The Lord Reigns Over All The Nations. “I am, that I am , the God of the Nations”
By Onassis Jeevaraj, IPC Leadership Team member from India
The awakening of the Church is not new but has been happening as a pre-cursor to every radical move of God. It has always come to wake up the Church - His body to the truth of the Kingdom and the move of God in that season. The message for each awakening has been strategic for each move and pivotal to the Kingdom of God manifesting on earth as it is in heaven.
The book of Revelation, so rightly starts with a message to the Churches to reveal the heart of God, to the body Of Christ.
Revelation 1:1 “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.”
In submission to this word, the Spirit of God has impressed upon my (Bro Onassis’s) spirit, a message for the body of Christ for such a time as this.
Like all Awakenings are largely about an identity crisis. This one is too. God is moving in a very powerful way and ready to break forth a mighty outpouring. He never does anything without saying it to His prophets first, so,
“Wake up O Sleeper, Arise!! for the Lord Jesus Christ desires to shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14, Isaiah 60:1)
Wake Up To Happenings Worldwide
People are killed in masses in the Middle East and are being displaced from their lands. The people are therefore carrying the heart of a refugee.
Majority-ism is passing the rulings of the world. Shouldn’t it be the prayers of the humble people of God doing so?
Climatic changes are drastic and are causing unusual disasters and calamities. Jammu and Kashmir in India saw a disaster flood, North East US saw unusual snowstorms and Indonesia saw typhoons. The list is unending. These weaken economies and give rise to darkness rising in the hearts of man to manage survival.
Direct onslaughts against Churches in many nations with Witches and Corrupt leaders raising their heads against the knowledge of Christ.
Leadership of countries like in India, subtly penetrating the system of the country, trying to weave a impregnable cloud of deception by introducing many efforts to make the epic of religion a reality, masking truth with a lie spoken many times in many ways.
Amidst all of this, the Spirit of the Lord says, “Listen to what the Spirit says to the Church - Revelation 1:2-3”
Behold! The News of Heaven
God is going to showdown His glory like never before. No matter the things that are happening around, the Lord reigns over all the nations.
- God is raising up an army to awaken the Church - A rumbling.
- Do not judge the different parts of the body of Christ on how
they have invested in the Kingdom
- There is going to be a revival of expats in US
- God is going to re-ignite missions in Europe.
- Islam is not going to explode but is going to implode.
- Millions are going to reject Islam and shut doors to it in the West.
God is in the relentless process of plundering hell and populating heaven. You are invited to be a part of this magnificent move of God.
God’s Move - Many Roads To Damascus
In all spheres of influence, Media, Government, Education, Business, Religion, Arts, Entertainment, Family, etc. God is and has created many roads to Damascus experience for those Sauls who are currently on an assignment against the Churches. These roads are to be radical encounters with God and turn-arounds for these Sauls to become Pauls.
An Army of Pauls are going to overtake the Levites. The Church right now is asleep to this move and is going to be alarmed to see these radical Pauls take the world for Jesus.
God is looking for His sons and daughters to partner with Him in this move. So the question of His Spirit is, “Ananias - Where are you?”
Today the Lord is not thinking about the Damascus Road of Saul, as He on His own is revealing His mighty self and bringing the transformation of many numerous Sauls worldwide. But the Road of Ananias is the one that the Lord is looking at.
Saul will have all sorts of things to do in and for the Kingdom of God, but the man God relies upon in this hour is the child of God who has been trained for such a time as now - Ananias. How lovely that God would choose a man whose very name, in its derivative Hebrew form, means “the LORD is gracious” or “the LORD shows grace” to be such a lavish instrument of grace!
It was Ananias who revealed the abundant grace and love of God to embrace Saul into the fold of God - His body. Even today, God has not changed. He has created multiple Damascus roads in all spheres of influence and is orchestrating an encounter with all the Sauls on those roads. But where are the Ananiases of God? Are they ready?
Who are the Ananiases?
Ananias doesn’t need any help recognizing the LORD when he is spoken to. When the LORD speaks to this man, Ananias’ immediate response is “Here I am, LORD!”
Ananias receives great detail in the revelation of the journey to Paul. He is given the street name, the homeowner’s name and Saul’s name. He is told what Saul is doing at the moment and what Saul is being told by God. He is told what he is supposed to do and say. He is even told why his mission is so important – God Almighty lets Ananias in on his long-range plans for the life of Saul and in so doing the life of the Church itself.
The safety and security of Ananias are secondary to the importance of the mission. Faithful Ananias was listening and ready for the mission, because God amazingly allowed him to fully understand the mission, because Ananias allowed the mission to be more important than himself, this faithful, obedient and utterly wonderful guy Ananias got to see the miracle of grace in Saul’s life and harvested Paul.
If the mission isn’t more important than you, the mission will never be accomplished. This is the heartbeat of Ananias.
What must the Church do?
Sauls are ready to rush up to the Ananias. A great harvest of Sauls are present in India.
The body of Christ must reveal the heart of the Father (Luke 15), they must
- Prepare
- Sharpen their gifting
- Rise Up And Look to God
- Children and Young people have a great role in the coming revival--a generation of Josephs, Elishas and Davids.
- The global Church should connect with the churches that are broken and take responsibility for them.
- The Church should rise, not in fear but in radically taking their rightful possessions as sons and daughters of God.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Iran: Prisoners for their faith
25 Nov 2016
Nasim - serving a four-year sentence in Evin prison since 2013. Earlier this year Prayer-Alert readers prayed for her health after she went on hunger strike and the prison released her on temporary medical furlough to recover. She did not fully recover and has serious health problems, including a heart condition; pray for her health and for peace for her family.
Ebrahim Firouzi - in a particularly dangerous prison in Karaj, serving a five-year sentence for Christian activities. He sent a letter from prison to others in Iran, saying ‘If you are courageous in God’s way, God’s grace will be with you. Do not fear what you are doing and raise the banner of Jesus in the name of God.’ There are many others not serving sentences, but detained pre-trial. Among this unknown number, are Amin, Amir and Hadi - arrested on 26 August during a picnic with their families in Tehran province.
Canada: Theology Matters
25 Nov 2016
A five-year study in Ontario called ‘Theology Matters’ has revealed that churches adhering to conservative theology tend to have better growth-rates. The study compared the traits of growing and declining mainline Protestant church attendances and clergy amongst 2,225 churchgoers and 29 clergy. They noted that the growing churches held more firmly to the traditional beliefs of Christianity and were more diligent in things like prayer and Bible reading. They further noted that the confidence that comes from having a united core set of beliefs can be attractive to outsiders. Confidence mixed with a message that's uplifting, reassuring or basically positive is an attractive combination. They also noted a correlation between clergy who read the Bible daily and viewed evangelism as important for the growth of a church. 71% of clergy in growing churches read the Bible daily, while 19% of clergy in declining churches did not do so.
Lebanon: Decides to build a wall
25 Nov 2016
A controversial ‘security’ wall, with watchtowers, around the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp began to take shape on Sunday. The decision was taken by Lebanese authorities in coordination with Palestinian factions running the camp. On Thursday the army ‘paused’ the construction which residents call the ‘wall of shame.’ It is unclear whether construction will continue in the face of opposition. While the camp is already blocked off with metal fences and army checkpoints, officials said the wall was necessary to control radical armed groups fuelling violence within the camps. Regular clashes between various factions have continuously put refugee lives at risk. Last year fighting displaced thousands and injured tens of residents. Over 70,000 Palestinians live inside the camp, many calling the wall Lebanon's latest act of discrimination against them, comparing it with Israel's Separation Wall in and around the West Bank.
Indonesia: IS-inspired attacks
25 Nov 2016
Two-year-old Intan Olivia Marbun was playing with other children outside the church in Samarinda when an attacker on a motorbike threw explosives into a parking area in front of the church. She died the following day from extensive burns and respiratory problems. Three other children are being treated in hospital. The attacker was wearing a T-shirt with ‘jihad’ written on it - and has previously been jailed for involvement in terrorist activity. He was arrested with five others. They are believed to be part of Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT), an Islamist group that supports IS. There have been a number of IS-inspired attacks in Indonesia. In the middle of a church service on 28 August in Medan, a Muslim man attempted to detonate a suicide bomb but when this failed he attacked the pastor leading the service with an axe.
Uganda: Property grabbing and plea-bargaining
25 Nov 2016
With insecure land rights it’s almost impossible for the poor to overcome poverty. A house and a small patch of land are their shelter, food and desperately needed income. But for widowed women and orphaned children even this fragile foundation is not safe. Powerful relatives or neighbours often steal their meagre property with violence or lies. However, we can praise God for a conviction in Gulu, achieved through plea-bargaining. This relates to the case of an 82-year-old woman who was physically threatened and then had false charges made against her, putting her and multiple children on her family’s compound at risk. This is the first time an International Justice Mission team has achieved a conviction through plea-bargaining. Please pray for more convictions to be attained in Uganda through this effective and time-saving method.
Iraq is home to 3.4 million displaced Iraqis and provides sanctuary for a quarter of a million Syrian refugees. Agencies can get children who have fled from war back into school, but many children suffer from toxic stress and find it difficult to learn. Standing in front of her class of Syrian refugees, teacher Shirin asks her students to close their eyes. The children oblige and begin taking deep breaths in and out. Shirin describes how they should picture themselves blowing out five candles, inhaling the scent of a flower, and then when exhaling ‘imagine you are blowing out a candle.’ She repeats this five times, until the children have blown out five candles. Emotional learning techniques rebuild healthy brain structures and neurological connections damaged by trauma-induced 'toxic stress'. Benefits include improved academic performance, better social skills, positive self-image, as well as decreased aggression and emotional distress. Across the region, there are 6.5 million child refugees like Shirin's class.
Israel: Trump win prompts building spree
25 Nov 2016
Jerusalem municipality will authorise the construction of 1,400 apartments in the Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. Previously they said that fears of antagonising Washington delayed their approval of wider construction plans for Jerusalem. In addition to the 1,440 homes, further plans include 3,000 units in Gilo and 2,600 in the Givat Hamatos neighbourhood. The international community regards these neighbourhoods as settlements, Israel considers them as neighbourhoods of annexed East Jerusalem and argues that it will be part of Israel in any negotiated peace agreement. Trump’s vocal support is at odds with traditional US opposition to construction beyond the Green Line. Trump has called Jerusalem ‘Israel’s capital’ and vowed to move the US Embassy there, essentially offering support for Israeli moves there. But the Palestinian Authority promised to ‘make life miserable’ for Donald Trump if he moves the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. see: http://www.cufi.org.uk/news/palestinian-authority-threaten-us-over-trumps-promise-to-move-embassy-to-jerusalem/