Two Spirits
I believe I see two spirits rising within the church. I see them manifesting throughout the faithful and I see the pollution of the saints. It seems to be a division of wheat and chaff. On the one hand I see the spirit of legalism once more rising. This Pharisaic spirit is assigned to split the church; to break up that which Holy Spirit has been uniting for years, and to deflect any thoughts of revival away from God back onto the enemies within.
On the other hand there is a rising spirit of jealousy – a Jezebel spirit. This too is a spirit of division designed to set the church at war with itself. For too long, the emphasis in many churches has been on the gifts of the ministry rather than on the Giver of those gifts. Jealousy raises its head among other leaders and ministries, covetously eying the ministry rather than ‘coveting’ a closer relationship with God. Jealousy also raises its head among the sheep watching the shepherds growing richer and bigger and more self-important.
The result of these two spirits activities is that the church is, or appears to be, rocking out of control towards a crash and the shattering of many traditional ties of a ‘unity’ that was never a real unity at all, but a sham of unity used to cover over the cracks within an already discredited and increasingly disorganised church.
Nothing could be further from the truth – the church, God’s church, will no more be disunited nor disorganised than will it be overthrown.
I believe the Lord is allowing these two spirits of division enough free rein to actually birth what many already see as the end time church of faithful saints. A church delivering the Great Commandment, filled with Holy Spirit and with power, with signs and wonders following it every step of the way. This new church delights in giving all Glory to God and in spending time in His glorious presence, either praising Him or simply being still to receive both peace, love, and instruction from Him. Instruction not just in His ways but strategic and directional instruction.
Watch and see the ‘cloud as big as a mans hand’ grow until we have a deluge of latter day, Holy Spirit rain upon a new vibrant church eager to see Gods will done on earth as it is in heaven – a bride preparing herself for the Bridegroom.
A Little Imagining
Sitting thinking this evening, my mind wandered off to imagining what it will be like on the day of the rapture. Can you imagine the urgency of your thoughts or the excitement of those final few moments. My wife used to know a girl who said that, come the moment Jesus calls us to the sky to meet Him, she would simply grab the person on her left and the person on her right in order to take them with her !! Have you ever tried to imagine what you will do?
If there is any time at all, I will try to call my kids to urge them to call His Name – there won’t be time for much else. Can you imagine it for yourself? I imagine that my stomach will be spinning with the anticipation. Think about it. There is that moment when everything stops as we all hear the blare of a trumpet sounding. We know, because, I imagine, Holy Spirit will tell us, that Jesus is on His way for us. How long will we have? What will we do? As the song says, “I can only imagine”. Will there be time for me to call my kids, or for that lady to grab the people either side of her? Will it be that instant when, as the Bible says, we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye? Or will there be a few moments of waiting?
Can you imagine the excitement for some – the horror for others? I think I will be beside myself with excitement, but I know of others, plenty of them, who will not like it one little bit, if only because admitting you were wrong is so hard !! As the song says, will we be able to sing or dance or even stand in His presence? Oh the joy that floods my heart just thinking about it – amazing. To be in His presence here is amazing. “Up there” will be way beyond words – or so I imagine.
It is this excitement that spurs me on while I am still here and able to do so. I want so much for all my family to join me; for all my neighbours to join me; for all my church to join me !! I want none to be lost, not one to miss out.
I can, literally, “only imagine” what it will be like. Now – who can I speak to about Jesus today?
Oh HALLELUJAH \o/
Just believe
“It's not my responsibility to find out how God is going to do it. I am just suppose to Believe.” Allen L. Shook
What a statement of faith! Jesus said “Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36 – and the synagogue leaders daughter lived. Smith Wigglesworth used to say much the same thing as he ministered to people. “Only believe” represents the simplest statement of faith at the simplest level. Jesus taught us about being born again, about believing and coming to God as a child. That represents a simple faith.
Yet so many people try to “understand” miracles, especially healing. Like a child, they ask ‘why?’ or more particularly, ‘how?’. Then they get all frustrated because God doesn’t answer them. He says, “My ways are above your ways as far as east is from west.” And this, from a doubters point of view, isn’t very helpful at all.
I know people with a real passion to see people healed, not just God’s people but all people. But they have real trouble because they cannot understand the how, let alone the why, and because they have such insistently enquiring minds, they fall into the sin of doubt and effectively block the ministry they so eagerly aspire to. Yes, doubt like this is a sin that effectively blocks the path to healing despite the fact that such people have been on the receiving end of tremendous miracles of healing.
One of my personal heroines is a little old lady in our church. She came to the Lord and was baptised after she turned an age that not too many people even live to achieve. She sees miracle after miracle in all sorts of areas but particularly in healing. Recently hospitalised, she was tottering round from bed to bed praying with every person in the ward. Her eyes twinkle as she joyfully relates how “Jesus answered my prayers.” Her faith is so child-like it almost beggars belief. “He told us to pray. I pray. He does it. Prayer answered.” Is her whole philosophy. Dare I say it like this, she is not encumbered by great education or learning other than the learning of experience. She is a beautifully simplistic lady with a beautifully simple and child-like faith.
“Only believe” takes on a whole new import when approached from child-like faith. The questions may go away or they may remain but the answer doesn’t matter any more. He told us to pray – “anything we ask in His name’. We pray. He does it. Prayer is answered. I am one who believes that healing is without repentance. After all, Jesus didn’t enquire as to the spiritual condition of anyone – He just healed ALL who came to Him.
Does it matter why or how He does it? Not one jot. Our testimony is undeniable and it asks only one thing – Only believe. So next time you pray for someone, only believe, and you may be surprised - it will be done for you.
Lets Carry On for Now
As one who is blessed to be able to spend a little time with the Lord, I am hearing more and more about clouds “as big as a mans hand”. I am reading more and more from the prophets telling me that time is short and to expect revival and the rapture any day now. I also hear the advice that, in the event that the rapture hasn’t happened, there must still be work to be done - so let’s get on with it.
I think that perhaps we have gotten so caught up with the possibility of the rapture that we have tended to put the most urgent and pressing job of “recruitment”, or evangelism, of the not-yet-Christian community. It is because the rapture has not yet happened that the Great Commission is still a valid tasking for us to continue to undertake. Indeed, it is the only tasking the church at large has ever been given. Has anything changed? No? Then while we wait we must surely labour on to preach the Gospel to every man, woman, and child on the planet.
We must endeavour to speak in love to everyone we meet. In the past, many have fallen into the trap of thinking it is their job to convince folk of their sin and bring them to tearful repentance. This is not our job at all. We are to preach the Gospel – period. It is Holy Spirits job to do the rest. It may then become our job to lead them into salvation but conviction and repentance is Holy Spirits job. As it says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
The key to all of this is love. In the past, and to a lesser extent even today, love has been seriously missing from Christian attitudes and behaviour. Rather than love, hatred and bigotry has been much further to the fore than love. However, with a few exceptions, love is making a comeback within the Christian communities. It is rare, these days, to find the kind of forced Christianity of centuries, maybe even decades past. The church seems to be learning to heed the edict that “by their love shall you know them” – referring to Christians of course. I am not saying that love is a uniquely Christian attitude but it is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of Christian behaviour and something for which we are supposed to be recognised.
In the end then, and in the absence of the rapture, Christian love is the key to our remaining work here on earth. Love is the demarcation between Christian and non-Christian beliefs by being the main reason for our faith. Love is the reason for Christ’s death and resurrection. It is the sole reason for our pursuance of the great commission. It is the defining factor for recognising Christians in the midst of a not very loving world. Love is all we have to offer those who hate us – that and Jesus. But then, Jesus can represent Himself far better than we can represent Him – all we have to do is introduce Him and watch Him work.
“Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven – what other reasons do we need to keep on working until He tells us to stop. Changed and changing – blessed and blessing.” (A slightly modified quote from Pastor Chris Bowater)
No rapture today? Best we carry on then.
Lazy Church
Here’s a few thoughts on which to ponder. This whole train of thought was started by a ‘chance’ comment from a lady commenting on another post. Her actual comment was, “We are in the days of the Apostate church and the lazy church.” Lazy church – there’s a thought for you. Just how true is it, I wonder? I did pray about this before I put pen to paper and this is what I felt the Lord was saying.
The Western Church has it all. It has property, it has money, it has resources that churches in other parts of the world cannot begin to dream about. It has reasonable flocks who are among the 6 or 7% of the richest people in the world. In America, people vie with each other to ‘prove’ who has the most money and possessions.
Many churches, under the guise of attracting more and better people, have ‘invested’ borrowed money into building beautiful buildings they don’t necessarily need. As a result, leaders have compromised and ‘made allowances’ for their people. This has resulted in shorter services, run to strict time-tables, that allow time for other activities outside the church and away from God. People tolerate church now. They go only to be seen They church does not reach out as it should to the poor, the widows and orphans, and the down-trodden.
The Western Church has grown lazy.
People in poor countries weep for joy upon receipt of even a portion of Gods Word. In the Western Church people have no time to read a Bible they are too busy making money. People in persecuted churches hold day long meetings of praise and teaching, outreach and preaching. The Western Church begrudges any more than a couple of hours on a Sunday. People in disadvantaged churches support their families, their friends and their neighbours regardless of cost – they share everything. The Western Church people pack up their families, discard their friends for richer ones and for social standing – they do little or nothing for anyone outside their select little circles.
The Western Church has grown lazy and apostate.
The persecuted churches pursue the lost until the Lord catches them. They live the great commission daily. The Western Church says ‘all are welcome’, then they ignore strangers. They hold ‘outreaches’ and preach an easy gospel that gives no honour or glory to the Lord. Many have not even heard or been taught about the great commission.
Finally, with all the injustice towards law-abiding citizenry, all the prejudice both racial and religious, all the dishonesty in the political arena – where is the outrage? Where is the protest? Where are the decent church going majority? It’s as if the church has become not only lazy, but terrified. Since when did the church fail to respond to the widows and orphans pleas? Since when did the church fail to gather around the unjustly oppressed? Since when has any church been embarrassed or even afraid of stirring up trouble for themselves in support of the poor, the weak, or the disadvantaged?
The Western Church has grown scared and lazy – to the point of apostasising the church and making a mockery of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. The Western Church has grown lazy – it has lost it’s way, it’s purpose, it’s effectiveness, and it’s use to God. He has plans for a new church to rise from the ashes and remnant of this current one.
We have broken God’s heart once too often. It’s time for the (Western) church to answer for it’s sin. God Himself will be the judge. But the result will be a church fit to be the Bride of Christ.
On earth as it is in heaven
I read this word the other day
"I want those who are in leadership in My Church to be willing to lay down ALL that they have learned about church order and sit at My feet so I can teach them Heavenly Order. I want people on earth to see Heaven when they look at My Church. The current church order is not as it is in Heaven.
“In Heaven all are free. In most churches, the bound leave bound.
In Heaven all are well. In most churches, the sick leave sick.
Heaven is a place of song. Most churches see the worship as only a prelude to preaching.
“I want you to begin to look at things through new eyes, MY eyes. But to do that, you must be willing to lay down what you were taught, and sit at My feet, and allow Me to show you how things are done in Heaven. If a church humbles itself and does things as they do them in Heaven, I will GREATLY bless that church; but if it does not, I will speak to it as I did the fig tree that bore no fruit.” – Jeffery Stewart
This very short summary of the church today was posted on Facebook this week. What I find so desperately sad about it is the truth of the statements made. Yet every week, every service, mid-week as well as Sundays, we bow our heads and intone the words of “the Lords Prayer”!! I have to ask the question – what do we think we are saying? Is this just a rote prayer, with little or no meaning? Is it a meaningless prayer we quote just to prove we have read Matthew 6:8-13? Have we not taken these words of Jesus seriously? Have we ever read and understood verse 14?
Oh dear, I seem to be getting excited. Well, yes, actually I do get excited about the words of this prayer. In particular, I get excited about the thought of the phrase, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Let me ask you, does this not excite you too?
As my quote says, In Heaven all are free. In most churches, the bound leave bound. Just think about that for a moment – no more abuse, no more drugs, no more prisons, no more bad habits. Wow – does that not get you a little bit excited?
As my quote says, In Heaven all are well. In most churches, the sick leave sick. No more illness or disease. No more hospitals, no more pandemics. Getting excited yet?
As my quote says, Heaven is a place of song. Most churches see the worship as only a prelude to preaching. Just think – praise and worship of our heavenly King with no restraints whatsoever – no time limits, no need for band practices, no desire or need to be elsewhere. “A merry heart, does you good!” Proverbs 17:22; “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul too.” Psalm 71:23 our heart, our lips, our soul all rejoice when we sing to the Lord. John 4:23 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." Still not excited?
Perhaps you just don’t believe either in the power of Jesus words, or in the power of prayer??? Everything on earth as it is in heaven. Perhaps you need to re-align your aim? What a standard to aim at !!
Am I preaching to the choir here? Or am I hitting a few sore spots?
Edge of Reason
It strikes me that, for some among us, reason takes over from faith where, in fact, faith should take over from reason. The trouble is that God already told us that, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9. Our ‘intelligent’ and egotistical minds object to this as we try to rationalise everything.
I believe that, in order to receive the full anointing God has for us and to realise its potential, we need to stand reason to one side. That is when, standing on the edge of reason, we shall become like a child in our faith. Jesus told us to believe, he did not ask us to reason. I am unsure what your mind is telling you, but you don’t need to know or even understand the why and how of healing, you just need to believe, as a child, that God heals.
Oh, I know there are reasons that healing doesn’t happen, but I don’t think we need to understand that either. The Bible tells us that, on many occasions, Jesus healed ALL who came to Him. I’m pretty certain He didn’t fiddle about asking if they were right with God, if they were clean and sin free, or if they had forgiven everyone. No – Jesus simply healed everyone. Healing and deliverance is without repentance, so why do we complicate things and get so legalistic about ‘being right’ in order to even pray for, let alone receive, healing.
The Bible says to cast out demons, and to heal the sick. It says, rather like the advert, “Just do it”. It doesn’t say to interrogate them. Instead it says simply to “heal those who are ill and tell them ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you’.” Luke 10:9 – I would add to make sure you give Jesus the glory.
Good, wonderful people of God, I really do believe it is time to leave our reason and, having come to the edge of reason, to believe as children for God to do what His Word says He can and will do among us. It is also time to accept our authority in Christ and to step out in faith. Faith defies all reason. It is at the edge of reason that real child-like faith is born.
Just imagine the impact of a church that really believes and practices what it preaches about believing as children.
To do or not to do
Jeremiah 20:9 “But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
When was the last time a speaker, any speaker, had you on the edge of your seat with expectation of something happening? Something really exciting and big happening in your church, town, county, or even country? When was the last time anyone spoke and you actually got excited at all, let alone on the edge of your seat?
It happened to me quite recently – just a few minutes ago to be more accurate. The speaker was God the Holy Spirit, and what He has said excites me and really does put me on the edge of my seat expecting to see something really special to break out in the next two weeks. Why the next two weeks? Well, we have a very special visitor this Saturday and Sunday who is a world renowned concert pianist as well as being a wonderfully anointed worship leader and song writer. As if this is not expectation enough, our own pastor, himself a world worship leader, is planning to lead an entire Sunday from the keyboard.
The anticipation and expectation is immense, and now a word of the Lord has come to me that effectively and exponentially increases my personal expectation. So what did the Lord say to me?
“Where is your dignity? – surrendered at My feet. I am surrendering your dignity and placing it at my feet. You can come and reclaim it any time you want to - but I’d rather see you dance. You can reclaim it any time you want to but I’d rather hear you singing. You can reclaim it any time you want to but I’d rather see you so full of my joy that you cannot stop either singing or dancing. Now get up and worship Me – and revel in My joy. Enter now into My presence with joy and dancing.”
Will you or won't you?
I Want to Worship
Is it possible for me to enter into worship so completely that I am lost in awe and wonder? Is it possible that such as I could be so immersed in the presence of God that time ceases and my worship becomes pure enough to become His habitation? I find being still so difficult – my mind is always busy. I swear God must despair of getting heard by me sometimes because I am so “busy”. Yet I do hear Him quite often, and I do note what He says to me – frequently putting His words into blog format.
Yet worship is what seems to just fill my heart most days. Oh, I grumble and mumble a bit, but I always end up singing in the end. I sing old, very well known, old hymns as well as my favourite Gaither tracks, and then some simple modern praise and worship songs like Worthy is the Lamb or similar. When I feel down, or fed up, or put upon, or just generally grumpy – it never lasts long because God just pops a song into my heart and I start singing again. Worship brings grace for the day. It brings joy back to my heart – time and time again.
I was raised in a singing home. Dad, my sister and me used to harmonise some of the old songs. Mum was a pianist – even though we never had one at home. My brother was the jazz-man among us. Our school had a very good musical tradition and we did the Messiah every Christmas. My musical tastes were very eclectic ranging from solid classical, through opera, big band and traditional Dixie jazz through to country and gospel. But it was the old gospel that struck the most chords and stuck in my mind. I even remember the Billy Graham crusades in the 50’s – my uncle took my brother to one in London – I was “too young”.
Now, my music and singing is nearly all P&W – Gaithers thru to Hillsong and all shades in between. Worship brings me into the presence of God quicker than any other way. I am inspired, lifted, edified, filled with joy, and renewed by worship. I expect things to happen. I want a totally renewed mind – thinking and speaking in Gods way – capturing each thought and word before it escapes my lips. I want expectancy to be my normal. I want to see God honoured in my life; in the way I treat people and by His presence being obvious to anyone who I meet – even if they don’t recognise it or understand it in any way.
That is why I want to worship my Lord and my Saviour, my father God, and my friend Holy Spirit. How about you ???
Do You Really Mean It?
I had one of those ‘moments’ at church last weekend. It was not just that the Lord asked me a question. It was both the way He asked it and then gave me the ‘no-brainer’ answer at the same time. The net result was that I was convicted and had to do some repenting first. Now I have to consider the question again in the light of my new position. It’s a question the Lord is always asking us . . . . but more of that in a minute or two.
We are all just standing there singing our hearts out in praise and worship. Suddenly the words began to be highlighted. No, I mean really highlighted as in writing a foot high, on a blue background, and shining brightly – all at the same time. That gets my attention every time and so it was this morning.
We sang, “and I fall to my knees so it’s You that they see, not I” – the words get highlighted and I hear the Lord comment, “Only in here!” I protest, “What do mean Lord?” “You mean it when in front of all these people, but outside, in the week, you want you to be seen – not Me”.
OUCH.
Next we sang, “I live for you alone, Every breath that I take , Every moment I'm awake, Lord, have Your way in me.” I see the highlighting again and I hear the Lord say, “Hmmm – I don’t think so.” Oh dear, “How do You mean, Lord?” It is almost a “Where shall I start?” moment, but again He says, “Yes, in here, but not all day, every day.”
Finally, we are singing about giving Him our all, our everything. Once again the words highlight and I hear Him say, very gently, “Not quite like this is it?” It wasn’t a question as much as a statement of fact that I couldn’t deny. I was convicted and had to do some deep and painful repenting. The only question I had was, “Why Lord? Why here? Why now?” He repeated the question or statement He had made earlier, “I want to take you deeper.” Then He added, “Will you come? Will you trust Me to take you deeper into me than you’ve ever been? Deeper than you have thought possible?”
Now I have seen the cost of the answer to this question. This is not an easy one to answer. It can be costly to the one of whom it is asked and for his/her family and friends. It can be costly but it doesn’t necessarily have to be – but it usually is because the enemy hates it and rises up in some force against it. This has been a heavy weekend at the end of a very busy week – and we have several more very busy weeks ahead of us as I have just taken added responsibilities on board. It doesn’t take very much to see that this question and my new, extra busy situation are linked.
So I’m saying “YES Lord. I want to come deeper with You. I want to sing all these words and mean them. Will you help me and, by Your precious Holy Spirit, will you lead me through these coming years of serving You.”
AMEN
Travailing in Prayer
Travailing in anything is hard work - as these definitions state.
Travail as a noun is painfully difficult or burdensome work; toil, pain, anguish or suffering resulting from mental or physical hardship.
Travail as a verb is to toil or exert oneself.
How come is it that for the past few days I have felt not only the Lord ever present with me, but also the desire to be with Him and to minister with Him? Paul exhorts us to pray in the Spirit at all times and to pray without ceasing. I have always, and I mean ever since my baptism in Holy Spirit back in 1989, always known His presence and always had my prayer language, or tongue, bubbling away in the background. Now today, I just want to get deeper, deeper, and deeper still into His wonderful presence.
Many talk about travailing in the Spirit or travailing in prayer. This has never been difficult or a burden for me. I love my times of prayer – I just enjoy them. It isn’t as though I spend a lot of time there either, but it is about the quality and the communion that takes place. Prayer for me is about fellowship with my Saviour through my best friend, Holy Spirit.
Please don’t get me wrong here. I am definitely not in any way ‘super spiritual’. My relationship with the Lord, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, is about love and communication – and although I am somewhat garrulous with people, this is about the Lord communicating with me. And it’s not as though I gabble away for hours and then ask if He wants to say anything !! I just enjoy resting in Him – being still and knowing that He is God. He always has things to say to us if we are still and listening. I just pray in the Spirit most of the time – if only because I have no idea what to pray about or where to start. Some will say that I don’t travail at all.
This isn’t about me or you ‘travailing’ at anything. This is all about God, and us allowing Him to be who He is, do what He will do, and say what He wants to say to us and through us. This is about your efforts and my efforts at dying to self that He may be seen through us. It’s about us carrying His presence wherever we go and about allowing Him to use us as He wants to.
I don’t always do very well. How about you ? As my school report often used to say – “Could do better”, or “Must try harder”.
