A Challenge

A good friend of mine emailed the following through to me this week, and it has seriously inspired and encouraged me to examine my relationship with God and what that means in my everyday walk. With his permission, i’m publishing it so that you may benefit from it!

Enjoy,
Jo

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Friends,

I was deeply moved by the message last night by David Gotts (if you weren’t there then download the sermon – right click & save as). It wasn’t so much a moving to lead me to actually go to China and help this particular cause, but more a moving of my spirit and a change of my heart. I don’t really have any idea of what I am about to write but feel God leading me to speak this to you.

We as a generation and as friends are incredibly blessed. We say this all the time but I don’t think we really understand the true magnitude of our blessing. As a generation, we are more informed, educated, knowledgeable, equipped and resourced than any group of people that has passed before us. Sure, we may think we have a shortage in one of these areas individually, but collectively, we have an abundant surplus. David spoke last night about giving from our excess or giving sacrificially and this really resonated with me.

I am talking about giving from our excess which God has provided so freely for us – our time, talent and treasure. I had the privilege of hearing Bill Johnson speak last week and two of the points he made were incredibly clear to me. The first is this:

The greatest blessing and our primary goal is to host the presence of the Holy Spirit, to be the person upon whom the Holy Spirit can just rest. Our aim is to merely host His presence, not to prostitute his presence to show that we are men and women of God. Bill continued on to the story in Mark 4: 35-41 where Jesus is sleeping on the cushion in the boat whilst the storm is raging and his disciples are petrified. They wake Jesus and he rebukes the storm before turning to them and asking them “Do you still have no faith?” My point in this is that which Bill Johnson makes: that which enabled Jesus to rest and sleep in that boat is what empowered Him to overcome the storm – the ruling of the Father over Jesus was what He had faith in to speak peace into the storm. Only what we have can we give away or release. If we can’t host the presence of the Holy Spirit in relationship, how can we give it away through our ministry? When we host His presence, there is no failure.

The second point which really spoke to me is intertwined in this:

I am a logical person and like things to be mapped out. I like clarity and direction and a plan. Anyone who knows me will be aware of this! So when I re-read the passage in Matthew 10: 7-8, I become a little unsettled. It reads:

“The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

Bill Johnson makes the point that whatever we do, whatever our trade or profession, our job description is to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy and drive out demons. This is pretty confronting stuff to some people, but as he says, you can’t change the job description to fit your comfort zone. As Jesus’ disciples, we have been given the power and the authority to release the presence of the Holy Spirit and we shouldn’t always be feeling comfortable about operating in that capacity. Whatever we do in life, we are called to seek first the kingdom of God and all else will follow. I think we have had instilled in us this complicated obsession with provision and worrying about what will happen next, whether I will have money, whether I can afford to do that or this. This worldly attitude or mindset defies our principality of faith.

Matthew 6: 25 – 34 is an incredible passage with great relevance to this mindset:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

How freely do you give? How freely do we give? Think about this passage in John 6:1-14:

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Now obviously the miracle lies in Jesus’ multiplication of the five loaves and the two fish. BUT, what I have never really thought about is the boy. Those five loaves and two fish belonged to the boy – they had obviously been provided by the giver of all things but the boy physically owned them. Now think about this: What if he hadn’t been willing to give all that he had in order for Jesus to multiply it? What if had denied the Lord an opportunity to use all that he had in order to feed five thousand?

Here is my point: We have a basket full in abundance of provision. We have been given an abundance of talent, gifts and treasure and our call is to “freely give as we have freely received”.

Matthew 6: 19 -24

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

The crux of it:

A large number of things have really been impacting me over the last 12 months which summarise my point here (as at the moment it is a string of thoughts) and form the call.

I have really been challenged over the last 12 months that our generation needs to step up in faith and out in obedience greater than ever seen before. A massive lesson I learnt earlier this year is the application of Hebrews 12 and the importance of us recognising and receiving the blessings and gifts He has bestowed upon us, stepping out in obedience to the call he has placed on our lives and to not be jealous of what he has given others. Collectively, this is even more critical as we need to rejoice in the blessings (gifts/call) bestowed on each other and walk together in obedience as a collective body.

The challenge laid upon my heart is that we will one day form the leadership of the church and in order for us to be available and equipped to continue what has gone before us, we must build our own momentum to match or even exceed that of what we will inherit. When you think about a relay race, the next holder of the baton is not an unfit person who just happens to be next in line but is someone who is prepared to receive the baton and continue. That next runner has prepared for that race and has their own tactics to take that baton as far as their ability allows them. Similarly, we need to be seeking after God with all that we have so that we are growing and producing fruit as we ready ourselves to receive that baton. We are not just going to inherit this baton on a single day, in fact we already have one hand on it and in a sense we need to tighten our grip. I was incredibly encouraged by Bron Turner’s obedience last night to answer a stirring in her spirit to pray for the Pastor’s. That is a big step to rally up friends and the Pastor’s at the end of a service to pray for them, but it is such a significant act of obedience.

When we act in obedience we release the gifts and potential of others around us and encourage them. In a sense it is a domino effect.

I awoke this morning with a burning desire to intensify the opportunity for God to use me. I am in a unique place at the moment as I finish uni and look for my next step. I really felt God urging me to really press into seeking Him with all that I have and allowing Him to speak to me. Part of this urging was to not only seek Him through prayer and His word but also to fast. Here is my challenge to you:

It is time for you to take it up a notch, to take a step (or leap!) of faith out of your comfort zone. It is time that we as a group seek a greater level in which we are available to receive from the Lord and, in turn, freely give. I challenge you to join me in the next two weeks to fast from something that requires you to draw on Him for strength. I challenge you to be dissatisfied with where you are at and the level to which you have been filled. I challenge you to really seek confirmation from God as to whether you are where He wants you. I challenge you to question whether you are on His path or a parallel one. I challenge you to question whether you have given all five loaves and both fish to Him or whether you are holding back. Take a leap of faith, assess the location of your treasure, the limitations on your generosity, the state of your heart, your willingness to be available, your current investment into eternity and His kingdom. Are you giving sacrificially of your time, talent and treasure? Do you feel a sense of urgency to share what you have?

In taking up this challenge, I would really encourage you to listen to Thong’s sermon and read the outline from the 7:30pm service last night (right click & save as). It was an incredible encouragement to me to understand practically how to seek Him in solitude and create an atmosphere for Him to speak to us.

I would also love to hear from anyone who resonates with any of this, who feels challenged by it, who has ideas how we can foster this growth within the young adults, who has ideas, visions, passions or desires about investing into the ministry at church, who feels there are specific prayer needs, or anything!

I realise that this is a massive email, a lot to take in and confronting. That’s the point. It’s time to get on with it, grow past the elementary teachings and to actively grab hold of the mantle. I leave you with an awesome passage from Hebrews 6: 1-12.

“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

How productive is your land? Have you drunk of the rain lately? I know I certainly have capacity to produce a heck of a lot more and am pretty dehydrated.

Blessings,

Scotty

Doesn’t matter what happens to you…

God is good! God is profoundly good, and all that He does is good. As we read yesterday, God has plans for us, for a hope and a future. In fact, it says in Romans that “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”(Romans 8:28 )

So no matter what your ‘encounter’ with God has been, it’s all a part of the process that brings you into a deeper relationship with Him. We sometimes feel like God doesn’t do what we wanted Him to do, or He didn’t answer our prayers in the way we wanted, or He did something for our friend that we wanted. But God is our Father, who knows what’s best for us, even when we think we know. It’s through His mercy and grace that He sometimes doesn’t give what we think we need.

The good thing about God is that when you truly seek Him, He will be found by you. And when you find Him, there’s a whole raft of things that come with that. The first time you put your trust in God to handle to stresses of life, there’s that peace that descends, as if from heaven. The first time God speaks specifically and directly to you through His Word, the Bible, there’s an amazing joy and excitement at the divine revelation. When God speaks to you directly – be it through the still small voice, the booming thunderous voice, vision, dreams, impressions, whatever – there’s a joy, faith and expectancy that comes. And that’s good. God gives us these things from His goodness for a reason.

Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” That means that the gifts you were given the moment you gave God your life can’t be taken back! They’re yours! But what we miss is that the daily walk with God to achieve His purposes is also given. It’s a double-barrelled promise. If you ever feel like you don’t know where you’re going, or you’ve lost your way on the journey, you never need to worry that God has removed His call on you, because it’s permanent. And if you remember that it’s not about an expectation of performance, but about the excitement of being included in doing God’s will, His calling provides us with a freedom from the worry of working out our own destiny. We know this, because Paul wrote in Ephesians, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

So, whatever God has given you (or seemingly not given you), remember that while the gifts, words and encouragements are in part to build you up, to grow your faith, to propel you on your journey with God, they are also to build up His people – His church. If your body is your living sacrifice, then bring it into the meeting house to share with the rest of God’s family! As God begins to move more visibly in your life (which He will – don’t worry!), then receive and steward what He has with this thought in mind: “When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Be excited that God is blessing His people with the tools they need to change the world for Him, and be encouraged that your gifts are the perfect compliment to the other people that make up our church – which is really Jesus’ church anyway! Share in the joy and excitement of everyone!

e-sword live!

My fav bible app has gone to a live net based version! Sweet!

Here’s the link: http://live.e-sword.net/

Use it!

Why the wilderness?

God has a plan for everyone. As He told Jeremiah the Prophet, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God had a plan for Israel. It started with Abraham. God said to Abraham in Genesis 12,

2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Even his name was a promise and a plan! Abraham means “Father of a multitude”. Great name for a 100 year old with no kids! God had a plan to bless the whole earth through Abraham’s descendents.

Jump forward about 700 years…

God laid His plan out pretty clearly for the nation of Israel. They would spend about 400 years in Egypt, and then He would bring them to the Promised Land. I’m sure they were thinking that this was the big break! They would have all heard the stories about how God had made big promises to their forefathers. Now was the time! This was the season! Here comes the Land flowing with all of God’s richest blessings!

So God pulls off some pretty mighty deeds in front of Pharaoh, leads the people through the Red Sea, and shows up in an awesome way at Mt Sinai. Then, before you know it, the people are in the desert for forty years…

What happened? Why did they end up there?

For most of us, this is a familiar pattern. We meet God. He shows up one day, where He seemingly never was before, and delivers us from our life of pressure, stress, hopelessness, whatever… He starts to show us this awesome plan that He has for us. He lets us know about this amazing future. He shows up in power, in an unmistakeable way, which leaves us changed.

Then, without even noticing, we seem to be wandering in the wilderness, without any clue where we should go next. What happened?

The question is – why did God have them experience the forty years in the wilderness?

Atonement…

When we allow God full access into our lives, something very special takes place. God comes into our lives, and changes us. Irrevocably. He takes away our ‘sin’ – that is, all the things that we’ve done that fall short of His perfect standard. But the way He takes away our sin is important, because it has some profound implications for our lives.

It’s a process called atonement. Atonement literally means “to cover, to cleanse, to cancel”, so in this context, God is cleansing, cancelling, covering over our sins. But how and why?

How?

The whole idea comes from the Old Testament. Originally, when Adam and eve first sinned, God had to kill an animal to cover their nakedness. It is a concept that is repeated when we get to Leviticus. The book contains instructions on worship for the nation of Israel. If they were to be God’s people, and be able to come before Him in worship, then they needed a way to have their sin ‘covered’. That’s why is says in chapter 4,
25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26b … In this way the priest will make atonement for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

The blood made atonement for the sin. In fact, in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews make the statement, “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

But the blood of bulls and goats isn’t enough to cover for our sins (Hebrews 10:4). That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

It’s Jesus blood that provides the cleansing for our sins – atonement. Because Jesus was perfect, the perfect man and the perfect sacrifice, he was able to be that sacrifice, once for all (Romans 6:10).

Why?

The “why?” is the most life changing part. God is perfect – most people won’t argue that! But He can’t live with anything that isn’t perfect. The animal in the Garden of Eden, the bulls and goats in Leviticus, and eventually Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, were all so that we could live in relationship with God the Father; that our sins would be ‘covered’ over, and seen no more.

Paul wrote in Ephesians, “7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

It was God’s pleasure to bring atonement for our sins, so we can live with Him in a real, vibrant and growing relationship, and that He may lavish on us all the riches that come with being in relationship with the Creator of everything. We can’t do anything but acknowledge that. That’s what you did when you allowed God full access to your life.

We are all in need of atonement. We all have atonement in Jesus’ sacrifice. Have you accepted that He has covered all your sins?

Coming Soon: River of God

Just about finished reading the River of God by Dutch Sheets. Great book! You should get it & read it… I’ll write up my notes and get ‘em up here soon.

As I write that title with my tongue in my cheek, though, I think there’s more to it than trying to be witty. I think it’s actually prophetic. The river of God is coming!

The most consistent word from God over my church congregation is that the River is going to come, and we need to be ready to swim. I think that it’s already flowing, but we’re only in the shallow part so far.

If you think I’m crazy, and have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s from the book of Ezekiel. Here’s the passage:

The River From the Temple
1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits [a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

 I don’t know about you, but that excites me! That has been the consistent word given over the past number of years. The river speaks of so many things – life, the Spirit of God, restoration, peace, cleansing, healing… And it’s flowing from the temple (from the throne of God and the Lamb, it says in Revelation 22), and it’s for healing the nations! I wanna get in that flow!

So anyway – the river is coming. In many different ways.

At least two.

Spiritual Armour

I’ve been somewhat obsessed with the biblical concept of pushing on in the race, and finishing well… Almost every time I hear the song “Lord of Lords” by Brooke Fraser, I tear up, especially when she gets to the line “I’ll run ‘til I finish the race”… It’s a concept that has become replete with meaning to me.

The reason I’m writing about Spiritual armour comes for a number of reasons. My desktop that I look at every morning quotes Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

There’s that concept again, when everything is done, stand. Stand in Him. Stand strong on the promises. That’s what’s inspiring me. I want to finish well. I want my Father in heaven to look at me proudly, and to have Him be happy with how I’ve used what He’s given me.

The verses that precede v16 talk about our Spiritual armour. It’s a concept that I’ve known about for literally decades, but only now has the real importance of it started to kick in. I suppose that the less you are following God’s leading and voice, the less you are in the battle, so of course you see less importance in armour, but now that I’ve had to step up to the plate and battle alongside God, the armour is priceless.

By the grace of God, I’ve been able to (almost) daily put on the armour. It’s a great process. I start with the helmet of salvation, that has saved and sanctified my mind (I always start there ‘cause I’m a real head person). Then the Breastplate of Righteousness over my heart, to keep me in right standing with God because he has given me a new heart. 

Then, the Belt of truth, the truth of God that holds my whole being together. His truth is central to our lives, and it’s our foundation from which we move into the world.

I’m fascinated by being ‘shod with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace”. It’s to do with the whole concept that Jesus wants us to be ready in and out of season. The Gospel of peace is our message, and it also is the way we move into the world. We should be ready to listen now, and be fitted and equipped to move where God wants us to go. It reminds me of the Israelites in the desert. They were blessed with having a visible presence of God above the tabernacle, and evertime the presence lifted and moved, they had to be ready to go. Same for us. Be prepared!

The Shield of Faith is great. I love it. The faith that God has got my back. The faith I have that God is in control and has plans to prosper me and not to harm is the shield that protects me from the enemy. While I think it’s literally a spiritual shield that stops the flaming darts of the evil one, I also think that this is intrinsically linked to our perspective of God and where we fit with that. If our perspective is that we’re under attack and suffering affliction and injury from the enemy, then we’re going to suffer. We don’t have the perspective that our trust in God will stop the enemy hurting us. If our perspective is that God has my best as top of His priorities, and He is my protector and healer, then nothing the enemy throws at me will stick, because God’s the solution to every one of satan’s problems.

The Sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) is my favourite. I love the word of God. It’s my constant source of inspiration, and even then, I don’t get enough time in it. I want more. Seriously. But more than the written word of God (logos), I want the Rhema word of God, the word that is specific for me right now, that cuts through where I’m at and reveals God to me. It’s the bread of Life, the ”every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” that I want to hear and obey, and use for His work and glory.

I was reading Rick Joyner’s book(s), “The Vision”, and I was profoundly effected by the section where He receives the cloak of humility, that protected him from the rear, so that he was able to detect the enemy’s covert plans. So I started to pray that God would cloak me with His humility. I was pray that at the end of putting on my armour, when I realised that my hands were full with the shield and the sword. How could I put on the cloak of humility myself? At this point, the thought crystallised in my head that Jesus is the one who puts the cloak on for me once I’m equipped for His service.

So, in expectancy and anticipation of what God’s going to do in your life, especially in the next season of revival/renewal/breakthrough, make sure you have your eyes on the finish line; that you take up the armour that has been provided for you already; and receive the gift of humility that the suffering servant who is our saviour, redeemer and friend has for you.

Repentance (see previous) which releases blessing and destiny, combined with being equipped for our calling, will give us the foundation to be exactly what God wants in inexactly the place that He needs us.

Repentance…

I wanted to share a thought for you to ponder today as you spend time with God. I’ve been reading “The River of God” by Dutch Sheets (one of the best pastor names I’ve every heard!). It’s subtitled “Moving into the flow of God’s plan for revival”, and it’s been a great challenge and encouragement to me.

One of the more profound things that I’ve taken away from the book is the importance of repentance in order to bring true revival. It’s not just the “I’m sorry for being bad, God” kind of repentance, but learning something new about God that requires us to change our life in response to the revealed truth. The “sorry” part is still there, but it’s the fruit of the repentance, not the act itself…

I don’t know about you, but the thought of revival gets me excited – the thought of my unsaved family and friends coming into the kingdom, our society’s very moral fabric being restored, and new life and restored truth being bought to the church (what some label ‘renewal’) – it’s all very exciting! But if we want it to start with us, we must start in repentance…

I am the first to admit that i get carried away in the excitement of what God’s doing, and start to desire speed instead of solid growth and consolidation, and God’s gently rebuked me in that this week, and so i wanted to encourage you that it’s okay to combine repentance with the exciting, tangible presence of God. In fact, it most probably should be our initial response, like Isaiah did in chapter 6 of his book… It’s part of the tension of the Christian life, and it’s part of the mystery of it too… It’s being both humbled by God’s glory and holiness, and being counted as a friend of God and a co-heir with His Son.

So spend some time over the next day or so in a time of repentance, focusing on the truths of God that you may have not fully appropriated for your life. The conviction of God will bring you into a greater knowledge of and relationship with our heavenly Father.

So meditate upon these following scriptures, wait upon the Lord, and let God further into your life, so that you may experience a greater measure of the ‘Life Abundant” in Christ.

 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
                                                                                    Psalm 51:17 (ESV)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 
                                                                                    Isaiah 57:15 (ESV) 

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. 
                                                                                    Isaiah 66:2  (ESV)

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ 
                                                                                    Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV)

Wow! God is really moving…

So I haven’t blogged in forever, but I’ve been so busy doing what I’m meant to be doing taht there’s been no time for the extras! But, at long last, I’m back, with an armful of everything going on!

Thought I’d just share with you the reading list I have, that’s preventing me from blogging more!

Here it is in order of something:

1. Bill Johnson – When Heaven Invades Earth
2. Bill Johnson – The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind
3. Bill Johnson – A Life of Miracles (Journal)
4. Kris Vallotton – Developing a Supernatural Lifestyle
5. Steve Thompson – You May All Prophesy
6. Graham Cooke – Developing Your Prophetic Gifting
7. John Bevere – Drawing Near
8. James Goll – The Lost Art of Practicing His Presence
9. Fred & Sharon Wright – The World’s Greatest Revivals
10. Dallas Willard – The Divine Conspiracy
11. Dutch Sheets – The River of God
12. James Goll – God Encounters
13. Ted DekKer – Black
14. William Young – The Shack
15. Dr Charles Kraft – I Give You Authority
16. Jack Deere – Beginner’s Guide to Prophecy

So you can see I’ve been a little busy… But the main reason I’ve been reading SO much, is that God is powerfully at work in my little corner of the world (Brisbane, Australia). In a little under a month, Steve Thompson and Jack Deere will be at my church (Kenmore Baptist Church) for the SPIRITFIRE 08 Conference, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen!

God’s already been doing so much – even in my home group, I’ve seen God heal people, restore joy to tired, rundown people, and release people frther into their ministry and calling. Not to mention the breakthrough I’ve seen in the recent STEPs season (my church’s sipirtual development series – every church should do it!). In the last three months, I’ve seen people healed of chronic allergies, that held them captive to the strictest diet I’ve ever seen, physical ailments just disappear, serious emotional wounds being healed, people being rid of demonic influence, and person after person being released into the freedom and joy of the Christian life.

More than anything, I’ve been recently burden to pray for revival. I heard a brillinat message from Bill Johnson recently that talked about the best way to a successful prayer life is to pray for what’s alraedy happening!   So, I’ve been praying that God will breakthrough in our community – and He has been.

It’s all at a very significant time, with (at least) three sizeable revivals happening in the US at the moment. For those that aren’t following them, Todd Bently from FreshFire Ministries has been leading a revival in Florida for about three months now… Bill Johnson’s church – Bethel in Redding, California, has been in a healing revival for about 13 years now, and over the past 9 weeks, there’s been “Holy Spirit Breakout” at Rick Joyner’s church in South Carolina. What makes that even more exciting is that Steve Thompson is Rick Joyner’s 2IC, and he’ll be here for the SPIRITFIRE 08 conference (MorningStar should be in week 14 of Breakout by then), and then three weeks after that, Bill Johnson will be back in town in August!

Can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen!

More soon…

In the beginning…

Wow! What an amazing passage of scripture… So much in there, so little time to digest & understand it! It makes my brain feel full and very small…

It’s hard to get your head around, but i think one of the biggest things i’ve learned is that when it’s hard to understand the Bible, when God doesn’t make any sense, it’s not Him that’s wrong… It’s my limited understanding, my misunderstanding, my lack of perspective that is showing up. And i know that we will all pay lipservice to that idea, but it’s when that is firmly in place in your mind and your heart, then God begins to open up the word. It really is like a new, fresh morning’s perspective on the scripture.

I think it’s important to keep 2 Tim 3:16&17 in mind anytime we look at studying the Bible.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

So that aside, home groupies, let’s open the dialogue! What did you think about the scripture & concepts we covered this week? I’ll post the handout below once I pdf it, in case you didn’t get a chance to go thru it. Make sure you read thru it, it might answer some questions, and might prompt new ones.

While you’re at it, write Acts 17:11 inside the front cover of your notebook, and refer to it everytime we meet together. I will throw things at you which might really make you question how you understand and relate to your creator, but know that I am doing this to sure up your foundation… We want a strong basis for our faith, so that when we are presented with questions, challenges and doubts, we will remain firm in our relationship with God.

Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 3:16

Genesis blank outline
Exodus blank outline
Genesis class notes