As I sit at the end of 2013 looking straight ahead into 2014, my heart wanders to the scripture in Matthew 25 regarding the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom.  It is said that five were wise and five were foolish.  The five wise kept their lamps trimmed and had enough oil to wait until the bridegroom appeared, but the five foolish ones, well, that is a different story.

 

As we enter into another year, I am certain of two things: God is still on the throne and Jesus will touch my generation.

 

I have been living in revival for a long time.  I came back to the Lord 10 years ago in 2004.  For the last decade I have been living and breathing revival.  I have seen God do incredible things, and yet, I am still waiting for the greater outpouring that has been promised.

 

I first heard about a great coming revival when I was still in my teen years.  I am now 41 years old.  I went to Bible school starting at 18.  One of the highlights of those years was hearing David Yonggi Cho from South Korea’s largest church speak.  He told us that God had a plan for Canada and I believed him.

 

A year or two later I was a youth pastor in Halifax when a young man stood up and prophesied the coming of a great revival that would sweep all across Canada in such a way that the enemy would not have room to move in anybody’s life because most would be saved.

 

Twelve years ago I was at a church in Ottawa when Cindy Jacobs got up to prophesy about Canada and the end time revival.  I was still not really serving the Lord when I heard her prophesy.  I don’t even know how I got to that church to hear her.  When she spoke I heard the sound of a trumpet blowing and I looked up into the roof of the church and saw the heavens open.  The sound I heard was coming through that opening.  It was one of the craziest things I had ever seen.  I could not doubt that God had a plan for Canada when I saw that.

 

And yet, I look at Canada and the USA today and they are darker than they have been in any time in my life so far.

 

About 5 years ago I had a dream.  I was outdoors in a small village at night.  I looked up at the clouds and they were very dark.  I started to run and call out to God.  I knew that He was just above the clouds in the dream because I could see flashes of light coming through the darkness.  I knew He was very close.

 

I started to cry out in intercession.  I said, “You said, God!  You said you would move, so move, God.”  I kept crying this out over and over and my heart was heavy with the prayer–it still is.

 

And today I would say to you “continue believing and praying for God to move.”  Yes, we have been waiting a long time, but the revival will come and those who have been faithful and remained in intercession will see a great moving of the Presence of God that will go forth into the entire earth. 

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:1-7)

 

The sight of the infant Christ in the manger is the most vulnerable picture I can imagine.  Here is the Saviour of the world as a mere child who can do nothing to protect himself from the brutality of the world around him. Yet he was safe and grew to fulfill the will of God for his life.

 

Surely all heaven and hell understood the birth of this Messiah King: Heaven rejoiced and hell was thrown asunder.  Surely the devil amassed the forces of hell to launch an assault against this small child and tried to end his life through Herod before he even had a chance to grow up, but God protected him.

 

And that is the nature of God to protect the infancy of His great exploits from those who war against Him.  God will defeat our every enemy in Christ.  When we stay under the blood and look to God alone as our defense and shield, He has a way of carrying us through every storm.

 

When I think of the vulnerability of the Christ child and how God took someone who was born in obscurity in the lowliest of conditions and brought that one to the place of greatest honour, I am amazed at my God.

 

You see, it is not about our ability to achieve, but rather it is about His ability to exalt.  God is able to take the person who is completely sold out and dedicated to Him from the prison to the King’s court (Joseph), from tending sheep to the Kingship of the land (David), from the grape press to the place of the general of an army (Gideon) and from lying in the manger to reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul says, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

 

That work of infancy in your heart where the fires began to burn on that brand new day and when heaven began to ring like bells over your life was not something that you initiated and it is not something you will have to consummate.  This work of grace is consummated in our hearts through the work of Christ Jesus on the cross.

 

I am convinced that I am safe in God’s arms and no matter what comes in this life I will be with Him where He is.  No matter what the devil tries to do to defeat that work in my life, I will overcome.

 

Jesus was born in a manger to remind us that it does not matter where we come from.  What matters is that if God be for us, who can be against us?  Jesus accomplished the will of the Father and those who are in Christ will accomplish His will also.

 

I pray that through this season you will take some time to remind yourself of what God has done for you, and if you should not yet know Him, then I pray that the greatest revelation of His goodness will rise through this Christmas season. Changed forever by His love, may you then rise to your destiny.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almightywill accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

 

Christmas can be a wonderful time of year for those who are in families and are surrounded by those who love them, but for those who have experienced loss through death, divorce or separation from loved ones, Christmas can be a time of year when great emptiness and sadness comes.

 

I remember when my first marriage ended; the first Christmas was probably one of the hardest times of my life.  I was living in Ottawa and my two daughters were living in Halifax.  They were very young then–3 and 6.  I was separated from them that Christmas and only got to speak to them on the phone for about 5 minutes Christmas day.

 

I remember getting off of that phone and walking for hours through snow in Quebec as I re-lived my loss over and over.

 

I did not know the Lord then, but Christmas Eve that year I was in a Catholic church with my adopted French Canadian family.  A friend of mine with whom I worked in government took me in for the Holidays.  I would have surely been alone otherwise. 

 

While in that service I remember feeling the peace of Christ in my heart.  I even saw an amber light within that church.  The peace was so great that I was amazed.  I didn’t understand much that was said in that service, but I felt the peace and presence of God.

 

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  My experience of God is peace.  The thing I long for in my heart the most is peace.  If I have the peace of Jesus in my heart, I know I can face anything that comes along because it strengthens me and keeps me safe.

 

I believe that we are in the middle of a great change in the earth and that the way we think of life and the things that we celebrate will change.  But Jesus will never change.  He broke down the barrier between man and God, and the presence of God now abides in the hearts of men.

 

Those of us who carry His presence carry the greatest treasure this world has ever known.

 

Recently I was at a Christmas celebration in government. My boss walked up to me and said, “Darren, since you returned to the job, I have noticed that you have a lot of peace in your heart.”

 

I could not have imagined a greater thing said to me.  I have always said that they shall know God within us by our peace and here was someone recognizing God within me.

 

So this Christmas season I pray that Jesus will be your peace.  I know some of you may not feel like celebrating because of the losses that you face, but I pray that in the midst of your sorrow or pain that you will take time to reflect on the heart of God and that Jesus will come alive in your like never before.

 

God bless you all.

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

 

This passage in Micah reminds me of another passage in 1 Samuel 15:22: But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

 

To obey God is the way of the pilgrim.  We can’t please God or even get to know Him unless we do as He tells us to do.  In order to get to that place we have to listen to His voice.  We have to learn to hear His voice.  We must seek Him with all of our hearts because when we find Him, He is the pearl of great price.

 

There is nothing more that a father wants than his children to love him and seek him out.  One morning I was getting into my car and my son Joseph was waving good-bye in the window.  This in itself was enough to warm my heart, but as I got into my car I noticed the front door of my house opened up.  My wife was standing there wanting me to lower my car window so that she could speak to me.

 

She told me that Joseph wanted me to come to the door so that he could give me a hug.  He was standing in the doorway with his pajamas on and no socks on his feet.  He was determined that he was going to hug his dad.

 

He told me to come quickly because he was cold.  There was snow and ice all over the ground.  He wasn’t going to close that door until he got his hug, so I got out of the car and went to him and hugged him.  It was one of the best hugs I have ever received from one of my children.

 

My experience with my heavenly Father is much the same way.  The prophet noted God saying, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13).  And revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

 

That is the heart of God. He wants you and not the things that you can sacrifice to Him.  You can give 10% of your money to the church, prophesy over your neighbor, heal the sick and cast out devils, but if you do not know God you might still be lost.

 

Our sacrifices are not as important as humbling ourselves before God and His voice.  Our deepest longings must be for Him and Him alone.  God knows our hearts.  He knows that we can be deceitful.  There are times that I am convinced that I am acting in God’s interest and it turns out that it was in my own.  I could not hide this from God.

 

I need my God in my heart so that I might have the chance to learn to be merciful, that I might learn to love and act in a just manner with the world around me.   In order to accomplish this I must seek Him till I find Him.

 

I love Christian hearts that are humble.  I love when I meet a great man or woman of God and they reflect the humility of a true saint.  I call out to God to make me the same.  I am not yet perfected in this manner.  There is still some stench of pride within me.  But I keep pursuing God and doing what He tells me to do.  I know one day I will be just like Jesus.  It is my only pursuit.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

 

In this prayer of Habakkuk we see the prophet declaring the destruction of Israel at the hand of the Babylonian horde.  As he prays he recognizes the great hand of God in bringing about the destruction as a judgment against his nation, but he also asks God for mercy in times of wrath.

 

He understands that the invasion has repercussions for his people which may see them experiencing lack, but he is thankful nonetheless for the goodness of God.

 

I have experienced lack in my life and I have had family members experience lack in their lives.  It is truly not an experience that comes easy, but learning to rejoice even in the place of lack will get you through many a wild storm in life.

 

One of my family members went through a severe trial with lack recently.  She ended up having to go on welfare because she could not get a job adequate for taking care of her life.  It was one of the deepest trials she has ever faced.  And for me it was difficult because of the helplessness I felt in not being able to help her. She had monthly bills and a house that she owned that just would not sell.  She could not afford to pay the mortgage and she couldn’t get rid of the house.

 

But in the midst of all of that she kept crying out to God and indeed got much closer to the Lord as a result.

 

You see, in the hour of our storms running from God will not help us to overcome.  We must always be aware that God is our shelter even in the greatest storms.  Nothing can overwhelm us as long as we remain in him.

 

Job faced great trials and wrestled for understanding as to why such things were occurring, but in the end it was God that saw him through his trials and blessed him even more than he had been blessed before.

 

I sense there are coming times of lack in our culture where some of the things that we take for granted right now—food, shelter and money—may not come easy for many.  I sense that a collapse of the economy is coming and that many will be in the position that my family member is in currently.

 

We must prepare our hearts and learn to rejoice in the midst of dire times.  Such peace will come over you and such wonder as God provides for you and warms your very heart.

 

God will lavish His love toward you as you go through these times.  I know, because this is what I have experienced in my own life and witnessed in the lives of others who are totally sold out to God.

 

May God bless you and keep you through all your storms as you advance toward your destiny.

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame my remnant.” (Micah 4:6-7)

I love the heading that the NIV uses just before this passage of scripture, “The Lord’s Plan.”  The Lord’s plan is to gather the lame and those that are in spiritual exile and to bring them to Mount Zion where He will teach them by His own hand.

This passage most certainly points to a literal restoration of the nation of Israel after the fall of the two ancient Jewish nations.  But I also see hidden beneath the surface a deeper spiritual metaphor for the people of God.

But first let me say that Israel and its people will always be important to me.  They are God’s people whom He separated to be a great nation of blessing and to be a blessing to all nations.  As I bless Israel, so am I blessed. This is Scriptural.   We must always look for ways to be a blessing to the Jewish nation.  We must not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form because it comes with a great curse on our lives.  Nazi-Germany is still a stench in our nostrils and will always remain so.  This is the fruit of anti-Semitism.

God told His people through Micah that they would be destroyed because they did not keep the covenant that the Lord handed to them through Moses.  But then he says, the Lord will gather you to Himself once again.

Those of us who have suffered greatly outside of Christ know what it means to be lame spiritually.  We know what it is like to have hope stolen from us time and time again.  Before Christ I had no hope.  My hope for prosperity, family, and a good life was robbed from me. Before I came into covenant with God through the blood of the Lamb, my life was lost.

When the hand of Jesus is upon my life, I am blessed.  Everything I put my hand to do is blessed.  My enemies might surround me, accuse me and say all kinds of things falsely about me, but in the end God will promote me and bless me and leave me with a good name in the earth.

As I enter into the place of the cross as a lame man and use that cross to keep myself from stumbling, my feet are set upon the rock which is higher and mightier than I.  Jesus is that rock.  When I hide myself within the cleft of His presence, I am safe.  The cross is a crutch that sustains me.  I need this crutch because I am weak but He is strong.

Many in the world think they are strong on their own strength until their strength fails them.  They mock those who would rely upon Jesus as God.  They will call you weak.  So rather than argue with them, I just come into agreement with them because humility demands I do it.

I will not give strength to their mockery.  I will tell the whole world that I am a lame man needing my God Yahweh to lift me up out of the miry pit.

I am not ashamed of the cross, because it is the power of God to set the captive free.  The wisdom of the mockers of this world is not wisdom for the man of God.  Their wisdom will die with them.  But a man of God is only too happy to tell the whole world that he is weak and lame.  In fact he hides himself in the shelter of God’s wing and knows that no matter what comes he will be safe.

Let this assurance guide you as you fulfil the Lord’s plan for your life.

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2)

I was in New York City two weekends ago ministering with my friend David Yankana.  David is originally from Trinidad but has been living, working and ministering in NYC for about 16 years now.

Before I went I asked David if we could do a tour of Manhattan Island.  I particularly wanted to see the new Freedom Tower that is being rebuilt in the place of the 911 attacks.  This new building actually stands in the same spot as Tower 2 that came crashing down in NYC 12 years ago. 

As I stood there looking up at that great tower a certain foreboding swept over me.  I couldn’t help but see this new tower as a monument to the destruction of that day.

David had not been to that spot in all the years that he had been in the region.  He said it was too difficult to go.  His wife told me that on 9/11 she was on a train crossing the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan on her way to work, when the power was cut to the train.  There was fear that perhaps terrorists might also be attacking the train system, therefore as a precaution power was shut down to the trains.

She had to walk for five hours that day to her home in Queen’s.  She was covered in ashes coming from the towers. She told me that day her sister was actually in the Twin Towers when the first plane hit.  She ran out of the building to safety.

I was eating a meal with David, his wife and members from his church and I asked them what that day was like.  I began to hear stories about how people were led out of the building by angels. 

David told me that Christians who were in the building would have people walk up to them and lead them out, but when they got outside these people were nowhere to be seen.  David said many believe these were angels guiding people to safety.

The above scripture in Habakkuk was prayed in a context where the prophet is looking back at the deeds that God did in Moses’ time.  In so many words he is saying, “I have heard of your deeds of old and your miraculous power.  I have heard how you conquered kings and destroyed nations by that power.  God, do it again in our time, but have mercy when your wrath is being poured out.”

We will certainly see more judgments upon our nations in the coming years, but I pray that in the place where God is making Himself known that a miraculous sound will go out into the earth so that His people understand they are experiencing God’s Glory in the midst of His wrath.

I pray that you will come to understand His supernatural hand of protection, His compassion and mercy when these events begin to occur.  I pray for mercy during wrath for your families so that you will be protected in your nation just as the Israelites were protected when wrath fell on Egypt.

I know that this may seem like a tough word, but better you hear it and know that God will be with you than to go through it with uncertainty.  Now may God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you always.  Be blessed as you advance toward your destiny.

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.(2 Corinthians 4:7)

I want you to consider the following statement, “it takes great humility to carry the power of God.”  It is such a basic statement that most of you nodded in agreement and said “amen” as soon as you heard it, and yet most of us do not have that humility of heart.

We must be continually in His voice.  Distractions do come and it takes a humble heart to recognize what God is saying in order to remain in that place of His presence and purpose.

Humility demands that we listen more than we speak.  There are so many people speaking without listening first.  They overstep themselves in God’s sight because they suggest they are speaking for Him when they have not heard His voice.

There are those that are steeped in rules and tradition which for them is a substitute for taking the time to listen.  They have an idea of the religious life and follow what they think is good religion but never come close to the place of God’s presence.

In order to have this treasure in our hearts, which is an all-surpassing power, we must come to the place of Jesus being present with us daily.  When we spend time in the power of God we become the power of God to everyone we come in contact with.  When the power of God’s transmits from my heart I can operate to the fullness of God in the world around me on every occasion.

This power is not from me nor does it originate from any idea of men, but is given to me because I accept the orthodoxy of the work of Jesus on the cross.  Did you know that the cross was a divine idea meant to set you free?

I must not add to that orthodoxy of the cross nor take away from it, but I must accept it as it is presented to me in the scriptures, and this is challenging for me because the word of God chops at my human pride.  I must accept the word as a humble servant so that it might begin to work the great power in my life.

The word of God is the foundation of my Christian faith and when I adhere to it, it has a way of liberating and setting me free.  By His all surpassing word the voice of God speaks and washes away my sin.  All the filth of this world fades from my life and His eternal working grabs the deepest parts of my brokenness and a new foundation of hope, love and peace is built upon the ruins of my life.

And then in the place of the new man, founded on Christ a new power of God’s spirit begins to move out from me.  I am baptized afresh by the glory of God and new seedlings go out from me and enter the soils of the lives of other broken men and women.  They are drawn to their Creator the same as I was drawn.

This power and faith operates inside of me and moves out from me and blesses the hearts of all who would be blessed by it.  Many will be trapped by human philosophy and pride.  They will continue the argument about who is right and who is wrong with God until they pass from this life, but my prayer for you is that you will grab hold of this faith and allow it to transform your nature so that you too will have this power in a jar of clay.

I would not consider myself in anyway an expert in the glory realm.  I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and I know that His goodness and mercy does endure forever.  He has been so good to me and the witness of His spirit and grace in my life is enough.  As long as I have His Spirit, I can do all things.

Over the last number of months I have seen God do some incredible signs and wonders.  To be honest I have wrestled with them.  I don’t always know why God does the things that He does but He is awesome and He is good and when He chooses to move in a certain way it is for good that He does it.

I am more than certain that when God moved in ancient Egypt and devastation seemed to overtake the land, many cried out wondering why God was doing what He was doing.  They could not foresee the destiny that awaited the great people of Israel and the Messiah that would rise from within her.  They did not know that God had divine purposes in store for this slave nation.

When God begins to move in the glory, it is to set people free.  Psalm 24 says, “Who is this King of Glory?”  And then it answers “The Lord strong and mighty.  The Lord mighty in battle.”  When the Glory resides with man there is a sense of peace, joy and goodwill.  There is a liberty that is hard to put into words, but when experienced is completely satisfying.

I learned many years ago that “where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”(2 Corinthians 3:17).  I remember in the early days of revival in Kinburn, Mark Redner and I learned the principle of pressing into and past the obstacles that were in the spirit over that little church.  We knew that when we worshipped the Lord in the face of oppression, His Spirit would come and set the captives free.

You see when we worship the Lord, the Glory of God enters into our environments.  It comes with a liberty that you cannot put into words.  When people encounter His Spirit, obstacles have a way of disappearing.  The enemy over their minds is silenced.  Oppression ceases.  Bodies and minds are healed.

And in the place of this glory, miracles, signs and wonders take place.  God explodes and manifestations of glory begin to enter into the natural realm.  The supernatural and the natural worlds collide and what is in heaven comes to earth. 

The streets are paved with Gold in heaven.  Gold is the common ore and not a commodity.  When the Spirit of God manifests, all kinds of Gold comes to earth.  This is my experience.  You see Gold is like the fireworks of heaven.  It just appears because heaven is near.  People are touched by heaven and touched by Gold.  It is an amazing thing to witness.

I will not grow bored with seeing the glory of God manifest.  I feel like a child when I see these crazy signs and wonders.  Such joy enters my heart.  My prayer for you is that you too shall become like a child in the face of God’s manifest Glory.  I pray that you will become a conduit of that glory and that everywhere you wander, His shadow shall follow you.

I pray that you will have a golden shadow of glory.  May marvelous signs and wonders follow your life in any form that He chooses.  May no darkness be inside of you but only the glory of God.  May great joy and peace follow your life everywhere you wander.  May faces beam with glory and may lives be healed and changed as you advance toward your destiny.

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:27-28)

As you move forward toward your destiny, you will hear many things in the spirit.  Learning to speak these things is a matter between you and God.  When I look at the life of Christ, it didn’t seem that He had much fear when speaking against the lies and strongholds over the lives of the religious leaders of His time.  He learned to speak in the face of great opposition.

As you begin to proclaim the gospel truth, there will be a temptation to say only what you think people will want to hear.  Inside of every person there is a need to be accepted.  When this is pointed toward people, you will likely become very double-minded in the things that you say because you will say whatever you think they want to hear in order to please them.

But if your heart is pointed toward the Lord and you fear Him alone, then you will speak the words that He wants you to speak, even when you might be opposed by those that are listening.

I am not talking about being controversial for controversy’s sake.  I am talking about speaking words of life into hearts that might not want to receive them.  I am talking about speaking against the mountains and lies that keep people from God and trapped in sin.  I am talking about coming against the puzzles and lies over others’ hearts that keep them from the living God.

I recently heard someone apologize in a meeting for the sale of a product for a very low price.  I discerned that there was a spirit of poverty working in the lives of these people.  So when I preached, I came against the spirit of poverty and taught on the very generosity of God.

In other meetings I know that some people are opposed to the signs and wonders that are occurring in our meetings, and so I preach against the spirit that would oppose what God is doing.

We must use the word of God to break the lies.  If someone says God cannot heal, we must teach from the word that He can.  If someone says that signs and wonders are dead, then we use the word to show that they are in fact very much alive.

As we proclaim the truth of God’s word, He will back us up with signs and wonders following.  In this way we will open people up to what God is doing in our time.

I have seen people who were filled with doubt come into belief as we have preached what God has put on our hearts to preach.

I challenge you today to step out in the voice of God and ask Him to show you what to say.  Great fruitfulness will come to you as you live your life this way.