Taking Ground in 2020
WOW!
This week has been a struggle of a week. I’ve been doing some serious battling in my mind. But of course, it’s a battle, just think of how much ground we’ve taken in the first 24 days of 2020!!
“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6: 10-13
· I’ve officially put down building work and concentrating on building the church in Bosham.
· I watched 2 of the original ‘Gatherers’ baptise 2 young people in a freezing Bosham channel. (One of them even got stuck in their dry suit after! 🤣)
· A family from Bosham have decided to start supporting us monthly. They are not from The Gathering but have recognized the work we do in the village.
· We had Marmalade day! Or also known as ‘sticky Sunday’. The kids, and Lou, enjoyed watch Paddington, while the rest of us chopped, jarred and stirred.
· I lead a teaching day for the CYE staff team and from the feedback I see that people are now walking more clearly in their calling. Here’s what one person said... “Yesterday I realised I don’t have to be afraid of what I’m called to. God is gracious and kind and He calls me to partner with Him coz He wants us to do stuff together. I’m not scared to do stuff with Him when it’s in the context of having a better relationship.”
· I’ve formed a key relationship with a guy in the village who will be instrumental in helping shape the church in Bosham. We’ve met every week to pray, sometimes twice.
· I sat with one of the ‘more than regular’ punters of the local pub, in that local pub, and unpacked Luke 15, explaining to him that the way the father treats the sons (plural), is parallel to how our Heavenly Father treats us!
· I went on a day trip to ‘The Wave’ Bristol, with 2 of Gathering guys and we schemed and prayed and dreamed about what church in Bosham could look like and their involvement.
· We spent an evening praying, chatting and prophesying over one of our Gathering guys, who happened to have his birthday on the Thursday we were meeting. We gave him cake, a fresh sour dough loaf, a jar of fresh marmalade and a bunch of prophetic words that, in his own words, made him feel “strengthened, encouraged and comforted”. To quote 1 Corinthians 14.
So, as I list out some of the goings on in the early stages of 2020, I think to myself ‘no wonder it’s a battle, no wonder we have kickbacks and no wonder we sometimes feel like it’s all futile’ it’s because it’s not! It’s not futile! If it was futile, in the heavenlies, I fear we would be quite happy where we are, we would feel quite comfortable thank you and the future would look certain and predictable. But it certainly doesn’t look certain and predictable, and I, for one, am not feeling quite comfortable where I am. I want more ground; I want to see Heaven invading Earth. I want to see Heavenly activity in people’s lives daily. That list I wrote is a list of Heavenly activities (yes my wife’s marmalade is Heavenly and it will be in glory, I can imagine the angels spreading it on toast in the ‘staff room’ in Heaven as they take a break from all that singing they do). That list is evidence of ground being taken by Heaven, that list is proof that what The Gathering has invested in over the last 3 years (people) has and is paying off.
So, I say ‘praise God for the struggle’. Thank you that I battle in my mind, that I have to constantly remind myself who I am and who we are. The struggles show that we’re taking ground and the enemy doesn’t like it. (insert the thunder song from the film Ted and replace thunder with satan)
If you are in a struggle, bless you, can I encourage you to keep on keeping on. Fight the good fight, meditate on the word of God, day and night.
If you’re not in a struggle, then thank Jesus for the blessing you are in. Live in it and soak it up! Because you are in rest and soon, if you also want to take ground, soon you will need to fight.
Derek Garner