God's desire for the church in these last days is for it to rise up in power and revelation. For the church to fulfil its destiny in victory
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As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJV)
The Church was commissioned by Jesus Himself, to fulfil tasks which He Himself had ordained before He ascended into heaven. These tasks are as relevant today as they were then.
Firstly it exists to worship God, to express love and thanks. Next, to minister to people, encouraging others to find salvation, baptising them into Christ's family. Also, it exists to edify and disciple believers, to become more Christ like in our thoughts, feelings and actions.
For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13
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God's desire for the church in these last days is for it to rise up in power and revelation. For the church to fulfil its destiny in victory. For too long the church has been asleep, unaware of the urgent days that lie ahead.
God longs for us to be attentive to His hearts cry, and act accordingly and flow with His plans to see that destiny fulfilled. To support and pray for Israel, to usher in His covenant plans for the one new man. Jew and Gentile.
He has provided wonderful gifts to the body, where individuals are anointed for various tasks, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to build and edify His church. No one is surplus in the Kingdom of God. God needs you, and He wants you to know how valuable you are in His eyes. Also, He desires for you to experience that abundant life which has already been bestowed upon the church, through Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. Be blessed! God is desiring to raise up an army, who will stand and fight shoulder to shoulder in the Spirit and in prayer, undefeated until Jesus returns and takes His place as King of all Kings.
Let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Author: John Yates
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God has already written the symphony. He planned it all for us long ago. Our job is to play it the best we possibly can
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Over the last few weeks, we have been reading and hearing that, no matter what the circumstances, God is in control. He is working His purposes and plans out and we have to trust Him no matter what. Sometimes it doesn’t look to us as if all is going according to plan but God has the bigger picture. We cannot expect to understand all that God is doing. In Isaiah 55:8-9it says; “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Sometimes, in our own lives, in the lives of loved ones or in events further afield, it may appear to us that chaos reigns, but we are told quite clearly that we are not to rely on the way we see things. In Proverbs 3:5-6 it says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” We have no need to fear because whatever happens, if we love Him, all will work together for the good. In Romans 8:28 it says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
A few days ago, we read in our daily devotional the writer used the analogy of God’s people being God’s orchestra, working in harmony to make beautiful music.
Then, a couple of days later I came across the lyrics of a song that deals with this very theme. It is called ‘Symphony’ by Switch. In it the singer is talking to God. Part of it goes like this:
You say you're working everything for my good and ooh-ooh I believe every word 'Cause even in the madness There is peace Drownin' out the voices All around me Through all of this chaos You are writing a symphony A symphony
Cassidy Estevez, the lead singer of Switch, in a commentary about how the song came about said: “He’s actually writing something beautiful, even through our pain, even through the hurt that we don’t understand – God is weaving and crafting a beautiful symphony.”
God is writing a symphony and we are his orchestra.
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In Romans 12:16-17 it says: “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.”
To create a beautiful symphony harmony is essential. Harmony does not mean we all play the same instrument or the same notes. On the contrary, each member has his or her own notes to play at the right time and if played properly they will create a beautiful sound together. Harmony is unity but not uniformity. In 1 Corinthians 12 it talks of the body being many members and we need each one to function as we should. It also tells us that each person has different gifts and we need each one in the body of Christ.
God and only God is the conductor.
God is the writer of the music score and he is also the conductor. As his orchestra we must keep our eyes on Him. In 1 Corinthians 3:4 Paul tells the church they should not be following mere men, as this is a worldly thing to do. He says: “When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?” God and only God is our conductor. He tells us when to come in and when to stop playing.
He indicates how fast or slowly we are to play. He watches over us to see where he needs to make adjustments in our performance. We have to follow his lead and perform the music according to his interpretation. If we take our eyes off Him, our Conductor, it ends in chaos.
In Ephesians 2:10 it says: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
God has already written the symphony. He planned it all for us long ago. Our job is to play it the best we possibly can. If we follow the conductor’s lead the result will be a beautiful symphony.
Of course, God does not force you to be in His orchestra. You are able to create your own music, your own way but when you have joined and have experienced what a blessing it is to be in a family of believers and what a purpose it gives to your life to have God as your Conductor, I am sure you will not want to play on your own again.
In John 16:33 Jesus says: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So when we look around and see all the trouble let us take heart because our Conductor, through the sacrifice of Jesus, has overcome the world and He is writing a symphony. Count me in!
You say you're working everything for my good and ooh-ooh I believe every word 'Cause even in the madness There is peace Drownin' out the voices All around me Through all of this chaos You are writing a symphony A symphony
Author: Thelma Cameron
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Our God is God over all creation – the God of the hills and God of the valleys
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The means of communicating together in both small and large groups has developed very quickly over the past 18 months. There are many video sharing platforms as well as audio only, the latter employing just the humble telephone (though preferably with a loud speaker). The teleconference system, of which Whypay is one example has proved to be an accessible economical tool. Although it has been operating for a number of years, its widespread use will continue.
When it comes to ‘meeting on whypay’ we have discovered several hidden benefits as well as the more obvious drawbacks. So without visual prompts, we listen more carefully to the conversation, both to identify the voice as well as the actual words. Perhaps also, we are more intent on discerning God’s voice. There are not the same distractions that we all experience when with a crowd of people. And, maybe there haven’t been the rushed, unnecessary and sometimes vain preparations. Indeed, Jesus taught and warned his disciples about these issues. Many of us have found that it has also been easier to speak without ‘being at the front or on the platform’. We have found that there has been a greater freedom to contribute than if we were meeting in person.
In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings 20, there is an extraordinary account of the king of Aram going to war against the king of Israel. The army of the Arameans completely outnumbered and outgunned the Israelite army, who are led by that wicked king Ahab. He has murdered prophets and righteous men in Israel. Surely God would not intervene to help them! But God sent a man to prophesy victory for Ahab and to give him the precise strategy for winning the battle. For once, Ahab obeyed the word of the Lord. The Israelites had an unexpected dramatic victory. However the story was not over, the man of God warned Ahab that the Arameans would return next spring. Ahab must make preparations and he did.
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The advisers of the Aramean king Ben-Hadad, attributed the Israelite victory to the help of their gods, but concluded that the Israelite gods were gods of the hills, so next time the fight must be in the valleys!! But the Lord declared that he would overthrow the Aramean army again. He would prove that He was the God of the hills and valleys. The whole chapter is worth reading again as it concludes with a couple of twists in the tale. However, the point I want to make is that our God is God over all creation – the God of the hills and God of the valleys.
In the same way today, have faith that our God, our Risen Lord Jesus, is God over the printing press, over the radio and television, over the internet and digital media. Though there are many wicked forces at work throughout the media, let us stir ourselves to speak and act as those who know that ‘Jesus is Lord’. He is the God of the Whypay.
Author: Richard Windridge
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Jesus was entrusted by the Father to bear the sin of the whole world, not just for the people in the world at that time, but for all people for all time
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Have you ever been entrusted to look after or deliver anything? money, a key, a child, the school pet! It’s a great responsibility. I`ve never been asked to look after a school pet but I have been asked to look after my grandmother. When mom and dad went on holiday I was asked to look after my nan. She was very anxious and it was my job to provide calm reassurance all was well. And all was well until I accidentally put the wrong key in her front door, twisted briskly and promptly broke the key in the lock. I couldn’t get in, she couldn’t get out, she was so distraught! I will never forget the way she put her trembling fingers through the letter box to touch my hand, I will never forget the awful sense of fear and failure I had, that I had let her down and caused so much distress. Eventually we did get her out with the aid of a nice council locksmith; but I still had to face my dad and tell him I had broken his trust in me and instead of keeping nan calm I had caused massive stress.
This story came back to me this week when the Holy Spirit highlighted a single sentence in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew was recording Jesus` prayer of thanksgiving to the Father, and then says to those around him “My Father has entrusted everything to me” Matthew 11:27 (NLT). It got me thinking about what Jesus was entrusted with…
Firstly, back in Genesis we learn that man sinned, and the sin separated him from God. Not wanting to be separated from his best creation God provided a way to temporarily cover over the sin, transfer it to something else, a sacrifice. The high priest was therefore entrusted to sacrifice for the sins of all the people. What a responsibility for the priest; he had to keep himself as pure as he could, to fulfil all the rituals in the right way or else he would be struck down and the weight of the people’s sin would remain on them. The people knew this and such was the fear and awareness of what he was entrusted with, that when he went into the Holy Place to sacrifice on their behalf, they tied a cord around his ankles to pull him out, should the Lord reject his sacrifice and strike him dead. However, Hebrews 10:1 (NLT) tells us "the sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide cleansing for those who came to worship". Then came Jesus. The perfect Lamb of God the perfect sacrifice and the perfect priest.
Jesus was entrusted by the Father to bear the sin of the whole world, not just for the people in the world at that time, but for all people for all time. What a huge responsibility. So how did he react to such a responsibility? He fulfilled all the requirements made on him, all the time and in every way.
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So much so that he asked John to baptise him even though he was the Son of God and didn’t need to be baptised, and when John challenged him, Jesus said “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires” Matthew 3:15 (NLT). In Matthew 4 we read the account of how Jesus defeated the Devil in the wilderness by effectively using the Word of God to destroy every temptation hurled at him. Jesus was entrusted with delivering the good news of God's love for the world, how we should live and treat each other, and he challenged hypocrisy whenever he saw it. During his ministry he delivered a clear blueprint of how to seek and search for God (in spirit and truth and not ritual and sacrifice), he taught us that by following him, and observing his teachings and way of life we would be able to truly have a relationship with God. And finally, he was entrusted with delivering the only acceptable means of salvation; giving up his own life to seal the freedom from sin and separation for every person who puts their trust in Him and what he has done.
Jesus was entrusted with all of this and did not run away from anything he had been given to do. Jesus fulfilled everything God required as described in Isaiah 53. “He was a man of sorrows and aquatinted with deepest grief” (v3 NLT) “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (v5 NLT) "He was oppressed and treated harshly yet he never said a word" (v7 NLT) "Unjustly condemned he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream" (v8 NLT) "He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.” (v9 NLT) And he did it because he was trustworthy and was carrying out what his father had entrusted him with “It was the Lord's good plan to crush him and cause him grief" (v10 NLT)
His father had indeed entrusted him with everything.
His whole salvation plan for the world
With defeating Satan and his plan to kill steal and destroy Gods creation
For living a perfect life of faith on the Earth, and delivering the Good news for us all
For surrendering his own will to God's will in the garden of gethsemane, and allowing sinful and wicked men to crucify him
For tasting total separation from his Father so we could live in relationship with God
and for defeating Satan once and for all time; "Don`t be afraid! I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I died, but look-I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave" Revelation 1:17-18 NLT.
It is true what Jesus said about himself “My Father has entrusted everything to me”
We can now live in glorious hope because Jesus proved to be a trustworthy prophet, priest and King. The daily outworking of the statement Jesus made is, no matter where we are or what we are facing today, Jesus is a safe pair of hands into which to place our lives and everything that concerns us. After all if God entrusted Jesus with everything why should we not do the same?!
Do we need power, strength and peace to live every day? Jesus says “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” John 16v33 NLT.
Can we come to Jesus with anything? Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)says “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”.
Lord Jesus thank you that God entrusted my redemption to you and you did not fail, and that every day I can entrust my life to you because I know you will never fail to keep me.
Author: Jan Pearson
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