Finding higher ground...

What is it to find higher ground and why is it important?

Exodus 33 vs 11 "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

There is a song which goes "Down at your feet oh Lord is the most high place..."

There was something about this two men that set them apart.

First, we'll look at Moses:

Psalm 103 verse 7 - in the literal translation from the Greek (www.scripture4all.org) says the Lord was making His ways known to Moses and to the children of Israel He made known His activities.

My ways and my activities are two slightly different things; if you know my ways you will really get to know me a bit better, you will understand my thought process, where my heart is and have some depth into why I do the things I do but if you only know my activities - you know less about me, you have seen some things I have done but we don't have intimacy which would give you an insight to my heart - you have no idea about the what that makes me tick. 

Moses knew God intimately:

• They talked like friends as we see in vs 11 of Exodus 33 
• Moses asked God to teach Him his ways - he was hungry for more of God. "if you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you" in verse 13a 
• Moses did not just stop at teach me your ways or talking like friends, his hunger for intimacy was far more, he asked God a question, He said in verse 18 of Exodus 33 “Now show me your glory." 
• I also noticed something really interesting: God ENJOYED Moses too! The feeling was very much mutual. When Moses asked God to blot him out of his book if he would not forgive the sin of the Israelites in Exodus 32 vs 32. The Lord replied in vs 33 this way "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book". Do you notice how The Lord did not directly respond to the request? It reminded me quite a bit of my mum when she ignores a question and responds to a different question than you asked. I got a sense of God not willing to let go of Moses! Under no circumstances am I letting you go son. The one who speaks with me, who carries my people on his heart for me, faithful in all I send him, who just spent the last 40 days with Me and just Me. No I won't let you go because I enjoy your company!

Now lets look at Joshua. Joshua was not a big prophet like Moses was when we see him in Exodus 32. He was just Joshua, Moses's helper. He didn't speak to God face to face, He wasn't a leader but this man desired more of God. Joshua did not let his current level of revelatory knowledge or position keep Him from God. Even when Moses was not at the tent of meeting, Joshua remained. I got a sense of someone who just said to himself "you know what The Lord may need someone to go get Moses from the camp so I'll just hang around here so he can use me".

Lord I am ready to be your butler, your houseboy, just tell me what you need Sir.

Joshua had a hunger and a value for God. He stewarded God, He knew the presence of God was precious, so he was just gonna hang around and steward Him incase He needed him for anything. This kind of attitude really helped Joshua, so much that when the camp fell and the people of Israel turned to idols. Joshua was oblivious to all of it because he was too busy stewarding the presence of the Lord.

He didn't get caught up with "The God was taking too long ideology" or "I want to be just like my neighbours ideology". Having his focus in the right place shielded him from satan's temptation which fell on the camp, this is higher ground - abiding in God's presence always so that you don't get carried away when satan throws his storms and waves of temptation.

See, it's so easy to read the Bible and judge our predecessors and say "this Israelites were so stiff necked". However I think it is important that we stop to think to ourselves and say how can I keep myself from falling where they fell? To ask ourselves about those that did not fall, and find out how did they achieved it knowing that we are all susceptible to temptation. As it is a wonder to me, how they could fall so far after the red sea was parted and they were brought out of Egypt with signs of 10 mighty plagues, and still turn around and serve an idol.

I wonder how differently things could have been if they had sat around the fires and talked about the might works of God and praised His name - shared testimonies of things He had done in times past whilst they waited on Him and on Moses's return from the mountain - where God was busy working stuff out on their behalf!

Some things I learnt about Joshua:

• Joshua never took God's presence for granted 
• He stewarded God's presence with the heart of a servant 
• He was fascinated by God, He regarded God 
• He didn't want to be like everybody else unlike the children of Israel who wanted to be like their neighbours not understanding that satan was exposing their nakedness and making them a laughing stock - see Exodus 32:25. Joshua always defined himself by God's standards. It was Joshua who said in Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord"! Today so many of us want to pattern ourselves against the world standards, we think we are meant to be the same - talk about the same things, copy their way of doing things and import it into the Church regardless of the impact or appropriateness to God's palate and agenda.
• He didn't let anything limit him, it didn't matter that he didn't talk to God face to face like Moses yet or part the red sea, eventually this same Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still (Joshua 10:12). He was able to do this because persisted in his pursuit of God, he had a great regard for God's presence. 

Abide in the presence of the Lord - there is no-one more fascinating than God! Nothing else compares! It will keep you from being shaken when the world is being shaken and sift like wheat. It will deliver you from evil and keep you from temptation.

Pause and think about it.

John The Baptist's Style of Ministry

John Chapter 1 vs 6-8: There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

John Chapter 1 vs 19-22: Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

The message I felt impressed upon to share today is simple, I was reading through John 1 last week when I felt The Holy Spirit draw my attention to John the baptist's style of ministry. His ministry constantly pointed to Jesus, the Bible notes that he confessed freely that he was not The Lord Jesus Christ. As a minister of God and witness of the testimony of Jesus, we must always point those we disciple or preach the good news to on to Jesus Christ. We can not disciple people on to ourselves, they must be discipled on to Jesus.

What is it to disciple to Jesus?

John Chapter 1 vs 35 - 39: The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

We must teach intimacy with The Lord. In the above passage we see two disciples of John the baptist after learning the identity of the Lord Jesus as The Lamb of God from John, they went after The Lord themselves, they followed him until He noticed them and they inquired further to know where He lived; they did not just stop at knowing the address of His house, but they went in and spent the day with him - that is intimacy

John Chapter 3 vs 26 - They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

We need to understand the same way John the baptist understood that Jesus is the bridegroom, His church is the bride and as a minister of God (a worker in God's vineyard) our role is to ALWAYS point others to Christ and NOT to ourselves.

We all must learn to know God for ourselves. My job is not to get you to know me but to get you to know Jesus and develop your own relationship with Him. The reality is that God does not have grandchildren, He has only children, therefore it behoves us to develop our intimacy with Him.

Intimacy is to spend time with God - in worship, prayer and His word - we must prioritize that above everything else along with obedience to Him.

As Rev Patrick would say - cheek to cheek - let God know you cheek to cheek, He is your Father.

For the minsters of God (all His children who preach Christ in one way or the other - on the pulpit, as a worship leader, on the street corner, in Bible Study, to our friends, our families, our children) - we must like John learn to say - I am not the answer but I know someone who is - discover Him for yourself, my job is to introduce you to Him and then you must learn to run with Him.

The weaknesses we see in the body of Christ today are as a result of many not racing to know God for themselves and the lack of the message of intimacy. 

I am not Jesus, my job is to get you to Him and for you to understand that you can and must know Jesus for yourself. The disciples in John 1 vs 35 - 39 quoted above, left John and went after Jesus, they spent time with Him, they desired to know Him.

If there is one message we must learn to preach, it is the message of INTIMACY.

It is written: No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. Hebrews 8 vs 11

You are not your need!

You my friend are not your need but rather you are God's gift for this hour! Something needs to break in your mentality so that this can sink in. I ask The Lord to touch you now as you read this and speak to your soul.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" 2 Corinthians 4:7

You my friend are that earthen vessel where God has placed His treasure - His Holy Spirit. God has chosen to dwell in you not just with you but IN you. Therefore I submit to you today that you can not be reduced to a need.

I once said I would share a little bit about my getting married if I felt it would bless someone, well this is probably going to be it! I got married at ~39. 

I remember years before, hearing Rev Patrick preach a message about the Shunammite woman, the Word of God hit me - Jesus said the words that I speak THEY ARE SPIRIT AND THEY ARE LIFE. I had never heard the Shunammitte woman taught like that before. The message he preached was simple: this woman didn't focus on her need - pls read the passage (2 Kings 4: 8-37), Elisha had been passing through and she perceived that he was a prophet,she decided to do something to make him comfortable, in deciding to do that she was in essence making a contribution to God's kingdom - God's agenda, not only did she do that, when Elisha asked her if she needed anything - she said she needed nothing, this woman was definitely NOT her need, it was Gehazi who jumped in and said to Elisha that she had no son and that her husband had gotten on in age.  

Here I was over 30 and still single and I was not being told there was something wrong with my faith, that I was not believing hard enough that's why I didn't have what I wanted, this was new to me! That day God unlocked something in my thinking, He began a process...

I remember some time after that lying on my bed, I had been reading the parable of the sower, some things had just happened that had shaken the body of Christ and whilst I lay there meditating on those things and the parable I had just read (Matthew 13), I felt like I heard The Lord say to me: if you keep focusing on your need, you will just perish!

Previously the order of the day for me was: moan and moan, chat with other friends - even christian friends - moping around discussing how difficult it was to meet good men, the right kind of guy, failed attempts, we rarely even thought about standing together to pray about it, we just moaned most of the time. 

I realized that God wanted to take me beyond my need, He needed me to see myself beyond that and any other need. He reordered my life and placed valuable mentor-ship in my life and started me on a journey of discovery. He had need for me in His house, in His presence, in simply getting lost in  the passion of Him, serving Him, chasing Him, following His agenda, so much so that I often forgot that I had a need. I learnt that I could triumph in my singleness and live a life filled with pure joy from the greatest pleasure which is just belonging to Him - the pleasure of being His. 

He started to show me and to teach me to pursue instead intimacy with Him; not just good works, my focus became finding out what was on God's heart, listening for his heartbeat and making it mine, letting Him show me what HIS Kingdom agenda was and running with it (Thine Kingdom come, Thine will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven) and in that place I found my freedom! You can be a christian who pays their tithes, serves in a ministry in church but still so bogged down by the cares of this life - so much that your capacity to love on Him has been eroded because you have learnt erroneously to make your problem your focus just like I did.

Revelations 2: 2-5
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 

Did I meet up with friends and sometimes talk about botched introductions to guys who just weren't ready or just not right for me - yes I did but this time I could truly in my heart laugh it off. Every introduction or blind date I was set up on did not all start working out just like that but it didn't really matter, I could truly say so, they didn't have the power to slow me down - I just kept moving because His truth had set me free! I also learnt that it was okay to go out and have a pizza or some fillet mignon or good jollof rice & dodo (whatever rocks your boat) in between doing that thing called life and let my hair down and just relax, alongside with prayer and hiding in God's presence.

It was in the middle of doing all this, that the Lord came to me at the ripe old age of 36 and told me in a dream that He would visit me at 38! I thought to myself did He really say 38, maybe He meant I would meet the guy now at 36 or at 37, give us some time to date and then we would get married at 38! Surely! I am sure He was smiling up there knowing His daughter's planning and analysis mind at the time. 

Anyways time passed, I continued trusting Him, I hit 38 and lo and behold I met my husband :-) And to show how considerate God is, things didn't take that long, we were married within a year, in fact a month short of my 39th Birthday we were married on my Rev Patrick - my small papa's front porch in the USA before 5 witnesses before the big bang wedding celebration which followed some months into my 39th year. 

What am I really trying to say here: keep going for Jesus! Make Him your focus, your goal, as long as you can still sit up or breathe - worship Him, press hard after Him, follow the path of intimacy with Him. Don't just become a church freak - become a JESUS freak! Go out and preach the gospel, go out there and minister to others, let God use you to pray with others, be a vessel of a word of knowledge for somebody, pray for the body of Christ, pray for revival - just by listening to His heartbeat, spending time in His presence - you will begin to know where He needs you to add value, because you are the value that He has prepared for this hour!

2nd Corinthians 4:7-12
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 hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Paul had gone through a lot of challenges. He went further to say to the Corinthians death is working in me so that life can work through you - he died to his own needs so that God could be glorified through him for the benefit of the Corinthians, he died to his own agenda so that he could live out Christ's agenda.

And you will also find that when you seek out God's kingdom and righteousness, He will NOT forget you. But you have to seek His kingdom and righteousness FIRST (FOREMOST) and THEN all things shall be truly added on to you. (see Matthew 6:33).

I remember going to prayer meeting because I wanted to join in praying for nations - I had heard about this particular group who were hungry for God and seeking His plans and purposes so I joined their prayer meetings, there God met me in so many ways on a personal level related to my needs even though that was not why I went there. I just wanted to experience more of Him and align myself with what He was doing. I wanted the fire of His presence! Some months before I met my husband, three women at the meeting saw a vision of angels coming into the meeting room with wedding rings and saw me go up and pick one, (3 people saw the same thing) not long after that my husband arrived into my life and we were making wedding plans! I didn't go there because I wanted to get married, I went there because I wanted more of Jesus and Jesus met me there with messages confirming what He had already told me before that He would visit me at 38, releasing me into my marriage and giving much needed additional wisdom and direction.

Am I saying, not to pray at all about your needs - No, that's not what I am saying but I am telling you today that you are bigger than your need. I am simply just sharing my experiences with you in the light of His word to give you some useful nuggets which have done me well and I trust will do you well if you apply them.

You will have less stress in life when you pass your burden to Jesus in exchange for His yoke - He said Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 

Exchange your singular burden to include His agenda at the fore front, stop letting your need dominate you, your thoughts, your life or the way that you see yourself. To carry a burden is singular - something you carry on your back or head or hands, to yoke is different - a yoke is plural in the sense that it holds two. Oxen are yoked in twos to plough the field. Jesus is saying come and join your neck with mine!


Picture of a yoke

You can not function properly from a position of need/weakness but rather from a position of strength which is Jesus.

After the Lord opened my eyes and I started to learn to yoke myself with Him, He taught me how to fight better and I am still learning all the time, but this time - I am not the captain, my need is not the captain - He is and I follow His command and lessons.

This means that I am not saying you will stop praying for your needs entirely but He will teach you and lead you how best to pray and go about things, He will even send messengers to you in due season as you continue alongside Him. Some may be messengers with gifts of healing, some may be sent to help you to address certain strong holds in your life, some may come with words of wisdom or correction on why you are failing at certain things etc and sometimes the Holy Spirit will speak to you directly on these things. When you and I are rightly positioned with Him, a lot of these things will happen easily.

I still prayed about my needs. I still went to prayer meetings where singles were being prayed for if God led me to, I still came out when singles were asked to come out for prayers during church/fellowship and I did still pray in my personal time, but better still I had learnt that there were things that God had designed me to do which needed doing so much that they were not to wait until I got out of singleness!

Next I think we will share on learning to multi task - like the children of God when they rebuild the walls in the book of Nehemiah, as I think it ties in nicely into this.

Love & Freewill - Dr Ravi Zacharias - why does God let bad things happen?

Many ask this question often: why does a good God allow bad things to happen?
Dr Ravi gives an excellent answer here!

Without free will, there is no true love, that is what makes us humans & why we have the freedom to ask such questions. God in His infinite wisdom allows certain things to happen, part of loving Him is also trusting Him and we will understand better His wisdom when we stand before Him and some events are best understood backwards and because He can see the end from the beginning, He allows them. If we walk with Him we will come to have a better understanding about certain things and if we wait till we stand before Him, all things will become clear.

In this simple answer Dr Ravi gives a most profound answer...

Interview of witnesses from the Azusa Street Revival

Pls watch and enjoy! I think we can learn a thing or two & also be encouraged...

They testify that they could not control the Holy Spirit and they didn't try...
They prayed as the Spirit gave utterance and ceased only when He wanted...
They all prayed...
There was love, race was erased...
Healing... both witnesses received life long healing
Tarrying - they had a room where they tarried before The Lord...
Words of knowledge, Prophecy, Speaking in languages not learnt (Americans speaking Japanese type of thing) were the order of the day
They were not ashamed of their faith - they carried their Bible everywhere...

The move of God was quenched because man got in the way as these witnesses testify - man got proud and felt they could do things instead of the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do NOT quench The Spirit.

A Call To Worship

I felt The Holy Spirit tell me this morning to tell The bride of Christ to cry out for more of God until He can hide Himself no more.

God is asking us to press on in worship until we feel His tangible presence. The aspect of worship in question is worship in song and adulation.

Yes, God is always with us in the sense that He is everywhere and many of us reading this I believe are sealed with His Holy Spirit, not with standing there is a level of worship, a tempo of worship that attracts the manifest presence of GOD, where He chooses to reveal Himself more tangibly - in essence "spread His skirt over us".

In John 20: we see Mary, the Bible records that Mary rose up very early in the morning and went to the tomb where The Lord was buried, the Bible records that it was on a Sunday morning, the next day after Saturday - the Jewish Sabbath where nearly everything is restricted which I would imagine back in those days would include a much more restricted movement than nowadays in Jewish culture. She must have just been itching for the next day to come, immediately she got a chance - she was off to the tomb! She got there, saw that it was empty and ran to get Simon Peter & another disciple whom we believe is John, they came back with her to the tomb but left when they saw an empty tomb - the bible records in verse 8 "Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed - for until then they still hadn't understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead" Not sure if they remembered to explain this to Mary before they left.

Mary who didn't know theology, simple Mary - all she had was her worship, her heart, her love. A love which God honored. The Lord didn't show up before the apostles left but He showed up before Mary left. Mary knew how to love God and she triggered what made Him tick. When I read this scripture I had tears in my eyes  - the bible describes how she wept, how she stooped low to check the tomb a second time - Oh what passion! All she wanted was to pay her respects...

Then she saw the angels, she told them someone had taken her Lord away and she did not know where they had put Him, Mary was a seeker... All through this exchange The Lord must have been observing keenly to the point which He could not take it anymore, He just had to make Himself visible for her to see, He didn't even do it when the apostles came but when He saw Mary's persistence, her passion, He was moved. He asked why are you crying, again hear her answer, Sir if you have carried Him away, just tell me where I will go and get Him. Mary - despite being a woman, was ready to use her might to lift His body! At this point He called her name - that way which only He can and her eyes and her mind opened and she knew it was Him!

He was quick to say don't reach for me yet because He knew the kind of worshiper Mary was - she was an all or nothing kinda gal just like Him her Papa...

For it is written that you shall love the Lord your God with all of your might, all of your heart and soul! And one of the ways we express this to him is in song worship, proclamation of who He is before Him. The Lord taught us to pray Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name - we must learn how to hallow His name.

God is not looking for a tokenistic kind of worship,

Songs of Solomon 3 vs 1-5
One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover. I yearned for him, but he did not come. So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city, searching in all its streets and squares. I will search for the one I love.” So I searched everywhere but did not find him. The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds, and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?” Then scarcely had I left them when I found my love! I caught and held him tightly, then I brought him to my mother’s house, into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived. Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and wild deer, not to awaken love until the time is right.

He is looking for a lover who will search till they find Him, who will hold on to Him tightly and say do not disturb us until the time is right. The Holy Spirit has asked me today to ask His bride to learn to tarry in worship until He gives the signal the time is right you can break off now, till she experiences His tangible presence.

Songs of Solomon 5 vs 4 - 6
I slept, but my heart was awake, when I heard my lover knocking and calling: “Open to me, my treasure, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.” But I responded, “I have taken off my robe. Should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them soiled?”My lover tried to unlatch the door, and my heart thrilled within me. I jumped up to open the door for my love, and my hands dripped with perfume.
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh as I pulled back the bolt. I opened to my lover, but he was gone! My heart sank. I searched for him but could not find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply.

When we hesitate like she did above, He will withdraw and the consequences are not pleasant. She said she had taken off her robe, washed her feet... she felt it was not convenient and so He withdrew...

Songs of Solomon 5 vs 7
The night watchmen found me as they made their rounds. They beat and bruised me and stripped off my veil, those watchmen on the walls.

When I talk about knowing how to steward the presence of The Lord - this is one of the things I mean. I Thessalonians 5:19 tells us not to quench The Spirit and one of the ways we can quench is not letting Him through in our worship sessions or yielding when He calls us to worship.

There are some practical steps I have come to learn about worship in song, they are in no way meant to be restrictive but I believe they are helpful.

Sometimes there are specific songs that The Lord wants to hear, sometimes He may choose to do something through that specific song or minister to you through that song. Therefore it is important to listen out for what He wants to hear and then sing it. It is important even when you practice ahead peradventure somebody reading this leads worship in a choir - that you ask for His guidance on your song selections and that you are open when you hear a song through the ears of your spirit that the Holy Spirit is bringing up to your consciousness. Don't restrict God into a time box - give Him quality worship - make time for worship, allow the Holy Spirit to take The Lead and allow Him the middle and the end... I see often when we end too quickly and God is not done yet - Songs of Solomon verse 5 in chapter 3 says don't awaken us till the time is right - don't interrupt our romance until we tell you we are ready. Often times The Lord wants to romance us - His Bride but we cut Him short because we have so many other things to do and get on with. We need to learn how to make time for God adequately.

John 4 vs 23 & 24
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Romance Him till He can hide no more - that's the message He asked me to take to His bride. Romance Him till you feel Him. A kind of romance that wants Him! Him! Him! A romance that will not settle just for a pat on the back or blessings only but one that says it is You I want! Just like Moses asked for God's presence - he resisted when The Lord proposed an angel only going up with them, the angel could still have gotten them to the land flowing with milk and honey but Moses said No, it's You that I want! How will anyone know that You are pleased with me? How will I know that You are pleased with me? If You don't kiss me, if You don't spread Your skirt over me, if You don't show me Your glory?

Worship Him till He is so attracted to you that He can Hide no more!

Holy Spirit Espionage

Hello Hello Everybody! Happy 2016!

Well, today I wanted to drop a nugget in your spirit which has been stirring up within mine. I feel like having a conversation...

This is what is on my heart, this is what I pray for In God's Company Ministry and for the rest of the body of Christ - that we will live on the offensive and not just be reactive; tearing down satan's kingdoms and putting to shame his plots in 2016 and beyond!

I am asking God to give us spiritual insight to stop threats before they become a reality. I am asking for Holy Spirit Espionage!

2 Kings 6:8-12 "Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber." (KJV)

Aren't we tired of hearing about things that bring shame to the body of Christ?? It is time for the intercessors to rise up and ask God with me for Holy Spirit Espionage! To ask the Lord to expose whatever satan is planning against our ministries, churches, families, communities, individual selves and kill it at the root before it comes alive or matures.

The enemy has a habit of sowing tares in our lives unawares. He will often wait till we are set to be launched in a bigger way or when we are in the middle of something big to mess us up; as he calls out in the open for those things he planted in secret. Just as we grow these things also grow along side us if not dealt with.

The Lord said to Cain in Genesis 4:7b "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” NIV

It is crouching at the door, it doesn't want you to see or notice it's presence.

Now, how must the Christian wrestle this? The Christian must wrestle by constant examination before God, truthfulness with God and by disallowing to maturity or life these things once identified. The Holy Spirit and The Word of God play a great part in this process of self examination. The Word tells us what is right and what is wrong, what is the fruit of the Spirit, what is of flesh and is not of God. When we exhibit characteristics that do not add up to the fruits of the Spirit, we must not gloss over them, explain them away, ignore them and just move on. 

The Holy Spirit will often pin point where we are stumbling, likely to stumble as He is able to expose traps, "lead us not into temptation" as the Lord's prayer says... The Christian must never resist the gentle nudging and prompting of The Holy Spirit highlighting/pinpointing areas for address. 

The Christian must willing to judge sin quickly in their life, repenting just as quickly before God. Bringing all weaknesses, areas of unrest, contention, constant failing before God in prayer, reading scriptures concerning these issues whereby allowing God's word to wash over their heart concerning the matter. 

The Christian must learn early to come before God to say: I realize I have this problem with this issue and I want to overcome it. As it is written Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall - 1 Corinthians 10:12.

This is why constant seasons of conscious consecration in form of fasting, retreats, quietness with God is required. These help to get us into quietness and rest to listen and address issues. Sin is not cute, it is not our friend. We need to be in an environment where the fire of the Holy Spirit is ablaze, where these things can be brought up, addressed and destroyed. Tell me, what's the temperature in your setting like? Do you shut Him up just when He is about ready to speak or move in your midst? 

We need such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our lives, our ministries, our churches and the entire body of Christ, so much that these things can not survive. We must learn to adequately steward His presence, not quenching the fire, allowing Him liberty to move, rebuke, correct, nurture and address these things before they get out of hand, bringing shame and dishonor on us.

I will put it as simply as I put it to In God's Company: I think we Christians have been reactive enough, quenching fires in a sense instead of starting them. I think it's time that we go on the holy offensive! Before satan attacks we know. We are there to fail him and his cohorts. Before shame can come to the body of Christ, God has flashed it to us, we are alert to The Spirit to pick it up and we are there to uproot the seed/plan/attack that the enemy is brewing designed to cause us shame and disrupt moves of God. We must learn to destroy these attacks before they reach maturity. I desire this for The Church and in our individual lives! This is one of the cries in my heart to God this year.

I am asking God this year to reveal to us strategic prayer points to make us like Elisha is described in 2 Kings 6! The passage states that not once, not twice... did God deliver Israel in this way...

There have been enough moves of God which satan has attacked mid way, I am tired of satan coming in to bring shame to us and disrupting moves of God. Instead of that happening we get a word from God that satan is planning to attack in this way and we fight it! Before it happens, we have killed it by the power of God with us. Therefore we must be on guard and remain in the spirit at all times. We must learn to deal with tares at the root before they mature and that is why we need The Holy Spirit, that is why we need Holy Spirit Espionage!

The one the Lord will speak with and use in this way must be willing to constantly examine themselves before God and humble themselves under His mighty hand, when we see our weaknesses, we bring them to Him immediately - no hiding, no nursing or covering up, we bring them before God who already knows, so what's the point of hiding? James 1:5 tells us that if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God who gives to us liberally without reproach, without finding fault. That's the same God, he will not reproach us for confessing our weaknesses, rather He has already outlined all through His word including Genesis 4:7 what happens when we don't!

As part of the process, we must learn to hear and obey His voice as He guides & instructs us pointing out where enemy land mines are hidden, before they blow up in our faces! 

Understanding the 3 questions asked in Matthew 24

 

My last post was an invite to our end time bible studies, I was hoping to see some of you there but alas... :-) Anyhow we've been running them now -10 lessons strong - all by The Lord's grace and mercy.
 

How did these lessons come about? I realised that I was pretty ignorant on bible facts surrounding the end times, so I called my dear small papa - Pastor Patrick and he made a great suggestion which was instead of him teaching just me, that we extend our studies to other members of In God's Company as well as other children of God that would like to attend.

 

 

I used to find Matthew 24 difficult to understand and now I realise why, I had failed to distinguish that there were in fact 3 distinct questions asked the Lord by the disciples, and that his subsequent responses were in regards to these 3 questions.

Therefore one of the main keys for understanding Matthew 24 is that the reader understand that Our Lord Jesus was responding to 3 different questions. When we look at the answers he gave and the questions that were asked, it is important that we bear that in mind, this will allow us to avoid ascribing the right answer to the wrong question. We will also be looking at Luke 21 in conjunction with Matthew 24 to identify, understand and trace back the answers to each question.

Matthew 24 vs 3 "Later , Jesus sat on the Mount Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, Tell us, when will this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? (Life Application Study Bible)

The questions can be broken down as follows:

1. When would the destruction of the Temple be? This refers to the actual physical Jewish Temple which was located in Jerusalem.
2. What would be the signs/trends that will help us identify the season or generation of His return or that we are close to His return?
3. What would signal the end of the world?

Now let's look at each question.

Q1: The Destruction of the Temple

 

In verse 1 of Matthew 24, the disciples had been showing the Lord the temple and it's buildings - also directly translated as to-exhibit the structures of the temple - no doubt a grand structure and they must have been fascinated by it. Luke 21 vs 5 says "Some of his disciples began talking about the majestic stonework of The Temple and the memorial decorations on the walls"

But the Lord in turn responded as recorded in both Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that the entire building would be demolished completely. This was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple, this is recorded in history.

Luke 21 from verse 20 -24 we see the answer to question no.1

And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city. For those will be days of God's vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. For there will be disaster in the land and great anger against this people. They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end. (LASB Version)

 

Likewise in Matthew 24 from verse 16 to 20

Historic accounts:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/jewishtemple.htm

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(AD_70)

 

It is said that Christians who heeded the advise of the Lord fled Jerusalem before the destruction, I would surmise that those of them who had been watching and listening to the  Holy Spirit, careful to bear in mind what the Lord had already said would have probably started to make their migration out of Jerusalem AD66 when the city was surrounded by Roman soldiers who were sent to quell the Jewish revolt. And if they did n't quite get it in AD66, once the city was surrounded a second time by soldiers in AD70, they would have understood it was time to leave without hesitation as forewarned by The Lord or risk getting caught in the resulting outcome.

 

 

Q2: Signs that signal the nearing of the Lord's return

 

Luke 21 vs 8-12 gives the answer to this

 

"And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake."

 

Pastor P gave us an assignment where we looked at the trends of wars, earthquakes, famines & pestilences; for all of the items we were able to source statistics on, we saw a rise in these events. We also know that Christians have been greatly persecuted just as The Lord said we would, most of the apostles as history records were martyred, when we look through the book of Acts we know they were delivered to synagogues (Stephen in Acts 6), brought before kings (Paul was brought before King Agrippa - Acts 25) and it was all for preaching in the Lord's name just as He said. Persecution started happening from the time of the Apostles and after which wars, pestilences continued to intensify upon the earth and we will see more of it as the world enters the time of great tribulation and through the tribulation.

 

Let's take a look at the seven seals in Revelation 5 and 6 in conjuction. Pls read these two chapters in order to be able to follow the discussion. In Revelations 5, we see a book which has 7 seals which could only be opened by the Lamb, the bible describes this book as being written on at the back and within (Reference Rev 5:1). In Revelations 6, we see that as the lamb breaks the seals certain events begin to unfold, these events include: wars, famines, death etc. We see 4 riders released when the first 4 seals were broken, these were given power to run through the earth and create these events, they are operating now and their operations will be intensified as we enter the last-last days. The reason I believe that the events described are not only reserved for the end but have already begun (though not in full measure) is because the Book of Revelation is careful to tell us that the book was written on it's back and within. I felt the Holy spirit confirm to me that this means these things will hapen through time (in some measure through time and in full measure at the end of time).

1 John 4: 3b "and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world"

 

We see in 2 Thessalonians 2 vs 7 -8a the bible says "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed..." The spirit of the antichrist is already at work and after the Church is raptured, the man antichrist (666 - the no of a man -see Rev 13:18, man was made on the 6th day) will be revealed and he will be authorised then to do these things in full measure with the false prophet and satan their master as they aim to form a false trinity 666. For now, the Spirit of God upon the Church of God is the hand that restrains them from unleashing themselves in full measure and because they are not authorised yet to operate, as we have been given the authority over them.

See Luke 10:19-20 " I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”." Yes, these spirits are subject to us. If you notice they were given power but we have authority but when the True Church of God is taken away, then they will have license - authorized to operate in the 7 years of tribulation.

Any activity they are running now is illegal and we are the ones expected to restrain them. Which is why Christians must engage in battle against these and shine the light of Christ everywhere they go. If we look at the message of The Lord Jesus to messages to the churches Revelations 2 through 3 - the recurring theme was: he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death and shall be given power over the nations and shall be clothed in white raiment - meaning there is something to overcome! I hope I will be able to share on the power to the nations when we talk about the millennium rule of the Lord Jesus, what you do now will determine where you will be placed then. I realised during this bible study that in the light of the 1000 year rule of the Lord on the earth and eternity afterwards, this life is like a pebble against a mighty ocean, it makes whatever we go through for His name sake so well worth it! 

 

 

Q3: Signs that signal the end of the world

 

Luke 21 vs 25 - 28 provides the answer to this

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

Matthew 24: 29 - 31

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This describes the end of the great tribulation (which will last for 7 years as I understand it from studies) when the Lord will come and rule on the earth for a 1000 years after which we continue with Him and The Father for Eternity!

I would like to expand a little bit on the above, before I do I must let you know that there is more than one school of thought on if the church will be raptured before the great tribulation or if the church is expected to go through the great tribulation. I am of the former view as you may have surmised however there are others who hold the view that the Church will not be taken before the great tribulation - this view is held by some whom I deeply respect their ministry and who love the Lord. However my studies and understanding of scripture point me to believing and understanding that the faithful church will be taken off the earth before the great tribulation occurs and it is on that premise which I will be teaching and you may have already gathered from my answers in question 2.

The church that will be taken, will be those found faithful, I pray that you and I will be one of those.
 

I hope I can continue from here in my next post...

 

More Details on the End Times Bible Study starting 23rd July mentioned in previous blog post

Rev Patrick Odigie will be taking us through bible study on the end times to cover the following areas:

• The 3 distinct questions the disciples asked the Lord in Matthew 24, recognising the distinction between these 3, understanding the answers He gave to each and distinguishing & tracing back which answer refers to each specific question
• The events which occurred in AD 70 in Jerusalem
• The Rapture
• The false trinity
• The Great Tribulation of 7 years - the first 3.5 years and the second 3.5 years what events will distinguish one half from another
• The Return of the raptured saints with the Lord Jesus and the resurrection of the saints martyred during the great tribulation
• The glorified bodies of the saints
• The end of the antichrist and the false prophet
• The reign of the Lord administering through His saints through out the earth for 1000 years and the binding of satan for that time & then his release for a time
• The Armageddon
• The new heaven and new earth

We ask that you pls review the following Bible passages ahead of the meeting:

• Matthew 24
• 1 Thessalonians 5 through to 2 Thessalonians 2
• Revelations 14
• Revelations 19

End Times Bible Study - Teleconference

In God's Company invites you to a Teleconference Bible Studies on the END TIMES with Rev Patrick Odigie.

The first set of classes will run from Thursday 23rd to Friday 24th, July 2015
Starting at 8.30PM GMT/3.30PM EST

We invite you to dial in and participate in this crucial interactive Bible study of the end times. Sessions will be interactive where we will study the word and take questions & answers.

Have you ever wondered what the Bible says about the various sequences of events? 
The Rapture? The Great Tribulation? The Return of the Lord Jesus with the raptured saints? Glorified bodies? The Lord's reign of a thousand years on the earth? The activities of the redeemed during that time? The final battle before lucifer - satan and his cohorts are consumed by fire? 

Join us and let us learn together!

Participant PIN: 362366

Time: 8.30PM BST(GMT) - 3.30PM EST - 9.30PM CET

Pls find your dial in nos relevant to your location:
England 0330 336 3080

Country & City Dial-In Number
Argentina Buenos Aires 011 5258 2375
Australia Adelaide 08 7123 2361
Australia Alice Springs 08 8921 4109
Australia Brisbane 07 3123 5124
Australia Canberra 02 6108 4316
Australia Darwin 08 8986 7038
Australia Launceston 03 6349 1222
Australia Melbourne 03 9001 6668
Australia Newcastle 02 4013 4043
Australia Perth 08 6365 4490
Australia Sydney 02 9037 2747
Austria National 0720 8800 09
Bahrain National 1619 9041
Belgium Brussels 02 808 0369
Brazil Sao Paulo 11 3323 2331
Bulgaria Sofia 02 491 7031
Canada Calgary 1 403 775 1284
Canada Edmonton 1 780 669 5289
Canada Halifax 1 902 982 3028
Canada Montreal 1 514 667 0321
Canada Ottawa 1 613 686 3845
Canada Quebec City 1 418 907 2242
Canada St. John's 1 709 757 5710
Canada Toronto 1 416 800 1274
Canada Vancouver 1 604 484 1683
Canada Winnipeg 1 204 272 2356
Chile Santiago de Chile 22 938 1500
Croatia Zagreb 017 776 113
Cyprus* Nicosia 22 022 684
Czech Republic Prague 2 4601 9210
Denmark National 77 34 57 09
El Salvador National 2113 1752
Estonia National 668 1329
Finland Helsinki 09 4259 8663
France Paris 01 76 60 71 86
Georgia Tbilisi 7 0677 7315
Germany Munich 089 12 140 2318
Greece Athens 211 176 8240
Guatemala* Guatemala City 2 229 6342
Hong Kong SAR China Victoria City 5808 0118
Hungary Budapest 06 1 778 9429
Ireland Cork 021 601 7951
Ireland Dublin 01 903 6715
Israel Tel Aviv 03 915 5823
Italy Rome 06 99 268 290
Japan Tokyo 03 4520 9471
Latvia Riga 0676 61099
Lithuania Vilnius 052 66 58 12
Luxembourg National 2020 2414
Malta Valletta 027 780 210
Mexico Mexico City 01 55 2789 5465
Netherlands Amsterdam 020 262 9645
New Zealand Auckland 09 909 7814
New Zealand Wellington 04 974 9405
Norway Oslo 2 154 7857
Panama Ciudad de Panamá 0836 5399
Peru Lima 017 085 313
Poland Warsaw 22 398 8490
Portugal Lisbon 0308 800 567
Puerto Rico San Juan 1 787 905 7171
Romania Botosani 031 810 7968
Singapore National 3158 1023
Slovakia Bratislava 02 3300 6537
Slovenia Ljubljana 016 002 714
South Africa Cape Town 021 300 4334
South Africa Durban 031 100 4334
South Africa Johannesburg 010 500 4334
South Africa Pretoria 012 004 4334
South Africa Pretoria 087 550 0378
Spain Madrid 911 876 433
Sweden Stockholm 08 4030 9923
Switzerland Zürich 043 500 4156
United States Atlanta 1 678 954 0539
United States Baltimore 1 443 692 1837
United States Boston 1 617 334 7122
United States Chicago 1 312 253 4866
United States Cleveland 1 216 744 1000
United States Dallas 1 214 377 1210
United States Denver 1 303 330 0432
United States Detroit 1 313 879 6548
United States Houston 1 713 366 8100
United States Los Angeles 1 213 221 3529
United States Miami 1 305 808 3277
United States Minneapolis 1 612 844 0008
United States New York 1 917 464 3045
United States Philadelphia 1 215 207 0230
United States Phoenix 1 602 354 9200
United States Pittsburgh 1 412 360 7848
United States Portland 1 503 206 0211
United States Saint Louis 1 314 244 3579
United States San Diego 1 619 330 9637
United States San Francisco 1 415 422 9300
United States Santa Clara 1 408 531 6619
United States Seattle 1 206 691 8202
United States Tampa 1 813 864 6296
United States Washington, D.C. 1 202 379 1388