Greeting to you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a fitting day to declare – by faith – “this is the day that the Lord has made” and I will be grumpy – complaining – miserable – negative…no, I mean – I will not be! I will give praise to God and rejoice! According to the ‘old-timer’s handbook’ this is the last day of Spring – a season is ending and a new one is about to start and it says in Proverbs…Know the importance of the season you’re in…Proverbs 10:5a TPT. What has the season of “Spring” meant to you … did you prepare yourself for the planting of ‘seed’ – for a time of growth – for those days when nothing seems to be happening? Has your ‘fallow ground’ been broken…softened? Have you been watered? Have you been fertilised? Have the weeds and rocks been removed? the success of the next season must be prepared for. I will be praying for you today, asking Father to release Holy Spirit to you, not to simply fill you but to rest upon you!
This morning the headline that appeared in one of the ministry emails asked the question: Is the church in decline at this moment? – and I was curious to see what the response would be. In our community, where we have been praying for the local community of faith for the last twelve years, there are some real challenges. Although we have seen three new church plants established, there are another five or six that are working their way through some transitions and internal ‘speed-bumps’. As well, I have been reading of the persecution and government interference that is taking place around the world. It is not easy to be a person of faith, so I was interested to read the response.
I have read enough reports from around our world and know the author could have revealed many positive statistics but he did not do that. Instead, he stated: The church is not in decline because God is not in retreat and his saving purposes are guaranteed for all time by the cross and empty tomb – Tim Kleese. What a great answer…God is not in retreat! The author referenced a Scripture verse about an event that will take place at God’s discretion: And they were all singing this new song of praise to the Lamb: “Because you were slaughtered for us, you are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. Your blood was the price paid to redeem us. You purchased us to bring us to God out of every tribe, language, people group, and nation…” Revelation 5:9 TPT. There are some exciting days ahead – God is not in retreat…He is marching to victory!
It is in a song that we have sung many times that we make a bold statement: He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat – He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgement seat – O be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet – Our God is marching on! … Julia Ward Howe.
Have a great day…we are on the side of the One who is already won! Be blessed!