During the weekend of 1st– 2nd June, we enjoyed fellowship with the Lord and one another during a Maranatha Day Gathering in Birmingham and our monthly online Gathering. Here are some key points from our time together:
All Marantha Gatherings are an affirmation of our ONENESS in Christ. We consciously affirm our oneness with ALL members of the living Body of Christ, including those who have departed from this life, but who live on in Christ. During our Birmingham gathering, we acknowledged that all of us are in need of healing and that we have a responsibility to seek that healing for the sake of the whole Body. In particular, we recognised that it is often woundedness that is at the root of division.
We brought our wounds and all seeds of division in our hearts to the cross of Christ and repented for our part in the divisions within the Church. Similarly, we repented on behalf of the whole Church for its divisions and prayed for healing for the whole Body of Christ. We unite with the prayer of Jesus, “…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn 17.21).
- The Lord impressed upon us, again, the importance of His call to us to ASCEND – to live from our true identity as His children, positioned in Christ, in the heavenly realms. This is especially important as we face opposition from the world and from satan. We were encouraged to consider the eagle. Apparently, the crow is the only bird that will attack an eagle. It does so by getting onto the eagle’s back and pecking it. The eagle deals with this by ascending higher. The crow is unable to tolerate such height and falls off.
- Question: What does it mean to ADVANCE?
- be light-bearers, bringing light into areas of darkness, exposing what is hidden.
- from our ASCENDED position, see through the confusion of the world to what God is doing and pray and act in agreement with Him.
- recognise that God presents us with challenging situations to train us in His ways. We must ‘ascend’ in order to see clearly and advance.
- Maranatha publications, which were allowed to fall to the ground when we laid down the Community (Jn 12.24), are like the Lord’s ‘advance’. The ‘seed’ of what was given in the past will now grow and produce what is needed for this time (See also Eph 2.10).
- we are to advance in Godly WISDOM, which is totally different to human knowledge, understanding, logic and reason. It begins with the fear of the Lord (Ps 111.10). We need wisdom to fulfil our calling (Eph 3.10). God’s wisdom is supremely exemplified in Christ and the cross (1Cor 1.18-31).
- we are to advance in freedom, which comes through being secure in our trust in the Lord. Consider the freedom to unbuckle the seat belt after the aircraft has ascended! The Lord has invited us to explore the heavenly realms with Him.
- we are to more readily depend upon the Lord’s resources and not our own. He provides ‘manna’ for what is needed today. In particular, we can draw from His store of wisdom which is ready for us – Prov 2.6-10. We should be pro-active in asking for this – Prov 2.3-4. “Our Father…Give us this day…”
- we need to be disciplined in our pursuit of ‘the narrow way within the narrow way’, as a percussionist diligently waits, alert, to play his instrument at the right time. It involves a shared journey, releasing our grip of control – as a team of bell ringers has to release their ropes in time and in the right order, so that the bells ring tunefully.
- our primary advance is to be more and more transformed into the likeness of Jesus. This involves a journey of humility, trusting in God our Father and not our own understanding (Jn 5.19). Therefore we should not allow ‘issues’ to distract us from the Lord’s purposes, but to see that He will use them to bring about our transformation. A picture: being lifted out of a polluted place into a place of pure love and oneness with God. This was given with the word ‘osmosis’ and a sense that as we meet with the Lord in worship, we will receive His nature.
- There is a simple way for us to discern the Lord’s way. At every juncture we should ask the Lord 2 questions:
- 1. What does my situation look like from the ascended place in the heavenly realms?
- 2. What would the Lord have this situation look like?
- From these answers we can pray the Lord’s will into being: “Our Father…Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
- We can learn from the example of David (2Sam 5.17-25), that there will be a different way to address each situation, however similar they may appear.
- The landscape of our nation and culture has changed – see 2Kg 7. The Lord is doing a ‘new thing’ and He says “forget the former things” or, put another way, we should not be looking to our past knowledge or experience to direct us today. Our perception needs to come from our ascended position, not from our earthly vision. A picture: someone held in bondage. On closer examination the bindings were a daisy chain, easily broken. Also consider Samson – bondage is overcome by the anointing of God.
- Prov 1.22 describes our culture today: “How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?” Previously accepted norms are now not only questioned but mocked, especially with regard to Christian faith. People are factually ignorant and form opinions based on media or peer reports, building over-simplified arguments, without any attempt at mature debate, mocking those with a different view.
Our Sunday gathering culminated in a prayer for a release of God’s wisdom, firstly on His people, but also throughout the earth – a wisdom that will prevail and influence hearts and minds, especially of leaders in the world.
Word given: “I want to enlarge your inner temple, to wash and soak, cleansing your hearts with my streams of living waters, removing all the dark particles. As my Spirit moves, your heart will be filled with my love, building a new and bigger temple, helping you to ascend even more.”
