“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
Russia attacking Ukraine. Tariffs, inflation, job losses. The US adds 1 trillion to the national debt every 5 months. Minnesota school shooting. Young Ukrainian woman murdered on a train. Charlie Kirk murdered. Witchcraft and the occult exploding. Ministry leaders exposed daily for porn, affairs, adultery, sexual abuse. Strife, insults, hatred, and cruelty are the norm.
This is the asylum we’re living in. The US now averages just under two mass shootings per day (a mass shooting is when 4 or more people are shot). This week 3 Pennsylvania police offers were fatally shot; two others wounded, and a San Diego pastor was shot and killed in his home. April of this year, a pastor was murdered in his home here in Phoenix. What happened to Charlie Kirk wasn’t an anomaly, but a continuation of the all-out assault of evil that has been rampaging across the globe for years. The gloves came off in 2020 when Covid hit; the enemy no longer tried to hide or convince people he doesn’t exist. He’s right in our faces, seemingly daring the church and Christians to step up and fight. Any church that doesn’t talk openly about the last days we’ve entered in, equip their people in spiritual warfare, make prayer a priority, and help its people overcome their struggles with sin is missing the mark. Some call recent events a “wakeup call.” The wakeup calls and warnings have been screaming at us for 25 years and there have been few voices warning with a sense of urgency.
During this time of living in the Asylum, we must be careful with our heart.
Stepping back from the Asylum to realign our hearts and lives with God must be a daily practice.
A long binge of the news is like shooting up with a toxic drug. The spirit and emotions can’t take in all that trauma without blowing a circuit. The to-the-minute news cycle breeds obsession, addiction, depression, anxiety, discouragement, exhaustion, and anger over situations that most of us have no control or influence over. Taking on all the weight of the news of the Aylum, every day, will eventually wear you down and harden your heart.
Hear me on this – you carefully watch and listen to the state of your heart. You must not allow your heart to go hard or cold. Knowing the latest news of the Asylum is far less important than keeping your heart soft before God.
Remember the enemy’s tactic during the last days.
“He shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for a time, times, and half a time.”
Daniel 7:25
Rest is critical now. If you’re burnt out, stop and rest. I talk to many believers who know little to nothing about rest, are spun up about what’s happening in the Asylum, and are flying full speed ahead on the crazy-go-round, juiced by hours on their smartphone. Give it time and you’ll be an easy candidate for a nervous breakdown and a cocktail of psych meds.
Don’t allow the life blood of your relationship with God to be choked with fear, anxiety, or worry. A strong prayer life is non-negotiable. It’s also not the norm. In October 2024, the National Day of Prayer reported that “According to Barna Group, a Christian research organization, the average pastor spends five minutes a day in prayer, while the average Christian spends one minute.”
To the extent this is true, it’s a disaster; the fruit of a church that has evicted the prayer meeting from its doors. No church that doesn’t pray can say it’s a house of prayer, and Jesus called it.
In a time of ongoing spiritual warfare, you’re a dead man walking without a strong prayer life. That is, if you’re a true believer who is pouring yourself out for that which counts for eternity.
You must grow strong, deep roots in your relationship with God, every day. This means going hard after God in prayer, every day. The wickedness and violence we’re immersed in isn’t going to suddenly vanish. The enemy doesn’t make deals; he must be defeated. Read Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation. We need to warn our brothers and sisters in Christ to cut back their exposure to the Asylum… step back from it often… and walk close to God as if their life depends on it.
If your heart is hard, crusty, empty, or bitter, if depression, anxiety, fear, or hopelessness have found a home, realize that these are warning signals that your heart needs care and attention. Turn off the ipad, smartphone, PC, TV. Rest with God in silence. Go hard after Him, daily, asking Him to soften, heal, and strengthen your heart. Prayer is your most powerful weapon. Many Christians and churches don’t believe this or they would have been running prayer meetings seven days a week.
You ARE a part of a tribe of other believers, right? You’re not isolating yourself as so many are doing, right? This is the wrong time to be hanging out there alone. We need each other. You need others. This is also the wrong time to be in bondage to sin. Ask for help. Get plugged in. Don’t sit there and do nothing and expect a thunderbolt from above to suddenly make everything right.
The lukewarm and those who are playing church are going to have a rough time making it through the trials ahead.
We comfortable, soft, modern Christians aren’t used to all this turmoil. We’re too big to fall, we think. There will come a day when the runaway freight train of the national debt crashes into a wall, and/or the massive weight of our moral bankruptcy becomes so heavy that the fault lines split. Your comfort zone is your enemy; don’t allow yourself to be seduced into a false sense of comfort and security. Read your Bible.
Be careful with your heart, my friends.
Step away from the Asylum, often.
