Awake O Sleeper

I awoke because someone shook the bed, as if standing at the foot and pressing hard on the mattress several times. It couldn't be Tony moving around, or Jack who sleeps at our feet. It was too strong, too distinct.

I got up to go to the bathroom, half expecting an angel on the way. Goose bumps ran over my scalp and down my back. If I didn't physically see an angel, my spirit did.

The words, "Awake sleeper" came to mind. I looked at the clock, it was 12:53.

Eph 5:14 -16 says, "This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

Romans 13:11 says, "Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

God is calling us, shaking us awake in this hour. Make wise use of our time. The days are evil. Salvation is nearer than we believed.

Two days ago I had a dream where I was running (ugh! my least favorite thing to do) along a suburban street. It was hard, slow and I was forcing myself forward. I crossed over a street, and suddenly, running was easy, fun and fast. I soared. Somehow, I ended up in an alley way, the kind found between inner city apartments. There were several teenage boys and one said to me, "I want to know the meaning of life."

I said, "Oh easy, I can tell you the meaning of life." I was excited and I told another kid to go get Tony. Then I woke up.

A few days later, I'm shaken awake. I think running is a symbol of evangelism. For most of us, it's hard, isn't it? But if we endure, there will be a suddenly of God when we soar, and it becomes easy.

As for the time on the clock, I knew that 12:53 stood for a Bible verse. It would be odd to find a book with 12 chapters and 53 verse. I thought it might be Luke. Sure enough.

Luke 12:53 - 54, "They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It's going to rain,’ and it does."

Notice how accurate weathermen are today? We have that same "technology" by the Holy Spirit to recognize the spiritual clouds and winds, rain and sunshine of our generation. We must recognize the signs of the times. Understanding the days in which we live, becoming spiritual weathermen. The harvest is ripening.

Isaiah 54 says, "Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, And your descendants will possess nations, And will resettle the desolate cities."

Tents speak of where we dwell - our homes, community and heart. We must braid ourselves together with the Lord, strengthen our inner man (Eph 3:16) so that Christ dwells in us, so that we are rooted and grounded in love. These "descendants," end time radical lovers of Jesus and each other, will possess the nations! They will bring the gospel of the Kingdom to desolate cities and peoples.

Awake, O sleeper. I know I'm asleep in many ways, so I cry out for the Lord to waken my heart, to awaken the lulled areas of my life. If I'm divided against those I love - family and friends - to stand with Him, then so be it.

Recognize the times. The days are evil. "Awaken me, Lord. Awaken us!! Cause us to be wise. Every looking, ever seeing."