Enter In And Receive God’s Presence & Healing More Deeply In And Through Intercessory Prayer ?
The Garden Catalogue For Today
A Prayerful Meditation with Olivia Helmore
New Wine and Oil Meditation
Receiving the Lord’s Counsel and Calling
This Thursday we are seeking the Lord’s revelation of who He is and how He has called us to overcome in His Name. We are going to read of how Jesus established His ekklesia on the revelation of Him as the Son of God. He founded His church on revelation given by the Father. He said He would also build His church on this foundation, and that the gates of hell would not prevail against His true church, that is founded and built in this way.
Before we read, let’s take some time to make room in our hearts, to receive the Father’s gift to us. His gift is revelation of the Son and of His calling and counsel to us, as He builds us into the fulness of maturity He has for His church.
We may know and believe that Jesus Yeshua is the Son of God. This is the counsel the Father gives regarding the Son. And we are blessed when we have received the Father’s counsel and confess His Lordship.
We sometimes miss the importance of the Father revealing these things to us. As the Father reveals the Son, He also calls us as dignitaries in His governing assembly on earth. And the revelation of the Son of God is also how we prevail over the gates of hell.
There is only One stronger than all things: that is God Himself. The Word of God and the Spirit of God abide in us as we abide in Him.
It is no small thing that He has granted the eyes of our spirit to see Him as He is. And it is no small thing that He has called the least in the eyes of the world to represent Him in all creation. We have a special place in representing the Father and the Son to humankind and all powers in the heavenlies.
Sometimes we miss the importance of our calling. We too quickly pass over the significance of God’s calling on our lives. You and I could not recognise Jesus Yeshua as the Son of God except that the Father has revealed it to us Himself. It is on this single revelation the Lord builds His entire church.
If He has revealed that to you and me, this means He is building His church with us as living stones. Every building needs structural integrity to remain standing. And we are important pieces in the structure of God’s governing assembly on earth. It doesn’t matter if we are hidden. Indeed, the Lord calls us to pray in secret, storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven.
The importance of our place in the building of His church doesn’t depend on us being seen or receiving recognition from other people. It depends on the building of the Father’s imparted revelation that Jesus Yeshua is the Son of God. The Father Himself will build this revelation as a reality for us in our hearts, in our lives, in ever deeper and more fruitful ways, so that we are assured of our victory, which is His victory over the gates of hell.
As we allow ourselves to be led and formed by the Word of God and by His Spirit, the Father will always lead us back to the revelation of Jesus Yeshua as the Son of God: who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing. There is only One who is stronger than every power in heaven or earth: God Himself.
When Jesus Yeshua appeared on earth, He revealed Himself as the Son but also revealed the heart of the Father which is for us, not against us. He was willing that all of us, all peoples and humankind, should be saved; preserved from the coming judgement determined upon the transgressions of humankind. He was willing that all humans should be restored to an everlasting kingdom that cannot be shaken, founded on the true revelation of who He is.
Are there any moments or patterns in your heart of unbelief, where you find it hard to believe He has called you as a dignitary of His kingdom? He has given you a place of honour. He has given you the right to receive His counsel and receive His calling over your life.
This place of honour, this calling of walking in the earth as a dignitary of His kingdom does not depend on your righteousness. It doesn’t depend on your performance. It only depends on the Father’s gift of revelation to you that Jesus Yeshua is the Son of God. And as we walk in the light of this revelation – as we commit to standing in the light of the Father’s gift of revelation for us – He provides the equipping we need by His Word and by His Spirit.
The Lord’s governing assembly is founded on the gift of revelation by the Father and it is built by Jesus Yeshua Himself according to His living witness and testimony, now living inside us. It is all from Him. The building is founded, built, sustained, and finished by the revelation of Jesus Yeshua by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If we will allow Him to finish this perfect work, He will call us to abound with many fruits from the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Father in heaven. To be built and abound, what does the Lord require? We must learn how to continually humble ourselves, understanding there is nothing we can add or take away from His perfect work for us.
It is only as we abide in Him that we can walk in the works He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in. We did not choose Him, He chose us. It is the Father’s free gift of revelation that recommends us as dignitaries of His kingdom, not our performance or righteousness. All are called equally, and it is the Father who draws people’s hearts to the light of this revelation.
We are honoured to partake in the work of the harvest of the Gospel of Jesus Yeshua, who He is and what He has done. But it is God alone who brings every seed to fruit in its season. His equipping Word and Spirit are gifts we could never earn. But it is His good pleasure to reveal these things to us and cause us to abound in spiritual fruit to the Father’s glory.
I pray that as we read you will receive fresh revelation from the Father of Jesus Yeshua as the Son of God who came for you, a human of infinitely precious worth to the Father. If He reveals to you His own heavenly counsel, hidden for ages before Christ appeared, that Jesus Yeshua is the promised Son of God for all humankind, Jew and Gentile alike, this means He has also called you into His governing assembly on earth.
I pray that you will measure the true significance of His calling over your life; rejoice, while you are humbled; and receive the gifts of His Word, His Spirit and His righteousness afresh, deeper than ever in the soil of the garden of your heart.
I pray you will understand now more deeply than ever before the riches of His grace towards you. That you will receive renewed strength to stand in the counsel of His Word and Spirit. That you will rightly measure the richness of His grace in calling you as a beloved son or daughter to be an integral part of His building, the church, His governing assembly on earth, however hidden or visible you are to others. For the Lord is making known through the church His Lordship to all principalities and powers.
May you become ever more deeply aware as you walk in Him that He has withholden nothing from you but caused you to inherit eternal life with Him. May you receive His counsel and calling every day in the chamber of your heart and cooperate with Him as He establishes the revelation of who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing, as the cornerstone of the faith He is building in you.
Your faith is very precious, and He has called you as a being of immeasurable worth to His heart. Jesus Yeshua came to live on earth as the Son of Man in response to the heart of the Father for you.
May your ears be opened to hear the Father’s voice of love and grace to you. And may you believe afresh in the significance of His calling on your life; in the significance that the Father has granted you the gift of revelation that Jesus Yeshua is the Son of God. Amen.
Let’s read now.
Matthew 16:13-20 NKJV
Revelation of the Person of the King
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Revelation of the Church
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
A Personal Reflection Prayer as we process through Colossians Chapter 3, with repentant hearts.
In Preparation
We suggest that you have a pen and journal and write down any issues the Lord might bring conviction to your heart about, so you can be set free through confessing any sin, repenting and turning away from it, then receiving the Lord’s forgiveness and cleansing so we can be effective in serving Him as His Ekklesia
1 Jn 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Personal Prayer
Heavenly Father, as I consider all that Jesus our Good Shepherd has done for me, I am truly grateful. Thank you that Jesus paid the price for all my sins to be covered, so that I can draw close to you. Thankyou that He forgave me from the cross, so that when I confess my sin reaction and repent, I know that I am fully forgiven by you.
In the light of the ‘Roar of my Soul’ please Help me to live in your New Covenant life, by letting go of my past soul reaction patterns and mindsets. Thank you then, for your joy, peace and love that I receive through your Holy Spirit filling my heart afresh, as I spend time in your presence, in worship and your Word. Thank you that you have given to me all the grace I need to put my faith into action.
I desire to think and process from your divine perspective seated with you in the heavenly realm, not from my own negative mindsets or sense of worthlessness. Please show me the roots of any unforgiveness in my heart that still trigger my present hurt reactions. I desire to understand and forgive, in order to live in all that you have given me. Please expose any unhealed past traumas or strongholds of pain as I process now through your word below.
Colossians 3
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Ima Odutola from: Light and Grace Ministries
I Go From Strength to Strength
Anchor Scripture:
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place.
It’s our prayer that you will also rise from Strength to Strength in your Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ !!
Ps Jeff’s Special Today: “Blaming others instead of taking responsibility”
Peter and the Holy Spirit speaks to us today: “ Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless..” (2 Peter 3:14). By taking responsibility, instead of blaming others, you are “without spot and blameless.” You are becoming more holy. ” And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3: 12,13). We are to esteem others better than ourselves: ” Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others.” (Philippians 2:3,4)
Being candid with yourself and the Holy Spirit, is this issue of blaming others instead of taking responsibility blocking your serving your Almighty Creator today? Is there any remnant of this old pattern needing to be confessed? Are there any old vows towards others based on some perceived need to blame others? Do you think this is only applicable to the disciples 2,000 years ago? Do you have any residue of a residue of this issue for such a time as this? Was it connected to your upbringing as a child? Was it a family pattern in any way?
God bless you as you seek His Holy Spirit Wisdom and Comfort on this issue. May you go forward on His path, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
