I've been with the Maranatha Christian Fellowship in Cebu for four years now and looking back, the Lord has brought me through many seasons with the congregation and in my personal life. 
I joined MCF in 2003, in the time when the congregation went through a season of shifting. During this season, I got swept into the river and began my flow -- my journey -- into true spiritual growth. This was also the time when I started my involvement with the MCF New Life Sounds Choir. 2003 will always be a big spiritual touchstone for me as I consider it my spiritual birth year. I really felt welcomed into the river during the September 2003 Let the River Flow prophetic conference. I literally felt growth in my spirit beginning here.
As the years passed and as I began to grow more in the river, God also brought me through a season of testing and waiting. There was this dream of mine that I have had for such a long time and I thought it had been answered in 2003. I have been seeking the Lord about the fulfillment of this dream and for two years -- 2004 and 2005 -- I had been in a season of waiting on Him. It was one of the most trying times in my life. The things I thought I knew and claimed were put through the fire. But the Lord's assurance to me was through the prophet Isaiah: they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And renew my strength He did! Looking back at that time I can say those waiting periods really molded me and trained me in pursuit of the King.
I was also brought through a season of labor and more responsibilities -- particularly in the choir. The Lord gave me some seemingly unsurmountable stuff back in 2006 pertaining to our cantata presentations and I felt thoroughly overwhelmed. But it was God's way of training my hands for war and for more. The bigger the load I got, the more dependent I became on Him. This season taught me to do the best that I can, to trust God to do the rest and rest in Him when I've done my best. He is in control after all. Not me.
Finally, the changing of seasons in the last month has brought me and my congregation -- and presumably, the nation -- to a season of war. It's now time to contend for the lost of this nation. It's time to take back by force what belongs to the Lord. It's time to stand on the authority that God has given us over this nation and over the oppressing spirits in this nation.
The preaching in the church lately has been focusing on recognizing the seasons, knowing the proper response for the season, and learning to flow with the Spirit this season. I liked Pastor Nap's word of encouragement during the revival service last night: God is drawing the men of this house (MCF) to Him and giving them the heart of Jesus so that they will care for the things God cares for; this is a season for men to become more sensitive to the things of God and the presence of God. I believe this. I feel it. God is calling the men of MCF to a deeper intimacy with Him and that intimacy will result in a heart of stone being traded for a heart of flesh -- a heart that always longs for more of the Lord.
It is an exciting season here in the Philippines and -- based on the prophecies on Elijah List -- all over the world. There is just so much more that God can do that we have not even begun to imagine or think. Ha! He's just about to blow the Philippines away! I KNOW IT!
I joined MCF in 2003, in the time when the congregation went through a season of shifting. During this season, I got swept into the river and began my flow -- my journey -- into true spiritual growth. This was also the time when I started my involvement with the MCF New Life Sounds Choir. 2003 will always be a big spiritual touchstone for me as I consider it my spiritual birth year. I really felt welcomed into the river during the September 2003 Let the River Flow prophetic conference. I literally felt growth in my spirit beginning here.
As the years passed and as I began to grow more in the river, God also brought me through a season of testing and waiting. There was this dream of mine that I have had for such a long time and I thought it had been answered in 2003. I have been seeking the Lord about the fulfillment of this dream and for two years -- 2004 and 2005 -- I had been in a season of waiting on Him. It was one of the most trying times in my life. The things I thought I knew and claimed were put through the fire. But the Lord's assurance to me was through the prophet Isaiah: they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And renew my strength He did! Looking back at that time I can say those waiting periods really molded me and trained me in pursuit of the King.
I was also brought through a season of labor and more responsibilities -- particularly in the choir. The Lord gave me some seemingly unsurmountable stuff back in 2006 pertaining to our cantata presentations and I felt thoroughly overwhelmed. But it was God's way of training my hands for war and for more. The bigger the load I got, the more dependent I became on Him. This season taught me to do the best that I can, to trust God to do the rest and rest in Him when I've done my best. He is in control after all. Not me.
Finally, the changing of seasons in the last month has brought me and my congregation -- and presumably, the nation -- to a season of war. It's now time to contend for the lost of this nation. It's time to take back by force what belongs to the Lord. It's time to stand on the authority that God has given us over this nation and over the oppressing spirits in this nation.
The preaching in the church lately has been focusing on recognizing the seasons, knowing the proper response for the season, and learning to flow with the Spirit this season. I liked Pastor Nap's word of encouragement during the revival service last night: God is drawing the men of this house (MCF) to Him and giving them the heart of Jesus so that they will care for the things God cares for; this is a season for men to become more sensitive to the things of God and the presence of God. I believe this. I feel it. God is calling the men of MCF to a deeper intimacy with Him and that intimacy will result in a heart of stone being traded for a heart of flesh -- a heart that always longs for more of the Lord.
It is an exciting season here in the Philippines and -- based on the prophecies on Elijah List -- all over the world. There is just so much more that God can do that we have not even begun to imagine or think. Ha! He's just about to blow the Philippines away! I KNOW IT!
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