Instead of just thanking God for his purposes in our lives, we are to also be doing whatever He lays upon our hearts to fulfil those purposes. An example of this is reaching out to someone when they come up in your mind, thus combatting the dangers of members of the Body of Christ becoming isolated. This is being naturally supernatural, being responsible with, honouring, and applying God’s Word and instructions to us. It is essential that we do not relate with each other with masks on but be real, open and vulnerable. We present our bodies to God as a reasonable act of service, have our minds transformed and thereby proving our faith. Every aspect of our lives is to be lived from God and prayer should be our default in every difficult situation. We need to realize that God is the immovable mover and by being open to him, stopping our resistance and surrendering to Him, we will see him moving in our lives. We also need to be open to others. By loving God fully, we can also love others. I Corinthians 13 is not suggestions, but instructions which are to be applied. We need to ask God how we can practically change people’s lives. We must live generous lives, sharing our time, skills and presence with people, while being helped and led in this by the Holy Spirit. We need to readily recognize what God wants from us and quickly respond, for us to experience maximum effectivity, development, and well-formed maturity. Let our lives have a Godly ripple-effect to those around us, instead of the opposite. The acronym for open is O is offer, P is our posture of readiness, E is for execute, and the N stands for now. May the strength, life, power and love of God flow through our open arms to the communities and families around us.

The Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven, is not a physical place but a divine reality and it is made up out of every individual who has made the decision to repent and submit their lives to Jesus Christ. Since they have been born again or born from above, the Kingdom is present here on earth in their hearts. At the same time it is yet to come when the King will have returned to be here physically – an endless Kingdom here on earth, not in heaven. Earth is the domain where God needs mature sons, princes and kings, to reign under the Lordship of Jesus, bringing heaven to earth. Earthly kingdoms are often defined by power, wealth, military force, corruption, manipulation, domination, and intimidation but in contrast Jesus’ Kingdom is spiritual, not depending on political structures or physical borders. It exists where his will is being carried out. It is marked by His presence, values and activities which have been instilled in the hearts of his people. To enter the Kingdom means more than just believing for salvation but to grow in faith. Although this treasure is mysterious and hidden, the Kingdom is accessible to those who are hungry and looking for it and by paying the price, as Jesus showed in the parables about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is a realm defined by values. These are selflessness, humility, alignment with Godo’s will, righteousness, justice, mercy, grace, love, peace and joy. These values reflect God’s character, and it is his intention for us to not only live like this with him but also in the same harmonious manner with one another. We need to grasp the reality of the kingship of Christ and live it, having our hearts transformed by a relationship with the King. The sermon on the mount was Jesus’ kingdom manifesto and foundation. It spells out being poor in spirit or humble, being broken about sin and turning to God for salvation, meekness, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, purity of heart, making peace, suffering and enduring persecution because of righteousness, and resisting everything that is not the Kingdom while pursuing everything that it is. The Kingdom is a theocracy, and all are invited to enter, but the qualification to have a rich entrance ministered unto us, is to be converted to become like a little child. That means to be humble, the opposite of proud, arrogant, and self-sufficient. To sum up, the conditions for entry into the Kingdom are: repentance and humility, continued faith and obedience to Jesus, growth in holiness, peace with God, being in a totally committed relationship with him and prioritising him, becoming a child of God with a mission to glorify him and to be about the same mission that He is. This mission is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom in all the world, telling people that the cost to them will be to lay everything down to obtain this precious pearl.

The magi from the east saw a heavenly sign of a king being born, and following that star, came looking for Jesus. Although Jesus was born as the king of the Jews, in effect He has always been king, and will be king forever, from eternity to eternity. The star which the magi followed was not only a sign in the heavens of the birth of a great leader, but it also was a symbol of how the Holy Spirit would lead people to Jesus. Because the magi were not Israelites, the star was a symbol of how God was opening the door unto his Kingdom to people from every nationality and race as well. The star was a symbol of hope, of the light and redemption of the world who had come, piercing the darkness. Although there were those who reacted against the birth of The King manifesting the spirit of the Ant-Christ, his Kingdom has come on this earth, and it will last for ever. Everything against it will pass away, as the dream about statue in the Book of Daniel showed. An example of the eternal Lordship of Jesus was when king Nebuchadnezzar rebelled against The King and as a result lost his mind. When he came to himself, he had to acknowledge and bow down to the eternal kingship of God. There are many more examples of this eternal kingship being written about in Scripture, for instance, in Paul’s doxology in his letter to Timothy, and the description of the everlasting kingdom in the Book of Revelation. God is working with intentionality and purpose towards establishing his Kingdom of loving leadership and followship where every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth shall bow and confess Jesus as King. We have the privilege to voluntarily submit our lives to Jesus and confess him as King. The practical application of this submission is that we recognize Jesus as the ultimate authority in our lives, above every other authority, including our own desires. In doing so, we are believing, trusting, and are confident and assured that his plan and purposes for us will prevail. His plan for redemption and justice will ultimately be fulfilled. The meek shall inherit the earth, and the wicked will not be part of his land. Every enemy shall be defeated, even death. This is the future for us, as well as for the entire universe – a total rebirth at the appearance of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Recognising Jesus as King motivates believers to live missionally and according to the Kingdom mandate. It inspires our worship and adoration of him. Worship, not only through singing, but of a life lived in obedience and gratitude him. The kingship of Jesus is a call to believers to align their lives with the holiness, righteousness and love of Jesus, striving to reflect their king’s character. It does involve repentance; it demands spiritual growth and absolute reliance on the Holy Spirit. Knowing the kingship of Jesus results in his peace and rest being the believer’s portion because his sovereignty, providence and the fact that He is responsible for the citizens of his kingdom has become a reality. Being our king, He is involved and interested in every detail of our lives. He loves us and cares for us.

Getting baptised is obedience to Christ’s command, a public declaration of faith, and an identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Approaching baptism with faith removes it out of the realm of typology or symbolism and makes this identification with Jesus a living reality to the believer. Water baptism is essential, vital and part of the salvation package. It is not an option, but a necessity. Water baptism is of vital importance, because God expects it from the believer. By being obedient to his instruction in this expected and appropriate response, the believer is giving proof of having the same faith by which they have been saved. Actions need to demonstrate our faith in every area of our lives, not only in water baptism. The first principal of baptism is that it must be approached with faith. The second principal is obedience, fulfilling righteousness as Jesus did when He was baptised by John. After the believer has been obedient to this instruction from God, it must be followed up by receiving teaching in how to obey every other command to walk with God. Being baptised is being baptised into the character of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, resulting in change. One is then in a place of being enabled to receive greater revelation and understanding. Therefore, refusing to follow God’s principles, is a self-imposed hindrance to further progress in him and in reaching his purposes for your life. Water baptism is the doorkeeper of obedience to the rest of a person’s Christian walk.

We can choose whether we want to be part of the first, second, or third generation. However, there also is a fourth generation. The purpose of those who volunteer to be part of this fourth generation, is to rule over light and darkness and divide it. Looking at the number four in the Bible and the first four books in the Bible, the literal meaning of their titles are as follows – Genesis – in the beginning, Exodus – names, Leviticus – and he called (God called Moses into the tabernacle) and Numbers – in the wilderness, as well as counting (to count or to remember, appoint). Abraham, having been called by God to leave his life (die to it). crossed over a boundary into a new life and was thus the first person to be called a Hebrew. The next person who was called by this name was Joseph, the fourth generation from Abraham. Abraham was dwelling in tents, but God’s promise to him indicated that the fourth generation from him would have that land as a permanent inheritance. Moses was also part of a fourth generation and because the enemy was aware of the prophetic word over the fourth generation, he started killing the babies born at the same time as Moses, trying to avoid this word’s fulfillment. When Moses returned to Egypt to fulfil his mandate from God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and Pharaoh responded by making their lot even harder, they questioned Moses and developed a victim mentality by complaining and murmuring. The Hebrew word for murmur also means ‘to lodge for the night’. In essence it means, “we know that God wants to take us to the light, but we are comfortable here in the darkness, so let us remain here”. This murmuring attitude was as a result of having no ‘heart’ relationship with God, but rather a self-centred one which cannot accept temporary imperfect circumstances, and does not understand God’s heart, purposes, and counsel. The nation of Israel could not attain their inheritance before all those who had murmured against God because they failed to understand His purpose with them, had died. Let us not focus on our problems and trials, but rather on Jeus and God’s plans and purposes for this earth, prophesying that into being. We should seek God’s counsel to know what these purposes are and resist the temptation to murmur when our circumstances are not ideal. No matter what challenges we face, let us be the fourth generation, not giving way to a victim mentality and, dividing between light and dark, rule in every circumstance.

One person walking with God is passing down blessings upon a thousand (a great number) generations of his descendants. Every parent has a desire to see their children be blessed of God. Regardless of what our predecessors were like, we are already blessed because of the fact that we are Christians. God, who is our father, promised Abraham that all the families of the earth will be blessed through his seed (singular) and that seed being Christ, we are heirs, partakers and perpetuators of that blessing because we are in and of that seed. We have the authority to speak and prophesy blessing over our children as well as ourselves. For a positive generational impact, it is important for us to make the right decisions, keep imparting and teaching the Word of God to your children, and regularly attend church services with them, where they can experience the presence and works of God. They need to be fathered and mentored unto spiritual maturity. There is an influence upon us coming from the cloud of witnesses who had served faithfully throughout their generations. To open up the wells of generational blessing, it is essential for us to not only realize that we are already blessed in Christ, but to accompany it by fervent and continual prayers, especially for the next generation. The prayer of a righteous person has great power, and it is possible that a vision and prophetic word will only be completely fulfilled in the next generations, as was the case with Abraham. The next generation needs teaching, encouragement, guidance, sound warnings and admonitions. Mentors, or spiritual parents can help recognize, unlock and give leadership into generational blessing. There is a call upon all of us to be willing instruments in God’s hands to spend time with and impart wisdom to the next generation. Let us be intentional about finding out how to bridge the gap and communicate with them. Our children, and generations unborn, are already blessed because we love and obey God and He is faithfully maintaining this covenant to a thousand generations.

The first generation experiencing a move of God has a deep, loving relationship with Jesus, resulting in a moral and righteous lifestyle. The generation after them has the same lifestyle without the relationship, and the third generation sees a form of godliness in their parents but without the power, which results in them casting off all restraints. We see examples of this phenomenon throughout the Bible. Whereas the previous week’s word on this topic was directed towards people from the first generation, this week’s is geared towards those who are part of the second generation. There is a responsibility on the first generation to make sure, by not only walking and modelling a lifestyle, but also to pray and make sure that the next generation has a vital, living relationship with Jesus. It is important for the second generation to tap into the same passion and vision of the first generation and avoid the trap of just maintaining a certain lifestyle, as well as the Hezekiah syndrome. In the Old Testament we read about Nehemiah refusing the third-generation phenomenon. He stood up and was counted in challenging and resisting the apathetic, unprincipled, lawless, and godless lifestyle of the third generation of that time. He saw it as essential that the Israelites recover their identity as God’s people. In the same way, there must be a difference between the Church and the world, we have a responsibility to impart, build up and preserve in every generation a strong sense of identity and what it means to be a Christian. Every generation needs to know who they are in Christ. Our children need to be taught how to be strong in their convictions and be enabled to have answers to challenges and to withstand persecution. Like Nehemiah did, we need to tell the next generation of our history with God, so that they would understand our mandate as well as their individual purposes in the Body of Christ, enabling them to live intentionally. They must be encouraged to have a personal faith-walk with, and obedience to God. It is essential to teach the next generation ‘the Faith’, i.e. what we believe and why we believe it. The next thing that needs to be passed on the following generation, is a burning passion for Jesus by perfectly modelling it. The next generation needs to remember the previous one and be able to consider the outcome of their way of life, imitating their faith. We read in the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy how he encouraged Timothy to fan into flame the faith that he had seen in his grandmother Louis and his mother Eunice, proof that it is indeed possible for three consecutive generations to walk and live in the same passion of faith. It is the third generation’s responsibility is to keep feeding the flame of faith and passion that has been passed on to them.

There is a phenomenon in the world, called the three-generation curse. This is where a first generation will have the vision, drive and purpose to generate tremendous wealth. The second generation, although having seen the way in which the wealth was generated by the previous generation, grow up in comfort, and lacking the vision, passion and drive, only manage those inherited riches. The third generation following, only manages to spend the wealth until it is gone. Something similar is unfortunately true of the Kingdom of God. Looking at the Church, it is recorded that there have been many revivals which would end up fading away, causing gaps or breaches. Our task is to be the healers of these breaches because God’s purpose is for revival to be continuous, flowing from one generation to the next. This generational phenomenon is seen right throughout the Old Testament as well as in the Church where we see that the first generation following a meeting with God in the Old Testament, or a revival in New Testament times, has a living, vital, dedicated and faith-filled relationship with God. They are involved, and passionate. The second generation is characterised by the word ‘compromise’ because the vital living faith of their parents has somehow not been communicated to them. The third generation is then characterised by the words ‘conflict’ or ‘indifference’ because all they have seen in their parents is a form of Godliness, lacking the power. In the Bible we also see what is called the Hezekiah syndrome, where people are only concerned about what happens during their lifetime, which is wrong. God is working intentionally, with a purpose and a plan spanning over all of the generations. We, as a church, must take responsibility to walk with God in such a way that we can impart to those younger than us that living vital faith by which we are living, to the point where they will have their own relationship with Jesus, living with the same faith in him. There does not have to be this three-generation phenomenon in the Church. The question is, how do we impact the generations following us? We need to constantly and actively be speaking about the vision as well as live it, live our faith and relationship with Jesus, communicating it to our children. Model authentic faith inside, as well as outside of church. We need to speak, prophesy and declare to our children their destiny and purpose to counter the confusion of this age, instead of criticizing them. Teach them the faith and engage in discipleship and mentorship. Adopt a member of the youth and commit to pray for them. Cultivate a culture of prayer in yourself as well as in the next generations. Challenge worldly morals and cultural conformity. Involve the youth in service and missions, as well as having them praying for- and prophesying over each other. Lastly, let us focus on a relationship with Jesus, and not religion.

Before being born again, our lives are formless. dark and chaotic but at our rebirth supernatural light and illumination is shed within, the Spirit of God and Christ comes to dwell inside of us. But, despite that, our flesh life is still very real and alive and that is the issue the Apostle Paul and the other writers of the New Testament are concerned and passionate about – that we should experience spiritual growth and be transformed, in other words, Christ to be fully formed in us. The nation of Israel had been raised up to bring forth the seed, Christ, and once that happened, they were supposed to put their faith in Him and abandon the Mosaic Law. That is why Paul was concerned and astonished that the Galatian Church deserted Christ who had called them to live in his grace and instead started to adhere to portions of the Law. He called this a different, and actually no gospel at all. He saw them as being weak, miserable slaves, having lost something of the Christ within. The Apostle Peter called them people who went back to the Law adulterers. It is the destiny of every believer to have Christ formed within, and although the outward ‘do’s’ and don’ts’ form part of it, it is the inner heart transformation which is the most important in the process of Christ being formed in us. We should be noticeably different from the rest of the world, manifesting the character and nurturing attitude of Christ. The provision has been put into place for us to be like this, for as far as God is concerned, we are already predestined, called, justified and glorified, and as far as we ourselves are concerned, we are in a process of becoming. The Holy Spirit is strengthening us in the inner man, causing Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith. Added to the faith we need the increasing knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The Holy Spirit never stops working in us towards this goal and purpose, and we need to keep on co-operating with Him in this regard, because the process is not automatic. We live in the faith of the Son of God, which is not only the inner faith, but also living according to the body of faith (teaching) which He has delivered, and hearing and applying that Word which becomes a gift of faith. Our transformation is of grace, because of what He has done, and by grace when we co-operate with Him. Spiritual transformation to maturity requires a growing faith in Christ, a living, vital relationship with him, and realizing that it is an ongoing process. When we go through difficult times of testing, and can respond right by God’s grace, then these are the times when we exponentially grow in Christ the most, because that requires exercising faith.

During the incredible NOW conference every individual received something from the Lord. God is not a man, who would lie, and watches over his word so that it will perform what He has spoken it for. However, if we want to step into our ‘now’ we also have a part to play in the fulfilment of God’s word and promises to us. Our part is that we keep doing the good works which we have been involved with and stay flexible for change where God wants to stretch us and enlarge our capacity. It is possible to miss the ‘now’ moment if you do not realize, recognize or perceive that it has arrived. The ‘now’ moment could look like repentance and forgetting the past, a greater willingness to sacrificially serve in the various departments and activities of the local Church, attending all the services, personal prayer and Bible study, and to start studying in the direction your prophecy was about. This all is instrumental in forming and protecting a theonomous (God) culture where the truth, values and moral laws originate from God, and we follow his guidance and commands. The theonomous culture is in contrast to the Heteronomous culture where groups of people control the morals and ethics of others, like we see in Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures, and the Pharisees and Sadducees in Bible times. This culture is oppressive, consists of empty traditions of men and is worldly. The other culture which we find in the secular world is the Autonomous culture where individuals define their own truth and moral values, independent of divine and external authority, it is all about the self. This is a futile, sick, deceitful and foolish culture. These three cultures are also comparable to a three-generation principle, where the first one loves and follows God, the second starts compromising and the third is totally away from God. To step into our ‘now’ and grow spiritually, we need to stick to and protect the theonomous culture, also in our personal lives, not only in church. Again, this culture is developed by studying and obeying God’s Word, following good examples, worshipping and honouring God, integrating biblical values in everyday life, creating a community of grace and truth, making decisions based on biblical principles, serving the Body of Christ with the gift that He has placed inside, and, very importantly, teaching the next generation to know, love, and serve God. Serving reflects the heart of Christ, and it is important to not allow the ‘ow’ which is sure to come, to result in offense which causes you to run away. This will only rob you in causing you to miss out on your ‘now’.