Papa Bear

One of the revelations the Lord keeps on bringing me back to is 'the father heart of God.' I can't seem to steer away from it, and to be honest, I never want to. Not ever.

Whilst reading the old testament lately, I've noticed how almost always, the people {God's people} always referred to themselves as servants and never sons. They would cry out "Oh Lord, have mercy on your servant" and there was a definite servant/master relationship between God and his people for that was the only title they were worthy to take on. This understanding puts into perspective why Jesus caused such a stir when he went around claiming to be the son of God and referring to the Lord Almighty as 'Abba' {a.k.a Papa bear or daddy}. Nobody ever elevated themselves {or should I say "been elevated"} to such a high position in relation to the Holy God. Some called him blasphemous, others cut straight to it and called him satan, while a small few caught a glimpse of something bigger than they'd ever been given the liberty to enter into; sonship.
Jesus knew his identity as a son which was spoken over him at his baptism in the Jordan river, and he carried this knowledge with him that empowered him and fueled his ministry. Jesus showed the world a facet of God that had never before been revealed, and then through his death and resurrection {and our death and resurrection alongside him}, made this same father/son relationship available between us and the Lord God. The old covenant says we are slaves, justified by our works under the law, and paid accordingly. The new covenant under which we live as followers of Jesus, says we are sons {and daughters in my case}, justified by our royal birth and made heirs of a glorious inheritance because of our daddy's goodness. We are invited to partake in the heavenly household just as sons and daughters do in the house of their father. He has set out a banqueting table before us and calls us unto himself so we can feast to our heart's content. Papa bear wants us to know him as a dad, and what a good dad he is. He has been inviting me to sit on his lap, lean into his chest and hear the rhythm of his heartbeat. The more my heart hears the beat of his, the more it begins to pulse to the very same rhythm.

What a day we are living in! Being alive in the father is as fun as it's ever been, and I am splashing around in the pool of his love, goodness and acceptance. Do join.

To end off, a guy that I met at Jubilee church in Sydney, Simon Mason, tweeted a really profound statement this week and I thought I'd share it because it really sums up what God has been revealing to me in terms of being a son {daughter} in his house.

"Until you approach the father as a son, you'll only ever receive the inheritance of a servant" 

- Simon Mason

(Profound isn't it?)

The whole is greater than the sum of parts

Lately I have been swept up in a whirlwind of the goodness of God and have been so preoccupied by all the wondrous things he is doing across the planet. My heart has been fixed on all the testimonies, all the prophetic words and all the powerful movements sweeping the earth that all point to the greatest reality; the goodness of our God and his true nature.
With this being said though, these past few days I have been slapped through the face with the reality of the war that is still being fought, not between the church and her enemies, but between the church and herself. It is like a dagger to my heart to know that the body of Christ is still 'cutting off its nose to spite its face' and  insists on stabbing and wounding itself repeatedly, hindering its overall performance as a unit and making it less effective on the earth. Rick Joyner's vision of the army at war with itself in the book 'The Final Quest' comes to mind, and I think we all as Christians and members of the beautiful body of Christ need to realise that we can only take this, and will only win this war if we are in radical unity with each other across ALL denominations. I believe that one of the first steps to getting to this place of unity and oneness we are called to is to lose the 'denominational titles' that hang over our entranceways and keep us reclusive and too inwardly focused on our little portion of the Kingdom. God is bigger than that and he can not and will not be confined to one group of people who think they've got all the right methods and have 'found the perfect balance and theology.' No, no and no.
Inclusivity and not exclusivity is the business of the Kingdom.
I know my dad in heaven and I know that he is into variety, he loves it. He didn't just create one type of dog, but multiple species of the same animal, he didn't just create one tree, but thousands of variations. His love for variety is even more evidently displayed in his finest creation, human beings. I'm sure you  have noticed by now that none of us are alike. Just when you think you've seen it all, another wild and wacky character pops out of the woodwork and shows you that the human race is a very colourful breed.
Did God create us and wire us all differently only to try and squash us into a mould? Were we free as birds before salvation and then upon coming to Christ, forced to slip into the 'one size fits all' glove that the church thinks it needs to wear? My knowledge of the person of God tells me otherwise.
Our God is the most vibrant and colourful being in all existence and we are just chips off the old block. He loves people who are conservative just as much as the extravagant 'fairy' that dances at the front of the church every Sunday. The same goes for churches and movements. When we realise that the Lord is not looking at us from a behavioral lens and not judging our every every move, but rather that he looks at the spirit of a believer for he is a spirit being himself and everything pertaining to the Kingdom is in fact spiritual. When we fully get a revelation of this, we learn to rejoice in wildly celebrate each other, and who we all are in spirit. I am a person that loves and appreciates art, creativity and colour, and when I think of the bride, I think of her as a multi-faceted, colourful, dancing bride that celebrates each of her parts and the different function they have, for she knows that an arm brings just as much joy to the heart of the father than a leg or a mouth. Imagine removing your ear because it couldn't speak, or amputating your arm because you couldn't walk on it. This is absurd, and so is persecuting fellow members of the body of christ because they don't 'play church' the way you do.
With all this being said, I have read the story and I know how it ends. The body of Christ comes out victoriously. Jesus is coming back for a bride who is unified and knows that 'the whole is greater than the sum of parts.' I am ridiculously excited to be alive at such an hour as this and get to play a part in this Kingdom. I love seeing the daily transformation of the bride as she begins to look more like the Song of Solomon portrayal each day.
I myself am on a journey of learning to see a different facet of the father in every single person I meet, and in every single church I visit. I am learning that in this Kingdom, it is vital relate to each other on a spiritual level for that is where our true identity lies. When we look at each other through the lenses of our actions and behavior we only set ourselves up to become cold and judgmental at the imperfections of those around us.
One thing I am wildly passionate about is the bride of Christ, and I can go from a peaceful dove to a fierce lioness in a moment, at the sight of anybody trying to persecute, condemn or put the bride into religious bondage. We are called to follow in the footsteps of our father who is the author of love. Walk in love, demonstrate love and abound in love. That is our commission and that is the force that binds us all together and will lead us into victory.

My Beloved

This morning as I was driving to work, I was listening to one of my favourite songs of prophetic psalmist Isi De Gersigny. What I love about Isi's music is that she writes prophetic songs and declarations for the nations almost all of which are inspired by divine encounter. They are full of the presence of God because that is where each of them have been birthed and breathed into existence. The lyrics to this song wreck me every time I hear them. A beautiful song that portrays a beautiful bride.

My Beloved

The King is approaching his beloved

Looking straight into her eyes

He is trembling with love

All of heaven shakes

The bride is radiant with grace

Her face is glowing from his light

He is lifting up her head

Hear her singing now

Hear her singing now

How long my love

How long my love

How long my love

How long

The spirit takes her down the aisle

She is running like a child

The longing of all time is there

Standing before her now

They are covered in the glory

There is no veil there is no fear

She is trembling with love

The whole earth shakes

The spirit and the bride say "come"

Rend the heavens and come down

The spirit and the bride say "come Jesus"

Rend the heavens and come down

Come away with me

Come away

Come away with me

Come away my love

The spirit and the bride say "come my beloved"

Jesus come

Rend the heavens and come down my beloved

For we are faint with love

Thought for the day

"If you're not free to abuse your freedom then you are not truly free." - Rob Rufus

Who's Your Daddy?

The heart of a father is something incredible to behold. The heart of the Father God, is something that wrecks me every time I encounter it. It is amazing beyond words.

For the past while, God has been revealing to me aspects of his heart as the father of many nations, tribes and tongues. He is a good and perfect dad, and knows how to give the most incredible gifts to his kids. Gifts of love, goodness, provision, acceptance and the gift of family. God designed family. Family was his idea. It is not an earthly concept, but originates in heaven based on the blueprint of the heavenly family (Ephesians 3:15). The entire book of Ephesians paints a beautiful picture of this idea of ‘family’ and with words like father, son, household, inheritance and heirs, we see that God has designed us to be members of his family, with him being our amazing father. This book shows that we are not islands or one-man bands, alone and misunderstood, but are members of the most loving, close-knit family in all creation; the family of God.

There is an orphan spirit at work in the world, but as believers in Jesus, we have been adopted into this heavenly family. It’s a rags to riches story, and we have been taken from nothing, and not only made into ‘something,’ but made into kings and co-heirs with Christ, with a great and glorious inheritance. He has clothed us with robes of righteousness, seated us with him in the heavenly places, and invited us to be members of his household and feast at the banqueting table of his goodness. So let me ask you, who’s you daddy? I know who mine is!

Thought for the day

Faith doesn't have a plan B

Harvest church visit

On Sunday night, I visited Harvest church and the prophet Julian Adams was there to minister. The highlight of my night was the incredible time of worship that we had. The weighty glory of God fell in the place, and I don’t think there was a person in the room that couldn’t sense the tangible presence of the Lord. Worship continued for so long that I lost complete track of time, and there is nothing I love more than losing myself in praise as I get caught up in the presence of the one I love.

During this blissful time of worship, I had a vision of an army. This was unlike any army I have seen before, and each member of the army was joined to one another, so that it resembled one unit rather than hundreds of thousands of individual parts as a normal army would. I felt the Lord say to me that this was an army of worship warriors who have worship as their weapons of warfare. This army was worshipping, yet there was no music being played. They were singing songs of praise to the Lord in complete harmony with each other, and it seemed as though it was just one voice, yet this ‘one voice’ was made up of many thousands of individual voices. This army was focused and their gaze was glued to the one they were worshipping; the King of Glory. Not an eye was wandering, but all were fixed on him. I felt as though the Lord show me that this army’s power lay in two things. Firstly, it’s unity, and secondly, it’s worship. I feel that the Lord is calling the body into a greater degree of unity of the spirit, where we realise that we are not separate entities, but we are parts of a whole. He is also calling us to live and dwell in the place of worship. When the battles come, worship. When the storms blow, praise him. When you feel at your lowest, sing songs to the Lord, and your praise will strengthen you in your spirit.

Thought for the day

Just because the world has changed, doesn’t mean the commission has.

Thought for the day

Hell is not the presence of evil, but the absence of God

Thought for the day

Love, which can be given and then taken away, is not real love. A love that has conditions and is based upon circumstances or behaviour is not even ‘love’ at all. Only love that is unconditional, permanent and eternal is true and authentic.

The Lord burns with real and true love for us; the most relentless, fierce love, and we are the objects of all of his affection. Oh. My.Word.