Shield of Faith Ministries
1623 Minnie Street
Cocoa, Florida 32926
(321) 632-6820
* Sunday Morning
   Services:

- Worship Service
   10:00 am
- Children's Service:
   10:45 am
* Childcare available

* Wednesday Services:
- Family Night Bible Study
   7:00 pm (all ages).

 
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WAKE UP - by Peggy White Russ

Wakeup by Peggy White Russ

Wake Up
By Peggy White Russ

When 2010 rolled in, I had been fasting for two years, and the thick fog that tried to hamper the steps that God had ordered for my life had cleared. I basked in the freedom I felt when God swooped down and cut the reins that tied me to the past so I could view ministry through the lens of the days to come.

For a season, I felt as if God had untethered all that anchored me to comfort, yet what I gained from waiting on God was worth more to me than gold. I found what I longed for in the waiting. After praying and reading the Word, I always sit still and savor the tangible silence until all that I am bows to Him. I am then able to release what I am holding onto and what I think is right in my own eyes. When the presence of God engulfs me, I am so aware of Him that all my desires merge with His. I am not looking for a whirligig of outward display of emotions, yet God permeates the atmosphere in the room in a gentle yet powerful way. The peace I find in the quietness of the morning anchors me whether in the storm or if the sun is shining.

Years ago, I heard God’s call to make my world quieter. I can’t pray, wait on God, and worship unless I am alone and in total stillness. My world is naturally quieter now, but I can get too busy with other things or leave the television playing in the background even if I am not watching. I have to aim at a time and have a particular spot where I pray and wait on God.

In the waiting, I experienced Isaiah 40:31: “But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (NKJV) A fresh stream of strength revived me when trials within ministry had left me weak with exhaustion. God let me soar with the strength of an eagle above all the problems. Weariness fell away, and I was able to run spiritually. God didn’t immediately snatch me out of the whirlwind of problems that swirled around me but gave me strength and courage to walk forward through the fiery trials.

In the waiting, a gnawing hunger for God gripped me deep within and kept nudging me to eat at the table of God. In the season of my fasting, I heard His wakeup call. This was the only time I heard God loudly, but it was only loud to me. I had listening ears, so it was easy for me to grasp hold of the urgency of His command to wake up.

In the waiting, spiritual alertness sprang forth and developed into an understanding of the purpose of the night of September 1, 2010. The challenges of the end-time church in an upside-down world— wrapped around me.

With around-the-clock television and the influence of the internet, the earth is soaked with ungodly thoughts and ideas. The ungodliness that has crept into the world will be challenging for the end-time church, yet remaining faithful to the purity of the Scriptures can’t be just an option for Christians.

Although the nations of the world are steered by an array of political systems, sprinkled like salt within each nation is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The body of Christ lives and moves in a world infested with declining morals and a declining honor for God and His Word.

My jaw dropped when I heard a man on a political talk show declare, “America is too educated to believe an antiquated book like the Bible.” I wonder when the thinking of our great nation became so tainted that crosses, the Ten Commandments, praying in Jesus’ name at public events, and saying “Merry Christmas” became wrong.

Through the media, a swell of ungodly thinking that is whitewashed with social good dangles before the eyes of the world. In a perfect world, all would clearly see that this is Satan’s drama. In our politically correct world, this nonsensical thinking seems to be swaying the hearts of many.

When I heard God’s call to wake up, I knew He didn’t wake me to drag me into a pit of fear but rather to show me the need for His truth in a world swirling with turmoil.

The stabilizing power of the Word of God has always kept me grounded in storm-tossed conditions. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:7 NKJV).

Through the God-breathed Scriptures, I know who God is to me and who I am in Him. I have witnessed the power that comes from the Word mingled with prayer and worship. When the rug is snatched out from under me, I land as surefooted as a cat on the foundation of the Word of God. There have been seasons when a tidal wave of problems rushed over me, and I felt my faith waver. In those times, I have sat in stillness, reading and praying the Psalm most like my situation until it has becomes like medicine, soothing my soul.



To obtain a copy of Wakeup - CLICK HERE