Same God

Same God

by | May 24, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“You moved in power then
God, move in power now
You are the same God
You are the same God”

Same God, Elevation Worship

“I the Lord do not change.”

Malachi 3:6a, NIV

Everlasting and unchanging – eternal, infinitely faithful and true – from generation to generation… God does not change. There is no shadow of turning with Him. As He was, so He is and so He will be forevermore and beyond.

He is the same God who split the seas for Moses, the same God who made Jericho’s walls tumble down – the same God who helped a teenage boy defeat a giant.

He is still the same God who provided manna and quail in the desert, made water flow from the rock – He is still Jehovah-Rapha the Healer, El-Roi who sees us, Jehovah-Jireh our Provider and Jehovah-Nissi the One who fights for us.

He is still the same God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who loved the sinner and cleansed the leper – made the blind to see and set the captive free – He is still the same Jesus!

Hebrews 13:8: says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The face, grace and embrace of God – the Right Hand stretched out, never too short to reach us in our time of need. The same Jesus – Yeshua – the very Word of God made flesh. The Heart of God made manifest.

God is not a man that He would lie. His love for us does not diminish, is infinite and without bounds – oh how He loves us!

The same God, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End and Creator of the universe is the One – Almighty, Omnipotent – spoke at the dawn of Creation and there was light.

Through the indwelling of His Spirit – the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead – He wants to speak light in your darkness.

He wants to be your Beginning.

He created you, purchased you salvation – redeemed you from sin and shame – you are double His!

He is the same God who moved in power then, and He wants to move in power now through His Holy Spirit living and active in our lives. He is still the Mighty Conqueror – our victory – and the Prince of Peace – the River of Living Water, the Bread from Heaven.

He wants to move in our midst. He wants to move in your life. He wants to move in your ministry – this ministry that we all share – the ministry of reconciliation.

He wants to empower us and enable us to be His witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria – and even to the ends of the Earth. He wants us to be His witnesses in our homes, at our schools, our places of business, our communities – to expand His Kingdom wherever we might go.

All it takes from us is a “metanoia” experience – a turning of the heart and the mind towards the things of God. A shift in our thinking, the realisation that God is who He says He is.

He is not a man that He would lie or change His mind. God intended, from the beginning, to walk with us. This has not changed. Let us turn our hearts and our minds toward Him. Let us give Him our full attention.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit we turned from God. There is no shadow of turning with Him. Let us turn back to God.

He is the same God who moved in power then, and He wants to move in power now – here in our midst. In our homes, in our churches, in our communities. Revival is waiting.

All we need to do is become willing to let Him have His way – to surrender to His loving and careful Hand so that He may mould us, form us, guide us and lead us – so that the blueprint of what He had in mind for us might be restored.

Let us turn our hearts and minds – the totality of our lives – over to Him.

Prayer: Jesus, have Your way in me. Come and flood my life with who You are. If there is any doubt or double-mindedness in me, let it be stripped away, burned away by the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Come and move in my life and through my life as I surrender all I am and all I ever will be to You. Let Your Kingdom come. Let Your will be done – in and through my life – in Jesus Name. Amen.

King of Kings: Pentecost Fire

King of Kings: Pentecost Fire

by | May 24, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“And the church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel, shall not faint
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me”

King of Kings, Hillsong

“ Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. “

Acts 2:2-3, NIV

The Church can be defined as an assembly – a coming together. The older Greek roots of the word ‘church’ refers to the place where this congregation takes place – in the Lord’s House.

Christ came, showed us the way, was crucified, resurrected and ascended to the Right Hand of God. After this the disciples assembled – congregated – gathered together in the upper room and waited upon the Lord.

This last week I’ve been seeing, in my mind’s eye, wood being placed like in a fireplace. 

This is what the disciples did. They came together – assembled like wood – in the fireplace of the upper room.

And the Lord sent His Spirit like a flame of fire. 

And we have seen, over decades and centuries, the Lord igniting fires – and in some cases re-igniting fires. And we are in need, as the church, of a spark to set us alight again.

We need revival. 

The fire was lit on Pentecost – but as with any fire, the ash eventually starts suffocating the flames. 

The ashes of tradition, philosophy and bad theology have suffocated the flames of that Pentecost Fire in us – but the Gospel Truth of old will not faint and will not be snuffed out. 

Under the ashes are the red hot embers of Truth waiting to be fanned into flame again.

Under the ashes are the red hot embers of a church waiting to be fanned into flame again.

Sometimes it is necessary for us to add kindling to the fire, to add fuel, for the fire to burn again.

Let us shake off the ashes that suffocate the fire – and let us present ourselves as wood in the fireplace of the upper room waiting for the Spark of His Spirit – let our hearts be the kindling, let our lives be the flame.

Let us become a people of prayer once again – let us assemble and congregate in our Father’s House and wait on Him for fresh fire.

He is faithful.

The Fire of the Holy Spirit kept the steam engine of the Church going in even the darkest times – through persecution, in the face of famine, nakedness and sword – and gave momentum to the propagation of the Gospel and expansion of the Kingdom.

The Fire of the Holy Spirit enabled the church to be a light in the darkness leading the lost back home – a source of warmth and safety to those who had been alone and stuck out in the colder fringes of society. 

The Fire of the Holy Spirit is what purifies us, like silver and gold in a furnace – the Fire transforms us, conforms us more and more into the image of Christ so that we may be the light that the world needs.

 Let us come together. Let us be assembled like wood in the fireplace of prayer. 

 Let us seek the Lord like never before. 

 I want to urge you to find like-minded brothers and sisters to pray with. Let our churches become houses of prayer. Let our homes become altars unto the Lord.  

 Let us pray together and set the world ablaze.

 Prayer: Lord, come and set Your church alight. Come and pour out fresh fire. As we turn to You in prayer Lord, come and heal us. Come and restore us. Help us shake off the ashes of old and be renewed, restored and revived – so that we may be Your light in a dark and dying world. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Son of Suffering

Son of Suffering

by | May 24, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“There’s a God who weeps
There’s a God who bleeds
Oh, praise the One
Who would reach for me
Hallelujah to the Son of suffering”

Son of Suffering, Travis Cottrell

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV

In the story of Lazarus we see that Jesus arrived at the tomb of His friend and He wept. This the shortest, but perhaps one of the most powerful verses in the Bible.

Jesus wept. (John 11:35).

There are loads of theological considerations we can get into, and we can get really deep in explaining why Jesus wept – looking at the Greek and the context of the passage – but even a simple reading is enough for us to get a glimpse of the heart of God.

He is the God who weeps with us.

Not only did He suffer upon the cross with us, but He also suffers with us. His heart breaks for the broken hearted.

He is the God who says to the weary, the burdened and the broken: “Come to Me! I will give you rest!”

Jesus lifts our burden. Makes it lighter.

He is a Husband to the widow, a Father to the orphan, and Friend of the friendless. He is Home to those who wander. He sits with the prisoner, the drug addict, the homeless. He is Bread to the hungry and Living Water to those going through desert places.

Jesus carries our burdens with us.

No wonder Peter writes: “Cast your burdens unto Jesus, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).

Are there broader shoulders to cry on than the Shoulder of God?

It is true that believers share in the suffering of Christ (Romans 8) – but Jesus also shares ours.

What is my burden today? Is it depression? Is it infirmity? Is it poverty? Temptation?

Cast your burden upon Jesus.

Just as the author of Hebrews says, in Christ we have a High Priest who is not unfamiliar with our trials and our temptations – but One who is willing to get His hands dirty, stepping down into the muck of this world, the filth of our sin and wickedness, to pull us out of the miry clay.

We have a High Priest who is willing to step down from His Majesty into the swamp of our grief and the slow of our despondency to help us out – pulling us out of the sinking sand of our situations and placing us firmly upon the Solid Ground of His Salvation.

The Psalmist writes: “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psalm 55:22, NIV)

He is the God who weeps, the God who bleeds – the God who reaches out to us!

All we have to do is be willing to surrender to Him – to give over to His love, cast our burdens upon Him. All we have to do is throw ourselves on His mercy and grace – fall into His heart.

Prayer: Lord, things might seem dark – but You are the light in the darkness. When all around me is sinking sand, I can stand firm upon Your love and grace. When it feels like my situations are raging like a flood – I will not be overwhelmed. I will not be shaken – because my trust is in You. I am not alone. I don’t have to do this on my own. You are with me. Help me today to see You working in my life. Overwhelm me with Your presence. Flood my life with who You are. Give me strength to face this day. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Spirit of God: Paraklétos

Spirit of God: Paraklétos

by | May 10, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“We thirst for Your presence
Send down Your rain
Here in this moment, a holy embrace”

Spirit of God, Phil Wickham

“15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

John 14:15-18, NKJV

What a powerful thought: “I will not leave you orphans; I (ME, MYSELF – Jesus) will come to you.”

The Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us.

Jesus says, comforting the disciples, that the Father will send another Helper. The word Helper here is translated from the Greek ‘paraklétos’ which can also be translated as ‘advocate’ or ‘attorney’.

An advocate presents evidence.

There have been many ‘helpers’ from the Old Testament to the New – evidence of God’s presence in the world. In the Old Testament God would appear to Abraham (Gen 18:1-15), Jacob (Gen 32:24-30), and Manoah and his wife (Judges 13) and Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15). He would appear to Moses and speak from within a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-10). The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, would see Him as the Fourth Man in the Fire (Daniel 3:16-28) – and all of Israel would see Him as a Pillar of Cloud and Fire  (Exodus 13).

Besides these ‘theophanies’ there were of course also dreams, visions, prophecies, miracles, signs and wonders – other visible manifestations of God’s glory and presence.

In the New Testament God Himself steps down from His throne in Heaven to walk in our midst – the ‘paraklétos’ in flesh and bone. Evidence of God With Us. 

In talking about the Holy Spirit Jesus talks about yet another ‘paraklétos’ – and insists “I will come to you.”

A common misconception, especially in our South African context, is that the Holy Spirit is somehow a different being altogether – completely distinct from Jesus. Biblically we should understand that there is only One seated upon the Throne – and He is the same One enthroned within our hearts, seated there through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. 

Jesus was the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of God WITH us.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of the same God IN us.

The Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us.

The proof of His presence. The Holy Spirit is our comforter in times of sorrow, His presence is a balm to the broken heart. 

He is our guide, helping us navigate the storms of life by reminding us of His Word and making it come alive in us. 

If Jesus was, while walking the Earth, the embrace of God made flesh – then the Holy Spirit is the very breath of God breathed into our lungs, the resurrection power of God in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the resurrection power of God – working not only in us but also through us. In understanding the Holy Spirit correctly, as the Spirit of Jesus – the Spirit of the Living God – in understanding the Oneness of the Godhood and our communion with Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our understanding of our Kingdom purpose is not only enlarged but also becomes more practical.

If the Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us – the presence of God living and active in our hearts – then the next step is Jesus alive THROUGH us as we become His hands and feet, the tangible evidence of His presence in the world around us.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of God IN us but also becomes the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of the same God THROUGH us as His hands and feet, all the more visible as we become more and more conformed to the image of Christ:

“18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Through His presence IN us we become His presence IN the world.

Prayer: Lord, as I contemplate Your glory, transform me ever more into what You would have me be. Let me do, all the more, what You would have me do. Through Your Holy Spirit, Lord, empower me to be Your presence in a broken world, Your light in the darkness – so that others might see You in me and through me. Come breathe in me and through me, O Lord. Let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here in our hearts and lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer: Kingdom Come

The Lord’s Prayer: Kingdom Come

by | May 9, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Father, let Your Kingdom come
Father, let Your will be done
On Earth as in Heaven
Right here in my heart”

The Lord’s Prayer, Matt Maher

“6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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 1:6-8:

Jesus, in teaching His disciples to pray, starts His prayer with: “‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The prayer starts with an emphasis on the coming of His Kingdom. 

Jesus commands His disciples, upon their asking if the kingdom will be restored to Israel, to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

With the Holy Spirit comes the power, dominion and authority of the Kingdom of God – the power of Christ IN us by which He works THROUGH us to affect the world AROUND us.

God wants to establish His throne within our hearts.

He wants to reign and rule IN us and THROUGH us.

Jesus’ ascension is the crowning of His exaltation – the point at which any doubt of His divinity is completely removed. He very much is the physical manifestation of the Right Hand of God.

Before the ascension Jesus was fully God, and fully man walking on the Earth, leading His disciples through word and deed. After the ascension He is still fully God but now leads us through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, moving in our midst and enthroned, not only in Heaven, but also in our hearts.

His ascension does not make Him less present in our lives, but rather, makes Him more present as He pours Himself into every vessel willing to believe and waiting to receive.

He commanded the disciples, at His ascension, to wait in Jerusalem.

What are we waiting for?

My social media is full of people talking about church growth and revival – but almost none of them even mention prayer. 

In Bible college we used to sing a song which roughly translates as, “early in the morning, and late in the evening, I will wait for You upon my knees…”

The mistake that many of us have made is that at the first hint of an encounter with God’s Spirit we leave the upper room and stop waiting – but there is always more – more of Him to be found. The waiting should never stop. We should always be waiting on God for a richer, fuller and deeper experience of who He is.

How can we ever get enough of an infinite God?

God moves in prayer. His will and purpose for our life is conceived in His heart and birthed in our prayers. Revival comes forth from the womb of prayer.

I want more of God in my life. I want His Kingdom established here in my heart. I want His will to be done here in my life – and then through me in the lives of others.

I want to invite you today to want the same. 

Whatever we have experienced of God, it is not even the tip of the iceberg. There is more – there is deeper.

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, saying: “Let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done in the earth as in Heaven…”

Let us wait upon the Lord.

Prayer: Jesus, be my desire. Let me not look to the left, or to the right, but let me keep my eyes fixed upon You. I pray Lord that You would come and guide me, lead me deeper into Your heart and will for my life. As I wait upon You today Lord pour out Your presence. Let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done here as in Heaven. In the Mighty Name of Jesus – the Name above every name – Amen!