Some happenings

Welcome once again to another issue of Prophetic people.

The reason why I've been quiet is because of all sorts of things that have been happening during the past 5 days.

Let me explain.....

As you may well know, last week I was in East London in the Eastern Cape area. I was invited to do another week long prophetic school which went extremely well. Crossways Christian Fellowship hosted me for the entire week. I must say that God really showed up in a big way in response to the hunger of His people. They were so hungry for Him and the supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit. I ended off on Sunday morning, but I had to cut my trip short and return home on Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning. Read on to find out why......

On Saturday last week, I had the day off in East London after ministering from Monday night through to Friday night. I was also invited out for breakfast with Al and Tess Gardener on Saturday morning and it was amazing to spend time with them and to share the things of the Lord.

After breakfast we took a walk on the boardwalk down at Gonubie beach. On our way back on the walkway, there were a couple of people who were walking in both directions, because it was a lovely day and Gonubie beach is a nice place to hang out at. While we were walking back to the car park to leave, a black man who was walking towards us, suddenly lifted his hand and pointed in my direction saying at the top of his voice, "Hello, how are you, I haven't seen you for a while..." Al, Tess and I were taken by complete surprise and we all wondered, what on earth this guy was up to. I even thought that he was trying to pull off a bit of a con to get some money out of me. I had my camera around my neck and my cap on my head because I had planned to take some landscape photos that morning.

As the guy continued to approach us, he still continued to claim that he knew me for the George area and that he was so happy to see me. He then grabbed my hand and began to shake it, with no intention of letting go. Just then, something amazing happened. He then quietly requested that I pray for him because he was HIV positive and had skin cancer. He was absolutely convinced that I should pray for him and I feel that he had faith to be healed too. I said that I would and quickly began to pray the healing power of the Lord onto him. I feel that God touched him right there and then, but what a pity that we didn't get any of his contact details to follow up on how he is doing.

What amazed me was how he knew that I should pray for him for healing, seeing he didn't know me or know that I was on a ministry trip to East London or that I was in full time ministry too. I feel that the Lord showed me that he must have seen or sensed the presence of Jesus with me or through me. This is the only explanation that I have for this amazing time with this needy man. I am so blessed that I was able to touch his life with the power of the Lord.

The rest of Saturday was amazing. I then went and had lunch with Ian and Gwen Farr, some dear friends I met up with in East London about this time last year while ministering there. After that I went back to the guest house where I was staying to have a short nap before going to watch Saturday's big rugby match between South Africa and the New Zealand All Blacks, with Marius Gradwell, the pastor of East London Christian Center and some of the guys from the church. It was great. That evening, I went off with Marius to his house for supper and to chat to him and Linda his wife.

On my way home that night, I received a phone call from Cathi, my wife, back home, saying that her father had suffered his third heart attack. It was then 8:30pm and she was going through to the hospital where they were busy treating him. I then phoned Jonathan King, the pastor of Crossways Christian Fellowship and asked if they wouldn't mind if I flew home on Sunday afternoon to go and pray for my father-in-law in hospital, as the doctors said that he was in a very serious condition and they were not sure if he would survive.

I flew back on Sunday afternoon and arrived at Cape Town International airport at around 4:30pm. We then went off to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, to see Cathi's dad. When we came into the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), he was lying on the bed with pipes connected everywhere and an oxygen pipe inserted into his lungs through his mouth. He really looked a sight.

I was amazed at how helpless he looked lying there and how fragile his life was. The only thing that I was convinced about was a prophecy that we had about him, which we received through one of God's prophets, about twenty years ago. Cathi and I then went over to him and I laid hands on him and prayed from my heart and asked the Lord to give him another chance. I prayed like this because Cathi's dad had not yet given his heart to the Lord and we knew that God was not finished with him. It is just not his time to go. We stayed for a little while and then left.

On Monday morning, we went through to the hospital again and linked up with Cathi's mom and family. A specialist also came around to speak to us and mentioned the present prognosis about Dad's condition which was stable, but still serious.

As he was speaking and explaining the situation, he added that 95% of people who have the heart attack that Dad had, die. He continue to say that he has fallen into the 5% who survive. He then said that it was "almost a miracle". He then went on to say that they were concerned about possible consequences of oxygen starvation to his brain while he was having the heart attack. They were still monitoring the situation.

To date, we are still believing that God is at work and that Cathi's dad will make a full recovery and that the Lord will have His way in him. We believe that the reason why God has spared his life is so that he would come to salvation.

Keep him in your prayers please and let's expect God to do the impossible.

Hope to hear from you all some time soon.

Blessings to you all,

Rory

The secret place

Hi there Everyone,

Welcome to Thursday's edition of Prophetic People.

Today, I want to share something with you that came through a time of fellowship that I had with two other pastors this morning.

As you know from reading my previous post here on Prophetic People, I mentioned that I am at present in East London here in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. I've been doing some prophetic equipping meetings for a church here.

This morning, I was invited by a pastor friend of mine here in East London, to go and have coffee with him and another guy. While we were speaking, he just mentioned how God had spoken to him about prayer in the secret place that causes God to reward us openly.

Here is my take on what we all discussed this morning......

Turn in your bible to Matthew 6:5-6

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

From this portion of scripture here, we read about Jesus' lifestyle of prayer. I believe that He was sharing what worked for Him.

It's amazing that so many of us try to do all the outward things right in the sight of people, but we neglect to understand that our heavenly Father is just waiting for us to come to Him in His secret place, so that He can discuss His Kingdom business with us. This will require a shift in mindset from always coming in to ask for things and do the usual christian prayer stuff. I'm not saying that asking for things is wrong, but that seems to be the trend that we follow when it comes to praying to our Heavenly Father. God is desiring fellowship and intimacy with us more than anything else. We are so quick to run in and blurt out things that we think impress Him so that we can get the stuff we want. I have news for you... He is already impressed with you.

This portion of scripture says that He is actually in the secret place.

This secret place is your intimate prayer life with your Heavenly Father. He is there and He wants us to go there as often as we like. You will see so much more happen if you would just go in there with a desire to fellowship with Him and share your heart and allow Him to share His with you.

The secret place is about being alone with God and speaking to Him. You will be amazed at what will happen. When going there, we must not get into a rut. This is where we start following a formula. There is no formula to follow while in the secret place, but just a real, spontaneous interaction and fellowship with your Heavenly Father.

God has a bunch of rewards to give when we come into that place and pray in secret. What this means is that He will give us the increase and the rewards of what we prayed about. You will begin to enjoy much more success in life if you make prayer in the secret place your priority.

I believe that this was the secret to Jesus' success in His ministry. He only did what He saw His Father do. This is the same with us.

The question we need to ask ourselves is this.....

Do we want God's reward or the reward that comes from man.

Here are some of the things I believe the Lord will release as rewards.

1. Little effort in achieving success in whatever we do, whether it is in ministry, business or anything else.
2. Obstacles will be shifted out of the way. Did He not say that He would make every rough place smooth and every crooked place straight. This makes movement and progress a lot easier.
3. Answers to problems.
4. Strength and the ability to do what you are called to do - (Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength....)
5. Him, moving in and through us to touch people with His supernatural power.
6. Favour with and access to the right people to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
7. A recognisable light that shines from us to others - People will want to know what you have in your life so that they can have it too.

I hope that you would be encouraged today to press in to spend quality time with our Heavenly Father who is ready and eager to reward you openly.

Thanks once again for coming on over here to read this blog.

Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.

Blessings and much love,

Rory

Prophetic School

Hi there to you all,

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of Prophetic People.

The photo taken above here is of the cabin I am staying in here in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

I am on another ministry trip here and just thought to show you folks out there my accommodation until Sunday. I will be leaving here on Monday to fly home to Cape Town.

At present I am doing a prophetic school for Coastlands church here in East London near Gonubie.

On Monday night I taught about how to hear the voice of God and last night we dealt with the different levels of the prophetic.

I must say that I was amazed at how quiet everyone was when I shared with them the calling of the prophet and how it all works. They were intrigued about it all.
Tonight I will be teaching them about how to test and deal with personal prophecy. There is such a need to actually understand how it all works and most people don't know how to test a prophecy. Many people just run ahead with a word and don't test it.

Also, tonight through until Friday night we will be concentrating more on impartation and the practical activation of how to actually get a word from the Lord. Most people don't how to do this either.

These people all seem to be very hungry to flow in the supernatural of the Spirit of God.

Next month I will be in Port Elizabeth for 3 or 4 days to do another prophetic school. Believe it or not, but an Anglican Church has opened it's doors for prophetic school training too. I'm really looking forward to going there next month.

Remember to seek the Lord while He may be found and to press in for more of Him in your life.

I'll catch up again with you all tomorrow.

Have a blessed day,

Much love,

Rory

How do you see God

Hi there to you all,

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Prophetic People.

Today I want to share some things with you concerning how you view the Lord Himself.

When Cathi and I started out in full time ministry 20 years ago, we were excited to be entering into an adventure with the Lord. We had been to bible school and had also learned so much from our spiritual father, William Bath who pastored Rhema here in Cape Town up until the late 1980's.

As the years rolled on, we went through so many situations and saw the hand of God move on our behalf in areas of financial provision, healing and our ministry to others.

During that time, God linked us with some very great people who were instrumental in revealing who God is to us and helping us to see things we never saw about Him. Unfortunately, we also got involved with other people who had all sorts of ideas about who God is. I remember at one stage going through some really difficult financial times. Our faith was been tested and we were wondering what we actually believed about the Lord. We would go to church and sometimes hear messages preached about how God was using many of the hard times to teach us something about Himself. One of the main things we were taught was that whenever you are going through a hard time, it is because God is trying to stretch your faith.

I remember one day when Cathi came to me one morning and said these words to me. "I refuse to believe that God is trying to sort us out or teach us faith through this financial lack we are going through!" She said that she was going to start to find out about God and His goodness. As soon as she said those words to me, I decided to join her. We decided that we were going to search through the word of God for the answers to the truth about who God actually is.

I can honestly say, that we are still on this journey of discovery in finding out who our God is. He has revealed to us His amazing Grace and love.

Both Cathi and I cringe when we hear pastors and ministers teach that when you go through a time of suffering, God is trying to teach you something through it. This can not be further from the truth.

In the book of James 5:13 it says, "Is anyone among you suffering, let him pray..."

This is not talking about the sufferings of Christ, which are :-
persecution, rejection because of belonging to Him, slander, accusations, etc.

This is talking about suffering in the areas of:-

Health, provision, relationship issues, fear, anxiety, etc.

In verse 13 it is saying that if we are suffering, we need to pray. Why? Because prayer gets us into a position to hear something from the Lord that is going to help us to either get through it or out of it. This is very important. God is wanting us to pray to Him in the times of suffering so that He can give us strategies and answers as to what we can do to overcome the situation.

Please be careful of having the wrong concept of who God is... it can really rob you of boldness and faith.

I hope that this has helped someone out there.

Please let me know if today's post has helped you in any way.

Be much blessed,

Rory

Unity

Good morning everyone,

Welcome once again to another blog post. Today, I want to discuss the issue of unity. I'm sure you will all agree with me that so much has been said and done about unity, but I want to bring out some thoughts concerning this very important part of our christian lives.

In Psalm 133, the bible has something to reveal about what biblical unity is all about.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.

When I view unity from a secular view point, there is so much of that happening in the world. People unite together over a cause. There are people who unite politically. There are also people who unite together for terrorist purposes.

The unity that I want to talk about is the unity that exists in the realm of the Spirit of God. It is the essence of knowing Jesus and sharing Him with one another.

Two words stick out in the above passage of scripture..... Good and Pleasant.

Good reminds me of the goodness of God. Without unity we will not experience the full extent of God's goodness to us.

Then the word pleasant. The Hebrew meaning of pleasant is "sweet". There is a sweetness of God's presence that permeates the atmosphere when we are united together because of Jesus.

Here are some thoughts about unity.

1. Unity comes through agreement.
   * The bible says, "How can two walk together unless they agree". Agreement is necessary for us to be in unity together.
2. Unity also comes through us walking in love with one another. This is actually how unity is achieved among us.
3. Another way in which unity is achieved is by each christian discerning the body of Christ.
   * We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
   * When all the body's organs are functioning correctly and in unison, then the body is healthy, but if one or more organs, don't function with the rest of them, then the body will get sick.
   
4. Remember that strife is the enemy of unity.
   * If we deal with strife, we will be able to come into unity in the Lord.
5. Unity also comes through submission one to another
   * Over the years, submission has been so misunderstood. I've heard of people who were told that they must submit no matter what.
   * I believe that submission can only happen when there is an atmosphere of love and trust that exists among people.
   * Wherever there is suspicion, submission is violated.
6. Unity attracts the goodness of God
7. Unity attracts the blessing of God
8. Unity attracts the presence of God too.
9. Doctrines and theologies divide us, but love unites us.
10. In speaking of the body again, if our immune system is down, then we are open to invasion and attack from disease and sickness causing viruses and germs.
    * Love is like the immune system of the body of Christ. It enables us to ward off disease and illness.

In our passage above we also see that unity is like the oil that flows down from the head of the high priest, down his beard and to the edge of his garments. Jesus is our high priest and when there is unity among us, it causes the oil to flow from Jesus the head, down onto the body of Christ.

The garments speaks of humility. The anointing oil of the Holy Spirit can only flow on top of humility. When we are clothed with humility, then the anointing oil of God can flow.

Oil is also a symbol of wealth. I mean spiritual wealth. The abundance of oil indicates how rich we are in the spiritual.

In the scripture above I also see a reference to Dew.

Dew is symbolic of favour and the blessing of God. God commands His blessing and favour when we have unity among us. Dew is moisture that lingers. We need the lingering presence of God upon our lives at this time.

Lastly, the reference to life means that when God commands His blessing on us, it always flows out of His presence. When we have the presence of God upon us, life will flow out of us to others.

Strife, offence, unforgiveness, criticism,bitterness and resentment will stop the flow of the oil and the descending dew of God from coming upon us.

As you walk through this day, make sure to walk in love with your brothers and sisters in Christ and to keep the unity of the Faith.

Hope you all have a blessed day.

Much love,

Rory

Jesus the living bread

Hello to you all and once again, welcome to today's post.

From the image which you can see above here, I have a point to make concerning where I believe many of God's people are, at this time.

This morning Cath and I went out to Claremont for lunch and on the way back, I was speaking to her about the many people we have met over the past 2 years who have all become disillusioned and bored with church. As I began to speak to her about it all, I thought about a situation that occurred in Old Testament times which I thought would illustrate what I am trying to say here.

Please read on....

In the book of Ruth chapter 1 and verse 1 it reads.....

Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

What I see in the above passage of scripture is a story that unfolded in the lives of a prominent family in Bethlehem in Israel. It starts off by saying that during the time of the ruling of the judges, there arose a famine in the land.

Bethlehem in Hebrew means, "House of Bread".

You could easily say that there was no bread in the house of bread. Bethlehem was the bread basket of the whole area where there was a thriving agricultural community.

As the story unfolds we see this family leave everything behind to get out of the famine and to go where there they thought the life was.

I see this as a prophetic picture of what has been happening in the church with many christians Cathi and I come into contact with.

I believe that instead of us seeking the Lord for a manifestation of His living bread, Jesus Christ, we have subsituted Him with programs, church entertainment and other things to keep us going. If there is no bread in the house (an absence of the manifestation of Christ, the living bread), people will soon grow disillusioned by what is left.

I believe that the disillusionment we enter into is how we leave for Moab. This all happens in our hearts. Many of God's people have departed for Moab in their hearts. The word Moab means, "The seed of the father"or "The desirable land".

If Jesus the living bread is not strongly present in our hearts and manfesting His life in and through our lives, then people will begin to look towards something more desirable and replace Him with other things. Soon, disillusionment will set it and people will make the wrong choices.

As you continue to read through the first chapter of Ruth you will notice that as Elimelech and his family leave Bethlehem and settle in Moab, death comes to him and his two sons. Naomi and her two daughters in law are devastated.

Moab is not a place to be desired by God's people, but a place to be shunned, because the enemy is waiting to devour and kill their joy, purpose and destiny. Therefore it is dangerous to replace the living bread with a substitute, but rather to hang in, in Bethlehem and pray and seek the Lord for Him to visit them with the living bread. As the story unfolds in chapter 1, God surely does visit Bethlehem... The bible says that Naomi, Elimelech's wife, arose to return to Bethlehem, because she had heard that the Lord had visited His people, by giving them bread.

I believe that it is time for many of those who are disillusioned to hang in there and seek the Lord for Him to visit them and manifest Jesus, the living bread afresh in their hearts. As we get hungry and passionate about the Lord again and we seek Him, just for Him, He will soon come upon us and manifest Himself to us as, "The living bread".

I hope that these few thoughts will encourage you to continue to press in and seek the Lord as never before.

Blessings to you all,

Much love,

Rory

Understanding spiritual hunger

Hi there to you all,

I really hope that you all took advantage of yesterday's free download. I am sure that you will benefit greatly from the teaching.

Today, I want to share with you what I believe is a very important component in our spiritual growth as believers in Christ. It is what is called, "Spiritual hunger".

So, if you are interested to know more about this, then please read on......

Because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross around 2000 years ago, the church is in a wonderful position to be able to receive what God has promised. We are also in a time of visitation where God wants to visit the earth even more through revival, miracles, signs and wonders.

Isn't it amazing that there are isolated places around the world where reports are coming in concerning God moving. When God moves, supernatural things happen. People are healed, the deaf hear, the blind see and lives are changed.

I believe that this is as a result of people getting hungry for God and beginning to cry out to Him to visit them.

Here are some things to think about concerning spiritual hunger.

1. People who make an effort to pursue God and not give up until they find Him in their lives and circumstances will experience rapid growth.
   * It is so important to pursue the Lord. We are the ones who need to press in for more of Him if we are going to see and experience great things.
2. Another characteristic of being spiritually hungry is that we will run to the word of God continually.
   * Anyone who puts a great emphasis on the word of God to govern their whole life is showing signs of being hungry for Him.
   * In the natural, if we don't eat 3 meals a day, we will begin to feel the effects of a lack of food.
   * A person can't say that they are hungry for God, but are not hungry for His word.
3. A person who is spiritually hungry will be willing to make certain sacrifices. * They will sacrifice anything to press in for more of God. Believe me, it requires sacrifice to press in for more of God.
4. A person who is spiritually hungry will also never be satisfied with just enough.
   * Hunger will cause us to push forward for more.
   * Being satisfied is a sign that either we have been filled with something else or we have settled down with tradition or religion.
5. In the natural, hunger is a sign of health.
   * It is normal to get hungry, but it is not normal to not be hungry.
   * A person who is not hungry is actually sick.
6. A lack of spiritual hunger is a sign that there are spiritual problems in our lives.
7. Whatever you give your focus to will cause a hunger for that thing to develop.
   * I have seen this kind of thing in my life over the years. There have been times when I have focused on some particular kind of sport. Before I knew it, I had developed a hunger for more of it.
8. God will always meet us on the level of our hunger for Him.
   * Hunger is what attracts God to us like nothing else can.
9. Hunger is developed by :
   * Making time to spend with God in prayer.
   * Making time to read and meditate on the word of God.
   * I think you can say that it is like force feeding ourselves so that we can come to a place of spiritual health.
   

These are just a few things about spiritual hunger, but the important thing here is to know that spiritual hunger is an important part of being a christian.

It is amazing to know that we are the ones who create desires for whatever we focus our attention on to pursue them.

I also know that there are even some really good things in my life that I need to be careful with. If I don't prioritize the things in my life, then those things which are most important get pushed aside and the unimportant things will fill those areas up very quickly and I will soon become mediocre and ineffective.

I hope that the thoughts that I have written down here have been of some help to you all out there.

Be blessed as you allow the Spirit of the Lord to fill your life with His presence.

Blessings to you all,

Rory

Today's free give-away

Hi there to you all,

I'd like to just start off by saying, I'm so sorry that I didn't get around to posting up this post yesterday. I know that the day before, I promised that I would have a free give-away for you all to download at your leisure. So, today is the day for that.

If you'd like to take advantage of this, let me explain.

The free give-away is another Mp3 message for download. The title of the message is :-

The church of tomorrow. Just click here to download it and type in this password :- myfreedownload

Also, I'd like to share with you the inspiration behind the message from the Lord about The church of tomorrow.

About 3 years ago, I had a dream early one morning which I will now describe to you.

I saw in my dream, a face appear to me. This was no ordinary face, but it had no eyes, nose or mouth. I also noticed the head as well which was covered with the most beautiful long blond hair. The hair, although spotlessly clean, was not styled, but resembled a person who had been in bed and had just got up.

I then began to see a transformation happen before my eyes. Eyes began to miraculously form with the eyebrows in place too. I continued to observe and then the nose and mouth appeared also. I then noticed that this was the face of a woman.

The scene then zoomed out and I saw that this woman was wearing a hospital gown and had just come through major surgery to her face. She was up and out of bed, but was stumbling around the hospital ward in a disorientated manner.

I then heard the voice of the Lord speaking to me, and He said, "I am at this time, through my love, reconstructing the face of the church".

The Lord then began to explain to me that the reconstruction of the face of the church was going to be so radical that when He was finished with her, she would not look the same as she did before.

He then showed me her hair and told me that the glory of the church was here, but it was in disarray and that it needed to be arranged in a way that was presentable so that He could put her on display for the whole world to see.

He also told me that the church was in a time of being disorientated and that she was not visible to the world in any significant way. He also showed me that the eyes, nose and mouth symbolised the components of headship or leadership that were coming under the reconstruction process and that those features represented the Apostolic, Prophetic and Teaching realms which were the first 3 tiers of His appointed leadership in the church according to 1 Corinthians 12:28 which says :-

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

This message that you can download for free here is a summary of how the church of today is in a transformation process to become the church of tomorrow.

I hope you will be blessed as you listen to this message and receive the insights and understanding as the Lord gave them to me.

I should be back tomorrow with some thoughts about spiritual hunger, so please come back to read something that will help you to understand what spiritual hunger is all about.

Be blessed and encouraged as you download and listen to today's free give-away Mp3 message.

Much love,

Rory

A photo from yesterday's outing to the Waterfront

I just thought to quickly upload this image I took from yesterday's visit that Cath and I did to the waterfront here in Cape Town.

Who we are in Christ

Hi there to you all and welcome to Monday's blog post.

Today's title is about who we are in Christ.

I know that so much has been written and preached over the many years about this subject and so I just want to start off by saying this......

I'm not going to put up a whole long teaching about who we are in Christ, but I just want to share something that happened to me this morning that just amazed me.

To those of you who know me, I like to do an exercise walk in the mornings four times a week. The route takes me quite some distance + - 6.5 km. I really enjoy getting out there on most days to get the needed exercise and I also try to walk as fast as possible. Cath likes to go to the gym to work out and is also doing a personal trainers course at the moment as well and will qualify in February next year.

This morning while on my walk, it was raining intermittently, but this didn't stop me, because I was dressed appropriately. If it was very stormy, I would not have gone, but it was pleasant and the wind was just a breeze.

On my way back, I was passing some sports fields on my right with houses on my left. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw and heard a large boxer dog begin to bark at me while I walked past. I just thought, "I can ignore this one, because he/she is in their own yard, and I am in the street where that dog has no jurisdiction.

As I walked past, the dog continued to bark almost hysterically, but I continued to ignore it. When I was passing the next house, I could still hear the dog barking in the distance. All of a sudden, I heard it's barking grow louder and louder and I then realised that it had jumped over the wall and was running after me to attack me. I felt shivers down my spine as the dog approached me from behind. Immediately, I turned around to see what was happening and it just continue to come towards me. Instinctively, I pointed my finger in it's direction, and I said, "Inside, inside." This was an attempt on my part to act like I had authority over this dog and to sound like it's owner telling it to go back inside it's yard. The dog completely ignored my command to go home and continued to advance towards me with the intent of attacking me. Just then, instinctively again, I continued to point my finger at it and said these words, "In the name of Jesus, Inside !" Immediately and without any hesitation, the dog stopped barking, turned around and fled in the direction of it's house and disappeared in the distance while I turned around to resume my walk for the morning.

Boy oh boy, was I thankful that the command of authority came forth as I used the precious name of Jesus to sort out a rather dangerous situation. I then began to thank the Lord that I knew Him and had the right to use His name in this situation.

We must never take it for granted that we have authority in His name. The bible tells us that the name of Jesus is above every other name that is named and that we can use this name to make certain things happen.

Over the years, I have used the name of Jesus in different circumstances and have seen different results happen after I spoke His name.

Today, as you face the circumstances of life, just think how powerful and wonderful is the name of Jesus in your life and the benefits and privileges we as Christians have in Him.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this blog post today. I hope that you will be encouraged in your walk with the Lord.

I'll be back tomorrow with another free give away so don't forget to come back......

Blessings in abundance and much love,

Rory

It's time for a breakthrough

Good morning everyone,

Glad you dropped by to read our last post for the week until Monday.

Today, I want to release some encouragement to those of you who have been struggling with whatever issues and to say to you, that it is time for a breakthrough.....

I want to share with you some thoughts that have helped me a lot over the years to experience times of breakthrough in my life.

Get your bible and turn to 2 Samuel 5:17-20

It reads.....

Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?" And the LORD said to David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand." So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

I think we can safely say that Philistines are symbolic of any situation or circumstance that is standing before you in an intimidating way. Have you ever heard of this saying... "Under the circumstances..?"

This situation happened after David was anointed as king. It looks to me as though the enemy was coming to test David's spiritual authority after God promoted him to be king over Israel.

I can honestly testify that at times in my life, when God promoted me, that was when the enemy came to steal, kill and destroy what God had started in my life.

Another reason why the enemy comes against us for no apparent reason is, because God gave us a word. Yes, I said it, when God gives you a word, sooner or later the enemy will rise up against you to try and tempt you to quit.

The Philistines deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim - meaning, the Valley of Giants. David was already positioning himself in God for a breakthrough.The enemy will send his big guns against you when God promotes you or gives you a word. He doesn't want you to succeed, but only wants to hinder and harm you. God wants the best for you no matter what.

In our text above, we see David going down to the stronghold. I believe his stronghold or place of strength was God. I also believe that in order for David to win a victory, he had to also move towards where the enemy was and not to run away. This is very important.

The next step to the breakthrough was to enquire of the Lord. David did so and God answered and gave him the assurance that he would defeat the enemy.

God is for us and never against us. Also, He never teams up with the enemy against us. He is directly opposed to the Kingdom of darkness.

Lastly, David went down to a certain place and defeated them there and he named the place of victory, Baal Perazim - "The Lord has broken through my enemies like a breakthrough of waters".

This leads me to share with you what I feel a true breakthrough is.....

It is when things flow the way they should. Just picture a dam of water up on a hill which is stored up with blessing and purpose, but is held back and kept back from you by an enemy. When someone goes up to the dam wall and begins to chip away and knock against it until a crack forms, then the breakthrough is about to happen, the wall will burst and the water will flow the way it should.

This is what I believe is about to happen for many of God's people. The only thing is that we must not sit back in apathy and expect something to happen when God is waiting for us to position ourselves so that He can break through for us.

To end off... here are some keys to a Breakthrough....

1. Refuse to listen to the lies of the enemy.
2. Be careful of what comes out of your mouth.
3. Plan to win.
4. Deal with worry, fear and anxiety.
5. Choose to walk in love and forgiveness with people.
6. Honor authority figures God has set over you.
7. Encourage yourself in the Lord.
8. Enquire of the Lord for His strategy in your situation.
9. Be careful of the wrong associations and joinings with negative people.
10. Speak the promises of God over your life and situation.

Thanks so much for coming on over here to read today's post.
If this has been of any help to you, please leave a comment.

See you all on Monday....

Be abundantly blessed,

Rory

We are in a new day

Good morning everyone,

A couple of weeks ago, I felt strongly drawn to read the book of Acts and while doing so, I stumbled upon a very familiar scripture which I want to share with you today.

Acts 2:1-2

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

This little passage of scripture is packed full of amazing revelation for the time we are living in.

It starts off by saying,

"When the day of Pentecost had fully come...".

There is a very strong reference to the day Fully Coming. I'm sure you will agree with me, that when the clock strikes midnight, a new day has begun, but has not yet fully come.

In our text above, the writer is referring to an incident which took place at around 9:00 am one morning during a harvest festival in Jerusalem when Jews from all over the known world were gathered for celebration of harvest time.

Today, in our time, I can truthfully say that the dawning of a new day of visitation has arrived.

Next... it says that 120 people were all with one accord in one place.

One Accord

The phrase, one accord, according to the Oxford dictionary, means - Harmonious correspondence, as of colours or tints; agreement in pitch and tone; Harmony.

Immediately I think about a guitar which has six strings. In order for that guitar to be able to produce a chord, all six strings will need to be tuned correctly, in order to produce a sound that is pleasant to the ear and a sound that means something.

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven....

The very next thing that happened was, that suddenly, there came a sound from heaven......

We are living in a day where God is listening for a certain kind of sound that is coming from His church to Him. At the moment, there definitely is a lot of noise happening. This is a noise, but not a sound that is producing a specific kind of chord which is a harmony.

I believe that the early church was in a place where they decided to get in tune with the Lord and in tune to one another. As soon as that happened, they were producing a sound that only heaven could recognise and then the sound from earth, came into harmony with the sound that was already heard in heaven. The sound on earth from the early church, began to draw the sound that was already in heaven down towards the earth and what resulted was, the Holy Spirit came upon them right there.

I get concerned when people scream, "Revival" when there are signs, wonders, healings and salvations happening somewhere. Please don't get me wrong here, but I love it when that happens. I love it when God sends a man or woman of God to an area to stir up the church and to usher in the presence of God for a time of demonstration of the Kingdom of God. This kind of thing is what I call a time of refreshing and the demonstration of the Kingdom of God.

I believe that we are also in a day of visitation.

Let me explain what I believe visitation is.....

The night before last, at our mentoring group meeting, while we were praying, I saw a vision.....

In my vision, I saw the King's chariot riding into a city. The chariot was huge and it was made of pure gold. It was pulled by 2 magnificent horses, both moving in step together. Behind the King's chariot were many other chariots and a whole host of angels all moving in unison with the King's chariot.

By the way... unison means this.... "Identity in pitch of two or more sounds or notes... the sounding of notes or melodies at the same pitch......"

The city that was hosting this visitation of the King, had been in preparation for this visit for a very long time. The streets were swept clean; the green grass lawns were all immaculately cut and landscaped; the houses, shops and official buildings were newly painted and decorated with beautiful colours. The streets were lined with people all holding flags and were waving, clapping, shouting and whistling to the King who had graciously accepted their invitation to visit them. And most of all, the atmosphere of that city was filled with joy and expectation for the presence of the King. They were only interested in Him.

Then there was a silence as the King got out of His chariot and walked up the steps to the local governmental buildings to address the multitude gathered there. This moment was to be broadcast all over the world through the media and television network who were all there as well. Also a herald was waiting at the top of the stairs to announce the King. In his hand was a scroll which was ready to be handed to the King who was about to read it out to the people once the herald had completed his proclamation.

In the scroll were written official governmental decrees and new laws which would bring change to that city and the way it was run.

When the King visits, it is always in response to an invitation and much preparation before He arrives. Everyone is excited and in anticipation of His arrival and address. The visitation of the King will bring with it, much change in the governmental systems that prevail. A visition is a time of change from one system to another.

This is where we are right now, as a church, getting ready for the visitation of the King...

Well.... I hope you have found some benefit in this message today.

Please feel free to leave some comments.

Thanks so much for taking the time to come on over here to read this.

Blessings and much love,

Rory

Today's give away

Hi there Everyone,

Today, I have something very special for you. I'm giving away a free high quality Mp3 message to you. All you need to do is to download it.

There is no catch here, so take advantage of this free offer and tell all your friends about it too.

The message is..... "Understanding tests and trials". This message came to me during a time of questioning why certain things were happening in my life and what the word of God said about it.

So many of God's people walk around going through trials and tests and they know that the bible teaches us to resist the enemy and also to submit to God. The only problem is that people have the wrong view of who God is, so they end up just sitting back and allowing a situation to prevail in their lives thinking it is the Lord who is "Allowing" what is happening and that there is nothing that they can do about it.

This way of thinking can not be further from the truth.....

To find out about where trials and tests come from, click here to download the message and type in this password - freeforme

To give you a clue concerning overcoming in the trials of life, the following scripture is what I actually deal with in the message that you will download in a few minutes.

James 1:2-5

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Just let me explain something here.....

When James says that we must "Count" it all joy, what he was actually meaning here was this.

The Greek word for "Count" actually means - To take charge over......

What James was meaning here is that when we fall into different kinds of trials, we must first take charge over our joy. Joy is not a happening or a feeling, it comes out of an intimate relationship with Jesus who is our Joy. We are encouraged to put that joy to work.

The patience that James speaks of in our text is the word endurance. What he means here is that during a time when our faith is under trial, we need to put endurance to work.

The word perfect, means to display a level of maturity during the time of trial. Maturity is measured through endurance. Endurance says, "I'm not giving up on God no matter what the enemy throws at me".

If the trial of our faith came directly from God, then why would He invite us to ask Him for wisdom in the situation.

This wisdom is what He wants to give us in order for us to find the way out or the way through the trial. This is a practical kind of wisdom that God reveals during the trial to help us.

The moral of the whole story is this.... The enemy is the one who puts our faith up on trial, but God is the one who test our hearts.

Tests are different from trials.

Hope you have a blessed day....

Much love,

Rory