Finding Your Purpose

God put you on earth for a purpose, to be a unique agent of His creative love.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Eph 5:1-2 
If you have put your life in the hands of Jesus and made the Son of God the centre of your life, you are also recreated in HIS image. You are a son or daughter of God. You are in the image of Jesus but that does not mean you are a photocopy of the man Jesus of Nazareth. You are not called to die on a cross to save the world. You are not called to obey all the laws of Moses and live as a perfect Jew.
Just as Jesus had a unique identity, you too have a unique identity.
Jesus had special abilities that you do not have. I am sure Jesus was a very talented carpenter and he had a very strong resonant voice that he could use to preach to enormous crowds without a microphone. He had unique abilities to equip Him for His unique mission. He could speak fluent Aramaic, Hebrew and probably also fluent Greek. He memorised the Hebrew Scriptures, probably the entire Old Testament.
All followers of Jesus have unique gifts and talents to do special things for God. Many have abilities that Jesus did not have in His brief mortal life. For example women have some abilities which are not given to men. Jesus was limited by his male gender.
Jesus was not called to be a musician. It is probable that the great musicians of history had greater musical talents than Jesus had, although Jesus is no longer restricted by the limitations of mortal human life. Jesus in His Eternal Glory is the source and creator of all mankind and the Giver of all gifts and talents.
You cannot declare like Jesus did, that you are the perfect Son of God but you can share a message that Jesus could not and cannot preach. You can tell people how God forgave your sins and restored your lost and broken life. Jesus could not do that and He cannot do that now. He is and always was perfectly holy, totally good and He was never in need of forgiveness.
What is your identity and what is your story? There never was and never will be anyone quite like you. God made you for a purpose. God will not send angels to tell people about Jesus. He is sending you to tell your story. People can argue with your beliefs but they cannot argue with a story.
What unique qualities did God give you to reveal to the world?
But what if you have already ruined your life, or other people through cruel abuse have left your life in a mess?
That is no problem for God.
In Mark Chapter 5, Jesus recruited a most unlikely person to be an evangelist. This man told many thousands of people what Jesus had done for him and ten towns were won over to Jesus.
He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. Mk 5:3-5
Jesus drove hundreds of demons out of this man and immediately sent him out to be a missionary, with amazing results.
No human church leader would ever immediately appoint such a man to evangelise a region but Jesus did.
What is your story? What are your talents and gifts? Maybe other Christians think you are not gifted enough, not good enough, not mature enough, not experienced enough or not trained enough to bless others with your love and faith but God does not think like men.
Ask God why He put you on this earth. Then DO something and keep acting in faith. He wants to change the world through you, one step at a time.

Free and Real Like Jesus

Jesus was persecuted by religious people because He was a friend of sinners. Sinners were attracted to him and they came to spend time with Him. He loved them.

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:1-2
JESUS DIDN'T ONLY PREACH TO SINNERS. HE HAD FELLOWSHIP WITH THEM.

• Do you enjoy life? Do other people find you interesting?

Is your life holy in such a way that unholy people feel that you love them and they want to be with you? THIS IS THE KIND OF CHRISTIAN LIFE GOD WANTS TO SEE ON EARTH, BELIEVERS LIKE JESUS.
Jesus attracted prostitutes and corrupt tax collectors and He loved them. He healed hopeless cases with miracles in unpredictable ways that frequently violated religious rules. He healed a blind man by spitting in dirt and making a muddy paste to anoint the man’s eyes. The Bible believing people of His time had made a rule against this exact practice and Jesus broke the rule on purpose.
Most Bible teachers remind you that the religious persecutors of Jesus were Jews. In this way, they avoid the issue that religious legalism is just as strong and negative amongst many Bible believing Christians today as it was with the Jews 2000 years ago.
Jesus was fully human, a man, not an angel. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and we can be too. The Holy Spirit is a PERSON, just like Jesus. God is never boring or predictable but frequently does dramatic and wonderful things in quite unexpected ways. If we are living in the Holy Spirit, we will frequently have wonderful and exciting experiences which will make life interesting for ourselves and others around us, as it was with Jesus on earth.
One evening I was driving near the city when I saw a young woman on a bus stop. She was not dressed modestly. I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop and give her a lift. I asked God, “Is that really you?” I really felt it was God, so I turned back and picked her up. It turned out this was a prostitute but not really a woman. I had a very down to earth conversation about male prostitution, heroin addiction, the love of Jesus and his childhood as a Jehovah’s Witness. I later visited his daytime workplace in a hairdressing salon and gave him a Bible. He was so deeply moved that he wanted to kiss me, which I found very embarrassing.
When you are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, amazing things happen.
Jesus was constantly criticised by the committed Bible believing people. They had reduced the Bible to a set of doctrines and rules. Many Bible believing Christians are like that today.  If you enjoy a supernatural life with the unpredictable Holy Spirit, strange things will happen and serious Christians will reject you. Don’t take them too seriously. They take themselves too seriously already.
Spirits of control are the same dark spirits, whether in churches, political parties, governments, schools, or business organisations. Jesus did not teach chaos and selfish individualism but He taught FREEDOM and brotherhood and teamwork, leadership without ownership, guidance without authoritarianism, obedience without losing your identity. Your true identity comes from the God who created you to be UNIQUE.
    THE ESSENCE OF CONTROLLING RELIGION IS NOT CHURCH BUILDINGS BUT RATHER IT IS WHEN THE MAN WITH THE MICROPHONE ROBS YOU OF WHO YOU ARE. When God gives YOU a vision for HIS purpose for you, that can NEVER be cancelled out or overridden by the vision of the leader of the church you join. LAST TIME I READ MY BIBLE it said THE LORD is my Shepherd. Jesus ranks higher than any human preacher.
But often preachers are also victims of religious control.
A pastor of a big active church desperately desired to go out and reach unchurched people, to be an evangelist. But his church kept him so busy preaching, teaching, counselling and organising Christians, that he had no time. He pleaded with his people to release him but they refused. They said they needed him to look after them. Eventually he resigned as pastor and left the church altogether. He became a successful evangelist.
He obeyed God. What about you?

Finding God Personally

There is a difference between believing in God and FINDING God. Great explorers believed in the lands they were looking for but when they actually landed on the shores of distant countries, that was an entirely different matter.
Many people know about Mother Theresa but how many people MET her face to face or actually WORKED with her?

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. John 1:6-7 (NKJV)
John the Baptist was a supernatural baby. His mother was a childless old woman. One day an angel from Heaven visited her aged husband and promised he and his wife would be like Abraham and Sarah, who became parents when they were over 90 years old.
When God supernaturally creates new life, it is not a one off event but a launching pad for a process of supernatural transmission of life, the multiplication of the reality of Heaven from one person to many others.  
Some people believe in God for years before they MEET HIM and are transformed into sons or daughters of the Heavenly Father. In other cases, God can ambush an atheist or idol worshipper in a dream or vision or even a direct visitation.
I know a young Hindu woman who visited a Christian church and then began reading the New Testament. One night Jesus walked into her bedroom and told her to write down a message. She wrote the words as Jesus dictated them and she became a follower of Jesus and a daughter of the One True God.
These are the words that Jesus gave her to write.
King of kings
Priest of priests
My lord you are the only way,
Through which I can attain eternal life
You are the light of my life
With you in my life
Darkness shall never reside
You are my devotion
You are my salvation;
Lord your mercifulness and greatness,
Shall never be forgotten
Lord you have laid your life for us,
You have accepted to be crucified
So that the holiness of your
Blood shall wash our sin
Jesus, king of Jerusalem

When you FIND God, MEET God, and come to KNOW God, you can expect HIM to speak to you. You read the Bible and a phrase leaps out at you. You know Jesus is speaking to YOU. The Bible becomes to you the living Word of God, His message to you.
You talk to God and sometimes you sense He is talking to you. You sort of KNOW certain things and THINK certain things and PERCEIVE certain realities which you could not know by yourself.
Even before you come to KNOW Jesus and follow Him as His disciple, God can speak to you in mysterious ways. Why? Because He created you. He planned your life and loved you before the foundation of the world. He wants you to know HIM and to be with HIM forever.
And when you encounter Jesus and you KNOW God personally, that is just the beginning of a journey of discovery. As you listen to the still small voice of God and follow His plans for your life, you discover why you were put on this earth, to make a unique contribution to the lives of others, to reveal the supernatural reality of God to people in despair and confusion.
THERE IS A MAN SENT FROM GOD AND HIS NAME IS BILL DERHAM.
THERE IS A WOMAN SENT FROM GOD AND HER NAME IS ANA, MY WIFE.
Put your own name in that sentence and it is true. God has a unique purpose and a plan for your life and He is waiting for you to receive His calling. He wants to send YOU to reach this world for him.
You may have been a Christian for years but  you are discouraged by your own weaknesses and failures. START AGAIN.
Perhaps you have been basing your Christian life on the expectations and teachings of other Christians, even church leaders but this has not made you a world changer. Do something different. Search for a personal encounter with God and do what He tells you.

KNOWING GOD.

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NKJV)
God is searching your heart. Does that mean He is looking for the dark secrets, the hidden weaknesses, the shameful thoughts that sometimes trouble you? No, He knows all about those things and He loves you anyway. God condemned His own Son to die on the cross. He died in your place to pay for all the shameful things in your life. Now He sees you as His dear child, as one who He gave His dear Son for.
If you invited Jesus to come into your life, He came. God is actively involved and lovingly at work in your thoughts, in your feelings and in every part of your being.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. John 6:37 (NKJV)
But He will not interfere with your free will. He will not force you to think the way He wants you to. He longs for you to come into harmony with His love and truth. If you have opened your life to Jesus to become His follower, that means God has become your partner in life but not your equal partner, because God is God and He is your Lord and Master. God will direct your life but He is not interested in passive obedient slaves or puppets. What Jesus said to His chosen apostles is what He longs to be able to say to each one of us.
You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:14-15 (NKJV)
The obedience He is looking for is the active partnership of men and women who want to please God and be led and directed by Him. The Spirit of God is searching your heart in love. He has  also opened His heart to you. He is inviting you to search His heart and know His love and understand His ways for yourself.
God is sad when we passively depend on preachers to tell us what to think about Him. I love good preaching but that must never be my main connection to God. In the Old Testament, God gave prophets and priests to stand between God and the people. Now each one of us is invited to enter into deep personal communication with Him.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)
If you have never placed your life in the hands of Jesus who loved you and died for you, now is the time. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Jesus died to forgive your sins but you must receive Him to benefit from His forgiveness.

RICK JOYNER'S PROPHECY OVER GERMANY.

Strategic Prophetic Word - Europe - Germany

by Rick Joyner
May 31, 2002

Germany is one of the most strategic nations on earth, both spiritually and economically, and will again be a great military power. This is a nation of doers that must have a vision. Without a clear and noble vision, racism, national intolerance of others, anger, and cruelty will again sink its roots deep into the German culture and seek to direct its future. Steered with strong and noble leadership, Germany can become a powerful force for good in the world, healing the many ethnic conflicts within Europe and the Middle East. One thing that Germany will not be is neutral.

There is a calling on Germany to continue spearheading the Reformation of the church. Because of this the enemy is seeking to raise the level of religious intolerance and suspicion of all but mainline religious groups to thwart this nation's ultimate purpose.

Spiritually and politically there are many leaders arising in Germany that are truly a new breed. These have been patiently waiting for their time, maturing in their vision and resolve. They will soon be ready to lead. However, there will be a great battle between the forces of liberty and those of intolerance and tyranny. The direction the government takes in relation to religious liberty will be the direction it takes in regard to political liberty as well. Germany will either have true freedom or again be subject to oppressors.

If Germany chooses freedom, there is a strong enough moral center in the cultural heart of Germany that will not continue to tolerate the moral and spiritual pollution that is now the norm for much of Europe. Germany will then begin to set a separate course from the rest of Europe. Germany has one of the greatest potentials of any nation on earth to build a free society that is not overcome with moral corruption and pollution. Of all the people on earth who have a law in their hearts, Germans are near the top. They want to do what is right, and with the right spiritual and political leadership they can become one of the greatest moral nations on the earth.

The great danger for such a strong and resourceful people is that when the devil sees he cannot stop them in a matter, he will get behind them and push them too far. Becoming reactionary and extremists will always be a danger for this nation, but becoming a nation of noble and decisive action is its calling.

Even though Satan has tried to place his throne in the heart of Germany, Germans will be some of the first to respond to the gospel of the kingdom of God, and to bow before the throne of the King of kings. Germany is called to bring life and healing to all the places the devil has used them to bring destruction and death.

German leaders will one day join with the spiritual leaders of Britain and Russia to form a cord of three strands that will not be easily broken. Germany will also become one of the greatest friends of God's purpose for Israel and the Jewish people. Israel will love Germany and Germany will love Israel. These two nations are more alike than any two nations on earth at this time, and they will soon "discover" each other in a wonderful and powerful way.
Rick Joyner, 5/31/2002

FINDING DIRECTION IN YOUR LIFE

Where is your life going?
Are you choosing your direction, or are you reacting to life as it comes? Are you navigating towards your promised land or are you serving as a crew member on a ship going somewhere else? Do you know what your destination is, or who is directing your course? Is your life being pushed and pulled by your employer, your family or your church?


God designed you to be a unique agent of change, to impact this world for Him. God made you in His own image, not to be a second rate copy of your parents, your teachers or a preacher or leader. If you live to please other people, you have missed your reason for living.
Does that mean you should forget other people and just please yourself? Of course not. When you live only to please yourself and fulfil your own dreams, you make yourself the God of your own life. Any sensible person should realise that this is crazy, yet it is a popular idea today. And look what a mess people have made by playing God!
God created you in His love and He loves you. He has a wonderful plan for your life. He wants you to find Him and to work with Him to live out his plan. He won’t do it for you and He won’t do it to you. He wants to live WITH you and for you to live WITH him.
For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (TLB)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (ESV)
Why do you and I need Jesus? We have messed up this world. We have all contributed to the darkness around us. We often think there must be something better but we just muddle through by guesswork.


There is an amazingly good God who made this world for Himself. He gave this world to us, to be His sons and daughters but we have taken this world away from Him and messed it up. He wants His world back but He doesn’t want to take it away from us. But we can only share this world with God if we are reconciled to Him as our Father.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (ESV)
You may have heard that Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sins. If you turn to Him in faith, He will forgive your sins and you will have eternal life, and enjoy heaven when you die.
All that is true but God’s plan is much bigger than that.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Revelation 21:1 (ESV)
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
We often hear preachers invite people to turn to Jesus and receive eternal life. God has a wonderful plan for your life.
But after you turn to Jesus and join a church, no one talks about God’s wonderful plan for your life. You find yourself just pleasing people at home, at work and at church. You were saved from sin, from condemnation, from hell but where is God’s wonderful plan?


IT IS STILL THERE AND YOU CAN FIND IT.
But you must find it in God and walk that way with God. Only God can show you and only God can lead you in the way He has prepared for YOU. 

Knowing God for Yourself.. No Second Hand Faith

In the Old Testament, God led His people by giving directions to prophets, priests and kings.
God often spoke in direct supernatural ways to these ordained leaders, and the people were expected to follow these directions.

When Jesus released the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, everything changed.

“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17 NIV

Christianity is either supernatural or it's nothing. We are called to be fruitful and multiply.

There is a Christianity that does not welcome supernatural revelations, healings and the active presence of God doing surprising stuff.

The Reformation achieved some good things in its time. Salvation through faith in Jesus was preached. The Bible was translated and restored to the people.

But the Reformation was very incomplete. God is the god of miracles. 

Faith in a God who only did miracles 2000 years ago will not impact the world today.

When Christianity is truly alive and healthy, every believer hears the voice of God and every believer follows Jesus directly and personally.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; Jn 10:27 NASB95

In the Old Testament, the people of God only heard the voice of God indirectly, through the Bible and the words of the prophets who spoke for God. We still read the Bible and it is God speaking through His perfect revealed word.

But how do you know what God is saying to you now?

The Bible says different things to different people in different passages. Is God telling you to rest in His love or to radically change your life?

•     Is God telling you to hide His truth in your heart, or to tell everyone what you believe?

•     Is God telling you to marry or to stay single?

•     Is God telling you to preach in Africa or stay at home?

•     Is God telling you to work in a job or to be a missionary who trusts Him to provide?

Bible reading alone will not answer these questions. Many people resolve this difficulty by putting themselves under the direction of a priest, pastor or spiritual adviser. This is putting a man in the place of God. 

It is Old Testament thinking, but it is common in the church. It is like the old-fashioned Roman Catholic system, where the priests told the believers what the Bible says and what they should do. I hope you don't think I am against Catholics. Many Catholics love Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit.

What is God saying to you now?

There is nothing wrong with seeking wise counsel and teaching but this must not be a substitute for growing up in faith yourself. A Christian who is spiritually healthy is able to receive direct personal communication from God Himself.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 NASB95

‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Rev 3:20 NASB95

In the New Testament, every believer is invited to hear the voice of God and to share with others what he hears.   

“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17 NIV

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1 Cor 14:1 NASB95