Ponderings today 16 Dec

Whilst we may not agree with everything that is preached from the pulpit, there is always something that we can learn either about the Lord or about ourselves and our responses to it. Lets not be a people to whom are easily offended and move on without learning what it is that the Lord would have us learn in the different situations.

I read a wonderful scripture this morning that really encouraged me as one who often feels arrows in the back in the spirit from peoples judgements towards me, which God really spoke to me about and hope that it would encourage you too if you feel this way. As it is not us who receive the arrows from people but the Lord (v4)
But also reminds me not to be a person that speaks about others behind their back as words are powerful and the tongue either brings life or death. And it is so easily done without often thinking about it. And as easily as I feel arrows, others would feel arrows from me.
Lord forgive us our sin as we forgive others theirs.
God's wonderful grace forgives me and reminds me of my own judgements towards others taking away any rights of justification/restitution for my hurt.

Psalm 64
Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows - bitter words,
That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.

They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
they say, "Who will see them?"
They devise iniquities;
We have perfect a shrewd scheme.
Both the inward though and the heart of man are deep.

But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
All who see them shall flee away.
All men shall fear,
And shall declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.

The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory."

And Matt 5:11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Lets be a people that recognise our own judgements towards people and turn from them and do away with the pointing of finger and malicious talk (Isaiah 58) then v10&11 "Then your light shall dawn in the darkness and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought. and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail....

Obedience and Commitment are big things in Gods Kingdom

Reading in Acts 7 this morning the story through Stephen of Abraham being told by God to " Leave your country and your people and go the the land I will show you" So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child." As I reflected on this and the journey of Abraham stepping out in faith into a land that he received no inheritance in but a promise of what was to come for his descendants of which we live in the fruit of that, I thought of todays generations in which often is only doing things that we want to do or that will benefit us personally as we live for 'today' not worrying about tomorrow. A sense of if it feels good then do it, if it doesn't then we will move on - perhap...

I shared last night about 1 Cor 15:36 "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body..." I was preaching on it last night and it will come up in video form later in the week on the GRM sight, mainly reflecting on we can sow things one way, but God raises it up as HE determines how it should look. But this morning I got more revelation which will be quite obvious to some, but to me it struck me afresh. When we sow something it get's buried, it cannot be pulled back up. It no longer has 'connection' with 'me' if you like. It gets 'covered over' unable to be pulled up. And yet I recognise in my own life how we can sow something but there are still 'strings attached' as such as we often are still determining or expecting it be rai...

"I am ruined for the ordinary"

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Position yourself - a declogging of the coffee machine!

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What do Kingdom finances look like?

I was asked by someone the other day what Kingdom finances looked like and I realised that this is an area that needs some discussion. This is my opinion of what Kingdom finances look like according to what the Lord has taught me over the years and to scriptures I have been shown, but I am not the be all and end all to thinking, so it is something you might want to check out for yourselves. The way of the world is to store up riches, to save for a rainy day, to have enough to protect themselves should something happen, that I have earned this and it is mine and therefore I can do what I want with it. The way of the Kingdom is a way of giving to the poor, giving to God's people in need and practicing hospitality, of not worrying about tomorrow, of trusting God for the future and His provision in that time of need when it arises, of everything is His (God's). I believe that if you see a need in front of you and you have something in which can help with that need, whatever it is,...

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To speak or not to speak – this is the question? Or perhaps it should be ‘how to speak?’ We live in a world where the rights of man are rising, the voices of differences of opinion are growing stronger and louder. The justice of the world, right and wrong as seen through our own eyes, starting to arise. I n this nation of NZ where "tall poppy syndrome' has been an issue as the accepted norm of the past, people are breaking out, rising up and learning to use their voice. As rightly we ought as Christians. All good things to happen, all needed to happen. For the bride to stand, awaken and arise and to shine for righteousness and justice. To stand up for the poor and needy, to speak on behalf of those who can't. With anything new, you have the swings in the spectrums as we all learn how to walk in a new way. We say things more strongly than we ought, or perhaps we say things weaker where watering it down and don’t come across to effe...

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