Category: Teaching

Timeless Treasure. Susan Donnelly

The Promises of God:

The Word of God is full of amazing promises – each one speaking of His great faithfulness.

As we journey with the Lord, He also speaks personal promises to us as His beloved children.

Scriptures to meditate and ponder on:

2 Cor 1:20 “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Psalm 85:8 “I will listen to what the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints – but let them not return to folly.” 

2Peter 1:4 reminds us that we have been given these great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

I never tire of reading the account of Abraham in Romans 4:

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,  but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 

22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 

Praise God that when you and I hold fast to our faith and are fully persuaded that God will do what he has promised, we too are credited with righteousness.

Hebrews 10:23

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

Thank you Jesus!

Susan

Merry Christmas!

…..Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20 NIV

 While they were there, the time came for the child to be born. Luke 2:6 NIV

Dearest brothers and sisters, it is with joy that we reach out to you at this time of the year with great thankfulness in our hearts for all that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has done through every one of you, amen!

In the story of Joseph in Matthew chapter one, we see that he had a plan, and that plan was to divorce her quietly. (v19) We can all have our own plans, our own agendas, but we need to know the plan of God for our lives, because ultimately it will affect others!

Nobody likes to appear vulnerable or appear to others as vulnerable, but that is exactly what Joseph did, he became vulnerable. How? He laid down his own plans! His plan was to divorce Mary quietly, to send her away. He went to bed that night with the intention of putting his plan into action the following morning, however he was not planning on getting a visitation from the angel of the Lord whilst he slept! (v20)

The angel of the Lord assured and convinced Joseph that what was in Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, wow! How did Joseph respond to this vision from heaven and word from the Lord? He laid down his own plan, he laid down his agenda, he laid down his own thoughts. Verse 24 tells us that when he woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do and took Mary home as his wife.

Talk about being vulnerable! He put aside all his plans and picked up the plan of God for his life. How selfless, what an example Joseph is. Joseph’s primary purpose was for others, for the benefit of others.

The Bible teaches us that there is a time, a season for everything, and in Ecclesiastes 3:2 it tells us that there is a time to be born, and so we see in our verse above from Luke 2:6, that the time came for Jesus to be born.

As a man, I know nothing about giving birth to a child! My wife Susan went through all of that, twice, and she could write a lot more about that than I ever could! One of the things I most remember is the midwife telling Susan sometimes to push when the baby was about due, and then other times telling Susan not to push.

I want to encourage you, like Mary, there are things on the inside of you, that have been conceived by the Holy Spirit, amen? God has impregnated you with His truth, every time you read His word He deposits a seed into your spirit, that in due season will produce a harvest. (Galatians 6:9)

Do not be in a hurry to push, to bring about the birth of God’s promises in your lives under your own strength, rest in Him and be confident that what He has spoken to you will come about in due season, because He who promised (you) is faithful, amen? (Hebrews 10:23)

Like Joseph, are you prepared to lay down your own plans, your own agenda, and pick up the plan of God for all areas of your lives? Are you willing to make yourself vulnerable before God and trust Him for your days?

Each and everyone of you are amazing. Thus far the Lord has brought you (1 Samuel 7:12) and He has got an amazing plan to take you even further, praise God! Susan and I thank God for your faithfulness to the ministry of Andrew and Jamie and look forward to seeing all that God will continue to do through you all, amen!

We want to wish you all a truly blessed Christmas and we look forward to catching up with you in 2024!

Love and blessings,

John & Susan

You Are Anointed!

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

1 John 2:20

As a Christian, if you have received the Holy Spirit, there is an anointing on you! 1 John 2:27 reads, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” It says the anointing teaches you.

That means whatever problem you are faced with as a child of God—be it financial, in your job, your health, your family, whatever it may be—the anointing can teach you what to do.
If you would listen to the Lord in your heart, you will hear His voice! You will hear Him tell you what to do, because it is His will and desire to guide and lead you from Glory to Glory on the path of victory!

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”
No man or woman of God should walk in darkness or confusion. There is an anointing on you. We should no longer make the wrong choices and investments in life because you have a teacher on the inside of you who has anointed your mind to think excellently and make quality decisions.

1 John 2:27 says it teaches us all things not some! By the Holy Spirit you can know how to run your family, your business, your finances, your academia and everything you need to know about life. “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.” (2 Corinthians 1:21)
The anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life makes you supernatural! Amen?

Therefore, Being Justified by Faith

Therefore being justified by faith,
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1

The verse above says, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

That means there is no war or enmity between you and God. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ has brought you into an everlasting peace with God. That’s the Gospel, that is the Good News!
The peace being referred to here is more than just a ceasefire, quietness or end of hostilities; it means oneness. We have been brought into a beautiful harmonious relationship with God through Jesus, amen!

The scripture reads in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

By virtue of the work of Jesus on the cross you have been justified; that means declared righteous and have peace with God. The word “justified” is from the Greek word “dikaioo” which means to be acquitted.
God is not mad at you and does not count your sins against you. God not only forgives you, He remembers your sins, wrong doings, no more because Jesus paid the price on your behalf.
Isaiah 53:5 says the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (Christ).

We have right standing with God thanks be to Jesus. Jesus gives us access into God’s presence, there is no other way, (John14:6). In the Old Testament only the high priest went in once a year to intercede for the people, but now we have direct access into his presence; we are in union and unity with Him, because we are at peace with Him, we’re in fellowship with Him, for there is no fellowship without peace. Amen?

Blessings, John.

Why Are You Following?

“…and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.”

John 6:2

The ministry of Jesus was gathering momentum; people were beginning to come to him for all kinds of different reasons. Some came out of love and devotion as we see from the story of the woman with the alabaster jar, (Luke 7:47) – she loved much.

Continue reading “Why Are You Following?”

Use Your Authority!

Let the saints rejoice in this honour and sing for joy in their beds, May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Psalm 149:5-9

 As Christians, we are not called to fight the devil. Satan, the devil, is our adversary, but he is already defeated! He has been judged and we are the ones authorised to execute his judgement!

Continue reading “Use Your Authority!”

From Death To Life.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31.

The word translated “renew” above means “to bring back to life.” The picture is that of a tree that’s been hewed and chopped down and expected to die, but suddenly there has been a change and it’s brought back to life. It’s a kind of transformation where death is replaced with life.

Isaiah likens this to what happens when we “serve” the Lord, as we work in His Kingdom our strength is renewed! Weakness is replaced with His divine strength. It’s an exchange where you give Him your weakness and take His strength in its place, what a deal!

Continue reading “From Death To Life.”