I could hear Pastor Bev preaching in the church service on a Sunday morning.  I then found myself outside in front of the Auckland Museum.  There were thousands of people around me sitting on the grass, but the people couldn’t see me.  Everyone was looking at the view of Rangitoto and for some reason there were icebergs everywhere along the sea!  But as I was seeing all this I could still hear Pastor Bev preaching and it was echoing throughout Auckland City.  These icebergs were melting as the word was being preached and everyone around me didn’t know what was happening.  As these icebergs were melting the sea level was rising and before [we] knew it the sea level came onto land.  A tsunami was formed out of this and it reached to the thousands of people before they even knew it.

God spoke to me saying, ‘why is My Church still like an iceberg?  Why is My Church still like an iceberg?”  The iceberg represents the hearts that are hardened.  It represents the people who are anointed but are still frozen.  There are people out there who need to hear the Gospel of God!  In Ephesians 4:11 it speaks of Jesus who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers – to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.  The church cannot come as an iceberg but I believe that God is saying to the church to come as water!  The iceberg is hard; it is greedy and selfish.  The water is many and the water is anointed and refreshing.  Us, as a church, must be the water.  And like that tsunami, we must go out and not hold anything back which God has anointed us with.

Max, a season ago while visiting your Fellowship, I felt the Lord gave me a picture of [your] church and referred to it as a “Lightning Rod.”  

It is easy to see Auckland and retain the image of the skytower.  I look at Auckland and see your church as The Sky Tower; a lightning rod as a conductor of God’s power to the City of Auckland.   

Physically the church seems smaller than the more frequently recognised Sky Tower, but that is the “upside-down” way of the Kingdom of God.  “The smaller shall be greater.”   It is the “humble that shall inherit the (land).”  The wisdom of God is foolishness to men.

 This story helps to remind us who we are to God and who He is to us. Unlike the uncaring, heartless judge, God is good and any delay in fulfilling our desires is for our benefit. It is crucial that we ask questions like ‘What is God like when He’s there for me? It is most important that we get the right image of God.

 Equally important is that we get the right image of ourselves. Let’s always remember that we are the ‘chosen ones’. Jesus is always interceding for us, sitting at the right hand of our father in heaven.[John15vs16]. In faith we are to draw near to God believing that He’s always moving on our behalf.

 Knowing the above, shouldn’t we shift our view from doubts, problems, anxieties and fix it upon God? Unlike the widow who’s anxious and overwhelmed, shouldn’t we look beyond the
circumstances and prophesy according to His Word? Declare who God is and what He can do for us.  As we come into agreement with God’s word, we will discover what He can do for us. We must do this in faith even and believe God Who can do all things.

 You need to choose to focus more on God than on the issues that are confronting you! It’s time to stake your claim on what is rightfully yours in Jesus!  If your circumstances are difficult at this time, you need to prophesy the Godly opposite into your situation.  You need to prophesy into your situation what is already settled in Heaven rather than fighting and striving to achieve it!   Be the ‘chosen son or daughter’ of God rather than to be like the persistent widow?

 Reflect on the questions above and share your thoughts with another Believer.

No more excuses, you have no more excuses!  How many more sermons and words of encouragement do you need before you take your stand and fight for yourself, for your family, your friends and lost souls.

Take heed to the messages you are getting.  When the time draws nearer the enemy will not allow such priviledges.  Take your stand - don’t be lazy!  Tarry, tarry, tarry.

Do not fall asleep, do not faint.  I am with you, I will fill you to empower you.  Ask of Me, just ask, for it is for My glory, and Mine alone that things will be done in the coming and final days.  Search, hunger and pray.  Don’t lose heart.  Don’t look at the world.  See beyond the luxuries; see beyond the appearances and the mask that this world wears.  Once I touch them they will not have had so much.   You cannot live on money and bread alone, but by My Word.  Tarry, tarry, tarry.

Take that step - begin to pray like you’ve never prayed before.  Ask like you’ve never asked before.  Open up your heart so that I can come and fill it with what I have stored up for you.  See the release of My blessing - it will come.  Take up your sword!  Tarry, tarry, tarry.  

God opened my eyes to something that was happening in the spirit during our prayer meeting and throughout the whole entire service on Sunday morning 13/11/11. The Lord showed me [Victory] church and on top of the church I could see a waterfall forming all throughout the church. Streams of water were flowing but there were rocks blocking the flow of the water from pouring out into the church.

I started to see the ceiling of the church beginning to crack, drops of water started to leak through hitting each person who were present.

While that was happening my eyes were taken above the church, above the waterfall where the throne of God was sitting! The waterfall happened to be His throne!  Each drop of water was the glory of God.

Revival is coming and I can see it is coming through the cracks where the rocks need to be shifted – through prayer and through worship! God was speaking to me saying “that one drop of My glory is nothing to what I’m about to do!” “Get under My waterfall and shift those rocks and I will pour out My spirit, My glory and My presence, everything that I have to share for my people!”

Don’t get comfortable with just the one drop or you are going to miss it, Heaven is invading earth and it’s closer than ever before! Allow God to open your eyes to what He sees.

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… Ezekiel 34:16

My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill  and forgot their own resting place.  Jeremiah. 50:6

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?” Matthew 18:12

 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

 He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;  He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11

 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 23:1

 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back. ’Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Isaiah 43:6

 Exercise:  Read the scriptures above. Engage in a time of prayer and allow the Lord to reveal to you brothers or sisters who have strayed away from the Lord. Ask the Lord to give you a plan to draw and bring those strays back to the Lord.

 Every follower of Christ will someday have to give an account of what they have been entrusted with.  Let us bear in mind the following:

1] ALL Christians will be subject to judgment; no-one will be exempt.  [Romans 14: 12, 1 Corinthians 3: 12-15, 2 Corinthians 5: 10]

2] This judgment will happen when Christ returns for His church [John 14: 3]

3] The Judge is Jesus Christ [John 5: 22]

4] Everything will be revealed/made manifest. God will examine and openly reveal our secret acts, our character, our words, our good deeds, our attitudes, our motives, our lack of love and our work and ministry.

5] In summary, believers will have to give an account of their faithfulness or unfaithfulness to God, [Matthew 25: 21, 23] and of their deeds in light of the grace, opportunity and understanding made available to them.  [Luke 12: 48, John 5: 24, Romans 8: 1].

6] The believer’s bad deeds, when repented of, are forgiven with respect to eternal punishment but they are still taken into account when being judged for repayment. ‘Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong’ [Colossians 3: 25].   The believer’s good deeds and love are remembered by God and rewarded [ Hebrews 6: 10]. ‘The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does. [Ephesians 6: 8].

7] The specific results of the believer’s judgment will be varied. There will be either gain or loss of joy [ 1 John 2: 28], divine approval [Matthew 25: 21], tasks and authority [Matthew 25: 14-30], position [Matthew 5: 19, 19:30], rewards [1 Corinthians 3: 12-14] and honour [ Romans 2: 10].

8] The impending judgment of Christians should perfect in them the fear of the Lord [2 Corinthians 5:11. Philippians 2: 12] and cause them to be clear minded and self-controlled , to watch and pray, to live holy and godly lives [ 2 Peter 3: 11] and to show mercy and kindness to all [Matthew 5: 7].

 Exercise

As every believer of Jesus Christ will someday have to give an account of their life, take a moment to reflect on yours.  How well are you doing ? What are the areas in which
improvements are needed?

I had a dream last night (Friday 27^th April 2012). In my dream I saw myself have another dream that had four parts to it.

PART ONE:  VCC as a church went to a fully packed stadium to listen to a speaker.  As a congregation we were all at the front listening to the Word. During the event the speaker wanted to specifically pray for Max & Bev, then our congregation as a whole. As we all stood, we were already in a certain formation, as following:

The speaker

Max & Beverley

The Elders of VCC

The Appointed Leaders of VCC

And the entire VCC congregation spread in multiple rows behind the VCC leadership 

 Looking back at the formation, I actually realised we were in formation that looked like an arrow head.  As the speaker continued, he said clearly ‘God says that the time is near for Me to
return ALL that was taken’.  After he said this, people were slain in the Spirit starting from Max & Bev, the row of Elders, followed by the Appointed Leaders (Ministers) to the many rows of
the congregation.

 PART TWO:  I was sitting in a house catching up with [my husband and family], telling them in detail of this four part dream that I had.  While I was telling them, these different meteorite-like shaped rocks that glowed like hot embers were falling from the sky.  They started to really light up outside, but not set on fire. There were so many of these objects falling that that’s all that was seen outside every window.

 PART THREE:  It was a normal Sunday service at VCC and Max was speaking. The worship team were still on stage.  In the side corridor where children’s church is, a kid came out of ‘ALL STARS’, walked into the auditorium and went straight to Max and said “I have to share something”.  Max looked at this kid as if he knew something was going to happen, and willingly gave the mic. This kid started to pray, then prophesy.  In that moment, Bev started to really cry & sob, as did Max. The worship team as a whole removed their shoes and were all on their knees with face’s down, crying.  God’s anointing was so powerful that the congregation as a whole were crying, wailing, sobbing, lamenting. There was not a dry face to be seen.

Then the children from the ALL STARS, RAINBOW ROOM, and the next class up (not FUSE) all walked into the auditorium. They immediately all spread out and laid hands on
every single person in the church. Gods power, presence and overwhelming love was present, but it was new, refreshing and nothing that has been felt before.

 PART FOUR: I saw a beautiful lake, so light blue that I could see right through to the bottom floor. The lake was surrounded by picturesque mountains, trees, clear sky with few clouds etc. In the middle of this lake was a strong man. He started to worship. He was worshipping like never before that bright beams of worship was being released out of every part of his being.

A whirlpool was forming around him but was not dangerous. The lake made sounds of worship as did the trees, mountains, even the clouds.  Every part of nature was worshipping God. In the Spirit these bright beams of music and worship that were being released from the strong man and nature were coming together and intertwining with each other then shooting up to the heavens.    ENDS.

God has a purpose for every individual. Sometimes we might not even realise what it is! Sometimes we make  choices that change the course of our  God-given destiny.

As we examine the life of Moses, it is clear that things didn’t work out the way they should have.  The call of God was significantly affected by the choices he made – choices that could potentially have wrecked what he was destined to achieve. The result was that Moses had to spend 40 wandering years in the desert  – taking him furthest from where he thought he was headed.

One can only imagine that the question uppermost in Moses’ mind was ‘what if?’ – ‘what if I hadn’t kill the Egyptian?’… ‘what if I had taken more care to cover my tracks?’….’what if I had not been there?’ It is evident that Moses is so haunted by his fateful decision that he lives a long time in utter regret and despair and loses all confidence.

Another phrase  Moses would have been focusing on is ‘if only’.  Statements like ‘If only I was wiser…then I can….’, or ‘ if only I  had more of this and that’ etc and so on and so forth.

A mind filled with ‘what if’ and ‘if only ‘ will only delay further what God intends for us. They rob us of our true potential. Just as Moses discovered that he was more than fully equipped with what was already in his hand, each of us really need to realise that through Christ, we are more than adequate to achieve God’s purpose.

If, like Moses, you feel you are lost and wandering in the desert, it is time for you to allow God to work His power through you so that you will realise the call that God has on your life. Don’t just exist but live – in His almighty power to achieve what He has destined for you so that He will be glorified..

 Question

What are the ‘what ifs ?’ questions and ‘if’ thoughts that you carry in your life?  What regrets do you carry from your past?

What do you feel you lack? Are you willing to submit to Christ , allowing Him to help you achieve your God given destiny?

Several principles we can learn as we read this story.

1]  Abraham – a man of faith who ran and bowed down to God as soon as he saw them. He had a heart to serve and refresh God’s heart quickly putting on a feast. Clearly Abraham was seeking first the kingdom of God [Matthew 6:33].

2] Sarah – unbelieving even as God was speaking into their greatest need. She scoffed at the idea that they would have a child. Having waited for a long time, she dismissed the idea – a case of ‘hope deferred, makes the heart sick’ [ Proverbs 13 vs 12].

3] Their dream was fulfilled a year later just as God promised. Even though it was hard to believe, Abraham and Sarah stepped out to believe. In turn, they had a son, Isaac [meaning ‘laughter’] and the joy they had would be as described in Psalm 126.

4] As the story develops, one learns how we can hang onto a gift too tightly. Having waited for decades for a son, Abraham was possibly regarding the gift as more important than the giver. That
was when his faith was put to the test [Genesis 22 vs 1-18]. It was only when he was prepared to ‘pick up the knife’ – to do what he didn’t want to do, that God intervened. It is when we are willing to place our dreams and vision onto God’s altar that He places His power there.

As we enter into a season of purpose, God wishes to fulfill dreams. As we delight ourselves in Him, He will grant us the desires of our heart.

Questions

Similar to Abraham and Sarah, have you allowed your dream and vision to fade away? What happened? Why? How do you feel ? Are you willing to entrust it again to the Lord?

A common failing is that we can hang onto a gift too tightly. In which area of your life do you see this happening?

Share and pray for each other.