You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘quiet times’ tag.
One of my favourite features of facebook is facebook memories. On this day one year ago, 5 years ago, 11 years ago you said this and were doing this. Today it reminded me that it has being 6 years since I was miraculously healed from all my food allergies, that there was some Americas cup sailing somewhere, go team nz, that I had parent teacher interviews and forgot to turn the slow cooker on for dinner. It also shows some throwback photos, mostly of the kids when they actually were shorter than me and is snapshot of my world.
It’s strange to see how our world was different only a year ago. A year ago a selfie was this… and now it comes with one of these…. A year ago zoom meant you were going really fast or you were getting a closer focus on your camera… now it’s how we do connect groups, birthday parties, staff meetings and youth group.
As we go to shift levels again fingers crossed into level 2 or even level 1 I want us to also shift levels with God. Let’s not go back to normal. Normal wasn’t working. Normal had some dysfunction. Let’s pivot and shift into new levels of doing life well and walking with Jesus and seeing His kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Let’s live the more we dream of and pray about.
Ephesians 3:20 says God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, dream or imagine according to the power that works in us.
I don’t know about you but I want that to be my normal.
We are the ones that have hope. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead is inside of us. Jesus said we would do greater things than Him. We’re called to know God and make Him known. Daniel 11:32 says that the people that know their God will be strong and do exploits.
I want exploits to be my normal. I want giant killing to be my normal. I want miracles to be my normal. I want revival to be my normal. Not just coming to church, but being the church.
But to live this normal we have to create new habits and new perspectives that propel us into transformed living.
Our vision statement as a church is “from the throne of God into the earth, every generation, revived, connected, empowered, pouring out.
No matter how old you are in age or stage as a Christian this is for you. These are truths we need for life right now no matter what generation you identify with.
This morning here are 2 simple ways we can pivot into a life of MORE with God.
Slow Down
The way to catch up to the voice of God is not speeding up but slowing down.
The world whispers, “Do more. Be more. Live your best life.” Hustle is the buzz word of the decade. You ask someone how they are and the stock response is either fine or “busy. Yeah so busy.””
Now I’m not blaming Christians but there are enough memes to make me go… perhaps its true…
We’ve been praying for more time to slow down and spend it with God, praying, worshipping, reading the bible. For many Christians it’s on the new year’s resolution list. Put a raised hand emoiji if you’ve ever had that on your resolution list… hopefully there are lots of those emoijis popping up in the comments!
It feels like God said, okay. You asked for it.
2020.
2020 has been a year of unprecedented change. I’m hanging out for some precedented times, right?
Ignoring all the crazy and the reality of the virus and its devastating effects on countries all around the world, covid 19 and enforced lockdown changed the way we do life.
We all went from having plans to no plans. School, work, dance class all done from home. In PJs and slippers. Saturday sports, gone. Social events, gone. Stuff, gone.
When I read Psalm 23 when the psalmist says He makes me lie down in green pastures I often picture Jesus giving us a leg sweep karate kid style to MAKE us lie down, because we’re not good at slowing down, lying down, pushing pause.
The thing about rest is that because we validate busyness and because the reality is life can be just busy because that’s life, that rest and time with God can seem like an inconvenience instead of an invitation into the exceedingly abundantly above MORE God wants us to experience.
We’re busy at school with internals and exams. We’re busy at uni with lectures and assignments. We’re busy at work getting ahead and climbing the ladder. We’re busy with kids because there is nappies and sleep and food and tantrums and then school and ballet and ripper rugby and gymnastics and playdates and then driving lessons and adulting and it’s a never ending cycle of things going on. Life is relentlessly coming at us and unless we choose and redefine what is important we just roll with it.
Now as we have lockdown lifted and we’re in level 2.5 and moving into new levels fingers crossed shortly and life again returns more to normal we should make sure we’re learning the lessons that God wants us to learn. Let’s redefine what normal is.
Every generation needs to slow down and see the power and principal of rest.
Rest is about refreshment.
Rest will look different for everyone. I love to curl up with a good book and lose myself in the story or weird fact, listen to podcasts about true crime. My dad used to take Wednesday afternoons off to train for marathons. Cleaning is never going to feel like rest for me but for others it is their happy place. Rest is about doing something that fills the tank and energizes us. We can’t pour from an empty cup. When we’re refreshed we’re more able to cope with life and stress and more mature in our emotional reactions.
Rest is about recovery.
To go the distance our bodies and minds need rest. We have one body, one life. As much as we’d like to think we are not designed to just go go go. Rest is a design function of our Creator. God created the pattern of Sabbath, one day a week of rest, whereby we push pause and allow our bodies, minds and whole being to recover.
We usually treat it as a commodity that we can exchange for something that will give us more value but if we keep on trading rest we’re trading recovery and heading for burnout.
When we slow down we make room for our bodies to truly recover, and this includes sleeping well at night. We often think it is a badge of honour to boast about how little sleep we got and how we’re fuelled by coffee and energy drinks.
God is into us working well and using our time wisely but He also created us to NEED rest.
Rest is about relationship.
When we spend time with God it’s not about a check list or ticking it off the do to list. It is about relationship. When we spend time with God He spiritually renews us, He refreshes us.
Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
We need to be intentional about rest. We need to value it.
Matthew 11:28-30
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
While we may love to do certain things that refresh us mentally, ultimately, we need our spirits refreshed by spending time with God each day.
Matthew 4:4 says man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God.
When the Israelites were in the desert God sent manna every day to feed them. The Israelites had to gather it every day for that day, it didn’t carry over to the next day.
You cant live on the revelation of your teens, your twenties or your whenevers or even your last Sunday. Your relationship with Jesus has to be here today now and takes everyday regular connection. Christianity isn’t a religion or a self help lifestyle, it’s a relationship with a Saviour who loves us and gave His life for us.
In Mark 3:14 we read that Jesus appointed twelve disciples that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.
Note the priority and the progression.
The disciples were chosen to BE WITH JESUS and then be sent. The BE WITH comes first.
As task orientated hustling do-ers we want to get right to the sent, right to the adventure, right to the doing. But Jesus called the disciples, just as He calls us, to be with Him. Being with Him comes before being sent. To be effective and successful in our sentness we need to be with as a priority.
We need to prioritize the presence of God with us before the performance of God through us.
In our fast paced world over scheduled world, where we also have unlimited distraction at our fingertips we need to ask ourselves what does that look like now in 2020?
Sometimes slowing down looks like putting the phone down. I’m convicted by my own affection for this little thing. An hour can easily fly by as we scroll, like, follow, share or play games or do whatever.
How would Jesus live with a smart phone, google, siri and social media? Would Jesus tik tok? What would Jesus’s screen time report reflect? What would he prioritize?
As we again move into the new normal let’s ask ourselves was the normal we lived before the right normal or is there a better way? Is there a rhythm to life that God is calling to, a rhythm that seeks first the kingdom of God, that diligently seeks God and reaps the reward, and that makes room for rest and relationships.
Look Up
Every generation needs to know how to connect with the real help that our real God gives. The struggle is real but so is our God.
Psalm 121 says I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
No matter our age or our stage God is there with real solutions as we put our trust in Him and make room for Him to move.
When it’s rough we often reach for our phone before we go to the throne.
We need to look up and see our lives from a heavenly perspective.
In 2 Kings 6:15-17 we read about how this perspective can change how we see the world.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-17
Elisha had a consistent history with God that gave him confidence that in the middle of this mess that God was with Him and for Him and that even when we’re surrounded, we’re surrounded by Him. Elisha knew that whatever obstacle he faced that as he trusted God and had faith that God was at work to deliver Him and make a way where there seemed like no way.
You might not be surrounded by a literal army, but life sometimes crushes against us and the odds are not in our favour. As Han Solo says never tell me the odds – because with God the odds are always in our favour.
Being a Christian isn’t a get out of jail free card. We don’t escape trials and difficulties, but we have a Saviour that walks through it with us and gives us wisdom to navigate anything we face.
I want to show you a science experiment. I saw this at the start of the whole covid 19 when we all remembered that washing our hands is a good thing.
So here we have a plate of ordinary water and I’m going to sprinkle pepper all over it. Im going to put my finger in it and nothing.
I want us to think about that science experiment but instead of it being germs and soap let’s think of it all the stresses, problems, circumstances and all the things that want to pull us down and affect us negatively.
It’s all good and well to have the bible on your phone or your bookcase if you don’t read it. It’s like the soap right here. Until I put on the soap nothing changes, nothing happens. Until you reach out to God, read the word of God, pray, worship, fast and all the spiritual tools we have nothing changes, nothing happens. But when we do these things and step out in faith God moves and shifts things.
I read this on facebook the other day and thought it fit to wrap this up: People are asking things like “what is the new thing God is doing post covid?” My answer is pretty simple. The same thing He’s always done.
Hebrews 13:8 He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
He’s saving people, He’s building His church, He’s healing the sick. He’s filling people with the Holy Spirit. He’s providing. He’s guiding. He’s bringing breakthrough and He is on the throne.
God isn’t sitting up in heaven freaking out about anything we see going on the news right now.
But He is using this season to realign our hearts and lives back with Him.
God is pivoting us back to walking with Him, slowing down and really seeking Him first, really trusting Him, looking up and really seeing Him doing real things in our real lives.
So what should we focus our attention on:
1 Knowing God – our own relationship with God, seek first.
We need to remember that this whole Christian thing isn’t religion or a Sunday thing but it’s a relationship. This week is the 20 year anniversary of when I confessed to tony that I kinda like him. Yes, I made the first move. Tony and I met at church but really got to know each other when he was sound man for our church Christmas production and I was cast as an 8 year old brat. Anyway long story short, we started hanging out, going out to movies, long walks on the beach, and weekly tv dates watching Star Trek. In the ad break of Star Trek I turned round and blurted out, “hey, I kinda like you.” He kinda liked me back thank goodness! In the same way we have that moment with God, hey I kinda like you, hey I give you my life, hey be my saviour. But its so much more than that. Read the rest of this entry »
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.”
We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.
Your level of preparation determines your level of outpouring. It’s not someone elses responsibility to take care of what’s inside of you.
Paul instructed Timothy to fan into flame the gift that was inside him. (2 Timothy 1:6)
“Your life from seed to full-grown tree is a process. We all like the idea of fruit, but rarely do we allow ourselves to build a root system.” Banning Liebscher
As leaders we need to have a strong, consistent inflow to balance our outflow. As leaders were are giving out all the time. Energy, time, emotions. In order to GROW as a leader we need to stretch our capacity and ability to lead. Read the rest of this entry »
My heart longs for more of God.
To hear Him more.
To know Him more.
To make Him known more.
It is the beat of my heart.
And thus I must make room for this in my life. Room to worship. Room to spend time with God. Room to be in His presence. Room to read His word. Room to hear His voice.
Other things try to crowd out that space I could carve out for Him. They fight for my attention and affection.
But my heart belongs to God.
So I choose.
I choose Him.
With my time. With my action. With my thoughts. With my worship.
Yesterday I talked about my story. I talked about how I became a christian and challenged HKC to give their all.
So how do we make that real in our lives? How do we go from going up the front, praying a prayer, wanting to be a Christian and wanting to know God?
For me what has kept me walking with God, apart from how amazing He is – and His grace which keeps Him holding on… it was the HABITS I formed.
Often we ask ourselves “How do I go deeper in my relationship with Christ?” or “How do I grow my faith in God?”
Think about your best friend for a moment. How did you get to be best friends with that person? You hang out with them, learn about them, and talk with them? You snapchat and tweet them, you text them a trillion times a day on your unlimited text plan. God is the same way, He wants to hang out with you, teach you about Him, and talk with you. He may not snapchat you, but He will speak! The Bible promises that “when we draw near to God, He draws near to us.”
There’s an easy way of doing this, and it’s all based around the word HABIT.
H = Hang out with God
A = Attend
B = Bible Reading
I = Investment
T = Tell your story
Being a Christian may seem like it’s a list of things “TO DO” and we definitely don’t want you to feel like that! Or sometimes it can feel like you don’t know where to start. How do you talk to God? What is worship? Why do we go to church?
These are simple keys that can help you to know our amazing God and make it real in your life. These 5 Habits will change you from the inside out. God loves you with an incredible love and has done EVERYTHING needed to open the doors for us to come close to Him. As we practice these Habits and make them real in our life we grow to know God more and more. Nothing can change His love for us but WOW when we spend time with God and encounter Him our love for HIM massively can grow as we see how awesome He is.
We want these habits to become as natural as putting your shoes on each morning….
The Problem With The Child-Centered Home – WE ARE THAT FAMILY
I’m not a stranger to a child-centered home. For years, we let our kids determine restaurants we ate at, we gave them ample choices, we backed down from consequences, we centered our lives around their extracurricular activities, we added fun kid stuff to every weekend so they wouldn’t be bored, and when they asked us what they were supposed to do for fun, we told them. Some days, we still reap the effects of it. And then, a few years ago, we started to shift to a Jesus-centered home. Instead of child worship, where we bowed to every whim and demand from our kids, we refocused and prioritized our lives. My children didn’t stop being important. We didn’t stop loving them unconditionally or stop meeting their needs. We just stopped trying to fix every problem and giving in to every desire.
.
.
.
CREATING SACRED SPACE – William Matthews
Our World Has Become Overrun With Noise. Loud Noises, Soft Noises, White Noise, Static. There Is Visual Noise Everywhere As Well. On An Average Day You Are Consistently Being Sold And Marketed To Through Billboards, Store Front Signs, Television Commercials, Web Banners, Etc. Companies And Corporations Spend Billions Of Dollars Annually Toward Marketing And Advertising Some “New Must Have Product” That Will Make Your Life A Million Times Easier. And Though We Are Promised Happiness We Often Are Left Wanting, Aching All The More For Something True, Something Real, Something Sacred.
Sacred
\’Sa-Kred\
A : Dedicated Or Set Apart For The Service Or Worship
B : Relating To Religion : Not Profane : Holy
C : Entitled To Reverence, Respect, Awe
Usually When We Think Of Sacred In The 21st Century We Often Think Back To Ancient Relics, Rituals And Rites Seen And Carried Out By Some Catholic, Anglican Or Jewish Orthodox Tradition. But Those Practices Are Simply Physical Representations Of Spiritual Realities That Are Found In The Heart Of All Believers. Every Believer Is A Priest Who Can Minister To God, Every Believer Is A Guardian Of The Inner Fire, And Every Believer Is A Keeper Of A Sacred Heart. What It Boils Down To Is This, People Who Embrace The Sacred Are Given Completely Over To God In Word Thought And Deed. Sacred People See Themselves Set Apart As Holy Unto The Lord And Their Hearts Are Caught Up In The Reverence, Awe And Wonder Of God.
.
.
.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Yell At Your Children
In the heat of the moment, you want to act. You want to solve the problem right NOW. If you wait, it will be too late, right? That feeling of urgency, though, is when you’re most likely to yell at your children. But that sense of urgency is actually sending us into a vicious cycle of more yelling and not actually solving the problem.
.
.
.
Therefore, our brokenness is a part of us, and it enables us to better empathize and understand the broken ones around us, to meet them with love, and offer what we have to offer.
.
.
.
HOW TO BE MARRIED TO AN ENTREPRENEUR – John Morgan
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times…your environment has a huge impact on your success. Your spouse is a major part of your environment. It’s not easy being married to an entrepreneur. Your better half has to put up with the late nights, crazy ideas, and the constant checking of email.
As if marriage wasn’t hard enough, throw an entrepreneur into the mix and you’ve got some extra chaos to deal with. There’s no questioning how important it is for your spouse to support you. Without a doubt the person who’s had the biggest influence on my own success is my wife Brooke.
So who better to talk to you about the important role a spouse plays in an entrepreneurs life than my very own wife?
We need to be intentional about energy management.
Yesterday we talked about some of the reasons and time limitations we face : Be Intentional With Your Time
Tony Schwarz says there are 4 types of energy:
Physical (Quantity)
Emotional (Quality) how you feel profound affects how you perform
Mental (Focus)
Spiritual (Purpose) when something has value we bring more energy to it
So, how do we learn to manage our energy more skilfully? How do all 4 of these energy types work together for renewal and balance, and an increase in energy reserves.
In physics, energy is defined simply as the capacity to work. Therefore the more energy you have – or the more energy you renew – the more fuel you have in your tank, and the capacity you have to get things done. Unlike cars, human beings have four distinct energy needs: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. The better and more regularly we meet each of these needs, the healthier, happier, more focused and more effective we become.
At the very moment that Joshua needed God, God was there. Joshua was surveying the territory he was going to advance into. Having another look over the city he was going to lead an attack against. Imagine the doubts, the fears, the insecurities. The pressure.
At that moment, Joshua had a very real desperate need to hear from God.
And there God is. His personal presence was with Joshua as a mighty declaration and assurance of God’s power and provision.
Theophanies : A Theophany is a manifestation of the preincarnate Christ, who, as the Logos, is the one who reveals God. If only a man or an angel, he would certainly have repelled Joshua’s worshipful response (vs. 14). Other examples of Christology is in Daniel 3 and when Abraham had 3 visitors, one of them a preincarnate Jesus, in Genesis 18.
How do we overcome the Jericho in our life?
We lift our eyes and see that Jesus is with us. We fix our eyes upon the One who can help us. We encounter His presence. Read the rest of this entry »
One Passion One Devotion 