Worship in spite of...

To say that I have been somewhat emotional for the last 2-3 weeks is an understatement. There's been a lot happening (of which I won't get into here).

My point is that in spite of the crap, we need to choose to worship! No matter how we feel inside!

Choosing to do this is no easy feat! In the old testament we read that David spent 7 days on his face praying for his son. His son still died. Then we read that David got up, washed himself, changed his clothes and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped! Its an easy thing to read. But its not so easy to do! I know this from personal experience.

Its a matter of being intensional! Choosing to do it in spite of...

Right now, for me, with everything that has been happening - worshipping is the last thing I feel like doing! Especially because 90% of the time I end up in tears. But, I still try! Why? Because it is a sacrifice. It is me, putting aside all the crap, pain and other stuff, and saying to God, "here I am, in spite of all this, I am still trying to come to You!"

So, next time you go through a crap time, or emotional, painful time, try and step into Gods presence and see what happens!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you. And may you be coated in the dust of your Rabbi!

Thought for the day

I feel a rising expectancy that something big is headed our way. And we either need to prepare for it or get out of its way. Because its not going to stop for us! It will either bring us into it, or we will drown!
We need to loose our stubborn grip on the life we know. We need to stop walking in mans doctrine and our pointless religious ways. We need to learn to relax and go with the flow! The flow of the Holy Spirit, that is! Or, we move over and let God through!
This, whatever it is, is happening whether we want it or not. Whether we are prepared or not. Its like a run away freight train! No brakes. God is at the wheel!

You either are or you aren't! The fence is made of razor wire - do you really want to park your ass on it?

As for me and my house - we will serve the Lord. What will you do?

May Gods blessings shower down upon you. And may you be coated in the dust of your Rabbi!

Do unto others... repay evil... bless not curse...

Just because the bible says that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us, doesn't mean that we should behave like ignorant petty people...

If someone decides today that they see fit to send "negative prayers" or "negative blessings" our way, doesn't mean we should send them back, packaged in pretty boxes with delicate ribbons, labelled as blessings! Even if they were sent with the intension of being a blessing!

Matthew 7: In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfils the law and the prophets.

Doing to others as we want done to us, means just that! If they throw mud, does not mean that we should throw it back! If we dont want mud thrown at us, then we should try to be polite and kind to them.

1 Peter 3: 9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit. 11 And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

We are meant to bless, not curse. We are meant to pray for our enemies!

Here's something to get your head around: if your enemy sets up a sex shop in the main street of your town - what do you do?
You have several options:
1. Lobby the council to get rid of it - doubt they would, unless they are christians - and if they are christians - why was it allowed in the first place?
2. Spend hours a day praying for the business to financially fail and thus cause the closure of the business (this in effect is praying a negative prayer, which is actually placing a financial curse on the business or business owners - and we are meant to BLESS not curse!)
3. We could look ass backwards to everyone else, and ask God for blessings for the business and its owners!
4. We could sit on a bums and do nothing and sit by and watch as countless marriages and families are ruined!

Personally, I'll take option number 3, thanks!

I chose the scenario of a sex shop opening in town, because that is what happened in my town! Some lobbied the council - that fell on deaf ears! The world in general sees nothing wrong with a sex shop - why would they want it closed?
Others prayed that God would close it and "teach the owners a lesson". That failed too! God is into loving people, and He wants us to show that love! Being harsh and mean and demanding that their livelyhood goes to rack and ruin isn't the greatest way of showing Gods love!
We finally tried Gods way - asking Him to bless them! And not just fluffy little blessings, like a new pair of pink fluffy slippers, but deep and meaningful blessings. That the owners of the business would be blessed with the revelation and understanding of how much God loves them. That they would be blessed with business knowledge, to become successful business owners. To be blessed with enough income to put food of the table, pay their mortgage and other bills. And finally to be blessed with a long, strong and lasting marriage.

Soon after those kinds of prayers were prayed for the owners of the sex shop, it closed! Get my point!

If we CHOOSE to pray blessings for our enemies, then step aside and let God deal with their hearts, miracles happen. God suddenly has something He can work with!

He is busting to love on people - even our enemies!

Matthew 5: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour' and 'hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Sending curses packaged up in pretty boxes, is simply a nice pretty way to be disobedient to God!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you. And may you be coated in the dust of your Rabbi!

Communion

Don't ya hate it when things come back to haunt you? When things you think long dead and past start walking around in your head as if they happened yesterday!
Life has a way of resurrecting dead crap!

On the 19 of November, just a few days ago, we had, although we didn't realise it, due to being so busy, the 6th anniversary or birthday of Abiah. Then the following day Razzy needed to be put down. All that with the sorting and processing of about 2000 wedding photos.

Stress and emotions do not mix! At least, not very well!

My point in this is Jesus.
Without Him, the emotional turmoil alone would have had me spiralling out of control.

Who would have guessed that when God says He will not give so much that we can not bear it, it would be true? Who would have guessed that when lifes storms roll in, Jesus is there to calm us!

What He did, was more than die for salvation and removal of sin and sickness.

What he did was for relationship. He holds us in the storm, when everything feels like its turned to crap, He is there.

After Razin died, one thing I said was "Oh death, where is your sting? Through the turmoil, I have peace!" Why? Not because I was suddenly fine. But because of God!

I handed my sick little kitty into His care. I handed my unborn child into His care. And He said, "thank you, I can handle this, you go over there, sit down, ball your eyes out for a while. We've gotten you through these painful times before. Remember? You didn't just survive Exavier. You lived and you grew. Growing time is upon you. Learn to trust Me. You're allowed to cry. Its not just a six year old memory of a child you never got to meet. Its not just a cat. These are lifes storms. Even the walking undead stuff that comes up occasionally! Together, we will get you through this.
This is why I did what I did. Not just for your sins. Not just for your health. For your relationship.
You love your children. You love your cat. And all that pales in comparison to what I have for you."

Life comes out of death.

Eat, drink and count your blessings.
 

Need and want. For and with.

There is a distinct difference between need and want!

For example: I want a new car! I dont need a new car, because the car I have gets me from A to B and back again! It won't go everywhere I want it to, like 4wd tracks and out bush... But it works, and so far has proven to be reliable! Thus I dont need a new car, I just happen to want one! A bigger one with 4wd capability!

Here's something that some might find shocking... God doesn't need us!

I'm going to say that again! God doesn't need us!

Instead - God wants us!

This is shown in the very fact that when Adam and Eve did their thing in the garden, God let the live! He didn't wipe out their very existence and start over. He went searching for them, He had a plan, not only for them, but for us!

He wanted us, and He still wants us!

Here's something else - God is not for us!

So, He neither needs us nor is for us! What are we to do then? Well, in all honesty, we can't really do anything!

If we try getting to him through our own self-righteousness, we fail. Because that is like dirty rags to God! (Some have said, and I'm no theologian, so I don't know for sure, that when it says dirty rags, it means the menstrual rags of a woman - and that's almost vomit worthy to me, and I'm not God!)

So, self-righteousness won't cut it!

How do we get to God then? Because being good is essentially self-righteousness!

The Holy Spirit woos us. Because Jesus did something totally shocking. God allowed it! And it was the only way for us to get to heaven! The Father wants us to come to Him, by way of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus!

So, if you want to get to heaven, you better go find Jesus! He can help you!

And by the way - when God wants something, He won't stop persuing it until He gets it! So if you are wanted by God, you're in good company! And He is gentle!

Yes, He did everything in the old testament. Yes, He is essentially a warlord. Its called passion in the extreme, as only God can do it! He is a jealous God. And He can get rather angry! However, going by personal experience, if He is wooing, then He is so very gentle, and will turn up in the least expected of places!

For me, it was my lounge room! Dark, and full of demons, the stench of hell was rather thick, yet God turned up! In the midst of my filth, crap and sin, God stepped in. His words to me when I asked why are you here - BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!
Now that's called wooing! Id had all kinds of humans telling me that God loved me! I didn't believe them, and I even refused to speak to some of them! So, God decided on a personal visit! He didn't need to! He WANTED to! Did He like what I was doing? Not a bit! Did He like me? You bet! He liked me so much that He went on the hunt, as I ran and tried to Hide from Him, He hunted me! He did not relent one single bit (for which I am most happy)! He was gentle, and kind! Which was what I needed but didn't want!

If He for me? No! Is He with me? Yes!

For and with are like need and want!

I need to want Him, I need to be for Him! Because He wants me and He is with me!

How about you?

May Gods blessings shower down upon you. And may you be coated in the dust of your Rabbi!

Keep the connection all week, not just for Sunday

Your relationship with God is your connection with God! Life can get in the way and try to sever that connection! You need yo "fight" to maintain that connection! Doing things like deliberately setting aside time to read the bible and pray, or pitting on worship music during the day! These will help to maintain that connection!

To have a healthy relationship with someone we need to work at it! We need communication, not just one sided, but both parties speaking and listening! God is a good listener, we also need to let Him speak to us! Which means that we need to spend some time with Him where our mouths are shut and we are listening! (Be still and know.)

Just as you need to spend time with your friend or spouse or child, to get to know them, you need to spend time with God to get to know Him! Sundays are great... But do you only spend one day a week with your husband or wife? No, you spend everyday with them! Its the same with God! He desires to spend time with us!

And dont think that to do that, you need to get up at 4am and pray for three hours! If you're not a morning person, then it won't work. I'd suggest that you find time somewhere else! You need to be smart in how you do it! I take a minute here and a minute there throughout my day to spend time with God. And I'm talking to Him about whatever I am doing, seeing or feeling! Spending time with God is a personal thing, between you and Him! And just because some preacher says that they read 10 chapters of the bible a day, doesn't mean you can! You need to be flexible and try things... Try something for a couple of weeks, then evaluate it! Dud you grow in your relationship? Did you feel any connection? And remember, there will be times when it is a struggle, those times are an investment. You reap what you sow. So if you sow time with God now, when its hard, you'll reap His presence in a deeper way later! And as a by-product, you'll have grown in your maturity and understanding, not only of yourself, but also of God!

So, go forth and grow! :) Enjoy you time with God!

May Gods blessings shower down upon you. And may you be coated in the dust of your Rabbi!