Monday, March 27, 2006

Who do you turn to?

2 Kings is underway... and God has been speaking to me through it pretty powerfully...
I'll share a little:
In the first chapter of 2nd Kings, King Ahaziah is injured in an accident and he sends a messenger to ask Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if he will recover from the injury. The Lord tells Elijah this, and tells Elijah to go and ask them: 'Is there it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?'
In total, 103 men died because Ahaziah turned to the wrong god. 2 messengers, 100 men, and Ahaziah himself.

This caused me to think about who I turn to when things are tough, or if some sort of 'accident' occurs in life. It is absolutely crucial that we turn to God. To turn to anything else can, but for the grace of God, have fatal consequences, and depending on how we go about it, can affect the lives of those around us as well as ourselves. And if we think about it, would Baal-Zebub have given the right answer? Would he have given any sort of answer at all? Why, why, why would one turn to anyone or anything other than God when we know that we have access to God - the King of kings and Lord of lords?! It does not make sense to do anything other than turn to God. Sometimes, as I keep discovering, we do not see what is so manifest before us: Praise God that He abounds with grace!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Cool People

A post about some astounding people who have blessed me today! :-)

Catherine Longson - she made me a cup of coffee which I have in fact just finished. Thank you Catherine! She is very cool. Am babysitting for the Longsons tonight actually, their daughter is awesome! Andrew and Catherine are such a blessing to me in the form not only of cups of coffee but in the form of a lift on Sunday mornings, which means half an hour extra in bed. Much appreciated! And how could I forget - Catherine has a fantastic voice (a total blessing) and Andrew is a fantastic drummer (keeps the whole band going! it's a bigger job than you realise...).

Ian - no need for a last name because he is reknowned everywhere anyway. Today Ian blessed me just by taking time out of his busy, busy day to chat for a few minutes. When you think about how busy this guy actually is, and remember the preach that he did at I.D. once about the value of time, it's such a blessing that he is always prepared to make time for us lot. Ian is AMAZING... I wonder if he'll ever read this to see... but in case he does, if you agree, please leave a comment. (you can do that for the Longsons too if you like... and the people to follow)

Channings - I have just seen Steppi. Smiling as always and always such a blessing to me! That whole family has been a complete and utter blessing to me in letting me into their family (pretty big deal when you think how many of them there are already) and being there for me constantly. The Mr. and Mrs. are like parents to me, Debs is one of my best friends, Josh dates my housemate, Esther, Luke and Grace are in the Youth... Liv, Joseph and Nathanael are cute. They are a blessing!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8v.28

We know... I know that I know that I know God. I know that I know that I know that He is a God of Love who loves me. I love Him. He is awesome... I know that He is true. He is undeniably true.

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him... that is not to say that things can never go wrong, or go badly when you are one of those who love Him. It is to say that as long as we submit our lives to God in all things, He will work for our good in all things (remembering that what we think is good is not always what is best). If we don't submit all things to Him, how can we expect Him to work for our good? In submitting all things to Him, we are submitting everything for His good, for His glory. When it is for His good and His glory, of course God will work it out for our good! If we put ourselves first, and don't relinquish things to God, our hearts are not such that God can work with. God wants our entire lives, not dribs and drabs of our lives.

If we submit our lives to Him for His glory, He cannot help but work our lives for good, because it means it is for His glory, and God knows that He is God, He knows that He must be worshipped, that He must be glorified. Woohooooo! How amazing is God?!

On a slightly separate subject, last night we had a wonderful time at worship practice. It was brilliant. We spent time in God's presence, and God showed us heaven, the clearest we'd ever seen. Personally I was wowed by God in that He told me to play what I saw, and that a song would come seeing what I saw afterwards, and Rhian sang exactly what I saw! It excited my yesterday, but today it makes me think - why was I surprised that God's word came to be? That is what He told me, and so why should I be surprised that it came? I think I was surprised that it came so quickly and promptly. But actually, we should we have to wait? If it is God's will that His words come to fruition now, we do not have to wait! But the awe of heaven remains with me still...
Last night really was a brilliant night. God is as brilliant today as He was last night. And we have yet to see Him in his full brilliance! Praise God!

Friday, March 10, 2006

May God dwell in our lives!

1 Kings 8 is Solomon's prayer of dedication to the Lord. This - again - really spoke to me. Solomon followed the plans God had given for the building of the temple - in excellence he paid attention to the detail that God laid down and Solomon knew that he had build the temple in the right way - in the way the God wanted him to. Yet we notice that he still asks God to come and dwell in the temple. For a moment one may wonder why he bothered to do that when wasn't it the express purpose of building the temple that God may dwell in it? And did not God instruct as to exactly how He wanted the temple to be built? One might draw the conclusion that since God did all this - He would surely dwell in His temple. It was built for Him. He had instructed that it be built for Him. Why did Solomon need to ask Him to dwell in it? The answer to this lies in the way that Solomon performed this task entrusted into his hands by God. Solomon asked for wisdom, and that wisdom manifests itself here. In wisdom Solomon made no deviations from or alterations to the exacting plan that God had given for the building of His temple. He built the temple - and upon its completion, in wisdom He dedicated it to God. He asked God to bless His plans, the outworking of His plans, and dwell in the Temple! God's presence came like a cloud. Awesome.

Therefore, whatever we are building, it has already been established that we should build it according to God's plan (paying attention to the detail!) but we should also follow Solomon's example in this and ask God to bless what He has told us to do - ask God to dwell in what we are doing for Him. In that way, He is doing it through us and the focus shifts from what we do for Him, to what He does through us.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Solomon and the Temple

How awesome is this: Solomon built the temple.

That was the job assigned to him. The ultimate end was to build it. However within that, Solomon paid attention to detail - he performed his task with excellence.
We can so often do what God's telling us to do in general, and yet deviate from His plan when it comes to the details, but it changes the end result. I have been challenged to be more like Solomon and do everything (including the seemingly unimportant things) that God tells me to do even when I know that I could go towards achieving the ultimate aim without paying attention to detail. God is a God of excellence, and I am so thankful that He is! And nothing is unimportant to Him, even it may seem so to me. Solomon followed the plans that God had given for the building of the Temple.

What is it that you are building right now?

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Solomon

Read today about the dream that Solomon had where God asked him what he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom. This is awesome - and I could go on about that for a long time, but God pointed something else out to me:
After Solomon asked fo wisdom, God spoke over Solomon's life and told him out it would be, with some conditions as to how he must live in order to live a long life. God was pleased with Solomon's heart's desire - to do what he had been called and anointed to do with his life to the best level that could be done: to govern wisely - and consequently spoke over his life and blessed it abundantly. But having received wisdom, Solomon had to use it, and the passage immediately following on from it tells of an example of Solomon using that God-given wisdom. Solomon honoured what God has spoken over his life. He became a man of influence who not only influenced his own subjects, but the rulers of other kingdoms. How amazing!
Likewise, God has spoken over our lives, into our lives. And yet sometimes we don't get right into it. We don't grab hold of what He has said and live by it. It's our choice whether or not we live in what He has for us - we should make the simple choice and live in line with the Word of God.

This is just a little something of what God has been speaking to me about. He is so good to me!