Radical disciples of Might and Faith

By Riaan Engelbrecht

If we truly want to lead a supernatural life, with a faith believing in the impossible, then we need to become radical for God. We need to be red-hot Christians who are on fire for Jesus. It means following Him no matter the cost. It means doing as He says in His Word and never compromising. For the radical Christian, it is all about Christ and nothing else. God is calling for a people who will no longer submit to the 'normal'. Are we just going through the motions of serving Christ? Has our spiritual life become bland, dull and dreary? Our lives must always be connected to the Spirit of God. God is calling for a people who will step outside the 'normal'. We are not called to follow a religion or any other manmade rules or ideas, but God and God alone. Jesus came to show us how to lead a vibrant life, infused with divine holy power! We become radical when we serve God with all our strength. We must make every effort, day and night, to obey God, to follow Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. We must do so with every ounce of our strength, with every ounce of conviction, and there must be no room, none whatsoever, for the world to steal our love for God, or our devotion, loyalty and faithfulness. To love God with all our strength (might) is to constantly all the time seek His will, His ways and truth. It calls for us to pay attention to God, to be serious about Him above everything else and to love Him as our First Love. The omnibus features the volumes of work Radical Christianity and With All Might.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Release date: Jan 24, 2025
• ISBN: 9798230699200

Riaan Engelbrecht

Ps Riaan Engelbrecht is the founder of Avishua Ministries, the vice-president of Lighthouse Ministries International and the station manager of Lighthouse Radio. His ministry deals primarily with the prophetic, but he also has a passion to teach the Truth of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom for only the Truth of the Lord sets us free (John 8:32).  He is also a qualified and seasoned journalist.

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Radical disciples of Might and Faith

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Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

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Table of Contents – Radical Christianity

AUTHOR FOREWORD

Radical Christianity

Faith in the impossible

Beyond the veil

The Power is still present

Radical evangelism

Times will be tough to fulfil the Great Commission

Radical obedience

Radical Intimacy

Radical conviction

Radical abundance

Radical no matter the cost

Fireproof Christianity

‘Plugged’ into the Great I AM

Radical in action

The great resistance to God’s truth

Danger of a soulless and Spiritless church

No update needed, version 1.00

Snatching victory from the supposed jaws of defeat

Mighty warriors arise as in the days of David

Awakening to the necessity of deliverance ministry

Author foreword

At Avishua Ministries we continue to believe and trust in God for His mighty hand to bring in the harvest. We continue to pray for the servants of the Lord throughout the world, near and far, for labourers are few yet so many still need to come to Christ and to truly know of His greatness and goodness. I truly believe God has a great and mighty plan for these end times, even though what we see is not always easy. Yes, these are intense times in the spiritual, but our God is alive, and still on the Throne. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the remnant of God. We shall not go quietly into the night or be silenced, for our gate is glorious, mighty and powerful! No one or nothing can stand against Him so be full of Holy Spirit fire, faith and boldness for our God is greater than any empire, kingdom, army or man!

We are all throughout the world facing difficult times, be it financial burdens, be it persecutions, be it spiritual onslaughts or be it threats of all kinds and nature, but I pray that as a disciple of God, you may be bolstered in your faith. May you be strengthened in your courage and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit for the task that the Lord has placed before you.

Now is the time for the radical Christians to arise. No, not the extremists of violence, but those with a true heart for God. It is time for those who diligently seek Him and obey as in the days of the book of Acts.  We stand upon Isaiah 40: 31But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

God is calling for a remnant that is completely and utterly set apart for His Kingdom. What is this end-time remnant? It is the true Bride on the earth, therefore, the sons and daughters who seek God, who follow Him, and who uphold God’s values, ways, and truths and will as established in the eternal Kingdom. Yes, the dawn rises of God’s end-time remnant, those who are humble, pure in spirit, and who are called to free the lost from the clutches of darkness through the Blood of Jesus. God is seeking His true worshippers who walk in love, truth and honesty, seeking no glory but only His will. The Lord is rising up those who have a heart and a voice for the Kingdom. Yes, He is rising up a radical remnant! He is rising up an army that refuses to be silent, who will not flinch in times of trial or tribulation, will not shy away when faced with evil and who will not compromise His Truth.

Such an army is right now being formed on the earth, the remnant that will arise out of the ruins of religiosity and carnality. They are radical, walking in God’s love and hope. They are like the 7000 faithful whom God said to Elijah refused to bow the knee before Baal. Yes, this is a dangerous remnant, filled by the Spirit of God, for they will be like the first apostles and disciples. They are dangerous for they are not unsettled by Baal, do not fear man, and laugh along with God who loves His enemies. They are dangerous for they love the truth, and they know the battle belongs to God.

Indeed, in these days of so much turmoil and strife, we take heart and joy that so many servants of God are still clearly passionate about the Kingdom of God. How the Lord's eye is on His servants who diligently seek to do His work and who seek His Truth! Yes, we do understand there are tremendous challenges within so many countries to evangelise, to disciple and to preach the Word. But we are trusting in God that He has a plan to bring about a mighty harvest throughout Africa, the Middle East and every other continent. God will shake the nations and the islands and people’s hearts. This we trust and yes, repentance leads to restoration and revival! God is great and glorious. He has placed servants who desire His heart within every country, town, city and village to sow the seed and we trust God for growth and to bring in the harvest of souls. We must remain standing strong for the Kingdom, trust Him and have faith that He is faithful, and He shall protect, provide, lead, edify, and strengthen.

Let us continue to pray to see the Kingdom of God grow and to be witness to the incoming of a great harvest. Let us continue to shine the light of the Lord as we reach out to the lost, the broken, the hurting, the forgotten and the rejected. This can all only be done through the mighty work of the Lord through the Holy Spirit - He who empowers and equips us to do His Work. Indeed, God is connecting His servants in order for Him to be glorified and to bring the lost back to the embrace of our Lord Jesus.

Let us stay true to Acts 2, which is truly the blueprint for revival and discipleship: 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and [o]sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Paul was often not near or close to those to whom he had preached the Gospel. Yet Paul always prayed for them and kept reminding them of the goodness, power, greatness and might of the Lord. Paul reminded the disciples they were not dependent on him but on God to whom belongs all the power and glory. With God nothing is impossible! In God is our strength and hope and provision. So take strength and in times such as these let your heart not be troubled for God knows and sees.

We must always be reminded of who God is. In prayer, we must each other in the Body of Christ knowing God's power works to His Glory so that the world may be set free in His Love. In Him, we find our rest and hope. He is the Light that will always shine no matter the darkness.  Paul wrote the following in Ephesians 1 and this is also our prayer for all believers: For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers; [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son].

Yes, may the radical Christians arise! May their song be heard! May they overturn the world by shining God’s light, sharing His love and showing the broken and the lost to the loving arms of a loving God! Be abundantly blessed and may the Lord's face shine upon you.  May the Spirit of the Lord move mightily and may the harvest be great. And yes, may the Lord bless you in your work for Him and may His countenance shine upon you forever more. Be faithful and God shall part the waters! We are not defeated, but we are victorious in Christ! May we continue to diligently seek the Lord, His Kingdom and righteousness above all, for then we walk in His blessing, truth and hope.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12:11)

Radical Christianity

If we truly want to lead a supernatural life, with a faith believing in the impossible, then we need to become radical for God. Let us understand, that the word radical as applied to human behaviour can be either positive or negative, depending upon one’s viewpoint. Radical can be defined as one expressing strict adherence to a worldview that is at extreme odds with the cultural norm.

In Revelation Jesus says that he spits out lukewarm people, and I certainly don’t want to be a lukewarm Christian. I want to be a red-hot Christian who is on fire for Jesus. Do you want to really be a radical Christian? Try to actually do what God commands, even for a month. You’ll see how it affects your jobs, friends, family and entire lifestyles. Christ was dealing with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. It went badly for Him but He showed us what it would take. He left us an example of how to really be a radical Christian. It means following Him no matter the cost. It means doing as He says in His Word and never compromising.

For the radical Christian, it is all about Christ and nothing else. Philippians 3 says, 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Paul had indeed done great work for the Kingdom of God. He after all wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. He travelled far and wide to spread the Gospel. He led so many people to Jesus. Yet he wanted not fame or fortune. He just wanted Jesus! How radical are we then? Do we seek still after the world, or do we only seek Jesus above everything else?

God is calling for a people who will no longer submit to the ‘normal’. Are we just going through the motions of serving Christ? Has our spiritual life become bland, dull and dreary? The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6: I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you. What is the gift of God in us? In the very next Scripture, it says: 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]."

Let us be reminded that before we were born again, our spirit was completely dead, cold, and empty. But when we believed in Christ, He as the life-giving Spirit came to be mingled with and live in our spirit. Our regenerated human spirit was ignited with the divine fire of the Spirit of God. The precious gift of God in us is our spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is the gift we must fan into flame. Yes, our regenerated spirit was ignited by the divine fire of the Spirit. But after we’re saved, our zeal for the Lord may eventually fade. We’re not as hot and burning as when we first received the Lord. But Romans 12:11 exhorts us not to be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord. Dear believers, the Lord wants us to be hot, burning in our love for Him and our service to Him. This is why we need to fan our spirit into flame!

Yes, many in this world still rebel against God, while some believers have completely abandoned their faith, but then you also get those who still serve Him and trust Him yet that inner fear of a life submitted to God has run cold. Revelation 3:16 speaks of a spiritual life that is in limbo, neither alive with God nor dead. It has become stagnant, and passive and the fire is slowly fading. How the Lord is again calling for believers in this time and age to fan the flame again! How the Lord is calling for people to seek Him like never before, reconnect with the Spirit, and let the fire of God burn, yes burn! For many, where there was once a burning flame, there is now only embers. Yet when you fan the embers, they then become alive again!

Leviticus 6:12 (New King James Version) says the following: And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. In the Old Testament, the fire never had to die on the altar, because the aroma and sacrifice must be a constant reminder of the covenant between the people and God. Just so, we are the living sacrifices who have laid down the old life. The flame must never die within us, so that we may be constant sweet aroma unto God, and that there is a constant manifestation of the living Covenant sealed by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:22). Constantly we must yield, submit and walk in the Spirit. For it says in 2 Corinthians 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Yes, our lives must always be connected to the Spirit of God. We must be infused into God so that He truly abides in us and we abide in us! There is a beautiful song by Brian Doerksen called Light the Fire Again. Yes Lord, light the fire again! May we again be people who walk by the Spirit, who talk by the Spirit, who function, operate and minister in the Spirit! May we again become aware of the fusion of our spirit with the Holy Spirit, and may we truly burn for God again. Lord, You are an all-consuming fire. May it burn in us Lord, and grant us the strength to truly fan the flame!

The normal, the spiritual deadness, the dryness and the staleness is to be found in the traditions and the rituals of a religion that we have labelled called Christianity. God is calling for a people who will step outside the ‘normal’. We are not called to follow a religion, but God and God alone. Jesus never came to start a religion, but to show us the way to the Father. He came to show us how to lead a vibrant life, infused with divine holy power! For God has spoken clearly than it is time for a people to arise who will no longer be satisfied to walk in the staleness, deadness and dustiness of a religion that has no power. Consider, religion implies rules and programmes and agendas as determined by man, not God. Christianity with all its man-made definitions, rules, and traditions has resulted in people becoming stale in their walk with God.

2 Samuel 6 says, So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

And what was the reaction to David’s radical behaviour in honour of God? We read, 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. Religion despises the move of God. It despises true liberty in the Spirit. Religion and the traditions of man seek to quieten the move of God. And God is calling for His people to become radical again in Spirit, therefore, to lay aside their reputations. Yes, we need to ‘dance’ like David danced, meaning we must break the bondages and yokes of the ideas of the world and the church. The devil and religion will always seek to silence God’s true children. But the radical Christians don’t care what the religious or the carnal think! They don’t care about the traditions of the church, for they seek to serve God radically in Spirit and in truth!

To be stale speaks of being no longer fresh and, therefore, musty or dry. God is calling for believers who are walking in his freshness. Therefore, a people who constantly seek God, who walk by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and who live for only His glory and truth! If we are dry, then implies a lack of water. How can this be if we are supposed to be led by the Spirit of God? For by the Spirit of God, there are streams of living water flowing out of us!

God is indeed for radical believers in the final days. We are talking about a people not settling for the normal, the stale, the boring and the dryness. 2 Timothy 3 says, 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. The word last is the Greek word Eschatos. Eschatos indicates the final stage in a process. For example, in Revelation 15:1 the last seven plagues of judgment against the earth are declared to be the completion of God’s wrath against the wickedness of humankind. So we are talking about the final stage before everything will be completed before the coming of Christ. We are indeed already in the last of such last days, therefore, the last seconds of the completion of the end of a process.

The word is used to form Eschatology, which is then is the study of the last things, especially the times preceding and culminating in the Second Coming of the King of kings (Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16). Indeed, the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is the final (eschatos) stage of the drama, the consummation of the history of the world! The phrase last days is found in both the NT and the OT.

The word know in 2 Timothy 3 is Ginosko, which means to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge, perceive and become acquainted with. We need to, therefore, know, perceive, understand and comprehend that the final stage or the final process of the church age before the coming of Christ will be marked with great danger. We will be faced with perilous times, with the Greek word Chalepos used for perilous, meaning troublesome, dangerous, fierce, or savage. If we read 2 Timothy 3, then it speaks of such dangerous and savage times coming directly within the church! They have a form of godliness but deny its power, therefore, the walk by religion and abiding in Christ.

Despite such perilous times, we must remember the Holy Spirit’s wonderful promise in Joel 2:28: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." This explicitly says there will be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s power in the last of the last days. Just like a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit occurred at the beginning of the Church Age, it will occur again at the end of the age. In fact, it will be the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the history of the Church. But despite the 'oppressive' nature of what has begun within the church, with all kinds of satanic onslaughts, the Bride can persevere and overcome in these perilous times. Not only survive but take the greatest harvest the planet has earth ever seen - and then the end will come! But this calls for a life yielded and submitted completely to the Holy Spirit.

In John chapter 4. Jesus was tired and sat at a well while His disciples went into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was quite shocked because Jesus was a Jew, and Jews simply hated the Samaritans. Of course, she had no idea who Jesus was and asked Him how He could ask her for water since He was a Jew.

Jesus ignored the question and went right to the point, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10). Notice that He does not say that He is the living water, but that He would give living water to her, and when she received it, she would never thirst again. Of course, that does not tell us what the living water is! For that, we must go to another passage of Scripture. In this case, Jesus is in the temple surrounded by a throng of worshipers. He suddenly cried out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37–39).

Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water. External influence of the Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers and, through them, brings life and light to the world. A radical Christian lives by the Spirit of God, lest we become stale and dry! There is no other way to be radical for God except a life dedicated to the Lord, yielded to the Spirit of the Lord.

In the earliest days of the Church, when persecution against believers was extraordinarily acute, those early Christians could not be deterred. If anything could have stopped the Church, it would have been the storm that raged against them. But Jesus promised, ...The gates of hell shall not prevail against it [the Church] (Matthew 16:18). Although waves of persecution have come and gone many times over the past 2 000 years of Church history, every turbulent episode has proven Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18 to be true — the gates of hell cannot prevail against the true Church of Christ who have the revelation, that He is the Christ! God has always had a remnant who will not bow to the oppression of the enemy, even if it comes from within— and at this final port of call, He will have that remnant once again. If you are of the 'true church,' you will experience previously unknown levels of the power of God as a result of your commitment to stand by truth.

Oh yes, how we need to come alive again in the power of the Holy Spirit to be true representatives of God on this earth. How we need the wind of the Spirit to blow again through our churches, our hearts and our lives! How we need to again seek the Spirit of God to lead us in all truth, in power, in boldness, in God’s beauty and strength! God has spoken prophetically how the Church needs to get back to the Upper Room. This means we need to reconnect with the Spirit. For directly after the rushing wind there was revival. And such revival continued and flowed like a mighty river beyond the Upper Room and into the streets of Jerusalem and still today to the outer reaches of the world. The revival in the Upper Room was sustained and gained momentum for it was the Holy Spirit that was birthing the church.

Indeed, how we need the Spirit of God to breathe life into us! How we need the Holy Spirit to shake our worlds so that we become alive from our spiritual apathy to be on fire for God! How we need the Holy Spirit to be filled with conviction and a certainty that God is faithful and true. How we need the holy fire of God to burn in our bones so that the dry bones may live and the spiritually dead and lost and forgotten may be revived. For in the Holy Spirit, we are no longer stale!

Paul on the Road to Damascus was reborn when he met Jesus. And from that day he moved in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), fulfilling the Great Commission by declaring the Good News far and wide. Revival truly followed Paul, for Paul was following Christ in Spirit and truth. Paul had crucified his flesh and was now regenerated by the Spirit of God. For the water of life inside of him was manifesting wherever Paul ministered by the grace and power of God.

We need to remember no one else can save us. God sent Jesus, His one and only Son, to earth so that He could make a way for our salvation (John 3:16). After living a perfect life, Jesus was crucified, bearing the punishment for our sins upon Himself. He was resurrected from the dead three days later, conquering death. When we place our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice, we are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit within us is what enables us to live out the spiritual rebirth that has taken place: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Yet it is also the Spirit that wakens us up from our slumber through divine conviction. Those legitimately born again are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit living within us? Fundamentally, it means that the Holy Spirit is communicating a conviction about Christ’s moral beauty to the eyes and ears of our hearts.

Thus we need to understand very clearly it is by the Spirit of God that we are ultimately made alive to be united with Christ. John 6:63 says: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. So the new birth — and the new life that comes with it — is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our direct connection to God and enables us to remain free from the power of sin. When we are spiritually reborn, we walk anew with the Holy Spirit as our guide and companion (John 6:63; Romans 8:14). The Spirit's presence in our life is the seal of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). Through Christ's sacrifice and the continual presence of the Holy Spirit within us, we can walk with God in the freedom that comes from spiritual rebirth. It is written in Romans 6: (New King James Version): 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ezekiel 37 speaks of how the dry bones come alive. We read, 9 Also He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. ’ 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. The Holy Spirit is known as the Ruach Elohim. Ruach can mean both wind and breath. By the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we are like those dry bones who come alive!

The same chapter it says, 1 Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord.’ "

By the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we come out of the deadness of our old life, of religion, man-made traditions and stale rituals. We come out to live by the power of the Holy Spirit! This is radical Christianity. How we need the church to be overshadowed again by the Spirit of God. How we need the Holy Spirit to conceive divine life within the believer and the church in such perilous times. How we need the Spirit of God to set our hearts on fire for God and the lost! Psalm 63 says, 1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. How we need to long and thirst for God so that we can come out of our staleness! Psalm 107:35 says, He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.

Mark 2 says, 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. The Lord cannot pour into a system that is 'old', broken, set in its way and tainted by the world or religion. God is calling for a Bride that will be like a new wineskin to receive the new wine of His last day move of the Spirit.

A system of repetitive traditions and religion cannot hold the Spirit of the Lord. For this reason, the Lord has shown the Holy Spirit wants to move mightily among the Lord’s people, but so many will misunderstand such a move, or they will call it demonic, or they will mock it or some shall flee.  Why? Because we are stuck in a mould of repetitive patterns of mindset, regarding the way we view the church, the Kingdom and even ministry. It says in 1 Corinthians 2:  11 For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words [for those being guided by the Holy Spirit].

We need to break the mould of a stale life! The Book of Acts is all about how the mould was broken. So let the mould once last time be broken and God be glorified in spirit and truth! For the Lord says how He longs and yearns to move in might and power among His children, in fire and Glory, but so many are like old wineskins, stuck in a mould, unable to receive for they will have become hardened by the heat and furnace of religion. How the Lord longs to pour in and to flow and to bring people up to the mountain but their minds and hearts and their very spirit is like old leather - tainted, broken, cracked and unable to hold the new wine.

It says in Jeremiah 23:29 AMP: Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]? says the Lord , and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?" As we yield and submit to God, allowing the fire to burn within then surely that old mould will break! For the oldness and staleness prevents the water from flowing! We need to dwell in God’s presence daily to walk in the new to receive the new wine, therefore, to walk daily in the freshness of the Spirit.

In all three Synoptic gospels, Jesus concludes a conversation about the contrast between his teaching and practice and that of the Pharisees (and John the Baptist) by means of a parable about wine and wineskins (Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2.21–22, Luke 5.36–39). As we are made alive and renewed by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Spirit of God, we can now walk in the divine presence of God (the new wine) via the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Yet we need to make sure that we revert not to the old wineskin, meaning our old lives. We are made new, called to lead a holy life in the power of the Holy Spirit, and called to tell people of Jesus so that they may be revived and renewed as well.

And such beautiful ‘wine’ was indeed poured out on Pentecost to empower the disciples to become new wineskins, thus revived. And by the new ‘wine’ to lead a broken world to Jesus who still to this very day offers all those who believe a new life of hope. We play a part in revival by fulfilling the Great Commission, yet we can only do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we truly want to see the church revived and impacting people in this world, we need the ‘new wine’ of the Spirit more than ever! For revival flowed from the Upper Room, and will again flow from a people who seek to walk with God as worshippers in spirit and truth.

Are we following Jesus or are we following man, an idea, or a vision detached from God? To the first disciples, God said ‘follow Me’. Simple. Nothing spectacular. Thus, if we want to be His disciple, we need to ‘follow’, meaning He leads. We follow in His steps. We leave behind our old lives and old ways, after all, you cannot put new wine in old wineskins. We do as He commands. We obey His truth. We listen to His instructions. He is the Master. He is the Way, so we follow His Way. Yet, still in churches, we follow not His will, or His way, or His Truth. And then we wonder why things are not working out. To ‘follow’ means above all following His Kingdom and His righteousness and then the rest shall be added. What simple instructions!

The disciple of God is not called to walk by such staleness, but to lead a vibrant life in Christ. We do so by following Jesus by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It is a life infused with the power and fire of God. We are not talking about being radical in the negative sense of the word. Many people in history have used the name of Christ to inflict terror, persecution, and genocide upon those with religious differences. That form of radicalism was never condoned by Jesus—who was Himself a radical. His message of love, forgiveness, and mercy was at direct odds with the accepted views of the day. He refused to fight back when attacked (1 Peter 2:23), to allow Peter to defend Him with violence (Matthew 26:51–52), or to condemn the woman caught in adultery (John 8:4–11). Those were all radical acts for that time and culture. One reason some people turned away from Christ was that His requirement of giving up everything for His sake was simply too radical (Luke 18:22–23).

We walk in the freshness and fire of God when we walk in liberty as found in God, and not in the liberty of this world. And in such liberty, as found in God, lies great power. It is the power of freedom that was sealed when the veil was torn in two at the crucifixion of Jesus. We are liberated from the kingdom of darkness, thus the oppression and the clutches of the devil (Colossians 2:15). We are liberated from the lies of the world. We are liberated from manipulations, distortions and propaganda. We are in a new creation in Christ, thus liberated from the old self, from pain and hurt. We are now new wine skins carrying the new wine of the Covenant! We are indeed called to be liberated from religion, and to be free in Christ!

Smith Wigglesworth said the following: The reason the world is not seeing Jesus is that Christian people are not filled with Jesus. They are satisfied with attending meetings weekly, reading the Bible occasionally, and praying sometimes. It is an awful thing for me to see people who profess to be Christians lifeless, powerless, and in a place where their lives are so parallel to unbelievers’ lives that it is difficult to tell which place they are in, whether in the flesh or in the Spirit.

We must only be satisfied with a life dedicated to Christ! It is a life saturated with the divine. It is a life filled by His Spirit, where we seek the supernatural above the natural. For the radical believer, all things are possible, for God is the God of the impossible! If we want to lead a radical life, then we must make every day a higher ground, meaning always seeking God, fellowshipping with Him, and abiding in His Presence. We must deny ourselves to make progress with God. We must refuse everything that is not pure and holy. God wants a people with an intense desire after holiness. A radical life seeks after faith and purity. God never intended His people to be ordinary or commonplace. His intentions were that they should be on fire for Him, conscious of His divine power, realizing the glory of the cross that foreshadows the crown.

John G. Lake, in The Collected Works of John G. Lake, said: The life of the Christian without the indwelling power of the Spirit in the heart is a weariness to the flesh. It is an obedience to commandments and an endeavor to walk according to a pattern which you have not power to follow. How we need to allow the Holy Spirit to move within us, so that we may keep in step with God! A life of the flesh brings the weariness and dryness of the flesh! Indeed, because of our religions, staleness, traditions, and holding onto this world, we have imprisoned Christ within us. We need to let Him live, let Him manifest Himself, and let Him find vent through us. Lake also said, In those early centuries of Christianity, Christianity did not go into the world apologizing. It went to slay the powers of darkness and undo the works of the devil, and it lived in holy triumph. How true!

The decision to follow Christ is itself a call to radical living. Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow Me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Luke 9:23). That command is at extreme odds with our flesh’s desire to please itself (Romans 7:21–23). It challenges worldly wisdom, which preaches self-fulfilment as our highest aim (1 John 2:15–17). Yes, God has called us to be radical, and live to His Spirit!

After all, the cross is a radical thing, and declaring Jesus as Lord of our lives involves a dethroning of Self and a complete abandonment of His will. We must be willing to go where He leads, do what He says, and love Him more than life itself (Matthew 10:37–38). The lifestyle changes that follow such a commitment are considered radical by those who fall within the world’s definition of normal. Those who claim to know Christ yet refuse this radical lifestyle are called carnal (1 Corinthians 3:3). Jesus calls such professing Christians lukewarm and says He will spit them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).

The life of a disciple is not supposed to be boring and stale, but they are called to be radical in love, faith, and boldness! Jesus calls His followers to be peacemakers, even at great personal cost (Galatians 5:14; Matthew 5:9; Luke 10:30–37). Jesus’ teaching known as The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3–12) is His call to radical living. Radical Christians understand Paul’s desire to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10). A radical Christian is one who has died to the flesh (Romans 8:13). The apostles were radical Christians—they turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6)—but they did so through self-sacrifice and love (John 13:35).

We are not called to follow Christ as a mere religious practice, for many times we find ourselves living a life void of the Holy Spirit. This is why the church has become more of a social club and a business, instead of a people on fire to fulfil the Great Commission! God is alive. Deadness is not in His nature. Jesus came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. That’s how the Church is supposed to exist and that’s how we’re supposed to live: absolutely abundantly alive.

Staleness sets in when we make our spiritual journey a routine that we squeeze into our schedule alongside countless other items. He desires to be the only One with whom we are captivated. The life Jesus calls us should not be engaged sparingly. It’s an all-or-nothing kind of life. Anything else leaves us lacking and depleted. Jesus calls us to a degree of intimacy that cannot be sustained outside of continually abiding in His Presence. Stale spirituality occurs when we fail to recognize the Presence of the Holy Spirit working all around us.

Dead religious formalism also has the tendency to produce stale spirituality. Notice the adjective dead. This often occurs when people place intellectualism on a pedestal above relationality. Jesus is a Person to be encountered, not merely a doctrine to be understood. While preparation, education, and engaging the mind is vitally important, intellectualism alone has the propensity to kill the moving of the Holy Spirit and rob people of an authentic, life-changing, powerful experience with Jesus.

Today, many pastors, educators, and church leaders not only devalue an encounter with the Holy Spirit, they outright reject it. If you follow Jesus through the Gospels and trace the Apostles through the Book of Acts you witness multitudes of people extemporaneously encountering the Holy Spirit. Those who make worship gatherings nothing more than religious routine are starving their parishioners. They obviously lack the faith to believe that God can move in the same ways He did in the New Testament. Yet God is doing something new. There is a generation on the horizon that’s desperate for an encounter. They are seeking God like never before. Revival is coming. It is a people who return to an experiential faith. They desire something that brings transformation to individuals, churches, and spills over into entire communities. Jesus and the Apostles didn’t institute a ritual; they unleashed the power of His Presence.

The Apostles did great work because they lived out of the direct anointing of Jesus’ ministry and we should too. What Jesus and the Apostles did as described in the Bible is what we should be doing by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit, right here, right now. Jesus prayed with people everywhere He went. He fasted intensely for days at a time. He accepted people wherever they were in life, but never left them where He found them. He made disciples persistently. He healed people openly. He gave to people freely. He wasn’t ashamed to preach the Kingdom boldly. His life is the standard.

Stale spirituality sets in when we engage the head and neglect the spirit. Stale spirituality sets in when we gather to learn and suppress the notion of encounter. Stale spirituality sets in when we live in what was, or dream about what will be, yet neglect what is. Stale spirituality becomes a reality when we live with a form of godliness, but deny the power of Jesus. It is time to step out of the normal and no more go through the motions. It is time to become radical for God, without excuse, without fear and in boldness!

Faith in the impossible

We can all agree we live in very tough times. 2 Timothy 3 speaks of perilous days. Wherever you turn, life is not easy. For a believer, more than ever before we need to walk in faith in the impossible. We need faith like never before to fulfil the Great Commission, to survive the storms, but also to thrive in God’s presence.

The Lord has often placed it on my heart if we truly still believe God can provide us with daily manna as He provided in the wilderness to feed the Israelites for 40 years. Do we truly believe it? Do we believe with God all things are possible? Do we believe that when there is no more food that God can provide? Do we truly believe that if God gives us an incredible vision or a purpose or a mandate He will bring it into fruition, no matter how incredibly far-reaching or impossible it may seem? Do we truly believe it when we praise Him as omnipresent, all-glorious, powerful and magnificent?

It is time to step out in faith says the Lord. Step out like never before. Step out in the unknown. Step away from your comfort! Step away from your worry and anguish! Step in line with the steps of Jesus. Nothing is impossible for our God. Do you believe it? So many times the Lord said to His disciples that they were of little faith. Hard words, but He reminds us that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed. It is time says the Lord just to believe. Let not this world hold you back. Let not fear hold you back. Let not what you see hold you back. Let not what you hear hold you back. Look only at Jesus! Hear Him! Listen to Him! For He is Mighty to deliver and mighty to save and to heal.

Do we still truly BELIEVE this is the Mighty Lord who still heals, who still delivers, who still prospers, and still makes a way? Just believe. Sing Hallelujah. Sing to the Lamb that was slain and the One who has the power to open the seals in heaven. It is time to believe in the IMPOSSIBLE. Believe in the Glory. Believe God will sustain. Believe God will part the way. Believe. Just believe cries the Lord! Oh child of God, is not a mustard seed but small, so the Lord asks not of the impossible, but just the simple cry of obedience, of faithfulness and to know He is the Lord of Love and Mercy. Just believe, for the Lord who shook Egypt and Babylon, who has shaken the hearts of man and the ground we walk on, surely this Great I Am shall be with His children. Just believe!

Nothing, but nothing says the Lord is impossible to Him. Nothing but nothing can defeat Him. Nothing is greater than Him. Nothing is more powerful than Him. Nothing is more awesome than Him. Just believe! Believers, it is time to step out in faith. It is time to believe in the Glory that will shake the heavens and the earth. For the Lord is moved by the righteous who move in faith! Do we believe He not only heals but He keeps us healthy? Do we believe He is the Lord who will guard us against all sickness, dread diseases and injuries? Do we believe He is the same God who spoke through Moses in Exodus 15: 26 If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you. Just believe for it says in Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible.

Is anything too hard for me says the Lord? So why fear? Has the Blood of the Lord lost its power? Its value? Its hope? Is Jesus not the same as ever and tomorrow? Is He not the Lion of Judah? Is He not the Balm of Gilead? Glory to God. For yes, all praise belongs to Him. All the praise. All the glory. He is the Mighty One. He is the I Am. No man shall stand against Him. No man shall defeat Him. No spiritual force can destroy Him. For those who stand with Him stand in the ever-great might of our God who still saves, still heals and still delivers!

Today, the Lord asks us as His children: Do we believe? Did He not say in John 11:40 Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Glory to God! It is time to step out of faith. Believe and trust not in this world, but have faith in the Almighty! Seek Him! Have faith for He shall make a way! Let not your heart be troubled and let not your knees buckle. For He shall carry you. For He shall strengthen you to run and to walk in His might and glory. For He shall be your refuge and High Tower. Why fear?

In Genesis 18 we read of how the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. We then read (for the Lord was accompanied by angels), 9 Then they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? So he said, Here, in the tent. 10 And He said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure? 13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

Can we really blame Sarah for laughing? She and her husband were very old. After all, if we were in our 90s and someone told us that we would become a parent we would also be shocked, and maybe even very sceptical. We might also laugh. It is human nature to doubt anything which seems so impossible, implausible and even ridiculous. Yet God reminded her that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

In Luke 1 we read, 13 But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years. 19 And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time."

Zacharias, like Sarah, also allowed to doubt overwhelm him. He also allowed circumstances to blind him to the reality of an impossible God. Are there things in our lives that God has spoken yet we have laughed at, or caused us to doubt? Zacharias was struck mute for his doubt. No matter what God says, we need to believe, even though it defies every natural law, or when the circumstances look so far removed from God’s reality! Matthew 17:20 says, So Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

We need to have faith that God will sustain whatever He says. All believers have a vision for their ministry, for their lives, families, and even nations and continents. For this reason, it also says in John 3 that they who are reborn shall see the Kingdom of God. Indeed, only when we are in Christ can we have the mind of God which is so needed to understand God’s will, and to walk according to His mission, purpose and vision. Yet at times, what we believe in or hope for is so incredibly huge or impossible that we completely lose faith. We drown in doubt and allow ourselves to succumb to murmuring.

Jeremiah 32:27 says: I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Yes, is anything too hard for the Lord? No. Of course not. He is mighty and glorious. Glory to