SERVING & ENJOYING

A thought that is really challenging me at the moment is this (bare with me here, because I will definitely get to the point)- Jesus didn't give us our lives so that we could just 'enjoy them'. Yes, initially God created us to just enjoy them with Him, as we see in the fact that He created a garden for Adam and Eve to enjoy in His own presence. This was a life of perfect enjoyment and the experience of what God had intended for His creation- to enjoy uninterrupted joy, pleasure, peace and goodness with no need for anything. However, when sin came we know that humanity's relationship with God was virtually destroyed, creation fell, and so a great need then arose: the salvation of souls in order to restore that relationship. From here God would make a covenant with His own people that He chose (Israel), but also with a long-term view of bringing salvation to the Gentiles as well. So while, in Adam, we/humanity rejected God, He chose us and mankind again, and He obviously plans to save many more before the end. In light of this, our relationship with God in the garden went from being something where we could just 'enjoy' our lives with God, to something that now also includes striving after that for which Jesus strove during His lifetime- to save souls and build His Church (build His Church meaning encouraging the saints, teaching and equipping one another and giving what the Spirit gives us to give others, in whatever capacity we feel the Spirit is leading us to do these things). These were two purposes that Adam and Eve originally never had while in the garden because they weren't needed. Now there IS A NEED to live for these TWO PURPOSES. Now the fundamental purpose of our lives; that which undergirds and drives everything should not only be working in order to survive and so that we might have a enjoyable physical garden (e.g. house, home, family, friends, and an enjoyment of God's physical creation) but living and working in order to accomplish those two things. This doesn't mean that enjoying God, dwelling with Him and communing with Him should be forgotten, in fact this should obviously still be the most fundamentally important purpose of our lives. But it does mean that if we are not doing those two things: aiming to reach the lost and helping build God's Church, all we are concerned about in our lives is enjoying them in a very selfish sense. We are saying to God, "God, it does not matter that men don't know you and that they are lost and broken. And it doesn't matter if they never hear about you or the Gospel either. It doesn't matter that the Church isn't encouraged or built up, or that they do not really understand who you are, what you love and hate, or that they aren't really being fruitful in their lives for your sake. It doesn't matter that they don't understand their callings or what the gifts of the Spirit are, and it doesn't matter if they don't understand what love is or how it operates. It doesn't matter what the hope of their calling is, or what the dangers of sin are, and it doesn't matter if they don't understand who the enemy is or what his schemes are." We are saying to God, "All that really matters is that I enjoy my life for what I can and what I want to get out of it. I'll do the bare minimum; I'll work to survive and to build my physical garden, and I'll enjoy spending time with you, but it won't bring any fruit for the TWO PURPOSES THAT ARE MOST DEAR TO YOUR HEART.

If we are honest with ourselves, myself included, we often live more for our own enjoyment than for Christ and His will and work. We may try and justify it all we want for where we are right now in our lives, but all that really matters is asking ourselves these two simple questions for how we are living/serving RIGHT NOW IN THE MOMENT WE'RE IN: "How are we helping His people and His Church and how are we reaching the lost?" Yes, we need to work, and that is good! That obviously is serving Christ and bringing fruit, but is it bringing fruit for those two purposes just mentioned? If not, there's more that needs to be done! No matter who we are, we've been called to those two things, because much of the world is still the same as many still have broken relationships with Christ and do not know Him. Similarly, His people are needing constant encouragement to continue to follow and serve Him, and are needing the gifts of the Spirit and the ministry of such things in order to grow in their knowledge of Him and His ways and in the hope of His calling.

While we shall one day live a life of perfect enjoyment with the perfect world He'll create, that day is not yet. Yes, it is a good hope to have within our hearts, but we are not called to live that life just yet. There is work to be done! There is a calling to achieve! There is a lost world out there! There is a Church that needs strengthening and that is needing to grow and be equipped! There is a Church that needs to know God and His way if it is to itself be fruitful! If we are only living to survive and to build our own physical garden of fleshly enjoyment in this life, we are living selfishly, lazily (In the Bible God calls the lazy servant the wicked servant! (Matt 25v26)), disobediently and we are burying our gifts and talents in the grounds, and that is an extremely serious thing. We are also not honouring Christ's desires and His sacrifice for us. Christ Himself gave up His life and died for us and humanity for the purposes previously mentioned, and shall we not care about this!? Will this not move or motivate us?! Will we remain indifferent to those purposes for which He served His whole life and suffered and died for?! If we live for ourselves, we in fact do all those things. But while the Spirit may be rebuking us here, myself included, He is also spurring and encouraging us! In His grace He has forgiven us for all our shortcomings and failings in His service, and now we have a great opportunity to not live for ourselves but for Him who raised us, and this is what we're called to! Christ loves us, His people and the world. And He wants us love Him, not only in abiding in and with Him, but by being fruitful for Him. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the good things and good blessings God gives us, but we, like Jesus, are called to always be about our Father's business, and His blessings are never designed to hinder or stop this, but rather encourage it all the more!

2 Cor 5v14: 'For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.'

WEAKNESS AND POWER

Most of my life I think I've wanted to be strong so I can be strong for the Lord. In my mind, I've wanted to feel strong and capable and complete in myself, and also to have those things I thought I've needed in my life, before I actually do something for the Lord. In the meantime however, the Lord has prevented me from having some of those things, and even made me feel extremely weak and incapable in myself. It is in that place that I've felt He's wanted to, and actually has, used me to serve Him and serve others (as small, incomplete and imperfect as that service has been). While I was overseas recently, I was blessed to have a word from someone who said to me, "His strength is made perfect in weakness." When I was younger, I would've thought that this meant, "He is most powerful in me when I at my weakest." But since then I've learnt differently. God's power does not change in any way- He is always as powerful as He's always been. What God meant when He said to Paul (who knew what it was to be weak- even having a thorn from God to ensure he did!), "My strength is made perfect in weakness," was that we are perfectly able to be used when we are weak, because we will be humble in such a place. That is the 'perfection'; it is the moral humbling of ourselves which God allows to happen to us, as we are forced to see ourselves for just how weak and insufficient we truly are. That is why Paul, when Paul got this answer from God, said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Cor 12v9). Paul realised that while God had made him spiritually whole in the sense that, just like the Word says, we have been given all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1v3), conversely in a practical sense God wanted Him in a place of trial and weakness so that he could continue to be used by God. If God didn't have us in a continual place of weakness, trial and seeming insufficiency, we would never be able to be used by Him, because we would quickly become proud, thinking that the power and Godly influence that comes from us is in some way to do with us or because of something that we are. Paul even DELIGHTED in weaknesses. Think about that for a second. He didn't wish his weaknesses would go away, and he didn't say that he was incomplete and wounded because of them (although he must've felt this way in the natural), rather he delighted in them because of what it meant that God would be able to do through him- 2 Cor 12v10 'That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.' While personally I'm not at this stage yet (I'd still rather not have thorns and trials), I understand why Paul himself could say this, and so I am encouraged by why he delighted in them, and so want to make this one of the aims of my life as well. Initially Paul PLEADED with the Lord 3 times for the Lord to take his thorn which produced his weakness, away from him, but then he realised that not only would it have been detrimental for his spiritual life, but it would've also made him unusable to the Lord. So he actually ended up BOASTING about those things that made him weak, and DELIGHTING in weaknesses and trials. Such was the greatness of Paul's desire that ONLY Christ would be glorified and revealed in and through his life, and that ONLY Christ would be seen through the power which God allowed to come through his life, that he was willing to be extremely weak and undergo extreme trials for His sake. 

Do not be someone who continually pleads with the Lord to be free from trials, for such a person is very spiritually immature and does not understand the nature of how Christ works in His people and how he fits them for service. Do not be someone who believes that they need something they don't already have to serve Him, for God has already given us EVERYTHING we need for LIFE and GODLINESS (2 Peter 1v3, and so no matter what weakness may beset us, we are always equipped and ready to do what God has called us to do in whatever season of life we are in. Weaknesses are not given to us to hold us back and stop us from service, but they are given so that we may be useful to Him now, and usually more useful to Him in the future. Do we, like Paul, want revelation? Do we want to see the power of God work through us? Do we desire to be very effectual for him and to greatly benefit others by the fruit and service of our lives? Then expect for the Lord to allow weakness in our lives, and don't expect it to go away any time soon, or even ever in many cases. Expect trials, weakness, sickness, rejection from others, loss, persecution and above all expect to see your own great insufficiency- not so that we'll despair and throw in the towel, but so that we shall continually be humbled, and so that we shall decrease, but He shall increase. If we want to be used by the Lord, expect that we experience what Christ did, for no one is above their master in this, and He was known as the suffering servant. 

Gold Dust Calling

Was really humbled to have this happen at my house the other night (click on the link at the end of the post to see the photo of gold dust at my house). I'd just got off the phone and without even thinking about it, took my feet off my footrest. One foot had been on top of the other (cross legged/crossed feet), and I underneath it I saw gold dust! I've never had this happen before, but I knew it was exactly that. I looked very closely at it and it was definitely not sand or dust and it couldn't have been glitter because the size of the pieces were all different, and there wasn't any other pieces of the substance around me or on my feet. Some of you might say, "So what?" and "That's just weird" and "Why would God do that?" But in the Bible, in the Old Testament in the Holy of Holies, which represented Jesus; His person, character, goodness, glory and His ways, was covered in gold. So gold dust like this represents Jesus and those things. Furthermore, this dust was directly under my feet, which just confirmed the message/s of the Church that I'd gone to that day which was essentially to "Go out into the world and preach the Gospel". Not only that, but an awesome testimony was given by someone who had gone out with a group the previous night (to Surfers or Burleigh- can't remember exactly where) and not only shared the Gospel, but had allowed the Lord to demonstrate it through them by many mighty miracles. I knew the Lord wasn't just speaking to me through this gold dust (I'm nothing special and just a sinner saved by grace just like everyone else), but to the Church I went to, and all of you out there that are His children. He is wanting us to go out into the world and share the Good News, and to demonstrate it with allowing the Lord to work through us in miracles, just like the disciples of old did. This gold dust was under my feet, and I knew that the Lord was saying, "Go be my feet!" and "Go out and do what you've heard others do!" The Lord says this to all His children and all His disciples, and if you doubt that, have a read of the scriptures below. Notice that they're said to those that BELIEVE IN HIM (CHRISTIANS); and ALL HIS CHILDREN ARE THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN HIM:

Mark 16v15: He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

John 14v12: Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

A friend of mine also sent me this scripture when I told him about what'd happened:

Isaiah 52v7:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

If you have a heart to do this, please let me know. As I'd love to do it with others who have a similar heart for this. We can be bold with the Word He has given us on this, as He will be with us! I've seen the Lord do miracles through everyone, so don't get trapped thinking He only uses certain people. We all have the Spirit of God inside of us, so He's wanting to use us! And I know that too because He's always wanting to confirm His Word through miracles, because both Jesus and His disciples were used in this way:

Mark 16v20: Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Hebrews 2v4...: This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles…

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VISION: AMERICA/EUROPE ON ITS KNEES

This morning I woke up to see a vision of a man (who I couldn't identify because he was all black/in shadow) who was on his knees with his head bowed. Over his shoulder were 3 coloured ties: one white, one red, one blue.

Immediately I got the impression that this man was bowed down because of affliction. I believe that this dream could very well be speaking of America, as the colours on the American flag are red, white and blue. I also believe that this vision could very well be speaking of what is happening to America at the moment with its Ebola crisis and what will happen to America through Ebola, and also what the nation is facing with ISIS overseas. God is bringing that nation to its knees, as sometimes the only way God can bring men to Himself is through such means- if they won't come willingly, sometimes they will only be made to come to Him because of affliction and pain. Watch in the days to come, for the Lord is doing this thing, and these things are just the beginning of the trouble that He will allow and bring upon that nation.

The vision may also speak about England and Australia, because both county's flag's colours are red, white and blue as well. Both, especially England, are experiencing terrorist threats of late as well. This could very well increase and we could very well see terrorist attacks on both nations, although that is just my opinion for England, but for Australia God has shown me in a dream that that will happen.

Christians have nothing to fear from Ebola or terrorism, for Christ is our shield and our protection!

CARRIED AWAY

Rev 21v20: 'And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high…'


We can only ever walk with the Lord as long as we are being carried by Him. Most times we are unconscious of it because the Lord does it by His grace and power, but it is a certain fact that we can do nothing apart from Him:

John 15v5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Acts 17v28: 'For in him we live and move and exist. …'

When we do become conscious of it, it is usually because we have begun to rely on ourselves instead of Him. Other things become what we trust to hold us up, and they always fail us or run dry. When we become conscious of it, we are in particular need of being carried by the Spirit. John was carried by the Spirit for God's purpose at that time, and we too have need to be carried by the Spirit. The only way we can do this is by placing ourselves where the Spirit can lift us up and carry us. This means reading His Word, worshipping, praying and encouraging each other in the faith with fellow believers. When we do this, we begin to consciously realise that He is carrying us and that He is doing so at whatever time and circumstance we're in for His reasons- not only for our spiritual health, but also so that we'll be fruitful in the way that He wants, for Him, His Kingdom and also for our own spiritual health.

Before John was picked up by the Spirit and carried to the mountain God had for him, he had been in the Spirit on the Lord's day (Rev 1v10…). John had been spending time with Jesus in an attitude of waiting and worship. We are always in the Spirit in one sense, but at other times in another sense; communing with Him and worshipping Him. From that place God picked him up, and will pick us up. Where He will lead us, if anywhere, is up to Him, but the most important thing is that we are picked up by Him, so that He'll give us the continued grace so that we'll be able to walk with Him and follow Him. He gives us spiritual desires and a heart that burns for Him, and this can only be given by Him.

Once I had a dream wherein I saw a match box, and along the side of the box it read 'The matches belong to Christ'. Christ sets our hearts burning within us for Him, and He gives us the continued desire to keep walking with Him:

Luke 24v32: They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

WHERE THE POWER OF GOD LIES

Mark 4v26-28 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

The seed spoken of in the above parable is the Word of God. The one who sows it is not only the Son of God, but his servants (for God sows into peoples' live through using us as His servants). When we as Christians put forth the Word of God, the Lord and the Spirit go about to make that seed fruitful; both to grow it and make life come from it. This seed does not consist of certain parts of the Word, but of any and all parts of it; for it is all Spirit, and all life, for it is all of Jesus:

John 1v1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

We as Christians can often mistake where the power of God comes from. The scripture from Mark, at the top of this post, shows that the power of God does not come from our powers of persuasion, and it doesn't come from what we believe is good about God. The power of God lies in neither of those things, for it is its own power, which does not originate in us. We often do not understand this, and do not understand the fact that we will not understand how this seed sprouts and grows, because it is He who does both these workings (Mark 4v27).

When we evangelise, our task is to share the gospel of God and also to share anything and everything the Word teaches us. That is the power of the seed, for the seed reveals all the characteristics of God and of our Lord Jesus, and all these things are good. The power of God does not lie in our ability to share the gospel and the Word, or in any parable we may make up, for parables test whether men are being moved by the Spirit of God, or by natural means (means related only to feelings and to the feeding of the flesh i.e when many deserted Jesus due to Him not providing physical bread for them anymore). This is clear from the fact that, straight after Jesus shared the parable in Mark 4 v26-29 and then another parable in the same Chapter from v30-32, He then explained the parable He had spoken to the disciples:

Mark 4v33-34:
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when He was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Parables actually came as a test for the unsaved; for in their natural understanding, people would have thought Christ was actually talking about a literal seed. But, if they were truly being moved by the Spirit of God, then they would have realised that the seed was speaking about the Word, and the Kingdom of God in spiritual terms, not a literal Kingdom for the present time. Jesus showed the disciples that the power of God lay in the Spirit, not in the flesh and in human ways of understanding or in powers of persuasion. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus didn't use parables to make the Word easier for the unsaved to understand. And that is where the Church has run in to much trouble, for we have often diluted the Word of God in only giving likenesses to the Kingdom, which actually giving the truth as it really is, and in full. When this happens preaching and evangelism becomes a useless, fleshly thing.

The only way Christians will ever know if they are having an effect on this world, and are seeing true conversions, will be to preach the Gospel and the Word as it truly is- not by compromise or by half measure, but by any and every part of the Bible. The test must be given by showing the truth as it is, and not fearing that we may lose because of it, for that is not trusting God, but trusting in ourselves and in our own strength, and showing that, at least in part, we have selfish motives for preaching and evangelising. That is a preaching out of fear and the flesh, and there will come bad fruit from it.

Jesus taught us that the power of God lies in the Spirit and in His work to grow the seed and to make it fruitful. We will often not understand how this works, for the world says that it will only love God if God has something good for them, according to their understanding of what good is. The world says that they will love God if He suits their desires and does what they want Him to do. But that is contrary to truth, for God is the only God there is, and we are only His creation. We must serve Him and we must follow and obey Him, not the other way around. We serve His desires and His truth, and not our own desires and understanding. Whereas the Word often offers up hard truths and things difficult for us to understand and accept. The Word says that those that follow Jesus will have to suffer and will face many hardships. The Word says that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross, and it says that in this world we will have tribulation.

We must trust that God knows what is best for people and the unsaved, whereas we don't. If we do this, and preach the Word and Christ as He truly is, then we will be sure to see the power of God. God will take care of us, and He will also take care of those that rightly respond to that preaching. He will take care of His work and grow it and make it fruitful in a way that passes our understanding. God will build His Church, and the gates of Hell, and all powers of men will not prevail to hinder this, or to destroy it in any way.

PROPHECY COMING TO PASS & WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE

On my blog last year I posted a dream that showed that America was secretly preparing itself for a possibly imminent war. In the dream I saw a large white van (that appeared in such a way as to show that this was being done in secret) and a large collection of missiles, both large and small (although even the smaller ones looked formidable) that were about to be loaded onto it. I knew that they were about to be taken to a military base. In the dream I felt as though America was readying itself for a possible war that could take place. War SEEMED imminent. When I woke from the dream the song 'Radioactive' went through my head and the lyrics 'Welcome to the new age, to the new age' (the other lyrics to that song are quite interesting too if you do a quick google search). The imagery and link between the dream and the song should be quite self-explanatory.

The point being is that what looked extremely unlikely a year ago, now is a possibility and it is highly likely that it has already been fulfilled. America is, or already has, prepared itself for what may eventuate in Russia's part of the world. If one of the NATO countries is attacked by Russia, under the NATO Treaty and as a signatory to it, America is obligated to defend its Allies, and so to go to war against Russia. Putin has reminded and warned the world that Russia is a nuclear power and to not mess with it. Dark storm clouds are rolling in, and the day of the storm draws closer. On more than a few occasions in the past I've written about this and tried to warn people that a storm is coming. Jesus is in control, and He is sovereign! He will protect His people.

Below is the post I posted on my blog last year. Praise the Lord that He knows the future and He is in control of what happens next.



'Monday, 5 August 2013

DREAM: AMERICA READIES ITSELF FOR POSSIBLE WAR


1 Cor 12v7: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all...

Acts 2:17: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...

On the 20th of last month I had a dream. I dreamt I was in America and saw many missiles being loaded onto what I just knew was a military truck (one that tried to disguise itself as such). Some of the missiles were extremely large, and even the smaller ones still looked pretty formidable. I instinctively knew that these missiles were being taken to a US military base in readiness for what felt like a possible imminent war. It felt as though an enemy was threatening the US, and the US was taking it very seriously indeed, so seriously that they were arming themselves in readiness for what could take place. Another person came onto the scene and said something to the effect of even though war seemed imminent, that Christ never instructs man to go to war, but desires that men treat each other with love and kindness.

I think the interpretation of this dream is pretty straight forward. Although we 'know in part,' and 'see in part.' I don't pretend to know exactly what it means, but from my perspective, and definitely not a 'thus saith the Lord,' I think it means that it is very likely that the US will be on the BRINK of a POSSIBLE war/battle sometime in the future. The key words though I think are POSSIBLE WAR/BATTLE. It seems as though an enemy will threaten the US, and the US will take it very seriously indeed, so seriously that they will ready their armoury just in case they need to fight. I think it is also very POSSIBLE that the US may actually have to go to war with an adversary. There was an indication in the dream (something I haven't mentioned), that MAY speak about the US being successful in the battle/war (if they end up fighting/going to war), but that is only me interpreting something, and I could have got that wrong.

So why share this? One, the Lord gives dreams of the future for a reason, mainly, to strengthen and encourage our walk with Him in the present by warning, encouraging, instructing and directing. Jesus said to watch, and so we need to be obedient to watch for the signs of our times- Matt 16v2 He replied, "You know the saying, 'Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.' You are good at reading the weather signs in the sky, but you can't read the obvious signs of the times! When we watch, we show the Lord that we are being attentive to what He is doing in the earth, and then we can respond accordingly, in our lives and in our testimony for Him, and be most effective for Him in His service. If the disciples had never read the prophecy within the Old Testament, they would've never recognised the Saviour when He came, and if we never understand the prophecy of the Word, and the prophecy given by the Spirit, we'll never recognise His hand in world events, and not be able to guard our spiritual lives in the way we should. The Word says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, so if we are interested in being a testimony for Him, we'll be interested in prophetic things. Such things are for our good, and were given for a purpose, He desires that we should benefit by them!

God bless!'



Below is a part of another dream I had a few years ago, and that is yet to come to pass concerning America and Russia:


'Then we were all watching the news and something major had happened that they were covering on the news. We were all watching, and Russia apparently had just ‘acted against’/ attacked the US. Then one of the people said we were going down stairs now because CNN was just about to do a major broadcast/ news report on what was happening.'

At first I hadn’t being paying that much attention to the news, but then I realised that we were all watching a current report of what had just started between Russia and the US, Russia being the ones to start it (it seemed like preliminary actions had just begun, as the CNN report was just about to come out).'