Tag Archives: Church

Take Responsibility for your Breakthrough!

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breakthrough-project-111 Chronicles 14:11 ‘And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.’

Breakthrough is a power word. It conjures up images in my head of smashing through walls, storming across the finish line and bursting through barriers. It’s talked about a lot and yet to be honest it doesn’t seem like many of us actually do breakthrough. Why is that?

I think it’s partly because we are waiting and hoping for someone else to come and do it for us and as a result we are lulled into a life of quiet, desperate excuses. Sometimes, we do face things in our lives where we feel powerless to do anything. However, God calls each of us into partnership with him to see the needed breakthrough happen.

God’s sovereignty doesn’t eliminate our responsibility to believe and act according to our faith. Faith apart from works is dead. What breakthrough are you believing for in your life? Are you actively pursuing it or are you waiting for someone else to come and do all the heavy lifting?

We can depend upon God to be faithful to his word in our lives but we must step up and play an active role in believing for God’s breakthrough power to work in our lives.

The Oracle! 

Consecrate Yourself!

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2 Chronicles 5:11 ‘The priests consecrated themselves without regard to their divisions.’

Consecration is about your heart, not your position. Sometimes people think only those who are senior pastors or those in great and influential positions need to be fully consecrated to God while the rest of us only have to be half-consecrated. Wrong conclusion.

In the passage above the priests consecrated themselves to God, regardless of what position or division they were in. The word consecration means to be set apart as holy for the purpose of worshipping God. Consecration isn’t a one time event, it’s a continual requirement of every follower of Christ.

Unfortunately, some of us are living off a past consecration for a past season. In every major season of our lives we need to be freshly consecrated to God. Romans 12:1 ‘I appeal to you, to present yourselves to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual worship.’ In light of who God is and what God has done, the only reasonable and rational thing to do is to throw ourselves at God’s altar and consecrate ourselves.

Consecration always happens in the holy place. The holy place from a new testament perspective is in the context of our personal relationship with God. We accept the invitation from God’s Spirit, to enter the school of the Spirit and be set apart for God’s purposes. It involves making a sober decision to leave the old nature behind, including some former ways of thinking, speaking and living, to embrace the new renewed nature of the Spirit working in us through the process of sanctification.

Joshua 3:5 ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow God will do wonders among you.’

Consecration always precedes God’s wonders. Before Israel crossed over the Jordan River to march into the promised land, they had to consecrate themselves to God. Before the fire of God’s glory could fill the temple, the priests had to consecrate themselves. Before God wonders become a living reality in your life, you need to consecrate yourself.

Humbly posture your heart in prayer and worship and hand the keys to the door of your heart and future over to God and let him in to occupy every square corner of your life and you would have started the journey on the road of consecration.

The Oracle!

The Calling of a Prophet!

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The office of a prophet is a life calling. Most prophets are called at birth or when they are born again (salvation). It is primarily the Lords choosing, not something you seek to become, however if called, you have a responsibility to develop your gift. Some notable prophetic ministries have identified that it can take as long as 14-15 years for a person to develop into a prophet after being called.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men… And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry.” (Eph 4:7, 11)

The five fold ministry is outlined in the above passage and the office of the prophet is one of the ministries that God has established for the governmental leadership of the church. To be a prophet is a calling. To minister in prophecy is a gift. When a person ministers in the gift of prophecy, the gift is the ability to prophesy. The words themselves are the gift. When a person is a prophet, they themselves are the gift. A prophet is a gift to the church.

Apart from a foundation of character, there are actually 3 components to any mature and fruitful ministry. These are:

  1. Calling – Calling gives identity. Paul was called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (1 Cor 1:1).
  2. Gifting – Gifting gives ability. ’As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God’ (1 Pet 4:10).
  3. Anointing – Anointing gives purpose. It was prophesied of Jesus, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to prisoners’ (Is 61:1).

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable but the anointing of the Lord ebbs and flows according to the relationship we have with the Holy Spirit. The calling on your life describes who you are. The anointing of God provides you with your purpose in life and the gifts that God has given to you becomes the ability in which you accomplish his purposes.

The Oracle!

Confronting Complacent Christianity!

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2 Tim 3:1-7 But understand this that in the last days.. people will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.. always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Life is difficult on its own let alone life in the last days. We are living in the last days described of in Paul’s words to Timothy. The issues outlined here are marks of complacent Christianity.

Complacency loves pleasure more than it loves God. Complacent believers make church more about them than about God. Its characterised more by apathy, passivity and selfishness than by action, passion and sacrifice. In a cultural climate of self-help, self-talk and self-love, complacent Christianity thrives. Complacent Christianity attempts to bring God down to the lowest level of non-commitment possible.

Complacency has the form but not the power. Complacency engages in the ritual but lacks the power. It appears godly but it never lives up to what it looks like. Complacent Christianity is religious but lacks substance to change people’s lives. Complacency leaves you wondering, there’s got to be more to following God than attending endless events but not seeing heaven break into the earthly realm.

Complacency always hears but never obeys. The western church is more educated than we are obedient. We’ve heard sermon after sermon, read book after book but seen very little change. We’ve got to move from hearing only to obeying promptly. Jesus said, ‘Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you to do?’ Love for God is marked by obedience.

The Oracle!  

Seize the Day!

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Matthew 6:34 ‘Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’

Every single one of us have been given 24hrs each day. Whether you are the US president, a pastor, a police officer or a patient mother, we all have only 24hrs to fill. What are you doing with your 24hrs?

A lot can be accomplished or very little can be accomplished, it’s all in how you approach each day. Everyday I look for a few key things because I’ve discovered that everyday has something for me to grow in or discover that I wasn’t previously aware of.

Everyday I look for the God encounter. I want to meet with God daily and have him ‘wow’ me again in some area of my life and ministry. I want to live life with an ethos of amazement. I’m intentional about this and so I carve out specific time to meet with him. Out of the overflow of my intimacy with him, he amazes me in both small and great ways throughout the rest of the day.

Everyday I look for something to grow in. Life never ceases to provide opportunities for all of us to grow in some way or another. I want to take something away from each day that adds value to my world and that enhances my personal growth.

Everyday I look for God’s purpose. At the end of my day, I want to know for what purpose did I breathe today. Was it simply to relax and enjoy my family or was it to accomplish something in my ministry? Everyday has purpose written all over it. You just need to stop and reflect on what purpose each day is for.

As you navigate each day with God, you can see God weaving together his master plan in your life and positioning you where he wants you to be and what he wants you to do. Don’t get caught up so much in tomorrow that you miss today. Seize the day you are in and suck as much out of it as God will allow you to.

The Oracle!

The Portal of God’s Power!

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James 5:16 ‘The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.’

Prayer is the ancient art form of worship that every human being has been hardwired up to engage in. My parents gave me a great example of an active prayer life throughout my entire upbringing. David Yonggi Cho’s best selling book, ‘Prayer that brings revival’ left an indelible mark on me and my relationship with God. I had a mentor, Mike Grechko, who encouraged me to get up every morning and pray for an hour and read God’s Word for an hour everyday. His challenge shot straight into my heart and has largely shaped my devotional life to this day. What is prayer?

Prayer is 2 way communication with God. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue. Prayer is our opportunity to pour out our hearts toward God and Him pour into us. Prayer is the posture of divine exchange and the birthing position for breakthrough in our lives. Prayer brings to the surface what lies in the depths of our hearts. Prayer is the chief mechanism of relational transactions with God.

Prayer is the portal of God’s power. A portal is a doorway, a gate or an entrance that makes a way into another realm. A portal literally means, ‘gate of the palace’. Prayer is the gateway into the palace of God’s presence, provision and peace.

Prayer is relevant to every dimension of life. Whether you are experiencing suffering, sickness, success or a stretching situation, PRAY. Don’t compartmentalise prayer to one dimension of your life. Jesus said, ‘My Father’s house shall be called a house of prayer for all people’ (Mk 11:17). The whole of God’s house is is to be saturated by prayer, not just one of the rooms in the house. Prayer isn’t an event, it’s a lifestyle. Paul said, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ We need to cultivate an attitude and a spirit of prayer, not just a daily appointment with God.

Righteousness empowers our prayers to be effective. Sin separates us from God but God’s righteousness given to us through Jesus Christ rightly positions us as justified in Christ. Righteousness is a position we’re called into, not a performance we have to labor for. We are the righteousness of God and thus we can boldly pray in faith, expecting Gods ears to be open to the prayers on our lips. We have access to God’s throne room through prayer and we are to boldly enter in. Prayer has a capacity to work all by itself.

You don’t have to be superman for your prayers to be effective. Prophet Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and yet through his fervent prayer, the natural order of things was broken and miraculous intervention to the extreme became a reality. Fervent prayer cracks the code of the impossible. Stop waiting for superman to turn up and start use the portal to God’s power working in your life = Pray!

The Oracle!

Hear-Interpret-Obey!

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John 2:5 ‘His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”‘

I love this verse in the bible. It is so simple and yet is so profound, and it has far reaching consequences. I’ve long held to the spiritual principle of hear and obey. It has been part of the core fabric of my spirit and walk with God, however, while I still believe and practice it, I would like to add another word into the middle of this fundamental idea.

The word is ‘Interpret’. Hearing is crucial. Obeying is vital. Interpretation is absolutely critical. A heart to interpret what God or anyone else is saying is a sign of maturity and wisdom. You might be able to hear but if you don’t interpret accurately, you could misapply your obedience.

It’s true, we do know in part and prophesy in part (1 Cor 13), however, that doesn’t mean we fail to invest time and energy into rightly handling the word of truth we have received. In my early years of ministry, I would hear the word, have a desire to obey but not always seek out the clear interpretation. I see the same thing happening with different ministries in the body of Christ today.

Truth is, it can be hard to know how to interpret what God reveals to us. Gods thoughts and ways aren’t ours and as a result interpretation can be a struggle. I’ve learnt that godly counsel, extended prayer, studying the scriptures and some helpful dream interpretation tools have been useful in processing a download from heaven. One such book is titled, ‘Dreams – The divinity code’.

I encourage you to pay the price to hear God’s voice, exercise wisdom to interpret what God has spoken and have the courage to obey boldly what God has revealed to you. Remember, not everything God reveals is to be actioned but more often than not it is.

Hear-Interpret-Obey!

Importance of Spiritual Authority

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Hebrews 13:17 ‘Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.’

I think many of us in the church take the issue of spiritual authority far too lightly. There’s no doubt spiritual authority has been abused in the past and because of the brokenness of people, still will be but that doesn’t mean we throw it out the window and deem it unnecessary or irrelevant.

I’m coming to understand so much more the importance and significance of coming under Godly spiritual authority no matter what stage of life or ministry we are at. We imbibe of the spiritual authority we are under. The grace and authority God gives to the people who oversee us is critical to our spiritual vitality and ministry influence.

As goes the leader, so goes the ministry. We reproduce who we are. Leaders, your ministry is a reflection of you. This might be the cause of great anxiety for you because we all have things God is taking us through, to help us mature and grow in him but I can’t expect to see fruit in a particular aspect of my ministry if I’m not personally growing in that area myself. My life and leadership is a lid on others and if you want those you lead to excel in life and ministry, then you need to excel as well.

Apostles play a key role in the area of spiritual authority, especially, as it relates to prophets and all the other ministry gifts within the body (Eph 4:11-12). Apostles are sent of God to a region or regions to carry spiritual authority to establish and build the church, as well as, father people in the faith and release people into their ministry. Apostles are especially gifted to carry the weightiness of churches and have exceptional capacity for church expansion. We can learn a lot from the ministry of the apostle and they are integral to the exercising of spiritual authority in the church across entire regions.

Whose spiritual authority are you under? Do you have any oversight speaking into your life?   I have learnt so much and gone far further through the blessing of oversight, than I have on my own. You will too.

Contending for the fulness of Gods anointing

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One of the things that plagues the Western Church is complacency. There is not a passionate contending for the fulness of God’s anointing in our lives and ministries that I think is available and needed.

Jesus said, ‘He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do.’ (Jn 14:12)  The church is supposed to walk as Jesus walked. We are the body of Christ. We must not settle for anything less than what Jesus has promised us as his people. Too many of us dismiss Jesus’ words as hyperbole or already fulfilled in the book of Acts but I think we are mistaken.

We have a tendency to excuse our lack of power by filling up time with more religious activities, trends and techniques that are ok on the surface but distract us from our higher calling. Unfortunately, the words of Paul to Timothy are coming true of our generation, we are ‘lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.’ (2 Tim 3:4-5)

Jude 3 exhorts us to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. We have limited contending to sound doctrine and holy living. These two are foundational and vitally important but if we don’t demonstrate the power of the doctrine we profess or outwork our righteousness, than we aren’t fully contending. We need the power of God to deliver spiritually impoverished people.

I think it’s integral that we contend for all 3 elements of true faith: Biblical ideas; Biblical lifestyles; Biblical experience. Contending for the fulness of God’s anointing looks like:

  1. Ask God for a vision of what more looks like
  2. Don’t despise the day of small things
  3. A lifestyle of prayer and fasting
  4. Hear God clearly and obey God boldly
  5. Be prepared for the attack that accompanies the anointing

Grace!

God Loves a Failure

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Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 for context.

It’s official. God loves a failure! He didn’t want the beauty of his nature and the glory of the kingdom solely represented by the great, the good and the clever. He did not want a who’s who of humanity to portray his own magnificence.

God does not need to be seen in the right places with the right people. Jesus was criticized viciously for hanging out with the very people society detested. He chose to become despised and rejected.

God does not have an image problem. He chose people who had a history of failure. He chose people who had a history of not learning and who repeated their mistakes continuously. God chose people who are despised as being stupid by people who should know better. He accepted people who would require lots of training just to be normal, let alone successful.

He chose them because he wanted to love them in such a way that they would always be safe and whole, whether they were successful or not. He chose them so that his love for them could heal them of their foolishness. He has a wonderful capacity to enjoy us in our weakness.

He has a plan to make us successful through using failure for us and not against us. Failure does not demean the Father. His character and identity are so wonderfully secure that he is not afraid to know us, bless us and stand up for us.

Whether we are doing well or badly our identity is always in Jesus!