2011 – What a year it has been. Regardless of what our varied individual experiences have been, for the most part we can all agree that 2011 flew by prreeetttyy fast. I could only stare when my almost-9yr old son said to me ‘Mum, this year has gone by very fast. Have you noticed?’ Have I noticed? Well yeah! Mr-when-did-you-grow-up-and-get-so-wise-on-me!
Truly, It’s been a long, yet fast-paced year. There have been difficulties, breakthroughs, forging of new relationships, closing of old relationships. There have been unprecedented events that have shaken our worlds globally and in some cases individually. More than anything else, there have been multitudes of testimonies, the greatest of which continues to be the fact that despite it all, we are still standing. The Bible tells us clearly that only the living can praise the Lord and I, for one, am so glad to still be in the land of the living. I decree and declare over my life, your life, and over the life of anyone connected to you and I, that we shall not die but live to declare the works of the Lord in the land of the living; I decree and declare that the number of our days we shall fulfil, that God’s purpose for our lives here on the earth shall be manifested in Jesus mighty name.
This morning, among other things that I received in my spirit, I got a Word that I am led to share with you. I am not sure why, but perhaps there is someone out there reading this blog who needs to hear this.
Obedience to the Word:
GET READY!
God is going to ask big things of you in the year ahead.
You must be ready to obey – unequivocally and speedily.
You must be ready in your mind, heart, will, emotions,
with your time, with your finances, with everything.
Get ready my daughter.
I will help you!
Funny enough, a couple of days earlier one of my WAN (Woman Act Now) Nigeria sisters had shared a message God gave her for the team and when I put this beside this Word I received all I could think was ‘Wow!’
Seems to me that the challenge is not so much the fact that God is going to ask things of me; no, the challenges I see are two-fold. First is that He says He will ask BIG things. I think how in times past it has sometimes been so difficult to do even the small things that God has asked me to do. It continues to amaze me that I find it easier to obey the medium-sized things, and then struggle with things that should probably not require me to think twice. But God does have His way doesn’t He? I have found that it’s usually in those small levels of obedience that He brings forth big results, so I am learning to just go with it when He speaks those little things into my heart. What’s that catch phrase again ‘Let go and Let God!’. Yup! Works every time!
The thing is then, when a BIG God tells little me that He will ask BIG things of me, and tell me to Get Ready, no one needs to tell me that its time to up my spiritual game. God doesn't do things in half measures that’s for sure, so when He say ‘big’, I know He means ‘big’. This set me thinking: What is the biggest thing that God has asked of me to date? And that’s a question for you too my sister. What is the biggest thing that God has asked of you? If we can’t look back and try to figure what that was, how we responded, what the results of our obedience/disobedience was; we might not be able to effectively answer the call to get ready, and we might miss the big thing that God is calling us to.
This takes me to the second part of the challenge – obedience. Am I really ready to obey with my ‘everything’? Have I raised anything as an altar that will stand in the way of my total obedience to God? If God puts a demand on my finances, my family, my time, my everything, as He said.....will I yield unequivocally and speedily? Will you yield on His terms?
Questions, questions, questions which readily played around in my mind. At the end though, I think I have come to a place of peace. The last Word was simple ‘I (the Holy Spirit) will help you!’. That’s really what everything hinges on isn’t it? The Holy Spirit will help me. The Holy Spirit will help you.
Scripture after scripture came to my mind in quiet reassurance that God is in control:
· TheThe Lord will grant me full insight and understanding in everything - Timothy 2 v7
· The Lord watches over His Word to perform it – Jeremiah 1 v 12
· Through and with God, I shall do valiantly – Psalm 108 v 13
· Apart from God, I can do nothing – John 15 v 5
· The Lord will establish my steps and direct them by means of His Word
– Psalm 119 v 133
· For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the Lord Who says to you,
Fear Not, I will help you! – Isaiah 41 v 13
This is the key – whatever big things God will call any of us to do, we can only achieve by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit....Counsellor, Comforter, friend; He is always right there waiting for us to invite Him to move on our behalf. when we do this, He will help us.
I believe that in the year ahead the Holy Spirit will make Himself, His power even more available to the children of God, and in new ways. I also believe that to access this power, we must draw closer still to God and remain in a continuous atmosphere of praise and worship. Indeed, we may not be able to see in the flesh how we can be ready to answer God’s big call on our lives in 2012, but if we train our spirits to stand in that state of readiness, we will be positioned to move into action immediately God changes His ‘Get ready’ to a ‘GO’.
I pray that as you and I take the decision to get ready for the new move of God in our lives, we will open ourselves fully to receive of the power of the Holy Spirit, and that He will indeed guide and direct our paths into the things that God has purposed for our lives.
Get ready my sister... a new level of greatness lies ahead of you, to the glory of the Father.
Shalom
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Yes Lord have Your way in my life. Help me to the ready so that when You do day GO, i will Go.
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