Monday 20 February 2012

2012, The year of Power and Presence.

On Sunday 12th, Gerry Butcher shared a word from the Lord. It was a picture of a barren place with oil wells on it which were capped.
Then the fire of the Holy Spirit came and started to ignite the wells that were uncapped, and they burned with a great intensity. This is a very significant message from the Lord.
I don't want to try to add to what was spoken that Sunday morning but I do want to share what the Lord has spoken to me about it.

I saw the picture as Gerry shared it. I saw a large, dry and barren land and the Lord told me that this is very significant. The oil wells were on this land and the Lord told me that just because we can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there.
God looks at the heart- He said so to Samuel:

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Sam 16 v7, NIV

God knows that oftentimes we look on the surface and we miss out on the potential of what's underneath. We see a barren land, God sees the oil field underneath. We see capped oil wells, God sees those oil wells burning with a fire that is only from Him.

When Gerry shared this picture, The Lord started speaking to me about Elijah, and He reminded me of the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel (you can read it in 1 Kings 18).
Elijah had been on top of the mountain with the prophets of baal, 450 of them and the people had been given the option of going with God or with baal.

Elijah knew his God. He had a confidence and a boldness in his God that meant he knew Jehovah Jireh would provide for him at his time of need. Elijah let the prophets of baal select which sacrifice they would offer up to their "god". This might seem bizarre, but Elijah knew what was going to happen, and that they would not be able to offer a sacrifice to baal.

You can read the story yourself, but the outcome was this: baal was not able to answer the requests of 450 prophets so Elijah taunted them, reminding them of all the things that baal wasn't and God is. God never sleeps, never goes away, is never deep in thought or busy.
These prophets spent hours, begging, cutting themselves, pleading but nothing happened.

Elijah started to build his altar. He placed 12 stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel and built his altar on it. He dug a large trench around the altar. He then stacked up wood and cut the bull into pieces, placing them on the altar. His sacrifice was almost ready. Under normal circumstances, he would now light it but Elijah knew God had a better plan. He also knew that God would send fire, so he raised the stakes. (God is always able, when we raise the stakes, it is no more difficult for God than when we don't).

Elijah drenched the altar, completely.
Then he did it a second time.
And then he did it a third time.
It was so wet that the trench was filled with water.
What looked to be a completely daft thing to do, on a human level, is but a Joy to the Lord.
Elijah prayed a simple prayer and the fire of the Lord consumed everything: The sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the water and even the dust.

The people knew who is the Lord when this happened and they fell prostrate and worshipped Him.

You see, The fire of God is the most powerful force there is. It doesn't matter what we've done, what excuses we've made, what impossibilities we've put in place, God can overcome and Elijah knew this.
He knew it because he knew his God. He knew his God because he spent time with Him.

At the beginning of 2012, The Lord gave us a word that we are moving from Grace and Favour into Power and Presence.
Elijah saw the Power of God because he was used to being in the Presence of God.
This year, God is longing to spread His Holy Spirit Fire like wildfire. He has a desire to pour it into us, to release us into the image of Him that we were created to be.

Elijah spent time in God's presence and God's victory was complete- even the dust was burned up. Elijah gave the altar to the Lord and God accepted it in a way that had never been seen before. A supernatural fire that consumed everything. No ashes, no bits of bone, no broken stone fragments. Elijah gave it to God and God said yes.

It's our choice. We can either decide to leave the cap on and refuse the fire that God is sending, or we can spend time with Him, sitting in His presence, allowing Him into our lives and getting to know Him so that we too, can see His power released.

Say yes. Go and spend more time with Jesus this week than you normally would. There is no better way to spend your time. Watch His power flow as we become more aware of His presence.


Roger C.

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