I received a strong word from Pastor Geronimo Aguilar three days after the grand opening of their new headquarters of  The ROC (Richmond Outreach Center) at The Big House.

My last two blog posts have been about The ROC and Pastor G.  This is a very significant and timely message for the worldwide body of Christ.  It is a huge understatement to say that we are living in perilous end times.

JESUS IS COMING BACK SOONER THAN WE THINK.  WE MUST BE ABOUT OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS BECAUSE THE DEVIL AND ALL THE FORCES OF DARKNESS ARE DOING EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO COME AGAINST GOD’S PEOPLE ANY WAY THEY CAN BEFORE JESUS COMES BACK.

#WFJ: DO THE HARD THING AND FOLLOW ME IN VICTORY

THIS IS A CLARION CALL FROM THE HEART OF THE FATHER.  RISE UP, OH MY PEOPLE, AND OPERATE IN THE POWER AND AUTHORITY I HAVE GIVEN YOU.

THE ENEMY IS A DEFEATED FOE AND I HAVE GOT YOU COVERED.   SO FEAR NOT, AND CHARGE AHEAD FULL POWER, IN THE ANOINTING OF MY HOLY SPIRIT, AND DO WHAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU TO DO.  BE MY PEOPLE AND LET ME BE YOUR GOD, THE FAITHFUL UNDEFEATED ONE.

TAKE YOUR PROMISED LAND I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN YOU.  EVERYWHERE YOUR FOOT TOUCHES BELONGS TO YOU. TAKE IT WITH AUTHORITY.  TAKE THE GIANTS BY THE POWER OF MY WORD COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH.  BE ONE WITH MY WORD AND YOU WILL DO THE HARD THING BECAUSE I AM WITH YOU EVERY STEP YOU TAKE. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.

ADVANCE IN MY POWER AND MIGHT IN THE SPIRIT AND POSSESS MY PROMISES TO YOU.  I AM GOOD ON MY PROMISES.  NOW I AM COMMANDING YOU TO BE FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT TO YOUR KING AND YOU SHALL SEE MY GOODNESS AND GLORY MANIFESTED.  YOUR FAITH WILL BECOME SIGHT WHEN YOU DO AS I SAY.

TO DO THE HARD THING IS EASY WHEN YOU ALLOW ME TO DO IT THROUGH YOU.  KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS AND FOLLOW HARD AFTER HIM AND YOU WILL WALK IN VICTORY!  I HAVE GIVEN MY WORD.   NOW GIVE ME YOUR ALLEGIANCE AND LET’S GET THIS JOB DONE SO I CAN COME BACK AND TAKE YOU ALL HOME WITH ME TO LIVE IN GLORY FOR ETERNITY IN MY PERFECT PLAN.  SELAH.

Love in Jesus,

Abigail Slocum
“A pen in God’s hand giving LOVE a voice”
The bellows of God

http://Abigail777.com

Doing the Hard Thing
Pastor G.’s Weekly Devotional

2 Kings 2:9-10

9And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

DOING THE HARD THING

The ROC is not a weekend warrior type of ministry. It is more like the Marines – first in and last out. We are really not looking for applications; we’re looking for commitment. We are looking for those who are willing to fight when called upon, and are actually looking forward to the fight.

Anyone who is looking for part-time Christianity will not be a fit at The ROC. Anyone who wants to be a weekend warrior for God will find that The ROC is not the place for them. Anyone who is looking to put in an hour and a half once a week – no more and no less – then The ROC is not going to be for them. If anyone is looking to give the least amount of their time, money, or energy to ministry, The ROC is not where they should be. The ROC realizes there is a spiritual war to fight and we realize there are souls at stake.

When Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit to be on him, Elijah responded by saying Elisha had asked a hard thing. The ROC is a church that is committed to doing the hard thing. The only way our city will ever be changed or our country brought back to God is if God’s people are willing to start doing the hard thing. God needs churches that will stop taking the easy road and start doing the hard thing. Most people do not pray and ask God for the hard thing. It is too easy to always ask God for His blessing and to make everything easier.

Think about your own walk with the Lord. Are you doing hard things for God? Going to church once or twice a week is not the hard thing. The Bible says that we will do greater works than Jesus did. That will require us doing the hard thing. God is looking for a few good men and women who will stand up and say, “Here am I. I am ready to do the hard thing.”

As I told The ROC Family recently, if and when anyone decides to call The ROC home and make it their place of fellowship and worship, then you need to know you are signing up to do the hard thing for God. The ROC is not about taking the easy road. We are about making a difference. We are about reaching those everyone else has given up on. We are about going into the deepest pit, knocking down the gates of Hell, and going into the enemy’s camp to take back what he has stolen from us. It is about doing the hard thing for the Lord.

One of the hard things we do every day is soulwinning. Sharing about Jesus to total strangers is doing the hard thing.

Bus Ministry is doing the hard thing. There is nothing easy about getting up early every Saturday to go into the inner-city and ride on a bus filled with kids. There are people who drive our buses from early in the morning to late at night when they are taking families home after church or Bible study.

Tithing is the hard thing. It is not easy looking at your pile of bills, but still being obedient to God’s Word and giving that ten percent every paycheck.

Going to RSUM is the hard thing. We didn’t start the ROC School of Urban Ministry to raise up a bunch of self-serving, lazy Christians. We started that school to train men and women to do the hard thing for God.

Picking up food, keeping our food pantry stocked, giving food away, sharing Christ with those who come, these are hard things. It is just plain hard work making it possible for our Food Ministry to give away over 4,500 bags of groceries every month.

There is nothing easy about having over 140 different ministries, including running discipleship homes for men and women who are serious about getting free from addictions. It is a hard thing.

There is definitely nothing easy about running two thrift stores. It takes hard work to pick up, sort, process, stock and run the stores. The people who are committed to doing it know it is a hard thing.

It is a hard thing to run after-school programs and summer programs throughout the city, and it would be totally impossible if it were not for committed, dedicated volunteers who are willing to do the hard thing.

It is a hard thing running a free health clinic and trying to raise the money it takes to be able to provide free health care for the ever-growing number of uninsured people.

There was absolutely nothing easy about building the Big House, but praise the Lord, we are not here to do the easy thing – we’re here to do the hard thing!

When you go to God in prayer, don’t be afraid to ask Him for the hard things. The greatest blessings are coming to those who sign up for the hard things. Since all things are possible, you can ask God for the hard things, knowing that nothing is too hard for God. Pray for some God-sized miracles in your life. You are never going to find out what God is capable of until you start asking Him for the hard thing.

The first ten words in the Bible should be enough to give us the faith to know we can ask God for the hard thing. “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.” Do you need any more proof that the one you are praying to can do the hard thing? He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ask or think. He is able to do the hard thing in your life, if you are willing to ask Him for it and trust Him in it.

Let’s be a people that prays for the hard thing, does the hard thing, and lives the hard thing. Becoming a Christian is the easy part. Living like a Christian is the hard part. The hard thing that Elisha asked for was to have a spirit like Elijah. That meant he wanted to live a life like Elijah lived. Elijah lived a holy and righteous life that was pleasing to God. That is a hard thing to do, but it is what God desires for all of us.

God wants us to have strong convictions about sin. Christians are either hot or cold – God does not want us to be lukewarm. Being a hot Christian is the hard thing. You can’t put up a front but for so long, before your true colors will come through. Doing the hard thing means you wouldn’t do anything behind closed doors that you would be ashamed for others to know about.

There is a lot at stake, Church. There is a world that is dying and going to Hell. There is an enemy that has come to steal, kill, and destroy. There are Christians that need a role model. There are kids that need an adult to show them what it means to be a Godly parent. The ROC has a motto this year and for always that we are to focus on OTHERS and not on ourselves – and that is a hard thing.

God is expecting us to be doers and not just hearers of His Word by doing the hard thing. The only way we will ever reach our full potential and live a life that is pleasing to God is to do the hard thing. Christians who are still struggling with self-destructive sins of smoking, drinking, and drugs are destroying their lives by doing the easy thing. The hard thing is to quit. Short and simple: just don’t do it anymore. If you think it is a thing that is too hard to do, then you don’t really know God. God has given you the power to live a victorious, overcoming life, but you have to cooperate with Him. It is as simple as learning how to do the hard thing and start saying “NO!” The more you say it, the less hard it will be until you have defeated the enemy in that area of your life. But do not be deceived. Always be aware that as long as you are in the flesh, you will have to be on your guard to do the hard thing.

The same thing is true for sex outside of marriage. Setting boundaries and saying no to sin is not easy – it is the hard thing, but it is also the RIGHT thing. Wide is the road to destruction, but narrow is the path that God expects us to walk. It is the hard thing.

At this time in the journey of The ROC, as we moved into the Big House, and our ministries are getting ready to expand, we are going to need to do the hard thing even more than before. We have committed to taking our ministry to another level by doing the hard thing. Doing the hard thing will actually make your life better, your marriage sweeter, give your children a better future, and make your ministry more fruitful and effective. In spite of all those benefits, we should be doing the hard thing anyway, because of what Jesus did for us.

The main reason we need to keep doing the hard thing is simply because Jesus did the hard thing for us by dying on a cross. He did the hardest thing that has ever been done. He left Heaven to come to Earth as a man for the sole purpose of redeeming mankind back to His Father. The Creator of Heaven and Earth did the hard thing for you and me.

We owe it to Jesus to do the hard thing to reach this city and this world with the good news about what Jesus did on our behalf. We owe it to Jesus to live a Godly life fulfilling the will and purpose of God for our lives. We owe it to God to live holy lives that reflect the glory of God.

Spend some time with the Lord … consider the choices you have been making … take inventory of the kind of life you are choosing to live, and commit to doing the hard thing rather than taking the easy way out. It will be worth it!

Pastor Geronimo
Daniel 12:3