Never Give Up On God's Faithfulness!

Isaiah 40:31
Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

I am sure many of you have faced questions about God's ability or willingness to answer prayer at some point in your life.  Many of us have faced such questions recently, especially with the sudden passing of Zoe Grace Dunbar.  The tragedy came as a shock to all of us, and has brought the family of the church together in an incredible way to support, love and care for our dearest brother and sister Wade and Roxanne and their whole family.

In the midst of tragedies such as this, it is easy to point fingers at God.  And there is space to do so.  There were times when David cried out to God in ways many of us are afraid to do so.  Such tragedy drives that kind of emotion out.  And it is helpful to let it out.

But in this edition of the "encouragement", I want to encourage you all to never give up.  There have also been many people being afflicted with serious viral infections (like Chad and Dayna Parkes), others coming down with the flu and the list goes on.  It is clear we are under attack.  Friends, it is imperative in this time that we do not succumb to the lie of the enemy and abandon our faith in God's Goodness.

Our God is always good.  His Word declares it, and His Word is the highest authority for Truth.  The challenge is knowing this Truth but living in a seemingly different reality.  It is one of the biggest challenges living the Christian life faithfully; seeing what should be but experiencing a different reality.  (This is something I will hopefully touch on in my sermon on Sunday night).

My friend, as this verse declares, if you don't give up on hoping in the LORD, your strength will be renewed!  You will be given strength to face this life and rise on the wings of your Saviour.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray without giving up in Luke 18 when He told them of the parable of the persistant widow.  Friends, we too will not give up on the Goodness of our God!  He is Good!  Despite what our experiences tell us at this moment, our God is Good and His mercy endures forever!  And it is with this heart that we will encourage and offer our deepest love to people like Wade and Roxanne, and Trevor and Chan, and the many others we will come across who have faced such extreme trial.  Our hearts go out to you our amazing friends, we love you with all our hearts.

We will never give up.

You Change The Atmosphere!

Luke 11:20
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.

By saying this, Jesus was highlighting what the work of God was about and why He came.  The Earth for too long has been riddled with demonic influence causing depression, hatred and poverty.  And He came to push that demonic influence right back, and begin the establishment of a New Order.  His Order, the Order of the Kingdom.

When Jesus rose from the dead, His disciples were convinced that He was going to restore the Earth back to its former glory and establish God's Kingdom once and for all.  After all, He was the very Son of God!  The Messiah!  Surely He had accomplished what was now required?  But Jesus had other plans...

He left them.

He said to the disciples that they were now to carry on the Work He started and extend the Kingdom of God wherever they went, and He would send them the Holy Spirit to empower and help them in this supernatural task.

You see friends, many Christians today have similar mindsets to the disciples before His ascension (Acts 1:6).  They expect and hope that when Jesus returns He will sort everything out, thereby absolving any responsibility.  But what they don't realise is that He came to redeem mankind back to their position of authority on the planet so that they could continue His work of establishing His Kingdom.

Friends, you have been commissioned and empowered to change the atmosphere around you!  You have the Kingdom of God inside you (Luke 17:21), and that is a very different kingdom to the kingdom of this world that is still suffering from the influence of satan.  Your objective is to change the atmosphere around you, and be part of God's priesthood that establishes His Kingdom here on Earth.

Maybe it is at home, where there are hurts, disappointments, anger?  Maybe it is in the work place, where there is jealousy, corruption and pride?  Maybe it is at school.  Even at a restaurant!  Maybe one of your friends are sick?  Declare with your mouth (Proverbs 18:21) the Life of God into those situations.  Release the anointing of God's Presence over them, and command the darkness to leave and submit to the Light and Kingdom of God.  You will be surprised what you will begin to see happen in and around your life.

We need to live this life with the awareness of who we are and what we have been commissioned with, and when our mindsets change to such an outlook, the Kingdom will grow at an exponential rate!

Try it, it's much easier than you think!  You have been qualified!  (Colossians 1:12)