OUR Christian identity as children of God is spelt out clearly in 1 John 3: 1-3. Familiar though this passage may be, the concept passes us by – until we look at what it means to be CALLED a child of God, to CARRY OUT our assignment in this world as those having that heavenly authority, and to live in the CONFIDENCE to put the enemy to flight and destroy barriers facing our lives and the lives of others. To add flavour, the PowerPoint that goes with this preach includes images of Blenheim Palace, and a Challenger 2 tank, the fastest tank in the world over rough territory. An empowering and prayer-warfare inspiring message.

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HOW well do we really know Jesus, the person? This message from Philippians 2: 5-11 lloks at how Jesus let go of his divine nature and authority to live and minister on earth as one of us. The Holy Spirit who empowered Him is the same Holy Spirit who empowers us. Once we abdicate from our own sense of power and position, the real power and authority is released – as Jesus modelled for us. Then we can see that power dealing with all the doubt and deception the enemy sows in people’s minds, particularly in pre-evangelism where we have to break down barriers and strongholds of distrust, unbelief and confusion. There is a short model prayer which illustrates how this is done.

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What prevents us from stepping out for God, being able to be used by Him? Or stepping into the experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, for that matter? Fear – and its subsidiaries like anxiety and timidity. The enemy is activie in trying to prevent us from taking hold of what God is giving us, guiding us into or growing us in. He does it mainly through fear. That is why Paul said to his young assistant, Timothy, “God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of good judgement”. When we get those “O God help!” moments, that very expressions is like grabbing the rope that God has given us. As we grab love, we get power and vice versa, and at that point the confusion lifts and we can make a good call for Him. This is the three-stranded rope and it is powerful indeed. One little tug from us and the answering tug is there to lift us up. The message ends with a repentance and renunciation of fears, and a fresh impartation of the Spirit of Jesus, whose love conquered fear.

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WE square up to God with direct questioning (don’t worry, the psalmist King David did the same) and become distraught at the apparent lack of answer. The reason is that God is more interested in having a relationship with us than answering all the questions. Waiting for His timing is a basic need in our impatient culture, and learning to enjoy a walk with Him where neither side necessarily talks but both achieve communication is a skill worth working at. However, a key need is to accept and welcome Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit as our encourager, teacher and means of revelation. It’s not an option, it is a requirement of Christian kingdom living. Are you open to the fullness of the Spirit of Jesus, to make you more like Him, in communion with the Father? We all need to ask, and to receive afresh. Main scriptures cited are Rev. 1: 17-18, Ps 38: 15 (The Message), Micah 6: 8 and 2 Cor. 6: 16 and John 14: 15-26.

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