeper spiritual reality: humanity had become corrupted, insensitive to God, and vulnerable to deception.
Today, many believers are spiritually asleep, comfortable, and satisfied with a form of godliness while lacking spiritual depth and discernment.
Matthew 7:13-14 Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction… narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.
The broad way is easy, convenient, and fleshly, but the narrow way requires sacrifice, discipline, prayer, consecration, and spiritual focus. God is calling us to go beyond the ordinary and carry “extra oil” like the five wise virgins.
The wise virgins understood that what sustained them today would not be enough for tomorrow, so they prepared beyond the normal requirement. (Matthew 25:1-13)
Like the five wise virgins, God is calling us to be believers who are willing to pray more, fast more, seek God more, give more, sacrifice more, and consecrate themselves more, rather than ones who are spiritually careless, satisfied with routine Christianity, unwilling to sacrifice, or to pursue deeper intimacy with God.
Psalm 50:5 Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.
God is searching for men and women who are willing to live sacrificially for His Kingdom. Sacrifice is costly—it may involve criticism, misunderstanding, rejection, and inconvenience—but it produces spiritual oil that keeps the believer burning when others grow cold.
We cannot do this in our own strength, but by the help of the Holy Spirit every day. This calls for sensitivity to God’s current direction, which is through a consistent life of altar life.
Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
In these last days, discernment is very important as deception is great and subtle. True discernment is not suspicion, but it is rooted in love, the Word of God, and intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
As believers, we must pray for the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord to preserve us from deception and compromise. We must remain rooted in love, forgiveness, and faith just as Jesus did, because love keeps us spiritually strong. (Isaiah 11:2)
This is a season for the Church to awaken from spiritual slumber and prepare for the Bridegroom’s coming. As believers seek God deeply and remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit, time will reveal those who truly carried extra oil and lived fully for Him.
STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU.
PASTOR BEN OCHOLA.