What are you called?

Scripture
‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’Judges 6:12, NIV

When the Lord appeared to him, Gideon was busy threshing wheat, in fear of his enemies – an ordinary man, doing an ordinary job, with normal human emotions. When the Lord addressed him as ‘mighty warrior’, his reaction was to say, ‘Who, me? But I’m the least in my family and our clan is the weakest’. In other words, ‘You’ve got to be joking; you’ve got the wrong guy!’ But God knew exactly why He was addressing Gideon in that way.
The word for ‘call’ in the Bible is used partly to imply calling by name, as in Isaiah 61:3b: ‘They will be called oaks of righteousness,’ or Genesis 17:5 when God tells Abram that he would no longer be called Abram but Abraham, as he would be the father of many nations. Names signify something of the essence of who the person is and what they will be. But the word for call is also used to mean calling to a task. So when God calls Gideon ‘mighty warrior’, that is how He sees him and it also signifies what He is calling him to do.
What is God calling you? - My Son, My Daughter, My Beloved, My Precious One, Mighty Warrior, Leader, Teacher, Shepherd? Many of us feel so insignificant and unworthy that we are unable to believe that God would be calling us in that way, and our response is, ‘Who me? You’ve got to be joking!’ Let’s ask God today how He sees us and what He calls us, and let’s believe that that is what we are and what we are called to be.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not always believing how You see me. Please show me today what You are calling me, and help me to believe that that is who I am and what I am called to be. Amen.

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 31 Jan 2009

on hearing God...

That night the LORD appeared to [Isaac]. Gen 26:24

Slow the beating of your heart over concerns for your personal care. Place the storm of your individual troubles on God's altar of everyday trials, and the same night, the Lord will appear to you. His rainbow will extend across the subsiding flood, and in your stillness you will hear the everlasting music. George Matheson

January 15 Streams in the Desert

He Never Saw an Angel!

Scripture
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit’.
Matthew 1: 18-20 & 24, NLT

Christmas with all the joy and wonder has passed for another year. The story is pregnant with promise, possibilities and angels. Twenty- five verses tell us of Zacharias’ encounter with Gabriel giving him details not only of the birth of his son John but specific instructions on how to parent the boy. Thirteen verses describe Mary’s angelic encounter. Another thirteen detail the story of shepherds, angels and glorious events in the night sky. Twelve verses document a new star and the wise men who followed that star.
Here in the northern hemisphere we are in the season of deep winter; cold, grey days sprinkled occasionally with bright blue skies and trees that sparkle with frost. The frost gives an illusion of warmth.
Joseph, a pivotal figure in the birth of Jesus sees no angels. The best he got was a dream about an angel speaking to him. In my economy, a real angel outweighs a dream about an angel every day of the week.
Was it just illusion? Was it wishful thinking wanting Mary’s explanation for her pregnancy to be true? Do you hear his pain, his confusion, his grief at what could have been? Can you watch with him as he tries to make sense of this unbearable situation?
And yet, he believed and obeyed. He took Mary as his wife. He raised the little boy that wasn’t his. He probably faced criticism, rejection, maybe even mocking over the years because of these decisions of faith and obedience. Tradition tells us that Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry. Joseph never knew for sure that the beliefs on which he staked his life were true but he lived consistently in simple faith and obedience.
For many of you Joseph’s story is your story. You have staked your lives on one dream God gave or a quiet word deep in your spirit. There have been no glory stories of visions, or angels or prophetic words from famous people. You like Joseph have lived a life of quiet faith and obedience. In Watching Your Life the Angels Rejoice!
Prayer: Help me Lord to be steadfast in doing those things you have shown me to do – and not to fear the thoughts or words of others, but to trust your Word and the encouragement of your inner voice. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 19 Jan 2009

The Eye of the Lord

For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.Deuteronomy 23:14, NIV

Lord, I need your loving care and protection. I choose to not only walk in your ways but to seek after purity with all of my heart so that indecency will not cause you to turn your eye from me at any time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 11 Jan 2009

God, is that really you?

God of Justice(We Must Go)

God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

Complete

Here I am O God
I bring this sacrifice
My open heart
I offer up my life
I look to You Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to You Lord
In Your strength will I break through Lord
Touch me now let Your love fall down on me
I know Your love dispels all my fears

Through the storm I will hold on Lord
And by faith I will walk on Lord
Then I'll see beyond my Calvary one day
And I will be complete in You


I look to You Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to You Lord
In Your strength will I break through Lord
Touch me now let Your love fall down on me
I know Your love dispels all my fears
Through the storm I will hold on Lord
And by faith I will walk on Lord
Then I'll see beyond my Calvary one day
And I will be complete
I will be complete
I will be complete in You

Come

Scripture
‘Come, follow me’, Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’Matthew 4:19, NIV

The words of Jesus, to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, were an invitation to leave what they were legitimately doing and follow Him.
As was their custom, they were going about their ordinary, every day business as fishermen, when they heard Jesus call them. He was inviting them to come and be with Him, so that He could teach them things about God and Himself, things they may never have considered.
As it was with these two men, the call of Jesus may also come to us in unexpected situations. It may be in a quiet time as we are reading a passage of Scripture, or, like Peter and Andrew, as we are going about our daily business. It could be as we are serving Him in a regular routine duty, or as we are walking along the street with our mind on other things. It often happens that when we’re not specifically thinking about how God might call us and use us in some future service that He drops a thought into our mind, a thought we can’t avoid.
For Simon Peter and Andrew it was firstly an invitation to come and listen to the teaching of Jesus and learn the message of the Kingdom. After they had responded to this call they realised they were meant to observe the way Jesus did things and learn from Him. At a later stage, they would be able to take the teaching and ministry of Jesus to others.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, please enable me to hear and listen attentively when you call me. As I follow you, help me to learn those things of the Kingdom that will equip me to be a true and effective disciple. Amen.

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 5 Jan 2009

A Hero's Journey

a documentary film about forgiveness with Xanana Gusmao of East Timor (Timor-Leste)
A Hero's Journey also known as Where the Sun Rises

1a 1b 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Hosanna

Verse 1
I see the King of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes
I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing, the people sing

Chorus
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the Highest

Verse 2
I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees

Bridge
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

~All Of The Above

random...

Come on...! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over.... God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever. (Judges 18:9-10)
-December 29 Streams in the Desert

There are active people, who go straight to the battle, and struggle till the setting of the sun. There are passive people, who stand in the middle and simply report the progress of the fight. Yet there are also neuter people - those who can neither fight nor be spectators of the fight but must simply lie down and wait.
Remember, it is Christ himself who says to you, "Sit here." Your place in the garden has also been set apart.
-December 26 Streams in the Desert

Many of your loved ones have been bound by Satan and imprisoned by him for years, and they are simply waiting for the gates to be opened. They will be set free in Christ when you pray fervently and persistently in faith to God.
Emergencies call for intense prayer. When the person himself becomes the prayer nothing can resist its touch. Elijah bowed to the ground on Mount Carmel with his face between his knees, and he became the prayer.
Spoken prayer is not always needed, for prayer can often be too intense for words.
...
"Groans that words cannot express" (Rom. 8:26) are often prayers that God cannot refuse. Charles H. Spurgeon
--December 30 Streams in the Desert