Before I begin the purpose of this blog, I would just like to apologize for my absence of blogging last month! I was in Cambodian villages for the majority of January sleeping with not so cute critters, taking “showers” from a bucket, and going to the bathroom in a hole! Needless to say, internet was NOT a commodity :)… Also, God has other plans for team Rhema for the month of February and we will remain in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Right now I am in Thailand for a debrief with the L squad until the 13th, and then my team will head back to Cambodia for ministry. We will be working with our same contacts from New Life Church (which is amazing and I will hopefully have a blog about this church soon) only we will be working more closely with the church rather than in villages.
So, when I was in one of the villages last month my team found out an hour before a leadership meeting for the church that we would be the ones speaking to them on leadership! Needless to say we were a little freaked out, but the Holy Spirit showed up and revealed such truth to every person in the room including myself. He spoke to me on empowerment and I just want to share some of the revelation He gave me…
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. GO therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. -Jesus Christ (Matthew 28.18-20)
When Jesus spoke these words He wasn’t speaking this to some people, He was speaking it to all people. Every believer has God’s Spirit dwelling on the inside and has the same power and authority to do the same things [and even greater things] that Jesus accomplished.
BUT
How will the church ever get to a place of making disciples if we are constantly tearing people down and speaking death over them? How will people ever walk out into their God given destiny if we are constantly seeing them with our own eyes rather than seeing them the way God sees them?
We, as the church, need to take the plank out of our eye and remember that every single person that has, is, or will walk this earth was created with purpose in mind.
A constant theme in this season for myself is learning that the things spoken over us are what we will become because words have power. We speak either blessings or curses over people. The only way we will make disciples is if we speak life into them; the only way we will make disciples is if we see them as God sees them; the only way we will make disciples is if we see past the state in which a person is at right now and look to where God wants to take him.
I think the reason so many people are not living in a place of fullness or joy is because we, as the church, don’t truly understand the love of God and because of that we don’t know how to love others in the way God loves. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. Jesus came to bring Kingdom down. Kingdom is joy, healing, peace, restoration, wholeness; Kingdom is victory. The truth is alot of people are beatdown and broken because they hear a rumbling inside of them that speaks of greatness, but in our pride we tear down that greatness further pushing them away from the very thing God is trying to propel them into.
And this is reality:
“God never called us to start storms, but to stop them. God never called us to discern dry bones, but to raise up an army. We are to call things that be not as though they are because the Kingdom is about life, NOT death.” -Kris Vollaton
I just want to challenge anyone reading this (and this is something I myself am being challenged with) to start looking at God’s children past their issues. Start to ask God how He sees them, how much He loves them; start to prophecy life over them instead of standing in agreement with the lies that keep them bound to death.
The truth is if we constantly stand in agreement with the lies that keep people in a place of being bound, it will only keep us bound.
Kingdom is about believing the very best. If we continue to constantly look at flaws in people we will never make disciples.
Because it all comes down this: that we love one another, just as He has loved us!
