True ministry, the kind that bears fruit, the kind that is of eternal value, that is born of the Spirit is accredited by God one way : through suffering.
I have recently had to re-submit my application for Re-Accreditation for Chaplaincy. Generally it was filling in paperwork, submitting references and governmental checks.
Pretty boring.
But this world’s ways are not God’s ways. He doesn’t care about university or seminary qualifications, although He can and does use them.
God’s way is to put His man through the fire. Rather than go through courses and units, programs in churches, Gods course and purpose is to get us to the point of death. This is what He wants.
I’m not necessarily talking about physical death, but to that place where we come to an end of ourselves and see we are so weak, so useless, so nothing , that we just go “Lord, I can’t even breathe without Your help! I submit to You wholeheartedly! Use me in whatever way You want”.
Ah this is the place where God can now use us. The place of death.
“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,” 2 Corinthians 1:8-10
“The sentence of death in ourselves” Paul says here.
Why?
“that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,”
That place of death is where we learn we can no longer trust ourselves, only now on God. We, who used to be so strong, so brave, so efficient, can no longer even get to the bathroom without someone helping us.
This was the point I got to last month, so physically unwell.
I re-submitted everything to God in that place. My family, my health, my life, any ministry I may have left… I lay it all on the altar. I gave it all up to Him. Again.
Whilst I was also re-submitting my chaplaincy accreditation..,
This is how He showed me His ministry, true ministry is birthed through death.
Then when everything is laid on the altar, He sends His fire to consume it, and He raises up what HE WANTS, only what He wants, in the power of His resurrection life.
Now all of Him. Nothing of self.
Just like Jesus. Just like Paul.
This is ministry He puts His stamp on. The stamp of death, in order to breathe His life into it.
God’s ministry credentials are born in the fire. Don’t doubt it my friend. If you’re going through suffering God is doing something in you, something of eternal value.
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” Philippians 3:10 ,11
But mostly it’s all coming from Melbourne, Victoria.
This southern state is where I grew up and lived my life until January this year.
At which time my husband, children and I fled to a northern state. I don’t use the word “fled” lightly. We lived through over 150 days of stage 4 lockdown in Melbourne last year. We saw what it did to our children, the churches, everyone … but more than that, we have seen for years which way Victoria was heading. So we left for hopefully a better, more normal life for our children to a place where we knew not one soul.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while you would know I used to street preach on the streets of Melbourne for seven years. I loved that city. I cried for that city. I still do. My family and friends are all still there. Every week we have calls from friends and family enduring another harsh lockdown in Melbourne, crying , anxious. We’ve had calls from people about to lose jobs, those whose children are suicidal, those whose children have lost any motivation for education; marriage breakdowns… it’s heartbreaking and it’s EVERY WEEK.
My own sister, in the police force, is about to lose her job because of government enforced vaccine mandates.
But one thing everyone asks is “Why Melbourne?” How did the world’s most liveable city in such a short time become to some the worlds “most leavable city”?
People only ask this because they can’t see the spiritual. The spiritual decline in Victoria has been rapid over the last ten or so years. And it has had a lot to do with Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews. Apparently he moved from the Communist party , where he was an apparatchik, into the Labour Party and now is Australia’s No. 1 Social engineer, as Martin Iles calls him.
Watch this clip to find out more. Pray for your cities people. Pray for Melbourne.
Yesterday Moderna released its initial results in its experimental mRNA covid – 19 vaccine development.
In this YouTube clip from January 2020 Moderna CEO, Stephane Bancel, discusses the new innovative DNA technology they use to develop RNA vaccines, including the Amazon cloud, economic viability in vaccines and the Gates Foundation involvement with them.
The Western Church is so used to being hunkered down inside it’s four walls that this lockdown is not so different than what it’s become accustomed to.
(Apart from the tithes of course.)
In fact, it comes as a mild relief to have the excuse not to evangelize or minister at all. “Well what can we do, we are in lockdown??”
Cosy and comfy in our Christian bubbles we console ourselves that we can’t do anything anyway so why not turn on Netflix?
I had a fellow minister say to me today “Belinda, why are we the only ones who will still minister to people?”
And I’m sure we aren’t actually the only ones, but it kinda feels like it sometimes. I guess this is what we already knew – the church isn’t the buildings, it’s the living, mystical Body of Christ.
He’s also asked people to help him feed the baby Christians that had recently come to Christ in his ministry, but they’d also said no. No to bible study…because of the pandemic.
Listen, I’m not advocating for unwisely putting people in harm’s way at this time. I also understand that some people are genuinely fearful of the virus and of copping a fine for being out, and the fines are huge. But also- what the heck?? I can’t help comparing us with the apostles in Acts…what would those who “turned the world upside down” do right now?
“So one came and told them, [f]saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”
Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” ….
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for [j]His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Acts 5
Much of what is missing in the organized Church today is the work, or move, of the Holy Spirit.
We totally underestimate the Spirit of God and what He can do if we let Him.
We have over- organized and created programs for this and that instead of seeking God and letting Him lead by His Spirit.
God has a will, an opinion, a way but we don’t even recognize that fact anymore.
I often feel like the organized church is a slave mill: keeping people over- busy, working them in to the ground, churning out program after program- and what for? “There is a way that seems right to man but the end of it is death”.
God Himself has a way. It is by His Spirit. It is the centrality of Christ. The Spirit of God when He is working will always point to and exalt Jesus Christ. If Christ is not center, if He’s not there, then it is a work of the flesh. Get rid of it! Stop wasting everyone’s time, repent and seek God’s face.
We often use this scripture “Behold,I stand at the door and knock.If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev 3:20) as an evangelistic tool. But it’s not. Jesus said this to the CHURCH in Laodicea. He was outside the church. Pushed outside His own church because He wasn’t needed anymore, “we have a program”!!
You can be enthusiastic without being anointed. Don’t confuse the two.
God pours His Spirit out where Christ Jesus is exalted.
If someone gets up to preach and exalts himself- no matter how inspiring the message, no matter how much he has done for the Lord- rather than exalting Christ , then that is not of the Holy Spirit.
It is always the flesh versus the Spirit. Flesh will exalt Self. The Spirit will exalt Christ.
There is a trend to put down doctrinal truth nowadays – ‘God is not doctrine, He is bigger than that’. Let’s just talk about experiences.
Yes there is absolutely a place for sharing testimonies and stories about what God has done or is doing.
The problem is when doctrinal truth is thrown away then so is the exaltation of Christ. It becomes all about Self. My experience, my exploits. Me, me, me. Thus there is no witness and no anointing of the Spirit. Give me a person who knows the Word of God, and thus the God of the Word, any day over someone who is simply enthusiastic about what they’re going to do for the kingdom.
You will find that it is the one who seriously and deeply seeks the God of the Word, who it is that really knows Him and that that is the one that shall be strong and do exploits.
As we are about to see in the year 2019 I felt to share the sermon which the Lord used to save me. It has been over 10 years since I last listened to it, and having just re-listened it has spoken to me, challenged me, changed me again by the power of the Spirit of God.
I encourage you to listen to it prayerfully. I believe that anyone who does so cannot remain the same.
I don’t know about you, but I am over the programs, formulas and business strategies that are being used wholesale in the Western church today in the pursuit of building our own kingdom. I am sick of Church without God and a cross-less Christianity.
“That’s what the Chinese Christian said you know when he got back to China: “what’s impressed you most about America?” he answered “the great things Americans can accomplish without God”
“...Damascus shall cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.”
(Isaiah 17:1)
This Bible prophecy is 2500 years old.
Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Now the prophecy is being fulfilled.
And reading the rest of the chapter it’s clear that when this prophecy is fulfilled it is a sign that Jesus Christ will soon return to judge the world.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.(Genesis 3:15)
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.(Revelation 12:17)
We see by these texts that the Serpent of Genesis becomes a Dragon by Revelation. He is the enemy of all mankind, the original murderer and tempter, whose task is to alienate all men from God. But the Dragon/Serpent hates women in particular.
Judeo/Christian civilization has recognized the uniqueness of women. A women is elevated, by God, she is the receptacle of new life, salvation would come through the woman. She is different, uniquely made, she has weakness that make her worthy of protection and dignity, she is…
Hosea 6:5: "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth."
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