British Easter
by Joanna Langley

We had our 15th British Easter conference, with a difference! The hoof and mouth outbreak in England meant that many of our friends from Ireland and America could not be with us in person, but of course they were with us in spirit! As the week progressed we began to see why God had arranged things this way.

By the end of the first day we realised the importance of being real and honest with each other and dealing with the core spiritual issues in our lives. We had been avoiding the real issues, but a call from our friends in Ireland set us back on the right track.

The key theme that emerged was the basic biblical fact that we are vessels expressing either Christ or Satan. Some of us had been willfully disobeying this truth, believing they were superior or inferior selves. This gives Satan the reigns to do as he pleases by Christ’s vessels (2 Tim 2:26). When we allow Satan to do this we become weapons of wickedness (Rom 6:13) against God’s army which is taking God’s truth to a lost world.

Knowing that we are vessels is a basic truth, but Hebrews 6:1 tells us: “Let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.” One of our members was not putting her faith in God regarding a major life change. Through patient and faithful exortation of God through members here and abroad, she repented of her disobedience, confessed her sin and decided to trust Christ to live out His life through her in this situation. Once she stepped out in faith she saw that all along God had been providing for every detail of the process.

Whilst we felt disappointed about our absent friends (soul), this was in fact God’s perfect circumstance for us to move on to maturity (Spirit), “to present everyone perfect in Christ” (Col 1:28).

Joanna is a part-time student and works at Barclays Bank in Leicester, England.