CHN Newsletter January 2004

“But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)

January 2004,

Dear Friend,

Happy New Year! Trusting that all is well with you and your loved ones. We are all fine, and praising God for this brand new year He has given us to love and serve Him.

We were blessed during the holiday season to host a missionary from Italy, Abel Aureli, at our appreciation get-together. He was visiting the East Coast to preach the Gospel, and agreed to come to our gathering. Abel has been an intercessor with us on the Internet since our HopeNet ministry began in 1995. We found out at the meeting that he used to be a 700 Club counselor in Massachusetts before God called him to Italy! What a small world! Please keep him and his family in prayer as he is calling for individuals and groups to cover him and his family in prayer as they labor to bring the love and power of Jesus Christ to Italy. You can read more about him by going to www.operationitaly.org

What can we look forward to in this New Year? I believe we can look with expectancy towards this new year as we are believing that a radical shift is coming which will be caused by the burning, passionate desire of the Bridegroom for His Bride. The Holy Spirit is actively anointing His people to call upon the deep things of God’s Word to birth a new awakening in how the church sees God. Our Bridegroom is lifting the veil from the eyes of His Bride, calling us to awaken and take position in heavenly places. It is time to go back to our first love. We are to be lovers first, and workers second. We can be so busy working for God that we forget to spend time with the One we serve! He is calling us to enter into the secret place where we can raise our levels of expectancy to open the door to all that He has in store for us. The psalmist cries out “How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:1) Where are we right now? Are we on the outside looking in? Are we assenting to knowing God, and simply going on with life as usual? Where is our heart? What is our passion? How thirsty are we? Just as the nation longs for the autumn rain at the end of a parched summer, so should we long for fellowship with God. We can survive in dry conditions, but do we simply want to survive, or do we want that early rain of the Holy Spirit to fall upon us, saturating us with the Presence and Holiness of God?

This year God is calling us to depth. He wants us to tend to our spirit, and draw wisdom and truth from the depth of His revelation. He wants to reveal His secrets to us, but He needs to know that we can be trusted with His secrets. This is a holy place to be in, and cannot be taken lightly. Oh, that we would draw from our Bridegroom holy passion for the things of His heart! This, my friend, is a time to raise your level of expectancy, to open the doors to all that God has for you! Release your past, and do not have regrets! God has placed your past into the land of forgetfulness! The past is gone, it is no more! Draw unto Him now and receive the joy and strength of the Lord. Call out to Him, and walk with Him hand in hand into the promised land, into that rest that He promises to all those who call upon Him. It is for now! Today! David cries out “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (Psalm 84:12). When we trust God with our present, our future, and yield ourselves to Him we are saying “The past is over, it is gone, today is a new day, I cannot go back. I must go forward in God now, and have faith that He will take care of my concerns.” Once we have done this, we can go forward to receive the things of our Bridegrooms heart. We can learn and draw from Him, and open the doors to receive the very depths of His love for us, the things which are prepared for those who love Him.

How passionate are you for your Bridegroom? What thoughts consume you while you are awake? When a man and a woman fall in love, all they can think of is each other and their wedding day. The man looks forward to the evening when he can be with his bride. He is passionate for her. The woman makes herself ready for her groom. She prepares herself, and she is passionate for him. Our Bridegroom longs for this relationship. He is passionate for you. He loves you so much and wants your full attention. This year, set aside regular periods of time away from everything just to be with Him to refresh and renew your romance with Him. Give Him your full attention, and speak to Him with words of love. He longs for you!

I believe that as we set out to search the deep things of God this year we will experience something deeper and more significant than we could ever think of or imagine. Jesus is calling His Bride to get ready for a new release of Holy Spirit refreshing upon His Church. His time is coming short, and He is giving us this opportunity to wake up from our slumber, and get red hot for Him! Are we God-pleasers or man-pleasers? Enoch was taken from this life without experiencing death because he was commanded as one who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5 NIV). What greater legacy could he leave than to be remembered as a God-pleaser? This can be our life, we can come to this place where we please God and know Him intimately. God is saying if we will only walk with Him as Enoch did He will reveal Himself to us. He will give us joy in our life. He will show us how to live, how to enjoy a sunset, how to smell the sweet fragrance of flowers around us. He will show us how to drink in His life, and be truly alive. He is a Life-giver, and He longs to give you that abundant life where you are truly alive with His kind of life. Receive it today. Lift up your hands to heaven, and tell Him you adore Him, and desire Him more than life itself! Give him your life to make it a sweet fragrance unto Him! This is the year of New Beginnings!