OUT OF THE SILENCE

OUT OF THE SILENCE

This is the first time I have felt to return to writing on this page, after just over 3 years of living silently, letting go of all the familiar, and waiting for the Lord to lead me in the direction He desires when the time is right.

So, here we are, sitting in our isolated bubbles in the lock down required by a world-wide pandemic.  It seems an odd time to be released from silence and find there is something to write about again.  However, as I ponder on this it also seems appropriate that the release comes as we move out of the remarkable events we remember at Easter, and perhaps others will find themselves coming out of their hidden spaces now as well?

One of my thoughts as we moved through the days that lead to Jesus' death on the cross was about what it meant for his mother.  Those with children will appreciate how a mother's heart is never absent from any pain and distress her children go through, and it seemed to me that Mary may well have understood that her agreement to God's will for her life went far beyond giving birth to the Christ child.  If that is so, she had counted the cost and was willing to walk the whole journey with her much loved son.

As we move into times of inevitable change, much of which is unknown at this time, I wonder if we are considering what might be required of us in the days ahead?  Are we spending the time and space we have been gifted with to sit before the Lord and listen for what He might want to build into our lives in preparation?  Are we willing to open our hands, let go of what is known, and say as Mary did "May it be unto me according to thy word"?  Do we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us just by habit and rote, or do we truly enter with all of our hearts into "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done" and come into full agreement with God's plans and purposes?

One thing we can be sure of in this moment, the whole world is in great need of hope.  I believe that as we hold to the Lord with all our strength He will give us this gift in abundance so that it can be poured out and shared with others, leading them into the knowledge and love of the Father who loves them.  My prayer for us all is found in 2 Timothy 2 (The Passion Translation):

"Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope,

fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and

perfect peace as you trust in Him.

And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually

surround your life with his superabundance

until you radiate with hope!"

2018 - BEYOND RECONCILIATION

On Christmas Eve I felt the Lord was speaking clearly and saying: 

"Behold I am doing a new thing...do you not see it?"

  

Following this He led me to Isaiah 57:6 

"These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

His house IS a house of prayer, and I felt again a stirring into the prophetic call upon New Zealand to be a nations' nation.  This can only come to pass as we unite as one people to press into the call and purpose that is God's heart for this nation.  As we enter 2018 I hear a strong call to move beyond focus on reconciliation into unity - a stage of trust and common purpose.  We have long spoken of and worked towards reconciliation, but I believe a higher goal is now to be sought.

New Year = New Prayer

I can feel prayer building like a rumbling volcano! I don't know how or what it will entail or look like, but it has begun.  Many have been completely emptied in order to begin to carry what is in God's heart for this time.

We Kiwis are great independent individualists, but we need to let God lead us into His unity and common purpose for this season, not religiously but in love and truth.

I feel great urgency about this, and feel it is possible in God and by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Those who pray will be required to surrender and follow the sovereign leading of His Spirit in their prayer.  It will require laying down what we have been called to previously and embarking on a new prayer journey for this season.

Reconciliation between Maori and Pakeha has long been a desire and goal, but I feel God saying that it is far more essential that both be reconciled to Him to release and reveal the unity He gives.  It looks so impossible at times but we know that nothing is impossible with God.  The necessary unity can only be found in Him.

This will involve a very powerful work of the Holy Spirit which will have all the elements of true revival.  A completely sovereign and seemingly impossible event, higher and greater and stronger than anything we could ask or imagine.  It is most likely that this will not look at all as many expect and desire revival to look!

THE WAY FORWARD IN 2018 - RECONCILED TO GOD / UNITED IN HIM AND IN HIS PURPOSE.

This will mean that many who have stepped away or grown lukewarm, and many who have never known their God, will suddenly be drawn by the Holy Spirit into powerful revelations of His love and truth.  

Isaiah 57:8 will become true in this nation:

The Sovereign Lord declares - He who gathers the exiles of Israel:

"I will gather still others to them, besides those already gathered."

It is important to understand that this will be the work of the Spirit of God, not the work of men and women.

Luke 10:38-42 tells us the story of Martha and Mary.  Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made & felt that Mary, who was sitting listening at Jesus' feet, should have been working with her.

Jesus response to Martha should be heeded at this time:

"Martha, Martha" the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one!  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Jesus was in fact perfectly capable of providing the food along with the teaching if it was necessary!

May the Lord give each one of us the courage, faith and love, to obediently follow His leading and instruction in this critical season of our national history.

THE EAGLE

This is the third in a series of visions of an eagle over this land.  I have been sitting silently with much over the past year, but believe it is time to release this vision received on April 18 2017.

I see him flying very high now over this nation, much higher than the tree canopy where he first began to call for many to come higher.

Now from a greater height he flies back and forth drawing out, pulling up, God's heart purpose for this nation.

People scurry over the surface like ants, but there is a deep rumbling as something profound and untouched by man takes form and begins to rise.

"Be still and know that I am God".

God arise!

'Now arise Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.

May your priests Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.'  (2 Chron. 6:41)

'May God arise, may his enemies be scattered, may his foes flee before him.

(Psalm 68:1)

What takes place now will be sovereign and beyond man's control.  God alone will have the glory and those who have been in darkness will move towards His great light.  This is the light I saw the eagle flying towards in the very first vision.  It is irresistible.

'Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn'.  (Is. 60:3)

PENTECOST - I believe the Lord is saying this year is all about Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We celebrate this gift on June 4 this year.

'But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come.'.

PROCESS OF TRANSITION

On 10 January 2016 the Lord began to teach me about His process of transition.  Since then I have had countless people telling me that they are in transition and finding the process difficult.  I am posting this as it may be helpful.

The Lord led me to Joshua 5:6

The Israelites had moved about in the desert 40 years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord.  For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land that He had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Those who had obeyed the Lord then went through a definite process to enter into the promise.

1.       The people were to follow the Ark of the Covenant and the priests. 

Joshua 3:4 “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before”.

2.       The people were instructed to consecrate themselves because the Lord was going to do amazing things among them.

3.       The Lord stopped the flow of the river to enable the crossing.

4.       The new generation crossed over the river and were circumcised.

5.       They remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

6.       The Lord rolled away the reproach of Egypt at Gilgal (sounds like the Hebrew for roll).

7.       On the evening of the 14^th day of the month they celebrated Passover.

8.       The following day they ate the produce of the land and the manna ceased.

Those of a generation who are moving into God’s promise will find themselves in a similar process.

1.       There will be a specific preparation, and then a need to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit very closely because we have not been this way before.

2.       There will be a God action – something that only He could do.

3.       There will be a cutting away of the things of the flesh

4.       They will be required to remain in one place until they are healed.

5.       The reproach of the past will be removed from them. (Reproach: disapproval or disappointment).

6.       There will be a time of acknowledging what God had done for them and that He has been sovereign in what has taken place.  They will celebrate their new freedom.

7.       They will need to begin to actively partake of what is in the new place.

8.       What sustained them in the past will dry up.

This is the process of transition, crossing over, moving from one season into the next as God’s people are currently being called to do.  Those who are not obedient will cling to the things of the past and will not see the new that is before them, neither will they taste of the goodness of the land of milk and honey.

On the evening of the 14^th day of January 2016, we took communion to ‘pass over’ and leave the pain and reproach of the past behind.  A new day, a new land.

We prayed out Psalm 105 – remembering all that God did for His people Israel and celebrating His constant love and goodness, acknowledging that it is the Lord who leads, guides, protects and provides for us.  He is good.  We proclaimed our belief that we would now taste of the land flowing with milk and honey.

I believe it was a process given specifically in order that we might enter with Him into this new season, and a door has closed behind us at the end of 2015.

THE LORD’S TEMPLE 

22 January 2016.    In my morning prayer the Lord led me into chapters in Ezekiel 40 onwards.

Ezekiel 40.  Specific steps towards what God is setting in place for this year.

Ezekiel is shown the ‘gates’.  They have very specific measurements.  In each of the gates to the Inner Court the portico faced the outer court and palm trees decorated the jambs, eight steps led up to the gate.  (I suspect that in what is being prepared the Lord will show a total of eight specific steps).

Ezekiel 41:17  Palm trees and cherubim surround the sanctuary. 

In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary were carved cherubim and palm trees.  Palm trees alternated with cherubim.

(The palm tree symbolises the upright and faithful and in this context is connected to the things of heaven and the throne room.)

Ezekiel 43:1 & 2  The East Gate

Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 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.

Years ago when we began to pray through NZ ahead of Impact World Tour, the Lord took us first to Gisborne.  It was a most special time and I made a friend there who I have subsequently prayed with along the confiscation line and in other parts of the East Coast.  I believe, and it has been spoken over her life by others, that she is a gatekeeper for that coast, and she has been most diligent in her task.  She is a Pastor in Opotiki.

In one of the most powerful visions I have ever experienced, the Lord showed the ‘people of the mist’ coming forth as leaders.  Tuhoe of the East Coast have been referred to in this way. (Copy of the vision attached)

Ezekiel 44:23  Holiness

They (the priests) are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

 This verse stood out as a very specific instruction for the moving into the new.  For some time I’ve carried a strong sense that much of the church today has grown way too familiar with God and have forgotten that He is Holy.  The function of a father is not just to play with his children, have fun, and give them good gifts.  He also provides security, instruction in how to live and work, models a functional way of life.  There is some teaching to be done carefully to bring back a sense of what is holy, and what is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord to move His children into maturity for this season.

Galatians 6:7 & 8

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature (flesh) will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 

April 20, 2004

This vision and word for New Zealand came at the very end of an extended time of intercession.

 The vision began with the Lord bringing BREAD to the intercessors in the middle of a green field.  He then released a light covering, or mantle, like a tent over everyone.

I saw workmen under this tent (like workmen when they are repairing telephone wires), they were digging deep down into the soil.

As the digging went deeper they uncovered a new substance, I believe the Lord was saying it was the true heart of the nation which no-one has yet seen.

I saw Maori warriors doing a haka ( challenging dance) on top of the land, but the Lord said even the Maori have not yet dug for His heart.

We were connected to the beat and pulse of this heart.  Those who get down low, close to the land, will find the heart.

There is still something to be found/released in Matamata (centre of the North Island) in this regard.  He clearly said “I have not yet finished with Matamata”.  (Note:  I think of the young Maori woman who carried the bible over the Kaimai range to Matamata where revival broke out among the people.)  Matamata is the geographical heart of the North Island.

I saw strong figures emerging from a thick grey fog and mist.  The Lord said there would be a new release of leaders in the nation, unknown men and women brought forth by the Lord.

As those who were prepared to dig deep in the Lord continued to dig, the heart was found and I saw the whole of New Zealand become a huge heart.  Every part of the nation was this immense heart.

Then I saw the Lord’s hand take pieces of this heart and drop them into the nations.  He had lifted me up high and I saw the nations of the earth, they looked like pieces of paper floating on the ocean compared to the size and depth and substance of this ‘heart’ nation.

 There was so much substance that the pieces of heart placed in the nations radically affected each one.  All the nations of the earth were affected.

Then the Lord showed me connection between this heart and Jerusalem.  I saw a surge outward over the northern tip of New Zealand that became a powerful arrow-shaped flow into Israel.  What has been prepared, and will be released, in the uttermost parts of the earth, will reach back into the land of Israel.

Finally I saw those who had been digging.  They were sitting deep down in a furrow, between banks of well-tilled soil.  These were deep ploughed furrows.

I was reminded again that He had brought us bread in a green field – this indicated to me that much of what I had seen was ‘grass roots’ (indigenous) in nature.

Judith Grobelny

CREATIVE PROCESS

This week I began reading Richard Wurmbrand's "Sermons in Solitary Confinement".  It has been shouting at me every time I walked past the bookshelf and I wish I had listened sooner!

This blog is for all those who are struggling in this time of transition with the difficult parts of God's creative processes in our lives.  My heart was softened and changed as I read the beautiful words of a man who was held in solitary confinement for three years in total silence.  He was beaten and tortured and memorised the little sermons he wrote as he had nothing to write on!  This is exceptional beauty, rather like John of the Cross - the presence of God in the most awful and difficult of places.  I hope whoever reads this will be equally touched and encouraged.

“I am beginning to love this silence. I sometimes make up verses to pass the time, but what I would really like would be to make men, each one of whom would be a fine piece of poetry.  In the original Greek in Ephesians, it is written that Christians are the poem (poiema) of God (Eph.2:10).  So God is a poet too.  His poems are serene, flexible, rich in meaning.  He has embodied his poems in flesh.  Each one has a different subject.  One is the embodiment of heroism, another of sanctity, another of wisdom, yet another of practical common sense.  Christians are not only different, but also sometimes divergent and even contradictory characters.  But every one is pleasing to the Lord.”

“Instead of a world in which bookshops sell volumes of sermons and poetry, I would like a world in which each man and woman is a poem of high thought, filled with melody and colour.  If I am a hindrance to the coming of such a world, may God kill me here in prison!  But this is how the world should be.”

Currently I am sifting and sorting out the debris of my life – 6 bags in the rubbish yesterday and many more to come!  Maybe in some strange way it is a prophetic indication of this time – deep digging and clearing of the clutter of our lives, a tough work, time and pain involved, in order that we will truly be conduits of His life, placed where that flow is most needed.  If so I will sift and sort with great passion and vigour J.  Strange that it all takes place when our view ahead is limited, a work of great obedience to just keep going.  Definitely something that seems to be taking place in obscurity and darkness, stripping away the familiar, and eventually throwing open a window to greater light.  I have always suspected that when we feel most alone, vulnerable and defenceless, is when the deep and marvellous things take place without our being able to see or feel them.  If we continue to believe and hold on to the passion placed within us for changed lives and a different world, we will embrace this trial with great hope J.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Ephesians 2:10

FATHERS

Today on Facebook I see numerous comments about absent fathers.  It's been 15 years since I was last able to talk to mine, and I hear many missing that key figure in their lives as we celebrate Fathers' Day.  My heart is sad, and I am further saddened by the sense of loss that comes through what others have written.

It seems as if this is the ache of all mankind right now.  For a Father.
The deep need for affirmation and love from a father is something that God the ultimate Father has put inside each of us to constantly call us back to Himself.  It cannot be avoided, and even the very best father in this world will never fill that gap.

I work with mothers and children who are having to do life alone.  Maybe father was dysfunctional, maybe he never committed to being with them, maybe he terrified them with his outbursts of violence and rage.  Maybe his heart was screaming for the father he never knew as well?

The greatest comfort in life is to know that we have a heavenly Father who is constant.  He will never leave us or let us down.  He is not full of human frailty and imperfections.  He IS Love itself and will be all we can ever need if we allow him to be.

Maybe this is one of the greatest days of the year. The day when the human ache for a father is highlighted in order that THE FATHER has a chance to walk in, fill the gap, heal the wounds, and line us up with His loving purpose for our lives.  I pray that today many will come to know that they are not alone, that they are loved, that there is a constant and secure love available to them.

COMPLETE LOVE

Recently, on a flight between London and LA, I heard a voice speaking to me above the sound of the plane – “It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere”. 

During the following night, I woke and the Lord began to reveal something new to me about the tremendous power of His love.  I felt He was showing that the Greeks divided the understanding of love into two – agape and eros.  It seemed He wanted me to understand that He does not separate or divide His love at all, it is always the same containing numerous elements that are Himself.  “God IS Love” in every place, in every way, EVERYWHERE!  He is the complete answer.  In the Hebrew language Ahava, the one word for love, has the root meaning to give and contains a completeness.

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…”  Here we have the sense of giving.  It is interesting that the instruction to the wives is to respect and honour their husbands – not something that necessarily comes naturally but requires giving to them.  The instruction to the husbands requires humility and sacrifice, again something that might not be the usual response.  This requires a whole lot of giving!

God’s is a complete love.  The agape and eros are not separated in a marriage.  Jesus Christ did not lay down  His life for a denomination or a building, but laid down His life for His bride “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a redeemed church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25 & 26).

Christ died for freedom and cleansing from sin, pain, brokenness (stains, wrinkles and blemishes) and to establish a kingdom which is sovereignly governed by Love Himself.  Sin divides but love unites.  When God blessed Mary to carry His baby son, the Christ child was not formed by eros or agape but by Love Himself exercising the fullness of Himself as Creator of all.  The culmination of marriage as God ordained it is an act of creation.  Jesus Christ claiming His Bride has to be a profound creative act, as Paul says “a profound mystery”.

The church (congregation of believers) Jesus died for are being led into an ever deepening expression of His love, and this will have greater creative effect.  I saw that currently terror and the ungodly is able to expand in its strength because the church has become watered down and weak.  The antidote is that the people of God begin to function again in His complete love, not divided and watered down expressions of love that enable them to remain in the comfort zone.  The kind of love Paul describes in 1 Cor. 13 is a “most excellent way” and this “Love never fails”.  We are reminded that “the greatest of these is love”.

I believe the Lord is asking His church to put childish ways behind her.  He will not return for a child bride but for a mature and prepared one.  He gave me glimpses of the power of His complete love, sufficient that I would seek more of it in prayer and action, by His Spirit.

I feel that this amazing love of God bursts in on us, like a fantastic sunset or a beautiful scene in nature.  It takes us by surprise and captures us as all His creative wonders do.  He is truly EVERYWHERE and in everything.  I am seeing that His speaking “It’s everywhere” is probably one of the most astonishing prophetic experiences I have ever had, and yet it was quite short and simple.  It is not hard to open up in obedience to allow Him to surprise and astonish us with His love, and to take a gigantic step forward in the establishing of His Kingdom.

LISTEN! 5.5.15

I haven't written here for some time as I didn't feel there was anything much to say.  Over the years I have only blogged when I felt the Lord was speaking something significant into my heart. Some years ago He told me there would be a 'famine in hearing the word of the Lord' - this, like all else He says, proved to be true.

Last Tuesday I was preparing to go to work when He stopped me in my tracks and called me back to listen to what He had to say, so below is what I believe He was saying to me.  I believe He is speaking to His people in the land right now.

"Please, please, please, pause and listen.
You've become used to the work, the hard work, but I made you for so much more.
I need your ears and I will require you to speak.
You prayed for the release of the nation's prophetic voices and you need to be part of the answer.
We will re-engage in our conversation, the famine in hearing is now over.
Be alert, be awake, be listening.
The wind is rising and beginning to blow over the land, blowing away the dust of neglect and clearing the debris built up in this time.
Who am I to you in this time?
I am the One Who speaks
I am the One Who hears
I am the One Who declares things into being.
I am looking at New Zealand right now
My gaze is resting on her, and My heart is towards her.
My purpose overrides every plan of man and My plans will come to pass.
Please listen, remind others to listen.  Listen carefully.

Following on from this, the Lord lead me to a number of scriptures as follows:

Amos 3:7
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Exodus 15:6
"Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power.
Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy."

Revelation 20:4
I saw the thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.  And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their fore-heads or their hands.  They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Isaiah 22:16
What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

John 14:15
If you love me, you will obey what I command.

These verses speak to me of God's purposes, plans and principles.  The Isaiah verse when read in context is the story of someone who exalted himself into a place of authority that the Lord had not given him.  I feel strongly that we need to ensure we are moving in His will and purpose in this day and have not moved into positions through ambition or need.  The Lord chooses and calls His prophets, we cannot decide to become one without the call, although we may all prophesy as the Holy Spirit brings God's word.

A FEW THOUGHTS

There have been a few consistent thoughts as we left 2014 behind and are cautiously making our way into 2015.  It feels to me as if 'cautious' is the operative word - there is something very careful about walking forward into this year. 

For a couple of weeks now I have been returning to Genesis 15 and reading it over and over.  It is a very short passage but it contains multiple layers of advice and understanding.  There are such huge promises and undertakings expressed in short passages as God speaks to His friend Abram about what his future will contain - even future generations that Abram will never see.  There are three key elements in this passage that I feel repeat over and over through the Bible, and over and over in our own lives.  I have been strongly reminded of them in this time.  God's pattern REVEALS, REVERSES, and RESTORES.

Abram is a childless man with no heirs when God comes along to tell him that he will be the father of a great nation, that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the night sky!  God comes to REVEAL the future to a man who feels he has no future!  It looks like a very barren end of the line!

Abram cannot see a way into what God is promising him, even though by faith he believes the Lord.  It all seems impossible when he looks at it with his natural eyes instead of the eyes of faith.  However in this place where the there seems to be a reversal of what has been spoken, God asks Abram to bring Him a sacrifice.  Having been obedient to this request still Abram has to wait and watch over the sacrifice so that it is not consumed by the birds of prey.  How often, in places of REVERSAL, have we needed to watch over and guard what has been promised so that it is not snatched away by doubt and unbelief?  Have we been willing to sit keeping watch until God shows up?  Gen. 15:12 tells us Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.  How often have we sat, or slept, in the darkness that keeps everything from our view and struggled to survive in that place?

Then as God walks into the darkness the promises are spoken again, and Abram is given prophetic assurance of what is to come, not just in his lifetime but way beyond it.  God RESTORES hope as He comes and speaks into despair and darkness His Word that all these thousands of years later we know came to pass exactly as He said it would.  There were many battles to be fought and changes to be made, many challenges to be walked through, but everything that God spoke came to pass.

In Gen.15:1 God speaks to His friend Abram and says what I believe He is still saying to you and I today, especially in this year:

"Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, 

your very great reward."

To you and I this year I believe He would encourage us not to be afraid.  As He works out all that He holds in His heart for you and I, He will indeed be our shield and our reward.  Let us walk quietly and carefully with Him into this new year, watching over what we do know, holding on to the promises He gives us, and knowing that in His perfect time it will prove to be true.  He will bring it to life with His presence, so we will continue to seek His presence above all else.

May we know His Revelation, walk with Him through every Reversal, faithfully knowing that He will Restore in His perfect time.

THE TRUE LIGHT

Here we are again at Christmas, desperately trying to hold on to something heavenly in the face of the onslaught of glitter and noise that drowns out the true peace, love and light that were the reason for this season!

Perhaps our big challenge in this moment is to be so in touch with the Truth Himself, that He is able to shine in some small way through each of our lives, a small light in a dark world.

Each of us carries within us a precious gift of life, breathed into us by our Maker, a breath, a wind, a word, that can be released to ignite life, love and healing in others.

What a simple responsibility He has given us, just to keep breathing, keep walking, keep talking with love to each one we encounter.  Beginning to shine, like stars in the universe, because of the light we carry within us.

What a stark contrast that light and love are to the glitter of tinsel and the noise of money changing hands in ever lengthening queues.  How peaceful and gentle in the face of struggle and despair brought on by the demands of commercial Christmas!

As I endeavour to hold course into a new year, looking for the path and purpose to move forward on, I have been reading the words of one of my friends.  Thomas Merton, in New Seeds of Contemplation, gave me some words that lifted me over the noise and bright lights, back into the place of peace, love and light.  May his wisdom bless you as it has me this Christmas time, and make us aware again of the One who stands in the midst of us, longing that we should know Him, and know Him better.

This is the gift of understanding: we pass out of ourselves into the joy of emptiness, of nothingness, in which there are no longer any particular objects of knowledge but only God’s truth without limit, without defect, without stain.  This clean light, which tastes of Paradise, is beyond all pride, beyond comment, beyond proprietorship, beyond solitude.  It is in all, and for all.  It is the true light that shines in everyone in “every man coming into this world.”  It is the light of Christ, “Who stands in the midst of us and we know Him not.”

SHAKING GROUND

At the moment I find myself having daily conversations with others about the situations and difficulties they are facing, the things they cannot get their heads around, and the questions that all of that raises about life in general, and of course where is God in all of this?

I keep thinking of how many times the Bible talks about shaking and most times it is the forerunner to something really momentous and good happening.  I think in our quake-prone nation we tend to look at shaking as possibly negative and destructive, whereas when God shakes it's a bit like harvesting wheat, shaking all the debris off and leaving what is good and useful.  

In the Bible Gateway app on my phone the relevant parts of Hebrews 12 have amazing headings such as: 

"Warning and Encouragement" and "The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy".  

Hebrews 12:26-29 puts it pretty clearly: 

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens".  The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken - that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our" God is a consuming fire".

Acts 4 again gives us encouragement and wonderful instruction as Peter and John pray their great prayer and God responds....with shaking!

Acts 4:30,31 

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

If I am reading it right, the shaking just gets rid of what isn't any use anyway, and heralds the way to something powerful and productive as God moves in power.

Some of my recent conversations have been around the loss of understanding of what "the fear of the Lord" really means, and also that in some respects we have become overly familiar with a God who is Love, but also Infinite, All present, All powerful, Creator of all things, Lord of All, who rules and reigns on high.  We are told that 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom', and in the face of shaking who doesn't need wisdom!

If you my dear friend are finding yourself in the midst of shaking, as many of us are, you have company.  Also, you can be encouraged that God has turned His face towards you and is working in your life.  Instead of giving great credit to the enemy of our souls who doesnt deserve it, let's stand up, look this right in the eye, and submit ourselves to His hand and His process, knowing that the outcome will be good, even great.

In this time let us look up and cry out that just as when that shaking took place in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (and life hadn't exactly been a breeze for those guys), God would stretch His hand out again, that He would heal, that He would perform signs and wonders because of Jesus Christ, and that we would again be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the word of God boldly in this day.

Our God is "a consuming fire" who consumes all the dross of our lives, and turns the rest into pure gold.  

ELECTION WEEK

This has been quite a week with more nonsense on the airways than usual because the elections are taking place on Saturday, and it's only Wednesday!

Today as I drove through South Auckland I looked at a young woman on the side of the road and saw the deep concern on her face.

I passed a beautiful older woman with the circle of flowers on her head that made her look like a princess.

I spent the morning with women who are rebuilding broken lives and families, who laughed and cried, and told stories that would break the hardest heart.

These were all real people, with real lives, real feelings, and their own important stories.

At a farewell to someone who has given years of their life to putting safety nets in place, and lifting many out of the depths of human despair, I cried as I listened to those who have hearts to really see human dignity restored and lives given all the help and opportunity they deserve.

Where I walked people are seen as individual, precious, full of potential and promise, and every effort made to unlock these and thereby increase the richness of our nation.

Then I turn on the television!!

Why does a political debate have to be the greatest example of bad manners and lack of respect I've seen all day?

Why are people's lives and opportunities being bandied around and traded for votes, or worse still totally ignored by those only interested in sensationalism and bad-mouthing those currently in leadership so they can score points against those who upset their personal plans and comfort zones!

As we go to the polls this week I hope that we will consider what will be best for all areas of our society, and who will give consideration to the deeper issues that cannot be changed or improved with legislation.  Is there anyone I can vote for who is willing to roll up their sleeves and walk alongside someone for a mile or so in a way that counts, not just for a great photo or another couple of votes?

STOPPING SHORT OF THE GOAL

I have been giving a lot of thought over the past couple of days to how we as "modern Christians" possibly sabotage, neglect, or abort what God had in mind for us to do because we live in a results/success orientated world, and everything has to be accomplished at such great speed.

He gives us spiritual gifts that enable us to begin or establish something, e.g. prayer house, mercy work, group, community work, a business venture......etc.

As He blesses what He ordained we get excited, ambitious, proud, over-confident with the current success.  The result of this can be franchises as others view the results, invitations to speak and excite and encourage others, even decisions to fund raise to keep it going, forgetting His instructions in Philippians 1:6

"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".
Sometimes we have only done the preparatory work in bringing this to birth, get excited about the baby, and forget that it now has to be nurtured and watched over as it grows and learns to walk, talk, become independent!

If God began it HE will carry it forward and ensure that it continues!  We often forget the 'forward' part and camp out at the current point of growth, seeing it as completion.  Instead of using His gifts to continue in the work, quietly obedient and caught in heaven's flow, suddenly we are being carried along by human excitement, demands and values.  We shift off the intended course and purpose and lose sight of, or worse still, lose completely what God intended.  If we franchise what is good but incomplete and intended for us to serve Him in the place He gave us, we have sold off half of a good thing - it's a kind of robbery!

There are always adjustments and changes when a new baby arrives, but the core of the family remains the same just adjusting to the changes in dynamics that expansion dictates.  I wonder how much has been missed or sold short because we got excited at the half way point and didn't continue on making room for more to be added on the way to completion?

Good things, like good wine, take time to mature and deepen in quality.  Can we allow God to continue to use our lives and gifts as He knows He always intended to?

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God created in advance for us to do."  Ephesians 2:10

Let's be faithful in the call and gift as long as he wants us there.  Quietly hidden in Him until He leads or calls us elsewhere.  HE is ABLE to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

Let's quietly and confidently embrace what is before us today, knowing that He can and will provide all we need, and that all the glory and success is His alone.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

PEOPLE

At this moment in time, when we are being bombarded with media reports of the latest conflict in this world, it seems that it is all about 'good guys' and 'bad guys' and everyone has to take one side or the other.

My heart is very troubled and sad in the midst of it as I find myself grappling with myself as various friends I esteem highly are coming out strongly on one side or the other, and I find myself trapped in the middle of it all.

It seems that all of human conflict has been about one side trying to prove that they are right, and paying whatever price is necessary to prove that.  So much is justified by taking the moral high ground and endeavouring then to convince others that it is the right ground to be standing on.

I've lived in two countries that were pushing hard for the rights of one side or another, and in both cases it ended with bloodshed.  All around the world today the conflict and the bloodshed continues.  It does my head in trying to find a middle road through all the arguments...a road that leads into the hearts and homes of the ordinary people endeavouring to lead ordinary lives in the midst of it all.

Someone detonated a bomb and blew up an electricity substation near to the hospital right when my son was being born!  At that moment in time I wasn't too concerned with the noise, the shaking, or the reason...I was in the process of bringing forth a new life, someone to be loved and cared for, someone to be raised to be the best possible person he could be.  The message was lost on me in that moment, or perhaps in that moment another message became abundantly clear in my heart.

Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, each of us is doing life.  Life comes with responsibility for those around us, each and every one of them.  I cannot judge, and the Bible tells me it is not my job to do so.  But I am required to live, to love, and one day to give account of how I have done both of those things.

So now we listen to accounts of conflict that lean heavily on one side or the other of 'right', but all the while my heart is telling me that in the midst of it all, and on both sides, ordinary people are endeavouring to live ordinary lives and raise their children to be the best people that they can be.  I cry when I see that children have been killed or maimed, they sure didn't ask for it!  

Now the question comes about those responsible for the killing and maiming - taking into account that there are always two sides firing at each other.  There are two sets of mothers weeping, there are two sets of fathers fighting, there are two sides to every story on the face of the earth, and I doubt that either is 100% guiltless or responsible.

Maybe you and I can begin to change the world today....how?.....by not taking sides but by doing the things we can do, day by day.  We can LIVE well, and we can LOVE well.  It might not seem a big thing, but the smallest act of kindness, compassion, and love, flies in the face of the death and destruction elsewhere.

I think someone began a movement like that with the hope that the world might be united and there would be a 'new man' created who was neither one thing or the other, not Jew or Gentile, Greek or Roman, etc., just a new man who could live, love, and represent the One Who is Love Himself to the whole earth.  Maybe He gave us a blueprint for peace and we just haven't implemented it yet!

YOUNG VOICES

I had the joy of attending "WORD - The  Front Line" on Saturday night,  WOW!!!

South Auckland Poets' Collective had brought together talented young poets from Auckland high schools to battle it out with spoken word in a poetry grand slam competition.

What a unique and powerful opportunity to hear what is really going on in young lives and hearts.  How else will we ever be in touch with this growing generation unless we hear their voices and their stories.

This was outstanding in its raw honesty, heartfelt pain and anger, and a display of youthful courage in just getting up there to speak.  I was impressed, encouraged, moved to tears, struck dumb with the power of their words.  What a privilege to be present for such an event.

It underlined what sits uppermost in my heart in this current season.  If we do not take the time to listen, to hear one another's stories, we will never know each other, neither will we understand.

In this busy world it's a big challenge to stop and listen.  It takes time we sometimes don't feel we can afford - but truly the question is can we afford not to listen and remain ignorant of what is happening in the lives around us.  Can we say we are truly living and present in our communities if we are not hearing the voices that whisper softly or shout loudly within them?

We all have this great desire to be heard, whether we manage to find the words to speak or not.

I am so incredibly grateful that there are people out there prepared to give time to help the silent and wounded find their voices and give them a platform from which to speak.  I saw this in action wonderfully and powerfully on Saturday night.

I've always loved the words of Teresa of Avila, they inspire us all to be constant in using the eyes, ears, hands and feet God gave us, to show His compassion to each one we encounter during our day.

Christ has no body, except yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours.

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours

GUARDING THE FUTURE

Over the past decade I have sat in rooms, week after week, month after month, year after year, listening to women tell their stories.
At a rough count I have sat with at least 500 women, and a huge portion of that number have told stories of sexual molestation, rape, abuse, all in their childhood or early teens.
These are courageous women who are telling the truth,  They are brave mothers fighting for their children.  They have climbed over terrible odds to get to this place and find a space to tell their story and their truth.

My heart is bleeding for our nation and for it's children.

Our children are our treasure. Our children should grow up safe and secure.  Our children need to be nurtured and protected so that they grow to their full stature as adults, parents, leaders in our nation.

No one has the right to rob our treasure of their treasure.

We have an opportunity as a nation to find the courage to build into our future.  We claim ancient treasures back from overseas because they belong to this land and this people.  How much more should we be claiming responsibility for the living treasures who dwell in the midst of us.

This robbery of innocence needs to stop.

 Would we allow the thief to walk into our home and take our valued possessions away without endeavouring to recover them, would we say nothing as these things were taken away?  How much more should we protect the living treasure that is being robbed of innocence and future?

If each of us were to pick up our responsibility to guard the children and young people who are our future how much brighter and clearer our future would look.  The statistics that are like a great shadow over our nation would fall, and we would lead others in producing leaders, parents, adults who would protect what has been protected in them.

This is a challenge New Zealand.  Who will step up to the mark and begin to speak positively about our need to guard our future?  Legislation has not worked, why?  Because legislation has no heart.  It is possible that picking up our individual and national responsibility can bring monumental change if we can find the courage to do so.

Do you hear the challenge, will you pick it up? Can we grow up, stand up, and protect our future?

BROKEN WINGS

When a tree grows slightly crooked do we instantly chop it down?

It is God's creation and we generally tie it to a strong support and give it a chance to straighten up.

When we find a bird with a broken wing, or an animal with a broken leg, do we cast it out to look after itself?

It is God's creation and usually we are moved with compassion to get help so that it can mend.

Why then, when we see evidence of brokenness in a human being - a wrong action, a mistake or a failure - do we tend to dismiss them as bad, unacceptable, unsuitable, unable to change?

Have we never failed, or made a mistake? 

What gives us, therefore, the right and authority to judge?

Surely, if we follow the example of Jesus, our approach will be creative and not destructive or judgemental.

If God has created all that is created, then He is the strong support that will enable healing, change, new life.

Discernment is given so that we can pray and invite Him into a situation, so that we can co-operate with Him in seeking wholeness and fullness of life for each and every individual.

Discernment is not an invitation to judge or criticise, it is an invitation to PRAY and follow up with whatever action we are led to take.

Is it just and right that we who are so imperfect demand perfection from those around us?

THE HEART OF THE NATION

In these last few weeks I've found myself really exercised over what is true and just, in the face of popular opinion and normalised behaviour!

It began with the photographic exhibition of gang members in an Auckland Gallery.  There is no faulting the artistic ability of the photographer or the amazing clarity of what he is portraying, and it has most certainly aroused controversy and conversation which creative things should do.

The ensuing arguments suggested that everything is right in the light of artistic freedom, and it is fine to exhibit photos of a genuine section of our community.  It is not deemed correct to censor artistic works.

Alongside all of this, we have a family grieving over the loss of their son, and one of the men in the photographs is about to stand trial for his killing.

At the same time the trial for the murder of Mallory Manning was taking place, with gang members accused of being responsible for her death.

There is also much discussion about the effect of drugs in our society, and the increase of manufacture and supply of illegal substances, alongside the discussion over removing legal highs.  Almost every report of a large drug bust implicates gang members.

It is very foolish to generalise, but overall the image of people who have chosen to deliberately flout the law and moral rules of our society is not a healthy one.

If the photographs were pornographic, or had been taken of children by someone with questionable motive, would the same artistic licence and lack of censorship apply?

In comments to the Court in the Mallory Manning case one woman was quoted as saying that she had some sympathy at first for the accused.  However, her final question was to ask why there was not one man in the room who offered help to a girl crawling away to escape from them and their brutality. 

The family who are still in pain over the loss of their son were shouting their dissent, but it was politely dismissed in the face of artistic licence.

What unjust licence do we give in our nation?

What questions do we ask about what is right and wrong?

Why are the voices of the victims and the weak unheard and their cries ignored?

There is a deep sickness in our society.  It is not apparent to those who are buffered by wealth and comfort and therefore is deemed unimportant by them, in fact it is fearful to acknowledge these things.  However, it exists and down at the bottom of the barrel are those who are fighting to be heard, fighting to get one foot on the ladder of life and hope, growing weary and giving up in the face of this unfeeling, uninformed, uncaring society. 

I know that is generalising, and there are wonderful hard-working people labouring to help and bring change, but the attitudes that came to the surface in this recent event are of great concern.

As we head towards elections all I hear are politicians criticising and finding fault with the opposition, or trying to discredit them in some way.

What I would like to hear is what they actually plan to do for this country,

I would like to know if they look at the shaky bottom of our society and seriously discuss what they will do to make it more equitable.

I would like to know if there is anyone in power who is willing to put their name and reputation on the line in the face of our sickness to do whatever is necessary to inject some health.

Removing the legal highs is great, but what about the pain and dysfunction that pushes people towards drugs (at any level of society).  What about the heart of a nation that needs a little attention right now.

Time to have a good look at who and what we are in 2014, compare it to the values the nation was founded on, to revisit democracy, and to endeavour to move forward into health and strength.

How do all these things line up with truth and justice, freedom for all?

APOSTOLIC CONVERSATION

Galatians 2:6-10 is a wonderful account of a meeting and conversation been Peter, James, John and Paul.  What a privilege to read about a conversation between the men who had walked and talked with Jesus, and Paul who had had a personal encounter with Him and was working out the call on his life that came with that.

Paul comments that these men, considered to be pillars of the early church, did not add anything to his message which was the Gospel.

However, in the meeting they did agree with his call to preach to the Gentiles as Peter was called to preach to the Jews.  They offered fellowship and agreed with the work Paul was doing.

Finally, they made one request that Paul was happy to comply with, and because it was the final comment on the conversation I believe we should see it as worth our serious consideration.

Galatians 2:10 reads:

All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

If this was so important to the pillars of the early church, and to the apostles chosen by Jesus Himself, surely this should remain of great importance to us today.

Does the church today hold this request to be equally important, and do we who call ourselves Christians as these men also did, consider that the one thing we should continue to do is remember the poor?

If this was important in the very foundations of Christianity and the church, surely it should remain as fundamentally important in our function today?

Is this a plumbline for us in this day and age, and if so, what are we doing about it, individually and corporately?

NEW THINGS

This year has begun with two new things on my horizon.  In the next two weeks I will roll out two new programmes in addition to the current New Beginnings.

The step up from the Personal Development stage into support in the Community is a big one as it involves training mentors as well.

I am SO grateful to God that He knows where this is headed and how to put it together, without Him this current task would be utterly impossible.

Maybe that sounds a big statement, I hope it doesn't sound trite, as I mean it with all my heart and mind.

I sat down and prayed and the first programme was written, and the process has had to be the same for the two new ones as well.

It would be so easy to just copy something that has already been done, there is plenty available online, but what use would that be?  When we begin something new we can learn much from others' experience, but ultimately if it is not completely fresh and new it is unlikely to bring any kind of new result.

This season is reminding me over and over again that the ultimate Creator is our God, and if we are willing He will pour in and release that creativity in our lives. 

He alone knows the people He wants to reach, understands their minds and situations, knows how to touch their hearts.

Again I think of the need to find my whole identity in Him, otherwise it will be a confused thing made up of lots of bits and pieces of various men and women.  I love to learn from others, but I want to be found and seen to be in the One who made me for a specific purpose that I will only fulfil with His help.

Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified Version) tells us the truth:

For we are God's (own) handiwork (His workmanship) recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them (living the good life which he prearranged and made ready for us to live).

So, these programmes are not just about my destiny, but also the responsibility of working with God to connect others with the amazing plans He has for them.  This can only happen if I am completely the self He intended and created.  This applies to each and every one of us. What an exciting and challenging thought!