A word of encouragement for you all in this hectic time

I just want to send a word of encouragement for you all in this hectic time.

I believe the Lord is sending new miracles and wonders to everyone of us. When we pray and ask for change, we expect it to come somewhere along our everyday lives and everyday schedules. But the truth of the matter is that change comes in God’s perfect timing.

Currently a lot of our minds are more compact and fuller than our closets/wardrobes. We need to know and stand steadfast on the fact that our God is always on the move and that he won’t just protect us and our loved ones from the Coronavirus, but bring us out stronger and closer to God than ever before.

By allowing our minds to panic and lean only on the understanding of the Government, we are closing our minds off from change and not allowing any room for new perspectives and levels with Christ. We all need to stay in God’s presence and make room for the new.

We need to be stationary in the will of God and the peace of God, and be planted by the streams of living water and then God will come to us and favour will come to us.

“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.” Acts 11:5 (New King James Version)

Let us all be calm and courageous in this opportunity to break the limitations that bound us to this earth. As the scripture says in the Bible, God came to Peter while he was praying, heaven came to him. We all need to be still and know that God is God. Let Him show us and the world that everything; new and good, comes from our King and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us not look for things to go back as they were but instead look forward unto the unknown and be expectant that our God has something more for our lives and glorious for us.

“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;
For I am God, and there is no one else;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end and the result from the beginning,
And from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose,’” (Isaiah 46:9-10 Amplified version)

– Troy Reid

“And I will send you another…”

The beautiful thing about God is that He always has a plan – reconciliation (restoring man back to Himself). From the very beginning (Adam, Eve, Serpent and sin – Genesis 1-3) until NOW; God’s plan is to always restore us back to Himself.

 After the death of Jesus; before His passing he said,

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:16 (King James Version)

God’s ways and plans can sometimes be forgotten by man (universal context), even after we have acquired of them. We don’t always intend or desire to, but things get in the way – people, circumstances, situations.

God’s Word can also slip from our eyes, even though it should forever be before us (Deuteronomy 11:18) and not forgotten (Proverbs 4:21). But thank God He ALWAYS has a plan!

The Bible says,

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14: 15-18 (New King James version) 

We have the GREATEST gift of all… the HOLY SPIRIT. Let us turn to Him and get back to our rightful place in God.

What do we need for 2019?

-       What truth do we need to be led into?

-       What do we need to return back to?

-       What do we need help with?

-       What do we need guidance on?

-       What have we forgotten or not yet learned? Etc.

Let us ask Him; the Spirit of Truth - He knows EVERYTHING.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7 (New King James version)

 Don’t walk in 2019 or beyond without Him.

BY STACEY SPENCER

Let Your Will Be Done

'I have glorified you on the Earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do’ (John 17:4). This is the scripture I received after hearing myself pray, ‘Let your will be done in me as it was in Christ Jesus’.

For me, the best moments of prayer are hearing God speak through you in English, not knowing what’s coming but being blown away as it comes revealing that it hasn’t been pre-conceived by you; in fact, in that moment my mind was saying, ‘that’s not the scripture Riss!’ But when God speaks you feel the substance of His words and I am learning that when He speaks its always an invitation to walk into something new.

I was seeking simplicity and as always, God the Father points to His beloved Son. The beauty of their relationship wonderfully illustrated through love, sacrifice and dependency. Let Your will be done in me as it was in Christ Jesus. We have been endued with the power to choose and even when we try to seek an alternative way out, through Jesus we find the nevertheless grace.

Nevertheless, not my will but Your will be done. Nevertheless, my grace is sufficient for you because in your weakness I am strong. I am afraid; nevertheless, if I perish I perish. In the Son, all eventualities have been covered and every path He leads you on, He desires to walk with you. Choose to do nothing without Him, choose to wholly abide, choose to surrender your heart. Let the will of the Father be done in you as it was in Jesus.

What’s your something new in this season? What is God inviting you into? What word of His is He asking you to stand on?

BY LARISSA MATTHEWS

Don’t forget: As you reach UP, reach OUT!

After a week with two hundred young people from varied backgrounds, I feel greatly inspired to devote this blog to some of those youths.

The week was a tremendous blessing and there were some significant times of encounter with God, especially during worship. The messages spoken during the sessions were clear and relative, and I truly believe that the hungry were fed and the thirsty were watered.

But the devotion of this blog is to those few. I really can’t quantify or say how many, but to those who arrived with many questions possibly left with many questions, and those who struggled to engage during sessions. Those who during the times of deep intimacy of the spirit during worship were overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the intensity of the praise and the revealing of Jesus through the Word; and felt lost, these few words are your thoughts written down.

For me; no matter how powerful the service was, or how profound; or practical, our teachings were, there were some “lost sheep in Israel” that were crying out right there in our midst. Crying out for love, for hope and for peace.

They were crying out through their frustration; even through their absence in sessions, to know more than just the practicalities of the youth camp. Their behaviour screamed I don’t want to be here but their tears and conversations told another story.

I guess my point to all of this is that the church must encounter God to touch people, to embrace Jesus and all his amazing qualities which then must lead to embracing our youth. To embrace those who may not have the language of church that says, “I need help!”

We cannot become religious in our pursuit of God and remain behind the four walls of a building, forgetting how to connect with people we are meant to serve.

As we strive as the church of Christ to encounter Him more and experience; and receive His grace, it should not be at the cost of isolating ourselves behind the stained glasses of traditional windows or the lights of contemporary churches and miss the amazing opportunity to share all that we have received with those who truly require it.

Let us not forget this week during our meetings, our studies and our worship times: As we reach up, let’s reach out!

Matthew 9:35 “and Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”

­­– Pastor Michael

He Knows My Name

Hey guys, it’s Stephen… Yeah I know, it’s been a while!! I hope you’ve all been well.

Here at New Nation Destiny Centre church, we have some great revelatory truths and some equally challenging ones; but truths all the same. One Sunday, our Pastor, Apostle Michael DaCosta, spoke to us about the woman with the alabaster box (Luke 7:36-50), and although I’ve heard this story taught and preached hundreds of times, it was the way that our pastor pointed out something I hadn’t considered.

It wasn’t the obvious details that everyone knows about the story; you know, the example Jesus gave to Simon (the Pharisee), the anointing of Jesus’ feet, the woman being forgiven. No, it was the fact that what Simon was THINKING about that was wrong with this whole situation; verse 39 (KJV) says, “he spake within himself”, meaning he didn’t verbally say anything audible for anyone to hear. And yet, here comes Jesus and ANSWERS Simon’s thoughts! Wow!!

Put yourself in Simon’s shoes for a minute… What on Earth did he think Jesus wanted to say to him? Certainly not the very thing he was thinking about the woman who was a sinner!! But Jesus heard exactly what he was thinking and it needed to be addressed. This brings me to the title of this blog, “He Knows My Name”.

Now, I think I remember saying in a previous blog that God is omniscient, the all-knowing God! So, He doesn’t just know my name, He knows EVERYTHING about me, you and everyone else! So even when we choose not to talk to God, please know that He already knows all that we go through. I know… I hear you asking, “Stephen, if He already knows everything I’m going to say then why do I need to communicate with God?” That’s easy; God wants a relationship with us. He gave us free-will to do as we desire within the remit of His ultimate will for us. But He wants us to open up to Him willingly, to talk to Him like we would our friends and family. Not for His benefit, but ours! God is GOD!! There is nothing that we could ever give Him that He; in His infinite wisdom, power and authority, could gain from.

Hearing this word made me very uneasy at first, but I soon realised how important it is for me to keep a clear channel of communication with the Father. Having to hear, “Stephen, I have something to say to you…” has its pros and cons. It means that God is still speaking to me regardless but it also means that my thoughts can be heard as loud as thunder in a church hall. My thoughts have to be of a nature that is Christ-like, and not carnal. My thoughts; if misdirected, can turn into negative actions and manifest into undesirable behaviours. It’s only by His grace that we keep grounded but we cannot continue to operate from grace. Grace is the fail-safe, the “press button in case of emergency”, the back up plan, if you will. And with God, His grace is always there by the truckload. But in order to be who He called us to be, we have to walk in the same power and authority that Christ exuded every day.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying this isn’t a hard lifestyle to keep up. Trust me, let me be the first to say I struggle a lot with speaking to God and having positive thoughts. With all of the curveballs that life throws at me, I often drop the bat, run and hide in the bleachers. But sometimes, not swinging is not the same as giving up; for some of us, it might mean that we need to take a time out to re-strategise, change the size of the bat or choose a more comfortable stance. And in our Christian walk, we need to do just that; change things up a bit: adjust our prayer life, tweak how we study God’s word or spend more time with our brothers and sisters in the faith. The more open we can be about our current state, the easier it is to begin the transformation process. And guess what? The best part is that God never changes; He will still be the God who knows your name, knows your past, present and future, knows when you cry, and knows when you need Him the most.

Truth be told, we won’t always get it right. But we should endeavour to try. That’s all the Father would have us do. And I hope that with the sincerity of our hearts, we give Him all we have. Peace be upon us all and the love of Christ to all who read this.

BY STEPHEN MCCORMACK