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!