Dan's Blog

Running Challenge Week 1 (still going)

Just completed my 3^rd run/walk and man…..that hurt a bit.  Day 2 seemed a lot less stressful, but then again I seemed to cover a bit more distance so… must have put some more effort in this time!

So Thursday will be the start of the second week and a new level of intensity.  12.5% of the program done so far, 7 weeks to go, and 30 minutes of running non stop is the aim.  Yes I am counting, and hoping that I stay focussed and get there in the end.

It seems so easy to run 2 minutes, and that’s all I have had to do, but the last minutes seems to go forever!  2mins run and 3 mins walk to recover, over and over for 30 mins.  And I love that I have my own personal trainer in my MP3 player reminding me of where I am up to, love technology.  And without that in my ear I doubt I would have had the will power to go the distance.

So stay the course, get people around you who can encourage you particularly when the circumstances seem impossible, and be encouraged to take some LEAPS in a positive direction

LIFE challenges PART 1

It’s been a while to write down my thoughts, not that my thoughts have eluded me, but rather I just havnt had the time to get them out of my head and in print.

We are just about to embark on a 30 day challenge as a church, with the question “What would I do if I had 30 days to live’?  It’s an interesting and powerfully provocative question/statement.  It comes down to what legacy I want to leave, and looking for advice on how I should live every day to the full so in the end I will have lived LIFE and not look back and have regrets.

However lately I have been also challenged with simple life balance.  I took a personal challenge to give up caffeine of all sorts for the working week ending today, ….. just because I knew I was relying a little too heavily on the drug to get me through the day.  I didn’t really realise how much it effects me until this week.  And it has taken till today to fee most of the effects of the detoxing leaving my headspace in particular!  It was certainly a wake up call – although I felt like I needed to sleep every afternoon for the forst 3 days with lethargy and massive head aches!

So I’ll have coffee, but I might cut back a few of them per day (4 per morning shift has not been uncommon – strong and black!)

And now I feel a new challenge, one I have felt fot almost 20 years – to run 5kms without stopping.  Where does this thinking come from!? I hate running, but I feel that this is the time and I cant escape the feeling that this just needs to be done!  So I bought some running shoes, I’ve downloaded a podcast to help me get there in 8 weeks, and I am 30 mins away from my first 30 min run/walk training regime!  Stay tuned, this could be ugly, but so worth it to achieve a life ambition.

I have been really encouraged this week to hear all that God has been doing through organisations like LiveFM, YWAM and SU in transforming lives.  It is truly amazing when you hear the stories, the testimonies of lives impacted and transformed in remarkable ways.

It brings me back to the challenge I have felt all year, ‘step out of the boat’.  I support these organisations and a number of others with regular donations and give according to what I ‘think’ is affordable.  But every now and then the question is asked, “Can you give more?”

I felt this morning that if I truly am prepared to step out of the boat, then I need to in all situations do as Peter did.  He first asked if it was Jesus out in the Storm, out on the water, and then stepped out into the unknown.

If I am going to be one who wants to experience the miraculous and live life on a whole new level, I need to do likewise. 

“Jesus what do you want me to do?” 

“Jesus if this is You then how much should I give?”  “

Jesus if this is You, then You need to make this work when I step out of where I was and into what is now unknown!”

I have experienced in life the miraculous provision of God, but it has always been in response to a step of faith of some sort.  Not simply praying and hoping for something miraculous to happen.  For faith without works is dead

When can’t you take a sicky?  When your not as sick as the rest of em!  Woke up to Wendy who had been up sick all night and my nose running like a tap.  Kids need to get to school, I’m not as sick so I frantically try to reproduce what Wendy does for the kids every weekday morning!

Kids to school only a couple of minutes late, but they get there, mind you Kiera’s (4) hair, although I spent quite some time on it, looks like a scarecrow!

People coming over, a house to clean, dishes from the weekend to put away and dishwasher to be reloaded, ….aaaaahhh, washing to do, washing to come in off the line, phone call, Kiera’s just been sick at pre-prep……..what a day.  And then I pick the kids up and Renee (11) cant even walk to the car, she’s faint and stumbling! Gotta get the other kids to the car NAtalie (2), Kiera (4 – looks pale and doped out), and Joshua (8, male and blissfully unaware that anything is different), and come back and help Renee into the car.

Thank God for the grace and love to show care when I feel like I have nothing to give, and the strength to endure when I could have easily moped on the couch all day feeling sorry for myself, and for leftovers from last nights dinner that will cover us for tonight.

Praying that Wendy gets her strength back soon and is able to get out of bed, and that we have a complete breakthrough in restoration of health to us all.  Please God!

At another primary school there were kids all around us again and a little girl came up in the middle of the hype and hundreds of kids jostling for attention and simply grabbed my hand…awkward….only because there needs to be boundaries around contact between adults and children, but priceless because this child felt safe!  A tear wells in my eye as I recount these and many priceless interactions with hundreds of kids and teens in the local schools of Willows, and Kirwan State School and Heatley Secondary College that we have hung out with on our school excursions over the past couple of weeks. 

Why the soppy moment?  Because I realise how powerful our God is and how He wants to show love to those who don’t get enough of it!  Are we super special to experience these warm encouraging moments, or are we just available and able to do something seemingly small and yet potentially eternally significant in the life of real people? I think the latter, I know that simply being available to serve ministries like SU Chaplaincy and be with people, allows us to show the person of Jesus in our community.  Thanks for being a part of something bigger, this isn’t my story, it’s all of ours.

Check out http://www.livefm.com.au and http://www.chappyweek.org.au

Dan Dubbeld

I watched a movie the other day - "Black Balloon", really felt ill for the first half, wondering why we choose such bad movies, but picked up some, and I mean SOME (singular) highlights in the latter half.  When posting a comment on facebook to see what my friends and acquaintenaces thought, all I got were positives.  One person said it was the BEST movie they had ever seen!

We certainly view the world around us using different lenses, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it does make it difficult to tell a story, or paint a picture, when for one the pisture/story works and for another it is but an abstract and a quandry!

How do we get to the heart of it, how do we tell our story through our every day activity and works, that paints a positive picture and a picture of life and hope?  That's my point of contemplation for today.  Jesus is so real to me, He is such a powerful and significant driving force in my life and actions, He is all positive for me (doesn't mean life is easy, but pointed in right direction!), Lord give me the wisdom to let that story play out in Your way that tells the world around me that You are Awesome.  Because I have nothing but my availability and willingness to be used.

I have recently been really intrigued by the story of Peter walking on the Water toward Jesus.

The main points are that Jesus did not call Peter to come out, but rather that Peter recognised Jesus was not in the Boat and essentially asked if he could come out to where Jesus was!  Peter was a fisherman, fishermen do not get out of the boat in the middle of the lake, but Peter was called to something bigger, a fisher of men!

It's simply made me wonder, what is my boat? Will i recognise the moments when Jesus is no longer in the boat with me and is giving the opportunity for me to walk into a new and more powerful season?

Worth considering, worth asking the question!  The moment we stop asking questions is when we die.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 20:1

"When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you.

Deuteronomy 20:8

"What man is fearful and fainthearted?  Let him go and return to his house, Lest the heart of his brothers faint like his heart"

Observation:

We need people of FAITH around us.  When the Israelites left Egypt for the promised land, when on the verge of inheriting it, 12 spies were sent into the promised land, and only 2 came back and believed God would deliver His promises!  That's a minority!

This particular story of facing an adversary, an impossible situation, tells me that we can expect to always be in the minority - but it's ok!  In God, He does the fighting for us, not just evening the odds when the odds were stacked against us, but delivering a mighty breakthrough and fantastic victory!  God's plan, God's ways, He only requires faith and obedience.  SHow me your faith by your works!

Again in this particular story, the man who was nervous or did not trust the Lord was exempt from battle.  Since the battle was God's, the number of wariors was not nearly as important as the armies belief that God was fighting for them.

Application:

It's God's fight, It's His battle, I get to be involved, but it's a privalege because I get to be involved in the victory!  It doesn't really matter how many people there are, what matters is that the people are focused on God as the source and the victory - standing in faith even though in the natural the victory can't be seen yet.  That's faith.

I need to take the pressure off myself and give the situation, whatever it is in this season, over to God and trust in Him Who is fighting.  However I am responsible to seek Him and obey His Word / prompting.

Prayer:

Lord help me! Help me to take my eyes off myself, and off the circumstances that get me down.  Help me to lift my head and see You more clearly and keep my eyes on You.  I need Your strength, I need You, because I feel so weak and incapable, but I don't want to back off.  I want to push forward trusting in You as the One who will bring about hte victory.  May Your victory be sweet and swift in Jesus Name.  Amen

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 2:30

“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.

cf.

Exodus 4:21

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Observation:

This seems like a really hard saying particularly if we believe that God gives us free will.  I have had this question many times over the last year and find it appearing again today in my Bible readings relating to Sihon king of Heshbon.

So I have done a little research to get to the bottom of this saying and found the following:

• the Hebrew verbs used to express the hardening of Sihon's mind and will (heart) can mean that the Lord 'confirmed' what was already in Sihon's heart, namely his arrogance against the Lord and His people Israel.  Sihon's arrogant refusal was a sure sign that he had just thrown away his last chance of survival (read the passage in full and you will realise that he had a seemingly easy decision to make)
• Pressure confirms what is already in the heart (personal note)
• The root of the word harden - is to effect an overly heavy yoke, which is hard to bear, and secondarily the rebellious resistance of the oxen to the yoke.

So that leaves me with a greater picture of what is going on here.  God gave both Pharoah and Sihon a choice.  However under a little pressure, their true hearts were exposed / revealed.  They showed their rebellion against the Lord, their arrogance and independence of Him.

It seems like nothing much has changed.  A little pressure, and certainly a lot of pressure, reveals things in our own lives that we may not have even been aware existed.  However God knows the situation in our own hearts even when we do not.  We are always left with a decision when the muck reaches the surface when under duress - repent and be saved, or fight it and go on resisting!

Application:

Before me today is a decision - chose Life!  I need to watch my response to the situations in my life to see where my heart is at, and let those situations where the secrets of my inner being are released be times of healing and salvation that leads to a greater impartation of Life.

Prayer:

Lord, help me in the decisions I face today to homour You and not rebell against Your purposes.  Help me in the time of trial to grow and not become weary and faint, but to see Your character being infused into me.  That You would be Homoured and glorified in Jesus Name.

Amen

From my NKJV Study Bible: (I think this is really important to get our heads around before we get into the message contained in this chapter of the Bible)

The book of Numbers describes the events right before the Israelites entered the promised land.  Similar to the tension filled days before a great battle or election day, these events reveal the Israelites restlessness and impatience, but also the anticipation of what God would do.  The Israelites made grave mistakes during this crucial period, and God disciplined them.  But through the discipline and instruction God trained the Israelites not only to Worship Him, but to trust in Him for the ultimate victory.

The long losts of numbers and names in Numbers discourage many readers.  However, these must be viewed as the ancient Israelites viewed them.  The lists were the final roll call before the battle, they prompted praise to God for His faithfulness.  He had protected them and multiplied their numbers even in the middle of a barren wilderness.

From this position may we put into perspective the magnitude of the message we enter into in the Book of Numbers.

Scripture:  Leviticus 16:8

"Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat"

Observation:

I have spent hours looking at this passage, and though the illustration of Christ's sacrifice and victory is written all over this, the full implication is hard to grasp.  The imagry is fantastic and deep!  Although I am still thinking through the implications of lot casting for the two goats, I found some fantastic insight into the whole chapter and include it for it is a great analysis of this.

THE NEED FOR PRESENTATION

by Ray C. Stedman

The sixteenth chapter of Leviticus is the conclusion of the first great section of this book. We have been looking at God's provisions to meet his people's needs. How like a Heavenly Father he watches over us, his people, with tender, compassionate care! How intimately he is concerned with every detail of life, even the most trivial, even matters of diet and clothing and how to treat apparently rather insignificant diseases. The fact that all this has

Scripture:  Leviticus 14:49-53

Observation:

After a struggle to get through a very repetitious passage on leprosy, this passage sticks out as the image of Hope and restoration - I give thsi commentary as the fruit of my looking deeper into what this image means:

The victim offers the two birds (vv. 4–7). This unusual ritual pictures to us what Christ did to save a lost world. Birds don’t belong in clay jars; they belong in the heavens. Jesus came down from heaven and became a man (John 3:13, 31; 6:38, 42). As it were, He put Himself into a clay jar so that He might die for our sins. The running water over which the bird was killed reminds us of the Holy Spirit of God (John 7:37–39), for Jesus offered Himself to God “through the eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14). When the blood-stained living bird was turned loose, it pictured our Lord’s resurrection; for the resurrection of Christ is as much a part of the Gospel message as is His death (1 Cor. 15:1–4). Only a living Savior can save dead sinners.on the living bird, but it also had to be applied to the healed leper. Using the hyssop (Ex. 12:22; Ps. 51:7), the priest sprinkled the blood on the leper seven times and then pronounced the leper clean.² “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). How did the victim know he was clean? The priest told him so! How do believers today know that God has saved us? He tells us so in His Word! No matter how the leper felt or what he looked like, God said he was clean, and that settled it.

Scripture: Exodus 4:24-26

 ^?24? And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to ?kill him. ^?25? Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and ?cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” ^?26? So He let him go.

New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Ex 4:24-26

Observation:

Circumcision was an important part of the Jewish faith, yet Moses had neglected to bring his own son into the covenant (Gen. 17). God had to discipline Moses (perhaps by sickness) to remind him of his obligation. How could he lead Israel if he was failing to lead his own household in things spiritual? Moses later sent his family back to Midian

Application:

Obey, Obey, Obey!  God is awesome, Powerful, Compassionate, Merciful, Forgiving, Loving, Patient, Kind, ...... and He also is Holy and demands Holiness of His people.  We simply must obey, or expect consequences that demand that we take action and obey the Word that He first brought to us.  We cannot simply ignor the tougher demands of our God and think that everything will be ok.

Scripture:

Psalm 88:9b-12 

Scripture:

Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man
 Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
 And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
 But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
 Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
 But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Observation:

Where there is life, there is hope.  This passage talks about life like a tree.  However this tree will always have growth on it, it will always look alive, this tree will bear fruit in it's right season, and at all times will be covered in leaves!  That's pretty awesome if we apply that image to our own lives, especially when we are in or approaching a season of distress and drought!

How can this be appropriated in my life?  By meditating on God's Word constantly.  Finding out what He says in every aspect of your life through the words of the Bible.  God does not leave us in the dark - He always shows us the Way. 

And for me meditating means really looking, striving for the answers however long it may take.  The best things in life are often the things we went after the hardest and longest.

God has a pattern for life and for Joy and for Hope - follow it today and become like a tree along the riverside - beautifully refreshed!