Be strong and of good courage.
Faith inherits the promises of God towards us. Hope is tenacious and does not let go. The Lord hovers over His word to perform it. That means it is like cooking. You take time to mix the ingredients together. This is the release of the Word and the promise. Then, many times there is an incubation period when you wait and pray. This is the “oven” time. Some cooking takes a few minutes, others take hours or even days in select cases. This does not mean the promise is forgotten, it is just incubating. Our duty is to keep the fire going and the necessary cooking conditions though faith and through our prayers. The same analogy is drawn with a pregnant woman. There is the conception, and then there is an extensive period of waiting and hoping. Moreover there are some signs given that the big day is approaching.
There is a similarity in our prayers. We have many promises as to what God desires to do in Zimbabwe and for her peoples. Let us continue to pray over these and hold our faith strong as we walk into the months and years ahead. The fulfillment may take time, but if our hope is sure in Christ, we will see the fruit of the promises ahead of us. At first we may just see some small signs. These signs are indicators that the cake is cooking, or that there is indeed a pregnancy and the days of completion are indeed approaching. Look for the signs in the midst of the turmoil. They are there.
Christ exhorts us to always pray and to never lose heart! See Luke 18.
Courage my friends. Hope in God!
Dear Friends of Zimbabwe,
I greatly respect and value your courage through the days that we have been living. I thank God for you and that you refuse to give up in the face of adversity. May the favour of our Lord shine upon you!
God’s glory was meant to be seen upon His people. We were made as containers of His glory! God has made a covenant with us through Jesus Christ the righteous. We were captive, but He set us free through Jesus. We were formerly enslaved to do the will of the devil and the flesh (which is our selfish desires.) We hurt people every day, intentionally and unintentionally. We were destructive in our thoughts, words and actions. We were corrupted people. We were people with Adam’s fallen nature. Now, through Jesus Christ, we have been given extended the hand of grace. He has commanded us to arise and throw off our robes of unrighteousness and to embrace His righteousness.
“I took your fallen nature upon Myself, when I died on the cross,” He says, “but My covenant is surpassing all your sins and failures. If you would, have faith and courage and exchange those things with Me, and I will give you glorious robes of righteousness and truth in the dark world in which you now live. Live in My promises. This is the covenant: I will take your sins and failures and give you Life, and Life abundantly. Uncloak yourselves of deceit and discouragement. Arise and Shine, for your light IS come! No longer should you live under the heel of suffering and pain, I have taken these too upon the cross. My promise is eternal, and it is of life abundantly. Come to Me all you who are hurting and wounded and I will give you rest from your labours. Seek first My kingdom and righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.
“I give you favour and life abundantly. This is My covenant and it will never depart from you. As long as you honour Me and My words, you will abide in the light of My presence. I give you favour to stand firm in a dark day, and to shine as the lights of My glory to your family and friends.
“Don’t be discouraged. Arise and shine, and you will see My presence changing the world around you as you live in faith. Refuse to be discouraged! Discouragement is the enemy of hope and love. It is inverted and means you are looking at yourself and your circumstances. Faith comes from looking at Me and My presence. How can you be discouraged, when you are gazing into My presence and see all that I Am, and what I Am doing in your lives? Have faith and you will move the mountains of opposition around you. Then My glory will be seen in your lives and the truth of My word will now be living in you.”
Greetings Friends,
Here is another prayer request. Last week I had a dream of sitting at a the end of a large conference table. The presidential powers and cabinet members sat at the table. Members of each party took their sides. There was strong disagreement about how to write up the budgets and how to allocate spending in order to move the country forward. There was clearly an impass.
I would strongly suggest that we continue to pray for clarity in our economics and common agreement. i.e unity. It was been with much hard work of the leaders and hard prayer of the saints that has brought us this far. Let us continue to persevere in for them to forge a strong future for our country. Amen.
Although I was seated at the head of the table, this is rather symbolic of our placement as believers because of Christ Jesus. The Word says that we are seated in heavenly places where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Imagine that! Christ has given us all authority to bring all things into subjection unto Himself. The word says this. We are His agents in this hour. Prayer to God is so powerful, because in it, you effectively petition the great King who sits at the head of the table. We may be physically present in Zimbabwe, or in SA, Japan, US, Britian etc. yet you are accessing Jesus who sits seated at the head of the table of the kings of the earth, together with you. Powerful isn’t it? Don’t loose your faith and hope! Look up into the stars at night and remember we serve a mightly King that responds to the faithful prayers of His saints and will move on behalf our our petitions.
Blessings in the Name of the Great King, Jesus.
Keith