After Moses died, the law allowed the Israelites thirty days to mourn. After those days were completed, God told Joshua it was time for him to take his new position, Joshua 1:2. It was time to start moving towards new things. Joshua would miss Moses, but he knew he had to obey God and move on. There is a proper time for mourning these things that we have lost or that have come to an end. But ultimately we must make a choice to start living and making progress again. We all have a past, but thank God we all have a future, and according to Jeremiah 29:11 it’s a future that He promises to be an abundant life
New things also seem frightening, but soon they will become old things, and God will have another new thing on the horizon of our lives. We need to grow accustomed to stepping out into new ventures. The more we do, the more we realise we do not have to be comfortable to be obedient. When God reminded Joshua that Moses was dead, he was encouraging him to press on towards the future Do not be afraid to release and walk away from what God is finished with; He has new and wonderful things for you-Go with him JESUS PRAYED: "AND THE GLORY WHICH YOU GAVE ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM..." (John17:22) LIVE BOLDLY TODAY WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT YOU ARE THE MANIFESTATION , THE BRILLIANT RADIANCE, OF THE GLORY OF GOD- YES YOU ARE THE BRIGHTNESS OF GOD'S BEAUTY AND SPLENDOUR ON THE EARTH.... SAY TO YOURSELF "BECAUSE I AM HIGHLY FAVOURED, I AM FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF GOD; I DON'T FAIL!! I AM A SUCCESS FOREVER, HALLELUJAH!!!...... Have a GLORIOUS day walking in the GLORY THAT YOU ARE.....
Some people dream about success --- others wake up and work at it. Which one will you be today? "I can do all things through Christ which strengthenrns me". Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
“And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it.” Col 4:17
Have you ever been in a place where the phone kept ringing and nobody answered it? In moments like that it seems everybody is busy with something else, assuming that somebody else will answer the call. But nobody does. After a while it can get to be quite annoying. There is something irritating about an incessant, unanswered call. In the lives of many people – a call that is not being answered. A call from God. Busy with so many other things, and sure that the call is for someone else, many loose themselves in trifling moments and miss the momentous opportunity to answer the call of God on their lives. One of the greatest fears people face is having lived a meaningless life; a life that didn’t matter; a life that made no difference. It is a dreadful thought that haunts even the most accomplished of individuals. Indeed, few things could be more unsettling than to get to the end of one’s life, cast a cautious glance back over time and discover what has been suspected all along, “My life didn’t matter!” Each of us long to know that our lives counted; that we accomplished what we were put on this earth to do. We want to maximize every opportunity, seize the day, and live life to its fullest. Yet, in an odd contradiction, nothing is more common than unrealized potential. Most of us settle for far less than we are capable of being, and of doing. On the one hand we want our lives to count; on the other hand, we seem far too willing to become marginalized into mediocrity. Our only hope is to answer the call of God upon our lives. Abraham traveling into the unknown, Joseph remaining faithful in Egypt, Moses crossing the Red Sea, Joshua conquering the Promised Land, David slaying a Giant and becoming a King, Isaiah telling his visions, Zechariah telling his dreams, Daniel in the Lion’s den, Nehemiah rebuilding the Walls, Zerubbabel rebuilding the Temple, Simon Peter leaving his fishing nets, Paul preaching the Gospel, John writing the Revelation — each one answered the call. They heard God’s voice and followed Him with trusting hearts. Jesus het skynheiligheid afgekeur. Toe Hy oor die godsdienstige leiers van Sy tyd gepraat het, het Hy gesê: "Pas op vir die suurdeeg van die Fariseërs, naamlik hulle skynheiligheid. Die tyd kom dat alles openbaar sal word... Wat julle ook in die donker gesê het, dit sal in die lig gehoor word, en wat julle agter geslote deure gefluister het, dit sal van die dakke af geskree word vir almal om te hoor!" (Lukas 12:1-3 NLV). Hoekom was Jesus so skerp teenoor die skynheiliges? Skynheiligheid beskuldig ander van dinge wat ons onsself verskoon, dit sê een ding maar doen 'n ander, dit plaas gewildheid bo beginsels, en dit is gek oor bewondering maar het geen integriteit nie. Een voorbeeld is Petrus. Hy het gepreek dat almal gelyk is in Christus, maar hy het dit selektief uitgeleef. Paulus het hom daaroor gekonfronteer. Toe Petrus egter na Antiogië gekom het, het ek hom openlik teengestaan omdat hy verkeerd was. Voordat daar mense van Jakobus af gekom het, het hy saam met die nie-Jode geëet. Maar nadat hulle gekom het, het hy hom onttrek en hom tydens etes eenkant gehou omdat hy bang was vir wat die Joodse Christene sou sê. Daarop het die ander Joodse Christene hom gevolg en selfs Barnabas het hom deur hulle skynheiligheid laat saamsleep. Toe ek egter sien dat hulle optrede nie strook met die waarheid van die Goeie Nuus nie, het ek voor almal vir Petrus gesê..." (Galasiërs 2:11-14 NLV). God verstaan ons swakhede en Hy sal saam met ons werk daaraan, maar Hy sal nie skynheiligheid duld nie. Wees dus opreg!
Sielskos: Eks 12:1-14; 1 Kor. 11:23-29; Ps 69:7-21; Deut. 21:22-23 "Like flying over the battlefield in a reconnaissance plane, a day of prayer gives opportunity to think of the world from God's point of view. Especially when going through some difficulty we need this perspective to sharpen our vision of the unseen and to let the immediate, tangible things drop into proper place. Our spiritual defenses are strengthened while we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Lorne Sandy
Dear Intercessors, During the past three months I have been in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer (IHOP). It has been a great joy and blessing to me personally. During this time I have experienced several extended times of prayer. I invite you to make it a part of your life with God. You will find that it is not as hard as you think. It goes by fast and is such a great blessing. In the future, I will be giving you some tools to help you stay engaged in the prayer room. We all need to sharpen our vision of God by fixing our eyes on the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). He is always with us, longing for our attention. I encourage you to spend extravagant time with Him in personal prayer and devotion. Your view of what is really important will sharpen dramatically. We are made to dwell with God. He inhabits our lives and desires our relationship. We are called to be men and women with a steadfast, single gaze at God. The length of time you spend in an extended time in personal prayer can be a day, a week, or even a month. Some incorporate it into their weekly lifestyle. If you don’t have time available right now, make it a half a day. It depends on your personal situation. I know a Christian leader who spends one week every quarter of the year in personal prayer and meditation. He and his wife look forward with anticipation to this time apart with God. It is a vital part of their life and ministry. Others like to spend a day in prayer monthly. Here in Kansas City many spend 24 hours in the prayer room per week! However God leads you, it is very important to make time for those valuable periods of personal prayer. God is looking for those who are desperate for Him. It would seem that in the coming days we must seek Him with more passion, more intensity, and with singleness of heart. We must have the mind of Christ and see from His eternal perspective. We are His earthly habitation. King David said in Psalm 132:4-5: “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.” There are many Biblical examples of extended times of personal prayer. The men and women God used mightily spent extended times in personal prayer. Jesus, our greatest example, spent whole nights praying to God (Luke 6:12). Moses spent forty days and nights with God before receiving the Ten Commandments. Elijah spent extended time alone with God as a preparation for ministry. David spent extended time with God and took every situation to the Lord in prayer. These men sought after one thing - God Himself. Your greatest victory, your deepest revelation, your highest joy is likely to come when you give God extended time. You will ascend the heights in prayer when you do. We are made to behold His beauty. Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” Andrew Murray in his book, Andrew Murray on Prayer, expresses man’s response to God’s desire to dwell in us. “Here we have man’s response to God’s desire to dwell in us. When the desire of God toward us begins to rule the life and heart, our desires are fixed on one thing, and that is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives… Our faith begins to see how high our calling is and how indispensable God has made fervent, intense, persistent prayer as the condition of His purpose being fulfilled. We are then drawn to give up our lives to a closer walk with God. We will wait unceasingly upon Him and will become a testimony to our fellow believers of what God will do in them and in us.” Perhaps you are thinking, “This sounds good, but I’m a busy person. If I’m going to invest my time in an extended time of prayer, I need to know why it will help me! I need to know the benefits for my life personally.” There are so many beneficial reasons why we should spend longer lengths of time with God. Extended times of personal prayer have helped me personally to evaluate my life and prepare for future ministry. Let’s look at some reasons you may personally want to spend a day in prayer and how you can prepare for it:
How to Prepare for a Day in Prayer “Finding and preparing a place for personal prayer should not be taken lightly. Christ’s invitation to us is of infinitely greater value than a visit from the president. The eternal God of the universe has asked for an invitation to dine at your house. When you pray, open the door and invite the Lord to sit with you in your heart and reveal His secrets to you. You are not merely finding a quiet place to pray. You are preparing a place to dialogue with almighty God, the King of Kings!” Eddie and Alice Smith
During a day of personal prayer you want to read, pray, and meditate on Scripture. You want to spend time in worship and meditation. You want to confess your sins to the Lord, and take time to write down your thoughts. I remember when my little four-year-old, blond-haired and blue-eyed niece, Madeline, was on her yearly vacation with her dad. It was an exciting time of flying alone with dad, visiting family and experiencing life in Minnesota. I had the privilege of watching her interact with my brother, Jeff, for a week. As I carefully watched Madeline relationship with her father, I couldn’t help but compare it with our relationship with God, our heavenly Father. Madeline has an unusual confidence in life - She is not afraid of trying new things - She loves to boldly climb the tree outside my parent’s house as her dad watches. We went to the Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the U.S., and watched as she fearlessly and quite boldly went on the scariest rides with her father. She trusted him completely and held his hand as they went from ride to ride. She is trusting, she has no anxiety, and she enters into each day with joy and zeal. It energized me and excited my heart to watch her. I felt revived in a special sort of way. It felt a little bit like touching heaven. Her father is good to her. He listens to her, reasons with her, and is there to help her through the ups and downs in life. This vacation was very important for her because it was an extended time of personal relationship with her father. This was very “special” because dad was with her and he cares. This is so much like our relationship with God. Our personal prayer life is so significant. God can’t wait for us to spend it with Him. Just as my brother enjoys time away with Madeline, God enjoys us. He will reward you for spending extended time in prayer. You will definitely come back an enriched person with an overflow of His love and life shining through you. God will help you grow in your joy, trust, and zeal for life. I have so much enjoyed the extra time I have spent in personal prayer. It definitely changes my perspective. I feel as if I touch heaven. And I know it will do the same for you. You will be a person with a passion for one thing, for God Himself. “The viewpoint of an intercessor for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God’s point of view. It has to be done every day, bit by bit, (and especially during extended times of personal prayer); don’t think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint. The viewpoint we are to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, to be captives in the train of Christ’s triumphs. We are not in God’s showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ.” Oswald Chambers (adapted) This article is adapted from a book I am in the process of publishing called Ascending the Heights in Heaven: Touching Heaven - Changing Earth. A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock . Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away! It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, , then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Life is too short and friends are too few! 'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'
There comes a point in your life when you realize: Who matters, Who never did, Who won't anymore... And who always will. So, don't worry about some people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
All
Archives
June 2015
|