Living Communion

I in contradistinction to anyone else, am the vine, the genuine vine, and my Father is the tiller of the soil.
Every branch in me not bearing fruit He takes away. And every branch bearing fruit, He cleanses it in order that it may keep on bearing more fruit. As for you, already you are cleansed ones because of the word which I have spoken to you. Maintain a living communion with me, and I with you. Just as the branch is unable to be bearing fruit from itself as a source unless it remains in a living union with the vine, so neither you, unless you maintain a living common with me.

Godly Influence

I once asked God why he did not bless us with more money, when my parents were in missions and going through a hard time, often selling possession to fund the next mission and pay the bills. As a family we have sold everything we possess several times now to fund the work we do for God. And we continually sacrifice and give because the cause is holy. I got a simple word in my heart that settled it for me, and that aligned my heart to do it all again: “I have given you influence.”

Beloved

Imagine you knew a place with the perfect climate, where you had all your bills paid, where everything belonged to your Father, where you had perfect peace, joy in believing and right standing. That is what we have in Christ, and that is what the devil lost. He hates it when you do well. He hates it more when he throws everything he has against you and you still believe in God, like Job. When we rejoice in our sufferings it delivers a knockout punch in the spirit.

Continue

After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the first time in the early church, we see 3000 souls repent and become converted to the Way of Jesus Christ. Those who gladly received the word were all baptized and 3000 souls were added to the church. It is not enough to visit a church and say Amen. There needs to be a baptism into Christ and into His Body of Believers called a church. The burial of the old self is essential and precludes the addition to a church of any soul.

So what was next?

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

You receive the Holy Spirit when you are born again. Salvation can’t happen without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit actually came and revived your spirit – born again. So that is why this verse speaks of the Holy Spirit coming forth as a mighty stream from the inside. It’s time for God not only to come into your house, but also to take control of it.

Apostolic Perspectives on Outreach

How heaven and earth rejoiced when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Every time a seed of faith that is preached is received in a heart and it births a believer, it is the same joy released as at the beginning of creation when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy!
Be encouraged to faithfully present your argument and standpoint of faith, using whatever vacuum exists in your personal aeropaus court of public opinion.

Restoring the Church

We shall be built! God will raise up our waste places. What areas in your life have been laid waste? Allow the Lord to restore that today in Jesus name.
What oceans do you face ahead? Let God blast it with a breath of His nostrils!
What enemies are pursuing you? Let God blow with his wind and let the sea cover them now.
What anointing do you have to build God’s kingdom? Make sure you rise up in your spirit like Cyrus and start fulfilling your prophecies instead of waiting for things to happen one day in the sweet by and by – or ‘now-now’ like South Africans like to say.
With God it is not ‘now-now’ but faith is now!

Return to Innocence

Part of the New Covenant miracle of the new creation in Christ, is a return to innocence. When someone Apostle Paul speaks of his former life he actually says: “I have harmed no one nor coveted anyone’s goods.” Has he forgotten his persecution of the Christians and the stoning of Stephen the first Christian Martyr where he stood looking after the clothes of those hurling rocks?It is an amazing quality of the blood of Jesus that presses a refresh button that resets our inner DNA to be born again into a new being that is aware of the past life, but not defined by it.

Revelations of Pentacost

Pentecost is a day that marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Birth of the Christian Church. It is the 50th day from the first Passover Sabbath. 50 Days after Jesus became our Passover Lamb slain for the sins of mankind. It is also the 50th day after the presentation of the first sheaf of the Barley harvest in Israel. The Hebrew “feast of weeks” is a “day of first fruits.”

The Creative Word

If you can believe that Jesus, the Word of God came and lived among us and became flesh, then gave his life for us on the cross, and was raised from the dead, you can behold his glory in your life today.

That same divine life and light can enter your life, your dormant gifts and talents, your circle of influence and start creating a new world for you to live in. When you get to know the Word of God as a Person, life completely changes for you and every day you start releasing its creative power into every aspect of your life.

Sent Ones

Sent ones are necessary to stir up the Body of Christ to good works, to empower them with the anointing of the Holy Spirit to live out the purpose of the Church, setting an example to the community of citizens full of goodness, faith and the Holy Spirit. Sent ones are not scared to hunt down those with potential and bring them into the fold where they are accepted and can develop their gifts to grow the church.

Aspects of Governmental Prayer

And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Revealing Riches by Denying Yourself

When you have conceded to deny yourself, a quiet peace will flood your soul. Your stormy thoughts will bow to your inner man that is led by the Spirit — Christ within you the hope of glory. There is a sense of knowing that the course of action you have taken is right. This peace allows you more clarity of thought, word and action. It also allows you to see the riches in others more.

Configurations of Reciprocity

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” -Philippians 2:9-11

Valuable Brokenness

What breaks your heart? Have you felt shattered lately? What feels crippled in your emotions? What part of you is maimed, wrecked or crushed?
God is near you right now to comfort and mend you with His gold to increase your value. The word of your testimony that overcomes the accuser in your life, becomes a valuable history that increases your spiritual status and in turn encourages other broken vessels to endure and follow the same process of mending by the great artisan that loves you and gave Himself for you.

An Understanding

In order to have an understanding with someone, you have to have a special relationship. There are unspoken laws and references to a long history and a fondness that allows room to make mistakes. But there is also a responsibility to remain transparent so that the understanding can continue – that understanding is so precious that you willing to work through anything together to preserve it. Without Jesus we would never have had an understanding with the Father, the fact that Jesus came to earth when He was sent, opened up new levels of understanding so that our relationship with the Father can grow.

Chosen

The most important work we can do as a church is to see Christ formed in people. If you can connect someone to Christ within, they will realize how to live, to care for others, to love God and humanity without external motivation. This is really the genius of God through the church that helps people to coordinate their functions and synergize their faith to see a corporate representation of Christ through a local church.