Remember, Remember, always Remember the testimonies of the Lord

We have had some amazing breakthroughs and testimonies this year, but there was one that truly touched me as it showed the Lord’s ways so clearly.

It starts with Pastor turning 50; his year of Jubilee! A few months before the big day, he confessed, “I’ve been releasing people from their debts; even at work.” One of the messages on Jubilee went a bit like this:

Proclaim liberty, you will eat from the increase. This is a year of accumulation, there is a grace to gather significant resources. The ploughman is overtaking the reaper. Thank God for everything morning by morning. You are going to build and you are going to inhabit. You will plant vineyards which are business ideas that will continually bring a harvest. This is your season, walk like you’re ten feet tall. Everything is preparation and positioning to be an asset to this generation and region. Expect the unexpected, position yourself.

A mere four months later the Word was tried and tested, but our God in His foreknowledge sent a man with an instruction, “Pastor Michael, I saw you with a letter in your hand and there was a figure on the letter, and you began to declare the blood of Jesus over the letter.”

Sure enough the letter came; the figure was large, but not large enough for our God. 

The enemy or the testing seems to come in two’s in this house. Ding Ding, round two; fired on all cylinders, physically, spiritually and emotionally. The figure trebled; now this is more like it, talk about expect the unexpected. Rest was momentarily stolen and replaced with suggestive demonic dreams, and a weariness and strain took over the body.

But God aye Pastor!! A mere twenty-four hours later, I was privileged to be sitting in church listening to this story which ended with, “the lady on the phone said ‘in a few days time you will receive a letter saying this debt has been written off.’ ”

Cheers all around!

As I sat there smiling, what came to mind was…..do you remember when he was releasing people from their debts earlier this year? Our obedience today truly secures our victory tomorrow, everything we do matters. 

All this to say, “Our Father is sooo good.” If we obey the leading of the Holy spirit, when the time of provision or need draws near there will always be a ram stuck in the bushes offering a way out.

The song says, “my God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do.” This is why He said walk like you’re ten feet tall!

I’m not trying to create my own theology, but I reckon the more it seems impossible, the more excited the Lord is to show Himself strong. 

Faith is confidence in who…I AM.

BY LARISSA MATTHEWS

Let Your Will Be Done

'I have glorified you on the Earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do’ (John 17:4). This is the scripture I received after hearing myself pray, ‘Let your will be done in me as it was in Christ Jesus’.

For me, the best moments of prayer are hearing God speak through you in English, not knowing what’s coming but being blown away as it comes revealing that it hasn’t been pre-conceived by you; in fact, in that moment my mind was saying, ‘that’s not the scripture Riss!’ But when God speaks you feel the substance of His words and I am learning that when He speaks its always an invitation to walk into something new.

I was seeking simplicity and as always, God the Father points to His beloved Son. The beauty of their relationship wonderfully illustrated through love, sacrifice and dependency. Let Your will be done in me as it was in Christ Jesus. We have been endued with the power to choose and even when we try to seek an alternative way out, through Jesus we find the nevertheless grace.

Nevertheless, not my will but Your will be done. Nevertheless, my grace is sufficient for you because in your weakness I am strong. I am afraid; nevertheless, if I perish I perish. In the Son, all eventualities have been covered and every path He leads you on, He desires to walk with you. Choose to do nothing without Him, choose to wholly abide, choose to surrender your heart. Let the will of the Father be done in you as it was in Jesus.

What’s your something new in this season? What is God inviting you into? What word of His is He asking you to stand on?

BY LARISSA MATTHEWS

Don’t forget: As you reach UP, reach OUT!

After a week with two hundred young people from varied backgrounds, I feel greatly inspired to devote this blog to some of those youths.

The week was a tremendous blessing and there were some significant times of encounter with God, especially during worship. The messages spoken during the sessions were clear and relative, and I truly believe that the hungry were fed and the thirsty were watered.

But the devotion of this blog is to those few. I really can’t quantify or say how many, but to those who arrived with many questions possibly left with many questions, and those who struggled to engage during sessions. Those who during the times of deep intimacy of the spirit during worship were overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the intensity of the praise and the revealing of Jesus through the Word; and felt lost, these few words are your thoughts written down.

For me; no matter how powerful the service was, or how profound; or practical, our teachings were, there were some “lost sheep in Israel” that were crying out right there in our midst. Crying out for love, for hope and for peace.

They were crying out through their frustration; even through their absence in sessions, to know more than just the practicalities of the youth camp. Their behaviour screamed I don’t want to be here but their tears and conversations told another story.

I guess my point to all of this is that the church must encounter God to touch people, to embrace Jesus and all his amazing qualities which then must lead to embracing our youth. To embrace those who may not have the language of church that says, “I need help!”

We cannot become religious in our pursuit of God and remain behind the four walls of a building, forgetting how to connect with people we are meant to serve.

As we strive as the church of Christ to encounter Him more and experience; and receive His grace, it should not be at the cost of isolating ourselves behind the stained glasses of traditional windows or the lights of contemporary churches and miss the amazing opportunity to share all that we have received with those who truly require it.

Let us not forget this week during our meetings, our studies and our worship times: As we reach up, let’s reach out!

Matthew 9:35 “and Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”

­­– Pastor Michael