God Sees

“God hears and sees us… isn’t that exciting??

The uncreated God, the Holy One, the Lord God Almighty who created all things (Revelation 4:11), God so high and lofty (Isaiah 57:15)… hears us, sees every movement of our hearts… and is moved. The One who is unmoved by raging nations (Psalm 2)… notices and is completely overwhelmed by every weak glance towards Him (Song of Songs 4:9). Doesn’t that just make you wanna glance… make your life one unbroken gaze?? Lift your voice? Dance before Him knowing that He sees it and LOVES it!! Why?? Because He loves you!! *happy sigh*”

goodness i love Helen Has A Blog – she says all the things i want to say – but she says them in teh right eloquent simple real way that i want to! my heart resonates with big “yeahs” (aka amens) and leaps in agreement with almost everything she posts! so go and read her stuf!!!

Never Alone, Never Forsaken

some of you may know that i am a big big humoungous fan of The Carpenters Hand Blog written by an awesome New Zealand woman who is missionaring in Korea – she actually pops into here and comments as sassiekiwi… she writes from life and i find he to be so wise and insightful and every post she writes i get fresh insight into who God is and how to love him and follow him more. which is all good. her latest 2 posts are no exception and are above my expectation… and well worth a read… on the topic of suffering and trials… soooooooo good!

Forsaken – “All too often, those going through hard times hear well meaning words from other Christians … words designed to comfort, that instead inflict further pain … words such as, “well, God is testing your faith and won’t let you go through any more than you can handle.” When we hear statements such as these, sermons about God turning his back on his Son, or go through dark times, it can cause us to wonder, “Just who is this God that we worship?” Lets look a bit closer at this.”

Never Alone – “Lets come back to the idea of Jesus on the cross. Jesus, overwhelmed with all that he is bearing, feeling isolated, cut off and alone. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” Jesus knows what it is like to be overwhelmed in the darkness and feel like God is a million miles away. He can empathise and understand me, when I am in this place. He has been there and he came out the other side. Even though Jesus felt alone, God was still there. The beauty of this scripture is in the next part: “let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Who is this God that we worship in our dark times? The one who sits on a throne of grace. The one who has walked in our dark places and is the light that shines in the darkness.”

Prayer

again i am drawn to Helen Has A Blog to read frequently… she puts into words what my heart thinks and feels and encourages me to draw near to God… one of her latest posts – Ponderings On Prayer – “How awesome is this God who allows His beloved creation to partner with Him in what He’s doing in the earth. A humble God who moves at our requests of Him. A God so big… yet hears the little voice of a little person on a little planet. That’s amazing.”

that is amazing! go read the post. be encouraged. be reminded how awesome God is. be reminded that he calls us to pray – to relate and be in relationship with him and that he hears us and answers us.

God is our Father who knows what we need before we even need it… he holds hte world in his hands and created the heavens and the earth and the sea and the stars… by the power of his word he holds creation together. he knows how many hairs we have on our head and on our toes… there is no where where we can go to escape or be unseen from him. he has great mercy and compassion upon us. he gets our heart. he loves us. he calls us his children. wow. wow. wow…

What I’ve Done…

Now you may think it is totally odd to have the lyrics by an (obviously?) not christian rock band here… but apart from the fact i really like their music (when i catch snips of it) i get it. and it speaks.

i think they often capture the heart of a genteration. music can do this. every now and then comes a band or a song that is the unspoken heartbeat of a generation…

and i am sure God is saying ARE YOU LISTENING? music is relevant. it is emotional and emotive. its not just music it is substance.

this song has some weight and a heart cry. what do people want – a clean slate. a new start. to be forgiven. to forgive themselves. righteousness.
have a listen and let your heart be moved by the heart… moved to pray for this generation, your generation, my generation, the generatino to come. and moved to pray for these guys who are obviously i think asking some questions….

” So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done
I’ve faced myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what I’ve done”

the chorus reads powerfully…. So let mercy come
And wash away What I’ve done I’ve faced myself To cross out what I’ve become Erase myself And let go of what I’ve done

Jesus with certain hands washes away what we’ve done. His mercy and his sacrifice earases all our sin, so we can let go and move on clean and new. Jesus paid the price for forgiveness. We can be forgiven and have acceptance with God.

Jesus is calling. Speaking. Will we stand up and speak for him and with him so that theese generations know the hope we have, the reality we have of forgiveness and love and life.

ps i really like linkin park and this is a great video!

Scary Newspaper Headlines

“God is unchanging in His love. He loves you. He has a plan for your life. Don’t let the newspaper headlines frighten you. God is still sovereign; He’s still on the throne.” Billy Graham

Passionate For Souls

“I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls.” David Brainerd

The Church…

There is no way of belonging to Jesus Christ except by belonging gladly and irrevocably to the glorious ragbag of saints and fat-heads who make up the One, Holy and Universal Church!

— Bishop Geoffrey Paul

Dying To Self

”As long as you live by your old nature you will be open to all of the injustices of men. Your temper will get you into fights, your passions will clash with your neigbours, your desires will be like tender spots open to your enemies’ arrows. Everything will be against you – attacking you from all sides. If you live at the mercy of a crowd of greedy and hungry desires, then you will never find peace. You will never be satisfied because everything will bother you.

Your self love is terribly touchy. No matter how slightly it is insulted, it screams, “Murder!” Add to this all the insensitivity of others, their disgust at your weaknesses (and your disgust at theirs), and you have the children of Adam forever tormenting each other.

The only hope is to come out of yourself. Lose all your self-interest. Only then can you enjoy the true peace reserved for “men of good will.” Such people have no other will but God’s. If you come to such a place, then what can harm you? You will no longer be attacked through your hopes or fears. You may be worried, inconvenienced, or distressed, but you can rest in Him. Love the hand that disciplines you. Find peace in all things – even in going to the cross. Surrender to God and find true peace.”

Fenelon from 100 days In the Secret Place

Another huge challenge to self in this book! Another “die self die” message. And another opportunity to examine our hearts and bow our heads and knees in humility saying “Forgive me Lord, I surrender again.”

Its true isn’t it. The problems we often have in our families, friendships – any relationship – mostly stem from the affronts we take due to our self interest. We seek to serve self and our own wants. We want to protect ourselves. We have our rights. The world revolves around us… right…???

When we surrender to God and allow our heart and mind – our whole life – to be transformed, we then view life and people with a more fruitful outlook. People become people – not problems. Circumstances become opportunities. God is God. Big enough to be in control and personal enough to walk with us.

It is a challenge to give ourselves completely to God like this. It means we have to look at how we act and react. It means we need to consider how we think and behave. It means we need to be prepared to change.

Living With Failures & Unwavering Faith

”Simply trust God. If you come to Him, He will give you all that you need to serve Him. You really need to believe that God keeps His word. The more you trust Him, the more He will be able to give you. If you were lost in an uncrossable desert, bread would fall from heaven for you alone.

Fear nothing but to fail God. And do not even fear that so much that you let it upset you. Learn to live with your failures, and bear with the failures of your neighbours. Do you know what would e best for you? Stop trying to appear so mentally and spiritually perfect to God and man. There is a lot of refined selfishness and complacency in not allowing your faults to be revealed. Be simple with God. Live day by day, not in oyour own strength but by completely surrendering to God.”

Fenelon from 100 Days in the Secret Place

I found this piece of writing to be saturated with faith. Total dependance upon God and His provision, love, grace – everything we need.

The bible DOES say “Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you” – referring to the things mentioned previously in the passage – clothing, food, basic necessities.

The sentence by Fenelon – “If you were lost in an uncrossable desert, bread would fall from heaven for you alone” is so unwavering in faith. It at first made me blink and think – is that so??? Elijah the prophet was fed by ravens who brought him meat and bread for breakfast and tea. The widow’s flour bin and oil jar never ran out in the drought. The crowd were fed with 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread. So – was that then, and this is now? God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. Was it just for special “bible people” but not for ordinary folk like me…? God is no respecter of persons. So therefore I am going to conclude that God is my provider. And I will trust Him. What is the uncrossable desert? It can be a real place… but it can also be whatever impossible looking situation we face. Illness. Money. Jobs. Relationships. At that point of need God is there and ABLE to meet you.

I relate to the aparagraph about failings. I grew up with high expectations – my parents and my own. I felt I never measured up and so rebelled in my own special ways. I let go of parental expectations and punished myself worse for my own expectations. It is hard for me to say “help”. It is hard for me to say “I cant do it on my own.” It is hard to admit that I have a problem. We all need help we all cant do it on our own and all have problems. We all have faults and issues. We always will. Though God is at work in our lives to bring us completion and perfection – we will always have faults and issues – to “remind” us that we are dependant and in need of Him.

Refined selfishness – now that is a label! We think we have it covered so often… Really we’re just better at putting the makeup on… When we live honestly before God and with our family and friends God is able to work through us more and more – he can shine through our weaknesses. We are all cracked pots filled with the treasure of God. When we cover the cracks the light cant shine through. We must be vulnerable and real, as it allows the presence and grace of God to work through us…

Return To God

”Return to prayer and inward fellowship with God no matter what the cost. You have withered your spirit by chasing this wish of yours without knowing if God wanted this for you. Don’t spend your time making plans that are just cobwebs – a breath of wind will come and blow them away. You have withdrawn from God and now you rind that God has withdrawn his sense of presence from you. Return to Him and give Him everything without reservation. There will be no peace for you otherwise. Let go of all your plans – God will do what He sees best for you.

Even if you were able to accomplish your plans through earthly means, God would not bless them. Offer Him your tangled mess and He will turn everything toward His own merciful purpose. You must learn to let go of everything whether God ever gives you what you so eagerly desire or not. The most important thing is to back to communion with God – even if it seems dry and you are easily distracted.”

Fenelon from 100 Days In The Secret Place

Well that’s encouraging you may say… I did… yes with the sarcastic tone of voice you read there. That is just how I said it. Darn straight I thought… but when I allowed myself to get over myself and think about it I did come to use the non-sarc tone to say, yes that is encouraging….

It is the end of the year. A new year approaches. The end of the year for me conjures up “did I measure up to what I wanted to do and be” feelings…. Did I make 2008 the best year it could be or did I let opportunities pass me by. Not just in DOING THINGS but in relationship with God.

So I need to return to the Lord with everything no matter what the cost. I need to spend time worshipping him – yay for cd players and awesome worship artists who can inspire and give the hand up in that respect.

2009 is a new year. New dreams… old dreams… old dreams made new. It is time for new fire and new passion. It is time for real intimacy and not pretend. What kept us going in 2008 will not be sufficient for the year ahead. We need fresh water and fresh anointing. Our plans are just cobwebs, unless appointed by God. Nothing is impossible for God. He can make those hopes and dreams alive and real and open the doors for walking them out! 2009 is a year for passion and purpose and stepping into the callings that God has created us for. It is time to refreshen our own spirit in the secret place that we may be prepared to serve and demonstrate the power nad love and grace of God where we go. It is a time for no reservations and relentless pursuit of the presence of God. ONE THING! ONE THING! ONE THING do I desire. One thing does God desire that we rise up and be people who know our God. That we may know him and be strong and do exploits!