Love Never Fails

Love is in the air!  Eagerly pursue and acquire LOVE,  make it your aim,  your great quest!  1 Cor 14:1  says 'go after a life of love as if your life depended on it'!    How is your life reflecting LOVE?  I don't know about you but I want my life to bring colour everyday to myself, my family, friends, neighbors and the wider circle.

Ezekiel 1:28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.   1 Cor 13: 1 -3,  says, that without love I am nothing and my life will profit me (amount to) nothing.

Recently I became aware of a situation where a young girl was self harming and her friends were protecting her and not sharing the information with adults.  Almost an "Us against Them" situation.   I was troubled about this so went into prayer where the Lord spoke to me that this situation had arisen because there was no love - and its all about LOVE.   LOVE breaks down the barriers and it is the LOVE from our Heavenly Father that removes the barriers in our own lives that we have erected for self preservation.  Self preservation comes about when you've been mistreated, hurt, disinherited, misjudged, abandoned  (anything that gives opportunity for offence to come into in your life)  which then opens the door to unforgiveness and bitterness.

The issues of life come and its what we do with them that matters.  Do we put up barriers or make choices that help us to move forward into victory? What motivates your heart?   Sometimes we don't even know we have erected barriers.  In this season God is saying that we must walk in Love because it is Love that conquers everything.  I had a vision of the Father's love coming in like a tidal wave washing away the barriers that we have put up to protect our hearts.  By erecting barriers in our lives we actually keep out the flow of God from moving in and restoring every area of our lives.   He wants to lavish love on you!  He wants you to know & experience His true nature. He wants you to live in total freedom in who you are by walking in your true identity.

It is only revelation that brings a person's heart to the place where we can recognize that they have erected barriers in their hearts.  How long do we have to forgive?  For the rest of our days.....how long will it take to step out of the place where we're at?   As long as it takes for us to recognize that we have put up barriers in our hearts that have kept us from the Father's love.   I find it also amazing that
God is speaking to us about being liberated from those that have mistreated or misjudged us....but also forgive ourselves for choices that we've made that have put us in a field of pain.

My prayer today is, "Lord bring to remembrance everything that has caused an issue in my heart so I can forgive and be set free".

It's all about LOVE, being LOVE, releasing LOVE,  giving LOVE....which happens because you've experienced the FATHER'S LOVE!  He's the One who changes everything.

2014 A Year of Celebration & Fruitfulness

2014 is the year of Celebration, Fruitfulness and Finding your Tribe...

Towards the end of 2013 I was having a series of powerful dreams about the harvest and about being fruitful.  In one dream I was shown an abundant harvest that was being released now.

Leviticus 26: 4 '...the land shall yield her increase and the trees of the field yield their fruit'....  It is seeds that you have sown,  even if you don't remember sowing or even seeds that you thought you lost ---these are coming back in a great harvest. There is also going to be a great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God during 2014.

That dream was followed by another where I saw a crowd of people that were 'carrying something in their belly' .  I understood that they were carrying that which needs to be released in this season. I heard, "it's time for fruitfulness". Romans 8:19  'For creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known'.  The interpretation of the dream is that God is calling forth those people to be fruitful.  We are carrying something that needs to be released in 2014.  Its time for believers to be released out of captivity.

Again, this morning in my prayer time I felt that it is in areas where we have struggled and been attacked that we have our greatest authority to release others -- we are carrying the answers other people are crying for.  The groanings we have made in our oppression and captivity, whatever it may be, will produce in us great authority in our deliverance.  The groaning of Israel in captivity led to their greatest victory and authority.   I felt to encourage you that in any area where you have struggled will come your greatest authority.  God has amazing plans for you and I know this -  that what the enemy intended for evil God will turn around for good and whatever your destiny He will use this so that you will be able to pray for others suffering the same attacks and see deliverance and fruit!  Don't focus on the issue but focus on the great victory that is yours because of the blood of Jesus. Last week I saw keys released in the spirit for believers that will unlock doors where there have been battles. Keys unlock doors and these doors are the revelations that bring forth release.  So I pray a key in your hand that unlocks this door.  Then take this key that you are carrying and release others.

In another powerful dream I was shown the 'birthing of a calf' in great detail.  I was led to the blessing of Deuteronomy 28 which talks about every area of your life being blessed and fruitful...vs 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock!   I love the fact that God is showing us that we have entered into a gate of 2014 which is 'blessing'.  In 2014 our fruitfulness and blessing will be increasing.  God has spoken to us as a family that 2014 is the release of financial prosperity in the Kingdom.

Deuteronomy 28: 1 -  14
28
If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.
3
Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field.
4
Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock.
5
Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading trough.
6
Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7
The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8
The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
9
The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.
10
And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.
11
And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12
The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13
And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them.
14
And you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.


Finding your Tribe - God has been clearly showing us that our journey is not one to be taken alone. God doesn't want us to be isolated but to be in community with those that have a similar vision and calling and with those that God has connected you with. Finding your tribe means connecting with those that share the same spiritual DNA and are broadly going in the same direction.  This is  your Tribe and God will lead you to them.  This can be different from the church that you are committed to.  It means people who are the key influences that God is connecting us to that speak into our lives.  They can be scattered around the world as God opens doors to make the divine connection.  In 2014 pray into the relationships and call forth the purposes that God has for you.

Finally, like the passover, victory results in a great celebration of all that God has done. Proverbs 28:12  When the righteous triumph, there is great glory and celebration!

Meantime

I was pondering a few things the other day when I got a call from someone who said: 'I've got a word from the Lord for you and its literally one word.... "meantime''.  Yup just one word.

     Definition of  'meantime or meanwhile' - during or in the intervening time;  meanwhile,  life goes on

Then a couple of days later whilst walking down a lane we came across a lorry with 3 large barrels and 1 of the barrels had in BIG BOLD letters the word MEANTIME.  I was so surprised and immediately remembered my meantime word and thought, what are the chances to get a specific word and then a few days later to find it written tangibly on a huge barrel in a lane near your house!  What is God saying to me about "meanwhile" or "meantime"?

It speaks to us directly about what we are supposed to do in the interim between the release of our dream, destiny and calling and its fulfilment.  After searching for the word I found a number of scriptures that pertained to meantime or meanwhile and without fail they all referred to the place where you have heard the word of the Lord about something you're called to do BUT BEFORE the fulfilment of that dream or calling:  Getting on with life in the meantime season.   This includes our actions of obedience or disobedience and our walk of faith.  This is the meantime between the Word of the Lord for our life and its fulfilment.  How do I keep a great spirit in the meantime and be obedient to what God asks me to do?

The word about your future may come in any number of ways;  a dream,  a Rhema word,  the prophetic,  still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  Then the meantime season is how we respond and what  our actions are in the period between the giving of the word and receiving the fulfilment!  It's about having the right spirit:  its also about knowing the times and seasons.  We live in a society where its instant gratification and all about me and wanting things to happen now.  But actually sometimes there is a testing, a weighing of the heart especially if there is a divine purpose.   It reminds me of a dream I had in August where I was given a math test and I didn't much like it but it prepared me.   If God calls us to a particular work do we wait for his provision or run ahead in our own strength trying to put it all together?  There are alignments and connections that God puts together in order to move us into the place we need to be.

 One of the stories that speaks to me is the story of Joshua.  Along with the children of Israel and after 40 years in the desert being fed by manna, they finally crossed over into the promised land.  The word says that they ate the fruit of the land in that year and the manna stopped.  They didn't go rushing to take Jericho but waited and then Joshua went up to the walls of Jericho and inquired of the Lord because they needed to know what to do.  Inside those walls was their inheritance and the spoils to which are the promises of God for which they had been believing for.  Their strategy had to come from the Lord and we know what happened,  the Jericho walls came down when Joshua carried out the strategy from the Lord by walking around the walls.

You may have heard the word and run off and done some things that haven't worked out and created some 'Ishmael's'  ( a big mess that was created by Abraham when he tried to sort out his promise)  Don't be under condemnation but be quick to repent and enquire of the Lord in how you proceed and what do you do in your 'meantime'.  I believe that the body of Christ is standing in front of their Jericho and waiting for the imminent word that will show them how to take it out.  Be encouraged we are in a season of breakthroughs,  miracles and encounters.  God is going to show himself real!   Deut 28:2  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.

I love this story because it encourages us in 'our meantime'  that God always comes through.  If you find that you're in that place of the meantime yourself, what do you do?  When you have the word of the Lord about your purpose in life then its up to Him to bring the word of direction to bring about its fulfilment in your life.  

Releasing Women

This is the year of Women being released!

In November of 2011 I had a vision of thousands of women coming out of their homes, moving together in unity like warriors.  These women had been in isolation and were coming out of difficult seasons and situations.  Moving together in a common purpose and focus to Serve the One who has set them free.

Then on a flight in December 2012 to Norway where I was attending the relaunch of a Christian television network I fell asleep and was suddenly woken up by the sound of an alarm!  The Lord spoke to me to say that this was the beginning of the 'awakening' ... a move of God that's going to sweep the earth.

Over the past 18 months there has been progression and a building in the spirit to bring us to the point where we are being awakened to the calling and destiny of God on our lives.  Its starting in the small gatherings and places where people are hungry for God.

Why is God releasing Women now you might ask?   Its so that we can SERVE HIM and to be in relationship with Him...

I was taken to a passage of scripture in Exodus 9:1 where the Lord told Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go so that they may 'serve me'....   If you know the story at all,  the Israelites were in captivity under the ruling of Pharaoh and God kept sending plagues in order for them to be released.
If you've been in some kind of slavery yourself or if you've been praying for God to release you to start a business or to help the orphans or some other noble thing then all these things may be good,  but you may have missed the reason that God move's to release you and it's to 'serve Him'.  

Our eyes must be lifted off of ourselves & situations and placed on Him so that we can be free to live out the fullness of our destiny and ONLY with Him can we be truly free.  We have been created to worship and minister to the Lord.  When we do that God takes care of the rest.

Psalm 97:5  Mountains melt like WAX at the presence of the Lord.

Its all about relationships,  walking in and demonstrating love both in your family, your business, your community, your world!  The presence of the Lord is entered into when we serve and worship Him - when we are in relationship.

 1 Corinthians 13:3 says that 'even if I give my body to be burned but have not LOVE,  it profits me nothing'..

Its not about your gifts, talents or skills but about relationships.  Being connected with the things that are on God's heart.  Building relationships with the people God has connected you to without manipulation or control or what you can get from them.  Its about being purposeful without an agenda.  You see God doesn't need what you have.  He doesn't want you striving but resting in Him because its all about Him.  Its moving away from a works justification life to a Grace life.

What is Grace?  Its God's ability working in us to do what we could not do on our own...

It isn't about us, its all about Jesus and His life within us!  The more we immerse ourselves in that knowledge and in the character of Jesus,  the more we become like Him,  the more we present to the world the characteristics of authenticity and integrity.

Now is the season of dreams and visions to be resurrected and released with power and authority!

May this be the Year of Your Release!!

A Year to Remember

As we are about to usher in the New Year,  I can't help but reflect upon this past year and the illustrious acts of the Lord in our life.   His faithfulness to see us through whatever the challenge and to encourage us in so many extraordinary ways.  I could not have imagined where the journey would take us,  the people He has brought and the places He has taken us.  We look forward with anticipation to the plans God has for His body of believers for 2012,  Our heavenly Father faithfully watching over His word to perform it.  There is nothing He does not know and He is not surprised by anything but knows the beginning from the end.  Take courage in the New Year that with God nothing is impossible!  Happy New Year and may the blessing and prosperity of the Lord Jesus be on you! 

Suddenly the New Dawn Arises!

On a recent trip to Jerusalem I had a dream on the plane and in that dream I saw the desert with small groups of people in many pools of beautiful blue water.  As I was watching this,  suddenly helicopters started rising up out of the ground.....  

Later, as I was pondering this whole scene in my heart, the revelation came that there have been many of us in that 'desert place'  where we have felt isolated and yet it is in those desert places where the Lord has been restoring, purifying, refreshing and equipping people to move out in the ministries that they are called into. They have been soaking and being made ready to be positioned and launched into the 'suddenly' that God has prepared them for.  

What does it mean exactly to be in that desert place?  To me these are the seasons where you are holding to the truth of the destiny God has revealed to you when the facts you are facing today sometimes don't line up. You can even have those around you who question or even doubt where you're going and many will leave you because the going gets tough. However, there is a time limit to every dark night!  It is holding onto the truth of God's word over your life that is the trial of your faith.   God will change the facts to line up with HIS truth.  We must speak the word of God over our lives so that our confession is the same as His word.  We are not moved by what we see or hear but by the Word of God.  The one thing that all these men and women had in common in Hebrews 13 was faith. The simple trust and confidence in God.

Why would God use Helicopters as a picture? Helicopters can manoeuvre and fly into places that other means of transport cannot get to and they represent individual ministries. The pools of water represent the Holy Spirit and anointing that flows out of the place of intimacy and relationship that has been cultivated and developed over time with the Lord. Its also the place of rest and peace knowing that God has all things in control and is reigning over you. The people prepared in this way know the voice of the Lord and are 'ready' to fly.  As you speak the truth of the word of the Lord over your life and destiny then the 'SUDDENLY' shall come!   God moves in the realm of suddenlies! 

What does it mean to have a 'suddenly'? Throughout the Bible God has made a way of escape and delivered those who put their trust in Him and walk in obedience to what He asks.   " For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed" (Isaiah 50:7). 

Sometimes God asks us to do unusual things as we read in Joshua 6. The Lord told Joshua that He would give him Jericho and its King into his hands but he had to march around the walls seven times and when they heard the trumpet sound to give a great shout and when they did they would suddenly see the walls of Jericho come down and they did!

 

Hezekiah had a 'suddenly' victory from the Lord. He had received a letter from the King of Assyria which said 'Let not your God in Whom you trust deceive you by saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the King of Assyria'. The King of Assyria had a reputation of utterly destroying all the lands they took.  However God had a plan (Isaiah 37 vs 34).   "By the way that he came, by the same way he shall return and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. Vs 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of my servant David.  Vs 36 And the Angel of the Lord went forth in one night and slew 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" . 

 

Whatever you may be facing in your life today God is NOT surprised by it and has a victory waiting for you!  He knows the end from the beginning. Clear out anything that is separating you from the Lord and stand firm to the vision that God has laid on your heart. 

You know He is able!  He will do something so radical it will surprise you!  Whatever the impossible situation God is able.  Ephesians 3: 20, 21  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory....

Get Ready!  Get Ready!

Royal Wedding

It is the eve of the Royal wedding between HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton.  This modern day fairy-tale is probably what most young girls dream about - meeting a handsome prince,  falling in love and getting married.  This  young woman who is not from the nobility has captured the heart of a future King.  The nation has watched their relationship go from strength to strength and now the fruit of this is their imminent wedding.   The preparations that have been taking place behind the scenes we can only imagine.   It is exciting to be here at this particular time and people everywhere are in the spirit of the event as if it was their own family member about to be married.  Everywhere street parties and home parties are planned and many have been camping out near Westminster Abbey to catch a glimpse of the royal couple on their big day.  The Palace has released a thread of what we will see and what the day will bring.  The guest list includes Heads of State and dignitaries as well as the local shop keepers from the village where Kate grew up.  A stunning array of some 30,000 flowers will reflect the English country style of Miss Middleton along with a few trees to adorn the inside of the church. I can only imagine the wonderful aroma it will give off.  A carriage procession of the bride and bridegroom with a Captain's escort of the Household Cavalry followed by the Queen's procession with a Sovereign's escort of the Household Cavalry leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace followed by a fly over by the Royal Air Force.  The banqueting table has been set and the spread I'm sure will be grand. We wanted to get a feeling for the excitement and drove the route today.  The Union Jacks were lining The Mall which is the tree lined road through Green Park that leads up to Buckingham Palace. The Media Village was huge and present throughout the area. There was great excitement in the atmosphere!  When it comes to events of this nature the British do it incredibly well.  The attention to detail is both exquisite and beautiful and the world will be watching.  It is a marriage preparation fit for a future King and Queen of Britain.

I can't help but ponder in my own heart about the wedding preparation for the coming of the King Christ Jesus for his bride - those that have believed in Him. The word says 'no eye has seen no ear has heard or entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those that love Him'  I Cor 2:9  He is preparing for us!  How are we preparing our own lives for the coming of the Lord?  The Goring Hotel in London spent a vast amount of money to host the bride and her family. This whole wedding season is a shadow of how we should be preparing our own lives for eternity.  The huge cost that Jesus paid for His bride was His life.  He gave it so that we might have life and spend eternity with Him.  That is LOVE, that He would lay down His life in order to save ours.  Its not about religion its about a love relationship with Jesus.