God

There is a living God; He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all He has promised.

- Hudson Taylor

Patience?

If God told you on the front end how long you would wait... you'd lose heart... But He doesn't. He just says, "Wait. I keep My word.... In the process of time I'm developing you to be ready."

- F.B.Meyer

Spirituality - we're incomplete without it!

If you look at every culture since the beginning of creation, we (humanity) have known there was something bigger than ourselves, a 'higher being' that we have the desire within our spirits to search for. The ancient Egyptians had their gods, the Australian Aboriginals have their spirit gods, the Aztec's, Babylonians, Celtic, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Roman, etc, etc, etc we all have the in built need for something more, something spiritual to fill the emptiness inside.

I've just spent a month in India, and learning about the Hindu gods and how they seem to have, just like many other religions, a god for nearly every aspect of life from welcoming you into a home, your money, harvests, travelling etc.

While I was in India, there was quite a few times I depended on help from God, protection from danger firstly; there was at least 5 times we were very close to death that we know of, and secondly health, so I didn't get sick or 'complications' from the food and water. If I didn't have faith that God would get me through I would have felt helpless. While I was there, there was deaths on train crashes, I went on these trains, there was deaths due to the cold, I was staying in this area, there were deaths on the roads, one night was so foggy there was around 80 people dead or missing on the exact road we were travelling on and many more examples of similar events; yet in all of this, I felt unbelievably safe like I was wrapped in cotton wool - I felt the presence of God surrounding us and hearing our prayers and others who were praying for us also.

I depended on the help of God during my trip and people all throughout history have searched for the help and guidance from the spiritual world, it's in our DNA to find God, yet I return to a country that really has no spirituality. Australia has so many people that are their own 'gods', they believe they don't need anything else apart from themselves, or so they say.

For a nation to have no spirituality is a nation that is lost. When I try to imagine having no spirituality, I think of zombies with no souls, just a shell going through motions without purpose; wake, eat, work, sleep day in day out.

The more I talk to people that claim they don't need God, the more they realise how pointless their life is. When all the business of their life is gone, when all the distractions, paryting, alcohol and all the other things the world does to try to keep their mind off their internal pain and emptiness and they just sit at the end of the day in the dark by themselves, there is still a gaping emptiness inside that can only be filled by God Himself.

If this describes how you feel, read the Bible, I suggest starting with the New Testament, the books like Mark, Matthew and John and if this doesn't work for you, I'll seriously be surprised. When God created us, He made us so that we were only complete with Him, without Him we are incomplete.

A Godless nation is only fooling itself, a Godless man is lost

Accept Jesus today

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.""

John 8:12

Change

Wow, 2009 has finally arrived!

So much is changing and I think I'm just not thinking about it all yet, so I'm coping.

This is my final week of work, my last day is on Friday before I move straight into this Salvation Army week called 'Insane' where youth from all over our Territory come to Melbourne for a week of activities and fun. I still have no idea what's going on, haven't heard a thing even though I've registered as a leader!! Wonder if I am?!

Packing is still a project that I'm thinking of but not doing a lot of!

I finished up at my home Corps last Sunday and had the best farewell ever, with many friends attending, nice words said and a few favourite songs requested. Everyone back for a bbq and a great game of cricket in the local park.

So, in summary, I've left my church which I've been a part of and built up for 27 years, packing to move out of home after 27 years in the same place with my family which I am very close to, quit my job which I really enjoy after working there for a bit over 4 years, going back to study all in the same building as where I'll be living and I get claustrophobic sometimes, living in a close community with a whole heap of different people with different aspects on things and backgrounds who are all leaders in their own rights and have generally strong personalities. I think I'm actually looking forward to this even though I haven't really got myself to think about it yet

I'm an Ambassador of Holiness, that's a higher calling than worrying about moving location, or the conditions of living, or income, or work, people etc. God is sovereign and always will be.

Come on world, you're yet to find the truth if you're not a disciple of Jesus!

I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me

John 13:20

Cost of following Jesus

18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said,

"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Mathew 8:18-22

I'm in His hands

732 SASB

1. I shall not fear though darkened clouds may gather round me;

The God I serve is one who cares and understands.

Although the storms I face would threaten to confound me,

Of this I am assured:

I'm in his hands.

Chorus

I'm in his hands,

I'm in his hands;

Whate'er the future holds

I'm in his hands,

The days I cannot see

Have all been planned for me;

His way is best, you see;

I'm in his hands.

2.What though I cannot know the way that lies before me?

I still can trust and freely follow his commands;

My faith is firm since it is he that watches o'er me;

Of this I'm confident:

I'm in his hands.

3.In days gone by my Lord has always proved sufficient,

When I have yielded to the law of love's demands;

Why should I doubt that he would evermore be present

To make his will my own?

I'm in his hands!

Stanley E. Ditmer

What do you think - 2

Do you think you're a good person? Why?

Are you doing your bit? How do you weight it all up? How do you justify your beliefs?

You might just be the nicest person in hell? What is the deciding factor between being the nicest person in hell and the worst person in heaven?

What are you're thoughts??

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"

Acts 2:21

Action and Re-Action

"However do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven"

Luke 10:20

I remember in high school learning in Physics about laws of motion and stuff like that. One of the things I remember was Newton's third law of motion which says basically, when one object places a force onto a second object, the second object places an equal, but opposite force back onto the first object. How was that basic summary? Action and re-action!

Thinking about 'action and re-action' when I read this passage in Luke today (above), I thought of God's 'action' of love and grace and my/our re-action and how we re-act to it.

How do you react to the love God has shown you, all the prayers He answers, that way out he showed you in a desperate time, His Son that stepped into your shoes and took away your debts, His grace?

There should be a re-action to God's action - Matt 28 from verse 16 tells us our re-action should be to go and tell the world all He has done for us.

Think about how your life is showing a re-action of God's action today.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."

1 John 4:18-20

Follow!

"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come', He said. 'The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. 'Come follow me' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'

At once they left their nets and followed Him"

Mark 1:14-18

Is Jesus telling you to leave your nets today and to follow Him?

What now!!

What a couple of weeks it's been financially with my car!

Two weeks ago I had to spend nearly $2000 on everything to do with my radiator, like the water pump, pipes, thermostat etc and the next day (after 4 working days in the garage) once I got it back there was more green coolant leaking! So where had all that money gone and towards what?

Anyway, I finally had a day off to take it back to ask what was going on and I get a phone call back saying now my radiator is cracked, which for my car will be around $1000 to replace!!! How can this be? I just paid them 2 grand to fix this problem in the first place, now they want to charge me more, $3000 total - how can I afford this? I'm trying to save for my trip to Rwanda!!

At first God told me to trust Him, and so I was coping with that even though that was most of the money I had saved for my trip to Rwanda, but now after this it's cost me basically the whole trip.

I think I'm feeling a bit (maybe very) depressed right now. Where to from here, do I really need to trust Him more in everything or is God telling me He doesn't want me going to Rwanda after all- which is the correct message?

I was just praying and God gave me Philippians 3:11-13, it says

"so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing; Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead"

That means a few things to me, (slightly out of context from the passage - but by itself it is a message to me). Firstly, I need to keep striving for Holiness, secondly, don't worry about this speed hump, but keep looking forward to what He will use me for in Africa and then finally an answer to prayer... resurrection from the dead! It's something I've been praying for years about to witness, especially what I've envisioned in Africa, God doing amazing miracles through me like healings and even raising the dead!

It's funny by just reading those 3 verses how it ties together everything for this trip for me - keep looking ahead and strive for Holiness and God will get the glory!

Hallelujah!