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Right at the start of this year I want to encourage you to have faith in God – to know He is real and good and has a plan and a purpose for your life and to not give up.
There are going to be ups and downs and plot twists and jump scares and good things ahead but the most important thing in the middle of what is going on and what we feel is to trust God.
Just as we just sang – He is the same God – He is the same God that was with Moses when they were escaping Egypt and crossed the red sea. He is the same God that was with David when he faced down a literal giant in a one vs one duel of champions. He was with Daniel who made the call that he was going to pray and obey God even when prayer became illegal with a death penalty. He is with us here and today. Some of you are this year are going to find out for sure that He is real for yourself. It’s got to be real for you, just like it was real for moses, and it was real for David, and it was real for Joshua. Just like its real for your youth leaders, just like its real for you mum and dad maybe, its got to be real for you. You’ve got to own it for real for yourself.
Daniel says in Daniel 11:58 those that know their God will be strong and do exploits.
I think we all want to do exploits and have adventures. But what comes first is knowing God and being strong and the way to become strong isn’t more cross fit and protein shakes or gym sessions but to know God, to read the bible, to hear His voice, to pray, to worship, to draw near.
One person that knew God, was strong and did exploits was Joshua.
In Joshua 6 we read about this critical moment for Joshua.
So lets jump into Joshua 6. Life hack when it comes to church and youth – if the person speaking says turn to a passage its great to go there in your book bible or on your device so you can read along and highlight what jumps out at you! It helps it go in more and then later on if you’re wanting to go back and dig deeper its right there.
So Joshua 6 starting at verse 8… just put your finger there for a tick.
In the chapter before, you can scroll back there if you want Joshua has this incredible encounter with the Commander of the Lord’s Army – a mighty powerful angelish type person – who gives Joshua the plan on how to take down Jericho – a mega fortified city with mega fortified walls armed by mega fortified soldiers.
Now I love it when God gives us a plan. Step by step instructions are awesome. But check out what that plan is. Check out what the instructions the army had to work with.
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
March around the city walls once in complete silence. Apart from 7 priests with 7 trumpets. Toot toot toot.
Does that sound intimidating? Does that sound like it has any strategic value? The army are ready to storm this mega fortified city. They’re wanting a plan that will give them combat advantage and maximum impact. They’ve been drinking their protein powder and doing cross fit and are pumped to see some action. They’re an army wanting to do what army does.
Army does not march around in silence led by a brass band.
But here’s what we can learn. Here’s our takeaways.
Sometimes what God asks us to do will look really normal. Sometimes it will look really scary. For us that might look like inviting our friend to youth next week. Or to go and talk to the most popular person in your class that you’ve never talked to. Or to talk to a kid that sits by themselves every lunch time. Or to tell a friend that you’ll pray for them. Or to even pray for them right there on the spot. Or to post something on Instagram that says you’re a Christian. Or to stand up to the bullys when they’re picking on someone. Sometimes it might be to switch listening to only Christian music, or to give up ½ hour of scrolling for ½ hour reading the bible. Or to stop watching a particular tv show because of its content. Or to start the day by thanking God for what He’s going to do that day. For everyone its going to be different. I bet when the army heard the plan they were shocked at both how normal and how scary that plan was. Normal because walking around a city sounds normal and easy. But scary because what would people say? There were armed soldiers at the top of those walls, what if they shot arrows at them, or threw rotten figs or spat at them or yelled insults? I bet they thought what difference will this make? What difference will switching my music make? What difference will a conversation make? What difference will inviting someone to youth make?
And obedience itself makes the difference. Obedience brings the blessing of the favour of God.
John 14:15 says “if you love me keep my commandments.”
1 John 5:2–3 says “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands”
Obedience is part of being a Christian. Its not about a to do list or a to do don’t list but a heart status that says I’m gonna do what you say God because I love you and believe You’re good and great. It’s a heart attitude that says your way God, your will.
The reward of obedience isn’t a credit card jesus where you can swipe and get whatever you want – you don’t end up on santa’s good list – its not a you do this you get that exchange – the reward is that you’ll know God, be strong and see God do amazing things to and through your life.
The 2nd thing is that sometimes you’ve got to hit repeat. They had to walk round 6 days, in silence apart from the trumpets. They had to keep doing it. It wasn’t a once off thing. Sometimes we can feel like that with some of things we do to – like reading our bible, praying, coming to youth. Did you know that in the wilderness God provided food for the Israelites every day – but they could only gather enough for that day, they couldn’t keep the left overs and eat them the next day. Each day they had to gather the food that would sustain them. That is a picture of how each day we have to draw near to God, that we have to eat His Word – jesus said that we don’t live by bread alone but by the words of God. The bible is our food. Spending time with Jesus, praying, worship, its our food.
Don’t give up. The army walked around the walls 6 days in silence. Then here’s what happens on day 7.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
Imagine if they gave up on day 3. Or day 6. They obeyed God every day and did what God said. The normal and the scary. They hit repeat. And they got the reward of their obedience. The walls crashed down supernaturally. They won and took the city.
Don’t give up believing God for change. Don’t give up hope that He is the healer and He answers prayer. Don’t stop shining His light to others. Don’t give up drawing near and learning to hear His voice.
Today it might feel like you’ve walked around those walls 100 days or you might be just starting your rounds. It might feel like you’ve got blisters on blisters. It might feel like you’ve pulled a hamstring or Don’t give up. God is with you and for you and is at work behind the scenes. He knows the number of days to hit repeat. He knows the exact right time to bring the change. You’re not alone in walking. Did you notice that the priests carried the ark of God with the army each time they circled the city. That was the physical representation of the presence of God. God never left them. He was right there step by step. In the middle of the mess. In the middle of what didn’t make sense. In the middle of where you are today God is with you.
Right here at the start of the year lets make a decision. God I’m going to follow You. I’m going to believe You. I’m going to know You. I’m going to step out and let you step in. I’m going to obey you even when it seems scary or seems normal. Every day, over and over, hitting repeat I’m going to draw near and make it real.
I believe You’re the same God that make the walls of Jericho fall down and You’ll do things that seem impossible to my life and through my life this year.
One thing you may not know about me is that I went to a catholic high school in gore – which is why I say purple work shirt and church and worship – in year 9-11. We had a compulsory religious instruction class and being the girly swot I was, I was nailing 99% in my exams, just to humbly brag. I had memorized pauls missionary journeys and well… strangely, I cant remember anything else that I learned. In one ear and out the other, get the marks and move on. I knew about God but I did not know Him. The Holy Spirit wasn’t even on my radar as a real thing – it was like the other guy, or the father son and holy spirit maybe the force be with you catch phrase code words.
Imagine my surprise when I became a Christian 2 years after this when we had moved when I discovered that the holy spirit was not just words or a phrase or a symbol but a person and God! He is God who moves into our life and the reason that this is important, that He is His own person, who is God is that if we don’t believe that He is the person of God who moves into us we might reduce Him to just an “it” or the other guy or a force who is a power that we employ for our own goals. The Holy Spirit is not a force we activate or employ. He is the Holy Spirit, His own person, God equal to God the father and God the son who moves into our life that we can know and enjoy. We don’t employ Him for our own means and dreams, we enjoy His presence and enjoy His person.
My first encounter with the Holy Spirit – or perhaps I should say the first time I recognized that the Holy Spirit was there and moving in my life was at the easter camp I gave my life to God at. There were plenty of times before that where now I can look back and see the Holy Spirit at work to draw me to God, to open my heart and my eyes to see that God was real, to get me to that place where I was ready to become a Christian – but it was at the easter camp when I came forward at the altar call when I felt God for the first time. My whole body temperature went up, I had tingles in my arms and my hands shook and I cried and laughed a bit and felt this amazing peace and love and a rush of joy that I had never experienced. On a deeper level I felt like I had crossed over a line from darkness to light, from death to life and I felt forgiven and clean and knew that I was now a friend of God.
That camp was an amazing life changing experience. I heard God speak, not a loud voice outside of me, but His voice in my thoughts that I just knew was God, I felt so loved and so much at peace and had a sense of purpose. When worship happened I raised my hands for the first time and again felt that warmth and peace and things I couldn’t put into words.
The funny thing is though that when I left camp and went back to “the real world” no one told me that God was there too. He wasn’t just at camp or just at church – the Holy Spirit is with us 24/7 and as a child of God I could connect with Him.
I vividly remember my 2nd encounter with the Holy Spirit. It was in my bedroom. I had plonked myself in my big blue beanbag at the end of my bed and put on – this ages me – a worship cassette. I had only 2. Totally Radical 2 and a Scripture in Song one that an older lady in church had given me. I just sat there. Listening to the music. All of a sudden it was like the Holy Spirit walked into the room. His presence was there – the same things I felt at camp I was feeling sitting on my beanbag. I felt peace, joy, an intense knowing that God was right there with me. I was to be honest, shocked. After having an amazing time of worship and time with God I literally ran to my youth leaders house, only a block away, lucky her – and was like why didn’t you tell me God comes to your bedroom! She looked at me like, dah, everyone knows that.
So in case you don’t know that today, you can be at home and in the presence of God. You can be in your car driving to work and God can be there. You can be at school, in class, having lunch and God is there. You can be at work and things are going crazy around you and God is there. He is at the café you go to, on your run, at the beach, here at church, wherever you are HE IS. Because the Holy Spirit is not limited to a building or a time or a service – He is with you. In you.
In John 14:16 Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit.
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. You know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you
In verse 26 Jesus says But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
That word Advocate is sometimes written as the Helper or the Counselor or Comforter and describes one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit – He is God with us who fills us and reveals the heart of God towards us.
This may seem like Christianity 101 to some people but I am constantly in awe of that – that God the Holy Spirit lives in us.
If we flick to the very first page of the bible Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
The Holy Spirit was there, at creation.
Then we fast forward to exodus and we see the physical manifestion of the presence of God as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night that led the Israelites step by step to the promised land.
Moses set up a tabernacle – a physical location and holy space where people could go and worship. In the middle of the tabernacle was a place called the holy of holies where only the high priest could go after performing special cleansing rituals. In that holy of holies was the ark of the covenant – a gold covered box where the presence of God dwelt. You could not touch it or you would die.
There are lots of accounts in the OT where the Holy Spirit would fill someone and empower them – special people to do special things at special times for special purposes. The very first time this is recorded the special purpose was that the Holy Spirit filled the artisans, the creatives and architects to build the tabernacle and all the decorations. Warriors, prophets, kings and leaders were all filled with the Holy Spirit for those special purposes at special times.
In 2 Chronicles 7:1-16 ERV
1When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky and burned up the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The Glory of the Lord filled the Temple. 2The priests could not enter the Lord’s Temple because the Glory of the Lord filled it. 3When all the Israelites saw the fire come down from heaven and the Glory of the Lord on the Temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces low to the ground. They worshiped and thanked the Lord, singing, “The Lord is good. His faithful love will last forever.”
This is a small fraction of the incredible things that the Holy Spirit did in the OT. Drop in the ocean. Which is why I am constantly in awe that He chooses to live in me.
This is the plan of God. That we would now be the temple of God. That we would be filled with that glorious presence and power. The same Spirit that was at creation, in us. The same Spirit in the ark, in us. The same Spirit that filled the temple, in us.
God wasn’t just looking for a house for His Spirit – the plan was that the Holy Spirit would move into our lives, that we would be a home for the Spirit.
He goes from the one pillar of fire in the wilderness to individual pillars of fire in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost when everything changed. No longer was the Holy Spirit for special people to do special things at special times for special purposes – it was for anyone who believed and gave their life to God.
We live in such a noisy busy world – no matter what age or stage we are at – that has demands on us left right and centre and distractions that pull out our attention and time – there is even a new app called be real that sends you a notification a random time throughout the day that it’s “time to Be Real.” A two-minute timer starts when the user opens the app, giving them a limited amount of time to take a picture of whatever they’re doing at that moment.
It’s meant to encourage people to be more authentic, instead of trying to present their best selves.
When posting a BeReal, the app takes a picture using both your front and back camera, so other people can see what you look like and where you are.
But really, its just another demand on our time and attention – with a 2 minute time pressure!
I was listening to a podcast, not about serial killers, but about the Holy Spirit, in preparation for this morning and they said that the holy spirit is with us 24/7 but the challenge is how do we become more aware of His presence, how do we cooperate with Him more?
There is a famous book by a man who did not expect to become famous – practicing the presence of God. It’s a collection of letters and thoughts by a 15th century monk called Brother Lawrence. Now we might jump to the conclusion that of course a monk could write a book like this because all they do is pray and meditate on the things of God. But Brother Lawrence wasn’t what they call a contemplative monk. His job in the monestry was to work in the kitchen. In the 15th century. No microwave, no dishwasher, no uber eats. It was hard, physical, time consuming labour. Busy work. With lots of hungry potentially grumpy men to feed. All day, every day. I say this so that we don’t assume that its all good and well for brother Lawrence to practice the presence of God but he doesn’t understand the demands of our 21st century life with jobs and families and traffic and all the stuff we deal with here and now.
One of his most famous quotes is this:
The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees. Brother Lawrence
He’s saying, no matter what I am doing, no matter where I am, no matter whats happening around me, I am in the presence of God. When I’m rushing for a deadline for an assignment for school or work, I’m in the presence of God. When the kids need their homework checked and the microwave is beeping and I’m also trying to send that email, I’m in the presence of God. When I’m hitting red light after red light and getting cut off in traffic, im in the presence of God. When im in the waiting room, presence of God. Whether things are good bad or ugly, presence of God.
I have 4 keys that will help us reorganize and reorientate our lives so that we make more room for the Holy Spirit so that we can be more aware of His presence and person.
- personal
- purpose
- prioritize
- practice
1 Personal
one thing I love about God is that he speaks our own language. He gets us. He knows us. He knows the best way to our heart. The Holy Spirit is personal.
1 Corinthians 2: 9-12 “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him—but God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
God the Holy Spirit, the person of God who moves into our life reveals who God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are to us. It’s personal. He reveals himself to us in ways that we will understand and in ways that will help us draw closer to God, to be transformed, to be holy and obedient, to be close to Him.
For me one of the personal ways that God reveals himself to me is in song lyrics. Over the first part of this year when I was terribly unwell I would go to bed in pain and with dread, my brain overwhelmed with anxiety and rushing thoughts and God would give me a song lyric. I’d look it up, play it on spotify and that song would be like God singing over me. They were His words of hope and healing and exactly what my mind, body, soul and spirit would need to hear and would bring a tangible sense of peace.
Now that might not be your jam – I have a friend who will often post photos of her feet and a feather on Instagram, she finds feathers where she walks and sits and does life in random places – to her that is a message from God that he is with her and like psalm 91:4 says He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. God is speaking her language.
The more we spend time with God and pray and worship and be in His presence, the more we learn to recognize His voice and become more aware of His presence. John 10 says my sheep hear my voice and they will follow me. I think sometimes we make it more complicated than it is. He is the good shepherd and as His sheep you are created and designed to hear His voice. If you are a child of God then God your Father wants you to hear Him and know Him. It’s now personal – no longer do we need to go to a temple, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. No longer do we need a priest or have to wait for a special day – we have personal direct access and relationship because the Holy Spirit lives in us. How good is that!
It’s also personal in the sense that its each one of us filled with the Holy Spirit so its MY relationship with God. It’s great to come to church and listen to preaching podcasts and go to conferences and all of that good stuff but if you expect someone else to facilitate your encounter with God you’ve missed the point. That was the OT experience. They needed the priests to mediate and the prophets to bring the revelation. Now there is no barrier between us because the Holy Spirit lives in us, each one of us.
2 Purpose
The Holy Spirit isn’t just like a holy hug to make you feel good. He does make you feel good because he makes you feel like you are forgiven and loved and like you belong but one of His purposes is to also transform us. That is often uncomfortable. He is that nudge when we go to do something we know crosses the line. He is the one that convicts us when we’ve messed up. He is the one that challenges us to be more like Jesus, to live differently.
Its that moment you go to hit send on that text or DM that slams someone or is rude or is filled with our own frustration and unkindness… and you then hit delete delete delete instead. Or you go to say something and you feel that sense to just shut the words down. Or maybe you were going to do something or go somewhere are you just get a sense that its not the right thing to do.
It’s more than just behaviour, its heart attitude. It’s an awareness of what pleases God and that we don’t want to do anything to draw ourselves away from His presence.
The Holy Spirit also reveals to us who God is. John 14:26 the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
And like I said above from 1 Corinthians 2 the things no eye, ear or heart can comprehend – this is the purpose of the Holy Spirit to reveal these things to us. He helps us make sense of what the word of God says and how to make it real in our lives. He reveals the heart of God to us. He reveals the will of God. He reveals the truth of God.
He empowers us as we step out. Unlike the OT where it was special people doing special things at special times – every single one of us is now empowered by God to do supernatural things. To prophesy. To pray for healing. To have supernatural wisdom or insights.
3 Prioritize.
I love people watching. It was fascinating to see the queues and queues for the queue, and queues watching the queues, or people lining up to see the queen. Not even the queen alive, or even her body, but the queen in a casket. At its longest, the wait time was more than 24 hours and the maximum length was 10 miles long. But people like David Beckham said they would stand for any amount of time to have the opportunity to view their queen. It was a priority for them to show their respects.
When you love something you make time for it. If you value something you make time for it.
I love thomas’ guitar playing. But Thomas didn’t just one day pick up the guitar and boom – instantaneous virtuoso… it took hours of consistent practice. Time that he could have been doing something else.
I read about some of the commonwealth swimmers – some of them got up to train at 4am every day for years. Before school, after school. Weekends. Because they were passionate about what they were doing and their goals. They won the medals to prove it. They made sacrifices and made it a priority. I was talking to one of our youth guys on Friday who gets up at 5am every day for rowing practice. I asked him why he does it and he said, because I love it.
Our calendars reveal the truth about our priorities. How we allocate our time reveals our hearts.
William Paulson says “It is unlikely that we will deepen our relationship with God in a casual or haphazard manner. There will be a need for some intentional commitment and some reorganization in our own lives.”
What needs to change or be reprioritized this week so we can become more aware of His presence?
4 Practice.
Practice makes perfect the saying goes. Malcolm Gladwell says this about business that I think makes sense with our spiritual relationship as well ““Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.”
The key to knowing the Holy Spirit more is to practice at it and not give up and because we are human and we do give up, the key is to just restart and begin again. We often beat ourselves up – oh my goodness I missed a day, a week, a month reading my bible, I suck as a Christian. Oh my goodness I was praying but I started thinking about what time the next be real alert might be and how I might curate my realness, I suck as a Christian. Oh my goodness I’m thinking about what I’m going to have for lunch during church, I suck as a Christian.
Dallas Willard says this about how we practice the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds. This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus “practicing the presence of God” is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him. In the early time of our “practicing” we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God. But these are habits–not the law of gravity–and can be broken. A new, grace- filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us. Soon our minds will return to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north. If God is the great longing of our souls, He will become the pole star of our inward beings. ─Dallas Willard
So as we become distracted – we just make that decision to be aware again. We can also create new grace filled habits that encourage our focus to be on God. When Im listening to worship music I naturally become more aware of His presence so swapping what music we listen to in the car or out for a walk becomes an easy prompt for practicing the presence of God. Same goes for swapping the serial killer podcasts for preaching podcasts, one more naturally makes room for God and well the other….
Having a regular time to read the bible is a grace filled habit that makes room for us to hang out with God. The amount of times that what is on my plan for that day (and im out of step with the plan and use the catch up feature regularly) is exactly what I need to hear amazes me. But I would miss that opportunity to be encouraged and hear God if I didn’t make regular time in His Word a priority.
This week I was super distracted and frustrated and procrasitinated with my calendar. What shows on my laptop did not show on my phone the same and my husband was missing out stuff that I would add on my phone and it was a mess. Literally every time I went to prepare this message or spend time with God I was getting distracted by this. Could not stop thinking about it. Frustration levels rising. And I’m totally doing the oh my goodness I’m meant to be preparing and praying and I suck as a pastor. Friday im trying to prepare and pray and the calendargate would come into my mind. Pushed it away. Taking every thought captive. Looking up my settings, googling solutions, messaging tony, praying, preparing…. Every thought captive, not today satan. You know how you pray those half prayers sometimes. Not really a prayer, kinda a thought kind of directed at God kind of. I half thought half prayed God can you sort this! Grrrr. Literally at that moment I wondered if the app on my phone was the right app. What do you know, it wasn’t. Downloaded google calendar and all is right with the world again. My calendars are all aligned. Sometimes a distraction is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to move. Even in this. Sometimes its an invitation for us to invite Him into the situation.
So what can practicing look like in our real lives?
Regular time in prayer and reading the word – finding the personal way that works for you
Positioning yourself in places where God is – church, river youth, worship nights, connect groups – where you can see other people living it for real and learn from their experiences
Being intentional about the time and opportunities you have – listening to worship in the car, praying while you walk type of thing.
All of this takes intentional commitment and prioritizing.
New habits, shaped by the priority to know God, to have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, who moves into our life to transform us and reveal who God is and His great affection for us.
It also requires waiting – doing it when you’re not feeling it – doing it if you’re not feeling anything. As I said earlier my first few encounters with the Holy Spirit were mind blowing and like nothing I had ever felt before – sometimes its still like that, but more often than not it feels more normal. It also requires faith – we believe in an invisible God. He is always there and when we make that time to spend time with Him He is always doing something. He is always transforming us, always renewing our minds, always revealing truth.
Hebrews 11:6 God rewards those who diligently seek Him
I love how the old testament has so many things that happen in real life that picture something supernatural and spiritual.
Take for example when the Israelites were in the wilderness, fleeing from exile, heading towards the promised land and they were hungry. Their reaction always amuses me – they were slaves in Egypt, treated terribly, forced to work in extreme conditions, oppressed and persecuted, yet here they complaining and wishing they were back in Egypt where I quote “here we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Now from reading previous chapters of the conditions they faced I’m not sure their filter was accurate. They’re painting their past like it was satisfactory and forgetting that they belong to the God of miracles who split the sea to set them free. And I confess I have read it and gone silly Israelites, you are so stupid, how could you forget your God, oh ye of little faith.
Until God reminded me, that I too am like a silly Israelite, forgetting my God, oh me of little faith.
We have moments in our life when the journey when hardship comes from left field, or things aren’t working out like we expected and we forget that the God who does miracles is with us and for us and at work doing a zillion things behind the scenes but we might see only 3 of them.
Gods solution to their complaining met their needs on a practical level but also on a spiritual level. God provided manna that would fall every morning – like a supernatural bread that would appear around them – that they were to gather every day. They were to gather just enough for that day for themselves or their families. There were of course some that tried to hoard but when they went to open their manna pantry the next day their manna had rotted and was filled with worms!
Everyday they had to gather the manna for that day.
Everyday they had to find their satisfaction in God.
Everyday they got a tangible reminder that God is with them and for them.
Everyday they got a reminder that they are special to God.
Something in real life that reveals something supernatural and spiritual.
Everyday we have to gather the manna for our day.
Everyday we have to find satisfaction in God.
Everyday we need that tangible reminder that God is with us and for us and that we are His children and that He loves us with a never ending love.
Now we’re not heading out the backdoor to the lawn to pick up the days kai, our manna is time spent with God, in His word, in prayer, in worship and its not filling our bellies but filling our spirits and souls with peace, hope, grace and wisdom that being in God’s presence gives.
Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God.
The passion bible puts it like this: Bread alone will not satisfy,[d]
but true life is found in every word,
which constantly goes forth from God’s mouth.”
When I was flatting in Dunedin we had this amazing flat on Clyde St. It was a bright red block terrace house, with a yellow door. No room was matching. My room had wall paper that had massive green vines. And orange curtains. The room upstairs looked like the 60s had thrown up in there. The living room was tiny and literally fit only 6 people seated. We could hear the neighbours pee when we sat at our dining room table. The toilet had windows that didn’t shut and seriously in winter there was a layer of frost! Ahh we so loved it.
It was there we learned to live and to cook. I learned that there is more than one type of pastry and that short pastry is for desserts, not mince pies. And that mince and peas is from the devil.
Anyway the great thing about this flat was that it was a block away from uni. So our flat had an open door policy. You could come hang out at ours any time. Especially if you brought chocolate.
During study time it wasn’t unusual to have 10 of us squished in the living room for mammoth study sessions.
We would get knocks on the doors and windows often late at night as people would drop round.
However one night we took the open door policy to the next level. I got up one morning to find the front door wide open. Someone, anyone had forgotten to close it! Talk about a freak out moment. Not that we had much to steal, our tv was so rubbish that it didn’t show the colour red. Everyone had green lips and superman looked like he was captian planet.
But yikes!
Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Jesus is standing at the door of your life, knocking.
His knock is the invitation to a changed life. His knock is an invitation to adventure. His knock is an invitation to love. His knock is an invitation to peace and security like you could never imagine. His knock is an invitation for us to know Him, the creator of the universe, who breathed out the stars, who created the giraffe, who imagined the oceans and the stars and the forests and the mountains.
When you encounter God you are never the same!
When I was 16 I went to a youth camp, just like this one. Over the course of the weekend I felt that knocking on my heart. I couldn’t explain it, I couldn’t shake it. It was this sense that God was there and that He was real and that I could know Him, but that the choice was mine to take it or leave it.
I had always thought that God was far away, on a cloud somewhere, indifferent to the world and especially indifferent to me.
But all of a sudden there was this intense awareness that God knew me inside out, all the good bad and the ugly and that He wanted to change my life. Read the rest of this entry »
In Your presence there is freedom
In Your presence there is hope
In Your presence there is healing
Love restores me, I am whole
No matter how far I run
You are with me
No matter how far I fall
Your love is everlasting
Your kindness never ends
God You never leave me
Your presence goes before us
Your glory has no end
God You never leave me
In Your presence there is power
Through Your spirit, strength will rise
In Your presence there is mercy
And in Your presence I’m alive Read the rest of this entry »
*** as i’ve said i’m reading Holley Gerth’s book about being amazing already and so i’ve been following her blog – and love love love what she is sharing. resonating within me. this today went BOOM in my heart, gently, softly and with a yes claire.
The disciples seem to scoff. “What do you mean? There’s a crowd around you.” But Jesus insists, “I know that power has gone out from me.” A woman steps forward to confess that, yes, she touched Jesus and she has been healed.
When I’ve heard this story told, the focus has always been on the healing. Yet in recent weeks my heart keeps coming back to what happens just before…to what Jesus experienced when someone touched him.
Power went out from him.
When Jesus in you touches someone else in a meaningful way power goes out from you too. And that is why you need rest and to be recharged more than you realize. You might have a heartfelt conversation that encourages a friend. Or you could show tenderness with one of your children that requires an extra measure of grace. Perhaps you navigate through a difficult ethical situation at work and manage to make a difference. In all of those, God’s power has gone out from you.
Yet instead of realizing that we berate ourselves for feeling tired. We believe we should be able to do it all, all the time. That’s not the way we’re created. And when we live without recognizing that power is going out from us we wind up exhausted and burned out.
How have you been giving lately?
Where has God’s power been flowing out of your life to someone else?
What do you need to be recharged?
Holley Gerth – Why you need to be RECHARGED more than you think
go along and read the whole post and let it touch your heart!
*** see also STRENGTH – You’re Already Amazing and EMOTIONAL MAKEOVER
‘Revival is more than a series of meetings, revival is cultivated and carried in the hearts of all who yield to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to transform us to be carriers of His Glory wherever we go. Revival is not meant to be a temporary state of being. God is looking for revival people who will open their hearts to the King of Glory, and create a permanent dwelling for perpetual revival to touch the earth. You are called to carry revival! Step into His glory and let the river flow in your heart, your family, your city and your nation.’
Dr Mahesh Chavda
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
In our church we make time to wait in the presence of God – to worship Him, to dwell in His presence, to linger. We have altar calls where we wait, with expectation and hope, for God to speak to us, and to draw close to us, to heal us, to restore us, to give us strength.
In the Bible the word most often translated “wait” in the sense of waiting on the Lord is the Hebrew qavah. Qavah means (1) “to bind together like a twisted rope” (2) “look patiently,” and (3) “hope, expect, look eagerly.”
The picture here, to bind together like a twisted rope is like a braid in the hair, there are three pieces, but they become so intertwined that it is hard to tell them apart.
as we wait, we a bound together with God, transforming us, strengthening us, restoring us.
2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Have you ever heard the saying "What you behold, you become?"
I believe this statement applies to our relationship with God. If we are in love with God, then out of that love relationship and time spent in His presence will flow a love for humanity and for the world. His heartbeat becomes our heartbeat; His passions become our passion; His priorities become our priorities.
Love awakens.
I believe that in order to wake up to the purpose of God for our lives and to the world around us, we must return to our first love and that is Jesus. If we try to wake up from our slumber because of a sense of obligation, guilt, or shame, then we will quickly jump back into our spiritual bed to avoid these feelings.
But if we really want to wake up, get up, and stay up, then we must passionately fall in love with Jesus. Nothing else will keep us awake. It is love that causes us to behold Him, and when we behold Him, we enlarge Him and become like Him.
Our relationship with God flows out of our love for God.
One of the things I want to be a defining characteristic of my life is a heart cry for the Holy Spirit to come. I want to be passionate about encountering God’s presence and knowing Him and more than that – I want to be active in pursuing Him!
As Moses was known as a face to face friend, so I want my life to be flavoured with that same intimacy.
Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Exodus 33:7-11
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalm 27:8 NLT
I hear the voice of God calling me, calling us – His children, to draw near and closer. We are created for intimacy with Him. He has opened His throne room to us by the blood of Jesus. We are adopted children, cleansed, made holy and righteous, accepted and given access.
The presence of God had a tangible reaction in Moses – his face glowed with the glory of God.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. Exodus 34: 29-35
I want there to be proof of my dwelling in His presence – it may not be that my face glows – but that He shines through me and that the tangibility of the Holy Spirit is at work to others as well as producing transformation and fruit in my own life.
Come Holy Spirit.
I come to meet with You.
One Passion One Devotion 