Reaching Out
Who Can Refuse a Baby's Embrace?
May 3, 1996

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3:14

"Many, many are in the valley of decision in this day. Many are choosing between life and death at this very moment. Many Christians are in a struggle to press into God or remain on the fringe. This is a time of great upheaval in the hearts of men. For as surely as I have caused earthquakes, famine and floods on the face of the earth, so are these things going on in the hearts of men.

I have come to shake the earth - outwardly and in the inner chamber of the heart. I have come to shake loose the people of God from the grip of the enemy. For he has long held many who are Mine but it will not be so in these days.

For I have heard the cry of the humble and I shall make My presence known. I shall dwell in the midst of My people and speak clearly unto them. I shall call out from My house to others, 'Awake, oh people! Awake, oh earth!' For this is the day to choose life or death, peace or destruction. Life and peace will be within your walls, oh church, and many will stream to you to find it, for there will be no other safe place in the days ahead.

And as these people come, will they not add to the impurity and strife that already exists in the church? Will they not simply make matters worse? And I would say, 'No,' for the Lord is doing a work inside even now to prepare for their coming. The Lord is preparing His people to receive many. For His plan is much grander than to have many come only to be turned away in disappointment or added to an already disorderly mob. For there is a great purification going on such as when the hot coals touched the lips of Isaiah. A purification that is only just beginning to be seen in outward ways. A purification that will be enhanced by the receiving of many. For lovers of tradition and form will be outnumbered by those seeking God. Bitterness and rivalry will be squeezed out by baptisms and testimonies of salvation.

For when a child is born, many things the parents have done for years quickly fall by the wayside.

The care of the child takes precedence over selfish pursuits and leisure activity. The baby is hungry. The baby is wet. The baby can't sleep. The focus of life has suddenly changed.

Oh church, you will be so busy with new converts and those who have returned to God that much will be settled right then and there. There will be no time for the things that have consumed you but you will not mind. You will be happy about the change that has come. And even those who are not will soon come around as they hear the giggles and coos, as they watch the first steps and climbing attempts and as they feel the hugs and kisses on their neck. For who can refuse a baby's embrace?

And church that is how it will be with you. For just as a parent's lifestyle and attitudes change with the birth of a child, so will yours change when I bring children to you.

Oh, rejoice for your house will soon be full and even overflowing for many, many are on the brink of salvation. Many, many are going to be coming to you.

Wait for them. Go after them. Let your hearts be filled with expectation and wonderment for they are surely coming and you, oh church, will never be the same."