New Wine for New Wineskins January 2018


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happynewyear008Crossing Over (Part 1)

Our prophetic declaration for 5777/2017 was The Year When Eagles Soar.

We spoke about it being a year of coming up higher and moving on into maturity and into the place where we are ready to not only reproduce but to take responsibility for what we reproduce. Fathers who raise sons and disciples who make disciples.

Matthew 28: 18 – 20

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I have said many times that I believe that authority and responsibility are inseparable, and so we only have authority where we have been given and are willing to accept responsibility.

Luke 10: 19

19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Amplified

19 Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

When the Lord told me in 2010 to go and tell his people that they have the authority to say “STOP” he was saying to tell his people that they will operate in that authority when they are willing to accept personal responsibility to exercise that authority in every situation and circumstance that they face or encounter.

When we fail to take authority over the power of the enemy we will always revert to attempting to exercise illegitimate authority over other people and attempting to manipulate them as a perverse means of changing our circumstances. Or we will blame-shift and deny any personal responsibility for our circumstances. However, when we recognise that we are created to live and to succeed and to prosper under authority we will not try to exert an authoritarian rule over anyone else. On the contrary, our responsibility is to be an example that encourages others to live under the authority of the Lordship of Jesus Christ so that we will all have the same authority over the power of the enemy.

 1  Peter 5: 1 – 11

1 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for (shepherd) the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honour. 5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. 10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.

The transition from 5777 – 5778 began on Rosh Hashanah, the Hebrew new year or head of the year, which took place between the 20th and the 22nd September 2017.

Before I move on to speak more of the prophetic significance of 5778 I want to summarise the prophetic implications of 5777 as we have transitioned into 5778. The prophetic declaration we have received for 5778-2018 is “The Year of Rebuilding”.

When Jesus lived among us for 33 years he showed us what a mature son of God looks like. Jesus said that anyone who had seen him had seen the Father, and so a mature son of God looks like the Father. It is the Father’s ultimate purpose for us to be conformed to the image of his Son, to become like Jesus and to become like our Father in heaven.

Romans 8: 29

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

God’s heart is for us to be conformed to the image of his Son so that he might have many sons who look and act just like Jesus. This conforming is the result of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that takes place in the context of a life of worship.

Romans 12: 1 – 2

1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

This is why the Father seeks worshippers in spirit and truth. Jesus gave that revelation to a woman who was a reject among the rejects, an outcast among the outcasts, despised by the despised.

A son becomes like the father that he worships, the father that he respects, reverences, imitates, emulates, copies, mirrors, and aspires to be like. On the flip side there have been many sons who have sworn that they will never be like their father because they saw nothing in him worthy of respect, of reverence, or of imitation. Worship is “worth”-ship.

Mark 3: 13 – 15

13 And He (Jesus) went up on the hillside and called to Him [for Himself] those whom He wanted and chose, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve to continue to be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach [as apostles or special messengers]15 And to have authority and power to heal the sick and to drive out demons.

You become like the people you spend time with, that you do life with. That is why Jesus always calls us to come before he ever sends us to go. One of the most powerful influences upon your character will always be the people you spend the most of your leisure and rest time, or your non-working time with. Our place of work is a mission field, which is why we must always go there from a place of strength through fellowship with Jesus, both individually and corporately.

1 Corinthians 15: 33

33 Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

These consequences may not be apparent overnight, but they will certainly result over a period of time. We need to understand that character is not just something to be obtained but it is something that must be maintained if it is going to be retained.

James 1: 19 – 20

19 Understand [this], my beloved brethren [my dear brothers and sisters]. Let everyone be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offence and to get angry. 20 For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].

There is a common confusion in the modern church, and that is the confusion between call and commission. The call is always to come and the commission, which never precedes the call, is always to go.  The call is to come to Jesus, to be with him, to know him, to learn from him.

I am a great believer in people immediately beginning to tell others what they know by personal experience. For example, Paul immediately began to tell others that Jesus is the Christ, even though he had just been introduced to Him.  Remember, Paul had to ask, “Who are you, Lord?” The blind man who Jesus healed said, “I don’t know he is – but he opened my eyes!” Moses had to ask the LORD – “Who shall I say sent me?”  When you are taking a message on the phone you only ask, “Who shall I say called?” when you don’t recognise the voice. But the call is to know him, intimately and experientially, not to merely know about him, and such intimacy and knowledge takes time to develop and mature.

The local church is God’s PLAN ‘A’ – and there is no PLAN ‘B’! I believe this is the day of the local church. God is rebuilding and restoring His model in these days, and so I believe we are going to see great transformation through much restoration.

But the church gathering together is not the be all and end all. As an old pentecostal preacher used to say, “God the Father reveals and manifests God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit through a human vehicle called the church.

The church is sent out into the world to engage with the culture and be an agent of supernatural transformation as it preaches the message of the kingdom and brings the influence of the kingdom into every strata of society. There should be strong Holy Spirit filled and empowered sons of God – kingdom citizens – at the highest levels of government and commerce and industry and science and education and arts and culture. They shouldn’t be there because they have hidden their light or compromised their testimony, but on the contrary, like Daniel and Joseph and Esther they have demonstrated a supernatural wisdom and understanding and attitude that has set them apart and given them favour – favour that has created a platform for their testimony and given them opportunity to point all people to their God and Saviour as the source of their character and ability and the reason and cause for their promotion.

The local church is the safe place, the place of security and accountability, the place where we can mature through the stages of spiritual development (1 John 2: 12 – 14) – little children who have been born again into the family of God and brought into relationship with their Father; young men who have become strong in the Word of God and learned to overcome; fathers who have truly come to know God intimately and experientially to the place where there is no longer room for doubt, and who are equipped to oversee and shepherd the next generation of the church.

Paul met with the elders, the fathers, from the church that he had founded in Ephesus. Listen to his counsel.

Acts 20: 28 – 32

28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you. 32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

There is no substitute for knowing him – for intimate personal relationship and revelation of His heart and His character – and this always happens in the context of worship, both individual and corporate.

Somehow we have been drawn away from the corporate nature of the church and the kingdom and have substituted an individualistic message that has introduced a kind of christianised narcissism and a perverse obsession with self-pampering and self-pleasing.

2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 18

14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

The world around us has only one hope. It is a hope that all of creation has been groaning in anticipation of since the fall of man.

Romans 8: 19

19 For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].

It is time for the mature sons and daughters of God to stand up and get ready to engage with a world that is increasingly without God and without hope.

I have been asking the Lord what he is saying in 2 Corinthians 6 in regards to separation from the world. I believe he is saying that we must never mix the wisdom of God with the wisdom of this world, and that we should never compromise or dilute the wisdom of God with the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world is earthly, sensual, and demonic, and yet it can so often seem so right, so plausible, so politically correct, so nice, so reasonable, so inclusive, and so tolerant.

Back in September 2017 I realised something. If have a genuine prophetic message from God and that message is rejected it is not me that is being rejected but God himself. The office of the prophet and the message of the prophet both belong to God because they come from God.

1 Samuel 8: 4 – 9

4 Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” 6 Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

The prophet is the King’s messenger, he carries the message of the kingdom. When the people reject his message and in their carnality demand a human king they invite the earthly and sensual and demonic to rule over them.

Only King David, who had a heart after God and was a prophet as well as a king truly represented something that was closer to God’s plan and purpose. And so when God said he would rebuild a tabernacle he spoke about David’s tabernacle, and when he said that he would put someone on David’s throne who would reign forever he was speaking of his own reinstatement as King of kings in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we have transitioned from 5777 – The Year When Eagles Soar to 5778 – The Year Of Rebuilding.

Several years ago the Lord gave me a word regarding rebuilding the church from the ground up, and so as I waited on the Lord for the prophetic declaration for 5778 I was in one sense surprised to hear what I heard. But as I have gone on to meditate upon and research the prophetic significance of this year it has become clear that I did in fact hear accurately. I also believe this word for 5778 also includes another word I received a number of years ago regarding relaunching the church on the right side of Pentecost.

5778. In Hebrew every number has a corresponding letter in the Hebrew alphabet, which for the number 8 is the letter Chet. Chet is the eighth letter of the Aleph-Bet and has the numerical value of eight.

The pictograph for Chet is a tent wall / fence / separation.  Obviously when I first heard that this was to be the year of rebuilding I had no idea that the pictograph for eight was a tent wall, but it makes perfect sense considering that the Lord says that he is rebuilding the tent or tabernacle of David.

Chet is the letter of life as chayim (life) and chayah (living) both begin with this letter. Chet (8) is also the number of grace (chen) and the number of wisdom (chockmah).

According to the Jewish mystics true life comes from chasidut (devotion) or worship.

Remember, all transformation occurs in the context of worship, and David’s tent represents worship – a heart after God.

In classical Hebrew script Chet is constructed of the two preceding letters, Vav and Zayin joined or yoked together at the top with a thin connecting line.

And so, Chet is the letter of discipleship to Jesus. Vav (6) represents man and Zayin (7) represents the crowned man who wields the sword of the Holy Spirit (King Jesus) and so as these two are yoked together to form Chet then Chet is a picture of discipleship to Jesus. This letter pictures our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ as we learn from him as he leads us and teaches us on the pathway of life.

1 Corinthians 6: 17

17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

A yoke connects two things so that they move and work together, and the sum of the letters of Vav and Zayin equals the value of love – ahavah – thirteen (1 Corinthians 13 otherwise known as the love chapter), and so the foundation of this moving and working together is loving the Lord and loving one another.

It is also the value for echad – one, and so love unites us in true fellowship.

John 17: 22 – 23

22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Also, since Vav represents people and Zayin represents time, Chet is a picture of spending time in community (chavurah), and Chet is also the letter of light as Vav represents the yashar light that descends from God, and Zayin represents the chozer light that ascends or returns to God.

1 John 1: 7

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Chayim means life and the letter Chet can be seen to resemble a doorway like the doorway that the blood of the lamb was applied to during the first passover.

As I was thinking about that I remembered John 10: 7 – 10.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Chet represents the number 8 and so it represents grace (chen) and is the number of new beginnings.

Circumcision occurs on the eighth day, representing the beginning of the boy’s life.

Romans 2: 28 – 29

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;  29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Eight lives were saved during the Flood that marked a new beginning for mankind.

The LORD reaffirmed his covenant to Abraham eight times.

David was the eighth son of Jesse.

Jesus was resurrected on the 1st day of the week, so if we understand the preceding seven days to constitute a complete cycle it was the eighth day.

If a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day then 7000 years (including the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth) will lead to the eighth eternal day of new beginnings with new heavens and a new earth.

Another cool thing is that the symbol for infinity is an 8 on its side, like it’s resting. Our new beginning is for eternity and its all about learning how to take a real rest.

Matthew 11: 28 – 30

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

As I was sitting outside enjoying the afternoon sunshine back in September and meditating on these things it came to me that Ruth is the eighth book of the Bible and is all about a gentile who says to a Jew, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God”. Ruth is later redeemed by her kinsman redeemer Boaz who is a prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus Christ our redeemer.

Ephesians 1: 3 – 12

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace  8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,  9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,  10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.  11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,  12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 2: 11 – 22

11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

And so, this year 5778 is The Year Of Rebuilding – rebuilding the tabernacle of David that represents a heart of worship that cannot envisage life without the manifest presence of God. Restoring worship in spirit and truth, which is the context where all supernatural transformation takes place that conforms us to the image of our Father and prepares and equips us as the church that is relaunched on the right side of Pentecost in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A church with a renewed understanding of our cultural commission and dominion mandate, a church designed to be the vehicle that carries the influence and transforming power of the message of the kingdom into a lost and broken world to minister salvation, healing, and deliverance.

Bring it on, Lord.

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