Ocean of boundless salvation flowing for ALL

I want to encourage you - DON'T GIVE UP - keep looking for Jesus - whether on your knees, prostrate or standing - keep looking up - keep calling HIS name - whatever YOUR situation is - HE IS THERE!

My prayer is that as you read this you will somehow touch (or be touched) by the ocean of Gods love and receive a dose of the indescribable joy of knowing Christ Jesus!

Below is an old Salvation Army song that at the moment reflects what God has done AND is doing in me - feel like champagne that is just fizzing and about to burst the cork - carbonated by the Holy Spirit - wave after wave of unspeakable love, joy and peace!   

We hear over and over again about the "Tsunami wave of God bringing revival" - I am convinced that this outpouring of LOVE to individual believers and followers of Christ is the trigger for personal, corporate, local, regional and national revival.. I sense in my spirit (and from what I've experienced the last few months) - for those who want, the Father, through His Holy Spirit, is removing every obstacle so that you will have a fresh revelation of Christ Jesus and a renewal of your faith through the infilling of HIS eternal love.

Why am I convinced of God's outrageous love in this season?

Everything bad that could possibly happen has been thrown at me over the last 20 years - the enemy has tried every trick in the book to keep me getting to this place and it is only because of Christ having me by the scruff of the neck (with my consent) that HE has brought me into this remarkable place of joy. 

Christ Jesus has brought me through TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE situations from bankruptcy (loss of business & home), debt, a bigamist marriage, depression, armed robbery/assault, crippling physical pain, toxic hatred, deliverance from all sorts of filth I had walked in, shame, guilt (to name but a few) and coming to UK (returning to the land of my earthly father) on my own with two young boys and not even knowing how to change a plug!  I was more than broken - more than a shattered spirit/soul.

Christ in HIS mercy saved me from myself and began the process of transformation - showing me in concrete, tangible and practical ways how gracious, kind, generous, faithful and totally unstoppable HE is. Last year (2011) Christ revealed Himself to me in new ways (I call it my personal Emmaus Road experience) then earlier this year the scales dropped off my eyes, my heart seemed renewed and Gods expansive Agape love fell into place as a filter to every thought, word, action and prayer.  

This past weekend the floodgates of Gods’ LOVE opened and like the song below “The tide is now flowing, I’m touching the wave, I hear the loud call of the Mighty to Save; My faith’s growing bolder, I plunge ’neath the waters - they roll over me.”

HE never leaves us - never forsakes us - HE is so incredibly faithful. 

This song – written in the late 1800’s by William Booth (Founder of the Salvation Army) best articulates what I believe we will see in the coming days - BOUNDLESS SALVATION – NOW FLOWING FOR ALL!

O boundless salvation! deep ocean of love,

O fullness of mercy, Christ brought from above,

The whole world redeeming, so rich and so free,

Now flowing for all men, come, roll over me!

My sins they are many, their stains are so deep,

And bitter the tears of remorse that I weep;

But useless is weeping; thou great crimson sea,

Thy waters can cleanse me, come, roll over me!

My tempers are fitful, my passions are strong,

They bind my poor soul and they force me to wrong;

Beneath thy blest billows deliverance I see,

O come, mighty ocean, and roll over me!

Now tossed with temptation, then haunted with fears,

My life has been joyless and useless for years;

I feel something better most surely would be

If once thy pure waters would roll over me.

O ocean of mercy, oft longing I’ve stood

On the brink of thy wonderful, life giving flood!

Once more I have reachèd this soul cleansing sea,

I will not go back till it rolls over me.

The tide is now flowing, I’m touching the wave,

I hear the loud call of the Mighty to Save;

My faith’s growing bolder, delivered I’ll be;

I plunge ’neath the waters they roll over me.

And now, hallelujah! the rest of my days

Shall gladly be spent in promoting His praise

Who opened His bosom to pour out this sea

Of boundless salvation, of boundless salvation,

Of boundless salvation for you and for me.

Joy

Prayer is the lifeblood of the church.

Sunday 5th August.  I am always amazed at how the Father weaves together a Sunday morning service that is centred on working together with the Holy Spirit to encourage and build up believers in Christ. The river flows with scriptures, dreams, sung worship and then corporate prayer. It really felt as if the Holy Spirit was at the door to welcome us in (as opposed to us welcoming Him in our midst) and then when heavens' choir joined our sung worship thought the roof would blow off. 

One could over-think it all but on face value - heaven broke through on Sunday morning with so much more than we could have thought or planned.  Four words were released over the church - the first being from scripture 1 Peter 1 which speaks of our heavenly inheritance and the enduring word of God ending with “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever!

Another word to the church given via a dream reinforces our commitment to pray. The words from the dream are, "Prayer is the lifeblood of the church. Satan can never cut off the blood supply to Jesus’ body. Persevere in prayer. The battle belongs to the Lord." 

Two words impressed on others and then shared addressed the need for reconciliation (forgiveness) and encouragement to wait on the Lord for breakthrough.  This remarkable divinely inspired flow was all part of the prepared "preach/teach" which aimed at a corporate prayer focussed on words, scriptures and pictures we have received since the start of the year (graphically represented - click to enlarge) and speaks to the new day, breakthrough and fresh revelation of Christ. Just love the way the Father does this!

 

As the blog writer, I'm encouraged that Eloyim through His Holy Spirit reached down from heaven to  encourage us to keep on the pathway of prayer and fasting we have established and, as Godfrey Birtell sings, "Living in the unforced rhythm of GRACE"  (YouTube version of song)

Ephesians 3: 16 to 19 - "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 

Joy

Other related blog posts

• Pray until something happens
• New day dawning: prepare for the spring
• Restoration, repentance and reconciliation

PUSH

It’s time to PUSH and we need everyone- yes you as well - unity in purpose is critical!

Since May 2011 there has been a flow of pregnancy/birth/baby type dreams and prophetic words given by the Lord to five (5) different people associated with our fellowship. Last week, a national prayer group of intercessors came out with a word from the Lord that links a prayer initiative to the birth of the new season God has promised us.  Still with me?

As I read the "word" the penny dropped as in the aforementioned 5 dreams & words we've received into FHCC all have a clear line of sight link to prayer and the growing expectation of the dawning of the new day.  We praise God for what He's been doing with us as a fellowship (have you noticed the transition & changes?) and for the wonderful (miraculous?) answers to prayers.

We have seen a distinct shift in the “treasuring hunting” on the streets of Sydenham with treasure being found and BUT significantly being brought to our door!  I get seriously excited about God, the stuff HE's doing in us and on our streets with the deep sense of angelic activity that's on the go - ensuring the will of God is done.

Let the spiritual midwives say ‘yes and amen – you can do this’, catch the second wind of the Holy Spirit, bear down and Pray Until Something Happens

(see what happens when we pray - combustible prayer)

As with any natural pregnancy - dates are important so here's the list of dates of pregnancy, birth, prayer, words, dreams etc since May 2011.

• 1 May 2011: baby dream (JW)
• 24 December 2011: messy birth vision (BH)
• January 2012: the new day vision/word (YD)
• 15 January 2012: Malham – pregnant and giving birth word (AL)
• 25 February 2012: birth in dirty conditions dream (YD)
• 17 March 2012: pregnancy & prayer dream (MZ)

With much love and great excitement

Joy

No seasonal fruit here: it's perpetual

No seasonal fruit here: it's prepetual

In season and out: shine

In season and out: treasure to be found

In season and out: Word, work and wonders

In season and out: Knowing God and making God known 

A call for a church wide week of fasting and prayer (25 to 30 June) often sees people running for cover but God honours our paltry efforts as we voice and demonstrate our intent to journey towards finding the Father's heart and banging on the doors of heaven to unlock the healing well of salvation on which we are situated. HE responds with such love; speaks with clarity and encourages us with signs of fruit from the coming harvest.

Emerging miracle

As I bring together the seemingly random events from that week of prayer and fasting I clearly see Gods hand in the emerging cohesion in our initiatives to share the good news of Christ - in a loose and perhaps messy way our silos of "ministry" are coming down and for me as the blog writer this is the emerging miracle that emphasises the elements of many varied contributors and characters; bringing a menu of gifts and talents to create the whole. Equally inspiring is how Jesus becomes so real to those who participate in the way they are designed to do. Quite awesome really! (see also ALL are needed!) I sense it's very important for us not to see the treasure hunt in isolation - but in effect part of an emerging miracle of prayer, fasting, evangalism, discipling, Sunday fellowship/teaching and preaching coming together to give us a glimpse of how the "kingdom on earth" could/should operate.

At our Saturday morning treasure hunt (30 June) the Father prepared us through scriptures, pictures and tips that reinforced the knowledge of His presence and intent. The Father showed us that as believers we are as crystal glasses (the expensive type); gently hand washed by Christ Himself - ready to shine & indeed sparkle with His light and life. We got the sense that the Father really wanted us to feel secure and succeed and two scriptures were given as promises to us to give to those we were to meet. Treasure found (devine appointments made & kept) - there were just too many to actually mention by name as we were literally back to back with people wanting prayer (yes, just coming to the door of H4G) and finding our teasure on the streets and homes.

Isaiah 43 (16 to 21) (NKJV): ............ “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honour Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV): For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

First fruit: is a very churchy word - especially in an urban modern context where we can get fruit and veg on our shelves in season and out - BUT in season and out treasure was found on our high street! Some just came to the door asking for prayer! (See also Prepare for the Spring)

The love of Christ was shared with many, prayers said, divine appointments were clearly evident AND then flowing into Sunday - three Alpha course attendees came to the morning meeting.  One gave testimony to first sign of healing in his right knee, one decided to follow Jesus and one committed to joining in with a house-group. 

A word given that day continued to highlight the Father's heart for us to shine. He has lifted our burden through the work of the cross, He strengthens us through the power of His Holy Spirit and HE calls for us to lift up our heads - for the church to arise and "as the darkness gets darker, the light will shine brighter! We must not become discouraged, frustrated and worried about missing Gods plan. Quite oppositely, we must let our roots establish themselves in this season, pushing down until they tap into the living waters of the Holy Spirit. (See also Open the doors)  

Joy

No seasonal fruit here

In season and out: shine

In season and out: treasure to be found (Treasure to be found)

In season and out: Word, work and wonders

In season and out: Knowing God and making God known