Ask and keep on asking

That is right where I fail! Because I ask once and stop asking!

I keep getting told that God will give me the desires of my heart! And then I wonder, why I don't yet have those desires!

Now what comes before that piece of scripture? Is is "seek the Lord with all your heart?" hang on, that doesn't sound quite right, "delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart"! (its in the bible somewhere -I've read it - if you want to know where, go find it!)

So what does that have to do with ask and keep on asking (ask and it you will get, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open - my version of a new testament scripture.)? Well, don't you think we should delight ourselves in asking God for the desires of our hearts? Is that even right?

All I know is that while we delight ourselves in the Lord, we should also ask for the desires of our hearts!

Now here's something that people keep telling me! Apparently that word ask in its original language (of which I do not speak or read) says something like ask and keep on asking... Now, I would suggest (very strongly) that you do not take my word on this, but go and find out for yourself!

And apparently the seek and knock is the same as asking... Seek and continue seeking (until you have found) knock and keep on knocking (until the door is open). But again I (very strongly) recommend that you find this out for yourself!

As for me, I am about to grab some breakfast, a hot chocolate and sit at my computer once again, and ask (and most likely, keep on asking) God for this communion message I am supposed to be writing! Oh how I need inspiration! (Thankfully after yesterdays efforts and prayers I have some very, very loose ideas!)

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Message writing...

I am amazed! After our home group on Wednesday night, Ps Graeme asked the small group that hadn't yet gone home who wanted to do the communion message! I kinda shyly put my hand up because I felt that God said to do it! And everytime that has happened I've had a message! But this time, I'm struggling to put two sentences together! Instead of having a message delivered right there and then, I've had impressions of books to read, songs and a handful of words that could be strung together to make something meaningful!

God knows that I hate waiting! He also knows that I want to share what He is saying. And to be honest, I'm not even sure if I'm hearing correctly! Impressions and half whispered thoughts are not much to go on!

Lets just say I'm running the risk of getting frustrated! But God already knows that too! I'm so very glad that He knows me and what I'm like! And, I did have warning, being stretched... That's an understatement and a half!

I have no idea what God wants me to bring, I have assurance that I will get a message, and I also have assurance that I will be stretched! This is not fun! I know that I have to go with it. I cant pull back! I have to be courageous!

Please pray for me!

Issues and opinions

Over the past however many years I have had a stream of people telling me what issues that they think I have and how they think I should deal with them!

A short time ago, I decided that I would seek God on what issues I have, what needs dealing with and in what order! And so far that has worked!

However, it still hasnt stopped people telling me what they think I am and how I should change!

Recently I set myself to doing only what God tells me to do! (Easier said than done.) Part of doing only what God wants, is humbling myself and seeking His face! I'm not as good at this as I would like to be! However, I seem to be making small amounts of progress!

And still people have their opinions of me! Good for them! Everyone is entitled to their opinions! (I just wish some would keep them to themselves!)

My point is, that no matter what we, I or you do, people are still going to give their opinions (whether true, accurate or whatever) of how they perceive us! What we have to do is come to God and listen to what He says about us! Because that is more important that what any other human will say!

God will highlight to us what areas of us need fixing and how to fix it! And He may choose to use other humans to do this, we still need to be seeking Him for guidance! Our walk with God, and our relationship with God is our responsibility! While God meets us where we are at, He doesn't want us to stay there! If we are unwilling to move and change and be healed, then we will eventually grow barren.

There have been times in my life where I've felt like I've gone barren! The only way to get past that is to willingly (and sometimes forcefully) seek God! It is a choice to seek God!

I've seen the results of people who used to pray and seek God, who, for whatever reason, have stopped seeking God! It's not pretty! Its sad!

If we continue to seek God, He will do amazing things in our lives! He will change us and transform us! The bible says from glory to glory!

What we need to do is decide - will I be like ... who tells me I am this, that and the other and no good, or will I be like Jesus who tells me I am adopted as part of the family, I am loved and I am accepted! Remembering that Jesus wants to change us as much as the next person! But unlike the next person, Jesus has our heart in mind! He created us, He knows what is best for us! And no other created being is going to know that!

So next time someone tells you that you have issues "a, b and c", seek what God has to say! He may just tell you to put those ones on the shelf and deal with "x, y and z"!

It comes down to a choice! Do I want to be like _____ (who is in fact a created being, just like me!) Or do I want to be like Jesus (who created me, knows my heart and has my best in mind)?



May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Study: Numbers 14, Hebrews 6 Part 3

Hebrews 6:4-8 (Message)
4 Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, 5 once they've personally experienced the sheer goodness of God's Word and the powers breaking in on us--

Ok, here's my understanding, after reading this through I don't know how many times now! (I'm still not sure I've got it, but hey!)

The people spoken of in v4-5 are those who for whatever reason, turned and walked away from God! Not that I understand why one would do that after so much effort in their relationship with God, but that is besides the point!

6 if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can't start over as if nothing happened. That's impossible. Why, they've re-crucified Jesus! They've repudiated him in public!

Is it saying that it is impossible to start over as if nothing happened, or is it saying that it is simply impossible to start over?

7 Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God's "Well done!" 8 But if it produces weeds and thistles, it's more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.

Is the parched ground peoples hearts?

I think I'll be going back over this one again! :) I'm praying that God continues to give me wisdom and understanding!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Study Numbers & Hebrews prayer

Lord, I'm just not getting it! I feel so out of my depth with these two chapters. I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew! I need wisdom and understanding!
I want to grow in knowledge of you, Lord. I think I'm stuck. I honestly don't know what you are saying here! And its more than obvious that I lack any form of spiritual maturity.
Lord, I want your help to grow. I need your understanding. And I want your blessing, so I can bless others!
Help me God.
Amen

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Study: Numbers 14, Hebrews 6 part 2

Hebrews 6 (NLT)
1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. 4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened-- those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come-- 6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. 7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God's blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. 9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don't believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance. 13 For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: 14 "I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number." 15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. 16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Ok, firstly, I feel somewhat out of my depth here! I certainly don't think I have anything of insight here to offer!

Verses 4-6 are full on! And it kinda reminds me of what God said to the Isrealites, when they had given a bad report to the people about the land. These verses have gotten me stuck! I think of myself here... I was a "Christian" (very loose definition here). I had very limited understanding, and eventually turned and walked away from God! (To become a witch of all things.) There was for a while a debate to decide if back then, I was even saved at all! I guess in a way, that question still comes up! "For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened--" To be honest, I doubt I was enlightened! And as I have no real concrete understanding of this, even now - I'm still not sure if I am enlightened!

I think some prayer, and discussion with others over this is needed!

Please, put your thoughts, ideas and enlightenments into the comments!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Study: Numbers 14, Hebrews 6 part 1

Numbers 14 (NLT)
1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. "If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" they complained. 3 "Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" 4 Then they plotted among themselves, "Let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!" 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, "The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!" 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!" 13 But Moses objected. "What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?" he asked the LORD. "They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt. 14 Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 'The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.' 17 "Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said, 18 'The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected-- even children in the third and fourth generations.' 19 In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt." 20 Then the LORD said, "I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD's glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. 25 Now turn around, and don't go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. " 26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27 "How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 " 'You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness. 34 " 'Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years-- a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.' 35 I, the LORD, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!" 36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land-- the ones who incited rebellion against the LORD with their bad report-- 37 were struck dead with a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. 39 When Moses reported the LORD's words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us." 41 But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD." 44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD's Covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah.

After a basic reading of this, the thing that sticks out to me is, firstly, the people grumbled, whined, complained... And God punished them for it! Then, they were ready to defy God again and go where they were told they weren't going!

How many of us have done that in our lives? I know I have (or at least, I'm sure I have). There have been things that God has said, and I've grumbled and complained, and outright refused to do what  I was told!

"Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed." I'm not sure why this stuck out at me.

Please, put your thoughts, ideas and enlightenments into the comments!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Question! Blessing or Cursing?

Is it our right, privilege or position to curse something?
What I am asking is do we have the right or the authority to curse something?
Say a person has a growth, it's causing pain, discomfort and stress. When we pray, do we have a right to curse the growth, in the hope that it will die? (Without causing the person to die, of course!)
I am wondering this, because we had a sex shop in town open up! The praying people sprang into action, cursing the business, it stayed, got more clients and generally flourished! But when we had a change of perspective and began praying blessings for the couple who owned the business, within a very short time, it was closed!
The blessings that were prayed were that they would be blessed to know God, blessed to know Gods love for them, and blessed to know that their business helps destroys families!
So my question is, if a person has a growth in their body that isn't meant to be there, would it be better to curse that growth or bless it?

May Gods blessings shower down upon you.

Prayer ministry: understanding bitter people

One who is biased and judgmental is unable to accept or even understand the realities of the lives of other humans! They believe that their way is the absolute and only way and everyone should conform to them and their standards! Even if their standards are full of bitterness and hate! Strife and anger follow these people around. And they seem to find it pleasurable to forcefully wrip into others! Simply because their expectations and demands (even the utterly impossible ones) have not been met! These people need to learn how to relinquish control and forgive, not only those around them, but themselves as well! They need deep and on-going prayer ministry! They need to deal with their bitter-root judgments, forgive their parents, relinquish control, and repent of their sins! There is hope for these people! It is called the redeeming blood and life of Jesus Christ! He is the only one who can help them! The rest of us just need to pray for them and try to love them - even if it is with "tough love"! Saying the hard words to them (when lead by the Holy Spirit) will help soften their granite hearts! Pray for people like this! And if necessary (to not get hurt, stomped on or squished) love them from a distance!

Morning prayer

Lord, I come before you and acknowledge you as Sovereign. You alone are Holy. Praise be to You.
I ask that You continue to work in the hearts and minds of Your people! I ask that You continue to soften us, and bring us to repentance before You! Teach us humility and respect! We have water down Your word at best and at worst, thrown it out completely! Lord, we as Your church repent of neglecting Your Word, and neglecting to teach and preach Your Word! May we start afresh in and with You!
Lord, You know better than I do, the different problems in my little section of Your church. I ask that You soften the hard hearts, heal the broken hearts and encourage the discouraged hearts.
Lord I lift up our Pastors to you. I ask that you grant them wisdom and discernment. Give them both sweet restful sleep! And speak to their hearts! They have the huge burden of leading this section of Your body, so I ask that they get enough sleep each night and are refreshed and renewed!
Lord, I ask, that in spite of us, Your Word will still be preached, that Your people of this country will rise together and repent and turn from our wicked ways, and that we would seek You wholeheartedly, and that we wouldn't stop seeking You! That no matter what, we would seek You. That we would seek Your face, that we would seek for relationship with You. That we wouldn't just seek what You can give us! And in seeking Your face, I ask that we be blessed. Blessed with knowing You. Blessed with a relationship with You. And blessed in whatever other way You see fit for each individual!
Lord, this nation needs to know You, not just know about You! Give us opportunities to share You with those around us! And may we be paying attention to see those opportunities! May we be blessings and not pains in the butt to those around us who don't yet know You! May we be filled with grace and mercy! And may Your name be praised!
In Jesus name, amen!

What on earth do I call this??

There is more to worship than just singing songs. Worship is a lifestyle and heart attitude. Many people are deep worshipers yet don't sing songs... They use words in other ways. They express their worship and adoration in other ways! And worship isn't just for Sunday mornings, Sunday nights or what ever other night you meet together for church! Its an everyday thing! Its our connection!

I'm going to try a little interactive fun! (This means that you leave your thoughts below in the comments section! Please remember to be nice! Comments are moderated and certain behaviour will not be tolerated!)

I'm going to give you a short list of things to ponder! What I want you to do is write down (either in the comments below or in your journal if you have such a thing) the first thing that comes to your mind! The first thing that you think of! And don't panic is you cant think of anything straight up! That’s part of the pondering!

1. What is the first name or title that comes to your mind when you think about God?
2. Give a short description of how you worship when you are most relaxed and no-one is watching!
3. What is your preferred “mode” of worship?

The point of all of this is so that you can learn about you! We don't often give thought to the things we do! We don't often know why we do what we do!

My husband challenged me one day! I'd just finished making tuna mornay for dinner. He questioned me - “why do we not have any vegetables?” My answer was simply because I couldn't be bothered! But then he went on to say that whenever we had tuna mornay we never had vegetables with it! And he wanted to know why! He also wanted to know if I had been taught to not have vegetables with it! In all honesty – I couldn't answer him because I hadn't stopped to think about it!

We humans do things and never stop to think about why!

When I first started my business, all the information I could find concerning advertising and marketing was based on fear! Why is that? “If you're not in first position on page one of google you risk loosing clients!” Many have told me that and many still try! I have no desire to buy into fear! Yet many do, thinking that all these things will help their businesses grow! When if they actually stopped and thought about it, they would see that half of these fear based ideas are pointless wastes of time, effort and money!

Is this the road that the church is going down? This program, that program and the other program, all because it worked in that small church in that town in that country? With no though given! What works there, may not work here! Are people fearful of being seen as not doing anything for God, instead of doing what God wants? If God called you to pray and preach, what are you doing running children’s church? Have you thought about your motives?

Why is it that many stop coming to church? Is it that other things have gotten in the way or is it something deeper?

Why is it that people are fearful of being who they were created to be?

There is more than one way to do something – and in certain circumstances, there is no right or wrong way! So why are we so fearful that we will get it wrong??

God created us as individuals, yet we so often try to do “one size fits all”. Why do we do that? And don't tell me that it is sheep mentality, because I've seen some rather stubborn sheep who refuse to go with the rest of the flock!

Why do we never, or at best, hardly ever, stop and seek what God has to say to us and about us? We've never asked Him why we so desperately hate singing in church, yet love with an intense passion, listening to hour after hour after hour of preaching? Why is it that we love cooking, the more mouths to feed the better? If we just took the time, God may just tell us that we love preaching, because He wants us to be preachers. We love cooking because He wants us to feed the hungry! We've never taken the time to understand ourselves, let alone those around us! - That guy over there, he's a bit smelly, he speaks really slowly and has a hard time grasping the most simple of truths about God, so we ignore him as if he doesn't even exist! We don't even know his name!

I recorded a communion message in church on Sunday... It was by a guy in church who has trouble grasping some things! But when he gets it, he really gets it! And I know from many conversations that he has this habit of producing tidbits of wisdom! There are some who may just want to ignore this guy and write him off because of his many issues! And there are many more people in the world like him! Where life has not been kind! But just because their outer shell doesn't look so good, or smell so good, or they cant speak perfect English or whatever, doesn’t mean we should ignore them! They could teach us something about ourselves, if we are willing to take the time to stop and learn!

Why are we on this earth? Was it for a reason or was it so we could be born, live life, shed some tears, laugh a little, then die? Or is there some bigger purpose? And why is asking questions frowned upon? Do we know what we believe and believe what we know?

Knowledge without love is useless!

You can have all the knowledge in the world, but without love, you've got nothing! And I'm not meaning that wishy washy human idea of love! I'm meaning that deep down God love! The love that hung Christ on the cross, kind of love! Its a love that can not exist without God Himself! So if you spend all your life seeking knowledge and believe that knowledge and understanding are your power, then you are fooling yourself! And just because you can't prove that God exists in a science lab, doesn't mean He doesn't exist!
Knowledge won't get you into heaven, it won't tell your children that you love them beyond any shadow of a doubt, and it won't keep you warm at night! Granted, knowledge might help get you that multi-million dollar paying job, but will it help you sleep? When you stop long enough, you hear that deep longing for something more - will your knowledge bring you comfort? I doubt it! When it really matters, knowledge will leave you high and dry! A man once said that everything is meaningless, and he had great wisdom! He eventually concluded that we need God at the foundation of our lives, because without Him, nothing matters! What is the point of existing if we are to live in a world where knowledge brings coldness! Knowledge can't help with lifes aches! It lacks the capacity to bring comfort! Only the love of our Creator, Jesus Christ, can bring any comfort and peace to our lives! Knowledge is futile! We are spiritual beings, we need to accept that! We need more than what knowledge could ever dream of giving us! And that more, is hope, eternal life, deep abiding love, grace, mercy, forgiveness and humility. And we can only get that from Jesus! Knowledge can only teach us about these things, and maybe if knowledge tries hard enough, it might show us that we need them! But it can never fulfil the longing in our inner most being!