A New Revelation

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Mark 8:38

This past weekend, Bob and I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona where we were to meet folks that had the same interest as we, buying and selling real estate as investors. Since we were total strangers with each other and there for the purpose of gaining knowledge and expertise in a secular setting, I put on my business hat.

In the very first session of a two-day conference, I had the sense that these people in the same room as Bob and I, for the most part, were in this business to help people who were in a difficult time in their lives. Yes, there are real estate investors who are in it just to take advantage of people or out to make as much money as they can. But under the mentorship and guidance of Dean Graziosi and his associates, there is a compassionate and humanitarian element that under girds the business of RE investing.

So, this is why I am writing this devotion this morning in a different way. I had a huge realization of what is happening to the Church today and pray that each of us can make a difference. I will do my best to explain what happened this weekend.

In the first session, Dean led us through an exercise to find out why we are in real estate investing. It was a 7-step ladder with each answer followed with a “why?” So, if we are asked “Why are you in real estate?” we would answer “To make money.” The next step was asked, “Why do you want to make money?” The answer would be something like, “To provide for my family.” The next step would be “Why do you want to provide for your family?” And so on up the ladder. By the top three steps, all the materialistic reasons were shed and the heart felt answers came out.

Dean had a volunteer come up and present a mock run to demonstrate how it was going to be done. The young lady was clear on her material answers, but just as Dean said, it got into heart issues on the last three. It was interesting but as she sat up there, she very hesitantly talked about purpose for her life and destiny. It started sounding kind of spiritual to me and I leaned over to Bob and said, “I wish she would just say it!” To us, she was trying not to be spiritual and stay as secular as she could.

Now, let’s jump to the last 3 hours of the conference. Bob and I had been flown out there by Dean Graziosi so we could share our real estate story with him and the participants. He knew I went on mission trips and therefore a Christian. We had written our real estate story and been told what questions Dean was going to ask, but I never expected it to take the turn it did.

As we sat on the sofa in front of 130 people with cameras that were recording for future TV specials, Dean looked straight at me and asked, “Debbie, how did you fill out the top three levels of your ladder?” I am thinking, “Are you serious? You really want me to answer that?” In that moment, I knew I had to say what God would want me say. So, I took a deep breath and told him exactly how I had filled out my sheet. I told him I had a destiny that God had prepared for me and there was a purpose for my life. That I had to strive to achieve that purpose because when I stand before God on my judgment day I want to answer that I had accomplished it all.

There erupted applause all over the room. I was suddenly aware that the folks in that room needed someone to break the silence or that secular atmosphere and put God in the middle of it. When I split that secular/spiritual veil it was like a huge sigh of relief came over everyone. I had many people come up to me and thank me for saying what I did!

Now here is the lesson I learned. We, as the church, have zipped our lips for far too long. We have failed to give God credit, honor, or acknowledgement because of….why? It seems there is an unseen presence or veil that prevents us from breaking through and recognizing God in our lives and sharing it with others. That unseen veil is spread over us by the enemy of God, Satan. I have given a lot of thought to this phenomenon and it is really very mental. There are no signs, laws or guns pointed at us Americans saying we can’t recognize God and give Him credit when talking to others. We have simply stopped because we feel intimidated by…who? Not the people we are speaking to. They may even agree or give their own testimony. It is the unseen devil that is always lurking in our mind saying, “Don’t say that! They will get offended!”

Remember in Revelation 12:11 it says that the devil is overcome by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus’ death on the cross) and the word of our testimony. My friends, we must give God credit for all He does in our lives, how He teaches us, recognize when He protects us, how He blesses us and however else you can give your testimony. You may just credit Him to your spouse and children, or it may be in front of a group. But this is what we must do as the Church and once again be the people of God in which He is waiting.