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Friday 10th September 2010
2 Cor 8:7 But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving
In this passage Paul talks about the “grace of giving”. The Grace of giving is not something that manifests in a meeting when an offering is taken, it is a more permanent enablement of the Spirit that enables you to live life as a giver, so emulating the nature of your Heavenly Father. Paul’s use of the word “Grace” shows us that living a giving lifestyle is only something that the Spirit can enable us to do; it’s not something that comes naturally.
Biblical giving isn’t just about money; it’s about having an attitude of generosity in all things. It’s about having a desire to improve others lives, it’s about serving, it’s about self sacrifice – putting ourselves second and others first – sometimes it’s about sharing resources, but much more, it’s about being available to God, to be used in helping to minister to and build the lives of others. Jesus said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” Matt 20:28. Jesus was full of the Grace of giving, He was God in action, helping, healing, comforting, and building the lives of those around Him. When He left after three years, He left a group of people who would never be the same. They had been impacted and changed by the Grace of giving that rested on His life.
The Grace of giving is about blessing and being a blessing. We regularly seek God’s blessing on our lives and have full confidence in asking because we know that the Father loves to give, He loves to bless. When we reach out for the Grace of giving and begin to live the giving lifestyle we find ourselves being mysteriously conformed into the Father’s image by the Spirit. We begin to see what we could not see before – it’s as though our eyes are opened to see what the Father sees. We see over here someone needs encouragement, over there, someone needs consoling. All around us there are people with needs, some of them are minor, some are more significant, most just need the encouragement that comes from knowing that God cares enough to send someone along who can add their agreement to the prayers they are praying.
In the Book of Acts, we see a Spiritual revolution taking place. In the midst of this, people start selling their possessions, bringing what they have and laying it at the Apostles feet. They had been touched by the Grace of giving. This giving though, had a context. Tens of thousands of people were in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. These people had travelled from all over the known world. When the Spirit fell, many of them were Born Again and filled with the Spirit. Some went home, but most stayed. There was suddenly a pressing need within the fledgling Church community, and motivated by the Spirit people responded. They opened their homes, they provided a place to sleep, they cooked meals, and did what they could so that everyone could continue to be touched by the power of God and have the opportunity to listen to the teaching of the Apostles. Some decided to stay permanently, so they sold their houses and land back home and overwhelmed by the people’s generosity in Jerusalem, they gave the money to the Apostles to distribute so that the whole body of believers could be helped. This was an extraordinary time and people’s lives were changed forever. There was tremendous togetherness, because of the Grace of giving.
The Church as a community needs the Grace of giving. We need to experience a togetherness inspired by the Spirit, a sense of shared responsibility that enables the growth and development of all. This Grace builds Kingdom reality – it’s what the Kingdom of God is all about – a community of redeemed people experiencing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 4:17) .
Lord, we need this Grace in our lives and in our Churches. Rain down upon us more of your Grace and enable us to live together in such a way that we can fulfill your command Jesus, to love each another as you have loved us. (John 13:34)
Thursday 9th September 2010
John 11:16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap. Mention his name and people immediately think of the scene in the upper room where he resolutely states his disbelief concerning the resurrection of Jesus. Yet, at an earlier time, Thomas showed a different side of his character. Jesus was preparing to return to the region near Jerusalem to raise Lazarus and there was a significant threat that He would, once more, be subject to violence. Thomas fearlessly addresses the disciples and exhorts them to deal with their fears and go with Jesus – even if it means death.
So what happened to Thomas between this event and the Upper Room? Simple, he became totally overwhelmed by the circumstances. Even the strongest can falter when things go wrong, or things don’t turn out the way you planned. Thomas was devastated by the events in the Garden, and by Jesus’ subsequent torture and death. I am sure that he was numbed by it all. Thomas became numb and then he became angry. Angry that he had failed to defend Jesus, angry at his own weakness, angry that the future now lay in ruins, angry that hope was gone.
It’s easy to become angry and despondent when things don’t go well. The shock of failure can anesthetize us and leave us vulnerable to negativity. As we continue to meditate on what went wrong, we quickly become overwhelmed, like a boat taking on water, it’s not long until we capsize and lose our perspective altogether. Struggling to keep our head above water, we enter into the realm of considering our failure and “what could have been”. Angry at ourselves and maybe others we end up consumed with failure and can see no way out.
Thomas felt alone, he couldn’t see beyond the circumstances of the last few days, the numbness remained and hope was gone. In the days following, when the disciples told him of the appearance of Jesus to them in a locked room it was too much for poor Thomas to take. He erupted in an angry outburst. “I don’t believe it; I don’t believe a word of it. Jesus is dead.” The disciples pleaded with him. “Thomas, we all saw Him, and he was as real as you are!” Thomas is cold, and with a low, emotionally charged growl responds. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
A week later Thomas is eating with his fellow disciples in the same locked room. Suddenly, Jesus stands among them once again and speaks – “Shalom, peace be with you.” The blood drains from Thomas’ face. Jesus turns to him and speaks plainly, without any hint of rancor or sarcasm, “Look at my hands Thomas, place your finger right here.” Jesus holds out his scarred hands for him to examine. Thomas recoils. Not out of fear, but out of shock. Jesus begins to open his outer garment and says, “Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Hot tears begin to flow down Thomas’ face and his breath catches in his chest. Jesus reaches out and puts His hand on his arm. Thomas falls to his knees and sobs, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replies, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
In one moment of revelation, Jesus opened Thomas’ eyes to see beyond the circumstances, to see beyond the failure. He lifts him out of the raging sea of despondency and plants him firmly on resurrection ground. Hope is restored and peace comes flooding in.
What all of us need, particularly if we have experienced failure or loss, is a fresh revelation of Jesus. We need to see Him as Thomas saw Him, as John later saw Him, as the one who is the supreme overcomer, as the Lord of Life who has risen from the dead, as the one who holds the keys to the future. We need Him to deliver us from the pain of the past, and grant us a Divinely inspired vision of what is to come.
What happens to Thomas after the resurrection? Church tradition tells us that he left Jerusalem and preached the Gospel in ancient Babylon, near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the area covered by modern day Iraq, and later continued on to Persia (modern day Iran).
Thomas then left Persia and sailed south to Malabar on the west coast of India in 52 AD. He preaches, establishes churches, and wins to Christ numerous people, including a number of prominent Hindu leaders and teachers. (1500 hundred years later, when the Portuguese landed in India they found a group of Christians there – the Mar Thoma Church established through Thomas’ preaching).
Finally, Thomas traveled across India to the east coast. He was finally martyred near Mylapore around 72 AD, (near the modern day city of Madras). Tradition tells us that he is thrown into a pit, then pierced through with a spear thrown by a Hindu leader.
All in all, doubting Thomas accomplished quite a bit!
Thomas speaks to doubters today, to those of us who have seen our hopes and dreams destroyed. Doubting Thomas would tell us of his fears and his doubts. And then, with a radiant, joyful face, St. Thomas, Apostle to India, would recount the time when Jesus delivered Him from the depths of despair and set him ablaze to preach the Good News of the Gospel to the Nations. He would say to us, forget the circumstances, and leave behind the questions. Focus your eyes upon Jesus. He is the resurrection and the Life; He will deliver you from your fears and give you a future and a hope. Look to Him – you will not be disappointed.
Wednesday 8th September 2010
1 Chron 12:32 “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do;”
The last few weeks of summer are upon us as the Autumnal Equinox approaches (September 23rd) when the earth’s northern hemisphere will begin once more to tilt away from the sun, so shortening the hours of daylight resulting in the onset of fall and the coming of winter.
Nature is in a state of change. Ripe grains and fruits are ripening ready for harvest, everywhere nature is busy preparing for the coming seasons when the plentiful abundance will cease to be available. Though few of us live in an agricultural environment, we still see the signs and our mindset begins to change as we anticipate the change that is approaching.
The Men of Issachar were uniquely Prophetic among the Nation of Israel. They were men who “had understanding of the times”. It is one thing to sense, feel or even see that you are in the midst of a season of change, it is another thing altogether to understand what is taking place. God wants a Prophetic Church, a Church that lives with Divine understanding of the times, a Church that sees the activity of God and quickly positions itself to join Him in what He is doing.
Understanding is not just related to the present, it anticipates the future. To have understanding in harvest time means that you gather in the abundance around you with an eye on the future, anticipating the coming seasons of lack. To gather and gorge would be foolish and dangerous, so the desire to overindulge is overcome in favor of moderation, which will allow life to continue when the earth is barren and cold. The men of Issachar had understanding – and knew what Israel ought to do.
Much Prophetic declaration is incomplete; it is merely the declaration of information. Information alone will not usher the Church into greater involvement with the Spirit as He plans His strategies and executes the will of the Father in the earth. We need the added dimension of understanding. The Church doesn’t just need to hear declarations it needs understanding, it needs to know what it should do. One well known Prophet said to me, “Frankly I’m tired of being the dog and pony show” and I knew exactly what he meant. The role of Prophets in the Body is not to entertain; it’s to bring the Word of the Lord with the added dimension of understanding.
A move of God may well be around the corner in America. The Church needs the Prophets, it needs the Prophetic anointing. We don’t just need the Word, we need insight and understanding.
I encourage you today, to ask God for a new Prophetic anointing upon your life – even if you don’t consider yourself “Prophetic”. Ask the Spirit to open your eyes to recognize the season that you are in, then cry out for understanding that you might know with certainty what you should do. A new journey may just be beginning.
Tuesday 7th September 2010
George Whitfield (1714-1770)
I’d like to introduce you to another of my “Spiritual Heroes” - George Whitfield. Born under a mile away from my own birthplace in Gloucester, England he was a Spiritual firebrand who became one of the most famous “Great Awakening” preachers in America during the 1700’s. Whitfield was a man who literally changed America with his preaching! It is reported that he preached more than 18,000 sermons in his 34 years of preaching, between England and America. It is said his voice could be heard a mile away, and his open-air preaching reached as many as 100,000 in one gathering, (without the use of a sound system!)
It is estimated that during the 7 trips George Whitefield made to colonies in America, that at least 80% of the population heard him preach at least once. He was both loved and hated, adored and reviled. He stirred the emotions of sinners and saints. Literary men of his times frequented his meetings. Lord Chesterfield, icy as he was, warmed under his preaching. Lord Bolingbroke, not a generous critic, said, “He is the most extraordinary man of our times. He has the most commanding eloquence I ever heard in any person.” Franklin of America, a cold-blooded, calculating philosopher, said of the revivalist Whitefield, “It was wonderful to see the change made by his preaching in the manners of the inhabitants of Philadelphia. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if the whole world were growing religious.”
Whitefield’s preaching was often violently opposed. During one of his American revivals Whitfield wrote; “I was honored today with having a few stones, dirt, rotten eggs, and pieces of dead cat thrown at me”. Such things were common, with those opposed to his preaching using every means available to drown out the sound of his words with drums, trumpets and other instruments. His last sermon was delivered in the open air at Exeter, Mass., the day before he died in 1770 in Newburyport, where he is buried.
John Wesley wrote of his friend, “”Have we read or heard of any person who called so many thousands, so many myriads of sinners to repentance? Above all, have we read or heard of anyone who has been God’s blessed instrument to bring so many sinners from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God as Whitefield?”
God is looking for people to become firebrands in this day, men and women, completely sold out to Him, who are willing to sacrifice all to see America shaken by another Great Awakening. Will you be one of those who will cry out for the fire of the Holy Spirit to ignite your heart? Will you cry out for an anointing of Apostolic zeal to lead America again to Jesus?
Here are some quotes from this great Preacher:
“Believers keep up and maintain their walk with God by secret prayer. The spirit of grace is always accompanied with the spirit of supplication. It is the very breath of the new creature, the fan of the divine life, whereby the spark of holy fire, kindled in the soul by God, is not only kept in, but raised into a flame. A neglect of secret prayer has been frequently an inlet to many spiritual diseases, and has been attended with fatal consequences.”
“Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer.”
“Be content with no degree of sanctification. Be always crying out, “Lord, let me know more of myself and of thee.””
“The Christian world is in a deep sleep; nothing but a loud shout can awaken them out of it!”
“Go to bed seasonably, and rise early. Redeem your precious time: pick up the fragments of it, that not one moment of it may be lost. Be much in secret prayer. Converse less with man, and more with God”
“The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to tear down.”
“Works? Works? A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!”
“It is true, a man that is born again of God, may, through surprise, or the violence of a temptation, fall into an act of sin: witness the adultery of David, and Peter’s denial of his Master. But then, like them, he quickly rises again, goes out from the world, and weeps bitterly; washes the guilt of sin away by the tears of sincere repentance, joined with faith in the blood of Jesus Christ; takes double heed to his ways for the future, and perfects holiness in the fear of God.”
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all, to comfort under, and deliver you from tribulation; to preserve you to your respective place of abode; and when there, to keep you in his fear, that you may live to his glory; that to live may be Christ’s, and to die by your eternal gain; so that you may live with him through eternal ages, and sing Hallelujahs to him for ever. Amen.”
It seems that everywhere I turn right now there is a buzz for everything 3D. This last 12 months have brought a deluge of 3D movies, now we’re seeing 3D TV’s even 3D cameras being launched. Personally I don’t quite get it. Maybe it’s because for me 3D has always been a gimmick. I think I was 8 when I received a toy 3D viewer – you know the ones, they had circular cards with pieces of film embedded in them and when you looked through the eyepieces, voila! There was the Eiffel Tower in 3D! I got tired of it after about 4 weeks; after all you can only look at the Eiffel tower so many times.
The 3D technology is trying to add greater dimensions of reality to what we see or watch. 2D just isn’t enough anymore. Personally I don’t see the point of buying a 3D TV to have yet another view of the barnacle encrusted bow of Titanic invade my living space. Interesting, yes – but only for about 30 seconds, then I’m going to change the channel. I don’t need the presenters of CNN being any more real than they are – I’m not interested in them, I just want to hear the news and anyway, who wants to see endless pizza ads in 3D!
Of course what’s being offered as 3D is just an optical illusion that requires you to wear clown sized glasses to view the images. Great! Let me know when the contact lens versions come out. Hey I have enough trouble finding the remote; I don’t want to have to search for crazy 3D glasses as well.
I’m afraid for many believers. So many are waiting for the “next thing”, some spiritual advancement that will make their “Church experience” so much more enjoyable. I hear people saying all the time; “Church just doesn’t satisfy me anymore” – they got bored with the last enhancement and now “need” something else.
We all want more of God, more of His Presence, more of His Power, but we must take responsibility to seek God out for ourselves, otherwise we will remain as children, running here and running there. Some of the most profound experiences of God that I have had came when Church was anything but enjoyable, when the anointing just wasn’t flowing, when I was empty and felt alone. My desire was to leave where I was and go and find God somewhere else, but thankfully, I followed my heart and drove deeper into God, crying out to Him for what I lacked. And He met me. Interestingly, many times what I received was not what I thought I needed, or was looking for, it was something far deeper.
I changed. I saw things differently. I perceived the future in new and exciting ways. The problem wasn’t my surroundings, the problem was me and when God revealed that to me – everything changed.
You don’t need Church in 3D, you need a fresh revelation of God and a fresh understanding of who you are in His plan. Both can be had just where you are!
Thursday 2nd September 2010
An interesting thing happens when you try to take a photograph through glass or plastic, if the camera is focused on some subject beyond the glass, the camera will not “see” the glass even though it may be dirty. I have a number of perfectly good photographs taken out of dirty airplane windows that look great. I even have some great shots taken in animal parks through dirty acrylic – if you didn’t know you would think that I had an unobstructed view (the lynx pic above is one of these)! In fact I have seen photographs taken with cameras with badly damaged or scratched lenses – and still a perfectly good image was recorded – there is no clue that the lens was imperfect. What is happening is that the camera is seeing beyond what is right there in front of it and focusing on something else. The dirt, the imperfections are still there, the camera just doesn’t record them.
Focus is so important in our lives. Every day we have a choice to focus on the positive or the negative. We can choose to see the difficulties and the obstructions or we can choose to look beyond them and focus upon God and the Promises in His Word. We can choose to focus on people’s failings or look beyond them to who Christ has made them and called them to be. It doesn’t mean that those difficulties or failings aren’t there; it just means we choose to look beyond them.
Paul tells us in Phil 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 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.” We could easily substitute “focus on these things” for “dwell on these things. When you find something good, focus on that, when you find something of excellence, focus on that, when you hear about something good that someone else has done – focus on that. Your images will change, and so will your approach to life, circumstances and others.
After all – isn’t this what God does when He looks at you – and aren’t you glad He does?
Daniel 12:4 “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
We live in an information society. We know more about everything and anything we don’t know; well there is always Google, Yahoo or Bing! Having knowledge about something isn’t all there is to it, however. Years ago, we had an old car that would continually break down. So, I bought a book. It was one of those car manuals with exploded diagrams that showed every component and where its place was. The funny thing was though, as much as I read and studied that book, when it came to going out to the car and actually fixing it – I was lost, I just couldn’t marry what I knew with what was in front of me. I never did fix the car – I had to take it to the garage, but I was left with an intimate knowledge of how it was constructed.
We see it all, the devastation, the floods, the poverty, the hunger, the injustice and we go on about our day. Then when someone asks us if we saw what was happening in this part or that part of the world, we reply, “yes, I know all about it” – and we do. We can recall details, statistics, and satellite images – an amount of information that just a few years ago would be unthinkable in such a situation – but – it’s just knowledge, it doesn’t affect us, it doesn’t prompt us to do anything. We collect it and stash it away, congratulating ourselves on our enlightenment.
In 1 Cor 8:1 Paul remarks, “Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds them up”. That is the problem with collecting information – we become arrogant, we think we know something, when in reality all we have is a scrapbook full of information. The world worships at the Throne of Knowledge, and sees the future through its eyes. “Once we have educated the world”, say the academics, “everything will be well”. It’s a cruel delusion, for information alone will never resolve national conflicts and prejudices, it will never diminish the ambitions of the violent nor right injustice; it will never address base selfishness and greed. We can have a mountain of information but still be devoid of understanding.
The Church that the Spirit of God is looking to raise up in these days, is a Church that is mature in the revealed Knowledge of God, a Church that is alive with the electricity of His Presence. A Church that doesn’t just have information about God, but a Church that has a vital experience of God. We must trade our appetite for mere information for a deeper and more intense intimacy with Jesus, while developing within ourselves a deep hunger for the Knowledge of God that comes by revelation of His Spirit. Only then will we be truly equipped. Only then will the Church be able to combat the deception of information and see men and women released from the prisons of intellectualism and pride.
William Booth (1829-1912) once said, “I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”
These things are no longer future dangers – they are present realities and a few of the primary reasons we so desperately need revival.
Pray!
Monday 30th August 2010
The Bible is full of stories about nobodies. Individuals who came from nowhere in particular, who had no reputation, unremarkable people, descended from ordinary family lines who had no claim to fame or wealth or power. All of them though had a singular thing in common – they were loved by God – not for who they were, what they did or what they had, but because that’s who God is – He’s the lover of nobodies.
Today there are millions trying to become something, trying to attain some place or position – just so they can be noticed and “loved”. The lust for celebrity status is a disease that is ravaging our society. “You don’t know what it’s like to be nameless” sang the Pussycat Dolls recently promptly followed by “When I grow up I wanna be famous”. People everywhere are being satiated with the cruel idea, that anyone who is not someone – is no one, anyone who is no one – is just a loser.
Even in Church, the disease is rampant, everyone wants to be someone. People scramble for “a word from the Lord” that will set them apart, or make them “special” in the eyes of others. The truth is there are very few in a generation that are singled out to be spiritual “heroes” and in nearly every case they were reluctant nobodies when God found them – just like the characters in the Bible. Evan Roberts, leader of the Welsh Revival was a young coal miner = nobody. Smith Wigglesworth was a plumber = nobody. William Booth was a pawnbroker’s assistant = nobody. Kathryn Kuhlman said she was born without any talents whatsoever = nobody. John Newton, author of the much loved “Amazing Grace” was a slave trader = nobody. God came to them and loved them – not for who they were, for God ignores such things. He loved them as nobodies, and in the course of their lives, walking with Him, pursuing Him, loving Him, serving Him, He anointed them with power. Anyone who knows anything about God understands that when God does this – it humbles you even more, it makes you feel even smaller, even more of a nobody, because you realize that it is all of Him. 99.9% of people in the Body of Christ will only find a significant role in ministry as part of a team – or more correctly in functioning as a part of the Lord’s Body. The Church is a Family, not a stage.
So, if you are a nobody, then celebrate, you are in good company! Just relax and enjoy His attention, nothing you ever do or become will make Him love you more than He does right now. God does not need special people – He prefers nobodies!
 | Judy Nash Fritzell on The Grace of Giving |
 | Cathy C on Church in 3D |
| Cathy C on Church in 3D |
| Cathy C on God Loves Nobodies |
 | Lorna Victory on The Victory Table and The… |
