PROPHETIC WORDS

FAMILY – A FORM FIT FOR A FATHER

by Matt Lansdowne

I just returned home from an amazing weekend in the city of Christchurch and was inspired seeing the way the city is being rebuilt and reformed. It is such a prophetic illustration for what God is doing in the Church and from there in the world. Here are a few reflections…

I believe that we are in a season of reformation on a global scale. I believe that we are at the beginning of the greatest reformation the world has ever seen. There is an old form that is fading away. A new form is being established upon the strength of, and the lessons learnt in, past seasons. God is raising up the foundations of many generations. It is upon the courage, sacrifice, love, and generosity of those who've gone before us that we stand ready to write our chapter in world history. What will our great great grandchildren read about our generation? What are we laying down for future generations to stand and build upon? What is the part that you've been invited to play?

With every new wineskin there is an accompanying new wine. My prayer is that God would give us wisdom to co labour with Him in building a new wineskin with the new wine in mind. That the form would be built intently for the purpose of the intended substance and that our labours be with Gods end goal in mind. 

God is looking for a habitat that He can inhabit in His fullness. He’s looking for a form that He can fill and fully express Himself in and from. In this reformation God is relocating His Church from the courtroom to the living room. We are moving from the cold, harsh religious environment of right vs wrong into the warm, loving arms of our Father in the context of His family. If God is first and foremost a father, and His glory (new wine) is an expression of His nature, I pray that God gives each of us cruciform love for one another, fierce determination to protect and steward our connection with one another, ears that refuse to hear anything but the best, and X-ray eyes that never loose sight of the gold in each person. I pray that this reformation would be the forming of the family that God has dreamed of from the beginning. God may we all learn to love and receive love well!

BIO