People are impressed by the culture of honour when visiting the Bethel church, in Redding, California, where Bill Johnson is the senior pastor. As he was quick to point out at the conference Esther and I attended in Southampton, most miracles that take place involve groups of young people who are used in ministering in signs and wonders and they make sure to give God the glory.

Paul had to rebuke the church at Corinth because although they were ministering in the spiritual gifts they were comparing themselves with one another. We are all part of one body, so if one part is honoured every part of the body rejoices. Our carnal mindset only sees the individual and distorts the divine perspective. The same is true of us if we are confronted with signs and wonders and want to attach celebrity names to it.

In Philippians 2, Paul reminds the church about Christ and having His mindset – the message of Christ’s humility. Christ’s humility was not just an attitude of the mind but an act of obedience; through His humility He became obedient unto death. Here humility is transformed into honour. The believers were loving their power but losing the plot. It is noteworthy that after he teaches about being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, that this divine empowerment has a direct effect on their relationships. So the working of the Holy Spirit is not limited to healing or miracles but it impacts the way we act and therefore it affects our relationships.

We all need to seek to develop the culture of honour in every area of our lives. This includes our marriages and homes. As a husband, how should I honour my wife? – Looking unto Jesus the perfect bridegroom; He loves His bride, sacrifices for her, listens to her concerns, takes care of her and is sensitive to her needs and hurts, as He is to His own body. How should a wife act? – As a wife, honour your husband, acknowledge his calling as head of the family, listen to him, praise him, be unified in purpose, be a true helper. Children should honour their parents – this is the first commandment with a promise. We should honour all men.

Let’s trust the Lord to develop that culture of honour in our community.

A testimony or memorial is a written or spoken record of what God has done in history. That is what the Word of God is all about.

In Joshua 4, God commanded His children to put up a pile of twelve stones as a reminder. The stones were specifically piled up in order to prompt their children’s questions: “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean these stones?” (Josh.4:6, 4:21). The parents’ response was to explain what He had done for them. In his farewell speech, Joshua said to the Israelites who had crossed the Jordan and occupied the Promised Land: “This stone has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God” (Josh. 24:27). The result was that the people served the Lord – those who had personally experienced all the Lord had done for Israel – throughout the lifetime of Joshua and those elders who outlived him.

Each time the Lord intervened on their behalf, a memorial stone or altar was constructed. God had to constantly remind His people. That is also one of the reasons for the feasts of the Lord, as in Esther 9:28 “…that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, and these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.”

We are quick to forget, just like the Israelites. We too have to treasure the memories of the times where we have experienced the grace and power of God. Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem – after the Spirit came upon them were they able to testify of the time spent with Him.

Our testimonies reveal something of God – when we tell of what God has done for us, we are never the main focus of the story. We need to remember, talk about and write down our testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives. It is the cross and its power to transform and redeem us completely that we focus on, bringing Him glory.

We are able to withstand anything that the devil comes against us with: And they overcame him (the devil) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony...” (Rev 12:11)

Let our testimony of Him in the power of the Spirit help us to be salt and light: in our homes, at work, at school, in public, and pass it on to the next generation.

We trust God for breakthrough in new life as well as signs and wonders, so – what needs to change? The truth of the good news is that God has qualified us, not our performance, not our fasting and praying, not our good intentions, not our keeping the law, nor our dead works.

God’s unearned, unmerited, undeserved favour – grace – is revealed at the cross of Calvary. Our “not enough” has been transformed into “more than enough”. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.

What will happen when we receive a revelation that we have been made completely righteous by the blood of Jesus?
• His truth will help us to enjoy restoration in every area of our lives, including healing and financial breakthrough.
• Something will happen to our faith. As we become more and more conscious of Jesus, full of grace and truth – the more we are aware of what He has done for us – we see that He has qualified us and faith and miracles will break forth, and God will be glorified!

The apostolic prayer for the Ephesian church in Chapter 3:14 was for them to “…comprehend with all the saints…”(this includes you and me)“what is the width and length and depth and height of Christ’s love.” We will not be able to express it on our own! Can you see the picture of the cross? It radiates the love of Christ like the sun its warmth. The emphasis is not on our love for Christ, but for Christ’s love revealed to us. “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us!”

The days of miracles are certainly not over. Ask, and God will do it for Christ’s sake.

After his resurrection, Jesus revealed himself to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were shattered and hopeless – they suffered not only from ignorance of the Scriptures but Jesus also called them: “..oh you slow of heart to believe”. This diagnosis seems to fit us too - but our Lord did not leave them there - he used the Scriptures to reveal himself to them. Faith comes by hearing and that by the Word of God. One would have preferred to see him with one’s natural eyes, but his way for us is to see him as revealed in the Scriptures.

In Numbers 21:7-9, the crowd had spoken against God and his servant. Poisonous serpents were sent to bite them and some even died – so they turned to Moses to pray to the Lord to take away the snakes. God revealed to Moses to make a bronze snake and attach it on a pole for all to see. Anyone bitten had to look at the bronze snake for his healing. This is a glorious picture of Jesus on the cross.

We may pose the following questions:
Why a snake? Jesus became a curse for us on the cross; for you and me, so we could be free. The one who was without sin, depicted as a serpent, became sin for us.
Why not a real snake? Jesus did not come in sinful flesh, Romans 8:3 declares: “He came in the ‘likeness’ of sinful flesh”. The spotless lamb, born of a virgin, became sin for us. If that was not so, he would have been like you and I, and he would have had to die for his own sins.
Why a bronze snake? Bronze stands for God’s judgment. The Bible does not say, “Look at Moses - or the law - nor yourself”, but look at Jesus and him crucified – God’s judgment fell on him – that is our salvation. We are free from condemnation.

Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Just like a many-faceted diamond, he sparkles with excellence, beauty, and perfection. The Holy Spirit was sent to reveal him - he is glorious and shines even brighter at this Easter time.

God mobilizes to multiply. The book of Acts is an account of the forward move of the church of Jesus Christ, taking possession of God’s promises. In Acts 5:14 we read, “Believers were increasingly added to the church, multitudes of both men and women.” The early church met from house to house and in the temple courts. There were no spectators then, nor should there be any at a time like this!

Praise the Lord for what he did in our midst during the visit of Kenny and Maureen le Roux and team. A shift is beginning to take place in our hearts and minds. The five-fold ministry was given by Jesus to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16 teaches that leaders are equippers and that the members of the body are the ministers. Team spirit releases effective ministry. The home group is the ideal place to accommodate all those who would like to discover their ministry in the body of Christ.

Tomorrow’s outpouring depends on today’s obedience. We are in a preparatory phase according to Acts 3:19-21. We are to build according to God’s design and original plan. That means that we are called by God to adjust where we have gone off course – individually as well as corporately. For that reason we need to let go of our past failures, mistakes and hurts. “Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us and lets us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.” (Heb 12:1)

Let’s shift to the next level of mutual accountability in God’s plan – relying totally on the finished work of the cross. Multiplication starts in our hearts – let’s get rid of our baggage as the spiritual rain washes and prepares us for the harvest.

This is the church Jesus is building.

Do you want direction from God? Acknowledge the Lord first. In so doing he will direct your paths. The first fruits and the first born are offerings that belong to the Lord. Prov. 3:9 teaches this principle. Paul reminds us that the things written in the Scriptures long ago are there to teach us and to give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

We all know the first commandment which is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and strength; we know to seek the kingdom of God first, and that our un-renewed mind cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit. By acknowledging him we enter into direct intimate contact with him – we are renewed by loving God, thus loving what he loves and hating what he hates – renewing our minds.. It is this identity in the Spirit that allows us to become more God-conscious than self-conscious or sin conscious.

Paul reminds us in 2 Cor. 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new.” Christ is the first born of all creation (Col. 1:15; Rom. 8:29) – emphasizing His priority and supremacy.

Christ is called the first fruits in 1 Cor. 15:20 – the first of a great harvest! We can taste it but it has not fully come yet. It is a foretaste of what is to come as we approach the end of all things until the day dawns and Christ, the Morning Star shines in our hearts!

In the same way prophesy is a type of first fruits, which means ‘to bear early’. Make sure you don’t miss the weekend of prophetic teaching with Maureen and Kenny le Roux. The Lord has wants us offer ourselves as the first fruits so that the greater harvest may be brought in.

He is the owner - we have to give an account as stewards for 2009.

The Lord has highlighted Micah 2:12-13 for us in 2009: “But I will gather you together, all you people of Israel that are left. I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold. Like a pasture full of sheep, your land will once again be filled with many people. God will open the way for them and lead them out of exile. They will break out of the city gates and go free. Their king, the LORD himself, will lead them out.”

These verses present a clear Messianic picture. The people at the time enjoyed a degree of prosperity, but they also experienced, through their arrogant and violent ruler, great corruption, and their religious leaders assured them of Jehovah’s good will because of their mere ritual observance of law.

Micah means – ‘who is like unto Jehovah’ – and he stood up courageously and fearlessly against the inhuman leaders and false prophets of his day. Micah did not only prophesy of adversity – the message of the promise of the Messiah, with the title of ‘breaker’, the deliverer – changes this hopeless situation. He is the One that breaks open the gates of the enemy to finally usher in God’s righteousness and truth.

This is not a human king – it is Jesus – the saviour of Israel – he is the deliverer and the one that breaks forth! The prophet sees the true sheep of Israel like a never-ending stream passing through the gates into victory. Judgment is inevitable, righteousness needs to be restored, false prophets will be silenced, but …the glorious hope of the breaker shines brighter.

What is even more amazing is that God would choose the humble village of Bethlehem as the birthplace of the shepherd king that will conquer the enemies of God’s people. When the three wise men enquired in Matthew 2 as to where the King of Israel had been born, the priest gave Micah 5:2 as their answer.

There were times when we were satisfied with our yesterdays – but King Jesus wants to help us to break forth!

Let’s look to him in 2009.