You're Not Your Own Anymore...

It is good for us to be challenged and reminded from time to time, that being redeemed is the beginning of our journey with God, not the end.

Think of being re-deemed as like being ‘deemed’ again.  We were enemies of God now we are children of God in the process of sanctification.  Jesus said that IF we continue in His Word we will be His disciples.  There is a process of discipline in the renewing of our minds that requires our effort and attention.  If we truly want to be disciples we will need to marinate ourselves, absolutely soak in His Word.

Possibly the greatest problem in the body of Christ today is that people want everything done for them.  Instant anointings, gifts and so on.  The reality is that we have an ‘anointing’ that is peculiar to us alone, the seed of the spirit of Christ within in us.  It can be fed on the Word and healthy activities or contaminated and polluted by the World around us.

The bible challenges us to be ‘excellent at what is good, and innocent of evil.’  This is the essence of holiness.  Consecration and purity.  But without the Word of God to instruct us we don’t actually know what we should be doing, or what we should be avoiding.  Listen to the Message...

Gideon's Faith Journey

The story of Gideon found in Judges Chapters 6 to 8 is a great source of encouragement to us on a number of different counts. One of the first lessons to be learnt is that God shows up in the most unlikely places. We see this even in our times with God having ‘hot spots’ in places that we would not necessarily choose. Another thing that we find in Gideon’s story is that the Lord will often choose people who are not necessarily high profile…. even the weak and foolish in the worlds’ eyes may be hidden in Christ to be raised up at a time of His choosing.

We note in the story the progression of Gideon’s faith as he experiences the voice and plan of God, the protection and supernatural signs, and provision of the Lord. God is gracious and patient with Gideon, as He is with us, as He moves us toward being ready to trust Him and step into His purposes.

Finally, we observe from the story that when Gideon finally does step into God’s plan, all he’s really doing is just ‘turning up’ – it’s all God’s ability that brings the victory.  Listen to the Message...

The Secret Power Of Lawlessness (Rebellion)

Our spiritual adversary has characteristics to his nature which he seeks to imprint on fallen man. One of these expressions of his person that he is wanting to manifest through us on the Earth is lawlessness, or perhaps for many of us it is better known as rebellion. This attitude does not want rules, limits or to have to submit to any other authority than self. It will make us soulish in our approach to life making ourselves our own ruler, god and authority. We hear it daily in life with philosophies such as; ‘look out for number 1!’ ‘If it’s right for you, it’s right!’ ‘If it feels good do it!’

The overwhelming evidence is that this kind of living does not actually make us happy at all. We see a proliferation of lawlessness and rebellion in our times as the family unit is broken down. There is a secret power which makes mankind vulnerable to participating with this element of Satan’s work and we examine it in this session. We want to be ‘not ignorant of Satan’s devices!’  Listen to the Message....

Dealing With Storms

Even though Jesus is in your boat you will often face storms.  Storms come to stop you or delay you from experiencing what God has promised you.

Jesus didn’t want the disciples to react in fear and doubt His love and His promise of going over to the other side but to have faith in His word and use His name to cast that storm away.

What storm are you facing that is trying to stop you from experiencing God’s promises?  Know this that God’s promises and the name of Jesus is greater than any storm today, so stop focusing on the storm and with boldness and faith speak to that storm and expect it to disappear.  Listen to the Message...

Brokenheartedness II

Previously we established that it is not God who has rejected us but rather us that reject Him. He has provided a way to deal with this sin issue by sending us a substitute to take the inevitable punishment for sin. Jesus came to clear the way for us to receive God’s full forgiveness, paying the final price for our sin, death. He received rejection from both man and God so that we could be accepted by our Father in heaven.

The first rejection that we know of from scripture is that of Satan rejecting God’s Lordship. Adam then participated with Satan by rejecting God’s love, protection and provision and accepting this fallen spirit’s distorted views and opinions of God’s ways.

We were all born under this generational rejection that had its inception with Adam, consequently we are all too familiar, and identify with the symptoms of rejection that are detailed in this message.  Nothing is strange about this, it is just what is common to man. But God has an answer and the work of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation is to continue the work of the Holy Spirit in setting us free.  Listen to the Message...

Brokenheartedness I

The first thing listed in what God was wanting to do for His people through Jesus that is listed in Luke 4:18 is to bind up the broken-hearted.  So the next question that we have to ask ourselves is what is a broken heart?

Most of us who are adults might reflect on some shattered romance from the past that ‘broke our hearts’ as we would say….or even pain that we experience in our current relationships when hurtful things happen.  Perhaps we might even recall times where we were very sad and broken in childhood or at school.

So what exactly is it about these events that made us so sad?  Most often it is rejection coming from another that cause hurt to our identity. Rejected and discarded as not good enough, not important, worthless or some other form of not being wanted. Non acceptance = rejection. From this we deduce that broken heartedness is far more common than we may have thought. In fact many if not nearly all of us have had broken hearts at some level. The beliefs associated with rejection are often lurking just below the surface and are ‘triggered’ when the right stressor or situation comes along. The promise of God is ministry through the Holy Spirit to set us free from this inner problem.  Listen to the Message...

The Power of Forgiveness

There is an overcoming power in forgiveness.  God forgave us for all our sins (past, present and future) and He asks us to forgive others, holding nothing against anyone.

God’s Word is absolute, it is without confusion or question.  It is truth.  In His Word, God tells us many times the benefits of forgiveness and the pitfalls of unforgiveness.  Forgiveness releases burdens we carry as well as releasing blessing to flow into our lives and through our lives.  Forgiveness disarms unforgiveness, it overcomes its power.

Be in God’s perfect will and forgive.  Listen to the Message...

Burdens & Baggage

We’re meant to travel ‘light’ through life, not be weighed down with burdens and baggage.  (Burdens are the worries and cares we tend to gather in our daily life.  Baggage is the stuff we carry from place to place and from relationship to relationship – hurts, distrust, disappointments, distorted views, wrong beliefs, suspicion, anger, desire for payback…)

We all know you can travel much faster and smoother from one location to another in an airplane if you only have ‘carry-on’ luggage.  There’s no hassle with checking in baggage or picking it up at the other end.  There’s no need to transport the baggage in a taxi or courtesy bus with you.  You won’t be distracted by your concerns with managing your baggage.

God wants us to travel ‘light’ so we can always be ready to do His will; to receive blessings from Him and to bless others.  We can’t do this if we’re carrying around burdens and baggage all the time.  Burdens and baggage are tiring, distracting, and rob us of blessing.

Get rid of them all and experience the peace and joy of the Lord as you never imagined!  Listen to the Message...

Dismantling Our Fallen Nature III

We see the effects of ungodly control having its activity and expression across the World. It is evident in dominating cultures where women and children are devalued. We see it also in so called ‘free’ nations where our freedom seems to mean that we have very little self-control and self-discipline, seemingly shunning rules and regulations.

In churches we see an imbalanced grace message that promotes no rules in our Christian lives. In our western culture we are increasingly dealing with humanism which is far more insidious. Humanism is all about what is best for the group. This manifests itself in things like job description parenting. ‘Some people get angry and violent and excessively smack their children….therefore we will make it illegal to discipline your child.’ ‘Religion is at the root of all conflict….therefore we will stop religion for the good of the group.’ Notably more fleshly activities such as drinking excessively are not touched.

Humanism, if it were true to itself would say things such as: ‘some people drink too much and do bad things therefore no one should be allowed to drink!’ or ‘some drivers go too fast and hurt people, therefore nobody should be allowed to drive automobiles.’

In any event we notice that various imbalanced forms of control create problems in nations, churches and families across our modern world. Our goal would be to see God’s order prevail. This is what works….and attracts the blessing. “Thy will be done on Earth….”   Listen to the Message...

Dismantling Our Fallen Nature II

The apostle John reportedly wrote in code so that the revelations that he received from the Lord could go out unhindered to the churches of the times.  The churches in turn having and understanding the Old Testament stories, given as illustrations and instructions to us, could interpret that which he was referring to.

In Revelation 2:18-2, in the message that he was relaying to the church in Thyatira, John makes reference to Jezebel.  This was most likely meaningless to the Romans, but for the church of all ages it carries great significance.

In recent times we hear terms such as; ‘a Jezebel spirit.’  Although there is no direct reference in scripture to this spirit, experience has shown that a demonic entity responding to that name is in existence.

What John was referring to was a particular set of characteristics that would be manifested in an individual’s life that are not consistent with the Holy Spirit, but are consistent with an unholy spirit – and exhibiting the nature shown in the story of Jezebel. This spiritual/mental and emotional programming must be dealt with to free those of us who are captive and possibly unintentionally participating with our enemies in these areas.

Further reading on Jezebel can be found in 1 Kings 18, 19 and 21.  Her final demise and the result of the curse on her behaviour is found in 2 Kings. Listen to the Message...

Dismantling Our Fallen Nature I

There are predictable foundations or roots that we have inherited from our generation line that runs right back to Adam and Eve’s submission to Satan. Being able to understand these foundations is the first step towards being able to demolish them. It is often not that we want to do them but rather that we don’t understand why we do what we do.

Most often the fruit of our problems belies beliefs that are the exact opposite. It is as if our solutions to our inner beliefs are many times over compensations…..which give ground, or footholds for our spiritual enemies.  Listen to the Message...