by Glenice Mills
VICTORY! Stop and consider the power of this word. It has a lilt to it but also carries a weight. Victory: the more you say it the more victorious you feel.
How come we have lost the power of this mighty word, victory? Sadly we in the body of Christ, ones who should walk in victory so often succumb and bow to our circumstances, our unbelief and to negativity. When we do this we give access for the enemy and more importantly, null and void the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. We are the ones who should live and lead a victorious life, but this is often not the case. I am speaking to myself in this too. We equate victory to battle, and yes we are in a battle, and some of our battles are more vicious and intense. We can at times feel like our very lives are at risk, and wonder if we will come out the other side in one piece; or not. However, the truth is we are victorious, because our enemy was slain when Jesus went to the cross. We have the shed blood of Jesus Christ which means we can walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ. However we often do not do this as we can and should. I am reminded of an old song we used to sing : ‘Victory we have in Jesus Christ, Forgiveness because He was crucified, Deliverance, He has set us free”. Victory means defeating one’s enemy in battle or war. It is triumphing, conquering over a weaker power. So what do we need to know about walking in victory and what things do we need to look out for that would undermine this?
Firstly, for there to be a victory there must be a battle. We must know our authority and walk in it. It is easy to hand our authority over to the enemy, rather than rise up and take a stand. That is about choice: choosing to call on the Name of the Lord to come and deliver us, or bow to the lies and control of the enemy. If we have put our armour on, and we have chosen to walk righteously, then we can call on the name of the Lord and He will come to our rescue.
Secondly, we have to acknowledge we are on the winning side. In any battle there are winners and losers. We are not on the losing side, the enemy has been defeated. We have to know and believe this with all our being.
Thirdly, a lot of what we go through is preparation and training for and in the battles. Each time we overcome and break through, our authority grows. It is quite literally like gaining our stripes, and we get promoted in the Spirit.
Lastly, we have to look at our mindsets about the battle. If we go into battle thinking we are on the losing side, we will lose. To the degree that we have unbelief to the power of the deliverance of Jesus Christ, will be to the degree that we grow in our God given authority.
So what factors undermine our walking in victory?
NEGATIVITY: Perhaps one of the biggest hindrances to walking in victory is when we allow negative thoughts and attitudes to take rulership of our lives. It always starts with thoughts, and as these thoughts fester on the bad things: all the disappointments, the unforgiveness and loss of hope, negativity takes root, until it becomes a stronghold. This stronghold binds us and allows the door of negativity to take root in our minds and attitudes. The world and the people in it look grey, and before long we go around with the weight of the world on our shoulders. We are difficult to be around, and before long we affect everyone around and about us. At its worst we do not see the Lord in our circumstances and in fact give ourselves open access for the enemy to ride on our emotions. Confusion will come and before long we deny the power of the Lord. Unbelief takes hold and we lose hope. It is not living the victorious life!
DOUBLEMINDEDNESS: How often do we vacillate between faith and unbelief? One moment we are excited and full of faith and then when things aren’t going quite as we thought they would and should, we quickly bow to doubt. We live in this constant flux and become very double minded. Scripture says a double minded man is unstable in all he does, and we can easily see how that works in our lives. It is not living the victorious life!
FEARS: At the root of a lot of these issues is fear. Fear of failure is one of the main stumbling blocks stopping us coming into all we are called to. We see things from our narrow perspective, rather than from the big picture of what the Lord is saying and doing in our lives. When we fear failure we will be slow to take the steps of faith needed to bring in the new. Fear of man, and fear of success will also bind us, stopping us from walking in victory. When fear keeps us debilitated we will remain inactive and before long live a lesser life. The problem with this is we know deep down what we are supposed to do and if we give fear rulership of our lives we will soon feel guilty and find ways of justifying our inaction. It is not living the victorious life!
PERSPECTIVE: How often do we lose perspective when circumstances seem overwhelming? Emotions rule and before long we have lost our peace. We cannot make sensible decisions and easily bow to rash decision making, often resulting in a negative consequence. We lose sight of the Lord in our circumstances and end up doing what we think is best. It is not living the victorious life!
UNGRATEFULNESS: When we resent the circumstances we find ourselves in and have an attitude against those close to us, and often at a deeper level, against the Lord, we become ungrateful. Nothing seems right in our world and we harbour unforgiveness. We cannot give thanks for our circumstances, and it is difficult to praise and worship the Lord. It is not living the victorious life!
CONFUSION: It is not easy to find a way forward when it seems everything is out of our control. The truth is the Lord wants to be Lord of our lives, however, we can think we can do things better. When we have important decisions to make, and our thoughts become all consuming it is easy to become overwhelmed and for confusion to reign. We cannot think clearly. Crying out to the Lord is the only remedy for confusion. He will make a way forward for you and bring you to a place of seeing things clearly. Don’t allow confusion to rule your thoughts. It is not living the victorious life!
There are many things that stop us walking in victory. In many of the Psalms David has a lot to say about victory. It is because he learnt it because of the many hardships in his life. The truth is everything comes back to our relationship with the Lord. The things of this world can easily derail us from walking in the Lord’s authority. We have to recognise the tactics of the enemy that would rob us of our peace. We are more than conquerors and we have to learn to have that mindset. If we think we are a victim, we will act and behave like one. Self will always want to have it’s way, and lusts will always pull at us to have what appeals to the flesh. The truth is walking as a Christian is difficult, and there are times when we need help from our fellow brothers and sisters. We need to stand with and support one another. We cannot do it alone. We were never meant to do it alone. Above all else, we need the Lord’s help. David learnt this as he faced many trials. He was not always popular, however we see many times over where the Lord came to his rescue. Don’t forget, our testimonies are actually what define us, and our testimony is always about the Lord’s victory in our lives: the times He came through for us against the odds, when things seemed impossible.
That is walking in victory!
Psalm 60:18
Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
This verse is repeated in Psalm 108:13.
David needed to know that it was the Lord who would deliver him from trouble, he could not rely on man, only the Lord.
Psalm 118 speaks of David’s battle and how the Lord was the only one who could deliver Him. Can I encourage you to read this powerful Psalm?
Psalm 118:14-17
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Thursday, 15 March 2012
We Belong To Him
by Tony Clark
The whole story of God & His people is a story of Love, and romance. A longing to be together, and in giving our whole selves to each other. God is the master and creator of Love, He is Love. If when we read the scriptures we don’t read with this in mind, we miss the whole point. God longs for us to be with Him, and whether we realise it or not our heart’s crave and long to be with Him too - only we seem to miss the mark so often in searching for this love in other things - things that can’t satisfy. I think one of the main messages through the pages of His Word is ‘We are made for each other!’ Its a fact of life.
Sometimes life can seem mundane, monotonous, repetitive, lacking passion, but all the while He waits, and wants to be there with and for us, close, personal, real. And He’s only a page or a prayer away. Of all of the things that will happen in these end times, there’s nothing that excites me more than the fact that He is going to draw us closer than ever, and this Love is going to surface, until that’s all that’s left, and we have that to look forward to FOREVER.
The whole story of God & His people is a story of Love, and romance. A longing to be together, and in giving our whole selves to each other. God is the master and creator of Love, He is Love. If when we read the scriptures we don’t read with this in mind, we miss the whole point. God longs for us to be with Him, and whether we realise it or not our heart’s crave and long to be with Him too - only we seem to miss the mark so often in searching for this love in other things - things that can’t satisfy. I think one of the main messages through the pages of His Word is ‘We are made for each other!’ Its a fact of life.
Sometimes life can seem mundane, monotonous, repetitive, lacking passion, but all the while He waits, and wants to be there with and for us, close, personal, real. And He’s only a page or a prayer away. Of all of the things that will happen in these end times, there’s nothing that excites me more than the fact that He is going to draw us closer than ever, and this Love is going to surface, until that’s all that’s left, and we have that to look forward to FOREVER.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Church Leadership for 2012
by Glenice Mills
This year is about leadership, that is leadership in all areas of governance. This word is about church leadership in particular.
Religion brings death to true Christianity. Throughout time man’s opinions, agendas, flesh, ambition and wrong thinking has null and void the power of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ came to set us free, but sadly the body of Christ has not and is not fully walking in this freedom. However it is changing! Throughout history we have seen pockets of revival, and reformation, with key men and women who have been change agents in their time. As they preached, performed signs, wonders and miracles, they left a legacy still spoken of today. The question we need to ask ourselves in these days and times is who, how, what, and have we any who could change the face of history?
The Lord has been speaking to me about this year being a year of a paradigm shift of thinking, with the birth and arising of key leaders who are reformers, critical to ushering in the end time move and army of God. This is a massive topic and one that will unfold over this coming year and years to come as we see the hand of God move on one’s that have until this point remained hidden.
I feel the weight of this word as I am so mindful of the critical role that we ‘older’ ones have: to train up, equip, encourage, and prefer the ones who I describe as riding in our ‘slip stream’. They are the one’s coming up behind us. There are some keys the Lord has been speaking to me about, one’s called to raise up both men and women for the job that is to be done in coming times.
There are a couple of keys that are foundational for understanding what a true leader looks like so we can gain insight into how it would be made known in days ahead.
There are two facets of a true leader which will be a sign to the church.
Inspiring: When we think of past leaders who changed society forever they were all inspiring. There are two defining attributes of an inspiring person. They are visionary and passionate for a cause. We just need to think of key societal reformers such as Martin Luther King and William Wilberforce to name some, and we see they had vision and a passion. They never lost sight of seeing their dream come to pass no matter the opposition, resistance and persecution. We also saw the deliverance of the Lord at critical times that sealed the vision these men had. When a vision and passion is of God, He will move on that person’s behalf to bring about the shift necessary to bring greater change in society. This is true reformation, bringing about a divine change that remains. It is defining in histories time line. We will start to see this happening this year as God raises up key leaders in His church who are called to take the new move of God into the nations, effecting change in all areas of society. However, there is something that we need to be aware of. Unfortunately we have confused charismatic with inspiring. The church has been through a time of what some call as charismatic renewal, but charisma is not necessarily inspirational. It comes down to the content and the way it is articulated. Charismatic people often have the ‘gift of the gab’. If you analyse what is spoken it is often shallow. It will sustain you for a short time where as inspiration leaves you changed. There is an excitement in your spirit. It remains! The Lord is in all moves however there are defining ones that remain, spoken of throughout history. Such is what is coming. It will shift the way ‘church’ is done, and will bring revival back. There has been and continues to be a lot of talk about revival, however if we look at revival it always involves a person/people who are raised in God’s time to do a specific work to bring life defining change in people’s lives and in greater society. You can only revive something that is dead, that has lost the breath of life. It must have the Holy Spirit breath upon it to bring fruit that will remain. It is interesting to note that the word inspire comes from the word ‘spiro’ which means breath. One who is inspiring stirs up others, activating them to join the cause. The visionary can’t do it on their own, they need others to come along with them. This will only take place by the hand of God moving upon one’s that He is raising for such a time as this. They have allowed the dealings of God to come to their lives and have chosen to do only what the Father tells them to do. They walk in true obedience to the Lord. Their hour is coming, life changing reformers, called to bring radical change to society. Their passion compels them to speak and do His will even unto death. Their cause is a fire in their bones that is all consuming, that inspires, but also repels others. They have developed an inner fortitude that keeps them steadfast, holding onto the vision no matter what opposition comes. They will not be bought, but will hold onto the vision the Lord has placed upon their hearts.
The second attribute of a true leader raised up for these times is a vision for future generations.
Leaving a legacy: True reformers are concerned about future generations. Their focus is always the future, not the past. They know the vision they carry will continue long after they have died. Many are aware that they may never see the fulfilment of their vision but know they are used by God as a catalyst, to start, for others to carry it on. They have a team around them who also stand with them, supporting them to see its fulfilment. They have no claim on the work as the Lord has led them to a place of death: death to self, death to the vision, and complete reliance upon Him to bring it to its completion. They are prepared to lose their life for the cause as they know it is about changing society for the betterment of generations to come. They have and will count the cost.
We all know of the time spoken in Ezekiel chapter 37, when God breathed upon the bones in the valley of dry bones. My question to you is: do we as the body of Christ need the breath of God to come and breathe His life on the dry bones? Undoubtedly yes! Sadly we in the body of Christ have succumbed to ‘doing’ church rather than ‘being’ the church. This is not a criticism but rather saying it how it is. Change cannot come until we acknowledge where we are at right now. Doing church is easy, so long as we meet people’s needs, keeping them happy, and lulled into a form of false comfort. Being church is more difficult as it is about relationships. Relationship with the Lord and relationship with one another. There are greater requirements on us, both leaders and those being led, with more opportunity for accountability for how we live our lives. Honesty at a deeper level would be required. Inspiring people to be all they are called to be in God is paramount for the raising up of ones who will be catalysts of change. It will only come about as we grow in deeper relationships with one another.
Are we being effective in advancing His kingdom here on earth? No we are not. However I have no doubt that things are about to change. There is a ‘new breed’ of Christian, one’s whom the Lord has positioned, with His vision, willing to be disciples and in the Lord’s timing, be sent to do the work of the ministry. They are one’s called as His leaders willing to be led, and in the process trained to lead others.
They will be sent into all areas of governance in nations and will be positioned as catalysts for changing society. They will be entrusted with much responsibility and power to bring influence. They know their lives have been all about training for positioning to advance God’s kingdom here on earth. They have been inspired by God and will inspire others as they lead and grow in walking in His Truth. Are you being trained as one who is called as a catalyst for change? What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Are you positioned being trained towards the outworking of your call? The Lord has a remnant. He is raising up a remnant, one’s called to lead, one’s who have proven themselves faithful and trustworthy to speak and to do what the Lord asks of them. That is the new breed of leaders being raised in 2012. Old leadership ways will not suffice. It will not work! Times are changing and the church must change with the times. The church is meant to be change agents. We see that throughout Scripture as key men and women were positioned to bring influence. We are the head and not the tail, we have to learn to walk in this thinking. We have been given all authority to rule and reign. It is now time for us to walk in the knowledge and revelation of this!
Habakkuk 2:2-3
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Can I encourage you: write your vision if you have not already done so.
This year is crucial for positioning yourself ready; by preparing for what the Lord wants of you and doing whatever is required to walk in obedience to His will for your life. It will mean sacrifice and being bold and courageous. It is about the big picture and where you fit in to bring about the fulfilment of the Lord’s plan for your life. You may be an important, integral piece of the puzzle.
This year is about leadership, that is leadership in all areas of governance. This word is about church leadership in particular.
Religion brings death to true Christianity. Throughout time man’s opinions, agendas, flesh, ambition and wrong thinking has null and void the power of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ came to set us free, but sadly the body of Christ has not and is not fully walking in this freedom. However it is changing! Throughout history we have seen pockets of revival, and reformation, with key men and women who have been change agents in their time. As they preached, performed signs, wonders and miracles, they left a legacy still spoken of today. The question we need to ask ourselves in these days and times is who, how, what, and have we any who could change the face of history?
The Lord has been speaking to me about this year being a year of a paradigm shift of thinking, with the birth and arising of key leaders who are reformers, critical to ushering in the end time move and army of God. This is a massive topic and one that will unfold over this coming year and years to come as we see the hand of God move on one’s that have until this point remained hidden.
I feel the weight of this word as I am so mindful of the critical role that we ‘older’ ones have: to train up, equip, encourage, and prefer the ones who I describe as riding in our ‘slip stream’. They are the one’s coming up behind us. There are some keys the Lord has been speaking to me about, one’s called to raise up both men and women for the job that is to be done in coming times.
There are a couple of keys that are foundational for understanding what a true leader looks like so we can gain insight into how it would be made known in days ahead.
There are two facets of a true leader which will be a sign to the church.
Inspiring: When we think of past leaders who changed society forever they were all inspiring. There are two defining attributes of an inspiring person. They are visionary and passionate for a cause. We just need to think of key societal reformers such as Martin Luther King and William Wilberforce to name some, and we see they had vision and a passion. They never lost sight of seeing their dream come to pass no matter the opposition, resistance and persecution. We also saw the deliverance of the Lord at critical times that sealed the vision these men had. When a vision and passion is of God, He will move on that person’s behalf to bring about the shift necessary to bring greater change in society. This is true reformation, bringing about a divine change that remains. It is defining in histories time line. We will start to see this happening this year as God raises up key leaders in His church who are called to take the new move of God into the nations, effecting change in all areas of society. However, there is something that we need to be aware of. Unfortunately we have confused charismatic with inspiring. The church has been through a time of what some call as charismatic renewal, but charisma is not necessarily inspirational. It comes down to the content and the way it is articulated. Charismatic people often have the ‘gift of the gab’. If you analyse what is spoken it is often shallow. It will sustain you for a short time where as inspiration leaves you changed. There is an excitement in your spirit. It remains! The Lord is in all moves however there are defining ones that remain, spoken of throughout history. Such is what is coming. It will shift the way ‘church’ is done, and will bring revival back. There has been and continues to be a lot of talk about revival, however if we look at revival it always involves a person/people who are raised in God’s time to do a specific work to bring life defining change in people’s lives and in greater society. You can only revive something that is dead, that has lost the breath of life. It must have the Holy Spirit breath upon it to bring fruit that will remain. It is interesting to note that the word inspire comes from the word ‘spiro’ which means breath. One who is inspiring stirs up others, activating them to join the cause. The visionary can’t do it on their own, they need others to come along with them. This will only take place by the hand of God moving upon one’s that He is raising for such a time as this. They have allowed the dealings of God to come to their lives and have chosen to do only what the Father tells them to do. They walk in true obedience to the Lord. Their hour is coming, life changing reformers, called to bring radical change to society. Their passion compels them to speak and do His will even unto death. Their cause is a fire in their bones that is all consuming, that inspires, but also repels others. They have developed an inner fortitude that keeps them steadfast, holding onto the vision no matter what opposition comes. They will not be bought, but will hold onto the vision the Lord has placed upon their hearts.
The second attribute of a true leader raised up for these times is a vision for future generations.
Leaving a legacy: True reformers are concerned about future generations. Their focus is always the future, not the past. They know the vision they carry will continue long after they have died. Many are aware that they may never see the fulfilment of their vision but know they are used by God as a catalyst, to start, for others to carry it on. They have a team around them who also stand with them, supporting them to see its fulfilment. They have no claim on the work as the Lord has led them to a place of death: death to self, death to the vision, and complete reliance upon Him to bring it to its completion. They are prepared to lose their life for the cause as they know it is about changing society for the betterment of generations to come. They have and will count the cost.
We all know of the time spoken in Ezekiel chapter 37, when God breathed upon the bones in the valley of dry bones. My question to you is: do we as the body of Christ need the breath of God to come and breathe His life on the dry bones? Undoubtedly yes! Sadly we in the body of Christ have succumbed to ‘doing’ church rather than ‘being’ the church. This is not a criticism but rather saying it how it is. Change cannot come until we acknowledge where we are at right now. Doing church is easy, so long as we meet people’s needs, keeping them happy, and lulled into a form of false comfort. Being church is more difficult as it is about relationships. Relationship with the Lord and relationship with one another. There are greater requirements on us, both leaders and those being led, with more opportunity for accountability for how we live our lives. Honesty at a deeper level would be required. Inspiring people to be all they are called to be in God is paramount for the raising up of ones who will be catalysts of change. It will only come about as we grow in deeper relationships with one another.
Are we being effective in advancing His kingdom here on earth? No we are not. However I have no doubt that things are about to change. There is a ‘new breed’ of Christian, one’s whom the Lord has positioned, with His vision, willing to be disciples and in the Lord’s timing, be sent to do the work of the ministry. They are one’s called as His leaders willing to be led, and in the process trained to lead others.
They will be sent into all areas of governance in nations and will be positioned as catalysts for changing society. They will be entrusted with much responsibility and power to bring influence. They know their lives have been all about training for positioning to advance God’s kingdom here on earth. They have been inspired by God and will inspire others as they lead and grow in walking in His Truth. Are you being trained as one who is called as a catalyst for change? What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Are you positioned being trained towards the outworking of your call? The Lord has a remnant. He is raising up a remnant, one’s called to lead, one’s who have proven themselves faithful and trustworthy to speak and to do what the Lord asks of them. That is the new breed of leaders being raised in 2012. Old leadership ways will not suffice. It will not work! Times are changing and the church must change with the times. The church is meant to be change agents. We see that throughout Scripture as key men and women were positioned to bring influence. We are the head and not the tail, we have to learn to walk in this thinking. We have been given all authority to rule and reign. It is now time for us to walk in the knowledge and revelation of this!
Habakkuk 2:2-3
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Can I encourage you: write your vision if you have not already done so.
This year is crucial for positioning yourself ready; by preparing for what the Lord wants of you and doing whatever is required to walk in obedience to His will for your life. It will mean sacrifice and being bold and courageous. It is about the big picture and where you fit in to bring about the fulfilment of the Lord’s plan for your life. You may be an important, integral piece of the puzzle.
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