Righteousness

Praise be to God!

We've had another brilliant week with God! The Lord has been speaking to us about Kingdom Culture and yesterday He revealed a Kingdom conviction to us that He wants us to have that will radically change our way of life if it truly becomes a Kingdom conviction - an unshakable, compelling and conquering belief based on God's truth.

The Kingdom conviction God spoke to us about is the fact that the believer is a Kingdom residence! This is what the Lord showed us:

1. The believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 3:16,17; 6:12-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-17
2. The believer's body belongs to God. 1 Cor. 6:19,20
3. God has made the believer's body a suitable dwelling place for His presence. In Christ, the believer is righteous, holy and perfect so that God can dwell in His house. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:1-14
4. The believer's body is God's house that He has prepared in order to make the believer His home! John 14:23
5. The believer has been sealed with God's presence because he is righteous in Christ. Eph.1:13,14; 4:30
6. When a believer sins, his relationship with God is not destroyed but fellowship with God is hindered. God still owns the house and has placed His name, as well as his "eyes and his heart" there. 1 Kings 9:3
7. Since the believer is righteous, holy and perfect in Christ, he must live a holy life to maintain fellowship with God and to grow in intimacy with Him. Eph. 5:8; 2 Cor. 7:1
8. The believer's relationship with God is based on God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. Rom. 5:1,2
9. The believer's fellowship with God is based on the believer's obedience and desire for intimacy with God. James 4:7,8; John 15:10
10. The believer is the temple of God, the habitation of the Lord, the home of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit because of the relationship the believer has with God in Christ Jesus.
11. It is the believer's repsonsibility to live a holy life in order not to grieve God's presence in His house. Eph. 4:30
12. The believer is not a guest house that belongs to the believer, that God visits occasionally, and that needs to be prepared for God to visit.

The believer is God's home that God has prepared for Himself to live in.

We praise God for His awesome, liberating revelation to us!

Quote of the week:

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:21

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Rejoicing in present foundations!

Praise the Lord!

In this final week of 2007, the Lord has been speaking very clearly to us about His building a spiritual building, both individually and corporately. Looking at the various accounts of the building of the second temple recorded in Ezra, Haggai and Zecharia, the Lord showed us how the description of the construction of the temple is a shadow of the erecting of God's spiritual building (Eph. 2:21,22; 1 Cor. 6:19). The Lord revealed the following to us:

1. God wants us to build His Temple for His pleasure and honour. Haggai 1:8
2. The building of God's Temple must be our priority. Haggai 1:9
3. We are called to build God's Temple despite the opinion or fear of man. Ezra 3:3
4. We must rejoice in the laying of the foundation with praise and thanksgiving. Ezra 3:10,11
5. We must not let the past distract us from present blessings. We must rejoice in what God is doing NOW! Ezra 3:12,13
6. We must not despise small beginnings by focusing on unfulfilled desires. Zech. 4:10; Phil. 3:16

The Lord then showed us why we have every reason to rejoice in what God is doing with us NOW:

1. The Lord rejoices in the work we've begun according to His will (God's PLUMB LINE). Zech. 4:10
2. God empowers us by His Spirit to do the work. Zech. 4:6
3. The Lord is preparing the way to establish us. Zech. 4:7
4. When we enthrone Jesus, He will build His Church! Zech. 6:9-15
5. The glory is greater! Haggai 2:7-9

As we enthrone Jesus as our Lord and submit to Him, God will change us personally and corporately as we keep in step with the Holy Spirit. God wants us to rejoice in, and work with what He is doing NOW and to exercise the faith and anointing He has given us NOW so that He can build us up for even greater works and greater glory. God will prepare the way for us to be established as His holy Temple - God's habitation for His presence, power, glory and love. God rejoices in us and He wants us to live as His people, His Church, His Temple so that He can continue to take pleasure in us and so that His Name is honoured. Hallelujah!

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Yesterday evening we had our last soup kitchen for this year and we praise God for the many people who came and for the way they responded to His presence through His people, the worship, the love and the Word. We rejoice in the lives that were touched but especially in the salvation of Michael who gave his life to Jesus yesterday! Glory to God!

We praise God for what He has done with us this year; for raising up Kingdom Life; for digging deep foundations in us; for His revelation; for maturing us; for adding to our number; for His favour upon us; for opportunities to serve Him; for reviving us; for saving the lost; for setting people free; for healing the sick; for His presence, power and love; for His glory; for touching others through us; for new relationships; for TPL; for what He is doing NOW; for what He will do in 2008; for His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven and for so much more! Thank you Lord! All glory belongs to you!


Quote of the week:

"How unfortunate among the children of God that the deliverance many of them expect is a future deliverance; it may happen tomorrow or perhaps next year. Yet what God greatly wants His children to see is a deliverance already accomplished - one which needs no waiting for fulfillment. In the minds of many saints their victory is a thing of tomorrow. The answer to their hope, expectation or prayer lies in the future. But if we have revelation we shall see God's accomplished fact. Revelation unveils to us what the Lord has already done, not what He is going to do." Watchman Nee (emphasis mine)

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Zeal for God's House consumes us!

Glory to God!

This past week has been another exciting week as we sense the Lord preparing us for a greater revelation of His glory. Hallelujah!

Yesterday the Lord spoke to us about preparing the Temple for His glory as we looked at Ephesians 2:19-22; John 2:13-22 and Mark 11:17. From these Scriptures, we learned that:

1. The spiritual Temple of God is both the individual believer as well as the church, the Body of Christ. 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:21,22
2. God wants to clear out the church of all wordliness, self and evil. John 2:15,16
3. God does not want the world in the church. John 2:14
4. God is radical about holiness in His Temple. John 215,16
5. Zeal for God's House must consume us. John 2:17
6. God wants His people to be a people of prayer. Mark 11:17; Rom. 12:11,12

God's desire is to fill the Church with His manifest presence, power and love so that
His glory is revealed to the world through His people!

As we learned about what God's glory is, we looked at 2 Chronicles 5:7-14 and 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 where the Lord showed us that,

1. God's presence is in the Most Holy Place/ the spirit of the believer. 5:7
2. We, as a kingdom of priests, must consecrate ourselves. 5:11; Rev. 1:6; 1 Pet.2:9
3. The church must join together in unity of spirit. 5:13
4. The church must worship God. 5:12,13
5. God will fill His Temple/ the church/ the soul and the body as well as the spirit. 5:13,14
6. God's glory will be upon the church so that nations will bow down before Him. 7:1-3

We praise God for this exciting revelation and we expect the Lord to reveal more and more of His glory to us as we consecrate ourselves and seek His face! Hallelujah!

Yesterday evening we had a wonderful time blessing the needy and homeless as we worshipped together and fed them spiritual and physical food. Relationships and trust are steadily growing so that many more people are responding to God's love as they receive prayer and compassion. It is so moving to see our children and teens help at our soup kitchen and to see the love and care they demonstrate as they serve our needy people. Yesterday we had a team of 14 people that enabled great efficiency as everyone in the room was cared for and could sit peacefully as they were all served. We praise God for this opportunity to demonstrate His glory through word and action.

We are greatly looking forward to the Christmas dinner for the homeless and needy on the 23 December. We are preparing filled shoeboxes to give to the people and we are thrilled that a hotel chain has agreed to provide a 3 course meal and presents as well! Glory to God! What's also exciting is that 4 churches will be participating. God is indeed bringing His people together to glorify His Name!

We have finally managed to put the podcast and notes of our prophecy seminar on our website so please check that out under "teaching."

The Lord is blessing us and His favour is clearly upon us. He is deepening our walk in the River; He is adding to our number; He is healing people in our meetings and He is releasing and anointing workers among us to build up His people. Thank you Jesus!

Quote of the week:

"It is this spirit of dominion when restored to the Church of Christ that will bring again the glory triumph to the Church of God throughout the world, and lift her into the place, where, instead of being the obedient servant of the world, the flesh and the devil, she will become the divine instrument of salvation in healing the sick, in the casting out of devils, and in the carrying out of the whole programme of Jesus' ministry, as the early Church did." John G. Lake

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