by Glenice Mills
Why do we kill one another with our words of judgement?
Why do we cut one another down?
Why do we by our actions put yokes of bondage on one another?
Why do we use words to cut a person down?
Why do we betray one another, showing love then turning on the person we showed love to?
Why do we hold one another back?
Why do we not want the best for one another?
Why do we put each other down instead of standing with and encouraging them?
Why do we hold one another down?
Why do we hold one another down?
Why do we hold one another down?
Unity in the body of Christ is preached often. However, if we are truly honest, we need to ask ourselves some very serious questions. IF we have true unity we would be able to answer the above questions without doubt, with sureness of heart and being, knowing we have nothing, NO THING against a fellow brother and sister in Christ.
The truth is: we are far from showing true love, the love of Jesus Christ to one another. IF we are going to talk about unity, then we must ask the Lord to show us where we have sinned, spoken and passed judgement of a fellow follower of Jesus Christ. The reality is: it starts with me, it starts with you!!!
For too long we in the body of Christ have walked with a façade of ‘let’s all be friends’ when in fact we appear as ‘friends’ then go away and stab that person in the back by our critical words and ungodly actions. We take a perverse delight when a brother or sister falls and in our self righteousness think we are above that happening to us. We quickly fall in the trap of comparing ourselves, bowing to a competitive spirit, of who appears bigger and better than another.
We judge with natural eyes and not with eyes of the Spirit. Often we do not have the Lord’s heart, how He sees His beloved people, how each are His handiwork, His creation. If we did we would be much more careful how we speak about and judge another. It starts with me, it starts with you! Ask the Lord to convict us when we speak or think against another brother/sister in Christ. Be quick to repent when we have that horrible attitude of heart against another. Do not give ground for the enemy to come and bring division against each other. It is easy to be critical, to think the worst of a person. It is far more difficult to see the good in another, particularly in those that have hurt you. However, that is what it is to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. It takes courage to examine our hearts, but it is also the way to walk in true freedom knowing we are sinners requiring the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to get us through.
Perhaps one of the most abused Scripture is found in Psalm 133:1 & 3. It is often quoted as a cure for all the divisions among the body of Christ. When we want the blessings without looking at what is truly required we make a mockery of a very important Scripture. It is easy to place a demand upon God to give us the blessings but it takes a proactive part from each of us to choose to change from having a critical spirit to one of love, the love of Jesus Christ. Repentance will be involved as we honestly look at what is operating in our hearts against a fellow brother and sister in Christ.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
This is talking about you and I. We are the brethren!! It is a good thing for us to dwell together in unity. The reality is we can ‘appear’ to dwell in unity but that does not mean our hearts are knit together.
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.
Blessing comes when we are united. So what is required for us to be in unity?
A key is: to be of one heart. Scripture shows us clearly what walking together in true unity looks like. We see a good example of this happening when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers when they gathered together in the early church.
Acts 4:32
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
Remember each of those believers were individuals with their own unique aspects and expressions of God, yet they were able to be of one heart and one soul. They were diverse but had all things in common. We don’t have an understanding of what this looks like in these days and times. Sadly we are all very individual, we like to keep to ourselves, and most of our motivations are from a selfish want. The early church had nothing, they lived in times of persecution, and those who had something shared with those who did not. Can you imagine that happening in these days and times?
Perhaps this will happen one day when persecution and trials really come? Something for us to seriously consider!!!
Ephesians 4:1-3
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness, and gentleness, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
I am highlighting key words needed by each of us in order to bring unity. Each of these words is worthy of a study. It is on the Lord’s heart for us to look at how we can come together in the opposite spirit of separateness. Following are verses that help us to walk in true unity of one heart and one soul. It is impossible in and of ourselves, but with the Holy Spirit’s help we can choose to walk in righteousness if we walk with hearts open to convict of sin and give up claims to self, preferring to walk in God’s ways. It is up to me, it is up to you, to choose to walk together in unity.
Romans 12:9-13
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Can I encourage you to go back to the beginning of this word and ask the Holy Spirit to come and to show you where and how you have been against a fellow brother/sister in Christ, and repent of those things He is showing you. It us up to me, it is up to you!
I want to finish on a couple of Scriptures that teach us how to walk in truth.
Romans 14:13
Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
Philippians 2:2-4
Fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Amen,
Let this be so Lord!!!
(Prophetic word given on the 28th June 2011)
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
What Team Do You Belong To?
by Toni Gordon
Are you a lone ranger or a team member?
Are you able to be lead by another or do you insist that you MUST be the leader?
Has God appointed you the Leader? Or did you appoint yourself as the leader?
Have you got others following you? If not, why not?
True God appointed leaders have true God appointed followers and a true leader has the heart of the followers in mind all the time. This God appointed leader will only do what God tells him/her to do.
This leader will not “take it out” or abuse their followers in any way. Think about how the leader you are following treats others; how your leader speaks about other ministries and ministers; how your leader reacts when the going gets tough; how your leader gets money, possessions etc.
Does your leader make you feel guilty if you do not help them every time? What is God saying to you or do you not hear God over the drone or volume of the leader you are following?
Does your leader encourage or criticise you? Does your leader ask you what you feel you should be doing or want to do OR does your leader tell you what you will do according to what the leader thinks or wants?
Do you have freedom or restrictions from your leader? Is your leader a peace keeper or peace maker? Does your leader lead or does your leader wait to get suggestions/ideas from others?
Is your leader the model you want to become in every way? No? Then why are you following this person?
Join the team that GOD wants you on. The team that has YOUR best interest at heart and what GOD wants for you.
Spend time asking God what HE wants for your life then quickly hook in to the team that God has chosen for you. Remember God KNOWS you and how you operate and are made. After all HE is your creator.
The disciples were a team. Look at Acts 2: 42 – 46.
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart…"
No I, or my, or me, or you.
We are in this together. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all parts of His body. “For we are members of His body, …… (Ephesians 5.30).
And he is the head of the body, the church:… Colossians 1:18
Max Lucado says “I am not His body, you are not His body. We – together – are His body.”
How true!
Is the leader you are following and the team you are with, wanting and working towards the UNITY that GOD wants with all of His children (and churches)? This unity must start with the LEADERS first.
Where is your leader?
ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT TEAM?
(Prophetic word given on the 17 June 2011)
Are you a lone ranger or a team member?
Are you able to be lead by another or do you insist that you MUST be the leader?
Has God appointed you the Leader? Or did you appoint yourself as the leader?
Have you got others following you? If not, why not?
True God appointed leaders have true God appointed followers and a true leader has the heart of the followers in mind all the time. This God appointed leader will only do what God tells him/her to do.
This leader will not “take it out” or abuse their followers in any way. Think about how the leader you are following treats others; how your leader speaks about other ministries and ministers; how your leader reacts when the going gets tough; how your leader gets money, possessions etc.
Does your leader make you feel guilty if you do not help them every time? What is God saying to you or do you not hear God over the drone or volume of the leader you are following?
Does your leader encourage or criticise you? Does your leader ask you what you feel you should be doing or want to do OR does your leader tell you what you will do according to what the leader thinks or wants?
Do you have freedom or restrictions from your leader? Is your leader a peace keeper or peace maker? Does your leader lead or does your leader wait to get suggestions/ideas from others?
Is your leader the model you want to become in every way? No? Then why are you following this person?
Join the team that GOD wants you on. The team that has YOUR best interest at heart and what GOD wants for you.
Spend time asking God what HE wants for your life then quickly hook in to the team that God has chosen for you. Remember God KNOWS you and how you operate and are made. After all HE is your creator.
The disciples were a team. Look at Acts 2: 42 – 46.
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart…"
No I, or my, or me, or you.
We are in this together. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all parts of His body. “For we are members of His body, …… (Ephesians 5.30).
And he is the head of the body, the church:… Colossians 1:18
Max Lucado says “I am not His body, you are not His body. We – together – are His body.”
How true!
Is the leader you are following and the team you are with, wanting and working towards the UNITY that GOD wants with all of His children (and churches)? This unity must start with the LEADERS first.
Where is your leader?
ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT TEAM?
(Prophetic word given on the 17 June 2011)
Saturday, 18 June 2011
My Beloved New Zealand. The Father’s Heart Cry!!!
Prophetic Declaration by Glenice Mills
My beloved New Zealand, so precious to Me,
Such beauty made by My hand, yet little honour, glory, and praise is given to Me.
You see My hand of beauty all around and about,
Yet you do not acknowledge Me, you take all I have given for your own glory.
You acknowledge Me in your anthem, you know you are God’s land,
Yet why oh why is it that you deny Me? That you proudly sing about Me,
BUT YOU DON‘T KNOW ME!!!
You say you are “God’s own” but are you?
Can you really say you belong to Me?
Do you REALLY see My hand at work in your nation
Or do you just turn your back on Me,
content with all I have given you?
Do you not hear My heart cry, the cry that says
“WHERE ARE YOU? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
You acknowledge me in everyday speech,
BUT YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!!
You sing your anthem, “God defend New Zealand”
As some false security, as an unseen protection,
But do you truly believe that I defend your land
Or do you take My name in vain, acknowledging Me by name
But continuing in false complacency, and a deep sense of false comfort
You acknowledge me and My protection
BUT YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!!
You don’t know who I AM. You don’t know what I would do in your land,
for you see only the beauty all around and about, forgetting that this land is My land, that these people are My people, a people I am calling back to Me.
My people of New Zealand wake up!!!
Do not tarry, do not hold back, do not stay the same.
My church of New Zealand, it is now time to take your place,
As My voice to your people, to the nations, to influence, to bring change.
Arise to the challenge I am sending out, arise to My call to this nation
ARISE!!!
My beautiful New Zealand, why do you tarry, why do you tarry?
Why do you turn your back on Me?
Why do you think you have no need of Me?
Why do you think My hand is against You?
Why do you resist My Spirit? Why do you resist My Spirit? Why do you resist My Spirit?
Do you not see I am calling you, I am calling you, I am calling you,
My heart grieves for you, my heart grieves for you,
I am weeping over you, I am weeping over you,
Do you not hear My cry? Do you not hear My cry?
Do you not see I am stirring, I am stirring, I am stirring,
I am shaking, I am shaking, I am shaking,
I am stirring, I am stirring, I am stirring.
Why do you hold back? Why do you hold back?
Can you not see I need you in this hour?
I need you to arise, arise My beloved New Zealand.
Come out of hiding, come out of hiding, come out of hiding,
Stop hiding, stop hiding, stop hiding - behind, behind, behind,
Come out of hiding, come out of hiding, come out of hiding
Come into ALL I have for you,
Come into the provisions I want to give to you,
COME OUT, COME OUT, COME OUT!!!!
THIS IS A PROPHETIC DECLARATION OVER THE NATION OF NEW ZEALAND!!!
AMEN!!!
SO BE IT LORD!!!
(Prophetic declaration given on 14 June 2011)
My beloved New Zealand, so precious to Me,
Such beauty made by My hand, yet little honour, glory, and praise is given to Me.
You see My hand of beauty all around and about,
Yet you do not acknowledge Me, you take all I have given for your own glory.
You acknowledge Me in your anthem, you know you are God’s land,
Yet why oh why is it that you deny Me? That you proudly sing about Me,
BUT YOU DON‘T KNOW ME!!!
You say you are “God’s own” but are you?
Can you really say you belong to Me?
Do you REALLY see My hand at work in your nation
Or do you just turn your back on Me,
content with all I have given you?
Do you not hear My heart cry, the cry that says
“WHERE ARE YOU? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
You acknowledge me in everyday speech,
BUT YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!!
You sing your anthem, “God defend New Zealand”
As some false security, as an unseen protection,
But do you truly believe that I defend your land
Or do you take My name in vain, acknowledging Me by name
But continuing in false complacency, and a deep sense of false comfort
You acknowledge me and My protection
BUT YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!!
You don’t know who I AM. You don’t know what I would do in your land,
for you see only the beauty all around and about, forgetting that this land is My land, that these people are My people, a people I am calling back to Me.
My people of New Zealand wake up!!!
Do not tarry, do not hold back, do not stay the same.
My church of New Zealand, it is now time to take your place,
As My voice to your people, to the nations, to influence, to bring change.
Arise to the challenge I am sending out, arise to My call to this nation
ARISE!!!
My beautiful New Zealand, why do you tarry, why do you tarry?
Why do you turn your back on Me?
Why do you think you have no need of Me?
Why do you think My hand is against You?
Why do you resist My Spirit? Why do you resist My Spirit? Why do you resist My Spirit?
Do you not see I am calling you, I am calling you, I am calling you,
My heart grieves for you, my heart grieves for you,
I am weeping over you, I am weeping over you,
Do you not hear My cry? Do you not hear My cry?
Do you not see I am stirring, I am stirring, I am stirring,
I am shaking, I am shaking, I am shaking,
I am stirring, I am stirring, I am stirring.
Why do you hold back? Why do you hold back?
Can you not see I need you in this hour?
I need you to arise, arise My beloved New Zealand.
Come out of hiding, come out of hiding, come out of hiding,
Stop hiding, stop hiding, stop hiding - behind, behind, behind,
Come out of hiding, come out of hiding, come out of hiding
Come into ALL I have for you,
Come into the provisions I want to give to you,
COME OUT, COME OUT, COME OUT!!!!
THIS IS A PROPHETIC DECLARATION OVER THE NATION OF NEW ZEALAND!!!
AMEN!!!
SO BE IT LORD!!!
(Prophetic declaration given on 14 June 2011)
Rise Up Men of God!
by Tony Clark
For decades, faithful women have filled church pews, have sought God for strength, have faithfully served Him behind the scenes – where no one has seen but God. And their reward is with Him.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6
While men have stayed at home, and trusted in their own strength, and have refused to rely on Him as their source and power. It is not a sign of weakness to say “I need help,” and it is not a sign of weakness to turn to Another for the Way. It is time for men to break, for the strength of man to fail, and for men to position themselves before God in humility, to position themselves for true power – a true man will rely on His Creator for true provision, true empowerment, and find their true nature.
God is a POWERFUL God! And He desires those who will serve Him in that power, He has made man to RULE and to CONQUER, and He is a vast resource to the one who will trust in his Maker. Man’s strength is weakness, but God’s power is limitless and it is the birth-right of His sons and daughters.
RISE UP MEN OF GOD!
It’s OK to feel weak and reliant, to feel like you can’t do it on your own – this is not failure, this is success! This is the key and the door to unfathomable strength and ability, to be the man you were created to be. Do not resist God in this. The Apostle Paul boasted in his weakness, and declared that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The strength of man is failing, because we are in a time when God will come forward in our lives, in our families, so that He would be glorified in us. No man can take His glory, we were never made that way. We were made to carry His glory, not to take it for ourselves but to give it back to Him. And we were created to know the Power of God.
(Prophetic word given on 12 June 2011)
For decades, faithful women have filled church pews, have sought God for strength, have faithfully served Him behind the scenes – where no one has seen but God. And their reward is with Him.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6
While men have stayed at home, and trusted in their own strength, and have refused to rely on Him as their source and power. It is not a sign of weakness to say “I need help,” and it is not a sign of weakness to turn to Another for the Way. It is time for men to break, for the strength of man to fail, and for men to position themselves before God in humility, to position themselves for true power – a true man will rely on His Creator for true provision, true empowerment, and find their true nature.
God is a POWERFUL God! And He desires those who will serve Him in that power, He has made man to RULE and to CONQUER, and He is a vast resource to the one who will trust in his Maker. Man’s strength is weakness, but God’s power is limitless and it is the birth-right of His sons and daughters.
RISE UP MEN OF GOD!
It’s OK to feel weak and reliant, to feel like you can’t do it on your own – this is not failure, this is success! This is the key and the door to unfathomable strength and ability, to be the man you were created to be. Do not resist God in this. The Apostle Paul boasted in his weakness, and declared that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The strength of man is failing, because we are in a time when God will come forward in our lives, in our families, so that He would be glorified in us. No man can take His glory, we were never made that way. We were made to carry His glory, not to take it for ourselves but to give it back to Him. And we were created to know the Power of God.
(Prophetic word given on 12 June 2011)
Friday, 17 June 2011
Theme Coming Through Forerunners International
by Tony Clark
Recently a strong theme has been coming through in Forerunners International and during my latest prayer time, God showed me a picture of a seed falling to the ground and dying.
“Verily, Verily, I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24
Jesus used this analogy to speak of His death and revealed its purpose: that His death would result in a harvest - that the single corn falling to the ground and dying would result in many sheaths of wheat in a golden harvest.
God began to speak to me about Jesus’ selfless example to us in this, and showed me that it is to be the same with our lives. Our lives are no longer our own if we have given them to Christ, they really do belong to Him, “not my will, but Your’s be done.” God requires our lives of us, that we might be sown, wherever He might see fit, so that He can bring a harvest. Our lives, while ever they are our own, don’t bear fruit, but as we give up our lives for His sake, and really die to our own selfish desires and plans, and allow ourselves to be sown into what He wills for us, we will bear much fruit.
It really is the call of the end time church to “Love not their lives unto death.” Revelation 12:11
If we want to walk in resurrection life then we need to pass through the veil of death to our own selfish desires, so that we can truly live. It really is about counting the cost in the seasons to come.
But there will great blessing and fulfilment in this. Those that lose their lives for His sake will TRULY find it.
“For whosoever will save His life shall lose it: but whosoever loses his life for my sake, the same shall find it.” Luke 9:24
Jesus Christ was the greatest example of this.
(Prophetic word given on the 12 June 2011)
Recently a strong theme has been coming through in Forerunners International and during my latest prayer time, God showed me a picture of a seed falling to the ground and dying.
“Verily, Verily, I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24
Jesus used this analogy to speak of His death and revealed its purpose: that His death would result in a harvest - that the single corn falling to the ground and dying would result in many sheaths of wheat in a golden harvest.
God began to speak to me about Jesus’ selfless example to us in this, and showed me that it is to be the same with our lives. Our lives are no longer our own if we have given them to Christ, they really do belong to Him, “not my will, but Your’s be done.” God requires our lives of us, that we might be sown, wherever He might see fit, so that He can bring a harvest. Our lives, while ever they are our own, don’t bear fruit, but as we give up our lives for His sake, and really die to our own selfish desires and plans, and allow ourselves to be sown into what He wills for us, we will bear much fruit.
It really is the call of the end time church to “Love not their lives unto death.” Revelation 12:11
If we want to walk in resurrection life then we need to pass through the veil of death to our own selfish desires, so that we can truly live. It really is about counting the cost in the seasons to come.
But there will great blessing and fulfilment in this. Those that lose their lives for His sake will TRULY find it.
“For whosoever will save His life shall lose it: but whosoever loses his life for my sake, the same shall find it.” Luke 9:24
Jesus Christ was the greatest example of this.
(Prophetic word given on the 12 June 2011)
Sunday, 5 June 2011
God Is Very Interested In What We Want
by Tony Clark
God is very interested in what we want. The Christian walk can be very difficult at times, and the things we find ourselves wanting, can clash with our own personal values, the Word of God, our consciences, and can work against our desire to know God and to honour Him with our life and actions. God is pin pointing this subject of what it is that I want.
When it comes to the flesh, it wants what it wants to satisfy our base desires and these wants are defined by what it is we think we need to meet our own needs and what has worked in the past to comfort, to ease us from the pain - but they have never worked in the long run, and have only been temporary, like the sacrifices under the Old Covenant, they appease only for a time, and really only cover up a problem, they bring no real permanent resolution.
As a young Christian we still rely on many of these mechanisms, but as we become more intimate, and grow closer to God, the very things that have brought us comfort and peace become the things that separate us from Him and His true comfort, and as we come to know His holiness and we learn why it is we do the things we do, and the shame that binds us because of the compromise we make in doing them, the very real battle of Romans, “I do that which I don’t want to do” becomes very real and we see the dual natures within us warring over what it is we want. And I think that even the fleshly wants are really just us trying to get what God wants us to have – only our way, not His. We want peace, we want healing, we want the comfort of knowing we are loved, but it’s not our way that will cause us to obtain it, but coming into God’s Way.
We learn obedience through the things we suffer – it can take a long time to realise that what we think we want is not really what we want at all, and that it harms us instead of doing us good, and what we really want is what God wants for us - and He is making a way for us to enter in. He is teaching us to receive from Him, freely, instead of trying to obtain what He has by our own efforts. Jesus is the door we must come through, not some other way.
That other way might be sexual interaction – to feel loved or accepted, or it might be self harm just so we can feel. But God is liberating us into His Will, by showing us what these things really are, and showing us the truth and how He intended things to be, the way He designed them, so that we can come into true acceptance, true identity, true worth. The Truth really does set us free.
It’s amazing when we find out that we don’t need these inferior crutches to find the peace we need, that the gift of God is freely given in Christ – and it does take time to realise this in a way that we can really walk in it. But this is the time we are in, where God is liberating those that truly want Him. Because He’s always known what it is that we want, what it is that truly satisfies, when we thought we have known. He knows what we have lost, what we have gone through, why we have tried to cope in various ways, and He is the answer. And He is drawing us up, and drawing us out, of the mire, out of the quicksand of our lives into the glorious liberation, the freedom of the sons of God into our inheritance.
We were never meant to be slaves, but we were meant to serve, He uses everything for good. The amount of treasure that He will extract from our hardships and our darkest hours will be amazing and it will furnish the very Temple of God. There is no one like God. He has wrought a work like no other. He is the True Victor, and He conquers like no other.
So He has put His finger on this subject of want. And He says, “I know what you want, and I know what you truly need.” And honouring our free will completely, He answers the deepest cries, and longings of our hearts, and although we might not know what it is we need at times, and we look in places where there truly is no help, trying to find a way, crawling in the dark on our hands and knees, He hears our cries, and the utterances that are not heard by any other ear – He can interpret the cries of our heart! – and attends to our need. He is the author and finisher and He is a good God – how GREAT IS OUR GOD!
God is very interested in what we want. The Christian walk can be very difficult at times, and the things we find ourselves wanting, can clash with our own personal values, the Word of God, our consciences, and can work against our desire to know God and to honour Him with our life and actions. God is pin pointing this subject of what it is that I want.
When it comes to the flesh, it wants what it wants to satisfy our base desires and these wants are defined by what it is we think we need to meet our own needs and what has worked in the past to comfort, to ease us from the pain - but they have never worked in the long run, and have only been temporary, like the sacrifices under the Old Covenant, they appease only for a time, and really only cover up a problem, they bring no real permanent resolution.
As a young Christian we still rely on many of these mechanisms, but as we become more intimate, and grow closer to God, the very things that have brought us comfort and peace become the things that separate us from Him and His true comfort, and as we come to know His holiness and we learn why it is we do the things we do, and the shame that binds us because of the compromise we make in doing them, the very real battle of Romans, “I do that which I don’t want to do” becomes very real and we see the dual natures within us warring over what it is we want. And I think that even the fleshly wants are really just us trying to get what God wants us to have – only our way, not His. We want peace, we want healing, we want the comfort of knowing we are loved, but it’s not our way that will cause us to obtain it, but coming into God’s Way.
We learn obedience through the things we suffer – it can take a long time to realise that what we think we want is not really what we want at all, and that it harms us instead of doing us good, and what we really want is what God wants for us - and He is making a way for us to enter in. He is teaching us to receive from Him, freely, instead of trying to obtain what He has by our own efforts. Jesus is the door we must come through, not some other way.
That other way might be sexual interaction – to feel loved or accepted, or it might be self harm just so we can feel. But God is liberating us into His Will, by showing us what these things really are, and showing us the truth and how He intended things to be, the way He designed them, so that we can come into true acceptance, true identity, true worth. The Truth really does set us free.
It’s amazing when we find out that we don’t need these inferior crutches to find the peace we need, that the gift of God is freely given in Christ – and it does take time to realise this in a way that we can really walk in it. But this is the time we are in, where God is liberating those that truly want Him. Because He’s always known what it is that we want, what it is that truly satisfies, when we thought we have known. He knows what we have lost, what we have gone through, why we have tried to cope in various ways, and He is the answer. And He is drawing us up, and drawing us out, of the mire, out of the quicksand of our lives into the glorious liberation, the freedom of the sons of God into our inheritance.
We were never meant to be slaves, but we were meant to serve, He uses everything for good. The amount of treasure that He will extract from our hardships and our darkest hours will be amazing and it will furnish the very Temple of God. There is no one like God. He has wrought a work like no other. He is the True Victor, and He conquers like no other.
So He has put His finger on this subject of want. And He says, “I know what you want, and I know what you truly need.” And honouring our free will completely, He answers the deepest cries, and longings of our hearts, and although we might not know what it is we need at times, and we look in places where there truly is no help, trying to find a way, crawling in the dark on our hands and knees, He hears our cries, and the utterances that are not heard by any other ear – He can interpret the cries of our heart! – and attends to our need. He is the author and finisher and He is a good God – how GREAT IS OUR GOD!
We Are In A Time Like Never Before In History
by Tony Clark
We are in a time like never before in history. There is much in the world that calls itself Christianity, and there is such variation that the onlooker would surely think, “How can I know what is true!” My God! It makes it obvious to me that the Word of God can only be revealed to us by His Spirit, and that man has interpreted based on his own pre-conceived ideas and premises. When God moves in the earth, truth is established, His ways are seen and when man makes assumptions beyond what He is doing, men fall into error, and the false enters. God is doing so much good, but man has always been frail, and weak and without God we are lost and have no way of finding truth. So God moves in the midst of the miry clay, His pure and perfect Spirit in the midst of lifeless clay.
It takes discernment to see what God is doing, and it takes discernment to see where God ends and man begins, what is God and what is not. There is an unprecedented mix in the body of Christ today. There is a unity in the Spirit (What God is doing) but there is SO much division in the flesh (What man is doing).
I believe we are on the brink of the most massive move of God upon the earth that has ever been witnessed, and it’s going to be world-wide. The work that God has been doing behind the scenes (in the unseen realm) will come to the surface and be seen in the natural realm. And religious mindsets, and systems will go into panic and great fear will be felt by those who adhere to them - because it means an end to these systems, they have been found wanting, and they are not pleasing to God.
I feel like this is an eagle view of what God is doing, and on the ground there is much more detail and specifics as to how it will all play out and what it will look like to the individual. It may take years for final events to play out, but we are definitely in the times of the end, these are final things that are taking place.
It would make sense that the end time church, would be Holy and unspotted by the world, and that it would be glorious – after all God is its maker. The end time church will not be full of man-made systems, and it will be free of all idols. The church at present does not look like this, but is filled with idolatry and she is unfaithful in so many ways. But God is in control, and His work is sure, and His plan is perfect. God is not moved, because He sees the beginning from the end. He is not moved (from a place of perfect peace, to fear) by our circumstance. He has got it in hand. The wisdom of God is unparalleled.
We are in a time like never before in history. There is much in the world that calls itself Christianity, and there is such variation that the onlooker would surely think, “How can I know what is true!” My God! It makes it obvious to me that the Word of God can only be revealed to us by His Spirit, and that man has interpreted based on his own pre-conceived ideas and premises. When God moves in the earth, truth is established, His ways are seen and when man makes assumptions beyond what He is doing, men fall into error, and the false enters. God is doing so much good, but man has always been frail, and weak and without God we are lost and have no way of finding truth. So God moves in the midst of the miry clay, His pure and perfect Spirit in the midst of lifeless clay.
It takes discernment to see what God is doing, and it takes discernment to see where God ends and man begins, what is God and what is not. There is an unprecedented mix in the body of Christ today. There is a unity in the Spirit (What God is doing) but there is SO much division in the flesh (What man is doing).
I believe we are on the brink of the most massive move of God upon the earth that has ever been witnessed, and it’s going to be world-wide. The work that God has been doing behind the scenes (in the unseen realm) will come to the surface and be seen in the natural realm. And religious mindsets, and systems will go into panic and great fear will be felt by those who adhere to them - because it means an end to these systems, they have been found wanting, and they are not pleasing to God.
I feel like this is an eagle view of what God is doing, and on the ground there is much more detail and specifics as to how it will all play out and what it will look like to the individual. It may take years for final events to play out, but we are definitely in the times of the end, these are final things that are taking place.
It would make sense that the end time church, would be Holy and unspotted by the world, and that it would be glorious – after all God is its maker. The end time church will not be full of man-made systems, and it will be free of all idols. The church at present does not look like this, but is filled with idolatry and she is unfaithful in so many ways. But God is in control, and His work is sure, and His plan is perfect. God is not moved, because He sees the beginning from the end. He is not moved (from a place of perfect peace, to fear) by our circumstance. He has got it in hand. The wisdom of God is unparalleled.
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