Knowing you Jesus…there is no greater thing

There are times when we can’t seem to hear God or find him as close. He doesn’t play hide and seek or tease us but he wants us to know that there is never a place when he is not there and it seems its God's way of calling us closer so we don't settle for second best, his plan is to produce a mature bride.

Just lately I have been really shocked by my emotional reactions when I have felt out of my comfort zone. Without the support of my routine, my friendships and things I can control I have felt at sea and at times close to tears.  I am in a 'hormonally challenging' season but it’s still scary when I realize how much I have built around myself to keep me feeling safe and secure.

Playing it safe as a believer can keep us lulled into a false sense of security. We can hear great preaches, read the latest books and talk about the Kingdom whilst still preferring a personal space that is both safe and comfortable... it’s exactly how the enemy wants us to live where we will create least disturbance and see little Kingdom Advance.

The other night I had a dream where I had invited all my close friends to spend the evening with me, friends who I love to be with but when I looked I noticed others had come too and they were drug addicts, prostitutes and people I wouldn’t have chosen to invite, people I was even afraid of and considered dangerous but then I saw myself in the dream praying for them to receive the Holy Spirit and one by one they kept falling under the power of the Spirit. The dream has stayed with me and been provoking me that God has in fact called me out of what is safe and predictable to live a radical lifestyle of love and power. 

I am both excited and scared by how uncomfortable I feel about that and at the same time reminded that there is nothing I can bring of myself. I am totally dependent on him working through me and breaking my heart to love others more than myself

I will bear more fruit as I rest in Christ than through self effort

Although its painful it is the Father’s love to strip away all that I depend on so that all that’s left is Him!

Learning to listen

A few stories…mostly Costas related!!

Recently since hearing some amazing street encounter stories from a friend of mine I have been trying to be more intentional about asking the Holy Spirit what he is doing when I have been talking to people I meet. Sometimes I don’t hear anything but…

A few weeks ago after being in a prayer meeting where as staff we were praying for the lost in our City, I’d brought a contribution about having an expectation for God to use us and the ways we can recognise the Holy Spirit’s activity…things Wendy taught us on TSM… like when we feel drawn to speak to someone or when someone approaches us or when we bump into the same person several times in a short space of time…

After the prayer meeting Julie, Carol and I headed into Hove to get a coffee. On the way Carol bumped into a builder she knew. She was surprised to see him wearing a Muslim prayer cap. She started chatting to see what he was up to and discovered he was preparing to go to Syria the very next day to help in an orphanage. He told us that he’d been watching the news and felt deeply impacted by the plight of children there and in response was going to offer to help.

I think we all sensed this was an opportunity God was opening up. As we listened to his story I felt the Holy Spirit say to tell him that the compassion he was moved by for the children of Syria came from God who is full of compassion and that this God loved him and had a plan for his life, Julie felt something similar which she shared with him. He nodded and carried on telling us more about his plans. I asked the Holy Spirit what we should do or say next and felt him say we should ask if he had a need we could pray for, either sickness or something practical. At first he said he couldn’t think of anything and then suddenly remembered he had a lump on his shoulder that the hospital had told him was actually quite a serious health risk! Carol told him we’d love to pray for him to which he replied, thanks and started to move away. Carol said “No, can we pray for you now?” He hesitantly agreed. Then courageous Carol said, “We will pray, the Holy Spirit will come on you and the lump will disappear”! So there in the alleyway with people walking past we laid hands on his shoulder and commanded the lump to go in Jesus name. We actually forgot to ask him how it was and he was in a hurry to move on but said he’d get in touch with Carol when he got back. We’re hoping this story will be continued!!

We then went into Costas, had our coffee and Julie and Carol both had to go. I got on with preparing a talk on my computer about ‘Knowing the Father’. I looked up and at the table opposite I noticed a dad with the cutest little boy. He was kissing him, holding him in the air and was quite besotted with him so much so it was drawing people’s attention. I felt the Holy Spirit say I want you to go and tell him that the way he loves his little boy is how I love him but even more. It was such a clear picture of what I was writing about! I waited for his friend to go to the loo and then went and sat at the man’s table. At first he looked a bit surprised, understandably! I told him I was a Christian and that sometimes God speaks to me and shared the word with him. He nodded and smiled and I ask him if he knew God. He told me he was a Muslim and that he believed in the one God. I told him again that God knew him and loved him. His friend came back and the conversation came to an end.

This last week I was in Costas and was looking out of the window and musing about the risk adventures we had been encouraged to take on TSM…remember those!!!! I was remembering the very first time I had stepped out and prayed for a lady here at this same table by the window. I’d prayed for her hand to be healed following a Carpal Tunnel operation but then been so scared I had not asked her if it was better but had changed the subject and nervously carried on talking!

So…this week as I was musing, someone came to my table and asked if she could join me because of the comfy chairs! I knew this was a Kingdom opportunity especially as there were lots of empty tables in the café! We started chatting about this and that. Remembering to try and keep listening to the Holy Spirit she began to tell me that she was a marketing consultant who had been disappointed with the corporate world and how it wasn’t all about the money. She said she had values, which immediately got my attention. I felt to ask her about her values and she told me she was wanting to start a company that helped people. I was able to encourage her and commend her and how her heart to do this came from God’s heart at which point she began to well up. I told her I shared her values and that as a church in Brighton we were trying to help people and told her about the vision we have for social enterprise amongst the poor. I could see I had really got her attention. She told me she was a Buddhist but had heard of our church through some colleagues she had worked with. As she was on her lunch break she had to go but before she left she told me she hadn’t planned to come to Costas at all…funny that!

God gives us more than we ask for

So, when we were all on TSM we were on the streets regularly stepping out and praying for the sick or talking to people about Jesus both in Bedford and back home and then… when we finished we were encouraged to keep going for it, so we didn’t lose momentum.

So, how’s everyone doing now… nearly a year on?

I know I’ve plateaued in this area and hearing testimonies recently and remembering the freedom I used to move out in I began to ask God again to open up opportunities.

I’ve started asking God for words of knowledge and this morning I was quite specific. I asked God for two, one for the Staff Prayer meeting I was going into and one for out on the street.

In the Prayer meeting I delivered the word of knowledge God gave me for someone and towards the end of the meeting as people were praying for increase of kingdom opportunities I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me and I shared an equipping practical encouragement about recognizing the ways the Holy Spirit often attracts our attention. It seemed well received and particularly by our lead Pastor which is always encouraging!!!!

Then after the meeting… as Julie, Carol and I started to walk towards Costas God led us into an encounter!

Carol suddenly stopped to speak to a man she knew. A bit surprised to see him wearing a white crochet prayer cap and hearing he was now a Muslim, she asked what he was up to. He told us he was preparing to leave for Syria tomorrow because he had felt deeply moved by the plight of children there and he was going to help in an orphanage.

It was one of those moments where probably all three of us were knowing God had set this up and were feeling our way trying to hear what the Holy Spirit wanted us to say. There was the whole converting to Islam, the compassion he was expressing and his willingness to count the cost! What actually happened was we got to prophesy encouragement that the compassion he was feeling was God’s compassion and that God had a plan for his life. I felt the Holy Spirit say to ask if he had a need we could pray for either physical or practical. At first he said no and then he started to tell us about a lump he had in his shoulder, which sounded quite a serious health risk. Carol stepped up with great boldness and said, “We’d like to pray for you. The Holy Spirit will come on you and we will pray for God to remove the lump and heal you” Standing against the wall in this alleyway with people going past Carol prayed… in our excitement we forgot to get him to check it out but he certainly went on his way blessed and said he’d get in touch once he was back.

In Costas after a while, the girls had to go but I stayed on to carry on prepping a talk I am giving tomorrow, on the Father. As I looked up I noticed a man with the cutest little boy. As a dad I could see he loved his little boy so much and was paying him so much attention, kissing him and talking to him and it was drawing my attention.

I heard the Holy Spirit say I want you to tell him that in the same way he loves his little boy I love him… but even more! His friend had gone to the loo so I went and sat opposite him and said I’m a Christian and sometimes God speaks to me and told him what I’d felt the Holy Spirit say. He nodded and smiled and so I asked him if he knew God. He told me he was a Muslim and believed in the one God. His English was quite poor and his friend came back and the conversation ended there. When I sat back down I realized that God hadn’t spoken to me just twice today as I had asked but 5 times already!

And then…

A little while later one of the staff who has always seemed friendly and said hello asked me if I was writing an essay. I told him it was a talk I was giving to a group at my church and how it was the same church that one of the other Costas staff went to. I asked him if he knew of it. He said he did and that was when I found he was also a Christian and went to another great church in Brighton. I told him about the different people I had got to speak to about Jesus in Costas and what a special place it was.  I also told him we were planting into Hove this September and wanted to reach into the community and especially around that area. He then mentioned that in the past a church had asked to use Costas for an event and so if we were ever interested to use it we could speak to the manager!

If you’ve plateaued at all I hope you are encouraged to ask God. He loves to speak through us and gives us more than we ask for!

Timings and Seasons

Walking in God’s prophetic promises…there are timings and seasons

Just yesterday Hubby and I were having one of those great chats about what we were sensing God was saying to each of us about the now and the not yet?

We are living in exciting days and have a growing sense of anticipation that God is leading us into more…on many levels.

Back in February 2011 God said ‘I am positioning you in preparation’ I didn’t know what that meant at the time but had a sense as others did of movement. Even though I felt it personally, I knew it wasn’t just for me, for us, but it was about something bigger and God was speaking about his Kingdom advancing.

A lot has happened since then and even though it still feels as though it has been happening mostly underground like the growing that takes place before the buds first poke through, there are definitely signs of Spring appearing! In fact earlier this year I felt God say that when the first signs of spring appear they contain within all the promise and certainty of fruitfulness even though it is not yet the time for harvest.

This morning in a worship time a friend prayed out that God is never worried about his plans or purposes, he is not anxious in any way. He knows the end from the beginning.

One of the prophetic words over my hubby 25 years ago was ‘As some things in nature break forth rapidly, others have a slower time of maturation but that do great good, and so in your latter years, the word went on…

Yesterday as we read prophetic words that God had spoken to us over the last 30 years, we were freshly excited as we saw a thread running throughout realizing that soon would be coming a time that God had been pointing to. We feel an aligning of our hearts to his promise. Its hard to explain but what had seemed on the distant horizon now seems to be coming nearer, more in view and we feel humbled and overwhelmed by God’s faithful hand, his patience, his shepherding, his timing and seasons, his never letting go, his great love and his covenant with us… and we gave thanks to God.

So our ministry is not what we do but who we are and it seems that even the nuances of our personality, our interests and particular ways are tied in with the destiny he has already written over us. God is a God of purpose and intention and everything he has made is beautiful and intricately detailed. The bible reminds us of this…

In Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. In Psalm 104 we read of God’s creation and how even the animals are all made in wisdom, for they all answer the end they were designed to serve.

It occurred to me recently that throughout our married life my hubby has loved maps, countries and travelling whereas I am a ‘home girl’ who loves relationship, friendship and familiar surroundings. So… when God called us to serve him in South Africa many years ago, it was he whom God first spoke to and recently again it has been he who has begun to hear God about future plans. God could have spoken to me first but I kind of get why it was easier to get my hubby’s attention about adventure, it’s the way God has wired him. Its like we have different languages and God knows our language and how to communicate best to us to get our attention.

As we continue to walk in the now and not yet on many different levels we marvel at the minute glimpse God gives us of our tiny part in his greater purpose in the earth.

Do you regularly carry round or read prophetic words God has spoken over your life? I recommend you do. God speaks to us in many ways, in different seasons and for different seasons. If you are seeking God for direction, its good to be reminded of what God has already said.

Our destiny is so much bigger than us in fact its not really about us at all its about his beautiful bride he is preparing for the display of his glory. One day, like a peacock when it opens its wings and shows its beauty we will see the magnitude of God’s unfolding purpose and it will be breathtaking!

What would it look like with NO FEAR

Just lately God has been waking me and speaking to me a lot in the night. On one of these occasions I heard the words “What would it look like with NO FEAR?”

Later that day a friend who was preparing a talk told me she had written that very question and the same day my husband who was reading a book read out the very same statement…so I knew God was speaking loud and clear!

Fear is the opposite of faith and faith is what pleases God. When God created Adam and Eve he made them equal, male and female, and they walked with him without fear. There was innocence and intimacy in their relationship. It was when Satan deceived them into doubting God’s goodness that an unholy fear entered into the heart of man.

Interestingly there are 365 times in the Bible where Jesus tells us not to be afraid.  He knows it is the enemy’s number one strategy to undermine and lie to us about who God says we really are. He knows that if there was NO FEAR we would be the most free to love others, the most secure, the most bold and courageous people as God’s representatives here on earth.

Something I read recently…

The advance of the Kingdom is taken by forceful men and women and though the process may seem overwhelming at times as both the carnal attitudes of our hearts get displaced and as the works of the devil are destroyed around us yet this is the safest place, the front line of the battle, because its where we passionately pursue God and his purpose. The scheme of the enemy is to pull us back into a defensive position…

So lately as I’ve been pursuing more of the ‘Normal’ Christian Life, going after the supernatural and seeing his kingdom released I’ve been encountering some opposition, as have a few other friends of mine.

Recently I woke and a cloud of depression and despair seemed just to settle on me all morning, I kept crying and felt like giving up. I cried out to God for his presence and for his voice to speak to me because only just months earlier he had shown me that this was the most important, more important than anything else I might want or ask him for. I knew it would be ok if I knew him drawing near. As I began weakly to thank him for who he is in my life and what he has done, the cloud lifted and he drew near. Thanksgiving disarms the enemy.

So there is opposition from the enemy like that because of ground being taken but there is also training. The more we move away from our own mission and even what we sometime see as ‘God agendas’ and get serious about the Father’s mission which we can read of in Isaiah 61, he begins to train our hands for battle and exposes stuff in our hearts that hold us back from being all he has called us to be.

The other night I was woken up in the early hours with three phrases running through my mind. ‘Mount up’, ‘ride’ and ‘overcome’

As God calls us to go higher, to ride with him, to see from his perspective all he is doing, he is inviting us to partner with him. As we respond he challenges us in areas of our lives, areas we had previously been content to live with.

For me at the moment Fear is what God is exposing and in particular fear of man and fear of making mistakes. It’s not the first time but he keeps bringing me back to it.

I have heard some remarkable stories lately of friends of mine who because at the start of their day they asked God to show them what he was doing and where he was working they were led into supernatural encounters, given clear words of knowledge and opportunities to share the gospel.

What stands out to me is not so much their courage and availability both of which are awesome but their reliance on the voice of the Holy Spirit who guided them all the way through the encounters they were led into.

I believe this is how we are meant to live and walk every day, in closer fellowship with the Holy Spirit. God is distributing seed all the time and he will use those who are available and obedient. I know that too often I am afraid to let go of what seems safe. God drew my attention and reminded me of three occasions just lately where he gave me that opportunity to follow him but I shrunk back.

I’m a slow learner but I think often the first thing God shows me is what he wants me to do or say and to be quick to respond and obey but often I rationalize it away either because of the setting or circumstance I am in or because of my own fear.

The more I hear stories, the more I meet with friends who are living a kingdom lifestyle and hungry for God to break out wherever they are whether that’s in a shop, a coffee house, a bus stop or their work place the hungrier I am becoming for God to change me.

Another inspiring quote…

The great commandment to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength must precede the great commission. We must be lovers of God first gazing on Jesus with the eyes of our heart enlightened to know him and to love him and the more we see of him the more we will see who we are becoming and burn for God and to make him known. His presence gives us EVERYTHING we need. As we jealously guard his presence, stay hungry and tend the fire of our heart we will be fruitful. Fruitfulness comes as we keep abiding in his presence and staying close for the sound of his voice.

Imagine if the church really lived like this!