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I remember to think about
the many things
you did
in years gone by.
Then I lift my hands in prayer,
because my soul is a desert,
thirsty for water from you.
psalm 143:5-6
- REMEMBER – david often tells himself to REMEMBER God and His ways and His works. its more than just a post it note to remind ourselves but it is a remembering that stirrs up faith, that recalls who God is and the great things He does and has done. Remembering is encouraging ourselves – to rewrite the whiteboard of our mind and heart with the knowledge of who God is and all He can do. when we forget God our faith becomes dull and we doubt and forget and become burdened by fears and worries – forgetting to fix our eyes upon God and trusting Him.
- Remember – THEN – faith leads us to pray and worship and surrender and to have more faith and trust. when we have faith we are more ready to pray because we trust God to move and are expectant of His intervention.
- only God can satisfy a thirsty sou.
- in the barrenness and wilderness and desert of hard times, when life is pressing in on all sides, and we are tired and worn out in our heart – THIS is the time to remind ourselves of who God is and that He is the one who gives us rest and hope and who satisfies us and has all the answers. the answer may be to wait and to be transformed and to have hope even in the desert, but we can be assured that God is with us at all times and in all places and that He will bring the breakthrough.
You are my God. Show me what you want me to do, and let your gentle Spirit lead me in the right path. Psalm 143:10
“Lord I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better I’d have come running with a bucket.” – Nancy Spiegelberg
what a powerful quote… what truth contained…
firstly lets start at the end… it also reminds us how lavish the love and grace of God is…. if i had known you better, i would have come running with a bucket… expect great things from God, His love is lavish and in Him we find rest and hope and grace and healing and restoration….
last night i read hosea 2. awesome chapter. powerful chapter. a chapter that makes you take a breath. i encourage you to read it. i have included it down the bottom of this post in the CEV version and will be quoting i am sure 
)
we read in hosea 2 about an unfaithful wife, a picture of Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness to God. we can also look and see our own lives in there. there are times when we are unfaithful and we turn to our modern day idols, we make the choice to sin and rebel against God.
what was God’s response to Israel’s unfaithfulness?
I, the LORD, will build
a fence of thorns
to block her path.
I will make her barren
like a desert,
and she will die of thirst.
I’ll take back
my wool and my linen
that cover her body.
10Then I’ll strip her naked
in the sight of her lovers.
this is not an act of simple punishment but a removal of those things that she relied on and sought comfort in.
Israel, I, the LORD,
will lure you into the desert
and speak gently to you.
God is more interested in our faithfulness to Him than our happiness and our comfort. the call is to walk holy not happy. God refines and transforms and changes us and the process is often the fire of trial and testing.
but oh what beauty there is to know that God will not abandon us to our unfaithfulness and rebellion. that he lures us into the wilderness so we can return to him.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. Revelation 2:4-5
let us be first love people. people who embrace the work of God in our lives, who are spoken gently too and who hear the voice of our Lord drawing us to himself. let us be people who abide in Christ who find our hope and rest and satisfaction in him and his love.
“There are four principles we need to maintain:
First, read the Word of God.
Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you.
Third believe the Word of God.
Fourth, act on the Word.”
Smith Wigglesworth
only God can change a destiny. only God can change the direction of a life and the nature of our hearts.
Later, Gomer had a daughter, and the LORD said, ” Name her Lo-Ruhamah, because I will no longer have mercy and forgive Israel. 7But I am the LORD God of Judah, and I will have mercy and save Judah by my own power–not by wars and arrows or swords and cavalry.” 8After Gomer had stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she had another son. 9Then the LORD said, ” Name him Lo-Ammi, because these people are not mine, and I am not their God.”
Hope for Israel
10Someday it will be impossible to count the people of Israel, because there will be as many of them as there are grains of sand along the seashore. They are now called ” Not My People,” but in the future they will be called ” Children of the Living God.” 11Israel and Judah will unite and choose one leader. Then they will take back their land, and this will be a great day for Jezreel. Hosea 1:6-11
1So let your brothers be called ” My People” and your sisters be called ” Shown Mercy.” Hosea 2:1
note:
Lo-Ruhamah = show no mercy
CHANGED to Shown Mercy
Lo-Ammi = not my people
CHANGED to My People
God can change a destiny.
God can draw a person to Himself and transform them from the inside out.
He calls that which is not as is.
God makes destiny!
Paul said: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” Galatians 6:7-9
Last night I planted some seedlings with the kids. I know that where I have planted Dalihas, dalihas will grow. Caleb’s class this year have been looking at “growing things” and learning that if you plant bean seeds – beans will grow. You don’t plant tomato seeds expecting chocolate trees to grow. Aka WHAT YOU PLANT YOU WILL GROW!
So what does this have to do with being a Christian? What does this have to do with my real life today?
The Bible says in Galatians 6 “what you plant will grow – what you sow you will reap.” It isn’t talking about becoming farmers and growing flowers but about our lives and the consequences and fruit of what we allow and cultivate.
Spirit vs Flesh
You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you. People who don’t have the Spirit of Christ in them don’t belong to him. 10But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. 11Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.
12My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires. Romans 8:9-13
In Galatians 6:8, Paul says that if you sow to the flesh you will reap corruption. The word corruption is derived from a Greek word which means “to degenerate, or to go from good to bad.” It was used to describe meat which spoiled as the result of sitting out in the sun.
Paul uses the word corruption to speak of the moral consequences or spiritual decay which are the result of giving into your fleshly desires.
“Sowing to the flesh means to allow the old nature to have its way. So also, sowing to the Spirit means to allow the Spirit to have His way.” Dr. William Hendriksen
There is an internal conflict between the spirit and the flesh.
But even though this internal conflict between the flesh and Spirit is great, it does not excuse the Christian from his responsibility to live as the called out sons of God. We have been redeemed by God in order to become trophies of His grace who would reflect His likeness to the world. We are called to be Christians, which means Christlike.
Watch out for Weeds!
The other day I went for a walk and had several life app lessons on the way from God.
Down the road there was a lady pulling out weeds from her lavender fence trim. She was right in surrounded by the bushs, pulling big weeds out. I couldn’t see the weeds at first, but when she pushed the bushes aside, I could see the weeds.
I felt in my heart – “if you don’t pull the weeds out they will choke the plant”
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:18-23
If we plant weeds – or allow the seeds of weeds to take root and grow – they will choke the good stuff out… they will lead to decay and degeneration.
I don’t want to classify what the weeds are in a person’s life. That is between you and God. Each person has different weaknesses. Know your weeds. And then uproot them. Get in the dirt and pull them out. Don’t water them, don’t fertilize them, don’t let them grow. The weeds may not even be anything overtly sinful – but may be the thoughts that lead to temptation and that then lead to sin. Be wise. Weeds are easier to pull out when they are small….
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Matthew 7:15-17
What you plant will manifest itself in your life.
Weeds may feel good at first and may be small. They may look insignificant. But they will have negative consequences and negative consequences bring pain and hurt and regret.
caring and growing
I walked down a path where I always walk. Last week or last fortnight when I was there the trees were bare – naked from autumn and winter. Yesterday I had to bend my head to avoid the lush green leaves! They were glorious!
Plants grow. Seasons happen. Change happens.
Sowing is not limited to planting seeds but also includes caring for the seed until harvest time.
4 years ago tony and caleb gave me an orchid plant. It flowered beautifully that year and the green leaves and bulbs multiplied so we repotted them into a few pots and just let them grow. But no more flowers came. This year I brought some orchid food and fed my orchid plants. This year we have had LOTS of orchid flowers!
Our Christian walk is about feeding and growing and nurturing and protecting the good stuff. Making good choices. Surrounding yourself with good people who encourage and inspire you to obey God and know Him.
You may think that a Christian life is a restricted life – a bunch of do nots and have nots – but God is not like that, He is creative and generous and abundant. He desires to protect us and bless us.
Life is like a garden. We reap what we sow.
Envision your life as a garden. What are you sowing in your garden? How are you caring for what you have sown? What are you reaping?
Are you reaping some things that you do not want to reap? To change what we reap we must hoe up the old seed and sow new seed.
Are you sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit?
God is The Gardener!
6Jesus then told them this story:
A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. One day he went out to pick some figs, but he didn’t find any. 7So he said to the gardener, “For three years I have come looking for figs on this tree, and I haven’t found any yet. Chop it down! Why should it take up space?”
8The gardener answered, “Master, leave it for another year. I’ll dig around it and put some manure on it to make it grow. 9Maybe it will have figs on it next year. If it doesn’t, you can have it cut down.”
Luke 13:6-8
Romans 8:31-39
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
DISCLAIMER: God is not adding up all the past sins of anyone and making sure they pay for all of them. He forgives sin. He deals with His children in love. Even when He chastens them, He is doing so in order to bring them back to a right relationship with Him (Hebrews 12:9-12). God is gracious and full of mercy. He does not take His children and continue to punish them for past sins. Yes, there are some natural sowing and reaping laws that He does not change even for believers. Some sins naturally lead to disease. Other sins destroy marriages and families. The Christian cannot bypass these laws of sowing and reaping. Even if we are reaping a consequence we sowed in the past, God still deals with us as His dear children and will work even that out to good. We simply need to fully trust in Him. May the Lord bless you as you grow in Him.
Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” This verse states that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord.
SPECIAL ADDITION:
The kind of water that flows into a river is the same kind of water that flows out.
James 3:10 – Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:11 – Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?
It’s interesting how James makes the connection between our ‘mouths’ and a ‘spring’. Just as a spring brings up that which lies far below the surface, our mouths bring up that which resides deep in our hearts. For this reason, it’s vitally important as leaders that we monitor the kind of “water” we’re “drinking”. What flows in, is what flows out.
If we’re reading, watching or feeding on things that are negative or critical, or circumstantial and flighty – we’ll find the ‘taste’ of that water permeating all we say! But if we’re feeding ourselves with the Word of God along with living testimonies of God’s power and greatness, mixed with real-life encounter with the Holy Spirit – then that positive faith-filled water will flow easily out of us and refresh the hearts of others!
and then said, ” Daniel, your God thinks highly of you, and he has sent me.” Daniel 10:11
now THAT is a compliment! that is a commendation! GOD thinks highly of Daniel – oh i would like to be one that pleases God like that!
The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king’s official in charge of the palace guard. Genesis 39:1
of all the places joseph could have ended up – he ended up HERE – in a rich mans home, in an officals home, in a man of influences home. joseph could have been sold to anyone anywhere but God was even in this, directing his path and putting him in relationships with specific people, training him with specific skills.
who is in your life? who is your boss? who are your workmates?
who are the people around you?
what are they teaching you?
why has God placed you in their life and they in your life?
what is he teaching you through them?
how is he using them to transform and refine you?
life is not a series of accidents and coincidences – God is Lord of All and in control. in all things.
be thankful always that the Lord is caring for you!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Luke 9:1-6 Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them complete power over all demons and diseases. 2Then he sent them to tell about God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. 3He told them, “Don’t take anything with you! Don’t take a walking stick or a traveling bag or food or money or even a change of clothes. 4When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town. 5If people won’t welcome you, leave the town and shake the dust from your feet as a warning to them.” 6The apostles left and went from village to village, telling the good news and healing people everywhere.
firstly COMPLTE POWER
- not partial, not a little bit, not a portion of power….
complete power – supernatural authority!
Jesus gave them complete power and then he SENT them to do something with that power!
he instructed them to take nothing with them – only take the power he gave them with them – not to take their own agenda, status, qualifications. the only qualification they had to minister was the power of God.
the power is of God – not ourselves!
We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
Luke 6:22 God will bless you when others hate you and won’t have anything to do with you. God will bless you when people insult you and say cruel things about you, all because you are a follower of the Son of Man.
God will bless you when others reject you. when you are cursed and rejected and ignored and persecuted God draws near and embraces you and accepts you. when all else leaves God will never elave. when others want nothing to do with us God calls our name and says draw near – He will sustain! When persucted and rejected remember the big picture and rejoice. Find HOPE in Christ. Find your strength in Him. God will bless you. The Word says that. the situation may not feel pleasant – but know that there is a reward, a blessing. and remember, God is with you, always.
Luke 6:27-35 This is what I say to all who will listen to me:
Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you. 28Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you. 29If someone slaps you on one cheek, don’t stop that person from slapping you on the other cheek. If someone wants to take your coat, don’t try to keep back your shirt. 30Give to everyone who asks and don’t ask people to return what they have taken from you. 31Treat others just as you want to be treated.
Act like God.
Be like God.
Who blesses sinners.
Who welcomes the fallen.
Who died for the guilty.
Act like God.
Bless instead of curse and reject and hate.
Luke 6:12 About that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night there.
Again Jesus went and prayed. I know he made some big decisions and called the disciples after this time but i always wonder what he prayed for and how he prayed )
Luke 6:17 Jesus and his apostles went down from the mountain and came to some flat, level ground. Many other disciples were there to meet him. Large crowds of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon were there too.
Be a mountain climber. Dont be content to dwell in the flat level ground – where it may be easier, more accessible. it’s worth the climb to scale the mountains. the disciples went up as disciples but came down as a apostles. mountain climbing may be difficult but it is worth it!
on the flip side:
go where you are called. some disciples are called to go up the mountain but other disciples were called to remain behind to minister to the large crowds. go where Jesus calls you. that is your place.
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