DESCRIPTION: Participants will be taken on a journey of reviewing 2022 with the Holy Spirit and looking forward to 2023. Expect to come away with a clear theme for 2023 and goals/next-steps for the various areas of your life (spiritual, vocation, family, health, relationships). All of this will take place in an environment of peace and a praying community that will leave you empowered and refreshed for the year ahead.
TARGET AUDIENCE: This workshop is open to anyone seeking to walk more intentionally in their God-ordained purpose in 2023. All are welcome. It is especially geared toward those who want to accelerate their growth in Christ.
COST: $100TT
CONTACT: Email celestintricia@gmail.com or WhatsApp/call 868-761-5342
We love formulas. Give us five
prayers that unleash the power of heaven or three steps to walking in victory and
we are all over it like a hog in mud! We approach the bible with this same mindset.
We read about Daniel and all of a sudden we have a new formula called the
Daniel fast! We read about the worshippers who circled Jericho and we have another
formula: leading spiritual warfare with praise! However, as I study the
scriptures I’m becoming more and more convinced that the only formula is that
there is no formula! I mean, if we made a list of all the different strategies
the people of Israel employed to win their battles, it would be quite a long
and diverse list. No two strategies seemed the same. It seems that God
emphasized not a formula-based faith but a God-dependent faith. The formula is to
hear from God all the time, every time.
This was brought home to me in a
fresh way as I studied Matthew chapter 2 yesterday. It is a really interesting
chapter in that it contains the fulfillment of three Messianic prophesies. It
starts with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Israel. Then Joseph has a dream by
which the Lord warns that Herod will seek to kill the child and directs Joseph
to take his family to Egypt. Finally, after Herod dies, Joseph takes his family
back to Israel (but to the town of Nazareth this time), again prompted by
divine direction. The author of Matthew is careful to point out that there is a
prophecy about the Messiah coming from each of these three cities; Bethlehem,
Egypt and Nazareth.
So I tried to put myself in Joseph’s
shoes but with a 21st century mindset… I know, quite a mind-twister
lol. Ok so here I am, I got the Saviour of Israel in my care… (no pressure). I’m
also a Jew so I know the scriptures pretty well (like by heart) and I know that
there are three prophesies about where this child comes from. So what’s the
formula for successfully raising God’s promised Messiah? Which city should the
child be born in? Do I plan a visit to each city? When? In what order? To
figure it out, I naturally pull out my Strong’s Concordance and study all the Hebrew
words in the prophecies and Google all the articles and YouTube videos on Messianic
prophecies. (By the way, this exercise kinda reminded me of the eschatological
gurus who keep getting the end of the world wrong… hmm.. whatever happened to
all the blood moon fanfare last year?… anyhoo, I digress…)
The thing is, that was not how
Joseph approached life…not at all. He simply did what God told him when God told
him. An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and told him to go to Egypt, so
he went. Another angel appeared in another dream and sent him back to Israel
when Herod died and he went to Nazareth. Simple. No formula. Just a simple
faith that totally trusted God to direct his path.
As I begin to think about my 2020
goals, I’m thinking in 2020 I want to get back to a simple yet powerful faith.
I want to grow in obedience to the Holy Spirit, step by step, day by day… there
are no formulas, only a life fully surrendered to Christ and completely led and
empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
