'Crazy Dow', I want to be him . .

Battling Unbelief

or Embracing Belief


Questions, Questions, too many Questions:

Is it ok to have doubts? What if experience tells me different?

Questions, Some Answers and Do We Need all the Answers?

James 1 5-19 talks of a man doubting, a double minded man. Do you ever feel like that, I know I do! For example, I feel 100% better from Asthma, I have more energy since being prayed for at the Salford IHOP meetings. And I hardly ever sleep in the day anymore! I had a comprehensive lung function test which showed up completely normal. And yet I doubt! I tell myself that all the medicine I had been stuffing down had suddenly, by some strange coincidence started working and that I have not needed it since? Well at least occasionally I have that thought. And yet God began my healing on the Monday night while I was largely in a state of unbelief! Then completed the work Wednesday night when I had more belief ( a young guy who said he was inexperienced with this kind of thing came out of the audience and prayed for me) I rarely doubt my salvation or the concept of salvation, how come I doubt healing? And what about all the poor people in the crowd not healed that night? And why wasn't I healed before, in fact, I have sought healing from asthma on a number of occasions, publicly and privately over 13 Years!

. All the above by Andy Harper via Video

Some Answers ?

Some commentators say James is talking about a person that decides to be double minded, rather than a person who has doubts then decides to use these questions to discover more about God, ie to go deeper - "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." So the very nature of God vs our nature means things are concealed! And the real fun is searching these things out, 'Kings', means me and you by the way. Wise men still seek out Jesus http://bible.us/Prov25.2.ESV

My kids tend to have an unquestioning belief that I love them and will always do my best for them. As they grow older they begin to see that I am not Super Human, however, our Heavenly Father is Super Godly and changes not! So let's begin with our belief that, 'God is good to me all the time'. People will dispute this and your own thoughts will sometimes too. 1 Peter 4 19 is often quoted, "Therefore, those who are ill-treated and suffer in accordance with God’s will must do right and commit their souls [in charge as a deposit] to the One Who created [them] and will never fail [them]. (amplified version). Does this verse actually mean what the message it suggests however? ie it's God's will we suffer. Let's look at the message version: "So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it. He’ll Promote You at the Right Time" Life often is difficult, we know that, but, it is not God's will (His will was expressed in the garden of Eden before we all became wrong doers). Now we know that Christ suffered and that He accepted this as God's will - God's will that the world be restored and redeemed, not that Christ suffer for the sake of it. We suffer persecution because as the bible says, we then share in Christ's suffering, ie, we participate with Christ in God's purpose of redeeming and restoring individuals. Do we get it yet ? "GOD IS GOOD TO US ALL THE TIME". Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells your heart and then use your head to (sometimes eventually) work out why your heart said, 'God is always good to me'. (It's sometimes good to start with the head and teach the heart, how often do we start with the heart and try to confirm or otherwise with our head?)

Do We Need all the Answers?

What if even in heaven we do not have all the answers, what if for all eternity we are discovering more and more about God? Do you remember when you were struggling to make a decision on whether to become a Christian or not and you had all these questions? What if God had given you all the answers, how much would it have helped? Wasn't it your questions pushing you along as well as God's Holy Spirit convicting you that eventually made you say yes? (ie awakening your conscience, nudging your sleepy soul: how sleepy are you right now by the way? Awaken!)



Lorenzo Dow, who I just read about this last week, click on the picture below to find out more about this amazing man from the 19th century or google him:

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Prayer

Dear Lord

I just thank you that when doubts come we can use these as a trigger to find out more about you and draw closer to you. Thank you it's ok to say 'God I don't know the answer to this', and even, 'I don't know the answer and it's making me hurt and angry'. Help us to search you out at these critical times. Help us to submit to you being the boss and knowing what's best for us. May we also help and encourage others, strengthen them at times like these and be there for them

Amen





Andy





Andy Harper

http://andyharper.blogspot.com/

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Voice of God part 1

Hearing the Voice of God
and having our ears tickled !

Distinguishing God's Voice - keeping out the clutter
Isaiah 30:21

"Do you like having your ears tickled or do you like to tickle other people’s ears?

How can we hear and recognise the voice of God? ( Four Keys to Hearing God's Voice - very good practical help)

Well, one way is that the Holy Spirit stirs our spirit as it were, you, ‘feel’, something is the right thing to do or say. After many experiences you more easily recognise this process, I guess. You begin to distinguish the supernatural from your own feelings – which can sometimes be based on fear or insecurity, eg you want to say something to somebody because you think they will like to hear that and they will like you better for you having said it. You want to ‘tickle’ their ears – like it says in the bible somewhere, people like to have their ears tickled!

Something happened to me and my friends about twelve or more years ago. We met regularly to pray and for some months one thing kept coming up for someone, a problem at work. In fact it was a person causing a lot of grief with their behaviour, which was embroiling our friend, dragging him in and causing a great deal of distress. This person was also senior to our friend. Just at the end of one time of prayer, immediately after we had finished, I felt a sort of shiver, what I now recognise as the ‘Holy Spirit on me’ and I blurted out, “this problem will be resolved very shortly, within two weeks” (ie before we next came to pray together). Afterward I was less sure and expressed this . .now I might be a bit more confident . . Within two weeks this individual had died, my friend was very upset and so was I, so I asked my Dad about this. My Dad reassured me that our prayer hadn't caused this individual's death, rather, God was eager to let us know that He had heard our prayers and that He cared.
In our heads we hear our own voice which is easy to recognise. How many of us know though, that when we hear a voice that says, 'you're no good' or something equally negative - thats the evil one! If you spend a quiet time and ask God to speak, you may begin with practise begin to hear another voice. I bet you anything the first thing He says to you is, 'don't be afarid, I love you'! You can then learn to distinguish between these three voices. Also try this: Write a letter to God, really tell Him how you feel. Then write a letter back from God to you. Try to write as yuor feelings flow, rather using your head too much, if you know what I mean.

Smith follows Holy Spirit's Voice
Smith Wigglesworth Sermon, Australia, Published in Latter Rain Evangel p. 19-24 February 1923

It is a great thing to know that God is loosing you from the world, loosing you from a thousand things. You must seek to have the mind of God on all things. If you don’t, you will stop His working. I had to learn that as I was on the water en route to Australia. We stopped at a place called Aden, where they were selling all kinds of ware. Among other things were some beautiful rugs and ostrich feathers in great quantities. There was a gentleman in “first class” who wanted feathers. He bought one lot and the next lot put up was too big; he did not want so many. He said to me, “Will you join me?” I knew I did not want feathers for I had no room or use for them and wouldn’t know what to do with them if I got them. However, he pleaded with me to join him. I perceived it was the Spirit as clearly as anything and I said, “Yes, I will.” So the feathers were knocked down for fifteen dollars. Then I found the man had no money on him. He had plenty in his cabin. I perceived it was the Spirit again, so it fell to my lot to pay for the feathers. He said to me, “I will get the money and give it to one of the stewards.” I replied: “No, that is not business. I am known all over the ship. You seek me out.”
The man came and brought the money. I said, “God wants me to talk to you. Now sit down.” So he sat down and in ten minutes’ time the whole of his life was unhinged, unravelled, broken up, so broken that like a big baby he wept and cried for salvation. It was “feathers” that did it. But you know we shall never know the mind of God till we learn to know the voice of God. The striking thing about Moses is that it took him forty years to learn human wisdom, forty years to know his helplessness, and forty years to live in the power of God. One hundred and twenty years it took to teach that man, and sometimes it seems to me it will take many years to bring us just where we can tell the voice of God, the leadings of God, and all His will concerning us.

Prayer

Dear Lord

You love us and want us to hear your gentle voice speaking to us. You don't want to leave us without hearing our Father's voice guiding, encouraging and speaking your love language into our hearts. Sometimes we are just too rushed and self absorbed to hear from you. Quiet us, we pray. Open our hearts, remove our fears, come in Lord, Come in.
 
Amen
 
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Voice of God Part 2

Hearing the Voice of God

God's Voice - brings life to the church and you and me!

Reproduced from here

Rick Joyner:

He is Releasing a Double Portion of Prophetic Revelation. Many things bring life to a church, such as great preaching, prayer, worship, and fellowship. However, three things seem to bring the most life to the Church—hearing from God, miracles, and new Believers. In our local church, we have been blessed by an increase in each of these, which has come in waves. It seems that we may be in the first stages of yet another wave, which is creating a lot of excitement. A few weeks ago, I was also given a promise from the Lord—He said He is going to release a double portion of prophetic revelation to us.

Since then, we have begun to experience a fresh and powerful anointing on the prophetic gifts. For this reason, I will be sharing a lot this coming year on the prophetic gifts. We will also be devoting much more of The MorningStar E-Journal to the prophetic revelation that is coming forth. We also will be teaching on knowing the Lord's voice and sharing what He is saying to His people that we discern to be His word.

Hearing From God

In its most basic form, prophetic revelation is simply hearing from God. As we are told in John 10, His sheep know His voice, and they follow Him because they know His voice. Knowing the voice of God has always been basic for walking with God. Even under the Old Testament, we read repeatedly that the people were exhorted to obey the commandments and heed His voice. Here are just three of them, which contain some remarkable promises:

And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer." Exodus 15:26

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation... Exodus 19:5-6

However, there shall be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. Deuteronomy 15:4-6

As we now have a New Covenant that is "a better covenant" (see Hebrews 7:22), we are no longer under the law, and we have even better promises, but the ones listed above are also promises in the New Covenant. The Lord is still our Healer and has given gifts of healing to His Church. We also have the New Covenant calling to be His Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We also see in this last verse that obeying the Lord and heeding His voice resulted in there not being any poor among them—this is fundamental to eradicating systemic poverty.

If we are hearing the voice of the Lord more it is because we are getting closer to Him. This should be our main devotion even more than getting prophetic revelation, but that does not mean that we do not seek His voice. In I Corinthians 14:1, we are commanded to "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."

Often I have heard preachers say that we should not seek the gifts but the Giver, which may sound more noble and wise, but is actually contrary to the Scriptures, as we see in this verse. The truth is that a basic way that we seek the Lord is by seeking to hear from Him. Communication is the basis of every relationship. Few things will draw us closer to the Lord than hearing from Him. We also seek the Lord by seeking all of His gifts. These gifts are not toys but tools for doing His work.

Drawing Us Twice as Close

A second promise that I received is that this year He is going to draw His Church twice as close to Him as we have ever been. The way I saw this was that some may get only 10 percent closer, some may even backslide, but others will get many times closer so that the net result will be His entire Church getting twice as close to Him as we have ever been. The implications of this will be great. How much impact could the Church have on this world if she were twice as close to the Lord as she is now?

As we might find typical in Scripture and history, we can expect the enemy to be increasing his work during this time, too. We are in the time of Isaiah 60:1-5. While darkness is covering the earth, and even "deep darkness the people," the glory of the Lord will be manifested on His people. We are entering the time of the ultimate clash between light and darkness, but as we also see in this text—the light wins! The nations do not turn to the darkness but to the light.

Another rising wave of the Spirit is happening now. Ultimately it will be an irresistible tsunami, recapturing backsliders and multitudes of the heathen in its path. The Lord speaking to His people will be a catalyst for this.

Today you can get a head start on this great year by seeking Him, asking for more prophetic dreams, visions, and prophesy, and being faithful to what He speaks to you.

Rick Joyner

MorningStar Ministries

Email: info@morningstarministries.org

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Prayer


Dear Lord


When we hear of the exciting things going on around the world in your church, like miracles, healings and new believers, we just so much want that for our church and our lives!


Please help us to be pursuers of you! God Chasers. Help us to throw off all that would hinder, our own selfish concerns, for example. We know that you care for every little detail in our lives so help us to fix our eyes on the things that are on your heart! Like helping and caring for each other and those around us that don't know you. As we begin to seek out your voice give us the courage to be doers and not hearers only! We want to lay our hands on the sick and they recover, we want to tell people the kingdom of God is near. Give us boldness! Give us courage Lord, chase us down, capture our hearts with your love, so we can capture lost hearts with your love too Lord


Amen

Uncertainty and the Secret Place

Living in The Secret Place

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" Psalm 91 v1
I have read of, 'the secret place', and heard it mentioned a number of times over the last few years and wondered what it meant. I assumed at first that this was a room you went to and locked yourself in to pray for a few hours. It sounded a dull activity, since I rarely prayed for longer than fifteen minutes at a time! However, whenever the secret place was mentioned there was an air of excitement, mystery, specialness as it were.

By the way if anyone has any ideas or questions about, 'the secret place', reply to me and I'll publish them . .
I knew that Daniel and Nehimiah retreated daily to spend long times with God and this preceded the unfolding of an amazing story in their lives. I'm told Yongi Cho spent (and still does spend) hours in prayer everyday and this led to his significnt part in the South Korean revival. In the early part of the last century William J Seymour spent three hours a day in prayer which he then increased to seven, just prior to the Asouza Street revival. Were these times dry or were they intimate, joyous times with God? Are these times only achievable by very unusual individuals, tremendously disciplined, for example? Or is it possible that we can enter into a secret place of intimacy with our Father, just enjoying being with Him and acting out our relationship with Him, just Him and us, unninterupted? These lives were certainly marked by a submission to God, and complete reliance on Him and nothing/nobody else. So what kind of certainty do we want in our lives?
Certainty is the mark of the common sense life - gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means we're uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow brings. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.
Taken from ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers

How to be certain of God? And how to know we are in His presence and under His protection? In the absence of knowing how to do this and how we can be reassured we are doing this, we will tend to rely solely on ourselves and others only. Thus leaving God out of the picture and us out of a fuller life of God given purpose and security.
And do we have to worry about keeping ourselves in that 'secret place' ?

Not according to Smith Wigglesworth! (to learn more about Smith Wigglesworth click on picture of Smith Wigglesworth or go to http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/)

"Can we keep ourselves there? GOD can keep us there.
He never forgets to keep me,
He never forgets to keep me
My Father has many dear children;
But He never forgets to keep me.
Has He forgotten to keep you? Nay! He cannot forget. God has much in store for you; you are far from being out of His thoughts"

Smith Wigglesworth, 1921 sermon,
http://www.nemontel.net/~word1/secret_place.htm
on Psalm 91 or the Message version of Psalm 91
"Abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Don't change your position, but always have the presence of God, the glory of God. Pay any price to abide under that covering, for the secret of victory is to abide where the Victor abides."
Are we willing to pay any price? Or do the comforts we believe we already have mean too much to us to let go of? These comforts are not rock solid anyway, as we see all around us people losing their jobs, their secuirty, their health . . isn't it better that we cast everything we have on Jesus and trust Him and Him alone? Our Father will not let us down!

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Lets Pray

Thank you Lord that you do keep us under the wings of your protection even when we don't know it and we are not seeking it

Help us to actively seek your presence so as to fully enjoy what you have for us. Even though we may feel uncertain help us to know that you are a God of certainty.

Along the way you have many surprises for us, opportunities to fulfill the potential you destined for us before we were born! Give us the courage, born from your loving parenthood, to grab these with both hands!
In Jesus name!

Shining and a Great Black Blob

Shining with His Glory

Catching the train in freezing cold weather and with a chesty cough, probably caught from Mia our youngest, I certainly did not feel like I was manifesting the glory of God to those around me! More like a load of cold germs and a pretty grumpy face huddled in amongst coat, scarf and hat!

Look around at the covering of snow, that’s a picture of God’s goodness dropping on us, covering everything!

So . . lines from a song:
Beauty for ashes
Joy for mourning
Praise for heaviness
I am for glory
I was made for you glory!

Subscribe and watch/listen to this fantastic worship for free! here


1 To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm. A Song. God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
Psalm 67:1
What would His face look like? What would our faces look like with His face shining upon us? As we consider His many blessings upon us, the great things He has done, our faces begin to shine, reflecting the goodness of God to those around us – OR – As we consider all the things it appears God has not done then our faces will tell a different story . . . Turn, face your Father, receive His good will toward you and your face will shine!
8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel
9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary.
10 Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
Psalm 68:8-10



The actual heavens dropped to the earth or dropped rain . . the earth reacted because heaven arrived, as it were. Why? Because God wanted to confirm His inheritance. The people He had rescued, His inheritance, a people that had become His! Yes a people who once were not His people, but now are! That’s you and me, once lost, now belonging to Him, our Father! So when we are weary, when we have given up hope he ‘confirms us’ by dropping rain. By dropping on us heavenly blessings . . a taste of what is coming when we get to heaven, a full measure of what is to come! Now! That is, we ‘dwell in it’. Verse 10, ‘Your congregation dwelt in it’
Each of us has a place that no one else can fit! Living stones ‘fit together’, bonded in love. Born for good works, significant, adopted and put where we are destined to be. We are born for significance! We are made for His glory. We are filled with it, it emanates from us, we are His glory!



8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
Psalm 71:8



11 May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized]. Amplified version
Philippians 1:11

God’s glory manifested and recognised, in and through us!
A Prayer

Dear Father

Though we may not always be aware of it, help us to know that as we go about our daily business we are, ‘manifesting’. May we have such a thirst for you and the food and drink you provide, that it would be you that we would be manifesting all day long. So much so that people around us will wonder, what is that? What is it they have got? And when they find out, Lord, we pray they will want you too!

Amen



What a great, wonderful, loving, accepting, bountifully giving, always forgiving, restoring, redeeming, healing Father we have! Woooooohoooooooooooo!!!

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This Great Black Blob

Is there anyone close to your heart that you have prayed for to come to Jesus? It could be a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter, a husband, wife or partner, maybe a friend, work colleague or neighbour? What if Jesus said to you, ‘I’ll set you a challenge, if you can do this one thing, then that person will come to me and be saved’. Would you do it? Suppose it was climbing a mountain or running a marathon or walking fifty miles. Would you do it? I guess most of us would if we were desperate enough to see that person saved. Now suppose the challenge was this: I want you to stand up in church and publically confess that (pick one of the following) a) You have not spoken to person x for years and you make sure to avoid them, because you can’t forgive them, they have hurt/offended you somehow in the past. b) There is someone you judge as lesser than yourself in some way and you make sure to avoid them if at all possible. c) You are angry at someone in the church, you avoid them. d) You are jealous of someone, when you see them, you secretly hope things are going bad for them. One day things do go bad for them and you are secretly glad. e) Someone seems like they need caring for in some way, it looks awkward, you avoid them and you won’t let God put that person on your heart.

What if God clearly said to you, ‘make this public confession and that person on your heart will be saved!’ I know what you are thinking, how can there possibly be a connection between my not speaking to/avoiding a person and my friend/family member/work colleague coming to the Lord – I just don’t believe it! Or I just won’t believe it? There is a connection and a very strong one . . .

While trying to sleep I had a feeling when thinking of our church that something was trying to hide. That ‘something’ was something I needed to fight. I heard the Lord speak to me and He said, ‘you must go at this hard, over and over again, until you defeat it’. I could not get hold of what it was that I was so supposed to go at, fight as it were, though I had a very strong feeling I must do so. I felt a very strong physical sensation at the same time, very hard to explain. I began to get a picture of a black sort of blobby substance that was about five to seven feet in the air and it hovered over us all. I imagined running at it with a knife in my hand trying to pierce it, I ran at it over and over again, imagining that if I pierced it I could make all it’s badness drain and wash away. Finally, exasperated, I asked the Lord what this thing was. He told me it was the feelings of people toward other people. These feelings included jealousy, anger, unforgiveness (for hurts and perceived hurts), bitterness toward people, judgement of people, viewing certain people as lesser and treating them so or avoiding them as unimportant, meanness toward people and lack of real care for others.

This great black blob hung over us all, so much so we had sometimes to give it a shove upwards in order to talk to or see other people.

This great black blob was what was hindering revival in our church. Once this thing began to be substantially dealt with, revival would begin.

Afterward I was reminded of the Welsh revival, a feature of which was the public confession of sins. People who had not spoken for years stood in church to publicly confess their bitterness or anger toward someone. When people heard of these public confessions and reconciliations it brought them into the revival . . so think on! (The Welsh revival saw 100,000 converts in 1904 alone!)

When you think of that person you want saved, think! Do I have a person in church that I am having a wrong attitude toward?

We need to ask ourselves: Is this collective unconfessed sin in our church stopping more people coming to Christ? Even stopping revival?

Bless you, in Jesus name

Andy Harper

History Lesson 1

1890 St Louis Tent Meeting




Taken From Biography of Maria Woodworth-Etter, read more here

She had no itinerary, and often changed plans as the Lord led her. Once she was going to California, but in obedience to the Spirit's correction turned and headed for St. Louis instead. The resulting tent meeting at the infamous Kerry Patch, a stronghold of Catholic idolatry and rampant vice, was an epic victory that she describes in her 1918 book, Signs and Wonders. St. Louis, Missouri, 1890: "They had pistols and clubs, and were ready to kill us, and tear down the tent. It looked as if we would all be killed. Several ministers tried to talk, but were stoned down, or their voice drowned out. It looked like surrender or death. "It was an awful sight to see a little band of Christians, sitting nearly frozen to their seats with fear, surrounded by a mob of wild, fierce men and women, many of them half drunk, their eyes and faces red and inflamed. Every effort failed, and we could do nothing with them. I said to my co-workers: "We will never give up, and if they take us out of the tent before we are ready to go, they will take us out dead." I told them to lead in prayer one after the other, and the God of Elijah would answer. "A sister knelt on the pulpit pale as death, her hands and face raised to Heaven, and in a clear ringing voice asked God to save and bless the Judgement-bound multitude. A feeling of the awful Presence of God began to fall on the people. Another sister followed in prayer, then I arose, and stood before them. I raised my hand in the Name of the Lord, and commanded them to listen. I said the Lord had sent me there to do them good, and that I would not leave until the Lord told me to, when our work was done. I told them the Lord would strike dead the first one that tried to harm us or to strike us with a dagger. If any tried to kill us the Lord would strike them dead. The power of God fell, and the fear of God came upon all the multitude. The sweat came on their faces, and they stood like as though in a trance; the men began to take their pipes out of their mouths, and their hats off. The women began to cover up their bare necks and arms with their aprons. They felt they stood naked and guilty before God. They began to get off the seats, and try to sit down, but some fell and lay like dead. Others stood with their mouths open. One Catholic said that I struck him down, and showed him Hell. Tears ran down many faces, through the dirt, leaving streaks. They stood like they were afraid to move, and they all passed out quietly. After that the hoodlum element always respected me."



19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

http://www.youversion.com/bible/nkjv/matt/10/19



Prayer

We invite you Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage us. Give us a passion to tell people of the goodness of God toward them. Give us a supernatural courage, remove the fear of man, remove the fear of offending and loose from us the excuses we make for not speaking up. Above all give us a heart of love, especially for those who don't know you, for your names sake, Lord Jesus, Amen

Taking New Ground

Or 'Follow my Leader'
Or 'Be a Leader'

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One Amazing Man!
Kind of a Billy Graham of his day, only combining a salvation message with healings. John Alexander Dowie had an amazing ministry and founded Zion City, however, he was toward the end of his life a very much flawed character, though one wonders if this was simply a mental illness. Dowie influenced many people and his ministry was going on around the time of the Welsh Revival. Alexander Boddy, a C of E minister from Sunderland (Sunderland Revival), visited Zion City in 1913 and this article from a magazine of the time is very interesting and includes something about Mrs Woodworth-Etter as well (last email's 'Amazing Woman'). This from the article, “Thousands have been made whole of every disease known at this age of the world, including one case of leprosy. Most of the cases that were healed were considered chronic by physicians. Many were brought on beds in a dying condition, given up by the best physicians; and many of them are living today, well and happy. Hundreds were saved and healed at the same time, otherwise they would have died in their sins ,and thousands of unbelievers of all classes were brought to Christ by seeing the mighty works of God”


John G Lake also visited Zion City and the Azusa Street Revival. The picture above is a common one from the time of Dowie's ministry and such pictures often had a banner saying, 'Captured From the Enemy!'

I wanted to look at Psalm 85

6 Will You not revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
3 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

Surely our heartfelt prayer for our nation is verse 6, 'revive us again'. The, 'why', is a bit surprising perhaps, 'that Your people may rejoice in you'. Not so we have reformation? justice? an end to crime? an end to poverty?, families restored? No, primarily that we may rejoice in Him! All these other essentials do follow, righteouseness, truth, increase because of God's goodness. Now verse 13 is interesting. It's as if someone is beating a path through the undergrowth, we are meant to follow that person. It's very hard for our leaders to both have the vision, then the courage and strength to begin beating a path forward, they need us to catch the vision, to help to push forward, to support. Even if sometimes they are mistaken. It's like sometimes they beat and hack a path through and we follow and then we have to turn round because it turns out it wasn't that way - we deviated a bit is all that happened. So we must try again in a slightly different direction.

If we look at these people's lives, they suffered hardship and personal loss. John G Lake's wife died on the mission field in South Africa, many of John G Lake's commissioned workers faced death from starvation. Mrs Woodworth-Etter lost children. Yet these people saw things happen that we can hardly dare believe for today! Yet these things are happening in countries like Mozambique today, so what's the key ? Is it all just about God's sovereign will or can we bring about revival again in our lives and in the lives of those around us? See these testimonies from recent IHOP meetings in Manchester and Bolton testimonies - so maybe we can and we can rightly expect. We know anyway, that we are to lay down down and consecrate our lives . .

Dowie got everyone to say this prayer of consecration (or similar) at the end of his meetings, 'My God and Father in Jesus name I come to Thee. Take me as I am. Make me what I ought to be in spirit, in soul, in body, no matter what it costs. Give me thy Holy Spirit. Lead me to thyself my Father. Take away my sins, and give me a pure heart that I may fervently love Thee and all things pure for Jesus sake. Amen.'


God Bless you

Andy Harper

Email Response

Affirm the Good

“We should affirm what is good” the Rev Paul Hardingham, Sunday night’s (07/11/10) sermon at St Peter’s

"What I have to say touching visions or dreams, is this: I know several persons in whom this great change was wrought in a dream, or during a strong representation to the eye of their mind, of Christ either on the cross or in the glory. This is the fact; let any judge of it as they please. And that such a change was then wrought appears (not from their shedding tears only, or falling into fit, or crying out; these are not the fruits, as you seem to suppose, whereby I judge, but) from the whole tenor of their life, till then many ways wicked; from that time holy, just, and good” John Wesley Journal

Last week we our church hosted a conference organised by Vinelife UK. There were also three evening meetings at Salford University with over 2000 people each evening. A team came from the International House of Prayer, Kansas City, which is also a bible school. They were instrumental about eleven years ago in setting going the 24/7 prayer movement. They now have about a thousand people praying and worshipping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. About a year ago, after ten years of praying an awakening/revival occurred. In the year since there have over 1500 baptisms/salvations, many healings, for example, emotional from shame, self hatred as a result of sexual abuse, cancer, over twenty people who no longer need glasses, etc.

The conference was amazing! The main teaching was how much God loves us and that we should be chasing after that love, that everything flows from this amazing intimacy we can enjoy with Jesus. Also that healing is a ministry for all believers. We got to practice this and a number of people were healed from bad backs, joint problems, stiff necks, etc. The evening meetings were also astonishing, with healings including, curvature of the spine, asthma, Lupus, legs from needing leg braces, etc. I received healing from asthma, which I need to confirm, when I have a lung function test next week. There certainly has been a huge improvement, for example, I was on three different kinds of inhalers and have awoken every night since spring this year (bar perhaps two occasions) needing to use my rescue inhaler. Since Wednesday night I have slept soundly right through to my alarm! I love it and feel great!

Now I do have to say that some things were going on that could easily draw our focus away from that which we should be affirming as good – namely healings and salvations. We can get over excited in all sorts of different ways about people falling to the ground (see John Wesley above), shaking, laughing, crying, etc. We don’t need to judge these matters nor do we need to go around telling people it is necessary to experience the Holy Spirit in this way. We are all unique as individuals and churches and God has his special plan and unique way of dealing with us. We all earnestly desire that we move forward with salvations and healings and the last thing we want is division over these lesser matters (not lesser to the individuals concerned, but to us watching on, if you get my meaning) We have our biblical model in Jesus and biblical instructions ( for example, the laying on of hands and anointing with oil). Whatever else happens is God’s business!

We all know and love and trust each other enough to push forward, to tolerate, to have our questions along the way. The main thing is let’s get our ‘shoulders to the boulder’ of sickness and sin and see them defeated! In the name of Jesus!

18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think Ephesians 3:18-20


Bless you in Jesus name

Andy

Joy and Offense

Hi Folks

“Our identity must be rooted in His desire for us” and “the greatest hindrance to prayer is because we don’t believe God enjoys us” - Wes Hall, International House of Prayer, Kansas

Recently, visiting a church, the pastor introduced the speaker this way, “come on William, offend us, shake us up’. Offend us ?!?! Offend us? No thanks! I came here for a quiet sit and to be entertained! How many of us can remember, before we were Christians, being offended by the gospel, the struggle, accepting Jesus, then the joy? Now, how many of us know that that is just the start of a journey (yes, we are saved and nothing can change that). Sometimes it’s like we have let Jesus into the hallway of our lives, we run off and fetch a chair and say, “now Jesus, you just sit here and keep quiet, I’ll handle things from here on in” Then when the kitchen’s on fire we run back into the hall and say, “Jesus, help me, help me, don’t you know the kitchen’s on fire?” Before running back into the kitchen . . So in some ways the ‘struggle, accepting Jesus, joy’ process is meant to be repeated as we journey on. Let’s ask God to make us willing to submit, for wisdom to recognise the devil’s lies. Here’s one I fell for without realising it. Looking back I think that I didn’t fully believe that God is good to me and good all the time. If we don’t fully believe this then the devil can sneak in and during hard times we become resentful. We stay too long with the ‘why has God allowed this to happen’ question and rebellion or self pity become our routes of choice. And to be honest I know I have a good long way to go with this . .

Sometimes we have a problem with Joy, in that we feel it is selfish to seek it or to be seeking to be joyful all the time. I’m not talking about chasing happiness as an end in itself, rather the joy from having an ever more intimate relationship with Jesus. And expecting, as we grow in this relationship, to be more joyful , more of the time. Scripture confirms this, church history also gives some clues, we can trust the Holy Spirit to guide as to what is truth and God has also given us the ability to ‘reason’ ie work things out with our brains! And learning from experience is also valid!

Evan Roberts, one the main characters in the Welsh Revival, was thought by some to be insane because he was, “too happy”. The welsh revival produced 100,000 new Christians, oh that I was that happy!

“Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever”, the Westminster Catechism

“17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up “ Romans 14: 17-19

Here Paul tells us that living a life of ‘goodness’, ‘peace’ and ‘joy’ in the Holy Spirit will please God. Doing good is linked with living a life of peace and joy

“16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-22

“Always be joyful” is fairly unequivocal – it couldn’t be much clearer really !

My plea to you and for me, is this – submit, ask Him to show you areas of your life you need to hand over. Get hold of “God is good to me, all the time!”, say it out loud! Ask the Holy Spirit to nudge you when you have a thought or say anything contrary to God is good, so that you will say “No, wait a minute God is good to me/you, all the time”. Run after Him, because He is running after you, He totally loves you, you are unique, loved with a unique love, His favourite, with a unique job to do for the Lord that no one else can do! Be humble/courageous enough to ask someone you trust at your church to pray with you (or if you have a regular ministry time, get up there!), ask them to put their hand on your shoulder and tell them , look I always feel rejected like nobody likes me or I just can't believe God loves me, or that God would ever use me or that God would ever heal me or whatever it is - because God has something for you!

Andy

A Woman's Role ?

These are my notes from a recent Bill Johnson sermon I listened to, so apologies Bill and to you guys, hopefully though I have captured something of the essence of the message, the Lord bless it to you! It's a fantastically encouraging message!


Genesis2:18 And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Ephesians 2:31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Apparently the Hebrew word for 'helper' is two words, Hebrew often has no vowels so you can get a word with two or three words squashed together. The word is best translated as, 'power', 'strength', and 'rescue' - the King James translaters made this into 'helper'. Comparable means 'face to face' or 'reflecting' or 'doing on behalf of' or 'doing together'
Paul in Ephesians 2:31 reflects on the relationship between a man and a woman being like that between Christ and the church or you and me and Jesus

My orginal notes are below . . ( a woman's role? of course in relation to Christ it's a man's as well and I'm sure equally applies to a husband and wife . .)

Stand face to face to God - like a wife (a mans strength, power, rescue - true meaning of 'helper' in Genesis 2) and you will go past what Jesus did

God doesn't need anything except you
God has chosen you as an individual, by grace something unique in your being that only you can do
I want to represent Jesus well, actually be Jesus to people
You represent Him in a way that only you could, you represent a unique aspect of God
Each of us has the privilege of representing Him uniquely and differently
A realm where we are co labourers with God to bring about His will - as oppose to those occasions where a sovereign act of God brings His will about
It's tragic to wait for a sovereign act not realising that in His definition of sovereignty, your obediance, your desires, your dreams were all written into His definition of sovereignty . .

Bethel Church sermon of the week podcasts (inc Bill Johnson) here
Bethel Church Video, free registration and some videos free, quite alot of the previews play all the way through! here - watch and listen on your PC !

*As a side note it's worth reflecting on the sovereignty of God further, the great battle evangelicals fought over this in relation to salvation, yet the incongruity many (most?) evangelicals have in relation to healing! In other words the truths evangelicals fought for in relation to salvation absolutely must apply to healing! One for another email . . .

Strength Comes From Joy

" . .and perhaps as we consider it, and remark the multiplied reasons for its existence, some of those reasons may operate upon our own hearts, and we may go out of this house of prayer ourselves partakers of the exceeding great joy" Spurgeon Sermon

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
WITH JOY YOU WILL DRAW WATER FROM THE WELLS OF SALVATION" Isaiah 12:2-3

"You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" Psalm 16:11

For You have made him most blessed forever;
You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. Psalm 21:6

When I first stop to think on these verses they seem unrealistic, 'fullness of joy' ok I can accept that, maybe from time to time. 'pleasures forevermore', now hold on a minute, forevermore ! Perhaps that's only in heaven when we are his right hand, well actually Christ is at God's right hand and Ephesians 2:6 tells we are also sat there with Him!

So maybe we can begin to accept what these verses say in our head. And we know we have a living relationship with Jesus and "fullness of joy" and "with joy" and being "exceedingly glad" can't be just head knowledge, surely we are to experience this? So what could practically help us?

Someone once explained to me and Emma (thank you Rick!) that we each have in us a well of salvation, from which joy flows. It can get a little stopped up though, like a real well. Busyness, family concerns, worry, etc. Can we think of times when these things seem to become smaller and we have experienced peace and joy? Presence is mentioned in the verses above, so maybe it's when we come into His presence? It might help us to reflect a little , for example, can you think of a worship CD you used to listen to, at home or in the car. Or may be a church service you used to go to fairly regularly, or a prayer time you used to have, a group you used to belong to or someone you still get together with and you used to pray more together?

Perhaps it would be good to try and do these things again or similar, or do them more? I have found that when I try to do this there is an initial resistance, sometimes quite strong!. So at first there is a bit of determination needed. Often in the past when the time for evening service approached, though I had been fully intending to go, I suddenly felt I didn't want to. All sorts of things would come into my head, like, Iv'e not had my tea, why not take it easy and watch telly, I'm not in the mood for mixing with people, my wife/husband won't be pleased, and so on! A few years ago this happened and guess what? I dropped off going! And yet I've found that if I push through and go, there is tremendous blessing, worry goes peace returns, joy comes, etc. Similarly I can sat in the car and think, I'll put that Christian worship CD on and there can be an immediate resistance, no I prefer Radio 4 or the news, or Radio 1 or whatever. Occasionaly even if I put the worship music on, the first song starts and I think, 'no, I don't like this', it jarrs, doesn't sound right, However, at some point I am drawn into His presence, sometimes there is something I need to confess, and/or a conversation starts, 'you know what God I've been worrying about . . or I've been rushing around and hardly thought of you or asked you for help' Apply the same principle to whatever it is you used to do. Perhaps a key here is determine in your own mind that you will use the negative feeling as a trigger to do that thing, ie pray, listen to worship music, go to church, whatever it is that used to bring you into His presence After a while you will realise you have established a new habit and that negative feeling will come rarely, but, remember and say to yourself, 'you know what if it does come, that's my trigger to do, to go'.

I meant to talk about strength coming from joy, but, maybe the above is right for now

Beloved Children

Hi Folks
“As beloved children, we are called to live according to the same pattern as the Lord Jesus: love for God, resulting in dependency upon God, resulting in obedience to God. It is only as we approach the Christian life in this order that we will be experiencing the true freedom and life that God has purposed for us, and it’s the only way we will be truly obeying God according to His will. Unfortunately though, most Christian teaching throughout history and today has been directed at getting Christians to live obediently, while ignoring the necessity of love and dependency. It can never work.”
Bob George, Classic Christianity, “Life’s too short to miss the real thing “ An absolutely fantastic book, if you only read one Christian book in the next year, read this one! Easy to read with lots of real stories and only £6-89 inc delivery from here

Live in His Love and His Strength

How weary we sometimes get ! Either through the troubles this world sometimes brings or through our efforts to live for Christ in our own strength - so here's some encouragement!

If it's troubles you know that you can "cast(ing) all your care upon Him, for He cares for you". And that's certainly a great comfort to me! I love the way The Message translation puts it, "Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. He Gets the Last Word" 1 Peter 5:7 So like children we are to be 'carefree', it's His job to look after us, not ours. Or another way of putting it, "I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love" John 15:9 Make yourself at home in His love!

Living in our own strength: Sometimes we subtly forget that our Father totally accepts us for who we are. We may even be able to explain to someone the difference between 'Law' and 'Grace'*, yet suddenly we find that all the things we are doing for Jesus have become a real chore. We can easily start being really hard on ourselves. A sign we are being hard on ourselves is when we are hard on others, perhaps bemoaning that others aren't, 'doing enough'. Perhaps at these times we think God will only fully accept us if we do certain things . . We need an antidote to this . . !

All our past and future sins are forgiven, God accepts us completely. More, our Father rejoices in who we are and rejoices in the friendship He has with us. It is from Him we receive our strength. Psalm 105 v4 'Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always'.
"Seek his strength; that is, his grace; the strength of his Spirit to work in us that which is good, which we cannot do but by strength derived from him, for which he will be sought." Matthew Henry Commentary. I think 'for which he will be sought' is old english for 'He's willing to be found' and willing to give this.

So Pslam 105 says, 'seek his face always'. When I come in from work sometimes, one or both of my kids come running, shouting, 'Daddy, Daddy'. They are 'seeking my face'. In the same way we need to run into the arms of our heavenly Daddy and the verse says 'seek his face always' ! Always, not one off top ups! Instead we should be seeking the romance of that fantasic relationship ALWAYS. After all He wants us ALL THE TIME! Loves us ALL THE TIME, is rejoicing, laughing and singing over us ALL THE TIME. He's just waiting for you to come running shouting 'Daddy, Daddy' !

Andy

ps What we do for Jesus should be out of the overflow of a love relationship, but, how do we get back to this? In Ephesians 3 Paul prays that we would have power to know the height and breadth of God's love for us. Notice, not the power 'to do', instead the power to 'know' God's love. And I'm pretty sure that's a 'know' as in 'experience' God's love. (However, re-learning or getting to 'know' some scriptural truths can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, unblock the overflow. Bob George's book, 'Classic Christianity' is packed with these truths, see below*)
* Classic Christianity by Bob George is a fantastic book, I've just borrowed it from Steph (who borrowed it from Genese, who couldn't stop telling everyone how fantastic it was!), I had to wait because Steph wanted to read it a second time! It's a very easy read with lots of real life stories and illustrations, all about us being a 'new creation', God's acceptance of us, etc, Get it here or from your local christian bookshop

God's Goodness, Journeying Together, part 3 and Happy Holiness

This may sound a bit harsh, however there is some truth in it I think. And I hope some encouragement!

If we are suffering a trial or are in bad circumstances we can get into a double bind. Firstly if we think the 'trial' is from God, ie we have a distorted view of God and secondly we can then sink into self pity. So our prayers to be rescued are based on how bad things are, a kind of, 'look God can you see now how bad things are so will you do something about it'? And if we are not carefull it can all add to an excuse to rebel. Or we can compound it by being hard on others or even the whole of the church, building a case that people don't care. God is very gracious and does rescue us even when we are like this and has rescued me a quite a few times. I departed from the Lord in my teens with something like this going on and I took some rescuing with the Lord showing me in a kind of dream that He still loved me even though I was not living a good life.

So when we are in this situation believing and declaring that God is good is important. We can say it even if we don't feel it. Also it's a long process I guess and growth in our relationship with the Lord will gradually instill this more deeply. For some of us, inner healing through prayer ministry may be needed, because there may be things that need to be dealt with. For example, if you had a disinterested earthly Father you may think that your Father God is disinterested. He's not! He's very interested in you, you are unique and He has a unique love for you, as if you were the only person in the world! He loves you so much, he sings over you!
17 For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.s
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17

If we are really struggling we can be encouraged that He remains faithfull even if we have little or no faith 2 Timothy 2:13 "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself".
We can also try and move to a place where we can find a verse to hold onto in faith. We can submit to God in our bad circumstances without ascribing the bringing of those circumstances to God. Out of submission we can even thank God for all our circumstances 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 Our thanking consecrates these circumstances to God's good purposes. We need to be careful not to miss God's good purposes even in the worst of times!

16 Be joyful always;17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire;20 do not treat prophecies with contempt.21 Test everything. Hold on to the good.
22 Avoid every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it
Paul seems to suggest we can be joyfull always - I guess in submission and giving thanks we do draw nearer to God and He is amazingly gentle and patience with us. He is waiting with open arms to engulf us with His love. Enjoying this love we naturally begin to want the things He wants, our hearts get in line with His, a kind of happy holiness! http://www.secretplaceministries.org/pages/articles/bickle/god-enjoys-us.html

God's Goodness, Journeying Together, part 2

Below is a look at the story of Job and an attempt at some theology to try and show that 'God is good to us, all the time'.

I'll also do a part 3, telling part of my own story, with a pratical suggestion as to how to handle suffering and how to pray

Basically Job is a righteous man, who then loses all his wealth, all his family (except his wife) and ends up diseased sitting on a rubbish dump. At the end of the story, a new family is given to him, he is healed, and his wealth is restored to him (all in greater measure)

Job 1:21 And he said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Traditionally said at funerals ' . .the lord giveth and the lord taketh away ' and also with us in a popular worship song by Matt Redman, 'Blessed be the Lord' - The Chorus/Bridge 'You give and take away, you give and take away . .' Don't get me wrong, I love this song, to me it is us saying we will worship God whether we are in good times or bad (worship, eg express that we believe in God's goodness/faithfullness in good times and bad). It's the confusion around, 'you give and take away', I want to address.

Strangely it has become a theology. Even more strangely we don't do this with any of our other New Testement beliefs. For example, if I suggested that instead of looking to Jesus for forgiveness we could take the option of sacrificing a spotless lamb, no one would take me seriously!

So
It's not God speaking
It's not Jesus speaking
It is not the New Testement

It is, apparantly, something called a 'Lament' (cry of anguish, expression of grief, etc)
Matt Redman wrote this song out of a family tradegy so it is likely, (though I haven't asked him!), that the chorus was also his lament.
And it is an expression of submission, then worship


Job had just been given the news that all his children were now dead and that he had no livelihood. Wouldn't we also cry out something like this? For example, 'Oh God how could you let this happen?'
And we see lot's of other laments in the Old Testement, for example, in the Psalms. David often begins a Psalm with a lament and ends proclaimimng God's goodness. For example, he might start off saying, 'Oh God why have you shut your ears to my prayers'. Again, we don't attempt to turn this into theology and teach that sometimes God doesn't listen to our prayers! We would tend to teach that it's ok to be angry with God as long as it was the start of a process - communication - submission - worship - healing - etc. And we see that Job follows this pattern and ends with 'Blessed be the name of the Lord', He refuses to curse God and instead calls the Lord blessed. Later in the story the devil takes away his health also and still Job refuses to curse God.

I know this is a difficult area and I certainly don't have the all the answers, very far from it! I'll try and give what I think I have got though. I can already hear people saying, ah, but what about the soveriegnty of God, and the 'permissive will' of God? Isn't that what Job was saying? Well yes and no. I believe this applies in the most general sense in that God gives us free will or in that he generally gave over control of the world to human kind. But that is very different to ascribing a particular act to God, ie saying that an evil thing has happened to us and it is God's fault. Of course the devil tends to be much more subtle, but it amounts to the same thing, by taking a truth and twisting it, eg getting us to quote the verse above or to say 'God's ways are higher than our ways' (and there is tremendous truth in that, but not that God would do bad to us!). How often have we we started off trying to comfort someone by saying 'maybe God allowed this to happen so that . . '? We have a wonderful God who can make some good come out of any bad situation, as Romans 8:28 tells us 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose'. So although God can redeem any bad circumstance it does not mean that He brought about that circumstance. Or that He 'allowed' it in a direct and particular way involving me, God and the circumstance. Or that He exercised, 'permissive will'. Besides exercising 'permissive will', is almost a contradiction in terms! Either God takes no action and allows us the freedom to act or vice versa. An analogy: say I was rich, my son reached 18 and wanted his freedom, so I agreed to buy him a flat. I tried to give him some guidelines including, 'always lock your front door'. The son hardly ever locks the door and is eventually burgled. Is that my (the father's) fault?


Good theology gives a right picture of God. Jesus gave us many pictures of the true nature of God, for example, 'what Father, if his son asked him for a piece of bread, would give him a stone?' God knowing about the sparrow falling from the tree, him clothing the fields, Him providing for us ! So Jesus is suggesting: Imagine if you are a parent or imagine a good earthly father, then think of that bad situation . .would you wish that on a child of yours ? And as Jesus suggests in this passage, God has got to be, at the very least, as good as we are ! I find this a very good way to 'pull myself up' ie arrest my thinking.

Logic also tells us that if God is really God then there can be no evil in Him, He must be perfectly good, therefore His sovereign acts must be for good not evil.

Also the Holy Spirit within you tells you or witnesses to the fact that God is good to his children - you can even try it . . is your spirit lifted in adoration and worship if you start saying God allows sickness or 'takes away' ? Compare that feeling to singing 'surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life' And it is quite vaild to allow the the Holy Spirit to witness to us, that is, have a God given feeling about the truth of something. The bible tells us the Holy Spirit assures us of our salvation, and 'leads us into all truth' John 16:13

At a simple level, if we step back and consider the story of Job, we see at the beginning the devil doing all the murder, destruction and the bringing of sickness and at the end we see God bring healing, restoration and the abundant provision of needs

Here's a more of Psalm 103, that tells us of the truth about God - be encouraged!
Psalm 103 1-5
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord ;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord ;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

God's Goodness, Journeying Together, Part 1

Psalm 103 1-5
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord ;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord ;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

'He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases' - Wow!

Steph told her story at the front of church recently and being part of it I would like to retell it here. Some two to three months ago, about ten of us met together to pray for the healing of some people who were seriously ill. We prayed for about two hours and the time seemed to fly past. Just as we were leaving someone said, 'we ought to pray for you Steph, with your headache'. I didn't know about this, but apparently Steph had had a headache, more or less constantly for a number of months. So we laid hands on her and prayed. After this the headache gradually went and has not returned! I read somewhere that every healing is also a sign or sign post. So that whilst all of us would definitely rather have had some of our other prayers answered, I believe God was trying to get us to see something, or show us a sign post as it were. We had just spent two hours praying for various people that they would be healed, at the end of this, someone is healed! I believe the Lord was saying, " I am a God who heals, you are on the right road, don't give up ! ".

We can also be encouraged by the experiences of other churches, for example, Bethel church in Redding California. Bethel is now well known for it's healing ministry, but still has it's seeming failures and heartaches. However, Bethel church was much like us ten to twelve years ago. Part of the pastor's story (Bill Johnson) is this: In a chapter of one of his books describing the growth into healing of his church, he explains how his dad became ill with pancreatic cancer. The whole church prayed fervently for six months, but, unfortunately his father died. Bill Johnson says that, at that point, in his grief, he had a choice whether to give up or whether to keep on believing that God could heal people with things like pancreatic cancer. He and his church chose to persevere. As he was writing this chapter he was interupted by a phone call. He returned to complete the chapter by saying he had just had a phone call from his ministry team, to say they had just had their first confirmed healing of pancreatic cancer!

So I just wanted to say, let's not give up! We face alot of difficulties, questions and heartaches, but, surely in the loving and safe place of being together as 'church' we can learn and move forward together? It really must be possible to do the things that Jesus did, because He said we would!

John 14:12


12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn

Just in case the accuser is whispering in your ear that God has taken anything away from you, then below is a great verse!

Romans 11:29 "For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn"

So once God has given you a gift/ability it can never be taken away! WOW!

Also his salvation can never be withdrawn - you're part of God's family, He is your Daddy, nothing can change that

Also that verse is in the context of Paul talking about God's plan for the Jews and the Gentiles. This means that 'his call' is not just God bringing you into His family, but, 'his call' on your life. That is, God's plan for your life

So, God's plan for your life, 'can never be withdrawn' !

I was reading Ephesians yesterday and was encouraged by this verse

Ephesians 3:20
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,"

It's good to know that God is at work within us! Even if we don't feel like He is, we can be reassured that He is

Not only can Jesus do more than we ask, He can do more than we imagine! So God has got a much bigger view of our lives than we have. I might have all my 'asks' for the day, the things worrying me most and God is easily able to answer these and do more. Also He has some excitig things lined up for me that I can't imagine. Sometimes life might seem humdrum, dull, full of routine, but, we just don't know what God has in store for us. God has, for each of us, a unique plan, a destiny, and He is at work to bring this about. So we don't have to struggle to get there, because, it's, 'according to His power'.

It may be that God has planted a seed in you about a gift or ability or a way to serve Him in the future. If you have been discouraged or given up on this, I pray you will feel hope again. Because it doesn't matter what anyone says, or what that inner voice of doubt might say - God's mighty power is at work within you !

Read Ephesians 3 14-21 Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Growth

When Things Get 'a bit too much'

I've been struggling this last week to cope - a combination of some family things and seven weeks into being on my own at work (where normally I have a team member) It got so bad I was waking in the early hours panicking and anxious. On Tuesday, exhausted, I ended up having a good cry at work. And I'm not used to doing that! But, God had arranged things and a lovely christian lady came and spent some time with me and prayed for me. Afterwards I felt better and was able to carry on with my work, where as before I just couldn't. We also meet a few of us at a church lunch club on a Tuesday and usually pray for a short time at the end. So I could share there and again someone prayed for me
On the train on the way home, I thought, 'I know I'll read a psalm, there's bound to be encouragement there!' The figure 81 popped into my head:

Psalm 81, v 6-7
6 "Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7 You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud
and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

And I'm still holdng onto that verse! Funnily enough at the mens curry night and earlier in the week other people shared with me how sometimes they had this not sleeping thing. Or early waking with things on their mind. I had the picture of keeping spinning plates going. Letting go to God is letting go those plates. The fear is that they will all come crashing to the ground! In a way we almost have to say, 'OK God, I'm just going to let them crash', ie be prepared to let the worst happen. It's then that God steps in and handles things - and He often surprises us in the exact way He does handle things.

So, I am still struggling with that process above and feeling very run down. However, I have been praying more when waking and there has been peace in between. This morning I slept through till 6 after an early night, hallelujah!

I've wondered all week what the last line of verse 7 meant and maybe it's come to me this morning!

'no water at Meribah' = 'no strength of my own left'
'tested your faith' just that, ie there follows a natural test of your faith because you are forced to face relying on God more

So if you're feeling similar, I pray you are encouraged and comforted by my 'story', this week

Andy

Oasis

Hi

Had a great morning saturday at Oasis! It's amazing how resistant I felt to going, a bit like church sometimes! Though I've mostly learnt to use that feeling as a trigger to be determined to go, because there's good things from God waiting for me! Also, the first hour I just could not chill, I was like 'what time is it now, do I really have to be here till 12-30, three hours away?', and, 'ok, ok, c'mon, what's happening next then?' The next hour I did begin to feel the Holy Spirit's presence, though inevitably my mind wandered! It was as if the Lord was saying come on, come deeper, holding out His hand and wanting me to follow (deep calls out to deep)

I have been reading Psalm 46 this last week and that was one of the scriptures handed out to us during the morning along with Psalm 23, particulalry "He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul' Other readings were:
Psalm 121, "3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber".
Psalm 138: 1, 7 & 8 "8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord , endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me",
Isaiah 54:10 10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken," says the Lord , who has mercy on you
Psalm 139: 7-10
Footprints in the Sand was also read

And eventually I did get to still waters (about mid morning). I borrowed a cushion from the pile and lay down behind the pulpit at the front and just felt all the stress and strain gradually go out of my neck, back of head and shoulders - it was just so good! (and I didn't even know I had been carrying that around!)

At the end people shared:

A picture of stones being gradually washed smooth by the waves - God dealing gently with us and shaping us into what he created us for? Something beautifull and purposefull
A picture of a surfer relentlessly being knocked off their board, instead of riding the big waves all the way to the last little one then gliding in smoothly to the shore - our striving versus letting go and letting God bring us into the shore
Someone shared that they had really heard God's voice clearly and literally been in conversation with God, it's possible to learn how to do this, if you are interested I have a book and some notes from the first Oasis session when a visiting speaker explained something about this . .let me know
A birds eye view of someone in a round wooden structure with no roof. All the way round were doors with bad things written on them, eg shame, degradation, anger, fear, guilt. This person was looking anxiously at the doors and occasionally rushing to shut one. Then the picture changes to massive building blocks being built round the wooden structure, so the doors served no purpose any more and none of these bad things could threaten any more. A roof was put on the building, the roof was called Salvation. This was for me (and it may be for you in the same or a different way), I sometimes suffer from a disaster mentality, ie I imagine all sorts of horrible things, like the kids getting run over, or if something does happen I assume the very worst! The dish washer wasn't working yesterday and I immediatly thought 'oh no we cant afford a new one!' it was just the fuse of course! This disaster mentality, (when I'm feeling like this), can leave me on edge all the time, trying to manage things so there is no disaster! (there is no disaster, but the way I'm feeling there may as well be one!) - so I need to remember that song, 'The Lord is a strong tower' and run into it! OR The Lord has surrounded me with his strong protection, thanks Lord!
A picture of walking in the sand with solid rock underneath He is a sure foundation, totally dependable, Jesus never lets us down!

When Our River Runs Dry

In 95 or may be 96, I used to regularly go to a Sauna/Spa and often got to chatting with a few different people. Sat in the Jacuzzi one time I got chatting to a guy from Wigan who had had an accident, I think a car or motorbike had hit him from behind. He told me how, being in constant pain, he sought relief in a spiritualist church. He also told me, however, that he had tried to stop attending and that they were hounding him on the phone, really scaring him in an abusive way - I can't remember the exact details but it was spiritual attacks, possibly using anti Christian imagery, they obviously had some kind of hold over him. I had read a little at that time (but, didn't really know anything about delivery from such things) and asked him if he had been invited to accept a 'spiritual guide' in any of these services, he said no. A few weeks later I suggested to him that he allow me to organise some prayer for him. We managed to do this with a couple of people skilled in this area. I can't remember the exact sequence of events; however, after prayer one of the other’s interviewed him about his experience at the spiritualist church. It turned out he did accept a 'spiritual guide' and was told that this was a Chinese artist from the 19th century (a deceit). He was asked to repent of his involvement, which he did in prayer. Then one of us prayed, in the name of Jesus, for this spirit to leave him. During that prayer a vivid picture of a jester laughing and leering horribly suddenly popped into my mind and made me jump! I instinctively said, 'who are you laughing at, Jesus is laughing at you!', and it went immediately, which was a great relief! Afterward the guy appeared drunk/woozy and joyous, which I now take to be an infilling of the Holy Spirit, and/or some kind of release of inner joy, previously stopped up. It turned out he had once attended a church and we gave him information about attending church, contact details, etc, so hopefully he could continue with his healing journey. I have never met the guy again and I pray God continues to bless him whenever I remember what happened.


Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude
4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
From the very break of day, God will protect it.


"This psalm encourages to hope and trust in God; in his power and providence, and his gracious presence with his church in the worst of times. We may apply it to spiritual enemies, and the encouragement we have that, through Christ, we shall be conquerors over them. He is a Help, a present Help, a Help found, one whom we have found to be so; a Help at hand, one that is always near; we cannot desire a better, nor shall we ever find the like in any creature. Let those be troubled at the troubling of the waters, who build their confidence on a floating foundation; but let not those be alarmed who are led to the Rock, and there find firm footing. Here is joy to the church, even in sorrowful times. The river alludes to the graces and consolations of the Holy Spirit, which flow through every part of the church, and through God's sacred ordinances, gladdening the heart of every believer. It is promised that the church shall not be moved. If God be in our hearts, by his word dwelling richly in us, we shall be established, we shall be helped; let us trust and not be afraid." Matthew Henry Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry 1662-1714


'spiritual enemies'
We may not face daily spiritual enemies as dramatically revealed as in the story above, however, the reality is we do each day have the choice as to whether we battle against instincts that would have us act dismissively, with a bad temper or with jealousy, for example. A number of us may be facing very trying circumstances, our health, the health of another, financial worries or family/friend worries. In all these circumstances we have choices. I guess we firstly have to recognise the bad choices, we can be angry with God but lets not stay with that, rather move on (flick through Psalms to see how David handled anger). Similarly we may be tempted to become bitter, morose or self pityfull. All may have their place for a while, we certainly need to move on though.
Perhaps we are praying for a breakthrough for someone else, or perhaps we have given up. So what do we do? How do we battle spiritual enemies?
'word dwelling richly in us'
Let the word (or message) of Christ dwell richly in you (Colossians 3:16). What is the message of Christ? Healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, restoration and provision, for example. What are the different ways we can move into these? Prayer, action(go say sorry to someone and or to God) bible study and worship on our own, in the car, on the train, whilst walking, when we first wake, during a quiet time, always have a Christian book on the go, play Christian music whenever you can. We can do all of these things with others – I find these things most intimately and effectively done in a prayer triplet and small/house group setting – join one if you are not in one!
We should take the opportunity of going to Oasis at church (a quiet morning where you get the chance for the Holy Spirit to minister to you and just to ‘rest’ in God’s presence, no pressure!) – Oasis 9-00 am Saturday the 8th of May/, St Peters, Church road Bolton.

'river of joy'
I really like, Matthew Henry’s, ‘Here is joy to the church, even in sorrowful times’ and from the bible, ‘A river brings joy to the city of our God’. It is possible to be in sad times and feel joy. Like a lot of prophecies this applies in a number of different ways. One way to look at this verse is to just say, ‘yep, that’s wonderful, that’s what it will be like in heaven’. In another sense though we are the spiritual city of God now and we are in a growing fulfilment of this picture. We can rightly seek a greater fulfilment both individually and together. So what is our spiritual reality and how do we come to experience what we read in this psalm. I mean I know we are saved and on our way to heaven but what about in the mean time? Maybe you are saying to yourself ‘I keep trying to do those things you mention Andy, but, it’s a massive effort, the words on the page are just words, I’m distracted when I start praying and it’s an effort to put some Christian music on and when I do, it’s just music and nothing more, so I give up’ How can we ‘prime our pumps’ ? Seek out someone, a friend, someone on the ministry team and get prayed for*, ask God to uncover your hunger. We all naturally have that spiritual hunger, just like we have physical hunger, it may need unblocking. Sometimes people have a problem with their appetite and they have to force feed themselves the first few mouthfuls before their appetite naturally returns, spiritually we sometimes have to do the same.
You may see fairly immediate results, if not keep seeking, persevere.

*We see in the bible instructions for the laying on of hands (and anointing with oil for healing) for consecration to a task, gifts/power (for example, Timothy, Stephen, in the bible) – seek it out, even for the smallest reason or even if you are not sure why – this is for every believer to do and receive


'every believer'
“12 The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it.13 From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it" John 14:12-13

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” 2 Corinthians 10:4
When you pray imagine in your mind ascending to God’s throne, now just slightly above you. Across from you is the person (or a visualisation of a problem eg pile of money) you are praying for, ask God to reveal to you the strongholds that are in the way of what is on your heart, then cast them down in the name of Jesus. Ask Jesus to bind them and send them to a place where they will remain till judgement day. Imagine them tied up, shrinking, falling away from you into a deep dark hole. Then look to Jesus on the throne and see his smiling/laughing/approving/affirming face.

By the way if you are really suffering I don’t mean to be simplistic or give hard words. I became depressed in 1999 and suffered a breakdown in 2000, from which it took me about four years to fully recover. Then, spiritually I was up and down a bit, largely asleep, if not spiritually dopey! This continued until two very significant things happened. My mum died in April 2008 and shortly after I went to Ansdell Baptist Church (Southport) and had a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit through laying on of hands (ask me if you want to know what a Holy Spirit/human 'fire tunnel' is!). With others from the parish I visited there on Friday nights and received continued blessings for my grief, a real invigoration, and a fantastic experience of joy (which still comes, and somehow I know how to get ‘there’, most of the time) I have seen a change in myself, as have others, in terms of my witness, blessing others, etc

Don't forget, the Lord is good to you all the time!
Amen? yes AMEN!
Andy

ps this is a good blog http://hiswill4me.blogspot.com/

Wake up, Fill up and Get Going!

‘The Power of Possibility is within the Reach of Every Man’, Smith Wigglesworth
Ephesians 4:7-14 New Kings James Version
Ephesians 4:7-14 New Living Translation
7 However, he has given each one of us a special gifts through the generosity of Christ.8 That is why the Scriptures say,

"When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people."

9 Notice that it says "he ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
I know when I say to myself, ‘that’s not for me, that’s the job of an evangelist or someone with the gift of healing, of administration, of . . .’, hello excuses! We are all able to operate in most of the gifts (eg evangelism and healing) - there is a level of gifting and a growth into gifting . .
I find it hard if I am with a sick person to pray or, to even suggest it, even with close Christian friends! I was remembering yesterday about a picture I had a while ago. I thought at the time it was to do with strengthening me to cope. It was as if I was looking at myself and I was split top to bottom, peeled down to the left and right and a wooden statue was removed and an exact replica in stainless steel inserted – now I believe it was to do with courage, because since then I have been more courageous in offering to pray with people and lay on hands – though a way to go, for instance, just missed an opportunity to pray with a girl who may have had a stroke recently . .though she is further down the train, if only I had the courage – I should have gone and sat with her instead of writing this! Philipians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me’ and the all things is listed in Ephesians 4. (buy some baseball/basketball shoes with this verse on here)
We have a maker who is ready to do anything through us as we yield to Him, our potential is vast! ‘He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father’ John 14:12 And although Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, for example, ‘greater’ in this verse, in the Greek, refers to ‘quality’ not quantity . ..so what that could be, I don’t know!
In Wigglesworth’s time they tended to ‘tarry’, examine themselves for yieldedness, purity, unity, etc, whilst seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit, these days, seeking the baptism or for more filling we tend to lay on hands – both together is probably good! Now what happens here is debated – is there an impartation through the person laying on the hands or else is something else going on – doesn’t really matter – we must seek it, we must get ourselves overflowing – what else are we living for? To hide in some corner of the church, getting comfortable and sleepy? Because, it’s no good you know, something will wake us up and better it’s the Lord with more of his gifts, more of His power! So come on Lord, shake us up, shake your church, ruin our plans, wreck our agenda’s, we want you and nothing else! We want to stand with you in the heavenlies, captives, getting clothed as apostles, pastors, teachers, healers, comforters, joy givers, world changers. Give us a warrior spirit, stop us pretending we are wounded, you are charging in from heaven with your warrior hordes, make us want to join, get mounted on a battle horse, swing our swords and defeat the enemy! Wake us Lord, open our spiritual eyes, I pray (Ephesians 5:14)