Afleveringen
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In the midst of so much upheaval in the world, negative news, so much noise and fear, it is easy to lose your peace and focus all that is going wrong around you. There are noises that begin to reach our heart, noises that take away our peace: the noise of illness, the noise of anxiety, of separation, bankruptcy, a family member who has died, the noise of fear of death and the future, of a diagnosis and the noise of the news. Those noises lead us to not listen to what God has told us.
But, as we see from the story of Jesus calming a very big and dangerous storm that He and His disciples were facing in Mark 4:35-41, Jesus has already given you great promises and assures you that He is with you no matter what storms you personally are facing. Jesus had told the disciples they would cross over in a boat to the other side, but He hadn’t told them there would be storms along the way. Yes Jesus’s promises were still true, regardless of the storm facing them. We can learn, just as Jesus’s first disciples had to, how to block out the noises that stop us always focussing on Jesus and living for Him and in His perfect peace.
1. Remember who Jesus is: The Son of God
2. Remember all that Jesus has done: He has healed you
3. Remember what Jesus can do: all that He promises He will do in your life
Apply
Jeus spoke to the storm the disciples were facing and brought a peace that totally surpassed all understanding. You can understand that in spite of the storms, Jesus is with you. Tell the Lord about the storms you are experiencing, but understand that in the midst of that storm Jesus is there. Understand that what Jesus did in the past, He will do again in this present storm. He has the power to speak to sickness and transform it into healing. He has the power to speak to the curse and transform it into blessing. Jesus has the power to speak to death and transform it into life. But you have to remember and declare that, despite the great storm you are facing, that Jesus has promised you will make it through. Believe that this storm is forming your character and taking you to a greater level of faith. Remember that you are not alone, you have the Lord, you have the church, you have the pastors, and you are going to get through to the other side. There is going to come a calm where you are going to experience miracles.
Tell Jesus the storms that you are experiencing, e.g. family, personal, financial, emotional, sickness, pain, a child who has relapsed, etc. But understand that in spite of that storm, you are not alone. You have not been abandoned. Jesus the Son of God, the One who shed His blood seven times for you at the Cross of Calvary, is right there with you. From today, ask the Lord that you will no longer hear those noises, and that from today you will understand that Jesus is saying ‘I am with you and we will pass over to the other side’. Jesus has the power to calm and remove your storm and to silence all the noise. Declare that you will make it through the other side of your storm and that Jesus is with you and you will see a miracle. Thank the Lord that you will see His promises become a reality in your life.
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Do you want to experience new beginnings and new blessings? Do you want to know how to succeed in your life and ministry? If so, you must learn how to prepare for great conquest.
In the first days of June 1967 Israel faced the prospect of another holocaust. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar, leader of the Arab world, mobilised vast armies for war, declaring ‘our basic objective will be to destroy Israel.’ Only 19 years after the state of Israel was established, the Jewish population of less than three million people prepared for the worst. Rabbis across the country cordoned off areas for mass graves. Hotels were cleared in readiness for use as emergency hospitals and schools were converted into bomb shelters. At the same time the Israeli military was also busy preparing.
Early on June 5, 200 low flying Israeli jet fighters launched a surprise attack on the Egyptian air force with such precision and power that it ceased to exist within 3 hours. From that moment, the six-day war was effectively won and Israel, instead of being wiped from the map, more than trebled in size. It captured the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank of the Jordan River (or the biblical Judea and Samaria) and the strategic Golan Heights. What’s more, after 2000 years, it was back in control of Jerusalem, the Western wall and the Temple Mount.
Just six years later however, in 1973 Israel’s military were nowhere near as prepared for a full-scale enemy attack. Having become overconfident, they were caught off guard when Arab fighter planes and armies attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, when so many Jews were in their synagogues. Israel’s army was outnumbered six to one. 1,400 Syrian tanks made their way down the Golan Heights towards Galilee ready to slice into Israel’s heartland. For five days Israel fought a desperate defensive war before recovering to massively defeat Arab armies in a costly 16-day conflict. In both wars preparation, or lack of preparation, played a crucial role.
Preparation in any area of life is one of the great keys to success, whether in business, finances, sport or education. The best preparation will also bring significant blessing in your personal life, family life and in church life.
As we start a new season of church and school life, we continue our focus on how God told Joshua and the people of God to prepare to conquer the Promised Land, after more than four centuries of slavery in Egypt and 40 years of wandering in the desert. First, God spoke to Joshua saying, ‘Now then YOU get ready’ (Joshua 1:2-3). Last week we looked at how Joshua personally had to step up to a new level of leadership. Moses, to whom he had been such a faithful assistant, was now dead and gone. Now was the time for Joshua to accept the baton of leadership and rise up with vision and faith. This was time for him now to look forwards, not backwards, and to be strong and courageous in his leadership. And today it is also time for each one of us individually to do the same.
But there was something else that God said here. It was not just Joshua who had to prepare for new challenges and conquest. All the people of God had to move to a new level. Joshua 1:2 says: ‘Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.’ The ways they got ready to inherit the Promised Land shows us how we too as church communities need to prepare for a new move of God and victories that we have not seen before.
1. Get your own house in order (Joshua 1:10-11)
2. Decide to obey God given leadership (Joshua 1:16-18; Hebrews 13:17)
3. Focus on following the presence of God (Joshua 3:2-4; Exodus 13:21-22)
4. Cross over from the old to the new (Joshua 3:16-17)
5. Separate yourself fully to God (Joshua 3:5; Joshua 5:2-7)
6. Receive healing before you minister (Joshua 5:8)
7. Celebrate the conquest of the Cross (Joshua 5:10-12)
Apply
1. Get your own house in order (Joshua 1:10-11). Joshua couldn’t sort out everyone’s supplies; the people themselves had to do that. They had to pay attention to the basics to move on to bigger things (see Admiral William McRaven’s book ‘Make your Bed’). For sure as Christians and churches we need to have an increasing influence in the public world, but first we must put our private world in order. It’s great you want to clean up the world with preaching, teaching and outreach, but first clean up your own home, kitchen and office. Pay attention to getting your finances structured. Deal with your bills. Put things in files that you can easily access. You will be amazed how much this decluttering will also clear your head and free you up to serve the Lord. So get your supplies ready and do it all in three days!
2. Decide to obey God given leadership (Joshua 1:16-18). ‘Just as we fully obeyed Moses’: maybe they were just speaking for their generation because their parents rarely if ever obeyed. Moses faced constant, vicious and unfounded criticism and it was one of the key reasons a whole negative and rebellious generation died out in the desert. But now a new generation decided to change to a culture of faithful support for their spiritual leader. Any church will be blessed where there is a culture of honour and obedience towards God-given faithful leaders (Hebrews 13:17). If you want to see the church of Jesus, locally and globally, stand with authority in the world, be sure to honour authority within the church, whether from the pastors or team of 12. Be positive not negative towards spiritual leaders and pray always for them. If you want to conquer rebellion in society, first conquer it in the church.
3. Focus on following the presence of God (Joshua 3:2-4). The Ark of the Covenant was Israel’s most sacred treasure and a symbol of God’s presence and power. The people of God needed to stay close to God and value His presence. This was a lesson that they had learned through their escape from Egypt (Exodus 13:21-22). Just as the Israelites needed to stay very close to the Ark, so we need to stay close to the Lord and be sensitive to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, especially when ‘you have never been this way before.’
4. Cross over from the old to the new. To get into the Promised Land the Israelites had to cross the Jordan river (Joshua 3:16-17). The people had excellent leadership, but they needed to all take steps of faith to cross the Jordan at a time it was in full flood. And that’s what a whole nation did. As churches we need to cross over from old patterns of unbelief and step into new realms of faith, from limited blessing to believing for limitless blessing, and from survival mode to conquering new land and multitudes of people for Christ.
5. Separate yourself fully to God (Joshua 3:5). To consecrate means to set apart from sin and to give yourself to wholeheartedly following a holy God. Joshua, like Moses, insisted to the Israelites that if they wanted to conquer the land, they had to live in a radically different way from the people of the land who followed other gods and had corrupt moral and sexual standards. Joshua took particular action to literally mark a new generation for God (Joshua 5:2-7). This rite of circumcision marked Israel’s identity as a people wholly committed to God. When God first made a covenant with Abraham, He required that each male be circumcised as a sign of cutting off the old life and beginning a new life. Now Joshua made the decision to circumcise a whole generation who had not previously been marked out as belonging to God. Today, while circumcision is not necessary to becoming a Christian, we must nonetheless separate ourselves from sin and the world, however painful that may be and clearly identify ourselves as belonging to God.
6. Receive healing before you minister (Joshua 5:8). Clearly this mass circumcision was a painful event and people needed time to heal. Today many Christians want to minister to others but first they must receive healing in their hearts and minds and know for sure that all shame and captivity of the past has been rolled off them. This is why it is so important to spend time at encounter weekends that we run. When you have an encounter with God, often deep hurts of the past come to the surface and you can feel very vulnerable. But if you will let the Holy Spirit come close to you, He will comfort you and heal every wound. So you must stay in protective environment of the church with loving leaders to help you, while God is taking you through this process of restoration and reconstruction.
7. Celebrate the conquest of the Cross (Joshua 5:10-12). Passover represented the saving from death and judgement through the blood of lambs that were applied to the doorframes of Israelite homes in Egypt. Today as Christians we celebrate deliverance from sin and death because Jesus, the Lamb of God, took away the sin of the world when He shed His blood at the Cross. And now, because of this we are no longer slaves or desert wanderers. Instead, we have entered God’s new kingdom and can enjoy His blessings every day. These seven keys will get us ready for great conquest, both individually and as the chosen people of God. Those who want to move to a new level of conquest, write down and apply each of these teachings starting with putting your own heart and house in order.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This is a new season as we come into Autumn, but also spiritually where God is at work amongst us in new ways. So we are going to start a two-part preparation based on Joshua chapter 1. This story is very relevant to us. It came at a time when a whole generation who left Egypt with great promise for the promised land - but they never made it.
A whole generation fell by the wayside because of unbelief, because they had a culture of constant criticism against Moses and their leaders, and because of their immoral behaviour. Even Moses himself didn’t make it into the promised land, but Joshua and Caleb did. Joshua became the leader who succeeded Moses, and as he stepped out into this new time, God gave him this word: “you and all these people get ready". The word says ‘get ready’ but first it was ‘get ready Joshua’, then it was ‘get ready people’.
You personally can get ready for a new time for God to work in your life. Joshua himself had to be ready to lead the people and go to a new level. And if you want to go to a new level, if you want to lead others, first it begins with your personal preparation and your heart. Ask yourself, are you prepared for what is coming and for new challenges? Are you prepared to move to a new level of faith? To prepare for a new level of conquest, you have to:
1. Accept the baton of leadership (Joshua 1:2; John 15:16)
2. Visualise what you can conquer (Joshua 1:4; Proverbs 29:18)
3. Be ready to take steps of faith (Joshua 1:3; Judges 6-7gi)
4. Recognise the authority that God has given you (Joshua 1:5; Acts 1:8)
5. Know that your commitment to the word of God is key to your success (Joshua 1:8; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Isaiah 61:1)
Apply
1. Accept the baton of leadership. Moses had led things for a long time, but his time had gone, and the baton now passed to Joshua (Joshua 1:2). Joshua had always looked up to Moses and supported him as his aide, but God had now called him to lead. He had to think of himself differently and personally accept the baton of leadership. There comes a time when those we have previously looked to for direction or seen as leaders may now have gotten older or gone to heaven, and it’s now your time to step up. To move to another level of leadership, whether you’re younger or older, you must prepare yourself (John 15:16). God chose Joshua and used him to transform a generation. And God has chosen us. Young people, God is with you and will help you in this next stage of your life as you go back to school or college or move to university, but you cannot see yourselves like your friends. He has called you and has set you apart so that you can lead them to Him. Today is a new day and we are not part of the Moses generation. We are to see the promises of God in our lives as we vow to go deeper and accept His call. So shake off negativity, shake off the past, get ready for God to do a new thing.
2. Visualise what you can conquer (Joshua 1:4). God gave Joshua a clear vision of where he was going. We must be able to see what we can conquer in order to make it happen. When we visualise what can be conquered, we can see incredible results (Proverbs 29:18). Vision brings direction and faith. Moses’ generation cried out for their basic needs to be met and God provided bread and water, but they didn’t have faith and vision of where God could take them. Focus on where you’re going, where God can take you. Visualise what God wants to do in your life, how you can make a difference in your community. Visualise your family being saved and praying together. Visualise yourself leading people to Jesus in this new season, your towns looking to Jesus for hope as you grasp hold of God’s vision. When we seek God’s vision and follow His direction He will guide us to save many from perishing.
3. Be ready to take steps of faith (Joshua 1:3). The Lord didn’t tell Joshua to sit down and the conquest would come to him; God said He would give him every place that he set his foot. Up to this point, the Israelites had been roaming for decades and had yet to arrive to where they expected. Joshua had been along in this journey, but he took heart not to stagnate or let up. This was a new time to go forth in full confidence. When you take action with direction from the Lord, things that felt impossible before, things that haven’t worked, and strategies that failed can be conquered. Because it is not you that is working, it is God working through you (see Gideon in Judges 6-7). To get ready for new conquest you must have faith, but remember faith without works is dead, so you also need to get moving. Ask God today in prayer for new strategies and declare that every place you go He will equip you, use you and be glorified.
4. Recognise the authority that God has given you (Joshua 1:5). God gives you authority when you walk in His purposes. He told Joshua although there had been battles before and ahead, Joshua had His authority, and nothing would overcome him. God didn’t say there would be no opposition, but He said to be bold and strong to go forward because God would never leave him. You may be facing challenges at this moment, but you can know the Lord’s presence with you. We need to ask for the authority of Holy Spirit, the presence of God upon us as we go out into the culture of the world. It was this authority that brought rapid growth for the disciples and the early church after Pentecost (Acts 1:8). To get ready for new conquest we need more of the Holy Spirit, and to desire the presence of God every day. His Spirit gives us the authority to stand strong and take new ground.
5. Know that your commitment to the word of God is key to your success (Joshua 1:8). Joshua needed to understand that God's words were what would give him the strength to go on and the courage to lead the people. If we want to see this generation saved we must come to a new level in our devotional time. Become resilient in your knowledge of the Bible. It will protect you and bless you. We must be bold to declare the word of God. We must meditate on it, pursue it, and live by it. The Bible teaches that the power of the tongue brings life and death. What you speak out is important. Keep words of faith and life on your lips at all times. Look at situations through the living word of God. When you are declaring the promises of God, you are speaking faith into action (2 Corinthians 9:8; Isaiah 61:1). You can see a great move of God in your life. Maybe you have allowed thoughts to come in and tell you that your dreams will always only be a dream, other people in your family have tried to make things happen but never succeeded. But you are of the Joshua generation. We can see a great move of God in this nation with many people saved and families restored. It is time to throw off negativity and failures of the past. Rise up to the position that God has for you, visualise what you can conquer, take steps of faith and stand upon the word, for as we read in Joshua 1, the Lord is going to help take possession of the land He has for us.
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Do you know that your tongue holds the power to destroy or to give life? If you are longing for a breakthrough in your health, or in any other area, you must learn how to speak words of life and avoid declarations of self-defeat.
We live in an increasingly voice-activated universe. Phones and tablets, cars and gadgets are increasingly being programmed to recognise and respond to what we say. But voice-activation is not so original and innovative as you might think. This was the same means God used to create the physical universe and the laws that govern it, as well as inputting the same operating system into His most precious creations – human beings (Genesis 1:3,9,26-28; Hebrews 4:12 ESV). Your words have power and influence in the spiritual realm (Proverbs 18:21; Job 22:27-28 NKJV).
When it comes to the spiritual realm, the reality is that the enemy can use anything you say against you, to oppose your prayers. So we have to be so careful with our words. We were created to rule and reign with our voices. The problem is, many of us have learned how to use our tongues more from the world than the Word.
We see three core principles from a story recorded in Mark 5:22-42 that will help you to see healing miracles in your life and the lives of those around you. These lessons come from a man who knew that Jesus was the only hope for a precious member of his family, and was able to take great care in the words he spoke and the words he left unspoken.
1. Speak words of life over your circumstances (Mark 5:23 NKJV; 2 Corinthians 4:13; 1 John 5:14; Mark 9:22; Isaiah 53:5)
2. Refuse to utter a declaration of despair (Mark 5:35-40; Mark 11:24; Proverbs 18:7 NKJV)
3. Keep hope alive in your heart (Proverbs 17:22; Proverbs 18:14; Isaiah 61:3; Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV)
Apply
1. Speak words of life over your circumstances (Mark 5:23 NKJV). Speak with faith: Jairus’ daughter was in a critical condition, but he knew Jesus had power to heal her. He spoke out his faith clearly. As a synagogue leader he would have known that bowing down and declaring trust in Jesus publicly could put his job at risk, but he was more concerned about his daughter’s life than the opinions of his peers or the potential consequences, so he spoke up. Speaking aloud with faith is the first step to the miracle. You may feel intimidated but remember that you have been created in the image of God to rule with your voice in the same way He does (2 Corinthians 4:13). Whatever miracle you think you need, one important step that needs to precede declaring things with faith is to ask God what His will is (1 John 5:14). Jairus pleaded with Jesus to heal his daughter. Once Jesus had agreed, he had all the reason in the world to stand in faith. When you know Jesus is saying ‘yes’ to your miracle, then you need to pray with authority, not like the man who Jesus had to correct for saying “…if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). You must also speak the truth. Sometimes Christians get confused about this. Having faith does not mean denying the existence of a real problem, but it does mean being careful with what you declare. Jairus was explicit about what the problem was, and Jesus didn’t have any problem with that. But Jairus was also careful not to make a negative declaration about her future. The only thing he said about her future was that Jesus’ ministry would heal her. Then you must speak in line with the Word of God. You can declare the Word of God over your situation, or you can declare in line with it – the key thing is to know the Bible promise you need and speak it out. Regarding healing, the clearest promise in the Word is written in Isaiah 53:5. Forgiveness and healing are part of the same promise.
2. Refuse to utter a declaration of despair. Jairus faced a delay in Jesus coming to heal his daughter. Then came a spiritual attack of intimidation (Mark 5:35). He was confronted not just by one messenger but several, and told his daughter was already dead. They advised him not to bother Jesus any more, even referring to Jesus as just a ‘teacher’. How do you react when faced with bad news? Jairus must have been tempted to vent his grief and frustration, to abandon or contradict his faith declaration, or just hang his head and walk away. But in the moment of temptation Jesus was right there (Mark 5:36). Jesus didn’t need Jairus to say anything more, only to hold onto his faith. Like Jairus, sometimes we’ve prayed and received a healing touch, but the problem has not disappeared. The trouble may even intensify. How do we respond? David Yonggi Cho in ‘The Holy Spirit, my Senior Partner’ explains that healings can come via two routes: “When the gift of the working of miracles works, the disease departs in a moment and the person immediately begins to recover health. When the gift of healing works, the cause of the disease is removed slowly and the effect of treatment starts to work, leading to recovery.” If it’s a ‘miracle’ you tend to notice straight away, but if it’s a ‘healing’ you receive that you are healed in your spirit by faith, but you must keep persevering in faith until the completion (Mark 11:24). Derek Prince talks about this in his book ‘Secrets of a Prayer Warrior’, explaining that if you’ve asked for and ‘received’ healing in prayer, then you stop asking for it and move to thanking God for it. He writes “Now you’re plugged into God’s supernatural power. Keep the plug in.” Any time you feel a twinge of pain or see a symptom, don’t fear, just believe, and declare “Thank you Lord. Your supernatural power is at work in my body.” It’s not just a matter of speaking words of faith in the high moments but holding your tongue from venting negative declarations in our lowest moments (Proverbs 18:7 NKJV). The final lesson from Jairus came as he reached the threshold of his home where his daughter lay dead (Mark 5:38-40). Jesus was determined to get rid of the professional mourners because He recognised the effect it was having on the family’s home. They needed an atmosphere of faith, not sadness.
3. Keep hope alive in your heart. It would be difficult for Jairus to hold onto his faith in an atmosphere of loud grieving and wailing. This is a major factor in every battle of faith. It is vital to keep hope alive in your heart through the time of testing (Proverbs 17:22). The joy of the Lord is not only your strength but like medicine for your body (Proverbs 18:14).There are some practical things you can do to nurture hope and joy through a time of trial, including: not keeping company with people who drag your spirit down; being sensitive to what music you are listening to and what you are watching and how these influence your heart and mind (Isaiah 61:3); raising your voice in praise, thanks and worship to find the presence of God (Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV). If you have been facing a battle of faith for your miracle, be it health, family, financial or ministry, just like Jairus who faced waves of opposition and intimidation, choose to speak words of life and not death. We need to develop a culture of positive speaking and declaring the promises of God in every area of life. Our words bring life or death, and that applies in relationships, emotions, and in supernatural healing. This is a moment to decide to change the way that we speak and to speak words of life and faith.
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We can play our part in seeing God do amazing things in our lives and the lives of others, by activating our faith. By definition, a miracle is a divine operation that happens outside of the laws of nature; it cannot be explained upon any natural basis. Amazingly, Jesus taught His disciples that God would do whatever we ask if we have faith, so faith is key to seeing miracles (Matthew 21:22). Even a little faith is powerful (Matthew 17:20).
In our convenience culture, there is a danger that we try to reduce the miraculous to a convenient formula. Faith is not an impersonal force, not a principle or a method. As we see from examples in the Bible, faith rests on the person of Jesus Christ. Our faith needs to be activated. Different times in the gospel we read Jesus saying ‘your faith has healed you’ (Matthew 9:22 ESV; Mark 5:34 ESV; Luke 17:19; Luke 18:42).
The word used in the original language of the New Testament to describe healing is ‘Sozo’. It means “to preserve, rescue, save from death, or keep alive.” Sometimes, ‘Sozo’ refers to spiritual salvation, resulting from a person’s faith. For example, when a repentant prostitute washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, He told her: “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50). When Jesus said to certain people, “Your faith has made you well,” He was saying that their faith (their confidence in Him) caused God to bring their restoration. The power of Christ brought about the cure, but His power was applied in connection with their faith.
So, the value of one’s faith does not come from the one who expresses it but from the one on whom it depends (Mark 10:52, Mark 11:22). In the case of a paralysed man at the pool of Bethesda where multitudes gathered to be healed (John 5:1-11). Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be made well. But he really didn’t really understand the question. He thought the only way to be healed was to get into the pool at the right moment, but he couldn’t do that. Jesus healed him anyway! This confused and needy man was healed by God’s grace. He had no faith in Jesus at the time; he didn’t even know it was Jesus who had healed him until later (John 5:12–13).
That is how Jesus dealt with the sick in many cases. He separated their physical problems from their spiritual needs. Everyone whom Jesus willed to be healed was healed. Sometimes Jesus emphasised the faith they had, other times, in His great mercy, He healed those who had no faith and later drew them to Himself. So, what did Jesus mean when He told people, “Your faith has made you well”?
1. Faith in the authority of Jesus (Matthew 8:5-13)
2. Have faith to call on the name of Jesus (Mark 10:46-52; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53:4-5; Mark 10:48; Exodus 15:26)
3. Faith to reach out to Jesus (Mark 5:24-34)
Apply
1. Faith in the authority of Jesus (Matthew 8:5-13). The story of the centurion whose servant was healed by Jesus appears both in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. This centurion recognised that Jesus had authority and power in an area that he himself did not, that is physical healing. His own power and authority, great as it was, could not make his servant well again. His great faith on its own could not change the situation either. He needed the person and authority of Jesus. He activated his faith by finding Jesus and submitting to His authority. He had no doubt that sickness itself is under the authority of Jesus to command. Amazingly, Jesus would have willingly gone to the centurion’s house out of compassion but responded according to his great faith instead. If you think of faith as a currency, it can only make a difference when you take it out of your purse or wallet! Similarly, when you activate your faith in God and allow yourself to believe in Him, the possibilities are endless. This means you act and talk like you have faith, you make decisions based on it, and you’re not ashamed of it just like this centurion. The lesson here is that God alone is the miracle worker. So, come to Him, submitting to His authority in every area, just like this centurion. If you ask Him to work out His plans in your life as He sees fit, without pre-conditions, you will see miracles. Ask yourself: is it possible that you are limiting the size of your miracle because you have not put your faith in the authority of Jesus in your life? Make that decision, give Him first place to work as He sees fit without fear.
2. Have faith to call on the name of Jesus. In the story of Jesus’s encounter with blind Bartimaeus, Jesus was leaving the city of Jerico with a large crowd following Him (Mark 10:46-52). Bartimaeus activated his faith by calling on the name of Jesus. He most likely knew who Jesus was through the scriptures that were read publicly, and by the many miraculous things Jesus was doing all around him. He called Jesus ‘Son of David’, which showed that he believed Jesus to be the long-awaited Messiah, the King sent as the Saviour of the world, starting with Israel (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53:4-5). Knowing who Jesus was and hearing about the miracles He was doing, Bartimaeus could hardly contain himself! Even in the face of discouragement Bartimaeus would not be silenced (Mark 10:48). This kind of faith caused Jesus to stop. He Jesus responded to the faith Bartimaeus had in His name, His reputation and person. Being blind, he had never seen Jesus, but that did not stop him believing Jesus. The same is true today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. One of the names of God is ‘Jehovah Rapha’ which means ‘The Lord who heals’. There’s healing in His name (Exodus 15:26). Cry out to Jesus for mercy in your need and like Bartimaeus you will be saved, healed and delivered.
3. Faith to reach out to Jesus (Mark 5:24-34). In this final example, a woman’s faith moved her to reach out and touch the garment of Jesus so she could be healed. This example illustrates powerfully that genuine faith relies on the person of Jesus. There were many who touched Jesus in that crowd, but only one had reached out to touch Him because of her faith in Him. Having to explain her bleeding in a crowded place would have been a great embarrassment to her, but she had faith in the divinity of Jesus, and in the compassion of Jesus. For her, Jesus was not just a good man, He is ‘Emmanuel’, God with us in our pain, in our suffering. Her faith led her to believe that just taking hold of His garment would be sufficient for her healing. It is not the healing ministers that heal, it is not the longest, loudest prayer, it is Jesus and only Jesus who heals. If you reach out to Him now, He will answer you as He has promised. It is time like never before to activate our faith in the authority of Jesus, in the name Jesus, and to reach out to touch Jesus in our lives. Refuse to be held back by limitations and the discouragement of others. Go after God! If you draw near to God, He promises that He will draw near to you.
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Do you feel trapped in any area of your life? Do you know that you can be set free by God’s power? Both Christians and non-Christians need to understand that the God of the Bible is a God of miracles. He can do supernaturally what is not possibly naturally. Nothing is impossible for God.
Miracles come in many forms. There may be miracles of financial provision or miracles of children being born, without medical help, despite previous infertility. There may be miracles of reconciliation between enemies of many years. And of course, there can be miracles of healing.
Such miracles happened many times in the ministry of Jesus and are recorded in the gospels. The blind regained their sight. The lame were able to walk. The lepers were made clean. But for all the miracles recorded in the gospel, this list is not complete. For John 21:25 said that ‘Jesus did many other things as well’ ….in fact way too many to be recorded.
But Jesus not only healed people’s bodies, but he also delivered them from evil power (Acts 10:38). Deliverance from demons is one of the key features of the ministry of Jesus and later the early church. And it is a subject many either don’t want to face up to or, on the other hand, may get wrongly focussed on. So, we need to get a true Bible view of demons and deliverance. For the Bible shows us that the world is not just a logical, rational world. Our world is a battle ground between the kingdoms of light and the kingdom of darkness, between good and evil, between God and the Devil (Ephesians 6:12).
Demonic activity is real in the world which is why there is so much trouble in the world. Sometimes it is obvious when you see evils such as genocide or people who are devil worshippers. Other times the Bible says that the Devil hides himself as ‘an angel of light.’
Well Jesus came to destroy all the works of the Devil which he did through the cross and in delivering people in His ministry. He cast demons out of a man in a synagogue. He delivered Mary called Magdalene, ‘out of whom went seven devils” (Luke 8:2). He set free a wild man living in a graveyard who had many demons. And you too can see miracles of deliverance.
We read a story in Mark 9:14-29 (KJV) that shows us the miraculous power of Jesus against evil spirits that were attacking the life of a boy.
1. People are in great need (Mark 9:17-24)
2. Jesus is the miracle worker (Mark 9:25-27)
3. The disciples of Jesus needed to learn to move to a new level of supernatural ministry (Mark 9:28-29; Luke 9:1-2; Mark 6:13; Joel 2:12-13)
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1. People are in great need (Mark 9:17-24). Here we see a desperate father who knew that there was something very wrong with his son. His son would suddenly be thrown to the ground and start foaming at the mouth. He would grind his teeth and go rigid. These distressing experiences had been going on since childhood. Sometimes things got so bad his life was at risk when it seemed like he was being thrown into a fire or water. He could die if he continued like this. The father reached his conclusion that the reason for all this was that his son had an evil spirit that was controlling his son and causing great worry for him. He knew that he needed a miracle to deliver his son. Today many people need deliverance: they may be oppressed by the devil, by fears, or invisible limitations, or they in more extreme cases being possessed by the devil. Either way they need to be freed from the power of the enemy. How many of you are in a desperate situation? Maybe you have been involved with the occult. Maybe you have experienced evil power, maybe you feel there are evil spirits that rise up in you to pull you down. Maybe you feel that you or your family is living under a curse. Are you in anyway are not free in your life because of drugs, or alcohol or pornography or depression? Well, this story tells us that there is hope for you.
2. Jesus is the miracle worker (Mark 9:25-27). Jesus had so much authority that even the demons submitted to Him as soon as they heard Him. Although this demon had ruined the life of this boy for so long, in one encounter with Jesus he was completely freed. At first there was a spiritual struggle and there was shouting and shaking in the boy’s body. Then it looked as if he was dead. But then Jesus took hold of him and lifted him up. He was now full of life and free from the tormenting demon. Sometimes deliverances can seem scary but when Jesus is on the scene you don’t have to worry because that person is being delivered out of bondage into freedom. And this is why Jesus the son of God came to this earth: to save us, to free us from all the power of evil. Today in the name of Jesus you too can be set free from every evil spirit that has troubled you. And when we have Jesus in us as His disciples, we also can work miracles.
3. The disciples of Jesus needed to learn to move to a new level of supernatural ministry (Mark 9:28-29). Now the disciples already had experience of delivering people from demons (Luke 9:1-2), and they had been able to cast out demons (Mark 6:13). But here they were at a stage in their development where they needed to have a greater authority. So, Jesus told them how they could be more effective when faced with bigger challenges. First, by prayer. There is no substitute for prayer. Deliverance is not a formula. Jesus was not just talking about just praying now and again but living a life of prayer that He Himself lived. It’s when you are constantly so close to God that His authority is always on you. We must learn to live a life of prayer, a life of intimacy with our Heavenly Father and a life of knowing Him more and experiencing His power. Intense demonic opposition is only overcome when you know what it is to struggle and overcome in prayer with your intercession and fellowship with God. For us to see greater conquest in spiritual warfare prayer must be at the very heart of our lives and families and in this church. As Oswald Smith, a great evangelist said simply ‘when we work, we work. When we pray, God works.’ But prayer can and should be accompanied by fasting. Some manuscripts add ‘this kind goes out by prayer and fasting’. Fasting brings us to new levels of spiritual focus and authority. We may be weak physically, but the Holy Spirit gives us new spiritual strength. Throughout the Bible and church history we see that miracles and moves of God can be traced back to people who prayed and fasted. So, let’s see fasting not as a duty or a struggle but as a blessing and a delight (Joel 2:12-13). Today can be a new day of freedom when you experience the Lord’s deliverance. Today you can see breakthrough in every area of your life when you have an encounter with God. You can go direct to the Lord. But if you need prayer, please ask for it. And if you are a Christian leader who needs to minister in the authority of the spirit, know that you have authority when you are under authority. Give yourselves to prayer and fasting and you and all of us will move to new levels of miracles of deliverance.
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Are you desperate to see changes in your life? Do you need to see urgent answers in your family or your health, finances or ministry? You may very well have a desperate need right now. There are so many battles that come up in life, so many challenges. Whether this is in family life or your finances or even in your health. But there is hope for you. There is hope for you even if you’ve actually had a lot of pain in your life.
We see in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 a well-known prayer from someone whose very life was marked by pain. This was Jabez, his mother had named him saying “I gave birth to him in pain” so all his life was associated with pain. But he came to the point where he’d had enough, and he prayed in desperation to the Lord.
Perhaps you can’t see how your life can change. But today God wants to show you that no matter your past, your future can be one of blessing, healing, protection, provision and free from pain. We can learn a lot from how Jabez prayed to the Lord despite his painful past and present circumstances.
1. He prayed for God’s blessing (1 Chronicles 4:10)
2. He prayed for increase (1 Chronicles 4:10; Ephesians 3:20)
3. He prayed for the presence and favour of God (1 Chronicles 4:10; Exodus 33:14; Joshua 1:5; Nehemiah 9:19-20; John 14:26)
4. He prayed he would be kept free from pain (1 Chronicles 4:10; Luke 8; Isaiah 53:5; Psalm 37:4)
Apply
1. He prayed for God’s blessing (1 Chronicles 4:10). He took his desperation for a different life to God. He cried out to God for his breakthrough. Jabez was desperate. When you are desperate, you know that it’s not your own abilities, strength or power that can change the situation. When you are desperate, you know that you are all out of options other than to go to someone who has the power bring change. Jabez cried out to God and believed that it was God who had the power to bless him. He believed that God could do the changes needed to bring blessing in his life and that God is the source where all blessing comes from. There is nothing wrong with asking for personal blessing! Today you can call out to God in desperation like Jabez did, assured He wants to bless you.
2. He prayed for increase (1 Chronicles 4:10). Jabez wasn’t content with the limited prosperity and small portion of blessing he had experienced in his life so far - he knew God had more to give him and he cried out for it. It’s time to stop small living and small thinking. Now is the time to start praying bigger prayers. You may be feeling stuck in a small, overcrowded house, thinking how can I possibly move into a bigger house? You may be feeling powerless by thinking about mortgage rates increasing, living costs rising and lots of other limits in your thinking. There may be a problem in having children and you want to see increase in your family. You might have only a small salary and limited responsibility at work. There is hope! It’s time to pray that God will increase the size your living accommodation. It’s time to pray that God will increase your salary. It’s time to pray that God will increase the size of your family and it’s time to pray that God will increase the size of your ministry. Do you believe God for miracles and to prosper you in every area of your life? God has BIG things in store for you (Ephesians 3:20).
3. He prayed for the presence and favour of God (1 Chronicles 4:10). Jabez was desperate for the presence of God to be with him. He knew that it was essential to do life with God if he wanted to see his personal circumstances change. The Israelites experienced guidance and favour when they sought and followed the Presence of God (Exodus 33:14; Joshua 1:5). Do you take time every morning to welcome the presence of the living God, your Heavenly Father, as it says in the Hebrew El Shaddai - God Almighty, and seek His hand to be with you? Just as the Israelites were clearly guided by God’s presence in the wilderness, so we can be guided by the hand of God in every part of our everyday lives (Nehemiah 9:19-20). God wants you to be guided by His Holy Spirit in everything you do, every day (John 14:26). There is hope! We have not been left alone to struggle in a desperate state, or to try and figure everything out on our own: God’s presence can be with us if we cry out to Him for it. As we have more of the Presence of God in our personal lives, we will see how God guides us into the right places at the right time, with the right people and with His ease and blessing. This ushers us into His favour in every other area of our lives.
4. He prayed he would be kept free from pain (1 Chronicles 4:10). Pain is such a familiar reality to many people. And many are very good at hiding it. Maybe you’ve been harmed by a toxic relationship. Maybe you have pain from repeated disappointments, or experienced pain from bad financial deals and debt. Possibly even in pain over losing a loved one. And of course, there are so many who live with very real physical pain on a daily basis. Maybe you are one of them. Well, many people in the Bible also lived with great pain as the norm in their life. In the New Testament we see the woman with the issue of blood who, as Luke 8 tells us, had lived with this painful and socially crippling condition for 12 years, spending all she had on doctors who couldn’t cure her. Yet when she cried out to Jesus, she received her miracle and was instantly healed. Despite his tough start in life, where pain and suffering had been his norm, Jabez knew that the Lord alone could keep him from harm and give him a life that was free from pain. It was God who could change Jabez’s very nature and remove pain from his identity. And God can and wants to do it for you too. Perhaps suffering physical and emotional pain has been normal in your life up to now, but through Jesus being wounded at the cross in our place, we can be healed (Isaiah 53:5). There is hope! It is only with God that we can experience freedom from harm and pain. God’s love is greater than any love you might have experienced in your life, and He promises you a different future as you depend on Him. Like Jabez, it’s time to cry out and to step out in faith that God is doing a new thing in your life, and that the old experiences of pain, harm and suffering and sorrow are in your past - not your future. God granted Jabez’s request (1 Chronicles 4:10), and He is ready to grant yours too (Psalm 37:4). Today, whatever your situation, whatever your need, however much pain you’re in, you can cry out to the Lord.
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Dreams speak of possibilities and impossibilities that become realities. Dreams are powerful. God loves each one of us more than we realise and wants to bless us and make us a blessing to others. You are not a failure. You can succeed in your life, in your studies, your career and ministry. (see stories of James Irwin, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jnr).
You can be more than you think you can be. When you are close to God and walking in obedience to Him you are destined to be a winner. Just like we see from the life of Joseph, it's time to start dreaming!
In Colombia we have seen how one of the greatest churches in the world with a membership of 300,000 has grown up against a background of poverty, drug cartels and war. Today MCI church is a beacon of light to the nation and Presidents come to seek endorsement. It all began with a dream in the heart of Pastor Cesar Castellanos that one day he, like Abraham before him, would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (see Pastor Cesar Castellanos book: Dream and You Will Win the World’).
Dreams are powerful. Stay awake but start dreaming! We see from the life of Joseph:
1. God has great dreams for you (Genesis 37; Jeremiah 29:11)
2. God wants you to hold onto to your dreams (Genesis 37:19-20; Genesis 39:2&23)
3. God wants you to see His dreams for your life come to pass (Genesis 41-43)
Apply
1. God has great dreams for you. Although he was young and did not have much of a past Joseph could see that he had a great future. In some way or other he knew that one day he would be in a position of great influence. Even his many big brothers would bow down before him. God clearly had a plan for his life and that is true also for you. You matter to God. You are not a nothing or a nobody. God rates you. God knows about you. The Bible says He even knows about how many hairs we have on our head! God loves each one of us more than we realise and wants to bless us and make us a blessing to others (Jeremiah. 29:11). You are not a failure. You can succeed in your life, in your studies, in your career and ministry. You can be more than you think you can be. When you are close to God and walking in obedience to Him you are destined to be a winner. He has a dream of what you can be and also what your family can be. God is into creating and re-creating families. He can bring families together who have drifted apart. He can bring peace where there were only rows. He can change your hearts so that you all get on together and your home becomes like heaven instead of hell. God had this dream for Joseph and his family, despite the division, and He brought them altogether. Do not give up on your family. Do not quit on your marriage. God has great plans for you all. He also has great plans for your leadership. You can be a great leader in business, in politics, in your chosen career and in the church. The church is one of the greatest training grounds for leadership in any walk of life. If you can lead in the church you can lead anyone anywhere. The church has great potential to bring healing, hope and reconciliation between old and young, men and women and across racial and ethnic barriers. When Jesus trained 12 young guys it was because He had a dream that their lives would one day impact billions of people with the message of His love and righteousness. Today, despite centuries of persecution and ridicule, the dream lives on and amazing churches are growing up on every continent. This is what happened through Joseph and can happen through us as we become light in the darkness and voices of reason in amid chaos. We are agents of the kingdom of God that is characterised by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And this is an everlasting kingdom that will touch every area of life in every nation. It’s a kingdom that will get stronger and stronger - the man-made kingdoms of this world come to nothing. Today recognise that God has great dreams for you personally, for your family, and leadership. Start to see the great possibilities.
2. God wants you to hold onto to your dreams. Dreams can be shattered in many ways and this could have easily happened with Joseph. He had to hold on to his dreams despite pain. His brothers were so jealous of him that they were ready to kill him (Genesis 37:19-20). Instead they sold him as a slave, and it was 20 years before he would see his family again. Joseph experienced betrayal and rejection big time and it caused him great sadness. When the pain came out in later life, he cried so much everybody around could hear him. Maybe you have had the same experience. People you were close to walked out on you your husband, wife, parents, close friends and colleagues. Life has been hard and dealt you some heavy blows. But this does not mean that your dream is finished. You must do what Joseph did and hold on despite the pain and despite difficult circumstances. Joseph was jailed for rape on a totally false charge of a bitter woman who couldn’t get him into bed with her. Then he spent some of the best years of his life in prison when he was innocent. And finally a friend who he thought could use his influence to get him out of jail forgot all about him. But depressing as things were there was one thing Joseph could not forget and that was his dream, even despite the years. Thirteen years went by but in everything Joseph kept his focus on God. He realised God was over everything. He kept his eyes on the Lord. He was faithful to the Lord and the Lord was faithful to him. How do you cope with creeping cynicism and disillusionment that would descend on you? Here’s how: Be faithful to God and serve wherever you are; Be secure in God’s faithfulness to you (Genesis 39:2&23); Be confident in God’s timing and dealings - God will work in His way in his good time. To see any dream come to pass you have to decide to hold on to your dream and stick with your dreams. You must hold your ground when you feel like giving up. You must pray on for your kids, your parents, your partner. Once you have had an image from God of what can be hold on to it until it comes to pass.
3. God wants you to see His dreams for your life come to pass (Genesis 41). This happened to Joseph in the most amazing way. Genesis Chapter 41 is the great turn-around chapter. Joseph went from prisoner to Prime Minister in no time. From being forgotten to public favour. From rags to riches. From wondering what is happening to seeing clearly God’s plan. Joseph Saw His Personal Destiny Come to Pass: God blessed him personally. God brought him to a position of great prominence (Genesis 41) in charge of the whole end of Egypt. God gave him great provision (Genesis 42) dressed in robes of fine linen and a gold chain around his neck. He had a new name and then a wife and later children to comfort him. God brought great healing to him. He was reconciled with his brothers in some very tearful scenes. He saw his dad again and wept all over him. He saw nephews, nieces, and in-laws for the first time. Destiny Was Fulfilled for His People: His dad, his brothers, their families – all were saved from the famine that ravaged their land. More than that, they were all prospered in their own part of Egypt in Goshen. Destiny was fulfilled for the World: God had a plan here and it was to save not just the Israelites but the Egyptians and other nations from starvation. God raised Joseph up as a saviour and deliverer. So too God intends for His dreams for your life to come to pass. He will help you to see a dream for your life. He will help rebuild broken dreams. If you have lost sight of your dream, His Word and His Holy Spirit will help you to focus and rebuild. And He will help you to achieve them. Joseph recognised that in everything God had been with Him. And God is with you too!
God has great dreams for you. The Lord is with you. Hold on to the dreams God has given you. Don’t give way to disillusionment. Serve him faithfully wherever you are. Trust him totally for he is a faithful God. Be confident: you have a destiny, and His time for fulfilment will surely come to pass. Whatever bad has happened in your life, God can turn it to good. Put your life in God’s hands. Stop trying to do everything your way and come His way. Follow Jesus Christ and let Him make something of your life. Co-operate with His plans. Dare to dream big dreams. And believe that you are going to see them fulfilled. Your greatest days are ahead of you! Today give your life fully to the Lord. Get hold of the dreams God has for you and together with God’s help maximise the potential of your life.
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Looking at the recent change of government, it’s very clear that a lot of people were looking for a new beginning and were prepared to vote differently in this General Election in the hope of bringing it about. As Christians we take seriously our responsibility to be a force for good in society and should continue to pray daily for our government.
And so people many are crying out for real change to come in their own lives. When we consider the impact of family breakdown, loneliness, greed, and self-centred living it is abundantly clear that new beginnings are necessary for people, and God can bring this about in your life today.
1. New beginnings are necessary (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23-24)
2. New beginnings are possible (Jeremiah 18:4; Ezekiel 18:31; Psalm 40:3; Acts 5:20; 1 Peter 1:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 3:18; Acts 2:24; John 8:45-47; 1 Timothy 1:16)
3. New beginnings are personal (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:1-5; John 19:39; Romans 9:9)
Apply
1. New beginnings are necessary. There’s a disease that has infected humanity. It is at the root of all that is wrong in the world around us. The Bible calls it sin and it affects every one of us. Sin separates us from a God who loves us. It is because of that separation from Him and His love for us, that we see so much chaos and evil in the world (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23-24). Despite our sins, new beginnings are possible.
2. New beginnings are possible. The good news is that new beginnings are what the Christian gospel offers. Not religion, but a restored relationship with God where we are reborn, changed from the inside out by God. It shows up in changed actions and motives (Jeremiah 18:4). Like that pot, we are all marred. The root problem in the world is inside every one of us, and God alone has the cure. The Bible talks of how we can have a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 18:31), a new song (Psalm 40:3), a new life (Acts 5:20), and new birth (1 Peter 1:3). New beginnings have been made possible for everyone through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son (2 Corinthians 5:17). 2000 years ago, God sent His son Jesus to be born here and live among us. Because of His love for us, He took full responsibility for all our sins, past, present and future (1 Peter 3:18). He suffered the death penalty on a cross in our place to bring us to God. Through His death for our sins, He purchased a new beginning for every one of us. The Bible tells us that death could not keep its hold on Jesus (Acts 2:24). Because Jesus lived a sinless life, God raised Him from death to give new life to all who will repent of their sins and put their trust in Him (John 8:45-47). All through history people have experienced powerful changes in their lives because of their trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection. When the apostle Paul wrote, ‘the old has gone the new has come’ he spoke from personal experience. For he was once a violent enemy of Christianity. He approved the stoning of to death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. He carried out murderous threats against the early disciples. But one day, he had an encounter with the risen Christ that changed his life. He was literally a new man. So dramatic was the change that even the first Christians had a hard time at first believing it (1 Timothy 1:16).
3. New beginnings are personal (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! This is something that happens when God meets with us personally by His Spirit. (See the story of Nicodemus in John 3:1-5). Nicodemus became a truth seeker. That’s one of the first step to a new beginning. You must seek out the truth about Jesus. This was a new beginning for Nicodemus and he helped take care of the body of Jesus and prepared it for burial (John 19:39). This put him at risk when you consider his fellow religious leaders had handed Jesus over to be crucified. What Jesus said to Nicodemus, He says to every generation: ‘You must be born again’. Your new beginning is necessary, your new beginning is possible, and your new beginning is personal. Today you are offered the real of hope of a new beginning no matter what ugliness or mess has marred your life. Jesus Christ came into this world to bring you new life. It is not too late. You are not ‘too far g one.’ By turning to God now, you too can become ‘new creation’ and know that ‘the old has gone, the new has come.’ It is only when we ‘repent’, that is to turn from living our way and come back to God, that we can know forgiveness and a new beginning (Romans 9:9).
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Do you want to know an unconditional love? Do you want to know an end to restlessness in your heart and the emptiness in your soul? There is no job, person, or accomplishment that can fill that place inside of you. You need to come near to Jesus and let Him speak to your heart. No one is off limits to God. More than you may have realised God wants to help you and show you His amazing grace and favour.
One of the most well-known stories in the Bible that underlines this truth is found in the gospel of John 4:1-30 and 39-42. It still carries a significant message for us today. Jesus was a much-in-demand preacher and miracle worker in the first century in what we know today as Israel and the West Bank. Huge crowds followed Him. But some of His most powerful ministry was in one-to-one personal encounters and conversations.
Jesus was heading back to Galilee and took a shortcut through a place which Jews often avoided, called Samaria. This was a purposeful and fairly radical act for reasons that we’ll see soon. But he did something even more surprising; he got into conversation with a lady with a pretty bad reputation.
But this conversation was to change the life of this woman and her community. It began with Jesus sitting by a well and asking her for a drink of the water that she was drawing from the well (John 4:4-10). We can learn some simple and powerful lessons from this story:
1. Jesus came to show us God’s love is for all people (John 4:9; John 3:16; Acts 10:34; John 4:16-18)
2. Jesus came to satisfy us (John 4:10-15; John 6:35; John 7:37-38; John 4:25-26)
3. Jesus came to save us (John 4:28-30)
Apply
1. Jesus came to show us God’s love is for all people. He loves people of every race (John 4:9). Historically Jews despised Samaritans. There were longstanding prejudices and often deep hatred between Jews and Samaritans. When the Assyrian empire captured Samaria, which had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, they deported many Jews, and foreigners were brought into the land. So the Jews didn’t want anything to do with a people they despised and who represented betrayal for their nation. They would do anything to avoid travelling through Samaria and having social contact. That’s why this woman was so startled and questioned Him. She was really saying: Don’t you know about the realities of ethnic, tribal and racial differences?’ It didn’t matter to Jesus, all he saw was the person. He loved people no matter what country or culture they came from (John 3:16; Acts 10:34). And today God is for you and loves you no matter what the colour of your skin or whether you are part of a majority or minority ethnic group. You matter to God. He loves people of every social status. Women in those times were regarded as inferior and given lowly jobs to do, much as what happens in many parts of the world today. But Jesus treated women the same way he treated men. He brought dignity, compassion and hope to women and that’s why so many women followed Him. And that’s why wherever today there is a revival of real New Testament Christianity, women play a leading role. Jesus was blind to social distinctions whether between men or women, rich or poor, powerful or powerless. And Jesus loves people despite their sins (John 4:16-18). Jesus knew her past, but He did not hold it against her. The whole purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to bring salvation, not condemnation to people. There’s a core problem in the world and it’s called sin. In rugby if there’s foul play, then you are sent to the sin bin. People know what’s a sin and what’s not, even though they don’t want to face it or even want to redefine it. Sin is independence from God and rebellion towards God. The Bible says when we live in sin or turn from sin there are consequences: life or death. Sin leads to separation from God. But Jesus came to take the burdens of our sins, to forgive us and give us new beginnings. He knew this woman was a sinner, and He quickly showed her that He cared about her. He knew that she was a lost soul who was empty on the inside. And that’s why Jesus came to earth, for people just like her. This story tells us very clearly that Jesus came to show God’s love for all people, no matter what they had done. He wants to remove that barrier between them and God.
2. Jesus came to satisfy us. You don’t have to be a Rolling Stones fan to know that the words of their world-famous song is the experience of so many people ‘I can’t get no satisfaction.’ So many rock stars and celebrities have seemingly got it all: money, adoration, fame, yet there is still a deep inner emptiness. And this woman at the well had lived a bit too, but there was something missing in her life. That something was someone, and He was standing right beside her. He told her how her thirst for life could be truly satisfied (John 4:10-15). Jesus promised her satisfying, eternal water. He didn’t promise temporary nourishment, but a new lease of life would well up inside her. No more chasing after momentary pleasures to bring purpose, happiness or relief. In life we can look for satisfaction in many places, like shopping, the next holiday or pursuing our career. For others satisfaction may come through addictions and momentary highs. Well, Jesus repeated His claim and promise that He alone could satisfy the deepest longings of the human spirit (John 6:35; John 7:37-38; John 4:25-26). Jesus taught that the only way to truly know satisfaction is to know God and that He Himself was God.
3. Jesus came to save us. The conversation with this woman changed her life. She was no longer lost but found. She had been empty but now she felt full and fulfilled. She had gone to get some ordinary water but she had found living water that she could feel bubbling up within her. And it bubbled over so much that she couldn’t keep the good news to herself (John 4:28-30). The Bible then says that Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for a few days and they knew that He was their saviour. Jesus came to seek and save all who were lost. He came to save us from our sins, to forgive us and give us new beginnings. He came to rescue us from all the evil power of the Kingdom of darkness and death and hell. He came not just to save some people but all people. People from all racial and ethnic groups. People from all levels of society. People who have messed up and who need to be cleaned up. The love of Jesus is for everyone. Today you need to know that God loves you unconditionally no matter who you are, where you come from or what you have done. Do you want to know that love? Do you want to know an end to restlessness in your heart and the emptiness in your soul? Do you long for living waters that will satisfy you for time and eternity? There is no job, person, or accomplishment that can fill that place inside of you. You need to come near to Jesus and let Him speak to your heart like this Samaritan woman. Read His Words. Study His life. See what He has done in so many lives. Commit your life to Him in simple prayer. And believe that as you trust Him and follow Him, you Saviour, He can change you too.
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Britain has become a great spiritual battleground where the Christian identity of this nation is under attack on many fronts. This is no time for churches across this land to be divided and distracted by worldly cares and ambitions. This is a time to fight the good fight of faith and love, and in Sir Winston Churchill’s words, to be determined that ‘we will never surrender’ our spiritual freedoms and Christian heritage.
For all the challenges we face, we should never be discouraged. For as both the Bible and revival history shows us, it is in times of great darkness and desperation that God so often turns everything around.
We see how this can happen by looking at the story of man who lived all his life in darkness. He was a blind man, a desperate man, a man for whom it seemed impossible that anything could change. But in just one moment in time everything changed for him. The power of God was released on him and multitudes marvelled at what had happened so quickly.
This man was called Bartimaeus, and his story is in Luke 18:35-43. Matthew’s gospel records that there were two blind men begging but Mark and Luke’s gospels singled out the most vocal of the two. Mark tells us his name was Bartimaeus and that he not only knew the name of Jesus, but he also recognised Him as the Son of David, the Promised Messiah.
We see some simple lessons from this story of how the church can be revitalised as agents of great and sudden change in the UK. We must:
1. Focus on people in great need (Luke 18:35; Luke 4:18)
2. Cry out to God for mercy (Luke 18:36-39; Exodus 2:23-25; Judges 6:2-6; Psalms 18:6; 34:17)
3. Have big dreams (Luke 18:40-41)
4. Expect to experience miracles (Luke 18:42-43)
5. Let the new followers of Jesus influence many others (Luke 18:43; John 4:39)
Apply
1. Focus on people in great need (Luke 18:35). Bartimaeus was in a desperate condition as a blind man who had to beg to get any money. He couldn’t see anything, and crowds of people just passed him by. He was, like so many in our world, left behind to look after himself, just trying to get a few coins to keep him going. But Jesus built His ministry on people like Bartimaeus: the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the grieving widow, the sick and suffering. This is why the anointing of the Holy Spirit had come on Him (Luke 4:18). We should focus on the hurting, the poor, the despised, the lonely, overlooked, and grieving. People everywhere are in pain, including the rich and famous and outwardly happy. And we need eyes to see who is struggling by the roadside of life and not just be part of the crowd that rushes on past. To turn this nation around, we will need Christians and churches that truly love people no matter who they are or from what background they come.
2. Cry out to God for mercy (Luke 18:36-39). When Bartimaeus heard Jesus was coming near, he recognised this was his moment that everything could change if he could somehow connect with Him. So amidst all the noise of the crowd he shouted out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” This wasn’t a polite, quiet prayer; it was an urgent call for help. His shouting was so loud that many people told him to shut up. But we read this caused him to “shout all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me!” This was a man who really knew how much he needed the mercy of God. He was desperate to seize the moment to connect with Jesus. So often God permits individuals, families, church and even nations to come to a place of desperation where we realise our only hope is to ask God to show us His mercy. That was the case in 1940 when literally millions of Britons answered the King’s call to prayer that this nation would be saved from tyranny. With no other hope of help, they cried to God for mercy. This was what happened with the Israelites (Exodus 2:23-25; Judges 6:2-6). This was the tipping point when God raised up Gideon and his 300 dedicated men who overcame a vast army. King David knew how to effectively call for the mercy of God (Psalms 18:6, 34:17). Real prayer is when we are desperate enough to truly cry out to God for mercy knowing that we have no other options. Today in the UK we are being brought to a point where we need to cry out to God for our own answers, to cry out to God for our families, for greater purity, power and fruitfulness in our churches. And for sure we need His intervention in our nation. Without doubt we deserve judgement for so many reasons, in a nation and former empire that has been in such rebellion towards God and for breaking firm promises to the Jewish people and Israel. But we can still cry out to the great God of mercy for our generation and those to come that the fires of God in this nation will never go out.
3. Have big dreams (Luke 18:40-41). Bartimaeus knew exactly what he wanted; it was a big miracle to receive his sight but he was clear what he wanted. Everything would change when he could see. We too should ask God to give us clear vision to see what we have not seen before, to have the scales removed from our eyes so that we can visualise changes in our lives, in our self-perception, and in families and churches. When the Lord touches our eyes, we will perceive that we can and will minister to multitudes.
4. Expect to experience miracles (Luke 18:42-43). Healing is central to the gospel. Healing miracles are part and parcel of New Testament Christianity and commonly seen in Christian revivals. Healings are signs that the kingdom of God has come on earth and are connected to faith. Jesus told Bartimaeus ‘your faith has healed you.’ Bartimaeus had lived all his life as a blind man. He could have been resigned to his fate but when he knew that Jesus was nearby, he had faith for healing. He called Jesus ‘the son of David’ because he believed He was the promised Messiah and that when he connected with Him nothing was impossible. And that remains true today. For Jesus Christ is indeed the same yesterday, today and forever. He’s still the healer and the Lord over every disease and sickness. He is still the miracle worker. We need to put our faith in Jesus. ‘Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see.’ Today we need a new dimension of supernatural ministry to move forward in the face of so much satanic opposition and confusion. Let’s believe that all things are possible with God, and to pray for and heal the sick.
5. Let the new followers of Jesus influence many others (Luke 18:43). When new believers share their testimonies, many people can come to Christ (John 4:39). Billy Graham’s ministry took off not just because of his anointed evangelistic preaching but because of the conversions of a well-known gang boss and famous radio personality in his 1949 Los Angeles campaign. Whenever people come to Christ, be quick to let them spread the good news and you will be amazed at the great harvest of their families and friends. Let’s go forward together with new faith and focus and see a great spiritual turnaround throughout our nation. Let’s cry out to God for His mercy in our lives, in our families and churches and in this nation.
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Churches across the UK have come together this weekend for the G12 UK Conference 2024: The Great Harvest. This week’s online service is the preach that Pastor Wes shared at the 2023 conference:
Today we have before us a fresh opportunity to play our part in the re-evangelism of this nation and other nations. Each one of us, each individual, couple, family, and church, can make a big difference for God in this generation and for the good of generations to come.
This is a time for us to unblock the wells and discover once more the life-giving waters of the Holy Spirit, which have so often flowed in revival power in this country. Each of these 5 keys are themes of the G12 Vision and have been central to the growth of one of the world’s largest churches in Bogota, Colombia.
We see these keys in Matthew 9:35-37 and Matthew 10:1: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
1. Focus on the mission of Jesus (Matthew 9:35; Acts 1:8)
2. Receive the Vision of Jesus for the multitudes (Matthew 9:36; John 4:35)
3. Have the love of Jesus for lost and hurting people (Matthew 9:36)
4. Pray for more workers as Jesus instructed (Matthew 9:38)
5. Build a team of 12 as Jesus modelled (Matthew 10:1)
Apply
1. Focus on the mission of Jesus. The mission that Jesus has called us to is simply massive. Jesus has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. God sent His only Son Jesus on a mission to save the whole world from Satan, sin and all the destructive powers of darkness. The sheer scope of our mission requires us to think bigger and beyond what our minds usually process. Our mission in life is to win the world for Jesus. And to conquer globally we must follow the example of Jesus being focussed locally. Jesus went about His mission in a very strategic way by starting in His home region of Galilee (Matthew 9:35). He was very specific and very diligent in going from town to town and even from village to village. Later Jesus gave specific directions on focussing on different locations for the spread of the gospel throughout the world (Acts 1:8). The mission then requires that the Christian gospel is spread systematically from area to area. We must be sure that we are focussed not simply on running our churches but on reaching our communities with a very clear strategy. Like Jesus must have a big mission to reach ‘all the towns and villages’ in the areas that God has called us to. We have to all play our part in spreading the gospel of the kingdom to all peoples in all nations starting in all the towns and villages where we are.
2. Receive the Vision of Jesus for the multitudes (Matthew 9:36). Jesus didn’t just see individuals; He saw vast numbers of people in great need, and He wanted His disciples also to have their eyes open to seeing the multitudes (John 4:35). How much do we really notice people? God wants to open our eyes to see the multitudes all around us and to believe as Abraham believed that we can have limitless spiritual offspring. Ministry begins with vision. We need a vision of what is possible for large numbers of people to be brought to Christ in our churches and our nations. We have to perceive it and believe it before we can receive it.
3. Have the love of Jesus for lost and hurting people (Matthew 9:36 MSG). Love is what Christianity is all about. Jesus came because God so loved the world. Love is what drew the multitudes to Jesus. They knew that, unlike the hard-hearted, self-seeking religious leaders, Jesus truly cared for them. They could see His compassion especially for those who were outcasts and despised. And it was love for lost sinners that Jesus suffered and bled and died. It is this sacrificial, unconditional, patient, kind and enduring love that we must have in our hearts if we are going to keep our children and grandchildren in the church. So many children and young people have wandered away, often with great bitterness in their hearts, because they have experienced the law but never the love of God. And it’s this love and compassion in our hearts and in our actions and in our eyes that will draw people to Christ and establish them in their faith. The G12 vision is not some clinical method but an expression of the heart of God and a powerful means of bringing God’s love to masses of people and to train them as disciples. So how do we get this love? Only by asking for the Holy Spirit to come and change us. For us to see people turn to God, we must have this love.
4. Pray for more workers as Jesus instructed (Matthew 9:38). The mission is so big and the challenge is so great that we must have many more people involved in sharing the good news of Christ and His kingdom. If we are serious about re-evangelising this nation, we must seek to mobilise ALL the people of God to share their faith. The so-called professionals or paid ministers can never cope on their own. There are about 30,000 clergy of all types in the UK and more than 80,000 registered witches and fortune tellers. Today we must really pray that great numbers of Christians who are busy doing their jobs and caring for their families, will share their faith wherever they are and integrate disciple-making into their lives. It is a matter of great urgency to pray for more workers if we want to see this nation turn around.
5. Build a team of 12 as Jesus modelled. After calling for prayer for more workers, Jesus formed a team of disciples (Matthew 10:1). These 12 were ordinary people and far from perfect. One on the list of the chosen betrayed Jesus and had to be replaced, and the other 11 all ran away at one point. But they were to become the foundation of the church, because Jesus never gave up on His simple plan to focus on gathering, training and releasing the few to reach many. Today the G12 Vision is a re-emergence of a biblical vision for making and multiplying disciples by taking them through every stage from new birth to maturity to become leaders and multipliers themselves. The 12 can develop 12 who can have 12 who can have 12, and so on. We just need to do this right and continually. And if we will take hold of these five keys, we will see another grassroots transformational Christian movement in this country and in our day and generation. Are you up for it?!
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You can experience many blessings in your life. But to reap the best results you must be careful to sow the right seeds with your words and actions.
Just as with William Wilberforce who had sowed so many good seeds, it was only by persevering that he was able to finally come to a great moment of reaping. (See the story of William Wilberforce from the podcast/online programme).
In Galatians 6:9, the apostle Paul emphasises that persevering is one of the great secrets of reaping. You must never ever give up, no matter how hard or discouraging are the trials you face, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
1. The Certainty of Reaping (Galatians 6:7-8; Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 8:6; 2 Corinthians 6:9-11)
2. The Timing of Reaping (Galatians 6:9; Ecclesiastes 3:1; James 5:7-8; Romans 4:18-21)
3. The Terms and Conditions of Reaping (Galatians 6:9-10; Hebrews 10:35-36 and 12:1-3)
Apply
1. The Certainty of Reaping. The Bible teaches that whatever we sow in life we will reap (Galatians 6:7-8). The apostle Paul is making the point that that for every action there will be a consequence. What you sow, you will reap. This principle applies in every area of our lives. You cannot live without consequences. Just as a farmer knows that if they sow potatoes, they’ll reap potatoes, as verse 8 says: Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction (Galatians 5:19-21). If you have hatred, anger, jealousy, selfishness, sexual impurity in your life, you will suffer the consequences. That is not just about judgement from God, it’s a law of life. How many marriages have been destroyed because of a spouse wanting to please their flesh through adultery. How many homes broken through a parent wanting to take the easy way out and walk away? If you don’t want to see bad results in your life, then stop now living the wrong way and sowing bad seeds. But if you are sowing to please God then you should be very encouraged, for this verse also says that whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. And you will also reap many good blessings in this life (Romans 8:6). When you live in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit you will enjoy life and have great peace of mind. When we give generously, we will reap generously (2 Corinthians 6:9-11). When you have faithfully shared your faith and prayed with tears you can be sure that you will reap joy (Psalm 126:5-6). Many have sown so much good seed in so many ways over so many years. Now you must expect to reap many blessings, in your finances, in your family, in your ministry, in this church. This is a time of reaping. This verse is very clear: we will reap a harvest.
2. The Timing of Reaping (Galatians 6:9). We want everything in our time. But there is a time for harvest. There is a moment to receive your blessings (Ecclesiastes 3:1; James 5:7-8). Patience is one of the great keys to perseverance. To reap you must accept God’s timing and give up your impatience. In the Old Testament Abraham demonstrates what it means to persevere (Romans 4:18-21). No matter how negative the circumstances looked, Abraham was patiently waiting for God’s time to fulfil His word. And we must always do the same.
3. The Terms and Conditions of Reaping (Galatians 6:9-10). Our blessings will come in the right moment, but we must not miss out by getting tired and giving up. To reap you must never give up (Hebrews 10:35-36; Hebrews 12:1-3). We too need to follow the example of Jesus. He went through far more than we will ever be called to endure. He never lost heart. He focused on the joy of blessings to come. We also must throw off everything that would stop us reaping all that God has for us. Throw off discouragement, self-pity, worry and weariness. Don’t give up after all you have sown. Don’t give up because you are struggling right now. Don’t give up when so many blessings are coming your way. As Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb said, ‘Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.’ The apostle Paul, a man who himself went through so many troubles, encourages with these verses to not focus just on what you are going through, but help others with all they are facing, starting with your own Christian brothers and sisters. This is how you will make it through every challenge. Just keep going then. Never, ever give up. For you who have sown much good seed are going to reap much good fruit. Your harvest is coming. And this church’s harvest is coming. Get ready for a lot of reaping.
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The Bible is full of scripture about financial increase, wealth and prosperity. This is not speaking about some get rich quick scheme, but what the Bible very clearly teaches us about money and finance.
If you’re praying for a financial breakthrough, there’s no better place to turn than to God’s wisdom, spoken out through His Word. God’s Word is life and when we place it at the centre of our lives it brings life to every area - life to our bodies, life to our spirit, life to our relationships and life to our finances.
In order to reap the promised great harvest we read of in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, we need to first sow:
1. Sow with generosity (2 Corinthians 9:6,13; Proverbs 3:9-10; Matthew 14)
2. Sow with obedience (2 Corinthians 9:1-5,13
3. Sow with joy (2 Corinthians 6:7; Matthew 19:16-22)
4. Reap in provision (2 Corinthians 6:10; Psalm 65:9-11; Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19)
5. Reap in righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:10; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 5:6)
6. Reap in every way (2 Corinthians 6:11)
Apply
1. Sow with generosity. The Bible teaches us that when we sow generously, we will reap generously (2 Corinthians 9:6). This is true in so many aspects of life e.g. when we are generous with our time, our friendships and relationships flourish. But the Bible is also telling us, specifically, that it is true in the area of our finances (Proverbs 3:9-10). The word clearly says that first, we are called to be generous to the Lord, to honour God with our wealth, to present to Him our first fruits. Not the dregs of what’s left over, but generously out of the cream of the crop. However, we are also called to more widely be generous on every occasion, to all people (2 Corinthians 6:13). Are you living a life of financial generosity? To your family, to your friends, to God? Or are you content to withhold, to focus on blessing yourself first and foremost. Generosity shows the heart of Jesus to people, and we see here how other believers were encouraged by the acts of generosity by the church in Corinth. Jesus was the ultimate model of generosity. When King Herod beheaded Jesus’s cousin John the Baptist, Jesus still had compassion and generously ministered to the needs of the people (Matthew 14). Jesus never withheld anything from us, all the way to the cross where he paid the ultimate cost on our behalf. We need to be people who sow generously. Break out of any me-centred thinking. How can you instead look to bless others, your spouse, family, disciples, and the Lord.
2. Sow with obedience. This chapter talks about how the Church in Corinth had pledged a generous gift, and their enthusiasm had encouraged and stirred many others to do likewise (2 Corinthians 9:1-5). However, the gift had not yet been fulfilled and Paul was writing to encourage the believers not just to boast of their perceived generosity, but to be ready and to fulfil it (2 Corinthians 9:13). Their sacrifice and faithfulness provided for the needs of many. Many people, often in great need, can be blessed through our obedience. As a church we tithe a tenth of our income and give to missions and grants all over the world, often in some of the poorest countries, to very practically support the people and the see the gospel advanced as an overflow of that generosity. We are taught time and again that obedience brings blessing. This is true in many areas, but also particularly true with obedience in our finances. When there is financial disobedience it will block you from receiving the blessing God has in store for you. This can take many forms: maybe you’ve been withholding tithes, unfulfilled pledges, unpaid loans or taxes? Maybe there’s something that needs to be put in order today. Young people, tackle this now. You may feel it is insignificant, tithing your Saturday job money, but it instils a spirit of faithfulness, and you will be reaping for decades to come out of your obedience to God.
3. Sow with joy. It is not just the act of sowing financially, but on the attitude we need to sow with (2 Corinthians 6:7). We can’t just be cheerful reapers! We read in Matthew 19:16-22 the story of a very rich man who was keeping all the commandments but still felt a lack in his life. He asked Jesus what he still lacked, and Jesus told him to sell everything and come and follow Him. But instead the man went away sad, because he had great wealth. Thinking back to our series last year on the 12 disciples, many incredible ministries began by answering the call of Jesus to leave everything and follow Him. This rich man walked away from a destiny with the Lord because he could not freely give his wealth. Money grips people and society. They cannot truly experience the fullness of the joy of the Lord whilst they are still under its control. Don’t allow money to rule you. So often thinking about money can bring fear or anxiety. Or it can even lead us to the opposite end of the spectrum: looking to it for happiness or hope. We need to have our lives in the right order, no other gods in our lives. Follow Jesus and not money. When you get this right, it will release you into a new freedom to give cheerfully, freely and with great joy. Sowing can be hard work, it can even be frustrating at times, but sowing is not the end. It is the preparation phase to receive the harvest. When we sow our finances in accordance with the word, we are promised to reap a harvest in many ways:
4. Reap in provision. We will not just reap in the basics of provision, but in many ways (2 Corinthians 6:10). We see 3 key elements here to Gods provision here: He promises to provide for our natural needs. One of the ways we can expect to reap is in our most basic needs. There are many examples throughout the Bible where God is revealed as the ultimate provider (Psalm 65:9-11; Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19). As His children, we are not called to lack in any way. Be confident He can and will supply for all your needs. Secondly He promises to provide the means for opportunity: verse 10 doesn’t just say He provides bread, but He also supplies seed for the sower. In other words, God doesn’t just provide physical stuff, but He provides the means, the opportunity, to be productive and increase in prosperity. God can provide this in many ways, e.g. in new business ideas, new clients, new jobs or investment. He wants to multiply what we have in our hands. Then He promises to enlarge our territory: lastly, Verse 10 says He will supply and increase your store of seed. In other words, we see that God provides an increase in our territory. Maybe you need provision in your savings; for medical bills, pensions, kids education/uni. Maybe you need to see your house enlarged. God is willing and able to increase your store! We are not called to be hoarders’ wealth but to steward it wisely. John Wesley famously taught to earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. When we faithfully sow, we will reap a great harvest of provision and see our territory enlarged.
5. Reap in righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:10). When we have things in the right order, when money is in its right place as a tool and not as a master, we enable ourselves to be right before God. We live in a world where people tend to believe their ways are right in their own eyes, where true or false becomes relative, and many believe they can do whatever they think, or feel is right. But we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived, there is an absolute standard of righteousness. The importance of pursuing it is commanded by Jesus (Matthew 6:33). There is God’s favour for those who live for His righteousness (Matthew 5:6). The root to satisfaction therefore is to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be hungry to be right with God. This is why Paul is teaching us that as we obey God’s rule in respect of our finances, we will see our relationship with God flourish.
6. Reap in every way (2 Corinthians 6:11). The blessing promised here is for the quality of every area of our lives to be enhanced. You might be thinking that God has been faithful in my finances, we are comfortable, and although more would be nice, there isn’t a desperate need. But the promise extends beyond your money: your marriage, your children, your health, your ministry. They will all be enriched when you sow your finances into the kingdom and people of God. God wants to enrich us materially and spiritually, not for our own riches or lavish lifestyles, but so, as it says in verse 11, that we can be a great blessing to people and bring glory and thanksgiving to God. If we want to reap this great harvest, we have got to sow into the kingdom of God.
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The Word of God - the Bible - has far greater power and potential to change our lives and the future than most people understand (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God can lead and direct you, save you from harm and the consequences of bad decision-making. It can bring you peace and comfort. It can encourage and uplift you, it can warn you and bring conviction. The Word of God is life-changing (2 Timothy 3:17 MSG).
Like Angus Buchan (see ‘Faith Like Potatoes), we too can discover how everything can change when you really have faith in the Word of God. In the Bible, Jesus told a parable (a story) which illustrates this (Matthew 13:3-23).
Jesus told how the sower scattered seed but had mixed results. Some seed was quickly snatched away. Some fell on rocky ground and didn’t take root. Some seed got choked with thorns. In all cases we see there was nothing wrong with the seed being sown - the Word of God - but the difference in outcome was caused by the place onto which it fell.
If you want to be a person who - as the Message version puts it - ‘produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams’ then first we need to make sure we do as this word says and are ‘someone who hears the word and understands it’ (Matthew 13:23).
We see some very simple points that will help us reap this great harvest by discovering the power of the Word of God:
1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; Matthew 13:34; 1 Samuel 3:10; Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19)
2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; John 12:16, Luke 18:34; Acts 8:30-31)
3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15; James 1:22-25; Matthew 7:24-29).
4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20)
Apply
1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). Many times, when Jesus was teaching His followers, He said 'He who has ears, let him hear’ (e.g. Matthew 13:34). Now of course we all have ears, but let’s be real: are we listening to the Word of God? Whilst we might hear the Word at church, in our life groups, at the prayer meetings, are we just letting it wash over us, or are we really listening to what God is saying to us as individuals, as families and as a church each time? In the Old Testament, God called the young boy Samuel. Three times Samuel heard the voice but at first he wasn’t attuned to listening to God’s voice. It was only when Samuel said “Speak, for your servant is listening” that he received what God wanted to say to him (1 Samuel 3:10). We must learn to listen (Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19). God will speak through His word, the Bible. He will speak to you as you pray. He will speak to you through your pastors and leaders. So how good are you at listening? What's your attitude when your boss gives you areas to improve on at work? How do you react when your life group leader highlights something in your character or habits that needs to change? What about when the Bible gives instructions we find hard to follow, like how husbands and wives, parents and children, should treat one another. We might not always like it, but we but we should always listen. You have a Father in heaven who wants to speak to you. Do you speak more than you listen? To God, to your spouse, to others? One of the main obstacles to being a person who listens is pride. We need to get rid of pride. We need to be humble. To not just hear, but to attentively listen to the Word of God. We must create a culture of listening more than we speak.
2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). We start by hearing the word, but then we also need to understand it, to know what it means. Time and again the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them (John 12:16, Luke 18:34). Whilst you might be listening, trying to hear what Jesus is saying, do you understand (Acts 8:30-31)? In the gospels, the disciples sometimes asked Jesus: “Explain to us the parable”. We too can go to our pastors, our life group leaders and ask questions. We all need to understand the Bible. You can’t just read one part. You can’t expect to understand the New Testament if you don’t understand the Old Testament. You can’t understand grace until you understand the law. You can’t understand the greatest commandment to love one another unless you understand the 10 commandments. We need to read the Bible so we can then move to understanding it. So, if you aren’t reading your Bible, make that commitment that from today you will. But not religiously reading it because you must, and quickly ticking it off your to do list - we need to meditate on the word of God, to study and pay attention to it. This takes time and diligence to search the scriptures, to think about what they mean, to reflect on them. Of course, all Scripture is God-breathed and we can ask the Holy Spirit - Spirit of truth - to guide us and give us revelation. How a married couple should treat one another, how a family should be ordered, how to keep a right attitude in all circumstances. And there are many excellent study guides which are simple to use and can help you grow in your understanding of the Word of God. Contact us or ask your life group leader if you want some recommendations.
3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15). This parable of the sower is also recorded in the gospels of Luke and Mark. Retaining the Word means that it goes down deep into the soil. The seed didn’t go deep enough in the first 3 places it was sown, on the path, the rocky ground and amongst the thorns. It was snatched away, choked, or withered and couldn't produce a harvest. But when the seed hit the good soil, it went down deep. That’s what needs to happen when we hear the word of God. It has to really become part of us. We need to retain it. Only then can it really grow (James 1:22-25). Retaining the word means knowing how to apply it in our lives. In another parable Jesus told, he taught that we should all be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, who ‘hears these words of mine and puts them into practice’ (Matthew 7:24-29). It’s not about us just being able to quote and recite scripture: that’s simply head knowledge, academia. Whilst of course that’s useful, it only becomes life changing when it goes down into our spirit.
4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b). What are you expecting? If the seed of God is in you, it’s not that we just have the right to expect a harvest, but that we will see it anyway because the seed sown will produce a bumper crop. The vision of God is a vision of multiplication (2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20). We can expect the harvest to come as we really listen to, understand and retain the Word of God. That’s the key to this great reaping. It is how we move from small results to big results. We move from coping to conquering, from enduring to enjoying life. It’s how we move from hundreds to thousands. So are you a good listener? Do you seek to understand God's word? Are you retaining God’s word in your heart in every circumstance? Are you expecting great things from God? If we do all this, then we will for sure discover the power of God’s word and reap the phenomenal harvest.
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We are living in momentous times! Whilst some in the media want to write off Christianity and talk about the decline of the church, the opposite is happening in many parts of the world today.
A report by the Pulitzer Centre shows that every day 35,000 people come to Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. According to Operation World, Iran a country once closed to the gospel, now has the fastest-growing evangelical movement in the world. It is estimated that over 1 million have accepted Christ in the last 20 years.
Everything changed when the Holy Spirit came suddenly upon a group of 120 disciples. They testified boldly about Jesus to thousands who had gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost and the church greatly accelerated (Acts 2:41,47; Acts 4:2; Acts 5:13; Acts 6:7; Acts 11:21,24).
Many churches around the world today are not meeting in small halls, but in stadiums. We too must pivot into seeing that happen in our nation. So, we are starting a new series on how it’s time to reap the harvest. We see some simple lessons from the great example Jesus gave us as He preached to multitudes about this very topic (Matthew 9:35-38).
1. We must have vision (Matthew 9:36; Genesis 15:5)
2. We must have compassion (Matthew 9:36; Matthew 4:24,12:15; Luke 6:19; Matthew 8:1-4; Matthew 9:10-17; Luke 7:47; John 8; Romans 5:5)
3. We must pray for workers (Matthew 9:38; Philippians 2:10-11; Mark 1:35-37; Acts 13:2; Matthew 6:10; Genesis 32; Colossians 4:12)
4. We need to recruit teams (Matthew 10:1; Matthew 4:19; John 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10; John 15:8; Daniel 12:3; Romans 4:17; Luke 5:8,10-11; Nehemiah 4:6; 2 Timothy 4:5)
Apply
1. We must have vision (Matthew 9:36). Jesus saw the crowds, and He often ministered to crowds by the power of the Holy Spirit all at once. To see a great harvest into the Kingdom of God, we must have the same vision and focus as Jesus (Genesis 15:5). You need to have a big vision of the spiritual descendants who God is sending to us to fulfil His promise. When you receive it, instead of seeing a whole heap of trouble in the crowds, you’ll start seeing how God will change the lives of millions of people who don’t yet know Jesus.
2. We must have compassion (Matthew 9:36). Jesus looked on the crowds with eyes of compassion. He saw them as ‘harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’. ‘Helpless’ means that, like so many today, they were unable to handle the challenges life in daily life, and there was no-one to help them. At that time, apart from rampant sickness, poverty, disease and demonic oppression, Roman occupation of Israel brought its own challenges. Jesus didn’t just see faces, He didn’t just see problems: even in a crowd, He saw each individual, He knew their pain and addressed it with the power of God. Many times we read in the gospels that Jesus healed everyone that came to Him (Matthew 4:24,12:15; Luke 6:19).We too can show compassion by not hesitating to pray for the sick, asking Jesus to continue His work as we lay hands on them. Jesus ministered to the crowds but also individuals and to children. He ministered to despised people. He touched lepers with His unprotected hands, re-admitting them to society (Matthew 8:1-4). He ate with the tax collectors who were so hated by many (Matthew 9:10-17). He forgave the many sins of a prostitute (Luke 7:47) and saved a woman caught in the act of adultery from being stoned to death (John 8). What do you see when you look at a crowd? Are you filled with compassion? Just like Jesus, you too can have God’s heart of compassion (Romans 5:5). God wants to give you His heart, but you must be willing to receive it. Ask God for His heart of compassion.
3. We must pray for workers (Matthew 9:38). Everything begins with our recognition that there is a Lord of the harvest. That means we are not in charge: He is. He is Lord of our hearts, Lord of our lives, Lord of His church, and Lord of everything (Philippians 2:10-11). When we are submitted both to God and to leaders in the church, we can participate in His mission of sharing the good news of the gospel. His mission begins in the place of prayer, not in the place of busyness and activity. Prayer is how Jesus set His priorities for His work (Mark 1:35-37). When we pray, God calls people into His service (Acts 13:2). Our prayer can and will produce great change, and is where the real battle for people’s the souls takes place. Sadly, many who are meant to be giving their best for God have sold themselves instead to their employer or their business, so God doesn’t have first place and isn’t Lord of their hearts. We must win a victory in the spiritual realm through prayer to release people into service for God (Matthew 6:10). Jacob wrestled with God in prayer to receive the blessing of God over his life and family. As a result of his all night encounter, his name was changed from Jacob to Israel and God blessed him (Genesis 32). We see this pattern of prayer in the New Testament church as they sought to not only win people to the Lord, but to see them established in Christ, standing firm (Colossians 4:12). Pray that God will call people out of darkness and into God’s service, that He will establish them to stand firm and give them a repentant, good and noble heart that multiplies disciples.
4. We need to recruit teams. Jesus didn’t just see the crowd, He saw what it would take to minister to them effectively. He would need to gather, train, commission, and release a team so that more people could be reached. After a night of prayer, He appointed His team of 12 disciples and sent them to do what He had been doing, giving them authority and equipping them (Matthew 10:1). This is what we must do if we are to be at full capacity for a great harvest. Jesus wants us to ask the Lord to send people who are willing to do the real work of evangelism, ministering where people are. Jesus called his team of 12 not just to stay with Him, but to go with Him, then go ahead of Him, to do what they saw him doing in public. God wants all of us to work for Him (Matthew 4:19; John 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10). Proof that we are disciples of Jesus is that we bear fruit of love in our character by what we do and in winning people to the Lord (John 15:8; Daniel 12:3). We must each be intentional in telling our story of what God has done in us whenever the opportunity arises. Together, like a combine harvester, we will reap as each one does their work. While some are winning people, others will be establishing people in the Lord, others will shaping and forming people as disciples so they too can serve, others will inspire and encourage people to become influencers, but all work together. Wherever we are employed, we are all first to be servants of God 24/7. Let's not allow ourselves any excuses. We have grace from God to overcome fear, to be patient and kind to people, to show mercy, to endure hardship. We may not think we can do evangelism, but God calls the things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). When we surrender to Him, He will help us. God is looking for workers who are available and God fearing (Luke 5:8,10-11). The first disciples were God fearing. There was no greater purpose in life for them than being with and working for Jesus, the Son of God. What’s it going to take for you to be available to God right where you are? Don’t hesitate to make the changes in your life so you can be ready for a great harvest. Make it a daily habit to tell God you are available to Him at any time to share your testimony. Then actively look for opportunities and take them. We must also be surrendered. Have you surrendered all to Jesus yet? Then we must be humble and anointed. Will you remain humble for God? Will you keep His anointing by being holy? We are to be persistent and hard-working team players (Nehemiah 4:6). Every one of us is called to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ (2 Timothy 4:5).
So to see a great harvest, we need vision to minister to multitudes of people, we need God’s heart of compassion, more prayer, and more teams. Let us pray that God will send forth many workers who will lead many people to know his son Jesus, to the glory of God! This is a momentous time where we all need to become full time servants of God in our attitude of mind. Wherever we are employed, it is time to start living on God’s terms and not our own. It’s time to receive Jesus as Lord, not just saviour. Lord of your time, money ambitions, hopes, dreams. Then you’ll be able to serve Him wholeheartedly.
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Have you ever felt your need for God’s power in your life? Do you know that your whole life and even our world can change when we experience the Holy Spirit?
At many times in world history and in British history, Christianity has been written off as dead or dying. That’s what people think is happening right now. But its not true. Reports of the death of Christianity, including in the UK, are greatly exaggerated.
While it’s true that many liberal and traditional churches are in terminal decline, many others are growing and starting other churches. What’s more, young people are often the biggest grouping in these churches. Today there are an estimated 650 million Christians around the world who would describe themselves as Charismatic or Pentecostal meaning that they have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit (See ‘Fire from heaven; the rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st century’).
Yet for all these many encouraging developments, we also live in a time when there is widespread resistance to God and where paganism and militant Islam are on the march. A greater demonstration of God’s power is urgently needed.
On Pentecost Sunday, we must realise that it is only a spiritual revival that is going to bring about large-scale repentance and fundamental change to our society. Revival has been well described as an ‘inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse.’
The word Pentecost, meaning 50, refers to the momentous day when the first disciples experienced the Holy Spirit at the time of the Jewish Feast of Weeks or Shavuot in Hebrew. This took place 50 days from the Feast of Firstfruits held at the time of Passover. It’s also called ‘the feast of harvest’ and the ‘day of the first fruits.’
All these names show that the Day of Pentecost came at a time of great significance when Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem. Although the coming of the Holy Spirit had been promised centuries before by the prophet Joel, the events of the day of Pentecost, ten days after the return of Jesus to heaven, changed everything for the previously nervous disciples and for the Christian church which grew immediately with 3000 new believers.
From this day onwards the early Christians became an unstoppable force. Within weeks the whole of Jerusalem knew all about Jesus and within one generation, despite much hostility and, Christianity had spread throughout the Roman Empire. Pentecost was an amazing moment. Acts 2:7 says that people were ‘utterly amazed’.
Whenever there is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes everything changes both in the church and in the world. Time and again in history, when everything has so looked bleak in society, a new outpouring of Holy Spirit has produced what historian Paul Johnson called ‘profound seismic movements.’
We see in Acts chapter 2 some key developments that took place on the Day of Pentecost.
1. The Holy Spirit came suddenly to them (Acts 2:1-2; Malachi 3:1; Luke 2:8,13-14; Acts 9:3; Acts 16:25-26
2. The Holy Spirit came supernaturally on them (Acts 2:2-3; Luke 4:18; John 3:8)
3. The Holy Spirit spoke powerfully through them (Acts 2:4-6,11-18,38-39; 1 Corinthians 14)
Apply
1. The Holy Spirit came suddenly to them. The disciples, who had been continuously praying and preparing to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, turned up for yet another daily prayer meeting only to quickly discover that this day was like no other (Acts 2:1-2). God is the God who acts suddenly (Malachi 3:1). After so many prophecies and centuries of waiting for the Messiah, Jesus/Yeshua suddenly appeared. At His birth, in one moment the shepherds were doing their usual boring work guarding the sheep, then out of nowhere heaven suddenly burst in on them (Luke 2:8,13-14). In another moment in time the Jewish zealot Saul was going about his daily business of persecuting followers of Jesus when his whole life and future suddenly changed (Acts 9:3). And when he himself was persecuted as a follower of Jesus, he again experienced how out of nowhere God could turn everything around in a moment (Acts 16:25-26). This sudden coming of God has been experienced by many in past UK revivals (i.e. George Whitefield, the Wesley brothers; Duncan Campbell). David Matthew in ‘Revive Us Again’, describes revivals like these as God’s purpose going into ‘Turbo Mode’, saying ‘the everyday progress of the church, slowed down by apathy, tradition, mixture and division, suddenly enjoys a surge of power, as the Holy Spirit releases the brake, barriers come down, God’s people glow with life and the lost are gathered into the Kingdom in huge numbers. That kind of suddenly is what we all need today.
2. The Holy Spirit came supernaturally on them. The coming of the Holy Spirit was not just something that was stirred within them but a power that came on them from heaven above (Acts 2:2-3; Luke 4:18; and see 20th Century Azuza St. revival). Have you had this experience of God’s power coming on you? When the disciples experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, there was a loud noise because of a powerful wind. Now anyone who has experienced a hurricane, a tornado or a typhoon knows just how powerful nature can be. You cannot ignore it. The Holy Spirit is also like the wind. In the New Testament, the word for “spirit” is “pneuma”, which can also mean “wind” or “breath.” Like the wind, the Holy Spirit comes in suddenly and seemingly from nowhere, transforming the atmosphere and changing everything. The Holy Spirit, like the wind, moves wherever He want (John 3:8). Also, there were tongues of fire that could be seen. Fire symbolises the purity, presence and power of God which Moses, Elijah and now the disciples experienced (see also T.B. Barratt baptism in the Holy Spirit on October 7th 1906).
3. The Holy Spirit spoke powerfully through them (Acts 2:4-6). It’s important to note that although we can speak in unknown God given languages that 1 Corinthians 14 speaks of, here we see that the disciples spoke in languages that could be clearly recognised by visitors from all over the Roman world (Acts 2:11-12). Speaking in tongues in languages, both known and unrecognised, have been experienced by many Christians since then and can be your experience also when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. But also, you can have a new confidence and authority in speaking of Jesus in your own language. When the Holy Spirit came on them Peter and the disciples lost all their fears and spoke boldly of Jesus (Acts 2:14-18). And he ended with a declaration that the Holy Spirit can be experienced by all people in all generations. (Acts 2:38-39). In other words, every day can be a day of Pentecost. So let’s get right will God and receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. For this is the way that we will be changed, our families will be changed, our churches, and our cities and nations will be changed. Everything changes when the Holy spirit comes in power.
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Are you ready for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Are you prepared to experience the power of God at work in your life and generation? Well, you need to get ready because God is about to shine a great light into a world of increasing darkness.
As we sense God is preparing us for a move of God that we have never seen before in our church and in our nation, it is helpful to see how the first disciples were prepared for the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. The coming of the Holy Spirit did not happen out of nowhere. It followed a process of preparation.
Acts 1 tells us that a lot happened in the 50 days between the resurrection of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost. For 40 of those days, they were in a period of accelerated teaching from Jesus. Then for the next days they had to take some actions. It took just over seven weeks for them to be positioned for what was to come. So much can happen in a short space of time. We see some significant factors in the preparation for the Day of Pentecost:
1. We need to clearly understand God’s plan to establish His kingdom (Acts 1:3; Matthew 4:23; Luke 5:43)
2. We need to stay focussed on receiving the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8)
3. We need to unite in continuous prayer (Acts 1:12-14)
4. We need to strengthen teams of 12 leaders (Acts 1:15-26)
Apply
1. We need to clearly understand God’s plan to establish His kingdom (Acts 1:3). Jesus made sure His disciples were thoroughly grounded in their understanding of the Kingdom of God - God’s new society. Throughout His ministry Jesus had repeatedly taught about the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23; Luke 5:43). In a kind of revision school before He returned to heaven, Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He never came to start a new religious order. He came to announce a new whole new world order known as the kingdom of God. That is why He taught His disciples to pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.’ Christianity is not just a matter of personal faith. Kingdom Christianity will affect every area of life and shape our vision, values and how we act and react. To truly be a subject of the Kingdom of God means that God rules over every area of our lives and that He wants us to advance His kingdom in every area of life: home life, business life, political life, cultural life, educational life etc. So we must understand the big vision that we are part of.
2. We need to stay focussed on receiving the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8). Jesus was trying to impress on His disciples the need to be focussed on the Holy Spirit, but they were distracted by earthly and political matters. As Christians we too can easily focus too much on this life and the state of the world around us or even get caught up in trying to figure out when Jesus will return. Of course it is important to do our best as Jesus taught to be salt and light in the world. But the first thing is to be sure that we receive the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:7-8). Jesus knew the disciples needed the power of God in their lives and ministries and so do we. Just as we need to be baptised in water, so we also need to be immersed with the Holy Spirit. We need to receive a new dimension of spiritual authority when we know God’s power has come on us. Only when this happens can we be energised to be witnesses for Jesus in cities and nations. That’s why we must wait for the promise and not rush off in our own strength. So let’s get real: how much power of the Holy Spirit do you have? If you need the Holy Spirit, then you need to really hunger and thirst for this happen. You must no longer live in defeat, allowing the devourer of your finances to steal from you, you cannot accept that the enemy steals your home, your health, your love. You must cry out to God for His power. This is how you get ready for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
3. We need to unite in continuous prayer (Acts 1:12-14). They all joined together constantly in prayer. They didn’t just pray now and again. They prayed constantly. They kept on praying towards the fulfilment of their goal. And it was not some of them who prayed but all of them. Here was a group of people joined together with a common desire to seek God. This included:
- The disciples: All of the disciples in every life group should pray together.
- The women: These were not just ladies who lunched together but faithful women who prayed together.
- The family of Jesus: His mother and brothers all joined in the prayer. It’s so powerful when families pray together.
Every move of the Holy Spirit can be traced to small groups of people getting serious about prayer (i.e.: 18th Century and John Wesley; Welsh Revival and Evan Roberts; Berkshire with Thomas Russell and John Ride). Such zealous praying is what is needed today at every level of the church and in every home and family. Revivals grow in ground that has been well prepared through prayer.
4. We need to strengthen teams of 12 leaders (Acts 1:15-26). Why was this so important? Because 12 represents governance. In the Old Testament when God wanted to establish the kingdom of Israel He chose 12 Tribes. When Jesus wanted to establish His Church, He chose 12 disciples and when one betrayed Him, they did not just keep going with the 11 faithful disciples. Peter said in Acts 1:21 that it was ‘necessary’ to replace him, so they considered those who had proved faithful in following Jesus. Then they chose Matthias to take the place of Judas. Now the 12 were back to full strength and soon they would stand together on the Day of Pentecost when 3000 people became believers. You need a strong team in place to deal with that kind of harvest. If we are to be ready for many new people to come to Christ and into the church, we too need to develop strong teams of 12 faithful people. So first be part of a team and then build a team of 12. Together we can be prepared to move forward when the Holy Spirit brings great growth and acceleration. Make the most of the time we have to get ready for a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
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The reality of life is that we all need help, and that we need help at every age and stage of life. Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit as the one who would help us.
The Holy Spirit, is not an ‘it’ but a person: He is a He. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, but often described as the neglected person of the Trinity. Many have heard and know about the Father and the Son, but need to know a bit more about the Holy Spirit.
Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit and He made incredible promises about Him which are as life-changing for us today as when they were first given:
1. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for every believer (Joel 2:28-29; Numbers 11:25; Mark 1:8; John 16:6-7)
2. The promise of the Holy Spirit brings new life (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Romans 3:10-12; Ephesians 2:1,4-5; John 16:8; John 3:6)
3. The Holy Spirit brings the presence of God to live inside us (John 14:16-18; John 15:9-10; Ephesians 3:14-19; John 14:27; John 15:11; Acts 16)
4. The Holy Spirit will be your teacher (John 14:26; Jeremiah 31:33-34; John 16:13)
5. The Holy Spirit gives us power to share our faith (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38-39; John 7:37-38)
Apply
1. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for every believer. Several centuries before Jesus was born, the prophet Joel recorded a great promise from God about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28-29). This is an astonishing promise that every Christian can take hold of. This promise is available for all people: it is equally for men and for women, and no-one is too young or too old to receive it. It is especially for those who serve in low positions. It is for the servants, slaves and handmaids. It is for ex-prisoners, those in debt, distress or discontented. No one is discounted. All are precious in God’s sight. In the Old Testament, there were just over a hundred people who are recorded as receiving the Holy Spirit, and that includes the seventy elders who received a share of Moses power at the same time (Numbers 11:25). The anointing of the Holy Spirit came upon roughly one person every 120 years. But at the day of Pentecost, Joel’s prophetic promise was fulfilled and about 120 people were filled with the Holy Spirit in one go. That’s more people in one day than the previous four thousand years combined! And that was just the start. We are living in a time that has seen the largest number of spirit-filled Christians in the whole of history. John the Baptist knew Jesus would usher in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). Jesus Himself declared it to His disciples too (John 16:6-7). We are very fortunate that the invitation to receive the Holy Spirit is so generously offered to us, and we must never devalue it.
2. The promise of the Holy Spirit brings new life. 600 years before the Pentecost outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Ezekiel also received a great promise from God about the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:25-27). This means we can be cleansed from bad attitudes and sin, have our hard hearts softened with compassion, be restored to life and relationship with our Father in Heaven. The Bible makes it clear that we are all dead men walking until we receive Jesus’ death for us. It’s not just that we’ve committed sins, but our human hearts have turned completely away from the God who created us, feeling we are free to do anything we want (Romans 3:10-12). Jesus told His disciples he had to be handed over to death to pay our ransom (Ephesians 2:1,4-5). Now, while it was Jesus’ death on the cross that brings the payment for salvation, it is the Holy Spirit who comes alongside us to soften our hearts, urging and appealing to us to turn back to God (John 16:8):
- He convinces the world of sin: awakening your conscience to recognise how you have rebelled and done wrong;
- He convicts the world of righteousness: to see that your self-righteousness is filthy compared to the righteousness of God;
- He convicts the world of judgement: that you’re under a death sentence unless you surrender your life at the cross. But when you surrender to Jesus, you can freely receive His Spirit (John 3:6). When the Holy Spirit gives life to your spirit you are ‘born again’ – no longer cut off from God because of sin, but restored into a spiritual relationship with Him.
3. The Holy Spirit brings the presence of God to live inside us. Jesus promises that you don’t need to go it alone, for the Holy Spirit will always be with You (John 14:16). This brings great hope for anyone struggling in the battles of life. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or afraid you can just invite Him, “Come Holy Spirit”, and experience His presence. This is more than a feeling, it’s a relationship you experience in your spirit (John 14:17). The presence of the Holy Spirit brings comfort (John 14:18). No matter who or what you might lose in this life, there’s One person who can never die and you can never be separated from. For many, the grief of losing your parents is one of the toughest of times in life. But when the Holy Spirit lives inside us we know we have been adopted by a Heavenly Father, and this is such an anchor of comfort. The presence of the Holy Spirit brings love (John 15:9-10). This is not just a nice-to-have, it’s actually an instruction! God is love and we need to experience it. If you’re a born again Christian but you’re feeling distant from the love of God, there’s an important detail in this command from Jesus: we need to keep His commands to remain in His love. Are you living in obedience to His commands? The Apostle Paul wrote extensively about love (e.g. Ephesians 3:14-19). The presence of the Holy Spirit brings peace (John 14:27). The peace that the Holy Spirit brings is not dependant on calm and tranquil circumstances but there to take hold of by faith, no matter what is going on around us. This is not a practice of mind over matter, it is about being filled with and surrendered to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:6). The presence of the Holy Spirit brings joy (John 15:11) Paul and Silas, having just been wrongfully accused, arrested, severely flogged and locked in a dungeon, decided to sing their hearts out to God in a midnight praise party (Acts 16). Their joy was irrepressible!
4. The Holy Spirit will be your teacher (John 14:26). This is another promise that was also given through the prophets hundreds of years before Jesus was born (Jeremiah 31:33-34). As our Teacher, the Holy Spirit helps us to know God’s character, to deeply understand the words of the Bible, and for His laws to become ingrained in our hearts and minds as a natural part of who we are. He is the “Spirit of Truth” who will never lie to you (John 16:13). You can trust what He says. As we learn to stay humble and submitted to Him, we can listen to and hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and be so helped. He is our guide but we must always remember He is God. When we sense His prompting in our spirit we must choose to quickly obey. This is the gift of intuition. When we recognise Him speaking to us, we must trust and obey, not over-analyse and assess what He says or we can miss it.
5. The Holy Spirit gives us power to share our faith (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit gives powerful, spiritual gifts to his children to make us effective in telling other people about this good news we’ve received in Jesus. But there’s a clause here: you can’t expect power if you don’t want to be His witness! If we’ve got the same spirit as Jesus, and an obedient heart to serve His purposes, we can expect Him to help us minister with many of the same gifts as He did. We just need to stick close to and treasure the presence of the Holy Spirit. Today you can receive the Holy Spirit in a personal way to make God real to you at a level you’ve never known before. It may be that you have heard about the Holy Spirit but need to know Him in a personal way or want to know Him more. If that’s your desire, the Bible promises that you will receive Him, just ask right now (Acts 2:38-39; John 7:37-38).
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Who cares for you? Who do you care for? It’s clear that the world and every person in it are in great need of love.
2000 years ago, an expert in the law asked Jesus: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Whilst this question may have seemed well meaning, the Bible says he was actually a lawyer testing Jesus (Luke 10:26-29). The legal expert gave the right theological answer but had entirely missed the real heart of these commands to love God and love others with everything we are - no excuses.
Jesus’ next answer was brilliant, and it deals with the heart of Christianity. For your and my neighbour is anyone and everyone. To illustrate this, Jesus told a famous story about a man travelling on one of the most notorious roads in Israel. Many people had been attacked on this 17-mile road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Everyone knew this road. Everyone knew it was best to take an alternative road. But one guy was on this road and was badly beaten up, left for dead (Luke 10:30-37). This story brought home what it really means to love your neighbour and who your neighbour is. In a few sentences Jesus showed how we must never become too busy or self-absorbed to care for one another as we go about our own business in life. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour.
We see some simple lessons which will help us show God’s love to our neighbours too:
1. He saw the man and took pity on him (Luke 10:33)
2. He stopped what he was doing and went to the man (Luke 10:31-34)
3. He bandaged the man’s wounds (Luke 10:34; Isaiah 40:1)
4. He poured on oil and wine (Luke 10:34; Matthew 26:27-28)
5. He brought the man to safety and looked after him (Luke 10:34)
6. He sacrificed to care for the man (Luke 10:35; Matthew 25:40)
7. He made a plan to look after him in future (Luke 10:35-37; James 2:15-17; Acts 4:34; 1 John 4:20-21 MSG)
Apply
1. He saw the man and took pity on him (Luke 10:33). He saw a human being who was attacked by robbers: so many people today have suffered physical violence and been robbed not only of possessions but of their hope and peace of mind; Stripped of his clothes: To be stripped is to be humiliated. Maybe you have been stripped of your dignity and self-image by being abused or by wrong actions of others; beaten: means you have lost the battle. You’ve been overpowered by enemies, addictions or circumstances; abandoned: means you are on your own, rejected and cast aside; left to die: means you are in such a bad way that it’s all over unless someone helps you. Of course this describes the experiences of Jesus, who gave His life so that we can have life. But it also describes the experiences of so many people and maybe also where you are at right now. Do we see the pain in people’s eyes? Do we see evil that is ruining people right before our eyes? So often we don’t see the need. We need to stop and look in people’s eyes. For example the growing incidents of sex trafficking involving people working in public places has been called ‘human slavery hidden in plain sight.’ Often the need is not hidden, we just aren’t seeing it. The Good Samaritan is a wonderful example of love that begins with really seeing the needs of others.
2. He stopped what he was doing and went to the man (Luke 10:34). The Good Samaritan stopped, and we need to stop too. Stop what we’re doing. Stop our plans. See the need in front of us and actually do something about it! How often do we make excuses? There were two others in this story who also saw this victim (Luke 10:31-32). Not one but two religious leaders found the man, one after the other. When he saw them, the man must have thought his rescue had come! But both chose to distance themselves and continued walking by. Maybe they were too busy. Maybe they didn’t want to get dirty. Maybe they thought the whole situation was just too risky. For whatever reason, they didn’t stop and go to him. But then a sworn enemy of the Jews came: a Samaritan. Yet this enemy, from a race despised by the Jews, came to the rescue. Both priest and Levite here show how it is possible to have a religious identity without really having a love for people in need.
Before we condemn them, it would be better to examine our own hearts: how much need do we see without doing anything about it? How easy is it for you to focus on your own life when actually you could be helping a lot more people? If we really see a need it should lead us to stop and go to people.
3. He bandaged the man’s wounds (Luke 10:34). So many people have wounds in their hearts: wounds of abuse, wounds caused by cruel words, wounds from rejection, betrayal and broken relationships. He put bandages on the man to stop the bleeding. How can we put bandages on and minister to people’s hearts? We can do what God said to the Jewish people and speak words of comfort, words of hope (Isaiah 40:1). Speak kindly to people. Show them the love of Jesus. Let them see it in your eyes, words and actions.
4. He poured on oil and wine (Luke 10:34). The Good Samaritan used oil and wine to sooth and disinfect the wounds. We always need to be sensitive and gentle with people whose wounds may or may not be obvious. The oil is widely understood to symbolise the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets and kings were anointed with oil and the Holy Spirit would come upon them. We receive the Holy Spirit when we give our lives to Jesus, believing in His death and resurrection, and accepting Him as our Lord. The Holy Spirit compels us to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working through us we can see people’s lives transformed. The wine symbolises the blood of Jesus (Matthew 26:27-28). Derek Prince writes of the Divine Exchange that we can receive: forgiveness for punishment; healing instead of wounds; righteousness for sinfulness; life for death; glory for shame; poverty for riches; and acceptance instead of rejection. The blood of Jesus has power to transform lives and situations.
5. He brought the man to safety and looked after him (Luke 10:34). The Good Samaritan did everything he could to look after the person in need in front of him and take him out of that dangerous place. Would you use your nice car to get a bleeding, dirty person to hospital, or call a taxi? In that moment, his own needs and comfort took second place. The early days of a person’s recovery or new life as a Christian need careful oversight. He changed his plans, his priorities, and was willing to personally commit to caring for the other man, to ensure he was out of danger and could make a full recovery.
6. He sacrificed to care for the man (Luke 10:35). Real care requires real sacrifice. He paid a significant sum of money – 2 days’ wages - to ensure this total stranger was well cared for. Jesus said we must go out of our way to care for the people that no one else cares for. It will always cost us something to care. It will cost us time, effort and maybe cash to do what Jesus said we must: feed the hungry, give the thirsty a drink, look after the homeless, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit those in prison (Matthew 25:40). As a church we’ve always given generously to people in need (e.g. support during the pandemic in South Africa; 40 years+ supporting schools and projects like clean water wells in Burkina Faso). Are you willing to sacrifice your time, money, your plans or ‘quiet night in’, or your comfort to really care for those in need?
7. He made a plan to look after him in future (Luke 10:35). He consolidates him, showing him aftercare. The Good Samaritan doesn’t just leave him. He intended to return to help his recovery. We too must be faithful in ministering to people at all stages of their development. This is real Christianity. Every action of the Good Samaritan showed that he really loved and cared. And Jesus said ‘Go and do likewise’. Real Christianity then is for sure about words, but it is also shown by our actions (James 2:15-17). Thank God that the early church modelled this all-round care for people (Acts 4:34). All through history and still today, many of the greatest social care projects and humanitarian reforms have been led and supported by Christians. Great movements like the Salvation Army were started by Christians and continue to be supported by those who care for people’s bodies as well as their souls. Today, God wants you to know that you are cared for. But He wants to make us also His agents of care to show in every way His compassion for the world. Our first love for God must spread to all people - beyond the bounds of age, race, and social status (1 John 4:20-21 MSG).
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