"The Price of Compromise"
August 9, 2012

Today, I will expound on the visitation from the Lord mentioned in the August 7th post. The Lord placed great emphasis on Samson, as He was speaking to me about the condition of today’s church and the “suddenly” moves of God. To fully understand what the Lord is saying, we must see the symbolism in the life of Samson and how it relates to the “church of Jesus Christ” today. First of all, Samson was a Nazarite. A Nazarite by definition is “one who is separated unto God”. Because of his calling, He was greatly anointed by God to fight against the Philistines, the enemy of Israel. The word Philistine means “a wanderer”. The Philistines got into the Promised Land, but NOT by the way of the Red Sea or the Jordan. They were able to get into the land “another way”. Though Samson walked in a great anointing and was used mightily by God, it was his connection to the Philistine “women” that became his downfall. His first mistake was marrying a Philistine woman. After her death, he continued have relationships with other Philistine women which led him into a life of immorality. But God still gave him grace and the anointing continued to rest upon him, until one day, he awoke, and SUDDENLY the anointing had departed! Delilah had managed to charm him into telling her the secret of his strength. When he awoke from sleep, everything changed. Judges 16:20 says, “Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.” The Bible says that the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. The strong, invincible Samson was reduced to a weak, helpless and blind captive. Now what does this story have to do with us today? Why did God mention this to me on Tuesday night and why did He say, “WARN MY PEOPLE”? Here is the explanation: Samson is a type of the “church” today. We are called of God and anointed to war against the enemy. We are fierce in battle, strong in the power of the Holy Spirit; we are Nazarites (separated unto God). God has anointed us to live a super-natural life. But instead of remaining “separated” unto God and being “in the world, not of the word”, we have compromised “WITH” the world. The word “Philistine” means “a wanderer” and links with the “rolling (looking left and right) of the eyes” or “eyes that wander”. Samson got off track when he took his “eyes” off the Lord and placed them on the Philistine women. His wandering eyes brought defilement to his life. The lust of the eyes led him to the life of immorality. The Philistines did not get into the land the way that Israel did. Crossing the Red Sea and Jordan represent the “cross”. The Israelites went the way of the cross, but he Philistines got into the land “ANOTHER way”. The Philistines represent those who PROFESS the Christian life but don’t POSSESS it! They have not come to God by the way of the cross. They had “another god” named Dagon. Dagon was half man and half fish. Here we see “mixture”. Professing Christians who worship a foreign god! It is exactly what the “priests” of Ezekiel’s day were doing in the Temple of God in Ezekiel 8. Because we have “set our eyes” on the world, we have allowed mixture to come into the PURE Christianity. Our wandering eyes have led us astray from the path of holiness and righteousness and we have embraced the system of the world, taking the GRACE OF GOD for granted…thinking that we can continue to live a life of mixture and God’s anointing will remain upon us. But we wake up one day and realize that the anointing has departed. Compromising with the world and its ways will cause us to experience Samson’s captivity: He lost his eyes; He lost his anointing; He lost his freedom. He was bound to a mill and walked blindly around in circles. This, sad to say, is where many of God’s people are today. We have become Laodicea. Read the words of the Lord to the Laodicean church in Rev. 3:17, “You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and BLIND and naked.” We have lost our spiritual vision! We have lost the anointing! We have lost our freedom in Christ and are in bondage to sin! We are walking around in circles, around and around the same mountain because we are doing it in our own strength and have lost the power of God in our lives! It’s interesting to note that the very thing that caused Samson to fall into sin (the lust of the EYES) is the very thing that he lost! Before I continue, I must let you know that I am shedding tears are I write to you today. How does the heart of God break to see the condition of the church today? We are the ones that He has entrusted with His anointing so that we can preach the Gospel to the world so that they can be saved. But look at us! We need to be saved! We are lost! We are blind! We are in bondage! May God open our EYES to see our condition so that we can repent and come back to Him in full surrender. Though the story of Samson seems like a loss, God is going to change what seems to be a LOSS into a GAIN! For at the end of Samson’s life, he PRAYED. What an emotional prayer that brings one to tears… “And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Notice his prayer, “REMEMBER ME and STRENGTHEN ME”. In other words, “God, I know I failed you, but I repent and I ask you to use me ONE MORE TIME. Restore the anointing ONE MORE TIME. Strengthen me ONE MORE TIME. Use me against the enemy ONE MORE TIME!” …And God heard His prayer… Samson was used ONE MORE TIME, but this time it was the greatest. The Philistines were EATING, DRINKING, and MAKING MERRY in their temple. They were having a party and celebrating Dagon. As they brought Samson into the temple to mock and ridicule him, the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson ONE MORE TIME. God used him to destroy the Philistine temple all who were inside. He killed more of his enemies in his death than in his life!

So what is God saying through all of this?

Though the church of today is backslidden in sin and in bondage to the world and has lost their vision, God still has not given up on them. Just as God SUDDENLY removed the anointing, God will SUDDENLY return it to a REPENTANT church. God is warning us today because of His love. It is the stubborn love of God that continues to cry out for His “wandering” children to come home. How long can we continue to live without vision, operate without the anointing and keep going in circles around the same mountain? Salvation is a free gift, but it will COST YOU to follow Jesus. Our Lord’s words in Revelation 3:18 must be heeded, “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire…” Pay close attention to His words! He does not say, “TAKE OF ME”, He says, “BUY OF ME”. To “buy” something means that there is a PRICE involved. WHAT IS THE PRICE? The price is “full surrender”. And friend, “full surrender” is much easier said than done. Full surrender costs you EVERYTHING. There can be no mixture. It’s all or nothing. Full surrender is “YOUR ALL on THE ALTAR”! It is DYING TO SELF! When Samson died to self, his spiritual vision was restored. The only way is the way of the cross. Any other way is the way of the Philistine. Pay the price of full surrender now or forfeit your vision. We all face this choice every single day. God is truly bringing a message loud and clear to His church today. “Compromise with the world will bring SUDDEN destruction”. We can be sure of this fact that God is going to bring SUDDEN destruction upon the world. We have seen it in the past, but we are about to see it again in greater measure. He is warning His people because He loves us. May we all become “Nazarites” again. May we become “separated” unto God and live the life of holiness, righteousness and full surrender. May we be in the world, but not of the world. May our vision be restored. May the anointing of the Holy Spirit COME UPON us again and empower us to RISE U against the forces of hell. May our latter years be GREATER than our former. We are now in the 8th month, meaning “new beginning”. A new beginning awaits all who will hear the voice of God today and pay the price of full surrender. There is still so much more to be said regarding the visitation and Word that the Lord spoke on August 7th post. I will be writing more in the days to come as the Holy Spirit continues to reveal it to me.