THE BRIDE MUST MAKE HERSELF READY

Revelation 19 prophesies the forthcoming marriage supper of the Lamb of God, when He, the Lord Jesus Christ, claims His Bride, the Church.

Revelation 19:7 declares “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

I need to know where my responsibility lies in “making myself ready.” Whilst believing all that is contained in scripture because it is “in the Book,” there is still a diverse range in believing causing much division regarding “end times” – eschatology. I can get “hung up” or confused trying to understand all the different doctrines along this line, but, confusion is not of God! The books of Timothy and Titus have much to say regarding sound doctrine, which produces godly edifying, not confusion. However, the doctrines of man are a mixture with a measure of truth that produces confusion. The simplicity of Christ is lost in the mixture of trying to understand it all.

My part in “making myself ready” is to walk humbly with my God. Micah 6:8 answers the question to what God requires of me, “….to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God.”

I need to prioritise hearing God’s voice and walking in the truth that He reveals to me. If I humble and empty, He will guide.

God has a TREMENDOUS day ahead for His people. We know in our spirit that there is something coming far more wondrous than we see. God’s Spirit witnesses to our spirit that we are on the brink.

The Gospel is a “whosoever” Gospel for all mankind, but each one of us has to choose to receive God’s gift of salvation – then man’s responsibility is to respond to God’s Holy Spirit leadings in each of our lives – “to make ourselves ready.” Remember, God often comes “in disguise,” in the form of another member of the Body, and we can refuse Him, set ourselves up and miss “making ourselves ready.”

Paul, the Apostle, prayed that we would receive spiritual understanding which is necessary to understand the things of God. Our natural mind is soulish and we often wrongly apply it. Fear cannot function in the Spirit. It has no rights or place in the Kingdom of God.

James 3:17 declares “The wisdom of God is first pure and then peaceable…..” We often receive a mixture and then have to sort it out. When I partake of the Tree of Life it is pure – there is no mixture, but, there is much taught that brings division because it is a mixture based on truth, but including a lie.

Church history records much division and controversy because of the mixture of truth and lies. There is no lie in the truth, but there can be a measure of truth in a lie. If I do not open myself up to Christ, this mixture will be produced in me. My readiness, (making myself ready), is to disappear into Christ, lose my identity. It does not matter what Jesus does because He ALWAYS does the Father’s will, – so if I disappear into Him He will live His life in and through me. I will be unaware of it, – so all the glory goes to God, and my Heavenly Father will be well pleased.

My unity is not in “what” I believe, but “Who” I believe in, as what I believe is always changing. The abiding presence of Christ in me can overcome differences in other people, thus I am travelling light, nothing to uphold, nothing to prove, nothing to cling to except the Cross, the Blood and the Word – because in these there is no division.

God made me who I am, man tries to make me something else and conform……………. My prayer is, “Dear Lord, please help me to be what You made me to be, and to live my life as a gift back to You. Amen.”

HOLY GHOST LIVING

Romans 14:7 “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in THE HOLY GHOST.”

God created mankind in His image and for His good pleasure. Secular society, choosing to leave God out, produces a dysfunctional world that endeavours to show us how to live, but only God and His principles can bring order out of chaos. Life is in Jesus Christ. How do we live it? By the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, but so many in the world are trying to seek out the key to a better life by the wrong source.

1Timothy 6:17 Timothy charges us not to trust in uncertain riches but to trust in “…….the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” God desires for us to enjoy this life He has given us! His purpose is that we enjoy life and function in the Holy Ghost – “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

We all claim something, but without the Holy Ghost we cannot even know Jesus. How many of us learn to function by the Holy Spirit? So very often we leave Him behind, trust in ourselves, our acquired knowledge and the world’s ways, resulting in ship-wreck! We have so much to un-learn. Countless times we repeat the scripture that our ways are not God’s ways………yet we go on to prove it again and again by doing things according to pattern and tradition independently of God, and getting things wrong, instead of being led by the Holy Ghost.

There is a certain school of thought in the Church that thinks functioning in the Holy Ghost only relates to manifestations of healings, miracles, soul-saving – but what about every day living? We need Him to function in daily relationships with one another, decision making, to live lives that glorify God without the stresses and pressures of the world. Stress, anxiety and pressure are not of God. The world is full of it. The Holy Spirit shows us how to live at peace amongst it, – “…in the world but not of it.”

We know Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” – but do we do it? Do we walk in the birthright of a Believer? – rest, by the Holy Ghost, our Teacher, or do we continue to stress and fix our lives our way? I need the Holy Ghost to keep humble.

God’s purpose was to make an incomplete man that we might find our completion in Him. God completes me! Only with the Divine Guide, the Holy Spirit, can we do it as we lean on His direction and dependency.

———————————————————————————————————————

BENEFITS OF THE DIVINE COURTS OF THE KING

Psalm 65:4
“Blessed is the man whom You choose, and cause to approach to You, that he may dwell in Your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house.”

We may often think that we started something in our walk with God. This Psalm of David clearly states that right at the beginning, God CAUSED me to approach Him. There is a “cause” that comes from the Spirit of God that He would be “all in all.” God chose me that I might dwell in His kingly courts. I just responded to His call.

In the natural realm, in times past, it was highly sort after to be in the king’s court. It was a position of great favour to be in the King’s presence and receive all the court benefits. So it is with us with our divine King, Jesus.

What a comforting, settling thought that God started this. He caused me to come and chose me that I might dwell in His courts and enjoy His presence. He has made a divine deposit inside of me, His treasure that stretches beyond me and will have an effect in spite of me, for His glory!

GIFTS AND CALLINGS

The Lord graciously bestows His many and varied gifts and callings on us, His children, and we each need to know what our function is in the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit of God will bear witness to the gift, by giving unction (anointing) on the function. There will be fruit in the lives of those who are operating in their divine giftings.

A man has no place to glory (take the credit) in his divine function because the source is all of God. Christ in me – the hope of God receiving His due glory! Paul speaks of this in 1Corinthians 4:7; “For who makes you to differ from another? And what have you got that you didn’t receive? Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you hadn’t received it?” As we saw last week, “Of Him, through Him and to Him are ALL things.”

In Matthew 7:15 – 20 Jesus gives a warning and sound advice for us. A good tree is recognised by it’s fruit. A godly life will bear fruit for God’s glory in many ways. The fruit of the Spirit will be evident (Ephesians 5:22 – 23) and the Kingdom of God will be extended in many ways.

When a person is called and gifted of God in a particular field, it is their responsibility , in stewardship of the gift, to keep in tune with God and operate in their function.

In 1 Corinthians 4:2 Paul declares “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

1Peter 4:10, “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Have I ever considered that God showered me with His grace that I, in turn, might minister it to others? It is not for me to just keep to myself and revel in. God will be glorified in my life as I show it to others.

Jesus declared that man should live “….by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4 – so I need a proceeding word, i.e. a living word/reimer word, to operate in my gift. When God says “Go,” I need to move, but if He says “Stay,” I need to withhold. Jesus was never primarily moved by need. He was firstly related to His Father, who then directed Him where to relate to a particular need. Jesus came to do the Father’s will. He was always tuned in to listen to His word of instruction. The Amplified Bible records it like this, John 5:30, “I am able to do nothing of Myself – independently, of my own accord; but as I am taught by God and as I get His orders, (I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to me, so I give a decision.) Even as I hear, I judge and my judgement is right, because I do not seek or consult My own will. I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.”

Often when God blesses a person operating in a particular gift, they want the rest of the Body to function as they do. Sometimes they go as far as writing a book on “How to ……whatever,”…………but that is for them, not everyone else! We need to be faithful in what God has called us to without trying to make our glove fit another’s hand. It is for everyone
to know their gift and calling individually, and together we make the whole. Unity not conformity!

1 Corinthians chapter 12 declares the diversities of gifts, but of the same Spirit in a many membered Body. Verse 11, “The Spirit divides (the gifts) severally as He will.”

Let me delight in each member’s gift that is bringing forth fruit for the Kingdom, but let me not err in trying to make everyone move in my gifting!

Jesus came to serve and not to be served. He encouraged us to “wash one another’s feet,” John 13:4 – 17, in a powerful demonstration of humility. So many want to use God’s gifts for personal gain, recognition and self glory. This truth stands that GOD WILL NOT GIVE HIS GLORY TO ANOTHER, as many ship-wrecked lives testify after taking the credit to themselves. Jesus made Himself “of no reputation,” and He is the Son of God! All the glory He receives of men is safe in His hands because He re-directs it to the Father.

So….let us humbly walk in what God has called each of us to and trust Him to take care of the rest – just a link in a divine chain – not desiring to be seen of men, but to be functioning in line with God’s purposes. Our reward is to feel the warmth of His smile, the touch of His presence in our lives, for indeed!….we have this treasure, (Jesus), in our earthen vessels. Priceless!

RIGHTEOUS ANGER OR CARNAL INDIGNATION?

It is vital that I know the difference between righteous anger and carnal indignation.

A good friend walked into her local bank this week, transacted her business and bid the cashier, “Goodbye.” Instead of the usual “Good day!” expected, the cashier responded with a question that arrested the customer in her tracks, and set alarm bells ringing in her thoughts. “Mrs. Jones, are you aware that the bank considers you a prime customer to be offered a loan?”

These were the words that caused an eruption in Mrs. Jones’ peaceful composure. From the depth of her being a volcano erupted. “Loan!”, she retorted. “LOAN!”, she exploded, “When will you people realise that’s why this country is in such a mess because of the irresponsible encouragement to borrow and spend what can be ill afforded! My generation grew up being taught to save for your goals, not borrow finance. This evil Loan Culture has ruined our nation!”

The cashier looked embarrassed and subdued. On the other hand, Mrs. Jones was amazed at the eruption of words that she had spewed from her mouth, totally out of character in such a situation. On seeing the cashier’s embarrassment, Mrs. Jones immediately humbled before her and apologised, saying that she realised that she was only doing her job as a representative of the Bank, whose policy decisions were nothing to do with her. After a profuse apology, Mrs. Jones left the premises somewhat disturbed.

On returning home she examined herself before the Lord. Where had that outburst come from? It was so out of character in such a situation!

Many reading this will have had similar experiences in life. There is a great difference between uncontrolled anger in a person – carnal indignation, and righteous anger. One of the problems regarding this is that many will claim they are demonstrating the “righteous anger” of God, but it is nothing but the old enemy of their own pride resurfacing. Pride is always the last to leave and the first to show up again. The only way to deal with pride is to humble yourself.

If I refuse to humble where God has shown me I am wrong, then in His timing He will humiliate me in His righteous judgement. BUT….He always gives me opportunity to humble myself first. If I refuse to humble in my pride, then I have to accept the consequences…….pain, heartache, loss of His Presence, peace and joy, – what a price to pay!

1Peter 5:5 “God resists the proud.”

What Mrs. Jones was experiencing was the righteous anger of God against an evil culture. Consider this: Isaiah 59:19 “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” In retrospect, Mrs. Jones realised she had wrongly verbally attacked the cashier who was only doing her job as a company representative. Quite rightly she immediately humbled herself and apologised for directing her outburst at her. She could have handled it differently and her complaint was with the hierarchy of the bank.

Matthew 21:12 – 17 records the well-known account of Jesus’ righteous anger on behalf of His Father, when He overturned the tables of the dishonest money changers in the Temple. Verse 13 – Jesus said,”It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

The Lamb of God became the Lion of Judah on behalf of His Father’s interests, not His own. This was the governing factor, the factor that governed all His earthly life.

He came to do His Father’s will and demonstrate His submissive humility in that governing factor. Jesus said to Philip, ” He that has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9. CAN PEOPLE SAY THAT OF ME?

THINE IS THE GLORY

John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” I am called to sonship. God has changed my worm-like nature to the nature of His Son! Hallelujah!

Let us give God the ascendancy and glory/credit for what He has accomplished through, and in, our lives. “For in Him we live and move and have our being,” Acts17:28. We can do nothing apart from the Lord giving us breath and ability.

It is right for me to give honour where it is due to others, to praise and encourage, but it is wrong to take that credit to myself, instead of recognising that God is the Enabler. His grace and power in me enables me.

The credit is all God’s. Romans 11:36 declares, “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him ARE ALL THINGS, to whom be glory for ever.” What can you, or I add to that? Nothing! It is complete. The wonder of this great mystery is that this divine completion lives within me in the form of God’s Son, when I am “born again” by His Holy Spirit.

A recipe for spiritual tragedy is not giving God the glory due to Him. A foundational building block of spiritual life is as John the Baptist put it, ” He must increase, I must decrease.” So often a divine blessing becomes a stumbling block to the person and others, when the due glory is not given back to God, but kept to themselves in pride.

If I do not recognise the source of my abilities and give God the credit, then He withdraws the grace from my life. In Ezekiel 36:26 – 31 the Lord promises His people to replace their stony hearts with new ones of flesh, increase their crop yields of field and orchards to replace famine, to rebuild and inhabit ruined cities…..BUT……here the Lord gives a stern warning that in the times of great blessing, NOT TO FORGET where He has brought us from and delivered us out of.

God recognises the danger in great blessing that we often fail to see. It is easy to become complacent with, and even take for granted His blessings, becoming careless with our stewardship of His provision.

In our ever changing world, secular organisations require qualified employees to take Refresher Courses, to remind and update their memories to all important procedures and requirements relative to their particular field. This is done for the safety and benefit of the company and it’s employees.

So it is with us Christians. We need a “Refresher Course” occasionally. It is healthy to “take stock”. God’s warnings, (Ezekiel 36:31), are for our greatest good and spiritual health. It is vital that we do not become complacent and sloppy with this great treasure God has given us, the life of His Son! May this truth sink into the very depths of my being and become the fabric of my everyday life: Christ in me produces the hope of God receiving the glory for His work in, and through my life.

God enabled B. Rhodes to pen the words to the great and well known hymn; “My heart and voice I raise, to sing Messiah’s praise……” The last verse proclaims:

Hail, Saviour, Prince of Peace,
Thy kingdom shall increase,
TILL ALL THE WORLD THY GLORY SEE…….

Where will this great kingdom increase? The Kingdom of God is within us when we are “born again” of His Spirit. As we yield to, and are led by, the Holy Spirit the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” will come forth in us as we lose our identity in Him. God’s glory will be manifest through us……….LIVING EPISTLES – to the glory of God!….for His divine purposes.

THINE IS THE GLORY!

THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD

The passing of the New Year is often accompanied by a positive expectancy in our humanity. If the expectancy is birthed of God, it will surely come to fulfilment, for the seed determines. Just as carrots and onions grow from their respective seed in the right environment, so that which is planted and birthed of God will come to fulfilment……but sons/daughters of the Living God are not grown overnight. It can take a lifetime.

Often during the New Year our humanity craves change and looks at the growth factor. My beloved Heavenly Father “watches over me.” HE LOVES ME. He doesn’t just put up with me! He carries on His business of “growing sons” regardless of the calendar. God is not in time, time is in God. He is never in a hurry but He is always on time for His purposes.

Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” LET….has tremendous significance. If I “let” something, then I “allow” it in responsibility and choice. Not my mind but the mind of Christ ruling and over-ruling my mind, for His glory. What is His mind? “He made Himself of no reputation………He humbled Himself…….” Phil. 2:5 – 8. For the student sons and daughters of God, who graduate from the School of Humility, rare gems are produced to God’s glory.

God is unchangeable and so is His purpose for our lives. Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one in unity, and that was Jesus’ prayer for all Believers in John 17:20 – 23, that we would all be one. That prayer is eternal and therefore always current. Jesus is returning for a Bride that “has made herself ready,” Rev.19:7. He is not returning for a Bride that is not ready.

God is preparing a people. How am I responding to His preparations, His work in my life? God is conforming us to the image of His Son. He is using a different set of circumstances in each of our lives to do the same work.

Jesus was one with the Father, unity. Am I one with the Father? Out of Jesus’ unity with His Father came the authority of God and unity with His brethren. Authority speaks of power. So many are seeking the power of signs and wonders with wrong motives, and some have disunity with members of the Body of Christ. It is not my job to put others right, “The Bride must make HERSELF ready”, not others. I need to keep MY heart right before the Lord. “These signs shall FOLLOW them that believe…..” Mark 16:17-18,….. FOLLOW…! – they are not to be pursued after by us.

The greatest miracle that can happen in me is that I may be one with my Heavenly Father, and therefore one with the members of His Body. God never deceives, but He often comes in disguise………..in the form of another member of the Body.

THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD FOR THIS HOUR IS UNITY.

GOD IS NOT IN RECESSION!

John 4:14, Jesus said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst again.” A wonderful place!

Jeremiah 17: 7-8, “Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; AND SHALL NOT BE CAREFUL IN THE YEAR OF DROUGHT, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

We all have periods of drought in our lives, but, somewhere in God, there is a place where I do not allow the drought to control me. At present there is much recession in the world, but GOD IS NOT IN RECESSION. As Believers we are safe in the Kingdom of God.

There are 3 positions to consider in my walk:-

CARELESS – when I am irresponsible. This is not acceptable to God.
CAREFUL – full of care/anxiety. This is not acceptable to God.
CAREFREE – I take my responsibility and roll it on God’s shoulders. By trusting Him He enables me to walk through my spiritual recession and He causes the spiritual waters to flow again.

1Peter 4:7-10
7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be sober and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover a multitude of sins.
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
10 As every man has received the gift, even so minister one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The manifold grace of God……..Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. They are married. Above is mentioned the Jeremiah quote, ” and shall not be careful in the year of drought,”. If I encounter a place of drought then I must have truth before the Lord, which turns on the tap of grace again.

I am so thankful for God’s SAVING grace, but I also need CHANGING grace. I have to embrace what I am in truth, but God wants change, to move me on. I will never have changing grace until I glorify God in PARDONING grace. His alone is all the credit (glory) for His work and change in my life. Then He moves me on to KEEPING grace, He keeps me! Still the credit is all His.

This manifold grace of God: saving grace, pardoning grace, changing grace and keeping grace. Am I a good steward of God’s manifold grace?

God gives more grace to the humble. Acts 10:34 declares, “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,” but He is a respecter of humility. There can be no unity without humility. God resists the proud. I do not want God to resist me. I love and revere Him and have an acceptable, healthy fear of Him, encompassed in the security of His deep love for me. Do I recognise my vulnerability in my spiritual walk?

In God “I live and move and have my being”. Most of us do not have access to vast finance or insurances. If God wants to gain my attention, He can easily tweak the tap of grace and turn it off. I acknowledge my vulnerability – I am a kept man by the grace of God alone.

God’s grace enables me to be the child of God He has created me to be and empowers me to do what He has called me to do.

“Christ in me, the hope of glory!” The glory is all God’s! Mercy has surely walked into my life, in the form of His dear Son, Jesus Christ.

———————————————————————————————————————

At the end of our Gathering at Sunday Fellowship the Lord gave this interpretation of a tongue:

There is a quickening to be had in the presence of God. His presence will quicken your mortal flesh that fails. His nearness will quicken your body and spirit as you touch Him again, for there is quickening in the presence of the Lord. He makes alive again. He brings to bear on your failing life and makes alive again. He redeems and brings back the strength and replaces the weakness of humanity, for there is such a quickening in the presence of the Lord.

——————————————————————————————————————–

Quicken…………the very word discharges power and life. When God touches us, or we touch God, there is such a quickening in our spirit and it overflows into our body, into our mind and lifts us.

Phil. 2:5-10
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

BIG DOORS SWING ON LITTLE HINGES

As the New Year sweeps in I take stock of my life before the Lord over the past 12 months. I welcome the searching eyes of God’s Holy Spirit of truth as He takes stock of me. On reflection, I praise Him for His faithfulness and rejoice in His redeeming love for the lessons He has patiently brought me through. Looking ahead, I am expectant and excited as I await His “appointed times” in my life for the coming months.

What has the Lord in store for us this year? Some reading this may think there is little happening in their lives at present. In taking stock consider Zechariah 4:10 – “For who has despised the day of small things?” God is the alpha and the omega, what God begins, He finishes. Anything birthed of God does not need me to prop it up with my labours. In 1 Samuel 3:12 the Lord says, “………..when I begin, I will also make an end.”

Philippians 1:6 encourages, “Being confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

The story of the prophet Samuel and his beginnings is well worth reading again in 1 Samuel chapters 1 – 3. The child, Samuel, was given to the Lord in the care of Eli, the priest, by his mother, Hannah, to minister to the Lord serving in temple duties. We note that Samuel began in a small way. The child was ministering before the Lord, but he did not know the Voice of the Lord. We all need to hear when God speaks to us.

1 Samuel 3:7 records, “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the Word of the Lord revealed to him.” It was Eli, the old priest, who perceived it was the Lord calling the child, 1 Sam. 3:8.

Samuel was going through the motions, serving Eli before the Lord before he came to know God for Himself. It was seemingly a very insignificant beginning – just a little boy and an old priest with no clarity of vision at that time in the nation.

“For who has despised the day of small things” – Remember that from little acorns mighty oak trees grow!

Within a few verses of that same chapter, 3, Samuel goes from not knowing the Lord in verse 7, to verse 19 recording, “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.” None of Samuel’s words fell to the ground because they were God’s words, not Samuel’s. God had revealed Himself and the whole nation of Israel knew that the prophet, Samuel, was the medium God was using for the restoration of the nation.

Isaiah 55:11 also records the Lord saying, “So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth, it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.”

Today, much of what is called prophecy falls to the ground. Samuel did not have that problem. He was like a sharp – shooter, hitting the target every time as an oracle of God. Throughout his lifetime, God used Samuel mightily with Israel. He faithfully delivered God’s living word to His people.

This year is the beginning of a whole new chapter. Remember, God said, “When I begin, I will also make an end.” No matter how small a company of Believers you belong to, you can be part of a GREAT vision: “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9. At the beginning of this new year in our Gatherings for fellowship together, let us minister to the Lord that He might reveal His word to us. Amos 3:7 declares, “Surely the Lord will do nothing, but He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.”

Philippians 3: 12 – 14 is encouraging for all of us:
12 “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

In my experience I may not have arrived, but legally “I am seated with Christ in heavenly places”. God has arrested me but I have not yet attained that for which I have been apprehended, as Paul said in the above quote…..BUT….there is something in me that God has started that is greater than myself. It is my responsibility to press in to that which I have been apprehended for, and God will finish the work. I am here because of what the Lord has done in me, not because of what I have done. My life is a testimony to God and his unchangeability and my confidence is in Him.

So, hallelujah! Let us encourage each other to press in, to not despise the day of small things, to stay expectant and……enjoy the journey through 2012.

BIG DOORS SWING ON LITTLE HINGES!

WHAT GIFT CAN I GIVE HIM?

Our hearts are so thankful to God that amongst all the activity and hurry of preparing for the Christmas season, there is a place of quiet rest, an inner sanctuary, a hidden altar in our heart where we can meet and commune with the Lord to receive His grace, mercy, love and strength as we worship Him. That is the unseen life we live, deep down in our spirit where we respond to His touch on our life. It is there we know Him, touch Him and worship Him.

Countless Christmas carols have been written and sung proclaiming the message of that first Christmas when angels rejoiced over the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Magi and shepherds brought their gifts to the scene of His birth, the humble animal shelter of an inn. The carols often challenge us, “What gift can I bring to Him?”……Give Him my heart!

If God truly has my heart then He has 100% of me. Malachi 3:10 God challenges us to “…..PROVE ME NOW….”, not just in a 10% tythe situation but a 100% surrender of my life to Him – my heart. Jesus wants the gift of our hearts because that is where we carry our burdens and fears. In Matthew 11:28 – 29, Jesus bids all who are weary and heavy laden to come to Him and exchange our burdens for His “rest” – peace. Fear often plays the game of “Hide and Seek” with me. I can be unaware I am harbouring fear until a certain set of God ordained circumstances arise and I am found out! I need to bundle up my fears and leave them at Calvary at the foot of the cross, instead of bringing them home to feed and mollycoddle in my heart.

Intimate friendship with Jesus is a profoundly deep condition. Many times I have not been a good friend to Him. We all have personal testimonies where our failures, fears and betrayals of Him have fallen short of true friendship, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. But His friendship to me has never failed. My friendship to Him comes out of His to me, and not vice versa.

God makes a way where there is no way. The way is made when I surrender to Him instead of trying to do things my way. I prove that God is who He says He is. PROVE ME NOW! I am not holding on to Him, He is holding me! When I give God my burdens, they do not belong to me anymore. He is the great burden bearer, I am not.

When circumstances disturb me and I quiet my heart before Him, He shows me where fear or judgement has stolen in. He reveals my heart and what is dwelling there. Calvary has made full provision for the divine exchange of my burdens for God’s peace to dwell in my heart.

Malachi 3:6 declares, “I am the Lord, I change not”. Our God, the great “I Am”, is the only One who never changes! How privileged I am to have a Friend so dear, so near. He knows all that is in my heart, and yet He still loves me!…..He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is mine and I am His! In my walk with Him I go alone to the sanctuary of intimacy where He gives me His true counsel. I cannot take my spouse or my friends with me to that inner sanctuary, it is God and I, and there I find all I need in Him, and of Him. My God and me, what a privilege.

We live in an ever changing world but HE NEVER CHANGES. We must come to the place where we are not continually tossed to and fro by our emotions and change of circumstances, portrayed as the rises and falls on some erratic graph of our lives. Many Christians live this way, but if the life of Jesus is within me I must yield to Him in daily situations and allow Him to order my life with His consistency of joy, peace and assurance and thus influence those around me. There is a power of influence from the life of Jesus within us that should emanate from us. We will always have our emotions but we do not want to be governed by them. We want the Lord Jesus to govern them, as He rules in our hearts.

Dear Lord, May the Unchanging Life living within me effect those around me, for the extention of the Kingdom and the glory of God.

What can I give our Royal King? My heart.

ADVENT: Prepare Your Heart

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”.

Advent is a wonderful season as we prepare our hearts before the Lord to celebrate, once more, our dear Saviour’s birth. What does it mean to “prepare my heart”? This should be a daily action so that I am ready to move at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, otherwise I am unprepared when He speaks. Scripture says we are the temple of the Holy Ghost – thus we have a responsibility to walk in the light God has given us and consider the following:

The basic foundational principles of God never change. “As you received Him, so walk ye in Him”, Colossions 2:6. How did I first receive Jesus? He revealed Himself to me and convicted me of my need of a Saviour. I humbled myself and confessed my need of Him and received Him. This principle has to be lived out daily. When He comes to me in any given situation, I humble before Him and receive His grace and strength for daily living.

Do I recognise Him when He comes? HE OFTEN COMES IN DISGUISE….in the form of another.

John the Baptist declared, “He must increase, I must decrease”. He must increase….it always starts with God.

God’s view of my judgements is another unchanging principle. This topic is always relevant and current. Do you want a package for revival? Well, here it is: “Judgement must begin at the house of God”, 1Peter 4:17. God is not talking to unbelievers, but to the house of God, that is you and me. This judgement does not refer to our natural judgement necessary for driving, cooking, working etc. but it is referring to when my natural judgement secretly goes into another person’s life, and I judge “what” they are doing without knowing “why” they are doing it, their motive.

Romans 2:1 “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judge another, thou condemn thyself, for thou that judges doest the same things”. If we do not adhere to the principle of not judging others then our lives will be ineffective. When I judge others my heart hardens and I lose my peace and joy.

I cannot use my natural judgement in the spiritual realm. Spiritual discernment only comes when I refuse natural judgement, refuse to eat from the wrong source, that is, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, Genesis 2:17. It produces spiritual death. (See also for reference 1 Corinthians 4:1 – 5).

INEXCUSABLE! That is a big statement of God’s, so there is no forgiveness for it unless I repent of my judgements, and then I find favour with God again. It has to be applied to my daily walk with my fellow men and the Lord.

If I do not know how to process truth that the Holy Spirit brings to me, then I hold it in unrighteousness and hold it against others – judgement! 1Corinthians 5:7,8 “Purge out therefore the old leaven………”
“Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven………….but with sincerety and truth”. When I take what God has given me as credit to my own character instead of His, then I am in the place of judging others in comparison with me, and God says it is INEXCUSABLE. Wrong judgements are always accompanied by hard feelings and lack of grace and strength. The light and life God has given me is not to judge others with. We have all received a measure of light from God, once received, He holds us accountable to Him to walk in it, to His glory, (not ours!). Otherwise that given light becomes darknesss.

So…let us gladly repent of our judgements and reverently prepare our hearts to be channels of God’s love, grace and mercy as we celebrate again the birth of God’s greatest gift to mankind, His beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.