Treasures in the Storm

Jesus never said that we would be shielded from storms. If anyone who says they follow Jesus says otherwise, I recommend that you lovingly buy them a bible and then sit down and read it with them.

Storms will come.

It’s where you have built your lighthouse, a metaphor for your living faith.

Build it on the Rock- a metaphor for God -as although you may get battered, you won’t get washed away.

Don’t build it on the sand as the foundations will shift and move and slide from beneath you.

Shalom.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.

You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. James 1:2-8 …I would rather be the lighthouse planted into The Rock than the wave smashed on The Rock. I may shudder as the waves crash in but, “God is strong, and he wants me strong. So I will take everything the Master has set out for me, well-made weapons of the best materials. And I will put them to use so I will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws my way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that I’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. ” Eph 6:10-12 I am not there yet, I may never be this side of heaven (and no- I am not speaking failure over myself…), but I will seek to be as Jesus, by the Spirit in me, so that I too will sleep through the storm knowing that when I awake (or am awakened), I will get to my feet (for I have the power of Christ in me), tell the wind, “Silence!” and the waves, “Quiet down!” and they will do it. Then, when I see Jesus face to face He will say, “You trusted me.” (Luke 8:22-26)

Why I don’t believe in Christian Accountability | A Response

An important article by Mike Breen.

Why I don’t believe in Christian Accountability | A Response.

This got me thinking about a matter that weighs on me.

Accountability…why are so many of us so bad at this?

I am afraid that I know/have known leaders and pastors in the Body of Christ who speak about the need for Christian accountability but in the end I have found that they are not living in a cloud of Glory but a mess of smoke and mirrors.

I have seen a beautiful church plant wither painfully into the dust due to manipulative leadership who were careful not to permit any members who acted as elders of the church to be trustees of the charity…different stories to different people who it seemed God would not tolerate. I have seen people take years to recover enough from this abusive situation to risk trusting God in a church again whilst also praying for some who are not yet able and have effectively ditched their faith…God in His grace seemed to pant another church out of the withering one before she was seen to be terminal. He seemed to somehow cut off the good from the plant and re-potted it in good soil.

Wonderful that He knows what He is doing.

I am thankful.

I serve a wonderful God and struggle daily with a call to be accountable myself. It is too easy to claim accountability whilst just telling different people different stories and thus give the appearance of being accountable and reliable.

I have seen valuable ministries and marriages almost destroyed by such.

I have seen a pastor surrounded by tame yes-people who never seem to offer those correctives so desperately needed leading and thus leading a fellowship that never met its potential sue to the endless waves of “comers and goers”. Where unsettled Christians from other churches joined, got to know the lay of the land and went again…probably never finding rest…

We have to pray and seek wisdom and grace, every day.

I am making a decision to be where God seems to have called me and to trust Him.

He is good at shining light on our sin and be sure that He loves justice.

No one said it was easy or going to be easy. Jesus certainly never said it would be easy.

He told us to take up our cross, daily.

The Serenity prayer just sprung to mind….you know:

“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed.

Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.”

I surrender to His will, or at least I try to.

We must trust and submit to Him and pray for those He has called to serve us in leadership but not be stupid.

This is a bit of a ramble I am afraid, with me struggling to say stuff that I am not sure how to share so I will quit for now and post this. Maybe I will pick out the bones and repost at a later date or maybe I won’t.

I will keep praying though…

Shalom.

Fear God? by Regina

 I don’t plan to repost every one of Mrs Frost’s blogs but right now, it seems to me that Jesus is speaking through her.

Maybe He is just speaking to me, but I don’t think so…

Fear God?.    

 What do YOU think?

Isaiah 54: A Passionate Calling

(6) For the LORD has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
(7) For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.
(8) In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the LORD, your Redeemer.

What are we to make of this, if this is something that God is saying to us today and not a record of a historical message from Him to His people of that (long) time (ago)?
Well for me, He seems to say that that the only thing that can separate me from Christ is me, my unrepented sin for which He offers abundant
grace and mercy.
The world does not/cannot often compute grace or mercy and where we do see it, I believe that we see the persuasion of the Holy Spirit moving too and fro softening hearts, we see the hand of Jesus reaching out demonstrating the love of the Father for His creation.
We are after all, every one, but dust without His breath in us.
As we live in a broadly unforgiving society we can, with a little help from the enemy of our souls telling us we are not worthy, turn away from His grace in a form of shameful penance.
Somehow we can forget, cheapen even, Christ’s suffering on the cross, as if the thing we have done is bigger than the thing He did for us.
Boy! We can be stupid sheep sometimes…
Now I am not cheapening grace and mercy. I join with Paul when he rhetorically asks in Romans 6, “Shall we go on sinning?” emphatically answering himself with, “Certainly not!”. Neither though do I cast condemnation as we all still sin at some time or another but it mustn’t be habitual.
So if you read this feeling alone, then you must remember that God is not a man that He should lie. He said that He shall NEVER leave us NOR forsake us, that means He will NEVER leave us alone.
We may suffer discipline (because He loves us) but we will not be deserted. Christ’s sacrifice is simply too great.

He is perfect. He is Holy. He is God.

We must trust Him.

We must remember who He is.

He is I Am.

Remember Psalm 139?

We can not outrun Him – the “Hound of Heaven” will find us and call us back if we will only listen and answer.

He loves you!

He loves you with “forever, 24/7 love”.

Are you answering this passionate call?

Best Friends Forever

You should read this blog by George Hach, we share the same BFF…

http://georgehachmyblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/120116george-hachs-journalmonday/

Image via Wikipedia

Simply put, He loves you.

⁽⁴⁾ Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

I continue to feel impressed to send you this note regarding Isaiah 54 as I believe that God is moving and although He doesn’t need us to fulfil His great plan, after all He is the mighty God of all Creation, the First and the Last, He wants us to be a part of it.
Why you?
That’s simple, He delights in you and He knows that in your weakness you are strong.
He is giving you and opportunity to be part of His big rescue plan because He believes in you.
Simply put, He loves you.
So that’s why I believe that I am writing this.
So that’s why I believe that you are reading this.
Our Father wants to work with you as well as on you…
It may very well be that you are reading this with a heart full of self-doubt, burdened by your mistakes and a history of being told you will never amount to much. That there is someone more equipped, better trained, less sinful than you to answer this call?
Well no, He is calling you, just as He has called so many under-qualified sinners in the past.
Remember Gideon? What about Moses?
They were both fearful men with low personal esteem issues.
One of them because he was raised being told that he was the least of the least. The other was a speech impaired hot-tempered murderer who couldn’t trust himself although God sent him off for a 40 stint looking after sheep to cut off some of that impulsiveness.
For that matter though, I am not sure Moses was particularly trustful of the people that God called him to save as they had all ready threatened to grass on him when he had only intervened out of misguided compassion to help.
I believe that God is saying to you “Fear not, for your not going to be ashamed or confounded, don’t live trapped in fear an doubt as He calls you to this adventurous rescue plan because if you follow Him you will not be disgraced.
I kind of think “So what anyway if a few people think I am a fool? I have an eternity of being with He who says otherwise…”
I believe that He is saying it is time to stop living in the sorrowful mistakes of the past, lay it all at the foot of the Cross and trust Him!
Forget that shame; forget all the harsh judgemental words spoken against you.
He sees you washed clean, new and ready to be who He made you to be.
Be ready.
Are you ready for this?
All you have to do is show a little faith and trust Him.
You know it makes sense!

Are you ready?

This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad!

Remember the promises in Isaiah 54 are for you.

Expect great things of God.

Expect the fertile ground that you have fought so hard to take, yet standing still for so long will quickly become your field of harvest.

Expect this to be the “Now Time” of the Lord.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to pray for Kingdom breakout?

Are you ready to disciple new disciples?

The next wave is coming, will you be blessed or washed away?

Are you ready?

Are you singing songs of praise and wonder?

Are you making ready for the newcomer and stranger?
(1) Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the LORD.

(2) Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.
Set aside unforgiveness and love as Jesus loves you.

Set aside personal ambition and serve as Jesus serves you.

Set aside judgement of your neighbour and accept as Jesus accepts you.

Are you ready?