Category Archives: Be prepared; hold on.

As we approach the last days, sound doctrine will be diluted in many churches to appease the spirits of liberalism as large in the world, and persecution of those believers who hold on to the fullness of the gospel message will intensify. We need to “build ourselves up in our most holy faith” so that we can be prepared for whatever the enemy might throw at us, and be ready at the last, a spotless bride, to receive our Lord into the Kingdom of our God and His Christ.

Be prepared; hold on., Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

A Trumpet Call to Build the Ark and get on Board

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In these end-time days of financial shaking, God is building an Ark of resources to provide for His people. The poem below was given by Holy Spirit to Andrew Baker at a prophetic gathering four or five years ago, and he has just sent it out to his contacts again as it is a word for these days. Andrew is a prophet who ministers in the financial realm whom a small number of readers here will know, but who doesn’t have, or seek, a public profile. I was at the meeting when he brought this word: it was entirely impromptu and unprepared. If, like me, you believe it to be a trumpet call from Heaven to all of us, ask the Lord what He wants you to do with it.

The Call to Build the Ark and Get on Board

 In these end-time days of financial shaking, God is building an Ark of resources to provide for His people. The poem below was given by Holy Spirit to Andrew Baker at a prophetic gathering some years ago, and he has just sent it out to his contacts again as it is a word for these days.

This is the day of new things and new things it shall be
Whoever grasps these new things shall walk in victory
Put down your human thinking and listen well to Me
For these are things that are written in Bible prophecy

There is coming a confrontation, so you ought to be ready
A shaking of the nations from their financial stability
A rising of the evil one to take My things for his own
He’s calling in his harvest that evil men have sown

Finance and business he’ll take over while men just stand and stare
And soon he will just take control, and no one will seem to care
The same spirit which rules Babylon, Antichrist it will be
Is now standing in the arena very comfortably

Men of God just stand in fear as they see the scene is so
Fearful of losing what they have but what to do they just don’t know
A trumpet call from heaven says, “Line up, get in your place!”
For I have something to say to you if you will seek My face

Instead of fear there must come a change and faith must begin to rise
For I am God, and all false power can look to their demise
Who would dare to stand against Me, do you think to Me it never mattered?
For now, it’s time for Me to rise and let My enemies be scattered.

So now man’s kingdom I will shake and fall it surely will
First to the Antichrist himself and then comes the Great Until
You have waited for this day and soon you will see it with your eyes
When the saints will say in one accord “God has now answered our cries”

So, while the financial systems fall to the plans of the evil one
My people shall be provided for because I’m the All Sufficient One
The ark shall be built with those who look with faith for My secure plan
Seeing and obeying My purposes and not fearing devil or man

It shall be built from heaven, and it shall be a safe place
While the spirit that’s from Babylon rises to show his face
Then men will run to the ark and their finances will combine
And they will catch My holy plan for harvest at the end time

So, soon I’ll call you to your part and understanding I will give
Get on board the ark I’m making, and you will surely live
I’m God and no demon’s plan will take Me by surprise
So, listen to My instructions, that is, if you are wise

While many men are shaking, their lives just full of fear
Join with what I’m doing; Come on over here!
This financial plan that I’ve arranged will take back what is Mine
The only way this can be done is by a plan that is divine

The Ark I’ll build and just the same as in the days of old
Some will help Noah and get it done and others will mock and scold
Remember when the waters came it was too late to decide
So it is now, yes now’s the time to line up by My side

Finally, I tell you that your instructions will come soon
A trumpet call from heaven, playing a divine tune
You’ll know it’s Me, simply respond, “Yes, your call we will hear”
And I’ll show you your part in the ark with words loud and clear

So now rejoice for it is time for the divine plan to unfold
It will require a people of faith as in the days of old
A land to take, an ark to build, there is much work ahead
As you take your place I will arise, and we will build what I have said

Holiness: You shall be perfect, Knowing God, Walking in the Spirit

Power Stations

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Christmas is always a very busy time in the church calendar, and January is usually when church leaders look back over those Christmas activities and evaluate them. Or at least, one would hope that is the case. But what do we evaluate our activities (Christmas and otherwise) against? In the business world, we look for a return on investment, and in our Father’s business it is no different. Jesus talks about it in the parable of the talents: the master expected a return on His investment. Jesus invested everything in us when He went to the cross, and the Father who sent him is looking for fruit that endures (John 15:16) as His return. Jesus fell to the ground and died to seed a vine that would bear fruit. It follows that whatever activities we do in the name of Jesus (and Colossians 3:17 exhorts us to do everything in His name) should be directed toward His purpose, which is to bear fruit; to give our Master a return on His investment; to see the Kingdom of God extended on Earth.

As far as I can see, the Bible only defines Christ’s purpose in three ways. Jesus himself talked consistently of two of them, which was to reveal the Father and His Kingdom, and John adds a third strand, which was to destroy the works of the evil one (1 John 3:8). These are most famously and succinctly summed up in the best known of all quotes from the New Testament, John 3:16: God sent His only begotten son into the world, that (i.e. with the purpose of) we should not perish (the work of the evil one) but have everlasting life (in the Kingdom Of God). Jesus also defines everlasting life as knowing the Father (John 17:3). John 3:16 really is the church’s mission statement.

So we have a clear lens through which to view the activities in which we invest time, manpower and money. To what extent are they in keeping with Jesus’s mission statement for His church? Are they, directly or indirectly, manifesting the Father? Are they preaching the Kingdom, taking it by force (Matthew 11:12) and destroying the works of the evil one in doing so? Are they equipping others for this work (Eph 4:12)? If they are, then we’re on mission; if not, we need to focus on what is, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

As we well know, the only way we can do the work of the Kingdom is in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give life and that in abundance (John 10 :10) – everlasting Life. Being vessels for abundant life is always the goal of our mission. We are called to be power stations, individually, and as churches, generating that abundant life, bringing the everlasting energia of the Kingdom of God into this world; bringing Heaven to Earth. Our Father, the vine dresser, is looking for fruit that endures on His vine; He prunes the dead wood, and throws it in the fire. Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit, and with fire (Matt 3:11). Jesus said “I’ve come to set the Earth on fire; how I wish it were already kindled!“ (Luke 12:49). We can only guess at what Jesus was thinking here, but I believe He was looking beyond the cross to the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire came and set the kindling wood of His first church alight. Fire burns the fruitless branches of the vine, and it also brings holiness. In a power station, it is the source of the energy. We can’t have the power without the fire. We can achieve nothing for the Kingdom of God, unless it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, and along with the power of the Holy Spirit comes the fire that sooner or later burns up whatever is not of Him.

So let us always that check that the branches in our part of the vine are bearing the fruit of abundant life, and allow the pruning and the fire if they are barren.

Be prepared; hold on., Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

In the coming storm: hold on, rejoice, and follow!

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The message for 2024 from Andrew Baker, who heads up the Eagles prophetic ministry.

I, Andrew, was asking the Lord for a word from His heart for the coming year. Sometimes I receive a “Thus says the Lord” word, but this time I was clearly led to some scriptures, already in a set order. Here is what the Lord showed me.

Philippians 3:13-14 is a well-known passage; “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching towards those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Most prophets are warning us of the change of season and that this new time will bring many things on the earth that we have not seen or experienced before. Indeed, we do not need to be a prophet, or even a believer, to see that these things are already coming upon us. I have no intention of listing such things here, as that is not what the Lord seems to be centring on today. We are aware of the present issues on the earth but many more that we have not thought of will touch the nations in the coming days. These will include certain nations taking a deliberate path in order to bankrupt the West.

God is moving His people who will, by faith, believe Him, into a completely different scene. It will be like the old circular stage at big West End Theatres in London. There was one scene showing (on the front of the circular stage, facing the audience at that time) and then, the button was pushed and the whole stage revolved 180 degrees and what was hidden behind the curtains (another scene, standing on the back half of the circular stage), suddenly arrived for the audience to see. It was a new scene completely, with new props, new view and new furniture and equipment on it. The only thing that would remain the same was the cast, of course, they simply moved from one scene to the next. So it will be in this new year and the season we are now moving into. The stage of the whole world is revolving, and we are starting to see what the new one will look like (from human perspective, not so very good). However, the Lord is not only saying that the world will change but that our world, as believers, will change just as much. The Lord says get ready to move into a scene and set that you have never seen or walked on before. Everything will be different except for the cast.

Hold On

As believers, I see that Lord telling us to hold onto, inside, the solid things of Jesus and the word; these things will be so, so important to us in this new world. However, all other things around you will change and you will need this new equipment, positioning and all that makes up this new scene, in order to function and have victory for souls and resources in this world that is changing for the worse in these latter days.

The Lord is saying to us all today that He foretold many of these things about a changing world in His Word, centuries, even millennia ago. Such is His ability to see ahead because He does not live in time but rather created it, and is before, during and after time; using it and yet outside and master of it. The Lord wants to remind us that when He walked the earth, He spoke clearly of these difficult times that would come in the last days. There is no doubt that the nations of the earth will be in the centre of all kinds of troubles, and we are seeing the beginnings of that right now.  However, as His message today adds in Philippians chapter four, these matters should not concern us or cause us fear. These things are coming on the earth but believers are taught and shown how to walk through these days in joy and victory, being led by the Spirit and seeing God’s hand upon those who will listen and walk in the way He leads.

Rejoice in the Lord

Philippians 4:4-9 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always”. Let’s take a moment with this. In the middle of even his own catastrophe Paul says rejoice, laugh and have lots of heavenly joy! This is a message, at the time, from a man who was in the deep dungeon with the rats, probably chained to the floor! I mention this because we may say that this message of joy cannot be shared with someone in a war zone, or someone who has just lost a loved one, someone in deep debt or who is suffering a terminal illness. I believe we would be wrong. I believe that we can heed the words and exhortation of Paul because he was in such dire straits himself at the time and had been many times before. Paul was experienced in listening to the Lord and following His divine advice, which is often so much different from human counsel. Yes, this is a word for us all for the coming year, as the world sinks to lower levels of evil but the Lord wants to carry His people through, round, over and past it all.

Remember Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength”, and Jesus who prayed that we would have His joy fulfilled in ourselves (John 17:13), that our joy may be full (John 16:24) and that His joy may remain in us (John 15:11). Yes, this Jesus was described in Luke 10:21 as having outbursts of joy too: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said…”. Jesus knew what was ahead of Him but He concentrated on things above and the joy that was set before Him. Throughout these coming days, joy will be such a weapon and such a defence shield, along with our faith, that we had better start operating in this wonderful gift right now.

Many have been the days when the Lord just made me smile and then laugh and then continue to be filled with joy. It usually happens when I am becoming too serious. Today, sit quietly in the middle of the storm and allow the Lord to cause you to laugh, as He does. He is God, He can do or change anything. His thoughts are way above ours; His ability makes men’s wars and ‘threats’ look like a young child having a tantrum. God is on the throne. Paul knew this in this passage from Philippians, and we need to remind ourselves of just who the Lord is now.

Psalm 2 is relevant in this context. Verses 1-2 and 4 say this : “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed…He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.”The Lord saw their hearts and ways back then, and He still sees now. Men’s hearts have not changed and neither has the devil’s desires and lies. Jesus has had the victory, and so all this stuff may appear terrifying to mere humans, but when viewed from the Lord’s balcony, it is futile, even to the destroying of the entire planet as we know it, because the Lord simply can makes us another when necessary!! We need to see things through His eternal eyes, not through our temporary ones.

We need to learn to relax in Him, trust His guidance and follow His leadings. Whilst we do this, we need to laugh a lot and give out a message of faith and hope that the Lord will always be on hand to bless, help and support those who are His and to help them rescue others from the stormy seas and bring them to eternal safety too.

Be Anxious for Nothing

Back to our passage. Verse 6 tells us: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” After telling us to meditate on good things (instead of the troubles) we can settle our concerns and receive the peace of God in our anxious hearts. In another passage the Lord talks about things coming on the earth that will cause men’s hearts to fail with fear (Luke 21:25-26). This message in these verses is not for the believer! It is about those who do not know God! For us believers, when the fire gets hotter, the divine help, closeness, covering and grace get stronger.

We should know and understand what is happening around us, yes, don’t put your head in the sand, but the issue for us is to keep our eyes and meditation on the things of the Lord and our ears open to His direction. I am not saying that there are not among us some who are called to understand the things happening on the earth; neither am I saying that we should all stop doing everything and just sit around; I am certainly not saying that you should not continue with your call, mission, business, ministry and life’s work, but I am saying that our apostle Paul knew plenty of troubles but kept His eyes and ears on the things above. He knew which was temporary and which was eternal. He knew which would get him through the mess and what thoughts would bring confusion and possibly even his downfall. Eyes and ears on the Lord, follow His leadings very sensitively, and as you think upon the Lord and who He is, be filled with joy, laughter and faith that will lift you above the mess and help you through to the other side, along with enabling you to be a useful person to God to help others though too.

So let us see that this kind of joy will remove our anxiety. Be at peace and know that He is here in our midst, living inside of us and prepared to walk together with us and bring to the table all His abilities and attributes. This way we shall find personal victory, success in prayer for others and a way to complete the call and mission on our lives. We will also find the enabling us to steer clear of many problems before even reaching them on our walk and knowing His heart of love to melt us and help us in our own lives and relationships, too.

Luke tells us over and over again in chapter 12: “do not worry”, “do not have an anxious mind”, “do not fear”. He is not telling us to do something we cannot do. He knows that the Holy Spirit within will help us and settle our hearts when we keep our eyes on him. Isaiah 25:3 says: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.” I know that I may have sent articles with some of these verses in before, but I have learned that the Lord wants us to constantly remind ourselves of truth. That is one reason why he asked us to break bread and take wine regularly, too.

So, as we rejoice, relax in Him, put our thoughts and eyes on Him, so His peace will flood in and bring us to the place where all things begin to disappear in the face of His glory and grace. Do you think you can’t do this? Well, read verse 13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Enough said!

Raise up the Josephs

The final verse the Lord was pointing out to me was Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Whilst dark days may be ahead for the world, and much lack and many shortages may be their lot, yet the Lord will not only help and bless His people but will take care of every need we have if we follow His ways and directions.

Many of you have heard the testimony of Carole and me – of God’s provision over the years. We must all now learn to walk with the Lord by faith in His ability to make a way and to provide in famine. Even if the fields are dust and there is no rain, the Lord can still cause 100 fold to come forth as we follow His instructions. We look not just for our own provision, but we need to be helping raise up the Josephs that we are being called to help bring onto the world stage at all levels. It is Joseph time now. This will be the year to begin the season of the impossible being possible, of miracles of provision of all types and of gathering the harvest of souls and resources that we, as Eagles, have played our part of prophesying for the last 14 years or so.

It is now time to look forwards and not back to the ways things were accomplished before. Keep the Lord, His word, prayer, praise and worship and His ways central to our lives as we learn a better way to live by faith in Him and walking in the God dimension. Don’t be anxious but rejoice in the Lord always and know that God will fill you with peace even with war around you and will provide for you, as you are led by His Spirit. Forward into 2024 with these things in mind Eagles.

Come out from the Hidden Place

Over many years we have all been learning to have faith in God at a higher level. Now the Lord is telling us that we must start to teach and move in this way on a wider way and to a wider audience. It is time to start coming out from the hidden place we had previously been told by the Lord to operate and spend much of our time in, and to help bring the word of the Lord to all who will listen, as the winds of change blow over this world. We need to show people that God is real and that He is the One to trust.

I believe that the Lord will entrust us all with helping many people into the ark of provision that He is building in these days and, as a result, will see many new converts won. This is the season for the world to see the Lord bring wave after wave of His love over the people. As the devil tries to resist the last days plans of the Lord, we need to be a part of the army of believers who will usher in the harvest, be supportive of His ancient people and prepare the way for the return of the Lord. Father envisages nations being turned around. Jesus is preparing His return. The Holy Spirit knows all the plans of man and devils for the coming days yet is 10 steps ahead. Eagles, many are the plans of men, but the purposes of God will prevail!

With calmness and the stillness of His presence inside us, and the fire of His power surging through us at the same time, it is now time to follow His leading like never before. This is not a year for our own plans, but a time to be led to cooperate with the plans of the Lord. This will be a year and season of the miraculous. Have a wonderful New Year, Eagles, as we play our part in drawing in the harvest of souls and resources for the Kingdom of God. May you have great joy and blessings as we all seek, together and as individuals, to be a blessing to Him and those He puts across our paths. Amen!

Love, power and blessings to you all in Christ Jesus,

Andrew and Carole Baker

Holiness: You shall be perfect, The word of God

The Washing of Water by the Word (www.)

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“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”  (John, 17:19).

There is so much in His verse that one could write a whole book on it, let alone just a blog post. We think of sanctification in terms of the gradual process of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and purifying our characters, so that we become more like Jesus, more “saintly.” But that isn’t the way our Lord uses the term here: he couldn’t become more saintly than He was, or more like Jesus than he already was. The word used in the Greek is hagiazō, which is also translated as “consecrate.” What Jesus did here, as He did throughout His ministry, was to consecrate Himself to the Father’s will. Although most translations use “sanctify” here, the RSV uses the word “consecrate,”

“And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

God‘s word is truth, and the Father’s will for Jesus was already expressed in the prophetic words of the Messianic scriptures. As He faced the cross, Jesus consecrated himself to the truth. The desires and impulses of His flesh were completely eradicated by His commitment to the Father.

Sanctified by the truth
Jesus sanctified himself for our sakes “that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” It’s easy to miss the word “also” here. But what it tells us is clear: His desire for His disciples was that we would have the same commitment as Him, and He committed Himself to the cross to make it possible (“that they also…”). He never intended discipleship to be a part-time post.

When Jesus faced Pilate a short while later, He said “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18: 37), and Pilate famously asked “What is truth?” and turned away, assuming that the question had no answer. And as we know all too well, in the world system where Pilate had authority, truth is considered to be relative. But absolute truth does exist: Jesus Christ is Lord, His blood cleanses us from all our sin, God is our Father, He is Love, Love never fails. The doors to the Kingdom of Heaven, where Love rules and everlasting life awaits, are open to us through Jesus, its king. When the truth of the Kingdom of God reigns in our hearts we can die to self as Jesus did, knowing that self will always fail. We can consecrate ourselves to the truth in full assurance of faith, turning away from lusts and the lies of doubt, fear and pride that bring corruption. We will know the truth, and the truth will set us free.

The washing of water
Under the law, consecration was to be set apart from all impurities. As disciples of Jesus, we have been taken out of the world (John 17:16); we have already been consecrated. Jesus said to Peter, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” (John 13:10) This is picked up later by Paul: when he is drawing the parallel between the love of a husband for His wife and the love of Christ for the church, he says this:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5: 25-27)

When the disciples believed in Jesus, they were taken out of the world, and made clean by the perfect word that they had accepted. They weren’t clean because they had been marinating in the Holy Spirit for three years, but because they believed what Jesus had told them. When Paul writes “to the saints who are in Ephesus” (Eph 1:1), he was writing to all the believers there – all the consecrated ones – not just those who might be considered saintly. By washing their feet and commanding them to follow His example, Jesus was demonstrating to His disciples that their task now was to remain clean by continuing to believe His words, and by holding each other accountable for doing so. Paul’s revelation was not a new teaching, but a reminder of the lesson that Jesus gave in John 13.  “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

No less than those first disciples, we, the bride of Christ, were already made clean when we were taken out of the world by the word that we believed. To remain clean is a question of decision and determination to be bound to the word and the will of God. As we stay in tune with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, He will keep reminding us of the Truth. We don’t have to wait for sanctification to happen: we can sanctify ourselves as Jesus did every day of our lives, and the truth will set us free.

Be prepared; hold on., Walking in the Spirit

Jacob and the Cube

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And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;  for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel:  “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Gen 32: 28-30)

Jacob had a problem. His brother, Esau, whom he had tricked out of his inheritance, was advancing in his direction with 400 men: threats to him, his family, his flocks, and his possessions. True to his nature, Jacob devised a cunning plan to appease his brother by sending delegations ahead of him with gifts, until eventually he was left alone with his family. Finally, he sent his family ahead, and was left alone for the night.

That night, the story tells of how a “man“ – whom we take to be God – came and wrestled with him until the morning, when Jacob famously says “I will not let you go until you bless me!” Bless Jacob He did, giving him a limp in the process that would always remind him of the encounter..

For many of us, it often seems as if the night is dark, and Esau is approaching. We might feel that we have prayed many prayers, just like Jacob sending his gift ahead, but we don’t know if they are making any difference. We are left on our own with God, which of course is exactly where He wants us. Jacob knew the promises that God had made, but now it wasn’t enough for them just to be in his head: he needed them to become a reality; he needed to get hold of God until the words became flesh for him personally.

This is where the Rubik’s cube comes in. Sometimes the things we are desperate for just don’t seem to happen, and no matter how hard we try, how much we pray, how many gifts we have sent in advance, Esau keeps coming and the cube just doesn’t line up. God wants us to know that He can see what we can’t see, and that only He has the solution to the cube. The promises that He’s made us are real but only He can bring them about. It is He who hold the cube, not us: all things really do work together for the good of those who love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), but we need to hold onto God until He blesses us, not try to grab the cube to make it line up.

Whether it’s the nations or our own lives, God has got the cube in His hands. Jacob wrestled until he prevailed: not only did he remember God’s promises, but he held onto the promise keeper until they became part of his life. And here is the great encouragement for us: Jacob named the place of this encounter Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Gen 32:30) Peniel means “Facing God.” God wants us to hold onto Him because He wants us to seek His face, and when we do we know His life and we see His promise fulfilled in the outpouring of that life. The eventual meeting with Esau was a time of reconciliation, not enmity. Jacob was born in the flesh as a human baby, but spiritual Israel was born when he clung to God and would not let him go until he received the blessing of fruitfulness.  When we meet with Esau as Israel, we find that the victory has been won, and the Rubik’s cube has lined up.

Holiness: You shall be perfect, Walking in the Spirit

Spirit of Truth

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I took some photographs recently of a bird flying over a lake. It was a long way off, but I could see that it was a tern, as occasionally it hovered over the water then dived in to catch a fish. When I got home and looked at the pictures on my computer, I got very excited, because I saw that it had mostly black plumage. A black tern! We don’t see many of these in the UK, and they are a species to get excited about if you are a birder over here. But when I looked at it more closely, I realised that the colouring wasn’t quite right: there was too much white underneath even though the rest of it looked right. So I boosted up the brightness and reduced the shadows on my computer, and this is what I found: it wasn’t a black tern at all that I had seen fishing by the lake, but one of the more widespread species, a common tern. My “black tern” just been created by the shadows on its plumage  cast by the morning sun.

Thinking about that, it made me realise how easily shadows can occur in what we look at, so that what we see is not the truth, but just a creation of our own self. In the afternoon Anne and I went to a local nature reserve with a friend. There are three ways of getting there that are roughly equidistant: it’s about 25 minutes away. In the car we took the route I usually take, down a country lane, and I said to Anne that I found this way slightly quicker. Michael agreed, adding that it could depend on the traffic as well. On the way back we found ourselves behind a tractor, so at the roundabout I chose the motorway route instead because I didn’t want to be behind a tractor – even though I would have quickly overtaken it on the dual carriageway. I said: “actually this way is probably just as quick.” Anne said: “That’s interesting, because on the way here, you said the lane was the quickest, and now this way is just as quick. They can’t both be true!“ She was right. They couldn’t both be true. My words were not about the truth, but about what I was trying to prove. This wasn’t even an emotionally charged situation: they were both just throwaway comments about driving choices. But that’s the point: I was justifying my choices, not expressing truth. My focus wasn’t the driving distance at all, but my decisions. In other words, my shadows were colouring what I was looking at. I was seeing a black tern.

As even many atheists know, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Truth is found in Jesus. When He first introduced the notion of the coming Holy Spirit to His disciples,  Jesus said this: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 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.” (John 14: 16-17) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. We call Him Holy Spirit; Jesus calls Him, emphatically, “Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:17, John 15:26, John 16:23.) Without the Holy Spirit, whom the world doesn’t know, reality will always be obscured. Just like I had to boost the brightness on my computer to see the real bird, it is only when the brightness of the Light of the world is turned up that we see the reality of life.  “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:19)

James said: “All good and perfect gifts come down from above from the Father of lights, in whom there is no shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) God doesn’t change. He is the Father of lights: He created the lights in the universe, and by His word – “Let there be light” – He created material light itself. In His light, we can see the truth; without His light, we only see our own shadows. The Light of the world never changes: He is totally faithful to His word, He is always love, He is always truth. Every turn in our emotions and our agendas casts a shadow: only in Jesus, by the light of the Holy Spirit, are there no black terns, no shadow of terning.

Discipleship and witness, Holiness: You shall be perfect, Pursuing Love

The City on a Hill

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“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5: 14-16)

There is much in the New Testament about building. Jesus said He would build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The New Testament writers encourage us repeatedly to build. Jude wrote: “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith” (Jude 1:20), Peter says that we “as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” (1 Pe 2:5), and Paul picks up the same theme when he writes to the Ephesians  “in whom (Jesus)  the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” The Greek word used for building up and edifying are the same: oikodome. Speaking of our church gatherings, Paul writes “ Let all things be done for edification.” (1 Cor 14:26) but this doesn’t just apply to our church meetings: it applies to everything that we say to one another: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Eph 4:29) Every time we open our mouths, we are to release the Grace of God. In fact the whole of the Christian life has a single purpose, which is to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

So the Big Question is, how do we actually build this city set on a hill? What does it mean to actually be builders in God’s kingdom, to be a body that edifies itself (builds itself up) in love? I think the key is simple enough: we don’t build for ourselves, but for others. Jesus is clear about this: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Whatever we build for someone else is never going to be lost or spoilt through our own carnal failings, but remains our treasure forever – whatever happens to it in the recipient’s hands. Agape love has no vested interest in what it has given. It’s building a house for someone else to live in and walking away without being paid.

When Paul exhorts us to us to “let no corrupt word proceed from our mouth, only what is the necessary edification“ – in other words, only speak words that build other people up – he continues with these words: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” (Eph 4: 29-30). I think many of us read this and just take it that Paul has moved onto another subject. But I don’t think he has. I think what grieves the Holy Spirit is not our negative emotions in themselves, but the fact that their presence among us stops Him releasing the pure love of Jesus Christ that is expressed through the Holy Spirit’s ministry and which will build the City on the Hill. He is grieved because He loves us so much and yet we ourselves prevent Him from fully expressing His love within the very body whose purpose it is to reveal it. Nobody longs for revival more than Jesus.

So just as moth and rust corrupt any treasure that we lay up for ourselves on Earth, corrupt words will spoil God’s spiritual house and prevent it from being built through us.  When Paul writes “let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you, along with all malice” he pretty well covers the whole gamut of the rubbish that we can carry in our uncleansed hearts. But what is so encouraging here is the word that is often translated as “put away.” The Greek word literally means to be lifted up. He doesn’t say that we must somehow rid ourselves of everything that can corrupt our words. He isn’t standing over us with a pointing finger: he says that they have to be lifted off us, because we can’t just put them away by ourselves.

And this isn’t just in church meetings: it is all the time. If our words are corrupted by piqued egos, unsatisfied longings and  unforgiven bitterness during the week, we will not speak words that will edify others on a Sunday morning or whenever we meet. We might even say all the right things, but we can’t really impart grace if we aren’t full of grace ourselves; if we are just putting on a show. But in the grace of God all this rubbish can be lifted off us. As I said, we may not be able to get rid of it ourselves, but Jesus can lift it off us. Indeed, unless we do take it to the cross the Holy Spirit will continue to be grieved, because we are preventing Him from letting His love flow among us as much as He would like.  

The little church  at Azuza street where the Pentecostal movement was birthed  was characterised not so much by the amazing miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit that took place there, but by the selfless love that filled the church and struck everybody who came in. The place was, metaphorically, full of houses that had been built for others. It was the home of Psalm 133 vs 1; “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity,” and because of this, the anointing flowed “like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard.” (Ps 133: 1 cont.) Where the Holy Spirit isn’t grieved, He builds. It is this Love that builds the church, and  that will shine the light out of the city on the Hill.

Discipleship and witness, Holiness: You shall be perfect

A Royal Priesthood: 1) The Hill of the Lord

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“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?

I am currently re- reading my own book, Two Seconds to Midnight – not out of vanity, but because I felt God gave me that message and I want to be sure I am practising what I have preached. I have just finished the Chapter on our calling as a royal priesthood, and since it follows on well from the picture of the Narrow Way I am posting it here. It’s in two parts: this is the longer section.

Fire from the Lord

I think that one of the most shocking stories in the Bible is in Leviticus 10, when “fire went out from the Lord” and consumed Aaron’s two sons Nadab and Abihu because they offered the wrong type of fire to burn incense on His altar. Later, Moses told his dumbstruck brother that this was what the Lord meant when He said He would have the people recognise His holiness. Any reading of the Law pertaining to the priestly ministry in Leviticus yields a recurring theme, which can be summarised something like this: “I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt to be My own possession among all the nations on earth. You must be Holy because I am holy. If you obey My laws and don’t defile yourselves or My sanctuary, My presence among you will make you Holy. You must distinguish between the sacred and the profane and keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord, the Holy One who is in your midst.”

Be holy, because I am holy

We don’t have to drill far down into the detail before we agree that the flesh cannot adhere to the external requirements of holiness that the Law demands; that the Day of Atonement and the release of the scapegoat is no substitute for the blood of the Lamb, and therefore we cannot know God’s presence in our midst without Jesus. But I think that we would be wise to remember our calling as disciples of Jesus, which is to be “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9), “kings and priests unto God” (Revelation 1:6 KJV). We have a high calling, and the church will be recognised in these last days as a people “set apart unto God” among those of us who rise up to it. Although Jesus has fulfilled all the Law pertaining to Temple sacrifice on our behalf, God’s requirement of holiness hasn’t changed. God said to the Israelites, “Be holy, because I am holy” (see Leviticus 19:1-2), and Jesus repeated it under the New Covenant. The worldwide Pentecost that arose out of Azusa Street was rooted in the Holiness movement. Under the Law, nothing and nobody unclean could come near the Holy Place, but whoever and whatever was acceptable to God was made holy through contact with the altar and the sacred objects around it (Exodus 23 – 31). The priestly garments also had the power to transmit holiness (see Ezekiel 44:19).

Cut Flowers

So we come to the question: why was the Holy Spirit sent – whether at the first Pentecost, or any subsequent move of God, be it the Moravians, Azusa Street, the Hebrides Revival, or Toronto 1994? Yes, He comes to equip the church so that we receive the promised “power from on high” (Luke 24:49), without which we can accomplish nothing lasting. But the Holy Spirit also comes to make us holy, and to enable us to walk in holiness. Power from on high is not just power to work miracles in the world; it is power to walk in the holiness of the Spirit. To follow after a move of God without understanding that He requires His Temple to be a holy place is like cutting flowers off from their roots and placing them in a vase of water to be admired. They will last a few days, but they will surely die. While they remain rooted, they will produce seeds and multiply.

The Promise of Blessing

Our primary calling as priests is to serve the Lord in His holy Temple; and as kings it is to exercise His authority in whatever domain He has given us. There is an overlap here with the theme of provision: Just as the Aaronic priests received their portion from the offerings made by the people at the altar, so we too can expect God to provide for us as we minister to Him. But for our ministry to be acceptable, the requirement for holiness is no different from what it was in the days of the Tabernacle, for “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). Because we now live under grace we no longer die if we ignore the rules, and we can still be certain of our heavenly inheritance whatever mess we make of our earthly ministry. But Psalm 24:3-5 says:

“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

God’s word wraps up a promise of material blessing (bread and fish*) in the assurance that our heavenly Father will always “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). We cannot clean our own hands or purify our own hearts: the blood of Jesus is the only cleansing agent that will wash away our sin, and only the Holy Spirit can lift us into this holy place. He longs to bless us, and He wants to see us walk in His provision because we are His children. Therefore He will always give us the Holy Spirit when we ask, so that, transformed by His holiness, we can ascend the hill of the Lord, we can stand in His holy place, and we can receive the blessing of our portion as priests.

(*This refers back to the previous chapter in the book)

Be prepared; hold on., Holiness: You shall be perfect

The vine and the brambles

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“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;  and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15: 1-2)

How easy it is, when things don’t seem to be happening, to be discouraged. We say, “Lord, should I be doing this? Should I be doing that? It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.“ And the Lord answers: “Do not be discouraged. Look at the vine, and look at the brambles.“

There is the vine, the true vine, which is Jesus; and there are brambles, which are the things of the world. If we love Jesus, we are in the vine. Brambles grow quickly and spread everywhere; but the vine is tended by the vinedresser and only grows according to the vinedresser’s plan, which is to maximise its fruitfulness. Fruitfulness comes from nurturing selected shoots and pruning others.

And alongside the pruning comes the clearing. In 2 Cor 16-18 Paul writes:

“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
‘I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”Therefore “Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.’”

As well as the fact that our Vinedresser is always watching over us with his pruning shears in His hand, some of us in the vine have got brambles filling up the space in our lives: we need to come out from among them. They scratch and tear, we cannot move freely because of their thorns, and they choke our growth, as Jesus reminds us in the parable of the sower. God is looking for holiness, and it’s only in the separated vine, tended in its own uncluttered patch, where the Life of Jesus can flow freely and bring His growth.  Brambles maximise the berries they bear by spreading opportunistically wherever they can. It is not so with the vine: the vine bears clusters of grapes under the vinedressers hand, maximising every branch in the vineyard. When we are being pruned we need to feel the Father’s loving hand in our lives, and not just the sharpness of the blade.

It is so easy to look to the world’s model of growth – the bramble – and to be discouraged because we don’t see that rampant growth in our own lives and ministries. But Father says this: “Don’t be discouraged. Look to where I am pruning. Has there been a little growth there? Yes there has. I am pruning It so that there will be more. And see that branch, that I have just cut away? You won’t miss it, even though you think you will. It was using up your life no purpose.”

Wherever I turn at the moment, it seems that God is clearing and pruning: in my own life, in my business, in church (mine and others), in people I meet. The devil wants us to look at the brambles and feel dissatisfied. But we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Cor 2:11), so but let’s be prepared and let’s be encouraged: if God is pruning, it’s because fruitfulness is coming.

Be prepared; hold on., Christian Life, Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

The Economy of Heaven

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The banking system is falling through thin ice

We are currently hearing a lot about the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and its potential effect on the world economy: another sheet of the thin ice of debt upon which our financial systems are built has cracked, and it won’t be the last. I’m about to go away for a few days and was glancing through my book “Two Seconds to Midnight” this morning (thinking ‘Should I read through this again and make sure I am practising what I preach??’) and landed on this passage in the section on God’s Provision. The wider context in the book is our priestly calling, but I am sharing it here as a signpost to all of us, in these times of financial shaking, of the certainties of God’s economy.

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)

So we find our provision in the presence of God, and we receive His abundance when we take our priestly calling seriously and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work of holiness within us. Indeed, unless we do “come to the waters” I don’t believe we can fully appreciate what it means to “buy and eat” without money. Before the Holy Spirit was sent, the twelve had given up everything to follow Jesus and spent every day in His company, yet they certainly had not grasped that He was Jehovah Jireh and that they could trust Him entirely for their needs. We see this clearly in Mark 8:14-21:

“Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, ‘Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, ‘Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?’ They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?’ And they said, ‘Seven.’ So He said to them, ‘How is it you do not understand?’”

We are not given any discussion of what they hadn’t understood, because the account moves straight onto the healing of a blind man. But we can read the context clearly enough. Jesus wanted to feed the spirits of His disciples, but they were too worried about their stomachs to receive what He was saying. Yet they had just witnessed Him miraculously providing a good couple of tons of bread (enough for 9,000 men, plus women and children), maybe more, for the needy crowds, with enough left over to feed the disciples for weeks. “Don’t you get it?” He was saying. “You’re sitting in the boat with Jehovah Jireh and you’re worried about food? Why do you think I told you back on the Mount of Olives not to worry about what to eat, or what to wear? You should know by now that I’ve got all that under control, so you can pay attention to the important stuff! ‘Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.’”

The Baskets Full

There is yet another layer to this story that concerns God’s supply for us. Take either of these two miracles: the sequence is exactly the same. Someone gives a tiny amount to the Lord; He multiplies it and involves His disciples in the miraculous distribution of the food, then there is an abundance left over for the disciples to enjoy. The first priority for the disciples was to give out what God had provided, and after the distribution they received their baskets full. In the world’s economy we receive first – income, wages, salary, etc. – then we give out of whatever spare is left in the baskets at the end. If we’re feeling generous there might be as much as half a loaf left out of our original five. In the economy of heaven there is a different dynamic: first we give what God tells us to give (if He is telling us, of course), then what is left in the basket afterwards is ours. But there is an additional element in the heavenly model: the loaves and fishes have passed through the hands of the Saviour, so what had been earth’s ration becomes heaven’s abundance. God wants us to give out of heaven’s abundance so He can multiply our portion accordingly: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

God’s provision is in His presence

The important lesson for us is that God’s provision is in His very presence. What He wants from us is our hearts: a willingness to trust Him with what is ours, and to place it in His hands. We catch a glimpse, literally, of God’s perspective on our economy when we see Jesus sitting outside the Temple watching people putting their gifts into the treasury. We know the story: the poor widow, whose two mites represented all she had, had put in far more than the wealthy who gave leftovers from their abundance. We don’t see that widow again, but we can be sure that God gave back to her in the same measure that she had given to the Temple. Wealth and poverty have traded places. Our God is a creator, and loves to create, and we can so easily forget that when we look at our bank statements. But if our hearts are rich towards Him, we will see Him create in our material circumstances and fill our baskets, whereas if our hearts are bound by our bank accounts we remain in poverty, and will only ever see the loaves and fishes that we can provide for ourselves.

(From “Two Seconds to Midnight,” pp 130-133. MD Publishing 2021)