Hi everyone
How many New Years Resolutions have you kept?
It seems that a new year comes and we have all the good intentions to do something different. However our good intentions fall by the wayside.
Intentions are defined as:
In the parable of the two sons, found in Matthew 21: 28-32, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees. It is his final week on earth. They have had good intentions keeping the Jewish faith pure and free from Greek and Roman culture contamination. Yet in their zeal to have good intentions they forgot the God intentions. They have added more to the list that God gave them ie Ten Commandments.
Jesus has returned to the temple after his triumphal entry on a donkey. The Pharisees question Jesus about His authority of what he says and does. Jesus replies with another question. It is a common technique by Jesus. We are too ready to give an answer when it might be better to come back with another question.
Jesus asks them about the source of John the Baptist baptism. The Pharisees were put on their heels as they recognized that they were caught out. If they said it came from heaven, they would be asked about why they did not believe. If it came by man, they would face a revolt of the people who held John to be a prophet.
Jesus replied to their non answer with a parable about two sons. Both were invited to work in the Father’s vineyard. One said No and then changed his mind and worked. The other said Yes but did not go and work. Jesus asked the Pharisees who was the one that did what his father wanted. The answer was obvious. It was the one who said no and then changed his mind and did it.
Jesus said that the tax collectors and prostitutes recognized who John was and entered the Kingdom. But the Pharisees did not John nor believed what they saw.
They had all the good intentions but did not follow in that direction. They were like the second son who said yes but did not go.
We can have all the good intentions in the world but if we do not act upon them, they become empty intentions.
The challenge is to learn to have God intentions where you hear what God is saying to you and you become obedient to that Word and direction to which it points.
You then act on the word and hence become doers of the Word.
Many Christians have good intentions but they do not fulfill their high calling because they tarry and do not act on the Word that has been given to them by God.
We need to learn to move from good intentions to God intentions and act on God’s Word given to you.
Recently we have returned from the Rim of fire conference. Lance Wallnau was one of the key speakers. For me, and many others, he was the best.
He challenged us to move beyond our good intentions to that place where we fulfill the divine assignment that God has set aside for us before we were born. It is a place where our gifts, our training and our maturity come in alignment (called convergence) and we discover that special assignment that God wants us to fulfill.
Most of our life is a process of positioning and training for that God ordained task to be fulfilled. The sad thing, he said, was that only 20% come to that place. Most fall by the wayside for one reason or another.
Our journey to India is part of that divine assignment to train pastors and leaders. Our work of healing is to bring leaders into that place of wholeness so that they too may fulfill their divine assignment.
We are just beginning to see the bigger picture. Psalm 2:8 “Ask of me and I will give you NATIONS for your inheritance. It is about God’s work of bring nations to surrender at His feet.
God is re-positioning key people into places of influence in Religion, Family, Government, Media, Arts, Education, Business to bring each nation out of the clutches of Satan and into the hands of God.
While salvation of souls is very important, the places of power need to be also taken from Satan’s hands. We need to pray that God will place the “Josephs” into the halls of power so that nations can come under the sovereignty of God.
Big picture! Big plans! Big God!
We are now 3 weeks away from leaving for India. More people are coming to the conferences: 100 with Pastor Devadas and 60 with Rev Sambabu. Liz will speak to about 150 ladies at Eluru. I will conduct three evening meetings to talk about Jesus to the local Hindus. We continue to pray for the Lord’s hand to be upon us all.
Hal Hopper is also coming with us to train teachers in the art of teaching English.
Hal and we have relatives who are very sick. His wife’s Dad has had a stroke and is not well. Liz’s Mum is also in and out of hospital. These two people are very much loved but their bodies are showing the signs of age. Liz herself is recovering from an operation. She is getting better each day.
The healing ministry of Walking Free continues to heal and set free people. Liz and I are the main team and we are doing 6-8 ministries per week to meet with the increasing load and being away for two weeks in India. We continue to be amazed at what the Lord does as we pray for people. Many of them need encouragement to take hold of what God has promised for them.
Our Rim of Fire Conference was very good. Lance Wallnau was excellent. Cindy Jacobs was great. The other speakers had things to offer. We were challenged to see that God wants not only to save people but nations. We are entering a period where we are to think bigger and ask for nations to be transformed by the power of God.
It was interesting to see the shift in thinking by many Pentecostal people. It has moved from evangelizing as many people as possible to claim nations to evangelizing people + praying that God position people strategically in places of influence in each nation.
There are 7 mountains to claim: Religion; Family; Education; Government; Media; Arts; Business. Nations are claimed when God’s chosen are in positions of influence and power.
We have our own mountains to claim where we discover our divine assignment that God has given and move into that place of convergence where we are in that place where God wants us to be. The years of our life are not wasted but God uses us to achieve great things then and greater things further down the track.
We see our visit to India as contributing to the claiming of the nation of India for God. We will minister to people who will be strategically positioned by God to claim India for Him.
Keep praying for this visit as the enemy is mounting a rear guard action to block and stop God’s work.
We are gathering 7 people to establish a healing team at Coolangatta. We are having a training day on October 15. We are excited about what will do for us in this venture. We need a place to pray.
We thank you for your support and prayers.
Prayer Points
If you would like to donate to our ministry and receive a tax deduction, direct debit using the bank details below or make out your cheque to Walking Free Renewing Ministries Gift Fund. You can pay through our website.
Bank Details: Walking Free Renewing Ministries Gift Fund. National Australia Bank: BSB 084-959 Account Numbers 82-215-5845
If you want to donate to help the Indian Conference costs, you can also use the Gift Fund account. Please mark donations “India” if you want to give to this specific cause.