Maranatha Pointers from our online gathering 6th April 2025
Our online Maranatha gathering, on 6th April 2025, was a special time together with the Lord. We considered some profound revelations through our times of silence and sharing. If you were unable to join, but would like to see a recording of the gathering, you can do so here. Below is a summary of the key points.
- We are at a tipping point – the Lord has led us on a journey over the past 8 years, since He first spoke to us about ‘laying down’ the Community. Since 2020, when we were led to gather again, we have endeavoured to listen and respond to the Lord diligently as He unfolds the ‘new thing’ He is doing. For 4 years, through monthly online gatherings, the Lord has taught us how to ASCEND and ADVANCE together, so that this has become a way of life for the Community. An image of a seesaw was shared, with a sense that we have been ‘ascending’ and are near to the tipping point. It marks a more full immersion in the life of the Spirit as we are secured in our position in Christ in the heavenly realms. This is in direct opposition to the natural realm. We should be aware of resistance and temptation from the enemy as we near this ‘tipping point’. We depend upon the ‘breath’ of God’s Spirit and encouragement of one another rather than our natural, individual resources to overcome this.
- New wine and a new wineskin – During the past 4 years, as we have responded to the Lord’s repeated instruction to ‘ASCEND’ in our online gatherings, with no other agenda or focus, we have effectively been ‘abiding in the Vine’ (see John 15). The Lord seems to be showing that in this period ‘new grapes’ have grown, which are for the production of ‘new wine’. The Lord is showing us how the new wine will be produced – the new fruit must be crushed.
- The fellowship of sharing in Christ’s sufferings (Php 3.10) – This is the crushing that is needed to produce the new wine. The Lord is wanting to give us His understanding of suffering and, in this, to help us handle pain and adverse circumstances fruitfully. Suffering is not the same as sickness. There is suffering in choosing God’s way; it is costly to our flesh. Choosing to forgive in the face of injustice is one such example. There is suffering in temptation, which Jesus experienced (Heb 2.18). Satan’s assaults are aimed at evoking a ‘flesh’ response in us. This is daily spiritual warfare for those who are living in the Spirit. Jesus teaches us how to lay down our lives by placing ourselves on the altar. Every time we say yes to Him and His ways and no to our natural instincts we embrace the privilege of sharing in Christ’s sufferings, so that He can be glorified in us. It is the way of the cross. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8.34).
- Our ONENESS is as oil to the Father’s hands – an image of gardener’s hands was shared. The hands were calloused and worn with cuts and there was a sense that oil was needed to care for them. There was also a sense that there was a connection with the need for the oiling of a new wineskin. During a further time of listening Ps 133 was shared, with the impression that the oil produced by the oneness of God’s people is that which is needed to tend to the Gardener’s hands and to the new wineskin. It is an anointing oil for the priesthood who minister to the Lord and to His people, through worship, service and intercession. Jesus’ ‘High Priestly’ prayer recorded in John 17 is His prayer for the oneness of the new priesthood – His followers.
- Suffering and sonship – There is a wrong supposition by many that the Christian life should result in things going well. This is inconsistent with scripture, especially in consideration of what it means to follow Jesus. People experience the suffering of pain and confusion when expectations are not met. This has often led to a wrong perception that God is not good, caring or loving.However, the letter to the Hebrews explains that suffering or hardship is God’s way of ‘disciplining’ or training and shaping us and, in truth, this is a gift reserved only for those who are God’s children. “…the Lord disciplines the one he loves…God is treating you as sons….God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12.5-11). In God’s plan, suffering is not arbitrary or wasteful. God always wants to bring life and fruitfulness. Question: are there areas of our lives where we are not secure in God’s love? (see the word given below). Jesus was always safe and secure in the Father’s love, even on the cross.
- Prepare for what is ahead – i) the Lord is forewarning us that there is suffering to come, but that we should see this in the light of the crushing needed to produce the new wine. He loves us, His children, and we can trust Him. His Grace will always be sufficient for our every need. ii) we need to be alert to the ways in which the enemy will try to tempt us away from the life of the Spirit at this critical time – see 1Pet 5.5-10. iii) we are about to embark on the next stage of our journey as a Community. The Lord has spent 4 years teaching us to ‘ascend’. We must continue to abide in our position in Christ in the heavenly realms as we ‘advance’ and resist the temptation to revert to old and flesh-led ways. iv) we are called to “..the obedience that comes from faith…” (Rom 1.5) not obedience through understanding. “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (Heb 5.8). We are called to embrace the suffering of not understanding – denying our human desire and need to understand. v) we must beware of complacency and pray for protection for ourselves and one another. Jesus’ words to His disciples in Gethsemane warned them “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Mk 14.38). vi) we should always be aware of being a part of, and belonging to, the whole Body of Christ, bonded with a secure bond of peace through God’s Spirit. We are, therefore, never isolated or alone. We are all encouraged to affirm our belonging and oneness through the Rhythms in the life of the Maranatha Community, as well as through our local congregations and the wider Church.
- Words given during the gathering:
“As I come before you this evening, know My reassurance that you are My children, fondly cared for and nurtured in the way I choose. Sometimes, when you are far from Me, I draw you close so that you will never stray again, safe and secure in My loving arms.”
“As I said before, and I say again, you are Mine, My children. Belonging to Me is so important, it is a simple thing, never to be forgotten. But you do forget. In those moments turn back to Me; I am always ready to receive you back, eager to console you, strengthen you, give you courage to carry on.”
“There was no suffering like Mine, ever, but I endured it out of love for you. Never forget that, see the love from the cross, not the pain. Offer your sufferings to Me for relief and I will use them for My purposes.”
- Reflection: The Fellowship of Suffering – During the gathering, Juan was reminded of something he wrote in 2010 when he was in the midst of deep suffering and enduring pain.
The Fellowship of Suffering
My beloved, it is a place of meeting. A place where you and I can come together in complete honesty and truth. Why do you want to rush this time? Am I not closer to you right now than I’ve ever been before? You call to me as though I am distant, far away, as though I need to come to you to take you out of this place. But I am here with you, and it is I who have called you to this place. This is not a place I despise because it is a place I have been to before you, a place of creation and renewal for you.
Can you trust me that I would bring you to this place, not because I am punishing you, or because I have forsaken you, or even because I delight in this place, but because I trust you. I trust you to bear this load and I trust you to seek and find deep truths in this place – to mine the depths of the riches of grace in this dark place. Only when the eyes of your heart are open and seeing, only when the ears of your soul are attentive and hearing will you discover that this is not a place of isolation, or loss, but a place of opportunity, of hidden diamonds in blackest coal, of groans of deep prayer like labour pains before something amazing and beautiful is birthed.
I promised that being with me would lead to life. Will you die to suffering so that you might live to joy, deep everlasting joy? Will you know me – really know me – in my sufferings, in my passion, in my darkest hour, so that you might share in my brightest glory, to behold me as I really am – unveiled, scarred, yet beautiful? To live in my resurrection life requires that you also die in my death. Will you share with me what I can only entrust to those whose hearts are made for this, hearts shaped for the amazing expression of joy through suffering? Will you make up for others in your body what is lacking in my sufferings so that they might know the weight and true value of my costly grace, and not seek out cheap grace as a means to an unfulfilling end?
My beloved, if you knew how much I love you, how much I value you, how much I know you, then you would know you are totally secure and in a place of complete safety. Will you remain here with me a while longer, until my work here is complete?
Will you release to me your most hidden parts, your deepest longings, your greatest dreams – will you offer to me your life plan so I can replace it with the best plan that your life could ever be?
Is it enough for you to know that I am here? Let it be enough and discover that my grace is more than sufficient.
Our next online gathering will take place on SUNDAY 4th MAY, 7.30-9.30pm.
Our next National Gathering will take place on SATURDAY 12th JULY, 10.30-4pm in COVENTRY
