LOVE'S GIFT

This week I've been thinking about the wonder of this communion meal that Christ left us, that we might remember Him.  It is a gift of love and such a triumphant gift!

It reminds us that God so loved the world that He gave ... His only Son.

It reminds us of the love that carried Jesus to the cross, out of the grave, and triumphantly into heaven.

We eat, drink, and remember - love, victory, and triumph over sin, death, and every work of the enemy.

This is powerful in every way, it fills us and reminds us that His love has great power and that He is indeed LOVE.

Today I came across a related thought from Thomas Merton that is worth holding in the heart when beholding the wonder of what the Lord has done for us as we walk through these days leading to the remembrance of Jesus' death and resurrection.

"I who am without love cannot become love unless Love identifies me with Himself.  But if He sends His own Love, Himself, to act and love in me and in all that I do, then I shall be transformed, I shall discover who I am and shall possess my true identity by losing myself in Him."

Thomas Merton "New Seeds of Contemplation"

THE GOD WHO KNOWS

My focus through this season of Lent, the beautiful walk towards Easter with all it's significance, is on the greatness of God.

Our true fulfillment and future is not found in what we, or any other person, thinks, but in what God knows.  Our way forward is IN Him and WITH Him, trusting that He truly is the beginning and the end and is the only One who sees the big picture.

I do not know how to build with my own hands, only with my heart.  It is a quiet place filled with His love and presence in which all things are possible and nothing too difficult for Him.

The prayer is not in the asking, it is in the knowing, and therefore it is not hindered by my finite view of things but safely in the hands of the One who is infinite.

In this place He truly becomes my Way, Truth and Life.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

For each of us as we stand before you in this season Lord, release us from the thoughts and ideas of ourselves and others, and lead us into what You KNOW is Your plan and purpose for us.  Pour the water and oil of Your Spirit over us and cause us to be flexible Lord - clay in Your hands - so that You can shape and place us as You please.

‘A CLOUD THE SIZE OF A MAN’S HAND’

Recently when praying for a friend I heard the Lord say “a cloud the size of a man’s hand”. It sent me back into the story of Elijah to explore what God was drawing to our attention in this particular time.

That night I took the photo above of the clouds in the sky at sunset.

1 Kings 18:41

And Elijah said to Ahab “Go, eat and drink, for there is the SOUND of a heavy rain”

18:42

…… but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

Elijah sat there connected to the very earth that needed the rain so desperately.

The servant went to look toward the sea seven times before he finally reported

“a cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea”. Finally ‘a heavy rain came on’.

Are we asking that our ears would be opened to hear the sounds of what God is doing in the heavenly realms, not just the obvious sounds around us right now?

18:46 The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Elijah had done battle with the prophets of Baal, it had been a big day, and yet when the rain came God gave him the power to run all the way to Jezreel faster than a chariot.

We are waiting for the rain which will bring God’s power into our lives in a new way.

Jezebel didn’t like it! It was immediately tested, and Elijah went into the desert, sat under a broom tree and prayed to die! “I have had enough Lord!” I wonder how many times we have said that!

At the point where all that God required Elijah to do had been done, he had experienced the backlash of the enemy’s displeasure, and he had completely run out of all his own strength, God and the angels began to move on his behalf.

The Lord sent angels to care for and FEED him, give him STRENGTH again, and MOVE him on – 40 days and nights journey to Mount Horeb – the MOUNTAIN OF GOD.

It’s important to observe the pattern here for it repeats in our own lives.

Elijah did great exploits, but they were nothing compared to what God did, and what God had prepared for him on the mountain.

On the mountain top God revealed Himself to Elijah in a new way, and He re-commissioned Elijah to go out again. There was a change of level and function of operation in the Lord’s call on his life.

We must be prepared to walk on the mountain top, in the valley, through the desert, and back to the mountain top again – it is the way forward. We cannot afford to despise any part of the journey or working of God, but embrace it as part of the His life in us.

The night I took the picture the whole sky was filled with little clouds 'the size of a man's hand' - may we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand His working in our lives and in the season we find ourselves in.

GOD’S ABILITY TO COMPLETE HIS PLANS – 2012

…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

God completes what He has begun, that is more important than what we think we can do!

As I sat praying about the year to come, and thinking of past visions and words He has given, that the Lord was saying it was ‘time to rest and get ready’.

PICTURE

Rows of soldiers wearing old fashioned amour – the sense is that what they wear and walk in is not new but very foundational and strong.

These soldiers are happy, and instead of traditional weapons each one is carrying a branch covered with fresh green leaves, they look ‘evergreen’ as if they will not wilt or drop.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding it’s fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 2:22

The branches the soldiers carry are for the ‘healing of the nations’ many will soon be sent out. Wait for the Lord’s call and sending, it will be right on time and the choice of destination will be His alone.

SHAKING

We have experienced ‘shaking’ in both the natural and spiritual realms. I see that those who are part of the church that the Lord Himself is building will stand in Him and in His strength alone.

Their earthly roots have been shaken loose in order that the Lord can put His living stones in their right places. I feel that the shaking in Christchurch has been a prophetic picture in this regard – the central place of worship for each of the major denominations was severely shaken.

Felt the Lord then said there was more to come but right now I should sleep … maybe a dream! When I awoke I had to attend to email and a dream that had been sent to see if the Lord would give me an interpretation. The content of the dream confirmed that the Lord’s visions are being outworked in His own way and plan causing us to be vulnerable but the unexpected is leading to the purposed destination.

MOVING IN THE UNDERGROWTH

I saw God’s people moving unnoticed through low bush and scrub. This was God’s safety and protection and it was a very quiet and beautiful place. HIS movement is currently hidden and will remain that way until He wants it seen. There is a sense of great connection with birds, animals and all of nature – this would seem a very good and natural place for us as Kiwis!

Though moving beneath the scrub, the direction is always upwards towards the top of a mountain, and even there the scrub and bigger trees provide safe cover.

I see again the ongoing picture of a great eagle flying over the tree tops and drawing flocks of smaller birds up out of the tree cover to fly high and free towards a great outpouring of light. (See Vision of a Higher Place below).

It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and becoming mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11 and onwards)

The whole of this reinforces the sense of God’s building out of the eternal plan He alone knows. This is a time to place our desires and plans on His altar, putting them safely in His hands as He alone is able to bring this to completion in His Son. It is a place of faith and trust in God alone.

I feel we need to stay quiet, stay low and hidden in Him as something momentous is being outworked in and around us. I hear Him saying “And so it was ……” which to me speaks of a time of fulfilling what God has spoken to and through His true prophets. I believe it is a time when He is raising up His standard in the face of much of what we see in the natural in the earth in this time.

VISION OF A HIGHER PLACE (August 2005)

I can feel the raw newness of what is ahead. It is raw, fresh, and edgy in a way we haven’t felt for quite some time. It looks like bush/forest, wet from rain, when the sun comes out. You know it is beautiful but not comfortable. It is beautiful but still being viewed from a distance and not yet engaged.

I see the eagle swooping and dipping in the clear blue sky above all of this, seeing it’s surface but not knowing what is hidden below the shining, glittering, surface. No space to land has appeared.

As the eagle swoops over the forest, many smaller birds begin to emerge and also fly around above the trees, as if they are being awakened to their ability to do so. Their numbers increase until there is much activity. “Cannot see the wood for the trees” comes to mind.

It seems something new has begun but it is not visible in the midst of our current life and circumstances. I see a very strong prophetic call being released to call people up higher. As they rise to this call and seek all that heaven offers them, they will move into a clear space and begin to see and move in the purposes of God in a fresh and new way. There is a clear distinction here – the call is to the purposes of God, not of man and this will not be found by man’s direction, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I felt to read Psalm 139 and is seems to give good direction for this journey which is INTO the Lord.

As I watch the flying eagle, smaller birds, and glistening treetops, the sun appears to shine continually brighter, and the sky becomes filled with golden light.

The scripture that seemed to cover what I was looking at is found in Ezekiel 43 v 2:

…and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with His glory.

There are many who are feeling the tug and pull of change right now, circumstances radically altered. I believe the Lord is beginning to do His building, and calling those who will come, wait on Him, and serve Him out of a place of His rest.

CUPS OF WATER

It's THAT time of year again when all reason seems to fly away on tinsel and glitter and materialism reigns.  I love the family side of Christmas, the time together is full of surprises, food, and laughter, but it's sad to see the long check-out lines and over-laden trolleys, and the stressed faces of those who are trying to make their few dollars go a very long way.

Yesterday I spent the morning with some people who are struggling to get their heads above water and to deal with the hand life has currently dealt them.  We talked about what it meant to really live.  It isn't about what we do or don't have materially and externally (although those things help keep us comfortable) but more about what is happening on the inside of us.

It is so important that each of us is able to live life, to live out of something internal and untouchable that sustains us through whatever we encounter day to day.  It is a choice - to live minute by minute and hour by hour to the full, not waiting for all the other things to fall in to place but making a decision that we will grasp and live the life we have this very moment.

The next stop was with a solo mum and her six week old baby - taking the remains of our banana cake and having a cuppa and a catch up with her.  While she fed the baby we re-arranged her living room and folded washing for her - all those things new mums don't have time for.  There were lots of laughs and a tidy home at the end of it all.  Nice to wave goodbye to a smiling mum and a contented baby.

Those things don't sound much, they weren't difficult to do, but faces lit up and hope and joy increased in those lives as a result.  The very hope and life that came to earth in a humble place as a free gift to each of us was passed on once more.  It didn't cost anything except time, and came out of the abundance of what has been given to each of us.  Is this not what it means to live?

My hope this Christmas is that many will choose to live in the fullness of all we have been given and then let it overflow into the lives around us.  We have been given a priceless gift that cannot be taken from us, and it needs to be passed on and ignited in the lives of others.  We have the gift of Life Himself, we celebrate that He was born, and we honour that gift by sharing it with the very people He visited when He walked on this earth.  It is a cup of water for the thirsty - how many free cups of water can we give away this Christmas I wonder?

 

 

DELIGHTS IN THE DESERT

This Saturday I had time to browse in my favourite second-hand book store, and found a book that is delighting me with it's insights - it's immensely encouraging.  So, I'm putting a couple of quotes here for any fellow travellers who might get joy from them also.

The writer is speaking of her life as a Benedictine living in the inner city: "It is here, in a place that the late Trappist monk Thomas Merton called the new wilderness, that I built my hut.  Merton thought it the new desert because the centre of our cities are barren and dry, devoid of hope, of promise, of possibility."

"What do I do here?  I plead a case for presence, beauty, community, and a call to follow God into the wilderness.

Once upon a time men and women who wanted to seek God relocated themselves in abandoned places.  These 'wilderness places' often associated with the desert, gave the seekers a unique perspective and freedom.

Living on the margins of society, stripped of the trappings of social expectation and pressure, they began to see differently.  Immersed in the word of God, they began to listen differently.  They put on the broken heart of God and spoke the truth on God's behalf for the poor, the victims of injustice, the suffering.

Their location in the wilderness gave them great freedom.  Why?  Because no one paid attention to them.  Because they were not the movers and shakers of the city.  Because they had no political influence, no one cared what they did.  No one even noticed their quiet works of transformation among the poor until suddenly "the desert and parched land bloomed with abundant flowers"."

Quotes are from "A Monk in the Inner City" by Mary Lou Kownacki.

This expresses so accurately what is happening in many cities in the earth right now.  Let us become unafraid to see and listen differently, and just maybe we will hear God calling us to come and walk in dry and barren places with Him, and have the joy of seeing Him make these same places bloom with abundant flowers!  May we too find a new perspective and new freedom.

GRAIN, NEW WINE & OIL

For the last few days I have been reading Joel 2 and Luke 5 again and again. 

The seriousness of this hour we live in, and the depth of the cry in my heart that God would be with us, leading us, teaching us, enabling us, grows daily.

All of Joel needs to be read to keep this in it's true context, but chapter 2 :12-19 are speaking loudly to me.

"Even now", declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  Who knows:  He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing - grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar.  Let them say, "Spare your people, O Lord.  Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations.  Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"

THEN the Lord will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.  The Lord will reply to them:  "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations."

Luke 5:37-39

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.  If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.  And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "

Many of us have tasted and loved what has become old wine, and we are as dried up old wine skins.  Let us ask that God would bless us to be made new and flexible, letting go of the old (even though it tasted good) so that we may be filled with new wine once more.

My Prayer : Lord I can feel the flow and power of Your Word as I read it.  We have become incoherent for the lack of Your Word, with it's power and truth.  I see us in Your Body as various groups who have become so excited over a portion of the truth you've revealed to us that we have made camp there and made it our all.

Please shake us loose and lead us on, help us to realise that You are infinite and there is so much more You want to teach and reveal to us.  Help us to be awake, alert, with our lamps filled and oil to spare in this hour.  Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what You are saying and doing.

We bring our hearts and our cry before You Lord, and ask that You would send us grain, new wine and oil in this season to strengthen us to call that You would 'spare Your people O Lord' and the cry would arise again and again out of the nations.

THE HOUSE

In recent days I have been considering the place I find myself in - moving backwards and forwards between working with struggling, marginalised people and then my quiet place of prayer and contemplation.  The gap feels huge at times, and I have cried out for a place in The Body where I can find fellowship in the midst of this.

The comment I made to myself recently was "I feel like a worm in some kind of rotting board in the basement of a crumbling building".  A tiny life holding on to an original concept long forgotten.  This spark of life that we carry must be constantly kept alive by time in His presence and in knowing the Spirit of God beyond the froth and bubble of current 'revival' seeking, so that we can walk out a life that carries His light into dark places, to the poor and marginalised people - not necessarily the economic poor - that they might be revived and find life.

ALL earthly buildings eventually begin to break down, ONLY the house the Lord builds can (and will) remain standing.

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  (Psalm 127:1)

ONLY the house God builds will stand and He builds, not with bricks and mortar, but with living stones, men and women.  Are we willing to let Him join the stones together?

When men actively recruit and draw numbers into the organisation or building they have made, who is building the house?

When a group considers it holds the truth and begins to exclude all who do not abide by it's truth and rules, who is building the house?

When the drawing is to 'church' rather than to relationship with the Lord and the life He gives, who is building the house?

Should we wonder that boards and buildings and organisations and programmes decay and fall into disrepair if they are not built by the Lord?

Surely if we live, move and have our being in Him, then each of us will know that same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1) .....and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is HIS BODY, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.

Surely we can trust Him in His great power to oversee HIS BODY of which He is THE HEAD, to take care of every single, even the most minute part, of what is His alone.

Perhaps if we could love, trust and serve Him in this way He would build His church and display the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in heavenly realms as God ordained it should do, and we would see the change (revival?) we cry out for.

Do we need to be reminded again to 'let go and let God' have His way.

I am convinced that we have not yet seen this beautiful bride that is His church because we have either been unable or unwilling to let Him shape and clothe her.

Can we humbly admit our weakness and ask that in this place He might come and show Himself strong.  "God of nations, at they feet..." is not an anthem designed for rugby games alone.  Are we able to take our rightful place, not just at, but under His feet, in order that His great love and lordship, wisdom, majesty and power, can be displayed.

As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

Jesus Christ gave Himself up in order to present His bride/church in what was the ultimate sacrifice of great love.

"...to present her to Himself as a RADIANT CHURCH, without any stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5).

The desire to see something fitting and radiant brings me to tears.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

Sometimes we gain greater understanding by looking at events outside of our usual thinking or calendar.

This week provides a great opportunity to do that.

For some time I have found a verse in Ezra really highlighted and so will share the findings for anyone who would like to ponder it further.

Ezra 3:6 (and you will need to read the surrounding chapters to get the full context of this) "On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord's temple had not yet been laid."

The people of Israel were doing what they could, with what they had, where they were, in that moment in time.  We can do exactly the same - too often we are held back by some idea that we can't move until everything is perfect and in place - this means that much actually never comes to pass!

In terms of the Hebrew calendar, the first day of the seventh month (1 Tishri) is the first day of a new sacred year.  This takes place on Thursday 29 September 2011.  It is marked by the blowing of the ram's horn and known as the Feast of Trumpets.  This is a call to prepare for the Day of Atonement which comes 10 days later - a solemn period of cleansing and preparation.  Five days after Yom Kippur begins the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) - a time of remembrance of the tent dwelling during the Exodus, and a celebration of the fruit harvest.

These were feasts ordained by God to bring His people together before Him in repentance, remembrance, and rejoicing.

As many of us find ourselves in a time of change, it is good to remember that there are patterns and experiences set out for us in God's Word. 

Perhaps the most useful thing we can remember in this season is that God's endings are also new beginnings.  He closes off the old to bring us into the new.  He Himself is the 'first and last, the beginning and the end' and the 'finisher of our faith'. 

He has shown us a process He works through with all of us that will be like a lamp to our path to show us the way through this current time.

CHANGE

It seems so long since I have written anything here!  This is mostly because of the tremendous pressure of change.  Right now there is a feeling of being tossed around in pounding waves - at the same time I sit with the deep peace of God in my heart and know that all is well with Him.

Many years ago now, I stood at the tip of the North Island, New Zealand, and looked at the collision of two great oceans meeting. 
There was foam and flotsam that marked the meeting point, and I remember the Lord speaking clearly to me and saying "When you are at a point of change, stay in the boat, don't get out and try to swim".

If I am sure of anything right now, it is that I am not alone in this place.  Many find themselves caught up in the process of change.  So, stay safely in the place you know in the Lord, hold to Him and He will hold on to you, and you WILL make it safely to the other side.

Right now we have the Rugby World Cup games taking place in this country.  Last night I watched Wales and South Africa play a tremendous game, both sides showing great strength, and there were many collisions in the game, but only one winner. 

There will be many collisions for us at the point of change, many decisions to be made, and we know above all else that God alone rules and reigns, we have chosen to align ourselves with the winning side!

Today I have read Hosea chapter 6 again:

"Come let us return to the Lord, He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  After two days He will revive us, on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in His presence.  Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him.  As surely as the sun rises He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

We have a great promise and a certainty that is the boat that carries us through the tumult of change and safely into the calm waters on the other side - changed by the process, but ready to embrace all He will now bring our way.