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.

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!

Tabernacle Typology 7: Wood

Tabernacle Typology 7: Wood

by | Aug 28, 2024 | Bible Studies, Christological Reflections, God in the Details, Tabernacle Typology, Typology

Ex. 25:1-9: (KJV)

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Wood from the Shittah Tree – later classified as a type of Acacia – was used in the construction of the Tabernacle. These trees were common in the Sinai Desert and in the Jordan River Valley.

It was a light, but hard and durable wood – known for its strength and its natural resistance to insects and decay.

In ancient Egyptian and Israelite tradition it represented endurance and immortality – because of its evergreen nature.

Because of its resistance to decay it also represented integrity and purity.

It represents the perfection of Jesus and God’s covenant with His people. Strong and unyielding, enduring and steadfast.

The shittim wood symbolizes Jesus as the Holy One of God who saw no corruption. (Psalm 16:10). It typifies His purity, where He was likewise to His brethren, but without sin. (Heb 4:15)

Jesus was in the desert – much like the Shittim trees that grow in the Wilderness  – and did not bend, nor did He break when faced with temptation.

Just like these trees grow in desolate and dry places – providing shade from the desert sun – so Jesus is our shelter in the wilderness – our covering.

Another interesting ‘point’ – mind the pun – has to do with the thorny nature of the tree. As Charles Loder shares: “shittîym comes from שׁטֵט shôtêt “to pierce” (Strong’s #7850), for Christians, therefore, Shittim may hint to the piercing of Christ on the cross and his crown of thorns. The root verb also means to whip and scourge, another feature of Christ’s trial and crucifixion.” 

A last inference I would like to share comes from the fact that the shittah tree is a source of gum arabic – which is used for a variety of products, but also has medicinal effects.

Just like medicine can be taken from this tree, so also healing is found in Christ. 

He is our healer, our shelter – the One pierced for our transgressions and scourged for our iniquity – the Mighty One who saves. He is our strength in weakness. The Perfect and Spotless Lamb of God, incorruptible and holy. Steadfast and unchanging – His love is unyielding and eternal. 

Reflect:

  1. How does the Shittim wood and the symbolism thereof speak of Christ in us? What does this mean in the life of the believer?
  2. What does it mean to be incorruptible? How much of this quality do you possess? Is there any way in which we  – through the practice of Spiritual Disciplines – can bolster our faith to be more resistant to drought, decay and the insects of temptation?

Prayer: Lord, be my strength in weakness. Just like shittim wood is strong and resistant to decay, strengthen me against temptation, keep me standing in times of trouble, and preserve me in trial and tribulation so that I may endure to the very end and have eternity with You. Let me find rest in Your unfailing and unyielding love. Be my shelter in the wilderness of life and let me abide in You forever. 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.