Wanted: ” Humble Kingdom-Minded Servants”

In this world we only have one standard, and that is
the Life and Words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our standard for
all that pertains to life and godliness. Jesus is the “prototype” of
the new species that God created. We are destined to become like Him. Rom 8:29
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Philippians Chapter 2 is an excellent portrayal of our Lord’s character and nature. His coming was not
to be served but to serve. To manifest the nature and character of Father God.
I propose to you that apart from Holiness, humility is one of God’s prime
attributes. It is the root of all virtue. Without humility there
is no servanthood. Without servanthood there is no Kingdom!

Unity necessitates humility(Ps 133). As long as we are
obsessed with our own self-importance, unity will remain a pipe dream at best.
I have been part of several groups that at one time or another felt they were “IT”. We were so absorbed with our “revelation” that the rest of His Body did not feature on our
horizon. In every case decline set in(Pride
comes before a fall!).

Humility necessitates self-denial(Luk 9:23). Jesus
said that if we don’t deny ourselves i.e. pet doctrines, denominations, agendas
etc, we can’t be His disciples. If we have an agenda apart from the
Kingdom(which comprises of all His people) we are not following or representing
Him.
Self-denial guarantees fruitfulness.(John 12:24) Where there is death there is resurrection. Time to die to what’s ours and live for what’s His!
Christ spurned reputation. How rare in today’s politically
correct world. As Paul said” If I’m still trying to please man I will not
be a servant of Christ.” His ambition was to be well pleasing to the Lord,
not build an empire for himself. The Kingdom will advance forcefully when
humble servants, serve the King’s purposes.

Humility manifests in obedience! “Not my will but
Yours be done!” The laying down of my life to embrace His! As young Jesus
so aptly responded:”Did you not know that I must be about my father’s
business?”

Humility brings great authority(Isa 57:15). God hangs
with the humble! Moses was the most humble man on earth. Reason? He was
speaking to God face to face. Father’s nature rubbed off on him. He was also
unparalleled in manifesting God’s power.
Christ took off His robe, knelt down and washed His
brothers’ feet. Let’s follow suit!

Fellowship with a Book?

I have been concerned about the way we do church. Let me explain it this way. You go to visit a friend. You arrive at his house, you go in and sit in the lounge. On the lounge table is a journal written by him. You start reading; he shares about his affection and loyalty towards you. You are touched but wishes that he was actually there in person to assist in your struggles. How much better to sit on the sofa and have a dialogue, and not just a monologue! Firstly I’m a Bible believing devotee of Jesus! I believe the Bible is God-Breathed and inerrant! So I’m not saying throw out the Bible or follow things that contradict the Bible. NO! – “It’s a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path!” So with that settled let’s consider the following scriptures.

Matthew 18:20

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

From these two scriptures it’s very clear that Jesus is with us in person, and that life comes from Him not the Bible! ( 2Cor 3:6) Why would you only read His “Dairy” when He is there in person? Yes the Bible does point us to Him but once we have found Him we need to engage in a relationship. “Praise God He is here!” we say in our meetings. Question: “What has He done in the meeting?” We sing, we take up an offering, we preach, we, we, we! What is the Holy Spirit saying to us?(Rev 2:7) Doing for us? Doing in us? Question: What has happened in our meetings that only God could do? Any miracles lately? Remember the only reason He didn’t do miracles when with folk was because of their unbelief! Dear friend Enoch walk with God for 300 years and never had a Bible. (Gen 5:22) We fellowship around theology, doctrine and concepts of God. We have conferences discussing Him, while He is actually there! Like Kim Walker sings “I don’t want to talk about You like You are not in the room!” Something’s gotta give!! Like we say in Singapore “So how?” Meaning: What should we do about the current situation?

Yes, do read His Word, worship etc, but start to engage Him! Ask questions and wait for the answer. Read a passage and ask Him to explain, EXPECT Him to answer. Pray for the sick and EXPECT them to get healed, otherwise pray again. Ask Him what to do and then do it rather than the “ice-breaker, worship then word”(bored to death) cell group S.O.P. “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” not those led by the Bible. A while ago I sat on a bus and the Holy Spirit told me that the lady next to me had diabetes. Because of this knowledge I had an open door to speak to her about Jesus. Unfortunately there are no scriptures that tell me Madame Lin on bus 75 has diabetes. Holy Spirit knows and wants to share such knowledge with you; just listen to His voice! Actually it’s rude to ignore me and only read my letter to you, while sitting with me on the sofa. Let’s meet with Him not just His Book! Jesus wants you to have a real and living relationship with Him!

Dating Jesus?

Greetings to all you lovely people! Something the Lord has been impressing on my heart, is intimacy with Him. He once whispered to me” Marry Me, don’t just date Me”. What on earth does that mean? Well when you are married you co-habit with that person; when you date you visit! Most of us date Jesus on Sundays.  We give Him the occasional call and quick sms during the week. Yup some hang with Him at home-cell as well. Although that’s all good, all good…….butttttt it’s not really what Jesus is after! He is after all of you, all the time. James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? (NKJV) How wonderful is that! He YEARNS after me! His hearts longs after me, His stomach turns when He thinks of me! God is a lover dear friend; in fact He is Dr Love. So where do we go from here? Down condemnation ally? NOPE!! Just prepare for the “move in”. Have a chat and tell Him this dating stuff is just no good, you want to “move in” permanently. (Actually you are already married, at baptism you became one) Yes I know there is a “corporate marriage” that is coming. 1 Cor 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (NKJV) The union is complete, He in us and we in Him! Not one day but now! One of our biggest mistakes is to assign to the future what we already have. Example: One day I’ll be healed, One day I’ll be freed from sin, One day I’ll be living in the heavenly realms etc      (“one day” isn’t faith but hope at best) Nope, we have all of that already! In the same way we have this bizarre believe that one day Jesus will come back and THEN we will be with Him 24/7. All we need to do now is hang-in-there till He comes. We can live in His presence right now dear friend, 24/7! “Practicing the Presence” by Brother Lawrence might be a good start.

Remember even if you were the only human in the universe He would have died just for you!

Have a great day!

Dian

Reforming Easter!

Firstly Easter was the name of an idol! Why should it be connected to our Lord's death? Call it "Resurrection Festival" like the Chinese do.

Secondly, God never died and will NEVER die! Jesus died as a man on that cross. Sin died on that cross. You died on that cross. Sickness died on that cross. Shame died on that cross. The law died on that cross. Almighty God watched the whole afair from His throne, and His demand for justice was satisfied! All of the old creation was put to death that a new creation may be born, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh! If God died , who raised Jesus from the dead? God dear friends CANNOT die!

Thirdly. You are a new creation in Christ, no longer a slave of sin but a child of God. You now have access to heavenly places and the very throne room of God. Enter boldly dear saint and release Heaven on earth through your prayers. No longer to be called sinners but saints of the Most High! A citizen and ambassador of Heaven on earth, about your Father's business.

Fourthly. The emphasis should be the REASON for His death. He died so we can be like Him! Doing even greater works than Him, as He promised(John 14:12). As Rom 8 says "to be conformed to the image of His Son". His resurrection means nothing if we dont walk in that power. Arise, arise O' church of God! Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.

More love and power to you!
Dian

Let Heaven Invade Earth!

I realize that the deep dissatisfaction that has been in my heart for years about my own condition and that of the church is actually normal!! Our very DNA cries out for more, therefore we should never settle for second best. We should pursue the Kingdom and all its fullness, until we walk in it.

The very commission “As the Father has sent Me, so I sent you” is the crux of our calling! Christ was the proto-type , first of many brothers. He did nothing through His Divine powers, but all through the power of the Holy Spirit. What He did, we can also do. Today we are His hands and feet! Just as the Holy Spirit ministered through Him, He desires to minister through us. My mouth, hands and feet are all extensions of Him!

“The Kingdom of God is at hand” means it is so close I can lay hold of it. But in order to do that I need to repent or “change my mind”. I need to change my “world view” but also my “Heaven view”. The Kingdom and all its powers are available to me here and now. It’s not something that I will inherit one day but it’s a realm I have entered already! Christ in me the hope of glory! Therefore we can release Heaven into the earthly realm now. Heaven isn’t a place we are going to one day but were we dwell right now! (Eph 2:6)

“The just shall live by faith”, this is true in more ways than one. Faith gives us sight. It helps us to see “God-things” and then bring them into our realm. Elijah saw the rain when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He heard the rain when the heavens were brass! All because he believed what God said!! Faith endures. Elijah would not stop praying until the Heavens poured down! We bring Heaven to earth by our faith but we also accommodate hell by our fears!! Faith isn’t cultivated in a vacuum but a relationship. Sons trusting a loving Father.

Faith leads to prayer, because faith sees what’s available. The Lord’s Prayer is far from just a formula, it’s a divine strategy to bring Heaven to earth. That’s the purpose of prayer – bringing Heaven to earth. The pattern of Heaven needs to be super imposed on our situations here on earth. It’s done through prayer. I will use this Heavenly pattern to pray God’s will into all my needs, relationships and defence against the enemy. We simply see the Father’s will and ask for it to be translated into our midst! How wonderful! The prayer of faith is the vehicle that brings Heaven to earth.

The presence of the Holy Spirit brings the Kingdom into our midst! Where He is manifested the King takes dominion. The least of us are greater than John the Baptist because we can release the Holy Spirit into our surroundings. The following is an awesome scripture to show how Jesus brought the Kingdom to earth. Acts 10:38 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

 (NKJV) In the same way we can go around healing and “undoing” what satan has done to people. All God need for us is just simple obedience! “Go into ALL the world…” Let’s go and release His Presence!