Hallelujah! We are back here with you from Uganda. And I am so happy that we can encounter each other with this media in that way, that we can encourage each other.

 

This morning I woke up and I really asked the Lord, „Lord, does it really make sense to still plan for the future? We feel a call to Israel, we had planned various other extensions of schools and hospitals... does it still make sense?“ And then the Lord told me to read Haggai 2:9, „The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.“ Then he gave me Habakuk 2:14, „For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.“ Then in Habakuk 3,18-19,“ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.“

 

I don't understand it, I am hearing the bad news from the whole world but also many good ones, and my heart is overpouring with joy. I have the impression that this Corona Virus was allowed in order to work like a megaphone from God into the world: „Come back to me.“ I don't want to go into detail now, and most of you know it, which grievances and abuses have come up especially in the last 10-20 years. And as I had already mentioned that I said to God some time ago, „Dear God, do something. So that the western world realizes that they need you.“ Because to need God is the highest level of completeness. And I had the impression the western world has distanced itself so much from this Godly connection, from being close to God. Because we can manage everything ourselves. We have control over everything. And I had said, „Lord, otherwise you have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.“ And I feel now, that this is a call from God, „Come back to me!“

 

And I am so grateful that we in Africa, - first of all we have it very warm, so the virus cannot live, but also the Africans are not really scared of that virus. Many told me, „Mama we went through sooo much already, we will also manage this one.“ And I believe that God leads us back to the essential things of life. That He shows us what really makes life.

 

And I want to read out a story for you, which was already written in 1854. It makes clear to us, what should be the aim of our life and what should be most important to us.

 

„A woman came out of her house and saw three strangers with long white beards in her garden. She said, 'I don't know you, but you look hungry, so come in and I will give you something to eat.' And they asked, 'Is your husband at home?', she said, 'No, he is not at home.' 'Then we cannot enter your house', they said. When the husband came home in the evening, she told him what happened. And he said, 'Go and tell them they can come in now!' The woman went outside and asked the three men if they would like to come in now. Then they said, 'We never enter a house altogether.' 'Why not?', she asked. One of the men, the oldest said, 'My name is Wealth.' And he pointed to the one besides him and said, 'And this man is Success. And the third one, he is Love.' He added saying, 'Now go into your house and ask your husband whom of us should enter your house.' The woman went back into the house and told her husband what they told her. He was over excited, 'How wonderful!', he shouted out, 'In this case, let's invite Wealth to us. Let him come in and fulfill the house with wealth.' His wife did not agree with him, she said, 'Darling, why don't we invite success into our house?' And the sister in law entered the room that very moment and said, 'I have a suggestion. Wouldn't it be better if we invited Love into our home, and then our home would be filled with love.' So the husband said, 'Let us now consider the advice of our daughter in law, go outside and invite Love as our guest.“ The woman went outside and asked, 'Who of you is Love? Please come, and be our guest.' Love stood up and went into the house. But the other two men stood also up and followed Love. Very surprised the woman asked Wealth and Success, 'I have only invited Love into our house. Why are you also coming?' The old man replied together with the others, 'If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two would have stayed outside. But because you invited Love, we are also coming. Because where love is, there is also wealth and success.'

 

And we have neglected a lot. Especially family, relationships, in order to get wealth and success. But when we put first what is most important to God, which is love, then wealth and success will follow. It will be a natural consequence. And so I believe God is calling us back into a love relationship with Him! This is it in the first place. Love, dear ones, we cannot love if we don't allow to be loved in the first place. And so we have to come to Him! And let us be loved by Him, accept His love and then respond to Him with our love. And then passing on this love full-heartedly as much as we received it full-heartedly. And I trust that you are already on this path. Because this is coming right now.

 

The Lord told me, that this Corona Virus is the induction of a completely new dimension of life quality. I believe God has touched with this Virus all falls Gods of this world and they are falling. The first is Mammon, the second is power, then pleasure, health, everything that we put first got attacked and lost power. But when we put God on the first position in our life, then dear ones..., -because it says in the Word of God, 'Seek FIRST MY kingdom and MY righteousness and everything else will be GIVEN unto you.' And first means, that our first love belongs to God. A great evangelist once said, 'Give me five people who love God more than everything else and who hate sin more than everything else and I will change the world with them.' Dear ones, this is reality. God has redeemed us in this world so that we LIVE this redemption fully. But how much do we see this fully lived redemption? So many people among believers still circle around themselves. 'I, myself and me, God bless us three.' They moan, they beef, they complain, they grumble, they grouse, they grunt... They have not yet laid their life into God's hands unconditionally, so that He can build the kingdom of God with them and through them. And this is it.

 

The Lord told me, that there is a glory ahead of us which the world has never seen before! A world-wide glory. Because God wants to bless us and we should be a blessing. God wants to be with us, every second. And he will never leave us. It says in the Word of God, 'If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you can ask whatever you want and it will be given unto you.' He wants to instruct and lead us, He wants to show us the way. And I have to add here, I have raised a few children already, and I was always very thankful when my children where at the point that they looked at my eyes. I didn't have to spank them anymore, “the ears on their behinds where widely opened already” (smiles), and they could recognize merely on my glance if it was pleasing or correcting. And this is how God wants to have us. He wants to lead us with the eyes. He wants to help us, He wants to strengthen us, He wants to keep us, He wants to comfort us, He wants to forgive us, He wants to be our God! He wants to give us a new spirit, which is His spirit! He wants that we make His name great and holy again, He wants to reveal to us, He wants to cleanse us, He wants to pull everyone to Him, He wants that we are with Him, He wants to revive us. He wants that we bear fruit, He wants that we exert influence wherever we are. And there, I believe strongly, all believers are called to that and asked right now, if we are really ready to exert influence? Because this is our mission. We have to influence the world with the kingdom of God.

 

I live in Uganda. And for newly arrived people it doesn't need months but just two to three days to realize that this country has been extremely influenced by a certain power: We drive on the left side, we all speak English, we have the British school system, we have the British judiciary, business people here wear suits and ties in a tremendous heat and drink hot english tea, in our schools the European history is taught much more than the African history, also the judges sit there with the white long-haired wigs in a tremendous heat in court. The colonialists have accomplished that.

 

You know, I have been told by a knowledgable person that in 1832 Great Britain sent out many spies to Africa to find out how they could make this continent their own. They came back with the following report: 'We found the richest continent. The people have strong structures. We did not see a single jobless person. We did not see a single thief. They have strong relationships to their children. The only suggestion that we have, in order to subdue this continent is, if we can convince them that we, the British, have something better that they do not have.' And unfortunately this has fully worked out for them, dear ones. Up to today many Africans think, that everything that comes from China, from the Arab countries, from Europe, from America is better. But I trust that now the time is coming that they stand up and recognize that they are the richest continent. And God has big plans with them. I think we will still experience an African continent which brings joy to the world. Which will bring solutions to the world. Which will not be darkness anymore to the world but light.

 

It says in Matthew 13:30, where Jesus talks about a parable of yeast. „The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.“ The dough must always be more than yeast. Yeast looks helpless, it can only grow under pressure. And once they mix it, it cannot be separated anymore. Dear ones, we ought to be the yeast in this world. We should become bold with our influence of the kingdom of God to our surrounding. I am not talking about religions. I am talking about lived gospel. Where the world recognizes that Jesus Christ is love. And that Jesus Christ has bore all, ALL curses already. I want to read for you what Jesus has done on the cross for us:

 

Jesus bore our guilt. He was beaten for us, that we get healed. He took on all the sin, that we can become righteousness. He bore death, that we can live. He bore the curse on the cross, that we can receive blessings. He bore our poverty on the cross, that we can take part in His abundance. He bore our shame, all our wickedness on the cross, that we can radiate in His glory. He took our rejection to the cross, that we can enjoy the acceptation of the father. He was separated from God – and this was the only moment that Jesus was separated from the father in heaven – because He took on our guilt; He became a sinner, that we can have fellowship with God. And our old being is crucified with Christ, so that the new being, which is Christ in us, can live. So ALL THAT did He do! And this is what we have to pass on to the world! And they will only receive it when they see it in us. They first have to see that this manifests in us.

 

So we should build up a piece of the kingdom of God wherever we are. We are in the world but not from the world. We shall just influence! We shall bring God's kingdom into the world. And ONLY those who are NOT changed by the world WILL change the world. And the kingdom of God is an invasion and brings drastic change, which at first starts in each of our hearts. The world will only change as much as you allow the Lord to change your heart and to become alike Jesus' heart. And there I think we are standing now at a breaking point like the world has never experienced it before.

 

You know, Jesus came the first time to pay for our guilt. That we can come back into the child-of-God stage, that we can come back into a redeemed life. But the preparation that is taking place now is, that Jesus can come back to reign. To REIGN. And many religions start to acknowledge this, that Jesus will come back to reign. In Psalm 145:11-13, '…...' It is not about religion, it is about the glory of God's kingdom. 'They will talk about your strength....' Dear ones, the whole earth gets prepared so that the king can come to reign. But the modern human beings don't want a king, they want democracy! They want to reign themselves! Dear ones, a lot still has to be changed in the mindset. Jesus is the king and we are His servants, or His king's children. But the king's children look onto the king. In Matthew 6:10, there it this part of the Lord's Prayer which we are already praying since thousands of years, „Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.“ And this has not yet happened. And this will be the next dimension. We shall bring down God's will from heaven to earth! It is our task to “colonize” the nations with the kingdom of God – and please don't get scared of that term. We shall bring the kingdom from afar to where we are. We should bring a heavenly invasion to earth. And in colonialism, a far away kingdom influences the people around you, where you are right now.

 

Dear ones, I believe we are in the most exciting times that the world has ever seen. I am of course very aware that many people have died and I trust that they all knew Jesus, and that they are in a much better place than we are now. But I encourage you: Wake up and become light! You are the light in the world, if you belong to Jesus Christ. You are the salt of the earth. You are a colonialist of God in this world. To bring His kingdom there, where you are. And you will see, this will also bless you very much.

 

It is for me a very special grace to recognize, that this how Jesus lead us, all these years, had exactly that outcome. And you know, a church that only circles around themselves, their building and their pastor has not yet gotten to understand what they are there for. We churches we shall spread out in the world! And found new churches. And we shall show other people the way and only then we are fruitful. I believe we have to get out of the me-centeredness and allow God to use us, in the whole world.

 

Here I still have a very wonderful story that I wanted to read out to you. The story of the king with the empty hands. It is a Christmas story, but it also fits here:

 

In a church should happen a nativity play as every year at Christmas Eve. This time, some young people wrote the nativity play themselves and they really thought about everything. Even the ox and the donkey, even about the straw. At the final rehearsal – where usually everything goes wrong – indeed many things didn't work out: hardly anyone knew their texts, the scenery was not yet finished, and the worst of all – they had completely forgotten about the three wise kings. Out of undefinable reasons this so important role was not covered. But because they could not do without this important role, they decided to ask different people in church who would volunteer to play the kings. They wouldn't have to learn any text by heart, it would be enough if they came with their gifts and put them into the manger. Said and done. And time rushed and Christmas Eve came. The church was full, the people excited and the actors nervous. The nativity play began at it went well. No one got stuck, and if once it happened that someone stumbled, it happened right in the perfect place where it had wonderfully fit to the Christmas story.

 

And then the last scene: The kings' part, who got to play their part last-minute. Untrained they came to stage as it happens in normal life. The first king was a man, maybe in his middle 40ies, or a bit older, he was carrying a crutch which he apparently didn't need. Everyone was curious and listening carefully when he put down the crutch at the manger and said, “This year I had a car accident. I was in hospital for a long time. No one could tell me if I could ever walk again. Every little success was a gift for me. This time has changed my life, I have become more aware and more thankful. There is nothing small for me and nothing that I take for granted. Getting up in the morning, sitting, walking, standing, being part, everything is beautiful and a gift. I put this crutch on the manger as a thank you to the one, who got me on my feet again. It has become silent in the church.

 

Then the the next king came in front. It was a female king. A mother of two kids. She said, 'I give you something that you can't buy and wrap and see and what has become for me the most precious today. I give you my YES. My agreement to my life what it has become, although many times I didn't think that you really have a plan for me. I give you my Yes to my life and everything that is attached. My Yes to my strengths and my weaknesses, to my fears and my desires, to all the people who belong to me, my Yes to my doubts and also to my faith. I give you my Yes to you, redeemer of this world.

 

Now the third king went in front. A young man with an adventurous hairstyle, perfectly dressed up, well styled, just as he could present himself on every party. Everyone held their breath, when he said with a bold loud voice: 'I am the king with the empty hands. I have nothing to offer. In me is nothing but restlessness and fear, I only look like I can live life, behind the facade there is nothing, no self esteem, no meaning, no hope, but there is a lot of disappointment, a lot of failures, a lot of hurt. I am the king with empty hands. I doubt pretty much everything. Also you, child in the manger. My hands are empty, but my heart is full, full of longing for forgiveness, reconciliation and comfort and love. I am here and I stretch out my empty hands to you and I am excited what you have prepared for me. Deeply impressed by this unexpected king's part, a strange loss of words took over in the play. Until Joseph spontaneously went to the manger, took out a straw, gave it to the young king and said, 'The child in the manger is the straw on which you can hold onto.' Because everyone felt that all of them are more or less kings with empty hands despite full bags and gifts, one could literally touch the concernment. And it so happened that at the end the whole congregation got up and went to the manger and took a straw. It so became clear that it is not a shame at all to come with empty hands on Christmas Eve but that it is even a requirement in order to get something.

 

And dear ones, we shall receive Jesus daily. We should daily be ready to take Him into our life. So that we do not walk through the world empty handed. Because He will meet all our needs according to His riches in glory. And if God is for us, who can be against us! Dear ones, keep hold on Jesus Christ. Tell Him, 'Come into my heart! Be my life. I need you. I give you all my guilt, I give you my entire old life and receive you as my savior, as my redeemer, as my provider, as my protector, as my big brother, as my bridegroom, as my beloved, as my king, as my life, as my righteousness.

 

The Lord bless you.

 

And use this time to enter into a new dimension in your life of a deep love relationship with your source of life, Jesus Christ.

 

Shalom, shalom.