The Path is Changing (An update)

Friends,

We speak about going all out for God. We design plans and the religious stuff.

But when God speaks, we show no respect or reverence in letting His word sink into the very depths of our hearts. We are quick to respond with clever articulation or our well thought out common sense, leaning into our understanding. How foolish we become in our own wisdom. We speak of grand schemes, of being faithful and true to God, and of being obedient to Him. How quickly we forget those promises.

We are affected by the vibrant and encouraging messages that pass through us like a quick meal.

When God took the Hebrews out of Egypt, He knew they would fail. Despite their agreement to the covenant, their promise to live according to God’s law, their praise and worship, and their sacrifices, they failed, and we, just like them, continue to do the same. We are corporately and individually Israel, the man who struggled with God.

Let this word settle in our hearts and let us embrace the strain and the struggle to come so that we can be changed like Jacob was.

We are in a unique moment in time, so let’s have a look at this moment.

When COVID-19 arrived, the protests were to return to normal. People didn’t want change, they wanted to get back to doing what they did before. That sounds to me very much like how the Israelites and the mixed multitudes,  predominantly, wanted to return to Egypt when God had called them out to an exodus. The people missed the cornucopia of food and tastes they were once used to. They forgot about their shackles. But any food that they had brought with them in the early days of their Exodus would eventually deplete. God would give them manna, but that would not be enough. This food of angels was sustaining, and it gave them everything that they needed, but they wanted variety. During the COVID years, the variety and the spice of life were taken from the people. Though their lives, the Hebrews in Egypt, may have been meagre, it would seem that it was sufficient for them compared to the lives they would lead in the days ahead. Change was going to be difficult; a new normal would be the way forward. They had to get with the plan. Now that COVID has gone, we are faced with another problem. The lockdowns and the isolation that the pandemic brought should have been a time of preparation for the Church. Indeed, the call to prepare went out long before Covid hit. The ministry had called out this message long before it arrived. The Church, on the whole, kowtowed to the government restrictions, and I believe now, many will look back and see how gullible and stupid they were. The need of the church to repent of its action has yet to be addressed. God is waiting for genuine repentance.

But now the rhetoric of the looming calamities is gaining volume. We are being warned again of food shortages, fuel shortages, medical shortages, food rationing - it is scarcity, just as Proverbs 6 says,  and what comes on top of it all? civil unrest. The problem, though is that many people are still not prepared for these times, and the modern generation has no concept of what is ahead for them. The ‘Build Back Normal’ narrative is almost forgotten. Those who are awake knew what that meant. It meant radical change, expansion of cultural diversity and greater infiltration through government diversity policy to allow the influence of incoming and present nations to change the culture of a Christian nation. Some among the Christian community don’t see the problem - diversity is good! I agree with that, but not at the cost of religious and national identity. These two things must remain the scaffold and lifeblood of a nation. But the cost has become too great, and the ground is being shaken and taken from under our feet. Why?

For those who understand Bible History, pattern and prophecy, we see that the breaking of the covenant with God brings these things upon us. That is why we need to return to the word and to establish the message of the gospel in our own nation. This is called repentance, and repentance comes by conviction, and this is the work of the Holy Spirit. We must repent because we have sinned against God and have committed adultery with the nations. We have forgotten the diseases that come with promiscuity—

We have forgotten the sacred places, we have profaned the sanctity of holy spaces and failed to teach holiness, which is separation to God, not communion with pagans.

We are on the edge of a number of timelines. We are at the end of an age that will see a movement in spirit and in truth — A different spirit is being poured out upon the church. Every age of the church serves a purpose and lays the foundation for the next. This, I hope, is not meant to be a dispensational remark, but every generation has its work to do in the age of the church.

Some will not move and be defiant in this move, refusing to give up what they have built in Egypt. Ministries will resist change, and leaders, even if they recognise their own error, and even if their mistakes are exposed, will refuse to be removed from the stages they have built. Congregations will not want change, and some will want to remain in the buildings of ministry they have helped to build and remain loyal to those who have beguiled them for so long.

Everything has a purpose, and that which should remain will remain.

In the middle of the night, I tried to focus my random thoughts and discard those irrational notions that permeated among them. I asked the Lord a question, ‘Lord, what is happening and what lies ahead? ‘ And almost immediately, it seemed, these words returned, The number of days is nearly up'. Over the last few days the Lord has revealed a sign  and confirmation of many of the things that I’ve been considering in the spirit. He gave me proverbs 6, and said learn from the ants . This is a call to wisdom. Prepare and gather food — but yet many remain asleep, and when the time comes to physically do things the people  will be slow to respond.

The Israelites during their bondage in Egypt, would have remembered and looked forward to their release which would eventually see them established in their own land. This was written, this was prophecy.

Moses, a forerunner of Christ, came to give them the good news. ‘Their time was up- their sentence served. Freedom had come.

True freedom is not doing what you want; it’s having the choice to do what is right. The people had to fall in line with God’s will. God was doing what was right- and if the people wanted it, they could go along with the plan or not. God will not go against His word, because even He is governed by His law.

The Lord also revealed to me the end of an age — it is the end of a movement that has become violated by aberrancy and false teaching. This is not to condemn the good things that came from it. An apple can still taste sweet even though the root of the tree may be rotten.

The good things will remain and bring glory to God, but all the conniving and deception, that is leading tens of thousands astray, has to be stopped. The people perish through lack of knowledge , which is wisdom.

However, just like a good meal, some of the ingredients must remain. And in this movement we shall witness kingdoms fall and kings removed. God will judge the living and the dead, and everyone will have to give an account. I read the confirmation again. 1 Peter 4:7. The end of all things is near, therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

Another thing that occurred to me was to ask the Lord, why do we have such diversity and division in the Church. ‘It’s variety..’ came His reply.

When a nation falls, we see in the scriptures that the fault often lies with those who lead. It is their error, and they’re turning away from God, that causes a nation to suffer. Leadership affects the people. Corruption eats away like rust on joints. But why is this? We are called to pray for our leaders, but the revelation that I have is that prayer for them has been insufficient. So we suffer the consequences which are directly due to the things we should’ve done. We have been praying with wrong motives—Asking for selfish desires instead of kingdom instruction. ‘ Pray, ‘it says, so that we can live godly and peaceful lives.1 Timothy 2:2. First of all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men,

² For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way.

³ For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Saviour,

But this is not the case. We create churches and denominations all because of our opinions. And when we bring people into the church, we are unwittingly recruiting them so that they can join with us in our opinion. The only opinion that anyone needs is what the Bible teaches, the opinion of God.

I always use the image of a man who goes into a restaurant and orders an omelette. When the omelette arrives, he sees that in it are some chopped tomatoes, some onions and a little bit of herbs. He says to the waiter that he didn’t order this. The waiter says you did, sir. This is our omelette. The man says no, an omelette is just a simple egg, nothing else. Can you see how we, by taking the simple message of the gospel, have elaborated, stretched it out and made it more complex than it should be? We should never mess with the word, nor should we add to it or decorate it further with flavour.It is the foundation of the faith, the gospel that reflects Jesus, who is the Word and the Way!

Our opinions have no place in it. But unfortunately, we find greater space to propagate our own opinions than the substance of scripture. So my friends, the end of an age is upon us and the beginning of a new one is imminent. God wants us to be ready for it and to return back to His word.

How will we be ready?

We must remember that each of us is a work of God.

We must remain malleable like clay in the potter’s hand. We must not say Lord ‘make me into'. 'so and so.'

He knows what we should be made into.

God is squeezing us into shape. It’s called tribulation. Tribulation is a pressing process that releases what is inside, juice from a grape, oil from an olive, grain from wheat..

In this whole process, we are asked if we understand the cost of becoming a living stone, uniquely shaped by the stonemason’s hammer.

If we are not able to take the squeezing and the hammering, even of the trials that are common to man, then we won’t make it through the Exodus that God is calling us into. Every person being trained needs a trainer. Every discipler needs a disciple. Are you one and do you have one?

The trainer that we have been given is the Holy Spirit, and He works through men so that we can become trained and fit for purpose. In the Hebraic context, this means we are functional- 'good'. So if you want to be prepared and you want to know whether you will make it through to the next stage, first you must understand that God will never give you more than you can bear. He will never let you out of his hand, he will mould you to his purpose, and he will bring you to the end. But first, you must put the things of self aside, and that includes all that you have done in service and ministry, and sign up for the Holy Spirit Boot Camp. You have to put your ideas and common sense in the trash bin and be prepared to jettison the things that God will ask of you.

The route is changing, my friends, so it’s a time for the changing of footwear.

This new age will demand greater discipline on our part, because greater discipline is to be received from the Lord.

Let me leave you with this passage from Hebrews 12:6-13

⁶ For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes.

⁷ You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?

⁸ Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all].

⁹ Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live?

¹⁰ For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.

¹¹ For the time being, no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].

¹² So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees,

¹³ And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured.

Shalom

Grant