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Celebrate Life

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I pulled myself up recently with my wayward thoughts and sometimes wayward speech. Over the last 10 years, how did I become ‘old’! How did I get from a fit, active, and healthy 40-year-old, to a 77-year-old with aches and pains, sags and bags, wrinkles, and diminished strength and health? And how much do I really celebrate life?

Ageing has taken place. Ageing is a life process.

When a baby is born, it’s a newborn. Over time it becomes a one-year-old. Then a five-year-old. Later a twenty-one-year-old… the aging process continues, and so on and so forth. It only stops when we die.

We age, we change, we mature (hopefully) and we sure look different as the decades pass. Old age is NOT for the faint-hearted!

BUT AGE IS JUST A NUMBER! OLD IS A STATE OF MIND!

I know that random things can happen that can rob people of their minds and health. It’s extremely sad. But those of us who can think clearly can make a choice.

Either I can believe that because I am old, my best years are well and truly behind me. I can allow this thinking to affect me. I can mistakenly think that I have reasons to stop loving life and exploring new possibilities in God. My negative thoughts make every area of my life worse and bring unhappiness. Or I understand that I may be 77 or 80 or whatever age… BUT I CHOOSE LIFE! I choose to believe that God still has plenty for me to do. I am useful and fruitful as I abide in Him.

Recently I saw a comment on social media about actor Clint Eastwood. (This is not an endorsement of Clint, just an observation.) Clint is in his 90’s and is still involved in directing movies and active in his life.  At the age of 88, he was asked what the key was to being so alive and energetic. He answered, “I don’t let the old man in.” It struck a chord with me. It’s a way of thinking! A choice.

Proverbs 23:7a (NKJV) For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

WHAT DO WE CHOOSE TO THINK? HOW MUCH DO WE CELEBRATE LIFE?

I have friends in their 80’s whose thinking is based on the Word of God. They are a joy to be around! They think young, are full of gratitude and joy, and have a positive outlook on life. (Contrasted by those who are negative, complaining, unhappy and have a pessimistic outlook.)

My source is God, “For in Him, we live and move and have our being”. (Acts 17:28a) The Holy Spirit within me gives me the strength to face everyday challenges with wisdom and perseverance. He is my strength, even if I am weak. He is the ‘difference Maker’.

Proverbs 18:14a (NKJV) The Spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness.

Our spirit is stronger than our body… now ain’t that the truth! Our Spirit can change our body! We can experience peace and joy at the same time as we experience pain. I choose to think young.

I am grateful for all that I have. God has purpose and ministry for me now and in my future. I choose to serve others, love, encourage, step out in faith and obey His commandments. There is a daily decision to stand on the promises of God and believe in the truth of His word. I endeavour to live by faith, and I trust Him.

This is a great promise:

Isaiah 46:3-4 (NIV) “Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

We all need a personal conviction that God is good and that He is ordering our steps. He has been faithful throughout my lifetime, and I know that He always will be.

Note to self: Don’t let the old lady in! 😃

CELEBRATE LIFE!

Deeper, Stronger, Further

Deeper, Stronger, Further

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God gave me a prophetic picture for the Church. I saw a picture of a seed being planted, and it was growing into a strong and a healthy tree. First, I saw the roots growing down. Then I saw the trunk growing up. Then I saw the branches growing out. Finally, I saw lots of fruit on this tree! I was aware that before there was fruit, there were roots growing down, a trunk growing up, and branches growing out.

Father is more pleased with our spiritual growth than he is with a static spiritual position. God is calling the Church back to three truths in regard to deeper, stronger, and further.

DEEPER

Deeper is DISCIPLESHIP – the roots growing down.

The starting point of discipleship is found in the following well-known verse:

Matthew 4:19 (NIV) “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Discipleship is all about following Jesus. To be clear, following Jesus means that He is leading us. And this brings us to a very interesting verse. To the disciples who had been following Jesus for some time, Jesus brings a clarification of what following Him should look like. Here’s what He said:

Matthew 16:24 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

This instruction was spoken just after Peter tried to tell Jesus that He didn’t need to go to the cross. Peter tried to lead Jesus, and many times, we can do the same. It is an easy trap to fall into if we tell God why He has got it wrong. Disciples follow Jesus, they don’t lead Him.

Here’s two statements that are worth meditating on as we consider growing down deeper in discipleship:

  • If we are not denying ourselves and taking up our cross, then we are not following Jesus.
  • If we are doing everything that we want to do, then we are not following Jesus.

STRONGER

Stronger is PERSEVERANCE – the trunk growing up.

Some time ago, I remember saying to God, “Lord, I want it to be easier.” His reply to me was immediate and it left me nowhere to hide. He said, “I want you to be stronger.” God had my attention!

Ephesians 6:10 (NIV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

I had a revelation: If I’m not being strong, maybe it’s because I’m not in the Lord. It is so easy to go from being in the Spirit to being in the flesh, and then going back and forth between the two, even in a single conversation. What is needed is for us to learn to remain in God.

John 15:5 (NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

One of the keys to becoming stronger through perseverance is learning to respond towards God, rather than to react against people or circumstances. This is easier said than done, but it most definitely is possible in God.

I then heard the words, “Trees grow towards the sun.” I knew this was the Lord speaking so I Googled what I heard, and I found out about phototropism – plants grow towards the source of light. As persevering disciples of Jesus, we too grow up towards the light of the Son of God as we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

FURTHER

Further is EVANGELISM / MISSION – the branches growing out.

Luke 19:10 (NIV) “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

This foundational reality is a central truth of our faith that Father is reestablishing. Lost people matter to God, and they must matter to us too. As the church, we do not exist for ourselves. Our focus must not remain on us simply enjoying God and His presence. Let’s go back to our opening verse:

Matthew 4:19 (NIV) “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

When Jesus called people to follow Him, He made it clear that following Him would result in disciples that fished for people. One evidence that we are following Jesus is that we are fishing for people. Conversely, if we are not fishing for people, are we in fact actually following Jesus?

John 15:1-2 (NIV) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

God is restoring the Church to deeper discipleship (deny yourself), stronger perseverance (take up your cross), and further evangelism and mission (follow Jesus). The result will be even more fruit for the glory of God!

Listen to the audio message from Steve – Deeper, Stronger, Further

Related blogs – Discipleship, Christ as Cornerstone

A United Voice

A United Voice

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A united voice is powerful, whether it is for good or it is for evil. The Bible gives us a clear and contrasting example of both.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

In Genesis chapter 11 we read the story of the Tower of Babel. The starting point for this story was that ‘the whole world had one language and a common speech’ (vs 1). This was God’s intention and it was a good thing. But then man’s desire for self perverted God’s intention.

Genesis 11:4 (NIV) Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

There is so much power in a united voice, as we can see by God’s response.

Genesis 11:6-7 (NIV) The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

So, God stopped the building of this tower by confusing the language of the people and scattering them all over the earth.

However, the New Testament gives us a very different and wonderful example of the power of a united voice.

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all together in one place out of obedience to what God had told them to do. This is such a different reason for their unity than the people at the Tower of Babel. And so God blessed them with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:4 (NIV) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The people at the Tower of Babel were trying to build from earth to heaven to make a name for themselves. The people on the day of Pentecost had heaven invade earth, and it was for the spreading of the good news of the name of Jesus Christ!

Everything that happens on earth finds its origin in language, whether it is for good or it is for evil.

In the times we live in, certain people are taking over legislative rule because they have one language and are standing together with a united voice. These people have the same spirit that we see at Babel which means confusion by mixture. The result is an increasingly confused society that is stepping away from the plans of God.

However, it is the church of Jesus Christ that is called to have the greatest united voice. The sad reality is that the church is at risk of losing the battle for influencing society because we have gone quiet and we do not have a clear united voice. If nothing was impossible to the united people at Babel, how much more for the united people of God?

It’s time for the church to find her voice again; a united voice of uncompromising truth! This is what the Holy Spirit yearns to do in us as the Body of Christ.

Listen to Steve’s message on ‘A United Voice’ on Apple Podcasts

 

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Beyond Understanding

Beyond Understanding

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As human beings, we are naturally curious. We like to know things and understand them. But is our ability to understand everything essential for spiritual growth and the development of spiritual gifts? No. In fact, a sign of spiritual maturity is an acceptance that there will always be things that are beyond our understanding.

Job 36:26 (NIV) How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.

A willingness to not understand is a sign of humility.

God knows everything, we do not. It’s good to remember that Gods ways and His thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). It’s also good to not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3). Humility is more necessary for spiritual growth than understanding is.

Humility is equally required in our spiritual gifts. Even when Father reveals something to us, we only get a part of the picture or story.

1 Corinthians 13:9 (NIV) For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

A willingness to not understand is a sign of trust. 

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Completely understanding something often eliminates the need for having to trust in someone. God wants us to trust in Him completely, yet too often our greater trust can be in our ability to understand something.

When it comes to receiving a prophetic word from God for someone, we don’t always understand what it means. This can be a scary step of faith, because if we had a little more understanding, we could be a bit more confident. But the truth is, these are the very times when our trust in God is to be greater than our trust in our understanding.

If there is an item of technology that you completely understand and you know from experience it works, your confidence is in the item. However, if you don’t understand an item and you don’t know if it works, your trust in it is connected to who tells you about it. If you trust the person, you can trust the item.

When God speaks, we can trust Him completely. If we don’t understand what He says, we can still trust in Him because He is always trustworthy.

A willingness to not understand keeps us from distraction.

Many people have spent many hours trying to understand something. While understanding in and of itself is not a wrong pursuit, the problem is when the time given and the thing pursued is taking you away from time with Father and what He wants to show you.

When the disciples asked Jesus about the times and seasons, He redirected them to His present commission to be His witnesses (Acts 1:6-8). If the disciples had stayed focused on what they wanted to understand, they would have been off track with what Jesus was initiating.

It’s important to note that the disciples weren’t asking a question about something grievous to God. The question itself and the desire to understand the times and seasons was not wrong, but it was not Jesus’ focus at that moment. Their ability to move beyond understanding did not distract them from the powerful day of Pentecost and the birth of the early Church.

A willingness to not understand is an invitation into deeper intimacy.

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

When it comes to knowing God and walking with God, there will always be an element of mystery. There is both the reality that God is infinitely larger than our natural minds can ever comprehend, and the invitation to search for Him more intimately.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Finding God on deeper levels is not connected to natural understanding but to divine wisdom and revelation. This is about finding God in our heart and our spirit, not just in our minds. It is knowing Him as Abba Father. There is something beautiful about knowing someone, and because of what you know, your desire to know and love them further grows stronger over time.

A willingness to not understand is an invitation into deeper peace.

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We often bring our requests to God because we do not understand something. Our way of doing things would be for God to give us the understanding to our requests and that peace would be the result of understanding. But this is so often not God’s way and it is for a very good reason.

If understanding is the ultimate goal of our prayers and it is the guaranteed outcome, our peace is attached to our understanding. But when we are growing deeper in intimacy with the One who loves us unconditionally and completely, our peace is found in Him and it is experienced even deeper in the absence of understanding.

Beyond Understanding

Job 37:5 (NIV) God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

We should desire to know God better and to understand His ways more. But this understanding is a spiritual revelation from the Holy Spirit, not an accumulation of facts from studying books or from life experience.

So as we lean into God more and desire what is on His heart for us and for others through us, we are called to be faith-filled people who have a confidence in God and a willingness to live beyond our understanding.

Abba Father

Abba Father

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The word ‘father’ brings to mind different meanings and memories for each person. For some, a father evokes positive or happy thoughts. For others, the memories of a father may be difficult—for any number of reasons. But what is our perception of God the Father?

I believe that it is God’s desire that everyone receive a personal revelation of God, not only as our awesome God (and He is) but as our warm, loving, caring Father!  A Father that wants us to talk with Him daily. A Father that desires us to live a life of intimacy and deep affection with Him; a life that will embolden us to become men and women of significance in our world.  The scripture describes our loving Father in this way:

Romans 8:15 (NKJV) For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption and by Him (the Spirit) we cry Abba Father!

This phrase ‘Abba Father’ is a term of endearment or affection. The Passion Translation of this scripture describes God as our ‘Beloved Father’.

In Galatians chapter 4, the apostle Paul writes that when we become believers, we move from slavery to sonship. The word ‘sons’ used throughout this chapter is not a reference to an exclusively male invitation, but a reference to the nature of the relationship that God offers: that of full, total adoption. This spiritual adoption is available for each person, both male and female.

Galatians 4:6-7 (NIV) Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

God is indicating the type of the relationship that He intends us to have with Him by talking about the tradition of the day. It was the custom of full adoption, in which an adopted person took on all the rights, privileges and authority of his new ‘father’ as his rightful heir. It was an awesome moment in a person’s life when whatever limitations previously part of their life were replaced by their whole new identity of power and authority granted to them by their father. With that full adoption moment came an amazing new life with freedom and potential never dreamed of previously.

When we have a personal revelation of true fatherhood, we have the security of knowing that:

  • We are totally loved
  • We are unconditionally accepted—and never have to strive for that acceptance again
  • We are a recipient of the Father’s provision
  • The authority of the Father now fully rests on us as His heir
  • Father is guiding the steps of our lives
  • Father is always and only motivated for our good
  • Father is the all-powerful Creator of Heaven and Earth—and He is greater than all of life’s opposition.

Friends, the marks of one living with a revelation of having God as our personal, intimate, affectionate Father is SECURITY! An impregnable, unshakeable security. We can go through life totally assured of His love and acceptance. 1 John 4:18 declares, “Perfect love casts out all fear!” The revelation of God as my affectionate, protecting Father conquers all fear. My intimacy with the Father is what empowers me.

When we are secure, we don’t compare ourselves with others or become intimidated by others. A revelation of Abba Father dares us to dream impossible dreams because our God is not restricted to our humanity. We become capable of bold initiatives because our driving force is to please Him and bring Him honour. It is never too late to experience a new and intimate relationship with Father.

Spiritual sonship is God’s intention for all of us! Father gives an invitation to enter in to such a relationship. He now offers you a life of far greater intimacy and potential than you have previously known or dreamed of. Ask Him today for a revelation of His heart and get to know Him as your personal, affectionate Abba Father.

Woman with bible seeking God's revelation

Divine Revelation

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Where do we get our interpretation of the Word of God from? Is it divine revelation, or is it our own opinions and ideas? It is important to have a correct definition of interpretation and to realign to what God authors.

“What is your interpretation of this verse?” to most people would mean “What do you think this verse means?”

But this is not what the word ‘interpretation’ means.

‘Interpretation’ from the Oxford Dictionary is defined as:

  • The action of explaining the meaning of something.
  • An explanation or way of explaining.
  • A stylistic representation of a creative work or dramatic role.

‘Interpretation’ from the Oxford Thesaurus is defined as:

  • ‘the interpretation and application of the Bible’s teaching’.
    • explanation, elucidation, expounding, exposition, explication, exegesis, clarification, definition
    • simplification

Other words we see are: ‘meaning, analysis, decoding, translation, transliteration, and paraphrase’.

Here is the bottom line truth about ‘interpretation’:

‘Interpretation’ is about ‘our explanation’, it is not about ‘out opinion’.

Let me put it this way: If it’s not accurate to the original intention, it’s not an interpretation, it’s a distortion!

2 Timothy 2:15 says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

We have substituted ‘Handle the Word of God correctly’ with ‘Interpret the Word of God as seems best to you’. Interpretation that comes from divine revelation is accurate because the Source is God. Interpretation that does not come from divine revelation is dangerous and erroneous because the source is us. We cannot handle the Word of God correctly outside of divine revelation from our Father in heaven. Our application is aligned to our interpretation, and this is why it must be founded in divine revelation.

We do what we believe, therefore, if our belief is incorrect, our doing will be incorrect. Trying to change what we do without changing what we believe will result in ongoing frustration and disappointment. True freedom is connected to right believing, and right believing is connected to divine revelation, not natural interpretation.

John 8:31-32 states, To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I fear too many Christians are coming up with their version of truth, and it can never lead to lasting freedom. Only God’s version of the truth can result in true freedom.

We must seek the truth.

We must pursue the truth.

We must deeply desire the truth.

We must position ourselves to receive the truth.

God may say different things, to different people, from the same scripture, but He will never contradict Himself from the same scripture.

It’s time to know THE TRUTH and to get our interpretation from divine revelation.