The Grace House

I want to share something with you all.

I first began this blog post some months ago, but only wrote the first line, but the Lord has goaded me today to remind me that it is time to write for He is removing the obstacles .

This morning I shared in my (almost) daily Facebook post this scripture.

' "...But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land and will possess My holy mountain." And it will be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle out of the way of My people." For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy...' [Isaiah 57: 13 -15]

The Lord is removing the obstacles and one of those obstacles has been me!
This is very important and I respectfully request that you read and then pray.

What I share is something that has sat in me for a long time and I believe the time is right to loudly proclaim it.
I believe that the Lord requires me to open my mouth and proclaim the things He has promised.
He desires that His promise be lifted up because lifted up all men will be drawn to Him. [John 12: 32]
Jesus is the promise and 'He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.' [Colossians 1: 17] Another version says that all things consist in Him, things that have no substance, yet, already CONSIST in Him.

What I want to share with you is the Grace House.
It was the 29th April 2005; ten years ago.
I was in Cambodia. It was night and I was sleeping.
As I slept the Lord showed me something.
When I awoke I recorded it in my journal as follows.
It came like a bullet-point presentation from God.
This is what I wrote in 2005.

'The Lord gave me a vision. A parcel of land. An orphanage. An old people's home. A hospital. A school. A church. The gospel is preached. People are gathered in. The connections are being prepared. My role? To administer Jesus.'

The next night the Lord showed me the building. In plan view as it lay on the ground it was in the shape of a cross; a crucifix lying on the ground. It was surrounded by a wall. The main gate had an arch over the gateway. Written on the arch were the words of Jesus, 'Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.' Within the walls were gardens where people walked and children played. The gardens had the beautiful sugar palm, so indicative of Cambodia, but also flowers and trees, with places to sit in the shade.The elderly shared their wisdom with the children, the sick recovered and were ministered to, children received education and the place was a haven of rest. The sick were ministered to in the hospital. The elderly with no-where to go had a place to live and meet together. Disadvantaged and abandoned children, some orphans, lived and played. A school provided education and future for the residents but also for the street children who came to receive the goodness of the Lord. The centre of the crucifix was a church, not a place of religion but a place dispensing grace. All will gather there, released prisoners will come, members of the armed forces will come, families will come, the elderly and the children, the rich and the poor, the important and the humble - all will come and all will be welcome. All will find the only answer worth finding, and they will find ministry to their needs and desire. Everybody who comes to the Grace House will receive good news of Life - His name is JESUS. Please understand this - WTL have no interest in establishing religion in Cambodia, our only interest is to bring LIFE and the Grace House is a kingdom-building, life-giving, grace-providing place that will be seen not only in Cambodia but will be a beacon of Hope to the world for from this place Jesus will be administered to the world. A flag will be raised here that respects Cambodia and her people but declares that 'JESUS is LORD.'

The building itself showed respect to the tradition of Cambodian buildings in its design. I was in Cambodia in 2006 and I drove past a building and my heart skipped a beat because it was much as I had seen, even the colouring was the same. I had to take a photo of it. Here it is.

And then, a year or two ago I was driving in Phnom Penh and I saw a wall and over the wall was a tree. The wall enclosed a large block of vacant land in Phnom Penh. I have no idea who owns the land, or what it is for, but it is unusual to see large vacant land in PP and I felt my spirit quicken as I saw it because I thought 'here is our land.' I mentioned a tree; I could see a tree over the wall. WTL has a logo, it is the tree of Life. It is watered by the spring of the Holy Spirit, that never-ending flow of God - LIFE. WTL means 'Way, Truth, Life' for the centre of all we are is Him, the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ our Lord. [John 14: 6]

I could write at great length for I have 'seen' this building in my heart for ten years now. When I received the vision I asked the Lord what my role would be and His reply was, "YOU WILL ADMINISTER JESUS."
The Mission Statement of WTL is to 'show the love of Christ in word and deed' - www.cambodiawtl.org.au and to 'Bring freedom to the people through radical Grace.' - www.wtlcambodia.com and this building will be the 'doing' of those things but if you want a 'reason' for this building then the only one I can give you here is just this - to 'administer JESUS.' From this place Jesus will be administered to the world. They said of Jesus 'can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' They may say of Cambodia 'can any good thing come out of Cambodia' but the Lord has shown us that this little Asian country, that has seen so much death, from it will come LIFE, real life and it will be a light to the world in the darkness of last days before the Lord comes. He is the answer.

So how will this happen? I do not know but the Lord tells me that this is not my question to ask. That question is His. The cost to build this building is beyond me but it is not beyond the 'riches in glory in Christ Jesus [Philippians 4: 19] so I place that question there for I do know this that He has already provided all that is required and it is out there...it is provided in you.
If you would like to chat more about this I am always ready to hear from you. My contact is via the website or you can email me at graemeshephard@cambodiawtl.org.au.

Blessings,
Graeme Shephard
14th May, 2015

Glory...

It is said that the Old Testament is Jesus concealed and the New Testament is Jesus revealed. Either way, Old and New, it is Jesus. Wherever we look He is there.

Moses was raised in the palace of the Pharaoh and taught the ways of Egypt and when he was called to lead he tried to do it in his own strength. The result was that he found himself in the desert and he was there for forty years. Why was he there for forty years? Because it took forty years for him to be turned aside; it took forty years for him to be turned aside by the burning bush, the bush that burnt but was not consumed. [Exodus 3: 2 – 4] The bush that burnt but was not consumed, what is that?  Jesus endured the fire of the wrath of God against our sin even to death but He was not consumed. He bore it even to death and He rose again. Jesus was forty days in the wilderness in Luke 4 and at the end ‘He became hungry.’ [Luke 4: 2] For Moses it took forty years for the hunger to come and for him to be turned aside by the burning bush. It took a long time for Moses.

I think it is obvious that the leadership call upon Moses came much earlier than the call that he received from the Lord in the burning bush. Moses knew the burn of his call (it revealed itself as his zeal took the life of the Egyptian [Exodus 2: 11 – 12]) but as he pursued it in his own strength it very nearly consumed him and he ended up in the Midian desert for forty years. Finally, he was turned aside from himself to see the ‘marvelous sight’ of the burning bush which was not consumed. Here was a power other than himself and it took Moses forty years to see it. It sometimes takes us a long time to turn aside. But turn aside we must.

If you then come to Exodus 33 we find Moses outside the camp. He took his tent and he pitched it outside the camp, ‘a good distance from the camp.’ This was where he met with God. He called it the ‘tent of meeting.’ If anyone wanted to ‘meet’ God they must go outside the camp to the tent of meeting. Having turned aside to the burning bush that is not consumed it is then necessary that we go outside the camp. This is the ‘let us go over to the other side’ of Mark 4: 35. The meeting place with God was outside the camp. Do not forget that Hebrews 13: 12 – 13 says, ‘Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.’ There He is again, Jesus, our meeting place, outside the camp. Whenever Moses went to the tent of meeting outside the camp the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent and the Lord would speak with Moses and ‘the Lord used to speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.’ [Exodus 33: 11] The Lord is willing to speak if we are willing to go outside the camp to meet with Him, and He will speak to us face to face. Hold that glorious thought.

Yesterday, in my Facebook post, I shared a scripture from Exodus 33: 12 – 23.  Think of all that Moses had seen. He had seen the mighty hand of God and yet he is asking the Lord to show him His ways and that he might see the glory of the Lord. The Lord says that you can’t see My face and live but He says to Moses to come stand ‘in a place by Me’ on the rock. And as God passed by Moses was hidden in the cleft of the rock and he was covered with the hand of God. There He is again – Jesus, our Rock; Jesus, the Hand of God who covers us and in whom we can declare in truth that we are the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5: 21]. Moses was to stand on the rock which, God said, was ‘in a place by Me.’ [Exodus 33: 21] God passed by and Moses saw His back only. Moses could only see His back and yet he came down so aglow with glory that the people could not look upon him. He covered his face; why? So the people could not see the glory passing away, for it was passing to give way to a greater glory.

There is so much to receive here and I can only touch it.

Let me ask us some questions.

Do you desire to see the glory of the Lord? Do you desire His ways? I desire these things without doubt! We must turn aside to the Burning Bush that is not consumed. We must go outside the camp to the Meeting Place with God. We must stand on the Rock. He will hide us in the cleft of the Rock. He will show us His ways and He will show us His glory.

Now the Bible is clear that a greater than Moses is here. Moses was only able to see the back of the Lord, but what of you and I? Can we only see His back? Is our view of His glory just His back? I learnt from my pastor, John Woolhouse at Dorrigo Life Springs Church, just last weekend that the word in the Hebrew for ‘presence’ is the same word as for ‘face.’ There is no separate Hebrew word for presence and so the presence of the Lord is to see His face.  My goodness!  Our advantage is that whereas Moses had Christ concealed we have Christ revealed. (I hope I am making sense!)

More questions. What is His glory? A friend asked me that question this very morning. Wow! What a question! I feel that it is impossible to declare and even after eternity has run its course (which is impossible) we will still be amazed at His glory. The only description I have is the four living creatures of Revelation 1 who declare’ Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty’ perpetually for all eternity. Each time they look up they see more glory, more revelation of Him, more, and more, and more for all eternity. That is His glory, so how can I describe it? But it is a good question, despite the difficulty of the answer. For Moses it could be suggested that the glory of the Lord was His goodness and His name because as the Lord passed by he saw the back of God and He revealed to him ‘all His goodness’ and He proclaimed ‘His name.’ But for us is His glory limited (if that could be described as limit!) to His goodness or does God want us to see more?

Another question.  Is it possible for us to see His face? Well, certainly it isn’t possible to see His face and live, God’s word never changes! So, then it must be possible to see His face if we die. In Christ, and it is declared in our baptism, we died and we no longer live to ourselves but Christ lives in us. [Galatians 2: 20] So to see His glory we must die. I do not speak of physical death, although if we die in Christ we will certainly see His glory! But I speak of death to ourselves. Someone said to me recently that ‘it is hard to receive Jesus 100%; what do I think?’ My response was that it isn’t hard to receive Jesus 100% (because He is more than willing to reveal Himself, by His Spirit) but it is hard for us to die 100%. So are we to work hard at dying 100%? No. It is pointless because the harder you try the more of you rises. What did the Lord say to Moses in Exodus 33? He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ [Exodus 33: 14] Wow! Glory is to see His face and His presence went with Moses, so how much more for us? And for Moses it wasn’t in his striving to die but more in his resting to receive.

So what do we see when we see His glory? What does He want to show us of His glory? Yes, we see His glory in His goodness as He calms our storms. [Mark 4: 39 – 41] We see His glory in His greatness as He brings liberty from the legion of enemies that seek to bring us into bondage. [Mark 5: 15] But He wants us to see His face. His face, His presence, this is His glory. There He is again - Jesus, the revealed face of God declaring His glory. Read on with me. Certainly His character and His nature as described in Galatians 5: 22 – 23 are glorious and are a declaration of Hisglory but these things are fruit of the Spirit, they are fall-out of us seeing His glory. And as we see His face, His presence, they are by-products that we cannot contain as we fix our eyes on Him. But, how can we see His face and live? We must die to ourselves and live to Him.

Listen to this. ‘For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I am fully known.’ [1 Corinthians 13: 12] We are fully known but it is also possible to fully know. Many would say this is only a heavenly experience but I disagree. The Lord wants us to see His glory and I want to see it. It is in His face, His presence – same word. As a child we seek our own way and we live on milk but when we feed on meat [Hebrews 5: 13 – 14] then the veil is lifted and our dim view becomes a face to face view and face to face then I will fully know. If you read 2 Corinthians 3 carefully you will see clearly the veil, it is the Law. What is revealed when the veil is lifted? Grace. Read on in 1 Corinthians 13 and you will see the glory of His face to face presence. Listen. ‘But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.’ [1 Corinthians 13: 13] Hear this also, ‘After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.’ [1 Peter 5: 10] It is His grace, His love that calls us to perfection and strength, in His grace are we confirmed and established. Why? Because we are sons.

We have a Father. He wants to be our Dad. He wants us to see His glory. It is His love. He wants us to pitch our tent there. Pitched there we will lack for nothing. In fact pitched there we will have five times more than our brethren. But that isn’t the point either. There we see His Love. That is the point. He wants us to live in His glory, His glory is His LOVE.

How can we perceive the magnitude of living in this place but as we see His face can even logic say that there is any limit? Does lack live in the face of God? No way! I don’t know what to say now. Maybe the Lord will show more another day but for me now I must just get up and move forward into His Love, move forward into His presence, move forward into His call and move forward into His provision. Obviously His greatest Love expression is Love, the person, Jesus Christ spared not and in Him how is it conceivable that with Him freely given all things could not be ours? [Romans 8: 32] But even that, for me, is not the point. I just want to see His glory and to walk in His ways. To see His glory is to walk in His ways. Walking in His ways suggests something I do but totally absorbed by His glory the walk is guaranteed.

For me, for my family, for WTL and the families of WTL it is time to stand up and walk in His glory, His LOVE for us. This is the key that opens the lock.

If you are reading this it is no different for you.

Have a great day.

The modus operandi of Love...who is our mother?

These are just thoughts...not a definitive document, just beginning thoughts. I can see a sunrise, the first rays of a new day have crested the horizon of my life. I am excited. I need to write because that provides me with an outlet. I have no other, no one I can unload on, so writing is my only pressure release. I say pressure release, not a bad pressure but a pressure like something immense that cannot be contained; I can identify with Jeremiah when he said,

'But if I say, "I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name," then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones: and I am weary of holding it in and I cannot endure it.' [Jeremiah 20: 9]

 I wrote in my journal this morning...

'God is the source of love but its essence is the love of the Father. A father’s love is God’s love in operation.'

God is love but the modus operandi of His love is the love of a father. He is our Dad. Jesus came to introduce Him and when He did He said, "Let me introduce your Father." Not God, but yes God, but the Father. He is God but He wants you to know Him as Father. The immensity, and it is incredibly immense, of this is just dawning. It's something I have known but I am only just beginning to 'see' it - like the dawning of a new day. Days have dawned before but no day like this day. It's funny but only a few days ago I was think of Aragorn. My family loves the 'Lord of the Rings', the great books of  J. R. R. Tolkein and the movies that have been made directed by Peter Jackson - great stories full of meaning. Lord of the Rings people will know some of the great quotes but recently, for some reason, I was thinking of one from Aragorn. Aragorn has led his armies to the black gates and as the enemy comes full of bluff Aragorn says,

"Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!"

This is the day. This day we fight. This day I bid you stand. This day we stand in the immensity of truth - the Father's love. We have a father and His name is GOD.

I am sure the revealing Spirit has much more to say about our Father but just now I feel constrained to speak about our mother. As I contemplated these things over the last twenty-four hours the Lord reminded me of a scripture in Luke 13.

Jesus speaking, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under wings, and you would not have it!" [Luke 13: 34]

We speak of the Father's love but what of our mother? Who is she?
We could think much on the love of mother's and as I observe my wife there is no love like that of a mother for her children. I will not begin to analyse it because I would fail dismally to even touch its magnitude or scope! The Bible shows a small picture of it in the gathering hen, gathering her chicks under her wings.
But if God is our father, who is our mother?
Jacob had two wives and many sons. One wife he was tricked into having, her name was Leah. She was very productive, she produced a great multitude. Leah's name means 'weary.' But Jacob loved Rachel. She only had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, in fact, Rachel lost her life to produce Benjamin - wow! Can you see it?  Rachel's name means 'lamb.' Joseph saved the world, Benjamin received five times as much as his brothers. I could give you Bible references for all of this but better if you search it out for yourself. What does all this mean? How does it help us to see our mother?
Leah is Law. It is wearying to seek God via the 'doing' of the Law but many, a great multitude, pursue it - even Christians! Law demands! In Mark 4 when Jesus invited the disciples to go over to the other side, and when they got there they found freedom from the legion of demons of bondage, they left the multitude behind. To cross over from Law means leaving the multitude behind.
Rachel means 'lamb' and that is Jesus and He is Grace. Grace is our mother. Not grace, the spiritual fruit, but Grace the person of Jesus, the expression of the boundless, limitless favour of God. In our mother we have one brother, His name is Jesus, our Saviour (sozo salvation) and in Him, and Him alone, we are Benjamin who enjoys the five times more favour, this is the favour available to us when we have of Grace as our mother.

God is our Father but Grace is our mother.
Jacob was father to both Leah and Rachel's children and so it is possible to have God as our father but still have Law as our mother but our Father, through our brother, Jesus, is calling us to go over to the other side and meet with freedom and see our true mother, Grace.

'On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in their boat, just as He was...' [Mark 4: 35 - 36]

You make the choice to take Him along with you in your boat; He doesn't force you. You invite Him in and He comes 'just as He is.' How is He? He is Grace.

Jesus came and introduced you to His Father. He said in so many places, "Let Me introduce you to your Father..." We will undoubtedly see more of this as the sun of the new day rises.

But, I, also, have a role to play and this is the high calling of WTL. (I say that for the family members of WTL - your call is immense.)
So, today and tomorrow, I say to you through the words of this blog, and my Facebook posts, "Let me introduce you to your Mother, her name is Grace."

How you respond is up to you.

I know them...

Can I tell you a couple of true stories?
Years ago I was preaching the gospel in a place called Memot. I thought my sermon was pretty good because I used the preaching of one of the world's greatest preachers, the Apostle Paul, as my guide. I was using Paul's sermon at the Areopagus in Athens in Acts 17. I preached from it but I didn't realise it at the time that this wasn't the most successful of Paul's sermons. Years later the Lord showed me that very few people actually received Jesus that day and that as Paul travelled from Athens to Corinth the Lord taught him and when he arrived in Corinth he could later write,

'For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.' [1 Corinthians 2: 2 - 5]

Paul, that day in Areopagus, debated Jesus on the basis of his not inconsiderable intellect with a bunch of intellectuals but the Lord showed him a better way as he walked towards Corinth. No condemnation, just the gentle staff of the Good Shepherd.
So I used Paul's ineffective sermon on Mars Hill as my guide that day at Memot and it got to a point where I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to ask the people to respond to Him. So I asked them if they would receive Jesus. Not one person moved! Nothing! If someone had dropped a pin, except for the fact the floor was the ground outside, it would have sounded like someone had rung the Big Ben bell!
What happened then felt like it took hours but was in fact only a few seconds.
I said to God, "Thanks very much! You bring me here to make me look like a fool!" His response? "Graeme, you can preach all you like but one thing I want you to know is that you do the preaching, but I DO THE SAVING. Now ask them again." So I asked again and hundreds rose up to receive Jesus. The time that had elapsed between the first asking and the second was only a few seconds at most (although it seemed like an eternity to me) and only the Holy Spirit could have effected that shift in that time. I do the preaching but He does the saving.

You know the name of Jesus is enough. It isn't based in our carefully crafted sermon. I was asked to preach to 205 prisoners in a prison in Cambodia. I was given a very difficult restriction of two minutes to speak - very difficult for me! I have many words! I said that I felt I had many things I needed to say but all I had time for is this and I raised up my hand and I said, "JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS. If you will receive this Jesus raise up your hand." Two hundred and five prisoners raised their hand to receive Jesus!

More recently I was in Cambodia and I was speaking with some children. You can see a picture of the day I speak of as the cover photo on my Facebook page. As I shared Jesus with the children they willingly received the gift of God. As they did the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. I was preaching here and having a conversation with God there, at the same time. He said to me, "You ask them to receive Me but I want you to know that I RECEIVE THEM." I was stunned with the beautiful simplicity of the truth. He is the faithful One, not us. If our salvation rested in the quality of our faith then we are doomed! But it doesn't. It rests in His faithfulness. Hallelujah! I was reminded of this again when I was asked to share with a bunch of children at my old primary school in Dorrigo. I showed the children a picture of me blessing children in Cambodia. I asked them if I could pray with them in the same way and they readily agreed. I was praying and the Lord stopped me and said, "Now ask them to receive Me." I was hesitant but I obeyed. I said something like this, "If I hold out a gift to you what must you do?" One girl answered that they must take it. Good answer! I went on, "God is holding out a gift today, His name is Jesus Christ, and if you will receive Him then put up your hand." A number of children did so and we prayed. As I prayed with them the Lord reminded me of that day in Cambodia. Those Dorrigo child may not walk in that moment for much of their life but who are we to say that their response was meaningless when He is the faithful One. Does He forget? Not a chance! Later I was meditating in John 10 and here it says this,

Jesus speaking, '"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand."' [John 10: 27 - 28]

I could say much but what impacted me were these two statements - there are no misplaced and inadvertent words in the Bible!

• I KNOW THEM.
• No one will snatch them FROM MY HAND.

I see nothing there to say their security rests in the voracity of their faith or in their faithfulness to Him. I only see Him, the faithful One.

I can hear Him speak even now, "You can preach all you like but I DO THE SAVING."
And, "You ask them to receive Me but I RECEIVE THEM."

My sheep they hear My voice and I know them...and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

I know them.

Acknowledge Him...

‘…acknowledge Him…’ [Proverbs 3: 6]

‘His beloved Son – all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ [Colossians 1: 13, 16 – 17]

'“Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Who set its measurements?...who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk?...who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?...who enclosed the sea with doors, when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; when I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and I placed boundaries on it, and I set a bolt and doors, and I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop’?

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place…?... Have you entered into the springs of the sea?...have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you?...have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this?

Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place?...

You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

Have you entered the storehouses of the snow…have you seen the storehouses of the hail…? Where is way that the light divided, or the east wind scattered on the earth?

Who has cleft a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderbolt;

to bring rain on a land without people, on a desert without a man in it, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the seeds of grass to sprout? Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost from heaven, who has given it birth?

Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?

Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, and guide the Bear with her satellites? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth?

Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that the abundance of water may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, or has given understanding to the mind? Who can count the clouds by wisdom or tip the jars of the heavens, when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clods stick together?

Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions…? Who prepares for the raven its nourishment…?

Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? Can you count the time they give birth?...Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey…Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Or will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes? Or will he harrow the valley after you? Will you trust him…and leave your labour to him? Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it from your threshing floor?...Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? Do you make him leap like a locust?...Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching its wings towards the south? Is it by your command that the eagle mounts us, and makes his nest on high?...”

Then Job answered the Lord and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply…?”

Then the Lord answered,…“Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you may instruct Me.

Will you really annul My judgement? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? Or do you have an arm like God? And can you thunder with a voice like His?

Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity; and clothe yourself with honour and majesty. Pour out the overflowings of your anger; and look on everyone who is proud and make him low…

Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you…

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook?...Can you put a rope in his jaw?...Will he make supplications to you?...Will he make a covenant with you?...Will you play with him as with a bird?...Can you fill his skin with harpoons?...Lay your hand on him; remember the battle; you will not do it again! Behold your expectation is false; will you be laid low even at the sight of Him? No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him…

WHO THEN IS HE THAT CAN STAND BEFORE ME?

WHO HAS GIVEN TO ME THAT I SHOULD REPAY HIM?

WHATEVER IS UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN IS MINE.

I will not keep silence…”

Then Job answered the Lord, and said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; BUT NOW MY EYE SEES YOU…”

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job…and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold…And Job died, an old man and full of days.’ 

A note to the world...

Yesterday I stumbled on a YouTube video of a Jewish academic speaking at a university somewhere in the USA. Question time came and a young woman of obvious Middle Eastern origin stood to challenge the Jewish academic and his response was to ask her to condemn Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. She refused to do so and, in fact, she agreed that it was a good thing that the Jewish people were gathering in Israel because then it will be easy to track them down for annihilation. The irony was not lost on me that this young woman was living in America, and obviously enjoyed the freedom and benefits of the 'land of plenty'. But that's not what this is about.

This week we have heard of more beheadings by ISIS and a Jordanian pilot who has been burned alive, and I could talk much about the horror of this horrendous movement, organisation, whatever it is, and I could make the observation that these people aren't people at all and are, in fact, less than animals because even animals do not treat their own kind in such a fashion but that's not what this is about either. (Oh, by the way, no one has put their bat out for these slaughtered people...just an observation!)

Last night I had a dream. I don't often dream but in my dream a member of the New Zealand armed forces (not sure why he was from New Zealand, but there you go!) was shot down behind enemy lines somewhere in the Middle East. This pilot was a Jew but he was safe but could not return to his family. He was isolated, alone, but safe. I have no idea what this means but the enemy wanted him and used a word like 'wellard' about him but his response was to give an English turn on what was a foreign word by saying that by the time he gets home he will be 'well hard' because they were unable to get to him.

I have no idea what this all means but my dreaming then went to what the academics refer to as the Arab-Israeli conflict. My daughter has been studying it at school. There is no subject that results in more posturing and opinion-sharing than this conflict but while I have a very simple response to it I have nothing to add to it here because that is not what this is about either.

But as I dreamed God spoke into my dreaming over the whole thing.

What He said to me in my dreaming is the only thing to say. God has already spoken and it has been recorded in His word. No, I speak not of anything but God's word, the Bible. Despite what you may think and despite what other writings may have been written there is only one authority on this subject and that is Yahweh, God Almighty, the One true God, maker of heaven and earth, upholder and sustainer of all things. GOD.
He made a promise to a people that He would be their God and they would be His people. This isn't what this is about but I have been to Israel, and I have known some Jewish people, and I have to stand and say that these are a remarkable people. I know a lot of people don't like them, and many have tried throughout history to bring about their destruction, but these people are the Jews, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Israel and God does not go back on His promises.

To the Jewish people this promise was made to you and to those that seek the destruction of the Jewish people there is nothing you can do about it. You can send as many bombs and terrorists and even young female university students living in the USA and you can posture all you like but you will never even make a dent in the unassailable spoken word of Yahweh. He has spoken and nothing you can do will change it.

As I dreamed the Lord showed me a second thing. Israel is surrounded. The armies of the world are gathered to bring annihilation to these people once and for all. God's word has been ignored and the armies are gathered under the leadership of Gog and Magog to bring final and complete annihilation to the people of Israel. Destruction looks inevitable. All the remarkable features of this race finally count for nothing and they are at an end with the whole world surrounding them. Then from the sky comes glory itself. No matter how I try I cannot describe that view. The people are surrounded, the enemy bay for blood. They are gathered in the valley of Armageddon.
Glory touches down on earth.
How can I describe the scene?
As Glory descends everything stops. It is impossible to describe the calm, like the calm before the storm. The calamity of the gathering armies stops; the grief of the surrounded people ceases. Everything stops, mouths drop open as realisation in every individual comes with the descending indescribable glory.

Then Glory touches down on earth...that's all. He does nothing but touch down on earth.

Faithful and True comes.
His eyes are like a flame of fire.
He rides a white horse.
Out of His mouth comes a sword.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, glowing brighter than the noon day sun,and is followed by the armies of heaven, clothed in white, riding white horses.
His name is called the Word of God.
Written on His thigh are the words, 'KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS.'
His glory is beyond the capacity of language to describe.
I cannot describe it.
He touches down on earth and Jerusalem becomes a sea port. The armies of the world have gathered to make war and their destruction is complete. The blood of the world's armies flows to the horse's bridles. Nothing stands in the way of this One. The sharp sword from His mouth strikes down the nations.

The people of Israel look and see their King.

But they know Him already. He hung on a cross outside their city. He comes to gather them again to Himself. He is the fulfillment of promise that so many had sought to destroy but they could not. In Him victory is complete. They see Him and know Him and He knows them.

His name?

LORD JESUS CHRIST

To the Jewish people, despite your rejection of Him; He's the One.
To those that seek the annihilation of Israel, you can't do it and besides He is for you to.
That's Grace - for everyone.
Nothing else to say.

Thankfulness - seminar with WTL Cambodia Church - 17th/18th January

Following are my notes from the recent seminar held in Cambodia with WTL Cambodia Church, entitled 'Thankfulness.'

I trust you will be blessed.

LESSON ONE

‘…the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.’ [John 1: 18]

‘Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled…’ [John 6: 10 – 12]

This story is one of my favourites and one which has so much to say to us who are seeking God’s heart. If you are a Christian then I am sure that one great thing you are seeking to know God, to have Him explained. We can see so clearly from the verse I quoted above that Jesus, ‘the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father,’ He is the explanation of God. He is God visible to us. So if we look at Jesus we see God explained to us. And the explanation is glory we behold and full of grace and truth. [John 1: 14]

The story of the feeding of the 5000 so vividly declares God to us. It is important to know that the Bible is the word of God and there are no careless or inadvertent words in the Bible and I rejoice in that. Please see with me a few little things.

Jesus had the people sit down. Sitting down is required to receive God’s heart for you. It doesn’t come through your work or activity. There is nothing you need to do to receive the Father’s heart for you except to sit down at the feet of Jesus. Sitting down at the word of Jesus is receiving Him and this is all required of you that you believe in the One who was sent of God. ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ [John 6: 29] That’s all, nothing more.

It was a grassy place. A grassy place is a place of fertility and growth, a place of abundance. Sitting in the presence of God, resting there, is a place of abundance. ‘…my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’ [Philippians 4: 19]

Jesus took the loaves and He gave thanks. There is so much to consider here. Yes, I believe, thankfulness is a key and it is this that I want to share in these few simple lessons. The fact is though that Jesus took the loaves. Bread in the making endures the beating as the grain is prepared and then goes into the fire. Can you see it? ‘But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.’ [Isaiah 53: 5] Jesus did all that is necessary for you to sit in His presence and to behold His glory, bathing in His grace and truth.

Jesus distributed to those who were seated. He is our distributor and He brings it to us when we are seated, when we are resting in His finished and complete work. Yes, another place tells us that He gave to His disciples who distributed to the people and isn’t that the case? The Lord reveals to His people who bring His truth to us but Jesus, He is our distributor bringing God’s heart to us. ‘All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.’ [John 16: 15]

The people had as much as they wanted and all were filled. You know I believe that this was the first time many of the people seated there had as much as they wanted. This was the first time they had ever experienced being filled. What a blessing! Do you want a filling? Then seat yourself at Jesus feet and there you will receive the heart of God. God loves you. This is His heart for you.

LESSON TWO

‘Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.’ [John 6: 11]

In Philippians 4: 6 we are encouraged to ‘be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.’ This has always confused me. When we have a request it is often because we have a need and, frankly, when the need is great there doesn’t seem to be much to give thanks for! And then we often ask God to multiply what we have and we ‘tell’ God that He is a god of multiplication, as if He needs to be reminded.

I have always loved the story of the feeding of the 5000 men plus women and children. Imagine all the people sitting down, it is a grassy place, the Bible says. Imagine the boy putting the packed lunch his Mum made for him into the hands of this man. I think the boy had an amazing expectation and I would have loved to be him. And then what does Jesus do? He gives thanks. He gives thanks and then the miracle of the multiplication occurs as all who are seated (please note, no active input from them!) are fed ‘as much as they wanted!’ You know I believe that very few of the people there had ever had a meal where they ate as much as they wanted!

Question: What did Jesus give thanks for? As I consider all the stuff that I need and, believe me, at this moment the stuff that is bearing in on me and my family is immense it is very easy to be anxious. But will anxious help? No, I don’t think it will. (This may be speaking to you also.)

What did Jesus give thanks for? I believe He gave thanks for what He had. What did He have? Firstly, He had a Father who heard Him – remember how He did that when standing outside the tomb of Lazarus? And that was a miracle of epic proportions, was it not? And secondly He had five barley loaves and two fish. He gave thanks and multiplication occurred, the miraculous miracle of the multiplying God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Today, we have a Father who loves us and hears us because a good father always hears his child. He heard our cry of desperation of our own making and sent His best, Jesus. Today we have a name of infinite authority that we can declare and as we declare that name we are bringing great glory to the Father and His love. We say to the enemy, “You can do your worst but my Father still loves me and nothing you can do can overcome that!” And today we are blessed. I have the comfort of a home, I had a good meal last night, I have a family who loves me, I have a little in the bank…I have… I have much to give thanks for! What about you?

Give thanks for what you have and it will be multiplied…rather than bemoaning what I don’t have, seeing the lack, maybe I should give thanks for what I have and sit and watch 5000 plus people eating as much as they want from my little packed lunch that my Mum made for me! By the way, my Mum is Grace, but that’s a lesson for another day.

  

LESSON THREE

‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.’ [Philippians 4: 6]

When I was back in Australia I was thinking and meditating on thankfulness. One day I walked into my messy office and there was a book lying open on my desk and out of a whole page of words my eyes just happened to fall on thirteen words. They said…‘The more you thank Him, the more His peace reigns in your heart.’

Immediately I thought of a conversation I had just had with two dear friends where one spoke of losing their peace and how it appears that we so often lose our peace. I then thought of the counsel of my dear brother, Samnang, in Cambodia who said to me, ‘Make sure nothing steals your peace.’ How do we not allow anything to steal our peace?

Philippians 4: 6 goes on, there is a verse 7 which says this, ‘And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ When we lose our peace our hearts and minds become unguarded and the result is anxiety. How then do we retain our peace and avoid anxiety? By thankfulness!

Let me tell you a great story. It is found in the Bible. There was a king, his name was Jehoshaphat. He was king of Judah. Two big armies were approaching with the single purpose of destroying Judah and Jehoshaphat with it. Jehoshaphat was afraid and very anxious and went to the Lord. The Lord sent a messenger who said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Go out and meet the enemy, you will not need to fight, just stand still and see the might of My salvation.’ So Jehoshaphat and Judah went out to meet the enemy. Jehoshaphat decided upon a strange strategy and put those that sang at the front and as they went out they sang, ‘Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His hesed, His lovingkindness, endures forever.’ This is what they sang. This was their victory call, their song of the Overcomer. The enemy turned on each other and destroyed themselves and it took three days for the people of Judah to collect up the spoils. Question…can you see Jesus?

Thankfulness. As we bring our prayer and supplication let’s bring thankfulness for what we have. Once God said to Moses, ‘What do you have in your hand?’ Moses had a staff. Only a simple thing but what a mighty deliverance did God bring to pass as Moses lifted up the staff! Lift up our Staff, JESUS, and give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love, His mercy, His grace, His peace endures forever.

LESSON FOUR

‘Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.’ [Luke 12: 7]

Sometimes when I am speaking in Cambodia I ask if there are any who are parents in the audience. There are always many. So I ask, “Do you love your children?” The answer is “Yes.” So I ask, “How many hairs are there on your children’s head?” No one ever knows. And I joke with them, “But I thought you loved your children so much!” It is a wonder to me that the hairs of our heads are all numbered. It is even more amazing to me that God knows when one hair falls (this happens all too often to me!) and when another grows (not so often for me sadly!) I love the little new growth hair on our children but God He knows and counts every one of those wispy little hairs that spring up on our beautiful children.

What about sparrows? The verse I quoted also speaks of sparrows. There used to be so many but you don’t see so many these days. Not sure why. The Bible says you can get two for a cent [Matthew 10: 29], that’s half a cent per bird. Then in Luke 12: 6 you can get five for two cents! These are discounted! For two cents you get one sparrow thrown in for free! What is Gods point? A sparrow is not worth a lot but there are many of them and you are worth more than them all. ‘Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows [Luke 12: 7].

In Matthew 6 Jesus speaks of birds. He says they don’t sow or reap or gather but God feeds them. And He speaks about clothing and points to the lilies in the field who don’t toil or spin but are clothed in a finery that shouts of the glory of God. He then points out that if our Father feeds the birds and clothes the grass and that you are far more valuable than either then why would we not expect that He will care for us? I hear you. I don’t see it in my life. Jesus says the barrier is worry, anxiety.

We have been thinking together of the antidote to anxiety, the remedy for worry, the catalyst for receiving the multiplying grace of our Father - thankfulness for what we have from Philippians 4: 6 - 7. One thing - please don’t think our blessing is based in our ability to be thankful, that’s not it. Our blessing is based in the One who loves us with a Father’s love, who values us more than all the sparrows of the world and based in the Name who He has emblazoned over our lives and written on our hearts – JESUS, our Way, our Truth and our Life.

‘Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.’ [Philippians 4: 8]

Lately we have been thinking about thankfulness. God asked Moses what he had in his hand and while Moses could see a staff God saw more. God looked at Abram and saw more and called him Abraham, the ‘father of many nations.’ God looked at Jacob and saw Israel. Peter’s name was Simon, which means ‘reed’ but Jesus saw more and called him Peter which means ‘rock.’ God looked at Saul a firebrand of zeal for law and saw Paul the apostle of grace. God looks at you and me and He doesn’t see what you see in the mirror each morning but sees differently because ‘God…gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did’ [Romans 4: 17].

I find it is often the case that I look at myself or my circumstances and call it less than honourable, less than right, less than pure, less than lovely, less than good repute, less than excellent, less than praise worthy. But what does God see? What does God see when He looks at you? If you believe in Jesus, and my fervent prayer is that all will know Him, then as God looks at you He sees honour, right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellence and He sees worthy of praise. How? Because He sees as they will be not as they are. He calls life and life is what is created. Jesus called Peter, the rock, but He didn’t immediately get Peter but still had lots of Simon, the reed, but did that make Jesus wrong. No way! Jesus called life, He called that which did not exist as though it did and it did when Peter stood up and unloaded the gospel on the day of Pentecost and 3000 people got saved. Moses looked at Moses and saw all sorts of reasons why it couldn’t be but God saw different and called life and a Moses that didn’t exist as though it did and Moses lifted up what he had in his hand and the sea rolled back! The Bible is full of people called by God who became so much more than what appeared to exist. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Today don’t dwell on what may appear to be but dwell on, greatly rejoice in, what God sees. Receive promise and give thanks, dwell on it, rejoice in it and step into the life giving realm of God where things which do not exist are called as though they do. Breathe God words over your life and circumstance and LIFE will be. It was in creation and it is in my life. We have much to be thankful for so I give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His lovingkindness endures forever.

Think of Abraham.

‘…yet, with respect to the promises of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God…’ [Romans 4: 20]

First of all God gave him a massive promise and then He changed his name. You see God said Abram would the father of many nations and then He called him ‘father of many nations’ which is the meaning of Abraham. (Interestingly, God did the same for Sarah, Abraham’s wife, so the promise was for Abraham and his family.) So, whenever anyone said to Abraham, “Excuse me sir, what is your name?” Abraham would answer, “Father of many nations.’ And when Sarah called him in for a cup of coffee she would call, “Father of many nations; coffee!” Every time Abraham said his name or heard it spoken the promise was declared.

But then we read Romans 4. It says that Abraham contemplated himself and saw ‘good as dead’ and he looked at his wife, beautiful as she was, and saw a womb characterised by deadness. Human eyes saw lack. What did God see? He saw the father and mother of many nations and He made sure Abraham declared it.

Many times a lack of faith has been held up as the reason why people don’t see the blessing. This is entirely contrary to scripture which amply declares that the size of faith isn’t an issue because a mustard seed amount can move a mountain, so put that thought aside. Gather up this with me instead. The verse I quoted says that the faith of Abraham grew. Would you like a growing faith? Yes! I certainly would! So, how was it that Abraham grew his faith? I asked the Lord and He said, “Read the verse!”Aaah! Abraham grew his faith by considering the promise (even though it was not yet fulfilled) and by giving ‘glory to God.’ We have the promise, His name is Jesus; do we really believe that God, our Father, would give His best and then withhold His promised blessing? No way! I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Speak your blessing name (you don’t have a blessing name? I have one but that’s another post) and give God the glory and watch your faith grow. Give thanks for what you have. Abraham thanked God he and his wife were alive and were immensely blessed and he believed the promise and he glorified God; he gave thanks. He did that for a long time and his faith grew and grew and when Abraham was one hundred years old Isaac was born!

Give thanks; give God the glory, for He is good. His lovingkindness endures forever.

 Blessings,

Graeme Shephard

www.cambodiawtl.org.au

+61 417 297798