Cambodia - Sunday 30th September 2012

I had great difficulty sleeping last night and was awake at about 4.00 am. It was a good time to spend with the Lord. I love the early morning especially when I don't have to rush off to work. Always reminds of when I was young...I was never too keen to get out of bed on school days but on weekends I was up with the birds.

This morning we had an appointment with the Cambodian Army. Nine AM we arrived at the camp outside Opres Village, Otawoa Commune, Pailin City, Pailin Province to be received by an assortment of Generals and about one hundred and sixty soldiers and some of their family members. I am always so impressed when in the company of the soldiers, there is just an air that really appeals to me...I respect them so and commend their work of defence and protection of their country and their people. There continues to be significant tension and regular skirmishes between the Thais and the Cambodians and here we are are about twenty kilometres from the border. As I commend them for their service to King and country I ask them, "Who defends you?" I present Jesus as their defender and over one hundred (not sure of exact number) receive the King. We present them with Bibles and water filters, mosquito nets and diesel generators all supplied by the donors through Cambodia WTL. Bless you all for your ministry of word and deed.

I am now back in the hotel in Battambang City after lunching with the camp commanders. We have an easy afternoon before tomorrow when we bring Jesus to two new places.

Cambodia - Saturday 29th September 2012

Last night the joy of the Lord bubbled over at dinner as the team met. The mood was so light-hearted and life giving and the banter flowed back and forth. It was so fantastic. Cambodian jokes, which are very different to what we are used to, vied with Australian jokes but the joke of the night must go to Ps.Samnang, my brother. He is the Director of AFCI Cambodia and he must take top prize. This is his joke for your enjoyment.

A large group of men get to heaven and an announcement is made, "All the men who were afraid of their wives please stand to the side." All the men stand to the side except for one. The one who remains is asked, "Why do you remain standing there?" His reply, "Because my wife told me to."
 

This morning we woke to rain. It looked as if the rain from Phnom Penh had arrived but it cleared although it was overcast most of the day. We headed out of Battambang City into the province. As we travelled we discussed calling these 'events' rallies...rallies sounds like a hard word when this is receiving the sweet, refreshing message of Jesus. Unless you have a better idea we decided on 'celebration.' So our rallies are now celebrations of Jesus.

During my meditation time this week I read a devotion that I would like to share with you. I'm not going to tell you the name of the writer as I have found that his name arouses a 'reaction'. So I acknowledge the writer and share his writing with you...

" 'A heart at peace gives life to the body...' Proverbs 14: 30

'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' John 14: 27
  

Now Jesus would not have used the word 'peace'. He would have used the word 'shalom' - 'Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.' In the Hebrew vernacular, 'shalom' is a very rich and loaded word. There is no English word that can accurately encapsulate the fullness, richness, and power contained in the word 'shalom.' Hence, English Bible translators were only able to translate it as 'peace.' But while the word 'shalom' includes peace, it means so much more. The Hebrew Lexicon describes 'shalom' as completeness, safety, soundness (in body), welfare, health, prosperity, peace, quiet, tranquility, contenetment, peace used of human relationships, peace with God especially in our covenant relationship, and peace from war. Wow! What a powerful word. This the shalom that Jesus has bequeathed you. His completeness, His safety, His soundness, His welfare, His health, His prosperity, His peace, His quietness, His tranquility, His contentment, His peace in human relationships, His peace with God through the covenant made at the cross and His peace from war. All these my friend are part of your inheritance in Christ today." 
 

It cannot escape you that the statement Jesus made in John 14 was one of the last things He said before He departed. He went on to the cross and He bore the wounds that were due us for our transgression; He suffered the bruises that were due us for our iniquities; He received the chastisement that was due us so we recieve His shalom; and He received the stripes that were due us so that we receive the healing. And He did it for free. Why strive so hard to 'please' God when scripture is so clear. Why 'work' so hard to keep His commandments when scripture is so clear.

" And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." 1 John 3: 23, 24
 

Wow! Thank You Jesus. Thank You God.

So, we headed out of Battambang City to meet with two 'celebrations' in the province. The Lord is not willing that any should miss Him when He passes by (remember Zacchaeus?) and He was pleased to pass by Battambang today.
Firstly at Toul Snoul Village, Tapon Commune, Sang Ke District, Battambang Province. As I drove I knew I had been here before and it was later as I sat outside a tiny church in Tapon that I realised that many years ago I had stood in the paddock nearby and shared the gospel with a crowd of people including some local gangsters an fifty-three people had received Jesus. At that time we had felt compelled by God to purchase land here and the little church has been built on that land. Ps. Sopheap, one of our team, confirmed this as he was there that day. Sadly the church is now pastored by a pastor that is preaching a law message and so the church is dying. Praise the Lord the pastor was happy for us to come today and share the gospel of grace with the people. As Ps. Samnang observed, with his usual smile, the Lord brought me to bring Life years ago and now He brings me again to bring Life to restore His Grace and His Truth. As I write into my mind comes more scripture..."For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John1: 17 Two opposites on either side of the semi-colon. Law given...oh praise the Lord grace and truth came! Some say "Oh yes it is okay to preach grace but the people need to hear truth too!" What a load of...! Please understand, if you study the original you will find that 'grace and truth' are actually a singular unit as they are followed by the singular verb 'came.' Grace and truth are one and the same, grace (unmerited favour) is truth and truth is grace (unmerited favour). So we meet nearby to hear grace and truth and the Lord is mighty to save and heal. Ninety souls won for Christ and many healings.
The road to the celebration site was exceedingly muddy and we were unable to drive so had to walk, maybe a couple of kilometres. It was quite comical to watch us slipping our way along the road and being overtaken by Cambodians on their motos like as if the road is quite normal. I arrived at the site quite a few centimetres taller than when I began. On the way back when hitched a ride on a tractor like contraption and I got to drive. When had the pedal to the metal on the way and arrived home nice and dry!
In the afternoon we moved on to another celebration nearby and again were so privileged to share the good news of Jesus Christ and receive the abundant grace of God for healings as we prayed with the people. The Lord is the Saviour and He gathered in ninety-eight souls for His Kingdom...ninety-eight more who will stand with us in glory and receive the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, our Bridegroom. Jesus!
Tomorrow the army at Pailin.

Bless you all for your support. All glory to God.

 

 

 

 

Cambodia - Friday 28th September 2012

Raining this morning. We have reports that it is pouring in Phnom Penh with widespread flooding.

Our team meets to pray and share the Lord's Supper together. Why do we do that? The Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion or whatever you wish to call it is the covenant meal of the New Covenant. It asks us to remember Him. We don't just try to 'imagine' all He experienced on our account but rather we bring His broken body and His shed blood into our lives right now, in this very moment. We remember and in this remembering we receive in the present moment all the effects of the covenant; in this now moment we rejoice in our redemption achieved, that the burden of sin and guilt has been removed from us, and we are now declared to be the righteousness of God in Christ. We glory in our deliverance from the kingdom of darkness and in the eternal life that is ours. All the terms, promises, and blessings of the Covenant are here and now in this present moment and are released to us by the Holy Spirit in this meal of remembering.

We receive the salvations, the healings that are coming for the day ahead. You know we need not worry about whether our words will be good enough because it is His job to bring revelation and so the most faltering words of revelation the Holy Spirit will use to bring LIFE.

The rally this morning was at Chang Kapoy Village, Wat Kor Commune, Battambang District, Battambang Province. Present were one hundred and forty adults and seventy-eight children. Jesus gathered one hundred and twenty-five adults and fifty-three children into His Kingdom. Praise the Lord. Thank you God. Many came forward for healing and the Lord was present in mighty power to heal. Food packages had been prepared for forty children only and for the adults. The pastor who arranged the food was concerned but Samnang (my brother) encouraged her to receive the blessing of the Lord. Everyone got a food parcel and there were some left over! My team from Australia stepped up to the plate of the Lord and I rejoiced to see them minister in and through the giftings with which the Lord has blessed them.

After lunch we travelled again, this time to Chrab Krosang Village, Wat Kor Commune, Battambang District, Battambang Province to again share the love of Christ in word and deed. Gathered are two hundred and seventy people including one hundred and thirty two children. We shared Jesus and He began the restoration journey beginning with their salvation for one hundred and twenty-six adults and seventy six children. After we prayed with many people for healing by laying on hands and anointing with anointing oil. The Lord was present to heal and He always hears us. Do you remember what Jesus said when He raised Lazarus from the dead? He thanked God, His Father, that He always hears Him and He did it out loud for the benefit of the people watching and then He commanded that Lazarus comes out and so he did. The point is that God always hears us and when we ask we receive. We received the grace of God for healing. He answered.
The last person I prayed with was a young man who had a back problem. He spoke very good English and after he came to me to thank me for coming. He told me he had been a believer in Jesus for quite a long time and had tried to lead his brother and sister to the Lord. He was able to bring both to the rally and he was rejoicing that both his brother and sister received Jesus today.
The people received food and some Bibles. A partner, Transworld Radio, have joined with us to provide Bibles for each rally. A Bible costs $8 US so there is not enough but at least some get Bibles at each rally.
Sadly one of the children when enjoying the little meal was bitten by a dog. The wound was severe and definitely required precautionary medical care and injections. The child was taken to the doctor but he required $70 for the treatment. This was absolutely impossible for the mother. We (WTL) had already given $30 as we thought this would be sufficient but $70 was the fee. I don't wish to embarrass her but it is important to recognise a heart that has long beaten for the ministry to which we are blessed to be called. Without hesitation Katie brought the $40 as an offering to the Lord and a ministry to this precious small life.
How I love that heart!
So we rejoice with the angels over three hundred and eighty precious never-dying souls snatched from darkness into the Kingdom of Light on Friday 28th September 2012.

God bless you all for your support.

God is good all of the time. Yes?

To God be the glory...great things He has done.

We look forward to tomorrow.
Blessings to all.

Cambodia - Thursday 27th September 2012

So what do you call a man with a shovel on his head? Doug. So what do you call a man without a shovel on his head? Douglas. Why did the boy fall off his bike? Because he was hit by a fridge. What did the farmer do when he saw his cow on the roof? He said 'Bruce, come down.' What do you call a blind dinosaur? Do you think he saw us. Umm I don't get the cow one and the fridge one is a bit unclear but I am sharing these with you to indicate that we are back together as a team and Peter is in fine form!
Sadly this morning though we bid farewell to Alyson and Tilly as they returned to Australia. Thank you so much both for agreeing to come and to minister to the women and to the children and to the team here. God bless you.

This morning we left early and headed north. The trip to Pursat is about four hours. The road is quite good, totally different to the road I travelled the first time I came this way. This was my third visit to Pursat Prison. We have been so privileged along with the AFCI team to come to this prison and God is good all the time and the Lord has been so gracious and two-thirds of this prison community is now believing in Jesus. Praise the Lord! It would normally take three months or more to receive approval to visit the prison but God has given us favour because we are His favoured children and so we come and share Him with the prisoners.
We step in through the gates of the prison and find a church where all the congregation is in blue and are lined in regiments of men and some women. Yes we are world's apart in background, colour, culture, circumstance, experience, need, etc. etc. but if you cut us we both would bleed red and as we faced one another we could afirm to them that we are brothers, and sisters, in Christ. I shared a vision with them that I received from the Lord years ago. I have shared this with you before.

We are together in glory in the presence of our Lord and Saviour. I always think of that song that we sometimes hear...I can't remember who sings it but you will know...'I can only imagine what it will be when Your face is before me'...So we are together and the voice of our Lord is ringing in our ears declaring "Well done, good and faithful servants!" The Lord affims you all...those that give, those that pray, those that provide, those that connect, those that work, it is no different...there will not be a different class for the ones who go and the ones who provide for those who go. We are all together. As I looked around me I see that we are surrounded by millions of Cambodian people. The Lord says that these are our inheritance...these are your inheritance.
 

So I share this vision with our brothers and sisters in the prison and then encourage them with a word from the Lord. They are seated at the King's table...no matter where they are or the hard place they experience they are seated with Him and He will bring His grace and His blessing.

You know along our journey there are many blessings...but we don't receive them. Why? We don't see them. We don't see a God who just wants to shower His blessings upon us. Some see a God who expects a lot of work to be done; some see a God who is frowning; some see a God who is distant and requires us to draw near so He will draw near. This is a wrong interpretation. He is always near. We need to open our eyes and see who He really is.
Listen..."The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..." This is just one verse, the Bible is full of them, that tells of His love and grace toward us. It DOES NOT say that the Lord is my Shepherd if I work hard, keep the law, draw near constantly by confessing my sins...he has forgotten our sin and we are free. Free to sin? No! Free to enjoy this universe which He took back from the enemy. Adam gave it to satan, Jesus took it back. Did He do that for Himself? No! He did that for us.

So we are now in Battambang.

Tomorrow two opportunities to share the gift of Jesus. How blessed am I?

 

Cambodia - Wednesday 26th September 2012

Today dawned bright and sunny...beautiful!
We, the Cambodian team and myself, met to receive the Lord's blessing for the day and to take the Lord's Supper together.
After breakfast we headed out over some rough roads to Tra Peang Lbouek Village, Tra Peang Bey Commune, Chhouk District, Kompot Province.
At the prepared place there was a simple sign set up which said "Celebration. Sharing the gospil of Jesus Christ." It was a celebration. The organiser and inviter was a young pastor who has recently graduated from the AFCI facilitated ICPC (Church Planters) course.
Keen to bring honour to our Lord he had gathered one hundred and seventy people waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
It was our privilege to bring the gospel and it was the Lord's privilege to save souls, one hundred and five.
Praise the Lord.
A church will now be planted here and so the discipleship of these news believers begins.
As the people enjoyed their rally meal together we headed for Phnom Penh where I rejoined my Australian team. So good to see them and to hear their joy at the wonderful things they had experienced over the last few days.
Thank you all for blessing this ministry.

Cambodia - Tuesday 25th September 2012

I am thinking...what price would you pay for a soul? I'm unable to answer that question other than to direct you to Jesus. What price did He pay so you, and I, could take our place at His table?

Today has been a wonderful day because little by little I am transformed and today was a transforming day. I cannot write here about this transformation. I'm not sure I can adequately share it with you and I'm not sure you will get it.

Today we were privileged to travel over rough and muddy roads to share the goods news of Jesus in two places. What a delight! Oh how I am thankful that the Lord has given me the privilege to bring His good news to this place.
We met in a beautiful and simple open air church, just a roof and open at all four sides and rejoiced with the little troupe of children as they led us in worship. So beautiful to see those delightful Cambodian faces praising the King of kings.The place was Tra Peang Kokey Village, Lbouek Commune, Chhouk District, Kompot Province. One hundred and eighty-three people, including ninety-eight children gathered, Christian and non-christian. The Lord saved one hundred and four new believers. Praise the Lord. Thank you God.

You know it is when we are 100% weak it is then that He is 100% strong. In the afternoon we went to a place where there has been no Christian witness ever. The pastor from another place who introduced us asked whether anybody had heard of Jesus and maybe five people put up their hand. This place was Mea Village, Ches Commune, Chum Kiri District, Kompot Province. I felt my weakness and the thought was that I had failed. The enemy tried to steal my peace by bringing fear and for a while I was diverted. When our peace is replaced with fear they we are unable to see the blessing and so we fail to bless. Thank God it isn't up to me because Jesus is the Saviour and His favour is on me. I am blessed. I had already received His blessing. There were two hundred and twenty-five people there. How many are now new believers do you think? Yes...two hundred and twenty-five! When we are weak He is so, so strong.

I must share one funny story. When at Tra Peang Kokey this morning after the people had received Jesus we asked them to pray for one thing so that they can see the grace of favour of God revealed in their lives. They have accepted Jesus and in that moment they are seated in the place of blessing to receive. They need do nothing but sit and receive His grace.Today we are in the seventh day. The seventh day is the rest day. So often we call it the day of grace and then rush off and try very hard to be worthy of the grace. This is not grace, this is law. Cast out the law. The law brings death. You have received Jesus. He is LIFE. Jesus is not a little bit death and a little bit life, He is abundant life; total, complete 100% life! So we asked them to pray and we know they prayed for rain to fill their paddy fields. As we left it began to rain. It poured for hours. There was a time when we thought maybe the rally in Mea Village would not be possible. Tonight the pastor who was the organiser of the Tra Peang Kokey rally rang to say that the paddy fields are now full and the people are asking why we were not invited to come three months ago when the rain was really needed. Why did we wait until now to come?

And an encouragement. Sopheap, one of our team received a call from an army commander in the north of the country who had heard that we were coming nearby. He pleaded with Sopheap that we would come and share the gospel at his camp. We will go even though the budget is increased. As we asked at the beginning...what price for a soul. Jesus paid a mighty price, I think we can trust that He will take care of us.
Another encouragement. This trip we are privileged to speak at (now with the adding of the army camp) thirteen rallies. Already twenty more places have asked us to come and today another. Praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus for your favour. We receive You for You are everything. We receive the salvations, we receive the healings, we receive the blessings that You pour upon us. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. You are worthy of praise and we give You all the glory.

Bless you all.

New Covenant

Can I ask you a personal question? Are you like me and think when you hear those words, "Uh oh, what's coming now? "
The question I am asking is generally directed towards people who believe in Jesus Christ as I guess it is the believers in Jesus who will read this blog.
This blog is entitled 'A Life of Purpose' and I think that believing in Jesus and seeking purpose for one's life tend to go hand in hand. Jesus people and a desire for purpose tend to be connected. That is not to say that if you are reading this and you are not Jesus person that you don't desire to have purpose for your life but for you I'm sorry to say that without Jesus life has very little purpose. Oh yes there are many things that we can pursue to seek purpose in life, career, wealth, fame...I was talking with a teacher only yesterday and she was sharing the observation that children no longer want to be firemen, policemen, teachers etc. etc. etc. When asked many children are more likely to reply that they want to be famous. They are bombarded with the media images of fame and they see the trappings and the trimmings that 'fame' produces and they want it. This is sad if only because seeking fame is going to see a lot of young people frustrated, dissatisfied and hurt. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a career, seeking to improve our situation financially or even to be famous but without Jesus life is empty and without purpose. You don't agree? If you don't agree well then we are going to have to agree to disagree. Without Jesus my life was life without purpose because He is the core, the everything that brings purpose to my life, He is the way, He is the truth, He is the life...that is my testimony.
Anyway the question.
Whether you are a Jesus person or not it is a good if not challenging question...this is it...do you feel like there is something missing? Do you feel a sense of frustration that says to you "Is this all? Am I missing something?" Do you feel a sense of let-down? C'mon be challenged look at your life...is this all there is? Don't you think there has to be something more? Even if you are seeking purpose do you feel that it eluding you?

If you feel that way and you are not a believer in Jesus then this is your opportunity. Jesus is a gift and if I offered you a gift it would only become what it is intended to be if you take it. So take Him. Simply say that you are sorry that you have aligned with the sin of man, independence from God, and that you now accept that Jesus is the only way to God, the only truth and the life that you desire. Confess Him to be Lord and believe in your heart that He is alive and you are saved. At the moment of declaration Jesus will indwell you fully and begin the work of transformation that will begin within you and work its way out as you embrace His grace and love for you.

If you are a believer and you feel as if something is missing then this is the best news that you are ever going to hear. It is likely that you do not realise it but you are under covenant to God. Now covenants are a big deal in the Bible and there are many examples of them.
But before we get to that it may be important for you to know there are a number of 'elements' that are common to all covenants. Those elements are:

• A covenant is a binding obligation. The Hebrew word for covenant is 'berith' which literally means ' to bind  or to fetter'.
• When a group of people prepare to enter into a covenant with another party they selected a man from among themselves to represent them. The representative had to be from the same blood and family and those he represented and he gathered those he represented into himself and made the covenant as and for them. He was the guarantor that the terms and promise would be kept. An example is David who went out to Goliath as representative and when he defeated the enemy and hacked off his head the watching Israelites who had spent the last six weeks in their tents rejoiced as they were victorious in and through their representative, David.
• Do not confuse a covenant with a contract. A contract is about the exchange of property, a covenant is about the exchange of people. Contracts can be changed and even cancelled. Not so with a covenant…covenants are only broken by death.
• A covenant is made with an oath which is a solemn affirmation binding oneself to the fulfilment of the words before God. Once made with an oath a covenant is non-negotiable and cannot be altered.
• Every covenant contains the promise and the blessings and they are irrevocable. A covenant existed between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20: 14, 15) and Mephibosheth was blessed because of the covenant (2 Samuel 9: 7).
• The making of a covenant always involves the shedding of blood. An animal was slain and its carcass split down the middle and the parties making the covenant walked between the pieces symbolising vividly that they were entering through death and journeying into new life. They also shed their own blood as a symbol of the binding agreement.
• The wounds received by the blood shedding were the seal of the covenant; marks to show that a covenant was made.
• The parties to the covenant were described as friends.
• There was a covenant meal.
• The place of the covenant was a memorial of the two having come together.
• The covenant establishes a new relationship which was unbreakable and binding.

Those are the elements of the covenant as seen in the covenants of the Old Testament. But as believers in Jesus we are people of the New Testament, more aptly called the New Covenant. You know we often hear the phrase, said often rather glibly, "It’s not about me it’s about Him." What does it really mean?

The fact is that we are parties to the New Covenant in and through our representative Jesus Christ; not bound in us but bound in God who in unconditional love has called us to participate in the most intimate relationship and unbreakable bond known among humans or capable of being expressed.

He has called us to a covenant relationship with Himself, to come into His circle of friendship, bound together in an intimate union of love.

This is the gospel. Not just a message that merely demands we accept Jesus to save us from eternal hell-fire but a call to enter into a covenant with the God of glory, unbreakable, unalterable, that only dies with the death of one who cannot die.
It consists of…

• The oath of God
• The shedding of the blood of God
• And sealed with the Holy Spirit of God sent to make this covenant a reality in the lives of those who surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.

This is the reality of it’s not about me it’s about Him.
Now we need to consider the terms of the New Covenant and these are best represented by comparing the Old Covenant with the New. Old Covenant? This is the covenant given by God with Moses as the representative with terms detailed in Exodus chapter twenty. Most will know the terms of the Old as the Ten Commandments. I am not going to write them out completely but just point out the pertinent phrases; which are:
Verse 3 - 'You shall...'
Verse 4 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 5 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 7 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 8 - 'Remember...'
Verse 10 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 12 - 'Honour your...'
Verse 13 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 14 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 15 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 16 - 'You shall not...'
Verse 17 - 'You shall not...'

Now the terms of the New Covenant which are first recorded prophetically and then quoted in the book of 'better things', Hebrews chapter eight, verses ten to twelve. This is what God says and these are the terms of the New Covenant...

"FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM UPON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."
 

See the vivid difference? The old was about what we did, the new is totally about what God will do. The under-pinning transforming clause that establishes everything that precedes it is the final term. This is the vital term and if you receive it now it will totally transform you.
God is merciful and He remembers your sins no more!
Why? How is this possible?
Because Jesus shed His blood and He went in to the holiest place, into the very presence of God and His sacrificial blood was accepted as a once only forever offereing for sin, and having been accepted He sat down at the right hand of His Father.
Meditate upon this and I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of it to you.
I will finish this post with this...I know a well meaning man who regularly encourages us to confess our sins and get right with God. Think of this...the blood of bulls and goats was only required to be sprinkled on and before the mercy seat once a year...the blood of Jesus must be of less value than the animal blood if we are weekly required to sprinkle it again by confessing our sins to be right with God. Why do we continually crucify the Son of God when He finished the work once, for all, forever.

"...it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins...but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God." Hebrews 10: 4, 12
 

God bless you today with the revelation of Himself.

Cambodia - Monday 24th September 2012

I am sitting in a small guest house in Chhouk, Kompot Province. I have been here many times but today is a new day.
My passion in life is to share Jesus. If I could do that everyday I would be more than happy.
You know my name is Graeme but the Cambodians pronounce it 'Grremm'. Now often over the past ten years or so I find Cambodians smiling when I say my name and maybe I sometimes wondered why that was. Mind you I receive smiles wherever I go especially in the places that I have travelled often in the most remote parts of the country; the people are intrigued as to why a white man would be here. Sometimes when I sit the children sidle up to me and want to touch me. They like to pull the hairs on my arms and feel the hairy texture of my skin; it is so different from what they know and it is like they just can't help themselves to just see if it is real.
Anyway they call me 'Grremm' and they smile. I soon found out that my name pronounced that way is very similar to the Khmer word for ice cream. Sometimes I have wondered why I was given the name Graeme by my parents and today my Father gave me the answer. I was waiting to preach at the first good news rally on this mission and sitting in the front was a small boy eating an icecream. I watched him with some envy as he devoured something that I love, ice cream. I am the son of a dairy farmer...I love ice cream! So as I watched him enjoy the sweet refeshment of the ice cream the Lord said "You are Grremm because you bring Me and I am sweet refreshment to the people." That is good enough for me. All my life I have with some frustration spelt out my name to people who insist on spelling it Graham or some other variation and now I feel satisfied that my name reveals the real purpose that God has for me. Praise the Lord!

This morning I left my team in Phnom Penh and with my Cambodian team travelled to Kompot Province. It is now 3.30 PM and I have returned to our guest house from the good news rally site at Mon Village, Krang Speu Commune, Chhouk District, Kompot Province. It probably is important to explain that all our rallies since the very first have followed the same pattern. Our call is to work in partnership with the local people. We have held many rallies in Kompot and to just give an example some years ago we had the privilege to preach at a rally in a place called Chum Kiri, also in Chhouk District. That day the Lord saved 1400 people and as a result of that seventy-five churches were planted. As God has multiplied His blessing since many more small churches have been planted in the district and province. So we partner with these little house churches and we encourage them to come together in unity to hold a rally in a central location. I was recently pleased to be reminded that the imperative of the Great Commission is to 'make disciples' and I was encourgaed that I could affirm in my own thoughts that that is what God has led us in our weakness to do. So this is the pattern we always follow. Members of the small churches invite five or six of their family or friends to come and then they pray. When they come the inviters watch and pray for the invitees. When they receive Jesus the inviters know and so when they return to their own village they invite the new believers into their homes and begin discipling them and so the whole God-filled process begins again. Ultimately those new believers do their own inviting to another rally and the compounding multiplication of the God of all grace carries on.
The rally was held in a beautiful farming district surrounded on all sides my the rice swaying gently in the breeze. Actually the rains are a little late this year and so the rice is a little behind what it would normally be so if you are mindful you could pray that the Lord will open the heavens and pour out His rain of grace upon Cambodia so the rice will grow and mature ready for harvesting in November/December. So we gathered and two hundred and fifty believers and non-believers gathered to hear the sweet refeshing news of the good gift of God, Jesus Christ. I rejoice with the angels in seventy new believers in Christ, fifty-five women and fifteen men not counting the children. Praise God for His grace toward us expressed through the precious Saviour Jesus Christ whose delight is to take back His people, snatching them from the very jaws of the pit. I was reading this morning in Psalm 103 and it is more than worth sharing...

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle."
 

Take out your Bible and read the rest for yourself and allow His grace to penetrate you. As I preached today I offered the people the greatest gift of all time. A gift is usually wrapped in pretty paper by the giver so you cannot see what the gift is...it was my task to describe the gift but I did tell the people that when you receive the gift that I offer you will get far more than I can describe. As the people received the gift of Jesus Christ I explained you may not feel different (faith is not about our feelings it is only about our response of trust to the revelation the Lord has given us of Himself) but that they will never be the same again and He now dwells in them in His fullness and the transformation will come from the inside out and will bring the blessing of His grace to bear on every part of their lives. Samnang, my brother, then asked the people to ask the Lord for one thing and see what the Lord will do. Samnang told me that he felt that most people asked for the rain to come and fill the paddy fields so the rice can grow. It is now 7.09 PM and the rain is pouring down outside. Praise the Lord for His grace in blessing His people.

Back in Phnom Penh Alyson was leading the first day of the Women's Prayer Workshop and Katie, Fiona and Peter ministering to the children at Centre of Peace Children's Home. I do not know how the Lord moved but I know He did. I will ask Alyson and Katie to make their own report to you when I return to Phnom Penh on Wednesday evening.

Tomorrow we have two good news rallies, AM and PM. Pray for the blessing of the Lord.
Thank you so much for blessing me. I know that the Lord will bless you in return with increase.

Cambodia - Sunday 23rd September 2012

Today is the first day of the mission official.
We have prayed that the Lord will be glorified and that we will be sensitive to His leading as the Holy Spirit does His work of bringing revelation of Jesus. It is through the Holy Spirit that Jesus is revealed. When we receive Jesus as our Saviour and Lord we receive Him, we receive the fullness of God, not a part, all of Him. Today in the preaching I illustrated that this is a gift. I took a Bible to represent the gift and I held it out to Sreymom. It is a gift. What must she do? Of course she must take the gift. We thought today together about Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel chapter 8. David was King. He seeks the family of Saul and Ziba, the servant, tells of Mephibosheth. In this day when a new King came to the throne he would ordinarily seek any family member of the previous and put them to death so when the soldiers of David came and took Mephibosheth to David I feel that he believed that his death was imminent.
What happened? David rather than putting Mephibosheth to death he chose rather to show him kindness. He restored to Mephibosheth all the lands of Saul, he appointed Ziba and his family to farm the land and bring in the harvest on Mephibosheth's behalf. Not only this Mephibosheth was to sit at the King's table and eat at the King's table continually.
Why?
David said it was for Jonathan's sake, because of the Covenant that existed between David and Jonathan.
So how much more because of the New Covenant established by God with Jesus as our representative are we seated at the Kings' table enjoying the company of the King, eating what the King eats, breathing the air the King breathes, enjoying all the benefits of the King's presence and favour, and not only this but servants are appointed to care for our inheritance and bring in the harvest of the qarah (qarah is Hebrew and means 'right happening') favour over our lives.
Now I want you to now remember that Mephibosheth was lame in both his feet. Mephibosheth could do nothing to 'achieve' this position for Himself. he could not bring himself to the King. He was unable to 'achieve' the favour the King for himself. He was unable to bring in the benefit from the land himself. He was not able to do anything. We are the same. True many times we try our own strategy but this is a path to failure, frustration and regret. and all the time Jesus holds out the free gift to us. Jesus declared on the cross 'It is finished'; was this the bleat of a dying man? Not a bit of it! This was the declaration of the victor who has finished the work of restoration and salvation and could now look forward to sitting at the right hand of God and were are we who believe? We are 'seated...with Him in heavenly places', we are seated at the King's table. Praise the Lord!
Now I hear you say but sometimes I don't feel like I am at the King's table...reject that lie that is fed to you by an enemy wishing only to 'steal, kill and destroy' and speak words of truth, yes I may have some trouble but Jesus says that when I have some trouble I am to fear not for He has overcome this world! I am seated at the King's table!

Today I travelled to Rokathom Village, Kandal Province to join with Lord's people at New Freedom Church. This is the church pastored by my brother and old friend Pastor Sokoin who I have known since the very beginning in 2001.

Alyson, Katie, Pete and Fiona met with the 'Living Hope for Children' sponsored children. I was not there so probably cannot say too much of what occurred although as I was sitting having lunch at Rokathom and three small children arrive. They are dressed in the best clothes that they can muster and are rejoicing in the good time they have had playing games and doing craft and hearing of the love, care and compassion that their sponsors have for them far away in Australia. Beloved you cannot underestimate the impact that your sponsorship has on these precious, young lives!
So I spent some time listening to the stories of these three beautiful children and how they are so happy to be able to go to school and are free from the worry of life with nothing. Oh your $35 per month brings hope, and joy, and shares the words of Jesus with these little ones that He cares for them. You know what they hear those words so clearly when they receive your sponsorship. Thank you so much. See our website www.cambodiawtl.org.au is you do not know about the Living Hope for Children sponsorship scheme.
I then want to share one story with you about Man Mengly. He is a sponsored child. He goes to school, he is healthy and happy and full of beans. He has three brothers and lives with his mother and father. They are unbelievably poor. The sponsorship Mengly receives not only supports his schooling and his health and welfare but it does the same for his family.
Mengly needed a bicycle to get to school. He wanted a bike and he prayed to God that He would provide. He was allowed to save a little each fortnight of his sponsorship money and after three months he had $60 and went and purchased his bicycle! So rejoice with Mengly in his bright red bicycle complete with gears that propels him at great speed through the dusty roads of Kandal, to and from the school, and as he plays with his brothers and friends. If I can work out how to upload a photo I will do so.

In the afternoon the whole team joined with the youth at Living Hope in Christ Church, Phnom Penh. What a joy to meet with and minister to young people fired for Christ and seeking to impact their community for Christ. At one point we joined with them to pray fervently for all teenagers in Phnom Penh that they will see Jesus and be joined to the family of Jesus Christ. We played games with them and sat around the King's table with them and then prayed for them and their leadership and committed them to the Lord. Many of them I have known for a long time. They were just small children back in 2001 and are now grown into beautiful and precious young adults with the spark of Christ in their eyes and the love of Christ in their hearts. I told then that I was so proud of them that they have endured and are still here. Some began with us as sponsored children and now are studying as one of our emerging leaders under the sponsorship of the Emerging Leaders Sponsorship scheme. So precious!

Thank you so much to all who are praying and who have contributed in whatever way. The Lord says to you that you will not be forgotten and you will not lose your reward. Blessings upon you and your families in the wonderful name of Jesus.

It is now Monday morning and I have left Phnom Penh and my team and headed to Kompot Province for the first gospel rally this afternoon. Alyson is leading the Women's Prayer Workshop and Katie, Peter and Fiona are ministering to the children at the Centre of Peace Children's Home in Phnom Penh. Please be praying with us that the Lord will be glorified and that the people will be touched with the love of Christ in both word and deed.

Blessings to you all.

Cambodia - September-October 2012

This will begin a series of report like posts from Cambodia. That it not to say I am actually in Cambodia as yet because as I write it is Friday 21st September and we fly tonight. The fact is though it is a miracle that we are even going as two days ago we had no flights. Flights were booked some time ago with a payment date of the 31st August. On the 30th August I sought the invoice to pay only to find that the airline had mysteriously cancelled the flights. This began a period of waiting for seats for the team of six and we were being thwarted at every turn.

It seems you know that whenever we are preparing for Cambodia opposition comes. Why is that? It is rhetorical question because as strange as it may seem to you to hear this there is something that does not want us to go. In the Bible there is a verse found in the book of John chapter ten and verse 10 and it goes like this...

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly."

You may consider this to be very weird but the fact is that in addition to the physical that the world generally considers to be the reality there is the spiritual world which, in fact, is the reality. These two worlds are clearly seen in this verse...

"...while we look not at the things which are seen; but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4: 18

Now in this spiritual world there is God and there is the enemy of God. In the verse from John 10 we see the mission statement of these two succinctly presented. One's mission is to 'steal, kill and destroy' and we see that everywhere. Open any newspaper or watch a news program and you will see that mission graphically represented. As an aside to this when we berate God for some horror that we see we get it dreadfully wrong. God doesn't allow the horror in fact mankind allows it to occur by the choices generally that mankind has made to reject God, to not to believe and trust Him. The mission of God in Jesus Christ is seen in the second part...life and not just life but life in abundance and He is true to His mission.

So the ministry of stealing, killing and destroying seeks to thwart us as we move out in the call of God to the country of Cambodia. The fact is that while we may be frustrated and sometimes irritated by this interference the reality is that 'if God is for us who is against us?' During this period of difficulty I regularly and clearly heard the voice of Jesus say 'in this world you will have trouble but fear not I have overcome the world.'

As we waited on God for flights we also waited on God to provide for the financial needs of the mission and we rested in His new covenant promises and in the testimony of this ministry over eleven years past that our God has never, ever let us down. That is where we sit, together with Jesus in heavenly places, in that place of unlimited and unhindered blessing where God pours upon us the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of days when I thought to give up or that it was all too hard but in the midst of this God spoke and gently encouraged us. Three totally separate people told us not to worry, just relax, all is provided for so we declare all is provided for. One Facebook post declared...

"Relax, everything's going to be alright; rest, everything's coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!" Jude :2 The Message

So...as I now write I am now sitting in KL International Airport and I have something to tell you.

We have a classy God. Yes He provides all, He pours His blessing upon us, we are a people favoured by Him...I'm not just talking about this mission team. I am talking about us all who have aligned ourselves with Him by simply believing and nothing more. My fervent prayer is that you receive that and put aside any idea that you must work for His favour and that all you need do is just sit (have a read of my previous post?)

We have a classy God...we arrive at the check-in desk and all six of us, are upgraded to Business Class so we have travelled Sydney to KL reclining in our Business Class easy chairs...actually I really am a little concerned about the legroom in there...I couldn't reach my book, I had to get out of my seat to take it out of the book holder on the chair in front! The girl on the Check-in desk told us that she has never seen that happen before...yes one or maybe two but never six. Can only be the favour of God!

Are you amazed? I was! This is the favour of God. Yep we would say that we were lucky but I'm telling you the only luck was the day my life was connected with my God in Jesus and my eyes were opened to see the true position of all who trust Him under the terms of the New Covenant.

New Covenant? That is a future post. Stay tuned!

I so appreciate your interest in reading my blog. Please come again.

Are you sitting or standing?

This is a good question.
Are you sitting or are you standing?
I'm not sure whether you ever read a Bible but I really want to encourage you to give it a try. You know there was a time when I was basically expected to read it. It was presented to me as a 'requirement'. Now don't get me wrong I'm pretty certain that no one specifically said to me that if I didn't read it I was I was risking eternal damnation or some such thing but it was definitely implied to me that it was a requirement for me to have any justifiable claim to being a Christian. Something happened to me and my whole view changed and amazingly the Bible that I had pretty much come to loathe just came alive. So I am really hoping that through this simple blog together we can encourage one another and we perhaps can together arrive at a place where the Bible, and the message of the Bible, that is the purpose of the Bible, can come ALIVE for all of us.

One thing I have found is that almost every verse, almost every word, can be interpreted in more than one way. I wear glasses to read...if I don't wear my glasses it is amazing what a particular word comes appears to be when I try and read it; but with glasses it all becomes clear. When we read the Bible we need to have the right glasses on.

Now I'm going to say something about Church. My personal experience with Church has been a little like my experience with the Bible. There was a time when I loathed it but today my view is different. It is a place of relationship, a place where I can connect with like-minded people, a place where I can engage corporately together with people to glorify the One who is the only One with the right to be worshipped, Jesus Christ. Today I like Church. It is my base camp for my forays into enemy land to take ground and bring back released people on behalf of my leader.
Church...the 'challenging' thing about Church for me is this. Basically Church generally has lost the plot, its own unique God-given plot, and has become an optometrist. It hands out glasses! The glasses it hands out are tinted glasses. They are glasses designed so the wearers can only see the 'slant', the dogma, the doctrinal ideas, the particlar view of the denomination. If it is a Baptist church you get Baptist glasses, if it's a Catholic church you get Catholic glasses, if it's Brethren church you get Brethren glasses, if it's an Anglican church you get Anglican glasses, and so on and so on. True? Yes, sadly, I think it is. Now you are probably thinking, what church do I go to? I go to a Baptist church but ask me please am I a Baptist. My answer...no I am not a Baptist. I was raised a Brethren...am I a Brethren? No I am not a Brethren. I don't have anything against any of them particularly but I do dislike their glasses. It's a bit like Elton John...remember the glasses he wore? I just wish he'd take them off because they made him look like a goose. (Just an opinion! Didn't mean to offend. Sorry.)
God has released me from my glasses and like the song says...I'm singing now..."I can see clearly now, the rain has gone..." That is why the Bible looks different to me today; that is why Church looks different to me today. Oh don't get me wrong please I still have my issues but one thing I know God has, and is, removing my glasses, the glasses issued to me that has tinted my view.
Man I can talk! The point of all that is this. When we read the Bible our view of it can be tinted, clouded, seen through a lense that is programmed in a particular way. I want us to see clearly without any tinted lense; I want us to see TRUTH without any 'religious' slant. I'm not a Baptist, or a Brethren, or anything else. I'm a Christian and that means I only see Christ and He is truth. The only glasses you need are Him and through the lense of Truth it all becomes clear.

I feel the need to give you an example of this. There is a verse in the Bible that goes like this...it is found in Matthew 6: 33.

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."
 

The words are spoken by Jesus. Jesus is talking about the fact that we shouldn't be anxious about any of our daily needs because God looks after the birds and He clothes the lilies and He knows what we need. Don't worry, Jesus is saying, God knows and He will look after you. And then He makes the statement above.  Now I want you to think for a moment...what is your interpretation of that verse? I bet that you, like me, have read that verse and interpreted it to say that if we are to expect God to look after all the needs that we have day by day then we need to be very diligent in seeking, pursuing, chasing after the kingdom and we must be especially diligent in pursuing right-ness before God and if we don't get it right then we can't really expect God to favour us. Am I right? You may not want to admit it but that pretty much sums up the tinted glasses interpretation of a lot of Christians.
Le me tell you the revelation that God has so graciously given me about this verse and it will totally set you free.The first thing I have to say is my right-ness before God is based ONLY in the righteousness of Jesus. I have no capacity...please hear this clearly; I have no capacity in myself, in my works, in my trying, in my striving to be right with God. NO matter what I do I will fail...I tried and I did! But all is not lost because when I seek Jesus then low and behold I find total and complete righteousness, right-ness with God.

So...are you sitting or are you standing?
The answer is both but you may even be running but I want to talk now about sitting.
Just as we sit before we walk it is very important that we learn to sit before we do anything else in our Christian life.
I really am praying that if you are a Christian that you get a hold of this because this may be the most important thing that you ever read.
So listen to these words from the Bible...

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive 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
 

I could say a lot about this but I want you to  just think about this for a while...

• We have been made alive in Christ
• We are raised up with Him
• We are seated with Him
• Where? In heavenly places!
• Why? So that in the ages to come from the moment you believe in Him He might show you 'the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us.'
• How is all this possible? Because God is rich in mercy and He loves us with a GREAT love which even when we were as far away from Him as we could get He still loved us and drew us in and made us alive...this is true Life.
• What is our contribution to this process? Work hard? Be good? Do lots of good stuff?...NO! Only believe.

Here is another question for you to think about.
What is our part in the New Covenant of Grace?
Our part in the New Covenant is just to believe. Believe? Yes, believe in Jesus.
Now listen, a lot of people believe that Jesus existed, that He was a good bloke, some maybe that He was a prophet or maybe a great leader but that isn't enough.
We believe, I believe, that He is my personal Saviour and Lord and that He is the only way to God and that when I receive Him I receive eternal life and the absolute certainty of the fact that my sins, past, present and future are remembered no more by God. I'll talk more about the New Covenant another time.
Final quote for you today.

"Therefore let it be known, brethren, that through this Man (that's Jesus) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13: 38 - 39.

Have a great day!

 

 

April 2008, from Cambodia

Hello readers,
I thought you might be interested in this...I was looking through some old emails I wrote from Cambodia and I found this. I wrote the email in April 2008.

'We stayed overnight at Sopheak Mongkol Guest House in Kampot Town, Kampot Province.
The battle raging in the heavenlies was amplified by the most ferocious thunderstorm I have ever experienced overnight. At about 1.00 AM there was the most awesome clap of thunder as God smashed all opposition and the storm dies away. The way was made by the battle prayers of His people. The morning dawned sunny but with the freshness of the scent of newly fallen rain.

We met at 6.30 for devotion and prayer. The first words that I spoke when I woke were from the Psalms, "This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
I shared these words and read from verse 22 to 29 for context. Ps. Barnabus also shared and we read from Isaiah 12: 2-4. He encouraged us all to pray for an open heaven, open hearts, open homes to disciple the converted after the rally and an open highway to the next rally in October 2008 in Prey Veng province.
We prayed and then we went.

As we departed the guest house compound Ps. Barnabus presented me with his kramas (pronounced krar-ma). A kramas is a traditional Cambodian item for men; it is a scarf like cloth worn around the neck and hanging down the front, and indicates an important person but in its presentation to me he announced me as a Bishop of Cambodia. I did not realise the awesome significance of this gift from a man of God until later when he explained this as Elijah passing his mantle to Elisha, although Elijah has not gone and it was a physical recognition of my anointing. Lord thank You.
As we travelled in the van to the rally site I asked the Lord what this meant the Lord said it was a confirmation from Him of my call and anointing in the Lord. I am overwhelmed with His love for me. Truly He restores the years the locusts had eaten as He said He would.

We breakfasted together at a nearby cafe before we headed on the hour or so drive to the rally site. On the way I received a text message from Fiona Crowfoot. It read, "Hey team, just want to encourage you on this day of days That God continues to shine His light on the truth that the enemy has been defeated and Jesus is King! May God's almighty power and love rain down on you and all His people. Amen." I love the confirmation of the Lord and this text was so confirming on so many levels, the day of days, the battle won and the raining down of the Lord's blessing. All I could answer to Fiona was, "Amen and amen."

We arrived at the site at about 8.30. Many people had already gathered. The District Governor, the Commune Chief, the Village Chief, the Police Chief and his assistants plus Commune committee members all sat in the front row in the place of honour. Later I was to learn that there were also leaders from the Buddhist temple plus undoubtedly spies from the Ministry of Religion. The local pastors said there were 1800 people attending with 1700 having been invited. 400 of these were local Christians so there were 1400 people in the darkness waiting to see the LIGHT.

I was calm and felt the tangible strength of the arm of the LORD.

The program began with the local church performing some items including the traditional dance of welcome involving a blessing delivered by tossing freshly picked flowers towards the gathering, all danced by beautiful Cambodian girls in traditional dress.

The time came and I stepped to the stage with Ps. Barnabus. I wore my traditional Cambodian shirt and my anointing kramas.

I have never felt so empowered by the LORD. I opened my mouth. Firstly I honoured the leaders gathered, then the people and the children. I then honoured a prompting the LORD had given me through one of my beloved intercessors to declare that I had not come to rob the people of their identity or their culture. This prompting was from GOD.

I then simply and precisely told the people the greatest story ever told. How GOD is from no beginning and no end; how He dwelt in heaven and was worshipped by His creatures, the angels, including one named Lucifer who was privileged to serve in the throne room and at the throne of God. How He created the heavens and the earth, the light, the separation of heavens and earth, the separation of land and sea, the plants, the animals and ultimately mankind, male and female, created in the image of GOD. GOD charged mankind with the subjugation of the earth; with establishing the Kingdom of GOD on the earth.
Lucifer was jealous of this new creation who had been placed in authority over him and he rebelled against GOD and GOD threw him out of heaven.
Satan fell to earth and set up his own kingdom here on earth.
We talked of the two kingdoms. The Kingdom of GOD, the kingdom of light; and the kingdom of satan, the kingdom of darkness. I described the attributes of the two: GOD'S Kingdom one of love, grace, mercy, blessing, freedom, no pain, no sorrow, no hurt, no brokenness compared with the kingdom of satan, pain, sorrow, sickness, broken relationships, hurt, horror, stealing, killing, destroying, etc. etc.
KINGDOM versus kingdom.

We shared how satan hates mankind and had vowed to destroy mankind.

GOD put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden and said that they could eat of any tree in the garden except one.

Satan saw his opportunity and sowed doubt in the two and tempted them to disobey and they fell and with tht act sin came. The proof of sin are all the things we see of the kingdom of satan in this world described and ultimately the greatest sin was the cat of disobedience bringing a break in the realtionship between GOD and mankind.

The situation looked hopeless!

What a joy to declare that GOD loved the man and the woman. God wanted to restore the relationship. He gave a law in the hope that mankind could live up to the standard of GOD but mankind could not.

GOD saw that it was necessary that a perfect one be found to die for the sin of the people to satisfy the holiness of GOD and He looked for someone able to undertake this task. He looked among the men but found no-one.
GOD then asked a question, "Who will go for us, and who will we send?' And one answered, "Here am I, send me."
The one who answered was JESUS, the SON OF GOD.
How could the Father even contemplate sending His own Son? But He bowed to His love for His people and Jesus came.

So the story of the birth of JESUS, the life of JESUS and the crucifixion of JESUS held the crowd enthralled. Finally JESUS was buried. Was that the end? Had the kingdom of satan finally defeated the Kingdom of GOD by denying it of it's heir?

I then said the we had got to the best part of the story.

I described how JESUS was buried with a stone and a guard but no natural power or human power, and no spiritual power could detain Him because He rose triumphant and in His triumph He smashed open the way and defeated the kingdon of satan and in that defeat He brought us freedom from the bondage of satan's kingdom.

The time had come...do you want that freedom? The LORD prompted me to give three opportunities (three is the number of perfection) and so I did and the people rose as one to receive their KING.
All rose...the Christian rose, the lost, the Governors, the leaders, the Buddhists, the spies, not one person remained, all rose to welcome the King. The wounded, the blind, the lame, the hurt, the broken, the leaders, the Pharisees, the emissaries of evil all rose together to receive the King
PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!

Ps. Barnabus led the people in Khmer through the prayer of salvation, a rousing chorus of reception, a wonderful song of freedom, a mighty declaration of victory in the wonderful and beautiful name of the one and only and majestic JESUS.
WE called the children forward and blssed them.
I then called the sick to come forward and declared that the King wanted to reveal Himself by favouring His people. With one hand on the wounded place and the other reaching to JESUS we commanded healing in the name of JESUS. The LORD healed because He says when we ask, He answers, when we seek, we find and when we knock, He opens the door.
As I looked down into the sea of people my team was standing among them praying with them. Perhaps the most poignant image was Katie standing with her arms around a beautiful blind Cambodian girl. Tears were streaming down Katie's face as she prayed and the blind girl was beaming with unrestrained joy as she saw spiritually for the first tim in her life. I believe she will also see physically as we left her rubbing her eyes with the joy of the LORD adorning her precious face.

The District Governor got up and gave witness before the people to his new faith and invited us to return any time. The Buddhist leaders told Ps. Barnabus that the temples will soon be empty...prophecy if ever I have heard it! Another leader said that now he understood why his relationships all failed because he was living in the kingdom of satan...but no more. Many declared they never knew before now they were created by GOD and were children of GOD.

Real Christianity swung into action as all the people were fed. We sat with the leaders and fellowshipped as brothers and sisters in Christ for the first time. We declared that we not only bring good news but we also bring a practical gospel and promised the Governor wells wherever there was a need; all he need do is apply. There was much rejoicing in heaven and on earth. God bless the supporters who supplied it all from the providence of GOD.

The result? We won't know for some weeks but suffice to say 1800 were there, 400 were Christians, and all stood. You can work it out. We will be conservtive and say 1000 and silently rejoice with God for 1400 people won for the Kingdom of GOD.

I want to thank you all who contributed financially and in prayer. I want to honour all who intercede for me. The prayer is not preparation, the prayer IS the battle...the battle was WON ON YOUR KNEES.

Thank you for your support which endorsed my call and anointing to this country and its people.
To GOD be the glory and my thanks to you all.

Now to the Youth Camp. Community Life Church bless you for supporting this camp. Now claim the victory for our LORD there also as the team ministers together into the lives of young people. Let's assist them together to raise the banner of JESUS IS LORD over the country of Cambodia.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. It is a true and unexaggerated account of the blessings of GOD on the people. Thank you for partnering with us in the gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. God bless you all.

Yours in Christ,

Graeme.'

Our God who Provides

This is just a short story that I need to tell you.
If you have been reading my blogs you will probably realise that I have a role in Cambodia. I am a missionary. My role is to share the love of Christ in Cambodia in word and deed, that is by what I say and by what I do. If you want to see more about that have a look at my simple little website, www.cambodiawtl.org.au.
I have been going to Cambodia for over ten years and a major part of those trips is to facilitate rallies where we share the good news of Jesus and we minister to the physical needs of the people. There is an awful lot I could say about that but the website will hopefully shed more light for you.
Each time I go to Cambodia there is a budget because sadly everything has a price tag and funds are required to make this happen. Over all the times I have been to Cambodia the financial needs have always been satisfied; sometimes there is more than required and so we have used that to bless the people even more.
Now there are two things that it is probably important to tell you here.
This trip is a breakthrough trip because we have finally arrived...in the past a two week trip has consisted of two, three or four rallies mixed in with other stuff, visiting her and there, seeking to encourage the churches we support and the little ministries God has connected us to. Last time when in Cambodia I shared that I have no interest in spending any time 'resting', time is short and we need to get on...my brother in Cambodia heard me and I am so happy that this trip we have twelve rallies in thirteen days. I am so happy and thankful for this.
The second thing is this...like never before God has me personally on a journey into His Grace, the New Covenant and is impacting me with scripture that I have read thousands of time but never really 'seen' and He wants me to trust Him. I know that is the case. You know I have never really amounted to anything earth-wise. Do you understand what I mean? I had boundless potential as a child which I have never realised. I was sitting with a group of people in October 2011 and I was talking about some of the things I have done and at the end of the conversation my own brother closed out what I was saying with these words..."and he (meaning me) has amounted to absolutely nothing!"
That comment, probably meant to be a joke, really ground into me and I have struggled with the fact that in the earthly I have not realised my potential in life. I have struggled so much so that I have sought someone to talk with about it and throughout those conversations I guess the  my difficulty and rawness that are produced in me by comments like that have really been exposed. I was thinking about this and felt like God was saying to me that it was not His purpose for me to be 'successful' in the earthly definition of success because His role for me was something completely different.

Anway back to this little story...the budget for this coming mission is greater than ever before because this a breakthrough trip and it is greater than ever before. In the past I have simply shared the need with those that support me and generally very quickly there has been a response as one after another generous and precious people respond and pledge financial support for the trip.
I have approached the supply challenge this time in the same way mainly because I have no other way to approach it and I have sent out my email and what do you think has happened? One email from a person I probably would not have expected to hear from for which I am so thankful and nothing else. What of all those people who have supported us in the past...nothing. Not a word.
I think God is really expectant that I trust Him. You know we tend to give Him the things we want and keep back other things for ourselves and try to 'deal' with them on our own when He is waiting to reveal the magnitude of His riches in glory in Christ, the great seated place (rest in Me, He says) of blessing that we have been brought into in Christ. This blessing is not because we are worthy or deserve it in any way but purely and simply because He is worthy and worth it in every way and in the Covenant that He has ratified in His own accepted shed blood and as a result of that, and that alone, His history, His blessing, His glory becomes ours because we are in Christ and He is in us.

So anyway I am 'questioning' God as to why He would provide for past rallies and not this one and why is it that I have to wait again, and trust.....and the next morning I open Facebook and this is the first thing I read...

"Multiplication and Increase are 'meeting'. What has been delayed is being released in abundance, with increase and multiplication. There are no 'access denied' signs on the dreams He has placed in your hearts. He is making room in the 'delay' to add more than you could imagine to the dreams He has given you. In the 'waiting' and 'delay' you are indeed going through the labor pains to birth the dream He gave you but with tremendous INCREASE! Be encouraged every pain of 'delay' 'disappointment' and 'waiting' is one step closer to the greater birthing' ~ Lana Vawser
 

So there we have it. I'll let you know what happens next. 

Abide

In my last post I indicated I wanted to consider the word 'abide', so this post is entitled Abide.
In the Bible there is a passage that records the words of Jesus where He deals with the subject of abiding in Him.
This is found in the book in the Bible of John chapter 15.
If you have access to a Bible I really would encourage you to read it. Don't let the fact that we are reading from the Bible get to you. The Bible has been given a lot of bad press mainly by people who have never really read the Bible; at least I don't believe they have read it with an open mind (or heart) but rather have read it through a lense that has seriously distorted their view.
The Bible is a love story, the greatest love story ever known, the story of the love of God for His creation. It's a love story and it is brim full of good stuff. Please allow me to encourage you to be open to it. I'm not asking you to do anything else, in fact, God doesn't ask you to do anything else but be open. If you will allow it God Himself will come and begin to peel back the layers. My wife became a Christian having never read the Bible in her life and was completely entranced by this book. One day she says to me "This book is like an onion...layer after layer of stuff that makes me cry with joy!"
Okay...abiding.
When I was younger I was encouraged to read the Bible and in fact I sat under Bible teaching for most all of my formative years. I have read John 15 many times.
Abiding in Christ I always believed was something I had to do. For many years I lived under the frustrating misapprehension that my Christian life and walk was based around what I did (or didn't) and that my acceptance by God was very much dependant on my actions. You know I have come to realise today that many people that believe in Jesus Christ are living a life of quiet frustration because they believe that their 'Christianity' is dependant on them. Maybe that is you?
So I thought that when Jesus encouraged me to abide in Him it required significant effort on my part, and my significant effort without exception resulted in my frustrated failure. I couldn't abide in Him to the level or standard that I felt was expected. I tried really hard but I just couldn't make it. When I failed a voice would speak into my ear and this voice would criticise my effort and make the suggestion that I may as well give up. Many times I thought to give up and for a long period of my life I did.
Now listen to the statement Jesus made in John 15...

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
"If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." John 15: 4, 5, 7
 

 I think it probably important that we gather an understanding of what it actually means when Jesus said to "Abide in Me." Various translations of the Bible interpret 'abiding' and try to grasp its meaning by translating it as 'dwell in,' 'live in,' 'remain in,' and 'remain united to.' This is where my difficulty, and perhaps yours, comes from because when using these words of two persons the words are describing one person persevering, trying hard, making a great effort to remain in a union with another.
However for us to undersatnd what it means to adide in Christ we need to see a totally different relationship than one where we strive hard to achieve and maintain the relationship. Don't get me wrong it is right to persevere to maintain a union of fellowship and communion between two people but this is not the abiding that we see in John 15.
To begin our understanding we need to gather a glimpse of the relationship of Jesus with His Father. This relationship He describes is one of mutual indwelling, a union where abiding is translated as 'dwells.'

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say I do not speak on My own inititaive, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me..." John 14: 10, 11
 

Okay what does this mean for us? Well the bottom line is this, if we want to grasp even a little the magnitude, wonder and mystery of our position as Christ followers under the terms of the New Covenant then we need to grasp a little of the relationship Jesus has with His Father. Hang on a minute! Are you suggesting that the relationship is the same? Yes that is it exactly!
The heart of the New Covenant is the awesome and wonderful union that exists: Christ is in the believer, the believer is in Christ, Christ is in the Father as the Father is in Him. If you want a verse that succinctly ties it all together then listen to this...

" For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3: 3
 

So then how does one abide in Christ? Well it isn't about me striving for it. Listen to this one...

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4: 15, 16

Pretty straightforward don't you think?
That revelation sure lifted a burden off me!
There is Life with a capital 'L' in that...simply the 'abiding' was done when I confessed that Jesus is the Son of God...the day I accepted Jesus as the way, the truth and the life that was the day I abided in Him for that was the day His Spirit came to dwell in me. Wow! No need for me to strive, work hard, toil, struggle to achieve a position of abiding in Him...He came to abide in me the moment I believed. It doesn't rely on me because I can't make it but it relies on Him and He has made it.

Now here is a verse for you to contemplate...

"Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." 1 John 3: 24
 

Okay what is your interpretation of that?
You could easily read the first statement of the verse in isolation and believe that abiding in Him relies upon me keeping His commandments but that is not what it says. My dear friend you abide in Him because He abides in us and we have a very real and very powerful deposit within us as to the voracity of our position of abiding...we have His Spirit who He has given to us! Yeehah!
Now we could now go on and describe the intimacy of the vine - branch relationship but maybe that is for another time.
To close this thought I want you all to think about this. The Bible is made up of two sections. One is called 'The Old Testament' and the other 'The New Testament.' They could perhaps be more accurately entitled 'The Old Covenant' and 'The New Covenant.'
I could talk for long time about this but I won't but I want to sow this seed in you.
The Old Covenant was the one established through Moses which successfully revealed the need of man before God.
But God saw to establish the new;  a new covenant between Himself and man. God is God but man is man. Man is notoriously unable to keep the terms of any covenant so we needed a man who could do it. Who was our representative in the New Covenant? Why the second man of course, Jesus Christ. He satisfied all the requirements of the law of God to the letter and went in with His own blood and was accepted by a holy and righteousness God and we are set free from the curse of the terms of the 
old and brought us into the new.
I will say more about this another time as it is so important. For now though I will show you the terms of the two covenants.
The terms of the Old Covenant can be found in Exodus 20: 1 - 17...

• You shall...verse 3
• You shall not...verse 4
• You shall not...verse 5
• You shall not...verse 7
• Remember...keep...verse 8
• You shall not...verse 10
• Honour...verse 12
• You shall not...verse 13
• You shall not...verse 14
• You shall not...verse 15
• You shall not...verse 16
• You shall not...verse 17

Now for the terms of the New Covenant found in Hebrews 8: 10 - 12...please read this so slowly and so carefully.

"For this is the Covenant That I will make with the House of Israel. After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be MY people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen and everyone his brother, saying 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the very least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
 

The crux of is the final statement..."I will remember their sins no more."

Can you see the difference?
Do you not feel the liberation of the New Covenant?
It is liberating if only for the fact that no longer is it about what we do, or don't do, but we rejoice in the fact that we are established in a dwelling, abiding, remaining union with God, through Jesus Christ based not on our merit, not on our worth, not on our work, not on our striving but on Him and Him alone.
When He said "It is finished" He wasn't joking. He had done everything required and all we have to do is accept it. If you believe in Jesus then you are His and He abides in you and there is nothing you can do about it!

So to finish here is a question for you to ponder as you ponder the terms of the new Covenant...are you sitting or standing?

God bless you...will write again soon.