CHaNgE

PART THREE

That the character and nature of the God of the Bible is unchanging - that He is a God who can be fully trusted to perform His Word, is made clear by a number of statements from the Bible - the original texts being wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Verses such as the following attest to the LORD God's faithfulness to be true to His stated character:

Praise the LORD who has given rest to His people Israel, just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through His servant Moses. 1 Kings 8:56

So when God wanted to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:17,19

God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless, and I cannot revoke it. Numbers 23:19,20

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11

The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,

And the strength of salvation;

The fear of the LORD is His treasure. Isaiah 33:5,6

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

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28,29

CHANGE FOR THE CHRISTIAN MANDATORY

For the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, change is not optional. It is a requirement for every disciple of the Lord. Change commences at the point of conversion, or being "born again" of the Spirit of God. As the Bible states in 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Also in Colossians 1:13,14 the apostle Paul states that the Father 

"has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives by the regeneration of the Word of God, renewing our minds and bringing us into alignment with God's will and purposes for us, we are being changed, as it says in 2 Corinthians 3:17,18 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

It is an encouraging fact that those who have received personal prophetic words from trusted ministries can testify to the reality that these words usually speak into whom the Lord sees them becoming by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, and not to their present limitations and shortcomings. This is not to say in any way that God overlooks our sin, but He wants to encourage us to see beyond our present reality to whom he sees us becoming for His glory!

THE CHURCH AND CHANGE

As of writing this blog, we are two weeks out from the 2020 celebration of Pentecost - the original Pentecost being fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ triumphantly from the tomb on that first "Easter Sunday" morning. Pentecost heralded the beginnings of the New Testament church. The Word of God tells us that on the Day of Pentecost, some three thousand people were saved, as they responded to the preaching of the apostle Peter. 

It is some two thousand years since that first Pentecost, and in this year 2020, there is a great sense of expectation amongst many Spirit-filled Christian leaders and believers that God is going to move in ways and in revival dimensions hitherto unseen in the earth. There have been outstanding revivals at various times and in various places over the past two hundred plus years, and there have been outstanding anointed ministry gifts to the church in the form of leaders who have been graced to lead millions to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ - names such as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, and D.L. Moody - in the eighteenth and nineteenth century come to mind, and in the twentieth century, outstanding mass evangelists such as Billy Graham and Reinhard Bonnke are two that stand out.

Healing ministries seeing thousands of healings, deliverances and miracles - in the twentieth century can be traced to ministry generals of the faith such as Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Kathryn Kuhlman, and numerous others. 

In the Middle Ages, for around one thousand years, until the Reformation, the church was led by a priestcraft - a mostly powerless, spiritually dead hierarchy of men who were more motivated by personal power than a desire for spiritual purity and Godly integrity, according to the Word of the Living God.

When Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in 1517, condemning the practice of the Roman Catholic church of selling 'indulgences' as 'get out of hell' cards, he also proclaimed that the Bible is the central religious authority and also that people may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds - "The just shall live by faith." His teaching was to spark the Protestant Reformation.

As Rick Joyner, Founder and Director of Morningstar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina states in his book "The Harvest,": When declaring events that would signal the end of the age, the Lord noted that these were "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8) The harvest and accompanying events will unfold just as travail comes upon a woman in labour.

Beginning with Luther, each spiritual contraction resulted in a major, basic Christian truth being restored to the church. as well as one of the five ministries given for the equipping of the saints as listed in Ephesians, chapter four.

With the beginning of the Reformation, the ministry of the Pastor was restored to recognized ministry. Over two hundred years later, with the Wesleys, the ministry of the EVANGELIST was restored and attained general recognition and acceptance.

The Pentecostal and Latter Rain revivals began the restoration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it was not until the Charismatic and Third Wave Renewals that the TEACHING ministry was fully restored.

Over the thirty years since Rick Joyner published this prophetic book, the modern day ministries of the PROPHET and APOSTLE have been coming more and more into view in the Body of Christ, worldwide.

As Rick Joyner also states: It is noteworthy that these ministries are being restored in the reverse order in which they were lost to the church. The early church began in a place of light and regressed into darkness. The last day church is coming out of the darkness and progressing toward increasing light. This light will increase until the fullness of day comes with the full revelation of Jesus.

In these times of restriction imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, when 'doing church' has seen a whole new paradigm of churches conducting online services, and strict social distancing being the order of the day, nothing has taken God by surprise. Many Christian leaders, most notably prophets are seeing this time when the people of God have the opportunity to re-focus on priorities, not least of which is  renewing our "first love" for  Jesus. The Church will physically meet together again and it is the hope of leaders that when that happens, it will be evident that this time in isolation has not been wasted time, but that we will all press into to know the Lord in a more intimate communion. 

If you have read this blog, and would like to know how to  become a Christian, please go to:www.vision.oeg.au Click on the "Grow your faith" tab at the top of the page, then "Looking for God?" God Bless.