The COVENANT

The word Covenant is rarely used these days, but it is vital when it comes to understanding our relationship with God and ‘The Throne Room Protocol’. So let’s have a close look at it before we go any further.
A Covenant is an agreement between two parties, a bond, a contract, a promise that is not meant to be broken. The oldest institution known to man is a ‘covenant’ established by God with a greater purpose than most people realise. The Institution of ‘marriage’ was established to bring a man and a woman together as ‘one’. It is written in Genesis 2:24 that ‘a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.’ Here we see what in biblical terms is called a ‘type’ or a ‘shadow’ of a greater reality. The covenant relationship of marriage is a ‘type’ of relationship which foreshadows the greater relationship between God and man found in the relationship Jesus Christ has with The Church. In New Testament theology the Church is referred to as the bride and Jesus is the bride groom, and the significance of that will become more apparent as we dig a little deeper.
Types and Shadows are found all through scripture. Whatever we see established by God in Old Testament theology will invariably have a significance in New Testament or End Time theology. The ‘Mysteries’ of God which have for so long been just that, actually have their revelation in careful study of Scripture and the leading / prompting of The Holy Spirit. And as we assess what God is doing, and has planned to do in these ‘end times’ we discover so many truths (keys) which have been established since the beginning of time, that will unlock our futures.
The ‘covenant’ established between God and Abraham and subsequently played out throughout biblical history has as its centrepiece the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ which was a physical representation of what in ancient Hebrew was known as ‘Shekhinah’ the manifestation of God’s physical presence (the Talmudic word for ‘Glory’). The Ark of the Covenant was to reside in the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) and the Shekhinah which rested upon the tabernacle actually went wherever the Ark of The Covenant went. In fact the ‘Glory’ of God upon the Ark of the Covenant was so powerful that unless the ark was handled exactly as the Lord had instructed it would lead to severe consequences (loss of life) for the person or persons who mishandled it, and there were other amazing manifestations of God’s Glory that surrounded the Ark, also known as the Ark of the Testimony. One such incident too place as the ark was being carried over a swollen river, and at the point when those carrying the ark touched the water with their toes, the whole river ceased to flow up stream, and they were able to walk across on dry ground, until the last man had left the water. Another incident was when Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron brought a foreign flame to offer a sacrifice in the Tabernacle, they were devoured by a fire that emanated "from the Lord" (Lev 10:2), and then there was the time the Philistines captured the Ark and took it with them. Many people died as a result, and the Ark was eventually returned to the Israelites. 20 years later while the Ark was being transported back to Jerusalem under David’s care a man named Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark as it toppled in the back of an Ox cart, and he died instantly. This prompted David, who was building the new Temple (a permanent Tabernacle) to leave the Ark in the home of Obed-edon until the construction had been complete. Three months later He moved the Ark to Jerusalem.
Now it was that little 3 months stint at Obed–edom’s house which has many of us today in raptures of delight, as the Lord reveals another of His amazing mysteries. (I’ll come back and fill in the blanks soon)
So as we begin to understand the importance of the “Shekhinah’ – God’s presence – and we see how His ‘Glory’ impacts all that it comes in contact with, we begin to see the value of digging a little deeper, so that we might begin to understand the ‘Protocol’ God calls for to bring us into His Presence, and ultimately to bring His Presence to rest upon us.
Stay Tuned… We’re just getting started.

THERE MUST BE MORE THAN THIS

How many times has that thought crossed your mind?... "there must be more than this?!!!"
For me, it has been the constant cry of my heart since I was a teenager longing to see lives transformed for Jesus sake, yet struggling to see how the message of salvation could ever penetrate the heart of the average Joe.

Reading Jesus and His disciples, the ACTS of the apostles and the various other exploits of the early church I have often found myself aching inside to see such amazing manifestations of God's Glory today.

When Jesus was approached by John the Baptist's disciples to see if in fact he was the Messiah, or whether they were to wait for another, Jesus response was astounding.
“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

WOW. The testimony speaks for itself.

Throughout Jesus Ministry life; from the time he came out of the desert after the forty days of fasting (having defeated Satan by rejecting his temptations) and his subsequent baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan; He was so full of the Holy Spirit that wherever He went to preach the good news of The Kingdom, miracles, signs and wonders would follow. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was able to do all the things Scripture had prophesied would happen.

Once when Jesus went into the Synagogue to read from God's Word he opened up to Isaiah 61 and read: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favour."
He went on to say... “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And so Jesus went about demonstrating His good news message of salvation by interacting with society in and through the Power of God.
He healed the sick, cast out demons, showed mercy toward sinners, preached good news to the poor and demonstrated God's Authority in all kinds of situations.

And then to take the amazement to another level, He says to his disciples... "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these"

And so I stand here today looking around at the church I see before me and the cry of my heart is still there... "there must be more than this."
And there is! Because I know that God does not lie.

This cry in my heart has lead me, along with countless thousands of others who have the same cry in their heart, to seek God with all our hearts, to search the Scriptures and scour the Globe, looking for glimpses of God’s Glory anywhere in His church.

Fortunately, it’s not all gloom and doom for the church, as there are pockets of church life where the great Glory of God is so present that  whole communities have been transformed by His great love and power. Where even the land itself has been healed as we see in Gods promise found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, and mass repentance and revival has broken out amongst even the most pagan of people within these communities.

There is also a groundswell of church leaders around the World who having set out looking for the same things I have been looking for have found at least a  measure of God’s glory, and have seen some amazing transformations take place in the lives of the people they have been privileged to encounter in ministry.

In the following posts I hope to gleam from the many encounters of others who have blazed the trails before us, and my own journey of experiences and encounters to outline what I believe to be  "The Throne Room Protocol" which will lead us to a greater understanding of what we must do, and how we must act as God’s church, Jesus Bride, as we welcome His presence into everything we do, even our unsaved communities, and see revival break out like never before.

Taken directly from Scripture and tested over time in the fires of revival and community transformation, ‘The Throne Room Protocol’ is a set of principals set out by the Lord Himself; revealed in Scripture; to lead us (His Church) to a place of readiness for His Glory to be manifest in our midst.

Watch this space...