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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 06:41 |
Most of us know what God has promised us, the visions and prophecies that God has given either Highway as a church or personal prophesies to us. We have them written down maybe or somewhere in the bible we carry. Maybe you keep a diary or you have heard the words "Centre for revival" a few times in meetings.
Many of these words are given to us as prophesies to follow and give us a way ahead. Some are clearer than others and some are just really big and scary.
The apostle Paul writes to his disciple and fellow apostle Timothy to
"Keep with the prophesies once made about you ,so that by following them you may fight the good fight" 1Tim 1:18
Jesus too was following prophesies made about him, in fact he fulfilled more than 300 of them in his
life!! - And He fought the good fight. - Wow
First of all may we never despise the prophesies made about us, may we hold on to the good and test every one and then may we follow them so we don't loose heart.
You see we have a destiny, a fight to fight- a birthright if you want. It's a personal call and a corporate call on our lives.
God does not do random or by chance. He does things with such beauty, clarity and purpose
that we so often dont trust, Jesus said it like this "Your Father KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU ASK HIM"
He watches over our lives to fulfil His purpose and word for us.
He has given you a destiny, but what will you do with it?
Will you fight for it? - Will you stay the course?
There were two brothers in the Bible, Jacob and Esau, twins in fact, and Esau the firstborn
was the one with the RESPONSIBILITY for the destiny of God for their family and to live out
God's promise to Abraham that they would be a great nation that would bless the world. - Wow, that's some promise! - And some responsibility.
But Esau despised that call, that birthright, one day he was hungry and he sold it for a meal!
He lived for the moment, for his appetites, and he didn't want to carry the calling for his family and for his nation.
He sold his destiny
He sold his future
He sold God's call
He sold God's purpose for his people
You know some of God's word to Highway, you know some of God's word to you - But knowing what that word is does not guarantee that we will fulfil it.
What I pray at this time is for a gift of faith, that faith rises up inside of us.
Faith that we have what it takes for this, faith that God will fulfil His promises to us,
And faith comes from hearing the words of Jesus.
- And following the prophesies made about you and me and about us as Highway.
I hold up my hand and say I haven't always held up the vision and prophesies for Highway enough, please forgive me, and that is going to change.
If you have given up on reading your bible, START NOW
If you don't read good books or even the e-ways START NOW
If you don't regularly worship and pray START NOW
If you never come to prayermeetings START NOW
You have to feed and nurture your faith otherwise you will sell your destiny for something cheap!
And it won't take much to get you off the course, an unbelieving boyfriend or girlfriend,
a joboffer that looks good but isn't, a chance for a comfortable but selfish life and so on.
Let faith rise up, let vision be clear, let us take heart and receive courage - we have come to the kingdom for a time such as this. WE WILL FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
Blessings and love you all
Andy |
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Tuesday, 29 June 2010 10:50 |
Hi friends
There are so many things I would like to encourage you with at this time but one thing
really stands out, - We have not yet seen many of the things we want to see!
There are so many people who need Jesus, and we have yet to see many come to faith.
There are so many sick people and we have yet to see consistent signs and wonders.
There are amazing people with giftings and potential and we seem so paralyzed at times.
There are so many great promises from God for our church but the seem far away some time.
There is so much bound up in our hearts of life and power and we haven't seen all of who we are.
We are called to be adventurers, to be a Highway in the wilderness for God's glory.
And "God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change His mind,
does He promise and not act? "(Num 23:19)
So, clearly, God has promised it and He isn't changing His mind.
That only leaves me and you to press in to those promises, to press into God, who is the power and the way to see them fulfuilled. Through the sadness, the despair and through the temptations and the spirit of the world - and press on towards the goal that God has for us.
Paul the apostle took this approach and he persevered through all the hardships.
Great things of God don't come without a fight. And great people don't come without
great shaping and forming.
It will take some guts, some determination and some "sowing in tears" - But we will reap a harvest if we don't give up the bible says!
We are pressing on towards the goal Highway, for the sake of Jesus.
Andy |
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Wednesday, 19 May 2010 04:53 |
Hi Friends
I m really enjoying this weather right now, I could even get used to it!
Spring is everywhere and the gardens are teeming with life, it's an amazing thing.
I feel in many ways we are in "spring" season in the church aswell. So many things are ready to spring up, so much life has been hidden in the ground, filled with potential. So much color is ready to be shown and so much variety and diversity is being displayed.
In a way so much destiny is bound up in us, the destiny of the world is bound up in Israel and the church according to the bible (Rom 11) and where destiny is concerned it will always be contested.
Our destiny will be contested, the destiny os us together as the church in the world is contested
as we have an enemy. Please understand that you are in a deadly fight. The fight is on for the souls of men, and you are either becoming ALIVE in yourself or you are DYING inside. It's a fight that requires breakthrough prayer. I will explain.
I hear many people say things like "I prayed and nothing happened.." and I have seen in countless christians all over the world an approach to prayer that is too shallow and doesnt break through either on the inside or breaks through in the heavenlies.
Daniel was a man who applied himself to prayer for the sake of the destiny of his people Israel and Gods plan for them. He was known to have an excellent spirit.
In Daniel chapter 10 we read that he humbles himself and partly fasts for 3 weeks to pray and to gain understanding of what God was doing. - 3 Weeks! - Wonderful.
Then after 24 days he is met by a very powerful angel and he is totally overcome, the angel tells him that as soon as he started humbling himself and set his mind to gain understanding he was heard by God and an answer was sent. The reason it took so long was that the angel was resisted by the prince of Persia. But that after an angelic fight involving Michael,the archangel, the messenger angel broke through and the answer was through to Daniel.
This story is awesome and shows where our areas of breaking through in prayer and destiny need to happen.
First there was a breakthrough INSIDE Daniel
Daniel HUMBLES HIMSELF and part fasted for 3 weeks - This is a breakthrough on the INSIDE. - I believe that's where we so often fail. We have not learned to breakthrough in our personal discipline and our own desires are all mixed up. Daniel had one single desire, to gain understanding and to humble himself in prayer. That is an inside breakthrough not reliant on any other thing than a desire for God.
This is the first breakthrough and our destiny is shaped first of all here. - On the Inside, where only ourselves can see, hear and make internal God decisions. It is to do with your innermost heart desires and your innermost Love. - We either desire God or we are mixed up. We either love Him or we are divided in our desires.
Seeking God, seeking understanding and breaking through in self discipline and prayer will always be the very first step to seeing our destiny fulfilled and God's purposes fulfilled on earth.
Secondly there was a breakthrough in the heavenlies. Daniels prayer was heard the first day, - how encouraging! - All our prayers are heard the very first time we pray them. - However, there is another reality that is largely invisible to us, a heavenly,spirit-world.
Daniels prayer lasted 21 days and the fight for the angel to break through with the answer and the vision of the future and the destiny of the world revealed also lasted 21 days!
- Lord help us to see the heavenly reality of our prayers, You always hear us, and when we don't see answers or understand the delay help us to see that You ARE in heaven, listening. There IS a fight for our destiny. There is a fight for the answers. There IS a breakthrough coming if we keep humbling ourselves before you and seek You God.
There are other more difficult things we don't see always, like why some of our prayers seem to fail even after much Humbling and praying. Why did Steven get killed despite all the prayers of the church, why did John the baptist get killed despite all the prayers, why did Peter escape death when the church prayed? I don't know all the answers but I know that God hears, I know that Daniel, Moses, Jesus ,Paul and all the saints in the world were and are called to pray without ceasing, to humble themselves before God (and He WILL lift you up) and to resist the devil, and that he will flee from us (James 4:6-7)
That is our calling and the way to see our destiny fulfilled. - TO BREAKTHROUGH IN PRAYER BOTH ON THE INSIDE AND THE OUTSIDE.
Watch This space friends in and out of Highway, there is prayer coming and we have no option if we want to see God break out in our generation.
For More reading see Eph 6:10-18 and Acts 2:42-47 and ch 4:23-31
Blessings and Speak soon again
Andy
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Jesus the centrepiece of all history |
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Monday, 19 April 2010 09:48 |
Hi Friends
The scenes being played out on our screens of the volcano in Iceland and all it's effects on us are quite amazing. There are around 150 000 Britons stranded abroad and almost 7 million passengers
have not flown since Thursday last week. It's quite amazing how vulnerable and fragile we actually are
in the face of the power of our earth.
The bible speaks clearly that natural disasters and phenomena will increase the nearer we get to his coming so in one sense it's not surprising. It will only increase and so will our light and our witness as believers. In times of uncertainty and chaos like these it's only our faith and hope in God that will keep us strong. The world will certainly become a more and more unstable place for humankind and the only haven will be the community of believers. -
The reason for this is that we have Jesus , the seed, the eternal God , himself living in us.
And He is not a little private faith for the christian.
Jesus is the king of all peoples on earth, He is the rightful Lord of every human being. He is the
soon to return owner of our bodies and our earth.
God has made Him to be the One through whom every single act of humankind will be judged.
The whole world will be judged by him and will be reurned to Him so that He, together with those who love Him , can once again bring a kingdom of righteousness to the earth.
You see my friend, Jesus is not a religion, He is not a hobby or a side thing. Jesus is not a footnote in our history books.
Jesus is the soon returning King of an amazing kingdom that will fill the earth and when He comes every single human being will instantly see Him, then will bow their knee and then confess that JESUS IS LORD. All the hairs on your head and arms will stand up, all the adrenaline will flow in your body and every cell in your body will respond instantly and immediately to the power of Him who made it. You will have no choice on that day because our time of choices will be over.
More on this absolutely amazing event and on this absolutely amazing person, Jesus, on Sunday at the Foundations Teaching.
Please read these passages in the Bible for preparation if you can;
Philippians 2:1-11, Colossians 1:15-22 , Revelation 1:4-18 , Revelation 5 and Luke 21:25-35
Speak again soon and be strong in God and in His love
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Tuesday, 06 April 2010 03:53 |
Hi Friends
Having just celebrated Easter , and celebrated it well with many great times and moments, I have just reflected a bit on the meaning of it and the powerful symbols of it such as the Cross, the last supper, the empty tomb and so on.
It strikes me that in no single instance is there any indifference whatsoever. Every last one of the things Jesus did were done with purpose, determination and a great love and passion.
Jesus seems so alive to everyone, even the smallest of people. He seems so present, both to God and to everyone around him.
I just read a few stories about christian martyrs today and many of them were killed on the spot for refusing to deny Jesus, spit on a bible, converting from Islam and so on.
I asked myself how we in this day and age in the UK are doing with our faith and I don't think the
possibility of us being threatened to be shot if we don't renounce Jesus is very real I think we face
the same question in a much more insidious way all the time every single day.
I feel we are being asked indirectly all the time to deny Jesus by being sucked into a comfortable life full of so many distractions and demands that we become cold and indifferent - and die!
If the devil can get us busy, world focused and fearful most of the time then we will end up becoming indifferent to pretty much everything and everyone. Our Love grows cold i think Jesus called it. If that happens the devil is laughing. He probably doesn't care too much about us then, as long as we are indifferent to the suffering of the world, our friends who are going to hell in this life or the next and indifferent to God and his amazing love for the world.
The message of Easter is staring us in the face and should refocus our whole life. - (The person who is born again primarily thinks of others and not self.)
Jesus was passionate about his friends and engaged with them. The tears he shed were a sign of his total compassion for the sinners. His anger at the religious system of the day was no indifference. His choosing to go through torture,humiliation and shame was a complete involvement with the pain of humanity, a deliberate and chosen INVOLVEMENT. - And he calls us to follow him....
Every single detail of Easter is one of a God who is completely and totally engaged with us, present, available and involved.
The word for us at this time is a choice. Either indifference and ignorance or engagement and choosing to follow Jesus straight into a messed up,dying and hurting world where we force ourselves to see the need and fill the need.
Oh God have mercy on us I pray and reignite our passions we ask you.
Save us from indifference and a life unmoved.
Re- Jesus our lives I pray.
Blessings and speak soon |
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