Unprecedented Worldwide Awakening and Spiritual Conflict
[Reading time: 23 minutes] Note: This material is based on words of the Lord to Larry Fox from 2008 through 2018 (updated). Some of the items specifically relate to the United States of America, but similar events almost certainly will occur around the world
Nature of the Awakening
The Bible says in the end times, God will pour out his Spirit on all people and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations (Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 24:14). A spiritual awakening is beginning around the world in fulfillment of those verses.
God will release his nature, power and authority in us more powerfully and more widespread than the day of Pentecost or any revival since then. Why? Because this is a key element of the end times. The battle between God’s and Satan’s kingdoms is reaching a climax throughout the world and the heavens, producing the events of the last days.
This will be the most challenging, exciting and fulfilling time of our lives. Many have cried out to see his glory and power; but when we see it, it’ll overwhelm us with wonder because it’ll exceed everything we’ve imagined. In the past, we’ve seen food multiplied, diseases healed, limbs restored and shattered lives made whole. But what we’re about to experience will be many times greater and will include miracles never seen before in human history. As Jesus said before he left the earth, his followers will do even greater things than he did because he’s now before our Father interceding in our behalf. We’ll be ecstatic when we see God openly and gloriously destroy the enemy’s work.
As we turn to him, he’ll respond by turning to us. As we seek his face, he’ll give us the resources we need – ideas, inventions, finances, materials – to do the work he ordained for this phase of human history. We’ll be despised and honored; despised by those who hate him and honored by those whom we bless.
We’ll see him in operation and experience the transforming power of his glory as we’ve always wanted. Miracles will be commonplace and the extraordinary will be typical.
This awakening isn’t a “big name” movement or revival, but will involve ordinary people. It’s always been God’s intent to work through every believer, not a select few. His Holy Spirit within us does the work, provides the direction and produces the results. In previous great awakenings in America, a few ordinary people became well-known for their sermons, music, institutions and such. This current awakening is beginning in ordinary people scattered across the earth and will produce breakthroughs and developments benefiting everyone.
Escalating Spiritual Conflict
Spiritual Invasion
In response to this great spiritual awakening, the dark kingdom will unleash perversion, decadence and corruption to offset it, changing American culture as the wicked become even more so. Evil always assaults righteousness, so the spiritual forces of darkness will cause the wicked to revolt against the righteous. The spiritual revival will be followed by a plunge into depravity.
The veil between the spiritual and physical realms is about to tear, giving beings from each realm greater access to the other. While this suddenly allows the forces of darkness to invade, it will also allow God’s ministering servants to swarm into our presence to fulfill his plan for us. Everyone on earth will engage in severe, spiritual warfare.
Fallen angels, demons, giants and terrifying chimera will seemingly invade the earth and wickedness will escalate dramatically. Their goal will be to corrupt or destroy everything and everyone associated with God. The openness and fierceness of evil will seem astounding, and the brazenness and celebration of evil will become widespread, even commonplace. The earth-dwellers will rejoice in their perversion and commit the vilest acts imaginable in public, totally debasing themselves. While we’d expect that of the unredeemed, it will affect many of God’s family, too. These events are already developing and will increase in severity and frequency until Jesus returns.
God has seen the wickedness on earth and it’s always grieved him because it corrupted mankind, his most prized creation. Nothing new has happened since Adam and Eve sinned; people have simply added new ways to indulge themselves and imagined new reasons to reject God. The increase in wickedness doesn’t change any of his plans because he fully anticipated it.
Unimaginable abuses by demonically-driven people and beings on earth will be nauseating even to the earth-dwellers. But where sin increases, God’s grace increases even more.
Don’t focus on the sin of the ungodly. Be compassionate for them because they’re humans created in God’s image and likeness who have embraced the devil’s lies and will experience the same eternal judgment. God is grieved to see what they’re doing and becoming, yet he honors their choices. In contrast, he rejoices over every individual who turns to him and he eagerly anticipates having all of us with him forevermore. We can’t begin to imagine how wonderful that will be.
Spiritual Polarization
Great persecution will arise unlike anything in American history, affecting every part of our culture because it will be a spiritual conflict. It will become evident in every aspect of society and culture. Civil discourse will become impossible where powers of darkness have the greatest influence. Even the public media will reflect the hostility toward God’s people — news reporting, music, the Internet, commercial advertisements and more. We’ll see open hostility to every form of morality and righteousness, a demonically-inspired revulsion against God and his people. The dark side will be hostile and use every evil tactic to belittle the saints and try to destroy God’s influence, but his people will turn away from the world’s ways and will be victorious.
The evil assaults will take some lives, and the ungodly will destroy property, demand legislation and acceptance of the vilest forms of evil. But God will use the enemy’s worst efforts to produce the best results in his people. Sin and all of its expressions will be repulsive to us, and we’ll turn to him with all our hearts. The contrast between the kingdoms will be obvious and everyone — evil and righteous — will agree that his judgment on evil is just.
Entire regions of righteousness will develop in America, just as there will be regions of absolute depravity. In most areas, however, spiritual conflict will be continuous as citizens of the two kingdoms interact in their normal daily activities. Public forums will reflect the spiritual conflict. Citizens of both spiritual kingdoms will petition lawmakers and try to influence government leaders. It’ll be obvious who belongs to each kingdom, because each will be like his spiritual father.
The spiritual war will escalate rapidly and there will be open conflicts in the streets; not with weapons or brute physical force, but authority opposed to rebellion, true power opposed to imagery. People who reject God will succumb to strong delusion, making them incapable of believing truth. Only a spiritual intervention will set them free and that’s where our spiritual authority will be effective. Without such an intervention, they’ll consider truth a lie and their bias will make truth intolerable. That’s one reason they’ll get angry when presented with truth; also, the demonic being deluding them will react violently to godly truth.
There will be a great contrast; severe hardship and widespread blessings. Major, unsolvable problems will overwhelm America’s president and top government leaders. The true church will grow rapidly and there will be widespread miracles, new technologies and cures.
God will bless his people worldwide. This will anger Satan, who will desperately and foolishly try to erase every trace of God’s goodness and blessing, so he can deceive the world and seize all of humanity as his prize. He’s the father of lies and he believes himself. It will appear he has won, but Jesus will return to set the record straight. No one can successfully resist him; no one.
Righteousness and evil will increase, as will the conflict between them. Notice the biblical statement that even the saints would be overwhelmed if God didn’t cut those days short.
The American government and culture are already turning against God’s people, the true church, and the response to the awakening will be a demonically-inspired, maniacal hatred of him and everyone associated with him. In some places, persecution of Jews and Christians will be legal because they’ll be a clear threat to the increasing sin. The ungodly will revel in their sinfulness and totally despise anyone who doesn’t endorse it. Anyone with godly spiritual discernment will see the source of that hatred as Satan himself.
Our spiritual authority will be increasingly important as the conflict escalates. Satan and his subordinates literally are challenging God’s authority and fighting for their survival, with all of humanity engaged in that conflict. Spiritual authority is essential to overcoming demonic hindrances and handling encounters with evil spirits and terrifying beings roaming the earth. The hearts of those who aren’t prepared will fail them, but those who rely on God and understand the authority he gave them will thrive.
The dark kingdom is preparing people to embrace its [version and perspective]; we’re to introduce God’s. Some people will ridicule and reject what we say, but we’ll have fulfilled our responsibility. We shouldn’t take it personally when people treat us badly, but rejoice that we’re actively engaged in God’s kingdom and promoting truth to counter the enemy’s lies. We’re responsible for delivering the message and those who hear it are responsible for how they respond.
The turmoil in the spiritual and physical realms will increase as the end times reach their climax. The turmoil will be due in part to our increasing effectiveness as we purify ourselves and engage the kingdom of darkness as we should. God’s developing a cadre of people who will disciple, train and lead others in that conflict.
We’ll speak truth to citizens of Satan’s kingdom, but they won’t hear our voices. They’ll embrace wickedness by engaging in perversion, the occult and every form of self-indulgence, and eventually become incapable of receiving the truth. We’ll keep presenting the hope of the good news to them, because God is merciful and loves them, but they won’t be receptive. In the end, he’ll be forced to judge them for rejecting his love. He’ll honor their free will and not force himself on them. They’ll choose Satan and his ways, and they’ll share his eternal torment — total and irreversible separation from God and his blessings, without hope of relief from their punishment.
Effect on God’s People
Response to Evil
The increased conflict between spiritual kingdoms will purify God’s people. As we’re refined, we’ll reject the “great American dream” and embrace his kingdom reality, willingly exchanging materialism and self-indulgence for spiritual maturity and glory.
Christians who have ignored God’s pleas for intimacy and maturity won’t be strong enough to resist the flood of evil. Many try to live in both worlds, claiming the benefits of salvation yet living like the world, but will gladly walk away from God to indulge in gross immorality. Wickedness will increase and the love of most will grow cold. Recall the parables that speak of household servants thrown outside where there is great sorrow and suffering. God grieves over those who have experienced his goodness but will reject him and chase after the world.
Don’t be preoccupied with the evil ones and their perversion. Instead, focus on God and what he’s doing to transform his children. Be amazed at what he’s doing to uphold righteousness and destroy unrighteousness. Celebrate as we see him pour out his Spirit on those who love and serve him. Be filled with awe as we see him dispense justice and vindicate those whom the enemy has assaulted. Just watch him complete every detail of his plan and every letter of his law. Join him and participate in all he’s about to do.
There are two reasons he wants us to do this: he wants us to be part of everything he does, and our participation is a vital part of our transformation. As we work with him, we’re stretched and strengthened. His Spirit flows through us to perform his will; to transform us into his image; to teach us his ways through first-hand experience; to teach us how to apply spiritual laws and principles, also through first-hand experience; and to prepare us for our eternal role in his kingdom.
As the Bible states, he works absolutely everything we experience together for our good, so the benefits we receive far exceed our problems. He’ll even cause the coming flood of perversion to transform us into his image. As we see the total devastation evil produces, we’ll gladly submit to the purifying work of his Spirit within us. Sin will become repulsive to us; absolutely sickening.
God has anticipated this since the beginning. Let the enemy show himself openly, let him parade evil and perversion, let the results of sin be made obvious to everyone. At the same time, God will release everything his people have cried out for — godly character, righteousness, holiness, glory, authority, power — on a scale never experienced before.
Now, as an increasing percentage of the population embraces darkness, the dark powers have greater authority to act and we’re seeing some of the results. The problems are spiritual in origin, not political, racial, financial or even religious. We can use our spiritual senses to detect and identify the destructive spirits, then use our spiritual authority to stop them.
Desperation
There will be a mighty release of God’s Spirit as people worldwide turn to him in despair. As human systems fail, they will rediscover the Holy Spirit’s power, which will dwarf the greatest human achievements. His power will completely overshadow the severity of the world’s problems for those who are willing to call out to him and receive his blessing. The depravity, hopelessness and turmoil will cause an unimaginable fear in those who trust themselves and human solutions.
The American government is already unable to handle the serious problems our nation faces and, as conditions worsen, the government will essentially become nonfunctional. The deteriorating conditions and failing government will cause many marginal Christians to turn to him out of desperation and fear. Others will try to numb themselves with decadent behavior, just like the earth-dwellers.
Don’t let any of that affect you. God’s allowing the events of that phase specifically to encourage people to turn to him. Not as punishment for sin — punishment which will come when he pours out his wrath in the Day of the Lord — but as the strongest possible plea for them to turn to him.
Everything will radically change. Right now, most of us go to work to earn a living, but soon we’ll go to work to advance and promote God’s kingdom. Instead of driving to shopping centers daydreaming about what we want to buy, we’ll be earnestly looking for opportunities to touch people’s lives and meet their needs. Rather than sitting around visiting, engaged in casual conversation, we will openly share the hope and strength we have in him. We’ll gladly share what little material goods we have to help others and he’ll multiply what we have left. If we are trustworthy with a little, he’ll entrust us with much more.
We’ll understand how he functions within the covenant he made with us. When circumstances deteriorate and his blessings increase, the scriptures we’ve known for years but never taken seriously will suddenly come alive. Unfortunately, most people won’t be passionate for him during what they consider good times; which in reality are not good, but only times of relative peace and prosperity. They only consider those good times because they’re preoccupied with the world system and virtually ignorant of the peace and prosperity God offers.
We have nothing to fear because he’ll provide everything we need. We’ll experience all the covenant blessings firsthand. We’ll see him at work in us and everything we do. We’ll see his angels dispatched to destroy everything that threatens us. We’ll see his supernatural care and provision far beyond what we could ever imagine. He’ll delight in blessing us, rejoice in our love for him, and honor us in front of those who hate him. While he protects us from the extreme evil rampant throughout the world, he’ll allow those who hate him to experience all the evil they want, along with its results.
We need to be confident that he’ll provide everything we need, even the words we should say. If we trust him completely, we have nothing to fear, but if we trust ourselves, we’ll fail because the spiritual attacks will overwhelm us. He’ll openly display his authority and power through ordinary believers and we’ll be delighted to work with him. No fear. We’ll be awed by his presence, but not afraid of the devil.
Spiritual Maturity
It will appear Satan is winning, despite worldwide awakening and spiritual growth in true Christians. Scripture says God works everything together to produce compounded benefits for our good. It also says that dark periods or severe tests are essential for spiritual development. So we can see how he’ll use the worst of Satan’s persecution to produce the best in us. It’ll be a refining by fire, in which the hottest temperature produces the greatest value. He’ll do what’s best in the long term for us by using what’s by comparison light and momentary troubles.
God intends to cause his people to flourish in the gifts and abilities he gave them, fulfill the destiny he ordained for them in every detail, and live continuously in his grace and power. And no one can prevent him from doing it. If we only understood what he’s already shown us – if we pondered, explored, meditated on and embraced what he said – we would immediately abandon our lofty human goals and embrace his. But because we’re focused on normal human existence and succeeding by the world’s standards, we’re largely ignorant of his promises, though he continually reminds us. He’s done all he can do and said everything he can say. It’s up to us to turn from the wickedness and self-indulgence of the world and turn to him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Not because we think he’ll give us more worldly goods and indulgences to enjoy, but because we realize how meaningless, futile and depraved the world system is and how much he loves us.
This why God is now emphasizing spiritual maturity. Without maturity, we won’t be able to engage in the great flood of righteousness and glory he’s about to release on us, or withstand the invasion of filth that will follow the awakening.
God works with each of us to purify, refine, heal and strengthen us. When he releases the flood of holiness, we’ll see a simultaneous change in people around the world.
There’s nothing passive about God’s kingdom and passivity is not a valued trait. Scripture refers to the “zeal of the Lord” because he’s intensely passionate about righteousness and restoring his people. He’s developing his nature in us and we’ll become zealous beyond what we think is possible. As we see the depths of perversion and corruption sin produces, we’ll embrace godly nature and righteousness with a passion that will astound even the angels around God’s throne. When we see the full reality of sin, we’ll adamantly reject it because we’ve experienced him. We’ll see the sheer danger and foolishness of flirting with sin, and we’ll praise him for his grace that brought us out of its destruction.
Passivity is the result of spiritual slumber or dullness. As we become more aware of God and begin seeing the spiritual pollution in society, spiritual passivity will no longer be possible. As we develop spiritually, we’ll become zealous for God, all that he is and everything he does. Our zeal will compel us to act.
The enemy will become openly hostile, assaulting everything related to God. But we’ll use our authority to take down the principalities and powers of evil.
The entire world will need the mercy and grace he’ll pour out through us, which is why he’s emphasizing spiritual maturity in us now. It’ll enable us to withstand the evil and share his goodness with those willing to receive it.
Don’t let the potential suffering distract or discourage you; instead, embrace that cross for the purity it will produce in you. As sin increases, so will God’s grace, power and everything else you need increase even more. As circumstances worsen, your development will increase even more. You will get better as the world gets worse, more rapidly and to a greater degree.
While the world plummets to the depths of evil, God will use those circumstances to develop, mature and purify those who love and rely on him. When it appears the devil is totally corrupting mankind, God will be radically transforming his people into his own image.
Victory is Guaranteed
We don’t need to be afraid, because Jesus defeated Satan on the cross. But the enemy will viciously attack, desperately trying to regain control. He’s deluded himself into thinking he’s winning, but God’s only allowing him to do what conforms to his will, which includes revealing the destructiveness of sin and the justice of his judgment.
To some it may appear Satan is winning, but Jesus will arrive on the scene to impose the victory. Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Premier of all authorities. No one can effectively challenge or dispute him.
Everyone who has declared his right to live as he pleases will kneel before him and confess he is Lord. Whoever demands the freedom to indulge in sin will admit that only righteousness is acceptable. They will experience the eternal torment designed for Satan and his angels, knowing their sentence is right and the result of their own free choices.
Until then, we must strive to persuade people with the good news, that Jesus died for them and they still have time to receive the gift of salvation. We’ll become mighty activists declaring the freedom of righteousness versus the bondage of sin.
He’s delighted about every opportunity to include us in what he does. He created humanity specifically to be like him and with him at all times, to share in all he has, to participate in everything he does. What he’s done in the past doesn’t begin to compare with what he’s preparing to do in the future. The darkness and foul stench of sin’s destruction will fill the earth, but the glory, power and purity of his presence in us will outshine it all and cleanse everyone who turns to him. Satan’s greatest efforts are nothing compared to what God accomplishes with just the words he speaks.
Those who understand this and turn to him, holding nothing back, will discover his utter greatness and what he’ll do through them. Our mutual enemy is nothing compared to God; the world’s system is depraved and worthless compared to his.
Christians will deliver miracles and acts of grace that far exceed the depraved behavior in the world. While evil excels among the depraved, righteousness and majesty and glory will excel among us, unlike anything before in human history. Every being in heaven, on earth and under the earth will acknowledge God’s ways are completely just, including his judgment of sin.
Preparation
Now is the time to prepare ourselves for what’s ahead and turn to God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength. If we allow him to purify us now, the coming hardships won’t affect us as much. It’ll be painful and more difficult for us if we wait until the collapse and make the changes under great stress.
Those who don’t prepare themselves will succumb to evil through over-stimulation and self-indulgence, and their love will grow cold. A cold person doesn’t care about anyone else’s needs or desires, because their psyche is hard and their spirit is lifeless. People who ignore or reject God will become treacherous and easily forsake and even kill others.
Restoration of our spiritual senses is essential to our success in the days ahead. We’ll need to sense and identify the forces of darkness, the spiritual laws and principles involved, the beings God sends to provide what we need, and the glory he releases on us. We won’t understand everything we sense, but we’ll learn, our senses will develop, and our spiritual insight will greatly improve.
Most of us preoccupy ourselves with daily life, which is meaningless, compared with what God will do through us. We must change how we think and train ourselves to be aware of what is happening in the spiritual realm. If we follow him one step at a time, he’ll prepare us now by using our deteriorating society and culture to purify us and draw us closer to him.
Once we’ve completed our life purpose, we may have the honor of giving our lives for him, proving we love him more than life and his judgment of sin is just. Physical death is graduation to his heavenly presence.
We can be confident of God’s goodness, regardless of what we experience. That eternal, glorious hope will sustain, protect, provide and strengthen us.
We must focus on what he’s doing, yet stay aware of what’s happening in the world so we know where we are in time and what he plans to do through us. If we make his kingdom and righteousness our top priorities, we won’t have to concern ourselves with anything else.
We still have time to prepare ourselves spiritually, but we must do so deliberately and aggressively. The stronger we are spiritually and the stronger our relationship is with him, the greater victory we’ll have over the spiritual assaults and the more effective we’ll be doing his end-times work.
Eternal Benefit
God will enable us to flourish in the days ahead, but our experiences will also help us grow into our eternal destinies. Instead of viewing end-times events just as the results of eons of spiritual conflict — which they are — learn to see them as training opportunities, circumstances that promote growth and development. Just as Jesus focused on the benefits his death would provide us, we need to focus on the benefits the end-times will produce in us.
End-times events will produce a new kingdom on the earth, but also a new family of beings to rule that kingdom with God. The old will pass away and everything will become new — a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem, a new kingdom, and a new people. We’ll participate in everything he does, be like him, and experience him as he really is. A fully redeemed humanity, the pinnacle of all creation, the ones he loved and destined from the beginning. That is what our light and momentary afflictions are helping us become.
Summary
The greatest spiritual movement in history has already begun. It will involve ordinary people around the world as Holy Spirit directs us and produces the results. Miracles will be commonplace and the extraordinary will be typical. But the world will respond with a demonically-inspired hatred of God and his people.
Fallen angels, demons and terrifying beings will seemingly invade the earth and wickedness will escalate dramatically. Spiritual warfare will erupt throughout the world and the heavens, producing end-times events, and everyone on earth will be involved. It’ll be obvious who belongs to each kingdom.
The dark kingdom will unleash perversion, decadence and corruption to offset the awakening. The ungodly will celebrate their sinfulness and despise anyone who doesn’t approve. Widespread persecution will be the worst in history. But where sin increases, God’s grace will increase even more.
As conditions deteriorate, governments will become dysfunctional. As we seek God’s face, however, he’ll give us whatever we need to do the work he ordained for this phase of human history.
He’s emphasizing spiritual maturity in us now, so we can participate in the supernatural work he wants to do through us. Those who aren’t sufficiently prepared will succumb to the wickedness. Our ability to use our spiritual authority will be increasingly important as the conflict escalates.
Some of us may be honored to sacrifice our lives for him to show that we love him more than life and that his judgment of sin is fully justified. We can be confident of God’s goodness, regardless of what we experience. If we make his kingdom and righteousness our top priorities, we won’t have to worry about anything else.
God will enable us to flourish in the days ahead, and our experiences also will help us grow into our eternal destinies. Just as Jesus focused on the benefits his death would provide us, we need to focus on the benefits the end-times will produce in us.
Also read: “Authoritative Prayer Strategy for Unprecedented Worldwide Awakening”