Prepare the way of the Lord (Is. 40:3-4).

1. Introduction: Prepare the way literally means to make ready the way of the Lord. Eg. 2010 Preparation for big event - Stadions, roadworks, Gautrain. HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE PREPARE FOR CHRIST TO COME AMONGST US?
Obvious question is, “Is your life ready for the coming of the Lord?” We do not simply think of a Lord who came two thousand years ago or a Lord who will come at the end of history. We await a Lord who comes continuously into His world, among His people.
The Bible says of John the Baptist, "...I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..." (Mal. 3:1). What did the forerunner (John the Baptist) do to prepare the way for the Lord? (Luke 3:4-5) What message was he sent ahead to bring concerning the one who was coming after him? He convinced his hearers that they were sinners, and that they needed to confess their sins and repent of them. He prepared the Messiah’s way by bringing people to the conviction of their sin and leading them to repentance. Repentance in the Bible, you know, means a turning away from a way of life that is displeasing to God and embracing for us his will for our living. It presupposes that our way of life needs to change, that we are lost, and need to salvation. It is a change of mind which leads to a change of lifestyle. Have you done it? (Act 2:38). This is how you start making the way ready for the Lord!

Before the second coming of Jesus Christ there will be a manifestation of Himself through His body here on earth. The challenge is: “How can I make ready the way of the Lord to come in my life?”
How can I and we as a church prepare the way for Him to come and show Him self, to reveal his holiness, His glory, His power and his love.
Therefore, give up all claims to your life. BECOME FASCINATED WITH JESUS and that will cause you to be willing to lose your life for Christ’s sake. Let the Person of Jesus uterly captivates you. Christ’s purpose for His church is that we grow to full maturity. (Eph. 4:13) says, “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” God has planned for His sons and daughters to think, talk and act as Jesus did. He intends for us to rise up in full maturity and to flow in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. This transformation process cannot be accomplished in your own human strength or effort, but only by His Spirit living in you! .” Read (Matth. 16:24+ John 12:24-25).
Denying yourself is not for the weak or fainthearted-it will cost you everything. It means giving God all your preferences, goals, ambitions and dreams. Read (Rom. 8:29). Jesus came to show us what it is to live a life devoted to God. We can be a visible representation and manifestation of Christ to the people around us.
It is a new season for the church. He is calling forth a new breed of people through whom He will manifest His power and glory! It is a time where God will manifest Himself amongst His people in supernatural provision and blessing to the world; where He will open the windows of heaven and release abundance.

2. How do we as an individual/church prepare the way for Him to come amongst us? All of us are in need of correcting attitudes that are out of alignment with God's Word.
We must prepare a straight path for the Lord, removing all obstacles which stand in the Lord’s way preventing Him from coming. All the crooked ways in our life need to be straightened out. Every mountain and hill should be brought low and every valley be lifted up.

a. Prepare the way by having a changed mind. Old mindsets is a hindrance to the power of God! The church needs to change. That means we have to change, which means our mindsets have to change!
(Rom. 12:2) says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” To prove the will of God, to show other people what He is like. Our job is to demonstrate that the reality that exists in heaven can be manifested right here and now! Not only believing the right things about God, but people who put the will of God on display! We are here to give people a demonstration of whom God is. We tell people how great God is-now it is time to prove and demonstrate it. Jesus taught and demonstrated that the Kingdom of God is a present-tense reality!


b. Prepare the way by excercising faith! (Eph. 3:20).”Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”
Are you using your energy to worry or to trust God? This is a time where you shouldn’t activate your fear, but activate your faith in God. Quit expecting the worse and start to expect God’s favour. God is a good God and He wants to bless you!
Say, “God I am expecting a good year (family, job, finances, church, S.A.)” It is time to take heavy doses of faith-a time to have lots of hope. The devil wants you to despair. You are able to do what God has called you to do! It is time to activate your faith instead of your fears!
Every Christian should be looking to the future with great faith and hope. It does not matter what comes upon the world, our King has prevailed, His kingdom is going to come, and His will is going to be done, right here on earth as it is in heaven. When you read the end of this Book, we win!” Consider this great promise in (2 Cor.2:14)

c. By welcoming His presence, inviting Him to come through our praise and worship. I think the church as the body of Christ is going to be glorious, I think this is the greatest time to be alive, cause I feel like we are about to enter an age of great glory for the church, where the church and the nations will be in awe of God.

d. Prepare the way by becoming part of the light. Be a light carrier-let your light shine. Life is made up of pain. Disappointments. Pressure. Doubts. Trials. We are all sapped of strength by these dark, ominous clouds. The gospel is the answer to all of this. Get those dark areas in your light sorted out!
(2 Cor.2:14) “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Do people smell Jesus when they come near you? Do they sense His presence, love and caring heart? Do they see a life dedicated to God, a life filled with the Spirit of the living God?
Rick Joyner says :
“It is obvious that 2009 will be one of the most significant years in history, and whether the outcome is good or bad will depend on many factors. For those who are on the right path, there is but one inevitable outcome—this year will be one of ever increasing light and clarity. Proverbs 4:18 promises: “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

Therefore, if we are on the right path, the light that we are walking in should increase continually until we are walking in the fullness of the light. Light is what we can look forward to. In the times that are filled with darkness and confusion, the promise of light is one of the greatest promises we could have, and we can be sure that it is coming. The promise of this light is that it will shine on our paths, giving us the clarity to move forward with boldness. This will become an increasing hallmark of those who are walking with God.



e. Prepare the way by living in the joy of the Lord. The Bible says,
(Ps. 16:11) "In His presence is fullness of joy, and in His right hand there are pleasures forevermore."
When Jesus came to the earth, the angels announced, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come. I bring you glad tidings of a great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

f. Prepare the way by loving Him above all. Living a life that loves God. (Mark 12:30) Love for God is without question the most significant characteristic of every great woman or man of God.
Jesus had a abiding relationship with the Father, He maintained an intimate relationship with Father. He didn’t run to the Father now and then when He had a need- it was a constant relationship with Father. Jesus showed His disciples that intimacy with Father was the key to everything He did. Read (John 15:7). It is essential for us to maintain intimacy with God on a daily, hourly, moment by moment basis. We cannot produce the fruit that God is looking for out of ourselves, we have to abide in Him. Read amazing verse (1 John 2:6). If you want to be used of God, want to grow spiritually, you need to love what God loves and hate what God hates!
There needs to be that “first love relationship” where Jesus is more important to us than anything else in this world! Read (Ps. 73:25).

g. Prepare the way by praying. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says,
“Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when, upon his knees, he comes face to face with God” (Lloyd-Jones.)
We live in a time that requires extraordinary prayer! For Jesus praying wasn’t optional. It was essential. It wasn’t just some daily routine for Him. He lived to pray and He prayed in order to live. If Jesus did it, how much more do we need to do so!
Pray for God’s guidance, for strength and protection, for loved ones, for wisdom, for government leaders, for salvation. Pray for the Church in S.A. Some of the lecturers in theology in our universities don’t believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, they teach that only certain parts of the Bible is truth, etc. I believe this is the time for the church to stand up. Taking a stand against the watering down of the Word of God.
( Pray to pray better, pray that God wil help us to pray with greater effectiveness. In (Luke 11:1) the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray! They never asked Jesus, “teach us to preach, testify, walk on water, cast out devils, heal the sick.” Because if their prayer lives were sorted out, these other things will follow automatically!!!! When they couldn’t drive out a demon, Jesus said to them, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
(Luke 11:1) that “when He stopped praying” that was when they asked Him. Hearing Him praying, seeing His boldness with FatherGod, taking note of the way He prayed -they asked Him to teach them to pray. They saw that the key to life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ lay in the relationship He had with His Father. They saw Jesus tapping into the resources of heaven, making contact with God, drawing the heavenly down to earth. TOUCHING HEAVEN CHANGING EARTH! My friends we have a generous and good God who always has an ample supply of whatever we need.

h. By having the right revelation, the correct picture of Whom God is! Before a person can be used to work miracles in Jesus’ name, he must first have a revelation of God the Father and His love, power and glory, and a revelation of his personal calling to manifest that love, power and glory to the world.
We all have set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a way of viewing God.
Your concept of God affects how you feel, how you perform, and how you interpret the past and the future. What you assume about God’s personality determines the way you see reality.
The paradigm we have of God and of ourselves is the most important thing of our lives. We must contend for a right biblical concept of who God is and who we are in Him.
The knowledge of God and the knowledge of His new creation will shape and renew the minds of the end time church.

The same goes for the beliefs about yourself…
Peter declares (1 Petr. 2:9) that you are chosen, royal, holy and special. . He is callling forth a holy, prophetic generation-a new breed of people through whom He will manifest His power and glory as a witness in this world that He is God Almighty and there is none other. The life that God created for you is larger than the one you are living. Long enough we’ve settled for a weak, powerless, lukewarm, defeated Christianity. Read (Is. 42:8-16)

We need freedom from lies, guilt and shame. Our wrong paradigms have caused enough emotional damage. When must know the truth that set us free (John 8:32). Each and every one of us, deep in our hearts, wants to know that we have value. That even as we behold the heavens, the stars and the moon, we matter to Him who set them in their place.

i. Prepare the way by having a life that:

(i.) A life that loves the lost. Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim. 1:15) that, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Make use of every opportunity for the Gospel. We live in a time where people are open to the Gospel. Let the compassion of God for the lost manifest through you.

(ii). A life that loves the church. It is time for us to also promote a fervent love and vision for the church. Jesus said (Matth. 16:18) “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.” If you say that you want to be like Jesus, part of your calling is to build His church. All of us need to understand that it is HIS CHURCH- not Manie’s, leaders, or F.M.I. It is His body, people that He bought with His blood.
But this speaks not of a weak and irrelevant church, but of a powerful and radiant church (Is. 60:1-5).!
Read (Eph. 5:25) God loves the church –Christ gave Himself up for her! Surely if the church is of such importance to Him, it should be something which is loved and cherised by those who follow Him. Read the Bible and you will see that He doesn’t speak of a perfect church-He loved people with all their hang-ups and problems.
The church is the instrument that God has chosen to use here on earth. If we want to see this church grow, we must commit to it.
A healthy church desires to see EVERYONE of its members being fully utilized in the kingdom of God, anointed, enabled by grace, empowered by the Holy Spirit, ministering in the gifts, being servants in the kingdom, power of God manifesting, persevering, growing, being used of God.


j. Be being a pioneer. Some see life as a possession to be carefully guarded. No change, no adventure, nothing new, no reaching out, no growing, no stepping out in faith. Don’t rock the boat-want easy and plainsailing.
Others see life as a fantastic, wild, explosive gift. They are PIONEERS. Stepping out in faith and venturing into the unknown. These are people of risk and daring—they are hungry for more of God, new adventures with God, they want the new meaningfull life the Bible speaks about, the challenge of being on the cutting edge. They come from all different walks of life, but they are coming with a God consciousness!

THE CHURCH CANNOT RISE HIGHER THAN HER CONCEPT OF GOD!!!! Where is your faith level? Pioneers keep adjusting their faith level-higher, more, stronger! They surrender to Him and everything He brings! They are breaking new ground

k. Perseverance/Persistentence. I am talking to truly born again people! All those who are born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end. Read (Joh. 6:39-40) with me!!! Do you think Jesus is a liar? HE WILL RAISE YOU UP ON THAT DAY…Read (John 10:27-29). (v28) Greek says, “They shall certainly not perish FOREVER!”
(Rom. 8:1) says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So it would be unjust for God to give any kind of eternal punishment to those who are Christians. The entire penalty for their sins has been paid! (Rom. 8:31) says, “IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?” You have to understand this before you can understand perseverance. Preoccupation with ourselves and our inadequacies must give way to a revelation of God as the GREAT I AM! I AM will go with you, will enable, empower you, He will do the work, He will handle the situations that are bigger than you.

l. Prepare the way by becoming humble. God is always compatible to humility-He gives grace to the humble. Humility is the crucible that releases God’s presence and power. God will only inhabit what is compatible with His presence. (Matth. 11:29) ‘…for I am gentle and humble…” His nature was one of humility. Read (Phil. 2:5). Attitude is one’s perspective or outlook of life-your state of mind. Being a Christian means having the heart and attitude of Jesus.
Humble people are free from the sense of superiority and eliteness. Humility is a hallmark of God’s divine nature. (Jam. 4:6) says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I often think about this phrase, “God resists the proud.” To be resisted by God-what a terrible thing to happen to anyone. Don’t be foolish, don’t struggle with God - just do what He says! We must have a YES CULTURE to the Lord. We believe this is your way and we will do it. After all-He knows much better than you and I.


m. Seeking God. We need a bigger compassion for Jesus, a bigger and better desire for intimacy. We need a bigger desire for holiness and purity. You become a seeker of God when you realize your need for Him. Ps 34:8

m. Holy Spirit revelation. The walk of faith is one where reason and understanding must be preceded by trust from the heart. Spiritual revelation opens the heavens. It draws back a curtain and opens a whole new realm. THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE (the man of power for the hour).
What is your current encounter with God all about? Are you seeing and understanding new things. God wants to take you into new country, into a new realm of the Holy Spirit


n. Unity. I am talking about a deliberate and disciplined unity that is focused on the Lord Jesus. With ecverything in you, you love God and the people around you-that is humility!
Ps. 133.