I see all too often those that are dragged off course by the error of teaching, the deceptions of life and the unwillingness to rise up. And the hard part is knowing where some of it all ends. As you read this piece today I would like to encourage you to not allow the enemy to draw you to the side, to pull at you and destroy you.

Last night I dreamed many dreams about what I believe might just be the fullness of the time and the season we are in. (Perhaps the completion.) We have seen much destruction in this season while we are seeing tremendous breakthrough in understanding who we are and how we are to function. Yesterday as my friend Pat and I shared a piece on alignment I realized how far we have come.

In 1969 there was book that was titled Naked Came The Stranger. It was written to poke fun at American culture. Written by 28 different authors it was purposely designed to provide enough “sex” to entice and to mock the ability of the American public to separate real works of art with a hoax. The reality of it was people bought into this disjointed novel. There was no connection from one chapter to another except for the theme of sex. (They pretended it was written by a person named Penelope Ash. Ironically here we are with Fifty Shades Of Gray! On one hand these people are up in arms about Islamic terrorism and killing, but sadism and bondage in the name of sex… Hey, that’s okay.)

In my dream a young person was told she was going to die She began to live her life according to the plan. I sat there pleading with her to turn away. Finally, I asked the question. “I wonder what it is like to die?” In that moment everything changed.

Folks, I look at the news and I know the only way we are going to turn the tide is with faith coupled with works. There is a spirit that mocks, as if we are hearing once again, “where is your God? Where is He?” Believe it or not… People want to know. Inquiring minds are asking. God is not an impotent God sitting on His throne. But on so many levels He awaits the standing up of His people. To awaken to His goodness. To release His presence. To announce His favor. The idea that we can stand by and wait for another is moot. “You is the another!”

There is a shaking and a waking. It is time to celebrate. You mean have a party? I mean to understand the depth of the word itself. To respect, honor and rejoice. To dance on the works of darkness and despair.

I found myself drawn to these four things I feel we are to celebrate. Life, light, liberty and love.

Celebrate light-I saw as I wrote a great light overcoming darkness, bringing warmth to the land(And all of New England said “AMEN”!) and light to work by. It is time to stop revering doom and gloom. To stop endorsing darkness and bad behavior. To stop darkening our thinking with the ways of the world and embrace the light of the day. For in light you shall see. We have seen too much time devoted to the darkness, removing time and resources given for a celebration. To view what is dark and follow the darkness is insanity. To view darkness and speak light is the Lord. To put our hands to the service the Lord has given us releases faith and changes things. To rejoice in light in this hour will change things for the future.

Whether it is health(lack of)care, ISIS, economic struggles or drugs on the street, a thousand posts on social media will change nothing if all it does is encourage sympathy and emotional negativity. BUT, the application of faith and the walking of feet, the opening of the light (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet…)into the darkness will move mountains of despair. Jump up and celebrate because the Lord is good and worthy to be praised.

Celebrate liberty–For whom the Son has made free is free indeed. Liberty is the antithesis of entanglement and bondage. It frees one from the getting “caught up” in with darkness, demons and disaster. Freedom or liberty is more than being free from those things. It is being free from physical situations and mindsets that remove life.

To celebrate liberty is to remind oneself of the vista of vastness one has before them. To say “I have the need for sunglasses because the future is bright“. Freedom is not just sitting around because you can, but doing what you have been called to because you can. You have been called to change the world. That will not be accomplished on the couch watching TV or cruising Facebook looking for someone to challenge. Liberty is to revered because it opened the door. Honored because freedom was not free. Rejoiced in because of its goodness.

Celebrate love-We have heard it a thousand times. Love is an action. It is not simply emotional “feel good” though that is awesome, but love from the standard of God has a place to change. Sometimes it encourages or exhorts while other time it edifies. But it is more than a feeling. To celebrate love we must understand His love and the power that His love carried and continues to bear. Love is patient and kind.

While all the world is a-Twitter with the debauchery of depraved minds, there are people out there carrying the love of the Father to those less fortunate, those in need and those in bondage. Love often begins with a spark of understanding and from that spark if nurtured properly one sees the world begin to thaw out. It does not mean a missions trip to Africa, though it may. But often it is found in the reaching out to the homeless in your community. The downtrodden in need of care or a ride.

Love is the answer when people are willing to listen to the question.

Celebrate life-I get that many feel forgotten, left behind in relationships and friendships. I get that it is not easy to look at the news without thinking they celebrate death and destruction. But as believers it is our call to celebrate the life that we have been given. His life for ours. The great exchange on so many levels.

As we shared in communion in our fellowship this past weekend, I thought, His death, burial and resurrection. That is our our announcement and pronouncement.

To revere, honor and to give respect for these things is simply the beginning. The celebration of these four things has the potential to pour out into the streets. To change schools, communities, governments and nations. It is more than a party, greater than a parade. It is in fact…

Honor, respect and rejoicing because our Father is the giver of light, life, liberty and love.