Are signs and wonders always 'nice'?

I was reading in Exodus this morning as the Lord showed up to Moses in the burning bush and then the experiences, the signs and wonders, that God showed him which actually led to a 'fear' of God through the rod turning to a snake, Moses runs from the snake, through Moses putting his hand in his cloak and it turning leprous, then all the things that happened as the Lord brought deliverance to his people with the Egyptians. These were not 'wonders' that we would often attribute to as wonders, but rather they brought a fear and reverence and power to who our God actually is.

Like Moses when God performs some of his 'wonders' we can often run from them, afraid, unsure, challenged, recognising our own weaknesses and inabilities and like Moses in 4:13 "O Lord, please send someone else to do it" but the Lord chooses to use vessels who in their own strength, cannot do it, because then He will get all the glory due to his name. 2 Cor 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

We are weak vessels, jars of clay and yet God chooses to reveal His glory through us and sometimes His glory is not the 'glory' we are expecting. Sometimes His glory will bring a 'fear' a wanting to run, will bring 'wonders' that might actually not be 'nice' and yet it brings the reverence back to who our God is and that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we think, ask or imagine.

In the story of Moses this morning I am reminded that he was bringing his people out of slavery into a spacious place flowing in milk and honey and still today He is doing the same thing. Bringing His people in bondage, in slavery and oppression, into a place of sonship and a spacious place of freedom, flowing with milk and honey. In order to take us into those places He has for us, sometimes He will perform miracles, signs and wonders, that are not necessarily 'nice' but bring the truth to who our God is. When the Israelites were finally freed from captivity, there were many wonders God performed, but they certainly challenged everyone (Egyptians and Israelites I would imagine) at the time through the many deaths, the plagues, etc and so in God bringing ourselves into a place of freedom, it will not I believe, always be easy and nice, and there will be times we want to run, but God knows what is best and if we trust in him, we will see the deliverance of our Lord.

Exodus 6:6 "I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Many of us are still living under 'slavery' of some yoke of oppression and the Lord, since the beginning of time, and through Jesus, comes to set us free from that slavery and into a land of inheritance, a spacious land flowing with milk and honey, but in order to do that sometimes the Lord will do it through mighty acts of judgement, through wonders that will make us want to run, through signs that actually show how big our God is and that He is for us, his people and He will do anything to see us come into all the promises He has for us.

Often there is this image that everything God does is 'nice', is not challenging, but I challenge you, some of the things that the Lord has done in my world has not been nice, has been very challenging and difficult at times, and yet as I have walked the journey and seen how through these things God is showing His goodness towards me and His love for me to see me be who I am called to be in Him as I trust in him, as I wait for him to do what He said He will do, as I obey the word of God, as I learn not to run from the things that I would naturally want to run from, I find myself coming into a spacious place, a place flowing with milk and honey. I encourage you this morning, Gods signs and wonders may push you out of your comfort zone, but allow him to work things through just as Moses did with Pharaoh and the many times I am sure Moses wanted to run from what the Lord was asking of him but then you see a people set free from slavery. It wasn't just about Moses, it was about a nation. And God is wanting to set our nation free from slavery and the nations of the world.

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

6 legged sheep???

In the weekend I saw a vision of a sheep that had six legs. And what I believe the Lord is saying, there are many sheep, (followers of Christ), but they are trusting in their own strength and not in mine. When we trust in our own strength and abilities we forfeit the grace that can be ours, the enabling that comes from stepping out in faith in the impossible, the testimonies that give God the glory rather than the expectation of what should be because we have put our hand to something. God is the God of the impossible and in order for the miracles, the testimonies, we need to be a people that step out in what we can't do and allow God to come in and do the impossible. That may simply be asking the Lord to help you to forgive someone that has hurt you so much, to getting on a plane with no finances because the Lord has asked you to, to continue to stay in a job/church/marriage/relationship you don't want to because that is where God has placed you, to praying for a

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

Don't worry, you wont miss the bus.

Last night I had this dream and there were a bunch of people at my house and we all decided to go somewhere by bus. Because we had to lock up the house, Jim and I missed the bus, while the others managed to make it. I found myself getting a little frustrated with Jim as he seemed to be so slow in locking everything up. Jim & I got there just in time to see their bus drive away. We were left standing in the rain. But then the thinking came, its alright, we will just catch the next bus. Some of us may feel at times like we have missed our opportunity. That we have missed what The Lord would have us do, and in that we can get a little frustrated by people around us and even perhaps blame people for where things are at, at least I know I do at times. :) But I believe The Lord wants to encourage people today, including myself, that you don't need to worry, just rest and be at peace and you will soon get another opportunity. Like waiting for a bus at a bus stop, they come

Do you feel like you are being tossed around in the wind?

I believe there are some out there who feel like they are being tossed about from one thing to the other, not sure where they are heading or what they are believing for and this is a time when you just want to give up and walk away from the promises God has put inside of you. I want to encourage you to keep going and as it says in James 1:2 " Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." I know that sometimes you don't consider it all joy when you go through trials but believe me, it develops things in you that you will be grateful for if you don't give up and you will see fruit in your life and those around you should you learn to walk in patience and perseverance. These are times you don't want to be a lone sheep but instead get yourself around people of faith wh

Do you feel alone or discouraged today?

I was greatly encouraged this morning as I read 2 Timothy chapter 4. This chapter outlines some of Paul’s struggles and how people loved the world and followed their ways and in so doing caused much harm towards Paul and his ministry, but his hope remained in the Lord and His reward comes from Christ alone. Verse 10 “Demas has forsaken me” Verse 14 “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm” People can come and go out of your life. People can cause trouble, but we are called as Christians to endure hardship as it says in 2 Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a solider”. 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ We go through many things in life, many challenges and it is easy to look to man, to get discouraged b

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