The regions beyond

I want to challenge you to go to the regions beyond - the regions beyond in your faith, the regions beyond in your service. The regions beyond in your prayer life. Don't be satisfied with your prayer life. Don't be satisfied with what you are doing. Let's go higher. How do you get up this 'mountain'? There is no chairlift and there is no cable car. There is only one way up this mountain. You do it by setting the pace and keeping it up step-by-step. So long as you keep moving, Jesus will guide you, leading you on, bringing to you hope along the way.

The regions beyond: We get stuck at the thought that mortal man could move anything bigger than himself! We agonise over the reality of moving that mountain - call our friends to stand with us in believing prayer - because this mountain is proving harder than we thought to move. Then when it happens - that miracle, that healing, or financial solution - we become so excited (as I experienced so many times personally), that we drop the real key down the drain in our excitement!

In Matthew 17:14-21, the disciples had missed the opportunity of releasing the greatest power into their lives - Jesus was putting a key in their hands, and if they would only use this key, their lives would never be the same again! For me, searching and hungry for more of God's power in my life, I saw what I have been waiting for - there is a spiritual 'region beyond'.

We need to realise God has a power and a glory far greater than anything we have ever seen yet! Are we, in our spiritual experience, ready to cross the barrier, to move into something so big we could hardly dream about?

Of all the gifts of God, faith is the greatest - it's the key to the 'normal' Christian life! There are nine gifts which you only receive after you have been baptised in the Holy Spirit (have you received... since you believed?): three VOCAL gifts, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy; there are three INTELLECTUAL gifts, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the discerning of spirits; and there are three PRACTICAL gifts - I love the practical gifts - healing, working of miracles, and the gift of faith, 1 Corinthians 12. These are the normal every-day gifts of the Holy Spirit to the believer. By the same power with which you speak in tongues, you also heal the sick and work miracles! Paul asks, does everybody work miracles? What a challenge! Does every church work miracles? But this is the NORMAL Christian life! Cry out to God that He will fill you with the Holy Ghost and power!

Faith is what you DO! Are you living a normal Christian life? Do you have the gift of faith? This is NOT an intellectual gift. Faith is nothing to do with your education OR with what you think – it's what you DO. Faith is ACTION. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as SUBSTANCE and EVIDENCE, something solid. It's not something intellectual, it's the most PRACTICAL gift God can give.

To listen to today's podcast 'The Next Level' visit
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or download it by visiting: Download this episode (right click and save)

"We did it together"

When David's wife, Zena, died in December among her final words were, "We did it together". David often preaches from Romans 12:1 on offering our lives as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. To be in ministry is a sacrifice; it was a sacrifice for Zena, especially when David was in prison for Bible smuggling, and the many long periods when he was evangelising in Russia and Siberia. She knew it was God's calling on his life and wouldn’t allow anyone to stop him. Her first words on being given her terminal diagnosis were, "David, you must carry on with the ministry!" Days later David was holding the largest evangelism he had ever held, with thousands of souls saved, reaching the whole nation live on national TV! She knew her eternal home was heaven and wanted others to have the same assurance. - That is why next week David will be Ukraine, followed by ministry in Switzerland, Israel, Germany, Slovakia and UK.

As she passed to her reward Vinesong's song 'Heaven' was playing. Using this song we have made a photo tribute of the ministry she sacrificed for. May it be a blessing to those of you who have also lost loved ones.

'I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.' (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, KJV)

Post by Ministry of David Hathaway.

Blessed and Broken

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! (Mathew 10:27)

There are times when God puts us through an experience of darkness to teach us to hear and obey His voice. When we are in the dark our senses are heightened, we hear sounds and detect movements that otherwise would be non-existent in the light. In the dark our deepest fears prey on our minds, we become vulnerable to the slightest movement, our imaginations run wild. Yet the darkness is a deliberate act of God, it is His divine will, for it is only in the dark that He teaches us the greatest lessons. Contained within darkness are treasures and secret riches (Is 45:3), but they can only be learnt in silence and stillness. There is hope in realising that before Jesus broke the bread He blessed it, for it is only in the breaking that multiplication took place. The bread was not blessed after it was broken and torn, but the blessing was in the tearing (Matthew 14:19).

When you are in darkness wait until God brings the light; never try and help Him bring better times, for they will surely come at the appointed time. Even in Genesis 1:1 after God had created the heavens and the earth, darkness covered the deep; but yet in this void and desolation the Spirit was hovering, waiting for the next instruction.

Oswald Chambers said of dark times: 'Pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood - darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. This is a time of discipline and instruction not displeasure.'

A glorious future

Call upon Jesus! When you are in distress, when you are in trouble, when all the problems of life have come upon you, you will find God if you search for Him from just where you are. Today, God has given you a solemn promise of a glorious future. I want you to let these words sink into your spirit this year: God has a bright future for you, He is bringing you out into abundance. An abundance of health, joy, peace: He will give you an abundance of every good thing. You've been through the fire now it's time to enjoy the blessing (Ps 66:12).

I know many reading this have secret problems you cannot share. They are too deep, too hurtful, you cannot open up. Just tell everything to Jesus. It's the only way to be healed, delivered, set free. Talk to Him. He's listening. He loves you – He'll answer. You are not forgotten or insignificant, to Him you are precious and valuable. Reach out to Him right now, just call His Name, 'Jesus'.

Will you come home to your Father's love? If you want this new life, if you will receive Him, I want to pray with you: 'Oh God, become a Father to those reading this, comfort and deliver them. Give them a new hope and a bright future in Jesus' Name.'

Does God care?

We all at times ask: 'Does God care? Does God understand?' I want in some way to encourage you. God sent His Son to live as we do, to experience what we experience. He doesn't sit in heaven aloof to our concerns and fears; He experienced them Himself, that is why Jesus had to come. It was the only way He could identify with our humanity.

Jesus is Son of God yet Son of Man. God allowed Him to suffer. He was rejected and despised. Isaiah said of Jesus that He would be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Jesus was not born in a palace with all the advantages of wealth and privilege, He was born in a filthy animal stable. He never owned a house. He wore borrowed clothes. When He was killed, He was buried in a borrowed tomb. He had no salary, no pension, no state support.

Jesus needed to suffer so that God could identify with us, so that He could understand and feel our pain. Hebrews 4:15 teaches that Jesus is able to sympathise with our weaknesses because He Himself was tempted and tried as we are, yet He was without sin. That is why we can boldly come before God to find mercy and help in our times of need.

The cross enabled Jesus to identify with us, and for us to identify with Him. Through Jesus we can understand that sometimes suffering leads us to God. The Apostle Paul encourages in 2 Corinthians 7:10, 'For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life' (LB).

Do you know this Jesus?

When I speak, I always begin with the Bible, the Word of God. It is the most up-to-date 'smartphone', because it is the only one where you can actually hear God speaking to you. Sometimes I speak from Matthew 8:23 where Jesus entered into a ship and His disciples followed Him. There was such a great storm that the ship was covered with the waves, but Jesus was asleep. The disciples woke Him saying, 'Save us, we're dying!' Jesus responded, 'Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith?!' Then He rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled saying, 'What kind of man is this that the winds and the waves obey Him?!' - Isn't it interesting that even after seeing all the miracles that Jesus performed, they still didn't recognise who He was.

I want to introduce people to the real Jesus. In this Bible story the disciples were with Jesus in the boat. A storm came. I know Galilee and how violent these can be. Even these strong fishermen were afraid! There comes a time when there are storms in all our lives and we are afraid, life is not easy. Now they were sinking and Jesus was fast asleep, in the boat! They called out, 'Don't You care?! Help us! Save us!' - How often do we feel the same way? We are screaming, 'Aren't You interested? How can You love me when You allow all these problems?!' With authority, Jesus spoke to the wind, and the sea became calm! Jesus reveals Himself through the miracles when He is in the boat with us.

Jesus changes lives. Every one of us has to go through storms. I've had cancer twice, but both times I've been healed by a miracle. We all need Jesus in the boat with us when we go through these storms, or else we drown under the crashing waves. But when He is by our side we can walk on stormy seas. The great hymn writer put it so profoundly: 'I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow, there's been times I didn't know right from wrong. But in every situation, God gave me blessed consolation that my trials only come to make me strong. Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word… I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I'd never had a problem, I wouldn't know God could solve them, I'd never know what faith in God could do' (Andrae Crouch, Through it All).

Podcast: There is power in the Gospel

Current Podcast: Sunday 1 February 2015 (13 minute audio)

There is power in the Gospel

My father was born in Morriston, South Wales, in 1892 and was there in the great Welsh Revival. When the power of God fell, the churches were filled, there was not enough room for the people. The power of God was so strong that ungodly coal miners would go down in the lift and fall on their faces under powerful Holy Ghost conviction. We are seeing the same today across the former Soviet countries. 

Click here to listen (to download right click on the player and select 'save as')

If we could see from God's perspective

Not every experience can be 'prayed' away. When God's heavy hand is upon you, nothing can change the path He has chosen, even though it is one we would never have taken. If after all your praying you've ended up some place and you don't know why, that place is where God intended for you to be. God will do what is appointed for us in accordance with His plan; therefore we'd be wise to submit to it. It must be as God wills. Scripture teaches us 'Whatever God does is final; nothing can be added or taken from it' (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

Jesus too was in agony and tried to pray away the path chosen for Him, to the extent that He sweated blood, yet He submitted Himself to God's plan and prayed 'Yet not My will but Yours be done' (Luke 22:41-42).

God has a dynamic, divine purpose in everything He does, with a clear beginning and end. His plan is a kaleidoscope of movement with innumerable processes, each with its own character and period of sowing, blossoming, ripening, harvesting and pruning. His actions are not simply arbitrary, but appropriate, not simply confining, but releasing. From the beginning God determined there to be set times and seasons as clear evidence of His providence.

If we could see from God's perspective, we would see that His plan is perfect; for there is nothing unnecessary in it, nor any experience that can be spared. It has all been designed by a master architect. As the Word of God is final and settled in heaven, so the works of God determined for us must be fulfilled. It is presumption for us either to add to them or to diminish them. It is therefore as much our interest, as our duty, to bring our wills into accordance with the will of God. As the hymn writer wisely wrote: 'there is no other way but to trust and obey'.

Call on Him!

In the Bible Jesus says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in!" (Revelation 3:20.) Jesus is more willing to come to us than we are to receive Him. I try to tell people how simple it is to receive Jesus. All you have to do is be like a drowning man: stop struggling, let go of your tiny piece of flotsam and let Him rescue you. I understand that one problem the rescuer has is that while the drowning person is struggling so much, it is hard for the victim to trust their saviour! The panic and desperation to be saved actually makes being rescued even harder.

Healing, deliverance, forgiveness… stop struggling to rescue yourself, relax and let Him deliver you. That wonderful hymn writer put it so powerfully: 'Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy Blood was shed for me… I come.' We all need the touch of someone who loves us. So many of you reading this have secret problems you cannot share; they are too deep, too personal. Tell everything to Jesus. It's the only way to be healed, delivered, set free. He already knows, He understands and He's waiting for you to come to Him. He lived here on earth like you in order to understand all the problems we face, that's why He does not condemn. Talk to Him. He's listening. Ask Him for help. And receive His peace.

Claiming the promises of God

How can you live the abundant life of God if you don't know what that life is? How can you take the blessing if you don't know what it is? How can you speak with tongues, prophesy, heal the sick without the gift of the Holy Spirit? How can you receive the Holy Spirit without first seeing it in the Word of God?

God speaks to us through the Bible. It is important we search the Scripture to find the answers we are looking for. If I am facing a specific situation, I will search the Bible for an answer to that problem. An easy way to start searching is a key-word search in the concordance, or do as I do, I read a specific book in the Bible until God speaks to me. If something is in your heart, then God will lead you by the Holy Spirit to what He wants to say to you, if you will search the Scriptures.

We have to look into the Word of God - we have to possess every promise with the same tenacity and faith that Joshua had when he conquered the Promised Land. 'Eat' your Bible for breakfast, for lunch and at night. Do you know the promises of God? Have you seen the promises of God? Before you read the Bible pray, 'Lord, open my eyes. Speak to me through Your Word. Give me the faith to believe and possess every promise.'

God's promises are wonderful and available for you in this life, not merely when you die. You can call on the Lord and be healed, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. For the believer it is the most wonderful life, so full of the joy and the glory of God, you will never want to go back to the old way.

The importance of time

Time with God is so important. If only you and I knew the time that God had chosen, it would make so much difference to us. Yet, it is this 'not knowing' that grows our faith. When Jesus walked on the stormy water towards the disciples, it was the fourth watch of the night. This is the most dangerous and most difficult hour in the night - the time when most people die, when the body temperature is at its lowest. It's the time when some of the biggest fears and the biggest problems come, just before the new day dawns. It is so significant that when Jesus is walking towards the disciples in that storm-tossed ship, the time that He chooses is the darkest hour, when the storm is at its highest. But Jesus is there! In your life and mine there are many times when we need the power of God to deliver us, but God's timing is perfect, coming at the darkest hour, when the storm is at its fiercest and our need the greatest.

I am older than most of you reading this. I have had many kinds of problems, many different needs, but I believe in miracles. Over the course of my lifetime I have learnt that God always answers prayer. But to see the answer at the right hour we have to be ready, we have to be obedient, and God will answer - at what seems the last minute. One minute before the crisis erupts.

Every one of us can be in a storm, just like the disciples in the boat. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water their first reaction was fear. They thought they had seen a ghost, they didn't realise it was Jesus. - How often do we react like that? Jesus is about to answer our deepest prayers, yet the 'answer' frightens us: there is a strange comfort in the familiarity of our problems.

The disciples were convinced their boat was going to sink and that they wouldn't last the night. In the darkest hour of your night, when your financial problems are the greatest, when your sickness is getting worse, when you're crippled with pain, when you cannot escape from alcohol or the power of drugs, in that dark hour, there is one person who will always be there - Jesus. And He chooses the darkest, the hardest, moment to come and walk towards you. You may need Jesus like you've never needed Him before, but He is walking towards you to deliver you right now. Jesus is close to you right now.

God has a plan

God has a clear plan and strategy in everything He does. From creation to salvation, nothing has happened in heaven and earth without the foreknowledge of God. You are an important part of His strategy. He knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb. He has planned out all of your days. No experience is wasted. It has all been designed by a master architect. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:3 that it is by faith we understand that our lives are framed, fashioned and formed for their intended purpose by the Word of God (Amp).

God's plan for your life is for good, to give you a future and a hope. His plans always bring blessing. When you look at the historic sufferings of Israel, we can see how God brought them through persecution and slavery into blessing. There is always a deliverance; He will always bring you through every difficulty. God has a tremendous future for you. I want you to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose and hope. Our God is a God of power, miracles and deliverance. He will not leave you in your tragedy but has come to bless you.

An important part of God's strategy is that He wants to show His power is not just in heaven, but also on earth. God wants to use you to fulfil this plan. But God can only use willing, obedient, committed people who will make His glory the first priority. God needs the right men and women in the right place in order to do what He wants, to bring glory to His Name, to bring deliverance to nations, to build His church. Do you want to be where God is? Do you want the power of God? Then go where God is telling you, do what He is telling you to do.

This is the way, walk ye in it!

'You shall hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it'.' God has a time and a season for everything. At my age, looking back on my life, I see order, direction, planning and purpose; His timing is perfect. Not everything I have lived through has been easy, but not every season listed in Ecclesiastes 3 is. How else would we learn to appreciate joy without also knowing sorrow? All I know for sure is, 'the steps of a righteous man are ordered and planned by the Lord' (Ps 37:23). We just need to follow and do what He says.

All my life I have heard God's voice behind me. Sometimes it has been a whisper, other times God has used dramatic events to alter the course of my life. I have always searched for the power of God, I have longed to live within His will. In 1961 I went to Jerusalem seeking a new anointing, a new fire - three and a half years later I got the beginning of the answer when God healed my throat cancer! Without that miracle I would never have known the power of God in my life. I don't want prophecy, I don't want emotion, I don't want to party. I want the Hand of God to touch me.

God is always a God of miracles! Yes, looking back over my life, I have experienced the power of God, but it was never some emotional experience in a conference, it was just step by step walking closer to God: my teenage cry for the Holy Spirit, my miraculous release from a communist prison, my healing from the two cancers - and many other problems and miracles. What will it be next time, what will happen this year? I'm still not satisfied that God has answered me fully. For me, walking by faith is step by step, and I have not reached the end of the road yet!

That is why Peter said we have a living hope, an inheritance which is incorruptible that cannot be defiled, that does not fade away but goes on increasing and increasing until the moment when we see Jesus in all power and glory (1 Peter 1:4). Every step is another miracle towards experiencing the power of God in our lives! As for me, I will seek God every day until I am in the Kingdom.