Six Directives for 2021 (part 5)

2.7.2021

1. You can weather any storm or test when you align your thoughts, values and lifestyle with God and His Word.

Focus on the Kingdom of God this year.

2. This year, you are going to have to choose whether to stay home, or come and help us promote the kingdom of God and train new Christ followers.

Turn off the news – turn on the word – and be willing to be challenged for what you believe…

Isaiah 53:1 (NKJV)

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

Are you going to go with what the media says, or with what God says?

Who are you choosing to believe?

3. Get ready for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit worldwide!

There is coming, and we are now entering a great moving of the Holy Spirit. It will be unprecedented in our time.

4. prepare for the persecution that the Presence of God brings.

Luke 6:26 (NKJV)

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Matthew 10:34-38 (NLT)

Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household! 37 If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

5. The Holy Spirit manifests in unity, not in isolation.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (TPT)

But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce and difficult for the people of God. 2 People will be self-centered lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly.

3 They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right. 4 With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the loving God. 5 They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these.

There is a pressure today to see others as a hindrance to your wellbeing!

Right now, in the media culture, there is a trend to pit one person against another.

**“If a person does not wear a mask, they don’t care about you, they care only about themselves.”

**There is a huge move to pit black against whites. Words like white supremacists are being used.

You need to resist these false ideas.

If a person does or doesn’t wear a mask, it is from their personal convictions.

Don’t allow the media to form your convictions!

Many people now get their convictions from the media.

And the media is seeking to divide us.

 

Matthew 12:25 (NKJV)

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”

 

Matthew 12:25 (CEV)

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them: Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself.

Satan’s tactic in our nation is to destroy us through infighting, racial division, political disunity.

Satan’s tactic in the church world is to create division and disunity – so the Holy Spirit will not manifest.

6. So, be aware of the enemies plan to pit you against your brother or sister in Christ. We are the BODY of Christ!

John 17:20-23 (NLT)

I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Ephesians 4:1-4 (NLT)

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NLT)

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Notice that it was unity among the people in the Book of Acts that brought the manifestations of the Holy Spirit…

Acts 1:14

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Acts 2:1

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Rome was not friendly to the church. Religious people had Jesus put to death; when Jesus arose from death many said His body was stolen. Lots of theories, lots of information floating around by word of mouth…but notice what the church did…

They focused on God and on His purposes and plans.

They did not focus on the news of the day.

Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV)

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4:29-32 (NKJV)

“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

These COVID restrictions have people focusing on themselves, not on others. But when we get into one accord, that is when the Holy Spirit manifests…

Acts 5:12-16 (NKJV)

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Unity produces strength.

A unified family is a strong family.

A unified city is a strong city.

A unified nation is a strong nation.

A unified church is a strong church.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NLT)

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Genesis 11:1-8 (NLT)

At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. 3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” 5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” 8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

Unity aids Holy Spirit manifestations.

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 (NLT)

Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day. 12 And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 14 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.

Together, we now create a temple where God can manifest Himself.

 

1 Corinthians 3:16 (AMPL)

Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God’s temple (His sanctuary), and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?

Individually, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, and collectively, we create a place for the Holy Spirit to manifest.

Kenneth Hagin: Holy Spirit would not manifest as I traveled in churches where there was division.

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NLT)

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will NEVER motivate a person to do anything that brings division in a local church.

Make sure by your actions and words that you help create unity here!

The way we treat each other is the way we treat Jesus:

Acts 9:1-5 (NLT)

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

Matthew 25:34-40 (NLT)

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

5 ways you can promote unity:

1. Pray for others.
2. Come and join us as we meet together.
3. Be a part of our Dream Team
4. Be a part of a Small group.
5. Refuse to gossip or talk negatively about any person.