A Painful Word from God: Heed the Warning!

In the Spring of 2019, a medical condition I’ve been battling for several years took a radical turn for the worse. Literally, from one day to the next, I went from functioning well to being homebound: barely able to walk, with excruciating pain beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. Which is saying a lot, considering I’ve had a variety of injuries, surgeries, and ailments.

Every step I took felt like I was walking on broken glass, and my legs and feet were swollen twice the size they had ever been.

Having suffered with venous insufficiency for several years, I was accustomed to a certain amount of swelling and discomfort. But nothing like this.

The flow of fresh blood throughout my legs and feet—which should flow unencumbered like a river, became more like the Dead Sea: fluid coming in but little to nothing going out.

Simply put, without a fresh supply of blood, my lower extremities—feet and calves—began to die.

By the time I was seen by medical professionals I had ugly ulcerated wounds on both calves and both heels. The right heel became so bad that I lost a large chunk of it: which I’m still healing from nearly a year after the fact.

Approximately three-months prior to this medical setback I attended my first revival meeting: though I’ve been a Christian most of my adult life. And, spiritually speaking, I was on fire for God, more than I’d been in over a decade: since my wife’s death in 2008. So, this new medical crisis caught me completely off-guard.

My first thought was that the devil was upset at my spiritual revival and was trying to destroy my joy, by taking my focus off God with the intense pain (and sleepless nights). But I couldn’t get confirmation to verify that suspicion. In fact, to make matters worse, God was silent.

I spent hours daily in God’s Word and prayer, but received no answers.

I will honestly say that during that period I vented my frustrations at the excruciating pain, fatigue, and apparent silence of God. But I can just as honestly say, I never renounced Him and I continued to claim the promises in His word.

After enduring months of pain, sleep deprivation, and God’s silent treatment He finally spoke to me again. And boy…was I surprised!

For the first time, in four decades as a Christian, He was using my life experience, not just for a testimony, but as a prophetic living example and warning. Yes, just like He did with the prophets of the Old Testament.

A huge surprise to me since I’ve never had anything resembling a prophetic experience. In fact, my spiritual gift is exhortation, not prophecy.

However, there was no denying what I heard. Plus, I tested the spirits, then prayed for confirmation, which came the very next day. With additional confirmations in the form of both life events and the Word of God.

What my body was going through—and is still healing from—is what the Church Body is going through now: and has been for quite some time.

When parts of the body fail to function properly—when Christians fail to obey God and fulfill their purpose—there is always a negative consequence.

We see it in everything from our local church to the nation as a whole. Too many Christians are failing to give God their all. Too many Christians have become complacent. Too many Christians think procrastination is a virtue. Too many have unforgiveness in their hearts. Too many are holding onto their secular vices, their negative habits, their addictions and crutches: while acting as if God isn’t paying attention, or turns a blind eye because He doesn’t want to get involved. Which is exactly how the children of Israel acted throughout the Old Testament. So, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised when God sends a prophetic warning to His church.

However, I am surprised He sent it through me. Yet, I can’t help wondering how many Believers with the spiritual gift of prophecy did God send this message to before me? And they either failed to hear or refused to obey Him.

When God gave Ezekiel a prophetic word, He also warned him that if he did not obey and speak the warning to the people, Ezekiel would be held accountable and face the consequences. And look what happened to Jonah when he disobeyed. Thankfully, I’m not that foolish.

God told me to speak plain, so I will. My own church, the congregation I often blog about, is a microcosm of the national situation: in terms of its spiritual walk. The same problems infect it. While there are members that do their best to be obedient and walk with God, other members hold onto their alcohol and substance addictions, while others hold onto their anger and hatred, compromise their faith for political correctness, gossip and lie, and indulge in pornography and lust, just to name a few.

God wants to bless the church more than He does, but He will not do so as long as the present condition remains. He wants the church to be the spiritual focal point. But He refuses to send an abundance of blessings when there is so much complacency, rebellion and disobedience.

God—who loves us so much He gave His only begotten son for us—desires to bless us individually and collectively as a church body. But He will continue to withhold a sizable number of blessings as long as a sizable amount of the church body refuses to give Him every area of their lives.

God wants all or nothing. The lukewarm “believer” will be cast out, because their belief isn’t real.

In fact, similar to the warnings of old—remember, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever—if the disobedience within the church body remains unchecked, or continues to increase, God will remove His hand of blessing and allow the infection to run its course within the body: similar to how my body began to die without the proper blood flow.

God will not accept second-best. You must put Him first in your life, and give Him every area of your life to control. When you retain control of certain areas of your life—refusing to relinquish them to God—it’s only so you can continue to do things you know God disapproves of. There is no other reason for the disobedience, no matter what excuse you use to deny it.

I beg you, implore you, and pray to God that you heed His warning! If you do not, you will experience His punishment…instead of the blessings He would rather send to those who are obedient.

Don’t test God! Do not push Him beyond the point of no return. If you do, you will lose.

Though I did not like the pain, I endured a lot of it prior to God sending this Word of Warning. And I made sure to test the word and receive confirmation before ever speaking it to anyone. For I am held accountable for passing on the word He spoke to me. And now that you have heard it, you are responsible for which decision you make: obedience or disobedience?

I’ve done my part, and I pray you choose wisely… and do yours.