The pressure is on!

The pressure is on — getting hotter, but God’s power is the hottest!

Once we become a Christian, it seems like we are target practice for the enemy—Satan. He will send his reinforcements, assailants, and demonic militia at charge, once you received the gift of salvation and called to be a part of the Great Commission. The Great Commission is clearly explained in Matthew 28:19-20. In layman terms, once we come to Christ, we not only become followers of Jesus Christ but also called to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We are to teach, baptize, and evangelize to the nations by sharing our faith and preach the Gospel.

We also have to check our attitudes to be holy and righteous like Jesus, even if others push us away that are not ready for Jesus yet. Some prefer to live in their sin, not wanting someone to judge or criticize them but to come in love. Others will argue that their religion or denominations is the truth—let the Bible and the Helper (Holy Spirit) speak the truth to them. No need to argue or debate to prove God is who He says He is. If we allow our emotions to feed into the offenses of men and women, the bait of Satan has lured us into the trap. We are ready to throw up our hands, and not do what God has commanded us to do—make disciples of Jesus Christ. Moreover, we are commissioned to bring people to Christ and listen to the Holy Spirit effectively in order to approach them accordingly. Therefore, our archenemy and his assailants are against Jesus Christ and believers because their mission is to kill, steal, and destroy.

The pressure is on and as the trials or tests hit hard—we feel like we are in a  boiling pot and it’s hot. We will be challenged about our beliefs even against other denominations, religions, and non-believers to prove who YHWH God is to us. We will be pushed into on-the-spot decisions to verify if our lifestyle showcases Christ, or if we live like the world. In some cases, our salvation is in jeopardy—always proving that we are saved, sanctified, and holy-filled. We profess it publicly and privately, yet they are not looking at your mouth move and hearing the words speak into their ear tunnels—it is not the sound that gets them shaken up but your actions and lifestyle that is demonstrated. Do we see Jesus?

The Bible tells us, “the just shall live by faith” and this is what pleases God (see Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38; 11:3-6; and Habakkuk 2:4). Faith believes without seeing. This means, we believe and stand on the Word of God without physically seeing or witnessing the immediate results. This process can take minutes, or years for the promise to come to pass. Yet, fear comes in to entrap us to only believe what we can see, touch, or witness the results. Many use the acronym for FEAR, meaning false evidence appearing real. Satan, our archenemy, will put distractions to stir up fear and ignore faith, and lose hope on our future of which is opposite to Jeremiah 29:11.

Once we allow fear to take focus, we step further in the fire and the heat is on high as we cry to God as if our lives are completely over. We moan, and in some cases, want to die. Think of Elijah after he did miraculous works of calling down rain when it hasn’t rained for ages, and defeated all the Baal priests to prove that God is all-powerful, but as soon as Queen Jezebel sent her men to kill Elijah–he hid and wanted to die.

Remember, we are not fighting against flesh and blood (humans) but against spirits and principalities (supernatural beings). This is evil against good. When the pressure is on, our reaction may be opposite of what the Word of God tells us—our actions puts us in the hot spot. Certain temptations can have our urges boiling and brewing over, which can go against God. The problems arise even worse than we can imagine although the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “He will not put on more than we can handle.” Furthermore, Jesus lets us know that we are victors and God is faithful, we can overcome temptations.

During our trials and tests, we will be cold or hot. We are either cold, seeking advice from a person and other things outside of God’s wishes. Or we will be hot and on fire for God, only speaking the Word back into existence by believing that we will receive what we ask for in the name of Jesus. But the trick of the enemy for most believers is that we can sin freely because of God’s grace, for we are forgiven, and take heed to Satan’s lies over the truth in which we are noted as lukewarm Christians.

Overall, the heated pressure shows who we will serve even when the trials and tests can push our emotions over the edge. One example is when our finances dwindle, nearly depleted, and outcome is being homeless. Now we are wondering, “Where are the ones who Jesus spoke about in the Word of God, who are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and hospitable by welcoming others in their home?” Ultimately, we are to love our neighbor. Yes, some people will make us want to pull our hair out at the root, stop right there, and wonder why this person has been planted in our path. This can be a test to see if we will help the rest—displaying Jesus.

The tensions becomes intense, more pressure as the storms hit harder, and some are uncontrollable and out of your hands. Lastly, many complain about the hell they’re going through, and some said the term loosely, “breakthrough,” but look at the two words: we are broken (past tense of break) and will go through (tests, trials, and tribulations) before we see our actual breakthrough. Jump out of the boiling water, even when it’s hot, but wait for Jesus to release the increase of His anointing for the nations to see.

Adrienna Turner can be reached at: