God Still Speaks with Leon du Preez

Many do not manifest the invisible just because of a lack of knowledge, and the moment a truth is presented to you is the moment you can experience it. From 2 Corinthians 4:18 and Colossians 1:27, under the new covenant eternity now lives inside you: Christ in you, the hope of glory. A true encounter with God must produce revelation, revelation must produce transformation, and transformation must produce manifestation. 1 John 1 opens four dimensions of God to experience when a message is preached: what you hear, what you see, what you look upon and what your hands handle. Move from information to experience. Take the message, prepare it as if you had to preach it, then go and preach it at work, with demonstration and not words alone.

Does grace give you a license to sin? Leon du Preez takes on the accusation that has followed the gospel of grace since Jesus was accused of eating with sinners and Paul was slandered for it in Romans 3:8. Grace is not a message but a person, Jesus Christ, and Titus 2 shows that the same grace that saves you also teaches you. You have died to sin. You cannot add works to grace and still call it grace, and the law strengthens sin. Jude, read in context, shows who really turned the grace of God into lewdness, and John shows why a believer who knows they are loved stays close to God. The first thing God called holy was the day He rested, in Genesis 2:3, so rest in total forgiveness and know you are accepted in the Beloved.

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 1, the answer to those demanding a sign and those seeking wisdom is Christ crucified. At the cross, God's love and justice meet. His presence stays with you beyond a Sunday encounter. Ask God for wisdom when you need direction, and trust His power when you reach the end of your own strength. You carry Christ into your workplace, your family and the situations you face tomorrow.

A burden from God is a weight in your spirit that moves you to act. In 1 John 1:1, the Word of life is heard, seen and handled. Because you are united with Christ, His leading can become familiar within you. Prayer makes you sensitive to that leading, and obedience to small promptings prepares you to recognise a greater assignment. A burden may move you to pray for someone, speak, give or change direction. Learn the difference between a burden and anxiety, and let prayer expose your own desires before you call them God's will.

God's Spirit bears witness with your spirit. The Urim and Thummim provide the picture for five inward lights, each with a different meaning for your decisions. A delay calls for patience; a firm warning calls for obedience. Yet a troubled soul may still be facing the right assignment, as Jesus shows in John 12:27. Learn to recognise quiet assurance and the stronger urging of the Spirit without waiting for a dream or vision. Hebrews 5:14 calls you to exercise your senses through use. Keep the Word of God within you, notice the inward witness and check the outcome as you learn to follow His leading.

The joy of the Lord gives strength when the work is hard and opposition is real. In Nehemiah 8, the people hear that God's joy is their strength. Joy grows in His presence and rests in the grace Jesus has given, rather than in a good week or a cheerful personality. When praise becomes a duty and you stop expecting good, return to His presence, speak truth to your soul and remember Christ's finished work. Put on the garment of praise. Keep building people and carrying God's Word to the next generation, even when the work takes longer than you hoped.

God's favour is found in closeness to Him. Proverbs 3 calls you to bind mercy and truth around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Let His promises become the foundation you trust and the words you speak. As you learn to see yourself through God's eyes, you can act wisely, honour the people around you and guard your heart against fear and offence. Stay close to Jesus Christ, receive His grace, and allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of what God has freely given.

Legacy grows through the people you help to know Christ. Jesus builds His church from living stones, joining believers into a spiritual house [1 Peter 2:5]. Your place in that house carries a call to strengthen others. Lasting fruit comes from abiding in Him [John 15:4]. Faithful lives pass on more than knowledge: they help others know the Father. Teach what you have received to people who can teach others [2 Timothy 2:2]. This is a legacy that can continue beyond your lifetime.

Divine immigration means moving with God beyond what feels familiar. Naomi returned to Bethlehem while still grieving, and Ruth went with her into an unknown future [Ruth 1:18-22]. Familiar pain can hold you back, but loss does not tell the whole story. God's future belongs on the scale beside your past. Trust Him through the discomfort [Job 13:15]. Keep your bags packed in faith, ready to follow His lead. His timing can carry your obedience into the next generation.