Arise

by the brightest kind of flame

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 “God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.”  

When Jesus died on the cross and saved us, God had much more than our eternity in mind. He picked us from the start to be His own, to live a life of faith and truth, in which we can share in the Glory of Jesus Christ! He has called us for a purpose, to make a difference in this world, to live supernaturally natural lives each and every day! And to live in unity with each other and with Him. 

I recently got back from a week ministering at ARISE FIJI with my church, The Link. Right from the start it was go go go! We were all over the place with people from our team being called into all different parts of the community.

The Link men went to the male prison and after ministering to and sharing with the convicts saw 70 men give their heart to Jesus.

We went to a children’s hospital and prayed for all the kids (saw some come home the next day praise God!) and helped them start a children’s library…

We took part in leading several youth workshops where we did praise and worship, prayer and then seminars on healthy living. 

And during the night we lead thousands of people in praise and worship at the youth rallies (which were absolutely amazing!) God moved in ways we could never had imagined and met us every step of the way.

We saw several people being delivered of all types of things spiritually and were filled with such immense amounts of joy in His presence! 

God breathed unity that we felt amongst the people of our church and within the different denominations in Fiji (who had never come together for anything until this last week) and unity and reconciliation between the Indians and the Fijians who have had (for centuries!) major disputes and racial tensions.

The festival saw these bonds broken, and people of all races holding hands, worshipping together, participating in events
together and praying alongside each other.

Gods faithfulness and love for His people has amazed us time and time again. Not only was He sought after, He was clearly seeking them. Amidst all the issues of racism, crime, youth rebellion and sickness GOD IS THE ANSWER!  

So just as we saw the people respond to the call of God this week as they realised that He valued them (no matter who they were!) and they He had picked us from the start to be His own, to live a life of faith and truth. So too is He calling us. He has called us to love Him, love His people and to as a church… Arise.