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!

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