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I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there-before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death-Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire. Revelation 20:11-15
Charles Spurgeon says: “We foresee from The Word, despite its obscurity, that strange and wonderful events will happen, such as are depicted by seals and scrolls, and warriors with avenging swords, and falling stars, and shrivelled sky, and a reeling earth, and I know not what beside; but when we have put all together and have been amazed at the visions that flit before us like visions in the night, we rejoice to learn at the end of them all, “All these things are ours, whatever they may be.”
Aka the bible says the end times will be weird and wonderful, supernatural and spiritual, earth shaking and great and terrible.
today i celebrate a milestone. an anniversary.
it was 19 years ago today that i became a christian.
19 years ago my life changed for eternity.
i had recently moved to a new town with my family and was now attending a huge girls only school. culture shock. when a friend invited me to youth group i had one thing on my mind. were there boys there? yes? great, i would go. great motivation to attend a youth group eh…
but i went and while there on the very first night i discovered that God was real and had a real strong sense that i had to do something about that.
i so went to their easter camp and i knew i was going to become a christian… whatever that really was… seriously i didnt know what i was signing up for…
the camp was held at a shearing shed in a beautiful mountain surrounded valley in marlborough.
the speaker spoke about jesus and eternity and heaven and knowing God.
on the saturday afternoon he told us to go away and talk to God.
i sat under a tree, hiding from everyone, crying and making snot because i KNEW i was not good enough to make it to heaven on my own and that i had a dirty heart. the anthem of the camp was keith greens Create in me a Clean Heart. i knew that though i was only 16 and had lived an okay life that i was still dirty and guilty and not good enough.
that night the speaker shared the gospel. that jesus died in my place. that jesus makes me clean. that jesus makes the way to heaven.
he gave the invitation and i went forward.
and encountered God.
and had a heart transplant.
i was forgiven. made new. saved. rescued. cleansed. loved.
19 years ago changed my life. changed my eternity.
God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God. You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. Colossians 1:19-22
we had a fun sunday afternoon at grannys for lunch and then the kids played up the tree and lapped up the shine. yay for dairy free sweet williams easter bunnies too – that evangeline so loved and was so happy to eat (they taste nice and they look cute!) i confess i brought 4 packets (with 15 in them each) so we are stocked for chocolate treats for her for the year! because i am now wheat free (back to the doctor today to talk more about the results) i had pineapple lumps and jaffas – which i confess i think is a gift from God because out of all the lollies in the world they are my 2 favourites. seriously.
i shared this the other day but again was so moved by this song and this clip of Jesus RISEN – is ALIVE by Natalie Grant. my pastor had asked if i had seen anything on youtube worth sharing that fit the service and resurrectionness of sunday and up to friday morning nothing really stood out. i actually saw the clip mentioned and linked to on twitter and knew within about 4 seconds of viewing that THIS WAS IT. but still, on the big screen, i was so moved. i had to ask if my mascara had run (i have new mascara) as i totally cried and was stirred throughout (even though i had previewed it!)
our housegroup had an 80’s night last week… loved the committment of everyone to dress up and get into the spirit of things, incl a guy who grew facial hair and got his sister to take him op shopping. he came very miami vice looking… we talked about overcoming the past and then watched the original 21 jump street (some of our peeps are maybe keen to see the new version – but seriously they were totally into the johnny depp 80’s tv series! had to kick them out after 2 episodes!) and i must say… 80s tv is shot VERY differently!
and as always. i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost.
so what are you totally loving this week?
… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at Paisley Jade
i always love listening to kim walker sing OH HOW HE LOVES US – esp when it gets to the point where she speaks to the crowd – its like she speaks to the very room I am in right then, with people or by myself. a while ago i had a playlist for worship in housegroup. but forgot to change the setting from SHUFFLE to play in ORDER.
but God had a plan and a set list to minister to our hearts.
the first song was I WILL EXALT by bethel worship, followed by HEALER by hillsong (a powerful declaration of trust in God, exactly what i had spoken on) and then HOW HE LOVES US. i knew that the 3rd song would be this song when i realized that the nano was on shuffle. like a just knew just knew kind of thing and that God was doing some heart surgery and working deep inside to replace a tape of lies in our head with a tape of HIS TRUTH and HIS PROMISES.
sometimes we need to re-record the tape playing in our minds. Sometimes we need to pull the tape out and rip all that brown shinny stuff out and begin again. Replace the lie with the truth of what God says about you. Because it will set you free to be you and to know His love and make Him known. “Believing God for the impossible begins with seeing the invisible – understanding what He wants to accomplish through YOU.”
so i love how HOW HE LOVES US rewrites in our hearts. it rewrites love and belonging instead of distance and fear. God loves us with a perfect wonderful everlasting LAVISH love. His love never fails. So much so that Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross to set us free and pay the penalty for our sin, to draw us close and make us family. But if we dont KNOW that all the way in we’ll never LIVE in the freedom that brings.
we need a love encounter.
a love encounter changes things.
it changes things from the inside out.
it heals things.
it pulls out the tape of lies we tell ourselves and replaces it with the truth of God’s love
this week, hear God.
this week, hear His words of love.
this week, know His truth.
He loves us and He likes us.
He has a plan and purpose for us.
He will accomplish His plans.
we need a love encounter.
the more we see Him, the more we love Him.
the more we see Him, the more He can change us and get His love INTO us.
praying we all hear His voice this week
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the centre, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
Revelation 4: 1-8
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