What are you doing with the Word

Thank you, Father, that You are God, the Almighty God. We cry out for Your presence. More of You, Father. More of You in our hearts, more of You in our thoughts, more of You in our words, more of You in our families, more of You in our town, more of You in this world.

More of You, Father, more of You. We cry out, Father. Pour out more of Your Spirit in this earth. Let Your glory be seen. We live for You, Father. We are here to worship You. We are here to acknowledge that You are God, that there is nothing that is impossible for You.

You are the Creator of heaven and earth. You are the beginning and the end. There is none like You. Thank You, Father, for Your presence here tonight. Thank You that Your presence is enough. For every person that is here tonight, Father, it is my prayer that You touch them personally, intimately. That which is their deepest desire, touch them tonight, Holy Spirit, like only You can.

Lord Jesus, You are the only answer. You are the complete answer. We need nothing outside of You. It is our desire that You are Lord of our lives, that we live accordingly. We submit ourselves. We are here tonight as vessels in Your hand.

We make ourselves available. Our hearts are open to hear from You and You alone, Father, to receive from You and You alone. Enable us, equip us, activate us. Stir up that joy, that passion, the compassion in our hearts for Your people. We are expectant, Father, that things will change in this world because of Your presence and that Your glory will be seen.

It will be seen from afar, like a city set on a hill. It can be seen from afar, like a light that cannot be hidden. This world will know that there is a God, the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. They will know, Father. Lord Jesus, thank You for showing up in this earth.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You carry the presence of our Father. We are expectant. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Who of you are expectant tonight? Can I see? Who of you are expectant? Are you expectant? You know that when we come together like this, it's amazing – I say it every time, but it's only because it comes up in my spirit.

Every one of you brought something here tonight that we all need. That presence of the Lord in you, that desire from your heart that you brought here tonight – it's impacting us. It's impacting the presence of the Holy Spirit here. So it is significant. I want to congratulate you on being here, and I know that a few of you had a challenge to be here tonight, but you are here, and I thank you for that, because we all need you to be here.

And I pray to the Lord that you are expectant, that He ministers to you personally, intimately. Have an expectation. Nothing is impossible to Him. We need to continuously remind ourselves of that and get ourselves out of that box that we want to place Him in, because we are having challenges, because we are struggling to overcome things.

Then we try to put Him in that same category, to think it's difficult for Him. It's not difficult. There's nothing that is impossible to Him.

I think there are really only two aspects that I want to touch on tonight, and I'm probably going to go through a lot of scriptures, but if you listen to the audio, you can catch up again or make notes. If you want to make notes, just jot them down. We're not going to look at every verse, but there's definitely a lot that came up in my spirit.

There are two things in essence that I want to talk about. The one is that I'm sure many of you experienced it during this week: for me, there was a specific word during this week that just came to me from everywhere. I was confronted with it, and that word was to be grateful, to be thankful – dankbaar, dankbaar te wees. That word just came to me from everywhere, and I believe that's a word for all of us.

I'll explain a bit about that later on. So that's the one thing – that word is relevant for all of us, to be thankful, to be grateful, dankbaar te wees. Then the second thing that came up in my spirit, which I think is significant, is this: I want to ask you tonight, what do you do with the Word that comes to you? It is critical what you do with the Word that comes to you, and if you haven't listened to the Purpose Series teachings, find out from somebody, or we'll actually...

We've upgraded the app – it's amazing. The guys and the girls did a wonderful job upgrading the app; it looks amazing. In case you don't have the app, I'll share the link tonight on the fellowship group, and then just make sure you speak to somebody and get that link so that you download the app if you don't have it, and all those teachings are in there. One of them focuses on the Word of God. I don't want to focus too much on that or in too much detail, because that in itself is two hours.

So go and watch that teaching specifically relating to the Word of God – it'll explain a lot of things – but I need to summarise a few things relating to the Word of God so that you have context for what I want to share. This is a bit of background relating to the Word of God, and yes, for probably ninety-nine percent of you, you've heard it so many times. But embrace it and receive it as if you have never heard it before, because I'm sure it'll unlock something in your spirit tonight.

The first thing about the Word of God is that it is seed. We need to know that, and we need to continue to remind ourselves of that, because there is a difference between receiving a seed and receiving the harvest. You need to know there is something in between receiving a seed and having a harvest – something that must happen. So we have a responsibility when we receive the Word of God. In the whole parable of the sower regarding the Word, every one of the four categories is explained, and it says the seed is the Word of God.

That is the first thing you need to understand, because that means we need to embrace it – there is something that needs to happen before it produces a harvest.

The second thing is that the Word of God is alive. We tend to generalise it as a written thing – yes, you can put it there, it's a book, it's lying there – but that's not the Word of God. That written, physical book that you have is not the Word of God.

It is a physical representation, a glimpse of the reality of the Word of God. It's trying to show you something. It's like I've explained to you before, when we talk about faith: what does it mean to have faith? Faith in what? Is faith just an expectation that something good is going to happen to you, or what is faith? Faith is knowing a reality that exists and acting according to that reality – and it so happens that that reality is not the one you see with your physical eyes.

I've spoken about that many times, so I don't want to go into detail, but you need to understand that. That same principle applies here: faith is a response to a reality, and that reality is who God is. How can we have faith if we don't know who God is? We don't know what His nature is; we don't know what His expectation for us is. So if we read the Word of God, the Word of God explains that reality to us. It is like a world we don't know exists, and gradually, as you study the Word of God, you get exposure to the Word of God.

You start seeing this reality, and once you see it, you can start responding towards it. So when we say the Word of God is alive, we must understand that it is God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1 (NKJV)

Again, I explain it in that teaching – you can't separate the Word of God from God. The life form that was in God since the beginning of the world, that life form that was in Him, was the Word of God, and it says that Word became manifest in this physical world, and that was Jesus.

So the Word of God is the life and the ability of God, and that's why it explains so many things – it says the Word of God has the ability to give you an inheritance, the Word of God will produce in you. In Isaiah fifty-five it says the Word will achieve what it has been sent for; it will not return void. So apart from being seed – and it ties in with that core component of a seed that has that life and ability to reproduce – it's the same with the Word of God.

So we can't just generalise or play down what the Word of God is and the ability that it has. It is that life form that has the ability to produce. When we talk about the seed, there's one other scripture that comes to mind, from 2 Corinthians 9, that says He gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So God can provide for you on a certain level, but God has not sent us so that we can just pray for ourselves and be sorted out.

He sent us to be the solution in this earth, and for that He equips you. That's why, yes, if you continue to pray for bread, God will give you bread – but that's not His first prize. Both in Isaiah and in 2 Corinthians 9 that concept is explained: yes, He will give bread to the eater, but that's the consumer. He will receive and he will consume, and then he will say, "Lord, I need." What God is looking for is not the consumer – He's looking for the reproducer. That's why it says He gives seed to the sower.

Those that will take it, embrace it and sow it will reproduce it and impact lives. So the Word of God is alive. The third thing, which I mentioned already, is that the Word of God is God Himself. You can't separate it from God. So when we talk about the Word of God, we need to understand its significance, the ability that it has, and we need to understand that we have a responsibility. That's why I asked you in the beginning: what do we do with the Word of God that we receive?

We already saw that, yes, there's life in it, yes, it's been sent to produce, but it doesn't do it on its own. You know that scripture that says the Word came to them, but it didn't benefit them, for they didn't mix it with faith. So the Word came to them, but it didn't benefit them because they didn't mix it with faith. There's a response towards the Word of God that makes it produce.

It doesn't automatically produce. That's why James says faith without deeds is dead. Now you understand the context of faith that I explained to you – the Word of God in its written form explains to us the reality of God, who He is, what exists, so that we can understand that reality and then start responding to it. So we have a responsibility towards the Word of God. Now I want to come back: what do we do with the Word that we receive?

I'm going to make it a bit practical tonight in a variety of ways. I'm going to go back to point number one, and then combine the two things. The word that I received from various sources this week was to be thankful, to be grateful, and I think there is such a lot of significance in that. I want to read one or two scriptures to you, starting with Psalm 9:1-2. I really want you to read and look at this with intent, in the context of what I've explained to you now.

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

Psalm 9:1-2 (NKJV)

The thing that was so significant to me about this word of being thankful, being grateful – dankbaar – is that we have a choice in life, in everything that happens. You have a choice how you respond, and you have a choice how you look at it. The same thing can happen to two people: for one it is traumatic, for the other it will be victory, because of how they deal with it.

We all know that Jesus paid the price, and the price that He paid was the complete price. It was complete. There's nothing you can add to what Jesus did. Whatever we can ever achieve and amount to or manifest, whatever of that is still just contained within Christ.

You will never go beyond and produce or experience or manifest that which is outside of Christ. You will never need anything outside of Christ. So whatever we can attain to – that's why it says in Ephesians, until we come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So don't worry. What Jesus did was enough. The victory we have is not tied up in our works, in the physical things that we try to do every day and think we are pleasing God, or that we are going to achieve something.

The victory that we have is in Christ Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of our Father. What He did was enough. We are in that victory. So now, to manifest that victory in this earth, there are things the Word shows us so that we can get more of a glimpse of the nature of God, the ability of God, the impact of His presence, and through that we are led to more intimacy with Him.

And the more intimate we are with Him, the more His presence rubs off on us, and it starts becoming physically present and visible in this earth. In 1 Timothy, roundabout there, it says about the Word of God:

“Meditate on these things, that your progress may be evident to all.”

1 Timothy 4:15 (NKJV)

God will not give us something that doesn't work or that is impossible. So if He says, meditate on these things that your progress may be evident, it means it is visible, it is physically present, you can see it, you can experience it. The expectation is that the people around the body of Christ should see the body of Christ manifest in a way that they should look at it, desire it, and acknowledge that there is a God.

What do we talk about when we say that the glory of God should be seen in this earth? Is it just some vapour thing, or just a light, or what? What is the glory of God? The glory of God is manifested in the body of Christ through the way we live, through the way we impact. When people look at us, they see the glory of God. When we come together like this, there is something we achieve – there is a stirring of the glory, of the presence, of the ability to manifest Him, that we cannot do on our own.

The thing I realised about this word is that we can choose every single day, and I think this year has been an interesting year. We don't have to have a discussion about that; I think that's obvious. But I realised again our mindset should be: how do I look at things, and how do I respond to them?

For there is a way. It says, "I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works." And I'm speaking to myself here when I say: when last did you speak of the marvellous works of the Lord? Compared to speaking about the American president, COVID and Malema and whoever else – how much have you spoken about that compared to speaking about the marvellous works of the Lord?

Then I realised, because I'm talking to myself here as well, that it is a mindset to decide what I want to focus on. It is a mindset what I want to speak about. You might be going through a lot of challenges, and you focus on those challenges so much that you can't speak about the marvellous works of the Lord any more. But when I change my mindset and ask, "What can I thank the Lord for today?" then, you know, I run out of paper.

It's a mindset. We think we have one or two or three big challenges confronting us, and we start getting absorbed by them, or by what's going on in the country and the world and the environment, so that we don't focus on the marvellous works of the Lord. We should help each other and remind each other: what have you got that you can be thankful for today? The fact that you are here is a massive thing.

If you can think of nothing else, you are here. You are present where the Lord is present. You are present in a group of people that love you unconditionally, that are here to help you. The fact that you are here, the fact that you are receiving the Word of God, the fact that you can see me, the fact that you can hear me, the fact that you can speak - I'll tell you, if you start thinking about the marvellous works of the Lord and what you have to be thankful for, you will also run out of paper. But if you don't change your mindset to that, it's not going to happen. You are going to continue to worry about the challenges that you have.

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

Psalm 9:1-2 (NKJV)

And I will not do it when I feel like it. I will not do it only when everything goes well. I will do it because I have a conviction of who He is and what His expectation of my life is.

Psalm 100 says, from verse four, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving." Somebody said many years ago, and I believe that's the reality, that if you continue to praise God continuously and you lift your hands - because there are verses in the Bible about lifting up holy hands - if you do it on a regular basis (I don't want to say daily, because then it starts sounding like a religion) and you lift your hands and praise and worship God, it's impossible for you to get arthritis. I have an expectation that we become so aware of Him, of what He's able to do, and so focused on praising Him, that some things simply cannot be present. There are some things that just cannot happen.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

Psalm 100:4-5 (NKJV)

Ephesians 5 says:

“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Ephesians 5:17-21 (NKJV)

That's a whole mouthful, but I just want to emphasise again that after everything, it says, "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." I firmly believe that a lot of the challenges in our lives will start disappearing if we stop focusing on them, look to the Lord, and just continue to thank Him.

Can we challenge each other that the first thing we do in the morning, when we wake up, we thank God for five things? Every morning when you wake up, you say, "Morning, Father. Morning, Lord Jesus. Morning, Holy Spirit. Thank You for this day, that this day will be unto Your glory. Thank You, Father." And then you thank Him. You can thank Him for different things every day. You don't have to make it a recipe or a religion. Just thank Him, and then praise Him, and worship Him. If you can, just put one worship song on. Just one worship song, and worship Him and praise Him, because we acknowledge who He is.

Don't make your problem bigger than what God is. That is the challenge that we have, because we try and solve things in a human way, and before we find ourselves, this problem is just so big we think we can't solve it any more. But if we focus on Him, it's as if those problems just become smaller and smaller and smaller. This ties in with the Ephesians 5 scripture I just read - you probably picked up that this is our lifestyle.

This is what we promote, encourage and assist with, and that is the lifestyle of Christ. We do not believe in a church structure. We do not believe in religion. We believe in assisting and building relationships with individuals and activating them to function as who God created them to be within the body of Christ, without a name, without an organisation, without any ties to it. That is what we stand for, and it is a lifestyle.

“They went from house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, and the Lord added to the church daily.”

Acts 2:42 (NKJV)

It is a lifestyle.

Now, if you look at this Ephesians 5 passage, it says, "Do not be unwise. Understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another." So we, as well, when we have a conversation, should make sure the majority of our conversation with each other is not about our problems. Yes, we have accountability groups. Yes, we have home fellowships. And yes, you need to be transparent there. If there are issues, you need to bring them to the table, as somebody shared this week as well. When we share things, we bring them into the light, and in that light they get dissolved.

I literally experienced that on Thursday, when we were a group that prayed together. I just saw this block of ice - something I carried, and I thought it was this big thing, this issue - and when I just mentioned it, it was gone. It became nonexistent. I realised it never was. It didn't exist. It was only an issue in my mind.

So we need to have that transparency. I'm not saying, all of a sudden, sweep all your issues under the carpet. That's not what I'm saying. Don't misunderstand me. We need to have that transparency. We need to share. We need to surface it, so that in the light, the light can destroy those things.

But what I am saying is, when you've done that, be sure - like it says, "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" - that in our conversations, when we come together as a home fellowship or a prayer group or whatever, the majority of our interaction is filled with joy and praise and worship, acknowledging God for who He is, and not this small little world that we create for ourselves, full of a whole lot of issues that we don't find answers for. He's bigger than that.

So it says "speaking to one another" - that's one component. We need to have that interaction. We need to help one another. I realise continuously the significance of every one of you remaining standing until the day that Jesus comes. That is what Paul said at the end: "I finished the race." It was not pretty. It was not easy, but he finished the race.

That's the important thing about this lifestyle we talk about. We are not here to judge one another. We are not here to condemn one another. We are not here to tell you what you should be doing. We are here to say, "How do we help you? How do we make sure that you remain standing? How do we make sure that you fulfil the purpose that Christ has called you for?" Because that is the significant thing. When all is done and said, it's about the relationships that we have and the willingness to help one another do what God has called you for.

And that's why it continues to talk about one another. Then it says, "submitting to one another in the fear of God." That's also a very powerful statement, submitting to one another. We have given our lives away unto Christ. The freedom that we have is that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, because then we are guided in the truth, the reality and the purpose of God and the perfect will for our lives. But within that, we submit to one another.

Our victory - what makes us attain what we should, what makes it sustainable, the continuity in it - is the fact that we never put ourselves in a place where we are not accountable to one another. The quickest way you come to a fall is if you are not accountable. So if you are not in an accountability group, find two people that you trust, who have spiritual maturity, and put yourself in an accountability group, and commit yourself to that group, to whatever challenges or goals you want to achieve, and make yourself accountable. That's why it says submitting to one another. That is what makes it sustainable.

Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be known to all men." Why does it say be known to all men? I'm going to come back to the same thing. At the end of the day, when we go out of here, what is the significance of us coming together here? The significance is that we are attracting a corporate presence of the Holy Spirit that can manifest and achieve things here that we cannot necessarily do on our own when we are at home.

So we bring that together, we stir - every one of us has brought something here that will achieve more in that synergy, in that oneness. But once we go out of here, the significance of what has happened here is: can we physically live consistent with the character of God? It's not about how much we can tell people and direct and judge; it's about whether I can live in a way where people can see that I manifest Christ. And that is why we need to help one another.

“Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:5-7 (NKJV)

Listen to this part. I know you've heard it many times, but listen to it again: "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding." That by itself is fairly challenging - how do you understand something that's beyond understanding? There is a peace. Jesus said, "The peace I give you" - not the peace of the world. The peace He gives is beyond intellectual recognition, beyond analysing. It is something supernatural. It is His presence.

When that peace of God, which surpasses all understanding - it says that peace will guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus. That means your heart and your mind need to be guarded, for whatever you sow in there has the ability to produce. You can either produce thorns and thistles, or you can produce fruit.

So if you don't guard your heart, you don't guard your mind, things are going to come in - thoughts that Satan will plant there, or just your fleshly desires will plant there - and those desires are going to manifest in sin, and whatever the implications of that are in your life.

So when we function in this place - apart from the lifestyle - it says: don't be anxious for anything. Let's not take everything onto ourselves and try to sort it out. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind through Christ Jesus.

It's guarding your heart and your mind. The Bible says we have the mind of Christ. It is guarding it so that we can make sure that when something takes root in me, is it Christ's thought or not? And if it is not, it has no place in me.

If there are things you need to sort out in your life, if there are people you need to forgive, do it and move on, because you are harbouring things that are only poisoning yourself. Get rid of it. If you need to go and ask for forgiveness, do it. If you need to repent, then go and do it, and move on. We don't have the luxury of entertaining these things. We have a King to serve, and He has a plan in this earth to manifest Himself. We can't entertain these little things where we make ourselves God, because that's what we do - we make ourselves and our agenda more important than His.

I want to end off with this. It says "meditate on these things" in verse eight. You know this very well, but look at this again. I said to you we have received a specific word for this week, and what do we do with that word? It's specific to this word, but that's relevant to any and every word that you receive. Understand the significance of that word, and then what do you do with it? You can see that responsibility.

Part of that - the practical aspect - is that you receive that word, somebody gives you a word, then you take that word and you go and study it. You take the Bible, you study it, you read up, you pray, you meditate, so that you can understand through the Spirit the word that you received, and that you can make it your own, and that it can come alive. Remember what I said? The Scripture says they received the word, but it didn't benefit them, for they didn't mix it with faith. What is faith? Faith is acting upon that word.

So for me, it's a question of change - change what you are looking at. Look away from your problems. I'm not saying ignoring or sweeping them away. I'm saying just look away onto something that is bigger. It says, "Look away unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." What is that? Of our reality, of eternal life. He's the one that created it. He is the one that made it possible, being the way, the truth and the life. And what is eternal life other than His presence and His ability, dwelling in it forever? It's not a separate thing.

So when we read this and we say meditate, it takes this together: you receive a word, but there is an ability in it to produce, that you need to unlock, and your ability to do that is to meditate on it.

It says, "Finally, brethren," in verse eight, "whatever things," and then it lists the things you should meditate on. Now again, how much do we meditate on these things? In the Old Testament, when it speaks about meditating, the word used there is hagah, which actually means to roar, to speak it, to declare it. Meditate is not just a vague, distant thing. No. Meditate is you look at it, you focus, you embrace, you study, you understand, and then, when it becomes part of you, you declare that word. The Word of God needs to be spoken. You need to speak the Word of God for it to produce, but you need to meditate on it. You need to choose what you meditate on. Do you meditate on the challenges? The instruction is: meditate on these things. Listen to what it says we should meditate on.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.”

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

Meditate on these things. Dwell on them. Think on them. Discuss them. Declare them. I said in the beginning: when last did you speak about the things of God and the great things that He does? If you meditate on these things, you will find more and more things.

It's a physical thing that we need to do. I still think one of the most significant things in Christianity is discipline, and that's why so many people struggle with Christianity - because that discipline means I need to do things. I'm not talking about religion. I'm talking about doing things that I know are the right thing to do, but I don't feel like doing them. Then I do them anyway, because the discipline is there.

And part of that discipline is that when we think about these things, we should also be discussing them. So if we come together, before we discuss all these other challenges and issues, can we talk about these things first? We should ask one another, "When we start off, can you first tell me something about the marvellous works of the Lord in your life? Before you tell me about the other things, tell me about the marvellous works of the Lord in your life." Because what does that do? It makes you focus on them. It makes you magnify them. And all of a sudden the other things start falling to the side, and they start becoming so small.

“Meditate on these things, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me. These do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:9 (NKJV)

So once you meditate on these things, you embrace them, you need to speak them, and ultimately you need to live them. The more we focus on them, the more we just remind ourselves - in the morning I have an intention that I'm going to speak and thank the Lord for everything He does. When we have interaction, I should say to you, "Kobus, tell me about the marvellous works of the Lord in your life." And there's plenty - you can keep me busy for hours about the marvellous works of the Lord in your life. But if I don't encourage you to do that, and I start talking about all sorts of other things and challenges, before you know it both of us are down in the dumps because of what's going on in the country, and we're ignoring the marvellous works of the Lord.

So I want to challenge you: let's practically live it. That's what these things are about - how can we practically live it. When I talk about practicalities, I want to encourage you to do a few things. When my life changed eleven years ago, I went through a schooling process and equipping process that was quite significant and powerful in a variety of ways. I got taught certain disciplines in that process that I still adhere to and still value today.

For me, Christianity is being a soldier. There's discipline, there's commitment, there's decision. It's not this wishy-washy, floppy little "when I want, where I want, I'll decide." No - it's firm, it's commitment, it's soldier, it's we show up. But when we come to the most significant things of our life, we think we can just flop around on it. No, there are firm commitments.

So practically, when somebody gives you a word - this is one of the things I got taught, and it has had significant impact in my life up to today - when somebody says, "I want to give you a word," the first thing many of you will know I do is grab my phone and record it, because I might not hear everything you're saying and I might not be able to recall it. Then when I go back home, I have a journal that I keep with words that different pastors, teachers and people have given me. I still have words I received eleven years back that I refer to from time to time, and when I read them, it's like the Holy Spirit ignites them in me again.

It's like God is saying it to me for the first time again in my life. Make a journal, listen to that word, meditate on it, because you need to make it your own. The word can come to you, but it will produce nothing unless you make it your own. So you need to decide what you are going to do with that word. It's discipline to say, "Wait, before you give me that word, let me record it." You record it, you go and listen, you meditate, you go to Scriptures that confirm it - because if somebody gives you a word that is not consistent, as I've said many times, you don't just receive anything from everybody.

You don't just let any prophet lay hands on you and speak into your life. You need to know who he is - there needs to be credibility. The test that somebody taught me many years ago was, "What does your life look like in terms of fruit, in terms of results? If there's no results in your life, why do you think you should come and give me a word?" Now, I'm not saying somebody needs to be perfect before they give you a word - they just need some track record. It's biblical, because the Bible explains what the life of an elder should look like: they only chose somebody as an elder in the community when his life adhered to a certain standard of living. So that's biblical.

Anyway, when you receive a word, you record it, you write it down. If you weren't able to record it, it's not the end of the world - then go and ask the Holy Spirit, who will bring things into remembrance. Write down what that person shared with you, then go and meditate, pray, study the Scriptures, and let the Holy Spirit confirm it until you get to the point where you say, "This is a word for me."

Why would God give you a word if He does not have an expectation that it will produce in your life? Why would God give you a word through somebody else and not to you directly? Because sometimes we are so stuck in a rut that we are not able to hear, and God is gracious to say, "This thing I've been trying to speak to you about, which you cannot hear, I will send somebody to give you this word." That's what happened so many times in the Bible.

But often, and in most cases for me, the safest word to receive is one that confirms what the Holy Spirit already said to you during the week or over a certain time, or that somebody else has also given you. So don't just take one word from somebody you don't know. I'm not saying reject it - I'm saying test it. The Bible says test every spirit, which means test every word you receive. You can test it, but don't throw it away until you have tested it. If you have an accountability group and you're struggling to process a word, check with them whether that word is from God, whether it is for you.

You can get confirmation, but don't let a word that God sent you - meant to have significant impact in your life - fall by the wayside. Record it, meditate on it, pray over it, study the Word of God, keep a journal, because I can tell you, if it is a word from God, when you refer back to it somewhere in the future it will still have significant impact in your life.

It's like when God shows me a vision - if I think about a vision God showed me eleven years ago, it is as clear as seeing this computer screen in front of me now. It's like watching a television show right here. If it's a vision God gave me, it doesn't disappear; it remains. It's the same with the Word of God. Even as I'm speaking now, I'm thinking about a specific word somebody gave me, and I can even see the place. Ten years ago we were on a flight to Johannesburg, for one of those big events with a hundred thousand people. We were outside picking up pieces of paper, and a pastor standing next to me gave me a word.

That word comes up in my spirit now as if he said it to me just now. I embraced it, went and wrote it down, meditated on it, and until today that word has significant meaning in my life. But if a word comes to you and you don't mix it with faith, with action, with responsibility, it will not produce in your life - and then we blame God. No, He's given us the solution; we need to embrace it.

So if you have a word for somebody, maybe they won't be prepared if you come to them quickly - then take the responsibility yourself. Some of you might not know what "Big Five" is - we often come together in small groups, same gender, five people together, and we pray, taking turns for each person to stand in front and be prayed for. Even then, when I give a word to somebody and I see they're not recording, I will take out my phone and record that word and send it to them. So take up the responsibility.

It's the same with prayer. When somebody sends you a message saying, "Please pray for me, I have this challenge," you can pray - maybe for half an hour for that person or situation - but take one or two minutes, record it on WhatsApp or Telegram, and send your prayer to them physically. If you say you are praying for somebody, send them that prayer.

I can tell you, prayers that people have sent me - a two-minute audio recording - and prayers I've sent to people, years later they say they still listen to it. They even have it saved between the songs they listen to, and this prayer pops up between songs. They will WhatsApp me once they've listened to it again and say, "Do you remember, we were in that building, that place - seven years ago you gave me this word. You have no idea what impact that has had on my life." He could have chosen to just ignore it. Take up the responsibility. Record a word you have for somebody. Record the prayer.

If you say you're praying for somebody, send them a WhatsApp voice note they can continue to listen to, because sometimes you just phone somebody and give them the word and they don't receive it, because they may not be in that place. But if it's recorded, it's fixed, it's there - they can continue to listen to it again.

God sent us the solution - let's embrace it. We don't have to come up with our own solutions; it's enough to embrace the word He sends us. We respond to it, and we help one another. Remember, we are here to help one another. So whatever challenge you have, whatever you feel you need to overcome - yes, be transparent. We are maybe physically or spiritually on different levels. Maybe there are things you're confronted with at the moment that you don't have the capacity to overcome - then you call in other people and say, "This is what I'm going through." It doesn't help to try and pretend and ignore the issues.

So even tonight, we're going to give opportunity later. We're going to continue with worship now, and then after worship we're going to give the opportunity for somebody to pray for you, to strengthen you, to encourage you.

For me personally, and why I keep emphasising it - this was a life I didn't know existed. I only grew up with religion, and there was no life in the religion. There was only judgement, only condemnation, only a set of rules, and you never felt good enough. It didn't matter what you did, you could never attain to that expectation.

And then I came to know this life, which is unconditional love. That's it - unconditional love, by people I didn't even know, who just say, "I don't care what your background is, I don't care what the challenges are, I don't care if it's your fault. We are here to help." Without judgement, without condemnation, we are here to give what we have, which is Him. It just so happens that it's enough. Whatever your problem is, Jesus Christ is the solution, and it's enough.

None of us are perfect. I'm not standing here trying to tell you I'm doing everything right. I'm not standing here trying to tell you I don't need people - I've needed people seriously in the last few months. If it wasn't for you, many of you who have put aside many hours to pray for me, it keeps me standing. We need one another, but we are here to help you.

I don't want to just assume that all of you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour yet, because I see some faces I don't know. We talk about Jesus being the answer because the Word says He is the way, the truth, the life - nobody comes to the Father except through Him. And it's not a religious thing. What went wrong was because of the sin of Adam and Eve. God created them as one, and because of that sin they got separated from God.

That's why the gospel of Jesus Christ is referred to as the ministry of reconciliation. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord of your life, you become one with the Father again. It's not a religious thing, it's not playing church, it's not trying to do everything right. It's simply receiving His life form in you, for your spirit to become born again and to receive eternal life. It's not about whether you live right, do good and go to church.

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, it's enough for eternal life. Nothing can steal that from you.

I'm going to ask everybody to close your eyes, so we can allow everybody the privacy. If you are not one hundred percent certain that you have received eternal life, if you are not one hundred percent certain that you are born again, that you have made Jesus Lord of your life - if you want to do that tonight, just raise your hand. I'm not going to call you to the front; I just want to know if you want to accept Jesus. Don't worry about the people next to you, just keep your eyes closed.

I see those hands - you can drop them now. For the sake of privacy, I'm going to ask all of you to pray this together, to accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord of your life. It doesn't matter if you've prayed it before - it's not going to add to your salvation, but it allows those around you who are praying it for the first time a bit more privacy.

Thank You, Father, that You love me so much. You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour and Lord of my life. I am born again; I am a new creation. I have received eternal life. Thank You, Father, that You do not leave me alone but You sent Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come and fill me - come and fill my mind, come and fill my body, come and fill my soul. Holy Spirit, overwhelm me with Your presence. Thank You for Your ability and Your power. Thank You, Father, that You love me so much. Thank You for a new life in Christ. Amen.

We praise You, Father. We praise You in the beauty of Your holiness. We worship You - there's none like You. We thank You, Father, for touching everyone here. Thank You, Father, for Your Spirit that is present to heal, to restore, to uplift, to reunite, to strengthen, to give hope.

Thank You, Father, You are light; in You is no darkness. Thank You for the presence of Your light, Father. We rebuke any darkness, we rebuke any works of the enemy - it falls to the ground and amounts to nothing. Thank You, Father. Your life, Your love and Your light will prevail, in the name of Jesus. Amen.