Word of Encouragement

As many of you are aware New Zealand is currently in the the Red setting of the Covid Protection Framework (Traffic Light System) and over the past couple of months I’ve had to more or less self isolate due to my health condition.

This has provided me an opportunity to see how Corps (Churches) within the Central Division have responded to the gathering restrictions by moving to an online presence. Many of the Corps have adapted / pivoted reasonably well and now have both an in-person meeting and an online meeting held through either Facebook Live, You Tube or Zoom Meetings (or a combination of these).

This week I was tuning in to the live stream of Palmerston North’s service who have been looking at the Psalms and I was reminded of the Psalm that I have turned to on numerous occasions this week.

When we look at all of the stuff that is going on in the world at the moment; the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, floods, fuel, food, housing and cost of living crises’ amongst other things, we can start to wonder if God is truly in charge and knows what He is doing.

Psalm 93 though reminds us that He is! “He’s in charge of it all, the entire world, and he knows what he’s doing!” Psalm 93:1b (The Passion Translation)

Leslie F. Brandt in her book Psalms/Now puts it this way;

It may not always be apparent, but God does reign over our world.

He rules in majesty and might, and no philosophy or power can cast Him from His throne.

He allows us to cross up His purposes – even to destroy His visible creation about us.

But His place and His reign are eternally secure.

And so are they who put their trust in Him, who live by His precepts, and follow His course for their lives.

So regardless what you are facing today, tomorrow, or even over the next few days, weeks, or months – God can and will provide you all that you need to get through it. Especially if you put your trust in Him, live by His Word, and follow His course for your life.

For as it says in Jeremiah 29:11; ‘He know the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.

May this be an encouragement to you this week as we turn our face to Him in those moments when everything appears dark for He is our light and guide.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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Turning Failure into Success

In many regards I’m sure that there are quite a number of people that will look back on 2020 and see that all of their hopes, dreams, ambitions and plans have been dashed due to the Covid-19 pandemic that continues to create havoc for many people and countries around the world.

With that may come a sense of loss, regret and anxiety for all the things that might have been. And as we approach 2021 there may even be a sense of fear and apprehension of what the New Year will hold as we continue to deal with the ongoing effects of a virus that a little over a year ago we knew nothing about.

While the chips are down for some, there are also those that are turning failure into success, getting creative and finding ways to keep calm and carry on regardless of what they face.

For Annette & I this year we have seen and experienced a fair few challenges along the way and yet again we find ourselves being characterised as failures for the second year in a row – ‘foster failures!’

After accepting a call to foster an adorable little kitten about a week or so prior to Christmas we sent him back to the SPCA to get his latest dose of medications and the snip only to pick him up the very next day.

For “those who have not heard the expression before, foster failing sounds terrible. How could someone who has opened their home to a homeless pet be a failure?

But any foster who has ended up adopting a pet that was intended to stay for a short period of time, will quickly tell you they failed.” Richmond Animal League.

For this adorable little fella that we called Blue due to the colour of his eyes when we first got him, (or maybe it was just the reflection of the Christmas tree decorations) being a foster failure is a huge success as he is returning home to a family that he’s not only become familiar with, but a place where he is also accepted and loved for who he is.

According to Ephesians 1:5 God has adopted us as His children; “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (New Living Translation)

What a joy and a blessing it brings to each and every one of us to know that we are loved by a God that wants to adopt us warts and all as His child. A God who wants to turn our failures into success.

Regardless what the coming year brings let’s embrace it and trust that God has everything in control.

As Jeremiah 29:11 espouses; ‘“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope — never forget that!“‘ (The Voice)

So as we look forward to 2021 let’s hand over all of our hopes, dreams, ambitions and plans to Jesus. Allowing Him to redirect our thoughts and time to accomplishing what it is that He would have us do. Not only in our lives, but also in our churches, so that we can bring others into a loving relationship with a Father that longs to adopt even more children. 

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Word of Encouragement

Yesterday’s word of encouragement featured what I would consider my life’s verse.

When I entered training college (a little over 15 years ago now) it was the verse that characterised my journey of faith from a 13 year old boy who had recently given his life over to the Lord my Saviour and Creator of all things, to the man I was and continue to mature in to.

I’m not sure that I’ve matured yet, and many people may question that in some of my life decisions, experiences and dealings over the ensuing years 🙂

 

Proverbs 16:31 does say that “Gray hair is a crown of glory, found on the path of righteousness.” (Tree of Life Version) Although my head is not completely gray, the number of gray hairs on my head are becoming more and more prevalent – So maybe I’m still journeying on the path 😀

I have gone through some major upheavals since I was a young first-time Christian. I would even go so far as to say that I found my faith, lost it, ran away from anything to do with God and even life, escaping to the other side of the world. And after getting my life back into some semblance of order (which took a number of years) I repeatedly ignored His calling on my life, until I finally recognised that He had something much more important to do with my life. That was to allow Him to have His way in my life.

I have faced many ups and downs throughout life, but through it all I have often been reminded of “the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future.” (Reference to Jeremiah 29:11)

I have been truly blessed and continue to be blessed by the opportunities that are presented before me to do His will, to follow His leading and to go where ever it is that He (through The Salvation Army) deems it necessary to send me.

I have seen many people recognise His calling upon their lives and be released into mission and ministry, some for just a short time, others for the long-haul. And I am continually amazed at how He has used me, to be a part of His plan to impact the lives of those that He calls. To God be the Glory!

So, allow Him to have His way in your life. As I am sure that you will be as amazed as I am at the Journey of Faith that He will take you on 🙂

The above music video was created and performed by members of Feast Worship in the Philippines. Feast Worship is a Catholic worship band that advances the worship movement of the Light of Jesus Family. It is led by a team of worship leaders, musicians, singers and songwriters from different Feasts. Their vision is to see generation after generation, people encountering more of God’s goodness, sharing more of God’s grace, and declaring more of God’s glory. They hope to raise up a generation who will honor God in every area of life, and love His people in every way, through worship music and resources.

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Word of Encouragement

The following word of encouragement has been adapted from the ‘Living by Design Ministries‘ website, written by guest blogger Chioma Oparadike and is part of a larger article looking at ‘Three Ways to Build Enduring Hope‘.

 

Jerry Bridges, an evangelical Christian author, speaker and staff member of The Navigators said that; “we must see our circumstances through God’s love instead of… seeing God’s love through our circumstances.”

So long as we are focused on the negative aspects of our less than perfect circumstances, it is nearly impossible for us to build an enduring hope. Therefore, we need to shift our focus off of our problems and on to God. We must soak in His Word and speak life into our situations.

During those moments when I’m filled with doubt, when fear and uncertainty plague my thoughts and actions, there are certain scriptures I hold onto for peace and reassurance:

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11(New International Version)

“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” Romans 8:28 (The Voice)

“I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Philippians 1:6 (The Passion Translation)

Believing and living these words requires that we trust God. That we cast our cares and burdens at his feet and align our life to His perfect will.

This doesn’t mean that we will always get it right. Many times, we won’t. But God is gracious and forgiving toward us. He promises to comfort us in the midst of our trials so we can overcome, by the power of His might!

All that is required of us is that we have faith and believe!

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Word of Encouragement

I shared with you in Yesterdays Word of Encouragement 10 areas in which we can hear from God on a regular basis.

A.W. Tozer said, “It is the nature of God to speak to us.”

Therefore, today we will explore the fact that God is speaking to us each all the time. He wants to have fellowship with us, He longs for us to hear Him and He does this through the Word and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told us in John 16:13-15 that “the Spirit of truth will come and guide us… He will not speak His own words to us; He will speak what He hears, revealing to us the things to come and bringing glory to God. The Spirit has unlimited access to Me, to all that I possess and know… That is the reason why I am confident He will care for His people and reveal the path to us.” (The Voice)

So, how do we know if we are hearing God’s voice?

 

Firstly, we need to ensure that our spiritual receiver is attuned to God. Are we ready to tune in to the voice of God, are we expecting to hear from Him, and are we truly willing to learn to know His voice.

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that “when we come looking for God, we will find Him. Yes, when we get serious about finding Him and want it more than anything else, He’ll make sure we won’t be disappointed.” (The Message)

 

Secondly, we must recognise how God communicates to us, individually. Each of us is wired differently – for some they connect with God through nature, others through song, reading, or writing, while for others they connect through silence. There are many ways in which we can connect with God and these are just a few examples, we each need to find out what works best for us each. For then we will become “familiar with his voice.” John 10:4 (The Passion Translation)

Thirdly, we need to then learn to discern His voice. It took God four times to speak directly to Samuel. For Samuel he needed the wise council of Eli to help him to decipher that it was actually God who was speaking to him. You can read about it in 1 Samuel 3.

The thing is, it is often difficult for us to differentiate between the Spirit of God and our own thoughts. Therefore, it is essential that we seek confirmation from other believers, who are journeying with us on our faith path.

Fourthly, we can check The Word to see if it lines up with what we are hearing. For God will never tell you to do, think, or say anything that is contrary to His Word.

The Spirit of God will only ever tell you to do things that will give you a more abundant life. Every change He tells you to make is designed to bring blessing into your life and minister grace towards you.

To live in the confidence that we are hearing from God we need to have a knowledge of His Word continually in our heart. And we do this by drawing near to Him.

James 4:8 says that we are to “move our hearts closer and closer to God,” and when we do “He will come even closer to us. But we need to make sure that we cleanse our lives, keeping our hearts pure and stop doubting.”

(The Passion Translation)

I hope and pray that this has been an encouragement to you as you continue on your journey of faith and seek His will for your lives, and the lives of those that you have been entrusted with.

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Word of Encouragement

Whitney Hopler in an article posted on crosswalk.com said that “God is constantly speaking to people.

But all too often, they miss out on hearing God’s messages because they seek His guidance only occasionally – usually when they’re going through a crisis or facing a major decision.

Then, with a dire need to hear from God, people become confused and frustrated when they don’t clearly hear what they should do.

They start to wonder how to hear from God and why they aren’t.”

She then goes on to outline 10 ways in which we can hear from God on a regular basis.

She has adapted these from Dallas Willard’s book Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God:

1. Recognize that God has created you for a close friendship with Himself.
2. Consider your motives for wanting to hear from God.
3. Make your goal more than just hearing God.
4. Know that you’re important to God, but be humble.
5. Don’t try to force God to tell you something.
6. Recognize that God communicates in many forms, but most often through your mind.
7. Renew your mind.
8. Invite the living Word to help you when you read the written word.
9. Recognize God’s voice above all others.
10. Set aside time regularly to listen for God’s messages.

You can read how she briefly unpacks each of these areas here.

May this be an encouragement to you in these ever changing times and as we seek to understand God’s will for our lives.

Remembering always, that “God knows the plans that He has for us. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give us a future filled with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (God’s Word Translation)

The below video is about a young guy who wanted something, and prayed for something that many of us take for granted; he longed for arms and legs. But God did not answer his prayers.

Instead Nick has been enabled to be, the hands and feet of Jesus, in a hurting world.

He has learnt how to hear God’s voice and obediently follow where He leads. He is constantly amazed at the journey that God has him on, and he is able to offer “Hope” to millions of people around the world. Espousing that God loves them and that He has a plan to give us each a future. For “God is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)

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