Those Who Do NOT Whine, Are the Ones That Will SHINE!

Good Morning My Loves,

I spoke with one of my spiritual sons who attended the AzusaNow gathering in Los Angeles over the weekend, and he was “bubbling,” over the things he received from the Lord there. The event was put on by Lou Engle, and it is reported that he sold his home and sacrificed greatly to bring 100,000 believers together to seek God for another great awakening in our generation. I stayed home to take care of the church and home base, so I shut myself in for prayer and fasting to pray over the event the whole day. I watched much of it by live stream and was struck by the unity and hunger of those who attended. I sensed the presence and pleasure of God as I observed all that was going on across the nation. There were prayer gatherings taking place in several locations, and everyone was unified and praying in one accord!

It was a rainy day here in the Central Valley, and I knew the rain was forecasted in Southern California as well. Knowing the nature of humans, and their tendency to resist anything “uncomfortable,” I began to pray that those who went on pilgrimage to be a part of such an epic event would not allow their desire for comfort to deter them from receiving all that God had for them.

My son said, “Mom, it was powerful, but you could definitely see who was “all in,” and who was just there to see what was going on! When it started raining, some people left. But, we stood in line for hours and we weren’t going to give up because of a little rain. We pressed in closer, stayed, worshiped, and received what we came for!” I was so proud of him and all those who endured discomfort to receive from the Lord.

I immediately thought of the admonition of Jesus to His disciples about how they must be willing to endure hardship to be His followers.

Luke 9:23-24 (AMP)

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [EXPRESSING A WILLINGNESS TO ENDURE WHATEVER MAY COME] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

WOW. That scripture convicts me all the time. Every time I’m tempted to whine about how uncomfortable I am, I’m reminded that I must “express a willingness to ENDURE WHATEVER MAY COME.”

When we make a commitment to follow Jesus, we cannot be “fair weather” Christians, or “fair weather” friends of Jesus. We must not be those that wake up on a rainy day and say, “I can’t go to church today, I can’t follow through on my commitments today, because of small challenges.

We must be like Paul, who endured storms, beatings, shipwreck, hunger, nakedness, prison, and numerous other hardships to fulfill his calling. I love the fact that Paul said, “And the Lord stood by me and gave me strength!”

2 Timothy 4:17 (AMP)

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened and empowered me, so that through me the [gospel] message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the mouth of the lion.

As I heard my son’s testimony, I had a vision of those who were there standing in the most brilliant glory. I saw angels pouring oil upon them. They all began to SHINE!

The Lord said, “Those who do NOT whine, are the ones that will SHINE!”

“This is a season of greater power and anointing than they’ve ever seen. I’m releasing new strength, new glory, opening new doors, and giving new opportunities to those who are “willing to endure whatever may come.” Those who are willing to suffer and even die because of their faith in me. They are not whiners, but My SHINERS! All of heaven is rejoicing over these tenacious laborers. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers have been few. There is a new crop of laborers that are not afraid of “LABOR!” They are not concerned about their own comfort as much as they are doing My will. They place a higher value on souls, than they do their own comfort. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to bring in the harvest. Again, those that whine, will not shine. But, those who do not whine, will SHINE FOR ALL OF HEAVEN AND EARTH TO SEE, and GREAT SHALL BE THEIR REWARD!”

I love you all! PV