Yesterday at cell, we were talking to the girls about what happened at Harp and Bowl, helping them process what they experienced and the dreams and visions God may have put upon their hearts. And we started talking about the glory days of old, hungering for the glory of God and the weight of His presence to return to our church, etc., and I could see that the girls were really excited talking about signs and wonders and God stirring their hearts. And honestly, I LOVE that they are at a point in their lives where they feel like they want to experience so much more of God, but at the same time, I don't want them to be people who just chase after signs and wonders and glory clouds and gold dust and not have a real relationship with God. I don't want them to NEED signs and wonders to desire God. Because on judgement day, God is not gonna be asking us, "How many times have you seen these things happen?" but it all boils down to one question, "Did you love me?"
Personally, a verse that has been on my heart these few weeks is the one where Jesus warns the people that they may prophesy and cast out devils and perform healings and miracles in His name, and use those works to justify their place within the Kingdom of God, but Jesus will say to these people, "I did not know you. Depart from me!" And I really don't want my girls to be people who just look for the manifestations of the gifts and the Holy Spirit, and miss out on the real point of Christianity - which is to know God and to be one with Him.
So I inadvertently went into a rant and told them whatever they experienced in Harp and Bowl did not just appear overnight, it came from a life of sacrifices and months of contending in the secret place and I don't want them to just rest in their experiences and glorify them because the true test comes after you leave the prayer meeting, and then you can tell whether or not you take God seriously in your life. It requires living out the work of God in our lives. And I went on and on about how we need to start expecting and yearning for such encounters with God in our quiet time every day, and not just once every two or three months and be contented with that, because there is SO much more and I don't want them to just pray when other people are praying, or just because they're part of a prayer meeting. But everything that we do must be birthed forth from the place of prayer, or it'll be completely useless. I told them honestly that if they want the whole church to experience what they experienced as well, they better start fasting and coming for Lifeline on Sunday mornings. I rarely go into such outbursts, and I didn't know how the girls were gonna take it coz no one said anything after that. And I think I've been like a mad woman asking them to consider coming for Lifeline every single week. And still barely anyone comes. I have to go to extreme measures by inviting them to play the guitar for me, then they come.
But this morning, FIVE of my girls came for Lifeline. And Michelle came earlier than me and Mercy, who are usually the first people in church every Sunday. It was quite embarrassing coz we were late...and we laughed about it just now and said we better start making sure we're on time if so many people are gonna come for Lifeline! And we're not just talking about the 8:30am intercession set. I remember few months ago when Mercy told me, "I think God wants us to start Lifeline at 7:30" in my heart I was thinking, "GOD ARE YOU MAD WHO WILL COME WE WON'T EVEN BE ALIVE THEN" but if a dream is from God, it will ALWAYS come to pass. He Himself will give life to it. He Himself will make sure His Word never fails.
And I realised:
1. Prayer works.
2. My girls are SO hungry for God.
3. They take my words seriously so I better watch what I say and make sure I myself am living it out. I better start walking seriously with God myself as well.
4. Prayer works. Haha I can't say this enough coz I'm just so amazed. I told PR after service about how many people were in Lifeline today and I said, "I told my girls yesterday they better start coming if they want to see God move but honestly, I didn't expect them to come. I thought they would need some time to let it sink in and let God convict them Himself" and she looked at me and told me I didn't have enough faith for them. And it's true. I need to start dreaming bigger for them.
5. People always say we have to compromise the Gospel, talk about God's love more, etc. But for the past one month, every single cell we've had has centered on repentance. Every time Faith and I start leading the prayer sessions, it somehow always goes into repentance. Repentance on behalf of the church, repentance for our own lives. And we've been teaching them and talking to them about how important repentance is, and I really believe that they're starting to have a real hunger for God because we didn't just tell them to sit around and wait for God to pour more love on them. Only the message of the cross can lead to truth and real joy and freedom and love for God. And when I first started co-leading this cell, I always asked God how I was gonna do it because I didn't see how I could talk about the things that I'm most passionate about with these girls, and I didn't want to teach them something I didn't care about. But over the past few months, I've seen God expand their hearts for worship, for prayer and for the Word. We've had 3 hour Bible studies and at the end of it, the girls still say, "How come it feels so short?" I've started to see them go beyond asking for encounters with God to wanting to please and obey God. I'm starting to see them desiring for their families to be saved, desiring to do outreaches and prayer evangelism and go for mission trips. Sometimes I feel like they are even more sensitive to the Spirit than I am! This kind of hunger and growth has NOTHING to do with us and everything to do with God. If anything, we have failed them as leaders because we don't pray enough for them. But I'm starting to see that God knows what He's doing, and only He knows what is necessary to prepare the hearts of people to receive the true Gospel. And I am so thankful that this is His cell and His girls and His people and their hearts are really His. And I know that as Faith and I start to pour out more of our lives into theirs, and really set aside time to pray and intercede for them, God is going to work so much more in our lives and theirs.
6. God is just amazing lar! I love Him. :D
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