Obedience and Commitment are big things in Gods Kingdom

Reading in Acts 7 this morning the story through Stephen of Abraham being told by God to "Leave your country and your people and go the the land I will show you"  So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.  He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground.  But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child."

As I reflected on this and the journey of Abraham stepping out in faith into a land that he received no inheritance in but a promise of what was to come for his descendants of which we live in the fruit of that, I thought of todays generations in which often is only doing things that we want to do or that will benefit us personally as we live for 'today' not worrying about tomorrow.  A sense of if it feels good then do it, if it doesn't then we will move on -  perhaps I heard wrong from the Lord and so move in a different direction than what we believed the Lord had originally said to us.

This is not at all the message portrayed throughout scripture, rather it is one of obedience to what the Lord has said and walking through the trials that come and it wasn't of ones personal benefit but a trusting in the Lord and knowing that he would work it for our good.  Jesus when he went to the cross did it by faith trusting in his heavenly father that he would work it for good and we live in the promise because of his obedience, of his sacrifice.

I find we can often be obedient with what we hear God say to us but when it gets tough or challenging then we question whether we heard God correctly.
Commitment and Obedience are two words that currently are like 'dirty' words that are spoken I find within the church because people have been hurt and wounded and misunderstood what the Lord is trying to work in and through us through words such as these.  But if Abraham didn't make in his mind a commitment to follow the Lord and be obedient come what may, we would not be living as a children of faith, a children of promise and hope and future.  If Jesus didn't make a commitment to follow the Lord come what may, we would still be living as a people to rules and regulations without the freedom that comes through the cross.

If we are to be a people of the cross, a people of the promise, a people of faith, then we need to learn what these words mean in all their fullness.  We need to learn to let go of the past where our understanding of these words put a yoke around our necks that it became a 'bondage' or 'law' in which we find ourselves running from anything that would ever so slightly 'bind' us because that is not the truth of the gospel and what the Lord have you walk in.

Last week a person gave me a picture where he saw many plants coming to the point of blossom but not yet fruit but then they transplanted to another field and so went through the seasons again but again not yet bear fruit and then transplant again into another field and it was a picture he saw in the that people were not patiently walking through all the seasons in order to bear fruit but rather they were transplanting themselves before the blossom had a chance to fruit.  This picture can be translated into many situations, the church, in a work situation, in marriage, in a relationship, whatever it may be.

If Abraham hadn't been obedient and stayed in a land that he never saw the inheritance from which we would not be now living in the promise that the Lord gave him and we are called to be a children of faith, a children of the promise.
Heb 11:11-16  "By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numbers as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.....If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  Instead they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

The biting off of the poisonous finger & and the underground spring being released

Recently I have had two pictures which now the Lord is bringing a fullness of understanding to.
In the first vision I saw me biting off the tip of the pointing finger that was black and poisonous and I just knew it was demonic.
And the second vision I had only a couple of days ago was of a garden that was unkempt, dry and derelict that suddenly we found an underground irrigations system to and we turned it on and it started to rain and everything came back to life again.

And then this scripture was given to me over the weekend that I only saw this morning that has brought confirmation to what I believe the Lord is saying.

When there is a poisonous part of the body unless we do something with it, it will infect the rest of the body, like gangrene sometimes we have to take serious measures in order for the rest of the body not to become ill.  And although it seems extreme at the time, it is necessary to stop any further infection from spreading.  And it was very much like this with the pointing finger.

When I saw the biting off of the pointing finger I was reminded of this scripture in Isaiah 58:10
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday."

The pointing of finger and malicious talk is like gangrene to the body and it spreads and causes disease throughout the body and unless there is radical action that some may not like or perhaps even think is unnecessary, unless action is taken it will spread and destroy the whole body.
But then as it goes on in Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you always, he will satisfy your needs in a sun-torched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."

Both the visions I saw were brought together by Isaiah 58:10-11.  Malicious talk is poisonous for the body, whether individually and/or corporately and it is something the Lord has been dealing with of late both personally and as a church.   But if we do away with it, there is a promise that we will become that well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  

So I encourage you in this season, take care that your words are ones that don't come from the voice of the accuser as so easily be the case when we are hurt or wounded, justly or unjustly.  Our Father is the God of justice and he sees everything and he is the one in whom fights our battles for us.  So as I am learning to go to him and to 'keep my love on' when misunderstood, misrepresented or judged incorrectly, and in which I can then so easily slip into the very thing that has been done to me, I am reminded to do away with the pointing of finger and malicious talk.  It does not build up and encourage and see the people that God has put in my life as His beloved, His anointed, His and not mine.  This is a process in the Lord we are all growing in but I believe it is one in which the Lord is addressing in the body of Christ at the moment.  His body is called to be flourishing and like a well watered garden whose spring never fails and that bears fruit in and out of season.

Sleeping while driving?

How many of you have ever driven a car and you become so sleepy that you either need to pull over and sleep or you will crash or you continue to drive only to find yourself swerving to avoid a car that comes upon you or even worse find yourself in a crash.

The other day I had a vision where I was preaching and the whole back row in the gathering of men were asleep while I was preaching.   And today I had another vision of driving a car while so sleepy that it was going to cause an accident.

This is what is like for many in our spiritual walk in the Lord, we are going around in our lives spiritually asleep and if we continue to do so will have a serious crash at some point not only causing damage to yourself but to other people who you may not even know. 

Men particularly I challenge you to take a look at your lives to see whether you are hearing from the Lord, whether you are responding truthfully to the Holy Spirit and living as He would ask you to live or whether perhaps you are going ‘dull’ to the voice of the Lord and suggest that you take some time to seek His face above the other things that want to be first before Him.

Matt 25:5  “The bridegroom was a long time in coming and they all become drowsy and fell asleep…v13  Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour”.

Prov 6:4-5

“Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.  Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunters hand and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.”

We were praying on Thursday in the prayer room and a picture that someone saw was of a lamp that was no longer plugged into the power. 

Rev 2:4  “You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

Do you feel/know the anointing of God still, do you feel His power flowing through you, His anointing changing lives around you and so Rev 2 is always a good reminder and I know for myself to continually remember my ‘first love’ where it was ‘easy’ in the Lord, it wasn’t a chore to live the Christian life, it was what I wanted to do. Sometimes we get so busy in the ‘doing’ that we forget our first love, forget the reasons as to why we do what we do, forget the joy of serving and so to take a step asking the Lord to show you where perhaps you have fallen asleep, where you are not walking in the power of God as we ought, to remind you of your first love in Christ and what that looks like or should look like is always a good thing.

May the Lord bless you as you seek His face.

A trap in sharing your faith or your opinions.

When we share our faith or things we know in the Lord, we can so easily find ourselves considering ourselves better than others, and fall into a trap without even realising it.

This scripture that came to mind this morning as I was pondering on this was in Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given each of you.  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."

What does it look like to look at yourself with sober judgement?  Everything we have received has been received as a free gift given by the Lord, not because of anything we have earned or deserved it, but freely given, and in that place we become thankful for all that the Lord has given us, and not proud because we could not attain it on our own.  In looking at yourself with sober judgement you realise there is still much to learn, that you don't have it all together, that without Christ we have nothing.

Often in trying to help others or share with others the things the Lord has taught us, we may find ourselves entering into 'spiritual hierarchy' without even realising it, and in that place you are thinking of yourself more highly than you ought.     Recently Jim and I have been in discussions with several different cultures and walks of experience of faith in the Lord, in trying to see a vision that God has given fulfilled.  And although there were things we didn't yet see 'eye to eye' in, because of our different journeys in the Lord,  if we let those things divide us as people, we are no longer walking in love.  And yet they have things we need to learn, and we have things they need to learn.  If we enter into a place where we think we have all the answers and we can't learn anything from them, then we have entered into thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought.

Each of us has walked a different journey, each of us has been given different gifts and levels of faith.  So in this place its very important to look at yourself and not others and where they are at.

Romans 14:1-4  "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters.  One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.  The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.  Who are you to judge someone else's servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Through the passage above its not just talking about the food we eat but the judgement we put on another because of the things they may or may not do, the things they say or not say, the things they step out in and the things they don't in faith.  It covers every spectrum of our walk I believe where we want to judge and condemn another or ourselves and enter into disputable matters and fall into a trap of thinking one is more spiritual than another.  Yet we cannot judge God's servant because that person is accountable to God and not to us.

Romans 13:8  "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.  v10 Love your neighbour as yourself.  Love does no harm to its neighbour.  There love is the fulfillment of the law."

A debt remains outstanding if we can no longer have fellowship with another because of a difference of opinion, because of disputable matters, because of spiritual knowledge that separates instead of unites and we have fallen into a trap of considering ourselves more highly than we ought.

So I encourage you this morning, to take time on a regular basis to sit with the Lord and allow him to show you any area that you may find yourself thinking yourself more highly than you ought as it is so easy to do as we share our faith, our belief, our opinions with others.

The Dinah Sheets need changing.

Have you ever gone into a Hotel Room and smelling the smell of fresh clean sheets and a bed beautifully made?  Or even hoping into your own bed after you have changed the sheets and have beautiful fresh pillowcases?  Well this morning in a vision I saw a Hotel Room and the word that came from the Lord was - "The Dinah Sheets need changing" and knowing there was blood on the sheets and calling for a Hotel porter to come and bring new sheets. 

Dinah was Jacobs daughter and her story is told in Genesis 34.  She was a virgin, pure, but then Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, took her and violated her.  I encourage you to read the whole story and to see what takes place in retribution for her defilement.

But the point that I believe the Lord is wanting to show me and to bring, is that once we were pure in Christ, but things have happened to us that defile us, make us ‘unclean’, where we are no longer ‘pure’ and the Lord would say to you this morning, “change the sheets”, do something about it, take action, to become a pure bride again.  Like Dinah with Jacob, she was still his daughter, as we are still sons and daughters of God, but there are things we can do to remove and to change the ‘violation’ or the ‘defilement’ that has occurred in our lives.

When we become defiled we no longer see things from a pure heart, from a place of innocence and childlikeness, for example perhaps we have been disappointed where we haven’t yet seen something we are believing for and so we go  into the next situation that requires hope to be there and we no longer have the hope or expectation of a child that we once had because we were disappointed before.

Once we have become defiled we no longer see what the Lord showed Peter in his vision in Acts 10:15 "Do not call anything impure that God has made pure".

In Titus 1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.”

Many years ago people prophesied over me and said “protect your childlike faith”.  That is a place of protecting the simplicity and purity of childlike faith in the Lord and that has been extremely hard to do when people misunderstand you, judge you and your motives of your heart of which the Lord is not judging, when people say all kinds of things about you to others that is not true etc.  And so on a daily basis I need to come to the Lord and sit with him for all that ‘defilement’, that ‘violation’ of my purity and innocence that is being stolen, before the Lord is removed.  On a daily basis, I need to change the sheets where I have been soiled by life.  Many people wash their towels on a daily basis, or their underware and it is a bit the same in the Lord, daily we need to cleanse ourselves of the muck and the grime that wants to settle.  Because I find that if I do not, I find myself like Dinahs brothers who with their mouths gave consent and agreed to intermarry to heal and restore the situation within the tribes, but in their hearts they carried deceit and they were still seeking retribution so when the opportunity came, they killed every male of Shechems tribe.

It is so easy if we are not changing our sheets, cleansing ourselves, then we carry deceit in our hearts, we say one thing with our lips but our hearts are far from it.  And then when the opportunity arises we take retribution instead of giving grace and forgiveness which we have received from the Lord.

2 Tim 2:21  “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.” (NLT Version) 

When we carry deceit in our hearts we are no longer seeing things clearly, seeing people around us from pure eyes, the eyes of the Lord, we end up judging everything without even realizing it and yet the Lord is saying this morning – change the sheets, cleanse yourselves of the later and you will be made pure, you will be made useful for every good work that He has for you.  Take some time with the Lord and ask Him to come and show you where you may be defiled, and ask him to give you new sheets, a new heart, a pure undefiled heart and like me calling the porter in the Hotel Room who came instantly, the Lord too will come and give you everything you need in order to do this.

The Lord would say -   “I love you my child, you are still my sons and daughters, you are still my children despite the defilement but there are things that have happened that its time to let go of and move on.  Time to cleanse yourself of those hurts, of those woundings and become as I made you to be, become once again pure in me and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in others.  Then you will see others as I see them, then you will see the hope and the future that I have for you.  It’s time to let go of the past and move into the future with me as a ‘pure bride’ in your heart.  Forgive those who have hurt you, as I forgive you.  Trust me that I have good things for you to walk into.  I am going to take you places you have never been before but if you are still carrying the baggage its going to be a slow journey and I have many things to show you for you to see with awestruck eyes.  I love you my child, trust me, let go of the past, change the sheets and come to me once again pure, of which I have made you in Jesus.  I love you, remove the soiled sheets and come to me and I will show you a new way.”

With love from your Heavenly Father.

Two Visions that I pass on for your encouragement.

I was sent two visions in the last couple of days, one that confirms what we as a ministry have been believing for and standing in faith to see.   Along with another word which I share,  both for your encouragement and edification.

1.  Last week we saw several earth tremors in NZ, this was a significant moment.... these were not the same tremors as others. There was great significance in these.... i felt the Lord speak to me about this happening a while ago..as you would know Justine. I saw the hand of God in a vision and he dropped a pebble in the water i saw what was a vibration hitting the Shores of NZ....but today... i see something rising out of the waters. Something is about to Hit New Zealand... like a crystal stalactite  it will rise into a tall building... as i looked up it grew and grew.... like a tower..... far and above all buildings....

People were surprised because it came suddenly and it grew sooooo quickly......  as i looked again, it reminded me of a castle.. tall and thin.... and then likened to a sculptured Ice Sculpture....

Again people just looked at it....

I then saw people right at the top shouting " Get up here!!!!"......   people were wondering how to get up.... down below there was a door, suddenly it reminded me of a lighthouse.... I then saw two great birds.. a phoenix and an eagle.... they were circling the building.... it sort of made me a little dizzy.... 

Then I saw the ox and the Lion.... then I realised it was the four living creatures..... against the leopard  the bear and the tiger... there was a war in the heavens or just above this building...... many buildings fell but this one stood tall.... 

Strange because then I saw the building start to melt.... as I watched it melt.... I saw the people who were in the building turn to eagles.... white pure eagles.... and they flew....into the distance.

I watched these eagles.... and as I watched... they were cir clinging the city ... they continued.... and strangely many buildings began to arise again... but it reminded me of Bright City... almost like Vegas Lights were everywhere....they were blinking like Christmas trees....

He is calling His people into a place... they will start to gather in.... this building was a hub.... many came....many were protected... many were taught....

I call this the Crystal City.......(Alexandra Bekiaris)

2. "I saw an ancient book positioned as if being read and as I watched a mighty wind arose and began turning the page.  I was reminded of Psalm 139:16 where it speaks of how all our days were written in His book.  We (the church) those who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit have a new chapter in the life of His church (His bride) as as the Spirit moves so we are to move in unison with Him.

(Esther Diprose.)

The cost of unconditional giving/loving and growing into maturity in the church?

We give and we give and we give - expecting something in return and when that something in return doesn’t come, whether it be appreciation, honour, finances, time, recognition, whatever it may that hurts our heart, then we tend to move away from those relationships because they are just using us, or we feel like we are being used.  And yet God says in His word “Give, not expecting anything in return”.

How do we do that when we are feeling hurt, used, abused, wanted only for what we may have to give, it is not a two way relationship and yet is that not what Jesus did on the cross, gave and gave and gave and everyone walked away from him, disowned him on the cross as he poured out his life for a people who didn’t deserve it, who didn’t recognise what he gave them, who didn’t honour him?

It’s a hard call but it is a call where we learn what true love really means and actually that most of us live from conditional love without even realising it as we live in a world where we can just walk away from those people in our lives where this becomes an issue.  But if the Lord is one of reconciliation and restoration, unity, of family, of laying down your life for another then we would see less of broken families, broken marriages, depressed and suicidal people because our love for one another would break these issues that are so prevalent in our society down as we show unconditional love to one another, acceptance, value, honour all the things people are truely wanting and searching for.

And yet something I have struggled with of late in stepping into ‘church’, where is the point of encouraging people in maturity and growing up so that they are no longer remaining on milk because like children in family, when they are young they just take and take and take yet when they become adults they start to contribute to the house, they start to take an active part in the family, in the house and bring their gifts and talents, their finances into the house to help with the expenses.  The parents no longer bear the weight of continually giving  and covering the costs with children taking, but the children recognise and start to contribute.  So at what point do children have to leave home in order to recognise and value the home in which they come from - or do they?  At which point do the parents need to encourage the children and if nothing is forth coming or changes into maturity happen, to encourage them to move on so that they learn the lessons that they need to learn?  And yet remain in unconditional love towards those ones?  And in the encouragement to leave home for their benefit to remain in relationship and love toward them because like any parent you want your children to remain as you love them so much and it breaks your heart to bring a discipline that may hurt them and you and yet always believing the best?

For me as a parent my daughter has moved to another city and she is growing up, she is having to take care of her own finances, she is having to cook and clean, be responsible, all the things you were wanting and desiring her to step into at home and which she did to a level but not as much as I wanted or hoped for but in leaving home she is growing into maturity in these things and our relationship together is growing and at a better level of understanding where when they are young they ‘know it all’, they are always right, they don’t listen often to the parents because their parents don’t know anything and there doesn’t seem to be much respect for the parents and yet now is coming understanding and respect and a listening to the advice given.

So in all of this I guess patience plays a huge part as we learn to love unconditionally, as we give and give and not expecting anything in return remembering that in due time we will reap a harvest.  That every seed sown will bear fruit, that our labour in the Lord is not in vain and so I encourage you to keep giving, even when it costs you, to keep loving and serving, even when it is not returned in the natural when you would desire it, it will surely come.  And as we serve, as we love, we are not serving or loving unto man but unto the Lord who is our great reward, who sees our heart and our hurts.  Who will be in the one in which our greatest reward comes as we look to him and not to man or put expectation on man because when we trust in the Lord we will be blessed in ways that will far outweigh what we will receive from man.

Do you have garments the Lord has given you that you are not using?

I am excited about what the Lord was stirring up last night at the Sunday night gathering, encouraging people to step out in the gifts in faith as that is what Ewan Blair (guest speaker) brought in the spirit as he stepped out in faith in what he believes God is calling him into - preaching.   But I saw the Lord was encouraging many gifts and callings last night.  And wanting people to step out and let go of the things that they have been holding onto.  Some of those things were 'needing to be in control', 'fear of man above fear of God’ and ‘doing things in the strength of man', 'false humility and understanding true humility' and stepping into 'freedom' to be who you are called to be.  

If you find yourself not flourishing in who God has called you to be and not functioning in the gifts and talents he has given you, then I would encourage you to take some time with him and ask the questions as to why this might be and when we ask, we know we will receive.  Perhaps you may need to grow in the things God has given you and if that is so, then stepping out in faith in those things may look like learning through books, through people, through whatever means then I would encourage you to do so.  

The other week in the spirit I saw a warehouse full of clothes that people were wearing only once or twice and then there were unused clothes that I was offering to others as people weren't using them.  Many times the Lord has given us garments to wear and we are only using them once or twice and then leaving them on the shelf and moving onto new clothes.  But these are garments the Lord has given for us to wear, garments that we are easily throwing away.  In which case we are not actually honouring the garments the Lord has given us, we are not taking the time to learn and grow in the clothes, or the gifts, that God has given us.  We are squandering the things we have been given.  

We live in a user society, were we use things once or twice and then throw it away in search for the latest and greatest and don't look twice at what we already have.  We have been given so much already and yet we are throwing away without a second look, as to what we have been given.  The Lord has given us many gifts and garments to wear and we are not thankful for what he has given us wanting to move onto the latest and greatest but actually there is so much more in what He has already given us.  Like a computer, you can use it like a basic person or you can get really skilled in using it and find out there is so much more it you can do, if you knew how to use it properly.  Or like in your kitchen cupboards you think there is no food in there but actually if you used what was in there instead of restocking you could find there are many different things you could cook with what you already have, but we get so familiar with what we cook and use that we don't expand our capabilities.  A couple of weeks ago I said to someone that they were ‘lazy’ in their gift of prophecy and the example I used was like playing tennis, if we want to get good at something then we need to practise it, not just play one game and then not play for a long time.  So it is with the gifts and garments the Lord has given us, if we are only using them occasionally then we become lazy and complacent with what we have and those gifts are not for our edification but actually for others.  People are missing out on what they need because we are not using what the Lord has already given us.

In Matthew 25:14-30 is the story of the Parable of the Talents that I encourage you to read if you don’t know it as it speaks to the vision I had.

“To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability…..The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the round and hid his master’s money……….

So I encourage you today to step out with what the Lord has already given you and to be thankful for them because there are others out there who would love to have what He has given you.  If you are unsure how to use what you have, take the time to learn and to grow and practise in the things He has given you.

And so this morning I felt the Lord say to have 'discussion nights' and so keep an eye out for those discussion nights that will cover various topics that you may want to be a part of.  Discussions on the gifts of the Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Teacher & Evangelist, discussions on the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues etc. discussions on many different topics.  You don’t need to be a part of the Glory Release Church to come to these, they are open to any one.  Feel free to come along and join on the ones that would interest you.  So keep an eye out when these might be held, they will be posted on the Facebook page or the webpage.

Bless you all today as you learn and grow and step out in what the Lord has already given you.

6 legged sheep???

In the weekend I saw a vision of a sheep that had six legs. And what I believe the Lord is saying, there are many sheep, (followers of Christ), but they are trusting in their own strength and not in mine. 

When we trust in our own strength and abilities we forfeit the grace that can be ours, the enabling that comes from stepping out in faith in the impossible, the testimonies that give God the glory rather than the expectation of what should be because we have put our hand to something. 

God is the God of the impossible and in order for the miracles, the testimonies, we need to be a people that step out in what we can't do and allow God to come in and do the impossible.  That may simply be asking the Lord to help you to forgive someone that has hurt you so much, to getting on a plane with no finances because the Lord has asked you to, to continue to stay in a job/church/marriage/relationship you don't want to because that is where God has placed you, to praying for a miracle of cancer. 

Whatever the day brings are we walking it in our own strength or in the strength that comes from the Lord, from trusting in his promises found in the word, where we need him in our day to day because when we are weak, He is strong. My dependance on a day to day basis is in Him.

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trust in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 84:5 
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

There was a scream - are you in need of help?

Last night I saw in a vision that Jim and I were looking after someone's baby and that baby like any baby, initially it was upset because they were no longer with their mum and dad, things were different, someone else was looking after them.  We were babysitting.  But like any baby, once they have settled down with all the differences and changes of different people and things being done differently and their parents no longer being there, the baby actually was comfortable, happy, safe and secure, and would allow us to care for it.  But during this dream I heard a scream.  And like any mother you are instantly awake and alert because it was a scream and I was up and checking on my daughter.

A mother learns the different sounds of a child's cry, a mother knows when someone is just seeking attention, wanting what they want, or when someone is really hurt and needs instant attention.  Last night I heard a scream, knowing it was a sound of one child who is really in serious need of help.

1 Cor 12:12-27

The body is a unity, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews of Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear. where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body..........

v25 so that there should be no division in the body, that that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

Often when we are hurting we tend to pull away, we feel we are not wanted, we are in pain and we don't know how to handle things, or we cry so loud that it gets every ones attention and every one comes running.  Every one reacts differently to pain and how they handle it.  But this morning I want you to know that if you are hurting, you are part of a body that actually is there for you, wanting to help you, wanting to see you no longer in pain but healed and set free, needing your part of the body to be a whole.  We often think we are an individual and no body will notice, no body will care if I am no longer there, but in actual fact that is a lie that is seeking to bring division to the body and separate you from the flock.   The body is no longer as it should be functioning as it should be because you are not there.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.  So if you are suffering, I can guarantee you, others will be  suffering with you but you may not realise it because you are in your own pain.

Please if you need help today, recognise you are loved, there are people there for you.  I encourage you to ask for help.  People will already be aware of you and where you are at but often we cannot help people unless they are wanting help.  And in your pain, recognise that we don't always understand what the 'scream' in indicating,  like pain in your teeth, the pain can be so deep that a root canal is needed in order to relieve the pain to let the abscess out.   So please be patient with people as they try to love on you to bring the help you need.  People don't always get it right but their heart and intention is to help.  So I say to you today, if you are hurting and in need of help, there are people around who are able to help you, and if they can't help you they can point you to people who can.  Please God loves you and so does His people, even though sometimes we get it wrong.

Are signs and wonders always 'nice'?

I was reading in Exodus this morning as the Lord showed up to Moses in the burning bush and then the experiences, the signs and wonders, that God showed him which actually led to a 'fear' of God through the rod turning to a snake,  Moses runs from the snake, through Moses putting his hand in his cloak and it turning leprous, then all the things that happened as the Lord brought deliverance to his people with the Egyptians.   These were not 'wonders' that we would often attribute to as wonders, but rather they brought a fear and reverence and power to who our God actually is.  

Like Moses when God performs some of his 'wonders' we can often run from them, afraid, unsure, challenged, recognising our own weaknesses and inabilities and like Moses in 4:13 "O Lord, please send someone else to do it" but the Lord chooses to use vessels who in their own strength, cannot do it, because then He will get all the glory due to his name.  2 Cor 4:7  "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

We are weak vessels, jars of clay and yet God chooses to reveal His glory through us and sometimes His glory is not the 'glory' we are expecting.  Sometimes His glory will bring a 'fear' a wanting to run, will bring 'wonders' that might actually not be 'nice' and yet it brings the reverence back to who our God is and that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we think, ask or imagine.  

In the story of Moses this morning I am reminded that he was bringing his people out of slavery into a spacious place flowing in milk and honey and still today He is doing the same thing.  Bringing His people in bondage, in slavery and oppression, into a place of sonship and a spacious place of freedom, flowing with milk and honey.  In order to take us into those places He has for us, sometimes He will perform miracles, signs and wonders, that are not necessarily 'nice' but bring the truth to who our God is.  When the Israelites were finally freed from captivity, there were many wonders God performed, but they certainly challenged everyone (Egyptians and Israelites I would imagine) at the time through the many deaths, the plagues, etc and so in God bringing ourselves into a place of freedom, it will not I believe, always be easy and nice, and there will be times we want to run, but God knows what is best and if we trust in him, we will see the deliverance of our Lord.

Exodus 6:6  "I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.   And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.  I will give it to you as a possession.  I am the Lord."

Many of us are still living under 'slavery' of some yoke of oppression and the Lord, since the beginning of time, and through Jesus, comes to set us free from that slavery and into a land of inheritance, a spacious land flowing with milk and honey, but in order to do that sometimes the Lord will do it through mighty acts of judgement, through wonders that will make us want to run, through signs that actually show how big our God is and that He is for us, his people and He will do anything to see us come into all the promises He has for us.

Often there is this image that everything God does is 'nice', is not challenging, but I challenge you, some of the things that the Lord has done in my world has not been nice, has been very challenging and difficult at times, and yet as I have walked the journey and seen how through these things God is showing His goodness towards me and His love for me to see me be who I am called to be in Him as I trust in him, as I wait for him to do what He said He will do, as I obey the word of God, as I learn not to run from the things that I would naturally want to run from, I find myself coming into a spacious place, a place flowing with milk and honey.  I encourage you this morning, Gods signs and wonders may push you out of your comfort zone, but allow him to work things through just as Moses did with Pharaoh and the many times I am sure Moses wanted to run from what the Lord was asking of him but then you see a people set free from slavery.  It wasn't just about Moses, it was about a nation.  And God is wanting to set our nation free from slavery and the nations of the world.

Forgotten First Love

Something I have been pondering on this past week is the call of Forgotten First Love in  Rev 2:1-7 

First love - a place where His grace and mercy toward us in our sin is so overwhelming that we are so thankful for all that He has done for us in Jesus that we just want to share to everyone around us who He is.  It’s a place of freedom, of passion and zeal, it’s a place of trust and security, it’s a place where God will do what He said he will do.  We are invincible; we can do anything because Christ lives in us.  It’s a place where we love others so easily.

Some indicators I have been pondering on that could point to a forgotten first love:

•        If we find ourselves continually judging or pointing of the finger at others then I believe we have forgotten our first love because we have forgotten the grace given to us in our sin, that we can't give it to others in their failures or challenges.
•         If we find ourselves running away from situations that can be challenging then I believe we have forgotten our first love and the knowledge that God loves us and we have nothing to fear and He can help us in that situation we may find ourselves in.
•         If we find ourselves unable to love people as Christ loves us, then I believe we have forgotten our first love, because we cannot love others, without first remembering His love for us.
•         If I am no longer giving generously to peoples needs around me or to the church then I have forgotten who my God is and His love for me.

So my prayer is this:

     “Lord remind me of my first love.  Remind me of your love for me and what you have done on the cross for me in setting me free.  Give me a greater revelation of your love for me which in turn, I can love others with.  Forgive me Lord where I have not loved others as you love me, where I have held things against others which you have set me free from.  Remind me afresh of your mercy and your power and how big you are that you can provide for all of my needs according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Thank you Lord” 

Rev 2:7  “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Winds of Change

Are you feeling a little unsettled and just wanting and looking for that place of rest and stability where there seemingly are no challenges - for a while at least anyway?

I was chatting with the Lord this morning and he said to me, "Sarah, these are just winds of change, and without the wind, it would not blow you to where I want you to be. The wind takes you places you could never go on your own, it propels forward a lot faster if there were no winds, in it I am just wanting you to learn to rest in the boat like Jesus was when the storms arose. Not to be afraid of the storm, not to be afraid of the wind, not to be trying to work everything out, (yet again as seems to be the default, smile emoticon), but to learn to once again to 'rest' to 'trust' me in this new wind that is blowing you."

And as I was praying again about some of the issues I started to laugh as I realised how far, in the smallest things, like simply getting a mothers day present, I had strayed from asking and just expecting His provision for the needs that I had. Bless you as you learn, like me, to rest in the new winds of change, winds of growth, that are happening round about.

Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

I preached a message the other Sunday evening about learning to judge from God’s perspective and not as the world judges (Isaiah 11:3-4) “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.”

So many of us judge by our ‘natural’ eyes, we judge by what we see and hear and not judge according to what we see and hear ‘in the spirit’, or out of a ‘pure’ heart.  Our judgement is often coloured by the lens that we are wearing of our life experiences, our life hurts etc instead of seeing and judging as God sees.  

But something that struck me as I preached and was like a ‘bomb’ in the spirit was out of 1 Corinthians 6:7-8 and it reverberated the following day with the power of the revelation that came with it.  Take the time to read from the beginning of 1 Cor 6 as it will bring context, but verses 7-8 are these;

“The very fact that you have lawsuits alongs you means you have been completely defeated already.  Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong and you do this to your brothers.”

What struck me was the fact that if we have right and wrong between each other, if we have disputes, if we are seeking justification or justice for being wronged etc. we have been defeated already, we have missed the whole point of the gospel already and stepped back into law.  We have missed what Christ did on the cross as he lay on a cross that he deserved not to be there, that he was innocent of and yet allowed himself to be put on a cross and judged.  We have missed what he did for us on that cross setting us free from the law of sin and death.  When we have lawsuits or fights among one another, we are setting in motion ‘law’ again, right and wrong, and it it continues in verses 7&8  “Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead we are justifying ourselves, or perhaps wanting justice for being accused or treated wrongly and yet that is what Jesus did on the cross.  We are picking up ‘law’ again instead of allowing the Lord to speak to that person, or trusting in Jesus to bring justice to a situation, instead of trusting that God sees everything and he is more than able to speak to someone, to right the wrong that has been done if we were to wait and trust in Him.  It is so easy to pick up law and it was a challenge for me the next day as I bought some food and it was cold - do I say something, or do I leave it - Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  And the next day when someone didn’t do what they said they would do - Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  And the next day when someone comes with the pointing of finger at my faults - Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated? 

Obviously this is a continuing work in each one of us as we learn and grow in the Lord but boy was it like a bomb as the Lord brought revelation on how easily we enter into things that take us from the cross.  How easily we pick up things that the Lord is not asking us to pick up and in so doing we enter a battle we didn’t need to enter in.

You think you don't, but I bet you do, even if only in some small way....

Something the Lord talked about recently was about 'coveting' and the definition of this is:

 "to feel strong or immoderate desire for"

"to wish for something longingly"

"yearn to possess something especially something belonging to another”.

In my vision that led me to thinking about coveting, I saw someone coveting their future but someone else was living in that place already and they had to wait.  Often we may find ourselves coveting those people who have where we believe we are 'going to be' in the Lord.  The promise the Lord has given us. Perhaps that might be the future promise of children that we don't yet have, the future promise of a house, the future promise of those spiritual leaders we admire but perhaps we are longing to be now.

This is not a topic often preached about and I find in my thinking what a powerful topic that needs to be talked about as I believe if we became a satisfied people, like Paul writes where he learned to be 'content' in whatever circumstances, how differently our worlds around us would look.

Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.  You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”

It’s a powerful scripture because often we ‘covet’, we ‘desire’ what we do not have and our lives are often lived in a state of dissatisfaction because of what we may have had once that we no longer have now, or we are wanting something we have yet to have.  All of this comes from a place of not understanding the fullness of who and whose we are in Christ and our identity found in him, but that is a whole another topic but when addressing something like coveting, needs to be understood.

James 4:1-3  “What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have want you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend when you get on your pleasures.”

This is a really hard scripture to digest because within all of us, when we take a look at our lives, all of us in some way I am sure fight and quarrel about things.  I remember as a parent when my daughter didn’t do what she was asked, by the third or fourth time of asking, my voice was raised and a full on argument was occurring.  But the reality is one or both of us was not getting our own way, hence the argument.  And so I had to examine this journey in my parenting and also in my relationship with my husband and look at why I was arguing or fighting and was it worth what I was fighting for or could I do this another way which would be more productive and less harmful for all concerned?

Recently I was chatting with some one about the ‘new move’ of God and how it looked and this person seemed to think it looked a certain way and I think it looks a certain way and yet who is right and who is wrong?   Actually we have to be careful that we are not holding on to ‘old’ wineskins of what we think it looks because we think we have seen it.  When  we do this we make an 'idol' of something instead of continually living a day by day walk a walk of faith with the Lord and he will lead us into the 'new thing' which is actually 'new' every morning.  If something like this is breaking relationships with people because of different thinking, then I am fighting with my neighbour and so it needs to be assessed in the light of God’s word rather than our own desires that well up within us.

It’s a huge topic but I believe the Lord wants us to repent from ‘coveting’ those things that we ‘desire’ and don’t yet possess, those things that cause arguments in our lives, those things that we are continually pursuing whether it be financial success, a body that looks stunning, a new car, the ‘new move of God,’ whatever it may look like, that says the place I am in I am not satisfied in.  Let's be a people that are learning to give thanks in all circumstances, whether well feed or hungry, whether possessing everything or possessing nothing, whether liked by others or not, whether having the latest gadgets or having no gadgets.  When we give thanks and we look at the good in our lives, we no longer look at the 'lack'.  Bless you all.

A word of warning.

Last night in a vision I saw several small individual planes trying to fly but as they took off they ended up crashing and burning.

I believe there are believers in the Lord who are moving in the gifts of the spirit and think that because they are moving in the gifts of the spirit that they have it sorted and they don’t need anybody else and they can just take off. I  believe in that ‘takeoff’ it will be short lived.  There are things you still need to learn.

We can have all the gifts and those gifts build us up in God and it is easy to become prideful when working in the ‘gifts of the spirit’.  But the gifts and the anointings that the Lord gives us are freely given, but we need to learn how to love, because as it says in 1 Cor 13, we can have all the gifts, but if we have not love, it profit us nothing.

And to love is to lay your life down for another, to love is to serve others needs above your own, to love is to lay down your rights and your expectations in order to see others flourish.  And in humbling yourself one to another, in the right time the Lord will lift you up.

Romans 5:1-5 talks about the building up of our character and although we can move in the gifts, unless our character develops and the relationships around us develop, the gifts and callings on our lives will come to a crashing short lived end.  Unless we are willing to humble ourselves and learn from others more experienced in the Lord, instead of thinking ‘we have it all’, our times of ‘flying’ could come to an undesired end.

God’s desire for you is to see you fly and to fly a long distance, not to crash and burn as I saw some planes doing.  So I encourage you to be willing to learn from others, to humble yourself to those who have walked the journey in the Lord and are still on fire and be willing to serve them and allow the Lord to lift you up.  It's so easy to fall into pride because we start moving in the gifts and seeing things happen around about us, but please I encourage you, not to be an individual plane doing your own thing.   Put yourself into a body and allow others to speak into your life, to allow God to develop the character in you that will not see you come to an end that is not his desire or best for you.  We are to be part of a family and it is a safeguard for you, not a burden.