Getting intimate with axe heads.

There are verses in the bible that keep coming up in conversation, in preaching, in books being read... Why does this happen? Because God wants us to get the message.

I had a dream this morning where a group of people and I were sitting talking about this very subject. And one of the ladies said that a particular chunk of scriprure kept coming back to her and being in her face. I was prompted to tell her why.

What I said was someyhing like this.

We are meant to be about the Fathers business, and to do that, we need to have intimacy with Him. To be intimate is to spend time with Him, but we cant do that if we drop the axe head.

I read the story where a group of guys are out chopping wood to build stuff, and one of them borrowed and axe head from someone so he could do his bit. He's working away then he looses his axe head.

I have seen people, they are working away and then they stop. Why did they stop, becsuse they lost their axe head or they lost their intimacy with God.

In the story, the guy goes to the man of God and says to him, that he cant work because he lost the axehead and what's worse is the thing was borrowed.

The man of God says to him, take me to where you lost it. It wasnt "go to the shop and buy a new one". It wasn't "go and borrow another one". It was "take me the the exact spot where you lost the thing".

They go there, and the guy says its in there. It sunk to the bottom of the water. As axe heads will do! But, the man of God picks up a stick tosses it in and the axe head floats, and the guy retreives it!

The point is, that if we stop being intimate with God, we need to ask ourselves what happened! Did we move away? Did we drop our axe head?

We cant be about the Fathers business if we do not know what that business is. And we are meant to be stewards, not servants.

To be a steward, we need to be on the same page as the boss. Because we have access to His thoughts, His desires etc.

A servant will do only what they are told, they may have an incling of the bigger picture, but they are slaves, the big picture means nothing to a slave. Slaves do only what they are told to do, nothing more. Unless they have the desire to become a steward.

To be about the Fathers business we need to be about the Father. Intimacy.

Yearly? Well, you can try! But if you have a spouce and you only see them once a year on Christmas,  are you really going to know what gift they want? You can guess, but you wont have had intimate conversations to find out what they like. So yearly with God doesn't cut it in the intimacy department.

What about monthly? Well, monthly, you've gotten closer to being a steward, but you are still a slave. The simple fact is that whilst once a month with God is a great improvement on once a year, in reality, if youre onlt committed to once a month, you may as well be committed to only once a year, because once a month isnt enough to get that intimacy thing going. Instead of being almost total strangers, you're sort of acquaintances, who still have huge awkward moments, periods of silence, and a vague desire to end the conversation to go your separate ways!

Once a week is a huge imptovement. Your relationship has kicked up a gear. You know the other enough to overlook the awkwardness. You know the other person likes coffee, but you've never made it for them.

But to have the relationship with God where you and He are in the same book, on the same page, requires effort on your part. When you don't feel like it, when you're sick in bed, when you're so busy that you're run off you're feet and thouroughly exhausted, when the world is great... its a daily thing, even an hourly thing, and right down to spending every spare minute with Him, even every second. And yes, you can still work while spending time with God. You can talk to your passengers in the car while you drive? You can tslk to God while you do stuff. You talk to your family whilst preparing dinner? You can do the same with God.

To swim means you need to get wet past your ankles.
To see the axe head float, means you need to go back to where you lost it.
To be intimate with God requires you to desire His presence wherever you are and with whomever you're with, whatever you're doing, every second of the day.

Things come up again and again and again becsuse God is trying to tell us something. Are our ears painted on? Or are we being about the Fathers business, in intimacy, leading devoted lives, that are totally in tune and walking in cadence with Gods Spirit?

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

After funeral thoughts...

Why is it that funerals have a way of transporting me back in time? I've only ever been in close proximity to 2 white coffins, one was today and the other was Exaviers.

This transportation happened at a different funeral too. At the burial service. There I was at the Glen Innes cemetary, yet I felt like I was back on that day, watchimg Exavier be lowered into the ground.

Have I not dealt with this grief thing? Am I holding onto something? Why does this come up? I got frustrated with myself for not keeping it together, for stumbling whilst reading a scripture. I thought I was stronger than that.

So much for being a comfort to those who are hurting. How do I put my crap aside and actually be there for others? After so many years I feel like some wounds have not been closed.

I thought it had been dealt with, that chapter closed. Tucked away for safe keeping. But no, it seems like it is wide open and at every funeral I attend, at some point in time I am left to "revisit" Evaviers funeral. I wish I could keep it all separate, but no. It seems that that is simply not possible. Am I forever going to be stuck in this place? Because my plea for people to not die seems to be ignored periodically. And at times I simply can not refuse to go to the funeral.

I don't like to remember the pain of that moment. As if it's not enough to know everyday that there should be more than one child gracing my home!

How do I remain in control of my emotions when others are in need of comfort? I cant just run away and hide. Though, I wish I could.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

I hate funerals

I hate funerals!
Why do people feel the need to die?
And what part of life is death?

I used to think that funerals were solemn occasions for quiet reflection,  to offer support to the family and friends left behind.

But then I had to bury my own daughter. First born, of a single mother. And discovered that funerals are not solemn occasions,  for quiet reflection. In reality, they are a hellish reminder that the nightmare can not be woken up from, that the anguish is actually real, and that a life has ended.

Words can not describe the pain, sleep fails to appear, and time drags on agonisingly slowly. The world drifts by in a haze. And some expect you to be over it in 6 moths.

When we "quietly reflect", upon what are we reflecting? Ourselves or the one who has died?

Is the funeral about the one who died, or is it about our loss?

We say some words, sing some songs, tell the person things we should have told them before they died, put them in the ground. Then what? Life goes on! It doesn't stop for mourners. Work eventually wants us back, people drift away,  the planet continues to spin, one day drifts wearily into the next.

Can we really say that God is good? If we are brutally honest, do we really believe that God is good? What if we prayed for healing? Is God still good because the person died? Or do we inwardly and secretly believe that God is a load of crap because our loved one died?

What if?
Why?
Will the answers to these questions make life more livable?

I hate funerals because they impose reality on us in a harsh and painful manner.

Every funeral I went to prior to my daughters was "a walk in the park", because there was no pain attached to it. No feeling of loss, just a vague sense of discomfort from those closest to the deceased. But then after the funeral of my daughter, every funeral takes me back to that one. That one earth shattering moment of realisation that she is gone.

Funerals are a painful reminder of the frailty amd fragility of human life. They are also the reminder that for another family and set of close friends that the nightmare and anguish are real, and there is no waking up.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Religion or relationship?

My faith, or my "religion" wont get you into heaven.

I feel the need to clarify something. Religion... my interpretation of this word is as follows. Religion... a dead boring church or other service where one pays lip service to the thing or things being "worshipped"! A day in, day out ritual with all the heart and soul sucked out of it, until it has become meaningless and pointless. The very thing that God says He detests. In His word He says that He would prefer obedience over sacrifice. And this obedience is not from coercion, its because you want to. And religion is full of sacrifice. Not to mention rules! You can't do this. You can't do that. You MUST do this. And doing that will cause you to loose your salvation. Eh, who needs it!?

A friend of mine hit the nail on the head one night when he said, we preach too much Paul to the "nonbelievers", or "unsaved". We hit them with rules and regulations, tell em to shape up, and change themselves, to be better presented to God! And what he said is true. But if we stopped and looked, Pauls writings were meant for who? Ephesians was written to the church at Ephesus. The key word there is CHURCH! The book of Romans was written to who? The church at Rome. Again the key word there is the CHURCH!

There is a world of hurting people out there and they don't need a list of things they need to fix or change! They most likely already know what they need to fix or change. What they need to know is while they were living in that crap and pain, Christ died for their lives. For them. Just as they are, covered in crap, hurting like no tomorrow. His death for their life. Thats what they need to know. Leave Paul for those of us who are already committed to God, committed to living our lives the way He created us to.

To the hurting you share the stories of the healings and the miracles and the countless times it says Jesus had compassion for them... They don't need a set of bloody rules, they need to be loved, to be mended, to be healed,  to be picked up and put back together! They need hugs. Don't tell them that God loves them then slap them with "you sinner, you will go to hell because you smoke"! That's rude and uncalled for.

I remember in a church we went to. We had a "lady of the night" come in. Sweet thing she was. But, a couple of people said she couldn't come to church dressed like that. Ok, so it might make some people squeemish, and it might cause some to have a burst of lust. (Those people might have some hidden issues...) But the fact was, she was in church. Obviously she wanted to know if Gods people actually care.

If God is a loving and merciful God, shouldn't His people also be loving and merciful? If a lady like the above mentioned, came into your church, would you turn her away? You say you wouldn't. Why don't I believe you? Maybe because I've seen too many hurting people turned away. We say welcome with our lips. Hurting people don't read our lips. We say go away by our behaviour. That is what hurting people see and take note of.

Have you talked to anyone who has been hurt by the church? I have. They almost always say that the church doesn't care. The church is meant to be the hands and feet of Christ. That doesn't mean we are to kick and punch people. That means that we are to walk with them in their journey. We are to hug them, support them, care for them. We are to show Gods love to them.

Ok. A little example to help you.
You are sitting on a park bench, in the middle of winter. You've just realise that you have no money, you are far away from home and absolutely starving hungry. What do you do? If its a Sunday, it shouldn't be too hard to find a church with someone in it who might be able to help! But are they willing to help? Say you haven't had a bath for 3 days. You're a little on the smelly side. Would they help you? There have been people from different churches try being a beggar, then they turn up to their church (where people apparently know them) and what happens? Sometimes someone offers to help them. But all too often, they are turned away! "God bless you and have a nice day" isn't going to help someone who is starving and homeless. What about the family who is living in a house, they have a car, the husband has a job, the wife is a stay at home mum, they have a mortgage, their bills are ever increasing. Then the bank springs a nasty one on them. Because of the financial stretches their small amount of money has to do, they have accidentally fallen behind on the mortgage. And even though they have tried and struggled, they just cant get ahead, and now they will be homeless because the bank wants their money last month... you get the picture. Are you going to step up and help them? Are you going to be Christ for them?

I've recently began acquiring horse poop from a friend. I told her that I would swap her horse poop for some vegies (when they start producing). Why? Because I can see that lifes struggles are tough on them too. And we are growing food to try and save some money ourselves, so why not share, ease the load for someone else? If I cant help someone carry their burdens, and support them through their struggles, what good am I? A few vegies probably wont do much. Feed them a night here, and a night there. But its attempting to be kind and generous. Jesus was kind and generous to me. I want to pass that kindness and generosity on to someone else. I cant feed anywhere near as many as I would like, but I can help ease the strain for one family.
If each of Gods people helped one other family (and one another) in some way, how much better would this world be? And don't you think that people would start saying "I like those christians - they helped us". Instead of saying, "the church is full of mean people, they never helped us when we needed it."

One other thing. (Actually its probably two). 1. Christian is meant to be Christ like. Go study His behaviour and learn how it is best to behave. 2. Church is community. Notice at the end of the word there is a smaller word - UNITY. Community is a group of people who work together in what? Yeah, you guessed it - in UNITY. They don't all need to think alike. If we did, we be a bunch of boring drones and that sounds too much like religion! We have been commanded to what? Tell people how much of a sinner they are? NO!! We have been commanded to LOVE ONE ANOTHER, as I (Jesus) have loved you. I dare you to go ask Jesus to show you how much He loves you. Then wait expectantly on Him for His answer. Once you have that answer, go and do likewise to whomever you meet! You may just change the world.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Worthiness

How can I be so presumptuous to state that God is worthy of my praise. As if I am above Him and He is somehow beneath me, and I have somehow decided that He is worthy to be praised by me!
I can understand that in a world full of other gods, that one could deem God worthy of their praise. But that still says that I have some element of something above and beyond God.
God is worthy of praise, no matter what! Whether I deem Him worthy or not. We need to keep our motives in check. We can not elevate ourselves above God.
I can not deem God to be anything. I can simply agree with what has already been said about Him, by Him. I can not decree that God is purple. That does not line up with what we know about Him. I can say that He is trustworthy, because He Himself said He is, and I can simply agree or try to disagree. He is worthy, because His word tells us that He is worthy. I offer Him praise and worship because I want to. But I can not state that He is worthy of my praise and worship. He is worthy. Its simple. In my heart, I can not elevate myself above Him by stating that He is worthy, clean, tidy, neat and presentable, to be in the same room with me while I offer Him praise. I can not say that He is worthy of my praise, because He is sovereign and I am not. We seem to have forgotten to have an element of reverence toward God.


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

Tried and failed... I just cant do it!!

I tried today to practice being an Atheist. I thought I'd try believing that my dog doesn't exist. Simply because, well, if I could be successful there, then I'd have a half a chance at believing that God doesn't exist.
The fact is, that the evidence is clear for the existence of both God and my dog.
God leaves calling cards laying around, and if our eyes are open then we will see them. Its the same with my dog, however, if you miss his calling cards, you may end up with something between your toes that you probably don't want between your toes!
Out of sight, out of mind, doesn't work. Like my dog, God has this habit of making Himself heard.
Whilst I'm sitting in the comfort of my lounge room, and my dog is "out of sight, out if mind", a truck, motorbike or dog will go past, and Hannibal will make his presence and thus, his existence known! God does this too. He shows up when I least expect it! How is it possible that I can "talk to the air" as some put it, and have answers?
I was questioned once about when I shared my testimony. I said that God showed up in my lounge room and after a short conversation I said to Him that He needed to prove His existence to me. He asked how I would have Him do that, and I replied, I want a child. And low and behold, 9 months later, a baby girl was born. The question that was put to me was, "didn't you have a partner and weren't you in a relationship, so isn't it possible that you dreamed the "God Experience" and simply fell pregnant due to your relationship?" This question was perfectly logical - for an idiot with only a fraction of information about me, my life, and my emotional state at the time!
At the time, I was trying to have a child and being completely unsuccessful, I was also a witch, and trying to ignore God, and I was a very angry person. And once a month I didn't want to know anyone, not even myself, because I had failed in the creation of a child. My practice as a witch had also failed me in the creation of a child and, there was no way I was going to willingly go to God, because I was trying to prove to myself that He didn't exist. Because if He actually existed, then my life was full of crap, and I was essentially in the wrong camp. I liked my life (except for the emotional rollercoaster) and if God existed, then I needed to change my life, and I didn't want to do that, because I would have to stop with the power trip, manipulations, cruelness and everything else. The existence of God would turn my world upside down. And I knew that people could doubt a conversation, but they couldn't doubt a baby. So I asked God for a baby. And He gave me a baby. As a consequence of that baby, my life changed. For the better.
So why am I trying to be an atheist today? To prove that I'm an idiot! How can I deny a God who granted me a child? How can I deny that my wonderful dog exists?  It's impossible. Unless I changed my world view and hardened my heart. Because of my experience, I can not deny the existence of God. Yet, by their experience others try to deny the existence of God. What hurts and bitterness are they carrying around that causes them the try to deny God?
I tried to deny God because of my mother and her religiousness. Because I was on the outside looking in, and all I saw was condemnation. That was partly why I tried to deny God. I was also in the wrong camp so to speak, as a witch. It became part of my duty to deny God, not only to myself, but to those around me! Yet, when things turned to shit, who was it I called out to for help? It wasn't any of my witchy friends, because I knew they didn't like being woken up at midnight, for something that wasn't a crisis to them. Yet, a God fearing christian friend answered the phone and prayed for me. And I survived.
There are so many times in my life where I have called out to God (or as some put it, spoken to the thin air) and had answers to my prayers. And some still call it coincidence. It reminds me of the last battle (Narnia stories). Where some dwarves were herded into a stable, they couldn't see that they were no longer in a stable. They couldn't see the Lion (Aslan) they could only see the stable. Their worldview was the stable, and in their stubbornness, they refused to see reality! Sounds like atheism to me!
So, how did I go with trying to believe that my dog doesn't exist? I completely failed - he looked at me with his cute puppy face. He made his face look sad. So I hugged him. So he exists, and I failed. Eventually everone is going to see that God exists, whether they want to or not!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

He HAD to be different.

Where all religions where built on violence, either towards hu ans or animals, it was violence. What Jesus decided to do was so different. Yes he was beaten and suffered violence. But when someone pulled a sword and  cut off an ear, Jesus responeded by telling him to put away his sword. "Stop the violence on my part." Even at his arrest, he was doing things differently. He was shown violence, yet didn't respond in kind. Instead He responeded with non-violence. His entire death was violent, yet, He was the Son of God, He could have defended Himself. He could have called angels to help Him. He could have gotten off the cross and killed all those who put Him there. But because He loved, even those who put Him there, He chose non-violence. He chose to demonstrate love. I can understand why some would describe Him as "Jesus, meek and mild." But love is hardly meek or mild. It is as strong as death. Even possibly stronger. Why would He choose to turn the other cheek, was it so He would have matching bruises? Or was it that He had looked upon us humans and thought to Himself, "all they know is violence, so I will show them just what love is."
From the outset, there was violence. The snake caused emotional violence, then there was the separation, because of the sin. Then Cain and Able, then countless others. Wars, battles, murder.... All we've known is violence and pain. Even sickness is violent in what it does to the human body. Sacrifices. Its all been violence. Yet, Jesus decides, its got to stop. He needs to teach us what love is. He needs to teach us what grace is. And He started with His death. The sacrifice to end all sacrifices, violence to end all violence.
So why is there still violence in the world? Has everybody accepted Jesus' way of doing things? No - so violence still exists. We're in a fallen world. Just because Jesus died and rose again, didn't fix everything. He gave us Himself, and the Holy Spirit, in order to be able to live in a fallen world. And eutopia doesn't work. At least not when you are dealing with sinful natures.
To stop the violence, person to person, then maybe we should all take another look at the life Jesus has offered us to live. And maybe we should take Him up on His offer.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Beliefs needs to be lived

These songs that say I believe in God or I believe in the Holy trinity, or I believe in the church and the communion of the saints, or I believe He (Jesus) died and rose again - where they once seemed to hold a lot of power, they have been rendered weak and useless,  because the devil also believs that stuff, and he at least has the nous to tremble about it! You and I can spout our beliefs until the cows come home... its not going to help us.  Our belief needs to be more than something we sing about. It needs to be something we live - daily. It needs to be our core essence, otherwise - whats the point of it? What is the point of believing in something if it doesn't affect us? I can believe that Jesus is Lord. That's easy! I can even confess (or sing) that Jesus is Lord. But I need to ask, which Jesus and what is He Lord of? Is He Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of the most high, living God? Or is He some other Jesus? What is He Lord of? If I say He is Lord of my life, yet go on living in sin, I am simply deluding myself and believing nothing but bullshit. If I say He is Lord of my life, then I need to live like that! My believe and subsequent confession needs to lived out in day to day reality. Because even the devil believes in Jesus, the Messiah!  And he isn't exactly "saved"!!!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Faith AND works = righteousness

Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
This states that patience (a fruit of the Spirit) is needed, as well as doing things (the will of God), to receive the promise... Sounds like receiving the promise is based of doing... so why do people say that we are meant to be human BEINGS (being in Gods presence - Mary) instead of being human DOINGS (doing stuff, busy - Martha)??? If to receive the promise we are to DO?!

The dog (church) has died because the dog (church) is not doing! For so long we (the church) swung our lopsided pendulum towards law based works (getting our butts into heaven based on our own filthy menstral rag self-righteousness), and now, the pendulum is swinging the other way... lets do faith without works and ignore where it says that faith without works is DEAD! No wonder it is such a struggle to get this dead dog on its feet... its point blank stubborn and somewhat sinful refusal to be obedient! Apparently sin is not sin, and we don't have to do anything about it! No wonder the world is confused - we're playing at being a camileion! We have blended into the background, being the world... because we refuse to do the will of God! We refuse to look after the widows and the orphans, we refuse to preach the good news (of Jesus Christ of Nazareth), we'd reather be sour face lemon sucking bitter christians. Dead, is dead! Cant do anything with dead, except to go and bury it! UNLESS... UNLESS we care a whole aweful lot! Unless we be faithful - which is a two-fold thing - trust and trustworthiness. Holding someone (God) to be credible, and being credible! Hmmm... the only thing a dead dog is credible for/with is well, being dead and becoming fertiliser!

Here's a thought... Abraham takes his son up the mountain to go sacrifice him, in spite of the promise - and God credits his ACTIONS (faith and obedience) as righteousness! Abraham had faith AND he had works and he was called righteous! Go figure!! Abraham believed/trusted/obeyed God and it was counted to him for righteousness... There is more to this faith thing than simply hoping/believing/trusting for things unseen! Technically speaking, you could call Abraham a human DOING, not a human BEING!!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

LIVING SACRIFICE - Child OF God -Co-heir WITH Christ... Its WHAT I am!

"When I was woven together in the DEPTHS OF THE EARTH" - GLOBE ... ADAM - DIRT MAN ... FIRST ADAM ... CHRIST - SECOND ADAM ... me woven in the DEPTHS of the earth - SISTER OF CHRIST! This is huge!

I have authority simply because I am adopted as a SISTER of Christ. Not a sister IN Christ, or a sister WITH Christ, but a sister OF Christ. Don't let that go to your head! Co-heir WITH Christ. I never got that before - kinda like - how is that even possible? I need to swap out the slave mentality for something completely different! Renew my mind... Not just refresh but renew - to make new!! Put off the old (slave), put on the new (Sister/Co-heir with).

It is so much deeper then simply get "saved"! I am starting to doubt that "saved" actually has anything to do with anything! Its simply mans doctrine!
To walk with God is more the point. To WALK with GOD. That is what Enoch did - he walked with God! I doubt he prayed some pathetic prayer! I want to do that - to walk - but how?

What's with those prayers anyway? "Lord I give my heart to You...!" NEWS FLASH: He wants MORE than your heart! He wants MORE than your life! He wants YOU!! To walk and talk, to be open and honest, to hide nothing and have integrity, to speak your mind and listen to His.
To be saved - if its your whole life and not one small aspect, sure! But if its only one small aspect - what a joke!

He is a jealous God, and nothing but your all AND your everything will suffice! Living sacrifice! Holy... Holy... Think of that. You cant and aren't holy if you're a pew sitting sunday christian who acknowledges Jesus with your lips but denies Him with your lifestyle! Hmm, tolerance is under scrutiny. What crap is tolerated in that lifestyle? Living SACRIFICE. LIVING sacrifice. Dirt man!

HOLY = SET APART!!

SET APART TO WALK WITH - WITH - GOD.

He is relentless. His love is all consuming. To persue Him is the only option. To trust, to have faith and to walk in His authority. Cant do that without knowing Him, and who He made you to be! What He made you to be!

You will know the TRUTH and HE will set you free, and when the TRUTH sets you free, you will be free indeed, because JESUS is the way, the TRUTH and the life.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Love is as strong as death, and vomit is disgusting!

Love is as strong as death and jealousy as unyeilding as the grave. Think about that for a minute. Love is as strong as death. What happened that fateful day, on some hill, in some country, with a Roman execution pole?? Hmm. Love was displayed as strong as death. Get a hold of that thought. Love put the nails in His own hands,  because love is as strong as death. If only we understood and got that in our hearts. Oh how our lives would change. We wouldn't be so content with the mundane and mediocre. We would be living in signs, wonders and miracles. We wouldn't be content with sitting on our butts in church twiddling our thumbs thinking about what we will be doing once we got out of the place.
Love is as strong as death. That speaks of devotion, loyalty, desire. God desired us so much that he demonstrated that His love is as strong as death, even death on a cross. And what are we doing to show our gratitude? Where is our thanks giving? What do our lives look like? Are we tolerating crap in order to fit it? Fit in to what? Society? Would we really choose society over love that is as strong as death? And then comes the jealousy that is unyeilding as the grave. Are we hot or are we cold? Are we lukewarm? How close are we to feeling what its like to be vomit? Consider this: you are neither hot nor cold, and I am about to vomit you up... Sounds kinda gross. But what if our being lukewarm, mediocre, mundane is torture to love that is as strong as death, therefore, the jealousy that is unyeilding has no choice but to get rid of that which is torturous? How's the toleration of crap now? Are we really sure we want to go down that path? Should we tolerate that which is abhorrent to God? Should we tolerate that which God calls detestable? Do we want to experience being someone elses vomit? God is a jealous God, and His jealousy is as unyeilding as the grave. I'm pretty sure that, that means that God has His limits with how long He will put up with mediocre-lukewarmness! Jesus is the only name under heaven by which we must be saved, anyone who tries to get into the sheepfold by any other way is nothing more than a theif. If we are not on Gods side, then we are an enemy... Can we really justify sin, and tolerate crap? Being a white-washed-tomb is the same as being mediocre and lukewarm. I'd rather be either boiling hot or frozen stiff, at least then I wont become vomit! How about you?

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Oh how the mighty have fallen...

This morning I woke up somewhat distressed because of a dream.

In my dream, I was an observer. I did interact once or twice, but I was mostly an observer

The dream was set on a busy hilltop overlooking the ocean. There were two large highschools opposite each other. One of which was on fire. A bunch of teenagers had started the fire because they wanted to. The fire brigade was called and the fire eventually put out. But in the process of the fire being put out, the other school caught alight. I notified the firemen, simply because everyone was so laid back about the fire. Even to the point of sitting right next to where the grass was burning.

From there, I walked to a house where a huge bunch of teenagers where having a party. I watched as some of them decided to go down to the rocks next to the ocean. To the local colony of nesting sea birds. The sea was rough, everyone could see the storm brewing. The teenagers decided to throw rocks at the birds,  then they chased them away from the relative safety of the rocks, simply so the teenagers could take a half drunk swim. As a consequence of that, the teenagers had to be rescued, one died. I went to a different house. I saw a girl who was maybe 18 or 19 carrying another girl through the crowd of people. She said to me as she walked past, "she's dead". Then a boy around the same age started yelling out, about another youth, "he's dead. And you know why he's dead? He was stupid, he slept with anything, but he actually died a long time ago, ge was born gay and that was his problem". Everyone who listened, laughed. The party continued. No-one took any notice that people were passing out from mixing alcohol and various party drugs. They simply didn't care.

I left that house, to find yet more teenagers outside on the lawn. Getting drunk, some beating others up, and no-one doing anything to stop it or trying to help the wounded.

I could see the clouds, the lightning, the rain. The storm, huge and black moved closer and closer and everyone was totally oblivious to its destructive power! Some told me it was just a storm like every other one that's rolled in. But I've never seen a storm like that before.

In tears I slowly walked back to the first house, where, I walked through the crowd, and up the stairs, only to be confronted by yet more carnage and pain, a song, deep, sorrowful, but desperate welled up inside me, as a prayer not only for the people of that town, but for the people of this nation...

Blow mighty breath of God, move upon this place.
Blow mighty breath of God, wont You move in power and grace.

One person asked me if I was ok, did I need a drink? I told him to look around himself, what did he see? Whilst he saw the physical damage to property and buildings, which saddened him, he failed to see the pain in the hearts of the people. He didn't care that they were in pain and causing pain. He was sad about the material things that can be replaced. Not concerned about the people who cant be replaced. By the end, I'd lost count of the number of dead and wounded.

I feel that I had the great displeasure of seeing what humanity is, through Gods eyes. And what I felt was a great sadness. It overwhelmed me. We are apathetic, even in the face of great danger. We will put our lives at risk for some "fun" that could potentially kill us. We hurt ourselves and those around us and call it entertainment. We are hurting and lack the sense to go and get healed. We party on while the world around us is falling apart. We no longer recognise danger and take shelter.

When I looked in the eyes of some of those kids, I saw pain, anguish, anger and shame. How low have we sunk, and when are we going to do something about it!?

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

The Price

Walking with God comes at a price. And for some, that price is just too high.

A conversation brtween two men. One wanting to know how to have eternal life, the other wanting to know if the first has the heart for his desire.

Sell everything, give to the poor, then follow... The price was laid out, it was too high for the first man, he walks away sad...

To give up what we are and to follow, this is the price! Some call it the "laid down life".

Some say that a relationship with God or a simple belief in God is a crutch used by the weak. That may be so, but God is gentle. And He makes strong, the weak. And that is better than any feat of human strength.

The price is the same for all, some just perceive it differently.  See, we all have to turn over our lives to God. Let Him be in control of our destiny. And for some, that is simply too hard to do.

To pay the price and lay down our lives requires intentionality. We have to be willing. And being willing makes us humble. See, God opposes the proud.

God is standing there, at His front gate, day in, day out, watching, waiting for  a glimpse of a smelly, dirty person to come staggering up the road, muttering to themselves, "I've sinned and not worthy of being Your son/daughter..." God sees that person, and before they know what's happened, they're inside having food shoved into their mouth, being scrubbed from head to foot, being measured for new clothes, and being given on the job training in their new line of work! All because they came to God humbly.

But it shouldn't stop there. Part of the price is to follow. To follow directions, to follow God. To follow the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit. To follow. This simply meams that you put aside your desires for your life and grab hold of Gods desires for your life. Easier said than done! This requires intentionality.

And let me say this. The moment you decide you are going to walk this path, that is the minute that you'll loose some friends, however, you'll gain new ones alomg the way. You'll become sn offense to some, and you'll be just what the Dr. ordered for others. Things you did that maybe you probably shouldn't be doing, you'll decide to stop. Things, actions, attitudes that were perfectly tolerable before, womt be quite so tolerable now, and some will prove themselves to be a rather nasty stench up your nostrils.

This path, when ypu decide to walk down it... it will lead you closer to God. You'll have a deeper understanding of yourself, God and maybe some things around you. But by walking this path, you will be issuing a challenge to all who know you. Some will tolerate you, some will walk away from you, others will hold your hand and support you. This is not an easy road. Jesus Himself says that the path is narrow and few find it! Sounds to me like a quiet and possibly lonely path. That is the price. To forsake all else for the sake of Christ.

And boy what a road it is. Thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating, all at the same time! And I've only just started down this road.

You can be saved, but not be changed. You've got to make the decision to walk this road. It aint gonna walk for you. And if you're concerned about all the things you'll loose along the way - think of the things you'll gain.

So you decide to no longer tolerate that "friend" who comtrols you and manipulates you for their benefit. They walk away from you because you are no longer viable for their cause. You find that in their place you have several friends who care about you and have whats best for you in their hearts.

What you loose, God calls filthy rags, and He gives robes of righteousness as a replacement. So you no longer look and smell like a dirty forgotten slave who is begging for bread. You are clean, you are in the Kings palace and you have been adopted into His family, that makes you royalty. Choosing to follow, would be the best choice you can ever make. All it takes is a little bit of willingness for that first step.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Another communion message.

I cant see Christ in me, so how the hell is anyone else suppoded to see Christ in me?

So much for the relentless pursuit of who God created me to be! Sometimes I feel like a fraud.  

People tell other people about me, and its "all good"! What am I, super human? Think I need to take "super human" out the back and shoot her before she starts causing me trouble! How can it all be good? Or is it that people dont see my failings, or is it more that they dont want to? The only thing good about me is God! How can it all be good?   Does God speak of me as being "all good"? What does He have to say about this? What is His opinion?  

I am saved by grace, through Christ, to be set free. And when I am free, I shall be free indeed! - What does that really mean, in reality? Is that a bunch of meaningless words that have, over time become a boring, meaningless cliché? What does saved look like? What does free look like? And who am I that I should receive abundant unmerrited favour, also known as grace?? What was it that caused Almighty God to look upon me with grace? And dont tell me, love! Because even that is becomming cliché!

There is something more to it all, something deeper, hard to explain, because human understanding is too pathetic to comprehend its deepth. English fails me and that causes huge problems because it is my only language! Though, I doubt that any other language would be much help when it comes to the things of God!  

Do I really understand saved? Is it just from sin or is it more than that? Saved from myself, maybe! That would be a good place to start! Salvation... To end all offerings for sin! To set me free ... From sin! Seems a lot of pain and suffering on both Jesus and His Father, for a simple once and for all sin offering! There has to be more to it!   Is there the remote possibility that Jesus went through hell on earth - being that He who knew no sin, was made to be sin, separated from His Father, for a bunch of people who couldnt really care less - in order to bring heaven to earth?

It is said that the here and now is the only hell some will ever experience, while the here and now is the only heaven others will experience! Is our being save, set free indeed, and granted abundant unmerrited favour, because we are meant to get off our butts and show this mud ball a little slice of heaven, in the here and now?  

When we eat and drink, what are we actually partaking of? A sip of liquid, and a biscuit, or is it something more profound? Have we opened our eyes to see exactly what Jesus is doing? Or have we pulled down the shades, because the light of God is too bright? Are we willing to walk where our Rabbi is going? Are we covered in the dust of His feet because we are following Him so closely, not wanting to miss a step.

What have we missed out on, because we think that the here and now is all there is? Where is Jesus leading each of us? Are we willing to lay down our lives and follow?  

Lord I ask that we, Your people will have the guts, courage, and determination to follow You wherever You lead us. Because this life is not about us, but about You.  

Cheers!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

The traditional view point of heaven...

I have been thinking...

Why is the traditional view of heaven a huge bunch of people spending eternity worshipping God?

I think my thoughts are getting dangerous...

I don't want to spend eternity stuck in a room with a bunch of people singing a bunch of songs!

Why was I created to be creative, if that's all I'm going to be doing!?

Why do I have struggles in the here and now if eternity is going to be singing?

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with singing and worshipping God, I just feel the need to get out doors and do something.

I want to see stars getting born, I want to create a tree...

What is the point of a new earth if we are spending eternity in the throne room worshipping God?

The traditional view of heaven is somewhat limiting and boring. It also renders the struggles and lessons of the here and now to be pointless and meaningless.

Why tell me that there will be a new heaven amd a new earth if I am destined to be stuck in a throne room for eternity?

I know that some will believe that I've over stepped the boundaries in asking these questions and making these statements... But my God is big enough to handle even the toughest human questioning!

Back to the tree thing... I want to spend some time with my Father (not my earthly one, cause he cant create trees), learning how to make a tree. And a tree, whilst it is a living thing, is not sentient, so I won't be creating any future trouble!

Eternity spent singing songs seems a waste of the creative potential, not only of us, but of God as well. And it feels like this narrow view of heaven has put, us, heaven and God in a ridiculously small box!

The last "box" God was in, He busted out of tearing the temple curtain in half... Boxes and God don't seem to go so well together! The traditional human box view of heaven is a little too small. At least for me!

Its something to think about.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Matthew 7:1-6 (message version)

The bitter attitude rubs off...
Take a look at Matthew 7:1-6, the way the message version puts it. A sneer as opposed to a smudge!

I've seen that sneer. On the face of a friend when they are talking about people from their past, people they live with now and Drs. they visit. The look is ugly. And in some cases, downright scary.

But what's worse than the look, is the attitude that goes with it. Its haughty and contemptible.  Its an ugly attitude, that sometimes says (out loud) "I don't have to repent of anything, I'm all good, all is well with my soul!" Selfrighteousness.

I for one don't like being in the company of my friend when the haughty,  arrogant attitude shows up. Its not a fun place to be. And I feel the distinct need to run, as far away as possible.

The number one way to not go there... Keep a short account with God. Regularly check in with Him. Let Him speak to Your heart. And repent of that resentment before it becomes bitterness.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

The cycle of bondage

I noticed a lot of things in those days ... as in, when I WAS a witch!

One thing I noticed when I was studying to be a practitioner of kinesiology was the number of people who "go back for repeat healing".

Example - I will call her Lady A!

She was an older woman, around 50-60 years! She had a problem, I don't know what it was, I never asked.
She was a repeat client. Every week she would come in for her dose of healing. Week in week out! She was in bondage for her health!

Example 2 - I will call him Gentleman A!

He too was an older man, a bit older than Lady A. He had arthritis. I asked him one day while he was waiting his turn to see "his healer".
His healing lasted longer than a week. He had monthly visits. He would hobble in like a little old man, then an hour or so later he would skip out like a teenage boy! It was amazing to see.
But exactly a month later he would hobble in like a little old man, pay his money, and an hour or so later skip out like a teenage boy! Month in month out. He was in bondage for his health.

It's amazing what people will go through for good health.

Don't get me wrong - this healing can be genuine. But... It comes at a price! And money is not that price! Freedom is the price. To have to get a treatment every week or month becomes bondage! Holidays have to be scheduled around treatments.

Gentleman A had an issue once - his "healer" got sick. A dose of the flu that had them unable to do anything for a week. Gentleman A had to live with his debilitating pain for a week, because he missed one session.

My point is - the devil can counterfeit anything. Even healing!

Healing is a good thing, so why would the devil want to counterfeit it? Because he likes to keep people in bondage!

It's been my experience that healings through reiki, kinesiology, hypnotherapy, irridology and countless others DON'T last. It's not that the healing is not genuine. The point is bondage. How much are you willing to give up for your health? How much does your health mean to you?

The other thing with this stuff, is it's all occultic. Which means that if you get tangled up in it, well you're tangled up!

Because true health thing is such a big thing to many people,  its easy for traps to be laid! The bondage becomes more than money or time. It becomes bondage for your soul.

One thing that God said to his people was to stay away from the occult.  Not because he wanted to ruin their fun. But because he was concerned for their lives. The movie The Exorcist was based on real events.

In my time as a witch, I was invited to a "play-around-session" some acquaintances had decided to have with a ouija board. I declined their offer! Good thing too! When I saw them, before their experience,  they looked happy, healthy, and generally like normal people. It was a year or so later that I saw them after the experience.  They looked hollow, empty, with big black circles around their eyes, their skin looked pale and thin, not healthy at all. I was told that none of them got much sleep after the ouija board thing! And these people were "experienced in the occult".

Bondage.

Also, for the first year or so, when you get "healed" by reiki or kinesiology or the other ones, your pattern of bondage wont seem like a pattern... Every few months you might need to go back for a "top-up"! But soon, it will get to be more often! For each person the length of time is different! The point is, its not about your healing, its about how much you can be enslaved for your healing.

There are powers behind these "healing" rituals. The humans may seem nice enough, but true powers behind them are far from nice. And their agenda is to enslave you, the person "healing" you and anyone you send their way.

Bondage.

So what is to be done?

Jesus not only offers healing, but He offers it without bondage. He has no strings attached.

By the stripes of Jesus we are healed (go find the verses in your bible). And when Jesus sets us free we are free indeed! (Again - go look it up!)

When Jesus heals you, it lasts. Because He is kind and generous and He doesn't want you in bondage.

Jesus desires to break the cycle of bondage. Why? Because He came to set you free. How good is that!?

When Jesus died on the cross, it was more than just dying on the cross. It was more than Him becoming our sin and sickness. It was Him telling the devil where to go!

Jesus came to break curses, to restore people to His Father, and to restore His Father to the people!

As Aslan says - it's a deeper magic!

When we let go of everything us, and decide to trust everything to Jesus, He has the freedom to do wonderous things in and through us. Not just salvation, healing, forgiveness, and all that. Its a deeper thing. And its so very hard to explain.

Back to Lady A and Gentleman A. How much better would their lives be if they entrusted their health and lives to Jesus? They wouldnt have to rely on human "healers" for their health. They wouldn't be in bondage.

The bondage of time, money, lack of freedom, spiritual crap, curses, pain...  Jesus isn't into that.

Jesus is into restoration and freedom. Its called love and grace and mercy.

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

John 13:34-35

John 13:34–35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Really? Do we really act like that? In all honesty and fairness - I don't think so...

Skip on over to the favourite "social" hang out place for some... Check out the amount of hate crap you see... Hang on a second - that person who put that hate crap up claims to be a disciple of Jesus... well, ya coulda fooled me - oh, I guess you did!

Now, before you go hating me... I'd like to say something...

In my research for starting (and continuing) my business, I read that we have somewhere between 1 and 7 SECONDS to make an impact, a lasting impression!

So when I see this hate stuff, it leaves an impression the impression of - what the hell is the Jesus disciple telling me?

Now, I know that there is theology into backing up why people do this... but in 1-7 SECONDS, I aint gonna hang around long enough to hear it! I don't like what I see, so I move right along as quick as possible... With the question hanging over the head of other person "what is this Jesus disciple doing?" And if I see this stuff enough, I start wondering "is this 'Jesus disciple' really a Jesus disciple?"

Now, don't get me wrong, Jesus didn't sit back and take crap! He made for himself a whip, tossed tables and got angry.  He shared some very strong words with some very religious people. Brood of vipers - comes to mind!

But all the time He was what? FRIEND OF SINNERS!

So, that person in the street who is homosexual - Jesus is His friend - but he doesn't believe that! Why? Because the "Jesus disciples" have gotten him mixed up with his sin!

Oops... instead of inviting him to dinner and feeding him till he is stuffed, then being generous and offering more, and talking about the weather, and "my what a lovely pair of shoes", and asking him if there is anything we can do for him...

We tell him how much of a screwed up, warped, twisted, disgusting, stench ridden sinner he is!

What is his lasting impression? "Those moronic christians hate me, why would I want anything to do with their god? They don't give a rats ass about what happens to me, they just tell me what deep down I already know, but don't want to admit! They don't care that inside me is a lot of pain. To them, and their god, I'm a waste of space, a stupid, useless sinner, not worth their time or effort."

I know, when I was having issues I had a well meaning christian (whom I called worse things than a moron) telling me that if I just got my life right with Jesus everything would be good! God would help me with my problems!

While it's true that God did and is helping me, the message was patronising at best and at worst - I was wondering if there was a form of death worse than crusifixion and how I would get away with it!

While this christian was trying their hardest to show me love and support, a knife in the back would have been more supporting! Seriously.

We need to think about our behaviour in life as though we are running an advertisement.  We have 1 -7 SECONDS to get our message across, and we need to make sure we are sending the right one... And while the one we are sending might be the truth, and the world might need to hear it...

I'm going to pick on all the anti-mosque/anti-muslim crap...

But before I get there - what is the difference between a nazi preaching anti-Jew stuff and a "christian" preaching anti-muslim stuff??? NOTHING!!!

We are ALL made in the image of Jehova! Christ came to die for ALL humans, nazi, mulsim, Jew, white, black, brown pink and purple (just trying to make sure I havent missed anybody out)!

Now, back to all the anti-mosque/anti-muslim crap...

While it might be the truth that the extreme ones behead people and blow themselves and other to pieces and what not... What did the "christians" do at the time of the crusades??? The tainted christian tag is no better than the muslim tag! And posting this shit at our favourite "social" hangout place is no better than the crusades!

Its not showing any love that I know of...

Here's an idea... instead of posting crap - maybe we should pray for them. From what I understand, Gods favourite thing to do is to show up in their dreams! How about we pray that God continues to show up in their (and our) dreams!

If I wanted to know that another muslim has killed themselves and untold numbers of others with a bomb - I'd watch the news! But the news is depressing and sick! ...

Go back to the 1-7 SECONDS of impression - the first impression is often the strongest and longest lasting...

Oh, and one more thing... whatever is pure, noble, worthy, of good character - dwell on these things and let no detestable thing come before your eyes! In other words - live with your eyes focused firmly on Jesus!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

IF SATAN IS DEFEATED WHY DO WE STILL HAVE TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds in our minds. But the weapons of Satan are carnal, mighty in our flesh for the erecting of strongholds in our minds-and we're the ones arming him. Jesus "disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them" (Col. 2:15). Many who oppose spiritual warfare practices point to that Scripture and say we don't have to fight because the devil is already defeated. Yes, the devil is already defeated, but Paul nevertheless told Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12) and told the Ephesians we "wrestle against ... principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
 

If Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, why are we still wrestling them? We still wrestle, in part, because we are arming the enemy with the words of our mouth, handing him our God-given authority to use against us. Satan has no authority over us unless we give it to him, just like the serpent had no authority in the garden until Adam gave it to him.

 
As I was meditating on 2 Corinthians 10:4, I got a revelation about our words as weapons. This is not a positive confession revelation, although I believe in confessing what the Word of God says rather than confessing negative thoughts and feelings-and that's totally scriptural. No, this is not a new twist on a good confession. This is a spiritual warfare strategy that will send the devil fleeing as we submit our words to God and resist the temptation to allow our mouths to issue weapons Satan uses against us.

 
When discussing the whole armour of God, Paul instructs us to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). When we speak the Word of God out of our mouths, it serves as a weapon that cuts through every evil plot of the enemy. No devil in hell can come against the Word of God because it's not carnal but mighty-supernatural-in God.

 
When we find ourselves in the midst of the battle, though, we too often make one of these three common mistakes: (1) We fail to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; (2) we speak the enemy's fearful lies out of our mouths; or (3) we are double-minded, speaking the Word of God one moment and the enemy's fear-laced lies the next. The only sure way to enforce Jesus' victory in our lives is to consistently wield the sword of the Spirit.

 
Let's look at each option and how it works. First, when we wield the sword of the Spirit ,we are packing a powerful weapon. The writer of Hebrews says, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
 

The sword of the Spirit is sharper than any natural sword. It has supernatural power, but we have to speak out the living power it contains with our tongues. Inspired by the life-giving Holy Spirit, the wisest man on the earth once wrote, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov.18:21).

 
Our words are weapons. When we speak God's Word out of our mouth, it casts out death and opens the door to life in our situations. When we make the mistake of speaking the enemy's fearful lies out of our mouth-which may sound like worry, doubt, unbelief or something other than the pure truth-we are allowing the enemy to use our own words as weapons against us.

 
Again, the devil's weapons are carnal in the sense that he works through our carnal nature to oppress us by successfully tempting us to speak death with our powerful tongues. We essentially arm the enemy with weapons of death and give him some ammunition to oppress us when we speak words that are out of alignment with God's truth.
 

When we are double-minded, speaking the Word of God one moment and the enemy's fearful lies the next, we allow the enemy to take ground in our lives. Have you ever felt like you were taking one step forward and two steps back? This is often the result of double-mindedness. We speak life out of our mouths, penetrating the enemy's plans with the sword of the Spirit in the morning, but as soon as we see a circumstance that doesn't go our way, we once again arm the enemy with carnal weapons through our words.
 

The Bible says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). If you are feeling unstable, like the enemy is tossing you around a wrestling ring and about to capture you in a figure 4, it may be because you are not speaking words of faith and life-you may be arming the enemy with words of fear, doubt, unbelief and death.

 
Here's the revelation in summary: Your words are weapons in spiritual warfare. When you speak the Word of God, you are wielding a sword that will cut the enemy's evil plans to bits. It may take more than one swing, but if you keep swinging your supernatural sword, you will see natural results. When you speak out words based on thoughts and fears the enemy sows in your soul, you are essentially arming the enemy with carnal words that breed death. You give life to what you speak. Will you give life to God's plan or to the enemy's plan? It's up to you.

 
Source: by Jennifer LeClaire, news editor of Charisma Magazine

This is what I have been struggling with in one particular area... An area that until now, God has been rather silent about - despite my pleadings... Maybe things might change now!

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

Australian Watcher On The Wall
http://australianwatcheronthewall.blogspot.com.au

Reality

Its not completely wrong to live with your head in the clouds, nor is is completely wrong to live in reality as if it is all that there is!

We have a God who is outside of our time and space, therefore we need to be open to things happening that we simply can not understand or explain!

However, I believe that we do need to be slightly rooted in the here and now! We need to be able to be (at least) seen as sane!

I know that there will be some who will disagree with me, and their opinions are perfectly valid (and if they so wish, they can add them in at the comments section!  Please remember to be nice, polite and not push your opinion down mine or anyone else throats! Those sort of opinions will be removed, along with any with vulgar language!)

I believe that we need to be open to the possibility of God to do anything He pleases! But I also believe that there are certain ways that this world was created to work and (from my experience) God works within those constraints!

It has been said to me in the past that an injury or ache or pain that I have had is an attack of the devil! This, I believe, gives the devil a little too much credit! The devil did not make me sprain my ankle! Nor did he sprain my ankle!

I've also been told that certain aches and pains are spiritual/human attack - words as knives in the back! And while I do not doubt that this is totally possible, sometimes, its simply because I slept so well, I didn't move in the night and thus, I woke up stiff and sore! No devil and no human attacks! Nothing that a good back massage can't solve!

The gods aren't angry, they do not control everything! Only God controls everything, knows everything and all that stuff! And funny enough, He's not angry either! I know that some things He allows, for my strengthening or learning or something like that! But not all bad things are His doing, or the doings of the devil! Some things are simply human!

My stiff sore shoulder - I slept!
My sprained ankle - my stupid fault!
That failed school exam - was study undertaken? Was the student stressed out of their brain? Are they simply the type of student who is crap at exams (I was)?!!

Reality is in the hear and now, balances with the unseen spiritual! Its not one or the other! Life needs to be treated as such!

I know that without the dreamers or thinkers of the world, we wouldn't have half the stuff we take for granted, like my "smart phone" that likes to change some of my text to something completely different! Or the laptop that is sitting across the room from me that complains that Queensland is just too hot for it to cope!

We need the thinkers and the dreamers! We also need those grounded in reality! Without them, there would be no balance, no one to actually build what the thinkers and dreamers come up with!

Look at it this way - I design a ring. It looks great on paper, however, when its been drawn up on the computer, it is quickly discovered that in reality, my far fetched ideas won't work! 3d printers simply can't do that, the design "leaks" printing wax goes everywhere and a ring simply can not be cast! It is impossible! My design needs a minor modification so it can work! Its different, a one off, pushed the boundaries a little, but now, the constraints if reality have worked together (not so perfectly) with far fetched imagination to produce something beautiful!

We need to be balanced as humans! I believe it is how we were made!

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

To 'fix' me...

To 'fix' me is not the job of any human! It is the job of God and God alone!

I know I am not perfect! I will never be perfect in the eyes of any human, as we all disagree on what perfection is!

And to all those who tell me that I have issues, let he, or she who has solved ALL their issues perfectly, cast the first stone!

I know I have issues! They are listed in a particular order on a list that only God has. He and He alone knows the time, date and order when these issues will be dealt with - IN HIS WAY! As I said, no human can 'fix' me!

I have learnt this for myself, and I'm slowly learning to accept it for others! I think it's time that we all learned this one!

Its called not judging!

I had some stuff going on, and I had the pleasure of seeing a psychologist to help me! He didn't judge me! Instead, he encouraged me, he pointed out all the things right with me (which I thought was few and far between), he guided me to a different perspective and let me and God sort out the rest! He didn't tell me how crap I was! I already felt that way! He didn't tell me to stop doing something, he just encouraged a new perspective! And, even though he was a complete stranger, I felt I could trust him (which was a huge thing for me!)!

This example is the kind of thing that we should probably try to do for others! Instead of healing a pile of shit on their shoulders, we should encourage them in the good they are doing, and simply choose to shut up about the bad! Easier said than done - I am still struggling with this with a couple of people I know! And boy, can it be frustrating!

If we seek God about a situation, person or whatever, and He gives us instructions. We need to follow them! If He says to pray for that 'emotional vampire', then that is what we should do! If He says to limit the interaction with them, then that is what is to be done!

God knows all of us, our issues and what we each need! If we go around telling someone that the situation that they find themselves in is adulterous (whilst it may be 100% true), we have over stepped our place! What is the situation? Where are they both at spiritually, emotionally and physically? And by opening our mouths, have we, who have our own issues, cast the first stone?

Jesus wrote in the sand until all, not one or two, but ALL the accusers walked away!

Do I have what it takes to drop the stones in my hands? Do you have what it takes to drop the stones in your hands?

But what if it is blatant sin, something that the person knows is wrong? - My advice - SHUT UP! If you need to talk to someone about it, then go to God! He knows how to deal with it! And you know what else - He already knows about it! And, He has probably set situations and circumstances in motion to bring about His glory through that person! How awesome is that?

We need to let God be the God, and let ourselves be the humans! We make pretty crap Gods! Jesus made an awesome human, but that was because He was also God! How about we let God do His job? And remember, my idea of perfect for you is not Gods idea of perfect for you! Your mothers idea of perfect for you, is not Gods idea of perfect for you!

We need to stop trying to change each other, and instead, ask that God will change us! So person A needs to stop trying to change person B and start praying that God will change person A!! God will deal with person B in His own sweet time! And person A may never be a part of that change!

Get your own shit sorted out, and once you are perfect in Gods eyes, and if He leaves you on earth, you might just be slightly qualified to start fixing other humans, but I doubt that - because you are not God!

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

Oh dear, I'm ... years old, I'm going to start falling apart...

Have you ever said that to yourself? Or heard someone say it about themselves?

I heard a friend of mine say it about herself! I was left wondering about what she believes about her god! Is he too lame to look after her in her "older age"? Surely he wouldn't leave her high and dry in her latter years! I think that on some strange level, her god is different to the God I am getting to know!

Where on earth is her belief system at? What lies and false reaching does she believe to question if God will look after her! After all we are worth more than sparrows! Jesus said so!

Not to mention that she hasn't come to the realisation that there is power in the spoken word! If that isn't so then God must have created this universe some other way! Its clearly stated (somewhere) in the bible that the tongue can bring life or death! Depending on how you wield it!

So, just because you've reached that "magic" age, does not mean that you will start falling apart!

Here's something I've found. Your body listens to your every word! And when you start telling it that your skin is going to get thin, so it splits very easily, that's what its going to do! It will listen to your words and it will do as you say! Granted, this doesn't seem to reverse the aging process, everything gets old and dies at some point in time, that's the world we live in! But we don't have to get old before our time!

I don't know about you, but I want to be able to play with my great-grand-children when they come (I have heaps more years to wait for grand-children!)!

I'm not about to start telling my body that I'm getting old! While sometimes I feel old, that is a feeling and not reality!

I think we need to be a little more careful in regards with what we say! We need to pay a little more attention to what we say about ourselves!

People tell me that they have such shocking memories! Of course, they've told themselves to have shocking memories! And they are not paying attention to what Jesus tells them! "I have come that they may have life, and life in abundance" comes to mind! What part of abundant life is a shocking memory? What part of life in abundance is a prematurely falling apart body? Psalms says that He (God) will satisfy them with long life! Satisfy with long life! From my understanding, that means that a falling apart body doesn't have to happen! Yes we get old, but we can still do stuff!

I watched a documentary thing on gold miners in America or Alaska or Canada - somewhere over there! One on the miners was 91!!! And he was still able to keep up with his grandson! Granted, he did have a heart attack - but 91! I know people who are younger than me who keep telling themselves they're old! (and some of them are starting to look it!)

My suggestion, for memory issues, age issues, health issues and generally anything else ... sit regularly at Jesus' feet and have Him constantly tell you what He thinks of you, how much He loves you, why He made you, and His plans for you! Let it sink in and start telling yourself what He is telling you! You might just be amazed at the difference it makes!


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

Ailments, illnesses and attitudes!

Have we ever stopped to consider that there is a possibility that our ill health has been brought about simply because of our attitudes?

I have heard many stories of people with inoperable cancer being healed suddenly after they forgave a friend or family member! They held onto their bitterness and when they finally let go of that, and let God heal the wound, they were physically healed!

Now I'm not saying that every cancer is caused by unforgiveness! We live  in a fallen world! Sometimes, bad things happen!

I'm just saying that next time you have a headache that won't go away, instead of kicking the devil for it, maybe you should seek God in regards to its root cause! It could just be that your head is saying that you've done enough and its time to rest, or that you're dehydrated, or that the devil.is kicking you a good kicking, or that you have an issue that you need to deal with!

I had a headache for well over a week. I prayed about it, but with having pain, I couldn't really think straight! I sent a message for prayer specifically asking for clarity about this headache - I wanted to know ita root cause! Sure enough, a couple of days later, I'm praying about this headache and I felt that I had an issue to deal with! I rolled over and went back to sleep! After all, it was 3am, and I'd had this thing for over a week, a few more hours wouldn't make much difference! Later that morning, I set about talking about this issue with God, and strangely enough, the headache went!

Not everything in this world is the fault of the devil! He's not that smart!

So, next time you have a physical health issue, go seek God about it! You may be surprised at what He says!

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

Open your eyes... be discerning... Learn the Word!

Watch who you enjoy reading messages from!!

I was browsing through Facebook this morning and came across one of my friends who had shared a recent quote from Joel Osteen’s page. Osteen’s post went like this:

Philippians 1:28 says, “Do not be intimidated by your enemies.” You may be up against a giant obstacle now, but put your shoulders back and hold your head up high. You are not weak. Those for you are greater than those against you.

The Bible passage he quoted didn’t ring a bell, so I quickly got out my Bible and looked it up. Sure enough, the passage was taken grossly out of context in the worst way. Here is what the context says:

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (ESV)

In this passage, Paul is encouraging the Philippian Christians to stand firm in the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul knew there were false teachers (the “opponents” or “enemies” mentioned in the above passage) that were trying their best to lure them away from the true gospel and to win them over to their camp for personal gain. Paul also knew how easy it was to fall into false doctrine that sounds great, but will turn them away from the truth to their own destruction. He warned Timothy of the same thing.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV)

So what’s the big deal? After all, one might say, Joel Osteen’s teachings are very encouraging and inspiring.

True. And I might have even passed by this blatant misuse of Scripture with a simple roll of the eyes had I not seen a comment someone made to my friend’s post. This is what she said:

I love reading this man’s updates. I get more out of him than any church I’ve ever attended! His themes focus on loving and believing in yourself and treating others the same……

This comment is what hit me between the eyes like a brick. I knew then that as a minister, indeed, as a Christian, I couldn’t stand by and just let this go. What if you had a friend who was a doctor and he or she saw you about to consume something that she knew was poison to your physical body? Would she be acting in a loving and caring way if she simply sat back and let you consume it? No. Because of what she knew, she has a moral responsibility to say something. More than that, if she truly loved you, she would definitely say something to you about the danger you are faced with.

So what did Osteen say that was so wrong?

First, let me say that the above quote represents the norm for Osteen. The proverbial “pull yourself up from your boot straps” message pervades his teaching. People are encouraged to see themselves in a better light, to remember their strengths, to dig down deep to find the goodness within them. His books teach us how to “become a better you,” and that our “best life is now.” So what’s wrong with those messages?

What’s wrong, to begin with, is that they are completely opposite of what the Bible teaches. And the biggest thing that is wrong is what is missing. The gospel.

The Biblical gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, first tells us the truth about our condition. All of us are hopelessly and helplessly lost in sin.

None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12 ESV)

I realize many may see this and say, “You see. Nothing but doom and gloom and telling me how bad I am. I’d much rather listen to Joel Osteen who is positive.” But wait a minute. There is good news, but we can’t appreciate the good news without first realizing the truth of our condition.

You see, because of sin, we are all separated from God. We are spiritually dead and the Bible says we are already condemned because of it. This is a condition that does not call for humanistic self-encouragement. This is a condition that does not call for teaching that tells us to pull ourselves up from the boot straps and hold your head up high. We don’t need to be told that we aren’t weak. We need the truth!

And the truth is, we all need Jesus Christ! God, the One who created the heavens and the earth and can do as He pleases, gave us a Remedy for our sinful, lost condition.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

It is through Christ alone that we are rescued! It is through His death and resurrection that we are set free and find hope and freedom from the sin that bound us, and it is through that same resurrection that we will one day be forever free from the sorrow, shame, sickness, and death that is a part of this present life we now live in.

So, my friends, if I seem to be overly passionate about false teaching, it is only because that false teaching is blinding people to the only truth that can truly set them free from their true sinful condition, and keeping them from the only One who gives them true hope for eternal life where the curse of sin will be no more.

So then, when determining who to listen to, remember this. If the message points you to trust in Jesus Christ and His completed work on the cross, it is the true gospel. If it points you to yourself and becoming better by your own strength, run the other way! You might just be encountering a false teacher!

Written by Rosemary Amy!

Did God Say That?

The following is a re-arrangement from an article from Jack Kelley's page........www.gracethrufaith.com

he posts a new article every Sunday and he also has a Q&A! (I wasn't the one who did the re-arrangement!)

Did God Say That?

Everything else you may have heard about salvation is man made, not God breathed. For example;

The Bible does not say we have to agree to stop sinning in order to be saved. It does say we have to change our mind and agree we are sinners, because people who don’t think they sin don’t ask for a Savior.

The Bible does not say that before He created any of us, God selected some of us to be saved, left the rest to suffer the second death, and there’s nothing any of us can do to change that. The clearest verses on the subject tell us that God doesn't want any of us to perish (2 Peter 3:9) but instead wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament tell us that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13).

The Bible does not say we can only be saved if God deems us worthy of such a blessing. It says we aren’t saved because of righteous things we have done but because of His mercy (Titus 3:5).

The Bible does not say we have to contribute our own effort to the salvation process. Is says we are saved by grace through faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Bible does not say we can be saved by simply joining a particular church or denomination. It says we have to be born again (John 3:3).

The Bible does not say we can be saved by obeying God’s Law. It says no one will be declared righteous by obeying the Law (Romans 3:20) but that we have a righteousness apart from the Law that comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:21-24).

The Bible does not say we will get another chance to be saved after we die. It says we’re only given one life and when it ends we’ll face our judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

The Bible does not say we need to be baptized in order to be saved. While baptism is important, it serves as the public declaration of our private decision to join the family of God, not as a prerequisite for doing so.

The Bible says we were included in Christ when we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. Having believed we were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Who Can Be Saved?

The Bible tells us God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9) and that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but will have everlasting life (John 3:16). In fact it says believing that God sent Jesus to save us is the only thing God requires of us (John 6:28-29).

It also says the decision to be saved is ours to make. In Matt. 7:7-8 Jesus said everyone who asks will receive, everyone who seeks will find, and to whoever knocks the door will be opened. Paul said if we confess with our mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead we’ll be saved (Romans 10:9).

He said everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). The only condition is that our decision has to be made during our lifetime (Hebrews 9:27). After we die our destiny is sealed for eternity.

What Does It Take To Be Saved?

Understanding what the Bible says (and doesn’t say) about salvation is obviously our number one priority. Let’s begin by defining the term.

The Bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). This means we've repeatedly violated God’s Law. How we got into this situation is a long story but the end result is that our sins have gotten us into big trouble with God. In fact the Bible says our sins are punishable by death (Romans 6:23).

Being saved means to be rescued from the death penalty due us for the sins we've committed.

The Bible mentions two births and two deaths. The first birth and the first death are physical and relate to our physical body, which usually wears out and ceases to work after 70 or 80 years. The second birth and the second death are spiritual, and relate to our soul and spirit, which live forever.

Salvation was not intended to save people from their physical death, but from their spiritual death, which the Bible defines as being consigned to a lake of fire to be tormented forever. In Rev. 20:14 and Rev. 21:8 this lake of fire is called the second death. So in the most literal sense, being saved means escaping the second death.

We are saved from the second death by experiencing our second birth. In some circles this is called being born again and it’s absolutely necessary in order for us to be saved from the penalty due us for our sins.

Here’s how it works. Knowing it isn't entirely our fault that we’re in this predicament, God promised to send His Son to pay the penalty for our sins by dying in our place. His name is Jesus, and in the eternal sense, His death has saved our lives, if we’ll let it.
In John 1:12-13 we read the following;

“Yet to all who received Him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, nor of a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Our first birth made us a child of our earthly parents, but our second birth makes us a child of God. It’s our second birth that qualifies us for entry into the Kingdom of God, for without it no one can enter therein (John 3:3). In John 3:6 Jesus said flesh gives birth to flesh (first birth) but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (second birth).

These verses tell us our second birth takes place when we receive Jesus and believe in His name. Receiving Him means taking Him to ourselves or making Him our own, and believing in His name means believing Jesus is the one through whom God brought our salvation.

In Hebrew, the name of Jesus is Yeshua, a contraction of the phrase that means “God is salvation”. His name explains what He has done, so by believing in His name we are believing in what He has done for us.

To summarize, if we’re only born once we’ll die twice, but if we’re born twice we’ll only die once. (Some of us won’t die at all, but that’s a topic for another discussion.)

God is good - is that just a "good times" statement?

I hear people telling me that God is good! They have a smile on their face and their outlook is cheery!

However, will they still be telling me that God is good when their world has turned to poo?

So, God is good when you have a good job, the car works, the children are behaving themselves and you are generally happy!

But, is God still good when your boss suddenly fires you, when the car just won't start and its gonna cost thousands to have a look at it (and probably thousands more to repair it), the children have driven you insane with their constant nagging and general mis-behaviour!??

In reality, God is always good! And our circumstances should not dictate His good-ness or not-so-good-ness!

"Oh, but my life is hard, you don't know what its like to be in my shoes!" Well, of course, I don't!

Lets take a look at David, King David of the bible, that is!
He did something not-so-good! Had a man murdered so the Kong could have the wife! She has a kid... David is confronted in regards to his sin. He is pardoned, BUT, there is a nasty little side-effect... The child gets sick. David gets on his face and pleads God to spare the child. The child dies! God is still good! What does David do? He cleans himself up, changes his clothes, and goes where? Into the house of God to worship? Why? Because Gods goodness has not changed just because David is mourning the death of his child!

Just an old outdated example you say!

Here's another one that is only maybe 10 years old...

A young woman has a conversation with God, where she asks Him for a child. He grants that request, with a condition. A few weeks later that young woman finds that she is in fact pregnant. Stuff happens, a relationship ends, and the young woman moves to a new country, with the baby and her mother! They live happily! The young woman and her baby move out of the young womans mothers home, into her own... Then, one day the child (now just over two years old) starts teething! This is normal! The young woman doesn't think much of it, until she makes the attempt to get the temperature of the child down - its getting way to close to 40degrees! Then she tries to get the child to stand, the child can not stand! The young woman freaks out, rings a friend, who comes over and rings an ambulance! The child is super sick. Prayer requests go out left right and center to here there and everywhere... The child dies...

What does the young mum do now? While she does not feel that God is good, she does her best to trust His word! He said in the conditions right at the beginning "you won't have this child for long". The young mum, hoes yo church feeling somewhat empty inside, but, she tries to worship God! She talks to Him, she pours her heart out to Him. After the funeral, someone asks the young woman how she is coping. Her response blows them away... "Without God I would be dead. If it wasn't for my relationship with Jesus, there would have been two coffins not one at the funeral!" Why was this the answer? Because somewhere in her heart that mum had the understanding that God is bigger than her circumstances, as painful and gut wrenching as they are, and He has a plan that is bigger than her, and somehow He is still good!

Where is that young mum now? (A little clue - you're reading her blog!)

What I am trying to say is the God is good no matter what our circumstances are! He is bigger than us. He is our creator! Crap happens, God is still good! When you get a hold of that, the crap that happens is easier to handle! The Holy Spirit is not called our comforter for nothing!

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