My husband has been in Melbourne most of the time because of his job and
comes back to Sydney on alternating weekends. I sometimes attended Hillsong
Macquarie during the alternating weeks when he’s not in Sydney.
I’ve been feeling quite suffocated and fatigued over the past few
months. The air had been very bad during the months when the bushfires got
really bad, which made my eyes, nose and throat very uncomfortable. Then came the coronavirus.
I work in a location with a high percentage of Chinese Australians, and all the
staff in the clinic started wearing surgical masks since late January. I never had
to wear face masks all day for work in the past and this is making me feel very
suffocated and deoxygenated. It’s been a month since I’ve been wearing masks at
work and it’s starting to drive me nuts.
The theme of Hillsong Conference 2020 will be “Breathe Again,” which is
really referring to Wind of the Spirit. The recent sermons I’ve listened to are
particularly focused on the Holy Spirit. They also mentioned that they are
preparing to get a church building for Hillsong Macquarie.
Recently I’ve just spoken to someone from Taiwan who’s working in
ministry, and she raised a few points about the churches of Australia:
·
Although there had been many bush fires burning physically
in Australia, the spiritual situation of the churches of Australia is lacking
in the fire of the Spirit. It is in a lukewarm situation.
·
There is a lack of unity amongst the churches of
this land. Churches of different ethnicities operate independently, and churches
don’t seem to be coming together/ networking together to intercede for the nation
(which the churches of Taiwan is doing a lot of these days). When she asked for
information from the Chinese churches in Australia about updates on
intercession requests for the Bushfires in Australia so she can send the
information to the prayer network in Taiwan for intercession, there seems to be a lack
of such information.
·
There is a lack of “career missions,” or
ministry in the workplace. People tend to be “Sunday Christians” here.
·
There needs to be a strong desire for the
presence of God. We should remember to pray for the presence of God, God’s
protection, and revelations from God.
·
Keep praising God in all circumstances. (Which,
by the way, seems to be a recurrent messages that I kept hearing lately from various
different sermons and exhortations from brothers and sisters. I think God is
reminding me not to grumble too much, as I am starting to become quite grumpy
about some of the bad things that’s been happening recently nationally and
globally.)
The road to holy ghost power (Hillsong 12Jan 2020 https://youtu.be/I1tk99fWNak)
Jesus: Isaiah 11 says holy spirit will rest upon him (the Messiah)...
descending, filled and lead by the power of the spirit etc
Resurrection
Gushing wind
Unity, in one accord
1) The hand of God is on your life: If you know that, spend a season of
your life to go deeper into the word of God in bible college
2) Descended: when Jesus was being baptised. The heavens open over you,
the holy spirit descends on you, you know something big is about to happen.
Pray for the open heaven, over our lives and over our church.
3) Filled with the spirit and lead to the wilderness. Why does Jesus
need to be filled with the Spirit? God in the flesh can be tempted and
persecuted. If God in the flesh needs the Spirit, how much more do we need it?
To be filled is a radical transformation. There's that power which comes from
the Spirit when you are living in the fullness of the Spirit.
4) A demonstration of the Spirit of the Lord in our lives. Why lead us
into a dessert? When God leads you, he never leads you away from God's best for
your lives. The Spirit saves us from ourselves. The Spirit of God in you leads
you. God leads you both from the outside and inside.
5) Returned in the power of the Spirit. Back to Galilee where the huge
majority of Jesus' miracles happened. The Holy Spirit is not whimpy. There is
power in the name of God.
6) Ascending into heaven: a new era where the Spirit of God has been
unleashed, poured out, and the birth of the church happened at that time. Acts
2:16. This is what the prophet Joel said.
Losing momentum like an old dog would be awful.
Don't Trip the Switch (Hillsong 23Feb 2020 https://youtu.be/1HgXJ4smOfs)
Ezekiel 37:9-10
“Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man,
and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the
four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on
their feet—a vast army.”
Wind of the Spirit.
East wind: Seems to bring problems, famine, locusts, etc.
West wind: Brings deliverance.
North wind: God's majesty and splendour.
Can you read the winds? On what God is doing in your life?
Song of Solomon 4:16
“Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that
its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved come into his garden and
taste its choice fruits.”
The garden represents life.
South wind: Fragrances and spices. A spiritual awakening: God's majesty
awakes. Heaven's fragrance.
If we are rightly positioned, it doesn’t matter where the wind blows.
Everything changes with the awakening. The awakening comes from heaven.
The north wind first then the south wind.
Fragrance of fruitfulness in spring time. Roses, jasmine, etc. God's
majesty breathes fragrance of the garden of our lives.
Song of Solomon 1:2-4
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more
delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is
like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you! Take me away with
you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Friends: We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love
more than wine.
She: How right they are to adore you!”
The kiss of heaven. God's favour brings blossom. It's His name that's
the power behind the fragrance and favour. God's majesty in the north breathes
life to the south.
Ecclesiastes 1:6
“The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round
it goes, ever returning on its course.”
For the circuit to continue, it needs to turn to the north, to heaven.
The wind comes again on a circuit.
Psalms 142:7
“Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the
righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.”
Don't break the circuit.
There are circuit breakers, that breaks the circuit when there is a
fault. Don't flick the switch.
Trust in God, whatever He brings. You wouldn't even have breath if it
wasn't for God.
It all started with the Garden of Eden. It was always His garden.
Genesis 2:9
“The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees
that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden
were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Central in the garden: tree of life.
Genesis 2:15-17
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work
it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to
eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.””
Keep Him central.
Acts 27:7-15
Our lives can be slow sailing and there can be shipwrecks. In those sailors' experience, they believe a good
harbour has a southwest and northwest exposure.
They tripped the switch, trusted their own experience, and didn't
listen to Paul or to God.
A northeaster brought about a shipwreck.
Ecclesiastes 10:1
“As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs
wisdom and honor.”
Dead flies putrefy perfumed ointments.
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
“My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come
with me.
See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and
gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has
come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines
spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come
with me.””
A declaration: Let's not turn a good smell into something putrid. It's
a declaration from the bride in the Song of Solomon. Use me, and do something
significant through me.
