Higher Life Christian Centre

Fellow believer, I pray you experience God’s love and grace throughout 2012.

Peter the apostle made a very weighty statement in his letter to the saints. He said they should grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

When you take stock of the last year, did you make any progress in your walk with the Lord? Did you develop spiritually? Are you making plans to grow this year?

As much as we have various distractions around us, there has never been a time in history where so much information has been readily available. The technological revolution has made the impossible possible. There is absolutely no excuse for not spending time in God’s word. The old, “I am time poor” excuse just can’t cut it any more.

There are myriad of ways we can consume scripture. I am sure a lot of people are already aware of them. If you are not aware, I will just like to ask, where have you been? Nowadays, you don’t have to carry a bible around like we use to do in times past. Neither do you have to carry a small Gideon’s bible in your back pocket. If you own a smart phone, tablet pc, iPod or mp3 player you can access both digital and audio formats of God’s word on the go.

The amazing thing is some of the software is completely free. They even throw in reading plans to help you read through the bible in a year.

So as you make plans to make more money, tighten your grip on your career in a failed economy or bond with your loved ones, don’t neglect the most important relationship of all, your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Make concrete plans today on how you are going to grow in your walk with the Lord, if you have not already done so. There are numerous believers in other parts of the world who do not have the opportunity to engage in the scriptures as we do. These people treasure the little amount of materials they have at their disposure. Please remember to lift them up on prayers throughout the year. 

In closing, do not neglect meeting together for fellowship. Regular attendance of meetings where the word of God is being taught will enhance your growth as a Christian (Hebrews 10:25).

Have a great year and remain strong in Lord!

It is astonishing how many times we lose focus, searching for things that God has not told us to do. Speculating about end time events. Books have been printed about this and I am sure if we were to take stock millions of dollars have been made predicting the coming of Christ.

We preachers have been guilty of tossing out different dates. I heard a prominent preacher speculate that Jesus will be returning in 2012. Preachers like Harold Camping have even gone as far as giving a definite date – 21st of May 2011. We all know nothing happened. His prediction was false. All this madness makes Christians lose credibility which is very sad.

The other disturbing fact is, most of us who follow these guys do not read our Bibles. The person presenting these facts might be or even sound scholarly, they might even be great orators but that does not mean we should just soak in what they are saying. We should go back to the Bible and find out if what they are communicating is accurate. Let’s look at a passage of Scripture that sheds some light on this.

Acts 1:3-8 (NLT)

During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.  Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.  John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Next time, when somebody tries to get you involved in speculating about the coming of Christ, tell them to go read verse eight of Acts chapter 2.

Yes! He told us of the signs that would occur. But he never told us to get involved in predicting the date. Let us continue to be witnesses, letting His light shine through us in a dark world.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honours his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honour and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ “You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (Malachi 1:6-8 NLT)

The book of Malachi conjures up images of the tithe. The moment a Pastor mounts the pulpit and says, “Open your bibles to the book of Malachi.” People seem to know what is coming next. A sermon about the tithe.   Malachi 3:8-12 has become so fixated on our minds that we sometimes find it hard to glean anything of value from the book which is a great shame.

There is a lot more to the book and we have been looking at it at church over the past couple of weeks. The children of Judah had just returned from exile. The economy was in bad shape. These returned refugees were trying to survive and rebuild their lives.

Given the nature of the circumstances they found themselves in, compromise began to set in. The religious leaders were allowing the people to act dishonourably to God. They were now violating clearly established sacrificial laws (Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:18-25). They brought blind, sick and deformed animals thereby treating the Lord’s sacrifices with utter contempt.

The spiritual leaders were supposed to set the bar (Malachi 1:6). Instead, they allowed people to worship God the way they wanted. They did not correct them. What they were teaching the people did not bring about transformation and a change of attitude. It caused them to stumble in their walk with the Lord (Malachi 2:7-8). This resonates with some of the mess we are seeing and hearing about in the body of Christ today.

Despite the fact that this is an Old Testament book, the message of Malachi is still relevant to us as Christians. The people had developed a bad attitude towards the things of God, which is why they had the audacity to offer to the Lord unacceptable sacrifices. The alarming thing is the fact that they also felt justified in doing so.

There are a few questions we need to ask ourselves in light of this. What is our attitude towards the things of God? What is our attitude towards His word? Are we interested in submitting ourselves to His word? Or are we creating a God according to our own image?

Yes! We are no longer required to bring animals sacrifices, but we are to honour Him by the way we live our lives. Is honouring God still important to you as a Christian?

Luke 10 shows the Lord Jesus Christ sending out 72 of His disciples in pairs.  Their mission was to visit all the cities and towns Jesus planned to visit.  They were preparing the hearts of the people to receive the good news of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

When the disciples returned they were overjoyed and ecstatic.  The authority vested in the name of Jesus stunned them. They were on a power trip. It will be difficult putting in to words what that experience meant for them.  I am sure they must have been looking forward to the next confrontation they would have with the kingdom of darkness.

Most modern day Christians can relate to this.  I have had my fair share of experiences and I am sure some of you reading this can recount a few stories of your own.  To see the supernatural in action is amazing.  It can be like a drug.  You can’t wait for the next fix or the next set of people to cast something out off.

Now am I trying to belittle peoples spiritual experiences? No! But we must not shy away from the fact that some people have gone to the extreme on the subject of spiritual warfare.  Many abuses have and are taking place in the name of spiritual warfare in our churches and ministries today.

My focus though is not warfare per se, but what Jesus said to a thrilled group of disciples who had just experienced a manifestation of the powers of the coming age.

Luke 10:20 (NLT) But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

Jesus did not ridicule their experience. He gave them the authority to perform the works they did. The Master’s response caught our attention during last Sunday’s bible study. Jesus told them not to rejoice in the fact that the demons are subject to them, but the fact that their names are written in Heaven.

Now I am not saying that deliverance from the influences of the powers of darkness is nothing, but within the context of this scripture, the Lord drew their attention to something higher.

As exciting as ministry can be and the demonstration of God’s power, the most important thing that should grab our hearts is the fact that our names are written in Heaven (Hebrews 12:23; Luke 10:20), we are known by Him.  Our names are written in the book of Life (Philippians 4:3).  We belong to him.

Never forget! Your relationship with Him is more important than any demonstration of power.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (AMP)

I remember going for a time of fasting and prayer with a minister of the Gospel a few years back. It was quite an intense session for me as a young man. We went without food for three days. I was having headaches, I could barely pray on my feet.

In one of the sessions, we had a discussion about deliverance. It was then we realised, sometimes, deliverance could be taught in such a way that it nullifies the New Birth while we magnify the work of the enemy and put him on par with Our Heavenly Father.

If we are not careful, we will get into the Hollywood mode, where God is on one side and the devil on the other, with both of them pulling you in opposite directions. Sometimes spiritual warfare is presented as if the Father and the enemy are both in a tug of war, and whoever manages to pull you across the line wins.

This is not an accurate picture, because the devil is no match for your Heavenly Father. They are not equals and will never be. When you go through the New Testament, you never see Jesus Christ messing around with the devil. You never see Him struggling with him. Because the Master was way above him. He knew He had authority over him.

As a Christian, you have authority over the devil. He has no right to dominate your life or control it. If Christ set you free, then you are free. The Scripture clearly states, that you are completely delivered from his authority. From a legal standpoint, he has no authority over you. I want to encourage you today, but even if things seem out of control in your life, the devil has zero authority over you. Whatever he is bringing into your life is illegal.

You might say, Pastor what are you talking about? What about witchcraft? What about people who cast spells? What about reoccurring negative circumstances that I can’t get my head round? I will say to you, yes those things are real. But I would like to reiterate, their actions are illegal. That is why you should not accept it. You should stand firm with your faith in God’s word and resist the works of darkness. Your Father is by far more superior to the enemy, and don’t forget the devil is a created being.

It is easier to confront the works of darkness from a position of strength, than from a position of weakness. If we confront situations from a mindset that we are already delivered, it makes it easier to stand against the works of darkness. This is a New Creation truth we should hold on to. We are no longer in the devil’s slammer, our Master opened the prison doors two thousand years ago. It is time to walk free!

Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

As you can see the Scripture says, “He has delivered us…” which means past tense. It did not say, “He’s trying to deliver us or He will deliver.” We are already delivered from the control and dominion of darkness and therefore no longer subject to the authority of darkness. It is time to rise up, and stand up for your legal rights. You are delivered!

Does this mean you no longer need people to pray for you if necessary? Not at all!

What I’m saying is, even if, someone was going to stand with you in prayer, the basis of their authority will be the legal fact that Christ has already delivered you and therefore the enemy has no right to exert any authority over you.

Therefore, I encourage you to stand firm in your freedom in Christ today!