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
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Saturday, 18 September 2010
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
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
Thursday, 26 August 2010
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
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!
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!
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
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!
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!
Friday, 16 July 2010
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' !
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' !
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
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
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
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