Dan's Blog

Scripture:

Mark 5:19
However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him,  “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

Mark 5:33-34
But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her,  “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

Observation:

The first, a demon pssessed man.

The second, a woman with a mentral flow problem.

Both were healed, both were isolated and disconected with their community.

The man living alone and alienated was well known but an outcast.

The woman, also well known, and outcast is healed, but healed in secret.  There was no public spectacle util.... Jesu turns, acknowledges her and brings into light the Glory of God and all that was done and achieved in the healing and restoration of her body.

Go and tell your friends, your family, your community!  Jesus doesn't want them to leave all and walk with Him, He wants them to proclaim the story of transformation, be the story!  Jesus restores the isolated to community!

Application:

The stories of transformation in lives are not only for the person but for the whole community to behold the glory and majesty of our God who saves, heals, delivers, restores.

God is into restoration of lives, but also is about spreading hte word and building faith in people (plural).  It's about being in community and transforming peoples lives.  It's about being salt and light, adding value to people and being a part of  the restorative and transformation process of God.  This can only happen as a community in community.  It is about being the God person, the person with a story, the Good News, ... in our streets, in our work place, everywhere... and also as we meet in the church.  But not oonly with the people who have the same faith.

Prayer:

Lord help me to really get this, and put it into practice in my own life!  Amen

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:36-38
Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:46
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

Observation:

You reap what you sow.... but you also reap because you sow!  You cannot reap without sowing.  There is no harvest without first sowing the seed.

There is no breakthrough unless we sow the natural seed and let it die.  Letting it die, letting it go, so that God can bring about the change and the life that He desires in the form that He ordains.

But what natural things are we to sow, to reap spirtual harvests?

What about:

• time in the Bible (seeking, asking, meditating, applying,...)
• time in prayer
• giving our tithes and offerings
• being generous with time and resource
• laying character flaws and frustrations at the feet of God

There are too many to name here, but these are but a few of the issues I need to consider and struggle to give on a consistent basis.

And what about what we reap as a result?  Well see that's the issue here.  We don't know what it will reap but it will reap something that is in the form of fruitfullness (fruit of the SPirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control).  It will be something that is life giving for us and others, it will be something uniquely spiritual and not as much natural (taking on a whole new form), it will probably be a breakthrough, transformation, ....well anyway it will tak e a form that God desires to reap in my life!  It's a God harvest!

Application:

It will  cost me something, this life transformation harvest.  It's not about my hard work though, it's about God's faithfullness and love.  It's about Him and it will be for Him.  The byproduct is my character formation and blessing and lofe though which is awesome!  Something in me needs to die, I need to give up the seed, I need to make that natural step that in reality seems like an impossibility!  My flesh desires must die, my self seeking and selfishness must die, so that the spiritual and the Holy Spirit can make possible that which was previously impossible!  If God is going to do the increase, I need to be about the act of sowing.

Prayer:

Help me Lord to comprehend more fully what this means in my everyday life.  I am not satisfied with the possible, I long to see Your outworking in and through my life.  Show me the things I need to do, show me what needs to die, show me where I am trusting in my own natural talents and resources, that I may give them back to You, and I pray that You would transform the things of the natural into the supernatural.  That the things in my life will be ever increasing in fruitfullness that brings Glory to You and draws people unto Yourself.  More of You and less about me.  In Jesus Name, Your awesome Name.  Amen

Scripture:

Acts 13:42
So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

Acts 13:47-48
For so the Lord has commanded us:
 ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
 That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Observation:
"The forgiveness of sins, by Jesus everyone who believes is justified from all the things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses" v39

Forgiveness of sins, being made right with God in a way that works!  Not by my effort, by which I continually fail no matter how hard I try - theres a way for Me!?  Now that's good news!  That's great news! (for all who are looking for it).

Good news to those who sought it the most, good news that included the precept that there is no longer Jew nor Gentile, Slave or Free, Single Parent or Couple, ..... God sees us as the same in Christ!  God has a plan for me, whatever I may look like in my own eyes or the eyes of the World!  I say give me that good news, show me that good news, be that good news to me.

Application:
There's a world of Gentiles out there, in our own community.   People who think there is a them and us situation, a divide that is near impossible to cross.  There's the church people, and theres me (I don't have a stable family, God couldn't love me, I'm not good enough, it's all too hard!).  These people think it's about what you do, when that's got nothing to do with the grace of God, ... it's no different to the times reflect4ed in these bible passages in Acts with the times of Paul, Peter, and any of the other followers of Jesus.

The question is, How can we break that perception?  How can we cross over and break the 'club' mentality that fosters the us and tem mindset that is in the community and often within the church also.  How can both sides come together and see that God has a bigger more inclusive picture!?

How can we show compassion, love generosity?  How can we be more of the Good News without the strings attached, to the marginalised, hopeless, desperate, rejected, despised, ... and all of htese attitudes that are often more from within themselves and ourselves than is actually the truth!?

Prayer:Lord, open the doors of my heart, open my eyes and open my hands, so that I can be a greater expression of the Good News in everything I do as well as what I say.  So I also ask that when Iopen my mouth that the declaration of You will be Truth and Life to the listener and Good News, Great News, Life Transforming News would be spread like wild fire in Jesus Name.  All Glory and Honour to You our God who reigns.  Amen.

Scripture:  Malachi 1:6-8

“A son honors his father,
 And a servant his master.
 If then I am the Father,
 Where is My honor?
 And if I am a Master,
 Where is My reverence?
 Says the Lord of hosts
 To you priests who despise My name.
 Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
“You offer defiled food on My altar,
 But say,
 ‘In what way have we defiled You?’
 By saying,
 ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’
And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
 Is it not evil?
 And when you offer the lame and sick,
 Is it not evil?
 Offer it then to your governor!
 Would he be pleased with you?
 Would he accept you favorably?”
 Says the Lord of hosts.

Observation:

Why is creativity and a newness of expression often frowned on by people within the church family, when it is just the expectation to do so in the world around us?

Why is late attendance to a Worship service, just what happens, when habitual lateness to work would result in losing your job?

Why is anything short of excellence a failure in the world, but in teh church mediocrity is expected (or at least anticipated)?

Why do we not honour our God significantly higher than our Boss, our spouse, our family, our coach, our....?

Nothing much seems to have changed since the time of Malachi, but our God still calls us, He is unchanging, all powerful, majestic, He is God, He wants to become 'Lord'.

Application:

Any time my standards in serving Christ become a shadow or weak copy of my commitments anywhere else - I want to be reminded that it is to God that I want to give my BEST.  mY best creativity, boldness, time, resources, ...... My best and my first.

Prayer:

Lord help us to have a healthy perspective on life through an understanding of how awesome and mighty You are!  Help us all as Your children to honour You with every part of our lives and show our world how much we love You by every part of our lives.

Amen

The end of another chapter comes to a close with a great deal of sadness and trepidation.  I wll not be attending and helping serve with Schoolies on Magnetic Island this year after serving every year for the last 6 or 7 years!  It must be a God thing though because I have been praying and asking people to pray for me all year with a feeling that this was what I needed to do.  I am at peace, but yet.... it feels like a loss for me.

I am excited by the new leadership that will be there for this year and the great potential to again serve the community, but I will really miss the relationship forming that has been such a highlight over previous years with other support agencies and witht he schoolies and Magnetis Island community.

I'm sad, but I'm happy - but God is good and knows why I need to take this step.  Thankyou to all who have joined me in praying for God's heart in this decision, and please pray for the team that is developing that it will be fully equipped to do the task and resourced fantastically.

SCRIPTURE: Luke 14:28-30

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’"

OBSERVATION:

Discipleship (following and learning from Jesus) has a high cost for a high gain.  It is not a short term investment - it is eternal. 

They say that investing in the stockmarket in shares is a long term investment.  Shares fluctuate, they rise, they fall, they fall, they fall, they fall,....... (in 2008 anyway), but they will rise again (eventually).  Investing in shares however is about a net long term gain.  If you get out with the first hit, the first slump in prices, the first negative report - you lose.  If however you have given yourself enough time to ride out the cycle, the idea is that ultimately there should be a net gain even if it means 20 years down the track!

Life is a little like that, ... but Discipleship even more so!  However the difference between shares and Discipleship is that we have an iron clad promise that investing in Discipleship will reap rewards of an exponential nature for eternity (not financial necessarily) but life rewards. WHen you become a disciple of Jesus the cycle can be very much like this - gains feel like they come when we are encouraged through the Word of God, we get revelation of the awesome Power and Presence of Jesus, but maybe it seems like a downward cycle when we are corrected, disciplined, ....

With Christ there will always be a net gain - stay in this relationship long term - it is the only guaranteed investment!  Follow Jesus.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 16:14-15

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, ?e?the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Observation:

It is very easy to become caught up in putting God in a box which says - He si the God who did ..... for them.  He is the God who did amazing things in the Bible stories, He is the God who healed peoples sickness and disease, He is the God who rescued people from the most dire circmstances, He is the God who fed the hungry and provided income to the poor. 

All this is true, but it is a picture of Who God was to others.  In John 17 we see Jesus desire that we would know God, that we would ruly know Him.  Eternal life is to know God, not know of Him.  Not celebrate what we hear of Him, not rejoice over the amazing stories of freedom and life that others have.  It is to know Him personally.

That is why I love the passage in Jeremiah where although God is going to punish the people, it is because of His love for them.  They are not experiencing a personal God.  That is His desire - relationship.  And His desire becomes obvious when He says that one day that teh people will know Him not as the God who rescued people in the past - but the God who rescued me!

Application:

I need a personal revelation of who God is.  I need a relationship with Him my God and my Saviour.  I neeed to know Him.  I need to know Jesus, because He is the image of the Father.  I need to hear what the Spirit is saying to me, that I may know the Truth and the Truth would set me free.

So, what do I need to do, how do I see this fulfilled in my life?

It's easy to just say that reading the Bible and Prayer is the answer but I think it is more about doing that with a desire for a personal revelation of God - not just a revelation from God.

So I will desire to spend more significant times in The Word and in His presence in Prayer, and my desire is that I will see HIm more clearly and more personally.

Prayer:

Oh Lord my God, you are awesome, mighty, powerful and majestic.  You are God, there can be no other.  You are mighty to save, my God of wonders beyond what I can see or touch.  Thankyou that you are a poersonal God, that You live in me by Your Holy Spirit.  Thankyou that You call me Your temple of Your Holy Spirit.  Thankyou that You have rescued me, that You have plans and purposes for me that are good and perfect.  Thankyou that You care for me as much as for any other.

Lord, help me to see You more clearly, Help me to hear You more clearly, Help me to follow You obediently, I need You help to overcome my own selfishmness.  Help me to get a fresh and personal revelation of You constantly, that I may follow You and fulfill Your purposes for my life all the days of my Life.

Amen 

Wow, it's been a while since I sat and entered my thoughts.  Last week was an amazingly huge week which started with a combined church service with 6 different churches attending together, then an awesome 3 days away with some church leaders (17) from Townsville to pray.  Then we had our GetaWay4kids launch on Friday which was an amazing success.  And then a great Sunday again to share particularly with the Brake extended family the dedication of their new/first grandson Aiden.

In amongst all of that some thoughts have been stirring regarding what God is doing in this City and in my life.  Some of these ponderings and conclusions I would like to share below.

The main track I have been following lately has been the challenge to take a new step, a different step, and a step that was contrary to what God had said in a previous season.  I have noticed it is a lot more difficult to discern God's voice, when He is saying to do something that was not right to do last season.

7 to 8 years ago it was fairly obvious that God had told us to not join the church with a denomination, but to work on building relationships with His church around the city.  It has been difficult, it has been tough, but iut has been the most rewarding experience to find the people and the church ministries that we fit well with despite their / our denominational tag.  As a result of working on relationships, we have developed some close ties particulary with The Salvos, Hope Community Church and Citilife COC.  We have had many joinmt venture with all of these, and joined with them to worship, and had their leadership speak into our church family.

Many years ago we joined with Citilife COC and blessed the community with random acts of kindness and generosity and joined together to tell the stories of How we were able to bless.

Years later we joined with hte Salvos to run the Alpha program and we had a regular group of 60 - 70 atttending for an amazing feed and a great message during the week.  We ran alpha for kids and alpha for youth at the same time.

And throughout the years we have joined with our church family abroad in combined services around Easter and CHristmas and blessed oneanother.

Currently we are working with the Salvos with a joint welfare distribution initiative and we are also using their facilities for the Getaway concept for fdamilies on Friday nights.

Throughout these years, and we have been a church in this community for almost 9 years, the tag we have been given is 'independent'.  There was no box that we could be putin apart from that in many people's opinion.  I have seen those who are outside of my strong relationships struggle to understand the relationship we have with the church in this city from outside of a recognised grouping.  But those who we have built a relationship with have noticed that God is indeed doing something special in Riverside Christian Family and that we are an integral part of the Townsville wide Church.  I am glad to have been taken down this path, and it has helped me to put my trust more in Jesus than any other structure or system, and I am glad to look back and see how we have been obedient and grown in strength and stature over this time.

So what's different now?  I feel now that God is saying that the past was our period of preparation and now it is time to cross over and take the land.  When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan they did so together, every tribe together, even the tribes that already had their inheritance.  God has got us in an amazing place with the relationships we have in this city, I think the challenge now and opportunity is to join wider with the national church.

So I am making some steps toward building some relationships abroad to strengthen me and strengthen us.  Equipping the saints for the work of ministry is a big and important undertaking, and the skills and giftings of others will need to be drawn on in the coming days to help us all make the steps necessary to fulfill God's purposes in our lives and in the world around us.  Though we are very differnt to many other churches in the city, in leadership style, in people, we are going in the same dirrection and is important to work alongside those who have the most in common and encourage oneanother.  For this reason I will be making maves toward formalising my relationship with some key ministries that we have already built relationship with and will be joining with a national network of church ministries called 'Crosslink Network'.  This is not about giving up control or going a different way, but it is about growing and taking a step of strength.  Nothing significantly differnt should be expected in how we function as a body, but with time I believe this step will help strengthen and equip us in a better way to be all that God has called us to be.

Check out www.crosslinknetwork.com.au for more about the dna and vision/muission of this group to understand why I am persuing this.

It's been a tough struggle to get my head around this, because in a way it is contrary to the direction God lead us previously, but i am now seeing so many advantages and no disadvantages.

We are not a cult, we are not independent, we are not loopy.  We are interdependent - we depend on the relationships we have across the church - but that relationship is hard to see from outside.  I believe that building some structured accountabilty by being involved with crosslink will help us express clearer to our community, but also to the prodigals who have left churches over the years, that we are not goiung in a different dirrection to God, we are taking the journey together. This may well help take a stumbling block out for many who may come to Riverside Christian Family, but are wary that things may not be 'as they seem' and that they may be very cautious about coming back to the church with a group that seems to be independent.  We have the same heart and same dna of what God is doing with the Crosslink network and it makes for a good fit, a win-win, a place that we can be blessed but also a blessing.  Our current relationships and accountability would continue, we are just looking at linking in with the wider national network.

Scripture:

2 Peter 3:8-9

"But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Psalm 103:1

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His Holy Name"

Observation:

He heals me, He delivers me, He sustains me, He is my provider, He is my Source, He is my strength, He saves me, He forgives me, He satisfies me!  King David wrote some amazing things as an act of praise and worship to his God and King.  And yet King David lived an extraordinary life, He was said to be a man after god's own heart, but his life was also filled with turbulence and trial.  If a man after god's own heart is not immune from the temptations and strife of life, no one is!  David says over and over, "Bless the Lord oh my soul".  He continues to remind himself of who God is and what God has and will do.

When will God fulfill His Word?  Well according to The passage in 2 Peter, whenever God's time is right.  And when that will be may seem like an inapropriate time frame for us, but He is Lord.  And even more so, we are reminded that everything is about the salvation and redemption of His people.  God is actively seeking to offer salvation to the World!  Is there a people who will rise up and be a part of the solution and wait patiently on the Lord?  Am I a person who will wait expectantly on the Lord, doing whatever I can now to see His Kingdom come and His will be done in my World and in my relationships?

Those who wait on the Lord shall rise up..... will not faint.....will soar.

So Lord God, I want to see answers now, but I am willing to wait for your perfect timeing.  Help me to patiently endure, and wait expectantly, clearing the way for people to find You, and actively seeking the coming of Your Kingdom authority in every realm of my life, family and community.  Amen

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-7 (5-7)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,"

Observation:

Times are tough sometimes, and often it seems in the eleventh hour that the breakthrough comes.  But the desire of our God, is that we will turn our eyes to Him despite what we are seeing with our natural perspective and place our unconditional trust in Him.  Fath for Salvation, is knowing the breakthrough will come, and standing firm on that promise until it arrives - that in the end God can be Glorified (because that's what it is all about).  But it is not waiting idle, it is waiting expectantly, doing what we can, knocking on the door, until the time arises 'for such a time as this'.

Application:

Turn everything over to Jesus, never give up, wait expectantly, have faith that He is more than able to meet our needs, provide the breakthrough, and nothing is impossible in the hands of God.  Where does this faith come from - abiding in God's Word.  I need His Word every day to be building faith in me.

Prayer:

God help us take encouragement from this piece of Your Word and fix our attention upon You.  You are our Source.  Amen.

Scripture:  Jeremiah 2:13

“For My people have committed two evils:
 They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
 And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water."

John 10:9-10

Jesus said "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Observation:

In the passage in John, Jesus has just healed a blind man who was blind since birth!  The result was a fued of words between those who observed the miracle as to whether it was a good thing or not!  All the evidence pointed to God, but....., they were blind and walking in another's footsteps.  They were disciples of a man and not of God.

God is the source of all things that pertain to Life.   He is the fountain of Living Water, He is our protector, our, ..... SOURCE.  The only way to life is through Him and in Him.  Jesus said that He is the door.  It's all through Him!

And yet, we try to do it ourselves.  We rely on our own strenght, our intellect, our creativity, and we strive for another way that we can control - or at least feel that we have control.  It is the path of least resistance, it is the path that is easy to fall back to.  We compromise and believe the lie that we are doing well wehn in fact we have neglected our God - forsaken Him.

How do we do this - well we just need to stop long enough to examine the fruit and the habits of our lives. 

How much time do we spend:

• stressing about financial matters?
• focussed on our career and promotion?
• loooking for significance in sport or leasure?
• in front of the tv or computer?

versus:

• how much time are we spending in God's Word?
• how much time do we send alone with Him (without distraction)
• how much time do we spend talking to Him? 

It isn't even second best that we settle for when we keep God out, because in teh end God is Life.  Any other way is deception, trickery, lies, destruction (in the end)

Any other way ends in teh pit of destruction and despair.

Seek God and Live

Seek God and experience Life

Seek God and walk in Truth

Seek God and enjoy all His Benefits

Any other way will lead to bitter fruits!

Application & Prayer:

Lord, I do not want to resort to the path of least resistance.  I confess that more often than not, I opt for the easy way rather than You - The Way.  You said that those who seek You with all thier hearts would find You.  Teach me, show me, guide me, please give me wisdom and patience, understanding, courage and perserverence to go after You all the days of my Life and Live richly with You as my Source.

Amen.

Been away for a few days - 2 days dental work, and some great times with my parents-in-law.  Even if Dad-in-law had to strap me in the dental chair for 3 hours of dental work! (He's a dentist by the way)  My Journal highlight for the last week was this one!

Scripture:

John 7:15-17

"And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."

Observation:

Jesus had some hard sayings, and throughout His ministry we see written that intersperced with all the miracles was an increasing boldness and precision of His teaching to reveal the inner thoughts of those who kept His company.

In fact, in John 6, where Jesus speaks of the need for people to eat His flesh and drink His blood, we see a very stark change in the imagry He is painting with His words!  He gos on to stipulate that His words are Spirit and Life (v63)

But... many left Him because it was too hard for them.

The disciples stayed however - they knew Jesus had the words of lIfe - of eternal Life (v68).

Application:

Am I one who will to do the will of the Father, or am I looking for what's in it for me - or am I just hanging around for the spectacle?  It's a tough question for any of ask to ask ourselves, even tougher if it is asked of us!

Can I truly say -

"It does not make sense to me right now but..... You have the words of eternal Life, You are JEsus Chirst the Lord!"

Do I only want words that tickle my ears, or do I want the word of Truth, words of the Spirit and of Life.  Words that lead the Way, and show me the Way!

Increasingly, in my relationship with Jesus Christ, what He reveals in His Word will become increasingly harder and harder sayings - but when it just doesn't seem to make sense right now - I resolve to stay firm in the fact that His Words are Spirit, and sometimes it is I who needs to catch up and comprehend what the Spirit is doing!  I need spiritual eyes and ears to discern the spiritual word and not just look at what is happening in the natural world and my natural circumstances.

Prayer:

Lord, don't just tickle my ears with words I want to hear, but lead me and guide me by Your Spirit in knowledge, in Wisdom and in Truth.  Thankyou that You have the words of eternal life, thankyou that as I saeek the will of you my Father, that all things will begin to make sense and stir up greater faith and healing.

Not my will - but Your will be done.

Help me to understand what this really means and live my life accordingly.

Amen

We have been struggling with our financial position for a few months now and trying to work out how to restore balance.  Like many of you who will read this, fuel prices, grocery prices, and mortgage rate rises have taken a huge impact on our resources, and like all of us probably are facing - our income has not increased enough to cover the expenses increses.

Recently we looked into another job, for an additional 6 hours per week work, to just keep our heads above water.  This seems to have fallen through - but there is another story to tell here.

Throughout our married life, we have always believed in tithing, in giving our first fruits back to God.  So we have given faithfully during the good times, and enjoyed the gifts of money we have recieved over the years nad the tax returns, and the baby bonuses, and the maternity payments! (4 kids!) and we have always given the first 10% of that back to God through tithing into the Church.  Well it is really hard to do that when it seems that there just isn't enough anymore to cover the bills!  However, we knew that God is more than able to meet our needs and stood firm on that as our promise.  He does say that when we seek forst HIs Kingdom and His righteousness that all the things we need will be added to us.

So we just asked Him if we needed to do anything different, get another job, ....?  We just wern't sure - but remained faithful in ginving our first 10%.

Just a few days ago, Friday actually, I was having a tough day, just lots of things going on, and had a real burden about believing in our God as a miracle working God who can make anything out of what seems to be nothing!  I walked out of a meeting with a message on my phone and checked it to find it was my bank wanteing me to reply.  Not what I really wanted to do - this could mean anything.  As it turns out - they had been entering me in a competition every time I purchased goods on my credit card and I won a prize.  Not just a prize - the prize!  We never win anything we enter - but we didn't even enter this one!  The prrize wasa $10,000 gift card from Coles Myer!  Wow!  I cried on the way home - I had just picked up my daughter Renee from sports and told her how amazing our God was!  But then I started to think - a $10000 gift card sounded nice but..... it doesn't pay the bills!  The last thing I really wanted was to have to spend $10000 in one go when all our other expenses and general living expenses were not relally getting covered, and the bills were hard to pay!  But I just decided to leave it alone, and focus on the amazing positive.

Anyway, 2 days ago, the bank rang again and asked if we would prefer this prize as cash!  Woohoo!  God is great, we can pay our bills, and it was just what was needed in this season!  So after giving 10% of that back to him as our thanks, we have money to pay the bills and maybe even have a family holiday that we thought we couldn't take otherwise!  God is Good, God is faithful to His word, and when we stand firm in Him and believe that His promises will eb established - they really do!  IN His perfect timing!

So my encouragement to anyone who reads this is - persue God with all your Heart, persue His wiull being done in your life, and enjoy the ride, because a ride it is!

I find it really interesting in my Bible reading today from the book of Joel, that he sees a great time of distress and reminds the people that it should not be this way.

The answer - God says:

"Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.  So rend your heart not your garments, return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm" Joel 2:12-13

The thing that particularly stands out to me is that this is the original plan God has had all along - He wants our Heart.  He wants us to turn back to Him, not do something, but turn our heart back to Him.  When you have given your heart to someone or something, you do whatever you can to please them, and do what it is that will show how you feel. God doesn't want us to look through the laws and do a tick and flick exercise seeing if we have more on the poitive than negative side!  He wants us, He wants our Love, our attention, our heart.

The Prophet Joel goes on to say that when the people turn back to the Lord, that the blessing will result and the balance and life will be restored.  Only then.  It is important to read and note the times in the Bibel and passages like this one where it says 'if' and then 'then' because there is a promise there.  But the promise can only be fulfilled if we do the 'if' and only the 'if'.  God has a plan, God has the Way, and we need to find that Way, He is the Way the Truth and the Life.

So I ponder the things we lack, and the feeling that we are justified to get help and support when things get trying and difficult in our lives.  We have a great welfare system comparibly to the rest of the world.  We have a wealthy country - and most of the time we demand our fair share.  I wonder though - if times are really tough and things just arn't working, that maybe we have wandered from the Way.  If we are not experiencing the Life, then maybe we need to see the Truth restored.  The truth of our position and who we are.  The truth of who He is and His ultimate plan and purpose.

I also ponder about things like welfare and helping the 'poor and needy'.  Yes we have the poor among us, but so many walk off the street with an addiction, gambling, alcohol, smoiking, ... that consumes their finances, and when they hit a tough time the expectation is that someone should help.  But what of the fact thet there is no repentance of the behaviour that got them there in the first place.  What about the pain of lack bringing them to a point of repentance!  What about the setting their heart to things that set them on the right path and help them see things restored.  Where is the desperation, where is the weeping, the repentance, the heart rending?  That is what the book of Joel is about.  It is a reminder of the imbalance that we have brought on ourselves, and the faithfulness of our God who is slow to anger, of great kindness, and relennts from doing harm.  But He is also a just God and a Holy God who wloves us too much to let us slide away from Him and miss out on the relationship and Life that comes from Him. 

I think we too often are just as poor as the world around us and we expect the blessing and the handout without the repentance and heart change.  I think that too oftern I have not come to a point of desperation that I really want to change!

God forgive me, and help me to see the Truth of my condition and of Your amazing Holiness and Glory!

Lord help me to make a stand and have discernment to act in a way that causes poeoples attention to be put upon You rather than their condition!  And Lord help us realise that when our eyes are lifted from us, and our situations, and they are placed firmly upon You, that only then can we see the Truth, and see the Way.  Lord, be my Life, help me to come to the point of giving up the things that separate me from You and Your will, that Life may flow in Jesus Name - for the Glkory of You my God.  Amen

Scripture: Ephesians 6:17-18

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Observation:

The only weapon in the armoury is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  So Paul goes on by saying that we should 'pray always' in the Spirit....... why?  Because this is a battle, a war we are waging, and it's a war we are to win.  We cannot be complacent, we are here to make an impact, to make a difference, to share the Good News of Jesus, and to shine the Light in the darkness!  Salt and Light - Change Agents!

There is always opposition to change, and the enemy will do everything to prevent and minimise the change and impact we have.  That is why prayer always, prayer by the Spirit, powerful impacts, offensive moves, preparation and confidence in the authority we have in Christ are a must!

The biggest battle we may face is the complacency that says to us that there is no more to life than the everyday we have now!  We are called, we are commanded to represent the Kingdom of God, and join the war effort to save those caught prisoner in the darkness, and deception, and hopelessness of the kingdom of this world.

But what is praying in the Spirit?  It would appear that praying the Word of God.  KNowing the Truth and declaring it.  Prayer is not simply making my requests to God, or having some idle conversation with Him, it is a transaction that is potentially powerful and life changing. 

It is giving God permission to act on His Word. 

It is reminding the enemy that the battle is the Lord's and He cannot be defeated.

It is helping us step out in faith according to what God has already said!  He can be completely trusted, and if He said it, so it shall be!

Lord, Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on this earth as it already is in Heaven!

Application:

I need to know the Truth.

I need to abide in the Word of God which is Truth.

I need to declare the Truth in  my life and with my lips and make a step of faith in my prayers to reflect this powerful offensive position.

I need to be aware of my position both in Christ but also in this fallen world and remember that I/we are in a battle that will always rage in this world between dark and Light.

Prayer:

Lord help me to remember the Truth in all circumstances and to know and stand upon Your Word which is Truth.  Lord I desire to have a life that is impacting on this World, that through the power of Your Spirit, that I would be a change agent, leading people Home to Your Kingdom.  May my words, and my attitude and commitment be ever increasingly directed along that path and may my prayers become increasingly authoritative and faith filled declaration of the Truth that punches holes in the darkness and reveals the Power of Your Light.

Amen