Hallelujah

This song is seriously still stirring my spirit – to be immersed in Him … what other way is there to live life I ask?!!!

At the moment I’m in the process of gathering all the information for the new website at work – which essentially means I need to type up all the current information and new information into Word – sounds simple but is seriously not … double checking and rechecking all the information … it’s driving me NUTS!!!! But the benefit of working on the website is that I can listen to music and podcasts – so I keep putting ‘The Anthem’ on in between the messages … I CANNOT get enough of that song!!! Praise Jesus =).

So, anyway, I was looking over my notes from the Kingdom Purpose the other night – what a phenomenal night it was. Ps Ben F spoke and he gave us a 12 point message – no joke … and there was even a bit before the message =). It was a fairly intense 1.5 hours but worth every single moment – it was a shame that we had to end when we did!

Ps Ben talked about being chosen: in Matthew 22:14 it says “For many are called, but few are chosen” (NLT). The difference between being called and chosen is a time of preparation. If God was to give us all that He’s promised at once – we won’t appreciate it, we won’t keep it and then there’d be no journey.
God has called us all to succeed – but how well do we prepare for the success?

One thing I loved was that we will not always be promoted when we’re ready – it’s when God has everything in place – so even if we’ve prepared and our hearts are right – it still may not be the right time – how do we handle that???

Ps Ben used the preparation of the disciples as an example: in Matthew 4, Jesus prayed and fasted; in Matthew 5-7, the disciples character was tested as were the conditions of their hearts; Matthew 8-9, Jesus trained the disciples and Matthew 10, Jesus releases the disciples. It was never a quick process for His chosen disciples to go out and do what He had called them to do, they had to be prepared. As a leader, I need to ask myself ALWAYS – how am I preparing my leaders, how am I preparing those under our leadership??? Hmmmm … Preparation is also hidden, it’s not for public promotion (interns at church a classic example!).

Then we moved onto the tests that God will allow us to go through during our preparation stage:

1. Test of submission – 1 Sam 15:1-23 we must totally submit, not just partly
2. Test of patience – God gives us the where but not the when
3. Test of peer pressure – Leaders rise above the crowd. We will never rise about those who we’re closest to so if things aren’t right, we need to distance ourselves and immerse ourselves with God
4. Test of focus – Col 3:1-2 – do we set our minds on Him or on our current circumstances?
5. Test of foundation – we should be gleaning off our leaders, not leaning on them. The only one we should be leaning on is God! Rom 10:11
6. Test of obedience – obedience is the key to progression, the key to the next level. Deuteronomy 28 shows us the blessings and curses for disobedience
7. Test of unfairness – reveals what our real motives are – do we seek revenge when we are honestly treated unfairly or do we seek after the One who can heal and restore? Joseph was tested time and time again, yet he didn’t seek revenge on his brother’s, he trusting in the God of the universe! Ps 105:19
8. Test of response – the best example – Samuel when given the opportunity to kill Saul – he didn’t because he knew that Saul was God’s anointed 1Sam 24:1-7
9. Test of environment – regardless of our background, we keep holding onto Him
10. Test of serving – doing whatever it takes – Elisha in 1 Kings 19
11. Test of rejection – Jesus was rejected by many; John 6:60. The glue which holds us is our relationship with God!
12. Test of faith – Noah’s faith was tested when nothing happened but he didn’t give up, he stayed trusting God’s Word. Prov 29:18. When God reveals, and things come up against us, is our faith truly grounded in Him?