Authority from Testimony

Posted on 2013/02/09 by pdt

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Audio Message

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.  Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

– Genesis 22:1-3

This week we focus on the 5th of the 6 messages God gave to us for 2013, which is:

  • God’s release of Kingdom authority will demand us to offer up our “Isaacs”, putting to death our ambition – Genesis 22:1-19

God is calling us to prepare for a coming season when He will begin to release the “Josephs” to their “storehouse” assignments.  This preparation is critical because it will make a night and day difference in the way that God entrusts us with kingdom authority – the capability, influence, and wealth vested to us for bringing Christ’s witness to the world.

God is doing a “new thing” to prepare the meek to inherit the earth.  He is awakening us to our Kingdom destinies.  He is fashioning us into “culture transformers” through the shepherd’s anointing.  In all of this, the Lord will purify us into vessels that can steward kingdom authority, like that of Joseph, Abraham, and Moses.  In this purification, God will take us through a process of putting to death our self-ambitions, thereby, demonstrating a testimony that we can be entrusted with kingdom authority.

Authority always comes from the testimony, shown to God and to people, that we are qualified for such power and influence.  The testimony comes through the testing in our ambitions, the heart demonstration of selflessness in our strivings.  Some have said that Sun Yat-sen, the Christian revolutionary, established authority from the testimony of his selflessness.  Vested with such authority, he then was able to play a key role in liberating China from 2,000 years of monarchy.

In establishing our testimonies to become vessels of authority, God would often lead us into two types of situations:

  • Contradiction – as when God tested Abraham’s self-ambition as the “father of nations” by demanding him to give up Isaac;
  • Scarcity – as when God tempered Moses’ self-ambition by driving him to a place of desperation such that he must rely on God to validate his leadership to the people.

God is raising up today’s “storehouse builders” through circumstances of contradictions and scarcity.  We should not come against these situations.  But should embrace them as opportunities in the path of the cross, to purify ourselves from self-ambition, to establish a testimony of selflessness – as one qualified for authority.

Market Place Meditation and Prayer

  1. Describe the picture the Holy Spirit has placed in your heart concerning your call to kingdom authority – capability, influence, and wealth.
  2. How is the Lord leading you into a testimony for authority, into circumstances of contradiction and scarcity?

Lord, we ask that good shepherds would be risen up to awaken your storehouse builders to their destiny.  Let that destiny call sustain their pursuit of selflessness.

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Reflecting the Image of the Good Shepherd

Posted on 2013/02/03 by pdt

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Audio Message

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” – John 10:10-11

As we share on the 4th of the 6 messages the Lord gave us in China on 12/12/12, I am filled with anticipation because this message speaks of the Spirit’s heart to impart to us one of the most powerful tools for witnessing to the world’s market place.

The 4th message is:

  • God will bring an unprecedented increase of the shepherd’s anointing in wisdom, restoration, and abundance – John 10:11-18

In awakening us to our Kingdom identity (3rd message from last week), God will release an unprecedented measure of the shepherd’s anointing to rebuild our destiny – that which the devil came to kill, steal, and destroy.  We anticipate that the Holy Spirit will rebuild our destinies by empowering the shepherd’s hand with an unprecedented flow of wisdom, restoration, and abundance.  In that, we look forward to receiving a shepherding spirit that will bring:

  1. Wisdom – that opens our eyes to the blueprint of our destiny;
  2. Restoration – that puts us back on track of our destiny path;
  3. Abundance – that brings testimony in our destiny.

What is the powerful outcome of this shepherding anointing?  It is the anointed shepherd’s ability to transform a person or a community’s culture, thus building strong and committed organizations that can achieve great endeavors.  Many companies today expend enormous amount of resources on establishing or transforming company culture.  Why?  because they know that no matter how great the market opportunities or how sound their business strategies, it is the culture that ultimately determines the team’s success – its determination to overcome difficulties or rebound from setbacks.  Napoleon can outwit the enemy with ingenious military strategy.  But it is the culture that sustained the French army’s willing spirit to march to their deaths in Russia.

In the coming years, we believe that Christ will take the world’s attention by raising up leaders who reflect His image as the Good Shepherd.  In this season of God doing a “new thing” as He elevates our witness for Christ to the world, we should expect the shepherd’s anointing to manifest in non-traditional settings, such as,

  • Companies – like Elder Donald Wu at Tony Wear;
  • Industries (between companies);
  • Government (city, state/province, nation) – like Moses leading the nation of Israel.

We pray that the “storehouse builders” of this age will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and flow in the current of the Good Shepherd, bringing a witness through powerful manifestations of wisdom, restoration, and abundance.

Market Place Meditation and Prayer

  1. How have good shepherds in your life transformed the culture of your heart?
  2. What needs do you see for cultural transformation in your city, company, business unit, department, fellowship, or home?
  3. How can you reflect the image of the Good Shepherd by bringing the culture of Jesus (Matthew 5-7) to these areas?
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Breathe into a New Awakening

Posted on 2013/01/25 by pdt

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Audio Message

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7

Ezekiel 37:1-10

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32

Last week, we talked about a practical way of how to store up heavenly treasures by connecting our earthly careers and businesses to our God-given destiny.  Please follow this link for the message and audio.

This week, we proceed to the 3rd of the 6 messages God spoke to us in China as heart preparation for the upcoming year.  This message is:

In the “new thing” that the Lord has in store for the coming years, we anticipate that He will awaken us to our Kingdom identity so we come to understand our incredible roles in the end-time drama.  We believe that the transformation will be dramatic – like Adam waking up upon breathing in the breath of God, or like the picture of Ezekiel 37, where the dry bones were reformed into a great army through a prophetic breath, turning from death to life and from chaos to purpose.

John 8:32 describes a part of this awakening process.  That is to “know” the truth – to see our destiny and to understand our identity.  Jesus used the same word “know” in His great John 17:3 prayer, where He declared that eternal life – our destiny – is to “know” God and His Son.  Awakening to our destinies comes through knowing God and His ways, to know what the Father is doing.  And that knowledge brings freedom because in seeing our identity, we come out of the trap of a slave to sin in the Babylon system.  We come to stand in a place of authority, as a great army of “storehouse builders”, over God’s Kingdom economy.

The account of 2 Kings 6:15-17 well illustrates the outcomes of awakening.  Through Elisha’s prayer, his servant’s eyes were opened to God’s great army.  That awakening transformed his identity as a slave to his enemy’s army to a man of freedom and authority over fear.

As we enter into a season of awakening, of a new freedom, we must also expect new responsibilities.  We are heading into a time of preparation for unprecedented authority over capabilities, relationships, and finances to establish God’s “storehouse”.  In this, we have a responsibility to steward great changes in our career, investments, partnerships, and giving – with the faith that overcomes fears of tradition and past failures.  In that freedom, God breathe into us the original call in Eden: to be “fruitful and multiply” and share His pleasure of satisfying His Kingdom zeal.

Market Place Prayer

Lord, just as Elisha prayed his servant’s eyes to be opened, we ask you to breathe into your storehouse builders.  Awaken them with the vision of your army and transform their identities as a slave to the Babylonian market place to a steward of Your Kingdom economy.

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To Store Up Treasures in Heaven

Posted on 2013/01/16 by pdt

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Audio Message

The Global Prayer Connect is supported by the generous contributions of our community.  If you would like to join us and take part in supporting our work in the “storehouse strategy”, please follow this link.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  – Matthew 6:19-21

Through last week’s sharing on “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth”, we asserted that one aspect of storing up treasures in heaven is to create treasures on earth under heaven’s Kingdom mandate.  For this week, I would like to share a practical way of how to store up heavenly treasures by connecting our earthly careers and businesses to our God-given destiny – heaven’s Kingdom mandate.

In our market place call to raise up strong Kingdom companies, the Holy Spirit has recently led us to understand the power of Core Values in transforming an enterprise.  From studying the explosive cases of Facebook & Apple, we see that Core Values can have great impact on a company’s product strategy and brand delivery – key elements that can determine not only a company’s financial success, but also the ability to impart its value systems to the world, whether positively or negatively.

In the following message from MTC 2012, I convey the case that, if Facebook & Apple can storm the world with Core Values that were founded on theft and a false god, then how much more can we testify for Christ through our enterprises with Core Values founded on God-given destiny.

Building a Kingdom Brand Identity (MP3, PPT)

Key points from the message are:

  • The world’s most influential companies have shown that Core Values play a key role in the success of a company, organization or individual;
  • One key mandate of Kingdom advancement is to help today’s business leaders develop the right Core Value, and thereby, strengthening their company’s product, brand, and internal culture;
  • For our enterprises to impart the “brand” or testimony of Christ to the world, the right Core Values must flow from our God-given destiny;
  • Our destiny comes from our Kingdom DNA – Psalm 139;
  • Articulating Biblical and relevant “Destiny Statements” forms a powerful basis for establishing a company or organization’s Core Values, and most importantly, brings clarity to their Kingdom mandate.

The earth is important to God and He will entrust its treasures to people who flow in a meek spirit – to those who embrace heavenly value systems and know how to store earthly treasures in heaven.  Meekness is God’s “secret weapon” for today’s market place believers to connect heaven and earth.  We will press into this powerful spiritual discipline in greater detail during the coming months.

 

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