Month: September 2016

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Practical Spiritual Warfare

19th September

“For though we walk in flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God….”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5a

(NKJV)

‘Spiritual warfare’ is often a word that scares people or conjures up images of dark rooms fighting off evil spirits. So to begin, there is one thing to encourage you with…. There is nothing to fear. We have Jesus Christ on our side, and, at the Name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow, both flesh and spiritual. In Him we have the victory over every power, spirit, demon and even over the enemy!! You are a son and daughter of victory.

That being said, we are in a spiritual battle and we do need to equip ourselves with the right ‘weapons of warfare’. Yet we do not fight from a place of trying to win, because the battle has already been won when Christ rose victorious from the dead. We fight, to invite that victory into our lives, into our communities, into our circles of friends and family and into our world. We fight to break down the strongholds the enemy has built up, both in the spiritual realm and in the physical.

So how to we do that practically? Through Prayer and through inviting Jesus into our everyday situations. We pray ‘Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it in Heaven’. That is praying in the victory of Christ and that is spiritual warfare. When we live in the victory of the cross, we are actively and practically engaging in spiritual warfare. We are inviting the Mighty Lion of Judah, our King and Saviour, Jesus Christ to rule and reign wherever we go and beyond. We ask Jesus to remove the darkness and replace it with light. We ask that strongholds be torn down, that people’s false images of who God is will be changed and that ‘every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God’ will fall to its knees in surrender of the one true God, Jesus Christ, our Messiah.

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Your Great Name

17th – 18th September

Weekend Edition

“Lost are saved, they find their way at the sound of Your great Name

All condemned feel no shame at the sound of Your great Name

Every fear has no place at the sound of Your great Name

The enemy – he has to leave at the sound of Your great Name

Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us,

Son of God and Man

You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise Your great Name

All the weak find their strength at the sound of Your great Name

Hungry souls receive grace at the sound of Your great Name

The fatherless – they find their rest at the sound of Your great Name

The sick are healed and the dead are raised at the sound of Your great Name

Redeemer, My Healer, Lord Almighty, My Saviour, Defender, You are my King.”

Above is a fantastic song sung by Natalie Grant. This song talks of the power of Jesus’ Name to overcome all things. As you read or listen (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuuLBPOYcI8), be reminded of the power of Jesus’ Mighty Name, the name you carry as an ambassador of Christ. He is our God, He is our Lord and worthy to be praised. Start your weekend by telling Him how great He is.

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At Your Great Name

16th September

“One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. ….she followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of JESUS CHRIST to come out of her!!” And instantly it left her.”

Acts 16:16-18

In Jesus’ name, we have the power see healing, deliverance, people set free from addictions, from hurts, pains and mental issues. We have the power to take back stolen ground, to take back deceived hearts and to bring life where there is death. This power does not come from ourselves but is from the power that is in the name of JESUS CHRIST.

Paul and Silas too, first hand, experienced the power of Jesus’ name on a regular basis. One example is the one found in today’s key verses. Paul and Silas, en-route to Macedonia, had stopped over in town near Philippi and were on the way the place of prayer. There they met a demon possessed girl that clearly had one purpose; to disrupt Paul and Silas’ mission. Day after day she shouted out that Paul and Silas were men of God and carried with them the message of salvation. Of course, on first looks this is a good thing right?! But a demon possessed woman would most assuredly not be an advocate for salvation. After all, salvation in its fullness means deliverance from evil. So we can most probably assume that she was not advertising Paul and Silas’ mission in a positive way.

After days and days of this provocative shouting, Paul, completely exasperated, turned to her and in JESUS’ name, cast out the demon within her. What happened next? The demon immediately left. This action eventually meant that Paul and Silas were arrested as the demon possessed girl made lots of money for her master. No spirit. No money for the master.

There are many layers and messages to this story, but something that stands out above all, is the power of the name of JESUS CHRIST. Truly nothing can stand in opposition to JESUS. He is victorious in all situations. This is the God we serve and the Man we call King.

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Pushing Back Strongholds

15th September

“Only by Your power can we push back our enemies; only in Your Name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the One who gives us victory over our enemies….”

Psalm 44:5-6b

As Christians, we are equipped with the power to not only stand up to the enemy’s advances, clothed with the armour of Christ, but we are also called to push back the enemy’s territory. We often can settle for a ‘self defence’ mentality as believers. We think, yes in Jesus’ Name ‘we have the power to stand firm against the enemy’s advances’ and then draw the line there. But we are not just called to be defenders but we are called to shine Jesus’ light and take back what the enemy has stolen. We are soldiers for Christ, fighting in His army. Jesus says of a believer that we are the “light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Jesus encouraged the believers to shine their light so bright that it would light up everything around it. Where bright light shines, darkness has to recede.

The Psalmist also alludes to the victory that is found in God. The power of God not only gains victories, but ‘pushes back the enemy…and tramples our foe!’ This was most probably written for a physical context but the same principal can be applied spiritually. We are not called to stand and watch the enemy destroy our nation but we are called to actively stand in warfare and push back the enemy’s strongholds.

How do we do this…. Through prayer. Our prayers through faith in the victory of Jesus, breaks down strongholds, and pushes back the enemy’s hold on peoples lives, on families, on governments, on schools and even in our communities. Take heart. Be strong and courageous in Christ. Victory is ours through the blood of the LAMB.

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Fasting From Food: Feasting On Jesus

14th September

“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty…..So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.”

John 6:35, 53

For many, fasting has the connotation that you are depriving yourself of food or other comforts to almost twist God’s arm into giving you what you want or to answer your prayers. Of course this is not the case, but it is an important spiritual discipline. So why do we do it and what is the significance? Well first of all, it is mentioned as a spiritual discipline throughout the Bible, and also goes hand in hand with Jesus’ teaching about prayer, just after He taught us the ‘Lord’s Payer’ in Matthew 6. Notice that Jesus says, and “when you fast…”1, almost implying that it is normality and is expected of a believer. Yet what is the significance of fasting?

Well, fasting is a discipline not to get God’s attention, but to put your attention back to God. We already have God’s attention. We are His children. Fasting is for us. It helps us to re-focus and re-align our thoughts and put Jesus back at the centre of our prayers. Yet fasting was never meant to be just giving up something and carrying on with our lives. Fasting is feasting on Jesus; Giving up food or other comforts and replacing that ‘time’ or ‘meal’ with feasting on Jesus by spending time with Him.

Jesus said of Himself that He is the ‘Bread of Life’! In order to aid our spiritual growth, we must feast on Him. Of course Jesus “isn’t endorsing cannibalism..,” but rather “….using ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ as a metaphor – as symbolism – for believing in Him – for faith in Him.”2 “Feasting on Jesus means turning to Him, trusting Him, hoping in Him, following Him, and loving Him. Feasting on Jesus means NOT feasting on alternatives to Jesus to satisfy the eternal hunger of our souls.” Just as we need to feed ourselves with physical food to survive, so we need to feast on Jesus for spiritual lives to grow and prosper. As you fast, remember to feast on Jesus!!

1Matthew 6:14a

2Quoted text taken from article http://creekroad.org.au/feasting-on-jesus/

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Hallelujah – No Greater Word

13th September

“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory….!!””

Revelations 19:6-7a

Hallelujah is such a fantastic word. It is one of the few words that cannot be translated into another language. Wherever you go in this world, it is most likely if you visit a Christian brother or sister and say Hallelujah, they will understand you and praise God with you. It’s meaning derives from the word Hallel (which means praise) and Jah (which come from the word Yahweh, the highest name given to God). In other words, every time we say Hallelujah, we are declaring that God is great and worthy of praise. We elevate His Name, we praise Him above our situations and we declare that He is to be praised.

Moreover, we speak a ‘Heavenly’ language when we say Hallelujah. The writer of Revelation, writing about the vast crowds of believers in Heaven, so dramatically sums up the power of such an honorific word and likens it to a roar of rushing water and loud peals of thunder. What a wonderful imagery of what it must sound like in Heaven when we declare ‘Hallelujah’ over our lives in worship of our Heavenly and Majestic Father. Today, be filled with joy and excitement as you rediscover the joy of ‘praising the Lord’ with a Heavenly declaration. Declare His Lordship over your lives. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord Almighty.

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The Privilege Of Praise

12th September

“Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For His name is very great; His glory towers over the earth and heaven!”

Psalm 148:13

Did you know that even the sun and moon praise God! Everything that God created is a vessel for giving praise back to Him. The Psalmist in Psalm 148 creates an extensive list of all things that praise God. However, why did he choose to write such a long list? Maybe he was trying to show us that actually, everything that we can see around us, and even the things that we can’t see, all were made by God’s mighty hands and all sing in praise and rejoice in obedience to His commands.

See it is a joy to join in with all of creation in praising our Creator God. We are in included in the things created. Isn’t it incredible that we can join with the sun and moon, the vapours high above the clouds, the wild animals in the fields and the fish that swim in the deepest oceans, in praising our great God. Moreover, we are God’s finest creations. We are the ones whom He sacrificed His only Son for. We are the ones whom God chose to have a relationship with. We are the ones whose hearts Jesus has made His home. We are God’s chosen people. His bride. His church. His body. If the wind and waves rejoice in praise, then how much more such we praise our God.

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We Are Free

10th & 11th September

Weekend Edition

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declared that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins…..”

Romans 3:23-25a

Praise the Lord. We are free from the penalty of sin. We are are not condemned but declared righteous by the gift of grace and by the gift of Jesus’ own sacrifice for us. Isn’t that great news to start your weekend with? In fact, isn’t that great news to start the rest of your life with?

The writer of Romans explains, that everyone of us has fallen short of God’s glorious standards. These standards are ‘God’s laws’ or ‘The Ten Commandments’. Although these are guidelines for our living, quite often we fall short of obeying them. Yet God in His grace is like a boxing referee. We may get knocked down (the feeling when we sin) and not be able to get up after the ‘Ten count’, yet God still keeps counting, 11, 12, 13 and so on…. He wills us on. ‘Get up’, ‘Get up’, He shouts to us. ‘My grace is sufficient for you’, ‘You are declared righteous’, ‘Jesus paid for your sins’!!

The enemy’s lie is to beat us down, tell us we are not worthy and declare us ‘sinners’ not fit for the presence of God. BUT God the Judge, God the Righteous, and God our Saviour thinks otherwise and tells us so. We, are declared righteous, free and safe from the penalty of sin. If you don’t believe in Jesus’ saving power, then maybe today is the day to start the beginning of the rest of your life by accepting this great news of grace and love. We are free……!!!!

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The Grey Areas

9th September

“But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”

Romans 14:23

Romans 14 is a wonderful passage that deals with conflict in the church over various doctrinal and spiritual disciplinary issues. Above all, Paul calls for peace. He calls for all people to be accountable for their own convictions whilst honouring others convictions too, so as not to cause conflict between fellow believers. Yet how do we discern or decipher our own convictions? How did the Christians in the New Testament discover what was acceptable and what was not? Which day was the ‘Holy Day’? Which ‘foods’ were permissible to eat and which foods should they not eat? Well, Paul’s answer is this, ‘do what you think is right, and don’t do what you think is wrong’.

As Christians, our moral and holy standards are set for us in the Bible. We have been given the Ten Commandments as guidelines for our lives, often echoed by Jesus in His teachings. Yet what about the grey areas? What about the things we are not sure of, that could be right or could be wrong? Things that are not specifically written in the ‘rules’? Well, Paul’s answer in Romans 14:23 is simple, “if you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning”. Yet where does this surety of what is right or wrong come from? Answer: The Holy Spirit living in you. It is the Holy Spirit’s convictions in us, that help us to know what is wrong or right. His voice in our hearts is like a spiritual alarm bell that alerts us to the dangers of sin. The challenge is, to then accept His prompting and not suppress His voice.

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Love God Love People: The Greatest Commandment

love-god-people

 

8th September

 

“Teacher. Which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? Jesus replied, “‘You must the Lord your God with all you heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’”

Matthew 22:36-39

Jesus, in discussion with the Sadducees and Pharisees, was asked a faith defining question by an expert in religious law. He was trying to trick Jesus into saying something controversial or ‘heretical’ yet Jesus’ answer not only silenced His critics, but set a moral foundation for what our faith and ‘religion’ should look like forever. Jesus’ answer highlighted two basic human guidelines: Our need to love God and our need to love each other.

Loving God, encompasses and includes every part of our lives. ‘Our hearts, our souls and our minds’ is a holistic imagery or loving God with every part of you. Whatever you think about, whatever is going on in your hearts, with every ounce of our lives, we are commanded to love God. Jesus didn’t say these words because He was being egotistic. He said these words, because out of our loving bond with Jesus and our relationship with God, is birthed love for others. The root of love is God. It started with Him and continues in Him. Without our relationship with God we cannot love others. Our relationship with God is the perfect example of acceptance, grace and mercy.

Loving God is not only us putting Him first in our lives or even including Him in all we do, think and say. It is also receiving and accepting His love too. In fact, we cannot love God, if we first don’t accept His love. After all, the root of love, starts from God. When we learn to accept God’s love, we can love Him with everything in us, and in turn love others too. Our image of ourselves increases as we discover how much God truly loves us too.