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Introduction
As
I write, I am involved in the South Australian State elections that will be held in a few days’ time and I have been pleasantly surprised to find that God has been linking me with civic and national leaders. This should not be surprising really, because He told me decades ago, that I would meet with leaders of nations, including royalty. Some of this has already happened, but I am cautious however to ensure that I do not start racing off onto any ego trips and fantasies, but back in the day, the then Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke asked me to stand for election in the federal seat of Herbert, followed by a man called Don Chipp, the founder of the Democrats (no longer active) who asked me to consider a political career in the Senate. I declined on both occasions for several reasons—they had the wrong political ideals, I was not ready and it was not God’s will at that time. He had other plans. Marjorie and I received an open invitation to stay in the home of the US Senator for Georgia whenever we were in Atlanta and I relate to a man who has been an advisor to the US administration. Many years ago in my secular career, I had occasion to be present in two events involving the Queen and other members of the royal family and this required having a special ASIO1 security clearance which I had to have because of my secular position. I met with all the candidates in an unusual manner and have been invited to attend committee meetings in one headquarters office as if taken into their inner circles. “Why?” I wonder. “Is God orchestrating something?” I really do not know, but many things I had seen or imagined decades ago are suddenly falling into places like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Pieces of puzzles are suddenly being put into place for people all over the world, perhaps for you. I share this not to falsely boast, but to tell you that we can all be prone to want things to happen now and can get off onto tangents that might be great, but not necessarily what God wants! We grow impatient when things do not seem to come together in our own time-frame and we risk trying to force issues. I am as guilty as anyone else I guess, but I have learned that God’s timing is always perfect and that trying to make things happen is usually a recipe for disaster. So too is lagging behind. It is just as serious. Sometimes we can have the right vision, but get the timing wrong. We might not be ready for it yet, or we can be someone who makes the initial preparations and someone else bring it to fruition. Some of us are planners and others are the builders and we can get into trouble if we mix them up. David collected the building materials for the construction of the Temple. He conceived the idea, but Solomon actually built it. What is often overlooked is that someone may get a “God vision” and start the ball rolling for it, but he or she might not be the one to fulfill it. If it is truly of God, we can let it go or hand it on to someone else (or be prepared to do so) and not feel anything negative about it. We are supposed to be helping Jesus build His Church, not our church, my church, my ministry, but it sure seems to be the opposite at times. We all use such expressions as a matter of convenience, but there are times when it is out of balance. Sometimes we try to make it start working ahead of time, but do not have the full picture yet of what God is trying to tell us. Holding back and waiting is thus not always a bad thing. We were recently invited to attend a conference of a world-wide association of churches and apostolic/prophetic leaders. This is an association of five-fold ministries and other Christian leaders throughout twenty-eight countries around the world. The central messages all spoke on the same things, reinforcing what I have been trying to say for years. In a nutshell it is a message that it is not “business as usual” in the church and that we must return to the original pattern. Many parts of the church have become “seeker friendly” and whilst they seem to be drawing numbers and have good programs, lack the essential element of making disciples which is part of the great commission Jesus gave us. This is not a popular topic however,but many people around the world are having an awakening to it. God is speaking to the church and we need to not just start listening, but doing what He says. It’s time for change. When the Lord started speaking to me decades ago about my ministry, He was very specific, telling me to prepare myself for it. He never specified a time, only to wait and prepare myself for it. One evening many years ago, He came into my home and told me to study the ministry of John the Baptist,who as you know, was the man who ushered in the coming of Messiah. Numerous prophecies about His appearing were given hundreds and thousands of years beforehand, but Jesus never arrived on the scene until the right time had come and one man knew about it, telling God’s people to get themselves ready for the event. That was John’s primary focus. It is also mine. In that encounter with the Lord, He told me that He had appointed me to a role like John’s, which is why I adopted the ministry motto of “Preparing the way” and that I, with others scattered around the world being hidden in relative obscurity were being prepared for their sudden emergence. John was hidden away for 30 years, beforehand... I believe that we are fast approaching the time when these ministries will be fully released. Perhaps we have just entered it. 1
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Although we expected it we are pleasantly surprized at how things are eventuating. Most of you know that in 2015, we moved from the northern state of Queensland in Australia to my home state of South Australia, but I had wanted to do this for decades. One evening my wife came to me saying that the Lord told her to read Deuteronomy chapter one. He had also told me to read it and when we shared notes, He had told both of us in Deuteronomy 1:6-8The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have dwelt long enough on this mountain. Turn and take up your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South (the Negeb), and on the coast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them. We were living on Mount Tamborine at the time and this scripture described our journey and the motivation for it so accurately, it is not funny and so we moved, knowing that this was but the first step to our final destination—to our own Promised Land. We were excited to arrive here, but there was still something more... You see, we had not really fully accomplished our objective. We only half completed the journey and although we really liked the place where we temporarily stopped and could have settled there, it was only the start of God’s plan. Never settle for less than God’s best. Do not camp. You might be a work in progress, but it is a work—in progress—which means you might not have arrived yet. Don’t camp unless you know for sure this is “the place” and it can be geographical for some, but spiritually for all of us. You might not yet have really reached your ultimate objective. My friends, some of you are in something that you know The day we decided to obey Him on our initial move, that you know is not “it” yet. You may have had a word Heaven started opening up! from God in some way that has been a blessing and We saw the cloud moving and chose to move with it, but probably a challenge to you and wondering when, oh when, the cloud kept moving, just as it did for Israel! The Lord is this baby going to be born? Don’t quit, but it is just as told us not to completely settle in to our new temporary important to not get so anxious for things to come together home and we basically lived out of suitcases for two years, that you start doing something you will later regret. until an “and suddenly” moment arrived. Suddenly...everything we had been dreaming of and hoping There is an appointed time and a set season for it, or as the for started to fall into place—but we had to move on. Hebrew describes... a Moed! More on that soon. Many people are afraid, unwilling or unable to move on I came here with the intention to start a new church. in God. They settle into life and are happy where they are After all, this is what pastors are supposed to do...isn’t it? and that’s perfectly acceptable, but I am not referring only Who says so? Nevertheless, the Lord has told us to wait, despite having told us “Build Me a Church” and I am seeing to the physical. I am talking about moving on in God, not because of instability etc. It has to be God. His wisdom in this. By waiting like this, He is showing us things we would never have seen, met people we would This is in the realm of the spirit and it is here where never have met and probably avoided making a colossal many people camp. Church history tells us that this is mistake. Now there are churches and there are churches and so. Someone had a “revival” somewhere once and it was to be frank, there are too many around that the Lord never wonderful but they have not moved on. That “revival” was ordained! I share all that to say that we should never try to for its season and although God moved on, they didn’t do something unless He says so. and so live on memories. This is how many denominations It can and does bring reproach onto the Lord and His form and denominational-ism is in my opinion a ploy of Church when people get out of alignment. the enemy to separate and divide us and to stop us all from entering fully into what God is really doing. When we moved to South Australia, I was told in no It has successfully stopped the real message of Jesus from uncertain terms to wait and that is a hard thing to do for going out and, rather than having the influence that the someone like me, but we understand why. As a result, Lord intended, often seems to have the reverse affect. we are suddenly being linked up with all kinds of people, including civic leaders and prominent politicians without Marjorie and I were enjoying our new life. It was like having to do a thing and it started to happen after we moving to foreign country and I was so happy to be back in moved again! This is not because we are unstable. my home town, but both of us knew (and God told us so) On the contrary, we actually hesitated until the Lord really that this was merely a temporary stopover to rest, because corrected us and that passage in Deuteronomy that was the real deal was yet to come! Some of you will see what I what clinched stage one of our relocation, took on a whole am saying, because it might be what you are going through new meaning when we really saw what God was doing and yourselves. It’s all a matter of God’s timing! got on side with Him.
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I am sharing these things to also encourage many of my friends who will be reading this. I heard from a pastor in Africa whose daughter died and our hearts go out to him and his family! He shared his hurt. He (and many others) has been asking me many times to visit him and so I shall, but when the time is right. Another pastor told me how violence broke out where he lived and people were shot and killed. Another told me how robbers broke into his home and stole his possessions. Others keep saying that they have no food and so the stories roll in. We are family and we all hurt when one of us hurts. We might not be able to help each other as we would like or when we want to but we are still linked together and feel each other’s hurts. God does! When I mentioned God’s timing, what I want you to know is that God is doing something in the earth and it is possibly something that you did not expect. It is most likely not going to happen in the way you think, or even in the time-frame you want. We are a people who have a covenant relationship with God. We are a people who can and should be “super-normal” and by that, I mean living in the supernatural of God. The day may come when we will have to do that, so let’s learn how now. In a troubled world that sees the threat (real or not) of a nuclear war, poverty, famines, diseases and starvation in many places, men and women who see no apparent hope or future can rise above their circumstances. As I often say, we can learn how to tap into the source, regardless of where we live and what is happening around us. It is scriptural. It is happening today and it can happen for anyone, anywhere. I first started witnessing this in India, that is renowned for being a poverty ridden country, when the people in a church I visited in a small remote village back of nowhere had learned to do this. The pastor kept a large container at the right of the platform area in which rice was kept. People came with their own containers and filled them from this large one and the level of rice never diminished. If those folk with no money, no education and no resources could do that there...anyone anywhere else can also. Therefore when you seem to have your back to the wall seemingly with no solution, I am here to tell you that God is up to something and that you need to be looking for it.
His people, Israel, had to keep their eyes on Him and not on their problems, or they missed it. They were a generation who had seen the mighty hand of God in operation, liberated from bondage and crossed an impassable barrier that for them, was the Red Sea. They all came out of Egypt, but took Egypt with them in their hearts. Unbelief, as it does with you and me, prevented them from receiving their promised inheritance. A journey that would normally have taken them eleven days, lasted forty years. After Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not guide them to the highway that goes through the land of the P’lishtim, because it was close by—God thought that the people, upon seeing war, might change their minds and return to Egypt. Rather, God led the people by a roundabout route, through the desert by the Sea of Suf. The people of Isra’el went up from the land of Egypt fully armed. Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, for Yosef had made the people of Isra’el swear an oath when he said, “God will certainly remember you; and you are to carry my bones up with you, away from here.” They traveled from Sukkot and set up camp in Etam, at the edge of the desert. Adonai went ahead of them in a column of cloud during the daytime to lead them on their way, and at night in a column of fire to give them light; thus they could travel both by day and by night. Neither the column of cloud by day nor the column of fire at night went away from in front of the people. Exodus 13:17-22. If you read this closely, you will see that God knew ahead of time that they would act as they did and deliberately led them around by a circuitous route instead of in a direct line to their blessing. God got them out of Egypt, but they took Egypt with them in their hearts and always looked backwards. No one can go forward in the things of God and really expect the blessing if they keep going back. Jesus said this about it. Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Luke 9:62 This does not speak about our destiny in Heaven. The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are two different things. One is the place that I have visited several times and if you are born again,, you will see it also. It is truly an amazingly, stunningly beautiful place. The other is God’s way of doing things or His governmental structure here in which we are to play a part. Until we have finished our course in the life, or if Jesus tarries, this is the realm in which we are to live, operate and function. It’s the now part of our existence.
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The Cloud
Until
I read this account closely, I merely thought of a column of cloud or pillar of fire, without understanding the significance. Isn’t it amazing how we can “read” a bible story, but never really read it or understand it, or even care if we really see the truths involved? I never bothered to see what they were, let alone what they meant. The Hebrew word for Pillar is ʿammûd and is does mean what we think...a column or a pillar, but it also relates to a whole range of things that mean so much to us right now in a practical way. The meanings talk about standing ground, supporting, propping something up, standing firm, leaning against, getting up, guiding, leading, protecting and the like. God wasn’t just “there” revealing His presence in a tangible form, but getting involved with His people in every possible real and practical way as He led and guided them along life’s journey. With regard to giving support, the word is also used to describe the pillars of Solomon’s Temple. It had two free-standing pillars made of bronze, named Jachin (he shall establish) and Boaz (in it is strength). The significance to us is that God will establish or keep you in and by His strength. They were 27 feet high and the capitals were 7.5 feet high and were apparently very pretty. Another term for capital speaks about finance. Put it together and you will see that we have much more than we think. We just need to see it and apply it. This cloud therefore was no mere cloud that provided shelter from the hot sun during the day or a column of fire to give illumination and warmth by night. This cloud was a living entity—the manifest presence of God displaying for all who looked, that He was there and that He was intimately and personally involved in their lives. He is still deeply involved and personally committed to us to this day, even more so because we are covered with blood—the blood of Jesus. God is looking for it today just as much as He was looking for it on that first Passover. On that first Passover night, the people went to sleep as slaves, knowing nothing but bondage, lack, misery, making mud bricks and owned nothing—but woke up as free men and women starting a new life with clear promises from God like protection, guidance, health and more money in the bank than they could ever have dreamed about. When they left Goshen, they were the happiest people on earth, but soon ran into an insurmountable problem. The enemy was bearing down on them and they had nowhere to go or hide with the Red Sea behind them, but God came good as He always does and opened the sea so that they could go over to the other side on dry ground. God always has a way. He will never fail us, but you and I have to tune in and follow His prompts. He could tell us to turn right on one occasion, but the next time something crops up and we need help, He might not tell us to do that again—He could tell you to do something completely differently. As I often say, this is the problem with religion. God could have moved and done something wonderful once and we want Him to keep doing that all the time afterwards and so build a memorial to that once in a lifetime event. It is like the time Israel was in the wilderness, complaining, muttering and murmuring and never satisfied and when they turned around a corner walked into a den of poisonous snakes. Whenever a snake bit someone, it was fatal and they cried out for Gods help. He told Moses to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole and then lift it up. The instruction was to go and stand under that cross (that was what it represented) and gaze on it if a snake bit someone and it worked! When the cloud moved on, they had to move with it—but they left the snakes behind. They did not need that brass serpent any longer, but took it with them and it became an idol that the prophet cursed in 2 Kings 18:14, calling is a Nehushtan. There are many Nehushtans in the church today and people wonder why God does not seem to be moving as He once did. He isn’t! I hear people talk about the good old days (which they were) when God did such-and-such and mention people like Aimee Semple Mcpherson, Billy Sunday, Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Maria Woodworth-Etter, John Alexander Dowie and others. God moved wonderfully in their lives, but they are gone. What happened was for their time and not for our era. Some of them passed the baton on to us, leaving a wonderful legacy, but their day is gone and we are the present generation, who in our turn may leave a legacy behind. I pray that it will be a good one. Page 5
I admired others like Oral Roberts and Billy Graham who went home recently. The man who had a profound personal impact on my life was Kenneth Hagin and he went home many years ago. They were generals in the faith, but they are gone and what God did with them and through them may inspire us but might never happen again. Why? The cloud is starting to move again. The baton is being passed on. Some of you may be a potential new leader, or another general in the faith. If so, then be prepared for all kinds of things to happen and this includes change and opposition. You could be another Joseph and you know what happened to him. All I am saying is to be prepared for anything to happen and get on side with what God is doing. Look for it. Prepare yourself for it. Keep your focal point on it. Earlier, I touched on our restructuring processes and the move we made, but I did not tell everything. The ministry vision I have is more than 30 years old, possibly 40. It started as an embryonic seed planted in the late 1970 era with two open visions the Lord gave me, telling me to prepare myself for it and to wait........ Ha! Wait? Some people cannot wait 2 or 3 years, little realizing that God does not work to a calendar like we do. When I start wondering when this thing He promised me and told me to prepare myself for is going to happen and try telling Him I am getting a little too old for this, He gently and quickly says, “Moses was 80 when he started.” I’ve often said this, but the best things God does always takes a lot of planning and preparation beforehand. He spoke in the garden of Eden that the Messiah would come and it took 4000 years to happen. He told Abraham about his descendants and Isaac—the promised son—did not arrive for 25 years. He spoke about Israel as a nation and 430 years later it happened and we can’t wait a few seconds of time by comparison to eternity? We cannot argue or demand, but we can get on side and find out what God is doing. Once we get His agenda and align ourselves to that, everything changes. We do not have to force issues. We do not have to guess. We do not have to try something to see if it works and we certainly do not have to lag behind, because if we do, we just might miss the boat. When God’s plan at a particular time happens, it could have taken generations, but the day arrives when it arrives. It is called an “And Suddenly Event” and another “And Suddenly Event” has commenced. Paul said something very interesting in Romans 8:12-17 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory... What is so wonderful about this is that God is telling others all around the world the same things. For example, I met a pastor at a ministers’ conference many years ago. We did not have the opportunity to establish a relationship, but we have discovered since we moved to Victor Harbor that his ministry vision is almost identical to mine. Victor Harbor is our ultimate destination in Australia, but God still has other plans for us and they are yet to be unfolded. I have some idea of what it could be, but the Lord has not yet given the fuller picture. Victor Harbor is less than an hour’s drive through beautiful country to Adelaide where I was born, located on the shores of the Southern Ocean and adjacent to the mouth of the Murray River and has everything that Deuteronomy 1 (the passage the Lord told us to read) describes. It is simply amazing how everything fits together and we have discovered that most churches here really do fit in with each other as we all should. Everyone I speak with is excited. They are all telling me that God is moving and His presence is often very evident. Whoever it is... God is doing something. I only share some personal information like this (as much as I am at liberty to share at this time because I do not yet have the full picture) to illustrate that all over the world, men and women everywhere are hearing the same things. It is no longer “business as usual” in the church. It can’t be! People can remain where they are and will do so, because that is their choice, but the Holy Spirit is starting to stir the hearts of people in a way that I have not experienced in my 50 years with the Lord this September. This is my personal Jubilee Year. We can get on side with Him or continue on our own way and God will let us do that. First Chronicles chapter twelve describes the numbering of Israel. It is a commendation from God about these men who had learned how to tune in to God. From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take. 1 Chronicles 12:32
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Moeds
They
had learned how to read the Seasons of God. Just as it is in the natural realm when we have four distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, God has what is called Moeds. On March 31, Autumn starts here. The leaves on trees turn beautiful golden, red and yellow colors and start to fall and then comes winter when lots of trees look dead
and lifeless. Sometimes we can feel like that—dead and lifeless, not apparently bearing any fruit, but this gives us time to prepare ourselves for the next season just as it does in nature. It allows the roots to dig deep into the soil to gather strength-giving nutrition after tapping into the vine. When the time is right, things cycle and what once looked dead, starts flowering to be followed by buds of those delicious fruits like peaches, nectarines and cherries that appear in their season of summer. Without such seasonal changes, we wouldn’t have them! Without such seasonal changes, the weight of the desired fruit can break the branches. Without such seasonal changes, you or I may not be able to handle what comes and like putting old wine into new wineskins, we could “leak”under the pressure and the wine is lost. You could be in a seasonal change, spiritually speaking, but do not despair or quit. God is working on something. What we have to do is find our what it is and come into agreement with it, which you can. Habakkuk saidI will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint. Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Habakkuk 2:1-3
We are controlled by time. Most people do the same thing every morning when they wake up. They either look at the clock or ask the question, “What’s the time?” Am I right? God is not time oriented, because He is timeless. When He says something, as far as He is concerned it is already so, but we are different. We do not think like He does and so must train ourselves to do so. This is not impossible and it is not some spooky thing. It is what the Lord wants. Philippians 2:5 says to let this mind be in us. We are told in Romans 12 to renew our minds. Paul teaches us to think on certain things. The battle most people wage, thinking they are fighting the devil or some evil spirit (which can be the case at times) is not against him and his cronies but often ourselves. It is in our own thoughts as Paul said. The answer is to control themFor though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 We need to simply stop thinking in the natural and choose...yes, I did say choose...to think like Christ and there are two ways we can do this. One is by His word and the other is by allowing the Holy Spirit of truth to reveal the truth to us. We do not have to become a walking encyclopedia on the bible always talking scripture. That’s not being real or balanced. The son of friends of ours is starting studies at university to be a doctor. He is a great young man with a bright future. I had lunch with him and his parents before we moved and he asked about attending bible college. My counsel was to make sure. He is now studying to be a doctor and I think it is great. We don’t have to go to a bible college or seminary to serve the Lord. I fact, I personally think that many bible colleges should never exist for a whole range of reasons, but that’s another story. This young man can be a great doctor AND a Spirit filled believer at the same time. He can use his expertise and training to help people medically and simultaneously call on the Holy Spirit to direct him in the process, revealing the ailment, the procedure to follow and give him the necessary skills. He has to apply himself to learn what is necessary as we all do in his chosen field, but he has to also study the things of God. It will be very time consuming. He can also lay his hands on the sick and pray the prayer of faith to see Jesus heal them. He can then testify accordingly, with medically proved records. Wow! He has the opportunity of living a great and balanced life by applying himself to his medical studies and applying himself to his Christan walk with the Lord at the same time. Any counsel I could give him would be “Be a good doctor. Be the best you can...AND be a Spirit filled believer...a disciple of Jesus Christ at the same time”.
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We all have the ability to put enough word inside us so that when the occasion arises we can draw from what we have put in there and then speak that as occasion arises. Jesus did. “It is written” is a winning combination, but we have to have it to use it and not go around shaking our fists and yelling at enemies who just not might be there. Think of it. Religion pushes people into a mould so much that they cannot see anything else and so they live the same way without ever breaking out of the mould and getting into the flow of God. We are coming into a period called Lent, but where oh, where is this seen in the bible? I can’t find it, but hundreds of thousands of good people believe it in ways that might sound OK but lack the intimate personal relationship that Lord desires. They pray the same prayer on the same day and eat the same food in the same way and, although the motive might be a good one, it may not do anything to bring the individual into the real liberty Jesus offers. I once had fourth watch prayer meetings, starting at 4am every day and attended all night prayer meetings on Fridays on a routine basis, but the Lord told me to quit. He said that we were trying to make things happen and trying hard to get His attention and influence His decisions as if twisting His arm to make Him give us what we want. It is like trying to earn our salvation, which is of course, impossible. Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:1-10 I have since learned that to be really effective in prayer is to find out from Him what to pray and how to pray. We mistakenly think that the louder we pray or the more we pray, the better God hears us. He is not deaf. The shortest prayer I know of was, “Lord, save me” by Peter who was sinking and Jesus who was one arm’s length away all the time immediately answered. Peter did not have time to find an appropriate prayer in a prayer book, or go through stages of prayer in a certain format for a certain length of time but cried out from his heart, “help”. It does not need to be often, long, hard and strenuous in any way at all. He told us in Isaiah 65:24 ...it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. If you look at verse one of that chapter, God said that He will do a new thing! Everything with God is fresh and new, not stale and old, but we can make it so because of our belief structure. How we think and when we think enough on something, we usually act on it. We live it out and can then make that our own reality. I emphasized certain portions of Ephesians 2 to illustrate this. It is by grace...by faith alone that we receive salvation and basically everything else, but the last few words are important. It reveals that God has planned things for us a long, long time ago, even when He created everything that exists. This means that everything He has planned for us is already there! Everything you could possibly need and want is already there! Your healing is already there. Your financial situation has already been addressed. Your husband or your wife is already there. Your career is already there and... Your future is already there. Wow! When I saw this, it exploded inside me. All our striving to get it, to reach it, to do it and everything else we all long for, is a done deal, but we just might not yet see it. It is not hidden from us but hidden for us. You and I need to discover it and search it out and if this was not possible, God would not have shown us such things in His word. No one has to be a preacher, or a Christian worker of any kind, nor do we need to be intellectually equipped and well educated to be in this. In fact, the more intellectual we become, the harder it is to accept it and enter in. The reason is that our natural minds are at enmity with God (Romans 8:7). The important thing is that we know that God is working to a plan and that this plan has started to take on a new dimension. In simple terms, the cloud is moving. Moses had appointed certain men to watch that cloud. When they saw it had started to move, they blew the shofar and the camp assembled. They broke camp and followed it until it stopped. Page 8
If it turned right, they turned right. If it turned left, they went left. Anyone who did not follow along got left behind or got lost and the implications speak for themselves. In the priesthood, certain men were specially trained and appointed to watch the seasons, particularly the phases of the moon. This seasons were the basis of their lifestyle. Agriculturally, certain plants could only be planted in the correct season. It is foolish to try planting a new crop when it should be harvest time. Their worship also hinged around the seasons and the various feasts of the Lord were established for this reason. A pastor I know in Africa has acquired some land and wants to plant food seeds to provide food for him, his family and his church. He is doing something, but he also knows about the seasons. If nothing else, he is learning to tap into God for himself as I often encourage everyone. Well done. Even in the natural animals have their mating seasons, and we all know that, including the gestation times of the different species. Human beings are no different. It takes 9 months for new life to come into the world and premature births can be risky. So too can late deliveries. All this is readily understood, but in the kingdom of God, similar principles or laws apply. We see this is often. Here are some examples. Exodus 13:10; Leviticus 26:4; Numbers 9:2-3, 28:2; Deuteronomy 11:14, 28:12; Psalm 1:3, 104:27, 145:15; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Jeremiah 5:24, 33:20 and Ezekiel 34:23-31And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD. Jeremiah’s prophecy sums my message up. He saidThis is what the LORD says—the LORD who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the LORD: Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. Jeremiah 33:1-3 As I have said elsewhere, God does not hide things from us but for us. If it is a “secret” then He reveals His secrets to us via His servants the prophets—so that we can know what He is doing and than start doing what needs to be done so that we will be part of it. The word is out that God is moving! Indeed, the Sovereign LORD never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 I believe, as do many others, that we have come into a change in the seasons of God. I, for one, am waiting to see what develops. I am not looking for revival in the way many believers do, because God clearly states many times that He is doing a new thing. Those old time revivals were great. Whole communities were changed by the power of God, but those dear folk failed insofar as they did not really train others to take over and keep running the race. They did not pass the baton on and so that particular revival died and God moved on whilst the church camped. Let us keep our eyes and ears open. Even in a remote tribal village in a jungle, or in a busy metropolis, God is still the same God and His desires remain the same. The application may vary accordingly, but the heartbeat of God is still the same. He has started to move. The cloud is lifting and starting to move. Please look for it and start fitting yourself into it. No matter who you are and what you do, you are included. I’d appreciate it if you pass this on and share reports on what God is doing in your own life and in the lives of others you know. Keep watching! Robert Bashan Ministries P O Box 1552 Victor Harbor South Austraila 5211 email info@bashanministries.org web www.bashanministries.org