CrossFire Nabusozi - The Shofar of God

Above: Ugandans worship in their church in Kampala.

I am bringing my blog today from Uganda, East Africa. I am leading a team from Gateway Church, New Mexico to minister the life and abundance of the Jesus to a forgotten people. Well…..maybe forgotten by some people, but not by our Father nor by this powerful team of ministers. We are in Nabusozi village in southern Uganda near Tanzania. We planted a new church here in 2010 and are now continuing this apostolic work by watering what was planted and helping to firmly establish these people in the Kingdom of God. Today we are ministering in an open air crusade, teaching people in the church, ministering to children, and bringing natural health in the form of a medical clinic to this remote area. The Lord has declared prophetically that this team will spring up to be the ‘shofar of God’. In turn, this village church will be the ‘shofar of God’ to this area of Uganda. To be a shofar is to bring forth loudly as a trumpet the sound of Jesus Christ in open declaration of His lordship and government to this land. We are going to walk the hilltop where a church building will be constructed for this body of believers. We will pray over the land and sound the trumpet of the King of Kings to be heard from the hilltop to the valley. Can you hear it? Can you feel the sounds of the shofar? Wow! What an awesome time to be living for Jesus!

Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done....In Me!

Our Father in heaven, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus said those words when asked by his closest followers to teach them how to pray. (Matt. 6:9,10; Luke 11:1,2). I bring closure to my series on ‘The Government of God’ by emphasizing that Jesus desires so much for His kingdom to come to us, individually and corporately. The eight essentials for God’s rule in your life as a leader will be the marks of your effectiveness in leading. We know from scripture that we are already seated with Christ in heavenly places. Our challenge in leadership is to rule from that heavenly position rather than an earthly position. The eight essentials are:

1. Grace is your base,
   
2. Righteousness is your identity,
   
3. Love is the connective tissue for the body,
   
4. God’s process of transformation is your cross to bear,
   
5. Giving is your way to make a living,
   
6. Worship is a lifestyle,
   
7. Asserting Godly authority is necessary for ruling your assigned territory,
   
8. The Great Commission is your mission.

Through grace, the gift of God, by faith in Jesus Christ we have receive His kingdom in our spirit by believing in Him as Savior, Lord and Messiah. But in order for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth we must allow the kingdom of God in our spirit-man to infuse every fiber of our soul. As it does, we desire His will more than our will; we make decisions based upon the kingdom; our relationships reflect the kingdom; we lead our ministries and churches into kingdom-minded thinking; we worship from a heavenly perspective; and we govern in grace, mercy, love, and righteousness.

Leaders across the world need God governing their soul. We need His internal government in order to bring forth a righteous, kingdom-minded external government in sphere of influence. Be the answer to your own prayer as you pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. Leaders must lead in this way. First, allow the Holy Spirit access to your soul to reveal the places where He does not govern you and your decisions. Second, repent of holding back and protecting areas of your heart where you have knowingly, or unknowingly, refused to let the Holy Spirit bring truth, healing and alignment with His kingdom. Third, study and become immersed in grace, the base of all kingdom thinking and governing under the New Covenant. Without a generous understanding and revelation of grace you will rule by works having fallen from the kingdom of grace.

Know that your Father is for you, not against you. Know that His grace is not only undeserved favor, but the transforming power of change in your soul. Know that as you submit to His process of transformation you walk into leadership dimensions, understanding, and effectiveness you have never before experienced. And, finally, because Jesus accomplished victory for you and for His kingdom on the cross, He is now leading you in a triumphant procession of victory in your own soul and against any power of darkness that would try to hinder His kingdom will on earth. He forged a path of victory for your family, business and ministry; a victory based in His governing in you and through you.

So I pray “Father, we agree in one accord that Your will is being done on earth as it is done in heaven. Praise be to Your Name forever and ever and ever, Amen”!

The Great Commission is Our Life Mission

For the last several posts on my blog I have revealed seven essentials of the heavenly kingdom; essentials that must be established in each of us in order for God to govern our lives and our sphere of influence on this earth. Those seven essentials are (1) grace is your base, (2) righteousness is your identity, (3) love is the connective tissue for the body of Christ, (4) God’s process is your cross to bear (i.e. transformation), (5) giving as the way to make a living, (6)worship is your lifestyle, and (7) your Godly authority must be asserted over your assigned territory.

Those first seven essentials are critical if we want to be effective in fulfilling the eighth essential of the kingdom; the great commission is our life mission. In Matthew 28:18-20 the Word says; ‘Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” If you truly desire to lead people into a place where the Lord governs their life and their influence on others, you must have an external focus. This external focus must be so well established that you will sacrifice your very life for the sake of ‘going to make disciples of all nations’. The great commission is grounded in a passion to lead people into the kingdom reality of God’s rule in their hearts, their families, their businesses, their civil governments, and their churches.

The Great Commission is the external reality of God’s government established within you. We will never have a passion displayed externally if we don’t have it established internally. We won’t occupy the marketplaces of the world with God’s government if His government does not occupy every fiber of our heart. Every essential of the kingdom of God ultimately serves to fulfill the great commission. The commission MUST become our life mission!!

Leadership is key in demonstrating to the people of God the essentials of God’s government. The Apostle Paul said ‘imitate me’ (1 Cor. 4:16). It starts with those of us in leadership providing the example, showing the way, charting a course in our lives to be the model of God’s rule inwardly and outwardly. Paul told the church in Thessalonica ‘you became the model to all the believers……’ (1 Thess. 1:7). For all of us in positional or relational leadership we must lead the way in establishing a supernatural internal government that is so powerful we will literally sacrifice our natural lives go and make disciples of all nations. It is so powerful that the Commission is our life mission.