Free Teaching Note from GTFL Module 1
God is Good
Read the note then complete the Response Sheet at the bottom of this page
By now we should all have made some kind of progress on our voyage of discovery in the revelation about God's call on our lives, the ministry outworking of that calling, and of who we are in Christ Jesus as new creations in Him.
For some of us the component parts of various revelations over a period of time should have come together and formed a clear picture about what God has been saying to us. For others of us the revelation is still forming and we're beginning to catch up with what God's been saying to us.
That's OK, there's no hurry. God is good and He’s gracious. His timing is perfect and He’s working all things together for our good because we love Him and are called according in His purpose (Rom. 8: 28).
For some of us this process of discovering our calling and the various truths of our identity in Jesus has been challenging and for others it has been a confirming of things that we already had begun to hear in our spirit.
One or two of us are now reassured in the direction in which we had been going and others are perhaps having to reassess the direction that they were going in, to slightly modify and change and, in doing so, get more sharply focused in on the perfect will of God. God is good.
We are being changed from one degree of glory to another and it's exciting that, although we know we will never fully arrive at perfection until we get to glory and see Jesus face to face, the journey is wonderful and thrilling.
Now as we begin to look deeper into certain aspects of what we have begun to touch on, revelation should begin to become progressively clearer. Let’s take a brief look at the covenants that God has made with His people and see how they apply to us who have been called by God.
We see how the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic covenant and the others apply to us today. We see how all of these covenants come to a beautiful conclusion in the new covenant heralded in by Christ Jesus Himself.
The covenants are agreements made between two consenting parties. Recently we were at a wedding and I heard the marriage vows being taken by the bride and the groom. By mutual consent they agreed to share all that they had with each other.
When we look at the covenant that God our Father has opened up to us through Jesus Christ His son, we see that He has agreed to give us everything that He has in return for us giving Him everything that we have. God obviously has so much more to give than we could ever give to Him ‑ yet that's the nature of God; He wants to bless us and He wants to bless us abundantly. Yet somehow each one of us holds on to something that we have and in doing so all we do is restrict the fullness and the full measure of receiving all that God has to give to us.
The sooner that we realise that by emptying ourselves of ourselves and laying everything that we have (and all that we are) before the feet of Jesus at the throne of grace, the better. Then we can enter into receiving everything that God has to give to us with no limitations. God is so good.
In prayer we have to press on through into a more intimate, deeper relationship with Almighty God. Of course it's only it that place of intimacy with Father that we can hear clearly and profoundly exactly what He has to say to us, therefore we must make every effort to press on, not being distracted, not giving up and not to becoming lackadaisical in our prayer life.
We have initiated a discipline of praying in tongues for at least fifteen minutes every day on our own. This has borne great fruit already in all of our lives. Also, when we come together, we spend a fair amount of' time praying in tongues, focusing in on Jesus and breaking through ‑ going further, going beyond where we were at. As the specific will of God begins to unfold personally for each of us, we will notice how the Holy Spirit begins to direct us into specific area of ministry.
The teaching this stage is still general and relevant to every one, but as time progresses and we receive more and more revelation from God, along with practical opportunities to experiment and grow in our relationships and ministry calling, we will know more specifically what we should be doing at this moment in time. Therefore, from now on, make the most of every opportunity to become more practical in the outworking of your ministry.
We need to outwork any spiritual input through everyday practical situations and we should get involved with the church. In many situations you will find that God can use you if you make yourself available; not only within a church context but also on the streets and as you walk around anywhere. God wants to outwork His truths in your life. For many people you will be the closest that they'll come to meeting Jesus. The life of Jesus was both very spiritual and very physical.
I suggested that as we do spend time with Jesus that we get into the way of' making notes, writing down what the Lord says to us, what God the Father has to reveal to us by His Spirit; the Holy Spirit. As we re-read the notes that we make we should see threads beginning to emerge as God speaks to us.
God speaks to us for a purpose. He wants us to make Jesus known. He speaks to us by His Spirit but He wants us to practically make Jesus known. As we go about making Jesus known according to the directive and will of' God we will get to know Jesus better for yourself.
Although making your personal notes is a useful thing to do, it's only a stepping stone, a process that gets you from what you write on paper to allowing God to write in your heart for all eternity the deeper truth that He speaks to you.
When I started to make notes myself I became freer in my ability to hear from God. I remember being so blessed when God would speak a word from scripture into my heart and I would hold on to it, thinking, "Thank you Lord". After quite a long time the Lord showed me that these words that He spoke to me were not only just to bless me but, through me, they were to be a channel of blessings to others.
I began to ask God what to do with these scriptures and He began to show me who to share them with. I can remember my amazement as, led by the Spirit of God, I would speak to, sometimes, strangers in the street what God had been sharing with me.
I was surprised to discover that these people would have already had their hearts prepared to receive what God wanted me to share with them and how it would have a profound influence on their lives. It was to be the beginnings of the operation of' the gift of the word of' knowledge and wisdom in my own life.
It makes God become so much more personal to them. Particularly when speaking to a non believer; they are amazed by the fact that Almighty God knows about them and wants to communicate His heart to them. But even in the case of Christian believers when God gets that personal it has a profound on anyone.
So let's begin to let ourselves get more practical, to let God direct our steps. Be prepared to hear to whom He wants you to speak, in whatever situations and then do it. For some of us that will be a new challenge, for others it will be growing and developing in something that they are already doing.
Have you been blessed? Are you prepared to be a blessing? Are you prepared to share with others the very things that God has blessed you with? You will multiply that blessing to others and back into your own life. Remember, whatever you give, God measures good measure back into your own life in even greater abundance. God Is Good.
Read the note then complete the Response Sheet
By now we should all have made some kind of progress on our voyage of discovery in the revelation about God's call on our lives, the ministry outworking of that calling, and of who we are in Christ Jesus as new creations in Him.
For some of us the component parts of various revelations over a period of time should have come together and formed a clear picture about what God has been saying to us. For others of us the revelation is still forming and we're beginning to catch up with what God's been saying to us.
That's OK, there's no hurry. God is good and He’s gracious. His timing is perfect and He’s working all things together for our good because we love Him and are called according in His purpose (Rom. 8: 28).
For some of us this process of discovering our calling and the various truths of our identity in Jesus has been challenging and for others it has been a confirming of things that we already had begun to hear in our spirit.
One or two of us are now reassured in the direction in which we had been going and others are perhaps having to reassess the direction that they were going in, to slightly modify and change and, in doing so, get more sharply focused in on the perfect will of God. God is good.
We are being changed from one degree of glory to another and it's exciting that, although we know we will never fully arrive at perfection until we get to glory and see Jesus face to face, the journey is wonderful and thrilling.
Now as we begin to look deeper into certain aspects of what we have begun to touch on, revelation should begin to become progressively clearer. Let’s take a brief look at the covenants that God has made with His people and see how they apply to us who have been called by God.
We see how the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic covenant and the others apply to us today. We see how all of these covenants come to a beautiful conclusion in the new covenant heralded in by Christ Jesus Himself.
The covenants are agreements made between two consenting parties. Recently we were at a wedding and I heard the marriage vows being taken by the bride and the groom. By mutual consent they agreed to share all that they had with each other.
When we look at the covenant that God our Father has opened up to us through Jesus Christ His son, we see that He has agreed to give us everything that He has in return for us giving Him everything that we have. God obviously has so much more to give than we could ever give to Him ‑ yet that's the nature of God; He wants to bless us and He wants to bless us abundantly. Yet somehow each one of us holds on to something that we have and in doing so all we do is restrict the fullness and the full measure of receiving all that God has to give to us.
The sooner that we realise that by emptying ourselves of ourselves and laying everything that we have (and all that we are) before the feet of Jesus at the throne of grace, the better. Then we can enter into receiving everything that God has to give to us with no limitations. God is so good.
In prayer we have to press on through into a more intimate, deeper relationship with Almighty God. Of course it's only it that place of intimacy with Father that we can hear clearly and profoundly exactly what He has to say to us, therefore we must make every effort to press on, not being distracted, not giving up and not to becoming lackadaisical in our prayer life.
We have initiated a discipline of praying in tongues for at least fifteen minutes every day on our own. This has borne great fruit already in all of our lives. Also, when we come together, we spend a fair amount of' time praying in tongues, focusing in on Jesus and breaking through ‑ going further, going beyond where we were at. As the specific will of God begins to unfold personally for each of us, we will notice how the Holy Spirit begins to direct us into specific area of ministry.
The teaching this stage is still general and relevant to every one, but as time progresses and we receive more and more revelation from God, along with practical opportunities to experiment and grow in our relationships and ministry calling, we will know more specifically what we should be doing at this moment in time. Therefore, from now on, make the most of every opportunity to become more practical in the outworking of your ministry.
We need to outwork any spiritual input through everyday practical situations and we should get involved with the church. In many situations you will find that God can use you if you make yourself available; not only within a church context but also on the streets and as you walk around anywhere. God wants to outwork His truths in your life. For many people you will be the closest that they'll come to meeting Jesus. The life of Jesus was both very spiritual and very physical.
I suggested that as we do spend time with Jesus that we get into the way of' making notes, writing down what the Lord says to us, what God the Father has to reveal to us by His Spirit; the Holy Spirit. As we re-read the notes that we make we should see threads beginning to emerge as God speaks to us.
God speaks to us for a purpose. He wants us to make Jesus known. He speaks to us by His Spirit but He wants us to practically make Jesus known. As we go about making Jesus known according to the directive and will of' God we will get to know Jesus better for yourself.
Although making your personal notes is a useful thing to do, it's only a stepping stone, a process that gets you from what you write on paper to allowing God to write in your heart for all eternity the deeper truth that He speaks to you.
When I started to make notes myself I became freer in my ability to hear from God. I remember being so blessed when God would speak a word from scripture into my heart and I would hold on to it, thinking, "Thank you Lord". After quite a long time the Lord showed me that these words that He spoke to me were not only just to bless me but, through me, they were to be a channel of blessings to others.
I began to ask God what to do with these scriptures and He began to show me who to share them with. I can remember my amazement as, led by the Spirit of God, I would speak to, sometimes, strangers in the street what God had been sharing with me.
I was surprised to discover that these people would have already had their hearts prepared to receive what God wanted me to share with them and how it would have a profound influence on their lives. It was to be the beginnings of the operation of' the gift of the word of' knowledge and wisdom in my own life.
It makes God become so much more personal to them. Particularly when speaking to a non believer; they are amazed by the fact that Almighty God knows about them and wants to communicate His heart to them. But even in the case of Christian believers when God gets that personal it has a profound on anyone.
So let's begin to let ourselves get more practical, to let God direct our steps. Be prepared to hear to whom He wants you to speak, in whatever situations and then do it. For some of us that will be a new challenge, for others it will be growing and developing in something that they are already doing.
Have you been blessed? Are you prepared to be a blessing? Are you prepared to share with others the very things that God has blessed you with? You will multiply that blessing to others and back into your own life. Remember, whatever you give, God measures good measure back into your own life in even greater abundance. God Is Good.
Read the note then complete the Response Sheet
| tfl_response_sheet.pdf |