The Bridegroom and His Bride.
In the purest joy of the moment, in the sacred place, a lush Garden, bursting with Joyous Life, trees with big hanging Fruit, luscious rolling valleys covered in blankets of blossoming colourful flowers, split only by a Crystal River flowing down from the High Place. I’m suddenly taken at the speed of light, deep into the Fiery Inestimable Brilliance.
This Pure Light guiding me more surely than the light of noonday, there He is, Strong and Mighty, Lord God together with me in the depths of Our Sacred Place in me, Oh!, Brilliant Light that’s guiding me, Oh!, Marvellous Light more lovely than the dawn, Oh!, the Purest Love joining together beloved with Lover, Lover transforming the beloved! i am possessed, marked by the Seal of Your Spirit in my heart, kept wholly for You alone, in the Sacred Place, there You stayed Mighty and Steadfast in me, causing my soul to be silent in the midst of Truth, i adore You.
Your River flows thick and heavy and strong, the leaves of Your cedar trees applaud the Power of Love filling the air. A gentle Breeze blows and swirls, i part Your locks, You are looking at me, You burn me and purify me deep within Oh! God, Your Rod and Staff comforts me, i’m Yours; With Your strong arms and gentle hands You hold me safe, Your Bride; You hide me in the Cleft of The Rock; my senses become completely suspended; i remain There, completely lost in oblivion and wholly captured by Your Beauty.
Like a waterfall, Your Salvation washing over me, washing me whiter than the whitest snow! my face reclines on Your chest. I'm completely undone, i abandon myself to You, leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies, drawing deeper into my Christ; i’m crushed by Your Mighty Love like a delicate little naked flower in Your hand, my life, a vapour, a sweet smelling fragrance, for You my Lord. i become nothing, because You become Everything living in me; Heaven is open and Your Glory descends over my little helplessly exposed life, irradiating it completely with Love, as the sun illuminates anything its rays shine through. And, thus completely illuminating me, darkness cannot be found;
You rapture my little 'breath of a life', and carry it on high deep into the Sacred Places of Heaven, You replace me on the Altar and You give Your Blood for me; i’m totally suspended in Love; i draw in a deep thick Breath of Love, and breathe out Love. i drink in deep a Breath of Salvation and breathe out Pure Joy. i drink in deep the Breath of Truth and breathe out Peace. Breathe in deep My Breath of Life, so that you can breathe out My Breath of Life. Eat of My mercy and you will be mercy; i’m intoxicated! Breathe in, and out, drink in deep, then release. Come! Feast yourself at My Banquet, rest, then go and call the multitudes.
Walk to the rhythm of Heaven. Feast yourself on Me, rest, then release, be full of Joy my lovely. Each mouthful is nourishing you, satisfying you and is transforming you more and more into My Image and Likeness. The Flow of Pure Whiteness passes through the Outer Courts, passed the Inner Courts, then completely overtakes everything
within me. At the same time everything within me, drowning in brilliant Whiteness, the Light of Truth consuming me, forever changing the nature of everything within me, Jesus You’re penetrating the core of my being, at a level more profound than my own life. Love, furiously burning so bright, illuminating the Holy of Holies deep from within me;
All fear, shame, anger, hurt and brokenness is rendered silently suspended in me, a most truthful posture, in the presence of a my God. O Lord my God, my Creator and my Redeemer, Jesus I yearn to receive You this day with such reverence, praise, and honour, with such gratitude, worthiness and love, with such faith, hope, and purity. Therefore I offer and present to You the gladness of my heart, my deepest affection, my mental raptures, my supernatural illuminations and my heavenly visions together with all the virtues and praises which have been or shall be celebrated by all creatures in heaven and on earth, that through it all, by the Mighty Power of Your Holy Spirit, You may be worthily praised and adored and glorified forever and ever, my Lord, my Love, my dearest Friend. Amen.
Monday, 9 June 2014
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Undone In The Secret Place
Undone In The Secret Place
“And Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Jehovah abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mountain. And Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exo 24:15-18)
God and Moses spoke and spent time together. God imparted His will and spoke of ‘freewill sacrifices’ from the people of Israel to build an intimate place for God to rest upon and for Him to dwell with His children. In this intimate place on the Mercy Seat was the testimony of God, The Living Word. In the intimate place high up on the mountain, Moses cried out to God and interceded for Israel. Moses cried out and said to God “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found grace in Your sight, make me see now Your ways, that I may know You, that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people. And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here.”(Exo 33:13-15)
In this intimate place with Daddy God, Moses’s character was being transformed into Christlikeness. Today, because of the new covenant of Jesus we don’t have to hike up a mountain to be intimate with God. God lives in the born again. God’s presence is now living in us and goes with us wherever we go. We are the ‘ark of the new covenant’; within us, is the Living Word of God’s testimony of grace, wrought in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are the new temple of God. We are the children of God and we choose to make every Testimony of God, of utmost importance to us, because it is of utmost importance to Him.
But Satan loves to exploit our fleshly nature. When we let our fleshly nature become our master, we head on a downward slope towards death. Satan loves it when the children of God let their fleshly nature rule over them and when we do that, Satan, who is the ‘selfish one’ begins to impart his qualities into us and just robs us, and steals from us, and kills us and destroys our intimacy with God and our relationships with people, until there is nothing left. Satan loves it when God’s own children don’t cherish God’s precious Oracles. Satan loved it when the children of God partner with the cursed fleshly nature. Moses knew the dangers of allowing his fleshly nature to rise higher than God. Moses knew he had to go low-low-low into the presence of God.
“And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread, nor drank water. And He wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” (Exo 34:28)
Moses met with God face to face and was constantly going into intimacy with God. For 40 days on the mountain in the intimate place with God, Moses humbled his fleshly nature by means of eating no bread and drinking no water. Jesus was His nourishment. Moses knew that His fleshly nature had to be humbled in order to walk in the Kingdom of God. Moses knew that if He didn’t humble his flesh, Satan was waiting to exploit him and he could miss what God wanted to give him in their intimate time together.
Not that we are all called too fast for 40 days, but let us recognise what Moses was doing here. Sanctification does not come through works. Sanctification comes from Christ alone. Let us be aware of the importance of intimacy with God, and positioning our flesh where it belongs. Our flesh will always want to be the master, and when we allow it to become the master, we enter into the realm of the curse of the fleshly nature. The fleshly nature is under the power and curse of Satan. It is our responsibility to position ourselves so low, that our flesh becomes nothing but obedient, poor, meek, humble, pure, sweet smelling servants of God. This confuses the enemy because it’s completely outside of his nature.
God has a new nature for His children to partake in. God sent His son Jesus to be the Living Testimony of a new way, truth and life for us in Him. It’s a selfless life that is far beyond the reach of the curse of the fleshly nature, far beyond to clutches of Satan. Yes we make mistakes, but Jesus is the Bridegroom, and we are the Bride of Christ. He is in a marriage covenant with you and in this marriage, no matter what you do, He is the Husband, and the provider, the Bread Winner and the Pursuer of the Bride.
“And it happened as Moses was going down from the mountain of Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony being in Moses' hand as he went down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face had become luminous through His speaking with him. And Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face had become luminous……” (Exo 34:29-30)
Just like the state of Moses was distinctly different before and after he came down from the intimate place with God on the mountain. So will we be different, after intimacy with Jesus. Just like Moses had no direction before going into the intimate place with God on the mountain, but after coming down the mountain Moses was full of purpose, identity and destiny. So also will we be filled with purpose, identity, destiny and overflowing love while abiding in the intimate place with Jesus. Moses released more of the Kingdom by accident, staying close to God, than he ever planned to do in his own strength, away from God. Moses didn’t even realise, how being in the intimate place with God had changed him, his people were the first to notice the change.
This is a powerful word for the body of Christ today.
To overcome the waves of circumstance, we have to come to a place where we let Jesus, and His intense love for us matter, in all areas of our lives every second of the day. His love is so powerful it can overflow in our lives and into the lives of loved ones. To align oneself for breakthrough, it is so important to realize the scale to which our fleshly nature has risen itself above God. Most of the time it’s worse than we could ever possibly conceive. God thought it was serious enough to send His only Son to rescue us from self. The nature of our flesh always floods our hearts with thoughts of self and blocks out the voice of God.
Instead, let’s yield ourselves to Jesus and become flooded with the refreshing Living Water that overflows selflessly. Nothing about Christianity should be about self. We have been saved and adopted into a family that burns with love for God and His children. Sanctification through intimacy with Jesus is for the benefit others, but becomes a blessing in itself to the one being transformed, because it’s an eternal treasure we get to lay down at the feet of Jesus. When we eat and drink of Jesus, He begins to restore the softness and purity of a once lost nature. How do we become sanctified? When we drink in deep, the Living Waters. We must go low to drink from the River of Grace. When we yield ourselves intimately to Jesus, we become low-low-low enough for the Living Waters to flow over us. When we let go and float down His River of Grace towards the deep white-hot centre of His burning heart, we become so hidden in our secret place with Him, that the proudness of our hearts and the things of this world cannot find us, nor affect us, but rather we can become so immersed in Jesus that we begin to affect the circumstances around us as we release the Kingdom of Heaven. As the sunbeam imparts the flowers their varied and delicate tints, so does God impart to the soul the beauty of His character.
As children of God we must never take the indwelling Holy Spirit for granted. This is one of the most powerful and continual miracles of God. Every little fruit produced is an absolute miracle and God loves it, but God wants us to be His vineyard. When we nestle ourselves in the deepest and most secret place in His heart, we have attained the Goal of our salvation and received the Prize, which is simply Jesus himself. Hallelujah! That is the joy and the treasure of life. The scriptures are true, (Jer29:12-13). We have found the Prize of Heaven. Jesus the precious Son of God is ours to behold. When we are intimate with Jesus, we slowly begin to be infused with His character. We catch His Light and we begin to burn bright like a star. We hear His voice and our hearts explode with love. We look into His eyes as we begin to melt and pour out onto His feet like sweet smelling fragranced oil. The very fabric of our reality is undone as we immerse ourselves in the His Divine realities. The very construction of our fleshly nature becomes undone and Jesus begins to re-program our soul and the image of His Divine nature begins to burn in us and shine from us.
In the secret place deep in the heart of Jesus, pride becomes undone and the lowly Spirit of the Servant King overtakes us. Selfishness becomes undone, as the floodgates of Heaven pour out love and grace into the driest places of our heart. Our hearts of stone become undone, and formed into hearts of the softest flesh. The idols of our hearts dissolve and become undone, as they give way to the King of Glory. Shame becomes undone, as the Spirit of Christ fills us, as He crowns our hearts with the purest gold and most precious stones. In the presence of the Prince of Peace, our mistakes and past accusations turn to ashes and He washes us with His own precious Blood. Our face, marred by the world becomes undone, and shines just like Moses, expressing the peace and joy of Heaven drawing in and attracting the lost and broken of this world. Our hunger for the treasures of this world becomes undone, and transformed into a deep hunger for the treasure that is Jesus, and in the secret place deep in to the heart of Jesus, we get to feast on the Living Bread and we drink of His Blood which sustains and nourishes us every day. (John 64:47-52) Undone in His presence is our destiny. Undone in His presence is where we exchange our life for His. Undone in His presence and full of the Divine nature is where the children of God live from. The world is starving for the Living Bread. The world is dying of thirst for the Living Waters. Jesus is the Living Bread and the answer to world hunger.
Reference:
1Co_1:30
Joh6:47-58
2Th_2:13
1Pe_1:2
1Th_4:7
Rom_6:19
1Th_4:3
Joh_17:17
Joh_17:19
Rom_15:16
1Co_6:11
1Joh3:1-3
Monday, 13 January 2014
How Do I Love God?
Mathew 25: 31-46
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He shall sit on the throne of His glory. And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left. Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.
(Mat 25:31-40)
Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.
(Mat 25:41-46)
After reading these passages, it feels like the Holy Spirit has spoken right into the deepest recesses of my entire makeup. I feel a holy tension rise up within me and my first thought, was, that I am only a human being, but immediately I say “Lord, I can’t but You can”.
These scriptures wow! They’re so full of life and divine knowledge, teaching us how to be leaders, how to use our power, how to rule a nation and simply how to be human. It’s as though the Holy Spirit is responsible for using these scriptures to impart destiny and to inspire millions of laid down lovers for God. I believe there must be billions of silent Saints everywhere in the world just quietly and practically getting on with just simply loving God through people. If this is a foreign concept to you then you’re not alone. If you are familiar with it, then you especially need fresh divine revelation because these scriptures pull us into ever increasing glory. We can never arrive or become familiar with this.
I ask myself, how can I, actually love God. The only way I can actually love God, is to choose to love His people. The reason why I say ‘choose’ is because loving only by my emotions for example is not sustainable. I don’t know about you but my emotions are effected by brain chemistry and also externals and my emotions can change quite a bit, and I have brokenness in me, so I can’t trust my emotions to be my guide and motivation for love. In an encyclopaedia, emotions are depicted as a “primary reactions such as anger, love, and fear, which occur as an immediate response to external stimuli”. Based on this, wouldn’t faith then be an immediate positive response to God, founded appon His Word and Spirit. I’m not saying that emotions have no purpose. What I am saying is that we can get to a place where our emotional are less stirred by external influences and completely thrilled by loving God, His Word and Spirit through people.
As I walk out of our reed hut and into the back yard, I begin to drink in this powerful scripture and also just to get some fresh air, I am confronted by this little boy. His name is Caitan and he is one of the “Big Heart Kids” that spends allot of time with us. When I first met him he was as wild as an animal and would always hide away. As I got to know him, I could see the overwhelming poverty over him and his family. No fancy preach, or book, or suit or even loads of money will help him right now, only love will. I often wonder why this precious boy is so drawn to me. I am 85kg of pure pride. I have allot of brokenness and I can be extremely selfish but there has been a significant upgrade to my soul, and that is Jesus now lives in me. I believe Caitan is not drawn to just me but he sees Jesus in me, and is drawn to the love of Jesus that is in me. I believe God speaks on our behalf and His Holy Spirit ministers through us and touches people. In saying all this, I am left with burning fiery question on my heart. What does love look like right now for this little boy desperately seeking love and attention whom according to the above scripture, is Jesus.
Today it wasn’t water or food Jesus wanted, all He wanted was to spend time with me.
We give our TIME to people, for them to be with Jesus in us.
God wants Caitan and his family to one day hear Jesus say “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He shall sit on the throne of His glory. And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left. Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.
(Mat 25:31-40)
Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.
(Mat 25:41-46)
After reading these passages, it feels like the Holy Spirit has spoken right into the deepest recesses of my entire makeup. I feel a holy tension rise up within me and my first thought, was, that I am only a human being, but immediately I say “Lord, I can’t but You can”.
These scriptures wow! They’re so full of life and divine knowledge, teaching us how to be leaders, how to use our power, how to rule a nation and simply how to be human. It’s as though the Holy Spirit is responsible for using these scriptures to impart destiny and to inspire millions of laid down lovers for God. I believe there must be billions of silent Saints everywhere in the world just quietly and practically getting on with just simply loving God through people. If this is a foreign concept to you then you’re not alone. If you are familiar with it, then you especially need fresh divine revelation because these scriptures pull us into ever increasing glory. We can never arrive or become familiar with this.
I ask myself, how can I, actually love God. The only way I can actually love God, is to choose to love His people. The reason why I say ‘choose’ is because loving only by my emotions for example is not sustainable. I don’t know about you but my emotions are effected by brain chemistry and also externals and my emotions can change quite a bit, and I have brokenness in me, so I can’t trust my emotions to be my guide and motivation for love. In an encyclopaedia, emotions are depicted as a “primary reactions such as anger, love, and fear, which occur as an immediate response to external stimuli”. Based on this, wouldn’t faith then be an immediate positive response to God, founded appon His Word and Spirit. I’m not saying that emotions have no purpose. What I am saying is that we can get to a place where our emotional are less stirred by external influences and completely thrilled by loving God, His Word and Spirit through people.
As I walk out of our reed hut and into the back yard, I begin to drink in this powerful scripture and also just to get some fresh air, I am confronted by this little boy. His name is Caitan and he is one of the “Big Heart Kids” that spends allot of time with us. When I first met him he was as wild as an animal and would always hide away. As I got to know him, I could see the overwhelming poverty over him and his family. No fancy preach, or book, or suit or even loads of money will help him right now, only love will. I often wonder why this precious boy is so drawn to me. I am 85kg of pure pride. I have allot of brokenness and I can be extremely selfish but there has been a significant upgrade to my soul, and that is Jesus now lives in me. I believe Caitan is not drawn to just me but he sees Jesus in me, and is drawn to the love of Jesus that is in me. I believe God speaks on our behalf and His Holy Spirit ministers through us and touches people. In saying all this, I am left with burning fiery question on my heart. What does love look like right now for this little boy desperately seeking love and attention whom according to the above scripture, is Jesus.
Today it wasn’t water or food Jesus wanted, all He wanted was to spend time with me.
We give our TIME to people, for them to be with Jesus in us.
God wants Caitan and his family to one day hear Jesus say “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Saturday, 28 December 2013
God Is Good
God Is Good.
Dear friends, I was encouraged by my wife to start my very own blog, Ta-Da! I guess it’s another way to express the hope I’m feeling for 2014 and to also celebrate the change God has brought into my life. To give those of you who don’t know me the quick version. God saved me. I was a drug addict for 18 years, Almost died a bunch of times, I’ve travelled the world, played in rock bands and I’ve also climbed the corporate ladder. But the only thing that has been truly significant is the pure grace by which I was saved. I struggle to find someone who deserves Gods love less than me. But here I am, alive and kicking and pursuing a life in Christ. I am based in Mozambique, I have a beautiful wife and we are in the process of adopting our precious little Mozambican jungle boy, Elijah. As we head into 2014 I look back at the year gone bye and see great battles fought and won but also, I carry some pretty serious wounds.
I’m compelled to start off with this statement. ‘If we truly believe that God is good then all our problems would be solved.’ Bold statement I know, but if you feel doubt about this statement in any way ( I know I did ), I would just like to declare as we head into 2014 and If you remember anything from this gigantic first blog post I pray that you walk away with this deeply rooted in your heart. ‘God is good and God can always be trusted.’ Just think about this: In Gods unlimited and infinite imagination, and out of all the things that God could have created to bring Himself pleasure, He created beautiful and precious you. He created us so that He could spend time with us for His pleasure.
Friends we can get to a place where we can be so intimate with Him and full of truth and love that everything we do is worship towards God as we feel and are driven by His pleasure over us. That is what we were created for, to bring Him pleasure and to simply enjoy His presence. Once this truth lands and takes root in our hearts, everything else seems to just fall into place. I pray that 2014 will be the year His pleasure crashes down upon us as we draw near to Him in deeper and more intimate way. Holy Spirit please guide us and teach us.
Ok, before we move on I feel I need to emphasize a very special and powerful truth about the Kingdom of God that will give us reason to believe that hope is always near, and that is that God relentlessly and furiously targets and destroys darkness and oppression in all areas of our lives, but only if we take His hand and seek after His presence do we stand the best chance for victories and lasting fruit. Friends God does not run away from our darkness or oppression. God is not shaken by our mistakes or illnesses but rather, passionately moves towards us and our dark areas and destroys them for our freedom sake, but friends, we have to grab onto His outstretched Hand and we cannot shy away from the dark places in this world because that, is where God is relentlessly moving towards. Light shines brightest in the dark places. I pray that 2014 will be a year of illumination. Darkness will flee like never before as God raises the standard for 2014.
Jesus came to earth with unprecedented power and glory but friends, don’t be deceived, it is possible for us to make all of what Jesus did for us completely useless in our lives.
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
I know that we don’t intentionally want to stop Jesus from working in our lives but it is certainly possible to make Jesus have no effect in our lives. Because we are human, the reality is that despite being saved, we still have the capacity to host idols and believe and go along with Satan’s lies. Unless, right now and for 2014 we say NO MORE LIES! As we head into 2014 I pray that all saints will make the Gospel truths to be true wealth in our hearts. Holy Spirit purify our hearts from idols so we may never hinder your work in this world.
Next, let’s stand together and come against the Idol of Self preservation and Reputation, in Jesus name. There are many times where I am guilty of forgetting my frail humanity because of an Idol in my life and you know what? I become harsh, dogmatic and unforgiving towards my wife, my son and others because an idol of Self-preservation and Reputation had formed in my heart and was hindering the Kingdom of God from flowing out of me. With this idol poisoning my heart I felt no peace, no joy and no righteousness. I became reluctant to make myself vulnerable and I wanted to appear as though I was strong and perfect because I wanted people to pat me on the back, and if I’m honest, I even performed to promote ministry support. Friends my heart quickly became hard as a rock and I felt no joy, I had no peace and didn’t feel any righteousness. My lifeline to God became blocked up with the idol of self-preservation and reputation. I was unable to love my wife, the children or the village they was I know God intended. I was crying out to God for about a week for change, I didn’t know what to do to get out of this rut. All I could do was spend every moment I had with God and one day I just realized something, I was professing to trust God for everything yet I was performing dead works which undermine my trust in God. I realized I was chasing after the idol of self-preservation and reputation and I was shocked that my potential for self-deception was so real and I was humbled by how utterly broken I still was in many areas of life. Holy Spirit began to pour out healing into my life and re-connected me to my frail humanity by revealing Jesus to me. Ah! it was awesome! I felt alive again. I wasn’t being sin conscious, I was being Cross conscious. The Cross of Christ made me very aware of my humanity and my righteousness at the same time. I became very aware of what I have been forgiven for. I became hungry for Jesus. Yes! We need Jesus! Save us Jesus! We are weak but You are so strong Lord! We are all at the foot of Your Cross. I realised it’s not me who has to appear good but rather it is God that is always good regardless of my ability. Compassion began to flow out of me towards myself, my wife, the children and the village. I became hungry and had compassion to love the lost and broken. I wasn’t scared of the dark places and I wasn’t scared to be vulnerable about my struggles while being a missionary in Mozambique, even if I risked having people’s confidence in me undermined. I have been so blessed by friends and family and leaders who have become vulnerable and shared their life stories and struggles with me.
Rev 12:11 They won the victory over him because of the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life so much that they refused to give it up.
Friends if we are truly honest with ourselves, we are all walking in a measure of darkness in some or other way and we all desperately need each other’s support, we constantly need to be sharing our struggles and victories with each other so we can learn. We need Jesus to constantly help us and deliver us from dark areas in our lives day by day. Nobody walks in full divine revelation no matter how many books we have written or read and no matter how perfect that person may appear to be and no matter what your ministry status might be. Nobody is ever better than another. There is no other religion or project or mission we can be involved in that will qualify us before God, on what Jesus has done qualifies us. We need to draw near to God and go where He goes for His Kingdom sake. Only the pierced hands of Jesus makes us a good Christian. Friends we are rejecting this idol as we go into 2014.
Even Paul, who wrote a third of the New Testament said in 1Cor13:12, that he doesn’t even fully know everything, but will one day know in full as he is fully known by God. Friends, we cannot just live past and ignore the fact that despite being saved by God, we still don’t actually walk in full divine revelation and we all humbly seek after clarity and desperately need Jesus every moment of each day. Can I be bold and say that if this rubs you the wrong way then you can be sure there is a false Idol in your heart. Lord, for 2014, for all of us, I pray that we will open our hearts and draw near to the Holy Spirit to work on and tend to the ‘Garden of our hearts.’ I pray that all saints will stand together and press into God together for healing, while we remain in an equal place of compassion as we minister together and encourage one other in this Christian walk. When your pastor invites people for prayer RUN! and seek after healing. We all need it. In 2014 Lord we pray that all the saints will remain in a vulnerable and open place where grace flows thick and true reliance on God is made real. Lord we are expectant and excited to know that one day our faith will be transformed into perfect vision and we will gladly share the visions we receive from Heaven but at the same time we want to remain humble and deeply aware of our own brokenness and our destructive potential to believe Satan’s lies here on earth. Lord as you smash the idol of self-preservation and reputation in our lives help us to never become hard, distant and cold. Lord we want to be soft, present and warm with strong arms and soft hands as we make mistakes and learn this beautiful dance of love. Lord we want to be your hands and feet, Lord we want to be your voice to those who are saved and to those who are perishing. Lord melt us, mould us and fill us and use us to be the fragrance of Jesus, the Saviour of man. Saints we are more than His child, we are His lover and His friend. We are a counterpart in all things to the end. So for 2014 we must be careful not to let the idol of self-preservation and reputations poison our hearts. The fruits of this idol are usually performance, the appearance of perfection, isolation and harshness towards people and dark places and imperialistic top-down relational dynamics.
God began to break down these things in my life and that was when I started learning how to walk as a son. Once I realised that I had made reputation and self-preservation an Idol. This Idol was hindering the work of God in my life; I stopped relying on my ability to be good and placed my focus on His ability. I made many mistakes but also began to learn how to lay down my life just like my Saviour did for us, but in small measures, day by day. It’s not because we are good, but it’s all because He is good. Once this idol was exposed in my life, I stopped taking other peoples fruit to hang on my own little shrivelled up branch. I felt compelled to spend more quality time with the true King. At first, I was bombarding Him with my insecure requests and needs, but then eventually I simply started enjoying Him and His pleasure over me. I just enjoyed walking and talking with Him alongside the rivers, and lay with Him in green pastures. A funny thing started happening, instead of running to God to try and get Him to solve all my problems, authority and sonship came over me and I started telling all my problems about my Big awesome Daddy God. And there it was, my own tiny little sapling with an even smaller little fruit growing from it, and you know what, it was small but it was powerful and it was my own little fruit that I get to lay down at my Jesus’s feet.
So, what does this all mean? Is God re-defining our understanding of what a Christian is? He surely is for me. What is it to be a Christian? Is it even possible to BE a Christian? See that’s the thing with having a perfect Saviour, is that He’s done it all perfectly and nothing can be added or taken away from It. I guess for me being a Christian is like being a wounded healer, someone who is deeply aware of his/her brokenness and constant need for a Saviour but in the same breath someone who is a tender loving compassionate son of God that will rather be on the front line getting smashed from all directions, than be found in the back waisting their life. Someone who is completely dependent on God like a baby to its mother, like a branch attached to a tree. I guess a Christian is someone who keeps themselves close to the Holy Spirit. Maybe it someone who is on a humble journey toward spiritual and character transformations towards Christlikeness where there is endless grace to make mistakes and learn. What makes us Christian is nothing that we can do or suffer be but rather what Jesus has done and suffered. Friends right now, we all are moving into and towards full revelation but there is also the reality that we are also walking in a measure of darkness. We cannot ignore these two realities. So, as we are filled with the Gospel truth and as we press into Jesus, the lies and idols get pressed out of us and we move into greater measures of freedom and love as we become more and more like Jesus. One day our faith will literally be transformed into crystal clear Heavenly reality. In other words, one day we will be physically living with the realities in Heaven, which we believed on earth for.
So let your heart be filled with hope right now! If you believe a lie whether you know it or not, if you hold onto God, The Kingdom of God is with you and is for you, relentlessly hunting down darkness and oppression in our lives. God is good and He will abolish all darkness and oppression because that is God’s love and His heart for all His children. He deeply desires for us to be full of joy and freedom. If we have faith that God is good and He is always fighting for our freedom, we can weather anything the world can throw at us for 2014 and beyond. Let your heart be filled with hope this year. Friends, when we fall into a dark place, let us be vulnerable and reach out for help. We must choose to have hope and know that God is coming to abolish all our darkness with His power, and when we feel trapped, we draw near to Jesus and rest assured that God is coming to destroy whatever it is that is keeping us trapped.
It is a good and responsible practice to minister the Gospel truths to ourselves first. I believe the best way to minister to people is to let the Gospel truths settle and take root in our own hearts first. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will change the atmosphere wherever we go. I have been impacted more by people who carry a safe and comforting atmosphere, than people who have a head full of cool stuff to flaunt. People will always remember how you made them feel over what you said. Friends there are great battles ahead of us for this new year. 2014 will be a year of deep intimacy with God where the mind-set of the saints will be one of great hope and trust and expectation for the move of the Holy Spirit. The best is yet to come. Friends if we simply draw near to God, we will do more good things by accident staying close to God, than we’ll ever do on purpose, away from Him.
The Claassen family would like to wish all our amazing friends and family the best for 2014. Thank you for those who have been our support during those dark times, you know who you are. We call upon all the saints to press into God and to keep your hearts near to Him. 2014 will be the year we experience the Fathers pleasure like never before. Keep up the good fight. Get behind and support anything that compels you. Remember, If you can stand not doing anything about it, then rather don’t, but if you can’t stand not doing anything, then Isa 60:1 Arise! Shine! Your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has dawned. Jesus was moved with compassion and walked in the fullness of the Fathers pleasure. He is love and He is in us, therefore now, we can love. So roll up your sleeves and get busy lovin. Let’s stand together and see God rock 2014!
Col 1:27 God wanted his people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery-which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.
Lord Bless!
The Claassen family.
Theoclaassen77@gmail.com
FB Group: Painting The Village Red
Dear friends, I was encouraged by my wife to start my very own blog, Ta-Da! I guess it’s another way to express the hope I’m feeling for 2014 and to also celebrate the change God has brought into my life. To give those of you who don’t know me the quick version. God saved me. I was a drug addict for 18 years, Almost died a bunch of times, I’ve travelled the world, played in rock bands and I’ve also climbed the corporate ladder. But the only thing that has been truly significant is the pure grace by which I was saved. I struggle to find someone who deserves Gods love less than me. But here I am, alive and kicking and pursuing a life in Christ. I am based in Mozambique, I have a beautiful wife and we are in the process of adopting our precious little Mozambican jungle boy, Elijah. As we head into 2014 I look back at the year gone bye and see great battles fought and won but also, I carry some pretty serious wounds.
I’m compelled to start off with this statement. ‘If we truly believe that God is good then all our problems would be solved.’ Bold statement I know, but if you feel doubt about this statement in any way ( I know I did ), I would just like to declare as we head into 2014 and If you remember anything from this gigantic first blog post I pray that you walk away with this deeply rooted in your heart. ‘God is good and God can always be trusted.’ Just think about this: In Gods unlimited and infinite imagination, and out of all the things that God could have created to bring Himself pleasure, He created beautiful and precious you. He created us so that He could spend time with us for His pleasure.
Friends we can get to a place where we can be so intimate with Him and full of truth and love that everything we do is worship towards God as we feel and are driven by His pleasure over us. That is what we were created for, to bring Him pleasure and to simply enjoy His presence. Once this truth lands and takes root in our hearts, everything else seems to just fall into place. I pray that 2014 will be the year His pleasure crashes down upon us as we draw near to Him in deeper and more intimate way. Holy Spirit please guide us and teach us.
Ok, before we move on I feel I need to emphasize a very special and powerful truth about the Kingdom of God that will give us reason to believe that hope is always near, and that is that God relentlessly and furiously targets and destroys darkness and oppression in all areas of our lives, but only if we take His hand and seek after His presence do we stand the best chance for victories and lasting fruit. Friends God does not run away from our darkness or oppression. God is not shaken by our mistakes or illnesses but rather, passionately moves towards us and our dark areas and destroys them for our freedom sake, but friends, we have to grab onto His outstretched Hand and we cannot shy away from the dark places in this world because that, is where God is relentlessly moving towards. Light shines brightest in the dark places. I pray that 2014 will be a year of illumination. Darkness will flee like never before as God raises the standard for 2014.
Jesus came to earth with unprecedented power and glory but friends, don’t be deceived, it is possible for us to make all of what Jesus did for us completely useless in our lives.
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
I know that we don’t intentionally want to stop Jesus from working in our lives but it is certainly possible to make Jesus have no effect in our lives. Because we are human, the reality is that despite being saved, we still have the capacity to host idols and believe and go along with Satan’s lies. Unless, right now and for 2014 we say NO MORE LIES! As we head into 2014 I pray that all saints will make the Gospel truths to be true wealth in our hearts. Holy Spirit purify our hearts from idols so we may never hinder your work in this world.
Next, let’s stand together and come against the Idol of Self preservation and Reputation, in Jesus name. There are many times where I am guilty of forgetting my frail humanity because of an Idol in my life and you know what? I become harsh, dogmatic and unforgiving towards my wife, my son and others because an idol of Self-preservation and Reputation had formed in my heart and was hindering the Kingdom of God from flowing out of me. With this idol poisoning my heart I felt no peace, no joy and no righteousness. I became reluctant to make myself vulnerable and I wanted to appear as though I was strong and perfect because I wanted people to pat me on the back, and if I’m honest, I even performed to promote ministry support. Friends my heart quickly became hard as a rock and I felt no joy, I had no peace and didn’t feel any righteousness. My lifeline to God became blocked up with the idol of self-preservation and reputation. I was unable to love my wife, the children or the village they was I know God intended. I was crying out to God for about a week for change, I didn’t know what to do to get out of this rut. All I could do was spend every moment I had with God and one day I just realized something, I was professing to trust God for everything yet I was performing dead works which undermine my trust in God. I realized I was chasing after the idol of self-preservation and reputation and I was shocked that my potential for self-deception was so real and I was humbled by how utterly broken I still was in many areas of life. Holy Spirit began to pour out healing into my life and re-connected me to my frail humanity by revealing Jesus to me. Ah! it was awesome! I felt alive again. I wasn’t being sin conscious, I was being Cross conscious. The Cross of Christ made me very aware of my humanity and my righteousness at the same time. I became very aware of what I have been forgiven for. I became hungry for Jesus. Yes! We need Jesus! Save us Jesus! We are weak but You are so strong Lord! We are all at the foot of Your Cross. I realised it’s not me who has to appear good but rather it is God that is always good regardless of my ability. Compassion began to flow out of me towards myself, my wife, the children and the village. I became hungry and had compassion to love the lost and broken. I wasn’t scared of the dark places and I wasn’t scared to be vulnerable about my struggles while being a missionary in Mozambique, even if I risked having people’s confidence in me undermined. I have been so blessed by friends and family and leaders who have become vulnerable and shared their life stories and struggles with me.
Rev 12:11 They won the victory over him because of the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life so much that they refused to give it up.
Friends if we are truly honest with ourselves, we are all walking in a measure of darkness in some or other way and we all desperately need each other’s support, we constantly need to be sharing our struggles and victories with each other so we can learn. We need Jesus to constantly help us and deliver us from dark areas in our lives day by day. Nobody walks in full divine revelation no matter how many books we have written or read and no matter how perfect that person may appear to be and no matter what your ministry status might be. Nobody is ever better than another. There is no other religion or project or mission we can be involved in that will qualify us before God, on what Jesus has done qualifies us. We need to draw near to God and go where He goes for His Kingdom sake. Only the pierced hands of Jesus makes us a good Christian. Friends we are rejecting this idol as we go into 2014.
Even Paul, who wrote a third of the New Testament said in 1Cor13:12, that he doesn’t even fully know everything, but will one day know in full as he is fully known by God. Friends, we cannot just live past and ignore the fact that despite being saved by God, we still don’t actually walk in full divine revelation and we all humbly seek after clarity and desperately need Jesus every moment of each day. Can I be bold and say that if this rubs you the wrong way then you can be sure there is a false Idol in your heart. Lord, for 2014, for all of us, I pray that we will open our hearts and draw near to the Holy Spirit to work on and tend to the ‘Garden of our hearts.’ I pray that all saints will stand together and press into God together for healing, while we remain in an equal place of compassion as we minister together and encourage one other in this Christian walk. When your pastor invites people for prayer RUN! and seek after healing. We all need it. In 2014 Lord we pray that all the saints will remain in a vulnerable and open place where grace flows thick and true reliance on God is made real. Lord we are expectant and excited to know that one day our faith will be transformed into perfect vision and we will gladly share the visions we receive from Heaven but at the same time we want to remain humble and deeply aware of our own brokenness and our destructive potential to believe Satan’s lies here on earth. Lord as you smash the idol of self-preservation and reputation in our lives help us to never become hard, distant and cold. Lord we want to be soft, present and warm with strong arms and soft hands as we make mistakes and learn this beautiful dance of love. Lord we want to be your hands and feet, Lord we want to be your voice to those who are saved and to those who are perishing. Lord melt us, mould us and fill us and use us to be the fragrance of Jesus, the Saviour of man. Saints we are more than His child, we are His lover and His friend. We are a counterpart in all things to the end. So for 2014 we must be careful not to let the idol of self-preservation and reputations poison our hearts. The fruits of this idol are usually performance, the appearance of perfection, isolation and harshness towards people and dark places and imperialistic top-down relational dynamics.
God began to break down these things in my life and that was when I started learning how to walk as a son. Once I realised that I had made reputation and self-preservation an Idol. This Idol was hindering the work of God in my life; I stopped relying on my ability to be good and placed my focus on His ability. I made many mistakes but also began to learn how to lay down my life just like my Saviour did for us, but in small measures, day by day. It’s not because we are good, but it’s all because He is good. Once this idol was exposed in my life, I stopped taking other peoples fruit to hang on my own little shrivelled up branch. I felt compelled to spend more quality time with the true King. At first, I was bombarding Him with my insecure requests and needs, but then eventually I simply started enjoying Him and His pleasure over me. I just enjoyed walking and talking with Him alongside the rivers, and lay with Him in green pastures. A funny thing started happening, instead of running to God to try and get Him to solve all my problems, authority and sonship came over me and I started telling all my problems about my Big awesome Daddy God. And there it was, my own tiny little sapling with an even smaller little fruit growing from it, and you know what, it was small but it was powerful and it was my own little fruit that I get to lay down at my Jesus’s feet.
So, what does this all mean? Is God re-defining our understanding of what a Christian is? He surely is for me. What is it to be a Christian? Is it even possible to BE a Christian? See that’s the thing with having a perfect Saviour, is that He’s done it all perfectly and nothing can be added or taken away from It. I guess for me being a Christian is like being a wounded healer, someone who is deeply aware of his/her brokenness and constant need for a Saviour but in the same breath someone who is a tender loving compassionate son of God that will rather be on the front line getting smashed from all directions, than be found in the back waisting their life. Someone who is completely dependent on God like a baby to its mother, like a branch attached to a tree. I guess a Christian is someone who keeps themselves close to the Holy Spirit. Maybe it someone who is on a humble journey toward spiritual and character transformations towards Christlikeness where there is endless grace to make mistakes and learn. What makes us Christian is nothing that we can do or suffer be but rather what Jesus has done and suffered. Friends right now, we all are moving into and towards full revelation but there is also the reality that we are also walking in a measure of darkness. We cannot ignore these two realities. So, as we are filled with the Gospel truth and as we press into Jesus, the lies and idols get pressed out of us and we move into greater measures of freedom and love as we become more and more like Jesus. One day our faith will literally be transformed into crystal clear Heavenly reality. In other words, one day we will be physically living with the realities in Heaven, which we believed on earth for.
So let your heart be filled with hope right now! If you believe a lie whether you know it or not, if you hold onto God, The Kingdom of God is with you and is for you, relentlessly hunting down darkness and oppression in our lives. God is good and He will abolish all darkness and oppression because that is God’s love and His heart for all His children. He deeply desires for us to be full of joy and freedom. If we have faith that God is good and He is always fighting for our freedom, we can weather anything the world can throw at us for 2014 and beyond. Let your heart be filled with hope this year. Friends, when we fall into a dark place, let us be vulnerable and reach out for help. We must choose to have hope and know that God is coming to abolish all our darkness with His power, and when we feel trapped, we draw near to Jesus and rest assured that God is coming to destroy whatever it is that is keeping us trapped.
It is a good and responsible practice to minister the Gospel truths to ourselves first. I believe the best way to minister to people is to let the Gospel truths settle and take root in our own hearts first. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will change the atmosphere wherever we go. I have been impacted more by people who carry a safe and comforting atmosphere, than people who have a head full of cool stuff to flaunt. People will always remember how you made them feel over what you said. Friends there are great battles ahead of us for this new year. 2014 will be a year of deep intimacy with God where the mind-set of the saints will be one of great hope and trust and expectation for the move of the Holy Spirit. The best is yet to come. Friends if we simply draw near to God, we will do more good things by accident staying close to God, than we’ll ever do on purpose, away from Him.
The Claassen family would like to wish all our amazing friends and family the best for 2014. Thank you for those who have been our support during those dark times, you know who you are. We call upon all the saints to press into God and to keep your hearts near to Him. 2014 will be the year we experience the Fathers pleasure like never before. Keep up the good fight. Get behind and support anything that compels you. Remember, If you can stand not doing anything about it, then rather don’t, but if you can’t stand not doing anything, then Isa 60:1 Arise! Shine! Your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has dawned. Jesus was moved with compassion and walked in the fullness of the Fathers pleasure. He is love and He is in us, therefore now, we can love. So roll up your sleeves and get busy lovin. Let’s stand together and see God rock 2014!
Col 1:27 God wanted his people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery-which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.
Lord Bless!
The Claassen family.
Theoclaassen77@gmail.com
FB Group: Painting The Village Red
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