JULY 4TH PRECIS ON REFRESHMENT IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE: GOD’S CALL FOR LAST DAYS TRAILBLAZERS!

SCRIPTURE. “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands.” – PSALM 138:7, AMPC

KEY TERM: “REVIVE.” ‘Chayah’ [תְּחַ֫יֵּ֥נִי]: “‘To live or keep alive; give the promise of [new] life;’ to nourish up, preserve; to quicken or recover; repair, restore (to life from a deadened condition); related to obedience; to return from a despair of the spirit or faintness; to recover vigor; to be reanimated after depression; ‘to return to [vitality] from a state of neglect, oblivion, obscurity, or languor.’”

QUOTATION. “‘God is calling for a new breed of Trailblazers’ – those who purpose to live holy and set apart for His purposes. Those who’ve had encounters with God subsequent to salvation, encounters that empowered them with faith greater than their own. Trailblazers carry a FOUR POINT MESSAGE striking in similarity to John’s. (1) The Kingdom is near, it’s here; 2) They will call people to Repentance: To turn away from their current, sinful lifestyle and begin doing what God desires them do. 3) These Trailblazers will call people to live righteously out of a love affair with the Divine, not religiously. 4) Trailblazers confront the lies that people believe. Their Prophetic edge will confront lies in a loving manner, but with sharp, direct precision. ‘There is no room for compromise at the end of the Church Age!’ Trailblazers (also known as ‘Revivalists’) will demand that true Christians prove their faith by the way they live. ‘Revivalists demand Authentic Christianity and inspire us to it.’” – KATHRYN LEACH, Author, Lion in My Garden, 2018; edited

“TRAILBLAZER.” A Literal Trailblazer ‘blazes,’ or marks, trails in the wilderness. He or she does this by making marks or signs on trees and rocks at regular distances along a trail in order to help other hikers find their way. Figurative Trailblazers can also be called ‘pioneers or groundbreakers.’ These are innovators who make strides in fields like science, medicine, education, politics or theology. – Adapted from the Editors of Vocabulary.com, reg. May 16, 2024; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Though I walk in the midst of trouble’ — That is, be compassed with dangers; ‘Thou wilt revive me’ —Thou wilt cheer my spirit and preserve my life. ‘Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand’ —Put forth Thy almighty power; ‘against the wrath of mine enemies’ — To oppose and restrain their rage. 

‘The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me’ — Will finish that great work of my deliverance and advancement, which he hath undertaken, and carried on hitherto. ‘Thy mercy endureth for ever’ —It is not inconstant and changeable, as men’s affections are, but everlasting. And this may be either produced as a proof of the foregoing assertion, ‘The Lord will perfect,’ &c. — Or, as an argument to enforce the following petition. ‘Forsake not’ —Do not withdraw Thy Presence from me, who am thy creature, but continue to support and save me. Or, ‘leave not,’or, ‘do not desist from,’ or, ‘cease to carry on,’ as תרŠ, rather signifies, ‘the work,’namely of my salvation, which is thus far advanced, not by any human help, but by thy Power and Providence.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

DK’S TAKE. Ms. Leach’s excellent use of the term “Trailblazer” refers to those among us who, in the parlance of a military operation, “Ride Point,” or ride well ahead of the main force as Scouts to make sure the advance of the larger group is as safe and successful as possible.

In theological terms, these are those who are in obedience to Christ’s Command to “Be watchful,” who like the army sentry is “on that Wall” to look for TWO THINGS: (1) Signs of impending danger; (2) Signs of Messiah’s Return.

The two are linked tightly together in many passages, not the least of which is CHRIST’S OLIVET DISCOURSE:

“‘But be on guard,’ so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. But keep alert at all times [be attentive and ready], praying that you may have the strength and ability [to be found worthy and] to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man [at His coming].” – LUKE 21:34-36, AMPC

CODA. And in our vigilance and advancing forward for His Kingdon, remember that: ‘We get weary, but God does not!’  Further, to grow faint from our hard labors for Him is entirely predictable and quite normal. Even that is testimony to our fervent love for Him and His Truth, beloved.

So let me drive all this home with one of the most powerful, eloquent Promises of His to all who are sincerely following Him. ‘That you may bear up and rise up from your fatigue,’ whenever it is necessary. He shall not leave you there!

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted.  

‘But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; ‘They shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.’” – ISAIAH 40:28-31, AMPC

CODA. The best way for ‘His Faithful Remnant’ to find New Vigor is not to cower in some dark corner licking our wounds. May God forbid it! No, beloved, rather we are to SADDLE UP AND RIDE – to every single Mark along the Trail that God has personally set for us to reach.

Indeed, for such as these, ‘Refreshment’ is one of His names. He is the ‘Maqor’ [מְק֣וֹר] of Jeremiah’s Fountain of Living Waters Whom the ancient Hebrews had rejected, much as today’s American Church has done (2;13).

FOR THOSE WHO REMAIN. The Divine Flow of God’s Restorative Libation unto New Life, New Strength, and Resurrected Purpose is an Iron Promise to all who would: ‘Dare to become Trailblazers for the King in these treacherous Last Times!’