DISCIPLES OF JESUS MINISTRY

Heb 11:32  And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,

Heb 11:33  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

AWAKE, AWAKE OH SLEEPERS

“Awake, awake oh sleepers,

It is time for you my people to go deeper,

I need to be the object of your desire,

Come and let me baptize you afresh with Holy Spirit fire,

Much darkness indeed encompasses your land,

But I have called you as my people to make a stand,

I have said I shall direct your paths,

So take heed of what my Word says.

I want my glory to shine through you,

For this reason I placed my Spirit in you,

The light shines and darkness is dispelled,

I need you though, to be continually Spirit filled.

I want to take you to new heights of intimacy with me,

There is so much more I want you to see,

You can have real knowledge of the Divine,

Heart knowledge as your hearts start to beat with mine.

Maturity in me is not a learned degree,

My children don’t you know it comes from relationship with me,

Rise up now, come and walk with me,

Come closer and I will lead you into intimacy.

Too many of my people are asleep in this hour,

And satan has a desire to completely devour,

But I am the Lord of the angel armies,

Walk my way and you will come to no harm.

The battle belongs to me and I am the Lord,

I want you my people to gather in one accord,

Seek my face and return to me your first love,

My people I want to shower on you, blessings from above.

Mount up now on wings of eagles,

For you are priests of mine who I have made regal,

I have said in my name demons will flee,

It is time for you my people to see the captives set free.

I have strategically placed you for my purpose in this hour,

You may be small in number but remember I am a strong and mighty tower,

Look to me gain your strength from me,

I need you to seek only me.

Put all self seeking aside,

Such behaviour can only cause a divide,

Is it me you serve, will you let me build the church?

You need to give me access to all areas in your lives I can touch.

I want to bring wholeness to your families,

Surrender yourselves, totally over to me,

I am looking for Christians, who are radicals, 

It was for you I died and from sin to set you free.

Will you take up your cross and follow me?

Ask yourselves today do you really, really love me?

When you give yourselves over to me completely,

There are no limits to the harvest you will see.

You will no longer labour in vain,

For I in you will totally reign

The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former,

Reflect on my words for they are worthy of your ponder.

Remember I challenge and chastise those I love,

It is time for you to walk as a people of power,

For such a time as this I sent my Spirit in the form of a dove,

Walk in my Spirit in this hour.

I am promising to give you victory,

The days of defeat will be history,

For now you have found a much better way,

Being led by my Spirit each and every day.”

As the Lord gave this to me 17th April 2011

© Irene McGough

Eph 2:1-6

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

As Christian's our rightful position spiritually is "seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." A higher position of fulfillment is impossible: nothing is higher and nothing is more dignified than being seated in the heavenly places in Christ. As believers, we are "in Christ," and thus we have all of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of sons of God.

Col 1:27

27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

God's Word declares that it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Not only are we "seated in the heavenly places in Christ," but it also says that it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Eph 1:19-23

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

It was the power of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

It was the power of God that seated him in the heavenly places.

It was the power of God that set him far above all principality and power….

It was the power of God that put ALL things under his feet.

If we are part of his body, then all things, too, are under our feet spiritually.

The Consummation of Love

1Jn 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

1Jn 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Isn't it great. we are recipients of perfect love, God’s love poured out to us each and every day, surely demonstrated most fully in the cross work of Christ, His blood poured out for our sake? As we come deeper into a knowledge of our Lord and Saviour we surely find that His perfect love casts out our fears and we start to take our vain imagination captive because at all times, no matter what comes against us we have the love of our Father who loves us with a love that is unconditional and beyond all comparison.

Love perfected in the blood that washed our sins away has brought us to a place of boldness both in the world to come and for now in the world we live in we should be such carriers of His love and His presence, His righteousness that people around us are drawn to Jesus, and we should boldly nail our colours to the wind, not only in the words we speak, but in our actions. We should be Christ like, and His love should shine through us, we should love like He loves. We have only come to love the Lord because He first loved us. He is indeed the one who deserves the fullness of our love and for us to give Him all the praise and all the glory, this One who loves us with such perfect love.

Love changes everything.

Love, love changes everything:

Real joy this love does bring,

Hands raised up high,

Faces aglow gazing upon the skies..

Love, love changes everything:

How you live and how you die.

Love is constant and sure,

For all man’s ill’s a cure,

Yes love, love changes everything

How I tremble at your name.

Nothing in the world will ever be the same.

Love, love changes everything:

Days are sweeter, Your Word means more.

Love, love changes everything:

I have found a peace I never knew before.

Love will turn your world around

And eternity will last forever.

Yes love, love changes everything,

To God be the glory, bring praise to His Name.

Nothing in the world will ever be the same.

The ways of the world have to go,

God will guide our futures, shape our years.

This love has bursts in and suddenly,

We find a new wisdom for Jesus is here

God’s love turns around the lives of everyone:

Of all who come to Him as the broken.

Yes love, love changes everyone.

Live for Jesus and let Him fan the flame.

With Jesus in your life you’ll never be the same

based on the popular song Love changes everything

Num 20: 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!"

Stopped in my tracks while reading this.Do we really trust Him to demonstrate His holiness? If we really do there is no end to that which we will see.

Mat 22:37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

Mat 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Mat 22:39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Note the word all, He wants us to love Him with all our soul, all our mind and with our whole heart, to be in love with Him.

There may be some who look at this and think that's okay because I don't really like myself, but we as the children of God should love that which our Father loves and we know that He loves us and that He has forgiven us our sins, for the blood of Jesus has washed our sins away, He has adopted us and accepted us and sees us as righteous saints, and He pours His love on us. If truth be told even those who say they do not not love themselves, do not want anyone to hurt them, want others to treat them well, forgive them, and show them love and compassion.

When we see that God made us in His own image and we carry that God DNA we cannot do other than recognize that we are beautiful new creations, loved and accepted by our Father.

So if we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must forgive those who offend us as we have been forgiven, we need to start seeing people through the eyes of our God. We are concerned about working out our own salvation but if we love the people out there as we love ourselves how can we not be concerned about their eternal destiny, and if someone is hurting how can we neglect showing them the love and compassion of Christ? To love others as I love myself is something I want to do, and I know I need the Lord's help through the power of the Spirit to do this.

Psa 17:15As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness,justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake[to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You]. AMP

Isn't it wonderful to wake up in the morning and turn our eyes to gaze at theLord? He is so good to us.

Deu 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place, and underneath arethe everlasting arms; He drove the enemy before you and thrust them out,saying, Destroy!

When we go to sleep at night we can be assured that we are resting in theeverlasting arms.

Psa 1:2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on Hislaw (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habituallymeditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

We can delight in the Lord and the wonders of His Word and His sweet presenceday and night.

Psa 74:16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have establishedthe [starry] light and the sun.

Day and night we can praise the one who created it all.

Psa 91:5 You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of thearrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,

We need not fear what the enemy brings against us, the eternal God is ourrefuge. Day and night 24/7 we have that confidence.

Dan 9:3-4 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments

Fasting, sackcloth and ashes? Well we may have fasted at times, but we don't know what it is to adorn sackcloth and ashes do we? The veil has been torn in two but I have to ask myself have I lost sight of the holiness of my God because of over familiarity, we know Him as " daddy" as Abba which is so wonderful, for we have been adopted into His family but do we really see Him as the Holy God He is, that we might fall down at His feet and worship Him. We need not adorn dirty rags because praise be to God we are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, we are new creations, hallelujah! Daniel demonstrated to us a purposeful persistence in prayer. Even Jacob in his prayer cried, “… I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Gen. 32:26).

How we need to learn that persistence.

Daniel acknowledges that God keeps His covenantal promises and shows mercy to them that love Him. He will keep His promises to us.

Dan 9:5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.

Dan 9:6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.

At the IHOP Scotland conference last weekend we were crying out to God for our nation, acknowledging that our nation has strayed so far from the Lord, and asking God to forgive this nation, to break through the darkness that has blinded so many, this used to be known as Bible loving Scotland the blood of the covenanters was spilt on this land. Today there are Mosques popping up everywhere, the small town in which I live now has a Mosque and a Sikh Temple - would this have happened like this if we the people of God were really seeking the Lord in intercessory prayer as we should? The fear of terrorism has meant that in the name of political correctness the Government and local authorities in this land have bent over backwards for a Muslim minority (now fastly growing in numbers) and the Christian voice has not been listened to or is not allowed full freedom.

Daniel named a whole list of sins and He included himself in this prayer, we can learn so much about intercession from his prayer.

Dan 9:7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

Here we see again just how Daniel recognised the character of God, he knew that his God was righteous and we need to recognise that in and of ourselves we have no righteousness except that which we have that has been granted to us by God, we are made rghteous in His sight and our lives are being transformed because the blood of Jesus washed our sins away.

Dan 9:8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

Dan 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.

Dan 9:10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

Dan 9:11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.

Dan 9:12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

Israel had been unfaithful to the God who had done so much for them, they had forgotten all that He had done in the midst of them- let that never be said of us. Yet I have to ask myself am I obedient in all my ways- oh wretched woman that I am, I fall short. Praise the Lord for His mercies are new every morning. He has forgiven us much.

It's the last days and the Lord has been pouring His mercies, His love on us His sons and daughters - but He is looking for a strong faithful bride who will stand in the gap for our nations, who will be obedient to Him- let that be us.

Dan 9:13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.

Dan 9:14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.

Dan 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

God is good all the time, He is righteous but even today I believe He will allow things to come against us to get our attention. Sometimes we can be so busy doing things, even things we think are for Him and He stops us mid track and asks us "Did I ask you to do that? " We need to get better at listening to Him and following Him. I need to get better at that. "I want to be obedient to you Lord, help me to be obedient in all my ways."

Dan 9:16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.

Dan 9:17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.

Dan 9:18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.

Dan 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Daniel remembers how God led Israel out of Egypt. God did it because of His righteousness, because of His love for Israel, not because of their righteousness. He recognises that God is merciful - He believes God will answer His prayers and supplications on behalf of the people, therefore He cries out "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

I have known a number of people to start on their walk with the Lord and seem to be doing well and then something traumatic has happened in their lives and they have walked away and the Lord says to you and I today "Will you persist in intercession for those sheep of mine who have wandered away and got lost, will you reach out to them and help them find the way back, I will show you who to intercede for, do not believe that all are lost causes?"

God is merciful and can restore all the years that the locusts have taken.

WILL WE STAND IN THE GAP?

__________________

Ephes.5:4 what does the apostle mean when talking of not being filthy. You and I know when speaking of someone being filthy we mean their appearance. Paul is thinking of something much deeper. The affairs of the heart. A rather frightening thought is the fact that God can see already what we are thinking of. Before the idea forms into a thought entering into our intellect. Good and bad. The challenge to come before God before leaving the home, and ask him to protect our minds. Stopping the enemy from entering in.

I leave you with what our risen Lord had to say on this very serious matter. (Matt.12:34) “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The point being the risen Lord can see right into our hearts. I believe if we pondered over this. Applied it to ourselves in the way we are meant to the transforming of our nature into the nature of the glorified Christ would a be a little smoother. I leave you to ponder over it.

Ephesians5:3 we looked at the word uncleanness and what Paul the apostle understood it to be. After looking at it we were challenged by it and still are being challenged. Now we turn to the word covetousness. For the apostle to use this word towards the saints in Ephesus must have meant they or a number of them were guilty of this. None of us are free from this in the sense of what thought patterns proceed through our intellect. Something you and I cannot control only God the Holy Spirit can help us to overcome this iniquity.

To want something that is not yours and belongs to someone else. To covet. Desire and want that which is not yours. Coveting the gifts of the Holy Spirit seen in others. Our brothers and sisters belonging to the Lord. Gifts of the Holy Spirit comes from God but we can covet them for ourselves because it makes us look good in the eyes of men

You have no idea how much of this goes on in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we must guard our hearts against it with the help of the blessed Holy Spirit. No graven image must come before Him. A hard challenge but with God’s help you and I will overcome this.

We must remind ourselves that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to edify, and bring the body of Christ together. His church as one. As He and his Father is one with the Holy Spirit. To give the one triune God our Lord praise ,honour,and glory,

Ephesians 5:3 Now we come to the word uncleanness, and what precisely Paul the apostle meant by it. I believe the answer to uncleanness is found in the book of Genesis. (Gen.6:5) Although you and I have been born of the Spirit of God given the gift of salvation in and through our risen glorified Lord it did not take the capability to sin from us. There is always the temptation to sin. When we do you and I have to seek the forgiveness of Jesus Christ our Lord. John the apostle in his First letter to the early church describes our Lord, not only as Lord, but as our Advocate. Let’s look at the verse from Genesis before looking at the word Advocate. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Unclean thoughts I believe is what the apostle has in mind when he talks about uncleanness. I cannot control what comes into my mind and neither can you only God can. Achievable only by walking close to God everyday. God’s Spirit in and through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord will help and strengthen us to do that. We need to seek his strength to overcome the obstacles.

An advocate is a person who pleads for someone on trial in a court of law to try and prove his or her innocence but you and I have all been found guilty before God. The death and the resurrection of our risen Lord including his precious blood that was shed for us covers the death penalty as if we had never sinned .But we are not to use that for sin that is wilful. Both are great challenges to our walk with Jesus Christ our Lord who has because of his great love towards us given to you and I the Gift of The Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome the obstacles that lie ahead.

If you stumble remember I.Jn.2:1 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Be encouraged and of good heart.