Here I Am, Send Me Part 5: Surrender

Here I Am, Send Me Part 5: Surrender

by | Sep 5, 2024 | Called, Discover Your Ministry, Here I Am, Send Me, The Pattern

Joshua is about action.

His name means ‘the Lord is Salvation’ or more accurately ‘Jehovah is Salvation’.

He was a military man – a mighty warrior – but also a prophet waiting on every word the Lord spoke unto him.

His job was to lead the Jewish nation of Israel back to their homeland – to the Promised Land. His job was to reclaim that which they had lost at the hands of their enemies, to take what the Lord had given them.

The author of Hebrews writes:

Hebrews 4:9-11: (KJV)
9There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Rest is defined in the Webster’s Dictionary as:

A state of quiet or repose; a cessation from motion or labor; tranquillity; as, rest from mental exertion; rest of body or mind.

In Psalm 95 David speaks regarding the day of provocation in which Israel tempted God and saw His works for 40 years – and he also states – ‘if you hear His voice today, do not harden your hearts’, and this is an indication that there is hope. We can move into the rest of God – the rest of God being a cessation (an end) of our own works, of our own will, a state of quiet and response to the will of God.

Christ comes and calls us to move into the promise of restoration and salvation – the promise of a new life with God – He invites us into His rest and gives us His Spirit, our guide, our comforter and our teacher, so that we can find our rest, in His.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary states that this rest of God isn’t a Sabbath like rest, but rather a state of blessedness, and this corresponds with verse 11 where the author states – let us labor to enter into that rest!

That is exactly what Joshua did. He marched across the Jordan with absolute assurance that his God was with him – that he would not face these enemies alone. He had the faith, but now he had to react.

He made his way across the Jordan and gave himself as a living sacrifice to God, saying – Lord, have Your way in and through me.

He said, Lord, let Your will be done. Me and my house will serve You.

Surrender. He surrendered unto God, gave it all – his mind, his mouth, his heart, his physical self – everything was laid at His feet, before the throne of the Lord of Hosts.

Let us work to attain that state of blessed dependence upon God, let us work and strive for righteousness, hunger and thirst for His ways so that we can move into His rest!

Let us seek the true will of God, let us labor to have that assurance that what every step we take has been ordained by God, that we are fully and completely on His straight and narrow way.

If rest means the cessation of our works, our own works, it also means the start of His work in us.

Ceasing our labor (once we are in Him) allows Him to work in us.

This is another of those rather elusive key concepts we don’t always think about.

Absolute surrender.

If you want to be a success story in the Kingdom of God, stop writing your own story and let Him finish it. Cease your works and let Him work through you.

In Hebrews 4:11: we read:

16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Let us seek God with all boldness, just as He commanded Joshua – without fear.

Take action – surrender to Him.

Reflect:

1. What would it look like if you were surrendered to the call of God on your life? Where might it lead? What sacrifices would you have to make? What is hindering you – what obstacles are there between you and surrender to God?

2. Our labor (work) is to enter the rest of God – a place where our work stops and His work starts – what does this mean to you? How do we get to that place of absolute surrender?

3. What steps can you take today to step into the will of God for your life? What is the next step you have to take?

Prayer: Lord, You are the One who turns oceans into highways – You flatten the walls of the enemy to make the way straight before me – You move mountains to give me clear passage. I pray that You will show me the desires that I have put above You, that You will show me, through Your Spirit, the doubts and fears holding me back – and that You will help me give them to You. Remove these obstacles, oh Lord, and help me surrender all I have and all I am to You and Your Will for my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Revivo: Come Out Of Your Graves!

Revivo: Come Out Of Your Graves!

by | Sep 4, 2024 | Articles, Called, Revivo, The Pattern

Exodus 27:20-21: 20 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.

In the book of Exodus God commands the people to bring, as an offering, the purest, highest grade of olive oil for the lampstand and for the anointing oil.

These lamps were kept burning, continually, for generations and generations – even up until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The rabbi’s of old offer this insight: that the menorah was kept burning, day and night, night and day. Even though the lamp had to be refilled and the wicks trimmed and replaced, there was always at least one light kept burning.

The oil that was used, called pressed oil here, is in referred to in the King James as ‘beaten oil’.

The Hebrew word here is ‘Katith’ which translates as ‘torn apart’.

The Israelites used the first fruits of the olive – the first oil, the most precious oil – as fuel for the lamp. Only the highest quality would do. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica the olives were beaten down from the trees with sticks, and after the best of the crop had been selected, they were crushed, by hand with mortar and pestle. ‘Broken or torn apart’ – the mush from this process would be placed in wicker baskets – sort of like a strainer or a sieve – from which the precious drops of oil would run out and be collected for use in the temple.

The rest of the olive would then be mushed even more, heated, and more oil extracted for use in cooking and as fuel. 

But only the first fruit of the olive would be used for the lamps in the tabernacle.

This was a time consuming and labour intensive process – and they had to continually make this effort to make sure that the lamps would be kept burning.

Just like that olive, we have been squeezed, broken – even torn apart by life – by situations and circumstances – and it is from this place, this morning, that I bring this message.

I would like to share, with you today, some of the oil produced by my own pressing, the oil produced by my own brokenness. A friend of mine likes to say that there is oil in preaching from experience.

I want to share this oil with you this morning in the hopes that it will fan into flames the thing that God wants to do in your life this morning.

I started out my ministry journey in this church. Many of you remember me as a teenager, and later as a Bible College student. And it took me years to come to a point where I can finally admit that when I was here before, all the times that I was here before, I was too young for the call of God on my life. Immature and impressionable.

After I entered the secular workforce, getting my first real job in sales, I fell in with some negative influences. I was, at the time no longer with this congregation, but had moved on to a different church where I was the worship leader, and involved in many different kinds of part-time ministry – but I was leading a double life. 

I had, through some very bad decisions on my part and very poor judgement, become addicted to drugs and alcohol. I was still a Christian, I was still faithful in my church attendance and even in ministry – but behind closed doors I was a desperate, miserable wretch of a man who could not go one day without a hit, fix or a drink.

It came to a point, in August 2015, where I was arrested and ended up sleeping in the cells at the Sophiatown Police Station. 

I had my day in court, and by some miracle, where I was supposed to go to Sun City Prison for 6 months, through the intercession of my mother, and the guidance of our pastor, Leon – I was let go on the condition that I would go and see a counsellor, get help and get my life together.

Shame drove me to take a break from church altogether. For the first time in years, I stopped going to church and attended 12 Step Meetings instead. 

It was when I was almost 1 year clean and sober that I was arrested for the second time – this time, not by the police, but by the love and grace of God.

I met a pastor at one of these meetings. I had mentioned that I had been involved in ministry before – that I had completed my studies years earlier, that I had done work with the homeless, with the youth and that I was a worship leader. He invited me to his church, and I went the next Sunday. And just like that I was at home, once more in my Father’s house.

I soon became their worship and youth pastor. And from there I have not looked back – even in trials and tribulation – in good times and in bad times – I’ve held fast to the God of my Salvation and I have walked with Him, and He has walked with me – for more or less 8 years now – at least 5 of which I have been in full time ministry.

A while ago I started writing a series called ‘Walking With Jesus’ – and I publish it weekly on my website. In it we look at who Jesus is and what He came to do.

And the one thing that is absolutely clear in the book of Mark is that Jesus was a man of Action – Jesus was the right hand of God stretched out – God taking action. 

God wants to liberate His people. He wants to set us free from the chains, He wants to call out the captives, and He wants to breathe new life into dry, dead bones.

He wants to turn our graves into gardens, He wants to turn bones into armies – so that we may take back this land for His Kingdom, that we might go into this world and show them that the Mighty One Who Saves is in our midst.

At one point in my life I was getting so many calls and messages from still-suffering drug addicts, that the Lord took me out of a corporate environment and pulled me into full-time ministry. If I had to share even some of the testimonies from the last 5 and a half years, we would be here all day – I have seen people healed, set free and transformed by the Gospel.

I have seen chains broken, prison doors opened – I have seen blind eyes and deaf ears see and hear again! I have seen ligaments and bone grow back!

Let’s take a moment and dive into scripture. Mark 16:1-8:

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The Bible tells us that these three women went to the tomb of Jesus, expecting to find a body.

The Bible tells us in the Gospels, that when the disciples heard that the tomb was empty, they were surprised.

Why were they surprised? Did Jesus not tell them that this was going to happen? That there was going to be a resurrection?

The tomb is empty!

The Biblical account of the resurrection shows us that Jesus had to appear to His disciples before they truly understood what was happening – even the disciples had to see it to believe it.

Why? Is it perhaps because the idea of resurrection, of revival – the idea of coming back to life seems so impossible?

And perhaps today, this is where we find ourselves. Waiting to see so that we may believe.

I am here this morning to show you the resurrection power of our God in Jesus Christ. I was dead, but I am now alive through the grace and mercy of Jesus!

I should have been in a hole in the ground, but I stand before you alive, healed, restored and redeemed!

And I have seen many others called out of their graves as well.

The empty tomb is full – full of hope, full of grace and mercy, full of redeeming love! 

The psalmist says, ‘let God arise, His enemies be scattered!’

The empty tomb is a wake up call! God has risen – He has scattered the enemies of sin, shame, fear and even death! The stone has been rolled away and God is on the loose in our midst, the Mighty One who Saves, our saviour, our redeemer, the lover of our souls!

Paul writes to the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 15:56-58:

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

He writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:14: 

“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

The empty tomb is an invitation – it invites us to get up out of the mirey clay of our unbelief, our circumstances, our situations – the empty tomb is an invitation, calling DEAD MEN COME OUT OF YOUR GRAVES! LAZARUS COME OUT!

Rise from the dead! Let Christ shine upon you! 

The empty tomb is an invitation to step out of our graves and into the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

Some of us this morning are barren ground full of dry bones – we want to believe, we want to be set free, but we just don’t seem to get there – God is saying, today is your day! Step out! Come out of your grave! Step into Me!

Over the years I have spoken to many pastors, apostles, prophets – mighty men of God, who still struggle with the bondage of sin and shame. Some of them renowned and well known – addicted to drugs, gambling, alcohol, sex…

Some of us this morning, believe in Jesus – we come to church, like I once did, but we have one foot in the grave. God is saying step out – let go of your chains! Come alive!

Some of us are alive – we live a good life, we are devout Christians – but it feels like something is missing. Why? Because we are alive, but we are sitting in that empty tomb, not having realized that the stone has been rolled away! Step out! Out of that grave, and into the resurrection power of Jesus! Into the victory of Jesus!

Victory over sin, shame and despair! Victory over poverty, sickness and addiction! Victory is ours today!

Jesus took death itself in His hand and tore it apart. It is under His feet. What then of our situations, our storms, our circumstances? If Jesus defeated death, surely everything else seems small in comparison.

Victory is here today.

Pastor Deon shared a powerful revelation last week when he shared these words from 1 John 4:17: AS HE IS SO AM I!

Jesus got out of that grave. He defeated death!

Jesus took me out of my grave – and not just a spiritual one, He kept me from a very real, very serious and early death. Through His Holy Spirit active and working in my life, through His resurrection power!

I am here to plead with you this morning – step out of your grave! Step out of your grave!

Even Peter went to the empty tomb, and the Bible says he wondered about what might have happened. The resurrection might seem impossible – but with God all things are possible!

You just need to take your mustard seed of faith, hold it tightly in your hand! And step out today!

Turn to Jesus! Let Him do His work within you! Let Him pull you out of darkness and into life! What he has done for others He can do for you!

Step out today!

Araphel: The Revival Womb

Araphel: The Revival Womb

by | Sep 4, 2024 | Articles, Called, God in the Details, Revivo, The Pattern

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

At the dedication of the Temple, in 2 Chronicles 6:1-2: Solomon says: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

The words ‘dark cloud’ have always piqued my interest. What did Solomon mean by this?

We know that in the Exodus from Egypt God appeared to the Israelites as a cloud. It is in this same sort of cloud that He appeared to them on Mt. Sinai and His presence also rested on the Tabernacle as a pillar of cloud – the Hebrew word used in all these instances is ‘anan’ (aw-nawn), translated properly as a cloud or a thick mist and indicative of God’s presence.

The Lord’s visible presence in the world, in the Old Testament, is often represented by this Glory Cloud – the ‘anan’.

In 2 Chronicles 5 – after the Ark had been placed in the Temple – God’s presence filled the place – once again the ‘anan’ of God – the glory of God, the presence of the Most High in the form of a thick mist or heavy cloud – so much so that the priests could not even stand to minister.

But in 2 Chronicles 6 at the dedication of the Temple Solomon describes a different kind of cloud. 

The word used in the original Hebrew to describe this dark cloud is ‘araphel’ which is indicative of darkness and gloom – in Deuteronomy 4 and 5 we see that God appeared in both the ‘cloud’ (anan) and the darkness (araphel) – both present at the same time. Where the cloud – the ‘anan’ of God signifies God’s presence, ‘araphel’ describes a mystery. 

Eliphaz the Temanite shares a similar idea in Job 22:11-14: 

“Is not God in the heights of heaven?
 And see how lofty are the highest stars!
Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
 Does he judge through such darkness (araphel)?
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
 as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.”

The Hebrew Bible uses this word to describe the presence of God at least 15 times – and most of the time it is in a situation where some facet or even all of God is obscured and unseen.

In Psalm 30 David is prophetically praying over the Temple that was to come. He had not been able to build the Temple, because of the blood on his hands, and so the duty fell upon his son Solomon to build this habitation for the presence of the Lord.

At one point, in the middle of the Psalm, he makes the following statement: 

“When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.” Psalm 30:6-7:

It is not uncommon for us to feel like God is hidden – like David felt here. We look at our situations and our circumstances and simply cannot see Him anywhere. One of the most common questions I get asked as a pastor is: “where is God?”

We become dismayed because we feel like God has hidden himself from us.

But God is in the ‘araphel’. Just because we don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is not present in the darkness before us. The darkness is not without God.

Solomon dedicated the Temple, pouring out his heart before the Lord – he prays for his people, his nation. He prays for justice, and the vindication of the innocent. He prays against drought, famine, pestilence and sword. He prays against disaster and disease. He prays for a turning of hearts towards the Lord, for forgiveness and repentance.

He even prays for the nations – for the foreigner and the stranger in their midst, those who come from afar, that God would hear their cry from heaven and answer – that these same foreigners would go forth and become witnesses of the goodness and the glory of the God of Israel.

Most of the situations he was praying for and about are the same kind of situations we find ourselves praying for today. All of these are the kinds of circumstances in which we might ask ourselves: “where is God?”

And in that moment, as soon as Solomon had finished his prayer, God answered with the fire from heaven.

We find ourselves, as the Church, in a similar situation right now. Many of us can relate to the sentiment that Eliphaz was sharing in Job: “God is hiding, way up there in Heaven, beyond the darkness, unaware and uninterested in the comings and the goings of humanity. Going about His business in a vaulted – or closed – Heaven.”

We look at the world around us, and that is how many of us feel. There is so much chaos, confusion, sin and depravity. There is so much injustice and unrighteousness – and we haven’t even started talking about the natural chaos of the world – earthquakes, fires, floods, famine, drought…

And we look at the darkness and we ask – “where is God?”

God appeared at Mount Sinai in Fire, in the Cloud and in a Thick Darkness.

Moses said unto the people: “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” (Ex. 20:20)

And after saying this Moses approached the thick darkness where God was while the people remained at a distance. (Exodus 20:21)

The ‘araphel’ represents the mystery of God, but also the fear of the Lord. It describes the separateness or the otherness of God – the Holiness of God. The fact that God is obscured by this veil that our mortal eyes cannot pierce and our fragile minds cannot comprehend is indicative of the fact that He is unique and removed from us even when He is right in front of us.

We cannot begin to understand the vastness, the might and the power of God. The mere thought of His fullness inspires awe and reverence. He is not of this world. We cannot begin to fathom God.

We see Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple calling into the ‘araphel’. We see Moses stepping into it – knowing full well that it is within that place, within the ‘fear of the Lord’ where God is found. 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)

It is in embracing this fear – this reverential awe of the Lord – that we find our way forward.

In Acts, chapter 1, just before His ascension, the disciples ask Him if this is the time in which He will restore the Kingdom to Israel.

Jesus, instead, challenges them to venture into the unknown. ““It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)

Because of their reverence of the Lord, their fear of the Lord, they dive head first into the ‘araphel’ of God. The ‘unknown of God’. The ‘Secret Place’.

In Psalm 139 David refers to the secret place of his mother’s womb – that God saw him ‘hidden’ in his mothers womb.

The ‘araphel’ of God, this ‘obscuration’ – the ‘thick darkness’ or ‘secret place’ – is a sort of Spiritual Womb where direction and a way forward is birthed. It is in this ‘Spiritual Womb’ where the Will of God is conceived and where revival is birthed from.

Like Moses and Solomon we must step into this ‘thick darkness’ – into the ‘araphel’ – into the ‘fear of the Lord’.

Like the disciples we must venture into the unknown. We must press on and into the secret place.

Paul writes to the Corinthians: “don’t you know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit?” (1 Corinthians 6)

Elsewhere, in Romans 12, he admonishes us to be a living sacrifice – to offer up our lives – unto the Lord.

We must dedicate the Temple of our Body to the Lord, like Solomon, with awe and reverence in prayer.

We must provide the sacrifice of our own flesh as a burnt offering before the Lord. 

We want God to move on our terms, according to our ways towards our expectations and according to the motives and agendas of our carnal minds.

But God is in the ‘araphel’.

Revival is coming. And it might not look like we want it or expect it to look. It is not going to come through the writing of super-spiritual books, endless prophetic and apostolic courses, it is not going to come through lights and loud music – and it is certainly not going to come through the words of eloquent preachers, their titles or their charismatic choreography.

Revival is going to come through one thing only – the Fire from Heaven will come only when we dedicate the Temple of our Body to the Lord in prayer.

After the dedication of the Temple, the Lord accepted the burnt offering and filled the House with His Glory.

After waiting upon the ‘unknown’ of God, dedicated to prayer, the Lord poured out His Fire from Heaven upon the upper room – shaking the place with His presence.

The Lord came to Solomon in those days, after the dedication, in the night and said: 

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.  I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.” 

(2 Chronicles 7:13-18, NIV)

It is through prayer that the Throne of God is established in the hearts and the lives – in the midst of His people.

Nothing else.

Not through sacrifices, tithes, offerings, festivals – but through the sacrifice of ourselves in prayer.

It is through prayer that the birthing of revival and restoration takes place.

In this time, let us turn to the Lord in prayer.

I need healing in my body, in my life, in my family. I need healing in my church. I need healing in my country – and we certainly need to see healing in the world as a whole.

Let us, this royal priesthood, this holy nation, the Body – the Bride – a people called by His Name – humble ourselves, turning back to the Lord, repenting of our foolishness and our own depravity, and approach the ‘araphel’ of God. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us step into ‘the fear of the Lord’ – approach Him with reverence and awe. Let us enthrone Him with the highest praise, give Him the highest place in our lives. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.

Herlewing: Ons Werk!

Herlewing: Ons Werk!

by | Sep 4, 2024 | Articles, Called, Commissioned, Discover Your Ministry, Meditations, Revivo, The Pattern

Die Here gebruik my die laaste paar jaar by nuwe kerke – en so ruk terug het ons nog ‘n kerk help plant in die Northriding area. Daai seisoen het in Februarie tot ‘n einde gekom en ons moes toe weer by die Here gaan hoor hoe die pad vorentoe lyk.

In daai tyd gee die Here vir my Jesaja 61.

‘n paar weke na dit bevind ek en Kailie ons hier, by die Gemeentes van Christus. Ek’t haar gebring om vir haar my geestelike ouerhuis te wys – ‘n tuiste wat ek oor die laaste paar jaar gemis het.

Toe ek die oggend hier sit en ek op kyk na die twee borde met die nuwe misie en visie van die kerk toe weet ek ons is by die regte plek.

Jesaja 61.

Ek kyk elke Sondag na hierdie twee borde – en ek weet hier in my hart dat dit nie net die werk van mense hande is – dit is nie net ‘n goeie idee of ‘n mooi gedagte wat Pastoor Leon of die Kerk Raad gehad het nie – dit is die hart van God in wit en swart.

Die Here wil iets doen in hierdie seisoen – Hy wil ‘n magtige werk in ons hart en ons lewens doen, in ons kerk en in ons gemeenskap – en nog weier as dit. God se wil vir Sy mense is Herlewing.

Herlewing, as ons kyk na die samestelling van die woord – ‘her’ en ‘lewe’ – is om iets weer lewendig te maak. Die Here wil nuwe lewe in ons in blaas – nuwe lewe in ons, in ons families, ons skole, ons werksplekke, ons gemeenskap! Hy is besig om die grond voorteberei vir net so herlewing! Wie ‘n oor het, laat hom hoor wat die Gees aan die gemeentes sê

Jesaja 61 se titel, in die Engelse Bybel, is ‘The Year of the Lord’s Favour’ – in die ou Afrikaanse vertaling is dit: ‘Die Genadejaar van die Here’.

Die titel kom uit Jesaja 61:2 waar die profeet praat van ‘n Jaar van die welbehae van die Here wat aangekondig word.

Ek is hier vanoggend om so jaar aan te kondig – die jaar van die welbehae van die Here.

Die Hebreeuse woord vir ‘jaar’ wat hier gebruik word is ‘shānāh’ – dit is ‘n selfstandige naamwoord wat vertaal word as ‘jaar’, ‘seisoen’ of ‘tydperk’ – dit is hoe dit oor die algemeen in die Bybel gebruik word.

Maar die woord ‘shānāh’ is ook ‘n werkswoord – en in die Hebreeus meen dit: ‘om te herhaal, of om weer te doen.’

Die Here wil iets doen in ons midde – en dit is iets wat Hy van te vore gedoen het – maar dit gaan vir baie van ons ‘n nuwe ding wees. God verander nie – Hy is steeds die God van genesing, van wonderwerke, van bevryding! Hy is steeds die selfde God wat die Hemel en die Aarde geskep het en wat jou toekoms in Sy hand hou.

Hy is nogsteeds die selfde God wat magtiglik deur die disipels gewerk het in die boek van Handelinge. Die selfde God wat lewe in daardie Joodse kerkie in die bo-kamer ingeblaas het en die wêreld onderstobo gedompel het. Hy is dieselfde God en Hy wil wil in mag en ywer hier in ons midde beweeg.

Ons lees saam in Jesaja 61:1-3:

“DIE Gees van die Here Here is op My, omdat die Here My gesalf het om ‘n blye boodskap te bring aan die ootmoediges; Hy het My gestuur om te verbind die gebrokenes van hart, om vir die gevangenes ‘n vrylating uit te roep en vir die geboeides opening van die gevangenis; om uit te roep ‘n jaar van die welbehae van die Here en ‘n dag van die wraak van onse God; om al die treurendes te troos; om vir die treurendes in Sion te beskik dat aan hulle gegee word sieraad vir as, vreugde-olie vir treurigheid, ‘n gewaad van lof vir ‘n verslae gees; sodat hulle genoem kan word terebinte van geregtigheid, ‘n planting van die Here, tot sy verheerliking.

” (v1-3, 1933)

Die profeet Jesaja sê hier dat die Here hom gesalf het om hierdie blye boodskap te verkondig.

In die Ou Testament was konings, priesters en profete gesalf met olie – hierdie salwing was om hulle werk as diensknegte van die Allerhoogste te bevestig – om hulle in hulle heilige roeping te vestig.

In die Nuwe Testament deel Paulus die volgende met ons in Romeine 8:9-11:

“julle is egter nie in die vlees nie, maar in die Gees, as naamlik die Gees van God in julle woon. Maar as iemand die Gees van Christus nie het nie, dié behoort nie aan Hom nie.

Maar as Christus in julle is, dan is die liggaam dood vanweë die sonde, maar die gees is lewe vanweë die geregtigheid.En as die Gees van Hom wat Jesus uit die dode opgewek het, in julle woon, dan sal Hy wat Christus uit die dode opgewek het, ook julle sterflike liggame lewend maak deur sy Gees wat in julle woon.”

Jesus – die Gesalfde Messias – woon in jou.

Verder aan in Romeine 8:14-15:

“Want almal wat deur die Gees van God gelei word, dié is kinders van God.

Want julle het nie ontvang ‘n gees van slawerny om weer te vrees nie, maar julle het ontvang die Gees van aanneming tot kinders, deur wie ons roep: Abba, Vader!”

En dan laastens  in verse 29-30:

Want die wat Hy vantevore geken het, dié het Hy ook vantevore verordineer om gelykvormig te wees aan die beeld van sy Seun, sodat Hy die eersgeborene kan wees onder baie broeders;en die wat Hy vantevore verordineer het, dié het Hy ook geroep; en die wat Hy geroep het, dié het Hy ook geregverdig; en die wat Hy geregverdig het, dié het Hy ook verheerlik.”

Ons is geken en geroep deur God – uit die moederskoot – vir Sy wil en vir Sy doel – om gelykvormig te wees aan die Beeld van Jesus – die selfde Jesus wat as die Heiliog Gees in ons woon en deur ons werk.

As ek dan vra, wie is die gesalfdes vandag – dan is die antwoord eenvoudig. Dit is ek en jy. 

Ons is gesalf, nie deur olie nie, maar deur die inwoning van Sy Gees in ons – geroep om gelykvormig te wees aan die beeld van Jesus – om te beweeg in die mag van Sy opstanding as Sy Hande en Voete.

Dit is juis wat Petrus aan ons probeer oordra waneer hy in 1 Petrus 2:9-10: sê:

Maar julle is ‘n uitverkore geslag, ‘n koninklike priesterdom, ‘n heilige volk, ‘n volk as eiendom verkry, om te verkondig die deugde van Hom wat julle uit die duisternis geroep het tot sy wonderbare lig, julle wat vroeër geen volk was nie, maar nou die volk van God is; aan wie toe geen barmhartigheid bewys is nie, maar nou bewys is.

Ons is Sy priesterdom – geroep om die verlossingsdade van ons Koning te verkondig. Om Sy goedheid en Sy guns oortevertel – op elke straathoek, en van elke dak af te verkondig – in elke Valei en op elke berg – elke pad en elke laning te verkondig dat Hy gekom het en dat Hy weer kom! Om te verkondig die deugde en die geregtigheid van God!

Paulus deel die volgende in 2 Korinthiërs 5:17-21:

“Daarom, as iemand in Christus is, is hy ‘n nuwe skepsel; die ou dinge het verbygegaan, kyk, dit het alles nuut geword. En dit alles is uit God wat ons met Homself versoen het deur Jesus Christus en ons die bediening van die versoening gegee het, naamlik dat God in Christus die wêreld met Homself versoen het deur hulle hul misdade nie toe te reken nie en die woord van die versoening aan ons toe te vertrou. Ons tree dan op as gesante om Christus wil, asof God deur ons vermaan. Ons bid julle om Christus wil: Laat julle met God versoen.

Want Hy het Hom wat geen sonde geken het nie, sonde vir ons gemaak, sodat ons kan word geregtigheid van God in Hom.”

Die bediening van versoening waarvan Paulus praat is nie net vir sommige mense gegee nie – dit is nie net vir die Bybel-studente, pastore, en predikante nie – maar vir elkeen van ons.

Hy sê vroeër in verse 11-15 dat dit die barmhartigheid van Jesus is wat ons dring om die Evangelie te deel – die selfde barmhartigheid wat Petrus van praat wat ons roep om deel te wees van die uitverkore geslag, die heilige priesterdom.

Dit is die liefde in Jesus wat maak dat ons nie meer vir ons self lewe nie, maar vir Hom wat Sy lewe vir ons gegee het.

Dit is ‘n roeping wat aan elke een van ons behoort. Dit is nie die pastoor of die evangelis se werk om die Kerk vol te maak nie. Dit is ons almal sin.

Die pastoor is daar om ‘n veilige hawe te skep waar ons kan groei in ons roeping, groei in ons vermoë om vir die Here te werk – maar die werk behoort aan ons almal.

Ons is almal geroep om te soebat, om te smeek, om ons medemens te oortuig dat hulle met God versoen moet word!

Dit is my roeping en dit is jou roeping om ander nader te roep. Net soos Jesaja, om die goeie nuus te verkondig aan die ootmoediges, om die gebrokenes van hart te verbind! Dit is ons werk om vir die gevangenis vrylating uit te roep en vir die geboeides opening van die gevangenis!

Dit is ‘n bediening wat aan elkeen van ons behoort – om die goeie nuus van Sy Koningkryk en alles wat saam met dit kom te verkondig. Sieraad vir as, vreugde-olie vir treurigheid, ‘n gewaad van lof vir ‘n verslae gees.

Die Engels sê dit vir my baie mooi:  a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair! 

Dit is ons roeping en bediening – die bediening van versoening – om die goedheid, die deugde van God te verkondig – en om ander uit die duisternis te roep soos wat Hy ons geroep het – sodat Hy ‘n planting tot eer en verheerliking van Sy geregtigheid kan oprig.

As ons vanoggend bereidwillig sal wees om hierdie roeping te aanvaar gaan ons sien hoe die Here kom ‘shānāh’ hier in hierdie plek – hoe die Here sal kom en weer sal doen! Ons sal sien hoe Hy lewens verander – verslaafdes uit hulle boeie roep, hoe Hy lewens, families and huwelike herstel! As ons vanoggend net bereidwillig sal wees om die roep stem van Jesus te hoor sal ons sien hoe Sy Opstandings Mag weer in ons midde werk!

Daar is ‘n baie mooi belofte vir die wat die roep en bediening aanvaar (Jes. 61:4-9). Daar is ‘n erfporsie vir hierdie Kerk daarin opgesluit. En die Here gee vandag vir ons die sleutel.

Nie deur krag of geweld nie – maar deur Sy gees, lewend en kragtig in en deur ons.

Net soos in Jesaja 6, waar die Here hom roep as profeet, vra God vandag: “Wie sal ek stuur? Wie sal namens my gaan?”

Al wat die Here vandag van ons af verlang is ons bereidwilligheid – ons ja! ‘n Hart wat roep: “Hier is ek stuur my!”

‘N Paar jaar terug het ek ‘n droom gehad waar die Here gesê het: “I will use fishermen once again…”

Ek is oor die laaste paar jaar betrokke gewees met soveel Godsmanne met soveel verskillende titels – maar daar was iets wat ontbreek het – ‘there was something missing…’

Die titles meen baie min in hierdie nuwe seisoen – die tyd is nou wat die Here weer vissermanne roep. Alledaagse mense soos ek en jy om Sy Koninkryk te sien kom.

Ons lees die laaste woord van Jesaja 61 en die pragtige belofte wat daar mee saam gaan:

“Ek is baie bly in die Here, my siel juig in my God; want Hy het my beklee met die klere van heil, my in die mantel van geregtigheid gewikkel — soos ‘n bruidegom wat priesterlik die hoofversiersel ombind, en soos ‘n bruid wat haar versier met haar juwele. Want soos die aarde sy plante voortbring, en soos ‘n tuin sy gewasse laat uitspruit, so sal die Here Here geregtigheid en lof laat uitspruit voor die oog van al die nasies.”

Kom ons word weer verlief op Jesus. Kom ons maak Hom ons ywer en ons passie!

Kom ons verbly ons in ons verlossing! Kom ons verbly ons in Hom! In plaas van om net te kyk wat die Here wil doen, kom word ‘n deel daarvan! Kom ons raak betrokke in die werk van die Here – waarokal ons onself bevind in die week – by die werk, by die skool, by die huis! In al die paaie en lanings van die lewe – al die ‘highways and byways’ – kom ons verkondig die goedheid en die guns van die Here aan elkeen wat ‘n oor het om te hoor! Kom ons reik uit na ons naastes, ons geliefdes – en ook die wat dalk ver van ons is. Die wêreld het Jesus nodig!

Kom ons raak betrokke by die kerk. Kom en word herstel en bemagtig, kom word sterk in die Here sodat ons die werk daar buite kan aanpak.

Kom ons neem eienaarskap van die belofte wat God ons vandag gee – hierdie belofte van herlewing en herstel. Kom ons bid soos nooit van te vore, kom wees meer getrou in Bybelstudie en stiltetyd – en kom ons raak betrokke in die bediening van versoening wat aan elkeen van ons behoort!

Revival: Our Work

Revival: Our Work

by | Sep 4, 2024 | Articles, Called, Commissioned, Discover Your Ministry, Meditations, Revivo, The Pattern

A few months ago, when we left our previous church plant, I was praying for a vision and a mission from God. Praying for direction. “Lord, where do you want me to go? What do you want us to do? What do you want to achieve?”

During that time God gave me Isaiah 61.

A few weeks later I found myself sitting in the church where I grew up – just a visitor – hoping to give Kailie a glimpse of home. A home I hadn’t even realized I had been longing for.

Looking up, above the stage, there were two signs. Two new signs with the new mission and vision of the church boldly displayed in Afrikaans and English.

Isaiah 61.

I know today, looking at those same signs every Sunday, that this is not just a flight of fancy or a good idea – this is the very heart of God for this season! Revival.

Revival, simply put, can be defined as something coming or being brought back to life – to restore to life!

In this season God is working around the World in the hearts of the faithful to prepare the ground for such a revival. God’s Will for His Church – for His people – for His children – is to restore them to life again.

Isaiah 61 is titled: THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOUR

The Hebrew word used to describe this period of time is ‘shānāh’ – and just like a coin, this word has two sides. It is a noun – translating as ‘year’, ‘length’ or ‘age’ – signifying a division and period of time – we see it in use in the name of the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah – the start or the head of the year.

It is also a verb. As a verb it means: to repeat or do again.

Keeping this in mind we will now read from Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.” (v1-3, NIV)

In the Old Testament Kings, Priests and Prophets were anointed. The anointing was the means through which they were prophetically sworn into service, into the function of their Holy Calling.

In the New Testament Paul shares this truth in Romans 8: 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (v9-11).

In verse 14 he calls us children of God – saying that it is through the Spirit of Adoption that we cry Abba, Father.

And then finally in verse 29-30: 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Being born again means that we have swung wide the doors of our hearts and invited Jesus in. We have died to self saying “not my will, but Yours be done…” We have given ourselves into the Hand of the Father so that He may do whatever He may want in us and through us. It is no longer I who live, but Christ in me and through me!

Knowing this we can then logically ask: who then is the anointed today?

All of us. There are no kings, priests and prophets like in the Old Testament in the Kingdom of God – but we are, according to 1 Peter 2:9: a royal priesthood, a holy nation and peculiar people – anointed and appointed – to proclaim the goodness of the same God who called us out of darkness and into His glorious light.

We can very much, like the prophet Isaiah declare: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news…”

In the highways and the byways, in the valley and on the mountain, on every street corner and from every rooftop, we have been called as a royal priesthood – appointed to proclaim the goodness, the love, the mercy, grace and righteousness of God!

Paul offers the following to the church in Corinth, in 2 Corinthians 5: 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

He goes on to say, in verse 18-20: “18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This ministry of reconciliation is not just for the teachers, preachers and evangelists – but belongs to all of us.

We are called, knowing what it is to fear the Lord, to plead with our loved ones on Christ’s behalf: BE RECONCILED TO GOD!

It is a calling that belongs to all of us. It is not your pastor’s job to call the community to Christ. It is his job to create a space where we can be equipped to live out this calling – the ministry of reconciliation.

It is our job. We are called, through the indwelling of the Spirit of Adoption to be a voice in the wilderness crying out, be reconciled to God!

It is our calling, just as much as it was Isaiah’s, to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for the captive and release from darkness to the prisoner! To share the story of the goodness of His Grace, the reality of His wrath and the glory of His righteousness!

It is our job to go out and proclaim the good news of His Kingdom Come and all that comes with it – a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair! It is our calling and ministry to proclaim the goodness of the same God who called us out of Darkness and into His Light – so that His Kingdom might be established here in our lives – so that He might raise up a sturdy plantation – us as oaks of righteousness – for the display of the splendour and the glory of the Lord!

When we take up this call we will see the Year of the Lord’s Favour – we will see the Lord ‘shānāh’ – do it again what He has done before in this season. We will see many coming to Christ – we will see lives, marriages, families restored! We will see addicts and alcoholics step out of their chains and into freedom! We will see the ill and the infirm healed! We will despair turn into joy and graves turn into gardens! We will see the resurrection power of Jesus at work in our homes, in our church, in our community – and even our country!

There is a great promise in store for the church willing to take up this call. (Isa 61:4-9). There is a great inheritance for the church willing to get up and cross the Jordan of our fear and insecurity – for those willing to face the giants of Canaan and take the promised land!

Not by might, and not by power – but through His Spirit living and active, working in us and through us!

Just like with Isaiah, in chapter 6, the Lord is asking: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

And all the Lord longs for today is our willingness – our yes! Our cry of, “Here I Am Send Me!”

A few years ago I had a dream in which the Lord told me: I will use fishermen once again. 

I have been given many titles in churches over the years. I’ve been pastor, prophet, reverend – but my favorite thing to go by is just ‘Attie’. My family name. An every day, super average and ordinary name. I am nothing special. I just love Jesus.

God wants fishermen.

God is calling ordinary, everyday people like you and me to grow the church! To restore righteousness in the world! To proclaim His Gospel! To see His Kingdom come!

The last words of this great prophetic moment in Isaiah 61 is this:

“I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.” (v10-11, NIV)

Let us fall in love with our Saviour today! Let us learn to delight in the Lord, the God of our Salvation! Let us swing wide the doors of our hearts and say, Lord, here I am! Let us no longer be spectators, but let us participate and become an active part in this story that God is writing! Let us rejoice in our salvation and make it known – in the highways and the byways – at work, at home, at school – wherever we might find ourselves during the day, during the week!

Let us get involved at church, like never before – not just to drink for the sake of drinking, or eating for the sake of eating – but to build up the strength necessary to work out there in our personal mission fields!

Let us take ownership of the promise God is giving us today – the promise of revival! Let us pray like never before, be disciplined in our Bible study and devoted to the ministry of reconciliation!

Let us seek Him with a renewed desire, a fresh fire – Lord fill us with a longing that nothing else can satisfy! And let us turn the world upside down, but rightside up for His Name’s Sake – intentionally with boldness, vigour and passion!