中文請點擊這裡
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. – Luke 24:9-12
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sigh. – Luke 24:30-31.
This week, we dig deeper into the first of the 6 messages God gave us as heart preparation for the upcoming year. This message is:
· God will be doing a new thing such that we must be of a pure heart and simple faith to see – Luke 24:1-49
As a believer, one of our greatest “faith assignments” is to keep in pace with God’s work of “new things”. God’s acts of great transformation often surprise us because they lie so far from our realm of expectation. Even Jesus’ disciples, who followed Him everywhere for 3 years, did not grasp God’s agenda for manifesting heaven on earth. Despite Jesus’ numerous proclamations of His impending resurrection, they still thought that the women’s account – of the Holy Spirit’s heavenly power reversing death in Jesus’ physical body – was “nonsense”.
Jesus teaches us to pray for a heavenly manifestation on earth. Scripture also shows that as we near Christ’s return, God will manifest Kingdom authority through His people in unprecedented measures, bringing transformation to the world’s market places like history has never seen before. We believe that through an end-time storehouse strategy, God will establish through the church a Kingdom economy as one His most powerful testimonies of mercy and compassion. In order to not fall into disbelief and mistake God’s great transformational work as “nonsense”, we must heed the call of Isaiah 43:19 to “perceive the new thing” God is doing.
Luke 24 shows us how we can prepare our hearts and establish our faith to perceive God’s work. These principles are:
- We must identify the “women of faith” who are carrying God’s most forefront Kingdom messages. We may tend to write them off initially as “nonsense”. But if we want to keep pace with God’s “new thing”, we must come to recognize them as God’s vessels for early disclosure – as people with advance knowledge of His workings. Therefore, we need to seek to purify our hearts with humility and learn to hear God’s message through these individuals.
- By establishing our faith in the Father’s love, knowing that all things will eventually work for the good, we can avoid falling into the trap of doubt which leads to fear. Just like Peter in verse 12, God will give us time to reflect, process, and eventually catch-on and catch-up to His awesome heavenly work on earth.
- Just as the disciple’s eyes were opened by Jesus’ breaking of bread in verse 31, we, too, should expect to receive a deeper revelation of Christ and His Kingdom agenda through the worship of the Lord’s supper. In it, God has embedded a manifestation of heaven on earth – connecting us to our heavenly destiny through Christ’s physical body, connecting us to our heavenly covenant through Christ’s physical blood. Communion is more than a ceremony of remembrance. It is also a gateway to opening our eyes to a greater revelation of Jesus Christ and perceiving His “new thing”.
Market Place Reflection and Prayer
Lord, our hearts long to see Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May that longing be founded on a pure heart and simple faith. May we perceive your transformational work in our generation.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. – Luke 24:9-12
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sigh. – Luke 24:30-31.
This week, we dig deeper into the first of the 6 messages God gave us as heart preparation for the upcoming year. This message is:
· God will be doing a new thing such that we must be of a pure heart and simple faith to see – Luke 24:1-49
As a believer, one of our greatest “faith assignments” is to keep in pace with God’s work of “new things”. God’s acts of great transformation often surprise us because they lie so far from our realm of expectation. Even Jesus’ disciples, who followed Him everywhere for 3 years, did not grasp God’s agenda for manifesting heaven on earth. Despite Jesus’ numerous proclamations of His impending resurrection, they still thought that the women’s account – of the Holy Spirit’s heavenly power reversing death in Jesus’ physical body – was “nonsense”.
Jesus teaches us to pray for a heavenly manifestation on earth. Scripture also shows that as we near Christ’s return, God will manifest Kingdom authority through His people in unprecedented measures, bringing transformation to the world’s market places like history has never seen before. We believe that through an end-time storehouse strategy, God will establish through the church a Kingdom economy as one His most powerful testimonies of mercy and compassion. In order to not fall into disbelief and mistake God’s great transformational work as “nonsense”, we must heed the call of Isaiah 43:19 to “perceive the new thing” God is doing.
Luke 24 shows us how we can prepare our hearts and establish our faith to perceive God’s work. These principles are:
- We must identify the “women of faith” who are carrying God’s most forefront Kingdom messages. We may tend to write them off initially as “nonsense”. But if we want to keep pace with God’s “new thing”, we must come to recognize them as God’s vessels for early disclosure – as people with advance knowledge of His workings. Therefore, we need to seek to purify our hearts with humility and learn to hear God’s message through these individuals.
- By establishing our faith in the Father’s love, knowing that all things will eventually work for the good, we can avoid falling into the trap of doubt which leads to fear. Just like Peter in verse 12, God will give us time to reflect, process, and eventually catch-on and catch-up to His awesome heavenly work on earth.
- Just as the disciple’s eyes were opened by Jesus’ breaking of bread in verse 31, we, too, should expect to receive a deeper revelation of Christ and His Kingdom agenda through the worship of the Lord’s supper. In it, God has embedded a manifestation of heaven on earth – connecting us to our heavenly destiny through Christ’s physical body, connecting us to our heavenly covenant through Christ’s physical blood. Communion is more than a ceremony of remembrance. It is also a gateway to opening our eyes to a greater revelation of Jesus Christ and perceiving His “new thing”.
Market Place Reflection and Prayer
Lord, our hearts long to see Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May that longing be founded on a pure heart and simple faith. May we perceive your transformational work in our generation.
Blessings,
Pastor David Tai
Blog: 168prayer.org
