Assuming motives can be dangerous.

Reading 2 Sam 10 this morning and what struck me was how something so simple that was supposed to bless and encourage someone, can be totally taken the wrong way and in that, cause major damage.

In this story King David is wanting to express kindness to Hanun whose father had died. But Hanna’s nobles, those close around him, spoke to him and suggested that in fact he wasn’t wanting to express sympathy at the death of his father, but rather exploring and spying out the city in order to overthrow it. Because of this, they attack those who are sent on behalf of King David and shame them and in return, David retaliates.

King David’s heart was to bless and to honour another King, but after that King Hanun listened to those around him, who planted thoughts other than those of David’s, and in the process caused a war.

How often do we not take things as face value but try to work something out according to the way we see it, rather than perhaps the way it was given?

How often do we listen to those around us and build up a case, rather than going to the source of the question and clarifying the intent?

How often do we completely misunderstand people because we are assuming motives of another person that are not actually there, but in actual fact, is what lies in our own heart?

The response of something so simple taken the wrong way caused a war in this situation in 2 Sam 10. In our own lives when we assume anothers' motives or actions, we too can cause rifts, misunderstandings, offences etc which in essence brings division instead of the unity that we are called to in the body of Christ.

Assuming anothers’ motives can be deadly in so many ways.

So I encourage you today not to assume other peoples motives of their actions or words. If you are concerned about something, ask the person involved. Be careful not to listen to the wrong voices either of the enemy, or those around you that don’t build up and encourage another, don’t speak faith and hope into situations, are not looking for the good in a person but continually looking at the negative. Try to keep the unity in the bond of peace and love one another, considering the other better than yourself.

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...

The baby's been handed over

Several weeks ago the Lord shifted us out of the 'home office' into the 'market place' and in the process a spiritual shift happened - one of letting the 'baby' go, a releasing and handing over the batten, so to speak to others. In this process the nests that WE ALL have been in have been stirred up, shaken about, and pushed out, to fly in ways that perhaps we were too afraid to do previously. The amazing thing with God is that He knows the timing of all of this and where each one of us is at and what we can handle. Yes there has been a fluttering of wings in panic. Yes, we have had a few weeks of challenge as authority and structures get changed and challenged, frustrations coming to the fore, but love helps us overcome, love helps us to forgive, love helps us to see the good and not the dirt, love helps us remember our own failings and yet forgiveness and grace that the Lord has for me, that I can give to others, remembering it's the glory of G...

The lie of a lack of spiritual fathers and mothers

My ponderings this morning. I believe we have a generation (of which I am a part of) at the moment who believe that there were not the spiritual mothers and fathers who taught them in the things of the spirit; of the way they should go etc. I believe to some extent there is truth, we don’t seem to have seen the ‘spiritual hero’s’ that we want to follow in our daily worlds around us. But I also believe that our generation or those who don’t believe there have been the spiritual parents, actually need to repent for not honouring the ones that the Lord has put in their lives and in which we have not received them as such and honoured what they inputted into our lives. There have always been people around us sowing into our lives, sowing truth, sowing help and hope, but because it has not come the way we expect it, we have not honoured what those people have brought. Sometimes too those people sow into our lives with truth that we don’t want to hear and so we walk away from those ...

A beautiful rose to be....

Yesterday I felt this need to go and buy a rose, it was not something I had planned but just felt let by the Holy Spirit to go and buy a rose bush and so I went and they were all on special because it is really the wrong time to plant them, the only ones left were the diseased, not wanted cheap ones which were $9.99 instead of $24.99. I didn't know why I had to buy them, but I just did and I ended up buying five and then felt I needed to put aside an area in my garden as a special rose garden. After sharing with this to Jim this morning the word came as to why I had to buy roses. Roses are one of the hardest plants in my opinion to look after and care for, they take a lot of work. You have to prune them, you have to regularly cut them back and cut off diseased branches, they can be prickly and cause pain, they need regularly spraying to keep the bugs off them and then they may only flower once or twice perhaps more in a season for a seemingly short time compared to a...

"And now these three remain: faith. hope and love." 1 Cor 13:13

Two pictures things the Lord has given me over the last 10 days. Firstly; Prior to going to Christchurch I had this vision where I saw this massive tree falling to the ground and taking out people around them as it fell. Then this morning I was reading in Matt 3:10 and it reminded me of that vision I saw. Matt 3:10 says “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” It’s a powerful word of warning that if we are living supposedly Godly lives and yet are not living lives that produce fruit in keeping with repentance, the fruit of love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, etc, the fruit of the spirit that is found in Gal 6, then I believe we will see people who are big people to those around them, people who are leaders etc. fall and cause damage. Secondly; Something that startled me yesterday as I was sleeping, I woke up to the sound of a clanging symbol....

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