More...who is your mother?

We move on in our Bibles and we come to Jacob.

An interesting guy…but this isn’t about him, this is about our mother.

Jacob needed/wanted a wife. He found one, her name was Rachel and he loved her. However, Laban, Rachel’s father, tricked Jacob and instead married off Leah, Rachel’s older sister, to Jacob. It was a rotten thing for Laban to do but in a way it is also kind of funny. Jacob basically got married thinking he was marrying Rachel and woke up in the morning and it was Leah looking at him from across the pillow. I think poor old Jacob got quite a shock! The fact is Jacob was in such a hurry he failed to unveil his bride…you know when the groom turns back the veil at weddings today well this is a response to the mistake Jacob made all those years ago! You have to make sure you got the right one! None of us want to wake up beside Leah. You see Jacob loved Rachel and Rachel was very beautiful; Leah, on the other hand, was, well, not so beautiful!

The upshot of this story is that Jacob after jumping through a few hoops finally got Rachel and so we get back the question…who is your mother?

The name Leah means ‘weary’. The name Rachel means ‘ewe’ or ‘female sheep’. We will think about the characteristics of the meanings a little later for this is important in understanding the types represented by Leah and Rachel. It is also important that we know that Leah is the older, Rachel the younger. Leah, you see, is a type of the law, Rachel a type of grace and law came first followed by grace.

It is also important to reflect on the story of Jacob and Leah a little longer because there is significance there for our topic. Remember Jacob failed to unveil Leah, a veil brings blindness and the fact is the law blinds.

You know I feel like I should say something here. I do not want you to get the idea that I believe the law is wrong. This is not my purpose for I categorically state that the law is completely right. The law is an absolute reflection of the character and nature of God. The law reflects his holiness, the standard of God and if you want a definition of ‘right’ then this is it. This never changes. However, we need to gather the purpose of the law. Its sole purpose was to reveal, bring to light, to show our need for God. Its sole purpose was to reveal that we needed God. It said you must do this or that, or not do this or that, and if you are able then we will be right with God. This was not possible and the law stated that death was the result for one unable to follow. We were unable to follow and sadly we were even unable to die for our sin and so Jesus did it for us. Jesus once said that He didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfil it. He is the complete fulfilment of the law. When we today hang on to the law we are nullifying His fulfilment of the law. By His grace in sacrifice He died the death we could not and He fulfilled the requirements of the law to the absolute letter and so today, if we believe in Him, we are free from the law and are brought into His grace, His total and complete love, His favour unmerited.

The law blinds. While we hang on to law we are blinded to grace. God’s desire is for us to be unveiled. The veil is a picture of the law. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3: 14 that ‘their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ’. (As we read the Old Testament we must seek for the pointing forward to Jesus for it is only in Him is the truth of the Old Testament revealed). We are blinded with an unlifted veil and so we marry Leah.

Beloved, stop looking to your performance under the law to be justified, stop pursuing blessing under the measure of your obedience. Look to Christ because it is in Him the veil is removed; see Him and Him only as your justification. Step into the New Covenant ratified in His blood and receive the promise that you are completely justified in Him, not according to your performance but according to His finished work, and nothing more.

This is a true dilemma. Consider this; we have the delight of someone staggering into our church and receiving Jesus as their personal Saviour. They come to Him with all their stuff and He receives them and then we go to town on them and try to effect change. We aren’t prepared to wait on Jesus to transform and so we force it on them by introducing a few rules and regulations. We identify things that need changing and we want them changed now. This is best for them we consider…and frankly we can’t have people in our church behaving in such a way so we need to effect change. A bit of law is introduced and along with it comes the purpose of the law – condemnation. Not only does our new convert then get a measure of blindness as we ‘force’ them down the path of change with an injection of law, just to sort them out, but our good intended ‘rules’ mean they are then ‘veiled’ to grace.

The fact is that grace effects change but it is slow.

Jacob had Leah and he had Rachel. Leah worked fast and gave Jacob sons starting with Reuben. Rachel even got frustrated and introduced Bilhad, her maid servant, to Jacob and so by the time Rachel finally gave birth to Joseph Jacob already had ten sons by Leah and others.

Give grace time. Grace works slow for it works from the inside out. Law has the appearance of working fast but the fact it is it is tiring. Remember the meaning of the name Leah is ‘weary’. Law is tiring because it is based in our performance and our performance doesn’t last. Be honest no matter how hard you try you cannot effect lasting change. Only grace can bring change. Only receiving the love of God in Christ will the mountains be removed in our lives.

You remember David who went out against the mountain named Goliath he went with five stones. Five is the number of the grace of God, David went out knowing the grace of God and (any reading of the Psalms should convince you of this) it was in this unveiled place that he defeated the mountain.

Back to Rachel.

Rachel’s name means ‘ewe’ or ‘female sheep’.

Think of this…first of all the sheep directs us to the Lamb of God, Jesus, who became a sacrifice for us shedding His blood for our forgiveness and enduring the stripes for our healing.

Also the sheep is the epitome of submission. Isaiah describes a sheep as being led to the slaughter and before the shearers being dumb…this is a picture of submission. Submission Biblically represents agreement (not the world’s definition of submission) and we need to set aside anything of our own contribution to the plan of God to restore us and just accept His grace (unmerited favour).  

We can also see in Rachel the fact that God loves grace, not law. Jacob had two wives and he loved Rachel, not Leah. God loves grace not law. Yes law is holy but grace is beautiful and wonderful. Let me ask you…in your faith walk do you feel more for pursuing holiness or receiving grace? It is a much more beautiful state to receive Jesus than to pursue an unattainable goal of holiness in our own strength. Remember we are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Oh, absolutely I agree that the nature of God is to enforce the law, after all He is HOLY (with a capital ’H’) but, praise His name, He is also grace and mercy. That is why He sent His Son to endure the penalty of the sin of mankind and in so doing totally and completely satisfied His own holiness. It is in this fact and nothing else that we can declare in truth that we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21).

This is what Rachel represents to us. Grace acceptance…Jesus acceptance for grace is a person and His name is Jesus.

Allowing grace to bring transformation can be seen in Rachel who ultimately gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin…which is another thought for another day.

You know only grace can truly bring transformation in a person’s life. The new Christian that has received Jesus who undoubtedly needs transformation will not be transformed by an injection of law.

I’m sorry, you may see short term results from this approach but it is only in the receiving of grace that you will see true and lasting transformation. The Bible says in Romans 5: 17 that ‘those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.’ Please understand here that ‘righteousness’ has nothing to do with right behaviour; this is the righteousness that is received only in the receiving of the free gift of Christ.

Only receiving grace (remember grace is a person…His name is Jesus) brings transformation. Why is it that we so often load new Christians with rules and regulations rather than allow grace to do His work? I hear some say “Are you kidding, we have to put boundaries on people of else they will do whatever they like!” This is a lie! Listen to the Bible…these are not my words, these are God’s words through Paul…Romans 6: 14, ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace’.

We often quote this verse…’we love Him because He first loved us’…but what is the absolute truth of this? It is this…only as we receive and know His love can we love Him or anyone else. When we know His love then we will truly love God. As we receive Grace we will be so enamoured by Him that the dominion that the things that bound us will no longer have strength over us and this phenomenon will be an on-going transformation that will ultimately bring holiness. Nothing can stand before the love of God…read the latter verses of Romans 8.

Can you see the up-side-down nature of this? We think we need to pursue holiness and this will ALWAYS result in disappointment for it is based in us…the only true and lasting transformation comes from receiving Grace, ONLY under Grace will we see the destruction of the dominion of sin over us, ONLY UNDER GRACE, law can’t do it, ONLY GRACE.

There is a pivotal verse in the Bible found in Romans 8: 1. There is NO CONDEMNATION for them that are in Christ Jesus…the law brings condemnation, ONLY GRACE brings freedom, completeness, fullness, peace, hope, salvation, justification, forgiveness, and every other good thing. All things work together for good to them that are in Christ Jesus…note it makes no mention of our effort, obedience or strength, only being ‘in’ Him.

So who is your mother?

Leah? Leah is a type of law. Law who brings weariness? Law who brings burden? Law who brings condemnation?

Rachel? Rachel is a type of Grace. Grace who brings freedom? Grace who brings salvation? Grace who brings complete submission to the call and plan of God, a plan that is GOOD? Grace who brings true and lasting transformation?

Beloved choose Grace. Stop trying to obey to receive blessing. Just receive Him who is grace, Jesus. He is EVERYTHING.

And then there is Joseph…but that is for another time.

Who is your mother?

This is a very simple and interesting question which we could all answer in the natural…yes there are some who never knew their mothers but generally speaking we could all give an ‘appraisal’ of our natural mothers. A natural appraisal – hopefully a picture of one who nurtures and cares, who puts her children way ahead of all things, and before her own life. As I watch my wife and her interaction with our children I definitely see this picture.

However the Bible encourages us to not look at the natural things for these are passing but rather to look at the spiritual things which are eternal in nature and will never pass away for they are established in the truth of God who is spirit and the Father of us all.

Think then with me of our spiritual mother.

The Bible is made up of two sections – the Old and the New. Often we avoid the Old because it is difficult but the truth is that seeking the truth of God, revealed in Jesus, in the Old Testament brings wonderful new light to the truth revealed in the New Testament. Often we need the Old to reveal the New and we definitely should never reject the Old because as we seek Jesus in the Old the Jesus in the New is revealed in greater truth. Whenever you read the Old Testament please always seek a revelation of Jesus because everything points forward to Him, just as everything in the New Testament reveals Him. Beloved, Jesus is EVERYTHING. He is THE centre, THE way, THE truth, THE life…I could go on and on. Read the gospel written by John and find the ‘I am’ passages; the places where Jesus says ‘I am…’ They are a worthy investigation.

So let’s look in the Old and think about two women, Sarah and Hagar.

Remember the question is ‘Who is your mother?’

Now I could write reams and reams in ‘analysing’ the story of Sarah and Hagar but I want to cut to the point and hopefully you will see why these two women are so important for any who have received Jesus today, in 2012, nearly 2013.

One woman represents to us law and the other grace.

If you have spent any time in ‘churchland’ then you will have heard it said that this is the ‘day of grace’. Sadly I believe that ‘churchland’ has a very limited understanding of what this actually means and so it has become one of those ‘cliches’ that we, well, just ‘use’. The sad truth is that ‘churchland’ has taken law and alloyed it with grace and produced something that has a smattering of grace but in reality is law which is clearly revealed in the Bible as being ‘bondage’. Do I need to remind you that the Bible is clear that ‘it was for freedom that Christ has set us free?’ An alloy of law and grace will not do. It is a lie and can only come from the father of lies, the thief, who is stealing from you. You see the enemy, the father of lies and deceipt, the great thief and murderer has stolen from you the truth of grace and he has used verses of the Bible to deceive you by presenting law and having us receive it as for today (the day of grace). ‘Churchland’ has received this ‘teaching’ and produced the great edifices of religiosity that we see before us who stand and claim to be ‘the Church’ but instead are feeding teaching that is an alloy of the truth and bring to the people only bondage.

How can I represent this work of deceipt and abuse to you? The enemy does not want you to know you are loved…that you are the Beloved. That is the bottom line. He tried the same on Jesus Himself. When Jesus was baptised heaven opened and God Himself declared that ‘This is My beloved Son in who I am well pleased.’ God declared His love. A short time later the enemy, in his temptation, said to Jesus, using scripture, ‘If you are the son of God command these stones to be made into bread’. He was using scripture to tempt…Jesus was hungry having not eaten for forty days and could have easily been tempted to command and eat but if He had then death would have been confirmed. But please note that the enemy left out the word ‘beloved’…only a short time before Jesus had been declared by God as ‘beloved Son’ but the enemy chose to leave this out. Beloved he is doing that today constantly to us…diverting us away from the love of God and leading us into teaching based on scripture but based in law and therefore bondage comes.

My hope is that with this blog you will reject law and receive grace and in that receiving receive freedom.

Have you watched the movie ‘The Avengers’? When Loki comes he declares that real freedom for people is to be controlled and he commands the people to kneel down before him. But one man refuses…let us be that one man! You see an alloy of law and grace even that which is taught in our churches is a means of control, and control is NOT of God.

So who is your mother?

Hagar is law. Hagar represents the old covenant which is the law, all that is bound in the Ten Commandments and everything associated with it.

 Sarah, on the other hand, is grace. Sarah represents the new covenant which is grace and nothing more.

As I said there is much analysis that could be made about this story but suffice to say this at this time. If you want a Bible passage to read along with this then look at Galatians 4: 21 – 31.

The promise of God was a son. There was much more but it was all based in Sarah, who was old and barren, giving birth to a promised son.

Ishmael came through self-effort as Abraham and Sarah tried to help God fulfil the promise He had made. Sarah gave her bondmaid to Abraham and Ishmael was born. Galatians 4: 23 says that Hagar, who represents the law, gave birth to Ishmael ‘according to the flesh’. The ‘flesh’ represents self-effort and human strength and human performance. Romans 8: 8 says that ‘those who are in the flesh cannot please God’. God isn’t pleased to see us trust in ourselves not because He is angry with us but because as a good Father He knows there is such a better way which we are missing.

Sarah gave birth to Isaac. It is really interesting to note that Ishmael was a teenager by the time Isaac arrived so by this time Sarah was well past it and so was Abraham. Human performance certainly had nothing to do with the arrival of the promised son Isaac. Self-effort and human strength could not achieve the result that was Isaac and he was born of the Spirit totally and only out of the promise of God.

Beloved don’t play around with the law; you are children of grace. What does this mean practically for you? Simply don’t trust in your self-effort, your human strength, your performance to get right and remain right with God. Instead look to His promises, the promises of a Father who loves you without end, who looks at you daily, moment by moment, and sees you in the beauty and perfections of His Son who He gave up freely to bring you back.

Beloved, Galatians 4: 30 concludes that we are to cast out the bondwoman. Hagar and Ishmael were cast out…I once thought that Hagar and Ismael got a rough deal but there is much that I could share within this story from the Old Testament but the type for us today, right now, is this…we must cast her out…we must remove the law. Beloved you are no longer under it…you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Say it out loud…YOU ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST if you are in Christ…if you believe in Him and mustard seed size faith is enough.

 Practically we must reject the alloying of law and grace, we must stop listening to law preached, we must accept that we are loved and that love is not based in what we do but totally in the unquenchable love that the Father has for the Son, and in the totally and completely finished work of Jesus.

The law brings death. When the law was given 3000 people died (Exodus 32: 28), when God gave His Spirit 3000 people were saved (Acts 2: 41). Choose life, receive grace and nothing more. Receive the promises of God, they are not based in your efforts, they are based in the grace (unmerited favour) of God and the undeniable fact that He loves you (John 3: 16). You are His Beloved!

Who is your mother? Sarah is your mother for Sarah represents grace to you and you are a child of the promise. Cast out the bondwoman (law) and receive the free, the beautiful, wonderful grace of our God.

God bless you.

The name of Jesus...

It is nearly Christmas which is the time when we remember and recognise the birth of Jesus.
Do we?
Hmmm maybe that is for another post!

Jesus.
What's in a name?

Just been thinking today about the name...Jesus.

The Bible says in Philippians 2 that 'God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow...'

The name Jesus means Jesus our Saviour.
Jesus in Hebrew is the name Yeshua.
The name Yeshuah contains an abbreviation of the name Yahweh.
Yahweh is the name of God in Hebrew.
Therefore the name of Jesus literally means Yahweh is our Saviour.
The LORD is our Saviour.

Wow!

No matter what you are in at the moment, no matter what the crisis is, no matter the problem; GOD ALMIGHTY is our Saviour.
Everytime you call on the name of Jesus you are calling on God to save you.
Everytime you call GOD ALMIGHTY will save you.
His promise to you is He will never leave you or forsake you.

How do you feel about that?

Jesus is the Saviour...

I remember years ago I was asked to speak at a presentation of Jesus...in church land we might call it a gospel rally, or a gospel celebration; 'gospel' translates good news...so it was an event where I was to tell those gathered the good news that had come, which is Jesus.
I gave what I felt was a reasonable presentation of this good news and a point came when I 'felt' it time to ask people whether they would agree to accept Jesus for themselves. So I mustered my best 'decision time' closing and delivered it and...nothing happened!

There were some hundreds of people of all ages sitting before me and not one person moved...you could have heard a pin drop!

At this point I entered into a communication with God that felt like it took an hour or two but probably only actually took a few seconds.
I started with the words, "Thanks a lot God, You bring me out here and give me this job to share Jesus and here I am and now I look like a right wally. Thanks for the complete embarrassment! Here I am standing up here because I thought that's what You wanted me to do and all I have achieved is to make myself look like a complete ..."

God replied, "Graeme, there is something you need to understand...you can preach all you like and I will give you unbelievable opportunities to preach but I do the saving!"

"Okay...Jesus is the Saviour," I considered.

"Now ask them again."

So I did and every person, man, woman and child rose up to receive Jesus.

What is the point...we must recognise that the successful salvation of mankind is not bound up in the quality of our preaching, the cleverness of our strategy, the intensity of our effort, the encouragement to to be missional...like everything else salvation is of the Lord and we must TRUST Him. He saves because He isn't willing that any should miss Him. We are just favoured to be a part of His good news delivery.

We are not the key, the key is recognising that He is the Key, and the Door, and the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, and the Bread of Life, and the Water of Life, and the Light of the World, and the Good Shepherd, and the Son of God, and the Saviour; He is EVERYTHING.

When we recognise that...truly see it then we will bring Jesus and He is the Saviour.

The day Jesus stopped...

Imagine a gift...it is in an attractive box, beautifully wrapped and decorated with a delightful ribbon. Some gifts are so beautifully and carefully wrapped it really is a delight for the receiver to discover what is in the box.

I was recently in Cambodia and I came bearing a gift.
Natural eyes could not see the gift but enlightened spiritual eyes could.
I held out the gift for people to receive because that is what you must do, isn't it? If I offered you a gift what must you do? Well, of course, you must receive the gift. So I held out the gift for people to receive.
What was the gift?
The gift was a Jesus who stopped.
Jesus is stopped today.
Oh I hear the purist Bible students saying that I have it wrong, Jesus is very active today and yes in a way they are right because the Holy Spirit is certainly active seeking, revealing Jesus and drawing people into the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus, He is stopped.
Before I say more about the stopped Jesus let me give you a little peak of what is in the box, the gift that I am holding out to you right now.
Can you see it?
If I lift the lid just a little maybe you can see inside, just a peak of the wonder of the gift of the stopped Jesus.
Now the Bible is very clear that if I tried to describe everything about Jesus, even everything that He did when He was here on earth all the libraries of the world would not have the capacity to hold them. That was John's thought in John 21: 25.
So I can't talk about everything that could be said but I want to share three...no four occasions when Jesus stopped.

• Jesus was walking and a man named Jairus came and fell at Jesus feet. Jesus stopped. Jairus entreated Jesus for his beautiful twelve year old daughter who was dying and Jesus began to go to her.
• There was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. The law said she was unclean and she should not have been where she was but she had heard of Jesus and she was determined on a course of action even if it was illegal! The crowds were pressing upon Jesus, jostling him and the lady snuck through the crowd of people and reached out her hand and touched just the hem of the garment Jesus was wearing. Immediately she was healed! Jesus stopped. He asked who had touched Him. The disciples thought him a bit crazy as many people were jostling Him but He stopped and sought the touch of faith. The woman knew she was caught out and came and confessed all. Jesus spoke words of glory over her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." Her faith had made her well? Was it her faith...no but it was her faith in the One before her and His blessing upon her was to 'go in peace...go in shalom.'
• Back to Jairus...a messager comes from Jarius's house saying that it was too late as the twelve year old daughter was dead. Jesus went to her and He stopped. He said that she wasn't dead , just sleeping and they all laughed. The stopped Jesus then put out His hand and took hers and lifted her up with the words "Child, arise" and she got up and ate.
•  Another day Jesus was walking and sitting by the road was a blind man. His name was Bartimaeus. There were a lot of people around and they were making quite a commotion. Bart asked what was going and and was told that Jesus, of Nazareth, was going by. Bart started calling out "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." The crowd told him to hush but he just called out all the more. Jesus stopped. He called for Bartimaeus to be brought to Him and asked him, considering his obvious condition, a most unusual question, "What would you have Me do for you?" "Lord, That I might receive my sight." The stopped Jesus spoke words of glory over Bartimaeus as He opened his eyes to see.
• Another day there was another fellow who was vertically challenged. His name was Zaccheus. Jesus was passing by and he wanted to see Him. So Zaccheus ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree. Jesus came right to the foot of Zaccheus's tree and He stopped. He called Zaccheus down declaring that this was the day the He would came to abide at the house of Zaccheus.
• Jesus went to the cross, He bore our sin to make us righteous. Our righteousness is all His doing and none of our doing. It is on the basis of His shed blood that we are righteous. He bore the lash, the beating, the stripes for our healing and well-being. He went into the grave and rose again and entered into the holiest of holies, the presence of God and was accepted. Our representative, the man, entered into the presence of God and He stopped. He sat down.

This is Jesus...can you see Him?

So today Jesus is stopped. Ephesians 1: 20 declares this the 'He (that is God) raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places.' Jesus is seated...stopped.
Why? And what is the significance of this for us?
When Jesus stopped in the few instances I have shared above He stopped to dispense blessing, to dispense the wonder of His grace and His stopped circumstance is no different today.
He is stopped to dispense His grace because this is the receiving day, the day of favour, the day when we, unworthy as we are, are blessed recipients of Him not because of anything we have done or do but purely because of what He did and the we are accepted totally and without doubt in Him.
Ephesians 2: 6, 7 goes on to declare that He (that is God) has 'raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come (from the moment He stopped) He might show the supassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.'

Jesus is stopped. Receive His blessing! Stop trying to earn it. Recognise the work is finished in the person of Jesus and just receive Him. He is EVERYTHING.

More about Wisdom...

'Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding...Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honour.' Proverbs 3: 13, 16
 

The Bible says in Proverbs 4: 7 that 'Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.'

Wisdom is, therefore, something to pursue.

So what is this wisdom?

In a recent post I drew our attention to King Solomon who, as a young man, was faced with a God who was giving Him the greatest of opportunities. In 1 Kings 3: 5 it is recorded that God Himself in all His glory and power was standing before Solomon in a dream and was saying 'Ask what you wish Me to give you.'
Solomon asked wisely and requested an 'understanding heart' so that he could judge the people of God and God granted him his request for wisdom and with 'it' gave him riches and honour.

Solomon had riches and honour, he had the left hand of wisdom but he didn't have the right hand.
In 1 Kings 3: 14 God said to Solomon that 'if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments...then I will prolong (lengthen) your days.'
Solomon, sadly, was under the Old Covenant and so the terms of his walk were conditional upon him walking in the ways, statutes and commandments of God and history records that Solomon was unable to do it.
Solomon had the left hand of wisdom but not the right hand.

So what about you?
If you believe in Jesus, as this is the ONLY commandment that you have (1 John 3: 23), then you are under the New Covenant.
Under the New Covenant Jesus Himself is the 'right hand' and therefore to pursue wisdom is to pursue Jesus.
HE is our wisdom!
When we have Him we possess the two hands of wisdom. Those that possess the two hands have length of days and riches and honour.

Now how do we 'pursue wisdom'?
You cannot earn wisdom. You cannot deserve it. You cannot study for it and receive it as a certificate. You cannot buy it.

Wisdom, that is Jesus Himself, ONLY comes by His unmerited favour, His grace, that which we don't deserve but comes purely on the basis of the love of God and under the terms and conditions of the New Covenant, ratified in the blood of Jesus, which says 'their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more' (Hebrews 8: 12) the foundation upon which God says He will 'put, write and be' our God (Hebrews 8: 10).
Oh the freedom of this! Can you receive it? This is freedom.
No longer relying on me and what I do or don't do but TOTALLY and UNDENIABLY relying on Him, our Jesus, and His finished and completed work at the cross. There He bore my sin once and for all and in His shed blood I am the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5: 21).
There are many religions in the world and they all have factors that make them interesting, maybe even desriable, but none have the eternal factor of the person of Jesus. He is the difference. As we appropriate Him we rise above the religions into the difference that is Christianity (because as I have said before Christianity and religion ARE NOT the same).

So receive the word of God.
Pursue wisdom for this is the principal thing...what is wisdom?
Wisdom is the person of Jesus.
Pursue Him, He is EVERYTHING!
Beloved, this is the day of the Lord's favour (Luke 4: 19), this is the day of Grace, this is the day of Receiving, this is the day of sitting in the place of rest (Ephesians 2: 6), this is the day that the Lord has made...why do you strive so hard to achieve wisdom?
No longer is the command to do, or don't, but simply to believe.

Receive Him and in the receiving receive the promise of the two hands...length of days and riches and honour.
They are yours to take...do not walk by the blessings that litter your life and pursue an alloyed 'religion' mixing law and grace.
Throw out the law and receive the grace...receive Him who is everything, receive Jesus Christ.

God bless your day.

The Genie of the Lamp...

Aladdin found an oil lamp in a magic cave and when he rubbed it there appeared a genie who gave him power, splendour and wealth, and the hand of the beautiful Princess Badroulbadour.

The common cartoon image of the genie is the all-powerful figure dressed in his pyjamas offering three wishes...so...let me ask you this question...if the true All-Powerful One were standing before you now and asking for your request what would you say?

I am intrigued today by an eighteen year old young man who had very big shoes to fill as he ascended the throne of his father who was in that very position. Before him was God and God was asking him what he would like Him to do.

(That makes me think of blind Bartimaeus...he was blind and begging by the roadside when Jesus walked by. Hearing the commotion Bartimaeus asked what was going on and was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Bartimaeus then begins to call out for Jesus, the Son of David to have mercy on him. When told to hush up he calls out all the more. Jesus stops; he calls Bartimaeus to him and asks the most unusual question..."What would you have Me do for you?" I have always thought that was such an unusual question...Bartimaeus was blind! And Jesus ask him what he wanted Him to do! Funny question!)

The eighteen year old was Solomon, the son of King David. David had died and Solomon was ascending the throne of his father and before him was the true All-Powerful One, God Himself, and He is asking Solomon for his request. This is recorded clearly in 1 Kings 3: 5. Solomon has gone to Gibeon to offer a thousand burnt offerings on the altar to God and it says,

'In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish me to give you."'

Now it says nothing about any restriction or limitation, placed by God, on what Solomon could ask.
Solomon could have asked for wealth, health, happiness, glory, splendour, honour...even the head of his enemies on a silver platter! It intrigues me then that Solomon asked for...

'Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?' 1 Kings 3: 9

God was pleased with this request. God granted Solomon his request and added riches and wealth, and honour 'such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.' Even today the wealth and splendour of Solomon, and his kingdom, are legendary.

So what has this got to do with us? Listen to these words from the Bible and I'll leave you to ponder these things for yourself.

'But by His (God) doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,...' 1 Corinthians 1: 30
 

'Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.' Proverbs 4: 7
 

'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.' Ephesians 1: 17-19
 

Wow! There is a lot I could say about that but instead hear these words.

Jesus said...

'Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.' Matthew 7: 7-8 

Jesus is stopped today and standing and He is calling you to Him and He is saying to you...

"What would you have Me do for you?"

What will you ask?

A Conundrum!...

I spent the past weekend in the company of a bunch of men.
The majority were Christians and the others not.
It is so interesting to observe when these two 'worlds' rub up against one another.
As I rode home (it was a motobike weekend) I thought about the counsel that we have all heard that we, as Christians, are 'in the world, but not of it.'
Now is that a verse from the Bible? Maybe someone can help me with that because as I write this I have no availability to find out whether this is from the Bible or not. Certainly my experience has been that if it is not an actual Bible verse then it has been established by 'us' as having the same weight as a Biblical verse!

I then, as I rode, thought about the time when I personally had my first real interaction with a God who wanted to have a relationship with me. During that first conversation one of the things this voice said to me was this...God said that He understood that I had walked away from a church that had no real relevance to the world in which it lived but He said that here (in the church in which I was sitting at that moment) was a church which "had a desire to be relevant".
The pastor on that day was preaching on the (then) church value of 'Relevance'. It is interesting that the church of which I am a member has since abandoned 'Relevance' as a value as such but I couldn't help think about whether or not we had actually arrived at this value of being 'relevant' to the world around us, and to which God brings us into contact constantly.

Now here's the conundrum...how do we be in the world but not of it?

When I was young 'contact' with the world was not encouraged. Any personal relationships with things perceived as 'worldly' were openly discouraged whether that was in a sporting team, in a social setting or through common interests this contact was taught to me as not being a good or desirable thing. Many times I had heard the words "but it's worldly" as a concrete and justifiable reason for not engaging.
This resulted in extreme frustration for me because it produced in me a double life...I had my Sunday life and I had my Monday - Saturday life and the two were exceedingly different. The other thing this produced was an ability to lie as I avoided the two conflicting in any way.
Now that is me but things have moved on.
I went to great lengths to divest myself of this hypocrisy and exceedingly and openly engaged a life that was not 'christian' in nature or behaviour.

Now here I was and am and God was and is talking to me about relevance...about being relevant. Here I was with the 'issue' of relevant Christianity staring me full in the face as He talked to me about this as I observed two very different camps interract on a simple bike riding weekend.
So...relevant to who? Well relevant, I expect, to those around me who don't have what I have, don't know what I know, who are lost but don't know it.

I have said this before but I need to say it again. Christianity and religion are not the same. Why is it that millions of people who have the same desire for relationship, who have the same 'eternity' placed in them by our common Creator, would never consider stepping into one of our 'churches'?
Do you know, I believe, that the reason is that church has ceased to be a place of Christianity, and all that truly means, and has rather become a place of religion and the man who unwittingly is seeking God, even he who knows nothing of God knows that religion isn't it, and so rejects it. I have heard their conversations so many times where 'christian' and 'religion' become confused and I have to tell you we (the 'churchies') have done that! And not only that we show it by what we do.

Now I recall Jesus praying for those He was to leave in the world upon His departure...I think John 17...and the basic tenet of His prayer was that they be kept that they may be used that the world may believe.

How do we be in the world but not of it?

Do we win the world by separating ourselves or do we win the world by accepting them and engaging with them? Do we engage with their banter, full of innuendo and foul language, or do we separate ourselves away? If the answer is to engage then to what level do we engage?

I am nothing special but I have been given an acceptance in both camps. Combined with this I have been led to a place were I openly and with substantial spiritual indignation have rejected 'religion' and embraced 'Christianity', and the two ARE NOT the same. I don't care what your church/denomination dogma says religion is man placing his controlling 'law' upon people in the name of God and by God I have been set free from the death of the law to the fullness of the super-abundant grace of God in Jesus Christ...I am free and I WILL NOT sit under your rules anymore. God loves me and my role is to show that love.
Now do I engage in the depravity of the world's conversation...no, and with my 'worldly' mates I will openly ask them to desist from some of the things they say but do I then separate myself and show my disapproval? NO, a million times no. Jesus engaged with the most undesirable with the purpose of engaging.

So...to those who came on the weekend's ride and engaged with a group of blokes who even if they don't know it are searching for that indefinable, that thing that appears so unreachable that they could not even define it, to those who engaged thank you.
Your actions showed relevant Christianity in all it's fullness and spat in the eye of religion and all its falsity.
If we are to engage this world we will hear some bad language, some foul conversations, some disturbing stuff but quite frankly get over it!
In the midst of it you will hear the cry of a lonely man who recently turned fifty and doesn't believe he will see sixty, a man who has no satisfying relationship with his wife, who has no satisfaction in his life except when he joins a simple motorbike ride. This man text me after I arrived home and this is what he said..."Only wanted to say..I just love rolling with you. I'm well aware I'm not in your league. Would be an idiot to think even close. Its a sheer pleasure to be invited to roll with and be a part of what appears to be an ever-growing group. I truly thank you".

You need to know that when the cry of this man was heard there was myself and one other of the Christian camp sitting there and the other came to me later and said that he would be praying.

So here is the question...if we had not engaged we would NEVER have been in a position to hear his cry and we then would never have been in a position to pray for him and without the prayer his case is lost and hopeless eternally.

We have to engage. How can we hope to influence if we don't engage? Do we get down in their sludge, no, but by God we have to be close enough to give them a hand up!

As Jesus is...

For many months I have been thinking about a section of the Bible found in Ephesians chapter two. The truths found here have impacted me immensely and have changed my life.
I have spoken about these before in this blog and have probably quoted them but it is worth quoting them again...

'But God, being rich in mercy,because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.'
Ephesians 2: 4 - 7
 

 Awesome words.
You know the Bible is something else. It's not just a book. It is a living word and it is probably the most misunderstood book ever written; misquoted, misinterpreted, misused, abused, villified and persecuted. I was listening to the radio recently and an announcer who I in fact like a lot starting talking about what the Bible says about women...now I have no idea where she got her material because her observations showed a total lack of understanding of anything the Bible says and a total misinterpretation of the stuff she quoted from and only showed that she, despite being a learned person who claims to have got 496/500 in her HSC, has absolutely no understanding of the truth of Jesus. I listened, I could have got annoyed but I ended feeling very sorry for her.
Why is there so little grasp of Jesus in this world?
You know it is a sad fact that the Church is largely to blame because the Church has failed to grasp truth and has been peddling an alloyed message that purports to bring freedom but in fact brings bondage.
What is he talking about I hear you ask?
Dear precious reader we cannot mix grace and law.
We cannot have a little bit of each. We can't talk about a message of grace and about being gracious to one another etc. etc. but continue to burden people with rules and regulations. We cannot give lip service to a gospel of grace and then put requirements upon people that, at the very least are downright burdensome and expect people to find freedom in Christ.
When we bring Christianity and alloy it with law the result is a burden that results in an enemy taking it and producing frustration, distortion, anger, abuse and total disillusionment.
You cannot have two mothers...either your mother is grace or your mother is law...you cannot have both.

Now I could talk a long time about this and by this time you are either interested or you have probably zoned out. I don't suppose what I say will have much impact on you but today I just want to share a few thoughts with you because today I was drawn to another verse in the Bible which then directed me back to verses that precede the ones that I have quoted above and add another wonderful brick in the structure that God is building for me...the Life of Purpose.
Listen to this...

'Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as He is, so are we in this world.'
1 John 4: 17
 

First thing to note is that 'Love has been perfected among us.' God is Love and what follows reveals the perfection of Him.
Second as a result we need have no concern about the day of judgement because we are not measured or judged on the basis of our performance but instead God looks at Jesus and sees me and you. Our sin has been, once for all, completely dealt with at the cross and the under-pinning term of the New Covenant is that God remembers our sin and our iniquities NO MORE!
Third 'as He (Jesus) is, so are we...' Notice this is present tense, 'as He IS' that is how we are right now in this world wherever we are. You, if you believe in Jesus, are 'as He is' right now.
So the question then has to be asked...how is Jesus today, where is He?
It was then that I was turned back a few verses from the ones that have consumed me for months, and which I quoted above, to these majestic words. Listen to this...

'...He (God) raised Him (Jesus) from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.'
Ephesians 1: 20 - 23
 

Immense words, do you not agree?
Now meditate on this...'as He is, so are we in this world.'
See yourself as Jesus is, far above all power, dominion, name, negative situation, I could go on and on but I would rather you go and meditate on this truth. Write your own list of the negative things of this world that He is far above...and you are far above in Him.
You know as we walk along life's pathway there are blessing upon blessing that we miss...why?..because we fail to see them.
Open you eyes and see and in the seeing you 'with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,' will be 'transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.' (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
It really is in the seeing and the great mission of the enemy of mankind is that their eyes will be veiled and blinded so that they will not see but instead will take a few isolated verses and develop a doctrine that adds another layer of veil...this is what the radio announcer did and often, so sadly, this is what many a well-meaning preacher does because they have received grace but then alloyed it with law and the burden increses.
Be set free.
See yourself as God sees you...seated with Him in heavenly places enjoying the benefits of being sons and daughters of the King.
God bless you today with his Shalom.

Cambodia - An Afterword

I have been back in Australia only a few days and many people have asked me how it went...I am so sorry but I really find it very hard to describe...it's like describing the intricate details of a beautiful sunrise or the immensity and splendour of a flash of lightning!

We are so privileged to stand and watch Christ do His stuff at close quarters.

How do you describe that?

How do you describe the first smile of a little child who has only known the depravity and want of living on the rubbish dump when offered a gift, no strings attached?
How do you describe the moment when a boy of maybe six or seven is given a colouring pencil and a picture to colour and he doesn't know what to do? How do you describe his moment when a beautiful young Australian with a heart of hope sits down and takes the time to show him and praises his every move?
How do you describe a beautiful little girl who is overjoyed with her new backpack, the only one she will likely ever receive, but she wants a 'girl' one, pink, not a 'boy' one, blue...how do you describe her face when she receives the blessing of God upon her tiny life?
How do you describe a group of children who want to learn and who are on the very edge of their seats as they are taught a few rudimentary rules of English grammar by a big Australian larrikin with a heart of peace and joy and they lap it up and his praise for their every attempt like it is very food for their souls?
How do you describe a group of children who are expecting some white strangers to arrive and are overjoyed to spend a day playing ball, painting, doing all sorts of other activities and then when they leave they leave all the stuff behind?
How do you describe the joy of a group of boys who receive full football strip, and a ball, and even a pump to pump it up with, and the gift comes with no strings attached?
How do you describe a small girl with great need being touched and loved by a beautiful brown haired Australian girl with tears in her eyes and a heart bursting with compassion who takes her hands and breathes into her the very breath of God in prayer?
How do you describe precious deprived children receiving exercise books, pencils and even an eraser for them to keep?
How do you describe the face of a child receiving a beautifully decorated pencil case, full with stuff, which was made by a child in Australia?
How do describe the joy on the face of a woman pastor who in great want is ministering to dump children when she receives a pile of new, clean underwear for 'her' children because some family in Australia were inspired by God to provide them?
How do you describe young people whose lives have been changed eternally by thoughtful people far away who contribute by sponsoring via the Living Hope for Children Sponsorship Scheme or through the Emerging Leaders Sponsorship Program?
How do you describe a group of women who have gathered to share around the ministry of prayer and receive the arms of the Lord around them and the restoring, releasing, sight-giving, freedom-giving power of the Lord into their own lives, personally?
How do you describe a situation where you know you have twice as many children as you expected and that there is only enough meals for the original amount and you pass the problem to the Lord and every child gets a meal?
How do you describe a group of people who have never heard of Jesus being introduced to the One who loves them without end and is for them when all else is against them and they receive the revelation of the Holy Spirit and they rise as one to receive Him?
How do you describe a group of soldiers who stand in protection of their King and country but are unsure of who stands for them and they are able to rise as one and receive the One who will never leave them or forsake them?
How do you describe a man who comes forward to receive prayer and the ministry of the Lord for his chronic back problem and dances his way back to his chair swivelling his hips like Elvis?
How do you describe the man who can't move his little finger and we anoint it with anointing oil and receive the favour of an abundant God of Grace and he walks away moving a finger that did not move before?

I could go on and on and on.

However having said all that I know it is important that I convey to you in some way the blessing of the Lord to the people of Cambodia through you.
Last night I received a little report from our team in Cambodia. It gave some detail of the outcome of the 'celebrations', the gospel rallies (we decided we didn't like that word, too hard) and it is important that I share it with you.
It was my privilege to share Jesus with the people at fifteen separate celebrations.
The figures are:

• 2844 people heard the gospel and were blessed and fed with a meal provided by the sponsors of Cambodia WTL.
• 1825 precious people received Christ and many had never heard His name prior.
• 632 Bibles in the Khmer language were distributed. 

So, how do you describe a God who loves us and wants us to receive from Him, who declares we are seated with Christ in the ultimate place of blessing, who wants us to understand the full awesome ramifications of the truth that this is the Day of Grace, the day of the favour of the Lord?
How do you describe a God who wants to bless the people with His salvation and His immense grace and He chooses to work through us? Through me? It just astounds me!
How can I describe to you the partnership that He has formed, the brother He has given me, the immense life of purpose He has blessed me with?

I am so thankful.

God bless you all who made this a reality and I freely declare you partners with Christ in this immense and awesome ministry to a funny little country in Asia that no one thinks much about but over which God is raising His banner declaring 'Jesus is Lord.'

Cambodia - Children at Jehovah Jireh Centre

On Wednesday 26th September 2012 Katie, Tilly, Peter and Fiona visited the Jehovah Jireh Centre on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
The centre is run by Thearith and his team and has a ministry to the children and adults who live off garbage mountain. Thearith started this ministry by providing meal parcels himself and the Lord provided and he now has a centre right on the edge of the dump from which he provides medical care, schooling for the children and adults and as a place to share the love of Christ with the people. Cambodia WTL has been supporting the Jehovah Jireh Centre in a small way for a number of years.
Fiona has provided a little report of her impressions of the day with the children and carers at Jehovah Jireh.
She writes...

' Yesterday we visited the Jehovah Jireh centre, which was again a completely different experience to the first two centres we visited. Although we had the same activities to run at each centre and the same gifts to give, each experience taught us different lessons.  

When we pulled in the driveway of the centre in our big van we saw the hidden children all run from the play equipment to greet us at the gate. The children were laughing and actually jumping for joy. I couldn't believe they were so excited to see us, after all they really had no idea who we were. We were just strangers to them. Yet for some reason we caused them to rejoice.

It is amazing being swarmed by children. As soon as each one of us stepped out of the van a crowd of children immediately gathered. I wonder if that is what happened to Jesus when the disciples told the children not to bother Him. Were the children so overcome with joy at His presence that they couldn't help but want to touch Him, hug Him, play with Him? That was certainly the experience for us. Each child wanted to drag us off in different directions, no doubt each one wanting to play some sort of game with us or reveal some special place they had at the centre. It is quite confronting in a way, but you cannot help but want to play with them for their smiles are hard to say no to.

It was quite disorganised when we arrived.  We all went into sit in one of the English classes and my first thought was, these teachers need to learn how to teach English better. It wasn't meant to be demeaning for the teachers in my stating that, I feel they are simply doing the best they can with their limited resources. Not all the children had pencils or paper and so I was encouraging them to share as they copied down words. They can write the letters and say the words but I wondered how much meaning it carried for them as they were not using the phrases in a sentence. Nevertheless I stayed with a small group of boys and helped them to copy down the notes. They just lit up at any praise I gave them, it was so beautiful.

After the English lesson we took the children upstairs to their Bible room and explained we were from Cambodia WTL. We taught them 'Jesus in the boat' as we had done with the other children at the other centres, yet when we finished the song they wanted to sing it back to us in Khmer. I have to say I love that song in English, but it takes on a whole other level of beauty when sung in the harmonious voices of Khmer children. Pete then taught them about David and Goliath, which they loved of course. Seeing such a big man fall to the ground really shows them how powerful God is, as he helped David to defeat the giant Goliath.

We played the water bottle game to break the ice and it was as successful as it has been everywhere else. Little girls were jumping up and down shrieking hoping not to get caught with the thief bottle (you really have to have witnessed the game to understand), then the boys were slowing it down, making it worse for the girls.

Next was the biscuit game, and this is always by far the favourite activity of the children. Their eyes just light up when you show them the biscuits with icing and lollies on them. Then Ratha  made them wait to eat the biscuit until they all had a biscuit. Once they were allowed to eat they all stuffed them into their mouths and we had smiles full of icing and crumbs. I really think that bringing them food was a great thing to do, especially something as silly as lolly-coated biscuits.

After the snack we split the group into two and had painting and craft. We bought these ribbons here for the craft and the boys were so good at tying them into little bows. All the little girls were huddled around this one boy Chan (like Jacky Chan) asking him to tie their bows for them. It was the cutest thing you have ever seen.

Next they had lunch which was nice to see as we provided them with a decent meal. After lunch there were new bags (Angry Bird bags of course) along with stationary supplies as gifts from Cambodia WTL to the children. We were asked to hand the bags and books to the children as they were called up one by one. The first little girl to receive a back pack was so sweet, when I handed her the bag her little face lit up and she cuddled her back pack smiling. It was such a precious moment. Peter always jokes that every birthday I get a handbag from one of the lakes, which is true, it is hard to fathom that these children do not get a new bag every year. For some of them this was a once only gift.

The children then left and went home for a bit. We shared lunch with the staff at the centre; I couldn't help but noticed they put the biggest and best bowls of food in front of us, which made me ashamed. I could afford to lose a few kilos but these Cambodians are just skin and bones. The lunch was lovely though. We rested Cambodian style after lunch, laying down on the hard nailed floor and slept for about an hour.

Then we had the most special part of the trip for Pete and I, we taught English to the older children in years 3 and 4. I love my husband, I always have, that's why I married him, but this trip has made me realise how special he is and how blessed I am to have him as my husband. We were given sheets for the children to copy, but both Pete and I didn't want to waste time teaching them that way. So Pete taught them about pronouns. He  was amazing. He had actions and made them repeat and kept quizzing them to ensure they understood. I actually don't have the words to describe the faces of those children as Pete taught them new words and how to use articles. They were so bright with joy, like they knew they were being challenged by Pete but they loved the challenge. I now know the expression 'on the edge of your seat' for these children literally were on the edges of their seats as Pete taught them. They wanted his praise so much, that an hour flew by in that hot little classroom and not one child was bored or wanted to leave. In fact the smaller children kept coming in after their lesson finished. Even the teacher lapped up the lesson. Teaching is Pete's gift, and when he has joy in teaching the blessings that provides for those to whom he is teaching are in abundance. Those children will always remember the day the giant white man named Peter came and taught them English. How I wish we could have stayed doing that for the two weeks we were here. I would really feel that we'd be doing the children a real blessing.

That took us almost to the end of our time there. We had just enough time to play with the parachute and for Katie to teach the children how to play AFL with the balls we brought. These children just love learning anything new and so played AFL until it was time for us to go. As we got ready to leave we again faced that gut-wrenching feeling of leaving before it was really time to go. The children asked us when we would come again, they hugged us like they would never let go and a few children even tried to sneak into the van. I can't help but feel that again we came to give them gifts but ended up walking away with more than they had. Not only do we have a home to go to, but we also had the blessing of knowing those beautiful children. They showered us with whatever gifts they could giving away all the craft they made which was meant to be for them. When a Cambodian gives you a gift, there is no way to say no because they so intent for you to have it. How can those children give us all of these gifts when they have nothing themselves?

On the way back to our hotel we talked to Thearith, the founder of the Jehovah Jireh centre (he asked us to call him T because his real name in Khmer is too difficult for us to pronounce). T told us how he established the centre, and all of the other amazing work he does through the centre. Not only do they support the children who did not previously attend school, they have a clinic for pregnant women who cannot normally afford medical treatment and also a group for women to earn a trade. They teach these women, the mothers of the children at the centre, to make necklaces to be sold and all the money goes back to the women. It was so good to see Cambodians like T working to bring their people out of poverty. I am glad we are partnered with him because he does so much for the community.

As I reflect on the whole day, I feel God taught me a lot, but also blessed me a lot as well. I only hope to see some of the children we met today; Wanyea (boss), Pania and Chan, grown up with a world of possibilities open to them due to their education and their spiritual teaching about Jesus. For theses kids to have Jesus and an education, that is so much more than what they started with before attending the centre.

God bless these children, for they are Yours.'

Cambodia - Thursday 4th October 2012

Okay...the heading on this post is Thursday 4th October but it is in fact Saturday and I am sitting at my desk back in Sydney.

Thursday morning it was my blessing to share at the ICPC (Church planters) prayer morning. This is the day of the favour of the Lord, the day of Grace...the day of receiving.

We have a tradition that the team always has lunch or dinner together and so we all gathered for lunch and rejoiced together.

My departure is always tinged with sadness but with anticipation to see Alyson and Tilly.

I am so blessed.
My Australian team who through the heat, the opposition, the emotional upheaval, the mud, the difficulties and through the times of great blessing and excitement ministered the love of Christ in word and deed.
My Cambodian team who are such a blessing to me. I cannot describe how much joy I have to stand with you in Cambodia and together minister the abundant grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our everything and this is the day of receiving His blessing. As a channel I receive the fullness of His abundant grace for you. God bless you all.
All who support our ministry...words cannot express my gratitude to you all. Your prayer, your love, your financial blessing...everything that you provide as Kingdom providers that enable us to step into the call that the Lord has blessed us with...God bless you. This is your ministry...you are donors to the ministry of Grace, Abundant Grace, to Benjamin, and the Lord will reward you. Receive from Him.
'For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,...
To my Lord...to You be the glory...You are worthy of all praise and honour. We rejoice in You; You are our Saviour, our Advocate, The Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Amen, the Author and Perfecter of Faith, the Bread of Life, our Chief Shepherd, our Cornerstone, our Deliverer, the Door, the First and the Last, the Glory of God, our Great High Priest, Heir of all things, Immanuel, our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lamb, Life, the Light of the World, Lord of All, our Righteousness, the Man of Sorrows, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Messiah, Mighty God, our Passover, Prince of Life, Prince of Peace, our Redeemer, the Resurrection and the Life, our Rock, the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls, the True Light, the True Vine, the Truth, our Wonderful Counsellor, the Word of God. All praise and glory to Your Holy Name. Thank You Jesus.
...and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.' Ephesians 1: 15 - 23

Final word...Jesus 1825, satan 0.

God bless you all.

Cambodia - Wednesday 3rd October 2012

Luke 4: 19 talks of the year of the favour of the Lord.
We are in it.
The ministry of the Lord through WTL is seeing favour increase as we open our 'eyes' and see His abundant grace.
Over the past few years the Lord has gradually opened the way for us to connect with the Cambodian Army and we have visited and shared the gospel of His Grace with many soldiers and seen many receive Jesus. We have visited five different military bases and have ministered in both word and deed. All of these establishments are in the north of the country on the border with Thailand. There has been, and is still significant tension between Thailand and Cambodia around the ownership of a temple which is in Cambodian territory but to which Thailand lay claim.
If you have been following our adventures then you will know that on Sunday last we visited a base at Pailin.
Last week we were contacted by the commander of another base who was keen for us to come and visit and while we at first felt to decline the Lord provided from His bounty the resources to go and so it was arranged for today. I was not aware until I arrived but He had favoured us and we had been invited to visit the Region 5 Headquarters in Battambang. This base is the regional command for all the bases situated in Battambang, Pursat, Pailin and Banteay Meanchey Provinces. The commander here oversees all bases that are situated along the 367 kilometre border with Thailand which they are commissioned to defend.
The purpose of our invitation was for the General to acknowledge and thank us for our ministry to the five bases we have visited thus far and to ensure us that all the bases in the Region 5 area are open to us. The General most graciously acknowledged what we have contributed in partnership with AFCI Cambodia, thanking us and encouraging us to continue. We are so blessed. This is the Lord's favour!
Can I tell you that under any other circumstances it would take many months to receive approval to visit a military base and the request would in most cases be denied.
So, today we preached the gospel of Jesus to maybe one hundred and fifty or more soldiers at the regional headquarters and rejoice to tell you that many received Jesus. We were so happy to be able to minister also in deed by supplying generators, water filters and mosquito nets to provide some protection for the health of the country's defenders but the best thing was to be able to share The Defender who will stand for each individual man and woman who have received Him today.
God is so good.
We shared the story of Naaman who had great need and baulked at doing the simple thing that the man of God asked him to do. It is a simple thing to trust Jesus and so often we baulk at the simplicity but praise God many on this trip have thrown aside the restraint and decided to simply trust Him. What a joy to be able to assure them that when they reach out to Him He comes and He will never, never leave them and He will never forsake them.
The commander had requested that we receive from them a sash and medal in recognition of the work we have done but we respectfully declined. We felt that to receive this, while it would be an incredible honour, was sending the wrong message. We do not seek the accolade of men and we do not want to even dally with the possible perceived idea that we follow Christ in this mission for the earthly recognition and potential power that this may bring. I think of Paul, the great missionary, who declares in Philippians that he forgets what lies behind and reaches forward to what lies ahead. He says...

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3: 14
 

...and as he approached the imminent end of his life he could say...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,the righteous Judge, will award me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2 Timothy 4: 7 - 8
 

 It is better to travel the path that will not have any possibility of causing another to stumble.

We rejoice in the call of God and the blessed opportunity to share Christ with the beloved people of Cambodia.
We bless you all who have supported us.
Thank you so much in Jesus name.

Cambodia - Children at Beoung Tom Pun Church

Katie, Tilly, Peter and Fiona visited the ministry of Pastor Kunthea to the dump children at Beoung Tom Pun on Tuesday 25th September 2012.

Fiona writes her thoughts of the visit...

'We knew that this place would be different, we just didn't realize how much. I was not prepared for what I would see. I prayed Tilly would not be confronted because she was so young and yet I should have prayed for my heart as I was confronted by the poverty and the lack of hope for these children.

 

At the Centre of Peace it was clear the children were part of God's family but I felt at this church they children were not. They felt lost, alone and without hope. We arrived and as I walked onto the roof I could immediately see the children were malnourished. They were skin and bones and the ones that weren't had those pot bellies you see on World Vision adds. Some were so weak the older ones just had to hold onto them.

 

We introduced ourselves and started by Pete telling them the story of David and Goliath. Pete chose so well, they loved that story and they laughed when Goliath ( Peter) fell. It was good to see them laugh as their faces were so much more serious than the children at the Centre of Peace. How weary of the world these children appeared to be. How can children be so weary at such a young age?

 

We played the bottle game with them which they seemed to enjoy and then we handed out the cookies and the icing and lollies. They loved this activity. The younger ones were so gentle when we gave them the biscuits, they would all whisper words of gratitude. I could only think how small and insignificant a biscuit would be in their life, yet at least it brought a moment of joy.

 

After the biscuits we played with the parachute which shocked us. The children were hard to control as they were not used to playing together in one group. They would just punch the children under the parachute. We just stood by and watched as they made their own fun for a while.

 

Next was the coloring in and the painting and chalk. During the painting again it became obvious how intelligent and creative the children can be. Despite their terrible circumstances they could still dream in pictures. They drew love hearts and angry birds, clouds and rainbows, they drew the cross and they also wrote we love Australia. Again, how beautiful children can be. How giving and loving. It is so sad that these children have so much potential but they have no opportunity in their life to show that potential.

 

The chalk was loved by all, as were the coloring in activities. I just walked around trying to get to know them. I was shocked when one little boy came up to me with some paper and pencils but he had not coloured his sheet in. I asked him and motioned for him to colour in but he just stood there with a blank look on his face. It only then hit me that he didn't know how to use a pencil. I had to teach him how to colour in. What little boy of 5 or 6 does not know how to colour in?

 

As we handed out the food and they scattered off to share their food with their families I watched them leave from the roof. Although I had told the others at the end of the day to remember that they were in God's hand and we would leave them under his protection I couldn't help but cry. I was so sad for these children. I couldn't help but cry. As I watched them run off I thought how helpless I was. What had I really done? What had we brought them other than some food and a few moments of fun?

 

Yet Katie reminded me what I had told them. If nothing else they have left an imprint on our hearts and so I know we will all pray for them. I can't lift them out of poverty, but I can pray for them. I know Jesus is better than gold, knowing him will be worth more than all the riches in the world. So I will pray God into their lives.

 

One thought I had while speaking to Pete was that in the west we don't want Jesus to return because we don't need him to. We don't pray for Jesus' return because we don't need him to. But these children, they need him to return. They need heaven. They need God's rest and peace. We should be praying He return for them! '

Cambodia - Tuesday 2nd October 2012

Do I talk too much? Maybe! I tend to get carried away but I can't apologise. I have much to share with you as I have received much.

This is the year of the Lord. 2012. Twelve is the number of the year of the Lord. This trip I have preached on Jarius and his daughter...how old was she? Twelve. I have also preached on the women with bleeding problem. How long had she been sick? Twelve years. This is the year of breakthrough. The Lord has broken through in my life. The Lord breaks through in the life of WTL. Breakthrough! The Lord said WTL was an avenue we must walk into growth. This is the year of breakthrough. Praise the Lord.

Today was a beautiful day. We travelled out of Battambang to preach the good news of Jesus Christ at two places.
The score? Jesus 198, satan 0.
At Banong Village, Sdai Commune, Ratanak Moneul District, Battambang Province Jesus received forty-eight new believers into His Kingdom. We prayed with many people for healing, the Lord was present with us.
We lunched together at a beautiful place by the river. We were able to dip our feet into the rushing water, it was so cooling and refreshing. I love flowing water. The Holy Spirit is flowing.
After lunch we met in a little church building at Svay Sor Village, Treak Commune, Ratanak Moneul District, Battambang Province. It was unbelievably hot under the corrugated iron roof. Jesus passed by and He stopped.
Blind Bartimaeus called out, Jesus could easily have kept walking but He stopped. The women with the bleeding for twelve years reached out and touched his clothes and Jesus stopped. Jairus called for Jesus for his beloved daughter and Jesus stopped. The question that Jesus asked the blind man is the same He asks you today...."What would you have Me do for you?" This is the Day of Receiving...you probably refer to it as the Day of Grace and they are the same. The problem is we don't hear His question...we are too busy asking what He wants us to do for Him. He needs nothing, He has everything, He just wants to give it to us and for us to receive. This is the truth of the Day of Grace.
Jesus stopped and one hundred and fifty, one hundred and thirty-five adults and fifteen children received Jesus. Praise the Lord. We prayed with the sick.

Tomorrow we have an extra celebration. A second Army camp has contacted us and asked if we would come. We felt the prompting of the Lord to go and He provides all so we will go. We rejoice to be able to share Jesus in another place and we receive His abundant grace for salvation and healing amongst the soldiers.

Bless you all.

Cambodia - Centre of Peace Home

On Monday 24th September 2012 the team of Katie, Tilly, Peter and Fiona met for a day with the children at Centre of Peace Home in Phnom Penh.
WTL has been connected with the Centre of Peace for many years now and we have visited Bophal and her children many times. This trip we really felt a call to do more than just 'pop in' and so it was planned to hold a day long program of fun and laughter especially for the children. I want to acknowledge Katie who led this ministry and did a phenomenal job of conceiving and preparing the activities, and also Tilly, Peter and Fiona who used their awesome God-given gifts to connect with these beloved children.
Bophal is a phenomenal lady and I have long admired her. She first felt the 'call' to devote her life to caring for orphaned and disadvantaged children when she was a child herself and she has been faithful and true to this call and has truly brought up her 'children' to love Jesus and her home really is the 'centre of peace.' She has about 120 children and everyone I have taken to the home over the years have said the same things, "Bophal is amazing and the home truly is a centre of peace." The peace you experience is tangible, even in the midst of the joy and vibrancy of the children. Many a time I have visited Bophal to meet her newest child, some little tike who has been left, usually abandoned. The last time I visited there was a very small girl, she was nine but was very small for her age, who had been abandoned by her mother; her mother had connected with a new man and he demanded the child go. Truly, while it was no doubt heart-breaking for the child, she was better off because she was being abused and mistreated by her stepfather and now she was being 'bophaled' which is a joy to see.
So as I was not available to join the fun I have asked the team to write something for you about the day at Centre of Peace.

Katie writes...

'The Centre of Peace is truly that - a centre of peace. What a place! Bophal. What a woman! I hope and pray that I could be as gentle and strong as she is. She is gentle, loving, compassionate yet she is strong, she has a stell rod within her. She is a mother to them all and treats them that way. She is truly remarkable. These attributes are all represented and evident through the precious children that are under her care. We had a truly God-given, mind blowing day!
Creativity flowed through young hearts, minds and fingers as together, united as one, they created a banner of love for their centre. Complete with Jesus' name and, of course, an Angry Bird, this banner contained a sense of pride, togetherness and, of course, fun. Everyone enjoyed the craft and colouring-in, even sharing and making things for us, a sign of gratitude. It didn't matter that we ran out of biscuits, the icing was clearly delicious enough on its own. A likeness between themselves and me; eating chocolate out of a jar with a spoon/paddle pop stick - the simple pleasures! Ball games - another window of likeness opened, teamwork and a healthy competitiveness, laughter and giggles erupted and filled the building as games of captain ball and tunnel ball and 'duck, duck, goose' brought us together. The teaching of English stories and songs filled their faces and minds with wonder and interest. One of the most precious moments was when the boys received their footy jerseys and shorts - handed over, presented individually by Pete. What a moment!! The parachute provided laughter and joy. Perhaps the most precious moments to me were these; having a group of girls thank me and show me the love of Jesus by placing bracelets they had made around my wrist. Tears fell down my face, a sigh of awe. Seeing them receive and tuck into a 'special' meal, shocking and unbelievable yet good. Finally spending time with and praying for Bophal. Priceless. There are no words to describe that time. We left there exhausted but buzzing after what can only be described as a God-given, joyful day. Praise the Lord for Bophal, His goodness and His laughter and joy. How I wish Tim and Louise Eccleston could have been there. Thank You for that day Lord. Thank You!!!'

 

Fiona writes...

'We arrived at the Centre of Peace to find the children bright with joy and very welcoming. We were a tad timid at first because Bhopal was not there, she had ducked out before we arrived. Yet the children were not at all timid, they flocked around each one of us. I felt at first there was a language and cultural barrier between us but that was quickly broken down.

 It is amazing how universal some experiences are. Peter got out one of the balls and we simply started passing them around and immediately the language and cultural barrier was broken. The children broke into big smiles and giggles. We started sharing and playing with them and it was lovely to bond with them.

We started the official part of the day with Katie introducing us all and then Pete was meant to get up and lead the children in a song, however, he told me he actually had something else planned he wanted to try and he started telling he children a story. The story of Joshua and traveling across the river, he even got the children up and had them act out the story. It was beautiful to see God give him a word and him teach the children. We were all amazed as part of his team.
Then we taught the children the 'Jesus in the Boat song.' They were so beautiful, some of the boys were frowning they were concentrating so hard on repeating the words and actions perfectly.
Then we split off into groups to do painting the banner, craft and cookies and then also play with the parachute. During the activities the thing that struck me most was the sense of peace and love that was over the children at that centre. The older children helped to interpret all our instructions, without even being asked to do so. Then they painted and drew with such care, as though they knew that the activities they were doing were unique and precious. It was such a beautiful sight to see the older boys enjoying the craft. Tilly and Katie even saw one boy make a plate with the words I love you in a big heart; he obviously had a crush on someone somewhere. When the children were painting the banner they did so with such care and precision. It is clear they are very creative, which also made me sad to think that at times they do not have the opportunity to express their creativity. In our world, as children, we are told that we can do anything, dream big, live big. Yet these children, they have the dreams, but fulfilling them is almost a fairy tale.
After the formal activities we played the bottle game with the children and then duck duck goose. I was impressed to see the older students get involved, if only to bring the younger ones joy. What a wonderful heart they must have to play a children's game to help the younger ones to enjoy it even more. Teenagers in Australia would never be that selfless. Duck duck goose was a huge success, they giggled and laughed and screamed when it was close. I just felt so much joy being around those children.
Then we had to leave for lunch and to have a break. The children received a very large and special lunch, which was unusual for them. Bhopal was crying as she watched the children eat and enjoy their lunch. It meant a lot that we had brought that for them.
During our break we had a lovely time praying and reflecting on the time spent with the children. We shared a meal as a team and in doing so shared the ways the children had touched each of our hearts.
Going back after lunch was exciting and although tired, we were filled with a sense of anticipation at seeing them again. This time we started off with some games, tunnel ball, captain ball and red light green light. Tunnel ball was a great success. All the boys got on one team and they could not be beaten, they were so determined to win. They kept their legs spread out as far as they could, were as low to the ground as possible, and they pegged that ball down that tunnel of little legs to try and win. The joy on their faces, the final boy to bring home the ball to win leapt into the air as he came to the ground to finish. He threw his head back in joy, I swear that someone winning a gold medal could not have matched the joy on that young boys face!
After the ball games we had some free drawing and coloring in and chalk time. There was almost silence as the children diligently and ever so carefully coloured in the pictures. It was beautiful to see how gentle they were, it obviously meant a lot to them.  With the chalk it was not hard to see the love of God in those children as they all drew crosses, or Jesus or I love you so much. They have no family but are filled with love. How is that possible? I do believe Bhopal has done an amazing job teaching those children about Christ. They radiate God's love and favour.
By the end of the day we had been given many gifts, both tangible and intangible. The girls made bracelets for us all and one of the boys drew Pete a picture and wrote him a letter. One little girl had nothing to give and so gave me a box with feathers. Yet the intangible gifts are worth so much to us. We went there intending to show them God's love and give to them instead they taught us so much about God's joy, peace and love. They have nothing and yet they rejoice because of Jesus. They treat everyone they meet the same way Jesus would, with open arms. On top of all of that they taught us how to live content in Gods peace - who in Sydney or Cherrybrook can say they are content with God's peace? No one. Yet these orphaned children, who do not even have enough money for shampoo, they are content.
We will always remember them, especially those whom we have given nicknames. The 'collector' was the youngest in the group who just kept hoarding things all day, whether it be pencils, feathers or the AFL balls. Boss was Bhopal's son who kept all the other children in line, Felix was the boy with the amazing smile and Shrey Nit was the one with all the hugs and kisses for everyone.
God bless these children and keep them, for they are Yours and You love them.'
 

God bless you all who supported this day.