Church Talk: A Word from the Jubilee Celebration

It is a special time for the Cook Islands Assemblies of God Church as they celebrate their Jubilee General Conference, writes Paul Cowrie, General Director of the Assemblies of God Church in the Cook Islands.

We hosted two churches from Tahiti and Moorea, as well as representatives from Pa Enua Church and local and international speakers.

During our celebration we received a word that was unexpected, yet now seems so obvious. The word was “seismic transformation,” meaning God is causing “seismic transformation” in people for the coming season. As I further reflected on this word, the following five examples came to mind, and I pray that they will be helpful to you in knowing the “dos” and “don’ts” if you find yourself in a season of transformation.

The Transformation of Cities – Genesis 19:16 & 26 (Lot’s Family and Wife)

It is clear from verse 16 that when Lot and his family were told they would be going to the city of Sodom, they hesitated. Despite the Lord’s warning, they had difficulty leaving their familiar place. We know that when they were instructed not to turn back, Lot’s wife did. Their reluctance to leave their familiar place and disobey the Lord’s word not to turn back led to her immediate death.

So what can we learn from this?

1. When God calls us to move forward, do not look back. Isaiah 43:18, 19

Forget ‘the past is no longer in the past, look, I’m doing a new thing’

• Obey the Word of the Lord and make sure it is the Word of the Lord!

A Nation Transformed – Numbers 13:30-33 (10 Spies）

Twelve men went into Canaan to spy out the land. Ten men, except Joshua and Caleb, returned with bad news. Verse 33 reveals a key insight worth learning. These ten men reported, “We are like grasshoppers in our eyes, and we are the same in their eyes!”

How they see themselves is how others see them!

So what can we learn from this?

1. Don’t count on your power, your skills, your resources, your bank account to accomplish what God asks you to do. Only God can accomplish God’s work.
2. Change the way you see yourself to the way God sees you. You are called to nobility, so stop talking yourself down. Live a life worthy of this divine calling!

The Change of Kingdoms – Judah Iscariot

All Jews (including Judas Iscariot) were waiting for the promised Messiah to restore the Kingdom to Israel. Israel reached its peak of power and wealth under King Solomon. Kings and queens sought an audience with Solomon, and silver and gold were as common as stones (2 Chronicles 1:15). God had promised through the prophets that the Messiah would establish His Kingdom, and the Jews believed this meant Israel’s freedom from the Roman Empire, which would rule over Israel once again!

This explains John’s question, is Jesus the One, or should they expect another? (Matthew 11). This explains why in Matthew 28:17 “some of the 11 disciples doubted” despite all that had happened. This also explains why in Acts 1:6 the disciples asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Judas actually wanted to force Jesus to fulfill God’s promise and establish Israel’s rule. But Jesus did not do so, and Judas, full of remorse, admitted to betraying an innocent man.

Judas looked at the promises of God and tried to deceive the Lord with the words of the prophets. The apostle Paul had a different attitude when he exhorted Timothy to remember what the prophets had said to him and not to deceive the Lord with the words of His promises, but to fight for Him with them! (1 Timothy 1:18). God’s promises are not so that we can deceive God to keep His promises. Rather, God’s promises are to protect us in the storm, in the flood, in the war. His Word protects us in the storm.

So what can we learn from this?

1. Don’t let God break His promises – you’ll only be setting yourself up for disappointment.
2. When the winds, rains, and floods of adversity are against you, allow His promise to sustain you.

A Change of Heart—The Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul studied God’s Law and thought that keeping it was serving God until he had a revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus. What a change in Paul’s thinking that what he was doing was actually against the God he loved! Paul thought that everything he had accomplished with his own zeal and hard work as a Pharisee was “worthless” compared to knowing Christ, but we know that God used Paul’s knowledge to write nearly half of the New Testament.

So what can we learn from this?

1. We can never rely on our knowledge of God or His Word.
2. We must continually receive revelation from Jesus and the great work He is doing! He said that it is upon this stone of revelation that He will build His Church (Matthew 16:18 & 19)

It is from His revelation that we can trust the God who is transforming us.

Jesus, the One Who Changes Us

We can rest assured that it is Jesus who is changing us, and that He also models for us the best response when God changes us.

• He obeyed the will of our Father and thereby changed
• He surrendered at the beginning of creation and chose to be crucified. – Revelation 13:8
• He submitted to the virgin birth – Isaiah 7:14
• When he was twelve years old, he obeyed his parents and turned to God – Luke 2:51-52
• He obeyed God throughout his ministry, beginning with his honoring his mother at the wedding in Cana – John 2
• He surrendered to God in the Garden of Gethsemane
• He gave his soul on the cross
• He surrendered during the Ascension so that the Holy Spirit could descend.

Jesus modeled for us how to respond when God changes us, and that is to obey the will of the Father. It is easier said than done, but at the heart of the matter is trusting God, which enables us to obey Him. Trusting God with all our heart and soul, rather than relying on our own understanding, is easier said than done, but it is necessary in a relationship with the Lord.

Have you ever thought that the greatest battle in history and in all future ages, won by Jesus on the cross, was not won by a confrontation with the devil?

Rather, it was earned through his surrender to the Father.

Selah.