'STANDING IN THE GAP' IN 2013

I attended the Grace Covenant Church's Intercessory Meeting last night. We started off with Pastor Sam opening the meeting with a prayer calling on the Holy Spirit to give us fresh revelation for the New Year. There were many who prayed for the normal intentions but bang in the middle of the supplications the Holy Spirit spoke up through Pastor 'D' and boy-oh-boy, was it a powerful message!

He began expounding on the following scripture:

¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. – Matt.11:12

The church was meant to be powerful on earth, warding off every attack from satan's kingdom. We were meant to be God's military on earth with mighty weapons such as The WORD OF GOD, WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY (Power in JESUS' NAME) and THE BLOOD OF JESUS. The church has instead backslidden and has been rendered powerless

²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power – 1 Cor 4:20

NO POWER, NO KINGDOM!

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven – Matt. 6:10

We were to establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth but are far from it. We've allowed God's church on earth to be steamrolled by the powers of darkness!

We may be humans but we're called to declare 'a spiritual war'!

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh – 2 Cor 10:3, 4

The Bible prophesies that Elijah will come again before the second coming of Christ. It has been revealed to Men of God that the return of Elijah will be a 'special manifestation' of the Holy Spirit when the 'end-time church' will be involved in spiritual warfare just as Elijah had stood against Jezebel, the high priestess of satan in the Old Testament.

¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death – Rev 12:11

It is clear from the above scripture that eventually, the 'end time church' will prevail against evil even if they have to lay down their lives doing it! But this realisation must come upon the people of God now so that they start moving in the right dimension! Our prayers must 'BIND' and 'LOSE' as per the need, by the power invested by Jesus in us!

By the time the meeting ended, it was clear that the Holy Spirit wanted a 'praying church' in 2013, not afraid to use all the spiritual weapons against satan's kingdom. THERE IS MIGHTY POWER IN INTERCESSORY PRAYERS!

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places – Eph. 6:12

(Please do pass on this message to other churches so that we can stand united in this 'spiritual war'!)

 

 

THE THIEF

John 10:10 - The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

For those of you who have understood what the 'thief' has done to the real meaning of Christmas will understand how subtle and destructive he is! Santa has replaced Jesus in popularity through the gifts he brings whilst the bible clearly tells us in James 1:17 that EVERY good and perfect gift comes from God! The Christmas tree brings great joy when it is put up and so did the 'tree decked with silver and gold that the heathen put up'- Jer 10:2-5! The festival is good but the focus is not!

Now that Christmas has come and gone, along with the merriment that accompanied it, let us settle down and contemplate on all that happened in the old year and resolve to set a theme for the new year that will keep us thoroughly focused on 'higher things'.

I suggest we decide to keep our eyes on our Lord at ALL TIMES and choose to follow Him and Him alone. Let us not look over his head, or sideways to try and look ahead at the path! Remember Peter? As long as he was looking at Jesus, he WALKED ON WATER! The moment he looked away, he was overwhelmed by the storm, wind and waves and began to sink! The 'thief' will employ every trick to distract you from your focus but be vigilant always!

If Jesus has come to us as the WORD made FLESH (Jn 1:1-5), and he came to serve and not to be served (Mark 10:42 to 45), let us follow our great and humble 'king' and also SERVE in the coming year. The world badly needs to accept the saviour. WE KNOW WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES ... WE BADLY NEED A SAVIOUR! The sad thing is that many still need to know this truth and our CHRISTIAN LOVE seen through our life example is the only Gospel that others will be drawn to!

In serving others as Jesus did, we will be able to save other souls from eternal damnation. Are you ready to take on the great commission in 2013?

'SEASON'

Dear friends, Whilst wishing each other compliments of the season, let us contemplate on the following commentary by JFBBC: Ec 3:1-22. Earthly pursuits are no doubt lawful in their proper time and order (Ec 3:1-8), but unprofitable when out of time and place; as for instance, when pursued as the solid and chief good (Ec 3:9, 10); whereas God makes everything beautiful in its season, which man obscurely comprehends (Ec 3:11). God allows man to enjoy moderately and virtuously His earthly gifts (Ec 3:12, 13). What consoles us amidst the instability of earthly blessings is, God's counsels are immutable (Ec 3:14). 1. Man has his appointed cycle of seasons and vicissitudes, as the sun, wind, and water (Ec 1:5-7). purpose-as there is a fixed "season" in God's "purposes" (for example, He has fixed the "time" when man is "to be born," and "to die," Ec 3:2), so there is a lawful "time" for man to carry out his "purposes" and inclinations. God does not condemn, but approves of, the use of earthly blessings (Ec 3:12); it is the abuse that He condemns, the making them the chief end (1Co 7:31). The earth, without human desires, love, taste, joy, sorrow, would be a dreary waste, without water; but, on the other hand, the misplacing and excess of them, as of a flood, need control. Reason and revelation are given to control them.

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Remember, if you're going through a tough time right now, IT WILL LAST BUT FOR A SEASON! Meditate on the WORD OF GOD all the time and He will make your way prosperous (Whether in season or out of season!).

God bless you all!

MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO ALL

'The six men who raped a Delhi student on a bus had decided to "punish" her .... police sources said.'

Keeping the above 'news extract' of the heinous gang rape of the 23 year old medical student in Delhi as our backdrop, let us go to the following extract from the Holy Bible:

 ^{JOHN 8: 2-11} Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the centre of the court, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the centre of the court. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, ^[a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

It is very easy for everyone to feel 'self-righteous' and at once get blinded by a false kind of zeal to 'punish' others for the 'wrongs' others do. In the case of the gang-rape victim, the perpetrators of the heinous crime tried to justify their loathful act by saying she deserved such a punishment!

The passage from the bible about the adulterous woman very clearly demonstrates that THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS AND ALL FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! from the two that remain amongst the collection of stones left by the accusers, THERE IS ONE THAT IS FREE FROM SIN and by Jewish law, only he could have proceeded with the execution of the woman! Instead, He chooses to show mercy!

The core relevance of Christmas celebrations has been lost due to 'empty traditions'. It is the BIRTH OF OUR MESSIAH that we're celebrating and not His birthday! The power of the message of Christmas has been watered down by our vane traditions which have been used lucratively by traders and businessmen to make millions over this joyous season! Instead of enjoying the TRUE JOY that only our Lord Jesus can give, we chase after temporal vanities!

Isaiah 9:6 prophecies:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will ^[a]rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The above scripture was read/heard by me many times but it never made the impact like it did today!
When God created the heavens and the earth HE LOOKED AT HIS CREATION AND SAID 'IT WAS GOOD'. It was man's disobedience to God that severed the wonderful fellowship that man enjoyed with god. We now blame God for all the wrong that happens in the world. We forget that if we do not chose Jesus as our personal saviour, we will never reach that destination that unites us with God in heaven!

An easy illustration of the above truth: If you've boarded a train to take you from 'A' to 'B', the train will eventually take you to 'B' however, if you decide to get off at any other station along the way, the train will reach the destination WITHOUT YOU!

God is not the author of religions! God wanted to restore the relationship between man and Himself but man has instead invented religions. He sent his only begotten son Jesus to earth so that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

True joy will be experienced only when we allow the PRINCE OF PEACE to be born inside our hearts. Let us invite Him this Christmas to come into our lives and change us to the image and likeness of HIM!